#and now danny has actual literal hearts in his eyes

[emchante]

I see you responding to all the divorced dad! Daniel asks with wonderful fluff and smut, and I raise you some angst.

How about Daniel taking on more co-parenting, so the kids are fully at his house for 2 weeks or more. And you love them, but your "babysitting" skills are more fun, rather than practical. You're playing with them when it's supposed to be quiet time, allowing them ice cream and more Ipad time, basically spoiling them rotten. So now Danny's looking like a "bad cop" and has to pull you aside and talk to you.

NONNIEEE oh my god, i’ve been looking at this for a few days !! i love some good angst.. bring me more..

and i LOVE this scenario, actually. this was originally a long ramble, but it turned into a drabble. enjoy<3

daniel doesn’t expect it at first, that you’d be so up for helping him look after his kids. it’s a discussion you both had early on, daniel curious why you’re so into him, when he’s literally just.. a divorced father. you’re quick to convince him there are many reasons but that night, only one reason gets brought into fruition— he’s fucking hot.

but anyways when the time comes that he has the kids more often, he mentions it to you and you’re overjoyed!! you love his kids, and they seem to have a decent liking towards you— so it’s a win! he’s happy to hear you’ll be around to help look after them, and he can’t thank you enough (or, he can. it’s just not a way he can thank you when kids are around).

so, when the kids arrive for their 2 week stay, you’re there with daniel to greet them. they hug their dad first, daniel nuzzling his nose into their hair before placing a kiss on their foreheads. then, they turn to you and give you a hug too. it warms your heart. really. you’re glad you’re developing somewhat of a relationship with the two, even if it was a slow start.

it doesn’t take long for daniel to realise that you and him have different parenting skills. i mean what did he expect, really? you— a young, childless woman vs him— an older, experienced father. it’s not exactly surprising, but he didn’t expect it to be so different.

when it’s time for them to calm down, get settled as it’s coming up for their bedtime, you’re still playing happily with them. the sight is heartwarming, he can’t deny that. but, he knows they’ll be hyper as soon as they drop into their beds. he hesitates to interfere, they look so.. happy. they’re enjoying themselves, running from you with giggles erupting as you chase them around. eventually, he stands infront of the doorway that his daughter is running into. she’s looking behind, trying to look for you when she bumps into daniel’s knee, and is scooped up into his arms.

“daddy, help! she’s—” she starts loudly, giggles bursting before daniel interrupts her.

“i know honey, that’s why it’s time to stop. it’s almost time to sleep, and you’re up running around,” daniel gently scolds, subtly eyeing you at the side of him. youre stood with his son, hand on his shoulder as you stare at daniel guiltily.

“sorry, it’s my fault,” you mutter, giving the little guy a squeeze. “i got carried away and didn’t realise the time,” you continue, and daniel swallows. shit. he didn’t want to make you upset.

“no no, you’re fine. nobody is in the wrong or in trouble,” he smiles weakly, blowing a raspberry into his daughter’s cheek as he changes the subject. “now, who’s ready for bed? i’ll race ya..”

it was fine. it was done. it was one night.

until it wasn’t.

you were allowing them more time on their electronics than he would. you were allowing them ice cream before bed. you were allowing them to run around when it was quiet time. you were allowing them to go completely out of routine.

and now he looked like the bad guy. he looked like bad cop. and he couldn’t handle it. they were growing more attached to you, starting to love you more as the days went on. but when he put a stop to your antics, they would deflate. they weren’t as happy. they didn’t want dad messing it up, they wanted you fixing it.

and that’s how you end up here.

daniel asks you to come with him as the two kids watch a movie in the living room, bundled up in blankets on the sofa. just five minutes ago, you were all having a pillow fight while daniel set up the film. but it was breaking point for him.

he shuts the door behind him, turning round to look at you smiling softly at him. your smile falters at the deep exhale that escapes him, and you move a step closer.

“danny, is everything alright?” you ask, tilting your head so you could see his face, try to read his emotions. you feel a pit in your stomach when you notice his tight lips, his dark eyes and furrowed brows.

“we need to have a talk,” he lets out, voice low. you gulp in response, nodding slowly. you ask him what about, and the response is “you.”

“me? dan, have i— have i done something?” you ask worriedly, wringing your hands nervously as he still doesn’t move.

a sigh escapes him this time, finally looking up and staring at you. you feel a shiver go down your spine at the look he gives you. “look, we need to talk about how you look after the kids,” he starts, making you tilt your head.

“oh? what ab—” “you’re too lenient on them, and you make everything a game. they can’t live like that, discipline isn’t necessary all the time, but sometimes it is,” he interrupts you, and your jaw falls at his words.

“i— i don’t make everything a game? i try to mark things a little more fun, make life a little less mundane. you’re strict on them, danny, a little too strict. i’m trying to balance that,” you respond, it was evident in your tone you were upset— offended at what he said.

“you aren’t balancing anything!” he whisper-shouts, leaning closer and your eyes widen at the sudden silent outburst. “you’re messing with the way they’ve grown up and lived their entire lives. let me parent them like they’re used to. keep your antics to yourself,” he tells you, coldly.

you feel an ache in your chest at his words, and his attitude. why was he so bitter? why was he so afraid of letting them have a little more fun? “they’re kids, danny. let kids me kids.”

for some reason, that snapped something within him. daniel’s face twisted before he scuffed loudly, pointing a finger at you. “you don’t have kids, so you don’t know anything about parenting, or what it’s like to be one.”

the silence after that sentence is deafening, and you can’t see momentarily due to the tears welling in your eyes. you shakily breathe, before letting out a wet laugh. “yeah, you’re right. i’m not a parent. but that’s not by choice, is it daniel?” you ask him coldly, before turning around to the coat stand, grabbing your own.

daniel’s heart drops when he realises what he had said, and the impact it had on you. earlier, when i mentioned the plethora of reasons you liked daniel and his kids? a big reason, and one of the main ones— you can’t have kids yourself. you can’t get pregnant, therefore biologically you cannot have your own kids.

daniel crossed a line— majorly— but he wasn’t able to fix it in time. he snapped out of his thoughts due to the front door slamming, and you were gone.

NONNIE OH MY GOD this gave me the opportunity to introduce some lore about reader 👀 divorced dad! daniel angst? mmm, yes please. send in any genre about this series as much as you like!

[dannyphannypack]

dpxdc prompt: dead on main fic in which using jason to summon the ghost king has the unintended effect of also working as a love spell (either for jason or danny), and the level-headed one has to figure out how to break the bind while the stupid in love one just has to try to be cool be totally chill it’s so fine i’m so normal

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC the Dog and the Death Wish

Written for: Flufftober, prompt 1. Lost Pet Meet Cute

"Cujo!"

Both Tim and the dog turn their heads in the direction of the voice at the same time. There's not a lot of people in the Robinson Park at five in the morning - that's why Tim is here, actually, because he wanted a walk but did not want to deal with people - so the dog’s owner is easily recognizable.

A boy with a disheveled mop of black hair, sixteen, maybe seventeen years old, in old jeans and an unzipped hoodie. He has a leash in one hand and a look of worry on his face as he approaches, not quite walking but not yet running towards them.

The dog gives him an excited bark and, finally, leaves Tim alone, darting back to the boy. Tim breathes out a sigh of relief. Not that he is afraid of dogs, but this one was big and loud, with no leash and very interested in his cup of coffee for some reason.

The boy catches his pet by its collar and turns to Tim, an apologetic smile on his face. In the foggy park, where the only sources of light are street lamps and the faint brink of dawn over the skyline, he looks a little otherworldly. But then, everything looks otherworldly at five in the morning.

"I'm so sorry," the boy starts, strapping the leash to the dog's collar, "He doesn't usually run off like that, I thought I'd be okay to let him play around for some time-"

"It's alright," Tim interrupts his ramble and smiles back. If it's a bit forced, then no one would notice in the dim lighting. Only the boy somehow does, tilting his head in a concerned manner.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Tim rushes to assure, hiding his free hand in his pocket and awkwardly moving his coffee cup in the air, "I guess humans are not the only ones who crave coffee in this hour."

The boy blinks, clearly taken aback. Then, his eyes shift to Tim's cup, and then he snaps his head to the dog, who is wagging its tail with an innocent look. Somehow, it looks much smaller now - Tim swears the dog was the size of a mastiff the first time he's seen it, but now it's barely bigger than a hound. Is this his sleep-deprived hallucinations kicking in?

"Cujo!" This time, the boy's voice sounds accusatory, "We talked about this! What did I tell you about stealing drinks that are not mine?"

The dog barks. Tim blinks. He is fairly sure dogs shouldn't be having coffee at all, but the boy seems entirely unconcerned on that matter.

"I can buy you a new coffee?" The boy offers, and Tim shakes his head, coming back from his thoughts.

"Um, no, thanks," he smiles again, and huffs a short laugh, "He didn't get to it, and, besides, it's a special order, they won't brew it for anyone who's not me."

The boy suddenly freezes, staring at Tim. And then, his lips slowly stretch in a grin.

He points to Tim's cup, "Is that Death Wish?"

Now, it's Tim's turn to freeze and stare.

"How'd you-" and a moment later, it hits him, and he points a finger to the boy, "You! The only other guy who orders it!"

The dog barks again, looking between them and happily nudging it's owner in the hip with its nose. The boy laughs softly and pats it on the head.

"Guilty as charged," he admits with a smirk and nods to the dog, "At least it makes sense why Cujo chose you out of all the people in the park."

"And not because I'm literally the only other person here," Tim rolls his eyes, even though he feels himself smiling as well.

"Oh, you're not," the boy waves him off, "The park is never empty, well, not for us," he adds a bit cryptically, and then gestures to the gates down the path without skipping a beat. "Anyway, I was planning on getting a coffee after the walk, but do you wanna go and give baristas a heart attack by coming in together?"

That's... not very nice. Tim thinks about it for a moment. Then, he shrugs and smiles.

"Sure," he takes a sip of his coffee, "I'm Tim, by the way."

"Danny," the boy introduces himself and nods to the dog, "And the mediocre boy is Cujo."

"Mediocre?"

"He's not a 'good boy' for running off, but he's not a 'bad boy' either, since he got me a Death Wish buddy. Hence, mediocre boy."

Tim hides a laugh as all three of them head to the gates, absently noticing how the first rays of the dawn are coloring the treetops in gold.

"Makes sense."

[woodland-gremlin]

Summoning Your Secret Boyfriend Pt. 3

This post is dedicated @fanfics-or-dragons who wrote part of the post. I will put their part in bold. I would suggest checking them out, they write some really interesting stuff.

First Previous AU Summary

“Because it is!” Constantine screams, “They literally say ‘hi’ by fighting each other. Not to mention even if they don’t try to purposely hurt you they often do due to how fragile we are compared to them. Even their weakest would be a challenge to our heavy hitters!”

Constatine tried to take a deep breath to calm down. The kids were obviously alive so they obviously haven't pissed anything off too badly over there. If anything they might have gained favor with something from there. "Kids you may have not bungled whatever the hell you got up to but I seriously doubt you understand the ramifications that can happen when you form ANY type of relationship with beings so powerful you can't comprehend it."

Constatine was actually feeling like the sheer dred was fading and that he could handle this, and then Superman had to butt in to defend his kid. "The kids obviously have not been keeping us informed of their actions as much as they should have, and that will be being addressed Supernova. But they obviously have not gotten themselves into too much trouble with how you describe the beings from this realm. And you are one to talk about dangerous relationships with more powerful beings. The team has hardly had the type of relationships you tend to favor."

Which would have been annoying enough if it wasn't followed by the robin kid bursting out laughing and falling to the ground. Looking directly at Supernova, who was suddenly looking at the ground and bursting out into more laughter. He doesn’t get paid enough to deal with this let alone teenagers.

While Constantine was reenacting the scene from the office, Supernova and Red Robin worked on controlling their laughter.

“It was from when Batman was stuck in the time stream,” Red Robin stated through his muffled laughs.

All eyes turned to focus on Red Robin the moment those words came out of his mouth. The mood turned from slightly light hearted to sullen in a moment. Most members looked like they were sucking on a lemon, remembering how they called him crazy for thinking that Batman was alive. The look in their eyes as they agreed that he lost his mind in grief was always in the back of his mind. Reminding him to be careful with who he trusted and how small that number now was. It was why he liked rubbing it in their faces that he was right, no matter how childish the action was.

“The time stream,” Red Robin continued getting up from the floor, “is a part of the realms. Batman being there was causing them a bunch of problems so they were pretty happy to hand him over after we fixed the problems his presence caused.”

“Yeah,” Supernova chimed in, “and one of their citizens that was fixing the disturbances in the time stream talked about the rules and how Batman was breaking them while they helped us hold up our part of the deal.”

Which was partly true. It was mostly Danny complaining about how much trouble the Justice League causes him and with mentions of laws he needs to study up for his coronation. Apparently every new King throws out the previous ruler’s laws and makes new ones. He decided he would instead use old laws as a framework and make them fairer. They spent a lot of time with him working on them so they have the best understanding of the laws now that their boyfriend is King.

Even without mentioning that Constantine turned from his calmer state into looking half-dead again.

“So let me get this straight,” the con man said while he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “For fixing the disturbances in the time stream that Batman caused, they returned him?”

“Yeah.” “Basically.”

“And you never thought to mention that to anyone?!”

To be continued . . .

Next

[krypticcafe]

any chance for dbd killers (especially myers) reacting to a partner who wants to take the relationship real slow? how would they take it? would they push, or be respectful? patience? bonus for cuddle time 💜✨

DBD killers w/a partner who wants to take it slow

rating: teen

character(s): GN!Reader, Shape/Michael Myers, Ghostface/Danny "Jed" Olsen, The Executioner/Pyramid Head, The Cannibal/Bubba Sawyer, Legion/Frank Morrison

warning(s): suggestive themes, canon-typical violence and behavior, language

a/n: pardon the unannounced hiatus, cue the usual fanfic writer life drama, gonna be dusting off the request box :]

Michael

Thank. GOD. He's not gonna say it, but Michael's beyond relieved because he's just not comfortable jumping into things, or anything at all. He likes consistency, not change, so he really needs the time to even just adjust to the fact that he's actually letting this relationship happen (no offense). Even the first time he let you live, he felt all irritated about it because it just felt wrong. But after he saw you leave med packs for him from time to time, lurk behind him while he was off chasing others, he started to grow a little more lenient towards you, much to your pleasure.

After you see the approval in his eyes, you're relieved, too. It's not that you thought Michael wouldn't take the suggestion well, it's that it was the first time you two were seriously discussing your relationship. Neither of you put a label on yourselves, you just both knew that you liked each other a little more than you did with other people. Kind of like a silent agreement.

But now you take confidence in knowing you can be as slow as you want with him, after all, you both have all of eternity to work it out, or at least until the Entity decides to do something about it. Though seeing as they haven't stopped you so far, you're probably fine for now.

It's a long time until you guys show any actual physical affection. The closest it's been is Michael getting revenge on people who use you as bait and grabbing your wrist to pull you to a safe spot while you help clean his gear during visits in between matches and lean on him or he holds you in his lap while sitting in comfortable silence (you've caught him falling asleep on a few occasions).

Expect it to take a while more if you guys actually want to get intimate, he's just too much of a 'business first' guy.

All in all, mission success.

Danny

"Like how slow?"

You should've expected this. While Michael is relieved, Danny, well, he doesn't take it as well. He's one of the clingiest of all the killers and makes it difficult not to be paranoid all the time of someone finding out. He's a hands-on type of guy and this... is kind of torture for him.

After some insistence and some pleading on your side, he'll give in, but it's not guaranteed. He has to resist his urges like some little kid trying not to open Christmas presents a day early. All day, every day, he's just thinking about smothering you in his touch, and it gets him frustrated (in both ways), so he has to take it out somehow.

You can literally see it in real-time when he's cutting through survivors like butter, not even bothering to act playful or make quips, just snarling and hissing at them like a feral cat. You make a mental note to give him a bit of something after the match, like a kiss or some cuddle time.

Other than that, he whines. A lot. Like it's so fucking annoying please make him shut up with a kiss or something, the killers can't stand hearing him bitch incoherently and you can only take so much of it as well. Also, he's a manipulative ass to expect him to be pushy and try to pressure you here and there.

It's kinda funny though, in a way you sorta conditioned him to feel even more euphoric when you do anything romantic with him. He's asking, no, begging for extra kisses, holding you real tight when you cuddle, and you swear you can feel him melting under your touch. Heart eyes and all, he's so obsessed with you.

Whenever you let him know you're ready to move things forward, expect him to be a little overexcited about it. Like if you finally let him get in your pants, he's gonna work you like there's no tomorrow, all that pent-up energy is flooding out the door.

I'm sorry, but you're literally caging an animal by asking *the* Ghostface to take it slow. He's only gonna get more hungry over time.

Pyra

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think he cares. Like he's fine taking it as slow as you want, it's not a huge deal to him, and really, he has no room for judgment outside of killing people. You'll ask and he'll respond with the usual metallic grunt and boom. Problem solved.

In all honesty, it's probably good to take it slow with him if you want a nice, loving relationship with him. Because of his lack of experience, fast-paced relationships might just be too much for him to deal with, but taking your time lets him process how it even works. Dates, kissing, and anything beyond that aren't in his area of expertise, nor did he ever expect it to be, it's not his primary purpose.

This allows him to welcome something new in his life for once beyond the mundane life of Silent Hill and the matches in the realm of the Entity. He's not used to actually having personal priorities, so the adjustment period progresses along with your relationship. He's quick to find out that he really likes physical contact with you, too.

Most likely you'll be taking the initiative with him, teaching him the little things you like to do like cuddling and holding each other close. He really likes that, being able to just envelope you and keep you safe and close in such a comfortable manner.

I don't he exactly has a concept of... 'horny', it's more of a hunger I guess? A hunger to be close and in your presence, so he kinda has times when he'll stick to your side like a big old scary guard dog. If you wanna indulge him a little, go ahead.

Yeah, I can't really say much for him other than it is what it is.

Bubba

He tries his best to be patient, he really does. Bubba's more than understanding about it, because he's already elated that you love him back in the first place! Though sometimes he just really wants to pepper your face in kisses and smother you in love, pick you up and swing you around in his arms, take you to some of the nicer parts of the Entity's realm, he almost forgets they all live in some sick game.

Horrible advice, but try not to be so... cute around him. I like to think he has cuteness aggression, so it's very hard to keep his hands to himself when you look so... so... nope, no, Bubba, focus, you're supposed to be chasing Ace right now- oooo but don't wanna just eat them up and make them yours!

He wants to do so much with you but it's kind of for the best to keep him from rushing into things. Even he's a little worried that he'll tire you out from his eagerness to get things moving. Hell, he even spooked himself when he found himself daydreaming about marrying you mid-match. He can't help it though, it's the southern love in him that gets him all antsy (he thinks you'd look very nice in a suit or dress if you're wondering).

Yeah, and don't think you don't know either, not when he's humming "Here Comes the Bride" while sawing up Kate in halves in front of you.

Oh, and you thought the wedding fever was bad? Wait until the baby fever kicks up. Since day one of falling in love with you, this man has been dreaming of church bells, vows, cribs, pacifiers, and all that. He's never told you it in full detail but you just know he does. Whether you want it for your relationship or not, he still loves you nonetheless.

Despite it all, you help remind him to appreciate what's in the moment, that you both have an eternity together in damnation to get to that point. So long as time and the Entity are on your side, he's more than happy to take things slow with you and he'll be sure to enjoy every moment you have together.

Frank

"You're joking, right?"

No surprise here either, Frank doesn't take it all too well. He's an impatient bastard and mostly thinks with his dick more than his head sometimes. To be honest, he never even anticipated getting into a relationship with you. He thought most of the survivors were annoying and unlikable in their own ways, he even found you irritating at some point just not as much as the others, or so he'd claim.

You try to explain to him why and unfortunately, it does result in a back and forth between you two, the other members of Legion even chiming in on your defense. It's until you point into his face that you both literally have forever in this endless hell so "what's the big deal about us taking our time" and for him to just think about it for a bit.

And yeah he does, but it takes a while for Frank to wrap his head around it. He's used to just getting what he wants, jumping into things headfirst, and figuring out the details from there. His whole philosophy defies normalcy, defies everything he hates about Ormond and the banal, suburban society it is. He lives for the rush, the excitement, the recklessness. Time and care in a relationship remind him too much of a "normal life".

But the others remind him there's nothing normal about where they are now. Hell, they get to wreak havoc and chaos in the trials, it's everything they dreamed of. Making a statement for themselves. And frankly (no pun intended), he likes you a little too much to let it go. So instead of rushing himself into things, he finds a new thrill in testing the limits. He teases you with lingering touches and suggestive remarks, leaves you wanting, craving just a little more of that.

He clicks his tongue, "I thought we were taking it slow?"

That little bitch. He's got you wrapped around his finger and you know it. But don't think you're the only one aching, no. Call him a sadomasochist because it's practically killing him too, how much he has to hold back. Yet it's such a rush, keeping his hands to himself and itching for the day when you let him do whatever. He. Wants.

[jaytalking]

Okay okay.

NAOOOO—

*inhaaalE*

So your Plasmius design.

*claps hands together multiple times*

Where do I even BEGIN to appreciate it OML I would fail at doing so-

Okay so.

Numero uno *cough*

The whole thing about him looking younger to embrace the vampire part. Yes. Yes I love that. That is now canon in my heart because it just WORKS. SO MUCH.

Because I feel like it could also tie into the fact that Vlad in the show is so obsessed with having lost everything and wanting all of it back, his youth included-

So he'd look younger as Plasmius EEEEEEEE

Also I LOVE how his eye shape changes as Plasmius and he looks more. Hostile and dangerous if you will—*explodes* eyes are the windows to one's soul I love eyes sm-

THE FANGS. THE FANGSSSSS—*taps the microphone* HE'S A VAMPIREEEE—

The way you turned the top of his cape into flames??? That is literally so so SO cool and amazing

Makes me wonder if he can maybe. Change the shape of it/make it appear and disappear whenever he wants?

Also his hands constantly looking like they have blood on them??? AND IT CAN SPREAD ONTO THE SURFACES HE TOUCHES??? TEN OUT OF TEN ISTG THAT IS JUST SOMETHING ELSEEEE/POS

Your young Vlad looks so huggable idk why

(Sorry kinda unrelated but I feel like younger Vlad was SUCH a timid person. And he'd get shy fast but he'd also be quite confident whenever he wanted.)

THE LOWER PART OF HIS HAIR BEING WHITE. I WILL—*holds head* "yes officer it's this design right here—"/silly

AND THE SCAR

Gosh my favorite part EVER

THEM GLOWING

OH MY DAYS THAT IS AWESOME

He looks like a fiery demon from the pits of hell I love it

I'm here for it

I'll put him in a freezer so he can cool down—/silly

I think we should give him pomegranate sorbet I think he'll like it

Cuz like

It's sour, but also has a sliiiight sweetness to it, and it has a bitterness in its core because of the pomegranate seeds. Idk I feel like that is just. So Vlad. Shfjfkvkvkv—/silly

Also very randomly: Vlad be like:

"Oh look, a sophisticated business man!"

"Oh, he’s a little bit messed up, actually..."

BUT YEAH I JUST ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR DESIGN FOR HIM I'LL HOLD HIM IN MY HANDS LIKE A LITTLE CREATURE/POS

Jophofhchvv thank you I never know how to respond to but know that we're screaming together!

Here's some fun facts about EctoScience Vlad:

-I really wanted to give him a dangerous vibe, ghosts can eat other ghosts to grow stronger extremely quickly in this AU and that's partly why he's as strong as he is, the other part being... halfas are just very powerful. Simply. Anyways everyone in the Zone knows and fears him; at the start of the series he's almost a boogeyman of sorts there until Danny starts beating him.

- Vlad didn't have a ghost form at first! His becoming a Halfa actually took a long time due to how it happened, and that's technically how it'll go for Danny too, he's just further along due to his own death being wayyy more violent than Vlad's. The progression into full ghost has slowed down a lot in Vlad's case, but for the reason I just mentioned, Danny's progression is fast.

- The "I hate you!" "You're like me!" Exchange is something I've had in mind since the start. In this AU specifically the circumstances of their "deaths" are extremely similar, but above all Danny fears turning fully into a ghost will make him lose his humanity and turn him evil due to, you know, actually listening to the "all ghosts are evil" bogus his parents believe. Vlad can sense that insecurity and in this AU he latches onto it like a vice to make Danny think him joining Vlad's side is inevitable in the end.

- Yes, he CAN make his cape disappear if it starts getting in his way in a fight, but I would also like to highlight his fire core making him very warm. Cats love him.

- His general behaviour as a ghost has been changed a little, he acts and fights fairly normally at first, but if the fight drags on for too long or his opponent runs away he's going FULL HORROR MOVIE VILLAIN. That first fight in the mansion was a lot longer and made Danny genuinely fear for his life. Let Vlad be MORE unhinged when he's pissed off I say.

[leclercsbf]

i feel like we don’t talk enough about how lando is actually so down bad for oscar

like yes oscar’s middle name is literally heart eyes when he’s around lando and mans straight up giggles and laughs at every things that come out of lando’s mouth, not to mention the cute little scrunch things he does with his nose

but i think it’s so cute how lando tries to actively bring that out of oscar (even if we all know he doesn’t even have to try cause oscar is down for him that bad) like if he sees oscar giggling at something he does he will literally go out of his way and exaggerate whatever he’s doing just so oscar giggles a bit harder

i think the fact the oscar is literally THE embodiment of the standing man emoji actually drives lando crazy and he actually really likes it in a way where he feels the need to kind of break his back just to kind of impress oscar or get a cute reaction out of him, it kind of reminds me of carlos with charles

i feel like lando actually really loves oscar’s sense of humour as well, the dry, sarcastic thing he’s got going on, lando was probably taken aback by it at the start not in a bad way but just because he probably wasn’t used to it as much, because oscar’s different compared to carlos and danny in terms of the energy levels i would say and that’s the thing i think oscar’s sense of humour actually flusters lando in a way

the both of them are so down bad for each other, it’s actually sickening but weirdly endearing at the same time, your fics about them give me so much serotonin it’s insane, they’re so perfectly worded and just so everything <333

absolutely spot on, anon, this is a vital part of the landoscar manifesto. throwing the rest of my response under the cut because i already know that this is going to get long.

the thing about oscar is that he’s got a great sense of humor, but for the most part it’s hidden underneath his usual deadpan stare. he’s not like carlos or daniel who joke easily and laugh easily and make friends easily. oscar takes a bit of time to warm up to people and he’s a rookie on top of that, so i would imagine that he came into the team shy and somewhat reserved, focused on his job and focused on doing well (lando just about confirmed that here by saying oscar’s in his “serious phase”). once lando got to know oscar a little better, once he started making oscar laugh, he immediately started doing whatever he could to draw that same reaction again and again and again—because he didn’t know that oscar could laugh like that, that he could make oscar laugh like that. now that he’s aware, he’s practically addicted, because oscar’s the kind of guy who barely reacts to anything and yet lando can make him laugh so hard that he practically folds himself in half. who’s going to tell lando that most of the time his jokes aren’t even that funny and that oscar only laughs as hard as he does because he has a crush on lando the size of fucking australia? i guarantee that if anyone other than lando tried to say any of that, oscar wouldn’t so much as smile. that’s how he was back in F2—he leveled every dumb joke with the most unimpressed stare known to man. this is why landoscar makes me so fucking insane, because somehow—somehow—lando has oscar giggling. he’s not that funny, oscar, get up.

“sickening but weirdly endearing” just about sums up The Landoscar Experience. i look at them and i can’t believe how down bad they are for each other, but i really wouldn’t have them any other way. absolutely love how you compared them to charlos, because you’re right—lando and carlos are former teammates who do their damnedest to make their current teammates laugh. said teammates always reward them by fucking giggling at their dumb jokes which is just, why, but good for the gays i guess. not sure how you feel about maxiel, anon, and if you don’t like it feel free to skip the rest of this passage—but max does the same fucking thing. he cracks a joke then immediately checks to see if daniel found it funny, and if he did, that’s when max allows himself to laugh. he’s also like charles and oscar in the sense that he laughs at literally everything daniel does, which sounds pretty fair given the fact that daniel’s one of the funniest drivers on the grid, but max laughs at fucking everything. one time daniel said “adios” and max found it hilarious. like. why though. this is a sport full of men who just need to kiss.

this got super fucking long, but thank you so much for sending this lovely ask my way! it was a joy to read through. i’m also really glad that you like my work. i hope whichever fics i write next won’t disappoint. wishing you a great day or night, anon. ♥️

[vanfleeter]

My Love: Chapter 5

Characters: Jake Kiszka x Sara Warnings: 18+ || Gore. Blood. Vampires. Blood drinking. Death. Angst. Fear. Anger. Jealousy. Arguing. Torture. Physical violence. Smut. Oral sex (m & f receiving). Cockblocking. Penetrative sex. Seduction. Makeout.

It had only been two days since the dream and two days since I had any news from Danny or Sam about their search for Chris. After the incident with the Onyx, he disappeared. It wasn’t until one of our close friends in Spain spotted him and tipped us off to him. I wanted to go there and rip his heart out myself but I also knew that I needed to stay with Sara while she worked through her transition. She’s getting better and better every day and she’s handling the feeds with ease. Sometimes I even wonder if she’s doing better than I ever did when I was transitioning. Hell, she did a lot better than Sam or Josh did. Danny transitioned with ease.

Josh’s transition was far from easy. At first he seemed to get the hang of feed and release. Until one fateful night where he took it a step too far, couldn’t stop himself. Ended up draining the man and his psyche couldn’t handle the fact that he actually killed someone. He went on a blood strike for a month and nearly killed himself if Danny didn’t convince him to try again.

Sam? Well, Sam was known as the Ripper. Original, right? He was bloody thirsty. Lustful for it. He tore through Michigan like a tornado, which forced us to leave and go into hiding for a while. It was because of him that we had to live off of animal blood. We ended up having to lock him up in the basement, starving him of blood until he eventually took on the animal blood diet. Now that’s all that he prefers. He’ll indulge in human blood once a month just to keep up his strength but only if it’s provided to him in a blood bag or a glass. Anything to keep him from sinking his teeth into another human.

Danny was the easiest of us four to transition. He learned his limits almost immediately. Like Sam he stuck to blood bags. It was very rare when he would feed directly from a human and when he did, he reveled in the after feed sex. About the only time he ever had sex. He’s the one that keeps all of us in line with our feedings and with our powers.

Me? Well.. I started out like Sam, except I never killed anyone. I just fed on and slept with any woman I could get my hands on. While Sam ripped the heads off of people, I fucked every woman that gave me some of their time. I was the one who mastered the feed and release technique. Feed on a human until they become tipsy from the blood loss and then wipe their memory clear before sending them on their way.

Sara caught on nearly as quickly on the technique.

As for our powers?

Danny has the stare that can kill. Literally. One look from his eyes from underneath his brows and you’re a goner. He’ll have you quaking in fear or submitting to him on your knees in one second, whichever he prefers in the moment.

Josh has the gift of mind reading. Though he doesn’t use it often, he will if he wants to gain insider knowledge on something. He knows better than to use it on me. Sometimes he’ll, on a not common occasion, read someone’s mind just to see what they might be thinking of.

Sam was given the illusion of despair. He has the power to render anyone into self doubt and bring them to tears. He can even use your deepest and darkest fears against you to get you to do whatever he desires of you. Not one person can defend themselves against him. Not even the three of us.

The power I was given is the ability to make someone bleed with just one look and boil their blood from within. Similar to how Danny can look at a person and they submit. I give them one look and I can have them bleed out from any part of their body. I can even do it without looking at them. All I have to do is focus on the person and what I want to happen and it happens. I’ve only done it a handful of times. I found myself enjoying watching someone bleed from their eyes. I haven’t used my power in a long time now.

With Sara, we’re still trying to figure out her given power. She has all the basic vampiric powers. Strength, immortality, and compulsion. Which is great, but her given power will help enhance her survival and defense mechanisms. Hopefully she gets it soon. She’ll be able to protect herself if any of us four are indisposed.

“So you can make someone bleed just by one look?” She asks.

I nod my head and take a drink of the now watered down whiskey. Disgusting. I point my chin in the direction of a man sitting at the bar. He’s been an asshole the whole night and it’s been making my body itch with the need to stick Sam on his ass. The only time I’d allow Sam to rip someone’s head off again.

“Watch..” I say as I put all of my focus on the man.

His laughter rings through the air, his loud and annoying laugh. He’s yapping loudly about his ex-wife but it slowly starts to fade. I can hear his blood rush through his veins and go straight for his nose. Blood steadily flows down from both of his nostrils. “What the fuck?!” He exclaims as he cups his hand over his face.

I chuckle as I lift my glass up to my lips and finish off the rest of the whiskey.

“That’s insane..” She says as she watches on in awe.

“Don’t expect me to always do it,” I say. “It’s only when I want to and that’s a pretty rare occasion.”

“I wonder if I can do that.”

I shrug my shoulders. “If that’s what you were gifted,” I say, leaning back in the chair. “Try it.. All you have to do is focus on your target. Pick an area where you want to draw the blood out.”

Sara nods her head and zeroes in on the same man. Nothing happens at first, no blood oozing out of any part of his body. Then suddenly…

“Argh!” The man screams as he clutches his right hand. “What the hell is happening?!”

I watch as his fingers twist, his bones cracking. His screams fill the bar and all of the patrons watch him in fear as his body continues to contort. Bones cracking everywhere as he falls to the floor.

Sara.

That’s her power.

Pain and bone breaking.

She’ll kill him if I don’t stop her.

“Sara..” I warn under my breath. “Time to stop.” But she doesn’t. I kick her foot under the table. She only flinches slightly but still she doesn’t stop.

Danny suddenly appears in front of her and she stops. Her eyes soften as he pours his energy into her. Soon the bones stop cracking and the man’s screaming calms down to just simple whimpers.

“I think we just figured out her powers..” Sam mutters beside me.

“What are you guys doing back so soon?” I ask.

“He’s gone again..” Danny leans on the table and cracks open a peanut that he picked up out of the bucket. “But everyone in the States is keeping their eyes and ears open should he reappear here.”

“Come on,” I say, grabbing Sara’s hand and pulling her through the bar and to the exit. We walk past the man who is still in a crumpled heap on the floor. I scoff, shaking my head and keep heading for the exit.

“Jake..” Sara says behind me as I continue dragging her down the street. She tries pulling her hand away but I hold tighter. “Jake, please stop.” But I don’t. I keep moving. “Jake!”

“What?!” I snap as I spin around to face her.

“You’re hurting me..” She says softly.

Looking down at our hands, I can definitely see just how tightly I’m holding her hand. Releasing my grip, I wipe my hand on my pants. “I’m sorry..”

“Why did we leave?” She says. “We could’ve stayed longer.”

“No.. We should get home.”

“But Jake–”

“We’re going home.”

“I don’t want to. I’m tired of constantly being in the house.”

“I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“I can protect myself..”

“Sara, don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

“I’m making it difficult?” She scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “I feel like fucking Rapunzel locked up in her tower. Jake, I’m growing tired of constantly being inside the house. Nights like this are pretty fucking rare ever since–”

“Shut up..”

“Jake, I know you’re just trying to protect me from Chris but baby,” She cautiously raises her hand to my cheek and softly runs her thumb over my cheekbone. “I think we just learned inside that I can handle myself, should the need arise.”

I sigh and drop my chin. “Yeah.. I guess you’re right..” I lift my head again and immediately pull her into me. “I have to admit, that was pretty sexy..”

“Mmm, yeah? You think so?”

“I know so..” I grab her face in my hands and kiss her. “It makes me hard just thinking about it..”

She smiles against my lips before she kisses me. Pulling away she drags me into the nearest alleyway, away from wandering eyes, and shoves me up against the brick wall.

“Oh no..” I say, wagging my finger in front of her face. She pouts and slides her hands down to my crotch and palms me with her hand. She begins to rotate her wrist, moving her hand in circles. The friction causes the most pleasurable feeling. I let my head fall against the wall as I suck my bottom lip in between my teeth. She lets go of me and moves upwards to undo my pants.

“Look at you all ready..” She says as she finally releases me from my pants. Her hand wraps around my length as her thumb circles the tip. Sinking to her knees in front of me, she takes the full length of me inside of her mouth until I touch the back of her throat.

“Fuck..” I groan.

While my hand grabs a fistful of her hair, the other slams onto the ledge of the dumpster next to us. Receiving this next to a smelly dumpster is a total first for me.

Her tongue works its way around my length and she opens up her throat to take me deeper until she gags around me. The metal of the dumpster groans underneath my grip. She’s working me closer and closer to my release, the pleasure filling my veins and fogging up my head. I can’t help but to groan loudly as she sucks on my tip like a lollipop. No doubt anyone out on the sidewalk could hear me as they passed by.

“Oh god, get a fucking room!” I hear Sam shout.

Turning my head to the side, I can see him and Danny standing at the end of the alley, pulling out a cigarette and passing the lighter to each other. Danny has a smirk on her face as he lights his cigarette. “At least one of us is getting laid tonight.” He laughs before grabbing Sam by the collar and disappearing around the corner.

The feeling of her mouth around me disappears and she’s standing to her feet.

“Fuck, why’d you stop?”

“Oh, you wanted more?” She smirks and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Brat..” I grumble as I tuck myself back in my pants.

She winks at me before turning on her heels and leaving the alleyway. My god, she drives me insane. Pushing off the wall, I quickly follow after her and to the car in the parking lot where Sam and Danny are standing and waiting for us with Josh right next to them.

“Didn’t let you finish?” Josh smirks.

“Stay out of my head.” I quip as I shove him away. He laughs and shakes his head. “When did you get here anyways?”

“Just now..” He says as he snatches the box of cigarettes from Sam. “I have an update on Chris..” He sticks a cigarette in between his lips and lights it up before inhaling and puffing out a few clouds of smoke. “Eleanor says he’s in Memphis.”

“Eleanor?” Sam perks up. “She’s back?”

“Must be… Said she’s been sleeping with him for the past few days.” Josh puffs again and flicks some of the ashes onto the ground. “According to her, he goes out to feed during the day and when he comes back to her place, they fuck like rabbits.” He sees Danny grimace and he holds his hands in the air. “Her words, not mine,” He speaks around the cigarette in mouth.

“Why him though?” Sam grumbles.

“You two broke up over fifty years ago,” I say. “Let it go..”

“Speaking of exes..” Josh continues. “He’s not the only one in Memphis.” His eyes trail over to me. “Sitovo is back in the states too.”

“Sitovo?” Danny straightens up. “Didn’t she flee to Siberia or something after the Onyx picked up on her killing spree in Mexico?”

“Russia..” I mutter. Lifting my eyes, I see them all looking at me, including Sitovo. “What?”

“You would know her exact placement,” Sam smirks. “Considering..”

“Shut up..” I snap.

“Oooo, someone’s still sensitive.”

“I said shut up!”

Sam chuckles and nods his head in Sara’s direction. “Ever told her about Vo?”

“Besides that they dated way back when?” Sara says.

“They were lovers..” Sam smirks again. “Kind of like how you two are now. Fucked every chance they got.”

“Samuel, this is your last warning,” I growl. “Shut the fuck up.”

I can feel Sara’s eyes on me. I have told her about Sitovo but just that she’s someone I used to date.

“They were married back then.. Until Vo went crazy..”

“Jake?” I look over at Sara. “She was the one you lost..”

“Sara-” I start but she cuts me off.

“You told me she was dead..”

“In a manner of speaking..” Sam grumbles. Josh sends his arm across Sam’s chest, his hand slapping loudly. “Ow, geez.. Knock it off.”

“You knock it off.”

“Sara, I can explain..”

“Marriage?” Her eyes sparkled with tears and her chin quivered. “You were married?”

“Still are..” Sam pipes up again.

“Say one more word,” Danny threatens him.

“Sara, please..”

“How could I have been so stupid?”

“Baby, no,” I reach her hands and grasp them within my own. “You’re not stupid.”

“No?” She pulls her hands from mine. “You lied to me.. You made me believe that she was dead..” A tear slips down her cheek. “But you knew this whole time that she was still alive and you knew where she was! And you’re still married to her!”

“Sara, please let me explain.”

“No..” She shakes her head as she starts to back up. “I can’t be around you anymore..”

“Sara.. Sara, please.” I say as I try to follow after her.

It wasn’t until she was turning back around with her eyes on me that the blazing fire courses through my body, the pain unbearable as she crumbles me to the ground. “Stay away from me..” She says through clenched teeth.

“Please… Sara…”

The pain suddenly stops and she’s gone. Josh gathers me off the ground but I shove him away. Grabbing Sam by his collar, I press him into the side of the car. My hand curls around his throat, slowly cutting off his airway. “Why the fuck would you bring that up?!”

“I just..” Sam gasps. “She needed… To know!”

Images flashed in my head of the dream I had the other night. Chris with the stake in his hand. His smile flashes in my head. Sara’s screams fill my head.

“Stop it! Stop it!” I shout.

My hold on Sam loosens and he pushes me down to the ground. “She needed to know, Jake.” He says as he towers over me.

“You go find Sara,” Josh says to Danny. “And we’ll meet back up at the house.”

My leg shook intensely as I waited for Danny to come back home with Sara. It had been hours since she stormed off, and rightfully so. I was an idiot for not telling her the full truth. I should have been honest with her from the start, but I was afraid that if she knew the truth then she wouldn't want to be with me.

I haven’t seen or heard from Sitovo since she fled to Russia. I tried to end the marriage before she left but she was so erratic and insane that she wouldn’t do it. I didn’t want to have to do it, I wanted to help her through her episode and bring her back into herself. It was painful waking up one morning and she was gone. She left her things behind, even her wedding rings.

She left a note explaining why she couldn't stay. Aside from her episodes and how crazy they were making her, she said she had to leave because the Onyx were after her. They learned of her killing spree in Mexico, something my brothers and I tried hard to cover up. But somehow they still found out. They couldn't risk her exposing the whole of the clan so they thought best to get rid of her. So she ran.

They showed up at the house not long after she had left and searched the whole place. No matter how many times I explained to them what happened, they didn’t believe me. At the time I had no idea where she had gone, I had no answers for them. They didn’t like that. For days they tortured me in hopes of receiving the answers they so desperately wanted out of me.

The sun was their main tactic. Removing my ring so I wouldn’t be protected. Whenever I answered with ‘I don’t know’, they’d draw the curtains, allowing the sun to burn my skin. Josh had to listen to my screams of pain, unable to help me. No one was allowed to help me. I was on my own.

The love of my life, or at least I thought she was, up and left and giving me up. It wasn’t until five months after the Onyx finally gave up on their search for her that she finally made contact via letter. She apologized for leaving but said she was safe in Russia. She was aware of my torture and said she wanted to help but couldn’t in fear of exposing herself to them. She couldn't risk it.

I had lost her for good. She was gone. I believed she was never coming back. And after fifty years, I chose to not be married to her anymore, even if we had a binding agreement. She was dead to me and to anyone who asked about her. That was that. I didn’t want to have to explain that she was definitely still alive and hiding out in Russia away from everything and everyone, including me.

Sitovo chose herself. She chose her own safety and left me to deal with the mess.

My only question to her now would be.. Why come back now?

Did Chris convince her too? Will he use her to get to me? To get to Sara?

What if he gets to her before Danny does?

What if–

Josh slaps my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts. He nods his head towards the doorway of the living room. There she stands with Danny, the look of annoyance clear as day on her face.

“Found her on the other side of town with some guy’s tongue shoved down her throat.” Danny explains as he walks down the few steps into the room and goes over to the alcohol table. Anger and jealousy boiled through my veins as I stared her down. I knew she knew it too because she wore a devious look on her face.

“Get out.” I order my brothers, not once breaking eye contact with Sara.

“Don’t break anything,” Josh says as he leads Danny out of the room.

Once I knew they were far enough away, I strode up to Sara and grabbed her by her neck. She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Jakey, you don’t scare me anymore.”

“Oh no?” I cock my head. “Are you sure about that?”

I could see my eyes darken through her pupils. Using full force, I swung her around and tossed her to the floor. “Now it’s my turn to have fun with you.” I say as I pin her to the floor.

“Your little blood trick doesn’t scare me either.”

I chuckle maliciously and grin at her. “You don’t know the extent of it. I only told you what I wanted you to know..”

“Like what you only told me about Sitovo?”

Gritting my teeth, I pull her off the floor and shove her up against the mantelpiece, cracking some of the molding. “You don’t get to talk about her..”

“Sounds to me that she still gets you riled up.” She dryly laughs and runs her fingertips along my jaw. “You still love her. I saw it in your eyes when Josh told you she was in Memphis.. I think that hurt worse seeing that than knowing you lied to me about her being dead, let alone failing to mention you’re still married.”

“Of course I still love her, I never stopped. But I only love her in the sense of someone that I care about. I don’t love her like I love you.”

“Love me how?” She questions.

She questions my love for her?

Pulling her off the mantelpiece, I shove her onto the couch. I instantly have her legs hooked over my shoulders as I press my lips against her needy center. I lick a stripe up her, her moan escaping from her lips. I licked and I sucked and fucked her with my fingers until I had her crumbling to pieces before me. I lapped up everything she had to offer and not leaving one bit of it behind. I pull away, letting her legs fall off my shoulders.

“Is that all you got?” She asks breathlessly.

Standing from the couch, I undo my belt and snap my fingers before pointing to the floor. “On your hands and knees. Now.”

She smirks and slides off the couch. Positioning herself on her hands and knees in the middle of the rug, she glances at me over her shoulder. I fall to my knees behind her and reach forward to turn her head away. Shoving my pants down, I free myself. I bunch up her dress to reveal most of her ass and I line myself up with her entrance.

“Would you have let him fuck you?” I say as I push just my tip past her folds.

“Maybe..”

I crack an open palm against her ass, making her yelp. “Yes or no?”

“Yes.” She responds.

“Hmph..” I huff before slamming myself into her. She lets out a loud moan, her head dropping downwards. “Does that feel good?”

“S-So good, Jake..”

“I’m sorry..” I lean over her and yank her head back. “Who?”

“S-Sir..”

I smirk and let go of her head, allowing it to drop forward again. “That’s what I thought..”

I pull out just enough to keep my tip inside of her. “Were you going to do it just to spite me?” I say as I slowly push back inside of her. “I take it Danny cock blocked you, didn’t he?”

“Y-Yes..” She stammers.

“Because he knows who you belong to..” I say as I thrust my hips again. “But I don’t think you do..” I retract myself, pulling all the way out.

“No.. No..” She pleads as she turns herself around. “Jakey please..” She says as she grabs hold of the lapels of my shirt.

I trace the expanse of her jaw and use my knuckle to draw her face close. “Then tell me who do you belong to?”

“You.. You..” She breathes against my lips as I lay her down on her back. “Only you..”

“That’s right, baby..” I say before kissing her neck. “Only me..” I thrust myself back inside of her and slowly started to create a steady rhythm. “I know I screwed up.. I know I should have told you the truth..”

She grabs a handful of my ass in both of her hands and squeezes tightly. I moan from the feeling it gives me and I dig deeper inside of her. “If you had been as honest as you were when you revealed to me that you’re a vampire, we wouldn't be in this mess..”

“I always want to be like this with you.”

I quicken the pace and thrust as deep as I can go inside of her. “Jake..” She moans. “Fuck, Jake I’m almost there.”

“Me too baby..”

I can feel my own orgasm creeping up, the build up becoming utterly unbearable. As soon as I feel her spill all over me, I’m crashing to my own orgasm.

Slow claps fill the room and I lift my head to find Chris standing in the entryway to the living room. “Enjoyed the show?” I smugly say as I pull out of Sara. Getting us both resituated, I pull her behind me.

Chris chuckles and shakes his head. “I have to say, Jacob. You’ve really found the loophole.. Creating a new vampire all because you didn’t want to give her up.” He takes a step down and smiles. “From my doing of course.”

“You killed her..”

“And she would have stayed dead had you not fed her your blood.”

“She didn’t deserve to die..”

“Had to do something..” Chris says. “I wasn’t given a choice.”

I scoff, shaking my head. “You had a choice.. But you took the trust that I had in you and used it against me.”

Chris rolls his eyes and moves down off the last step. “Oh quit with the dramatics, Jake.. I heard she nearly fucked someone else tonight,” He chuckles. “Aren’t we jealous?”

“Shut up..”

“Though I gotta say, Sitovo is quite the little thing herself.”

I clear my throat and run a hand through my hair. “She’s free to do whatever…or whoever…she chooses to.”

“Good to know you still care about me.” Sitovo steps out from around the corner. Her hair was longer and curled around her shoulders. Her eyes still looked like the same old ocean blue as they always were. Her staple red lipstick was stark against her pale skin. She never could color in her skin as easily as anyone else.

“Hello again, Jake.. I see you moved on..”

“I see you have to,” I responded back. “Russians weren’t enough for you that you had to stoop so low to the Red coats?”

“Oh very original,” Chris scoffs. “It’s been two hundred and forty-eight years..”

“Should have killed you that day. Then we wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“But then that would’ve meant I couldn’t enjoy making love with this pretty, little thing.” He says as he traces Sitovo’s jaw.

“Why are you here?” I question him. “To finish the job?”

“As much as I would love that, I love having my limbs intact.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Don’t think I haven’t been keeping tabs on you like you have been on me.” Chris folds his arms over his chest. “Besides, I’ve been in town a lot longer than you know. I guess Josh doesn’t have good enough resources.” He turns his attention to Sara and smirks. “Your lips taste so sweet..”

“How would—” Sara gasps behind me. “That was you?!”

Chris smirks. “I have the gift of shapeshifting darling.” He winks. “I could’ve killed you on the spot had Danny not shown up when he did.”

“Oh… My… God…” I say as I turn to face Sara. “You almost fucked him?!”

“I didn’t know it was him!” Sara exclaims.

“Get off my couch..” I say pointing behind me at Chris as he tries sitting down.

“Just wanted somewhere comfortable to sit while the show went on..”

“Then you can watch my foot go up your ass,” I hear Danny say as he and Josh enter the room.

“You know this is getting so exhausting..” Josh says as he fills a glass with whiskey. “Give up already Chris.”

“Not until I finish what I was set out to do.”

“Then I won’t hesitate to snap your neck..” Josh says as he casually sips on his whiskey.

“You know that doesn’t–”

“Before I burn your body…” Josh continues.

“That’d be a bonfire I’d love to participate in..” Danny snickers from his place beside Sitovo. He casually turns his head to look at her and grins. “I wouldn’t mind adding you to the pile too.”

“Ooo, who's having a bonfire and can I join?” Sam says as he walks through the front door. “I love a good s’more.”

“Josh threatened Chris..” Danny continues grinning.

“Oh goody, I won’t have to collect firewood.”

“Now I can see why you went crazy,” Chris says as he turns to look at Sitovo. “They’re nothing but murderous freaks.”

“Well, it is what we were made to do,” Josh says. “Although we do have control, unlike someone…”

“Hey, it was one time..” Sam says defensively.

Danny slaps him across his chest. “Not you..” He says as he glares at Sitovo. Sitovo rolls her eyes and shifts her weight to her other foot.

“You still haven’t moved on yet?” Sitovo questions. “It’s been over two hundred years, build a bridge and get over it.”

Sam casually leans over towards her, “I would shut up if I were you,” He says. “You’re poking the stick at the wrong bear.”

“All I’m saying is–”

“And all I’m saying is,” Danny says, his voice raising in volume. “You killed me..”

“I brought you back..”

“Yeah, like this!” He exclaims, motioning his hands around himself. “I told you no, I didn’t want this! I didn’t want any of this and you took that choice away from me! I lost everything because of you! I had to hide from my own family so they wouldn’t kill me! Do you know how hard that was?! I had to watch them grow old while I stayed like this! I had to watch them die while I kept living!”

“I gave you a gift..”

“That’s it..” Danny rolls up his sleeve and takes the first swing at her, knocking her to the ground.

“Hey hey!” Sam shouts as he pulls Danny off of Sitovo. “She’s not worth it, Danny.. Come on, stop!”

“Just let me rip her head off!”

Chris laughs, shaking his head. “The quiet one is always the first to explode.”

“I’d shut up if I were you,” Josh says. “Anyways.. While Sam calms down Danny.. Let me ask you this.. Did you come back to finish the job?” He asks.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Josh scoffs. “Why come here then, to a house full of vampires that literally want to kill you, when you could have easily done it when you had her in the first place?”

“I thought about it, I did.” Chris says, nodding his head. “But that just wouldn’t satisfy me much.”

Sitovo manages to pick herself up from the floor and slowly approaches me. I throw my hand out, capturing her by the neck. She gasps for air as I gradually squeeze my fingers into her throat. “You..” I growl as I look at her. “Why are you here then?”

“I’ve come..to make..amends…with you,” She croaks.

“Ha!” I laugh loudly. “Bullshit..” I drop her to the floor and she takes in gulps of air to regain herself.

“You’re still my husband, Jake.” She says as she looks up at me.

I scoff, “I haven’t been your husband for fifty years, Vo. You left me.”

“I know.. And I’ve regretted every day since,” Sitovo stands back to her feet and straightens out her clothes. “I came back in hopes that we could rekindle what we once had.”

“Never will I ever want to rekindle anything with you, except your body.”

“Ooo,” She shutters with a grin. “Talking dirty already.” She says as she dares to take a step closer. “There’s my Jakey..” She walks her fingers up my shoulder, goosebumps being left in her wake.

Fuck.

Stop it.

You don’t love her anymore.

Don’t let her convince you otherwise.

Her fingers make their way to my jaw and she turns my head so that I’m looking at her. Her face is so close to me, I can smell the cherry lip gloss on her lips.

“My sweet, sweet Jakey..”

“Paws off,” Sara warns beside me. If I’m being honest, I forgot she was still there.

“Or what?” Sitovo spats. “You’ll break every bone in my body?” She laughs menacingly before pressing her lips to mine. “Let him go, just for a little bit. You can have your fun, why can’t he?”

I felt like puddy in her hands, melting into her palms.

No.

Jake, fight it.

“Jake?” Sara calls from beside him.

“Uh oh..” Josh mutters.

“Jake, snap out of it,” Sara says as she tugs on my arm. “Jake!”

Sitovo licks her tongue across my lips before pushing it inside my mouth. I can’t help but to kiss her back, the feeling is too overwhelming to fight. This was her gift. She was able to seduce a man into doing whatever she willed him to. It was a curse on the man but a blessing for her. She reveled in it.

The sensation fell away, the clouds breaking up in my head as I came back to my senses. Sitovo’s wails filled my ears and I looked down to see her crumbling to the floor in agonizing pain.

“Why couldn’t you just listen?” I hear Sara say beside me.

I could feel anger beginning to course through my blood. Danny’s anger flowed through me and I smirked. Putting all of my focus on Sitovo, I began to drain the blood from her heart and make it flow from her eyes.

“Jake!” She cries. “Jake… Please!”

“You betrayed me..” I growl. “You broke me..”

“Jake!”

“Now it’s my turn..”

I could see Chris trembling as fear overtook his body. Once I was finished with Sitovo and she was nothing but an empty shell of a body, I turned to face Chris. Danny’s anger dissipated from my body and I felt like myself again. I smirked at Chris and he looked at me in fear.

“Scared of me now, traitor?” I say as I slowly make my way across the room. “You took advantage of our friendship, and you betrayed my trust.”

“Jake, I-”

“I considered you a brother. I loved you like you were one.”

“Come on, Jake.. We can work this out. Start over?”

I laugh loudly. “Ha! Start over? Start over?! We’re in this mess because of you!”

“I don’t think so…”

I look behind him at Danny and I nod my head. Danny steps behind Chris and cracks his knuckles. But before he has the chance to even touch him, Chris is violently throwing his head back and smashing into Danny’s nose, causing him to stumble backwards in slight pain. Chris lunges forward and pins me to the mantelpiece. I can’t tell if the cracking I hear is my spine or the concrete.

“I wanted to be civilized about this..” Chris says as he lifts my chin and crushes my throat in his hands. “Handle this myself, but I guess I was wrong..” Before I know it, he has the poker in his hand and he shoves it through my abdomen. “I’m older than you, Jacob. I’m stronger and faster and I could kill you right now, along with your brothers. Maybe I’ll even spare Sara..”

I struggle against him but the iron poker only shifts inside my body causing more pain.

“She was gorgeous as a human but now?” He chuckles and smirks. “I guess ever since she turned, vampirism has given her more confidence. She’s absolutely glowing.. I mean.. Look at the body..”

“Don’t..you..touch..her..” I gasp.

“Come on, just a little taste..”

Suddenly the shift in the room changes. Sam and Danny are dropping to their knees and groaning in pain as they clutch their heads. Josh follows seconds later, his whiskey glass falling to the floor and breaking into pieces.

“No! No! Jake!” Chris turns my head to the side, making me watch as two other men are grabbing and pulling at Sara. “Jake!”

“Please..” I beg. “Please…don’t kill her…”

Chris laughs menacingly and turns my head back so I’m looking at him. “Don’t worry.. She’ll be safe with me..”

The last thing I heard was Sara screaming my name again before I heard the cracking of bone and everything going black.

@losfacedevil @writingcold @edgingthedarkness @i-love-gvf @katuschka @josh-iamyour-mama @sammysstolenbirks @asendingtothestarsasone @hollyco @musicislove3389 @its-interesting-van-kleep @katiegvf @tinydancer40 @gretavangroupie @lizzys-sunflower @fleetingjake @takenbythemadness @godly-sinsx @psychedelectable @dancingcarbon @oliverfuckingreed @cheersdannyx2 @piratejtk @katuschka @thetroublegetssoloud71

apologies about the tag list, tumblr won't tag a lot of people, but some are in the comments.

[hugsandchaos]

Dawn Of The Second Day

Summary: Danny has the closest thing to a normal breakfast he can have with nine strangers, but as luck would have it, he soon realizes he probably just ate something he shouldn’t have.

Word count: 3,717

First<<< Previous<<

The rest of the day, which wasn’t very long, was spent setting up camp in the ruins. It was a bit awkward for Danny since he didn’t have a tent or sleeping bag and pretty much just helped out a bit despite Hyrule insisting him to just sit with his injury. They were currently outside while dinner was cooking. Danny was seated on a log with his backpack right beside him, close enough to snatch if anyone tried anything. That night, Twilight was the one to cook something for the group, which based on what information Danny had, was usually Wild’s job.

Speaking of Wild, he had yet to say a word. Not that there was an issue with it. Besides, Danny found out the reason why when he tried asking him through sign language about what he usually likes to eat. He understood none of it, so now he was getting another set of lessons for sign language by Hyrule and Wild.

Key word now being ‘was’.

“Here you go.” Twilight said, handing him a bowl of soup. Danny accepted it with a smile, but wasn’t going to just eat it straight away.

“Thank you.” Danny said. In truth, he was pretty grateful, but with how suspicious he was of everyone, it felt like a lie. It smelled like cheese, fish, and pumpkin. An odd combination, but none of it looked or smelled anything like the stuff he taught himself to watch out for. As he glanced at Twilight hand the rest out, he risked it and lifted the spoon to his mouth to eat. Not because he was hungry, but more so to avoid suspicion.

It was surprisingly good. However, the familiar uneasiness caused by stress in Danny’s stomach urged him to eat slowly if he was going to eat anything at all that night, so that’s just what he did. By the time he was done eating, the others were too, and when he looked up, he immediately caught Warriors and Hyrule eyeing him. He glanced between them awkwardly, when really it put him on edge.

They seemed to realize how weird their staring must’ve been because their eyes widened a bit.”Oh, sorry. I was just unsure if you’d actually eat anything since you’ve seemed stressed and since arriving here.” Hyrule explained. Danny wasn’t entirely sure if he’d believe that, but he’d definitely play along.

“Yeah, it’s weird to be having a normal day and then quite literally dropped into another world. I’d be more surprised if I didn’t freak out a little.” He said half jokingly.

“So what’s your world like?” Wind asked. Danny turned his head to the right and looked at Wind sitting next to Twilight. Behind them, the clearing surrounding a pit prevented nearby trees from growing and concealing the night sky with their leaves and branches. Looking up, the young halfa was left breathless by the view. He had no idea how he hadn’t noticed it until now, but when he did, it was like everything else was forgotten.

The stars littered the sky like scattered glitter, and the moon looked to be in its crescent phase, glowing extra bright, but not bright enough to keep Danny’s attention. Neither were the stars the main characters of his attention, no. It was the galaxy. It was at an angle, mostly up and down, and looked cloudy and dusty, and yet so beautiful with its colors of white, purples, and blues. Out of all the camping trips he’s taken with his family, he couldn’t once recall a sight like this in person. It was beautiful, beyond beautiful, actually! Seeing pictures like this in textbooks were one thing, but he never imagined how much better it felt in person.

Now more than ever, he wanted to fly off planet and explore up close. Danny’s heart raced in his chest despite him still not breathing, until he felt someone nudge him and he nearly jumped out of his seat. He glanced over to see Legend had been the one to startle him out of his trance-like state.

“You okay?” He asked.

Danny recomposed himself.”Yeah, I’m alright.” He said. He glanced over at Wind, who looked a little concerned along with Twilight.”I’ll tell you one thing; In my world, you can hardly see the stars like this without driving a long distance away from the town because of the amount of lights we have on to light up the roads, and even then, I’ve never seen such a clear view of the night sky like this!” He said. He looked back up at the sky and leaned back a little bit.”If you guys get to see this every night, I’m a little jealous.” Danny said, hardly processing his own words as he was pulled back into the alluring wonders of the cosmos.

He was going to ask about different monsters, but he decided that would wait a bit. He knew something was said, but he was so focused on the unbelievable sight that it sounded muffled. His mind was elsewhere, most of it still shocked into silence and a small part of it going through everything he’s learned about outer space all at once.

~~~~~(Short Time Skip)~~~~~

After what felt like a short while and also eternity at the same time, Danny couldn’t ignore his continuous yawning any longer. He brought himself back down to the ground and turned to grab his backpack. A sharp pain flared from the cut as he turned his body and he briefly bit his lip to prevent himself from letting any sound out. As he moved to put it against the log so he could use it as a pillow, Danny looked around to see the others asleep. Most of them, at least. Time was still awake, sitting next to the fire.

He looked over at Danny.”Oh, you’re going to sleep? I was going to check on you in a few minutes if you hadn’t moved.” Time said. Danny felt a little bit embarrassed about how he’d let himself get lost in space for so long and his face felt a little hotter, and it wasn’t because of the fire.

“Yeah, it’s... it’s almost unreal.” He said, averting his gaze towards the ground. He got an idea and unzipped his backpack, reached inside, and pulled out his phone. He may not have service, but that wasn’t needed for the camera. Danny lightly pressed the on button, unlocked his phone, and pulled up the camera app, turning his phone towards the sky.

“Is that a sheika slate?” Time asked. Danny snapped a few pictures of the sky before turning his phone off and glancing over at him.

“A what? This is a phone.” Danny replied. Did they have something similar to a phone here?

Time seemed to understand and gave him a small nod.“Wild has something very similar. A bit more decorated, though.” He said.

“That’s pretty cool.” Danny said, yawning after he spoke. He briefly covered his mouth out of habit. He put his phone away in his bag and zipped it back up. He adjusted himself to lay down parallel to the log, using the backpack as a pillow, and cringing from the pain from his cut. The moment he got into a comfortable position and rested his head against the contents inside, Danny realized how tired he was. And something else. He sat back up, pausing at the flaring up pain from his cut, and began to stand up.

“Is everything okay?” Time asked.”If you heard something, I need to know.” He said. Hopefully the phone wasn’t the same thing they had that was similar.

“Uh-, no, I just... I just need to go take something off. I’m not supposed to sleep in it.” Danny said. Much to his relief, Time didn’t pry and simply nodded.

“You might want to also remove the strap on the armor, by the way. Makes sleep more comfortable.” He said. Danny nodded, grabbing his bag and walking into the ruins to do just that.

When Danny returned, he’d thrown on his jacket and zipped it up to make himself feel more comfortable, along with the Swiss Army knife Sam had lended to him. He was planning on returning it to her when he arrived at her house, but now he was suddenly really thankful for it as he’d tucked it away in his pocket. He stayed quiet as he placed the bag back down and got back into his previous position. He looked up at the sky one last time, no feeling a little better with the cosmos in his sights, before letting his eyes close.

~~~~~(In The Morning)~~~~~

The ground underneath Danny felt a little rough and a little prickly, and the partially solid backpack he was using as a pillow didn’t really help his quality of sleep. The rough texture of the backpack was far from perfect or ideal, and one of his first thoughts was that there was probably a mark on the side of his face. The contents inside offered some solidarity to keep his head off the ground at a slight angle. Now you might be wondering; How much sleep did Danny get? The answer is none.

He didn’t even have to try not to, but he did anyways. Whenever he heard something that startled him into sitting up, Time, Warriors, or Twilight would ask if he was alright. He’d nod, say he was a light sleeper, and pretend to go back to sleep. It wasn’t hard since being half dead meant he didn’t need to breathe as much, so he could mimic the slow, deep breathing of the living fast asleep without falling asleep himself. They had shifts, apparently, to keep watch from monsters.

Danny heard them waking each other up and bidding goodnight, then the camp would drift back into a quietness only interrupted by crickets, owls, the wind blowing, and the occasional monster howl in the distance. At some point, he’d been offered a blanket, but he politely refused and said that the jacket he was wearing was meant for colder weather than this, and was honestly happy when they didn’t press further than asking if he was sure. Danny took a while to notice the crickets quieting down and the owls waiting longer and longer between calls.

When he did, he mentally groaned and complained about how he hadn’t gotten any sleep, as if it wasn’t his intention. He heard pretty much everything, including when Twilight and Wild started to set up breakfast. Danny decided he’d had enough and would pretend to be an early riser. He yawned and started to sit up, but a sudden, sharp pain made him stop and inhale sharply through his teeth, almost like a hiss.

Right, the cut. How had he forgotten when it had bugged him all night?

The injury felt very sore and tingly as he waited for the initial soreness to subside. Once it died down enough, Danny moved again and lifted his arms next to him to sit up. The pain flared up again, but he held his breath and managed to push himself up with his eyes shut tight. He slowly released his breath and opened his eyes once he was sitting up.

“Good morning.” Twilight said. Danny looked over at him.”Did you sleep well?” He asked.

“Actually, I don’t think I slept at all. Thanks for asking, though.” Danny replied. He really wanted to be sarcastic, but he shouldn’t. It sounded like a genuine question, and even if it wasn’t, he could get in trouble for being rude. He didn’t fail to notice the brief look of worry on both heroes’ faces as he put a hand on the log to try to use as a backup support.

“Need help?” Twilight asked.

“No, I got it. Thank you, though.” Danny replied. He grabbed onto the one of the shoulder straps of his backpack and stood up. Thanks to his fast healing, the cut had likely healed some overnight, but it still hurt a lot. He’d take a look at it. He shifted his gaze to Twilight when he noticed him get up from his seat, but soon looked away when he started to wake up the others. While he did that, Danny threw him and Wild a brief “I’ll be right back, gotta check on my cut” before going back into the ruins.

He didn’t hear any argument, only a “Be careful” from Twilight.

The ruins were pretty dark compared to outside, but Danny’s eyes were already adjusting by the time he found his way back to the room he went into the day before. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his phone for the flashlight, something he could’ve done earlier, and shut the door behind him. He placed the backpack against the door and unzipped it. The little blob from yesterday let out something akin to a chirp.

Curious. Worry. Safe?

Danny looked inside his bag.”Yeah, but don’t come out yet. I’m going to get changed again.” He said. He reached in and grabbed the piece of leather armor, and the first aid kit. He placed the first aid kit on the ground and put the armor on top of it, then began undressing his upper body.

Worry. Hurting?

Danny didn’t look at the blob and put most of his focus on the task at hand.“Yeah, the cut still hurts.” He said. It was surprisingly comforting to have them there with him. After the struggle to put the binder back on, Danny paused to look at his cut. Placing the phone on top of his backpack, propped up against the door, he kneeled down and moved the armor off the first aid kit. He opened it and pulled out a roll of bandages. Then he began removing the bandages stained in red.

He was a little relieved to see that the stitches haven’t swelled much, something Frostbite warned him about. Danny also didn’t see any change in his usual skin tone around the site. The redness had died down from when it was fresh yesterday, so it didn’t look infected. The young halfa grabbed the roll of bandages and started putting on a fresh set. Once that was done, Danny grabbed the old set of bandages and put them in a previously empty spare pocket inside his backpack.

He then put the roll away, and the first aid kit back in his bag. He took the jacket and Fenton taser and put them both in the bag, but not before folding his jacket. Danny took a deep breath, letting his arms drop into his lap and still kneeling in front of his bag. Being surrounded strangers wasn’t fun at all, no matter how friendly they seemed, but they were his best bet at getting home. The blob sent another message, making more high pitched noises that always sounded like static, squeaks, chirps, or something one would hear from a computer experiencing errors that sounded like an expensive fix.

Worry. Comfort?

Danny only thought about it for a few seconds before closing his eyes and nodding. The blob didn’t see it, though, so he spoke.”Yeah, I’d appreciate it if you can be quick about it since we have to head back pretty soon. Just give me a moment.” He said. An agreeing squeak was his response as he started to get dressed.

Once he was done, complete with all the armor, he looked into the bag.”You can come out now.” He said. The ghost blob flew out of his bag and immediately put their plan into action.

They floated around Danny’s shoulder, went past him a little, then turned around and pressed their small body against the side of his face. Danny wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this. That didn’t mean it didn’t help, though. The blob’s ghostly “body” was pleasantly cool, the kind of cool that would make you want to surround yourself with it, especially during a hot summer day. They were also a little squishy. It reminded him of a stress ball Sam once handed him in class.

It wasn’t tough, or too easily manipulated that Danny felt a slight uneasiness from it possibly moving so fluidly that he couldn’t prevent it from falling out of his hand. In fact, after he thanked her for it, Sam offered to look into getting him one the next time he came over. That was supposed to be today. Even though it wasn’t some big event, the realization only added to his list of things to be upset about. The ghost blob closed their eyes and started vibrating their core, except it wasn’t a direct message.

The emotion was something bittersweet, but much more sweet than bitter. It was soothing. There was a ghost word for this, but the best English word was probably “purring”.

Danny glanced at the blob. Their soft green glow would usually be depicted by most others as eerie and unsettling, but now he saw them as a light of safety. Like a nightlight. Danny closed his eyes and tilted his head ever so slightly towards them. Not enough to make them move, but just enough to convey the message. He took a slow, deep breath, then another.

After a short while, Danny opened his eyes and smiled a little.”Thank you.” He said. The ghost blob chirped.

Curious. Hopeful. Comfort? Good?

“Yeah, I feel much better now. We should head back.” Danny replied. The ghost blob gave him one last chirp before retreating into his bag. They snuggled into the jacket he’d neatly placed as Danny reached towards an energy drink kept in place by a strap and net inside the bag. He was slowly getting into the habit of drinking them when he got so little sleep between school and ghost fighting, and he hadn’t gotten any sleep. The hiss and pop of the opening can echoed rather loudly in the small room.

Instead of just taking a couple sips and risking it spilling in his backpack, Danny made the half-thought-out, half-impulsive decision to down the whole thing. The flavor wasn’t the best thing for early morning, but it wasn’t that bad. Once it was all gone, he placed it back inside before zipping the bag back up and grabbed his phone. He carried the backpack by one of the straps that go around his shoulders and used the flashlight from his phone as he opened the door and began leaving the ruins. In the few minutes he’d been gone, the sun had risen more, and a few birds were starting to wake up.

When he returned to the camp, he put his phone back in his bag and approached the group. It could be his imagination, but they seemed a little relieved to see him. Wind and Hyrule especially perked up. Wild was the first to walk up to him, holding out a bowl of food.”Oh, thank you.” Danny said, accepting the food. Looking around, everyone else was awake and eating. Sky looked grumpy, though. He probably wasn’t a morning person. Danny took his seat from last night and started eating.

After everyone was done eating, Sky spoke up.“Alright,” Danny paused his practice conversation with Wild, worried that it was about him, “here’s the plan for today.” Sky said. Danny decided he needed to be involved in this. He probably already was, anyways.“An hour after breakfast, Wild and I will go up to Skyloft for supplies, and obviously one last visit to Sun. Then we’ll come back down to start Danny’s training.” Sky said.

Being defenseless wasn’t an image the young halfa wanted to keep for long, so he liked this idea. His only worry was his injury. It was healing nicely, but still hurt even when he wasn’t moving and was far from good enough for sparring. He was going to bring this up, but Hyrule beat him to it.

“We need to wait for his injury to heal, though.” He said.

“Why not give him a healing potion? Or a fairy, or use any magic?” Warriors asked.

That caught Danny’s attention. He lifted his hand a little.”Hold on, magic? Probably not a good idea.” He said. Everyone paused and turned towards him. Wild’s face fell a little.

“Why not? Is your body not able to handle magic very well?” Hyrule asked. Even though Danny wasn’t entirely sure, he didn’t want to risk it, so he nodded and started delivering an explanation to back it up.

“Back in my world, magic is extremely scarce. Most people don’t even believe it actually exists, and I used to be one of those people.” He said. Hyrule and Wild looked at him really worried. They then glanced at each other, then back at him. Danny didn’t like that had one bit.

“What happens if you eat it?” Hyrule asked. The pieces fell into place so quickly, the Flash couldn’t put together a puzzle faster. Danny’s face fell a little.

“I honestly don’t know. There was magic in the food, wasn’t there?” He asked. Hyrule nodded. The camp was silent for a bit. Well, except for the birds chirping and other animals waking up. It’d be bad if it went quiet while they were in a forest. Danny probably wasn’t as worried as them, though.

“I got a little unwell a while back when there was a lot of magic in a meal, but all I got was a stomachache that lasted a couple hours.” Twilight spoke up. Not sure if that was meant to help or not.

“Hopefully, that’s all I’ll get.” Danny said. He quickly dropped the subject. He’s gone to school and fought sick before, even though it was a bad idea and experience. He could surely handle a stomachache, if it affected him at all. He suddenly remembered last night’s meal.”Wait, but what about dinner last night? Did that have any magic in it? If it did, that would actually be a relief because that would mean no side effects.” Danny asked.

“No, last night’s meal didn’t have any magic in it.” Twilight replied.

Okay, there was still a possibility of him getting sick. That was fine. He’d handle it.“Guess I’ll just wait and see what happens. So if we can’t train, could I at least get a bit of information on these things I’m going to learn to fight?” Danny asked.

“Sounds good to me!” Wind said.

(Notes: Y’all, I’m so impatient to get to the parts I really, really want to write and I’m trying to be patient about it because there are other parts I’d also like to write! I’m being impatiently-patient! I wanted to title this “Dawn Of The First Day”, but decided against it because it’s the second day. Yes, even though it hasn’t been a full 24 hours. But I enjoyed writing the bit about Danny realizing how there’s pretty much zero light pollution, which means clear view of the night sky, and he kinda just forgets about everything else! I can’t help but imagine the Links watching him get lost in space (metaphorically) and either making bets about when he’ll snap out of it or fall asleep, or just Twilight giving him a piggyback ride late at night while he stares up at the sky.)

(And incase you’re wondering who’d win the bet, no one would. If left alone, Danny would most likely stay up all night staring at the sky, which none of them bet on. He’d either pretend to be completely fine the next day because it was far from his first all-nighter, or he’d be carried against his will and get a good nap in. The bit where the ghost blob comforted him was also something I had fun writing! Also, I’m trying to do some research on binder safety because I’m using the trans Danny headcanon for this (all of the Links pretty much don’t care-- girl, boy, if you can fight, then you can fight), but if I ever make a mistake with it in future fics, please do let me know.)

[britcision]

Guys I dunno how to tell you this this is my favourite fucking chapter so far and before this one the last one was

I know it looks like we’re getting distracted and side tracked off on tangents but I’m having the time of my fucking life and more than half of my favourite bits weren’t in the plan

(We’re still on track and makin’ our way but oh boy the funniest things are all accidents)

AO3 link is as ever still on the first couple of chapters!

First:

Previous:

———————

That’s Not A Twink That’s An Anime Girl

They did eventually have to let Dick out of his snow drifts.

As a former circus acrobat, Dick had the best excuse of all of them to use his vigilante training in public; he’d wormed out of Jason’s grasp, flipped over Duke and made a run for it.

Unfortunately for him, gravity was actually literally optional for Danny, and Danny didn’t even have a superhero identity to protect in Gotham.

He could turn a lot more easily on the slick ice and snow to give chase, a little flight added when friction failed him. On his own, Danny would have probably had to actually fly to take Dick down.

Of course, odds of eight-to-one would weigh on any man. Not a single member of the group wasn’t thoroughly soaked by the hour’s end, sweat under clothes and snow clinging over them.

The journey up to Wayne Manor ended up being done in chunks as the sun began to sink and the cold set in for their more human friends.

Jason, Danny, Duke, and Tim had to go back to the mall to retrieve motorbikes.

(Technically Danny didn’t actually need to, but what he did need was an excuse to get Jason alone for a minute, and he’d put up with snickering from Sam and Tuck to do it.)

Steph, Cass, Damian, Sam, and Tucker called for a cab rather than pack themselves into Dick’s now snow filled car, and their numbers were excuse enough for Danny to slip away.

Which is when Tucker realised he could have probably hitched a ride on Tim’s bike, and spent the whole journey hugging Tim Drake-Wayne.

Buuuuut it’d also mean riding a motorcycle through slushy snow. The dilemma on his face made Danny grin all the way back to the mall, despite the damp now clinging to his clothes.

Sure, the car might reach the manor first and they’d get warm and dry, but that just meant Tucker’d miss out on more Tim Time.

The snowball fight had clearly done Tim good too, he was much more energised as they walked back to the mall, complaining to Danny and the others about Amity Park’s underhanded tactics.

Danny sure as fuck wasn’t going to apologise, but he did have a much more important question: how the fuck did Jason do that landshark-disappearing-into-snow bullshit?

Which… well, was also a chance to fuck with Tim and Duke.

“Seriously Jay, I can go intangible but that snow trick was bullshit,” Danny complained with a wicked glee in his heart, reflected in Jason’s grin.

Tim nearly tripped over his own feet. Duke caught him, his own eyes wide.

“You can what?!” Tim asked in a slightly strangled voice, and Danny gave him his most innocent smile.

“Oh, has Dick not told you? Yeah, it’s one of my things, from the generic end of the list,” he explained casually, turning his arm intangible and phasing it through Jason.

Who made a face.

“Okay but why does it feel like that left a residue?” The larger man complained, scrubbing at his shirt.

Which. Danny paused, frowning down at his hand. Stuck it through his own chest experimentally.

“Y’know, I didn’t know it did that… not like I go through myself often, but I can definitely feel it,” he agreed, sticking his tongue out as he wiggled his hand around, then drew it back.

Duke and Tim looked fascinated and nauseated respectively. Danny gave them both a cheerful shrug and kept walking.

“It’s probably my pit water,” he theorised, and Jason groaned loudly.

“Danny, did you just fucking mix our forbidden smoothies?” He complained loudly, and Duke damn near choked himself on a strangled laugh.

Danny fully had to stop and turn to stare at Jason, delighted awe on his face.

“Oh, I’m calling it that forever. That’s my new favourite thing. Skulker is going to shit his entire liver when he hears “forbidden smoothie”,” he decided gleefully.

Jason smirked and bumped shoulders as he passed, forcing the others to keep moving to keep up. Duke almost jogged to lean around Jason and give Danny a curious look.

“Who’s Skulker?” He asked innocently and Danny grinned at him.

“Oh, one of my rogues. He likes to talk a big game but he’s pretty easy to deal with. All bark, no bite,” Danny explained cheerfully.

Honestly he was a little surprised Skulker hadn’t shown up in Gotham to bother him yet. He must have been having a hard time finding a portal, because it’s not like he’d stop.

Tim and Duke did seem a little reassured by his casual dismissal, but still concerned. Jason cut them off before they could ask anything that might be useful.

Yeah, Jason was kinda Danny’s favourite.

“So how the fuck do I get your smoothie out of my jug?” He asked with an overly disgusted face. Danny fought not to laugh.

“You are so asking the wrong person dude, I didn’t know it happened until just now,” he pointed out and Jason rolled his eyes.

“I’m taking at least six showers when we get to the manor,” Jason grumbled melodramatically, and Danny laughed aloud.

Then paused.

“Wait, how many bathrooms are there? Can we all shower?” He asked Tim and Duke.

Neither of whom looked ready to admit they didn’t know what was going on. Fuck Jason knew his family well.

Duke shrugged, the mall finally coming into sight, and diverted towards the underground parking.

“Well, there’s enough for one each. And Alfred could do laundry for you so you can change right after if you take a long one,” he offered, glancing down at his own now damp clothes.

Best part of a snowball fight: changing back into something warm and dry.

Danny snickered, plucking at Jason’s oversized sweater.

“The way you assume I’m wearing a single thing that I actually own is adorable,” he told the younger man sincerely, grinning as his cheeks heated.

Sure, it was more subtle on dark skin than Danny’s light tan, but he’d been friends with Tucker since he could walk. He knew exactly what to look for.

Was not quite ready for it to be combined with a sly grin right back.

“What, nothing of yours?” He asked suggestively and Tim laughed, quickly catching on.

“Did Jason give you everything?” He asked teasingly, both younger Wayne wards now grinning at their older brother.

Jason’s little pink blush was definitely still Danny’s favourite. He grinned right back, refusing to follow them to a place that didn’t exist.

“Some of it’s probably yours,” he told Tim blithely, tugging at his sweatpants. Which, as predicted, immediately changed Tim’s expression to annoyance.

“Why is everyone wearing my pants today?” Tim grumbled, and Danny’s grin widened.

“They looked a little tight on Tucker if you wanted to help him take them off,” Danny teased and Tim levelled a dry stare at him.

“I do have a boyfriend,” he pointed out coolly, like that was gonna stop turnabout from being fair play.

“Ask him to come help then,” Jason cut in, ruffling Tim’s hair, “you know Connor’s always welcome for dinner.”

For a long moment Tim’s expression froze, clearly actually considering the suggestion. Then he shook his head, sighing and calling the elevator.

“Probably not today. What floor do you guys need?” He asked as the doors slid open, stepping inside.

Quiet day at the mall. Probably the fucking cold, combined with hangovers from the new year.

And as much as Danny was thirsting to ask about that, he also very much needed Jason alone before they got on the road. Hopefully they weren’t on the same level.

“Two,” Jason said, and Tim nodded, hit two and then four. Looked to Duke. Who grinned.

“Three. Sorry Tim, you’re taking the scenic route.”

And for once the universe worked in Danny’s favour. Something fucked would probably happen soon to compensate.

He and Jason left the elevator together, waited til the doors slid back shut, and then headed off towards the bike. Danny didn’t make him ask.

“She’s definitely liminal. Not like, bad? Honestly she wouldn’t even register back in Amity Park. Damian’s is a bit worse, but he’s younger, it happens. Ecto energy likes kids,” he explained when Jason made an inquisitive noise.

He definitely wasn’t bitter or anything. He’d been just young enough to take it in like a magnet.

His parents probably wouldn’t have survived the same accident.

“It’s kinda the only thing horror movies get right. Ectoplasm can form from emotional energy, and little kids, they feel everything that much more. Tapers off when you get older, so Damian’s still a magnet. Cass is stable.”

He kinda wished he had better news, but honestly? After a dunk in the kind of rancid ectoplasm Jason described, Danny was taking it as a win that neither of the others were haunted.

Jason nodded gruffly, pausing beside his bike to pull his helmet back on. Not that it’d stop Danny from reading his mood; his aura pulsed stress-stress-stress-worry like a beacon.

Danny stepped closer, resting a hand on Jason’s shoulder, stilling the movement.

“They’ll both almost definitely become ghosts if they die again,” he explained softly, voice low enough to pass unheard in the echoing space, “but they’ll be fine. Think of it like insurance; you’re never going to lose them.”

Jason snorted, the sound distorting strangely through the helmet, but didn’t pull away.

“Is that what you tell yourself about Sam and Tucker?” He asked, trying to sound derisive but there was a tinge of hope there now.

Danny gave him a gentle wave of sorry-sorry-comfort back.

“Yeah.”

**

Back in the elevator, Tim looked at Duke expectantly. Who sighed.

“I am not a fuckin’ pokedex, Tim,” he reminded the older boy with a roll of his eyes. Which his brother totally ignored, still waiting.

Tim could fucking stare like nobody’s business.

The elevator chimed again and Duke stepped out, not the least surprised when Tim followed.

“I dunno. I thought I almost caught something in the park, but it was just a blur. Tucker and Sam both have more of an aura than Danny, but Danny’s clearly something. I just dunno if it’s a meta gene,” he explained reluctantly, and Tim nodded, already adding the information to his wrist computer.

Which he wasn’t supposed to wear out of costume.

Duke wasn’t gonna tell; he’d be a damn hypocrite if he did, he wore his Signal boots with the bike half the time. They were just much more responsive than normal boots.

“What makes you say that?” Tim asked, still typing away. It’d save Duke from having to add it all to his report, so it kinda counted as a favour.

Duke shrugged, still trying to narrow down the feeling.

“Honestly? Most people with the same meta gene fuck up a little the first time they show off around me. It’s the x-metals; I boost them, whatever they’re doing goes too hard.” Tim’d been the one to help him work that out, but it would all go in the report.

Tim nodded, gesturing for him to continue and Duke sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Danny… didn’t. Unless that’s the residue they were both talking about, and if the fucking Lazarus Pits can cause intangibility we have got to warn Bruce. But that’s not the only thing,” he added quickly, before Tim could speak.

The older boy quieted obediently, but Duke could see he had his thinking face on. Putting pieces together, all those wheels turning as one.

That was practically a fuckin’ meta ability, and it wasn’t like Tim got a boost from him either. Maybe Duke needed to do some more experimenting.

“Most metas, even the nonhuman ones, have at least some aura. Some of them can hide it, but I can get a feel for their powers from it. Danny… I dunno. I can almost feel something, but I can’t see it.”

That was the thing that unsettled Duke the most, honestly. Almost all of his powers were purely light based; seeing what other people couldn’t. Even his shadow manipulation still worked around light.

It was fucking weird for there to be anything he couldn’t see, and he could go way beyond the visible spectrum. Whatever Danny emitted, it went beyond even that.

For a guy who could even see a little into the future, it was weird.

And since Danny had showed off flight, super strength, and intangibility already? And called them the generic end of the list?

Duke was definitely leaning on the “extreme control of his aura” side of the equation.

Tim looked concerned too, which was kind of validating. It kinda sucked being the expert on things no one else could understand, because Duke always worried he was overreacting, but if Tim tagged it too? Well that was validation.

“The only bit of good news is that we can probably rule out the pits as the source of his abilities,” Tim muttered as he scanned back through his notes so far.

“They coulda been trauma activated by his death in the same way as a meta gene,” Duke pointed out thoughtfully, leaning back against the wall.

It wasn’t like they were racing home, and until someone else came down the elevator? No rush. Tim had another floor to descend anyway.

Tim himself shrugged, adding another couple of notes to his file.

“It’s definitely possible, but even if it was a million-to-one chance, I can’t imagine Ra’s keeping quiet about something this useful, or letting someone like Danny run around if he had any idea he existed,” Tim explained, making a face.

And… yeah, no point trying to argue with Tim about Ra’s al Ghul. Duke pulled a face too and sighed.

“Well, he still seems pretty sure we’ll know all about it if we can get into Amity Park. Or when Jason decides to fucking tell us,” he added with a roll of his eyes.

Tim glanced up at him, smirking.

“You noticed too?” He asked innocently, and Duke snorted. Reading Jason’s micro-expressions might not be a survival skill exactly, but it was still a bat family hobby.

“He definitely fucking knows!” He complained, the switch from Professional Hero to Baby Brother getting easier and easier as time passed.

He still had his own parents, he didn’t need Bruce to adopt him, but he’d been an only child for most of his life. Having a new army of big brothers and sisters? Kinda ruled.

And he knew most of the others felt the same. They’d all be alone in their own ways, and the stubborn independent streaks were still there, but…

It was good to know someone had your back. That no matter what happened, how the adults in your life fucked you over, you could always go to Dick’s in Bludhaven.

Could always call Jason to bitch about whatever you needed off your chest, and yeah, there was always the worry that he really meant it when he said he’d “take care” of your problem? But he also listened when they said no.

Hell, it’d been Jason’s couch that Duke had crashed out on about a year ago, back when Jason was still damn near on the Big Bat’s no fly list.

He’d been on his way to school for the start of his winter semester when an absolutely blinding migraine took him to his knees. For whatever reason, Jason had been close.

Duke hadn’t even been able to glance at his phone to call for help; even opening his eyes a crack felt like he was being blinded. He’d barely recognised Jason’s voice asking if he was alright.

Hell, back then he hadn’t known if Jason recognised him out of costume. They’d always had a more friendly relationship than Jay did with the other bats, but this had been just after Jason finally texted Dick back.

Back when Red Hood would take a casual shot at any mask crossing into his turf. Not to hit, but a definite reminder of the border.

And Jason had lifted him bodily and carried him into Crime Alley. Put him on his couch to sleep it off in pitch darkness, and made him some of the best home made soup Duke had ever had.

Duke got why the older teens were still a little wary. He’d seen the Pit Rage live and in person, and it was fucking terrifying. It just wasn’t all Jason was.

And yeah, the family also had a whole army of fellow teens who’d know exactly what you were talking about, between Steph, Tim, Cass, and Duke himself. Even Damian, as much as he pretended not to care.

Kate and Babs were always willing to spread their wings out and give them all a place to shelter. And hell, if adult supervision was needed, they even had Harley, Ivy, or Selina.

Duke may not want to be a Wayne, but he’d take everything the bat family offered with both hands.

Tim sure as hell had not adjusted from being the baby to being third oldest though. He gave a huge heaving groan to match Duke’s own, flopping back against the wall.

“I know, right! And he knows we don’t know shit. He’s just enjoying watching us scramble cuz he knows we can’t just tell Danny we don’t know,” he grumbled, scrubbing both hands through his hair.

Duke hesitated.

“We… probably could just tell Danny,” he said slowly, brows furrowing. “It’s not like he doesn’t want us to know.”

Tim gave him a sidelong look.

“Yeah, after we admit we didn’t even manage to google him. Y’know, the kid who clocked Dick’s identity from his ass,” he added dryly.

Duke hesitated again, brows furrowing.

He knew that shouldn’t matter. Knew the smart move really was to ask for help sometimes. Knew damn well that it was Tim’s stubborn streak that kept him in the cave all night, while Tuck, Steph, and Cass watched movies upstairs.

Finally he let his head drop, sighing.

“The longer we wait the dumber we look if we have to ask later,” he warned Tim but his heart wasn’t in it.

It didn’t matter that Jason was probably the only member of the family with all the pieces; whoever caved and asked for help first? Yeah, social suicide.

Tim shook his head, pushing off the wall and scowling out into the rest of the garage.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll talk to Tucker about the Amity Park problem tonight and we’ll know by morning.”

Which… Duke hid a smile.

Asking Danny? Definitely cheating, worthy of scorn and derision.

Asking Tucker? Apparently completely different. Although technically he wouldn’t be asking Tucker for the same information.

Just admitting the exact same fault.

Pulling his keys from his pocket, Duke turned and wiggled them at Tim as he headed for his bike.

“Hey, if you hurry you could try to beat Danny and Jason to the manor. Get to Tucker first,” he added, grinning as Tim hit the call for the elevator.

The shorter boy rolled his eyes, waving a hand in Duke’s general direction.

“I’ll get to him once everyone’s warmed up. He wanted a look at my set up last night anyway,” he said almost off handedly.

Duke’s grin spread.

“Oh hey, that’s perfect! Just take him to your bedroom after you’ve both just been wet and naked and show each other your most private parts!” He called loudly, wondering if any of the supers were listening.

They’d find out soon.

Tim choked, blushing cherry red and spun to yell something after Duke just as the elevator doors opened. Duke waved cheerily back, turning away to head for his motorcycle.

“See you at the manor Timmy!”

**

Reconvening at Wayne Manor was… well, chaotic. Even more so than the gala the night before, though that might have been because this time, none of them had a firm plan.

Jason and Danny arrived first, greeting Alfred on the way in. The butler was not hugely impressed by the “foresight” which had led to a snowball fight when Danny was wearing an oversized sweater, sweatpants, and little else.

Any protestations that Danny was fine and was normally this cold anyway quavered under an archly raised brow and Danny privately swore never to let Clockwork meet Alfred.

They would get along far too well.

And that’s how Danny ended up actually using one of the spare bathrooms while Jason, who had worn a proper coat and thus escaped Alfred’s wrath, grabbed him a change of clothes.

The fact that this once again included one of Jason’s shirts, when Tim, Dick, Duke, and Steph all existed and also had spare clothes here, felt a little targeted.

It hung from Danny’s shoulders like a kid in his dad’s clothes, but Jason was probably also the only one with a shirt that said “Soup Powered Fuck Machine”, and the bit was fucking worth it.

Danny tied off most of the excess fabric into something just a bit longer than a crop top and settled in to drink hot chocolate with Jason and Duke and wait for the others to come back down.

(Which, by the way? Best hot chocolate he’d ever tasted. He was stealing the recipe 1000%, it was so rich and creamy and thick and had grated curls of chocolate on top of the whipped cream.)

Any lingering questions Duke might have been hiding about the shirt? Answered themselves when Tucker walked into the room, saw Danny, and laughed so hard he wound up in the fetal position.

Yeah, Jason was never getting this shirt back.

This was Danny’s shirt now. He was gonna wear it for his next fight with his rogues.

Sam actually did have her own clothes, so she’d accepted the offer of laundry while she showered (though she was a little annoyed the laundry room was so far from any of the bathrooms that she couldn’t do it herself), so she’d rejoined them in a mix of Steph and Cass’s clothes while she waited.

She had also been unable to keep a straight face upon seeing Danny’s new country girl fashion statement, rolling her eyes and punching his shoulder as she dropped to sit next to him.

“We call the thermos Soup Time,” she explained when Cass cocked her head curiously… which probably actually confused the rest of the bats a little more.

“The thermos you threw at Killer Croc?” Dick asked, still towelling his hair dry.

Sam raised a very slow eyebrow at him, her smile toning down to a smug smirk.

“Yeah, sure, I definitely threw it at Croc,” she agreed dryly and Dick cackled, throwing his towel down on Tucker’s still curled body.

Without even seeming to open the door Alfred appeared with another tray of hot chocolates, handing them out to those who hadn’t yet gotten one and taking back empty mugs.

He even had a second hot chocolate for Danny, who was going to marry the man. Even if he was old enough to be his grandpa.

Maybe Tucker did have a point about trying to get into the Wayne family for the perks… which Danny was never going to stop teasing him about, now that he and Tim were getting on so well. Boy could make his own ins, he didn’t need Danny.

Even Tucker roused himself for a mug though, crawling out from under Dick’s towel, glancing at Danny, and bursting out laughing again. Still, this time he could keep himself steady enough to stand, take the mug, and join Tim on another couch.

Alfred gave a quick glance around the room, probably counting heads, and cleared his throat.

The assorted vigilantes quieted immediately, and Danny’s respect for the old man grew just a little. It was already pretty fucking high. Not much more room to rise.

And somehow that perfectly serene, composed face managed to convey a deep sense of satisfaction.

“I am afraid we are presently waiting only on Master Bruce to begin dinner. If you would all proceed to the dining room?” It was phrased as a polite request.

The Wayne brood leapt to like it was an order. Danny pressed his lips shut on a laugh as he followed, catching Sam’s eye to see her grinning.

Up in front, Dick hurried to walk alongside Alfred.

“Oh, is Brucie not home? Or do you want me to go dig him up?” He asked brightly, and Alfred gave him a tight smile, pushing open the door to the fucking plainest most normal dining room Danny’d ever seen in a mansion.

Sure, the table was huge, but rather than being ornate, heavy, or flashy, it looked to be hard wearing oak. Clean, well polished, and not even that polish could hide the dents.

The chairs too were comfortable, nice, and a lot more tasteful than the Manson’s or Vlad’s. Well padded, well used, but not… fancy. Even the walls were simple, the elaborately framed portraits and art pieces on the wall replaced with…

What looked like kid’s drawings. Framed, cherished, and it clicked.

No chance in hell that this was the manor’s formal dining room.

The table was huge, but not that big with the number of people in the room. More than half of it was filled with just the kids, and sure there was space for the Amity Parkers, but not a larger group.

This was the family dining room. And that was fucking adorable.

Steph’d definitely walk him through every picture on the walls to help him find Jason’s. Today was going to be great.

He almost completely missed Alfred’s reply to Dick.

“I’m afraid not, master Dick. He was expected back nearly two hours ago, and yet…”

Even deep within the manor no one could have missed the sound of the front door slamming open, and anyone who did would have been alerted by the bellowing yell that followed.

“OOOOOOOH BRUCIE! I TOLD YA WHAT’D HAPPEN IF WE HAD TO HAVE THE BOUNDARY TALK AGAIN!” An extremely loud, very chipper given… well, everything voice filled the room.

The Gothamites’ heads all snapped around with expressions ranging from delight to exasperation.

“How the fuck did she get here so fast,” Duke hissed, leaning in towards Tim, but not far enough that Danny couldn’t hear, “weren’t she and Ivy in Brazil?”

Tim, definitely the exasperated one, gave a helpless shrug. Whatever he replied with was lost under Dick, bellowing back with clear glee in his voice.

“FAMILY DINING ROOM, HARLS! FIRST HALL ON YOUR LEFT!”

So, they were all going to meet Harley Quinn today. That’d be fun. Danny had always wondered what she was like in person, and apparently she was a close enough friend of the Waynes to be welcomed in.

Sam and Tucker’s faces would be fun.

Alfred’s was a perfect mask of patience that even Clockwork would envy, and he had already pulled a new place setting from a chest of drawers.

It didn’t take Harley long to find them, striding down the hall wearing some fucking unseasonal shorts, a baggy long sleeved sweater, and her trademarked blonde pigtails with the pink and blue tips.

And a bedazzled baseball bat slung casually over her shoulder, just in case anyone missed the mark.

She greeted Dick with a kiss on the cheek, then chased down as many of the others that hadn’t immediately fled to the other side of the table. Barring Damian, none of them seemed to mind.

Jason had made an attempt to flee, but no. No, that wasn’t happening, and Danny “accidentally” got in his way. Boxed him in between chair and table, grinning all the while until Harley made her way to them.

“And there he is! My poor suffering boy!” Harley cooed, cupping both of Jason’s cheeks in her hands and yanking his head down with a lot more force than a woman her size should have been capable of, pressing a large smooch on each cheek.

For all the glares he shot Danny, he managed an almost sheepish smile for the woman herself.

“I’m fine, Harley. Really. You didn’t need to come,” he protested with absolutely none of his heart in it, a pink flush rising to complement the sparkly pink lipgloss smooch marks.

“Nonsense, baby boy, if Brucie needs his head pulled from his ass I’m always here,” Harley told him firmly, patting his cheeks and rounding on Danny.

It was kinda less funny now that she was bearing down on him, all of her airhead dramatics belied by the piercing, analytical stare she pinned him with.

“Huh, did Brucie pick up a new one while we were gone? It’s been like a week, we’ll talk about his adoption issues too,” Harley declared firmly, snagging Danny by his collar and yanking him in for a cheek smooch too.

And yeah, holy shit, she really was a lot stronger than she looked. Like, almost ghostly levels of super strength.

Batman’s “no metas in Gotham” rule was looking flimsier and flimsier, cuz while she’d been a rogue in the past, this? This was not a rogue’s welcome, and Danny actually did like most of his rogues.

Just not “kisses on the cheek”, although the grabbing and pulling was familiar.

Still, better not let Vlad know. Wouldn’t do for him to feel too welcome in Gotham.

Harley released him a moment later to give him a dazzling smile.

“Hi, you’re a little older than most of Brucie’s new kids but that’s fine, I’m your Aunt Harley now and if you ever need any help with anything, especially getting Brucie’s ass in line, you just call me, okay doll?” She told him firmly.

Jason was fucking grinning at him over her head, and it just plain wasn’t fair that he was a whole head taller than them. Danny flipped him off behind her back, and gave the woman herself a sheepish smile.

“Actually, I’m not one of Bruce’s, I’m just-“

“Jason’s-boyfriend,” Steph stage coughed behind him.

Harley’s eyes widened, Danny had a go at kicking blindly behind him and hurried to correct her.

“Just Jason’s friend,” he stressed the word and suddenly those almost frighteningly piercing eyes were roaming across his face again.

It was like if Jazz had been dunked in a vat of glitter but could still see right through him. Then Harley grinned again and patted his cheek.

“Sure thing, sugar. Still, if you stick around long enough Brucie’ll make a go of it, so be careful,” she warned him cheerfully, then lunged for Steph, got her in a headlock, and smooched pink lipgloss into freshly washed hair.

Danny couldn’t help chuckling softly as Harley scanned the room, clocked a bemused Tucker and wide eyed Sam, and her eyes narrowed for a moment.

Then she nodded, apparently deciding they probably also weren’t new niece and nephew, and skipped back over to Alfred.

“So! Not that this ain’t great, but ya clearly got some company over so if ya could just point me towards the B-man I’ll borrow him right quick?” She offered with a broad grin, not actually grabbing Alfred.

Up went the respect-o-meter again. Restraining Harley Quinn was hard for seasoned heroes, her restraining herself? None of the birds could claim that apparently.

Alfred gave her the same polite smile, setting her a place at the table.

“I’m afraid Master Bruce has not yet returned from his lunch appointment, Miss Quinzel. He should be returning shortly if you would care to join us for dinner?” It almost didn’t seem like a question, given what he was doing.

Harley waved a hand easily, making a face that was almost apologetic.

“Oh, nah, I’ll just go get ‘im for ya and send ‘im back over. Maybe with some new bruises,” she added almost as an after thought, then shrugged and grinned. “So! Where’d ya last see ‘im?”

It seemed like their missing Brucie problem was about to be solved, and the rest of the Gothamites were now taking their seats around the table.

Tucker, who’d cautiously followed Tim’s retreat around the table after Harley’s chaotic entrance, was now sat between Tim and Damian, and probably regretting his life choices.

Sam, whose parents hadn’t actually specifically forbidden her from speaking to Harley, seemed to be trying to make up her mind about something. Probably going to talk to Harley directly.

Steph and Jason had considerately left two spots in between them as they sat, and Danny let himself drop into the chair next to Jason as Alfred answered.

Well. Nearly into the chair.

“Master Bruce’s lunch appointment was approximately four hours ago in a private room at Chez Vous with one of our gala’s guests, a Vlad Masters.”

Yeah. Danny missed the chair, thunking all the way to the floor with a startled squawk.

“He fucking WHAT?!” He exclaimed, yanking himself back up, staring around the table at the equally startled Waynes.

Like they hadn’t spent the first part of the gala telling these people specifically that Vlad was a fucking mind controlling sociopath who was targeting their dad. What the hell.

Alfred raised an eyebrow very slowly at him, concern now creeping into his expression.

“He went to met Mr Masters in a private room for a late lunch, Mister Fenton. I am not aware of any other plans, but-”

And Danny was probably committing a cardinal fucking sin by interrupting him but he couldn’t hold in the groan, sinking down into the actual chair this time and thunking his head off the table.

Across the table, Tucker snickered at him.

“Let me guess. You forgot Vlad was still in town?” He asked, and Danny let out another utterly heartfelt groan.

“I forgot Vlad was still in town,” he whined as Jason stifled an entirely inappropriate bout of laughter.

There was one more important piece of business though, and Steph jumped straight to it.

“Wasn’t someone supposed to warn Bruce about Masters last night, so this couldn’t happen?” She asked in a low voice, leaning into the middle of the table.

Tim made a face, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I said I would, but… I got distracted…”

By beating his brains out against Amity Park’s ghostly firewalls apparently, and Danny did feel kinda bad for completely forgetting to mention that. In his defence, he hadn’t technically known that the Batcomputer was not ghost virus proof.

Should have guessed. Hadn’t known.

Tucker, who still had no idea about the vigilante thing, was quick to reassure Tim.

“You had a medical emergency, of course you were distracted,” he said quickly, patting the younger man carefully on the shoulder and glaring at the other assembled Wayne brood, “and any of them coulda mentioned it too!”

Dick raised a hand with a half smile that was mostly apology.

“Actually… Bruce went straight to Tim’s side after the gala. Think he stayed all night, but I never actually saw him. We coulda texted though,” he added sheepishly as the rest of the family made general noises of agreement.

Except Duke, who shrugged.

“I only learned about Masters when I met you guys this morning,” he pointed out, and Danny kinda doubted that but Duke had missed the original Masters debrief so he had the best excuse.

Alfred stepped closer to the table, and for the first time his presence actually registered as something other than the polite, nigh-unnoticeable model of efficiency.

Which probably meant he’d picked up on Danny’s super subtle hints that the situation was not fucking good. Good for him.

“And precisely what information was supposed to be shared with Master Bruce?” He asked, still politely, still calmly, but there’s a hint of warning that had most of the table stiffening up.

Tucker answered, giving Alfred an apologetic smile.

“Vlad Masters is a super creep and probably using his mind control powers to try and make Mr Wayne sign over everything he owns,” he explained easily, like it was nothing.

Harley’s eyes had widened, but she didn’t seem overly worried, just shouldered her bat again.

“So it’s also gonna be a rescue mission, huh? Vladdie a local boy or are they still gonna be in the same place?” She asked, the rest of the table tensing as one.

Because yeah. Next step was extract Bruce, and kick Vlad’s ass, and probably maybe try and get any contracts Bruce had signed in four hours? Which could now be anywhere.

Sighing heavily, Danny hauled himself to his feet. Feeling like a fucking idiot aside, he probably should have already left. He was pretty sure he knew where Chez Vous was?

“No, you guys stay put, I’ll go get him,” he said as cheerily as he could, cracking his neck.

Harley’s brows drew down in a frown and she prodded him with the bat.

“No offence kid, but ya look like a stiff breeze will flip ya over. You’re not going alone,” she told him firmly, and yeah, Danny could also feel Jason damn near vibrating from beside him.

Concern-worry-protect-coming too.

Putting a hand on the big guy’s shoulder before he could rise, Danny pushed just enough to keep him in his seat. Felt the moment of shock course through the much bigger man, and his grin became just a little more genuine.

“Sorry but if any of you come along, you’ll only make it harder for me to get Bruce back safely. Vlad’ll just take you guys over and make you fight me. I really wouldn’t worry too much though, he’s never actually beaten me,” he added with a reassuring smile.

Sam snorted a laugh, dropping into the empty seat beside Steph and crossing one leg over the other. Reassuring the Gothamites with her own complete lack of moving.

“Yeah, Danny’s been cleaning his clock since he was fourteen and it’s something like 700-5. You’d think he’d give up eventually,” she added, rolling her eyes.

Cuz yeah, Vlad might have gotten the upper hand through sneaky traps a bunch of times, but in a straight fight? Danny usually won, even before he had the power of the Infinite Realms at his back.

It wasn’t that all eyes turned to Harley. It was more that suddenly a bunch of them weren’t looking at her so pointedly they might as well have.

She regarded Danny and Sam a moment longer, then shrugged and dropped into the chair at the head of the table.

“Guess I’m stayin’ for dinner, or at least til Brucie’s back. And hey, it can be hard for folks ta come to terms with things like that. ‘Specially if they’re adults takin’ offence ta gettin’ their butt kicked by kids,” she added, a bright gleam in her eye.

Sam snickered, leaning back in her chair.

“Voice of experience?” She asked innocently and Harley tipped her a wink.

“Hell nah, you ever seen a Robin fight? ‘Sides, most of the folks who’ll shit a brick at bein’ beat by a kid get just as huffy at gettin’ beat by me,” Harley explained with a broad grin, flexing her own muscles.

It was just a little hilarious to see the differing reactions from the young vigilantes around the table.

Damian was still noticeably grumpy, though he almost felt more worried to Danny’s expert empathic eye. But then, his dad was in the lion’s den.

Dick and Tim looked like they were sharing an inside joke, and Danny had to figure they were the other Robins that went against Harley the most.

Steph, Cass, and Duke all looked decidedly self satisfied. Jason…

Jason was ignoring the rest of the table, still frowning up at Danny but not fighting his grip anymore.

“I should still come with you,” he argued like the rest of the conversation hadn’t happened, his voice low and urgent. And… yeah. Protection Obsession, 1000%.

And his Fright Knight now, fuck you very much Clockwork, but he was also not even fully formed. No way Danny was taking him to fight Vlad as his first ghost.

He gave Jason’s shoulder a quick squeeze, lowering his voice under the rest of the conversation.

“You’ll know if I need you, Jay, but Vlad used to be able to control me too. He’s not a great first run,” he explained softly.

Jason very clearly didn’t like it, brows drawing in even further, and Danny made his grin a little brighter by contrast. Brushed confidence-easy fight-be back soon across his aura.

“Besides, he’s more a sneaky fuck than an actual fighter. Not worth both of us heading out,” he tried, rolling his shoulders.

Jason raised an eyebrow, entirely unimpressed.

“By that logic it should be me going instead of you,” he pointed out, and Danny pouted. Fuck him for technical accuracy.

“Look, next time, okay?” He whispered, leaning in til his mouth was next to Jason’s ear. Tim was now watching them rather than Sam and Harley’s banter.

Perceptive little shit. But he wouldn’t catch shit if Danny covered his mouth to talk. For now, he had to persuade a cranky protective halfa not to go kick Vlad’s ass.

How the turntables and so on.

“Once you’ve got your powers in you can take him every time, alright?” He whispered, then leaned back and grinned at Jason. At least he wasn’t glaring anymore.

“I’ve got this. I’ll be fine,” he said as reassuringly as he could. And then. Pausing. “Uh… but I’ll probably… y’know. Do the thing to find him.”

Vlad couldn’t hide from Danny’s expanded aura, not without leaving this dimension. But that’d mean Jason also got another dose.

The understanding dawned across the big guy’s face, fell into a complicated expression. Finally he nodded stiffly.

“Fine. But leave it up so I know how it’s going?” He grumbled back, lips barely moving. Probably as a countermeasure for Nosy Little Brother.

Danny grinned and ruffled Jason’s hair, stepping away.

“Sure thing bud. I’ll be back with Bruce as soon as I can,” he said more loudly, more to the whole room, and let his aura flare out into the city until it touched Vlad’s.

Yeah, that beat trying to navigate the city from above for the second time ever.

A sudden absolutely awful impulse hit him, and his grin stretched just a little beyond what was humanly possible.

Why the fuck not? The reveal was gonna drop soon enough, Tuck and Sam already knew how much he wanted to show.

And most of the table were watching him.

Danny rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and had a brief moment of nostalgia. Because if he was being theatrical…

“I’m going ghost,” he called as loud as he could, letting the glowing rings of his transformation wash over him, changing him to Phantom in front of a table of gawking bats.

Then he jumped into the air and flew out of the manor through the wall, Sam and Tucker’s laughter ringing in his ears.

Now he just had to hope he could reach Bruce before Vlad did anything he couldn’t easily fix.

**

Tim was the first to speak. Other than the raucous laughter of the Amity Parkers the dining room had been dead silent since Danny’s… well, it was a transformation.

Reaching out blindly with his other hand, Tim caught Duke’s arm.

“You saw that, right?” He asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Duke nodded slowly, still staring at the wall Danny had just disappeared through.

“Not that I know what the fuck it was… but yeah…”

Because… yeah. They’d known Danny was some kind of meta at this point. Guy really wasn’t trying to hide it. But that was…

“What, you ain’t seen that before?” Harley asked from the head of the table, her voice filled with a sudden glee.

Across the table Jason snickered, and Tim’s attention zeroed back in on him.

He’d known. He’d stiffened up before Danny had transformed, still hadn’t fully relaxed and Tim could guess why. Whatever he’d told Danny to “leave up”.

It didn’t look like he was in pain, more like he’d braced himself for something that hadn’t fully happened yet. But since apparently all secrets were just on the table now…

Tim turned to Tucker.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked, and Tucker sighed happily, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“An overdramatic little fuck?” Sam offered from the other side of the table, also still grinning. Tucker wheezed loudly, slumping back in his chair.

Tim shifted his attention to Sam instead, giving up on Tucker for now. To be fair, he was kinda surprised Jason wasn’t also laughing at them.

It must have made a comical scene.

“Obviously. But that… going ghost? What did he mean?” He pressed, leaning in across the table but not lowering his voice.

Sam and Tucker exchanged thoughtful looks, Tucker’s laughter fading to giggles as they clearly weighed their answers. Then Sam leaned in too, folding her arms on the table and leaning over them.

“How much were you actually able to look up about Amity Park?” She asked, and the rest of the table leaned in to listen.

Even Harley, thoroughly devoid of context, kept quiet for a change. She could smell a good story when she heard one.

And as much as it pained him to admit…

“Nothing at all,” Tim confessed with a brief shake of his head, eyes narrowed. “I couldn’t even find the weather account you showed us.”

Beside him Tucker took another deep, fortifying breath and steadied himself in his seat.

“Yeah… warned you about that. Any tech not actually from Amity needs a baseline level of ecto before it can get through the firewalls,” he explained, and as glad as Tim was to have him back in the conversation…

“But that isn’t how firewalls work,” he protested, knowing full well the other boy knew, “Facebook doesn’t have a separate server or separate firewalls for some small town in Illinois versus the larger world, and even if it has something to do with the IP…”

Tucker raised both hands quickly and Tim subsided, a little relieved to have been cut off. The frustration from last night was building again, and he really didn’t want to deal with that right now.

“Okay, you’re definitely right almost all of the time, but Amity Park’s is… different,” Tucker explained quickly, glancing around the table and almost immediately focusing his full attention back on Tim.

Dismissing the others as below the level needed to understand the conversation, or assuming they’d keep up on their own? They all could, none of the bats were slouches on cyber security, and the distinction didn’t matter to Tim.

Yet.

They were also probably all a little below Tucker’s own technical proficiency, from everything Tim had seen (and Steph and Cass’s admitted failure to break his server encryption).

(Oracle still hadn’t broken the same server.)

Tim nodded anyway, not willing to talk and slow the explanation any further.

They could have been doing this more than twelve damn hours ago.

“Firewall isn’t exactly the right term for it either, but about five years ago… well, we decided the rest of the world couldn’t know about a lot of things that happen in Amity Park. It wouldn’t be safe,” Tucker added, watching Tim’s face carefully.

He looked almost guilty. Like he could guess how much frustration this had caused Tim. Hell, if Danny knew their identities then Tucker, his guy in the chair almost certainly did too.

And since they weren’t pretending to all be civilians anymore…

“The GIW were already censoring the hell out of us,” Tucker continued, rolling his eyes, “it was actually really annoying. They actually did the IP thing, but you could VPN around that. But we didn’t want the rest of the world, other governments to come to the same bullshit conclusions about ghosts and keep causing trouble.”

“Ghosts like Danny,” Duke cut in, not a trace of doubt in his voice.

Tucker glanced past Tim for a moment and nodded.

“Pretty much, but Danny’s a special case. Most ghosts can’t actually do the magical girl transformation,” he added with a snicker, and Sam rolled her eyes, tapping the table for attention.

“What Tucker’s dancing around telling you is that what we call the Amity Park firewall is basically alive. It has nothing to do with IP addresses or any regular tech shit because it runs on ectoplasm.”

“It’s not actually alive,” Tucker cut back in with an exasperated huff, “it’s just something I came up with with some help from Technus. He’s the spirit of technology so he can possess computers, not people, and together we made a safety net.”

“All of Amity Park is saturated in natural ectoplasm,” Sam explained, ignoring Tucker’s pointed glare, “so now whenever someone’s trying to connect online to anything based in an Amity Park server, our ecto looks for your ecto in whatever device you have. No ecto, no data.”

“It’s not that simple,” Tucker whined, like this wasn’t already a level of complexity that made Tim’s head spin.

But it was the spinning that triggered an almost ignored memory.

“Ecto… that’s what Danny nearly said last night, when he was talking about the Lazarus Pits,” he said with a sudden sharp frown, attention jumping between the Amity Parkers and onto Jason.

Who shrugged. Like this wasn’t news. How the fuck had he even met Danny in the first place?

“Show of hands, who here’s surprised that the pit waters actually come from the land of the dead?” Jason asked dryly, gaze sweeping along the table.

Tim’s attention flashed directly to Damian and then Cass, the two of them sat on a full diagonal from each other. They were the closest thing the family had to experts.

Neither looked surprised, although Damian’s eyes were narrowed. New information then, and likely something he’d be looking more into. Cass just looked thoughtful.

Harley’s hand was up though, and the table gradually turned to its gravity. She shrugged.

“Had a bet with Ives that it was super tainted kool-aid. Not that we know much about it,” she added with a shrug, and Jason snickered.

“You’re half right anyway,” he told her and the raised hand was replaced by a pair of fists pumping into the air, but silently for once.

Even Harley wasn’t gonna interrupt a lore dump.

Jason returned his attention to Tim.

“Apparently the pits are made of contaminated ectoplasm. Super tainted,” he nodded to Harley, “because the regular stuff? Doesn’t bubble, doesn’t burn, and doesn’t kill people who touch it.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed for a moment, looking Jason over, hunting any trace of a lie. He’d made himself an expert on Jason’s features, on what every micro-expression might possibly mean.

Jason was a damn good liar, but Tim knew every tell that meant he spoke the truth.

Still, he glanced from Jason to Cass, sat on Jason’s other side. The Asian girl raised an eyebrow at him, then nodded.

Human lie detector confirmed. Good to know. Even if she was rolling her eyes at him for checking.

Duke leaned in further, half his body now hovering above the table as he grinned at Jason.

“So does that mean you’ve got ectoplasm in you, if you still have the pit rage?” He asked, which didn’t really seem like something to smile about.

Although not exactly worse than the idea of Jason just still having the pit in his veins. At least Jason didn’t seem to be really bothered by it.

He just shrugged.

“I guess so?” He offered suspiciously, his face still carefully neutral as he watched Duke. Whose grin broadened.

“So does that mean if you look up stuff on Amity Park you’ll get through?” He asked innocently. Jason rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a phone, Duke,” he said dryly, and Tucker snickered.

“It’s actually kinda funny you say that, cuz Danny’s been sucked into video games before,” Tucker said innocently, giving Jason a sidelong look.

Which… raised a couple of questions, since Jason didn’t seem embarrassed by it. Tim’s eyes narrowed for a moment.

“Is that something that could happen to Jason?” He asked cautiously, and for some reason Tucker actually laughed.

“Oh, it’s something that could happen to anyone,” he said sounding very smug, and Tim tore his attention off Jason to stare at Tucker, wondering what the hell he was thinking.

Tucker just grinned back and Tim’s best guess… well, it couldn’t have been a bad experience. It had definitely afforded him the full attention of everyone at the table.

Harley stuck a hand in the air again.

“Okay, I know I ain’t one o’ the kids, but I’m gonna need to know a whole lot more about that,” she declared, and Tucker laughed, shaking his head.

“Another time? I gotta get back to get ready for school early tomorrow at the latest but if you wanted to hang out again…” he trailed off hopefully, his attention slipping from Harley back to Tim.

Tim was not going to blush. This was a chance to gather more intel in future. And just hang out with a friend! There was nothing more to it than that.

He chuckled softly and nodded, settling back into his seat.

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say we’ll see each other again,” he agreed, and definitely didn’t enjoy the way Tucker beamed at him.

Given their reactions, he probably did some kind of tech support while Danny… Danny was probably the ghost who’d protected Amity Park.

Had they always known who Jason and his family were? Tim knew he should reserve judgement until he could find an unbiased source and work out what had actually happened in Amity Park, but…

Well, it wasn’t like the Amity Parkers were hostile. There was always the chance it could be a long con, but Tim didn’t think so. They’d given too much away.

For now, it seemed safest to assume that they were fellow vigilantes, and were at least as aware of their identities as Danny. Tucker might even have been the one to work it out.

And if Tucker could solve their technical problems and give them open access to Amity Park, Tim could take that and confirm his theories.

If they had something to hide, Tim should be able to work out at least where to look based on what Tucker gave him.

“We’ve gotta wait for Danny to get back for him to infuse your tech, buuuut I can get you started on the data download if you can hook me into your set up,” Tucker said with an almost seductive smile.

Or maybe Tim thought it was seductive because it came with an offer of increased tech. And sure, he wasn’t hooking a stranger straight up to the Batcomputer, but…

Well, that’s what the fully isolated laptops were for. And Tim could bring one of those up from the cave, but… well, the Amity Parkers showed trust first. And they really had less reason to.

They’d been abandoned by the Justice League, and apparently personally picking up that slack. The least Tim wanted to do was promise them that it hadn’t been malicious; they really hadn’t known.

And to promise that he personally was going to find out how this had happened, and make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Last night wasn’t going to be in vain.

He’d ask the others about it, but as things stood right now, Tim would really like to see Tucker get a proper look at the Bat Cave.

**

Vlad was a little surprised to find he’d been having an absolutely charming afternoon with one Brucie Wayne.

He hadn’t expected to actually like the man, but one on one he had a kind of self effacing charm that Vlad rather appreciated. Far more tolerable than most of the arrogant rich bastards he had to deal with.

He had been so very interested in the running of Amity Park too, in the challenges of being a mayor and a business owner, and so few people really appreciated the struggle.

Of course, Vlad wasn’t going to out any of Daniel’s little secrets. It wouldn’t do to upset the boy more while he was trying to mend fences.

Even if he had left Vlad to the mercy of some hapless buffoons and the criminals they were chasing the night before.

So he kept it light, to issues like road maintenance, funding local fixtures like the library and the schools, things he thought Brucie had a chance of understanding.

Brucie had also noticed that their boys were becoming… close.

Well, it would be almost impossible for him not to have. And it was only natural that Brucie wanted to know more about the boy getting close to his son.

It was almost a little strange how easy it was to speak well of Daniel. For so long Vlad had been fixated on his inadequacies, on all the things he could fix if Daniel would just accept his help.

On wanting to mould Daniel into someone like himself. He hadn’t really considered that Daniel… might not want to be like him.

Vlad was rich, successful, on top of the world by every modern marker, but he was also alone. He had no one and nothing that he would call his own, that he could leave his fortune to.

Of course, as a half ghost it wasn’t like he was actually going to die, but not having a successor was part of what tugged at his core.

And Daniel… Daniel was much better at bringing people close than Vlad. He had dear friends, and easily found himself with new ones. Daniel was likeable, and Vlad had to admit that he himself… wasn’t.

People cozied up and tried to bribe Vlad, but perhaps it was the very things he’d seen as weaknesses in Daniel that made them actually like the boy.

So he focused on those instead, the qualities that had always baffled and confused him. The loyalty, the trust, everything he’d once tried to use to tear Daniel down.

And utterly failed at every turn. After so many years, yes, Vlad had detected the pattern. It was just so hard to keep from falling into it.

So when he felt Daniel’s aura wash out and across him, wary but amused on top of the aggression, he startled just a little. Made sure to obviously check his phone, and gasped when he saw the time.

It was obvious what must have happened.

“Oh my, Brucie, did you have another appointment today?” He asked in only mildly faked surprise, concealing his amusement expertly. “Dear Daniel has just contacted me, it seems you’ve been missed.”

Daniel likely thought Vlad was up to the kind of nefarious schemes that he… well, had come to Gotham to commit, in all honesty. But obviously those plans had changed with his little badger’s personal interest.

Perhaps he should have told Daniel that? Ah well, the boy would learn soon enough. He settled back in his seat, letting his aura broadcast his intent.

Calm-welcome-nothing to hide.

Felt Daniel’s disbelief, but that was fine. It was the truth.

Brucie visibly startled as well, taking his own phone out to check the time. Probably wondering why his own brood weren’t contacting him if he’d been missed so much.

“Oh… yes, I’m terribly sorry, I think Danny must have been invited to our family dinner, which I’m late to,” Brucie added with that lovely self effacing smile, shrugging. “I must have put my phone on vibrate. I’ll just tell them to start without me.”

Or his children didn’t expect him to check it, apparently with reason.

Vlad clapped his hands together and rubbed them a few times.

“Well, no matter. I do believe Danny is on his way to retrieve you, so we’d best wait where we are. I will pick up the bill, of course.”

They’d had the private room in the restaurant for around four hours now, which wouldn’t come cheap, but Vlad could be generous. Especially if Daniel expected him not to be.

Brucie made the usual noises of gratitude and appreciation, and mild confusion. Well, that would be answered by whether or not Daniel bothered to transform back before bursting in.

Either way, it wouldn’t be Vlad’s choice to reveal his little secret.

“I have my car with me, but if Danny’s on his way here…” Brucie trailed off, glancing to the window with a perplexed frown on that handsome face.

Whoever dealt with the man’s wrinkles for the cameras would be very upset, but Vlad got the feeling Brucie could afford the best. He had such an expressive face, and yet nothing was ever out of place.

Almost as good as ectoplasm for keeping one young.

He was probably wondering why Daniel was coming instead of one of his own children, and while Vlad could come up with an excuse about needing to see the boy anyway… well, he was bursting in on a very pleasant afternoon.

Vlad wanted to mend fences, not solve all the boy’s self inflicted problems.

Still, he gave Brucie a smile, touching the pad that would summon them a server again.

“Oh, you and Daniel can take the car I’m sure. He’ll just be here to make sure I’m behaving myself,” he added with a wry chuckle, settling back in his seat.

Something very much like alertness flicked across Brucie’s face, and Vlad could feel a flicker of suspicion for the first time from the other man.

Well, Vlad had baited him.

He certainly wasn’t as empathetic as Daniel, but he liked to keep an eye on his company, and this was the first trace of something more that he’d gotten from the man.

He waved a hand cheerfully, chuckling. The man likely had links to his city’s precious Bat and all his opinions on those more than just human. Best allay those concerns even if he was leaving.

“I have been known to talk peoples’ ears off if I get onto a subject like football, and four hours is surely long enough for him to suspect I’ve roped you into watching a game. Though if you did want to attend…” he let himself trail off, watched the man’s shoulders settle as he laughed.

“Oh, I’m not much of a sports fan myself, but I try to keep up with the Gotham teams when I can.”

The female teams at least, according to the tabloids, but Vlad wouldn’t judge. Much.

Brucie gave him that charming smile again, settling as well as the server came in and once again refilled their drinks.

“I didn’t realise Amity Park had their own teams in a league, though,” Brucie added with that softly furrowed brow. Like thought was such a strain for the man.

Vlad gave the server a quick smile and inclined his head.

“I will take the bill now, I believe we’re ready to go. And we don’t have our own teams in any of the major leagues,” he explained indulgently to Brucie, lips quirking up at the very thought.

Imagine trying to play a home game in Amity Park. It was hard enough getting the school teams out to their rivals.

And it gave him a chance to talk about his secondary Obsession.

“No, I have ownership of the Green Bay Packers, back home in Wisconsin. I really must warn you to stop there if you don’t want their full stats for the last four seasons or worse,” Vlad teased with a soft chuckle, taking a sip of his water.

Both of Brucie’s eyebrows rose and the man smiled back, settling into his seat.

“Well, Danny will be here soon to cut you off anyway,” he commented, that charming smile looking far too comfortable on him.

And he did have a point. Giving him a nod of acknowledgement, Vlad relaxed and let the gentle sea of Obsession take him, enthusiasm ramping up with every word he spoke.

It was nice to have permission for a change.

**

Despite his cheerful words, Danny couldn’t help but tense as he flew across the city. He’d make it within minutes, way faster than anyone trying to actually use Gotham’s streets, but…

Vlad had had Bruce for hours already. Danny was gonna hope that whatever he was doing, it was just more of his shady businessman bullshit.

He really, really, really didn’t want to fight overshadowed Batman.

Of course, remembering the looks on the flying furry brigade’s faces gave him a definite boost in mood. He didn’t actually wanna show up at Vlad’s giggling, buuut that was a problem for future Danny.

Present Danny was busy specifically not worrying so that he didn’t worry Jason into coming after him. Maybe telling the guy about Vlad’s lightning juice hadn’t been a great idea?

Of course, the good thing about the expanded aura was that he could still feel Jason’s like they were right next to each other.

And who’d have thought Jason was also a fucking mother hen? Poor guy was still tense, although at least Danny could still feel just a little amusement.

Yeah, Jason was getting to enjoy the full fruits of Danny’s theatrics. It wasn’t fair, but it made the whole thing better. Gave him something to keep his mind off Danny.

As if on cue, a strong spike of incredulous-funny-what the fuck came from his favourite non-clone halfa.

Danny was nearly at the restaurant now, and paused just above to send a questioning pulse back. Felt Jason startle, and could almost see him roll his eyes.

Later-come back-done?

The fuck were they talking about? Maybe the bats were right to always have their own little comms in. Danny sent a reassuring wave back.

Soon-anticipation-just arrived-curious.

And yes, Danny did expect the caution-stay safe-coming after you that he got back, but he wasn’t sure Jason would get the full effect of him actually rolling his eyes.

One last check for Vlad’s aura and Danny turned invisible, phasing through the roof and walls to have a look around.

Vlad was alone in a private room, with nothing but some glasses of water and a mostly empty bottle of wine. Alright, food was probably over a while ago, but the water might be a good sign.

Vlad wasn’t known to take care of the people he overshadowed.

Danny did a quick search of the rest of the building, stopping just shy of accidentally sticking his head through a bathroom wall when he felt a familiar presence.

Yup, Bruce was in the bathroom. Probably not overshadowed, which might just mean that Vlad was finished with him.

Not taking the risk, Danny made his way stealthily back to the private room, popping into visibility behind Vlad’s seat.

At least his aura being everywhere made it hard for Vlad to get a fix.

“What, did I not pay you enough attention last night, Vladdie?” He complained, draping an arm across the back of the man’s chair and noting the way he stiffened.

Also, these chairs? Much more pretentious. All carved and ornamental and bleh. Nowhere near as good as the ones at Wayne Manor.

Vlad didn’t actually turn to face him, reaching out and picking up his water glass instead. Filling his hands, so it’d be harder for him to take a shot at Danny?

Or just Vlad being Vlad and dismissing him.

Vlad took a long, slow sip before replying.

“While I would have preferred more of a chance to speak with you, Daniel, my presence here is solely to your benefit I assure you,” he said cool as a cucumber.

Danny narrowed his eyes, giving another poke of his aura. It didn’t feel like a lie.

“How so? Gonna rob Brucie blind and give it to the poor? I guess green also works for Robin Hood,” Danny mused, fingers drumming on the back of the chair.

Vlad actually looked at him then, a sharp sidelong glance before the man relaxed again, chuckling softly.

“Nothing of the sort. But if you and young Jason are going to be closely… connected, I will be seeing much more of Brucie, and I thought perhaps I could help lighten the… impression you left.”

Wait.

Was Vlad blushing?

Danny peered forward for a better look, utterly at a loss for what connection Vlad might be talking about. Cuz yeah, he and Jason were friends, but…

Oh.

Oh!

Vlad bought the closet scene.

Somehow that outcome had never even occurred to Danny and he felt himself flush, cheeks going green. Fuck, the goal had been to cause a scene, but Vlad actually thought…

Wait.

“So you’ve been here trying to convince Bruce I’m not an evil harlot corrupting his boy?” Danny asked, barely concealed glee rising with every word.

Because if this was funny, if this was fucking hilarious, he didn’t have to be embarrassed by it. Vlad didn’t need to know shit about his actual sex life, but if he’d actually called Bruce to try and polish up Danny’s new slutty reputation…

Vlad cleared his throat pointedly, still not looking directly at him.

“And luckily for you, he is somewhat willing to believe you have some good traits,” he said archly, and that fucking floored Danny.

“YOU think I have good traits?” He asked incredulously, cutting off whatever Vlad was about to say.

The man even took it pretty well, just one of those loud sighs like Danny was a particularly tiresome child, not a full grown adult man.

“I understand where you might have got the impression I don’t, Daniel, but if I thought you had none would I have pursued you so harshly?” He asked, finally turning in his chair to face Danny frankly.

Which meant he got both barrels of the sceptical face Danny was making.

“Dude, you say that like Obsessions are fucking logical,” Danny said dryly, and Vlad actually chuckled.

Not even condescendingly.

Like Danny made a point.

“Quite. Unfortunately for myself, the effects of my Obsession went into how I planned to achieve it, not in the goal itself. You have always been a remarkable young man, Daniel.”

And that was at least familiar ground.

Danny rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, and I’d be even more if I let you lure me off to your creepy castle in Wisconsin to become mini-Vlad. Brucie can’t ship me to Wisconsin,” he pointed out, just about resisting the urge to poke Vlad in the chest.

The old guy was being weirdly noncombative, but it had been a while since they saw each other. Actual years, which Danny couldn’t imagine would have been good for the other halfa.

Much as it sucked being someone else’s Obsession and he’d loved being free of the Fruitloop… he wouldn’t wish the ache of an unfulfilled Obsession on anyone.

Fuck did that mean Vlad had actually moved on? Was that something he could do? Please let it be something he could do.

The older halfa chuckled again and took another sip of his water.

“No, I’m well aware that he can’t. But our time apart gave me little to do but consider what I know of you. You have grown to a fine young man, Daniel, perhaps with all that I have ever lacked.”

He looked up again, their eyes meeting, and Danny very nearly recoiled. Almost stepped back and away from the other halfa’s aura so that he couldn’t feel Vlad’s pride seeping into his skin like grease.

“Okay, this is getting fucking weird. Do I have to kick your ass to get whatever contracts you made Bruce sign back?” He asked sharply, trying to get the conversation back to somewhere he understood it.

Vlad hesitated a moment, then settled back again, clearly reading Danny’s discomfort in his aura if not on his face because the pride settled away.

Back in Wayne Manor, Danny felt Jason keying up, the slow growing happiness cutting straight back to danger-warning-protect-need help?.

Danny forced himself to calm too, closing his eyes for a moment to focus on the feel of Jason, not Vlad.

He just.

He didn’t know what to do with Vlad being proud of him. That had only ever meant he’d fucked up somewhere horrible before.

Calm-safe-I’m safe-not hurt.

“Still in contact with young Jason?” Vlad asked, letting the subject change even if he didn’t answer Danny’s question.

Danny cracked an eye open to peer at him.

“Yeah, he wasn’t a fan of me coming to see you on my own. Not to pick up his dad,” he added before Vlad could get the wrong idea.

Actually. It was still kinda funnier if Vlad kept the wrong idea.

From what Danny could read of him, no worries about that. Vlad was amused, but not comfortable.

Yeah, well, he could join the club. Danny gave his shoulder a gentle poke.

“Anyway. What did you really want Bruce for?”

Vlad glanced at his watch, then at the door.

“Well he’ll be back any second to tell you himself, Daniel. I wasn’t sure if you’d shared this little secret yet so I didn’t mention any of our shared nature, but he was the one to invite me out.”

Which also felt like the truth. Both parts. Danny hesitated for a moment, not quite sure if he was ready for this particular secret to be out to the Batman.

It’d be out the second the man got home if no one had texted him yet, but that was a long car ride away unless Danny flew back, and he didn’t want to leave Bruce unsupervised again.

Just because Vlad was being weird didn’t mean he wasn’t being Vlad.

Still, he’d know if Bruce was overshadowed right away, and if he wasn’t he could ask the man himself what Vlad had been up to.

And Vlad was in human form. Not like he could transform any faster than Danny if shit was about to go down.

The decision pretty much took itself out of his hands when the door began to open and Danny jumped back out of grabbing reach (just in case) and changed back.

Which was when he remembered what he was wearing.

**

Lunch with Vlad Masters had been… informative, and Bruce was a little surprised just how much time had passed.

Masters might be an unscrupulous businessman but he was clearly devoted to the things he cared for; Daniel Fenton, Amity Park, and the Green Bay Packers.

He just couldn’t quite reconcile how those three pieces fit into the picture at hand. To hear Vlad tell it, nothing untoward had happened in Amity Park in his whole time as mayor. And yet… the calls were real.

Even if Masters hadn’t hit the button personally, someone in his office must have.

Was there a chance that Danny had some sort of mind control abilities? That he’d removed the memories of those in Amity Park who’d opposed him?

It would explain why Masters would so fervently champion a boy he’d had almost nothing to do with. Oh, Danny Fenton had been born to two of Masters’ college friends, but they hadn’t seen each other for years before Danny’s birth.

As far as Bruce could tell the two had never even met before Danny was at least fourteen; Vlad had lived in an actual castle in Wisconsin and been a regular on the gala circuit for his area.

Friend of the family or not, it was suspicious that the only adults he’d spoken to so far had such diametrically opposed views on Danny.

Vlad was obviously hiding something. About Amity Park, Bruce was completely certain. The man’s accounts simply did not add up with the evidence. About Danny…

Bruce had his suspicions, but there was very little clear evidence about the man himself. Danny was technically an unknown quantity. And the center of far too many mysteries for Bruce’s peace of mind.

Bruce slipped away to the bathroom to let his thoughts settle not too long into Vlad’s lecture on the history of the Packers.

If Danny was coming from the manor they had a while yet before he’d be there, so he could let Vlad ramble on for a while once he returned.

His cheeks hurt from keeping up Brucie’s smile, but that was nothing new. The gala last night was still weighing on him, but it made it easier to put the act back on.

If Danny was coming here, and would accompany Bruce back to the manor, they would have a while to talk in the traffic. Finally a chance to speak to the man himself and let Bruce get an unbiased read.

Something had happened before Vlad claimed to have received a message from Danny. Something that made him start, and while it could have been the man’s phone, Bruce doubted it.

Even silent vibrations actually made some sound, and Vlad had barely glanced at the device. Not long enough to read any kind of complicated message; he hadn’t even unlocked it.

Vlad must have thought he was hiding it, but he’d been amused by whatever happened. Amused, and known immediately it was Danny. That Danny was coming.

Whatever else he might be, Vlad was certainly not a particularly skilled liar. Not to Batman.

Washing his hands, Bruce wondered if he might not be able to get Vlad back onto the subject of how Danny would be coming.

On his own, or at least Vlad hadn’t mentioned anyone else. And using Bruce’s car to get back? There were hardly bus routes between the manor and the city.

Unless Danny had some kind of meta abilities. Damian’s report had included his suspicions, and Duke and Dick had both seen him fly away.

That would put him here sooner than expected, but Bruce was certain he’d have noticed a flying meta in his city. Unless Danny only flew for certain situations.

Bruce paused at the door to their private room for half a second, letting his Brucie mask settle comfortably into place. Letting the smile spread. And pushed the door open.

Something bright flashed inside and Bruce tensed, anticipating a trap. One he would have no choice but to fall into, as he was now. But as the door cleared, he saw…

Vlad at the table, just as Bruce had left him. And Danny Fenton settling like he’d just moved sharply, wide blue eyes and messy hair above a shirt that was far too large for him tied off at his waist, and.

And.

Impractical for the weather. The trousers were closer to the right size, but arms and feet were bare, along with a slice of midriff.

Completely dry. It was still snowing, and the streets were covered in snow and slush. There was a slim chance he’d left a coat somewhere, but even his hair was dry.

Windswept and dishevelled hair, suggesting flight. His boys were right, and Bruce made a note to check in with Oracle later. See if he had been detected in the air.

Startled by his presence. Likely not because he didn’t expect Bruce to be there, not if he’d come expressly to pick him up. More that he’d been distracted by whatever had him moving so sharply.

Staring at him.

And then there was nothing else to observe, except…

Wearing one of Jason’s shirts. One that Dick had given him as a joke. It hung off him, exacerbating their size difference.

Danny was small. Closer to Cass’s size, and this close up Bruce could see the lean muscle, but there wasn’t much of it.

In pure hand to hand Bruce could probably take him, but whatever abilities let him tank a fight with Killer Croc left the actual outcome an unknown.

Blinking hard to distract himself from just how and why Danny had managed to show up in Jason’s clothes, he pulled on his big happy Brucie smile for the room.

And suddenly Vlad was incensed.

Bruce would swear the man had been smiling when he opened the door, but at some point while Bruce gave Danny a quick once over his mood had turned to rage.

He smothered it down quickly, but his jaw was still tight when he spoke through gritted teeth.

“Daniel, I believe this is the first time you have met Brucie,” Vlad said, his tone so frosty Bruce nearly shivered.

Not controlled by Danny then. At least, not controlled in a way that made him deferential. Not unless this was a slip in Danny’s control.

The boy looked startled still, looking down at himself like he’d forgotten what he was wearing and giving Bruce a sheepish smile.

Honestly he could have been wearing the world’s finest suit and not allayed any of Bruce’s suspicions, but it wasn’t Brucie’s job to let that show.

Instead he cranked the smile up a couple more notches, stepping forward and holding out a hand to shake.

“Yes, Danny, my kids simply won’t stop talking about you! I was sorry I couldn’t say hello last night,” he added, wanting to see how Danny would react to a little dig.

Nothing he couldn’t deny as being purely sincere.

Danny made a face and then pulled a smile on over it, stepping forward quickly to shake Bruce’s hand.

Some people only needed touch to take control of another. Bruce felt nothing of the sort, but Danny’s hand was oddly cool. Not unaffected by his clothing then.

“Yeah… sorry about that. About… well, all of it,” Danny said with a sheepish smile and one shoulder shrug that nearly had the shirt’s overlarge neckline fall off his other shoulder.

He scrabbled to right it, and Bruce firmly stifled the impulse to relax.

It was familiar, something any of his kids might have done. It could easily be an act to lure him into a false calm.

Brucie laughed and clapped him on the other shoulder, keeping half an eye on Vlad, who was still stewing at the table.

“Oh, I certainly got up to much worse in my day. You’re only young once, right?” He offered jovially, tipping Danny a playboy wink.

The boy blushed to the roots of his hair.

Interesting.

As much as Bruce wanted to pull at Vlad a little more, try and work out his sudden change of mood, he would much rather begin his observations of Danny Fenton directly.

“Still, we should get going or we’ll miss all of dinner,” he said with a cheerful smile, nodding to Vlad. “Thanks for a lovely afternoon, Vlad! Maybe we’ll catch a football game before the season ends.”

The man’s disposition brightened like he’d flicked a switch, though he still shot Danny an almost smug dirty look.

“Oh, that would be charming, Brucie. I’ll get you tickets for the Packers’ next game, we’ll have a splendid time.”

Danny snickered beside him, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning back. Not afraid of Vlad either, for all that the other man was older, richer, and more influential.

“Yeah, Vladdie here knows aaaall about packers,” he said with a sly smirk, looking down on Vlad from his standing position.

Vlad responded with a look that Bruce had previously only seen on Clark’s face, around when Dick started teaching Kon sex jokes. And in the mirror.

Steph called it the “your puberty was my death sentence” look and insisted every one of the mentors used it. Bruce personally wasn’t convinced Oliver Queen knew what shame meant.

He’d abandoned his son. Bruce would never forgive that until Roy asked him to.

Perhaps he did have more in common with Vlad than he’d thought though. Watching the children get old enough for innuendo sucked.

Luckily Brucie could pretend not to get it.

“I know, he was telling me all about their recent games before you arrived,” he said cheerfully, oblivious as anything. And watched how both responded to innocence.

Vlad still looked pained, possibly by the pair of them now. Danny… Danny was smirking, clearly not convinced.

That was concerning. The boy knew who Nightwing and Signal were, there was a chance he knew Bruce’s identity too and this at least pointed in the same direction.

Still, no need to confirm anything for him. With another cheery wave to Vlad he held the door open for Danny.

“So, shall we? Would you like to take my car or do you have your own way back?” He asked, subtly prodding to see what Danny might say. And perhaps a hint how he’d gotten there.

Danny hesitated for a moment, glancing at Vlad. Like there was something between them, something to do with him.

Yes, Bruce would have to meet with Vlad Masters again in future. After he’d gotten to speak to Danny.

“I’ll come back with you,” Danny said with a shrug, nodding towards the door and then moving through it at Bruce’s wave.

He kept half an eye on the boy as they headed down to the restaurant’s garage and the sleek black car Bruce had driven over.

It’d be at least twenty minutes to drive back to the manor at this hour, maybe longer. Time enough for a short interrogation.

“I already messaged the others and told them to get started without us, I hope you don’t mind,” he said in his best charming Brucie voice, beeping the car to unlock it.

Danny shrugged, moving around to the passenger door, apparently entirely unbothered by bare feet on freezing concrete. Bruce almost wished he had some spare shoes for him.

“Yeah, it’s cool. I figured. So, any idea how long it’ll be to get back?” He asked, slipping into the car and sitting cross legged on the front seat.

Bruce followed suit, turning on the car and then the heat right away. Doing what he could.

“Probably not more than twenty minutes. Your seat is heated too by the way, here. You made it down very quickly, were you in the area?” Bruce asked, watching Danny from the corner of his eye as he strapped in.

Would Danny just tell him?

He’d not been hiding from the boys. If he really didn’t think this had to be a secret, he could just tell Bruce.

Danny shrugged again, opened his mouth, and Bruce’s phone rang, cutting him off.

His phone should be on silent. Bruce gave Danny an apologetic smile, pulling it out and planning to push the caller to voice mail. Wondering if he might have turned the ringer back on without meaning to. Or if Oracle had pushed through.

There was no one else he needed to talk to more than Danny right now.

Of course the universe would mock him for that thought.

The caller ID blinked accusingly up at him from the lock screen.

John fucking Constantine.

Bruce hesitated for a moment. Torn. The mystery or the responsibility?

Any other member of the Justice League would be ranked as a more reliable source of information than a possible suspect, but after the night Bruce had had? After what he’d learned?

The problems in Amity Park may have begun or ended with Danny Fenton, but the problems in the Justice League traced neatly back to John Constantine.

When it came down to it, Bruce knew he had a responsibility.

He gave Danny another, more apologetic smile.

“So sorry… do you mind if I take this quickly?” He asked, holding the phone carefully so Danny couldn’t see the screen.

The boy’s face cracked into a grin and he shrugged a third time, getting comfy in the expensive leather seat.

“Hey, if you keep one eye on the road you’ll be the safest driver I’ve ever ridden with. You don’t wanna be too late though, you’ve got another extra guest for dinner and she seemed real impatient,” he said with a slight smile, turning on his heated seat.

About to get out of the car, Bruce paused again.

“Oh? Who was that?” He asked half rhetorically, already listing the women in his life who could possibly make this situation worse.

Top of the list…

“Harley Quinn.”

Of course.

What did she want now?

Bruce forced himself not to think about it, swinging up and out of the car and holding the phone to his ear.

One disaster at a time. No matter how many the universe was piling in his lap after nearly a month of nothing. He’d known it was too good to be true.

At least the garage was empty, and the car soundproofed. Danny wouldn’t hear a thing.

“Constantine. How did you get this number?”

**

In a secluded corner of the House of Mystery everyone’s favourite magical scapegoat stubbed out a cigarette and reclined back in his seat.

“Oh, is this not fun when people do it to you? And here’s me thinkin’ barging into other peoples’ business was how you lot showed affection,” he said dryly, fingers tapping off the glowing purple ward scrawled on the phone case.

Phone numbers were for plebs.

He could fuckin’ hear Bats grinding his teeth through the phone. And yeah, maybe winding him up further wasn’t the best idea, but fuck it.

If John had good ideas, he’d never have given the fucking Justice League his contact info. Case in point.

Winding up the big Bat was the price they all had to pay for royally pissing him off all fuckin’ night and all fuckin’ day.

Kept an impressive handle on the growl though. Must have been somewhere semi-private.

“Constantine. You’ve been out of touch for more than eighteen hours and there is a serious-”

John cut him off, waving his cigarette around as if he could shush the man from here.

“Oh no no, big boy, you’re not fuckin’ blaming that on me. You’re the one fucking up all my communicators, and you’re going to fuckin’ stop. Now.”

And yeah, maybe he did enjoy the very tiniest inhale of surprise he could hear. Or was that Batsy counting to ten?

“What do you mean.” The trademarked growl was definitely creeping in, private place or not. Well, good. John being too annoying to kill was what kept him alive.

Better spell it out for the fucker though.

“I’m a fuckin’ magician, Batlad. On a couple of Hell’s most fuckin’ wanted lists. I can’t be fuckin’ found by people fuckin’ wishing me fuckin’ harm, and let me tell you how goddamn delighted I am to learn that that now includes you!”

All he’d wanted to do today was drop off some results for the junior spandex brigade about some of the glyphs and wards they’d found at a dig.

Just trying to stop them from blowing their fucking hands off. A humanitarian mission. John fuckin’ hated kids. Handless kids only slightly worse.

And he couldn’t contact a single member of the fuckin’ Justice League because some asshole was trying to use them to hunt him down.

Zatanna had needed to come to the House personally to circumvent the wards she’d helped him build.

(Good to know how well they worked though. Assuming they were working and he’d done something to piss off the big Bat enough that he was out for blood.

There was technically a chance they’d been calibrated wrong and Batsy wanted to bring him ham. Less likely than harm, in John’s humble opinion.)

Still, the only way to unfuck his communications was to find and defuse whatever had pissed the skulky bitch off, and while Zatanna had agreed to drop off his work for the kids, he needed to know what else they’d found.

He so was not going to fucking Alaska in January.

And with that as his alternative, John forced his most chipper smile onto his lips. Apparently people could sense that through phones. Who fuckin’ knew.

“So. You’ve fuckin’ got me. What the hell do you want?”

—————

Tag list: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @eonic @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear

Next Chapter:

[samgirl98]

Mending a Family 34/?

Prev | Next

It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.

Jason shoveled the pile of pony crap to the side while fuming.

It was cold, he was far away from the warmth of a bonfire, and he was hungry. Having a fire core didn’t mix well with the cold.

The school had decided to do a small winter festival the day before winter vacation had started. Some local vendors had been invited, and a few people from the village had decided to visit the little festival.

Jason had been stuck with shit work because of his tardiness to the PTA meeting. That’s what he got for being a good Samaritan and stopping to help an old couple with a flat tire. By the time he had made it to the meeting, all the other jobs had been taken, and he had mysteriously been elected as the designated pooper scooper.

That was one point to Avril fucking Dubois.

Jason gritted his teeth as another pony crapped on the snow. He never knew ‘steaming pile’ was a literal thing.

It didn’t help that the cold made him cranky, and he hadn’t seen his family in a while.

Jason had given Jazz and Danny money so they could play the games and go to the booths to buy things.

Thankfully, the pony rides would close in an hour, giving Jason another two hours to walk around and have hot chocolate with his family. Jason was imagining the warmth of hot chocolate when he heard a snobby voice.

“You missed a spot, Jay. We wouldn’t want the children to step on something unpleasant, would we?”

Jason could feel his blood pressure rising as Avril and her snotty henchwomen laughed.

Avril was wearing a coat that Jason recognized as being from an expensive brand. She wore heels and her ever-present pearls. Who wore heels when they were going to be walking for long periods in the snow?

“Avril. How you’ve been? How’s your daughter? Do you even know where she is?”

Jason knew for a fact Sarah had been with Danny and Jazz last. The poor little girl was often neglected by her mother unless she wanted to show Sarah off. Poor Sarah always looked miserable when her mother would parade her around.

“How dare you? I know where my daughter is and actually take care of her. She has her mother, unlike your poor little boy.”

Jason rolled his eyes and ignored the woman. Eventually, she and her clique left. Jason finished his hour and happily left the area when the ponies’ handlers took them away. Jason was glad he decided to bring a change of clothes. He changed and went to look for his family.

He found his little family by the Christmas tree. Little Sarah was nowhere to be seen.

“Daddy,” Danny ran up to him and hugged him.

“Hey, chum, you having fun?”

“Yeah! I bought a few things and ate a lot of yummy food.”

“Where’s Sarah?” Jason knew the little girl had wanted to hang around Danny the whole time and even rode a pony alongside Danny. She was nowhere around now.

Jazz came up and handed him a hot cup of chocolate and something called a butter tart. Bless her heart. Jason felt the warmth go down and settle in his stomach. The heat helped a little with his bad mood.

“Her lovely mother showed up about an hour ago to drag her away.”

Jason winced. It was his fault Sarah had been taken away. He hoped the little girl wasn’t in trouble with her mother. He shouldn’t have brought her up and let Avril keep needling him instead. He made a mental note never to do that again. No matter his problem with Avril, he shouldn’t stoop to Avril’s level and bring the children in.

Danny took Jason’s free hand and looked at his father.

“It’s not your fault, daddy. Besides, Sarah and I had fun playing games the whole day.”

Jason sighed. He let go of the guilt for the moment.

“C’mon,” Jazz said, “you’re probably cold, and there’s a nice bonfire over there. We can buy marshmallows to roast.”

“Yeah, but first, I want another hot chocolate.”

Jazz smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, big brother, I’ll get you one. Here, take Ellie’s stroller. You’ve been busy all day and deserve some rest.”

“You sure? I can get it.”

Jazz stretched his cheeks.

“You’re freezing, have a fire core, and have been shoveling poo all day. Go have fun with your son and niece while I get more chocolate. You want some Danny?”

“Yes, please.”

Jason, Danny, and Ellie sat on the bench nearest to the bonfire. The licking fire felt nice. Danny scrunched his nose at the fire and sat on the ground, playing with bits of unmelted snow. Ellie was starting to nod off in her stroller.  

Jason called the guy selling marshmallows and bought two sticks. He gave on to Danny and took one for himself. Jason felt content watching the marshmallow start to brown when he heard Avril’s voice.

“And she also has a kid but with no father! Can you believe it? The brother has a son with no mother, and his sister is a hussy who doesn’t have a father for her daughter. She probably doesn’t even know who the baby’s father is.”

It didn’t take a genius to know who the bitch was gossiping about.

An older lady was tsking and gasping as Avril talked. He didn’t know who the older lady was. They were both roasting marshmallows, too. Jason was surprised Avril would even touch a marshmallow, let alone roast one.

“Those poor kids are going to grow up damaged,” the older lady said.

Jason gritted his teeth and glared at the fire.

He didn’t care if Avril talked bad about him, but she was going too far with talking shit about his family.

Thankfully, Danny seemed too preoccupied to pay attention to what Avril had said.

From his peripheral, Jason saw Avril take out the marshmallow and start to blow on it. Jason’s glare intensified. The marshmallow didn’t go out.

“What the…,” Avril kept blowing on the thing, but no matter how much she did, the fire didn’t go out. Suddenly, the fire intensified.

“Aww!”  

Avril let go of the flaming marshmallow, which fell on her expensive coat.

“Aww! Put it out! Put it out!”

It took Jason a moment to realize that he was the reason the fire wouldn’t go out. Oh, fuck. Jason took a deep breath and tried to get his emotions under control.

“No, not with that!”

Jason opened his eyes in time to see a man pouring hot chocolate on Avril.

“You idiot, that’s going to stain!”

“Mommy, daddy, what’s wrong,” Sarah and a boy who looked like a male version of Avril came running.

“Your father decided to ruin my coat! Come on. We’re leaving.”

“But mom,” the little boy started whining.

“Now!”

Avril had taken a few steps when she slipped on a patch of ice that had appeared suddenly. Jason flinched when she hit the ground hard.

He turned to look at Danny, but he was roasting his marshmallow, pointedly not looking at the drama that had unfolded.

“Honey, I told you not to wear heels.”

“Shut up, Harold, and help me up.”

As soon as she got up, she marched toward the parking lot.

“What happened there,” Jazz asked as she sat down and handed Jason the hot chocolate.

“Karma,” he answered. Jazz looked at him suspiciously before shrugging. Danny grinned at him and ate his marshmallow.

Jazz didn’t need to know what happened.

@itsberrydreemurstuff @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @skulld3mort-1fan @theauthorandtheartist @emergentpanda-blog @jaggedheart11 @fisticuffsatapplebees @booberrylizard @fantasticbluebirdfan @thegatorsgooseoose @cyrwrites @kjoboo91 @crystallicedart @amaramizuki666 @spekulatiusmuffin @meira-3919 @kilasmess @bubblemixer @lexdamo @wonderland-daisy @mj-arts-n-stuff @amyheart19 @dolfay @the-church-grimm @undead-essence @aph-mable @lizisipancardo @purrloin77 @writer-extraodinaire @charlietheepic7 @sinfulloccultist @nootherusernameworked @coruscateselene @chaoticchange @itsberrydreemurstuff @gmkelz11 @feral-bunny31 @paroovian @thatonegaybitch68 @d4ydr34min9 @overtherose @fandomwandererer @vipower001 @thordottir45 @blackrabbitt3t @rosecinnamonbun @bianca-hooks123 @epilepticnerd @dat1angel @consouling @flamingenchiladadragon @all-mights-asscheeks @ender-reader @fuyu-bitch @ravenswife

[chocolate-theft]

☆ 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 ☆

Fandom: Dead By Daylight. Rating: Teens And Up Audience, sfw. Characters: Pyramid Head, Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face. Pairing: Pyramid Head x Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face.

Tags: Pyramid Head's pov, fluff, adoration, established relationship, typical cute couple stuff, short and sweet, cheesy asf, Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face has green eyes, maskless Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face, soft Pyramid Head, smitten Pyramid Head, lowkey/borderline simping [Pyramid Head💀], short fic, too ALPHA to beta read, very self-indulgent.

WARNINGS: NONE.

Summary: The Executioner enjoys the beauty in his Beloved Ghost’s eyes.

– Word count:626.

Author's note:

Wrote this in the Tumblr’s draft (instead of focusing on writing my main wips), so why not post it because I'm bored and also because there's not enough PyraGhost in the world.

I will probably come back to edit and add things in this fic later since like there’s gonna be some incomprehensible pharsings and errors here and there, ofc because I literally wrote this in Tumblr’s draft, put it in Google Docs just to see the word count and copy paste in here– BAM!! Then finished!

The green line dividers aren't mine btw.

Embracing my Tumblr fanfic writer era rn.

────────────────────────────

Every inch that Danny possessed was something to be held deeply treasured to Pyramid Head.

Back then Pyramid Head used to be hesitant to reach out and touch Danny, quite wary that he would somehow break the man if he applied too much pressure. He knew Danny would be slightly annoyed by this; claiming that he wasn't that weak, but that didn’t stop Pyramid Head from being apprehensive when it came to him. Fortunately, as things progressed Pyramid Head became at ease as Danny reassured that he wasn't hurting him. 

Him having this affection towards Danny was so beyond that even the basic description of him just loving Danny was an injustice on how he truly felt. 

Even though Pyramid Head wasn't the type to care about other people's characteristics, he was utterly entranced by Danny, anything from head to toe, as well as his hands, his voice, and the way he carried himself. Everything.

And when Danny showed his face to him for the first time, enrapture swept over Pyramid Head. His immediate response was to stretch his hand to stroke Danny's ebony locks of hair in which the other man found it endearing as Pyramid Head ruffled his hair gently.

But what captivated Pyramid Head's heart the most, once he took a moment to observed Danny's face. Amused gloomy emerald were peering at him back. This caused Pyramid Head to stop doing what he was doing. The more he fixated on Danny’s eyes the more he felt lost in the glamours' greenery.

────────────

In the present, Danny was not currently wearing his usual Ghostface mask around Pyramid Head which wasn’t uncommon ever since he had grown to trust him as Danny was comfortable enough to be displaying his own actual face to his partner only. Right now they were just spending the day with one another, making up for the lost time they were busy with their trials. Danny shared a few horror tales that greatly interested him, prompting Pyramid Head to listen, producing soft grunts while the other proceed. But Pyramid Head was intensely concentrating on the different expression Danny’s eyes make.

While it went on Danny began to notice that the other wasn't really paying attention, judging by how Pyramid Head practically stopped making quiet noises to what he was talking about and wasn’t moving. Then Danny waved his hands side to side in front of Pyramid Head. “Hey! Are you even listening to me?” Causing Pyramid Head to snapped back to reality, following the realization on what was going on. 

Oh. Was he distracted again? 

As awkward as it may have been given that for the entire time he was just focused on Danny’s eyes. 

“You’re spacing out lately.” Danny said. “Is there something bothering you?” 

There wasn’t anything bothering him, it was just his fascination with the green irises that belonged to the man. Pyramid Head shook his head.

Danny made a questioning face. “Hm. I doubt that.” Then the man’s lips swiftly formed into a grin, “you were staring at my eyes aren’t you~!” Pyramid Head was slightly thrown back by how Danny was able to jump to the correct conclusion so quick. But he knew that no matter the circumstances are, Danny was destined to read him like a book effortlessly. 

Pyramid Head uttered a gurgle of affirmation, seemingly out of embarrassment.

Danny became aware of this, “it’s fine Pyra! I just find it humorous. Plus, I don’t mind, you can stare at it as long as you like,” he chuckled. Relief essentially spread over Pyramid Head as he let out a deep breath.

“Never thought someone would be so enthralled by my eyes, you know?” 

Well, if no one was enthralled by it, then Pyramid Head definitely was.

Author's note:

Thanks for reading till the end! Hope you enjoyed it.

I should probably go back to writing my main wips. But I deadass get distracted often.

Here's my AO3 acc, if you like this pairing lol. Don't check it out if it's Monday since AO3 is down for planned maintenance for 10 whole hours, sad I know, just download fics you love in the meantime, we will live blud.

And that’s it for today... See you later, toodles!

[sunnyie-eve]

20 | Second Set

Series: Indispensable | Teen Wolf

Paring:  (Stiles Stilinski x OFC Martin)

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: None

A/N: Might be a few mistakes

| MASTERLIST |

~~~

For cross country, Julia was first to be outside before the guys join her. "You know me being a virgin is literally a threat to my life." Stiles walks up to her.

"Excuse me?" She said not caught up.

"Oh, right. The three killings that have happened all have happened to virgins. God, your lucky you aren't at risk."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" She laughs at him.

"You and Isaac. Scott told me about you guys." He tells her.

"We never did any of that... We had a few heated make outs over the summer and that's all. I'm still a virgin just like you buddy." She laughs patting his back.

"Okay, well, we need to find people to have sex with so we don't die." He makes her laugh more.

"Three's, Stiles. Deer, Prada, and Birds. Heather, pool boy, and girl in the woods. I'm sure we're onto a different set of three's now."

"We can't be so sure." He huffs.

"Okay, so come over to my house after school and let's get it over with." She jokes with him since it would weird him out.

"Excuse me?" He looks at her with wide eyes. "Not, funny. I just had Danny joke with me."

"I'm serious. No strings attached. One night and done." She still plays along making it seem like she was serious, "Bonus since you aren't unattractive and I'm a Martin. I may be known as the odd one but I'm still considered attractive." She laughs.

"Why is your heart racing so much? We haven't even started running yet." Scott joins them chuckling at Stiles.

"Shut up." Stiles ignores the two.

While running Scott runs off so Stiles and Julia run together till they all come across the boy that went missing last night, dead body.

"See the way the twins looked at him." Isaac says as the four walk away.

"Yeah, like they have no idea what happened." Stiles says making Isaac say they knew. "The kid was strangled with a garrote, all right. Am I the only one realizing the lack of werewolfitude in these murders?" Stiles looks at us.

"You think it's a coincidence that they show up and people start dying?" Isaac says pointing back at them.

"Well, no, but I still don't think it's them." Stiles says.

"I actually agree with Stiles about them not killing them, but I also agree with Isaac on about they knew what's happening." Julia looks at the two.

"I don't know yet." Scott says as the boys ask him for his opinion.

"You don't know yet?" Stiles asks him.

"Well, he's got a point. Seriously, dude. Human sacrifices?"

"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glow sticks, okay? Hair literally grows from your cheeks, and will immediately disappear. And if I were to stab you, it would magically heal. But you're telling me you're having trouble grasping human sacrifices?" Stiles makes to paint at him 100% agreeing with him.

"Also that you had to put a torches to your skin to have your two rings tattoo..." Julia adds.

"Sorry I can't can't have a tattoo like you where it heals normally." Scott rolls his eyes.

"How do you know she has a tattoo?" Isaac gets sidetracked.

"Huh?" Scott looks at him.

"Her butterfly tattoo." Isaac crosses his arms.

"Well, it's a Moth. Not a butterfly." Scott corrects him, "And umm, I went with her." Scott lies.

"Whatever her tattoo is... I don't care about Stiles point.. They killed that kid. They killed the girl that saved me. And I'm gonna kill them too." Isaac says walking off.

"Okay, changing the topic. Why did you tell Stiles I was with Isaac? Because I never said I was." Julia eyes Scott with her arms crossed.

"I told you not to say anything." Scott looks at Stiles.

"She said the most they did was heated make out sessions over the summer." Stiles puts his hands up making Scott cross his arms now.

"Exactly when did it start and end?" He asks thinking about the timeline.

"Why do you care?" She tilts her head and Stiles watches them confused and lost.

"I just wanna know."

"Oh, so you know where it placed?" She catches on so she laughs.

"Exactly!"

"What?" Stiles looks between the two. "Also, you have a tattoo? And you went with her?" Stiles says never having seen it.

"I'm not telling you now." She smiles at Scott walks off to the girl locker room.

"Please, fill me in." Stiles begs Scott but he ignores him.

In the next class it was just Stiles and Julia so he kept trying to ask her questions about what her and Scott were talking about and her tattoo.

"Yes, Stiles I have a tattoo but you can't see it. It's hidden because my mother would lose her mind. And Scott and I were just being annoying to each other. We did that over the summer when you weren't with us."

"You two hung out without me?!" He whispers shouts.

"Get over it." She laughs at him.

For lunch break, Stiles wouldn't give up on the fact they hung out without him. "Why did Scott go with you for you tattoo? Why didn't you invite me?"

"Because of your fear with needles. And we were already hanging out and I said I wanted one so we went." She lies to him.

"You're lying." He stops her.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. When you lie you bite the inside of your cheek. I can see it go in some." He tells her.

"Creep, watching me that close."

"Why are you lying to me?" He crosses his arms.

"Fine! Since you must know! We were hanging out one night talking about random stuff and he kissed me. I kinda just gave in and we made out so he saw my tattoo." She just lets him know the secret.

"Scott kissed you first? And you kissed him back?"

"Yes, but it's was nothing just like me and Isaac. It was just fun with no meaning behind it." She explains to him.

"You've kissed Isaac and Scott." Stiles says feeling something he didn't like.

She grabs his face pulling him down till their lips met for a few seconds before she pulled back, "Correct. And now I kissed you, Scott and Isaac." She laughs walking off.

"Umm..." Stiles watches her walk off before puckering his lips trying to look at them.

"What are you doing?" Lydia walks by looking at him confused.

"Umm, nothing." He stops.

"Are you sure? You don't look like it." She laughs at him.

"I'm fine." He shakes his head going off to spy on his dad with Kyle's girlfriend.

As Stiles gets slapped by her while Julia was walking down the hall and sees it happened holding back her chuckle. Then waits on the side as his dad raises his voice at him about the murders.

When Noah walks away, Julia goes over to Stiles, "We need to find the new pattern. The more people get murdered... it's gonna be harder on your dad." She tells him so he turns to face her.

"The other question is how many sets of three's will there be?" He shakes his head.

"Sadly I'm not a psychic so I can't answer that." She looks at him.

"I feel like if you were you would be a lot more helpful than what you are."

"I would rather be psychic too but I'm not that lucky. Come on, let's go see if we can get anything from Kyle's locker memorial." She links her arm with him as they head down the hall.

"Okay, what's on here that gives us any clue?" Stiles looks at Kyle's locker with her as Boyd comes up to add something. "Whoa. Hey, Boyd! I didn't know you were back at school."

"Yeah, I would have told you, but we're not actually friends." He tells Stiles.

"Little rude but how well did you know Kyle? I see you guys were in Junior ROTC together." Julia asks him looking at what he added.

"Oh, so you guys were friends?" Stiles asks.

"I only had one friend. She's dead too." Boyd walks off from them.

"Well, he wasn't very helpful. But we know he was in ROTC if that's anything." Julia looks back at the locker.

"So we have to wait till someone else of found dead to see if they have anything in common?" Stiles asks her crossing his arms.

"I don't wanna say yes but probably." She makes a face, "Now, I gotta find my sister." Julia leaves his side so he just follows her. "Why are you following me?" She loos back at him.

"Scott is busy with the twins so..." He keeps following her as she finds Lydia.

"Lydia, so I'm gonna remind you again. Next time you have a hookup coming over try for me, shush." Julia gives her a smile.

"I'm sorry but he knew some things. Now, why are you following Julia like a lost puppy dog?" Lydia keeps walking by her sister's side with Stiles still behind them.

"Because Scott's dealing with the Alpha twins." Stiles says causing Lydia to stop, "You don't know about the twins?"

"Alphas?"

"Ethan and Aiden." Julia gives her a smile knowing about her liking Aiden.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I knew about them." Lydia lies.

"Okay, good. So look, here's what we've been thinking. That the murders maybe come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes, right? So maybe first, it's three virgins, and then, I don't know. Maybe it's three people who own little dogs."

"We own a little dog." They all stop walking.

"Technically Prada is yours. I wasn't and still not allowed a pet." Julia points out.

"Technically Prada is yours as well because you help take care of them and they seem to let you love on them more." Lydia points out as well, "And we're not getting rid of our dog." Lydia adds to Stiles.

"Would you two just think about getting rid of your little dog?"

"No. And by the way. You cannot discern a pattern by a single data point. So stop trying." Lydia tells him.

"So what? I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die, then? I'm just supposed to sit there and watch them die? Just wait for them to wither up and die right in front of me?" Stiles asks so Lydia tells him it's not his job.

"For starters, you're a human as well. Completely normal. But these are sacrifices and it seems like an Alpha pack has a bit of knowledge about it. So it's not for someone normal to figure out." Julia looks at Stiles.

"You have a free period at the end of the day right?" Stiles asks her.

"Yeah, why?"

"We're gonna go talk to someone that's human and knows a lot about the supernatural." He walks off so she follows him now.

They end up going to Deaton in hope he could help them in anyway about the sacrifices. Turns out he already knew but wasn't try to forget about the Druids. Julia gets a phone call from Lydia telling Stiles they had to go back to school because a teacher was taken.

Deaton goes with the two and listen to the recording on the phone and try to find anything to connect this threes. They find out what the next set was and it being warriors. Lydia points out Mr. Harris could also fall under the category of a military connection. They end up in his class room to find him gone but his papers he graded spell out Darach.

[lostonehero]

Ghosts in the insistute

"Uh, sorry about your brother Daniel." A older woman adjusts her glasses floating behind the man in urban explorer gear and looks to be stitched back together.

Danny sighs. "Don't. Gertrude. We both know he didn't have a choice, and i can't tell him to stop because he's going to get himself killed going down this route. I honestly thought he was finally making a turn for the better. Guess that won't happen now."

A man floats by missing both of his eyes. He's in a long button-up shirt, black dress pants and a name badge stating artifact storage, and Elias Bouchard. "Eh, it ain't that bad he might even join this hell hole of us being stuck, not you, but still." Eli shrugs. "Honestly, still kind of jealous you get to travel."

"Don't be bitter, Elias." Gertrude rolls her eyes.

"To be fair, he has to watch Jonah use his body and watch it get older as he stuck like this." Danny sighs. "At least you're not stuck to your sister."

Eli shudders. "Oh, don't you even put that out there. I don't need her visiting here to make that a possibility. Trevor attached to his brother when he visited to make a statement. I don't need to have my sister suffer with that. I abandoned her after all."

"You didn't, though." Gertrude gave a half-hearted pat on Eli's back.

Eli narrowed his gaze. "I really, really didn't like that."

Gertrude rolls her eyes again, pinching her brow. "If it's any consolation, I hope Tim dies first."

"Missing the entire point of me wanting my brother to live a long, happy life." Danny huffs. "You literally just died like a few months ago. You have no claim in this."

Gertrude sighs but doesn't say anything.

"Good morning, Martin!" Danny waves.

"The living can't see us." Eli crossed his arms.

Danny smiles floating next to Martin. "Do you think this fear stuff will trap you too?"

"Seriously?" Eli floats next to Danny. "The living can't see us. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

Gertrude clears her throat. "I can concur with Elias. The living, even those avatar to the eye or even end, cannot see us."

Martin sighs and in a quiet voice. "I'm half dead."

Eli froze, staring at Martin. "You're what?"

Danny scoffs. "I told you! That's Martin he's dating Tim. I asked him not to tell Tim about me because i knew Tim would hate him, and it's a healthy relationship. I dont want to ruin it for my brother."

"What do you mean by half dead child?" Gertrude raised a brow.

Martin quietly removes one glove to show a skeleton hand and then quickly replaces it. "I'm half dead. It's probably from my father's side because I never met him." He quickly quiets himself when the three left the archivist office.

"As I was telling you before, Martin can see the dead, which means us. He doesn't excatly make it known to the living." Danny crossed his arms floating back next to his brother.

"That's kind of upsetting." Eli frowns. "I'm sorry, kid. My father was a fucking monster. Yours is an actual monster, not a fear freak, though. He could be a decent guy, well not decent, he did abandon you."

"He didn't, Martin's mother had a one night stand and blamed Martin for being born." Danny floats upside down. "His Mom is the problem."

"Oh ew." Eli makes a face.

Gertrude sighs. "That's unfortunate, but maybe I'll be able to help you guys survive. Sasha was my pick for Archivist, but Jonah has other plans."

"Still don't get why Barnabas still likes him." Eli shrugs.

"I'm sorry, as in Barnabas Bennet?" Gertrude stares at Eli.

"I keep forgetting how new you are. You haven't even met all the others here." Eli chuckles. "Robert Smirke is here too. He and Mordechai have an ongoing bet about Peter, his great, great, whatever grandson who is in a relationship with Jonah. Barnabas likes Peter better anyhow and thinks he can just join the two when they eventually die. He's quite stubborn and still in love. Oh right there's others as well, but you'll eventually meet everyone. Speaking of that, I have to talk to Laura she always has the best gossip."

"Oh! Tell me everything. I have to know the deal with accounting." Danny smiles. "I mean, come on, that has to be a polycube at this point."

Eli winks and floats through the ceiling.

Gertrude follows.

.......

Martin puts his coat on and sighs. "So how long have you been stuck?" He was just outside, and the night chill made him put on his coat as soon as he stepped outside.

"He really wasn't kidding. You can see and hear us." Eli sighs. "Day before Jonah promoted my body. For a few decades now, well, two and nearly three decades. It's not all bad, I do have to admit we have the same taste in men, although I've been informed i am demi on all accounts, but I guess I'm still somewhat connected to my body because I share the feelings for Peter. It's really weird."

"That is quite odd." Martin nods.

"What are you doing waiting outside here?" Eli raised a brow.

"Tim and I agreed we don't want the others to know due to the gossip machine. So I catch the bus out here, and he picks me up from the closest drop-off." Martin messes with his gloves. "I do want to tell him. I've never been in a relationship this long before or cared about someone like I do him, but it don't know how to tell him that his brother hasn't left his side since he died. He only told me last month about Danny."

"I don't really have advice for you. However, he will catch you without those gloves one day." Eli chuckles at Martin's shocked expression. "Im good at reading people, and I know for a fact he doesn't know about that."

"Gloves and lies mostly." Martin sighs. "I don't want to scare him."

"He watched his brother die, I don't think bones will scare him." Eli waves at the bus approaches. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Martin nods and gets onto the bus.

.......

Tim was humming cutting vegetables in his shared kitchen. "Ok again. I'm sorry, I didn't think Jon would be such a dick to you. Look, I know we agreed to keep this a secret, but I don't like how he treats you and..." He turns to look at Martin, who was messing with his gloves in deep thought. "Marto?"

Martin swallows and blinks. "I uh right, sorry. It's fine, Tim."

Tim puts his knife down and sighs. "Are you ok?"

"I have to tell you something." Martin looks up with impossibly blue eyes at Tim.

Tim swallows. He probably fucked up and ruined the only good thing he had. He should have told the others. Martin didn't deserve to be hidden like a dirty secret. Every one thought he was a slut and that was fine. Even Sasha played along, but even his best friend didn't know the truth. Fuck he was such a dick. "Martin I'm so-"

"I can see the dead!" Martin sputtered out loud and clearly embarrassed.

"What?" Tim blinks clearly, not expecting the words to come out of Martin's mouth. "I'm sorry. Did you say you can see the dead?"

Martin rips off his gloves, showing off his skeleton hands. "I met Danny when we first met. He's kind of stuck to you since he died. He's the one to ask me not to tell you. I didn't... I don't want to lie to you anymore. I love you, Tim, and I've been terrified to say it. I've been so scared you would be scared of me because of this and... and..." He was crying thick tears dripped from his eyes.

Tim rushed forward, grabbing Martin's hands. "Martin, i could... wow, why are they warm? I'm sorry. I know this is serious, but they're warm, and that's weird, right?"

Martin pauses and chokes out a laugh. "To be honest, I don't understand it either. You're not mad?"

"Mad? Martin, I love you. Fuck I thought you wanted to end things." Tim gently places his forehead against Martin's. "I don't think i would have been able to handle that. You're the best thing to ever happen to me, and I just..." he freezes. "Wait, you can see Danny?"

Martin chuckles. "You know he was counting down till you would ask that."

"Fu-" Tim had tension bleeding out of his shoulders, standing back up. "It is him. You really can see the dead. I have so many questions, but I don't care. I need to do this first."

"Do wha -" Martin is cut off by a deep kiss.

......

"Oh, please don't tell me he watches." Tim groans covering himself with the blanket.

"He has a 30-foot radius around you, Tim." Martin chuckles. "He makes himself scarce during all your fun times."

"Is this why you always leave the TV on when we get busy?" Tim hums and scratches his chin. "That makes so much sense."

"That or he spies on the neighbors. He doesn't blame you." Martin smiles softly. "He wants to see you happy. He also wants to see you get old because it would be funny in his own words to see you break a hip being a idiot."

Tim snickers, and it turns into a full belly laugh. "That sounds like him. Where is he now?"

"Tim, I can't see through walls." Martin smiles, sitting up and looks around.

"Oh, you're done? That's fast." Danny poked his head through the door. "And your hands are uncovered?"

"He, however, can go through walls." Martin smiles, pointing to the closed bedroom door. "I know you can't see him, but he is now in the room."

"You told him?" Danny raised a brow.

"Danny?" Tim sat up, keeping the blanket over him. "Danny, I.... I've missed you."

"Dude, I've been following you for years. Why the bloody fuck is he being shy now? We shared a room!" Danny huffs.

"He's complaining that you're being shy." Martin thins his lips.

Tim groans. "You know what I lied fuck you Danny."

Danny burst out laughing.

"He's laughing at you." Martin grins when Tim starts laughing.

Tim grabs Martin's hand. "Thank you for giving my brother back, Martin. I dont think you need to get me gifts anymore."

"I'm still going to knit you a scarf." Martin kisses Tim's cheek.

"So now that there's open communication. I know we have years to catch up on and whatever, but I have to know, was Jon really in a band? Micheal talked about seeing him in college. The band was called Mechanisms." Danny floated closer to the two.

"Seriously? You can talk to your brother again, and that's the first thing you ask?" Martin huffs. "Micheal, and different spirit stuck at the insistute says Jon was in a band in college called the Mechanisms and he wants to know if that's true."

Tim's eyes widen. "No, Danny's right, that's a way more pressing matter. Jon, the stick in the mud academics who threw a hissy fit when we threw him a birthday party because it's unprofessional can not be cool or have a cool past."

Martin chuckles. "We do have the internet to help."

Danny is right next to Tim as he pulls out his laptop.

"Hell yeah, you're amazing, Martin. Also, thanks, Danny." Tim smirks.

"Fuck yeah. Less talking more, searching. I have to see this." Danny grins.

.......

"Oh, what has gotten you so happy, Tim?" Sasha chuckles, listening to Tim practically skip into the archives humming a tune. "Did you get lucky with Aaron from HR?"

Tim grins. "Even better." Hs tosses his phone open to a YouTube video.

"No." Sasha stares at the video.

"Aha! See, I told you, Eli." Micheal points at the phone screen.

Eli snorts. "This is something I don't mind being wrong about."

"Good heavens." Gertrude rolls her eyes. "If he dressed like that here, he would probably have a better chance of fitting in with the avatars."

Danny snorts. "I would pay to see that."

Martin bites his lip watching Jon pale as he exited his office because of the noise, and he went right back inside.

"It would have been easier to just ask his parents." Micheal crossed his arms. "They are attached to Jon like you are to Tim."

"Isn't that weird, though? I mean like hey, we're also dead, so tell us about your son, who you obviously been attached to a long time because you both are way too young to have a meaningful impact in his life." Danny frowns.

"We can hear you." A dark skinned Asian man huffs. He mumbles something in Japanese.

"Be nice, Shiro." The woman elbows the man. "But he isn't wrong. I died when my boy was six. Cancer is nobodies friend. I'm May, and this is my husband Torshiro."

"I was killed when he was 2." Shiro motions to the spot where his heart was carved out of his chest it was incredibly gruesome. "My past caught up to me from Japan." He was a scary looking man. "Ex Yakzua met May while she was teaching English in my territory."

"I was just killed by some stranger horror creature." Danny motions to being stitched back together. "You're thing sounds so much cooler."

"So tell us about this, Jonah. He is in your body, right?" Shiro points to Eli.

"Yeah, yeah." Eli sighs. "Jonah Magnus found a way around death through the fear god Beholder." He motions to his bloody holes where his eyes were. "You can guess how. He's going to use your son to initiate his plan unless he figured things out like Gertrude, or he cuts out his eyes. You can hear his whole thing if you talk to Barnabas or Robert. Honestly, I'm just glad to be stuck here than attached to him."

"That's great for you." Micheal sighs he was fading. "I'm attached to whatever possessed my body. I'll see you guys when the spiral returns." He salutes and vanishes.

"He way too polite to curse you out." Eli motions to Gertrude.

"I deserve that." Gertrude sighs.

"Well, we have to figure out a way to stop it." May huffs. "I will not have my son be used like a pawn for something he has no idea about."

Martin sighs. "I would love to help, but the man hates me."

Tim raised a brow and then made an o face. "Who's talking?"

"They're all talking among themselves, but before Danny mentions I could help Jon. I must say he hates me." Martin crossed his arms and points in a direction near Jon's office. "Jon's parents are attached to him like how Danny's attached to you."

"Ok, but help Jon, how?" Tim raised a brow.

"You can see us?" May gasps.

Martin nods. "Honestly, with the way you guys gossip, I would have thought everyone knew by now."

Eli shrugs. "It ain't my secret to tell, kid."

"Oh, um, thank you, I guess." Martin rubs the back of his neck. "But as I was saying Jon hates me, anything I will say to him he will dismiss. I get the whole fear thing, and you are his parents, but he hates me."

Shiro frowns. "The boy has a point. Jon is stubborn like myself. Your mother raised him, and she was an awful influence."

"Well, I didn't want her to raise him, but she forged my signature!" May pinched her brows. "Look, how about we start with getting jon to like you. He likes cats, and he does really like the tea you make him."

"Oh, I understand that. I basically raised my sister, and then my father disowned me, and I was banned from seeing her. I'm happy that she never saught me out to see Jonah puppeteer my body." Eli hums.

"Dude that's really fucked up." Danny frowns. "How about something more reasonable like finding Eli's sister."

"Well, if i knew her name, I could do that." Martin blinks. "That is really fucked up. You raised her, and your father disowned you? Was it to keep her away from you?"

"How about we stop talking about this?" Eli floats through the ceiling.

"And he's gone." Danny sighs.

Tim made a confused motion.

"Uh, Eli mentioned he had a sister he basically raised, and his father disowned him to keep him away from her. Danny wants to find her." Martin pauses. "It's been a while since I've translated for the deceased. I'm a bit rusty. I forget how you can't hear the conversation."

"Ouch, but yeah, no, I agree with Danny. The fear thing will take a while, right?" Tim hums. "And if that's the case, we have time to help the others, right?"

"I suppose Tim is right." Gertrude crossed her arms. "My efforts will slow him considerably things considered."

"As i said before, I literally can't get sucked off until Tim dies." Danny huffs.

"Why do you call it that?" Shiro riased his brow.

"Because wisked off seems too whimsical." Danny shrugs.

Martin rubs his face and sighs.

"Did Danny call moving to the next plane getting sucked off again?" Tim snickers when Martin nods.

"Disregarding that... wait, that's possible?" Gerturde blinks shocked.

"Well, yeah, it's possible. You're still very new to this. Things are tricky when it comes to being dead. Uh, I've had some experience talking to others, so let me -

Martin cuts off Danny. "Ghosts attached to a place like this insistute are stuck for a reason normally not known to them, and once that's filled, you'll move on. Ghost attached to loved ones can't move on until their loved one moves on. Other ghosts can't move on because of unfinished business, but they will eventually gain experience while dead to finally move on. Children are never ghosts. Eli is an exception to the rule since his body is still alive. He's still attached even if he doesn't feel it. He's lucky Jonah doesn't drag him along. You're new you havent even truly settled in yet. I've met spirits that are a few tens of thousand year old. It's like purgatory or hell. If you don't learn, you won't be allowed to move on, or something else is keeping you, and you're unable to fix that. Sometimes, that's as simple as cremation, or someone solves your murder. Others, it's incredibly complicated." He sighs. "I've heard old rumors about reapers that used to be around, but I've never seen them nor the spirits who I've talked to. Only the oldest ever seem to mention them."

"How do you know so much?" Shiro looks amazed.

Martin shrugs. "I've been like this my whole life. I was practically raised by the original settlers of Britain. They were much more civilized than the romans I've met."

"Celts?" Tim raised a brow when Martin shook his head.

"Older. I dont think they've been recorded." Martin hums. "That's a story for a different day, but yeah, there's a lot to learn. You won't find it in a book. You have to talk to the others and learn yourself."

Gertrude paused. "I see. I do have a lot to learn. This is out of my realm of expertise. I shall help you with the fears."

"I can help with ghost stuff." Martin smiles, watching Gertrude sink into the floor.

.......

"You killed me out of jealousy, so your opinion has no weight here." A French accent scoffs.

"Barnabas, it's a petty point. We both know Jonah loved you more. That isn't the point! I think that man can see us!" Mordechai motions to Martin, who was staring at them.

"I'm with Barnabas. The living can't see us. Even with the Beholders' power, Jonah can't see us." Robert crossed his arms.

"He can see you three." Eli pulled himself from the floor.

"Good heavens, Elias, can you not do that? There are plenty or staircases in this building. I designed this damn building." Robert huffs.

"Shut up, Smirke. What do you mean by living can see us?" Mordechai points to Martin.

"I'm half dead." Martin sighs, sipping his mug of tea. "Also, can one of you poke into Jonah's office and tell me why it's taking so long for me to be let into his office? He asked me up here about 20 minutes ago."

"Oh, that's easy Peter's visiting." Eli clicks his tongue. "Always feel cold when he does. It shouldn't be much longer unless Peter is horny than I would say. Come back in an hour."

"Ew." Martin pinched his brow.

"Half dead?" Barnabas raised his brow. "Boy, what do you mean?"

Martin looks around the empty darken hall and pulls off one glove. "See?" He ignores the gasps as he puts his glove back on.

"Impossible." Mordechai floats closer. "You shouldn't talk out in the open, Jonah can see and hear you."

Eli with his head through Jonah's office door. He pulls himself back out. "Yeah, no, he's pretty distracted at the moment. At least he kept my body flexible."

"O!" Barnabas slips through the office door.

"Pervert." Robert rolls his eyes. "But this is quite fascinating. Did you have a near death experience, or were you born like this?"

"I was born like this." Martin gets up. "I'll be back later since they're busy together."

"Wait before you go, could you tell us why we're stuck?" Mordechai sighs. "I really rather not be stuck here."

"Just because I can see the dead doesn't mean I know why you're here." Martin shakes his head. "Sorry. I can, however, pass messages over to the living if you have any requests."

"I do, but my family won't talk to you." Mordechai shrugs.

"Is it true Timothy now in the archives wrote a 12 hour dissertation on myself and my work? Daniel was talking about it." Robert smiles.

"Yes. And yes, I've heard it." Martin chuckles, shaking his head. "He does love your work."

"Amazing, you must set up a time we can discuss. That sounds absolutely riveting. Oh, I'll just pop on down and talk with Daniel." Robert sinks through the floor.

Mordechai shakes his head. "Thank you for your offer. However I must implore you to stay away from my family the Lukas's. You don't deserve that kind of death, and serving the Forsaken didn't do shit in my death."

"Um, thank you for the advice." Martin smiles and walks away.

Eli raised a brow. "That was nice and out of character for you."

Mordechai rolls his eyes. "Hush."

......

"Finally, it's Halloween!" Eli laughs. "Time for a festival! New faces and new spirits we can see only once a year."

"Isn't it a bit stereotypical for a ghost to be excited for Halloween?" Gertrude floated through Jonah's desk.

"That is right, you are quite new. This is your first all hallows eve festival." Mordechai hums. "Those who died with instruments live for the holiday. Well, we aren't alive, but Eli does like to perform."

"Oh, it's always a fun affair." Barnabas smiles. "You be surprised how far the property line is for us. Lots of singing and dancing. The oldest of us even come out from the tunnels for the festivities."

Robert nods. "Sure, we can no longer partake in carnal festivities, but that doesn't stop us from having fun. Your first time is always an odd one. You still cling to how you behave as the living when that doesn't matter anymore."

"What that means is let loose have fun. It's not like anyone alive can see us besides Martin. Even Mordechai has fun." Eli elbows Mordechai.

"Elias isn't wrong. I do hope the nice maid comes up from the tunnels. Clara is always a delight." Mordechai chuckles. "Almost convinced her last month to join me up here. She's a lovely little spitfire."

"They've been going back and forth for decades." Barnabas shakes his head. "Both are too proud to compromise, but everyone knows they love each other."

Eli nods. "Its like a will they wont they but both are too stubborn to admit they are in love."

Gertrude hums. "So i will be meeting the others?"

"I mean, they are always curious about the newbies." Robert crossed his arms sitting on Jonah's desk going through his computer. "I've already spread the word."

Eli shudders. "Fuck me, would it kill Jonah to now have sex at his desk." He barely glances at Peter who materializes. "Like I'm all for sexual liberation, but like how hasn't he gotten caught?"

"Years of practice." Barnabas chuckles. "Oh, I could tell you of our days. Of course, we also had to hide the fact of Jonah's privates, but it was still glorious and exhilarating."

"I may of been a slut but at least I wasn't a freak. I caught you both several times." Robert shakes his head. "Anyway, do you think young Timothy has finished his cooraspondace yet? I haven't been this excited in ages."

"I dunno, you'll have to ask Martin or Danny." Eli shrugs. "Anyway, this has been fun, but I have to talk to the others with instruments. I have no idea why they made me the host this year." He sinks through the floor.

"The boy is too modest. He's a great host." Barnabas chuckles softly. "Oh, you're in for a real treat, Gertrude. Elias always makes it a spectacular evening. Alas, he is right, though I have to prepare my performance. French or English this year? I still haven't decided."

"I am partial to your french." Robert smiles. "Although you better decide or someone will request German."

"Bite your tongue!" Barnabas huffs and sinks out with Robert following who was laughing.

"I suppose they argue about that every year." Gertrude smiles softly.

"Every year, but it's all in good fun. I suppose I am glad they dressed me properly before I died." Mordechai hums. "Come along. I suppose I could introduce you to some who come up early. They are always out in the yard while everything gets set up." He holds out his hand, which Gertrude takes.

"For the first Lukas, you are quite cordial." Gertrude looks skeptical.

"The forsaken didn't do shit but create problems in retrospect. The fears hold no power once you're dead. Speaking if which I do not envy Simon. He's nothing but a fool. I am fortunate enough I do not have to watch my family suffer due to my mistakes. Peter, i am proud of at least being different enough to be in a good relationship, even if it's with Jonah. I've watched long enough to see the outcome of my hubris."

Gertrude hums. "I suppose I have forgotten it has been over two hundred years for you. Very well lead the way." She takes his hand, and they go through the wall.

......

"Ugh, can you guys wake up now? It's Halloween, and I want to see the others!" Danny groans.

Tim's eyes flew open, and he stared up at his very clearly dead brother. He shrieked. "What the fuck!"

Martin was startled awake. "What?!" He sits up going through Danny.

"Nightmares suck dont they, anyway can you both get there early today it's Halloween and you know what happens. Eli is even hosting it's going to be great!" Danny floats back.

"Dan-Danny?" Tim stares at his dead brother.

Martin is now wide awake. "You can see him?!"

"Wait, you see me?" Danny pauses floating really close to Tim's face. "You can see me! I wonder why? Martin, do you know why?"

Martin shakes his head. "Again, I'm not an expert on this stuff! Maybe the older spirits might know."

"Danny... I..." Tim swallows. "You look like shit."

"I'm dead. What's your excuse?" Danny snickers.

"You woke me up." Tim smiles wide.

"I did!" Danny grins.

Martin sighs. "I'll make breakfast."

.......

"You are not seeing your dead parents." Jon mumbles under his breath as he is the third to arrive to the archives, which never happens. "You're perfectly sane and just need new glasses." He looks up seeing Martin and Tim, which is incredibly odd, but he also sees elias without eyes and a man that looks similar to Tim in a very realistic distasteful costume.

"Oh, morning, bossman!" Tim smiles wide waving. He was wearing a cat ear headband and a matching tail.

"Can you see me too?" The man who looked similar to Tim rushed forward, making Jon stumbled back. "Ooo, I'll take that as a yes! Good morning, Jon and Shiro, and May. Are you two excited for the celebration tonight?"

"We would be if we knew why the living could suddenly see us." May rubs her arm. "Again sorry Jon for scaring you."

"Stop scaring Jon, Daniel." Shiro sighs.

Danny huffs. "I ain't scaring anyone."

Martin chuckles softly. "Danny, you do look scary to those who don't know what happened to you."

Danny scoffs floating back by Tim. "At least I have my eyes still."

"Fuck you." Elias stick up his middle finger. "I can still see you're a little bitch."

Tim snorts. "I'm sorry I can't get over how fucking different you actually are. I thought Martin was fucking with me."

Jon swallows and takes a breath. "Just what is going on!"

"Long or short explanation? Because the short one is that the living can suddenly see us and we have no idea why or when it started. The long reason is you probably have to ask the oldest ones here for answers, but they are still in the tunnels." Elias shrugs. "Honestly, I'm surprised Robert hasn't flown down here yet to bother Tim, but i think that's because they haven't realized the rest of the living can see us."

"Your parents have been attached to you since they died. They'll move once when you die." Martin sighs. "I've been able to see the dead since I was born, so this is weird for me as well." He holds up his uncovered hands.

"Same for me. I'm stuck to my brother till he dies. I'll say it again you better live a long fucking life!" Danny huffs.

"Nobody lives long working in the archives." Gertrude slips through the wall.

"And there's the ray of sunshine that is Gertrude." Eli sighs heavily. "Surprise, she isn't missing she's dead."

"Who in God's name are you speaking to?" Gertrude gives an unimpressed look.

Tim waves. "Us we can see you today for some reason."

"Good heavens." Gertrude gasps.

"Ooo, do you think if I bother Rosie, we can talk some office gossip?" Eli hums. "Nah, she's terrified of Jonah she won't talk to me."

Jon rubs his face. "I have so many questions. This can't be real."

"Oh, it is." Gertrude narrows her gaze. "Now that we can talk, I can warn you and tell you you have to handle this position to stay alive."

"Oh yes, that would be great." May smiles. "Come on, Jonathan, this is important."

"You have much to learn." Gertrude sighs.

........

Danny huffs. "It is nice to meet you, Sasha, but you've lost Tim for like the rest of the day." He motions to Tim in a very animated conversation with Robert.

"Is that..?" Sasha motions.

"Yeah, that's Robert Smirke." Danny groans. "Its bad enough they've been pen pals."

Martin shakes his head. "Let him have this."

Sasha furrows her brows. "What do you mean by pen pals?"

Danny points to Martin's hands. "That isn't a costume. Martin is self-proclaimed half dead. Although born dead is a cooler title."

Martin rolls his eyes. "That won't catch on. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will be making some tea. Lord knows Jon needs it."

"Yeah, Gertrude isn't sparing any detail." Danny grimaced. "She's still pretty new to this being dead thing."

"I'm back!" A soft voice interrupts. "Oh, I am very glad I came back for Halloween."

"Micheal!" Danny waves.

"Gertrude's assistant Micheal?" Sasha gasps.

"Oh, right, hello. I was warned about this from some of the ancient ones. Something about the moon and such. I'm kind of like Eli, but I'm stuck to my husk of a body and not the insistute. Anyway, did I miss anything?" Micheal smiles.

"My brother and Robert have not stopped talking. Eli is debating on confronting Jonah. Martin is making tea, and Gertrude is talking to Jon, the new Archivist." Danny sighs. "The old ones are still climbing out of the dirt."

"Oh, that's great last year. I missed all the fun stuff. I hope I stay for everything." Micheal smiles.

"Fun?" Sasha looked over to Micheal.

"Oh, every Halloween, all the ghosts here throw a big festival. Eli is hosting this year, and all the people who died with instruments have a blast. I'm not much of a performer, but the others do put on a great show. It's dancing singing and fun all around." Micheal chuckles. "Honestly, this is the first year I will be able to see Eli host, and I heard it's a real treat."

"That does sound fun." Sasha hums. "This happens every year?"

"Yes!" Danny jumps up. "It's something I always look forward to."

"Oh shit welcome back, Micheal." Eli pokes his head through the ceiling. "Anyway, I need your opinion. Should I confront Jonah? I mean, he's still with Peter , so there's another person, but also, the other avatars are coming tonight as well. Wait shit isn't this place doing a collab with ODIAR? Ugh, more variables. Do I even want to confront him? Like there isn't anything I can do yaknow. Like fuck you for stealing my body and killing me. Wait, why am I even asking you you still haven't even yelled at Gertrude for killing you?" He groans.

"Holy shit I thought you were lying about the body snatching thing." Sasha blinks, staring at Eli.

"I was not." Martin sighs, handing her a warm mug of tea. "You should just talk to him. If anything, it will bring some sort of closure, and you can tell him to stay away from your sister."

"That is a very good point." Eli sighs. "I should probably do that before Barnabas realizes Jonah can see him." He floats back through the ceiling.

"You know all the ghosts here?" Sasha looks back to Danny.

Danny makes a so so motion. "I have a 30-foot radius around Tim that I can move around. Eli knows most of them, but you have better luck asking Robert, Barnabas, or Mordechai since they're the oldest that don't stay in the tunnels. The really old guys perfer the underground because watching the world change can get depressing."

Micheal nods. "Being tethered to someone isn't as great as it seems. I mean from my experience. Granted, I'm attached to the thing puppeteer my body, and it kills and eats people. But I have seen Gerry again, and that's always great. By the way, Gerry said he's happy Jonah killed Gertrude."

Danny snorts. "Of course, he would say that. He's another guy Gertrude got killed. The list is quite long actually, sucks that Gerry is trapped in a book."

"Gertrude killed people?" Sasha looked bewildered as Martin entered Jon's office.

"Oh, you have no idea." Micheal chuckles. "She was ruthless. Even if what she did meant, the fears wouldn't win. I really don't care about the fears anymore since they can't affect the dead."

"Ooo wait, is the stranger that killed me going to be here?" Danny gasps as Micheal nods. "Fuck yeah I'm going to haunt the shit out of them since they can see me."

.......

"Alright, don't scream. I have a few things to say." Eli floats through the floor. "One dick move taking over my body, but I'm pretty much over it at this point. Two the suits are tacky and pompous. Three stop having sex in this office, your office, where you're going to get caught, besides the fact that Barnabas likes to watch." He huffs sitting on Jonah's desk. "Also, your god will not serve you when you die. None of them will. Honestly, the fears have no effect on the dead. Also, hello Peter, nice to actually speak to you for once."

Jonah blinks. "Is that all?"

"I mean, what else can I say? I'm dead Jonah it's not like I can do anything but watch at this point. The irony is not lost on me." Eli sighs. "Also stay the fuck away from my sister."

"You have a sister?" Peter stares at Eli.

"Huh." Eli deflates. "Never mind then."

"So why are you here?" Jonah crossed his arms, leaning back. "I didn't think you had any earthly matters to attend to."

"That's not really how it works." Eli lays down on the desk. "I'm still somewhat attached to my body, but not enough. I'm tethered to it. Uh, like Micheal Shelly to the creature using his body like a puppet or Danny attached to his brother. I'm stuck here in the insistute well this entire property. Which is much bigger than you would think."

"So why are you here? Why is Mordechai here?" Peter frowns.

Eli shrugs. "There isn't excatly a manual for this. I stopped being mad about this like two decades ago. There isn't really a point to clinging to anger. As for the others here again, I don't know. Mordechai is just happy he isn't confined to that family home of yours. Anyway, I should go before Barnabas shows up. I've said my piece." He throws up a peace sign and sinks through the desk through the floor.

"W-wait." Jonah curses. "I have more questions."

Peter frowns. "Do all the dead have the injury that killed them?"

"More or less." Barnabas floats through the wall, startling the two. He motions to his skeletal frame, clearly showing he died of starvation. "Unfortunately, Mordechai didn't let me drown."

"Do you all just float through?" Jonah takes a breath.

"Why wouldn't we? It's not like living can normally see us." Barnabas hums softly. "It is quite nice to finally speak to you again, Jonah."

"He does have a point." Peter shrugs.

"Thank you." Barnabas smiles. "Anyhow, we do have a lot to catch up on. Although Smirke is in a heated discussion with Timothy, Mordechai is with his love Clara, who just returned to the surface. Oh, this year you can actually join in the festivities. It will be quite fun."

......

"Ladies and Gentlemen, or whatever you think yourself to be in ain't judging." Eli shouts, and his voice seems to echo over the fair grounds like he was everywhere. "Now this Halloween is a special one. The living can see us! Exciting, I know, but don't let that spoil our fun. Now, to the living joining us, I'm the actual Elias Bouchard, the one who stole my body, life, and eyes is one Jonah Magnus, so do with that what you will. I dont care. I'm dead."

A few snickers from the dead ring out.

"Now, to start off this spectacular, I would normally perform the opening act. However, it would be rude of me to ignore the living in the room." Eli smirks as there is laughter. "Now feel free to mingle, scare, or just converse about modern-day politics with the living, and when I give a shout, whoever gets the first bar starts the performance! The rules remain the same, but we do have a newly dead with us now."

Gertrude blinks as eyes land on her.

"So! Rules are first to start their performance has the stage until it's over, then you have to be fast to be the next one to start next. Dancing, singing, jokes, or just stories you wish to share are all fair game. Most audience participation will be the winner, so have fun, and myself being the host means I have no skin in this fight."

Danny loudly laughs.

"Oh, that always gets the Strangers victims a laugh. Keep an eye out for my signal for the festivities to start! Enjoy talking to the living. Also, to avoid last year's brawl, please stick to English. Seriously, there is only so much room in the tunnels for you guys to sulk, im looking at you, Barnabas."

Barnabas sticks up his middle finger as Robert snickers.

"Now to the living, try not to die, alright? I ain't going to hold your hand through the learning curve." Eli chuckles as there is more laughter. "I'm just fucking with you guys. Enjoy the show, everyone!"

More cheers erupts from the dead.

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

For both: 🎶Do they have a type? 😡What are their deal breakers? 👫Do they display affection in public? What about in private?

✧ ── 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

ℝ𝕆𝔹𝕀ℕ 𝔸. 𝔹𝔸𝕌𝔻𝔼𝕃𝔸𝕀ℝ𝔼

🎶Do they have a type?

── I genuinely do not think it is any suprise when I say that Robin is attracted to less-than-ideal people in terms of the standards of the general populice. Robin is attracted to people he finds interesting and 98% of the time that means they're most likely willing to do some bizarre or messed up shit. His two ships both have people like this involved, Danny Johnson being a journalist serial killer who delights in bringing misery just so he can spice up "boring lives", and Vladimir vol Kalah Heigaari being a batshit hemomancer who's like 4000 years old and maybe a single step from a god. Robin searches not only for strange, and dangerous, quirks - but he's also very aware that he needs a partner who will encourage him and his pursuits; someone to stick beside him always. His time in Zaun (and wherever he was equivalent to Zaun in other verses) taught him to be resilient and to guard his heart from almost everyone around him - figuratively and literally - he does not trust easy. When that trust is forged it is on purpose and a calculated risk he decides to take for his lover - its a great depth that he could easily drown in - and he expects that same loyalty and vulnerability in return. It creates an amazingly deep connection for the relationships he DOES have. In terms of physical - Robin legitimately could not care less as long as they bathe.

😡What are their deal breakers?

── Robin is the most important person in his life; anything that will abuse him (mentally or physically) is an automatic "no" and he will leave without worry. Following off of this he has a very troubling relationship with his own autonomy after making the deal with Abel - and he is extremely protective of it. If a lover were to threaten that independence I imagine he would make quick work of removing himself from the situation; he wil be no one's slave. Robin will also accept no form of infidelity; once it happens its over - they will no longer be his problem or his lover since they have obviously chosen to unionize with another.

👫Do they display affection in public? What about in private?

── Once Robin is used to being able to touch someone his body reveals that he's been touch starved since before he even died - and now its all layering up and results in Robin being ridiculously clingy and physically touchy. If he can hold his lovers hand, he can - he spends nearly every break in modern verse with Danny - and is happy to carry Vladimir in his bat form too. Although I suppose this is moreso fine around strangers, he's a bit more hesitant around professional settings and around people he actually knows. In private he won't stop touching and being near his partner, I'm so sorry but also not really - he will stick to his partner until he smells like them. He is touch starved and loves kisses, hugs, snuggles - and its stupidly sweet given his usual pragmastism.

ℍ𝔸ℝ𝕌𝕂𝕆 ℕ𝔸𝕂𝔸𝕊𝕆ℕ𝔼

🎶Do they have a type?

── Haruko is a relatively normal person and he has pretty basic needs when it comes to the people he enjoys; honest, mature, and affectionate - he isn't asking a lot like Robin. Granted this doesn't mean at all that Haru is interested in a lot of people, it takes him time to actually care about someone enough to even want to sleep with them. This may seem a bit off course since he did have a few flings - but going into a deeper relationship with him takes time despite the simple desires he has. He also, despite his own preening, doesn't particularly care what his partner looks like - their features will become attractive to him the closer he gets. He's just very lucky that Tarhos has such pretty eyes and is like - a foot taller than him. Ok. Maybe he likes tall people.

😡What are their deal breakers?

── The obvious ones; no abuse, don't be a douchebag - that sort of stuff. But he also comes with an extremely large bag of trauma that focuses around his sexuality and sexual pleasure; in short he did not have a good time with a previous partner. That being said he is still learning how to actually love himself and if Tarhos, for some ... reason?, was ever pushing him or trying to coerce him when he wasn't in the mood - that would pretty much tank his opinion of his boyfriend. He also expects respect not only for HIMSELF but for his family - unlike Robin (in modern at least) he actually loves his family and holds them in very high regard. Disrespecting his sister and/or mother will result in him very quickly dropping his partner, he might be a bit more lenient with teasing Hina but his mom? No.

👫Do they display affection in public? What about in private?

── Oh yeah, Haru absolutely loves being kissy and gross in public with Tarhos - he doesn't care who's watching he loves his boyfriend and will happily show it. The issue is when Tarhos actively returns it or shows the same enthusiasm or flirtations; this drives Haru to become pretty flustered pretty fast. Its weird being a siren usually and then having your own pretty lines thrown right back. Between this and private not much actually changes; he will be a bit more inclined to lean into deeper and more vulnerable conversation though - he doesn't want the world to see him fold but he will happily do it for Tarhos.

[rin-may-1103]

The Willpower of Space

{this was just me leaving a note to myself so I could write the story later, but it got away from me and it's actually good, so....please ignore the spelling}

do somehting with what's writen in the post AND the reblogs, I'm literally dying right now lol. just, this would be so gooooood. like, danny's oblivious to most of the things going on with the green lanterns and Oa, and just wants his new ring to stop flying away.

(it's going to be so chaoticly angsty, you just know it will. all your stories are that way)

start it off with something like Vlad or the GIW (or his parents) OH! go with a new ghost with some stolen fenton tech, they shoot him while he is phantom and he crash lands in an abandoned building and detransforms. realizing that what he was shot with basically chained his ghost half away, (which means his healing is shot(ha) so he's basically bleeding out, kind of like how vlad's plasmius Maximus works but like modified?)

which means he has to stop them as Fenton not phantom. so he's hurt, the towns in danger, he just wants to go to sleep he's so tired, but he has to save them. he can't let anyone else get hurt.

so, he forces himself to get up, he forces himself to walk out of that abandoned building, and he forces himself to face them head on. he fights them tooth and nail, blood and tears blinding him as he desperately fights. and he gets knocked down. again and again and again.

but he keeps fighting, even when he swears his arm is all but gone, and his ribs are mush. he keeps fighting, his determination lighting his eyes green even with his powers locked away, and then

BAM!

danny looks down at his hand, holding himself up from the small dirt crater his body had created, he's holding a dark almost black ring with a glowing green symbol.(is that how the rings appear? idk, research later) his ears are ringing, and his head hurts, but his core sings behind the chains locking it away. put it on, if he put it on he could finish this fight.

put it on and he could win.

so he slides the ring on, pushes himself up to his knees, glares at the ghost and growls: "you can knock me down, you can break me a part piece by piece, tear me limb by limb, but I will win. it might take me time, but I'll do it." (or something along those lines, Idk)

he can feel energy rushing up his arm, swirling around his heart and core, rushing through his veins and through his brain.

the ghost laughs, they've been fighting him for hours at this point. danny looks like he's about to drop, how could he possibly think he could win? he taunts him, he threatens the town, he threatens to kill every one and seaze the world for himself.

it his greatest mistake.

danny's only thought in that moment is; he will protect them.

the ring lights up, his familiar suit crawling up around him, no it's different, but he doesn't pay it any mind. no, he feels the power rushing through him, stands, and with a new sense of strength, he charges.

the ghost is caught off guard, Danny punches and kicks and bites with everything he has. his mind screams for him to seal the ghost away, but he lost his thermos a few hours ago. he can just imagine the thermos laying on the ground, somewhere in the city, ignored as people run away. Suddenly, a green replica appears. he's too tired to question it.

he soups the ghost.

it's silent.

the wind blows by, rustling his hair like his mother used to do when he was sick. he can finally feel his body again, all the achs and pains. the blood still streaming down his side.

he can't die.

he knows this. he's unwillingly tested this.

he knows even with his powers locked away, he would still remain.

but he still feels that fear grip his chest tight.

he doesn't want to die, not alone, he'd do anything to not be alone.

His knees give out, and the power vanishes. His body collapses backward. He's tired; he wants to go home.

The chains wrapped around him break, and he's suddenly filled with all the ectoplasm from his core—an ice-cold void flooding his body rapidly. He doesn't question what happened to the green thermos or the ghost inside. He just knows that finally, he can go home.

he transforms.

he overlooks the ring blinking. he doesn't notice it fall off and start flying in small circles, then bigger ones.

he floats up off the ground, grasping his sides in pain, and dazzedly flies home as fast as he dares with his injuries.

He collapses on his bed, not bothering to bandage himself, knowing jazz is out for the weekend and his parents are busy in the lab. no one would be coming up and checking on him anytime soon.

he detransforms and stares up at his ceiling. the glow in the dark stars star back at him. his phone buzzes, the familiar ringtone pulverizing the hazy fog in his brain.

it was tucker, his best friend, who he had left to fend for himself more than five hours ago. his friend who could be hurt or need his help. his core flares in need. he needs to check on him. to speak to him.

pushing himself up, danny grabs his phone and quickly answers the call. he would go out and find him right away if tucker so much as hinted that that was what he needed.

just outside of town, the ring flashes and twists around, it's found a new holder, someone whose willpower shines and echos so brightly the ring can do nothing but rush towards it.

no one notices the added log under one of the green lantern rings back on Oa; [xx/xx/xxxx 17:34:28: new holder, species human, age adolescent, strong will, sector 2814...] [xx/xx/xxxx 17:46:13: holder deceased... searching new holder.... holder located....] [xx/xx/xxxx 17:59:52: new holder, species human, age adolescent, strong will, sector 2814.]

{I will be writing this as an actually fleshed-out story, but I just had to share the note ^ I left for myself like I really didn't have to put so much detail???}

Next (first) Part (to be written)

Due to his unrelenting determination to keep his town safe, Danny is bestowed a green lantern ring. Which on one hand: Yay! He gets to explore space full time. But on the other hand: Ew! he's a space cop now.

He had to rectify this immediately or he would never hear the end of it from his ghost friends. Or his regular friends for that matter. Sayyy, it'd be a shame if he.... bent a few rules. Maybe even broke some of them every now and again. And it would surely be a tragedy if say.... random pranks started happening around Oa?