#i know shazam is in pennslyvania but for convenience sake lets say they're gonna go up to metropolis which is up in new york in this world

[starry-bi-sky]

Absolutely. I'm focused real quick on Danny trying to act as a grownup with the money they got, so whenever they make a pitstop at one of the gas stations he's in the food aisle trying to ration stuff for them. Immediately he's ignoring all candy and is looking at more of the healthy stuff, even if he'd like something sweet himself. He bought them water bottles the first time and they've kept the plastic bottles on them since to refill whenever possible. Slim Jims and the jerky are some of his go-to's at gas stations.

The annoying part about all of this is the fact that they have to plan their route to where they're going. And how. Just so that there's somewhere for them to end up, lets say they agree to go to Metropolis. They landed up near northern Iowa first and they've managed to find clothes that somewhat fit for Bruce -- he and Danny swapped shoes because batman's boots are too big on bruce and only slightly fit Danny better, but bruce can't walk around barefoot especially once they reach the cities.

Fate gave them a mercy in that they were dropped off in a cornfield close to an empty house, so Danny was able to grab clothes for Bruce from there. Although the guilt is gonna eat Danny alive.

("It could be worse." Danny says when they first arrived, his voice cracking with poorly concealed panic, "we could be in somewhere like Nebraska")

Danny's got some of batman's gear -- the more inconspicuous stuff like his utility belt and boots -- thrown on so that his backpack isn't too heavy. He's trying to hide the belt under the hoodie he's got on, and he's very much not touching the belt in any capacity he can. He walks very awkwardly for a while at first.

("What are you doing.") ("I have no idea what's in here." Danny says with all the calmness of a fish out of water "What if I like - set off a bomb or something?") ("My tech doesn't go off that easily") ("Batman.")

And one thing I have locked in my mind is them having to sleep in an old, abandoned barn at some point in their journey -- they're using the cape as a blanket -- and danny is like, grade a freaking out about how many stars he can see out here with the lack of light pollution in amity and Gotham. Nighttime when they're in the countryside becomes one of his favorite things because of all the stargazing he can do, and he rambles so much to Batman about all the stuff he can see.

I can imagine Danny gets increasingly protective as their journey progresses from all of the stress + the developing codependency + if his core has some semblance of fixation on protecting, then it's throwing its all into keeping Bruce safe. He's pushing himself subconsciously because his core demands that they get somewhere safe, but once they do he's gonna collapse. All that exhaustion he's been putting on the backburner finally catches up on him and you know how people say that if you don't rest, your body will make time for you to? It's basically that.

Also that GIW thing -- because giving Danny undue amounts of stress is basically the Phandom's whole thing, they run into two GIW agents while at a gas station in the middle of their journey. It's really for something unrelated - something ghostly that popped up nearby that was genuinely unrelated to Danny - but Danny saw them in the aisles just as he and Bruce were leaving the bathroom.

And dude the speed at which he grabs Bruce and yanks them back into the bathroom is like, kinda insane. He genuinely gasps and then Bruce is being hoisted up into his arms and dragged into the accessible stall in the back of the bathroom.

Danny, usually, isn't this frightened by the GIW -- but considering he's in another dimension trying to get him and kid-sized Batman home? He's treating them as a bigger threat than before. He has no idea what their skills are like here, he isn't risking it. So he's like, kinda panicking. Just a bit, hiding them both in the far corner of the accessible stall. Bruce has to calm him down from a panic attack.

After Danny tells the cashier that Bruce is called "Buzz" he starts referring to him that throughout the trip. It's more inconspicuous than "batman" and it helps sell the whole 'brothers' thing more to other people. The moment their alone after that first initial cashier moment, Bruce asks Danny "why buzz?"

"i panicked. i overheard nightwing call you "b" before we fell through the portal, which -which is clever because you-know, B is short for Batman. But i couldn't call you 'B' and it made me think of bumblebee -- and so, Buzz. It's only a lucky coincidence that its also the name of Buzz Aldrin the astronaut." danny is trying very hard not to infodump about astronauts -- he infodumps when he's panicked.

but yeah its gonna be a long, long trip.

“Your brother is adorable.” The cashier cooed at Danny, peering over the counter with a smile. “What’s his name?”

Danny looked down to the surly, scowling little de-aged Batman currently holding onto his hand, glaring up at the cashier with bright blue eyes.

Things had already been bad enough when he’d gotten caught in a fight in Gotham, but things went from bad to worse when a magician had hit Batman with a de-aging spell and then shoved them through a portal.

Into a different fucking dimension.

Because of course neither of their lives could be easy. And now the two of them were stuck in Iowa in the middle of nowhere, at a truck stop gas station, trying to go on a cross-country roadtrip to reach the nearest hero city and get home.

He looked up and smiled awkwardly, trying to come up with a name off the top of his head — one of the heroes called Batman ‘B’ when he got hit right? B for Batman, right. B… B… Bee… Bees.

“Buzz.” He said, and tried not to grimace as the cashier’s face warped with surprise. “Like the astronaut.”

This was gonna be a long trip.