#maybe danny is homeless and living in crime alley

[tofuingho]

A soulmate AU where you have the last words your soulmate will say to you before they die as a soulmark would be very interesting with the Danny Phantom fandom.

Would the soulmark change after the portal accident, but then stay the same until Danny's final death? Or would the mark change every time he transforms because he's technically dead in his ghost form? Does the mark change color or fade when he's in his ghost form? Or does it stay the same?

What if his soulmate met him once when they were kids? They just bumped into each other. Maybe the words are generic, but maybe they're not. Maybe his soulmate has to grow up knowing that they'll never meet again. And then after Danny's accident, their soulmark changes. Do they assume that Danny was revived and they'll meet again someday? Or do they assume that their mark is for a new person?

What if the soulmark words are super generic? Everyday Danny and his soulmate meet. Everyday their mark changes. But, they can't figure out who the other is because their marks are basic greetings or apologies.

Maybe Danny's soulmark stays the same while his soulmate's keeps changing.

[space-dreams-world]

Inspired by this:

Except there's a twist: Danny adopts Dick, Jason, and maybe Tim.

Danny moved to Gotham (not bad end, but Vlad gets killed, trying to help Danny escape Amity Park, after de aging Dan and Ellie. Fentons, in their confusion and anger, make it even more unsafe for Danny to live there. Fortunately, Vlad made Danny his heir awhile ago, and in leaving, Amity closed their portal and Vlads. Vlad is a full ghost now. So now Danny is a runaway pregnant genderfluid teen that moves to Gotham, whether it be before the wayne murders or after. Jordan isn't born until a year into living in Gotham.)

He sets up a bakery/cafe near crime alley with his apartment on top of it and lab in the basement. He also owns a warehouse that he uses as a storage and training zone. He never makes homeless people pay, and if you can, it's a dollar. Even ghosts show up. He gets to know batman starting out and even maybe starts to court him as bats. They don't officially date until after catwoman reject his proposal, and Damian is permanently with Bruce.

Danny, while not at the circus prior to Graysons' murder, sees an escaped juvie grayson and is able to calm him down, even gets him to speak with his parents again and Danny with the help of Gotham threatens/scares Zucco into fearing for his life. He doesn't bring him back to Juvie but manages to save Dick's things and important paperwork. They declare him missing despite being needed in witness protection. Bruce wants to care for Dick but he doesn't have the same connection to Dick and sees Danny as his own Alfred, when B parents died. Danny raises Dick with a little help from Bruce.

Cannon events also happen, so Two-face and Joker get ahold of Dick for being near Batman and get beaten and shot. Danny brings Dick to the Far frozen and they heal him and he ensures to Two face/Joker that he will feel the same pain as what he has dealt to Dick and almost kills Joker but gets left with a warning.

Court of Owls actually loses Talons to Danny and are his and his kids' bodyguards now while trying to learn how heal them. Unfortunately, Bruce pulls back from the relationship with Danny, and this hurts them both.

Then,when Jason is on the streets, he sticks to near Danny's place and eventually gets adopted, too. Eleanor is born after. Jason loves his new family and is surprised that Bruce is back to dating Danny again. (Which hurts Dick because Bruce only came back for Jason)

In this scenario, Shelia reaches out to Jason for bribery reasons, and when Joker shows up, Danny is having none of it. He kills Mr. J crushes his soul and brings Jason to the Yeti, where he flatlines and gets to become a halfa instantly. This time, Danny is the one that pulls from Bruce as he never found out where Danny took Dick and now Jason to heal. So in the 6 months Jason was in the Zone practicing, Bruce took the worst of it and thought he was dead, but in reality Jason in the zone training with his powers and Dick helps out with his enhanced liminality. What seems like a death to Bruce is a coma or a loss of mobility for Jason. Bruce just assumes he's dead.

Dick grows up to be either a gymnast instructor or a social worker. Jason would be studying for literature or social or justice reform. Dan is a mechanic or security guard. He works part-time at the cafe and helps with branding and making the sweets. Jason, Jordan, and Ellie also help in the shop. Stephanie is a part timer.

Tim, during one of his photoscapedes, gets caught, and Danny and/or the kids save him and bring him to Danny. Tim, while dealing with years of parental neglect, stays with them, or Danny notifies Bruce of this. Either Tim stays with Danny, and despite Drakes having more money and power, Danny's otherness freaks them out and they decide fuck this or similar to cannon, Bruce adopts Tim.

Bruce, by the end of this, officially only has one or three kids: Damian, Cass, and/or Tim.

[I don't know if I want the boys into vigilante. It seems hypocritical for Danny to say no to vigilantism,but in another reality to this one, Danny says yes to the boys being vigilantes]

Hilariously, Danny and his kids show up to a Gala as Masters Heirs.

Jazz moves to Gotham after College to either be a doctor or work in Arkham.

Sam, while trying to leave her parents grasp, goes to Gotham for personal reasons and her parents threaten to cut her off from her inheritance unless she shows up at important events or Galas to support the Manson name.

Tucker is a tech fan and also moves to Gotham, but it is a bit of a recluse, but he takes an interest in teaching Babs, Dick and Tim in Hacking. He is an IT guy for Wayne Industries and an app creator.

[iremi678]

But now that the Bats are paying closer attention to him, they start to realize there’s something not quite right about Danny either. Even without the whole homeless kid living in Crime Alley thing, the kid is weird. 

Little inhuman qualities from his ghost side start to pile up. 

He’s way colder than any human should be able to survive, he sometimes forgets he needs to breath.

Maybe they catch him using his powers when he thinks no one is watching.

The Bats come to the unsettling conclusion, that it wasn’t just the dog who was an experiment. They probably escaped together, and Cujo is trying to protect the person who saved him. And now they’re hiding in Gotham from whoever did this.

Which brings a whole new set of questions. None of which the kid is willing to answer.

I had an idea but I also such so I wanna jsut ell you it amd see what happens.

Danny is crouching behind a dumpster, holding his leg to try to put some pressure on his bleeding leg. He had been on the streets for months, using his powers to keep off the Bats' radar and simply survive when he got caught up in an unexpected gang fight. Luckily, he was able to escape unnoticed. Unluckily he had Cujo with him and his ghost puppy was protective so when a stray gunshot hit his leg and he fell down he couldn't stop him from attack the perpetrator in defense of Danny. Bow yhe Bats most certainly know he's here and are after them but he's too injured to run far enough and whatever was on that bullet is messing with his powers!!

Omg yes! Is Danny part of a child gand in this? I feel like he should be if only to help protect those other kids. Maybe he runs to one of thier hidey-holes but the bats find him anyway.

Danny thinks they're here for him and he's prepared to go down kicking and screaming.

Instead they ask about Cujo and lecture him on hiding such a dangerous animal and ask if he was expiramented on. Danny, still fearful of the bats and the Justice League due to the anti-ecto acts, just goes along with that and they offer read: demand to give Danny and Cujo dog training classes lest they take Cujo away.

Cujo at this point was his only remaining friend and Danny was desperate to keep him by his side. Plus if they found out Cujo was a ghost...Danny didn't want to think about what would happen to his pup.

So now he is here with Robin, trying and failing to get Cujo to listen to his commands. His only comfort is that he listens to Robins demands even less.

[infiniteunderworld]

Okay i’ve maybe been reading too many hurt/comfort fics lately.

So as far as DPxDC goes Jason and his pit waters/rage reacting to Danny as a halfa/ghost and vice versa is pretty common. I just almost always see it being a positive thing. And believe me I love it being a positive thing, I’ve seen so many cool iterations of it. But what if it wasn’t positive? What if the ectoplasm-pit-waters/rage feed off of the natural ectoplasm that Danny produces. Danny isn’t malicious, it’s just like he’s accidentally added logs to a fire. Ghosts in Gotham don’t do the same because they usually don’t produce enough ectoplasm to make it flare badly, but maybe the ghosts in Gotham are what has led to the pit rage to stay as long as it has.

Danny ends up visiting Gotham with his family for some reason for another and Danny can’t so much as look at Crime Alley without hearing gunshots. Some of it is regular crime alley, but trying to get coffee or something from the area lands him in the middle of gang war, so he decides he has too much to deal with already and stays out of it. For the few days Danny is around, Red Hood seems to be on a rampage. All of the rehabilitation he’d managed is gone, and it sets his relationships with the bats back loads. Jason is blaming himself for it all, or maybe Bruce somehow, maybe both. And then Danny leaves Gotham and Jason is able to work his way back to where he was. Everyone just tries their best to put that weirdly aggressive weekend behind. They chalk it up to Jason getting set off by something that he won’t talk about. Only Jason is aware that nothing (he was aware of) set him off.

Then years later for some reason or another (reveal gone wrong, moved out for college, etc.) for this idea i’m running with reveal gone wrong or on the run of some kind. Danny comes back to live in Gotham this time. And I can see two interesting ways to take this (immediately anyway, i’m sure there's many more)

The First;

Danny shows up on Bruce’s doorstep essentially requesting a place to hide. Danny’s smart, he knows he checks all the marks in the Wayne Adoption Compulsion, and it only takes one scouting of the manor (to check that it’s actually safe) in order to find the bat cave. And honestly what place would have better security than batman’s house, right?

Everything goes alright for a while but eventually Jason comes round to visit the new kid. As soon as he’s even near the house he can tell the pit is flaring. It's less than the last time Danny was around because the kid was freaked out then, he's more calm now so the ectoplasm is further from the surface (maybe?). That doesn’t stop Jason from barging into the house, maybe wires get crossed somehow, and he’s sure the Ra’s has sent a spy. He quickly finds Danny and shoots him, maybe he aims for the head or shoulder or what have you, but Danny panics and transforms to defend himself and things somehow manage to get Worse. Unsure where one would go from there, but the angst potential is immense. I can also see GhostKing!Danny having enough power over Jason to make him crumble and essentially get stuck not being able to move but full of so much rage. And if the Batfam didn’t know about Danny beforehand? Man what a heck of a reveal that would be!

The Second;

Danny ends up renting or homeless in crime alley. The effects on the pit only happen in close proximity or when Danny uses his powers, so in an attempt to remain under the radar nothing is inherently worse than normal crime alley at first. But then something happens, maybe a gang war that Danny gets caught in the middle of and tries to help, or he gets mistaken for a Wayne and captured in a hostage situation that Hood comes to solve, or heck maybe even a summoning that Red Hood is trying to stop because he realized that they make his control waver. Whatever it is, it's the catalyst and soon Batman is painfully aware of Red Hood damn near hunting this new white haired meta. And Batman maybe has Duke at this point, so his meta rule is a little more lax? Bats is then extra confused at why Jason is all of a sudden defending that rule with deadly fervor.

Danny’s panicked because what did he do to piss off THE Red Hood?? But he’s so used to Skulker that being hunted by someone with normal guns is child's play, but other people are starting to get caught in the crossfire. Also, Danny is pretty sure that Red Hood is human under all that leather and don’t humans need to eat and drink water and sleep?? Hood is so hopped up on MURDER that he has no concept of his own oncoming death by human needs, just that he needs to get rid of the walking (flying?) Lazarus pit.

I like to think that the Batfam eventually capture Jason and essentially put him in time out (to the best of their ability anyway, he was a Robin, he has many escape artist skills). And Batman confronts a now rather haggard Danny as Phantom to figure out what happened and nearly catches the kid himself when he sees those neon green eyes. Maybe he does catch Danny and puts Danny near Jason again, and it’s very confusing and worrying to watch how quickly the pit rage hits full force. Everyone is just stunned until Danny pushes the containment as far away from Jason as he can and transforms back to human. He figured out how to hide somewhere along the way, because Danny is half human, he still needs food and sleep and stuff too. The pit rage dies out significantly, and it answers several questions and brings up SO Many More.

ANyway,

Most of my context for batfam stuff comes from one webcomic, half rememberances from TV shows I watched as a kid, and all of the DPxDC fanfic I’ve read. I’m much more familiar with Danny Phantom. This brain worm simply would not leave me though so ta da! If anyone ends up writing something based on this idea or if there’s something already out there, will you tag me? I’d love to read it :3

[chronicbatfictioner]

Theater of the Soul - Chapter 17

He could sense the tension in the air - even the bird boy was a little tense. There were people with white lab coats, and the nice lady doctor, who pricked him with numerous needles. It was only the boy's and the lady doctor's presence that made him reconsider punching them all and run away.

Well, that, and the fact that his legs still hurt a lot. It might not be a good idea to run while he could only hobble. The bird boy walked around a lot, and even if he'd walked slow enough to be caught up on, the too-much-walking still taxed his legs.

The boy would press his body onto his side while they were pricking him with needles, saying soothing things. At least they were in soothing tone, because his brain is too cloudy to know what they were talking about.

He has always had trouble sleeping, that much he remembered. Even under drugs, he would always be on alert - the smallest of noise would wake him up. Maybe it was due to the fact that he had never felt safe - living on the floors of the alleys of the city tend to sharpen one's instinct to the point of semi-paranoia.

This time, thought, he could tell that he was being drugged. But at least, the bird boy was there, holding his hand.

For the first time in his life, he succumbed to the blackness of sleep; knowing he would be safe. The bird boy would guard him, he was sure. Whatever it is they were trying to do by drugging him to sleep, the bird boy would make sure he would not be harmed in any way.

More bad news came from Dinah, just as Jason was about to be wheeled for the surgery. Tim, Barbara, and Dick eventually decided to hold their meeting while Bruce was holding vigil in front of Jason's surgical theater. 

Somehow, Bruce had even managed to joke, "this is the worst theater I've been in." 

And Tim really wanted to know what he would be thinking if he'd heard that his son was a suspect in a murder. No, that his son was the main suspect in a murder. 

"His prints and biologicals were found there - in the house where they had found Napier's body." Barbara said grimly, pointing out to the screen of her laptop that was showing police and Crime Scene reports.

"Okay, counselor, wouldn't that be obvious if he was detained there?" Dick countered. "Were they found on Napier's corpse?"

"They couldn't tell yet. They found the body decomposed, you know. Mummified, actually. I'm... not sure what to think of with the term 'mummified' and how... But I reckon the area he was found at was dry enough to make him mummify instead of fully decompose. They couldn't even determine time of death and put it on a very wide bracket of three months to a year." Barbara replied.

"The bright side is that I found clips that said Napier was alive by the time Danny met Jason three months ago." Tim showed them a clip from an info-tainment channel, showing Napier arguing with somebody out of sight right outside the Harley Club. "Supposedly - if the tabloids were to be believed, he'd left for LA right the next day. I haven't found anything from LA that can corroborate that." he admitted, a little begrudgingly.

"Right, I'll take that one, then. I've a friend who can poke out some alibis. You know him," Dick smirked at Barbara.

Barbara suddenly groaned. "Ugh... ick. Won't it be a little too obvious for you if you call him up and start asking about Napier?"

"He, who?" Tim wanted to know.

"Jason Bard, Private Investigator Extraordinaire," Dick smirked mischievously. "A.K.A. Babs' ex boyfriend."

"Oh," Tim winced. "Yeeeah, I agree. Might be a little too suspicious if you call your girlfriend's ex to investigate something involving your adoptive brother." Tim pointed out. "Other option?"

"There's Ralph Dibny, but if we ask him, he'll definitely report to Bruce." Dick huffed. "He and Bruce are like, BFWBs. Best Friend With Benefit - and said benefit comes in dollar signs."

"Victor Sage." Tim suddenly remembered. "He was an investigative journalist. He was really good and fair - he would expose either side of the suspicions fairly."

"...and place Jason in more stress?" Barbara said softly.

"Won't he be more stressed if he was to be named as a murderer when he couldn't defend himself? Jason is catatonic. He's not an idiot." Tim reminded them. "He's thinking, just not expressing. He'd talked to me once. Bruce had heard it, too."

Both Tim and Barbara landed their gaze on Dick, who was pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Alright," Dick finally decided. "Victor Sage. No punch pulled. We prepare ourselves for Jason's defense, right?"

Barbara nodded solemnly. "Always. I have Kate Spencer, Rachel Keast, and Jean Loring on speed dial."

"And all-girls squad, Babs?"

"Works for the heart, Dick." Barbara smirked. "If all else fails, go for the heartstrings. Orphaned, homeless, stardom, dumped broken and back on the streets... I'd cry if if were in the jury selection."

They continued chatting, plotting, scheming; interrupted only when Bruce finally came amongst them, looking gaunt and even older than his mid-30s.

"Did it work?" Dick demanded.

"Hm? Oh, the surgery itself was... 'easy', so Pieter said... the drama will begin once he wakes up." Bruce told them, sighing. "Alfred is waiting with him, in case he wakes up and get distressed." He did not imply anything, but Tim could sense Bruce's glare landed on him.

"I'll take over from Alfred once I'm done eating," Tim assured him, pointing to the takeout boxes Barbara has had on the table next to the laptop, didn't even realize that he has been devouring a box of noodles while talking. Dick, ever the mother-hen, had probably placed a box in Tim's hands and he'd started eating out of... well, it had smelled nice.

"He-- I would appreciate that, Tim, thank you." Bruce acknowledged. "Now, you kids maybe can fill me up on what schemes you've been running to prove Jason's innocence on Napier's death."

Dick dropped his fork halfway to his mouth. Tim nearly choked on his fry. Barbara just glared at Bruce.

"How." she demanded. Not asked.

"Diana Prince is a good friend of mine. She'd come here from Themiscyra under my parents' sponsorship." Bruce explained. "She had warned me that the investigation might hit too close to my home, and my son. And told me to prepare the defenses accordingly."

If Dick or Barbara had heard the same thing Tim did, of the words 'just don't tell me how the investigation going' that were not said, they did not show it.

"I'm thinking Kate Spencer, Rachel Keast, or Jean Loring on Jason's behalf." Barbara said. "They'll have to face... whoever's the DA in LA?"

"I think you can include Harvey Dent, too." Bruce said contemplatively. "He's... quite fond of Jason. And his position as a former Gotham City's DA would make him a formidable opponent."

"Whoa... that's heavy." Dick huffed.

"I'll consider Dent, if all else fails." Barbara replied, not detailing what 'else' might include. "The thing is, Dent defends crooks, too, nowadays. So I'm not comfortable with him."

"All lawyers would end up defending crooks at one point or another of their career, Barbara. It's a matter of how many hours they've booked. I'm presuming you'll co-chair with the Manhunter?" Bruce said. "I'd exempt Keats, though. Her link to Diana Prince - being from the same country - might be used against her investigation and us in general. Loring should be your last option - she would defend anyone with money and that could turn against you."

"Co-chair?" Tim echoed. "'Manhunter'?"

"Well yes, you didn't know Babs has a law degree?" Dick smirked at him. "Kate Spencer's nickname is the Manhunter, since she's pretty much vicious and relentless in proving some people's guilt."

"Of course I will. I'm partial to Kate, too, and just keep Keats and Loring as reserve. I might consider taking over Jason's custody temporarily while I'm at it." Barbara remarked.

"What for?" Dick asked, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity. "You're not even old enough to be his mom."

"Just for the simplification. If I have custody, all and any documents will be sent to me instead of Bruce. That way, nobody can imply 'parental ignorance' or neglect." she explained. "Sometimes when they're losing, the prosecutor would delay sending notices on new evidences, to rattle the defendant's defense."

"...so by sending them to Jason's actual legal guardian, Bruce, they would expect said notice to be actually lost." Dick clarified. "That actually kinda makes sense."

"Yes," Barbara nodded sagely. "I, on the other hand, do not let any envelope go past me and accepts my own mail. Their argument therefore will not be valid."

Tim sighed, "legal stuff hurts my head." he admitted at Barbara's glare. "Not like I don't understand them, I just... don't understand the necessity for scheming."

"I second that," Bruce agreed. "But then again, we're all law-abiding citizens here, so what do I know." he added blithely.

Barbara nodded slowly. "Hence you need the despicable breed that is Homo-Legalis to think dirty for you." she said with a smug smirk. "Think Jason would be awake by now?"

"Pieter-- Dr Cross said he should be fully sedated for at least three hours. So yeah, he could be starting to wake up now." Bruce looked at Tim expectantly.

"Pffft... alright. I know when I'm not wanted because the adults want to talk." Tim scowled playfully and dumped his empty noodle box into the bin. Bruce smiled. "I'm gonna keep Jason company, because at least he's still considered a kid. Like me."