#af x dc | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bewitched-forest · 2 years ago

Text

Formula for a Crime Scene - Ch 4

Circumstances leave Artemis Fowl and Danny Fenton living in Gotham to attend Gotham Academy with Damian Wayne. More circumstances lead to the three boys becoming unlikely friends, and eventually something more. Now the three must navigate a world of superheroes, fairies, and ghosts together.

The worldbuilding of this fic was co-written by my friend, @half-dead-ham, and myself! They will be posting their own Crime Scene (The name of the ship as dubbed by another friend, @thetoyboxs) fic that will have similar plotlines, as we made them together! So behave!

[Ao3 Link Here]

} ~ – ~ {

Damian crossed his arms, glaring at the door. Next to him stood Drake, equally upset. It appeared that Father had neglected to inform both him and Drake that for the entirety of the school year, they would be entertaining a guest. The son of some family friend. Not to mention, some war colleague of Alfred’s who served as the guest’s bodyguard.

A knock on the door sounds, causing Damian to straighten up. Best to establish quickly that he would not tolerate any sort of trick this new guest will be playing on him. He watches as Alfred walks forward, opening the door with a smile.

“Ah. Master Fowl, it's a pleasure to meet you. And Butler, it's great to see you again, old friend,” says Alfred warmly, stepping out of the way. “Please come in.”

Damian raises an eyebrow as the taller of the two, most likely Butler steps in. He’s easily taller than Jason, standing well over 6 feet. From what Damian could see, the man was well built. Honestly, the man could probably last in a fight against Killer Croc or Solomon Grundy.

“Thank you so much Pennyworth. And apologies once again for the delay,” said Butler.

Damian glanced over at Tim, catching him doing the same. So. Neither of them had known that, apparently, this Artemis Fowl and his bodyguard were actually supposed to be here earlier.

“It's quite alright, Butler. I know a thing or two about teenagers and their behavior.”

Damian can hear a huff, causing him to look over at the culprit. Dressed in a well tailored suit, stands a boy. Artemis Fowl. Their supposed guest, who was going to be attending Gotham Academy with him. Well, he’d already missed the first day, and Damian supposed he’ll

miss tomorrow as well due to the time difference between Ireland and Gotham.

Damian scowled, measuring up Fowl. He stood with a good posture, but his body language could easily be read that he wasn’t too fond of this arrangement either. When Damian gets to looking at Fowl’s face, he scowls further as he sees Fowl staring at him with a smirk. Already, Damian could tell that Fowl would be trouble.

Fowl steps forward, expression shifting to something bored, and offers his hand to Damian. “Artemis Fowl. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Damian squints, taking the hand and shaking it before pulling away. “Damian Wayne.”

Fowl raises an eyebrow, before switching his hand to Drake. Drake shakes it, introducing himself as well. Damian watches as Fowl goes back to standing at Butler’s side after shaking Alfred’s hand, looking around at all of them.

“Now then. Master Damian, would you please show Master Fowl to his room?” said Alfred. Damian snapped his attention to him. Surely the old man was joking. But no, Alfred looked perfectly serious.

“Tt. This way,” says Damian, not even bothering to wait for Fowl before he turns and heads up the stairs. Though, judging by the soft pattering of feet behind him, Fowl had managed to keep up well enough.

“Mind telling me what you know about the fact that Mr. Pennyworth and Butler know each other?” asks Fowl, catching up to walk next to him.

Damian scoffs. “We were not informed of that fact until we were informed about your arrival after Drake and I returned home from school.” Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Fowl raise an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you and Timothy brothers? Why refer to him with a last name?”

“That is none of your business, Fowl.” Damian stops abruptly outside Fowl’s door, causing him to stumble a bit as he stops. For some reason beyond him, Alfred decided to place Fowl in the empty room next door to him. Damian opens the door, shoving it open. “This is your room. Mine is to the left. It's off limits.”

Damian looks at Fowl to see him smiling, mischievously. “As if I would enter your room, Damian. I have zero intention of rubbing shoulders before I get sent back home.” Fowl walks into his room, Damian knitting his brows together.

Sent back home? Fowl, whoever he was, Damian didn’t get ample enough time to look at Drake hogging the bat computer, was already planning to be sent home. Damian narrows his gaze at Fowl, looking him up and down. To a regular person, Fowl might seem relaxed, more than one really should be when entering a new setting. But Damian could spot the tenseness in his shoulders.

This boy was suspicious. Despite reportedly being a civilian according to Drake, he had the ability to disguise his body language to the ordinary individual.

“Tt,” Damian says before turning away, stalking back down the stairs to find one of the entrances to the bat cave. He needed to do research.

Damian spots Pennyworth and the other guest, Butler, through the door to the dining room. He raises an eyebrow before ducking into Father’s study. After firmly locking the door, he walks over to the grandfather clock. He adjusts the clock's time, stepping back as it slides open. After glancing back at the door, he steps into the elevator and descends into the cave.

He barely stalls when the door opens, descending down the stairs with a vault before walking to the Bat computer. He starts it up as he sits in the chair, adjusting so he can be centered with the screen.

He opens the Batcomputer’s search function, typing in the words ‘Artemis Fowl.’ Immediately, several results appear. For both an Artemis Fowl Sr. and an Artemis Fowl Jr. Damian squints, retyping to specify the search for the later.

He scowls as the searches readjust themselves, the top proving to be a case conducted by Interpol. Opening the case files, he reads through. Apparently, Artemis Fowl Jr. was suspected for several counts of First Degree robbery, breaking and entering, and a number of other charges. To summarize, Fowl was a suspected felon. The problem was that he couldn’t be accused, as all evidence was purely circumstantial.

Damian stands up, closing the files before turning off the computer. One thing for sure, Artemis Fowl could not be trusted. Which means leaving him to be alone in the manor would not be acceptable.

Damian shoots back up the elevator, stepping into the study and adjusting the clock hands behind him. He unlocks the door before stepping out into the hallway, walking back to Fowl’s room. He spots the open door, stepping into the doorway and looking in.

Fowl sits on his bed, legs crossed and laptop on his lap. His chin rests in his hand, obscuring the view of the lower half of his face. Damian straightens up, staring him down.

Damian clears his throat, causing Fowl to look up at him.

“Oh. Damian. Is something the matter?” he asks.

“Pennyworth told me we ought to talk, considering our ages,” Damian replies. Obviously, Pennyworth has said no such thing. Though Damian wouldn’t put it past the old man to suggest it at some point.

Fowl chuckles, drawing an eyebrow raise from Damian. “I shouldn’t be surprised. He is Butler’s friend after all. Suppose the two of them would be similar.”

Damian squints, stepping into the room. “What do you mean by that?”

“Butler suggested the same thing. That I should take this as an opportunity to socialize with a peer. Based on our similar social status and our same age.” Fowl smiles for a moment while he talks before it's replaced with an amused but bored look.

“Hm,” replies Damian, standing beside Fowl’s bed.

Fowl stands up, causing Damian to narrow his eyes. “Well then. Since it appears we must socialize, mind showing me around?

Damian huffs. “Fine. Follow me.” Damian walks out of the room, listening for the pattering of feet behind him.

He walks through the house, showing Fowl the various rooms and telling what they are. He raises an eyebrow when they get to the main library, as Fowl drifts into the center of the room and looks around.

“Just how many books do you have in here?”

Damian hums. “A thousand at least, I believe. I don’t know, this library is older than even Father.”

Fowl looks back at Damian, raising an eyebrow. “Older? So it must’ve been Martha and Thomas Wayne’s, then.”

Damian glares, crossing his arms. “How do you know their names?”

Fowl smirks. “Come on. Gotham is infamous, even across international borders. You really believe I wouldn’t do my research on the family that will be housing me for the foreseeable future? That’s a fool’s errand.”

Damian blinks. The honest answer was… unexpected. Fowl openly admitted to doing research on them. He probably knew their names before they had even introduced themself. Damian’s expression sours.

“Come on. You said you wanted a tour. There’s still more.” Damian heads out the room, keeping his arms crossed as he finishes the tour with Fowl.

25 notes · View notes

somnoir · 15 days ago

Text

Bats and Phantoms - Part 5

Part 4 | Masterpost

Jason and Phantom

Danny has noticed a pattern ever since he punched the Joker to death.

He's lost multiple things over the course of the past few weeks. Once, his laptop was smashed to bits during an attack by Bane (he really should have Tucker reinforce all his electronics). The next day, there was a new Wayne tech laptop on his counter.

When he visited his favorite cafe, his usual orders were paid for the next month. The barista refused to tell him who bought his month's supply of Living Dead. She was smiling a little too much in his opinion (he'd have to ask Tucker for a background check on Chelsea now. He liked her, but damn him if she was working with the crime lord.)

Danny knows very well that Gothamites either mug people or get mugged. And yet for the entire time, he hasn't gone through that BS... At all. It's almost nice.

He's done his best not to get caught up with the Bats, except for the fucking Red Hood. He tries to stay low, knowing that the Bats—especially Batman—was very strict on his no-kill-rule. Red Hood in the other hand... Unfortunately, he can't escape the bastard if all he wants to do is follow Danny around and gift him the most random shit. But if he's gonna deal with the Red Hood, then he's going to use it for good.

In other words, he was going to let the man feed him with godly food that he'd never been able to have. Danny's a decent cook but the Red Hood was almost godly when it came to cooking.

"You're never gonna leave me alone?" Danny doesn't even turn away from his laptop once he hears Red Hood slip into his apartment, shamelessly crawling through his window. He's so fucking sure there's a bunch of containers in his arms or maybe a reusable bag, but there's a bunch of containers. Filled with food.

"Someone's gotta keep you fed." Red Hood softly hums, passing Danny from where he was sitting on his floor while his dry eyes were watching instruction videos. By this point, Hood might be playing Tetris in his fridge with the containers. (Danny hopes there's chicken in there)

He doesn't move, doesn't want to.

Red Hood pokes his cheek.

Danny grunts in reply.

His cheek is poked again.

He might just bite the guy's hand off.

"Go away."

"Eat and then sleep."

"Perish."

"C'mon now, darling. You gotta take a break or whatever the hell you're studying for will go away."

"I will stab you."

But apparently, Red Hood isn't intimidated by his threats, already picking out one of the containers, heating it up, and then proceeding to make Danny suffer from the scent of something chicken. He's so hungry, he's sleepy, but he has exams! He has deadlines! A part of him wanted this handsome and sexy crime lord to pamper him but he'd drown in that contaminated ecto (Lazarus) than admit it.

And then his laptop is confiscated by a crime lord. Danny suddenly finds himself sitting on the Red Hood's lap and being forced to eat. At least the man isn't feeding Danny himself.

He was just enjoying the chicken casserole, sleepily trying not to stab a fork into his mouth while Red Hood has his hands on Danny's waist, caressing and cooing at him to keep eating.

The next day, he wakes up in his bed, tucked in, and the scent of freshly made coffee from his kitchen.

(God, his siblings are going to make fun of him for this)

Jason likes Danny. He'd actually tell himself that he legitimately adores the tired and unhinged college student. He wants that crazy little shit like he's gonna blow up the world if he doesn't. Because he wasn't just Joker's killer. Danny Fenton unknowingly became Jason Todd's avenger, the one person to actually avenge the second Robin. And he's just...

The infatuation would have been almost selfish, if not for the fact that Jason grew to actually fall for Danny after making sure the young man was okay. He's done his best to keep Danny away from the Bats. He didn't need Batman fucking this up for him.

Danny was so... strange. In a good and endearing way. He was dedicated to his studies, and tried to live his life but helped when he could. He's seen Danny stop by crime alley a couple of times just to help feed the kids, just to hand over blankets and what seemed to be his old clothes that nobody would be wearing. He was kind, and brutal if he wanted to be. Aside from the Joker, Jason had witnessed Danny almost drown a man for trying to kidnap a meta child in the same alley. The bastard was left for dead but survived when someone dragged him out.

Oh, Jason was in love. Horrifically so.

Honestly, he was kinda screwed at this point.

He's pretty happy that he doesn't share a class with Danny. If he did, he might not be able to focus on the lecture knowing that the very thing that calms the pits inside him was so close. The possibility of getting lulled into sleep was pretty high. But their schedules didn't even align and he barely saw Danny on campus. But he'd be lying if he wasn't trying to catch a small glimpse of him.

It's one of those days that he doesn't try looking for Danny when he's got some papers for Lit. But this was different.

Riddler is a maniac, even when he tries to be harmless. Anyone who failed to solve his riddles sometimes got blown up. Gotham U ends up becoming one of his targets. Jason just so happens to be there, waiting, watching, unable to operate out of his suit. The Waynes were not the Bats. They tried not to be to keep their identities face.

He needed to keep everyone away. He needed to keep them safe, even as Jason Todd. Fuck.

Riddles. Riddler liked his riddles, plagued the city with them. Barbara's voice is in his ears immediately, reciting Riddlers gods damned questions.

"I hold dreams cast by the desperate and bold,

My heart is silver, my whispers cold.

I’ve seen generations, yet I do not age,

A quiet witness to joy, love, and rage.

Though rooted in stone, I endlessly flow,

Reflecting the sky and the world below.

Look beneath where wishes sleep,

There lies a secret, dark and deep.

What am I?" Babs' voice is shaky, just a bit before she's hardened steel in seconds.

Jason cursed under his breath, trying to figure out the riddle. They weren't stupid. They've done this before and Nygma's Riddles were hard just for them, especially Tim and Bruce. But even so, Jason was raised by Batman. He could do this.

The words were complex, the poetic nature was irksome. But Jason took just a couple more minutes before he's identifying the answer.

"A fucking fountain. Gotham U has three of those." Jason responds immediately, sucking in a deep breath as he quickly evacuates his classmates and urges them out the building. "East, north, and south."

"Red Robin and Orphan en route to the south fountain. Robin and Nightwing to the east." Oracle quickly says, "Batman to north. Signal and Spoiler are evacuating everyone from the building. Hood, get out of there—now!"

No can do, Babs, he thinks to himself and goes running to the northern part of the campus. Batman can't do shit alone, even if he insists on it. They've learned not to let him.

He arrives before Batman, already rummaging through the fountain for the fucking bomb. If it was beneath the fountain then he'd have to destroy it, but if it was already attached to the water? Shit.

One second later, he's trying to find anything to destroy the cement, and then another passed. Jason is staring at a strange young man, white hair, green eyes—it reminds him of the descriptions of Wraith and Specter that Damian and Dick repeated. He blinks, meeting eyes with the maybe Ghost Hero. He flinched, looking into glowing Lazarus—a purer hue—eyes. "The bombs under the fountain?"

"Uh... Yes!"

The ghost nodded, phasing his hands through the fountain and a second later, he's dragging out a bomb. Fuck, it only had ten seconds to spare. Both of them stared at it, wide eyed as they panic on what to do. But the stranger doesn't seem to pay too much attention and proceeds to swallow the bomb.

"WHAT THE FUCK—"

An explosion—muffled and small—boomed through the courtyard and Jason stared at the smoke and flames covering the ghosts head. A coughing fit is heard through the smoke and the stranger is waving it away, whining about the horrible taste of burnt food.

Lazarus eyes look back at him, blinking before offering Jason a radiant smile. "Sorry about that! I'm Phantom, by the way. Was just passing by when I heard about the bomb." He offers Jason a hand, still smiling.

"Oh, uhm... Any relations to Specter?" Jason immediately asks, trying not to die from his own stupidity. Way to go Jay, immediately interrogating another guy that makes the pits all mushy and warm.

Fuck, fuck fuck. Was he going to fall for everyone that calms the pits? Fuck, he didn't want to cheat on Danny (Jayyoudelusionalidiotyou'renotevendating.)

Phantom tilts his head, before he's laughing loudly. "You've met my little sister?"

"No, but she saved my brother from a kidnapping."

"Is that so?" Phantom smiled, clearly amused. "Well then, I must bid you adieu. I can see that your city's knight has this all handled."

Just then, Batman drops just behind Jason. DAMNIT, B! GO AWAY!

Phantom just glances at Batman, amused before he takes Jason's hand and pressed a light kiss to it. Cold lips pressed against his hand and he's immediately blue screening. Fucking shit, this was the exact same scene he's read in those books about the heroine getting saved by the mysterious man who'd later on be her sexy enemy/lover. FUCK!

Phantom goes back to speak, but all Jason heard were a couple of trills and chirps, a language he couldn't understand but... It felt familiar.

"Ȋ̵̢̨͍̹̺̼̜͉̳͍̮̠̯͙̤͈̥͔̰̤̐͐͜ͅ ̴̡̤͔̪̠̗̤͉͙͓̥̺̗̎͒͒̔̎̑̀̑͜͝w̷̧̖͍̝̹̤̪̞̭͎̞͓̟̪̗̱͕̑̃̃̓̀̔̀̆̋͒͛̂͜ͅi̴̧̢̧̡̡̩̻̗̬̦͉͎̮̠̤̬̪͇̖̦̘͚̟̪̠̠̪̣̪̖͇̤̣̱̪̺̩̘̼͐̇̂̂͛̿̀͗̃͑̔͋̈́̐̽̿́͊̃̄̿̄̊́̔͘̕͜͠͠͝ͅļ̴̨̢̢̨̡̢̫̘͍͉̞̝̙̹̘̜͎̩̟̰̹̙̟͉̳̯̹̫̼͉̬̯̼̪̖̿̒ḷ̸̨̱̫̣̪͖̤̩̖̮̙̋͛͆̓͜ ̴̨̨͉̩͉̠̖̖̫̠̬̥̮̲̦͙̦̜̱̺̠̫̤̫̐̑͂́̇̆̐̋͂̈́͘ş̷̛̘͎̬͙̖̜̞̗̣͍̲̒̎̈͋̄̄͛̑̈́́̌̐́͋̃͑͑̈͛͋́̂̂̂͂̈́̌̄͊͂́̓̆̎͑̕̚͝ȩ̶̛̝̮̳̭̘̪̰͚̗̖̪̤̟͊̃̐͛͆̄̀͊̄̓̒͝͠e̶̡̢̧̨̢̨̢̛̞̖̤̲̱̯̘͇̖̹͖̻̱̜̼̹̠͙̺̞̽͌̍͗̿̒̃̍̆̽̓͂͗̽̈́̀͝ͅ ̵̢͚͔̦̹͚̱̝̪̗̽̕͜ỷ̵̛̲̘̟̭̬̩͇͖̮̉͋̑̽͂͛̆͆͂̃͋̀̎̆̑͊̃͛̐́̄̊͗̄̾͋̈́̕͝ỏ̶̍̍̈́̓͊̍͑́̀̈̇̄̐͐̔͛͌̊̀́̈́̍͑͆͑͒̈́̅̌́̄̉́̇͐̒̈̍̀̎̽͝͠͠͝͝��̹̦̭̱͇͔̲̝̜̹̹̗̗̮̪̗̬̥̜͍͉̻ư̴̢̡͕̯̱̫̗̠̪͓̻̜̪̣̞̟̩͎̗̜̹̯̮̱͎̳̖̹͙̖̬̖͕̙͔̲͊̾͂̓̓̀͆̂̏̀̅̀̉̉͊̈́̅̎̍̇͋̽̿̒̓͐̄͛͊̄̉̽̏͛̋̓͗̍̎̆̒̄̕͘̕͝͝͠ͅ ̷̦̰͈͒̀̆̓̈́͑̂́̇͌̑͒̿̐̈́̅͋̎̄̎͒́̒͒̈́͊͛̚̚͠͝͠͠n̷̢̢̦̟͎͚̹̜̜̞͇̝̲̦̻̩͖̦̮̅̌̔̌͛̅̐̈́̋͌̂͋̈̋̎̈́̈̾̊̊͌̽̿̂̐͆͂̌͐̅́̌̚̚ȩ̵̨̧͔͔̩̭̦͈̪̟͉̦͚̘͚̥̰̰͓͓̤͉̫̳̜̲̲̖̘̜̮̠͉̪̤̤̮̣̫̼͓̦̣̤͖̘̹̉͐͗͆͆̉̐̂̀̄͑͑̄̈̒̀̈̀̀̎͘͜ͅx̶̝̘̼̟̜͎̲̪͎̥̖̠̼̀́̎̔͂͂͐̀̓̓̾̏̅̀̌̐̌̀̑̆̃͝͠ţ̵̢̭̫̫͇̟̣͓̲̦̩͉̞̞̳̬̞̘̙͈͓͈̺̱̮̮̘̠̤͔͍̼̼̳̳̳̦̼̣̼̹͍́͐̍͒͆̎͒͊̊̎͛͑̅̿͂̀̍̎͐́̋͛͗͗́̄͒̾͒͆̏̀̀̽͑͌̓͗̚͝͠͠͠ͅͅͅ ̷̨̧̡̮̝̜̟̠̦̳̼̝̭͖̭͚͎̦͕̦̩̺͓̺͚͈̺̤͋͌̔̏̒̾̓̈̅̃̑̏̓̂̚̚͜͝t̸̛̳̯̻͙̼̳̤͎̦̙̟͌̊͋͐̐͊́̑̈̽̎̎̾͂̓̉͆͗̐̇̏͋̕̚͝͝į̵̡̖̠̝̬̠̲̞̩̼͖̦̺͎͖̺͉̘̦̜̜̬͇̠̗̠̬̥͕̭̙̜̳͕̯͈͔̫̤̝̲̫̥͑̃͋̇̊̈́̍̈̉̑͛̈́͌̓̈̈̀̚͜͝͝͠͠ͅm̸̡͓̦͗͗̉͗̒̈́̂̆̿͒́͆ȩ̷̡͍̙͇̫͖̣͙̝̣̣̻͕͈͍͎̣̹̟͓̲̔̀̎̓͘͘͘͠,̶̢̨̨̧̧̢̖͖̠̲̞̮̘̮͉̩͔̭͕̻̝̤͚̻̭̘͈̮̥͉͎͙̜̭̿̿̆̑͗̌̈̈́͛͋̂̑̆̄̈́͋̈͐̑̍̆͂͆̂̌̍̅͊̍̌̓͘̕͝͝ͅͅ ̷̦̦͚̞̖̖̗̎̋̐́̍̆̾̑̾́͌̔́̀̿̀̓̂͒͐̑̋͊̒̈̕Ȑ̴̢̢͉̟̠͍̲̠e̷̢̡̢̡̡̨̨̢̨̛̝̰̪̠̥̠͓͍͔̗̩̯̺͕̬̮̳͎̩͈̼͕͙̯̟̦̺̣̠̺͔̓̉̈́̈̀͋̂̂̈́̆͑̏̅͌̌̂̓́̐͒̈͒̅͊̀̑̂̿̐̂̒̆̓̂̐͗̚͜͝d̶̢̧̛͇̙̰̺͉͔̼̘̩̟͎̖̪̻͖̥̳̠̣̖͎͈͓̳̯̤̲͔̻̱̝̿̈́̆͛́͛̆̄͛͒̿̈̊̉̈́̆̃̒͋́̽̒͐̀̃̑̂̔̋̈́̍̀̀̐̅̄̇͝͠ ̴̡̡̧̡̟̥̟̝̮̟̘̯̺̳̗͚̮̭͍̘̰̭̹͈͈̱̦͎̝͍̺͎͕̼̝̼̝̦͋̾̏́̐̍͌̍̋͒̕͜͠ͅḨ̵̡̧̧̤͓̖̺̭͕͉̖̝̲̖̙̣̳͚͙͚͇̙̼̻͖̺̼͉͖̞̤̞̝̭̂͐̒̑̓͂̈́́̉̽̇̀́̌͂͑͜ͅͅǫ̶̨̢̧̳̠̱̻͉̦̳͚̜͓̭̯̳̘͕͎͍͖̟͖̹̞̤̘̣̖̰͓̙̩͍̻͖̘͚̠͕̗͍̮͙̼͍̪̰̾̂͌̓͗̃̀͗̈́̚ͅõ̸̧̨̡̢̧̡͎̺̭̬̼̱̟̝͔̲̣͖͍̭̜̣͔̠̗͍̯̣̬̮͚̔ͅd̸̡̹̠̹̍̈́̄̇͋̈́́̈́̈̎̎̀̉̍̎̔̋̒͒̔̒̇͐̀̀́͌̊̉̓͌̕��̝̜.̴̛̛̛̫̹͍̯̟͓̒̀̈́̑̈̏̓͊̽̈́͊͗͒͌͌̏̌̔͌̏́̄͊͒̽̏̏̏͆̅̐͋̐̿̿́̐̈͐͗̊̏̔̚͜͜͝͝"

(Later on, Danny gets one hell of a tongue lashing from his siblings for eating a fucking bomb. At least Red Hood comes to visit with some dessert to make the flavor of bomb go away.)

#danny phantom #dead on main #dpxdc #dc x dp #jason todd #red hood #jason x danny #danny fenton #Jason is going through it #he's gonna be like marinette and suffer #the man just wants his fictional scene where he's picked up bridal style and they run away into the sunset #jason is smitten #Danny lets his inner conspiracy theorist wins and figures out the Waynes and Bats are the same cause majority of that familt are liminal af #Danny is also letting hinself be sugar babied because why the fuck not?#YOU CANT JUDGE ME JAZZ! I'M GETTING FED AND SPOILED!#Bats and Phantoms

1K notes · View notes

deadsetobsessions · 1 year ago

Text

Summonings

Ever since Danny Phantom became the Ghost King, he’s had to deal with an endless amount of crap. An eternity of it, actually, and it was constantly causing him unending amount of existential crises and stress.

First, there was the paperwork. Pariah Dark, the incompetent asshole, had left him decades worth of bureaucracy to painfully sift through. He ended up hiring some ghosts with paperwork obsessions to sort some of that out. Who knew ruling the infinite realms would require this much paperwork? He’s lucky each section of the underworld had their own systems to report to their own rulers who, in turn, report to him.

Secondly, there were the Observers. And other ghosts, like his own rogues, but they were the main issues. Eyeball menaces. They protested his appointment, something he actually agreed with. Putting a fifteen year old on the throne is rarely a smart decision. But the Infinite Realm values strength, the only type of currency that matters in the land of the gods and the dead. Danny? Phantom? He’s got strength in spades. With only a few months of being a ghost, Danny had managed to defeat Pariah Dark, who had cowered gods and struck fear into the hearts of ghost heroes.

But Danny hasn’t quite realized the significance of that yet, too focused on the realization that he was about to be in charge of the infinite realms. The Observants, since his reluctant and extremely limited coronation, has been up his ass about doing things the “proper way.”

Danny’s main problem lies with the ridiculous amount of paperwork though. It’s fine. Tedious. But fine.

But if he gets one more fifteen page essay style complaint form about some guy named Constantine, Danny might seriously reconsider donning Dan’s ruthlessness and offing the guy himself. Perhaps grab the man by his shoulders and shake him like a rag doll and ask who the fuck told him it was a good idea to sell his soul out like that? Danny eventually just sent out Skulker to hunt down the contracts and trade minor services for them. He owns most of the soul now, and perhaps he’ll hunt this guy down and force him to do paperwork.

Regardless, paperwork was just often tedious. He’s worked out a system for himself. The halfa, true to his teenage form, had better things to be doing. His homework, for one. Hanging out with his friends and logging in hours for Doomed 2 would be another. But no, he’s here, twirling a pen as he glared down at a stack of forms for a zone expansion. What the fuck does Zeus want to expand his zone for? The current share space of the sky domain is literally a perfect balance with respect towards the other gods. For the love of- Danny slams down a red ‘REJECTED’ stamp on top of the stack. His hair flickers wildly in annoyance, the iced over Crown floating above his head emitting concerning levels of frost. To anyone else but himself, of course.

He then feels a soft tug on his core.

Right. The third most annoying thing about becoming King: the fucking summoning. Danny taps his pen against his lips, clicking it against his fangs, as he considers the summoning circle that calls him. Huh. Desperation. Mildly bloody. Fear. Resignation- ah, fuck it, it’s not like he’s too enthusiastic about staying to do work with the Observers poking around. He takes the summoning, allowing his regalia to overtake his normal hazmat-clad form, and approves the summoning.

Oh hey, Danny thinks he recognizes that ugly ass trenchcoat.

—-

John Constantine has had more than enough practice summoning things that would give people nightmares. But there are things he normally refuses to touch, refuses to even entertain the idea of trying. As usual, desperation made John its bitch and the Justice League’s battered and bruised faces tugged on his shriveled heart.

He’s going to summon something from the Infinite Realms. Oh, but he wasn’t just summoning any old ghost. No, he thought, I’m just going to summon the one being that’s guaranteed to be able to crush our universe without breaking a sweat. Bollocks.

“Is it ready?”

“Untwist your pants, spooky,” John snaps, wishing he had a crate of whiskey he could down. “We’re trying to summon the Ghost King, not your average demon.”

“What do we know about him?” Batman’s gravelly voice demanded.

“Powerful enough to take us all out without even breaking a sweat. Defeated the bloody tyrant who ruled over the Realms last I heard.”

“That’s it?”

“You could ask Deadman, but I heard he’s on the outs with the Infinite Realms on the fact that he’s made of pure magic, not ectoplasm.”

“There’s no guarantee the king will work with us.” Zatanna says, pressing her fingertips together tiredly. She had been at the forefront of the battle and had paid the price for it. “But he’s supposedly more benevolent than his predecessor… and we’re out of options.”

“Hm.”

“Just make sure to shut up and let me do the talking.”

“Hn.”

John rolls his eyes and takes a fortifying breath, something that does not go unnoticed by the League. They all tense up, preparing themselves for a battle. Another one, seeing as they all got their ass kicked by a ghost only ten hours ago. The League is spread thin, running interference to distract the ghost in question and evacuating civilians.

John Constantine started chanting, the glow of his magic lighting up the circle as he spills his blood into the circle.

He waits, heart in his throat, for the summoning to work.

“Is it supposed to take-” Red Robin asks, only to cut himself off as the circle flares once more. Power pulsates outwards from the circle. Frost crackles on the frost resistant floors, spreading outwards as a green portal rips open the fabric of time and space. Long, spindly imitations of a hand grabs the edges of space and pulls, heaving the rest of his celestial body out of the tear in reality. John does not look away. He can not look away, not from the eerie green pallor of the King, not from his torrential white wisps of hair, not from the black-hole like material of his outfit, not from the nebulas and beginnings and endings tailored onto the King’s cape. John could not look away from the ice crown that floated like a bastion of power above the king’s head.

His mouth is dry. What price will he have to pay to save the world? What price will this being demand of him, of the Justice League, to save the world?

John desperately needs that drink.

—-

Oh! He’s in his home dimension! His core purrs at coming home, at the close proximity to his first haunt.

He was expecting cultists, or even the Winchesters again, but this is nice.

The Justice League- summoning him. Sam and Tucker are going to flip when they hear about this.

They’ve been staring at him in silence for a bit now. It was getting awkward.

“Why have you summoned me?” He asks, softening his tone. By their winces, he didn’t get it as well as he thought. Danny grimaces. At the first sign of discomfort though, the man in the trenchcoat- is that fucking Constantine?!- launches into a nerve filled tirade.

“Your, uh, Majesty.” He starts. “One of… One of your subjects is wreaking havoc on the world. We would be extremely grateful if… if you could reign him in?”

Danny’s face sours, only to quickly clear his expression as he realized how much even a small hint of displeasure causes the jumpiness in Constantine and the others.

“To do that, I will have to make a contract with you, seeing as you’ve summoned me.” Danny drawls, letting his overly long digits wave at the summoning circle in question. He could break it, of course, but Danny’s bored and trying to draw this out. He’s not saying he’d take a batch of cookies as payment but that’s exactly what he’s saying.

“The price… you could always have my soul?”

Danny pauses. “Your… soul?”

Oh, he did not say what he just said.

“Yes. My soul.”

Oh, he did.

Fuck it. Danny’s flashbacks of suffering through the reports pushes green into his irises and urgency to his action.

He breaks out of the circle, hands lunging and gripping Constantine’s jaw tightly. Danny ignores the shouts of alarm as he allows the thrown weapons to pass through him.

John Constantine is panicking now, struggling in the air as Danny lifts him an inch off the floor in agitation.

Good.

“Your soul, little wizard? The one you’ve split eight ways till the thirtieth of February? The one that caused,” he tightens his grip, no doubt bruising the man. “An insane amount of paperwork that I’ve had to suffer through. Your soul, John Constantine?”

Danny hisses his name. The man makes a warbling noise that Danny takes as acknowledgement. Danny bats away the weak spell Zatanna sends at him with a hand.

“You’ll find that I am in the possession of most of your soul contracts. To simply put,” he grins, teeth made of dying stars on display. “I own your soul. My soul, now.”

He drops the wizard who collapses onto his knees to stare up at him in horror, eyes flicking between the circle that was meant to contain him and Danny, who is very much not contained. He crouches down- something necessary but disjointed as he’s not used to this taller form- and speaks to Constantine in a slow, dead serious, drawl.

“If you ever sell your soul again, you and I are going to have issues. Is that clear, John Constantine?”

“Uh- yeah, yes, yes, your majesty.”

Patting his cheek condescendingly, Danny gets up and sighs, stress relieved. He’s starting to feel bad, though, so he allows his form to ripple back to his normal teenage Phantom self.

“Well, it’s not like anyone will buy it, since they know they’ll have to go against me.” He chirps, flipping 180 from his terror inducing eldritch voice. “So, what’ll you pay me to get rid of whatever ghost you’ve got?”

“…. Nothing?”

Red Robin holds out a bag, eyebags betraying his exhaustion. “I’ve got fifty dollars and a bag of cookies.”

Phantom beams at him. “Throw in a couple of autographs and you’ve got a deal.”

“That’s- yeah, okay.” Red Robin says, inching forward cautiously to hand him the bag.

“Great. I’ll be back for them later. You can call me Phantom. ‘Your Majesty’ gets annoying after a while.”

“Thank- thank you for your mercy, Your- Phantom.” Wonder Woman says.

“Sure. Make sure this idiot doesn’t make any more deals with demons while I’m out, yeah?”

With that, Danny Phantom grabs the bag of cookies and fifty dollars and flies through the wall to do his job.

John slams his head onto the space station floor.

“Fuck.”

—-

Danny: lol I’ll do it for the shits and giggles

Constantine and the League: he’s terrifying, a bastion of pure power and authority

Red Robin, Young “we commit war crimes bc it gets shit done” Justice leader and fellow gremlin: he’d probably do it for cookies. I would.

#dc x dp #danny phantom #john constantine #batman #Bruce Wayne being tired af #ghostly shenanigans #bamf Danny phantom #ghost king danny

4K notes · View notes

puppetmaster13u · 11 months ago

Text

Prompt 192

Danny feels exhausted. His stupid ghost-puberty is annoying, and is affecting even his human form. Which wouldn’t be that bad, except for the fact that instead of having a simple elemental or obsession core, he happens to have a Space one. Technically the Space Core seeing as apparently he’s the newborn Ancient of Space. Or something.

Urgh, he just wants to get some food from the dollar store down the street, not deal with whatever attempted mugging this is. He’s hangry, and just wants to get some food and curl back up in his mass of blankets back in his tiny apartment.

So maybe he overreacted. He might have released his very careful hold on his less-than human traits that have been attempting to leak through the last several weeks. On the bright side, he, uh, isn’t hungry anymore and is now back in his nest of blankets.

On the other hand, there is now a vigilante in his window.

#Dcxdp #Dpxdc #Prompts #Dp x Marvel #What hero/vigilante is it and where has Danny moved? Good question #Did he mayhaps eat a guy like a blackhole with teeth? :)#Look he’s growing another pair of arms and ice-crystal horns and everything else and it’s tiring AF #He gets hungry and needs the energy y’know #Why yes this poor vigilante or hero just witnessed a teen seemingly eldritch-ify and eat a mugger or 4 #Personally I’d think it’d be hilarious if it was Ragman/Rory (from DC) or Eddie/Venom (from Marvel)#Or even both of them; 3 way crossover #eldritch danny #ancient of space danny #or he's going to be

1K notes · View notes

stars-obsession-pit · 4 months ago

Text

Danny Phantom was not used to fighting magic users. Ghosts, yes. But humans with powers? No.

So when a cult managed to successfully summon and bind him, he lacked the knowledge of how to stop them.

And they tore him apart.

His core was broken into pieces, each one then implanted into one of the most loyal cult members (or potentially sold off to another person to use…) to grant them a portion of Phantom’s many powers.

However, the cult didn’t entirely know what they were doing either. You see, it turns out that shattering Danny’s core in that manner didn’t truly end him. His soul still persisted, still refused to die even as it was trapped amongst the disparate shards. Though each individual piece lacked the strength of mind or power to affect their hosts, they would gradually forge themselves together anew should they ever be gathered back together.

And after Red Hood killed several of the cult’s members, that process began. Their shards, now freed, transferred to the vigilante, instinctively latching onto his proto-core. Though still not yet whole enough to form a truly conscious fragment of Danny, they are enough to start to nudge Hood in the right direction (bolstered in effectiveness by Jason’s connection to death)

Jason can feel it deep within his soul. There’s something more to this cult’s powers than just normal magic, and he has a growing need to find out what that is. To stop them. To burn them all down and dig their secrets from the ashes.

#it just occurred to me that this might come off as mpreg-y and yeah i guess it kinda is but that wasn’t my intention!!#danny’s consciousness is still based on his adult state. it’s just currently broken up so each piece only has part of the story #and will coalesce into that adult state as the pieces come together #which starts to happen whenever anyone holds multiple of the shards #so like he’d start off just vaguely nudging a host but then gradually regain his memories/power and be able to talk and whatnot #and he’d be able to escape the host in his ghost form once he has enough #which could potentially be before he’s *fully* back together mentally #thus theoretically allowing him to become multiple distinct ghosts (with each being only part of his full personality)#dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #danny phantom x dc #danny phantom x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #dpxdc prompt #dc x dp prompt #dcxdp prompt #liminal jason todd #dpxdc jason todd #dead on main ship #or could be platonic if you prefer i guess #but body sharing and helping someone gradually heal seems homoerotic AF #especially if you add on some level of memory bleedthrough so Jason glimpses elements of Danny’s life before they can even talk

379 notes · View notes

radiance1 · 11 months ago

Text

Gotham: Holy shit there's a random animal running around Gotham city and no one's ever caught it before. They say it only appears in thunderstorms and anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with it look as if they've been hit by thunder.

Dan phantom, the 'random animal' who is in fact a Raiju in question: If I destroy this place I'll be fucked over by Clockwork. But if I don't destroy this place I'll keep being followed by this brat.

Damian Wayne, the brat in question: There is an animal roaming Gotham in thunderstorms, father. We must save it!

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #dcxdp #dc x dp crossover #raiju dan phantom #Just so you know #He's been kicked to another universe by Clockwork so he could express good behavior in a place that would be better equipped to handle him #If he decides to throw another world ending tantrum that is #Dan isn't that evil anymore because he went through the magic of *sparkles* therapy *sparkles* with Clockwork #He would still try to straight up kick Danny into the curve as soon as he sees him though so Clockwork forbade the two from interacting #Which works extremely well considering they're in separate universes an allat #Dan is feeling very offput by constantly being followed by this random child #Damian is hellbent on finding and rescuing this poor animal who only appears in thunderstorms #He does not give af if it's taller than a grown man he still wants to give it a good home #The batfam be wondering if this is a meta animal or one more magically inclined

652 notes · View notes

iguessthisisanewobsession · 1 year ago

Text

On the outskirts of Gotham a farm is made.

No one can pinpoint when it was started but it was clearly bountiful.

New orchards of plums apples and several other fruit whisper promises of fruits in the years to come.

Bee houses buzzed with life and ducks quacked and scurried to and from their pond, coop and the garden.

Vegetables by the rows with seasonal berries brushes spring up at the corners of the property.

Greenery that almost seemed to glow with how lush it was.

It was like a small oasis in the desert of Gotham’s dirty land.

And it was ran by only three people.

The woman’s name was Sam. She was known as an activist who seemed to do the primary care of the plants. The property was in her name and she went out of her way to invite people to take what they need.

Danny was the most well known of the trio. He brought the produce into the heart of the city. Anywhere that would take the food, kitchens, pantries, school cafeterias even people’s doorsteps.

Tucker was the technical mastermind, hidden but equally important. The sprinklers, planning of the pollination rotation, harvesting planning and statistics were his main focus on the farm. Not a single square inch of the the land was not under his watchful gaze.

All the food was fresh or properly stored and most interesting of all free.

Of course people were going to talk.

#dp x dc #writing prompt #danny fenton #danny phantom #sam manson #tucker foley #so basically #the trio play stardew valley irl #grandma Ida as soon as Sam turned 18: happy birthday I got you something something #they just want to love their best life #platonic or romantic #everlasting trio #I think that’s the right tag for that ship #in my mind it’s platonic but having a sustainable farm with your two partners is honestly goals AF #the ducks are so they don’t have to use pesticides 🥰

2K notes · View notes

mochinek0 · 1 year ago

Text

Daminette December 2023: 13-Wednesday

Paris couldn't believe what they were seeing: Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in Gotham Academy, in uniform! They hadn't see her in four years! What shocked them even more was seeing her arguing with some guy and she wasn't backing down.

The students in Gotham Academy didn't pay them any attention. Everyone ignored the shouting and yelling; they just kept walking as if they didn't see or hear them.

"Shouldn't you get a teacher?" Nino asked a student passing by.

"For what?" asked the brunette.

The class pointed at the arguing students.

"Wat day is it?" the brunette questioned.

"Wednesday." Max answered, "Does it matter?"

"It's their 'Argue Day'." the Gotham student declared.

"Argue day?" Mylene asked, confused.

"Yeah." the student stated, with a shrug, "Like clockwork. Teachers learned to deal with it. They get competitive, too."

"My boyfriend wouldn't put up with this sort of thing." Lila declared, "He hates violence."

"Oh, who is you boyfriend?" the brunette questioned.

"Damian Wayne." Lila smiled.

The brunette started laughing and pointing at Lila.

"Dude?" the blonde nearby questioned.

"This bitch said Damian Wayne is her boyfriend! She also said he hated violence!" the brunette answered and continued to laugh.

The blonde joined, howling with laughter. The Paris class shifted uncomfortably.

"Listen here, Faker," the blonde spoke, "you're not dating our ice Prince. Not to mention Damian is one of the most violent Waynes to roam these halls."

Lila sniffled, "He just doesn't want the media to know. I'm not lying."

"Well, that's lie number two." the brunette counted, "Damian doesn't care about the media. They gave him the title 'Ice Prince'."

"Do you know how many reporters have broken their arms, hands, or fingers trying to get a scoop from him?" the blonde questioned.

"You the ones lying!" Aly shouted, "Lila said he was kind and helpful Damian Wayne does charity work with her, for the environment!"

"It's not that hard to look up." the blonde scoffed, :About every other weekend, he's in the park casually talking to Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and playign with their hyenas as they plan 'How to green up Gotham'."

Lila paled hearing how he associated with rogues. That hadn't been what she expected.

"Supposedly, his mother is just as bad as they are." the brunette declared, "If not worse."

Lila gulped, trying to figure out how to keep her classmates under her control as her lie began to unravel.

"If anything, it sound like you googled 'rich kid+my age in Gotham' and Damian Wayne popped up first." the blonde responded.

"How can you say that about our friend?" Kim demanded.

The boys pointed to Marinette and the boy arguing still.

"That is Damian Wayne." the brunette answered, "By tomorrow, they'll be back to cuddling and kissing, like they have been for the past three years."

"They basically chose one day a week to let their frustrations out on each other." the blonde spoke, "It just happens to be on Wednesday."

The Parisians turned to Lila for an answer.

"I-I'm sure that's not it." Lila declared in a panic.

"Oh, really?" questioned the blonde boy, "Yo, Mari! How many times did Damian drug your coffee and drag you to bed, last week?"

"Four!" she shouted, still glaring at him.

Damian scoffed, "It was three."

"Liar!" Marinette screamed.

The class watched on in confusion.

"Damian, how many times did Mari make you new clothes last month?" the brunette asked.

"Ten!" Damian exclaimed in frustration.

Marinette scoffed, "Like you don't complain about those 'monkey suits' and how uncomfortable they are."

"I didn't ask you to go out of you way, Angel, and make me those things!" Damian rebutted.

"Oh, so now my designs are things?" Mari declared, "I just wanted you to be comfortable!"

"I'm fine!" the young Wayne sighed, "You need to sleep!"

"How long did she stay up?" the blonde questioned.

"She didn't sleep." Damian growled.

Marinette threw her hands up before resting them on her hips, "I slept on the drive over. I drank Tim's coffee. It usually has at least five espressos. Not the most I've had."

"What?" Damian shouted.

"Ah, so that's the reason this time." the brunette spoke.

"Sorry, Liar, but no one in Gotham will believe that you are anything to Gotham's Ice Prince when there are pictures being posted, like this, by his very own brothers." the blonde declared.

He turned his phone around to see Marinette and Damian dressed in pajamas and curled up in bed together.

"Everyone in Gotham Academy knows they live together at Wayne Manor." he continued, "Not to mention, the moment someone tries to touch her or get in her personal space, he threatens to kill them."

"He had five knives taken away this month." the brunette stated.

"Actually, it was eight." the blonde commented.

"Oh, when did I miss those?" the brunette questioned.

"You were sick for a week." the blonde answered.

"Gotha." the brunette spoke, "So, good luck and welcome to Gotham."

"Have a good Wednesday." the blonde spoke as they walked away.

Marinette yawned, "Why am I yawning? I drank Tim's coffee."

"Todd switched his coffee with decaf." Damian smiled, "You just happened to drink it, instead."

"No." she whined, "You did this on purpose!"

"I did not force you to drink Drake's coffee not did I force you to stay up all night." he answered, "If anything, Todd is upset that you ruined his prank."

"But-" Mari yawned again.

Damian smirked and picked her into his arms, "We are going home and you are going to bed."

"School." Marinette replied.

"I already messaged the teachers on the ride over that e would be missing the next two days." the young Wayne answered, "I've also paid Todd $100 for messing up his plan. In exchange, he will bring you lunch and dinner."

Marinette didn't respond and curled up in his arms. Damian just walked out of the school.

"Okay!" someone shouted, "Who had them making up under fifteen minutes?"

"Awww, man!"

"I could have sworn they would argue longer today."

"Didn't expect her to not sleep."

"Or have decaf."

"If she had just had that coffee."

"How much did you lose?"

"$20."

"Lucky; $30."

"50."

Paris watched on as money was exchanged. Marinette and Damian Wayne's couple argument had gotten so common that people were gambling on it. They started to turn to Lila, who obviously had no idea how to explain what had just happened.

"So, you really were a liar." Nathaniel whispered, "Marinette was right, all along."

"I don't think we'll get to apologize to Marinette," Rose sniffled, "But she looks happy."

"Can't say you will be by the end of this trip, Lila." Alix sneered.

Lila was out of her element as Gotham had quickly spread her lie about dating Damian. No one believed her and if she said anything, they would just laugh at her. Not to metion her own classmates were now ignoring her. This hadn't been what she had planned; it was just another Wednesday. Nothing special about it.

TAGLIST: @maribat-calendar-events@animeweebgirl@a-star-with-a-human-name@meme991001@vixen-uchiha@abrx2002@alysrose-starchild@fandom-trapped-03@dood-space@moonlightstar64@saltymiraculer@marveldcedits20@09shell-sea09@icerosecrystal@animegirlweeb@insane-fangirl-of-everything@blueblossombliss@nickristus-dreamer@megawhitleycalderonpaganus@missmadwoman@meira-3919@princessdaisysolosyourfaves@blep-23@fangirlingfanatic@darkhinauniverse@ravenr22@im-a-satanic-ritual@ravennm84@bianca-hooks123@a-slytherinish-gryffindor@starling218

#daminette december 2023 #daminette #akuma class #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #marinette x damian #damian x marinette #lila lies #lila exposed #bets #gambling #gotham academy #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #wednesday #arguments #tired af marinette #mochinek0

523 notes · View notes

finemealprompt · 6 months ago

Text

DP x DC Prompt #93

Danny is too busy helping the League with a threat to fight his own rogues, so they decide to take care of the problem so Danny will pay attention to them again.

#finemeal prompt #dp x dc #danny fenton #justice league #danny phantom rogues #listen y’all uhhh my queue is empty #whoops #summer courses really got to me #but I’ll try to fill it again for y’all #whoop whoop #we’ll see how i do though #so if i stop posting daily uhhhh that’s why #life be busy af #ngl

201 notes · View notes

and-so-he-rambled · 7 months ago

Text

“Oh Bats, are you losing your touch?”

(Gotham Rogue Vlad Masters) Masterlist

Vlad was definitely gloating as he cocked his hip and leaned against the roof access door of the building. Bruce had been chasing him all across the city, having much less luck than usual ever since Vlad’s powers had started getting stronger. He still didn’t dare change forms since Daniel’s death day weeks earlier, both for not tipping his hand and being unsure if he was strong enough to maintain it yet, but he could feel his former strength returning. The wound in his shoulder was starting to heal properly now that they had access to ectoplasm.

He tauntingly swung the artifact in front of him, a necklace from a private collection that one of his old contacts had asked him to track down. Getting in and out had been easy, using the cheat of his intangibility to get in without tripping an alarm. He did however somehow manage to set off the silent alarm as he was leaving, what an unfortunate oversight that would surely lure in a bat.

Batman glared at him, breathing heavier than usual. Vlad was becoming more and more sure each day that he wasn’t truly human, able to keep up with a half ghost across the city. Vlad hadn’t made it easy for him for both their sakes, he needed the exercise and the Bat needed his lovely company. He’d kept things fun by shorting out the bats comm line occasionally, but not so much that he would catch on that Vlad was the cause. It really did ruin so much of the fun to have a voice in your ear helping out.

“Badger.” The hero snarled, taking a step forward.

Vlad smirked, twirling the necklace around his clawed finger and dancing out of reach. And Daniel said ballroom was a useless skill!

“Ah, ah, not my name.” He didn’t always use the Honey Badger moniker, but it had its uses. Batman glared harder, forcing his next words through grit teeth.

“Honey-“

“Yes dear?”

Vlad cackled as Batman frowned harder, tossing the necklace up and snatching it back out of the air before making it disappear from sight. In reality it was stored inside Vlad’s arm, but the Bat didn’t know that.

“Oh, guess it’s gone!” Vlad smirked, taking a swaggering step forward with his hands out to show his empty palms, long metal claws glinting. He invaded the Bat’s space, their chests nearly touching as he growled playfully. What? He was allowed to have a little fun!

“You going to search me for it?”

Batman grabbed his wrist, pulling it away from where it had strayed close to his utility belt.

“You going to make me?” Vlad was unable to help the low purr in his chest.

“Maybe I-“

“Unhand Honey Badger!”

Both men froze as a tiny voice yelled, heads turning to watch a tiny body executed a perfect flip, only to stumble as he landed.

Daniel stood in all his tiny glory, smiling up at him with sharp teeth. He was wearing his own version of the Badger outfit, with white markings down the eyes of his cowl and gauntlets that ended in claws, but Vlad could see stars twinkling in the black fabric. It appeared Daniel had discovered how to change the outfit of his ghost half.

“Little Badger.” Vlad hissed, stalking away from Batman and making sure he was a barrier between Daniel and the Bat. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you fight Batman! Did you steal something? Can I see? Can I help next time?” The white lenses of Daniel’s cowl widened, a tinge of glowing green behind them.

“I was explicitly clear that you are not ready yet, was I not?” Vlad glanced at Batman, who was watching them, and switched to ghost speak. Daniel was hardly fluent yet, but he could understand it well enough. ‘Where is your sister? How did you find me? I thought you hated stealing!’

“I do! But sometimes people do bad things for good reasons!” Daniel repeated his first lesson proudly and in English. “Besides, you said Batman is a weirdo and we can be mean to him.”

“Badger, is this child… acquainted with you?”

Vlad sniffed, turning up his nose.

“I don’t see how that’s your business. Perhaps I’ve taken a page out of your book.” He glanced at Daniel’s shoddy costume and back to Batman. “At least mine wears pants.”

Batman glowered at him, Vlad’s hearing picking up staticky laughter from his comms. His hearing was growing sharper and better as well now. He hadn’t picked up anything useful from Bat’s comms yet, as he rarely got close enough to listen for long and they used code names, but he gladly kept this skill hidden for when it would have its uses.

Just as the great Bat went to offer whatever defense he had for his Robin occasionally wearing honest to ancients booty shorts the boy himself landed on the roof. It seems he’d decided to actually join the party this time. He usually made himself scarce when Vlad and the Bat had their moments.

“Hey, they’re comfy! I didn’t know bad guys had sidekicks too, if he my new nemesis? Kinda short.” Robin smiled confidently at the younger child.

The two children stared at each other for a long moment before Daniel turned to Vlad.

“Can I fight him? Can I? Can I? I’ve been training with J- WildCat!”

“Cub, you are not ready to face Robin yet.” Not without using his powers and blowing their secret.

“Just a little? Pleaaase?”

Vlad glanced at Batman before sighing heavily, shoulders sagging.

“Just for a moment.” Sue him, he wanted to know how Daniel would fare in a real fight. He trusted Robin wouldn’t hurt him severely, and that Batman knew he wasn’t above revenge on his cub’s behalf.

“But he’s a toddler!” Robin protested, gesturing at the young child. “How do we start? Witty banter?”

The Badger Cub had been training with Vlad and Jazz daily, but his training was far different than theirs. Vlad was teaching Jazz acrobatics and the art of thievery, but Daniel had been learning simply how to survive by any means necessary.

Which was why he dropped down to all fours, let out a terrifying snarl, and ran at the young hero full force. Vlad watched in delight as Robin screamed, the kindergartener launching up at him.

He easily dodged Batman’s attack, twirling out of reach with a laugh.

“Honestly Batman, so impatient. Can’t keep your hands off me, can’t you see I’m watching the children play?”

Daniel, to his credit, was doing very good for a five year old. He was using every dirty trick Vlad had taught him, and a few he’d come up with on his own.

“What is wrong with this kid! Owowow, he’s biting me! Who does that?!” Robin shook his arm as he tried to pry it from the child’s jaws.

“Badger! What did I say about biting? Release! You don’t know where that boy has been!” Vlad flipped out of Batman’s reach with a slight boost from flight, kicking him in the chest as he did.

The cub unlocked his jaw and skittered away, still on all fours and growling.

“I promise he’s had his shots.”

Vlad’s comm came alive with a crackle, Jazz’s terrified voice coming over the line.

‘I can’t find Dan- Baby Badger! I woke up and he’s gone!’ The girl sobbed in a panic, hiccuping. Daniel went stiff, staring at Vlad with wide eyes as his sensitive ears picked up the words.

“I have him, WildCat. We’ll be returning momentarily, he is unharmed.” He assured her, scooping the child up under one arm. Batman and Robin began to drift to the sides, likely trying to box him in.

“You’re not going anywhere, Honey Badger.”

“Actually I am!” Vlad cheerily yelled as he released a cloud of thick smoke from a port in his glove, turning invisible and running as the Bats closed in.

“Cub, you are going to be grounded until you’re thirty.” He snarled to his adopted son as they dashed across buildings and through shadows. “But, I am proud of how well you did. Perhaps one day you can join me.” He wanted better for his kids, but he also knew that there wasn’t much of a life for them outside of the shadows. A secret part of him hoped Daniel would do good like he always wanted instead of becoming a thief like him and Jazz, but he’d let the child choose that path himself.

Jazz was a mess when they finally phased through the apartment wall, snatching her brother and hugging him through sobs. Once she’d recovered she began to scream at him, shaking the boy until Vlad stepped in.

Daniel passed out immediately once he changed back, happy as could be and unworried about the punishment that awaited him.

Vlad left the bedroom to find Jazz on the couch, staring at her hand. She was wearing one of her gauntlets, the metal gloves Vlad had made her for self defense. They normally stayed as simple bracelets, but she could activate them as needed. She’d designed them herself when Vlad had taught her the lesson of scratching the eyes out of anyone who tried to take her.

“What’s on your mind, Jasmine?” He sat down on the threadbare couch beside her.

The redhead sighed, bumping their shoulders together as she leaned against him. He activated the second gauntlet with a flick of her wrist, tapping the metal claws together idly.

“I know it’s stupid, but I guess I wanted to be the one to go with you first.” Vlad looked at his adoptive daughter, cataloguing every scar and stress line. She’d aged so much in the last year. He knew she wanted to follow in his footsteps and provide for them, but Daniel would always tether her. It was Vlad’s fault for putting so much of Daniel’s care on her shoulders when he’d promised himself he wouldn’t, but they had never had other options. Daniel was just too young, too special, too reckless.

“I’ll tell you what.” Jazz looked at him with sad bit curious eyes. “Let’s make a deal.”

“What?”

“Keep up with your training and prove to me you can handle yourself, and we’ll get Daniel a sitter so you can pull a job with me. After I know you can take care of yourself I’ll watch Daniel so you can go out.” He’d been hesitant on sending a seven year old girl out into Gotham, but Jazz was improving leaps and bounds each day. She enjoyed challenging herself and improving, and Vlad was confident she would be a capable thief someday.

“Really? Thank you!” She threw her arms around him, claws tearing into the couch and nearly missing Vlad.

“Yes, yes.” Vlad pat the girls head, allowing the tight hug. He wasn’t a touchy person unless it was specific people, and Jazz was special. She was allowed in his personal space. Daniel allowed himself in everyone’s personal space.

“We do need to teach Daniel some actual fighting techniques now. He was a tad feral tonight.”

——

I love Feral Danny Fenton. This fic needs more of it, I’ve written Daniel as an inconvenience more than a child so far, so I wanted to let him shine a bit by causing some chaos

Also Bruce definitely suspected Vlad (or ‘David’ lol) was the new rogue, but this definitely confirms it. A child with the exact height and voice as his son appeared.

#first draft af #I’ll probably revise this heavily #especially if old man Bruce wins the poll #gotham rogue vlad masters #danny phantom #vlad plasmius #danny fenton #vlad masters #dp x dc #dpxdc #the batman 2004 #Batman #dc #dcxdp #dc x dp #bruce wayne x vlad masters #fruitbatship #dc robin

177 notes · View notes

bewitched-forest · 2 years ago

Text

Formula for a Crime Scene - Ch 3

[Ao3 Link Here]

} ~ – ~ {

Artemis crossed his arms, settling into the chair. Usually, he would enjoy the luxuries of somewhere on the Fowl private jet. But this would not be one of those times.

Butler sits down across from him, setting his elbows on his knees. “Artemis.”

Artemis scowls at his bodyguard and friend. “I don’t appreciate this.”

Butler sighs. “You need to get your degree Artemis.”

“As I informed my mother, I could just as easily get my ELC early in Ireland. They don’t need to send me to school, much less some academy in America.”

“You died Artemis. For six months, you were dead. You can’t blame them for wanting you to be somewhere you can be kept an eye on.”

“Yes because Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy of Gotham, inspires that much confidence,” Artemis says with a sneer, suppressing the flinch at hearing Butler talk about his death.

Butler sighs, pinching his nose. “I don’t know about Bruce, but Alfred Pennyworth is a good friend of mine. Surely, you could find something good to do with your time in Gotham. The… others are in a good place now. There’s no need for you. Perhaps, you could let yourself have time to relax. Have fun. Be a regular 16 year old.”

Artemis groans. “I haven’t been ‘regular’ anything since I was 12 years old Butler. Which was 7 years ago, if you’ll recall. I have no desire to associate myself with the imbecilic masses without any real idea of responsibility.”

“Well I’m afraid you’re just going to have to deal with it, Artemis. I am on specific orders from your parents to ensure you get to and stay in Gotham.”

Artemis scowls. “And I thought you were my bodyguard, Butler.”

“I am. But I’m also your friend, Artemis. You can’t keep doing this. Throwing yourself into trouble. One of these days you’re going to buckle from the pressure and none of us may be there to help you. And you won’t be able to get out of it yourself.”

Artemis huffs, crossing his arms and looking out the window. He was more than capable of handling a little pressure. He was one of the only humans entrusted with the knowledge that the People existed. He had died, and had a plan that led to him being revived.

He was ill fitted for normality, that much he knew. High school at some fancy prep academy full of idiotic school children who knew nothing but a life of pampering was even more ill-suited for him. He had saved the world, for gods’ sake. What was he doing being squashed in among the rabble.

“We will be touching down in Gotham in another hour. You’ve missed the first day of the year already, and will have to miss the second as well to acclimate to Gotham. But you will be attending on the third day,” says Butler as he stands. Artemis simply keeps looking out the window, causing Butler to sigh and walk to the other areas of the plane.

Artemis looks behind him to glance at Butler, before shifting and pulling out his laptop. He opens it, pulling up his research of Gotham. Since simply not going has failed him, he will have to go with some of his more proactive plans. Currently, plan B was to sabotage the Wayne family as much as possible. If that failed, he had other plans. One was particularly nuclear as while it would most certainly get him returned home, it would most likely result in him being quite actively watched by his family. As such, it was currently the last resort.

But enough about that for now. Right now, Artemis needs to study. From what he could find, the only current residents of Wayne Manor were Bruce Wayne himself, his sons Damian Wayne and Tim Drake, and the butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Upon being informed that he would be staying with the Waynes, Butler had informed him that Pennyworth was a former colleague of his, both having served in the army.

That unfortunately meant Pennyworth would have to remain unbothered. Butler would only allow him to do so much, and it would be best to avoid alerting him.

This of course, left the other members of the household. The easiest choice would be Damian Wayne. There were multiple accounts of how Damian was prone to anger, and the two would be attending school together, though in different grades. The most effective, however, would most likely be Tim Drake. Despite only being 20, he was already a CEO for Wayne Enterprises. Sabotaging him would mean sabotaging the company.

Artemis would have to adjust his plans once he arrived, of course. It's said that the other Waynes rotated out of the manor quite often, and of course the media could get things wrong. Not to mention, methods of sabotage would have to be conjured after study. It would be ill advised to make a plan now, before he had all the information.

Artemis hummed, perking up at the thud of Butler’s boots making their way towards him. Artemis scowled, closing the laptop and returning it to his case.

If he shifted, lacing his fingers and setting his chin against them. He would have to find a way home, one that evaded Butler’s attention long enough for him to pull it off. Being this far away from home wasn’t the issue for Artemis. He’d been through Limbo. But being this far proposed another problem than just Artemis’s discomfort. Gotham was notoriously corrupt and dangerous. So much so though even the People had heard of it, designating the place as a no fly zone for officers. While Holly was never going to follow rules, Artemis knew Gotham was no joke. If he was needed while he was staying in Gotham, Holly would be flying into a trap not even set to capture her.

Batman had banned metas from Gotham, as well as those who weren’t human, in an effort to mitigate the issues that may happen if they were captured and used by Gotham’s rogues. Artemis has no doubts that a faerie would be considered a prize among them, due to the unique properties of fae magic. Not to mention, Holly didn’t have permission in Gotham. While back at the manor she had permission to enter the dwelling, as well as the privacy, she would have neither in Gotham. While Artemis could plausibly grant Holly the permission she needed to enter Wayne Manor, the nature of Gotham would make her slipping in unnoticed extremely difficult.

It was long decided. Artemis would be ensuring his stay in Gotham was as short as possible.

20 notes · View notes

robinsegghead · 6 months ago

Text

Danny's Daycare Part 6

[Master List]

"I’m going to feel really bad about all of this if he doesn’t turn out to be evil.” Duke sighed.

Tim hummed in acknowledgement, still buried in his work and completely enthralled and enraged by what he had found. Or rather, what he had not found. “He has to be something - there’s nothing about him! Daniel Nightingale does not exist! There’s no internet presence, no pictures, videos, nothing! Nobody who comes into that kind of money is just a… a…”

“Ghost?” Duke asked as Tim snapped his fingers to remember the word.

Pointing at Duke, he nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! That! He’s like a ghost or something- I don’t trust it!”

Standing up, Duke moved away from the batcomputer and towards the exit. “Have you ever considered that maybe he’s just a nice guy doing a nice thing?” He paused, no response coming from Tim. “Of course not,” he muttered. “That would require seeing the good in literally anyone.”

~~~

Sunday was much less exciting. Danny went to the store successfully, drank his coffee without spilling it on himself, fixed his coffee maker, and notably; didn’t kill anyone or run into any vigilantes. Which, thank Ancients, honestly. Danny was not here to play hero again, but he was self-aware enough to admit that if he somehow befriended the birds and bats that he’d let himself get dragged back into it.

So he stayed inside.

Monday was also quiet. Twelve kids between Mia, Ember, and Danny wasn’t too bad but he did get lunch delivered for all three of them. The parents later that day brought news of Joker’s death which had apparently reached the public. The article said nothing about murder (although it was obviously speculated at) and neither Danny’s name nor his face were in the article.

He didn’t sleep that night.

Tuesday wasn’t any busier than Monday, but it felt hectic, and Danny wrote a physical note to himself to hire more help. So far he’d gotten lucky, good workers wouldn’t just keep falling into his lap, he’d need to look for it. There was more speculation about the Joker’s death (there were even more parties) but Danny kept his nose out of it. Not his circus. Not his monkey’s.

Except it kind of was, and he’d killed the monkey.

Wednesday was fine, Danny learned a bit more about the Joker through the constant barrage of news. It was through this barrage that he learned more about Duke’s past and its relation to the Joker. Feeling a bit like a creep, Danny found as much information as he could on the Thomas’s, where they were, how long they’d been there, and what had happened to them. It was… distressing to say the least.

Danny contacted Frostbite about working on a Joker venom cure.

Thursday wasn’t special. Danny both liked and hated how slow his days had been recently. No one had tried to mug him recently (which was fine albeit boring), with help at the daycare he didn’t find himself quite as exhausted at the end of the day, and sleep continued to evade him with the exception of small bouts that came on randomly and without care if he was laying down or not. Some would call it ‘passing out’, Danny called it power napping.

He was just waking up from another one of his power naps, this one taken only a foot away from his couch, when his phone rang. The number wasn’t one he knew, but the area code was Gotham.

“Hello?” He answered, stretching his stiff arms, and rubbing the sore spot on his head from where it hit the edge of the coffee table at the… beginning of his power nap.

There was a shuffling on the other end of the line, then a groan, and finally, a response. “Danny...? It’s… Miguel. Listen I… I-” There was a choking sound followed by a wet cough and Danny realized this wasn’t exactly the call he’d been expecting. Slipping on his jacket and shoes and grabbing a first aid kit, he left his apartment.

“Where are you?”

“25 th and Mundson… I’m…” He let out a shuddery breath and Danny thought he heard sniffling. “It’s bad man.”

Danny had already begun his flight from the moment Miguel had answered. It only took a couple of minutes, Danny spent the entire time speaking words of encouragement, instructing him on what to do. Miguel had been stabbed in the lower stomach and was losing blood fast. Upon arrival, Danny was grateful to see the kid still kicking, putting as much pressure on the wound as he could, just like Danny had said.

“Hey, Miguel, how we doing?” He pulled the shirt away from his stomach and checked the wound. It was deep.

Miguel groaned, head falling back against the brick wall behind him.

“None of that, kid, talk to me.” Danny pulled out wads of gauze and pressed them into the open wound trying to staunch the bleeding.

Despite his request, Miguel didn’t manage to say anything, only letting out more sounds of pain every few seconds. Once he’d gotten the gauze wrapped tightly against his wound, Danny wound his arms around the boys’ frame and pulled him into his arms.

“Thompkins clinic is only a couple of blocks away.” He murmured, booking it down the sidewalk.

Miguel made his discomfort known as he loudly groaned and cried into Danny’s shoulder. Guilt tugged at the half dead king. He’d been in tough spots, but honestly? This was a first. He’d never held someone while they bled out except himself and he was sure he would have been happier going his whole life without.

As the building came into sight he felt the prickle of hope just under his skin, only to been diminished by Miguel’s breathing coming to a stop.

“Come on, kid. Please.” He grit out, shoving through the door.

The receptionist stood up quickly, fear being replaced by resolve. She moved immediately, opening the door to the actual clinic.

“Doctor!” She shouted, as Danny shoved past her and laid Miguel on the table.

“He’s been stabbed. He called me eleven minutes ago, I applied pressure and wrapped it eight minutes ago, it’s deep.” He barely breathed, forcing the words out as fast as he could.

Doctor Thompkins and her receptionist nurse worked quickly, pushing Danny out of the room and trying to save Miguel’s life. Sitting in the waiting room was excruciating. With his advanced hearing he could tell when the doctor pulled out the paddles, when she zapped Miguel (Danny wincing at the phantom ((ha)) feeling of electricity coursing through his own body), he could hear when she demanded the nurse for more medicine, to wipe the area, to hand her a tool, and he could hear it all knowing he couldn’t help.

He’d come to Gotham to help people. And he couldn’t. He sat in the lobby, paralyzed, unable to help one of the few people he’d specifically offered his help to.

When the door opened almost two hours later, the nurse offered him a small smile and nodding for him to go to the back. He didn’t waste a second, breezing by her and directly to the bed Miguel laid in, covered by a blanket, vitals stable.

“He’s going to be okay.” Doctor Thompkins starts, looking over a clipboard. “It was pretty serious, his heart stopped three times and we had to bring him back. If this were any other kind of clinic I would have had him transferred to a hospital via an ambulance the moment you brought him in.” She said pointedly, there was no real bite in her words. “I’d like to at least keep him over night, make sure he’s okay before he goes galivanting around Crime Alley again.”

Danny nodded. “Thank you.” He paused, staring at Miguel before turning back to the doctor. “Sorry, uh, I’m Danny. Danny Nightingale.” He held his hand out to shake, blood still caked under his fingernails no matter how many times he’d tried to scrub it away.

She offered a small smile. “I’ve heard a great deal about you Mr. Nightingale. He looks a bit old to be yours though.” She gestured to Miguel.

“Oh, no.” He chuckled. “We’ve only met a couple of times, but I gave him my number in case he was ever in trouble. It came in handy tonight.”

Nodding, the doctor looked back at her clipboard. “Do you know about family? Anyone we can contact?”

He sighed, Miguel’s phone heavy in his pocket. “I grabbed his phone but… I know it’s just him and his little brother. I don’t know where the brother is, but I don’t want him out there all alone all night. He might come looking for his brother. I’ll see if I can find any information in his phone.”

She nodded again, hesitantly before turning away. “I have a couple of things to work on, but you’re welcome to stay here for a while.”

~~~

Tucker had found Miguel’s little brother’s information in the phone and Danny had set out immediately. He had no idea how Tucker had done it, there was no phone number for his brother, no home address, but Tucker just gave one of his ‘you won’t understand even if I dumb it down for you’ sighs and Danny didn’t question it.

He’d felt bad about leaving Miguel, but Doctor Thompkins assured him the boy wouldn’t wake until the morning and it would be more dangerous for Santiago (Miguel’s little brother) to be alone all night. So he’d left.

He didn’t like what he’d found.

An abandoned office building on the edge of Crime Alley. Not just abandoned, caved in, likely from a bomb, half the building was missing, there was no roof, most of the second floor had crumbled away leaving the first floor open to the dangers of the night.

“Santiago?” Danny called cautiously. “My name is Danny; I know your brother.” He hoped Santiago was here. Please don’t let him be searching the streets for his brother. Miguel had said he was only thirteen. “Miguel’s hurt, I’ve come to take you to him.”

His senses flared and his body moved on instinct, dodging the long piece of wood that swung at his head. Rolling forward and springing back up, he spun around to face his attacker. His attacker being a little kid. He wore a worn-down jacket, the zipper was open and broken, there were holes in the t-shirt underneath, his jeans were shredded around the ankles and his toes poked through the shoes that were holding on by the shoelaces.

Raising both hands in a surrender motion, Danny sighed. “Santiago?” The boy’s look was guarded, but fear was clearly underneath, and he nodded once, barely. “I met your brother the other night, my name’s Danny. Your brother got hurt and I took him to Thompkins clinic, I came to bring you to him so you wouldn’t worry about him all night.”

The two-by-four lowered slowly but not all the way. “’E may’ve mentioned ya.” His voice was so quiet, barely a whisper.

Danny nodded encouragingly. “I want to help you- both- if you’ll let me. But that’s not what I’m here for tonight. I didn’t want you to be alone or go searching for your brother, so I came to bring you to him. And then, at least while he’s healing, I’d like to help you guys out, if you’ll let me.”

And with the look Santiago gave him, he was optimistic that he could wear them down.

~~~

As he’d learned in the past six months, Danny wasn’t just the king of the infinite realms. No- he was the king of hasty decisions. He already owned the apartment building he lived in and he’d been fixing up the empty apartments, but without much thought (or asking Miguel and Santiago’s opinions) he went online and purchased all of the necessary furniture to house two boys and set the delivery for the next day.

“Mr. Nightingale-” Miguel started.

“Danny.”

Miguel ignored him. “Mr. Nightingale, tha’s too much. We can’t accept this. Why would you even want us to move in?” His balled his fists in the hospital blanket. Doctor Thompkins had thankfully stepped out to give them some privacy. “What do you want from us?”

“Listen, Miguel,” Danny rubbed a hand across his forehead. “I don’t WANT anything FROM you. I want you both to be safe. I want you both to go to school. And I want you to only worry about grades and socializing and other kid things.” He raised a hand calmingly as Miguel geared up to argue. “And I know you aren’t kids- you’ve been through too much to be considered kids, but you are young, and you deserve to feel safe.”

The brothers looked between each other and Danny.

“I don’t want to charge rent; I don’t want anything from you.” He repeated. “I want to help you, remember? That’s what I do. That’s what people like me are made for. Helping.”

Santiago, in a rare show of childishness, climbed onto his brother’s bed and into his lap, whispering something in his ear. The two shared a pointed look, a telepathic conversation happening between them while Danny tried not to watch. Miguel sighed.

“So… how would this work?”

Danny leaned back in his chair, hoping he looked less intimidating like this. “I own the apartment building I live in. I’d like to give you two one of the apartments to live in, rent free, obviously. I’d like to tutor you both so you can get into a good school before next semester, we could do that on weekends and in evenings. I would also like you to leave your gang,” Miguel opened his mouth, but Danny pressed on. “I can offer you a job that will pay much better than any gang will.” Miguel’s mouth shut.

The three sat in silence for a moment after that, Miguel thinking it all through. “Why us man?”

The Halfa shrugged. “Why not? I can’t help everyone, but I can help you two. You’re just as deserving as anyone else is and I have the means.”

“This ain’t some weird sugar daddy situation, is it?”

Danny actually laughed at that. “No, Ancients no! I already told you what I want. And it’s not anything weird or creepy or gross. I just want to help.” I just want to protect.

“Fine.” Miguel mutters. “But no creepy shit! An’ you ain’t my dad!”

He nodded, grinning. “Agreed.”

~~~

Danny insisted they stay at the clinic for another twenty-four hours, both so Miguel could recover a bit more before walking around and so he could get the apartment set up before their arrival.

First he contacted Ember and begged her to work the whole day tomorrow and be responsible about it, then he called Mia and told her he had a family emergency and would be out the following day but that she could call if she needed and to keep Ember in line.

After that he called Jazz because that’s what he did when he did something crazy.

“Danny?” She answered.

“I did something hasty again.”

She sighed. “What is it this time? A restaurant? A hotel? Tell me it isn’t Phantom rela-”

“What? No! No it’s- you know how I bought my apartment building before moving here? Well… I just invited a couple of kids who need a safe place to stay to live in one of the apartments and I’m kind of freaking out.”

She hummed, neither approving nor disapproving, just signaling that she was listening.

He phased into his apartment and threw his bloody jacket on top of the trash can. “I’m giving them an apartment on my floor, paying for their school, and tutoring them on the weekends. They’re good kids, they just need help.”

“Danny.” She sighed. “You can’t help everyone.”

“I know!” He snapped.

Neither said anything for a moment, allowing their personal frustrations to subside before continuing. They didn’t fight often anymore, but when they did… it could get pretty explosive.

“I know, Jazz.” He started again. “I can’t help everyone. I know that. But I can help them. Isn’t that why I’m here? To help?”

She chuckled. “I can’t believe we ever didn’t know your obsession… Remember I wasn’t particularly excited about the daycare in the first place?” He knew, she’d thought he was crazy. But she’d gotten with the program and helped out immensely. “Look, you’re an adult, and more importantly, I trust you, just be careful okay? You’re always doing these crazy last-minute things and it worries me. You’re stretching yourself so thin.”

“I know.”

“I’ll call in a family emergency at work tomorrow and come help you out. What do you need from me?”

And that’s why he always called her. He felt the tension release from his shoulders as he went through a mental checklist of tomorrows to do’s. The apartment needed to be cleaned, furniture needed to be moved in, groceries, clothes, and books needed to be procured after that, and they’d need phones.

She agreed to show up at seven in the morning to start cleaning the apartment. He could go out and buy essentials while she did that and the furniture would likely be delivered in the early afternoon so they could start moving it all in. They didn’t want to stress the boys out with too much stuff, so Danny promised to keep it to the essentials.

“Well, I’ve got to get up bright and early to help my kid brother with another crazy scheme, so I’ll be going.” The teasing in her voice was palpable. “I love you, brother.”

“Love you too, sis.”

It was nearing midnight when Danny finally ended his call with his sister and looked over the furniture set to be delivered the following day. Two mattresses and bed frames, a couch, a table and chair set, two desk with chairs, and a tv stand (no tv, he was worried how the boys would feel if it was obvious how much he’d spent. He’d get them a tv soon.). For an exorbitant price, it would all be delivered the following day by two in the afternoon.

Danny took another power nap.

This one was longer than most and he awoke with a start as sunlight poured into the apartment. Dragging a hand down his face, he stumbled towards the kitchen. When had he last eaten? Didn’t matter, he didn’t have much. He didn’t eat much these days. Not for lack of trying, he was just so busy.

Opening his fridge (praying there was some fresh fruit or something he could grab quickly) he was shocked to find a container of what looked to be chicken parmesan and a sticky note attached to the lid.

Don’t know how a twig like you took out the Joker, eat something. -RH

There was another container next to it with some kind of stew.

Okay, not a fan of chicken parm? Fine, but eat the stew. -RH

There was a third container next to that, some kind of steak and potatoes.

Do you eat? I swear they aren’t poisoned. -RH

Danny chuckled. Only one person knew he’d killed the Joker, he hadn’t even told Jazz when she’d called after the breakout, which meant the Red Hood was breaking into his apartment and leaving him meals. Why? As a thank you? Danny stilled owed him a thank you for all he’d done for his people.

Reheating the chicken parmesan Danny let his thoughts turn from the Red Hood to his plans for the day. According to his phone it was nearing seven. He’d also gotten confirmation sometime in the middle of the night for the furniture he’d bought saying it’d arrive closer to two.

He scarfed down the food (he couldn’t remember ever eating something so delectable) and made his way down to let Jazz in. [SE7] It had been a few weeks since they’d been able to have brunch, and he smiled when they made eye contact. Her hair was pulled back with a bandanna, her jeans were cuffed, and she wore an open jacket over a ratty old t-shirt. She looked ready to get to work.

“All right, Mr.-fixes-everyone’s-problems-but-his-own, lead the way.” She arched an eyebrow, clearly still miffed that he hadn’t told her about buying and renovating the building.

He brought her up to the fourth floor. “This is where they’ll be staying. It’s got two rooms so they won’t have to share, but it’s also on my floor so I can be nearby if they need an adult.”

“Is that what you think you are?” She teased, lowering the bucket of cleaning supplies she’d brought along.

Rolling his eyes, he opened the balcony window blinds. “I cleaned all of the open apartments when I bought the place, but it could use a thorough dusting and vacuuming. The furniture will be arriving around two, so we’ve got time. I also need to get to the grocery store to stock their cabinets and pick up some essentials, I was going to take your car. You good here while I take care of that?”

She nodded. “You won’t even recognize it when you get back.”

He wasn’t sure if that was meant to be reassuring. But he let her get to work anyway.

Danny didn’t drive much these days. He didn’t have a car and even if he did the likelihood of it getting stolen or broken into where he lived was high. He preferred to take buses or trains anywhere he needed to go but with how many bags of things he intended to get it just wouldn’t be convenient.

First stop was the department store. He picked out a couple of outfits for each of the boys (he guessed at their sizes as best he could) and some packaged underwear and socks. He picked out bed sheet sets and comforters, a shower curtain, bathmat, bath towels, and kitchen towels. What else… they’d need dishes!

Loading the essentials -cups, plates, silverware, a couple of pots and pans, knives, a cutting board, and measuring utensils- he stopped and considered getting more. Before he could go completely overboard, he cut himself off. He still needed to get groceries and toiletries and it was already nearing eleven.

He picked out shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes and paste, deodorant, combs, a hairbrush, and anything else he thought they might need. At twelve he made his way to the grocery store which he originally thought would be the cheapest part of the trip. Until he saw the prices of seasonings. Five dollars for a jar of garlic powder!

Not that Danny was terribly concerned about money, he’d basically been dared by Clockwork to find a way to use it all up without simply giving it all away, but when he thought about all of the essentials the boys would need… flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, half a million seasonings, as well as shelf stable snacks and some canned goods… the cost added up.

Swiping his card without a second thought, Danny loaded up the car.

Jazz was right. When he got back the apartment looked…. Well it was the same, obviously, but it was so much cleaner, fresher, it had a lighter feel to it. Every speck of dust was gone, the carpets had been deep cleaned, the bathroom sparkled, and the kitchen was ready to be filled.

It didn’t take the two of them long to unload everything from the car but by the time it was all put away (and they were both thoroughly exhausted) the furniture was being delivered.

“Remind me again why we didn’t ask any of your many ghost friends to help us with this?” Jazz huffed, pulling the couch up the stairs as Danny pushed.

He chuckled. “You were the one who said, and I quote, ‘We don’t need ghost powers, we are perfectly strong and capable humans, and we don’t want the neighbors to suspect anything’.”

“Well that’s not even completely true, is it?” She huffed. “Just do it!”

Giving his best impression of a super villain’s laugh, Danny hesitated for only a minute before granting mercy, turning the couch intangible, and flying past Jazz with the furniture. She didn’t laugh, clearly exasperated, following him and muttering things under her breath while he flew back and forth bringing up the furniture.

Jazz began assembling the bedframes while he finished bringing up furniture. When he finally settled back into the apartment he felt like collapsing onto the couch and taking one of his power naps. The black spots in his vision went away with just a bit of blinking and he pushed away the thought. He didn’t need a nap, he needed to get this done.

“Danny?” Jazz asked, cautiously, noting his momentary dissociation. “You okay there, brother?”

He nodded slowly. “Tired. I’ve been pretty busy recently.”

She eyed him skeptically but let it slide. He listened to her chatter on about work while they put together the beds ‘and it’s hard to believe he’s really dead but thank Ancients because that monster didn’t deserve to claim insanity even once!’, Danny trying to keep from wincing every time she speculated about the Joker’s murder/death.

Just as they were finishing up Danny’s phone began to ring.

“Hello?” He moved away from Jazz to get a bit of privacy.

“Mr. Nightingale? It’s Dr. Thompkins. The boys are getting restless, and I’ve caught them trying to leave twice. I think it’d be best if you came down to get them.” Her voice was professional, but he could hear a hint of exasperation underneath.

Giving a quick confirmation, he hung up. “I’ve gotta go pick up the boys, they’re getting restless. You wanna stick around? I was gonna order pizzas.”

“How about this; you take my car to pick them up so Miguel doesn’t have to walk much, and I’ll call in pizzas which you can pick up while you’re out?” She reasoned from the floor. She’d sprawled out after they’d finished the last of the furniture and had apparently decided to become a permanent resident of the floor.

“You got it, sis.” Swiping her keys once again he made his way out. On the short drive over he felt the anxiety begin to bubble up. What if they hated it? He didn’t know these kids that well, what if they were super overwhelmed and up and left? He wasn’t a father or guardian to anyone (except the entirety of the infinite realms but that’s beside the point)! He couldn’t take care of kids! Santiago was just thirteen! Being neglected at that age was what led to Danny dying at fourteen!

The panic took over his senses and before he knew it he’d arrived outside of the clinic. Once inside, the nurse (the same from the night before) smiled and gestured for him to go on back. He made eye contact with Miguel and waited. Waited for something. Waited for him to change his mind about all of this. Waited for him to run. Waited. Finally, Miguel sighed. “All right. Let’s go, man.”

Prev. Next

#fanfiction #danny phantom #danny phantom/jason todd #danny's daycare #dp x dc #dead on main #jazz fenton #Danny's impulsive af #Duke Thomas #Tim Drake's paranoid

149 notes · View notes