#she won’t be able to look at Danny for a good while

[noxcheshire]

I like the idea of the fight between Jazz and Danny just suddenly getting more ghostly but I also like the tags from @/metalatias where Danny realizes that Jazz isn’t in her right mind and will very much try and kill him.

Because while Danny can feed on the fear of the Gas like they’re some really expired weed, Jazz can’t and it’s harming her both as a human and as a liminal.

So now Danny, who is sick and woozy, and not really feeling his best is now having to survive and not harm his own sister in a fucked up game made by some wannabe Freakshow Clown.

But the more this continues the more Jazz begins to use her liminal abilities, because Danny just won’t go down. This causes Danny to have to tap into his own ghost powers through his human form in order to match up and tie with his deadly sister.

This sudden display of powers to others might seem like two metas hyped up on Joker Gas and things are about to get even more grotesque because of it, but to those in the know — those like the Batfam — they see it as two kids who have had access to Lazarus Water in a way far too similar to Jason, and are now fighting into their second death.

The implication of it all will bring so many questions and so many self-made answers since the Fenton’s only have one goal in mind: save their children.

They will not be distracted.

They will not be stopped.

They don’t have time to speak with the Bat, nor have the luxury to even ask their own questions.

If they do, then what will the Joker do?

So while the Fenton’s are busy meeting these demands, the Bats monitor the fight and are in search of where this Fighting Ring is being broadcasted.

They are the ones to witness the blood that flys through the air from Daniel Fenton, the red that’s the most prominent and yet the green that marred it.

Jasmine Fenton is violent and savage, an inhuman howl parting from her lips as her sharp nails dig into her brother’s flesh and yanks.

There is nothing that remains of a sister, just some beast in the throes of rage.

Daniel is far more battered than Jasmine, whom he is mostly blocking and dodging from, even in his own Pit Rage. Even in this moment when his vision is all green and all he can see is someone trying to harm him, he doesn’t do anything else but defend.

Daniel scars, bleeds, and bruises.

But he doesn’t fight back.

As if he had been taught not to.

DPxDC Prompt/Idea Sibling Rivalry

OK The Fentons got contracted by a mysterious Mr. J for some "ghost" hunting tech. At first the Fentons buy into it, until Mr. J keeps asking for stranger and stranger edits to the machinery. Before Danny could figure out why- his Parents were in the mist of dropping the contract and heading back to Amity- When Mr. J or more known as the Joker kidnaps Fenton kids to put pressure on the parents to complete their work. Even for more amusement, he's broadcasting the hostage situation to all of Gotham, and Fentons have until the kids end up killing each other to finish his devices and added bonus capture batman. Fentons end up working with the bats while Danny wakes up in a huge sealed cage. His sister tied up behind him. Joker using his gas to fill up the room to cause the two to fight each other. Only thing is.. it doesn't work on Danny or at least all it did was make him dizzy and woozy for a moment. Jazz isn't so lucky. So Now Danny has to fight off his sister, while trying not to reveal his half-ghost status.. ON TOP of trying to think of how to escape and keep his sister from hurting herself. Joker keeps being more and more amuse, dropping the cage down into a cage arena and adding weapons as an audience of his thugs crowd around shouting and chanting.

[letoasai]

dp x dc Chronos part 5

Part 1 - Previous - Master list

Diana was furious. 

She’d known her young uncle for only a handful of hours but here she was, ready to go to war for him. Perhaps that was what her grandfather had meant earlier, his words still ringing in her ears. 

I have a task for you, Diana. One i do not think you will turn now but i’ll give you the illusion of choice.

Perhaps it was less an illusion and more her grandfather merely knowing ahead of time how she would react. If Danny was to be believed – and he did seem such a trustworthy boy – his Clockwork knew every path one could take. 

She knew there were still questions to be asked, but Danny had been able to tell her a great deal before his eyes began to droop and she insisted he try to sleep. The curtains to the room had been left open and she watched as his eyes happily glazed over at the sight of open space before him. It had only taken minutes for him to fall asleep. 

Now she had a lot of work to do and she planned to get as much done while Danny slept as she could. 

She entered the conference room with a quick stride, many members already present for the meeting she had ordered via text. They’d learned that some equipment didn’t work well around Danny. Visuals were blurry at best and audio crackled into something indistinguishable. Diana had instead been texting information to Bruce and Kal to look into while she focused on the boy. 

“Were you able to find anything?” She asked immediately, not elaborating on which fact she was talking about. She’d sent them so many little snippets that she didn’t really care where they started. 

Batman just grunted, and despite wearing his cowl, she could see just how unhappy he was. 

“You’re not going to like it, but you expected that.” Superman said, papers laid out in front of him. He wasn’t the only one doing his research. 

Green Lantern and Flash were still there, the latter looking like he was having an existential crisis over the topic of ghosts. 

Martian Manhunter had also arrived, his frown informing her that the others had caught him up on what had been happening. 

“Can we confirm the truth as Danny has laid it out for us?” She asked, taking a seat. 

“Oh, yeah.” Hal muttered, rubbing a hand down his face. “Constantine will arrive later, but he could confirm the new High King of the Infinite Realm went by Phantom. Never heard him sound so horrified as him learning that someone had punched a hole into another realm in their house though. Inter-dimensional war crimes on our end are stacking up.” 

“Our end?” She asked. 

“The GIW…” Bruce began, sounding a mixture of exhausted and livid. “Are completely out of their depth and did not have the authority to just name a species unidentified to the rest of us as non-sentient. If the Infinite Realm retaliates, and John thinks it’s a possibility, it won’t just be aimed at the GIW alone but the entire dimension. That makes this more of a mess for us to clean up than it already was.” 

They’d already decided to help, that was what they did. But there was a difference in lending a hand and righting a wrong and taking responsibility for someone else’s fuck ups because they had to. 

“Can we prove it?” Diana asked. 

“Absolutely.” Kal nodded. “Honestly, for a government agency, their security is a joke. There was a backdoor already in place. We can ask Danny about that later.”

Diana nodded, certain the information would be good in his hands. She turned her attention back to Bruce. “The Fentons?” 

There was a certain level of disgust that tried to choke her out in that situation. Danny had been so hesitant, the betrayal fresh and painful. She had lived in the World of Men for a long time now and it had as many delights as it did drawbacks, but to learn what Danny’s parents had attempted to do to him left her burning to seek them out herself. 

His mother had lost her privilege to refer to herself as such.

She didn’t care what the circumstances were. Capture and torture with the intentions of vivisection was inexcusable. The target being a child made it all the more heinous. Diana knew Batman would understand without her saying a word. 

“Run of the mill mad scientists. They might have been onto something once when it came to energy but their bias took over. Even if they had been correct about ecto-entities, their language is incredibly inappropriate. No licenced and competent science journal would be associated with that.” He stared at her unhappily. “They’re lunatics. The fact that their children grew up in their home is outrageous.” He hit a button on the remote and a location appeared on the computer screens. 

A bricked house on a street corner, enormous Fenton Works sign taking up most of the front. It was an eyesore, but not as much as the sci-fi looking shuttle sticking out of the roof. The OHSA violations alone should have had the building condemned and there was no way permits had been granted for any of that construction. 

It was a supervillain's dream and not the least bit subtle. It should have been a crime in itself for the town to allow it to remain in a residential area and was shocking that no calls to Child Protective Services had been made. 

Yes, Danny was an exceptional being, but Diana understood now all the likely scenarios where he could have died in that house. Danny had called his death an accident, but she wasn’t so certain about that. “They were the ones to hurt him.” Diana said, hating how her throat was tight. She was already emotionally compromised. 

“Yes, i know.” 

Diana’s attention snapped back to him. “How?” 

“Simple reasoning. They are unstable ghost hunters with questionable science. Danny was removed from his home for his safety. Chronos said he needed a guardian. That doesn’t paint a pretty picture.” Bruce muttered. “Either his guardians couldn’t care for him, or shouldn’t care for him.” 

She felt her shoulders relax somewhat, knowing that such a logical conclusion should have occurred to her too. She really was worried about Danny’s recovery. “We can add it to the file i know you’ve created, but i’d prefer if no one asked him about that at this time. This last attack only happened several days ago and it is still fresh on his mind.” 

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, always a hound when it came to sniffing out abused kids. “This last attack?” 

“They’ve been after him for a while.” Diana hummed, though she’d only had a vague example or two since Danny hadn’t wanted to get into it. She couldn’t imagine how he’d just returned home every day to parents who tried to capture his other persona. 

“We must factor in his identity.” Martian Manhunter approached them, having been listening. J’onn had been doing his own research the last several hours. He laid down a startlingly clear picture of Danny in his white haired ghost form. A print out of an Amity Park newspaper article. 

“What is that?” Bruce frowned, sliding it closer to read. 

“The hero of Amity Park. Phantom. The articles are biased and unfavorable, but that is not the current accepted public opinion. Phantom protects the living from ghosts. He also protects the ghosts from the ghost hunters.” J’onn explained, voice carefully neutral. “Phantom appearing other places, perhaps shouldn’t coincide with where Daniel Fenton ends up.” 

“A name change could be warranted. If that’s what he wants.” Bruce adds. 

J’onn gave a single nod. “It’s a great deal of pressure on one teenager's shoulders. Being a king of a realm on top of that…” 

It was silently agreed upon that Danny deserved this break and Diana was going to get it for him.

“It was only a matter of time before something had to give.” Diana said, turning enough to speak to everyone in the room. “Well he won’t be dealing with all of that alone now. We start with dismantling the GIW, appealing the Anti-Ecto Acts, and smoothing over our relations with the Infinite Realm.” 

“Only that much, huh?” Flash muttered, trying to wrap his head around the science of ghost hunting. 

“Why not get some of the kids involved. Young Justice, maybe?” Hal was rubbing his eyes, not looking forward to the consequences of this mess. “Once he heals it might do him some good to be around others closer to his own age. People he wouldn’t need to hide half of himself from.”

When put like that, Diana could only agree. 

“I’ll mention it to him.” “I’ll get the information i have to Lois.” Clark said, sliding his papers into a binder. “If public opinion of Phantom is already decent in Amity Park, then we’ll up the exposure to put pressure on our oblivious government.” 

“I’ll take a few of the GIW facilities.” Bruce muttered, but he had that familiar tone that said he was about to let his children go buck wild. “A little recon…” he added vaguely. 

Before anyone else could put in their own two cents, the sensors went off, exactly how they had before Chronos had arrived. A paranormal knock of sorts before the very air seemed to split in two, a glowing green portal building around it. 

“Here we go again.” Barry muttered, each of them surrounding the portal as they’d done early for safety’s sake but they were less inclined to fight immediately. 

As J’onn was seeing it for the first time, he remained near Diana, keenly watching the portal manifest. It wasn’t Chronos who stepped out though, it wasn’t human at all. 

From the portal stepped a creature that Diana didn’t have the name for. Bipedal, humanoid, but beast like in appearance. Horns on his head and spikes from his tail made of ice were noticed secondary to his arm of ice that still encased his bones inside. His fur was white, his claws could easily kill and he was covered by a kilt and cape. 

What gave Diana pause as the bag slung over one shoulder, the tell tale signs of a medical cross across the front. 

“Who are you?” Superman asked, more polite than their earlier run in with her grandfather. 

The creature, a ghost presumably, held himself rigid. He was doing a great deal to make himself appear smaller then he was but his gaze was assessing. He was ready to fight if necessary. 

“I am here for His Majesty, the Great One.” Was his response. 

Diana stepped forward, deciding this was exactly what she suspected. “I am Diana. Granddaughter of Chronos who Danny fondly calls Clockwork. You are Frostbite, come to check on Danny, yes?” 

All of his attention was on her now, but he seemed to see what he wanted in her after locking eyes. “I am. Frostbite, Ruler of the Infinite Realm’s Far Frozen. I have come to see Our Savior the King, as his primary physician.”

“He’s a doctor.” Flash whispered. 

“Fascinating.” J’onn muttered, sounding a little winded by whatever he was sensing. “He is who he claims.” 

“I’m relieved.” Diana muttered, approaching him with a smile this time. “Please come with me and i will take you to Danny. I’m afraid we did what we could but his unique biology left us questioning our choices. He is resting in a private room.” 

“Did something happen to setback his recovery?” Frostbite asked, serious over the care of his charge as he followed Wonder Woman out of the conference room without so much as a glance back at the other heros. 

“Excitement, i believe.” Diana offered. “He may have been a little too excited to show off his alternate, living form and seemed to forget his condition.” 

Frostbite actually snorted. “Sounds like him.”

“I did not realize how badly wounded he was. We had been talking about our arrangements and he was answering my questions about ghosts. He appeared sore, but fairly pleased to speak with me. Given what he had just been through…” 

Frostbite grunted his agreement. “His heart is soft, but his will is unlike anything i have ever known. Many of us saw this tragedy coming, but he insisted on seeing it out for himself, hoping for a favorable ending.” 

Diana cracked her knuckles out of habit, that anger still simmering. “He will be safe in my care, i assure you.”

“The Great One is the rightful King to our realm, but many forget he is still just a child.” Frostbite said, eyeing her even as she led him through the Watchtower. 

“It is not something i am likely to forget.” Not after she’d seen how small he was in their medbay bed. “He’s resting but weak, you can help?” 

“As long as he has not taken more damage, i’m sure i can.” Frostbite said, a gentleness to his voice as they stopped at Danny’s room. Diana went in first to prove the area was a safe one but that may not have mattered given how quickly Frostbite followed her. 

He was at Danny’s bedside in an instant, having somehow moved passed her without knocking into her. He could have gone through her for all she knew. For all he seemed to be a hulking beast, Frostbite was nothing but gentle as he examined Danny. He looked over any and all work that had been done to Danny since his arrival, and checked the bandages across his torso. He went as far as to grab the clipboard on the foot of Danny’s bed to read, having no trouble understanding the medical jargon. 

From his medical bag, he pulled out several small bottles, all of them growing a toxic green. Injections were given to the teenager, and it didn’t seem to matter that he was in his living, dark haired form. 

“Has he explained to you what it means to be a halfa?” Frostbite finally asked, breaking the silence. 

“Only in vague, teenager terms.” Diana said. She’d been quite sure that Danny’s flippant attitude was more a coping mechanism than anything.

Frostbite just hummed. “Then i will have to fill you in.”

[help-itrappedmyself]

Dead on Main part 6

Masterpost

This town is weird. Jason knows he shouldn’t be one to judge, considering Gotham and his own attachment to it. But this place is like a nightmare, stuck in time backwards-ness intermingled between the people and the place itself. It reminds him of Fawcett, which is not a good thing. He feels judged just walking down the street.

The head into a diner looking restaurant, fast food by the looks of it, that is in fact named Nasty Burger. Jason knows he shouldn’t judge. He’s doing it anyway.

There’s a girl behind the counter who seems to be glaring at Jason. Or Danny, but since he’s Jason right now, he decides he doesn’t need to deal with whatever her issue is. With little faith, Jason tells Jazz to order for him and goes to sit in a booth. 

The couple in the booth next to him watch him as he heads to his booth and gape at him as he sits down.

“Danny, come on.” The guy whines, he and the girl both stand and come over to sit across from him. “What was that? Don’t want to sit with us?”

 Jason tenses. “Uh.” 

“Hey guys!” Jazz says, coming to sit next to Jason. She places a tray with a burger, fries, and a soft drink in front of him and he eyes it warily. “This is Jason.”

They two across from them get these stupid dumbfounded looks. The girl behind the counter is listening to their conversation.

“Jason, these are Danny’s friends, Sam and Tucker.” Jazz motions to the girl and then the boy.

“Nice to meet you.” Jason inclines his head at them, and decides to try a fry.

“Is he…” Sam stops herself. “Does he know about Danny?”

“Not much, but they haven’t officially met yet, obviously.” Jazz is eating her food like it’s normal, so Jason follows her lead on the burger as well. “Danny should be here sometime tomorrow.”

“Where is Danny now?” Tucker asks, concerned.

“With my family.” Sam and Tucker look at him strangely. He can tell they’re concerned for their friend though. “He’s being driven back now, they’re rotating drivers so they don’t have to stop for the night. He’ll be here as soon as he can.” 

“Danny will be fine until he gets back.” Jazz comforts them. “Danny was more concerned about Jason, considering the food at our house.”

Sam and Tucker tense in response. “Right. I’d be worried about that too. Might want to stay at the house after this anyway.” Sam says lightly. Jason can tell he’s being talked around. Can hear them talking about something they don’t want him to know under the guise of their conversation, but he doesn’t know enough to make sense of it. 

“Let us know if anything comes up of course, but Danny won’t be able to hang out for a while.” Jazz smiles at them, but her eyes are concerned.

“Sure thing.” Tucker says. 

“If you guys want to have a chat where you can actually talk to each other, I can leave you along for a bit.” Jason tells them all. 

“No!” Tucker says quickly. They don't seem like they care that he caught on, there's no shame to be excluding him. They all just seem worried about something. “Best you stay with Jazz.” He turns back to her. “The GIW tools were deactivated. The whole fiasco yesterday was a lot for everyone. But they should be up and running again by tomorrow.”

Jazz nods at them and Sam and Tucker leave, whisper-arguing to each other as they go.

They eat quietly for a minute, but Jazz stiffens as she looks at something out the window.

Jason follows her gaze to see her tracking a man outside. He’s pretty smarmy looking. Long grey hair, in a full suit, seems like more Brucie’s crowd than someone who would be in a place called Nasty Burger. But he’s spotted them through the window and does seem to be on his way in. ““Hey Jason, would it be cool if you went to the bathroom for a second? Nevermind, there’s no time, follow my lead.”

The man walks right up to their booth.

“Daniel, Jasmine, lovely to see you both.”

“Vlad, can we help you?” Jazz asks politely, Jason just glares at them man.

“You know I always love to see you, but I would like to speak with Daniel for a moment.”

“Unfortunately, Danny and I have places to be, Vlad. I’m sure my parents would love to speak with you though. Dad has been meaning to stop by.” Jazz gathers the trash and remnants of their meal and stands, going to throw them away. Jason gets up to follow her, but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He feels a tickle in his throat and his next breath comes out cold and foggy, visible in the air. 

“Daniel, don’t you want to have a talk?” The hand on his shoulder is forceful.

“Don’t touch me.” Jason turns himself out of his grasp, backing away towards the door. Jazz pulls him quickly back onto the street towards home.

“Who the hell was that guy?”

“Danny’s godfather, friend of our parents. They went to college together.”

They’re walking past an alley when Jason feels that tickle again, he stops as his breath comes out cold, then something rams into him, pushing him to the ground farther in the alley.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Left Behind

ai-less whumptober day 19- left behind/why wasn't I enough fandom- dp x dc TW- abandonment Summary- The Fenton parents leave their kids at the Gotham Public Library

ao3 ailesswhumptober masterlist part 1 of TFR

Barbara was working the closing shift at the library. She was putting some books away when she overheard a conversation.

“Do you know when mom and dad are going to pick us up?” said what sounded like a teenage boy.

“No, I– Oh, wait they just messaged me.” said what Barbara thought was a slightly older teen girl.

Silence.

“Jazz?

“They left.”

“What?”

“Someone posted about a possible sighting in Metropolis. They said they’ll be there for a few days.”

There was more silence. Barbara stayed quiet.

“So, they left us behind.”

“Yeah.”

“Again.”

“...Yeah.”

Barbara closed her eyes, thinking of Tim and how he had been left home alone so much. And these kids… their parents had abandoned them too.

“Well at least we’re not helpless.”

“I hate them.”

“Jazz–”

“No, Danny. I hate them. They’re supposed to be our parents. They’re supposed to take care of us.”

“I know. They always chose something else over us. Why aren’t we enough, Jazz?”

“I don’t know.” she sniffled.

“Jazz, hey, look at me. We’ll be okay.”

“I'm sorry, Danny. I'm just so tired.”

“I am too.”

Barbara was about to speak up when they continued.

“At least i have a credit card this time so it won’t be like the time they forgot is in Bridgton.”

“Yeah, that sucked. We were lucky we were able to sneak onto that semi.”

“Well, tonight we can get a hotel room and then get bus tickets tomorrow.

“I could just... you know. Do my thing.”

“I guess, but we should at least get a hotel for tonight. I don’t want to try traveling while you’re exhausted.”

“That’s fair. But–”

Barbara finally decided she should make her presence known. She cleared her throat as she made her way around the bookshelf.

The two teens startle. They looked like siblings. The girl was a redhead with teal eyes, and the boy had black hair and blue eyes.

“Hello, I’m Barbara. I work here at the library. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.” she paused as the siblings glanced at each other, the boy reaching over to grab his sister’s arm. 

“What do you mean?” asked the girl, Jazz, if Barbara was correct.

“You need a place to stay tonight? It’ll be hard to find a good hotel at this hour. I’ve got an extra bedroom at my apartment, and you’re welcome to stay the night. You won’t owe me anything.”

“Why?” asked the boy, Danny.”

Barbara considered for a moment. “I have a friend who went through a similar situation as you guys, so I’m familiar with what it's like to have your parents be too busy. And you wouldn’t be the first kids I've let stay the night. I can help you find bus tickets in the morning. I’m familiar with most of the routes and can let you know which ones are the safest and quickest.”

The girl glanced at her brother, who stared at Barbara. There was a moment where his eyes seemed to glow and Barabar felt as if he were really looking at her. She suppressed a shudder at the intense feeling. 

Then he turned to his sister and nodded.

“That’s very kind of you. Thank you. I’m Jazz and this is Danny.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. I have to finish locking up so I’ll meet you by the door.”

They nodded and started gathering their stuff.

Barbara went to finish the rest of the closing shift duties. 

She also had a call to make.

[rey-129-fan]

Gotham-Amity Co-op AU

Part 1 | Next

Wow, okay, people seem to really like this. Awesome! Whelp, here's part 2!

“Alright, order.  Order.”

“Yeah, I’ll take a Triple Nasty with cheese, extra mustard and pickles.” Laughs rang out at Dash’s remark as everyone settled in to their seats.  Sam, who stood at the front of the room by a blackboard, just gave the quarterback a flat look while Danny and Tucker snickered at the teacher’s desk.  The group was meeting in an empty classroom at Casper since most were still Casper students, at least for another couple of months until graduation.  Jazz and Kyle, both of whom were attending school in Gotham, were dropping in to visit and attend the meeting.

“We are now beginning the first meeting for the Green Amity Co-o-”

“Oh, we are not calling it that!” Paulina cried out.  Sam’s eye twitched and started to glow slightly as those around the Latina nodded in agreement.

Jazz quickly stepped in.  “While naming something Green in a city that has a known meta Eco-terrorist might not be a good idea, we can discuss names later.  For now, let’s focus on more important matters for the co-op.”

“Right,” Sam sighed, releasing the tension in her shoulders.  “So has everyone had a chance to look over the info and pictures Jazz and Kyle were able to gather?”  Getting various conformations, the goth nodded. “Does anyone have any objections on using the building as a Gotham based co-op?”

“Not really.”

“Nope.” 

“None from me.”

“Okay, so we’ll put down an offer to buy the building,” Sam nodded before shuffling around some papers in her hands.  “Next on the agenda is rent.”

“Won’t we own the building?  Why would we need to pay rent?” Dash asked.  Kwan nodded while several others in the group just dropped their heads.

“Because we need to pay for things like utilities and taxes,” Valarie shot back, arms crossed as she stared down her former friend group.

“Not to mention that we should collect some money for potential repairs that will be needed in the future,” Wes added, nodding.  Dash turned and glared at both of them.

“As Val and Wes said, we may own the building, but we still need to gather money to pay for things like water, electricity, internet.  Things needed to make the building usable,” Jazz explained in a less condescending tone, mullifying the blond.

“So we need to figure out how much each utility is and split it between everyone, with a little extra on top to make a fund for repairs?” Danny clarified.

“That is a start, but some people will use more of some things than others.”

“Well, we can always start with it and adjust as we get a better idea of how much it costs and who uses up what amount,” Star said as she stood up and walked over to the board.  She picked up a piece of chalk and began writing down numbers.  “Do we know how much we have to pay for property tax?  From what I could find on the internet, the average cost of utilities in Gotham is about $118 a month, give or take.”

“That lines up with what I saw too, though that doesn’t include internet or phone plans,” Val nodded.

“Well, our phone plans aren’t likely to change, so we don’t need to worry about that.  Most internet plans start about $40 a month,” Tucker added.  Star nodded and added the 40.

“As for property taxes, given the building’s estimated amount, it would be about $15,900 a year, which is paid quarterly.”

Star continued writing.  “So 15,900 a year is 1325 a month.  We currently have 11 people, so that’d be 120.45 per person per month just in taxes.”

“So utilities plus internet and taxes would put us at about $242 a month.”

“Don’t forget insurance and repairs.  Gotham isn’t the safest place, what with all the supervillains,” Danny added.

“Never mind random ghosts dropping in just to fight Fenton.  We’re probably going to have to repair the place more often than the average,” Kwan nodded.

“Hey!  Don’t pin the property damage from ghost fights on me!  It’s mostly the GIW doing that!”

“We know, Danny, but you can’t deny that there are going to be at least a few ghosts that will come just to fight, and the GIW are likely to follow them.”  Danny crossed his arms and grumbled, but conceded.

“We should just double the amount we have for now.  That way we can cover the basics and have enough to cover anything that could come up, while most can afford it with a part-time job,” Tucker suggested.

“It’s a start,” Jazz agreed.

“And if we need to adjust it, we can always discuss it again,”Mikey pointed out.

“Alright, so all in favor of starting rent at $485 a month, raise your hand.” Sam counted the hands in the air.  Eleven.  “Very well.  Up Next: rules.”

“Oh come on!  We’re no longer kids and are going to college!  Why would you wanna create rules?!” Dash protested.

“Just because we’re adults now doesn’t mean that there aren’t still rules we have to follow,” Jazz responded.  “Pretty much any place you could live would have quiet hours and cleanliness requirements.  Plus I’m pretty sure there are places or things that you wouldn’t want others to mess with.” More grumbling was heard but no more protests.  “Now, from what I’ve observed and read on the internet, in general quiet hours are generally between 10-11 pm to about 8 am during the week, with it rolling back an hour on the weekends.  I don’t need it to be that strict, but I would like to have some quiet by the time I’m going to sleep.”

“What exactly do quiet hours entail?  Is it like a curfew?” Mikey asked, pushing up his glasses and looking at the two actual college students.

“Nah man, they’re just the hours you have to be quiet for.  Ya can do whatever ya want, so long as yer not disturbing anyone or keeping them up.  Just don’t do anything that’ll get the cops or Bats on ya, and yer good,” Kyle explained.

“Sweet!”

“So what should these quiet hours be?  Not going to lie, but midnight seems like a good start, especially if you have early morning classes,” Wes spoke up.

“Midnight is good for me.”

“Aw, but what if we want to have a party!”

“Well, if you start at 8, that gives you four hours,” Sam explained, raising her eyebrow.

“A 4 hour party seems to be enough, especially since not all of us would want to have a crazy party outside our door all night,” Val stated, glaring at Dash and Paulina.

“It seems common consensus is quiet by midnight.  What about when they end?”

“Well, most of us will likely have classes starting by 9.  Including travel time and getting ready, we’re likely to be up around 8 or so.  That’d give us 8 hours of quiet to study and fall asleep.”

“So midnight to 8 am for quiet hours?  Any objections?” None were made.

The meeting continued on in much the same way, with only a few protests to some rules, mostly related to shared chores and the creation of a chore schedule.  But these protests were quickly silenced by a glare from Valarie that slowly glowed a slight red the more protests were made.

“Alright, I think we’ve covered everything we set out for today’s meeting,” Jazz said, tapping some papers against the desk she sat at.  She took over the meeting as Sam grew more annoyed.  The goth was now sitting between Danny and Tucker, who were both offering small touches of comfort.  “Remember, if you have any questions, share them in the discord server.  And if you have any suggestions for a name, please feel free to send them to Wes, who will compile them into a poll so we can vote on them in a week.  Now, would anyone like to add anything else?”

A few mutters and shakes were the answer.

“Very well, that concludes this meeting.  Hope everyone has a good summer, and when we next meet, hopefully, it should be in our new building.”

***

Did I seriously just write 1363 more words of set up? Yes, yes I did. I have no regrets. We should be in Gotham starting next chapter and get up to the shenanigans then.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! I started writing this while I was baking a pie for my own mother.

I am going back and forth on whether Phantom Planet is canon or not, but either way, all of Amity Park knows about Danny in this, but not the outside world, and especially not the GIW. While I do read a lot of bad parent Maddie and Jack, I much prefer to have them as good parents that love and accept both Danny and his little clone/cousin/sister.

Sorry guys, but Bruce is not adopting either Phantom.

Again, feel free to leave suggestions for names for the Co-op, as well as for this little AU itself. Also, suggestions for shenanigans and powers our liminal teens might have outside just glowing eyes.

[disillusioneddanny]

This was inspired by this post. This will also be turned into a multi chapter fic on my ao3. You can subscribe here

But enjoy <3

Tw: talks of vivisection and abuse

Harley Quinn stumbled through the streets of Amity Park, newborn baby clutched to her chest as she furiously checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. She had done it, she had finally gotten away from Mr. J for good just six months before. If he came lookin’ for her, she would be able to handle him on her own, especially with the help of Ives. But Danny wouldn’t be able to do jack shit against his crazed sperm donor. So, Harley was doin’ what she thought would be best. She was going to ask her step-brother and see if he and his wife could take him.

If anyone would be able to protect her baby it would be Jack Fenton, her step-brother was a hulking giant of a man and while his aim may have been shit, his wife’s wasn’t. The two were scientists, ghost hunters if Harley remembered right and they would be just crazy enough to think Mr. J was a ghost if he showed his slimy face around Amity Park.

“Don’t worry Danny, they’ll keep you safe, I promise. You’re never gonna have to worry about a crazy father tryin’ to kill you or use you for his own gain, I won’t ever let that happen,” Harley said quietly before pressing a soft kiss on her son’s head and knocked on the door of Fenton Works.

His father was trying to kill him. Danny allowed his sister to drag him out of Fenton Works and to her car, head spinning, lungs burning for oxygen. Telling his parents about his ghost form had gone bad, it had gone so, so, so bad and now Jazz and Danny were running for their lives as Jack Fenton shot another ectoblast at the siblings.

“Jazz, where’re we going to go? What are we going to do? You destroyed the portal,” Danny gasped out once Jazz had shoved him into the backseat of her beat up, gray, ‘78 Volkswagen Beetle. He scrambled in just as Maddie shot in the spot he had just been occupying, his sister grunted as she took the shot. While she was liminal, she still had enough human in her that it was nothing more than feeling like she got an instant sunburn.

Jazz slammed the door shut, ignoring the shouts from the Fentons behind her as she got around to the driver’s seat and sped off, tires spinning against the pavement.

“We’re going to Aunt Harley’s,” Jazz said determinedly.

“My mother?” Danny squawked from the backseat. “Didn’t Da-Jack say she was crazy?”

“Jack’s crazy Danny! He had you strapped to a table-” Jazz stopped herself as a guttural growl escaped her lips. “Whatever. Aunt Harley will be the best option. If anyone can keep us away from the Fentons it’ll be her.”

Danny slumped down in the backseat and finally looked down at the giant cut on his chest and let out a groan. His mother. Jack and Maddie had never hesitated to tell Danny where he had come from. Jack in particular boasted about how his poor, abused sister trusted him of all people to raise her baby and keep him safe from harm.

Joke’s on him apparently considering he was the very person who had managed to hurt Danny the most. Danny wasn’t stupid, though, he had heard about Harley Quinn. The psychiatrist turned villain who was now in her own way a hero but remained the self titled Queen of Chaos. He knew that his mother was dangerous, each time she had come to visit with her pasty white, tattoo covered skin, chemically bleached hair, and slightly crazed look in her eyes, Danny knew. He knew that the reason Dan was a reality was because of his genes, because of where he came from.

He had done everything he could to make sure he wouldn’t turn out like his mother. And if his suspicions were correct, he would do everything to make sure he didn’t turn out anything like his sperm donor. There was a reason Danny hated clowns and it wasn’t just because of Freakshow.

“Do you think she’s going to be happy seeing us at her house, though? Or Aunt Ivy? She’ll probably be annoyed that we dropped in unannounced,” Danny said before reaching down and grabbing the metal box that held his first aid kit. He used his powers to thread a needle with fishing wire and bit his lip hard as he forced the needle through his skin and started to sew up where his parents had started the vivisection. It would most likely scar but Danny didn’t want to think about that right now. Danny didn’t want to think about anything right now except for the fact that they were going to his mother’s house of all places.

“Danny, your mom adores you. She didn’t drop you off at the Fenton’s to abandon you. She did it to protect you. Aunt Harley knew that she wasn’t capable of raising a baby and she did the most responsible thing she could think of. But she loves you, she’s loved you from the moment you were born,” Jazz told him, glancing in her rearview mirror to watch her baby brother sew himself up as she sped down the highway.

“And how do you know that?” Danny asked, a hiss escaped from between his clenched teeth as he got to the worst part of the cut and continued with his sewing.

“Because I was there the night she brought you home. And I see it in her eyes when she comes to visit us. She loves you Danny, she was just in a bad situation,” Jazz reasoned, knuckles white on the steering wheel as she sped onto the onramp to start their journey from Amity Park, Illinois to Gotham City, New Jersey.

“And she’s just going to be happy to have her sixteen year old son randomly appear in her front door? She couldn’t take care of me then, what makes you so sure she can help us now?” Danny spat out as he finally finished his stitching and tied off the thread. He reached into the kit once more and grabbed a few of the antiseptic wipes that had been packed in and cleaned the ectoplasm-blood mixture off of his chest as best as he could before taping gauze to his chest. It wasn’t the best patch job and Frostbite would probably be horrified if he saw it, but it was the best Danny could do with a tiny first aid kit in the back of his sister's rickety car as she went well over a hundred miles per hour in a seventy.

“I think so, yeah,” Jazz admitted after a few minutes of silence. Danny let out a huff of a laugh as he struggled to sit up. “There’s a shirt in this bag,” she said, tossing him the backpack that sat in the passenger seat, the go bag for if the worst had ever come to fruition. Which it definitely had.

Danny dug through the bag and found the tried and true NASA shirt folded carefully within the bag and let out a sigh through nose as he carefully maneuvered around to get the shirt on without angering the stitches on his chest too much. Even if his mother wasn’t happy to see them or able to take care of them, she’d be able to help. She was a better option than any other.

Vlad was completely out of the picture. Dani was ancients only knew where and she wouldn’t have been able to do much anyway. Sam and Tuck still didn’t even know what had happened and Danny hadn’t decided how he was going to deal with that. Aunt Alicia would most likely call mom-Maddie if she saw them on her doorstep.

Aunt Harley was their only option now that the portal was destroyed and Danny certainly did not have the strength he would need to open a portal. Plus, Gotham had plenty of ambient ectoplasm according to Tuck’s research.

When they had first made this plan, Tucker had looked into any place that came close to having the same amounts of ectoplasm as Amity Park and Gotham had been number one on the list. So at least Danny had that going for him.

“I’m going to try to get a little bit of rest, getting cut open drains a guy,” Danny said with a chuckle, pressing the backpack into the car seat and carefully laid back down. “When I wake up, we can switch and I can drive for a bit. You need rest too.”

Jazz simply hummed in response and said nothing more as her little brother settled into the backseat and allowed sleep to take over.

“I told you I could have helped drive here,” Danny muttered as Jazz pulled into a shady looking, nondescript building.

“Danny, you had to sew yourself back up in my backseat. You needed the rest far more than I did, besides, no use in complaining, we’re here now,” Jazz said, glancing back at the tired, pouty look on her brother’s face and smiled. “Aren’t you excited to see your mom and Aunt Pam?”

“Is she technically my stepmom?” Danny asked once Jazz put the car in park and shut off the engine. She got out and went around to Danny’s door and helped her baby brother out of the car.

“Technically?” Jazz said, crinkling her nose as she thought it out. Yeah, that would make the most sense anyway. “Are you okay?” She asked as Danny winced, pressing a hand to his chest as he climbed out of the small car and leaned heavily against Jazz’s side.

“Yeah, just hurting,” he murmured and shook his head as if that would get rid of the pain. “Let’s just go.”

Jazz gave her brother a concerned look but locked her car nonetheless and started to help the boy up the stairs before she rung the doorbell.

The two tensed as they listened to footsteps stomp their way.

“Look, I’m Jewish, I ain’t interested in that Jehovah’s Witness shit,” they heard Harley shout before the door swung open.

Harley’s jaw fell open as she froze in place at the scene in front of her. The two teenagers were quite the sight. Harley had never seen the usually put together Jasmine look so frazzled as long as she had known her niece. Her son was in even worse states, if the eyebags on his face, the strange blood and green stains on his shirt, and panting told her anything.

He looked up at her tiredly, the dark circles under his eyes even darker than she had initially noticed. “Hey mom,” he said with a huff, hanging from Jasmine’s shoulders.

“Aw fuck, come in, come in,” Harley said wearily, ushering the two into the building. “Ives! I need your help!”

Harley carefully moved her niece out of the way before she quickly lifted her son into her arms and started down the hallway. “It’s okay Danny, Mama’s gotcha,” she murmured, cradling the sixteen year old boy to her chest as she carried him bridal style. Jazz followed her aunt as they made it to the living room just as Ivy came out of the bedroom looking confused.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, though, as she spotted the three before her. “Shit, I’ll get the salves,” she stated before her eyes landed on Jazz. “Come help me?”

Jazz looked between her aunt and her brother before looking back at Ivy and gulped, nodding her head once before following the eco-terrorist back into the bedroom.

“Oh sweetie,” Harley murmured, carefully setting Danny on the beat up couch. “Baby what happened to you?”

“Jack and Maddie happened,” he said with a hiss as his mother raised his shirt and took in the cuts that had been sloppily stitched up.

Harley’s eyes flicked between the incision that seeped red-green liquid and Danny’s pained face. “Jacky boy did this to you?”

Danny nodded, letting out a whimper. “It’s a long story,” he said as his mom traced a finger over the cuts, the pieces connecting in her brain.

Harley Quinn was a lot of things but she was not stupid. She may not have gotten the chance to visit her son as often as she wanted but the last time she had seen him she had noticed something was different about him. She had been around Ivy long enough to know when someone had gained powers that they barely had control over. She had noticed the way her son’s eyes would flash a startling green whenever his emotions got out of hand. Noticed the way he was colder than before and how his shoulders looked as though they carried the entire world on them.

She didn’t know what had happened to her son or what it had done to him, but she knew he was more than human now. She had seen that plenty of times before. And it looks like the Fentons had discovered this and decided that Danny was one of their new experiments.

“You’re dead, aren’t you?” She asked bluntly, recognizing the toxic ectoplasm that seemed from between her son’s stitches. “Not all the way but somethin’ happened and they didn’t like it.”

“Yeah. I uh, I was fourteen, didn’t kill me all the way, just enough for me to be considered a ghost and you know how mom-Maddie and Jack are about ghosts,” Danny said just as Ivy and Jazz came back with towels, wet rags, and salves to cover the incisions.

Harley raised her eyes from Danny’s wounds and looked her son in the eyes. “I’m gonna kill ‘em,” she snarled, snatching a wet rag from Ivy and started to better clean the wound. “I’m gonna murder them and then when they turn into ghosts I’ll give ‘em a taste of their own medicine,” she said, hands gentle as she cleaned around the wound.

“You’re going to need to redo those stitches,” Ivy said softly, sitting beside Danny’s head and taking it in her lap as she ran her fingers through the black locks, trying to distract her wife’s son from the stinging pain he was likely feeling.

“There’s no point, the wound will be closed by tomorrow,” Jazz said quietly and handed a warm, dry towel to Harley after she had finished cleaning the incisions and carefully patted the skin dry. She then took the salve and carefully coated it over her son’s chest.

“Don’t kill them,” Danny said quietly, taking his mother’s hand in his and squeezed the pale hand in his. “Just, mom, just protect me. Please?” He asked, voice cracking slightly.

Harley let out a sigh and squeezed her son’s hand tight. “Baby, I’ll always protect you,” she promised, still feeling her chest burn in anger at the fact that her step-brother, the one person on this earth she had trusted to take care of her son had caused him this much pain. Jack and Maddie Fenton would rue the day they hurt Harley Quinn’s baby.

[cobaltperun]

Lost (20) - Miracle

Tara Carpenter x female Reader

Summary: To anyone on the outside, and to Tara’s friends, you were Tara’s fierce protector, the MMA fighter who’d take anyone on for Tara. The Guard Dog, as Amber called you. You had no idea you’d have to protect her from people who claimed they loved her. It didn’t matter. As long as you and Tara had one another there was nothing you wouldn’t be able to survive.

Story warnings: Scream violence, family issues, trauma, angst, certain sensitive topics

Word count: 4.8k

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

-Take a look around, it's you and me, it's here and now-

~X~ March 23rd, 2027 ~X~

It was cold, this entire place was as cold as ice for her, and it had nothing to do with the weather, or her clothing. She could put on the warmest clothes she owned, instead of her jeans and baby blue sweater, and she’d still be cold in this bare room with dull gray walls and a light that was too strong for her liking.

Truly, she should have been used to this by now, she should have known her life was going too well, that she was so happy, and that the universe wouldn’t allow that. Even after all she went through, all the horrible things that happened to her, it wasn’t enough, she had to experience true loneliness for the very first time in her life, to feel completely alone.

“I’m sorry miss L/N, we’ve been instructed not to allow any visitors,” the officer told her, and Tara had to take several deep breaths to calm down and not make a scene, though at this point she had no idea how she was controlling herself. Maybe because making a scene wouldn’t fix anything. It wouldn’t do her any good, it wouldn’t chase away the persistent cold. You had the right to visitors, much worse people had them, but apparently no one was allowed to see you. Not her, not your lawyer, despite threats that they would be sued for this no one budged an inch. There was no way to contact you.

Her hand touched her stomach, knowing there were plenty of reasons why she shouldn’t stress too much. “I’m her wife,” she repeated, hoping there was some humanity left in this man and that he would let her through to you. She needed to see you, even if it was in this cold, dark place, even if you were locked up. Even just seeing you would be enough to, at least for a bit, make her feel warm again. “I’m carrying her child, please, just for five minutes.”

He looked down, and while Tara could still hide it, a closer look would reveal that she was, indeed, two and a half months pregnant. “Well, it’s not exactly her child, is it? Get out miss L/N, this is your last warning,” he sneered and came up to her, ignoring her glare and ready to shove her if necessary.

“We get it, we’re leaving,” Danny stepped between Tara and the officer, just to be sure nothing would happen to her. “Come on, Tara, he won’t let you see Y/N,” he pleaded, gently taking her forearm and pulling her outside.

Tara let him, she followed him, through the nearly empty halls of the prison, defeated and not paying attention to the few officers that did look at her. You’ve been locked up for three weeks and no one was allowed to see you or hear from you. And Tara? Tara only had Danny left… You were locked up, Sam was gone, her friends weren’t there, they were dealing with their own lives, and while she missed them, Tara refused to ask them to come and stay with her. She didn’t want to involve them into this, she’d find a way to reach you eventually.

The fresh air outside the prison felt stale when you were locked up in the cold building she just exited. She got in the backseat of the taxi and Danny gave the driver his address as Tara got lost in her thoughts. Things were so much simpler and happier just a month ago, in fact, everything was going well ever since you recovered, over four years ago.

~X~ December 2022 ~X~

You were being mean, laughing at her and handing her the inhaler at the same time. Jerk… “You needed me so much you couldn’t breathe?” you dropped down unceremoniously next to her and pulled her closer the moment she returned the inhaler to the nightstand next to your bed.

Just to be slightly petty she playfully stuck her tongue out and turned her back to you, as much as her body tingled from what the two of you just did. And you just chuckled, spooning her and wrapping a strong arm around her waist. Despite your teasing she relaxed against you, enjoying the warmth and the feel of your bare skin against her back. “It’s not my fault you went crazy after I called you ‘baby’,” she sighed dramatically. She wasn’t sure she could move from the bed any time soon, not that she was complaining, besides, it was clear you got your stamina back and she was definitely no longer feeling pent-up.

You leaned closer to her, slowly kissing her just beneath her ear and Tara hummed in approval. She twisted around in your arms, baring her neck so you could keep kissing her. “I remember hearing something else as well,” you eventually reminded her, your tone low and slightly raspy and all the things Tara was weak to as she sighed when you left another mark on her neck.

She was confused for a moment, and then she turned completely red when she remembered exactly what you were talking about. “You’ll never hear that again,” she ducked down, hiding her face beneath your chin and just wrapping her arms around you.

“Whatever you say, Tara,” she could feel you smirking, she could sense it! Damn you for knowing exactly how to get her worked up, and for making her call you… no… she wouldn’t even think about that. She’d forget it! She’d make you sleep on the couch if you ever mentioned it. Or maybe not that. She needed you next to her to sleep well, so maybe she wouldn’t make you sleep on the couch. Forbid you from kissing her? No, she liked that too much to use it as punishment. She could sit somewhere other than on your lap?

Hell no!

She could take your car. Actually, that would get you to ban her from sitting on your lap.

She’d just make you play horror games without her. That’ll teach you.

She one hundred percent did not have that kink. Nope, it was a slip of a tongue, nothing more, and it would never happen again!

But then another thought popped into her head. And while there was a chance it was said in the heat of the moment, that it was just your desire and passion talking, you did kinda tell her you wanted to marry her. And while it easily could put you in a bad spot, she wanted to hear your thoughts now that you weren’t consumed by your desires. She didn’t doubt you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her, it was the actual marriage that she was wondering about, since you, somehow, never talked about your feelings on that.

Tara personally wanted to get married, she imagined how it would look when she was younger. Nowadays her imagination didn’t include big events, just something private, but she did want that with you.

“Say, Y/N, were you serious about wanting to marry me?” she asked, absentmindedly tracing random lines on your biceps. You still haven’t recovered all your muscles, but she could feel them under her touch, firm and strong, and she was sure you’d be back in shape before the end of the year. Not that you weren’t already in shape, just, you’d be back in the shape you were in before Bailey, his children, and Thomas attacked all of you.

“Completely,” you didn’t even hesitate, you just hugged her a bit tighter. “I’ll do the whole proposal thing sooner or later, but if you want to marry me, then yes, I am absolutely serious about that.”

Tara nodded, smiling brightly. “I do want to marry you,” she kissed you, from your neck, your jaw, all the way to your lips. “I want to spend my entire life with you,” the two of you haven’t even been together for a year, though it was close to a year now, your anniversary was less than a week away, but she had no doubt in her mind that what she said was exactly what she wanted. Her lips met yours and she nudged you slightly so you would get on your back, and she moved with you to straddle your abs. “I want to take your last name, to have-“ she suddenly stopped, just now realizing that was another topic the two of you never talked about.

“Tara?” you raised an eyebrow, confused by her silence.

“Do you want children?” she blurted out, because she did, she wanted at least one child, or two, maybe two would be better. Probably not more than two. She wanted to give someone a childhood she wished to have, as far as parents went. But even more than that, she wanted a family with you. Regardless of if it was just the two of you, or if there would be kids.

You kinda just… shrugged and now it was Tara’s turn to be confused. “Eventually, sure. I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m not against it,” you tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and Tara sighed in relief. “If you want kids, we’ll raise them together, if you don’t, it’ll be just the two of us,” you pulled her down for a kiss and Tara felt like melting. “It’s not a deal breaker for me, nothing is as long as I’m with you.”

She definitely didn’t want kids right away, she wanted to finish college, get a job, get married and then, eventually, when both of you felt you were ready, either adopt or get pregnant. That, however, was topic for another day. In the back of her head, she worried about Ghostface coming back, but she could only believe in you, in your ability to come back to her, and her own ability to make sure she came back to you as well.

“You know, it’s good that you called me-“ she shut you up with a kiss. She knew exactly where you were going with that, and she would not let you finish that sentence.

“Don’t you dare,” she warned you. You just grinned at her, and even though you stayed silent she knew the word was on the tip of your tongue. She’d have to make you say something embarrassing as well eventually. With that thought in mind Tara kissed you one more time.

~X~ December 13th, 2023. ~X~

This was it. This was how you were going to have your second heart attack and drop dead. All things considered your panic-filled mind wondered if this could be considered suicide, because, all of this was, after all, your own doing. It would be fine, right? Tara did want this, she said so! Granted, the one and only time the two of you talked about this was over a year ago, but surely nothing has changed since then, right?

You still felt like you’d rather run a gauntlet, fight the strongest women MMA fighters one after another right now than actually go through with this.

“I can’t,” you were pacing around the hotel room, not even daring to glance at the tiny box on the table. Oh, if a bird swooped in from the skies and grabbed it you would be the happiest woman alive, because you’d at least have an excuse to postpone this. Maybe you should go and ask for some bird seeds or something similar, just to leave them near the box and hopefully lure said birds inside.

“Y/N!” Anika grabbed your shoulders and pushed, but she couldn’t get you to move. “Sit down you… mass of muscles and ridiculous strength only Tara gets to move!” she grunted and then just threw her arms up, and sat down herself. “Fine! Stand there!” she gave up. “If you don’t do this today, you’ll have to wait until next year, remember?”

You looked to the side, annoyed that she was right. Her hair was braided, and she was wearing a nice, bright and colorful dress Mindy was going to drool over tonight. It was December thirteenth. The second anniversary of your and Tara’s relationship and you were ready to propose. Well, as far as setting everything up was concerned. You booked the restaurant in this hotel, hooray for successful business, got the ring, dressed up, everything was ready. Mentally though… you were absolutely not ready.

The proposal was also why you were on an urgent business trip, why Anika went back to her parents, and why Mindy and Chad had to visit their mom, and why Sam and Danny would be taking Tara to a restaurant so she wouldn’t feel lonely, and you’d be making up for the urgent business trip tomorrow, when Tara turns twenty-one.

Which was all one big lie, aside from Sam and Danny taking Tara to the restaurant, all so Tara wouldn’t suspect anything.

“Or maybe, hear me out, I say screw important dates, and just randomly ask her one day?” you suggested, raising your finger to make a point.

Anika got up and began jabbing her finger above your chest. “You, Y/N L/N, are one of the best women MMA fighters, you lived through being shot, stabbed, impaled on a rebar, falling from a roof and won Sam’s approval to date her sister, which is probably the most impressive accomplishment of them all,” she told you with enough conviction to make your own doubts slowly ebb away. “You are going to go downstairs, dressed in that,” she looked you up and down and just stepped back. “that… let’s just say Tara is lucky, because, well, you dressed to impress,” and you did. You went all out, finding the best clothes for the occasion.

And then the phone rang, and you saw it was Danny calling.

Afraid something happened you immediately picked up and put him on a speaker. “Yes?”

“It’s a disaster,” he opened dramatically, his voice filled with panic. “Tara won’t dress up!”

You felt the tension from all of this, all the pressure from wanting to propose to her, all the worry caused by his call, it all just vanished, and you felt like you could breathe again. “Dude, let her come in whatever she wants,” you laughed, no longer feeling nervous. This was Tara, your Tara and you suddenly felt silly for even being nervous in the first place.

“She wants to come in your damn shirt! Not even a really nice one, but a random shirt she picked out, it’s a miracle she doesn’t look like a fashion emergency!” he whisper-shouted and you watched Anika’s jaw dropping as she heard that.

You laughed a bit too loudly. “So let her! Let my girl do whatever she wants, it’s her night!” you just sat down on the bed and couldn’t wipe the grin off your face.

“It’s a five-star hotel and she wants to wear an oversized shirt that looks more like a dress on her and jeans! She didn’t even do her hair or put make-up on!” he nearly yelled while you had a dreamy look on your face knowing Tara would still look more beautiful than anyone else in this whole hotel.

“Yup, let her, just bring her here,” you sighed dreamily, your mood swinging in the exact opposite direction.

“Unbelievable, both of you,” he groaned and hung up.

You looked at Anika, still flabbergasted by what she heard, and then at your usual clothes. “You know what, Tara has a point,” you’d wear fancy clothes for some special occasion, maybe tomorrow night when you take her out not as your girlfriend, but as your fiancée for the very first time.

“No! Y/N! I won’t let you!” Anika cried out, but it was too late now.

~X~

Dressing up… as if Tara wanted to do that tonight. You weren’t there, and she was basically being a third wheel on Sam and Danny’s date, so no, she wouldn’t dress up. She wanted to stay home, watch a movie, and wear your shirt so she could feel like you were hugging her. But, Sam insisted and she couldn’t say no to Sam’s pleading gaze.

Well, she’d see you tomorrow, so that was nice. Urgent business trips have happened ever since you opened your own company. You used the money you got from your retirement and ensured you could mostly work from home, but you still needed to leave every now and then to meet up with your business partners. Did it suck that you had to leave on your anniversary? Yeah, it did. Was Tara angry? No, just a bit lonely since everyone else seemed to leave as well, but you called her plenty of times today and she couldn’t wait to see you tomorrow.

The hotel Sam and Danny took her to… well, now she felt a bit silly for being dressed so casually, especially since Danny went for a dark brown suit and black turtleneck sweater and Sam went through trouble of doing her hair and wearing a light green long coat with shirt and pants. And Sam didn’t exactly dress up that often, she preferred casual clothes she could defend herself in if needed, and while Tara became cautious after what happened last year, Sam took it to the next level, and that made Tara worried for Sam, she wasn’t letting anyone new in, no matter what, even at work she kept to herself and barely even got out unless Tara or Danny specifically asked her to.

That made Tara feel a bit guilty, because this was actually Sam’s idea, and now that they were here Tara wondered if she really should have dressed up. If for no other reason than to show Sam she appreciated that Sam wanted to go out. She wanted to apologize, but Sam still looked so happy, so Tara figured she could apologize later tonight. She didn’t want to make Sam and Danny’s date uncomfortable before it even officially began.

She walked in behind them, noticing immediately the hotel restaurant was empty, sure, it was expensive and all that, but completely empty? No celebrities at the very least? And since when did Sam and Danny want to spend this much money of a single date? And then add even more costs by inviting Tara with them? And several people greeted them and took them to the round table set up for six people, where Chad, Mindy and Anika were waiting already.

They were all dressed up, and Mindy was rolling her eyes when she noticed how Tara looked. “Seriously Sam? You couldn’t get her to wear something else?” Mindy shook her head in utter disbelief.

“She’s stubborn, and well, the three of you didn’t do a better job anyway,” Sam muttered, further confusing Tara.

Several ideas were crossing her mind, but the table was set up for six people, and all thoughts of you somehow popping up were ruled out by that simple fact. Unless that was what you wanted her to think. Since it wouldn’t be that hard to just move things around a bit and make space for one more person, in fact, there was suspiciously wide open space between Chad’s chair and an empty chair next to him.

But everyone was dressed up. Anika was stunning, Mindy looked just as beautiful in that red, slightly revealing dress and Chad went for a more casual, button up shirt and suit combination, and that worried her, because he loved dressing in a more casual way.

“Still the most beautiful girl in the room though,” her jaw dropped at the sound of your voice, and she looked to the side as you came down the stairs, dressed just as casually as Tara, just simple, slightly tighter polo shirt and pants and a smile on your face as she ran up to you and jumped into your arms.

“What’s this all about? How are you here?” she wasn’t complaining, not in the slightest, she just wanted to know.

You laughed, lifting her up and carrying her bridal style to the table. “Well, I wanted to make this a bit fancier, but,” you looked down at her choice of clothing and grinned. “I think this suits us much better,” you lowered her back to her feet and guided her to the remaining free chair. She sat down, still looking at your eyes. “Tara Carpenter,” you went down to one knee and pulled out a box making Tara’s jaw drop as she saw a beautiful ring that matched the necklace you bought her for her eighteenth birthday. “Will you marry me?”

Tara refused to cry, she wasn’t going to cry, she was absolutely crying as she fell into your arms and hugged you as tightly as she could. “Yes, a hundred times yes!” she exclaimed as your friends cheered around the two of you.

You laughed at that, and got up, lifting Tara up in the process and hugging her tightly. “I love you,” you kissed her lightly, but she wasn’t having any of that as she deepened the kiss right away, her hand cupping your cheek.

“I love you too,” she whispered against your lips when you separated and you put a ring on her finger and she pulled you down for another kiss.

~X~ Present day ~X~

The two of you got married on your third anniversary, exactly a year after you proposed, and last year you decided you’d try IVF and then, when Tara and you told Sam about it… well, that’s when it all started going downhill, as Sam grew more and more irritated and angry and would leave for several days at a time. Tara tried to be patient, she tried to understand her sister, to be there for her, but it was starting to take its toll on her as well, because no matter how she approached Sam nothing seemed to be working. And then something she feared the most happened. Despite how much she tried to tell you it was fine, it happened, you snapped.

~X~ December 2026 ~X~

Getting married didn’t change anything, Sam was still living with Tara and you, and her and Danny were still not living together. They’d spend nights together occasionally, but Sam never brought up the idea of him moving in, or her moving to his place. “Sam, please, just tell me what’s going on,” Tara pleaded when Sam once again chose to ignore how worried she was making Tara be.

“Nothing is going on,” Sam shut her down, not even once looking at Tara as she sat in your shared kitchen. You were out, buying groceries for tonight’s dinner, you and Tara wanted to make this dinner feel special, since it’s been a while since Sam was home for more than a few days. And this time she actually made it through the week without disappearing. “Just make sure to take care of yourself when you get pregnant,” there was frustration in Sam’s voice that Tara immediately noticed.

“Are you angry at me?” Tara asked, not really having any ideas as to why Sam would be angry, but it just felt like she was. Surely she wasn’t angry because Tara wanted to have children, right?

“No,” and Sam refused to elaborate and in her anger and frustration reached into her pocket for her cigarettes just as you came back home. Tara knew Sam never truly quit smoking, though she tried several times, but in all the years since Sam began smoking she never smoked near Tara, and she always made sure Tara couldn’t smell the cigarettes. So, Tara was shocked, but she didn’t say anything, fearing it would make Sam leave again. Her asthma was more manageable, she could handle a cigarette, she hoped.

The doors opened at the worst possible moment and Tara watched your face twisting in anger as you realized Sam had lit a cigarette. “Drop it! Sam, drop it right now!” if there was one thing, just one thing that didn’t involve actually harming someone you loved that would make you snap instantly, it was someone who knew Tara had asthma trying to smoke near her.

“Baby, wait,” Tara got up, stopping you before you could take the cigarettes from Sam. This was already a volatile situation, Sam was frustrated, you were angry, and Tara needed to calm things down. “Let’s just go to our room, okay?” she took the groceries from your hand and placed them on the table, noticing ojo de pancha from a nearby bakery Sam loved at the top. She reached up, cradling your cheek, feeling and seeing the tension on your face. She pulled you closer, relaxing slightly when she felt you relaxing a bit. “Do it for me?” she spent her entire childhood listening to her parents arguing, then to her mother and Sam arguing, she didn’t want to listen to you and Sam arguing as well, especially for her sake.

You sighed, but nodded, ready to just let it be, until Sam spoke, not even bothering to put the cigarette out. “What are you two even thinking? What if Ghostface comes after us again?!” Sam demanded and Tara turned to look at her, at the fury in her eyes.

“Sam?” she called out, not recognizing her sister. She knew Sam was paranoid, but this much? “We weren’t attacked for over four years,” she tried to remind her as she took your hand and took a few steps back, away from Sam’s rage and from the smoke and despite knowing Sam would never hurt her you stepped between her and Sam.

“Tara has me, I won’t let anyone hurt her, or our child,” you said, for the first time in fifteen years you’ve spent as Tara’s best friend, as her protector, as the one person she could always rely on, the guard dog barked at her sister. “You included, Sam, so put that damn cigarette out before I make you,” you warned, your tone dangerously low.

You would turn twenty-six in a bit less than half a year, and for the lack of a better word, you were at your peak. Stronger than even when you fought for the title, or when you fought against Thomas. Speed, strength, skill, all of that was as high as you could take it, and it was one of the reasons why you chose to start a family now, because Tara did worry about Ghostface coming back, and so did you. So, if the two of you wanted children this was the absolute best time to do it, even if it meant starting your family at a fairly young age compared to most couples. You’d be able to maintain this peak for several years, and you’d be close to it well into your thirties if you kept training the way you did now.

Sam scoffed and walked out, and despite Tara’s pleas, she didn’t come back for a week. And Tara? She just cried in your arms, feeling like she was once again losing her sister.

~X~

Looking back now, it was like Tara was looking at herself from back when you first came to New York, only Sam was almost thirty and angrier than Tara ever was. When Tara found out she was pregnant, she wanted to have you and Sam there, but Sam just… left… abandoned Tara again, and no one, not her, not you, not Danny, no one could reach her. For nearly three months now, Tara had no idea where Sam was. And she felt as if her life had fallen apart completely.

Chad, Mindy and Anika left New York a while ago, Chad pursuing his football career, which took him to Miami last year, while Anika and Mindy formed a rising star duo, directing horror movies all over the country for the past two years. So, her group was scattered, and while they all stayed in touch, Tara was only left with you as her constant. Danny was there as well, trying to be supportive while Sam was going through whatever she was going through, but it really was just you and her.

And then, three weeks ago you got arrested, framed for murder you didn’t commit. And the victim? Your own father? He was stabbed, and despite her best efforts, Tara had no idea why you even went there in the first place, she just knew you didn’t do it.

A/N: Right, Tara is pregnant. I’m sure that won’t raise the stakes at all. Anyway, this is my Scream 7, I'm not watching anything unless Melissa and Jenna are back. Have fun with Lost season 2!

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

[wolfjackle-creates]

Behind the Fortress Walls Chapter 2

Chapter two of my fic for the @dpxdcbigbang has been released!

Fic Summary

Jazz is in love with Dick. He’s kind, considerate, and caring. Far and away the nicest person she’s ever dated. But she’s lying to him. About so, so much. And he’ll hate her once he learns the truth. Assuming he doesn't get tired of her canceling all their dates first. When Danny and Ellie go missing, the latest in a series of ghostly disappearances, she's forced to cancel another date. Going to Elmerton to meet up with Tucker and Sam, she will get Danny and Ellie back from the GIW no matter what it takes. Only…they aren't the only ones breaking in.

Chapter word count: ~6k. Full word count for both chapters 14141 which was totally unplanned. But what a fun number????

-----

“What’s taking so long, Pharaoh?” asked Jazz.

“I…don’t know. It looks like communications are down. I’m struggling to connect to the network here.”

Jazz stilled. “What does that mean?”

Tucker didn’t answer for a long minute as he continued to tap away at his tablet. “It means that even if we are seen breaking in, no one will be able to get an alarm raised off-base. Regrowth, have you seen any agents wandering around? Or lights turn on or off in the building?”

Sam jumped down from the tree. “I haven’t seen anyone.”

“I don’t like this,” said Jazz. “Something’s not right. There should be someone around. Growing up with my parents, I know all about experiments that drag on longer than expected. And the Guys in White are fanatics. They’d stay late to run another experiment.”

“Danny and Ellie are in there,” said Tucker.

Jazz closed her eyes. She hated unknowns. But Tucker was right. Danny and Ellie were in there.

“I’m going in anyway,” said Sam after a long moment. “If communications are down, they won’t be able to request back up.”

“Anyone we find is more likely to be on edge, though,” said Tucker.

Sam snorted. “And we can take them.”

“I have the zip ties I stole from my boyfriend,” said Jazz. “And a few things I’d taken from my parents before moving out. It’s all in working condition.”

“We go in,” agreed Tucker. “Maybe once we get to the security office, I’ll be able to figure out what’s going on.”

“Regrowth, you ready?” asked Jazz.

“Yep. Let’s go.”

All three made their way to the fence. A good six to ten feet of land on their side of the fence had been cleared, leaving them in plain view. But they had chosen an area of the fence that was in shadow where the light from two floodlights didn’t quite overlap.

They’d still be seen instantly if anyone decided to come looking, but hopefully the dark would be enough to protect them from a distance. Jazz and Sam shrugged off their backpacks and left them on the ground. Then Jazz, using skills she learned in Blüdhaven rather than Amity, took a running jump and latched onto the fence two feet off the ground.

Within seconds she was at the top of the fence.

“Show off,” she heard Sam mutter.

Jazz grinned to herself. She was, a little bit. Carefully, she spread her legs out wider while Sam climbed up under her. When she reached Jazz’s level, Jazz flattened herself against the fence so Sam could climb up behind her. With Jazz’s legs spread, Sam was able to get her knees under Jazz’s.

Then Sam gripped the fence tight, using muscles she had earned working in a gardening center carrying stone and clay pots bigger than her torso. Jazz used Sam’s lap as a pseudo seat and leaned back, letting go of the fence.

“You okay?” she asked, making sure her weight wasn’t going to overbalance Sam.

“Yep. Just be quick.”

Jazz nodded and reached into her robes where she had a wire cutter and thick gardening gloves courtesy of Sam. She pulled on the gloves and quickly cut off a foot and a half wide section of wire. With the gloves, she picked them up, keeping them from falling and hooked them into the links of the fence.

Stripping her gloves, she dropped them to the ground and grabbed back onto the fence.

Sam let out a breath of relief and climbed back down to the ground, Jazz following. Once on the ground, she grabbed the gloves she’d dropped and slid them back into their pocket in her robes.

“All right, Pharaoh,” said Jazz as she grabbed her backpack and put it back on. “You first.”

-----

It was harder to pick a segment to share for this chapter! Hope you enjoy ^.^

[samgirl98]

Mending a Family 9/?

Prev | Next

Dick knows I know about you. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, but I don’t think they’ll ever give up.

Jason put away his phone; he would think about that later. Right now, he wanted to give Jazz all his attention and know what happened to make Danny a cute five-year-old.

“I don’t know how much you know about Danny’s and mine biological parents,” she trailed off while rocking Ellie.

“I heard enough,” Jason answered while Danny said, “Almost everything. Except how I got de-aged ‘cuz even I don’t know or the few days leading up to that.”

Jazz nodded, “good, that’ll make things easier.”

Jazz put a now asleep Ellie on the rocker and looked at Jason and Danny. They were sitting in their new living room. Jason had chosen a little house with the closest neighbor two miles away. They were still in the woods but twenty minutes from a little town with schools, a library, and a general store. Would it be easier to disappear in a city? Maybe. But Danny wouldn’t be able to use his powers as well in the city.

Plus, it’d be easier to avoid Oracle, too.

“Mom and dad were supposed to be out of the house that weekend. They were going to test a new invention. The Fenton Demoleculizer. It was supposed to tear ghosts apart ‘molecule by molecule,’ as they liked to say. It didn’t work that way.”

“Things rarely do,” Danny chirped.

Jazz sighed.

“Ellie had come that weekend to visit. They both took down a ghost and returned them to the Ghost Zone.”

“Stupid Skulker,” Danny added.

“Mom and dad caught them both transforming. They didn’t hesitate; they shot Danny first. Thankfully, I had come down the basement when mom shot Danny. If it had been dad, well, let’s say he’s a horrible shot. Thankfully, the Demoleculizer didn’t work how it was supposed to and only de-aged Danny.”

Jazz sighed and rubbed her eye.

“I was able to get Danny and throw him through the portal, which is how I assume he ended up with you. Mom and dad were furious and thought I was overshadowed. They were ranting about how they didn’t notice their baby boy was dead and were tricked by a filthy ghost. There was no talking to them.”

“In the chaos, Ellie got hit with the Demoleculizer, too. I knew there was no going back at that point, so I got her and went through the portal. Those few minutes must’ve been days here, though, because, well, you know, we didn’t land at the same place or time that Danny had.”

Silence reigned as they all digested what Jazz had said. Jason couldn’t believe any parent would turn against their child that way.

But then again, Sheila did the same to me, he thought.

“So now what,” Jazz asked, “we can’t mooch off you forever, Jason. As much as I appreciate what you’ve done, it isn’t fair that you have to feed three extra mouths now and leave your old haunt for Danny.”

“Whoa, hey, it’s no trouble to me at all. Besides, I already think of Danny as my kid, and parents are there to care for their kids.”

Jason took a deep breath, “Besides, I wasn’t in a good place before Danny. I won’t lie to you guys; I’m not a good guy. I’ve—I’ve killed before; I’ve hurt my family. If anything, I would understand if you guys don’t want to be around me.”

“When you said you’ve killed, have you ever killed innocent people or…?” Jazz left the question hanging.

Jason shook his head and told his story of how he had been killed and returned to life. The Lazarus Pit and League of Assassins were hard to get through, but Danny and Jazz deserved the truth. He told them about his return to Gotham and how he set up a criminal empire. (One that he abandoned for Danny.) He mentioned Titan Towers and his so-called revenge against Tim. He told them all his sins.

Jason turned to Danny, “Do you understand now, Danny-lad, I deserve their anger.”

Danny got up and hugged Jason tight, “You came back angry. It’s not your fault, either.”

“While I’m not too glad to hear about the killings, I understand why you did it. Besides, you’ve left that behind, and you’re taking care of Danny. I’m not here to judge but to take care of my baby brother and sister. And you, Jason, have taken in Danny and protected him. Not many people would do that. So, for that, I thank you.”

Jason almost felt like crying. The Fentons didn’t judge him, and they didn’t refuse to give him their love and forgiveness. Jason felt like he belonged to a family for the first time in a long time.

“Now, it’s time we redecorated. Isn’t that right, big brother?” Jazz asked with a smile.

____

Tim had been able to follow the cold anomaly north. It had disappeared somewhere in Vermont.

“What do you think it is,” Tim asked Barbara.

“I don’t know, but do you think it’s related to Jason disappearing?”

“It’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be.”

“Hmm,” Barbara hummed, “I’m going to set it up for the program to look for this anomaly in Canada. It has disappeared in the continental US; Canada is the only logical conclusion.”

“Should I tell Bruce?”

Barbara sighed, “Let’s give it a few more days and see if anything new comes up. If it doesn’t, we will have to tell him about it, but let him come up with his conclusions. If anything new shows up and leads to Jason, I suggest we observe him first instead of getting the whole family descending on him.”

“What, why?” Tim asked incredulously.

There was silence on the other side.

“Why, Barbara?”

“Tim, Jason left for a reason. There are no signs of struggles, and he took everything he had; he doesn’t want to be found by us. Shouldn’t we honor his wishes?”

“But everyone misses him. Bruce is going crazy looking for him.”

“I love Bruce, but he’s a hypocrite. He ignored Jason when he was right next door, and now that he’s gone, he wants him back. It sounds like he just wants some control, like usual,” Barbara said angrily.

“But Dick is also,” Barbara interrupted him.

“Dick isn’t much better. Look, I love everyone, but how we’ve treated Jason,” she sighed. “If he’s just living his life and not killing people, then I see no reason to make him miserable.”

“If that’s how you feel, why are you helping me look for him?” Tim couldn’t help but ask.

“Because I’m a hypocrite, too.”

Then she hung up.

Dick knows I know about you. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, but I don’t think they’ll ever give up.

Jason put away his phone; he would think about that later. Right now, he wanted to give Jazz all his attention and know what happened to make Danny a cute five-year-old.

“I don’t know how much you know about Danny’s and mine biological parents,” she trailed off while rocking Ellie.

“I heard enough,” Jason answered while Danny said, “Almost everything. Except how I got de-aged ‘cuz even I don’t know or the few days leading up to that.”

Jazz nodded, “good, that’ll make things easier.”

Jazz put a now asleep Ellie on the rocker and looked at Jason and Danny. They were sitting in their new living room. Jason had chosen a little house with the closest neighbor two miles away. They were still in the woods but twenty minutes from a little town with schools, a library, and a general store. Would it be easier to disappear in a city? Maybe. But Danny wouldn’t be able to use his powers as well in the city.

Plus, it’d be easier to avoid Oracle, too.

“Mom and dad were supposed to be out of the house that weekend. They were going to test a new invention. The Fenton Demoleculizer. It was supposed to tear ghosts apart ‘molecule by molecule,’ as they liked to say. It didn’t work that way.”

“Things rarely do,” Danny chirped.

Jazz sighed.

“Ellie had come that weekend to visit. They both took down a ghost and returned them to the Ghost Zone.”

“Stupid Skulker,” Danny added.

“Mom and dad caught them both transforming. They didn’t hesitate; they shot Danny first. Thankfully, I had come down the basement when mom shot Danny. If it had been dad, well, let’s say he’s a horrible shot. Thankfully, the Demoleculizer didn’t work how it was supposed to and only de-aged Danny.”

Jazz sighed and rubbed her eye.

“I was able to get Danny and throw him through the portal, which is how I assume he ended up with you. Mom and dad were furious and thought I was overshadowed. They were ranting about how they didn’t notice their baby boy was dead and were tricked by a filthy ghost. There was no talking to them.”

“In the chaos, Ellie got hit with the Demoleculizer, too. I knew there was no going back at that point, so I got her and went through the portal. Those few minutes must’ve been days here, though, because, well, you know, we didn’t land at the same place or time that Danny had.”

Silence reigned as they all digested what Jazz had said. Jason couldn’t believe any parent would turn against their child that way.

But then again, Sheila did the same to me, he thought.

“So now what,” Jazz asked, “we can’t mooch off you forever, Jason. As much as I appreciate what you’ve done, it isn’t fair that you have to feed three extra mouths now and leave your old haunt for Danny.”

“Whoa, hey, it’s no trouble to me at all. Besides, I already think of Danny as my kid, and parents are there to care for their kids.”

Jason took a deep breath, “Besides, I wasn’t in a good place before Danny. I won’t lie to you guys; I’m not a good guy. I’ve—I’ve killed before; I’ve hurt my family. If anything, I would understand if you guys don’t want to be around me.”

“When you said you’ve killed, have you ever killed innocent people or…?” Jazz left the question hanging.

Jason shook his head and told his story of how he had been killed and returned to life. The Lazarus Pit and League of Assassins were hard to get through, but Danny and Jazz deserved the truth. He told them about his return to Gotham and how he set up a criminal empire. (One that he abandoned for Danny.) He mentioned Titan Towers and his so-called revenge against Tim. He told them all his sins.

Jason turned to Danny, “Do you understand now, Danny-lad, I deserve their anger.”

Danny got up and hugged Jason tight, “You came back angry. It’s not your fault, either.”

“While I’m not too glad to hear about the killings, I understand why you did it. Besides, you’ve left that behind, and you’re taking care of Danny. I’m not here to judge but to take care of my baby brother and sister. And you, Jason, have taken in Danny and protected him. Not many people would do that. So, for that, I thank you.”

Jason almost felt like crying. The Fentons didn’t judge him, and they didn’t refuse to give him their love and forgiveness. Jason felt like he belonged to a family for the first time in a long time.

“Now, it’s time we redecorated. Isn’t that right, big brother?” Jazz asked with a smile.

____

Tim had been able to follow the cold anomaly north. It had disappeared somewhere in Vermont.

“What do you think it is,” Tim asked Barbara.

“I don’t know, but do you think it’s related to Jason disappearing?”

“It’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be.”

“Hmm,” Barbara hummed, “I’m going to set it up for the program to look for this anomaly in Canada. It has disappeared in the continental US; Canada is the only logical conclusion.”

“Should I tell Bruce?”

Barbara sighed, “Let’s give it a few more days and see if anything new comes up. If it doesn’t, we will have to tell him about it, but let him come up with his conclusions. If anything new shows up and leads to Jason, I suggest we observe him first instead of getting the whole family descending on him.”

“What, why?” Tim asked incredulously.

There was silence on the other side.

“Why, Barbara?”

“Tim, Jason left for a reason. There are no signs of struggles, and he took everything he had; he doesn’t want to be found by us. Shouldn’t we honor his wishes?”

“But everyone misses him. Bruce is going crazy looking for him.”

“I love Bruce, but he’s a hypocrite. He ignored Jason when he was right next door, and now that he’s gone, he wants him back. It sounds like he just wants some control, like usual,” Barbara said angrily.

“But Dick is also,” Barbara interrupted him.

“Dick isn’t much better. Look, I love everyone, but how we’ve treated Jason,” she sighed. “If he’s just living his life and not killing people, then I see no reason to make him miserable.”

“If that’s how you feel, why are you helping me look for him?” Tim couldn’t help but ask.

“Because I’m a hypocrite, too.”

Then she hung up.

Dick knows I know about you. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, but I don’t think they’ll ever give up.

Jason put away his phone; he would think about that later. Right now, he wanted to give Jazz all his attention and know what happened to make Danny a cute five-year-old.

“I don’t know how much you know about Danny’s and mine biological parents,” she trailed off while rocking Ellie.

“I heard enough,” Jason answered while Danny said, “Almost everything. Except how I got de-aged ‘cuz even I don’t know or the few days leading up to that.”

Jazz nodded, “good, that’ll make things easier.”

Jazz put a now asleep Ellie on the rocker and looked at Jason and Danny. They were sitting in their new living room. Jason had chosen a little house with the closest neighbor two miles away. They were still in the woods but twenty minutes from a little town with schools, a library, and a general store. Would it be easier to disappear in a city? Maybe. But Danny wouldn’t be able to use his powers as well in the city.

Plus, it’d be easier to avoid Oracle, too.

“Mom and dad were supposed to be out of the house that weekend. They were going to test a new invention. The Fenton Demoleculizer. It was supposed to tear ghosts apart ‘molecule by molecule,’ as they liked to say. It didn’t work that way.”

“Things rarely do,” Danny chirped.

Jazz sighed.

“Ellie had come that weekend to visit. They both took down a ghost and returned them to the Ghost Zone.”

“Stupid Skulker,” Danny added.

“Mom and dad caught them both transforming. They didn’t hesitate; they shot Danny first. Thankfully, I had come down the basement when mom shot Danny. If it had been dad, well, let’s say he’s a horrible shot. Thankfully, the Demoleculizer didn’t work how it was supposed to and only de-aged Danny.”

Jazz sighed and rubbed her eye.

“I was able to get Danny and throw him through the portal, which is how I assume he ended up with you. Mom and dad were furious and thought I was overshadowed. They were ranting about how they didn’t notice their baby boy was dead and were tricked by a filthy ghost. There was no talking to them.”

“In the chaos, Ellie got hit with the Demoleculizer, too. I knew there was no going back at that point, so I got her and went through the portal. Those few minutes must’ve been days here, though, because, well, you know, we didn’t land at the same place or time that Danny had.”

Silence reigned as they all digested what Jazz had said. Jason couldn’t believe any parent would turn against their child that way.

But then again, Sheila did the same to me, he thought.

“So now what,” Jazz asked, “we can’t mooch off you forever, Jason. As much as I appreciate what you’ve done, it isn’t fair that you have to feed three extra mouths now and leave your old haunt for Danny.”

“Whoa, hey, it’s no trouble to me at all. Besides, I already think of Danny as my kid, and parents are there to care for their kids.”

Jason took a deep breath, “Besides, I wasn’t in a good place before Danny. I won’t lie to you guys; I’m not a good guy. I’ve—I’ve killed before; I’ve hurt my family. If anything, I would understand if you guys don’t want to be around me.”

“When you said you’ve killed, have you ever killed innocent people or…?” Jazz left the question hanging.

Jason shook his head and told his story of how he had been killed and returned to life. The Lazarus Pit and League of Assassins were hard to get through, but Danny and Jazz deserved the truth. He told them about his return to Gotham and how he set up a criminal empire. (One that he abandoned for Danny.) He mentioned Titan Towers and his so-called revenge against Tim. He told them all his sins.

Jason turned to Danny, “Do you understand now, Danny-lad, I deserve their anger.”

Danny got up and hugged Jason tight, “You came back angry. It’s not your fault, either.”

“While I’m not too glad to hear about the killings, I understand why you did it. Besides, you’ve left that behind, and you’re taking care of Danny. I’m not here to judge but to take care of my baby brother and sister. And you, Jason, have taken in Danny and protected him. Not many people would do that. So, for that, I thank you.”

Jason almost felt like crying. The Fentons didn’t judge him, and they didn’t refuse to give him their love and forgiveness. Jason felt like he belonged to a family for the first time in a long time.

“Now, it’s time we redecorated. Isn’t that right, big brother?” Jazz asked with a smile.

____

Tim had been able to follow the cold anomaly north. It had disappeared somewhere in Vermont.

“What do you think it is,” Tim asked Barbara.

“I don’t know, but do you think it’s related to Jason disappearing?”

“It’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be.”

“Hmm,” Barbara hummed, “I’m going to set it up for the program to look for this anomaly in Canada. It has disappeared in the continental US; Canada is the only logical conclusion.”

“Should I tell Bruce?”

Barbara sighed, “Let’s give it a few more days and see if anything new comes up. If it doesn’t, we will have to tell him about it, but let him come up with his conclusions. If anything new shows up and leads to Jason, I suggest we observe him first instead of getting the whole family descending on him.”

“What, why?” Tim asked incredulously.

There was silence on the other side.

“Why, Barbara?”

“Tim, Jason left for a reason. There are no signs of struggles, and he took everything he had; he doesn’t want to be found by us. Shouldn’t we honor his wishes?”

“But everyone misses him. Bruce is going crazy looking for him.”

“I love Bruce, but he’s a hypocrite. He ignored Jason when he was right next door, and now that he’s gone, he wants him back. It sounds like he just wants some control, like usual,” Barbara said angrily.

“But Dick is also,” Barbara interrupted him.

“Dick isn’t much better. Look, I love everyone, but how we’ve treated Jason,” she sighed. “If he’s just living his life and not killing people, then I see no reason to make him miserable.”

“If that’s how you feel, why are you helping me look for him?” Tim couldn’t help but ask.

“Because I’m a hypocrite, too.”

Then she hung up.

So I don't know yet if I'm going to make that Barbara would help Jason from time to time and actually talked to him (kind of like how she helped him during the Cheers story line) or if she should also be one of the ones who ignored Jason. I'll think it through.

@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

[vanfleeter]

Mean Daddy // JTK

Characters: Jake x reader, twin boys Warning: All Dad!Jake. Author's Note: Once again I was inspired by Full House to create this small piece.

Summary: The time has come for Jake to put his foot down.

“No, no, no!” You hear Jake shout downstairs.

Quickly jumping off the floor of the twin’s bedroom, where you’ve been folding their laundry to put away, you quickly run downstairs to find Jake in the kitchen and holding each boy underneath his arms. They were covered in flour and laughing hysterically. Some of the flour even got onto Jake’s face and bits of his hair.

“Oh honey..” You say, stifling a giggle.

“This isn’t funny..” Jake huffs. “I thought we had the pantry door locked?”

You shake your head. “You insisted that they wouldn’t–couldn’t–figure out how to get the door open so we never installed a lock.”

“Well I was wrong..” Jake sighs. “There’s flour everywhere.”

“Babe, don’t you think now would be a good time to start..you know.”

Jake shakes his head. “They’re just toddlers, they’ll grow out of it. Like Josh and I did.”

“Jake.. They’re literally destroying everything they get their hands on.” You say as you take one of the boys from Jake. “Yesterday they broke Josh’s salt lamp, how was that even possible? Last week they busted Danny’s snare by stabbing drumsticks through the top, now they made a mess with the flour, what’s next? Terrorize Rosie?”

“Fuck.. Sam would have a meltdown.”

“I think it’s time, Jake. We can’t keep hoping that they’ll learn on their own. You have to put your foot down and punish them.” You say as the two of you carry the twins upstairs and into the bathroom.

“Do I have to?” Jake says as he sets one twin on the ground and kneels in front of him.

“Yes, Jake.” You say as you set the other twin on the edge of the sink and pull his shirt up over his head. “You can’t be a pushover anymore. When they do something wrong, they have to be punished.”

“Punished how?” Jake questions as he pulls the shirt off of the other twin. “I’ve never done that before.”

“It’s not hard, Jake. You put them into a timeout in their rooms. No toys, nothing fun. They can lay in their beds or on the floor but they’re not allowed to play.”

“That’s just cruel.” Jake says.

“It’s not supposed to be good.” You say as you carry the one twin over to the tub and sets him inside before running the water.

“What if they hate me?” He says.

“Jake, they’re two. They’ll be upset, sure but they won’t hate you.” You say as you take the other twin from Jake and put him into the tub. Jake sits on top of the toilet as he watches you fill a cup with water and pour it into each kids’ head. Each one giggles which brings a smile to your face. “They will learn that when they do something wrong, they will be disciplined for their actions. It’s all a part of growing up and learning how to be human.”

After bathtime, you two get the twins dressed in their PJs. Jake takes them downstairs to the living room to begin their bedtime routine. One movie of their choice. But that choice always happens to be the same movie since the first time you had shown it to them.

Peter Pan.

Jake didn’t mind. He loved it just as much as they did.

Once all of their clothes were put away, you got their beds ready before heading downstairs to the kitchen to make a couple bottles of warm milk. Going into the living room, you take one twin from Jake and hand a bottle to the other. Each one cuddles into your bodies as the beginning credits appear on the tv screen.

It doesn’t take long for the boys to fall asleep. You look over at Jake who looks like he’s nearly falling asleep himself. You smile and lean over, careful not to wake the tot in your arm, and gently shake Jake.

He hums and opens his eyes. “I’m awake.”

You stand up from the couch, cradling the twin in your arms. “Come on babe, let’s get the boys into bed.” –

“I’m so glad you could make it to dinner tonight.” Karen says as she sets a bowl of fresh bread on the table. “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to get everyone together.”

All the boys grimace but everyone laughs.

Jake looks over at the boys who are holding their bowls over top of their heads. “Hey, put your bowls back down on the table.” You speak up.

“Come on boys, listen to your mother.” Jake warns as he shoots a look at the boys.

Just as quickly, both acquire a bold smirk and look at each other.

“Tommy, don’t you dare.” Jake says. “Put your bowls down.”

Tommy looks back at Jude and giggles. Jude smiles and drops his bowl behind his head. It clatters to the floor and spills the contents of green beans and sausage onto the floor.

“I’m so sorry..” You sheepishly apologize.

Karen smiles. “It’s no big deal, the boys did it all the time.”

Jake huffs. “No, it is a big deal.” He says before getting out of his chair. “Terrible twos feel more like torturous twos.” He removes Tommy’s bowl from his hands and sets it on the table. “Come on boys,” He pulls them out of their chairs. “We told you twice to stop.” They giggle as he holds them underneath his arms. “I’ll be back.”

He carries them upstairs to his and Josh’s old room and sets them on the floor. “Do you know what a time out is?” He says as he kneels down in front of the boys. Both of them shake their heads. “Of course, you don’t.. Okay.. A timeout is when mommy or myself put you alone in your room–or in this case–my old room, for you to think about your actions. Now what you did tonight was not a good choice and when mommy or myself tell you not to do something, you have to listen.” He leans back on his knees and rests his hands on his thighs. “So, you two will sit here in timeout until I come back for you.”

“Papa, play?” Tommy says looking up at Jake.

Jake shakes his head. “No playing. No fun. You two will sit here and learn that what you did was bad.”

Jude crosses his arms over his chest. Tommy sees and follows in suit.

“Mean daddy..” Jude huffs.

“Yeah, mean daddy.” Tommy says.

“Now boys..”

“We no like you daddy..” Tommy says.

“Yeah, you mean..” Jude chimes in. “Mean daddy..”

Jake closes his eyes and leans his head back. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He says before rising to his feet before leaving the room.

“So how’d it go?” You ask when he comes to sit back down at the table.

He shrugs his shoulders. “Could have been better.” He says.

You sympathetically rub his back and lean over to kiss his cheek.

But he sits there for most of dinner, pushing the green beans around his plate as if he were a little kid again refusing to eat his food.

“Dessert anyone?” Ronnie says as she comes into the dining room with Karen. They carry several bowls of ice cream and give one out to each other.

“I’ll save these two for the boys.” Karen says as she carries a couple bowls back to the kitchen.

You look over to Jake to find him still quiet. You reach your hand over to his thigh and give it a slight rub. He turns his head to look at you. There was a distant look in his eyes that made you realize how deep into his thoughts he was.

“Are you okay?” You whisper.

Jake nods his head. He stands up from the table. “If you’ll excuse me..”

He leaves the dining room and heads into the kitchen. He pulls open the freezer and grabs the two bowls of ice cream and carries them behind his back and sneaks upstairs.

Despite having put his foot down, he hated hearing those words come from his sons’ mouths. And he also felt bad that they couldn’t enjoy the ice cream like everyone else is. As he approaches the door, he hears your voice call as your footsteps come up the stairs. Panicking he quickly shoves the bowls inside of his shirt, slightly wincing from the frozen dairy sliding against his skin.

“What are you doing up here?” You ask as you approach him.

“Oh uh, wanted to check on the boys.” He says as he moves his arms around his torso to hide the bowls in his shirt. “Make sure they’re not tearing the room apart.”

“Mmhmm..” You hum, not believing him. “What’s inside your shirt?” You say pointing to the now wet stains on his shirt.

“What?” He looks down at his shirt. “Oh well, I–”

You reach forward, not allowing him to finish his subtle white lie. You reach inside his shirt and pull out the two bowls of ice cream.

“Now how did those get in there?” He says faking surprise.

You smile and shake your head. “You just can’t put your foot down, can you?”

Jake sighs and leans against the wall. “I did. I promise I did.”

“Then why are you sneaking ice cream up here?” You say through a soft chuckle.

“Because you didn’t hear what they said to me..” He says. He folds his arms over his chest, similar to how the twins did earlier. “I’m ‘mean daddy’ and they ‘don’t like mean daddy’.”

You stick out your bottom lip in a pout and rub your hands up and down his arms. “Honey, they don’t mean it. They adore you, Jake. They’re just upset because you actually punished them for their actions during dinner.”

“But it sucks hearing that.”

“Trust me, babe, it won’t be the last time you’ll hear them “not like you”. When they’re older and you ground them, it’ll be “hate” instead of “not like”.”

“Oh great.”

You smile. “Jake, they won’t mean it. It’s just anger but it’ll subside.”

“So what do I do now?” He says.

“Go clean up.” You say. “I’ll talk to the boys.”

After cleaning and going back downstairs to the kitchen, Jake grabs a couple of clean bowls and remakes the ice cream bowls for the boys. He feels two pairs of arms wrap around each of his legs and when he looks down he sees the twins looking up at him.

“We love you Daddy.” Jude says.

“Yeah, and we’re sorry too.” Tommy pipes up.

He bends down to meet them at their level. “It’s okay boys.”

“Are you still mad at us?” Jude asks.

Jake shakes his head. “No buddy, I’m not mad at you. I was never mad at either of you–just disappointed. When mommy and daddy tell you to do something, you have to listen. It may seem like we’re being “mean” but we’re not.”

“We know.” Tommy sighs. “Mommy told us the same thing.”

“We’ll be better,” Jude says. “We promise.”

Jake smiles and kisses both of their foreheads. “That’s what I like to hear.” He says before standing up. “Would you like some ice cream?” Both of their faces light up and he chuckles. “Go sit at the table and I’ll bring them to you.”

[ourtearsofrain]

Chapter 14- In An Age Of Darkness Light Appears

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Genre: angst, not quite fluff but they’re coexisting

Word Count: just under 2.7

Warnings: AU typical events/threats/violence, hunting again

--------------------------------------------------------

Danny

Friday, July 15th

“Rise and shine, 7. We have work to do.” Danny feels a swift kick to his thigh, immediately ripping him from his unrestful sleep as he tries to focus his eyes in the light of the day.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Yes. Get a move on.” Without even waiting for him to get up, Hazel walks away from him, the sound of her boots on the river rock growing quieter by the second. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he finally notices Samuel near his feet, packing what little resources they had removed from their bags back up.

How is it morning already? I slept through the whole night. Noticing the dark circles under Samuel’s eyes, confusion riddles Danny as he tries to put two and two together. “Why didn’t you wake me to swap shifts with you or Hazel?”

“You looked tired. Figured you’d hunt better with more sleep.” Samuel shrugs before moving to his side and helping him sit up as the ache in his abdomen flares up. “Just don’t tell Hazel, she thinks I swapped with you while she was sleeping.”

“Oh- well, thanks.” That was almost… nice of him? To let me sleep instead of waking me up. I don’t know if I believe his excuse but it’s no use to press the topic. Danny tries to keep his mind under control as Samuel unwraps the bandages around his abdomen, his breath hitching unintentionally as he brushes his fingertips gently across the remains of his wound.

“This healed up nicely. It’s almost no more than a scar. How’s your shoulder?” Samuel looks up at him as he asks, causing Danny’s mind to go completely blank momentarily.

Why is he looking at me like that? How can he look at me like that? He looks- he looks beautiful. Realizing that he hadn’t responded, Danny snaps himself out of his daze as he moves his left arm around, testing the limits of his shoulder. “Barely hurts now, I should be able to hunt just fine today with the bow.”

“Good. Otherwise, we’d kill you.” Hazel’s interruption reminds them both that there was in fact another member of their group, that they weren’t just alone together. “C’mon, boys. Let’s get moving.”

Pretentious bitch. Danny stares daggers at Hazel as she walks away, somewhat thankful that she couldn’t see it. As he stands, he realizes that he still wasn’t wearing any shirt, remembering that Samuel had thrown the scraps of it into his bag after cleaning it as best he could.

“Oh shit! Sorry, I forgot to give this back. Here.” As if Samuel could read his mind, he holds Danny’s jacket out to him with one hand, his bag in the other.

“Thanks.” Unable to keep his eyes from the bag in Samuel’s hand, the other man finally notices, holding it out to Danny as he zips the jacket up.

“You can have this back now. And this.” As Danny takes the bag, Samuel offers the bow and quiver of arrows next, holding tight to it as he tries to take it from him, their eyes locking in an unblinking stare when Danny realizes he wasn’t letting it go. “I am trusting you to take this, ok? Remember I defended you from Hazel when we were trying to decide if we wanted to risk giving it to you.”

“I know. I promise, I won’t kill you. Hazel, can’t say the same but-” Fuck. Why did I say that. Regret fills him as he looks to Samuel with wide eyes, awaiting his response. To his surprise, Samuel only snorts out a laugh as they start in the direction Hazel had gone.

“Yeah, me too.”

“Oh? You guys don’t get along? Thought you were besties, dynamic duo you know?”

“As if.” Samuel scoffs the words out, looking around to make sure she wasn’t within earshot as he continues. “I honestly can’t stand her. Couldn’t stand her in our district and especially can’t stand her now. I just know she only volunteered because she wanted to be in the arena with me. I swear, she’s obsessed and in love or something, has been for years.”

“And you don’t like her that way back?” Danny guesses, watching Samuel’s face for his reaction. “Is that why you can’t stand her? She won’t stop making advances?”

“Pretty much.”

“So, is she not your type or something? Or is it just her… general personality.” Why the fuck are you asking? Why do you need to know? Seriously, Danny, what use does knowing this information do for you? And what was that thought earlier about him being beautiful? Where’s your head at? You need to focus on staying alive with them, not on how pretty your new ally is.

“First of all, why do you care? Second, you could say that. I don’t really… swing that way if you know what I mean. Yeah, sometimes I do but,” Samuel grimaces as if the thought of him and Hazel together as a couple disgusted him. “Not for her. Never for her.”

“Oh my god, took you two long enough.” Hazel appears seemingly out of nowhere, her tone an exasperated huff as she looks between the two. “What were you doing back there? Seriously, it doesn’t take that long to get ready.”

“Why don’t you do us all a favor and get off your high horse?” Samuel shoots back immediately, his frustration evident in his tone as if he was upset Hazel had interrupted their conversation.

“Fuck off!” Neither say anything more as Danny’s eyes flit between Hazel and Samuel, wondering which would be the first to crack under the angry, yet awkward shift in the air.

“So… hunting. Yeah?” Real smooth. When Hazel sends a death glare his way, Danny can’t even find it in himself to disagree with her annoyance at him, but he knew he would have been the one to get their group back on track no matter what.

“Fine. Let’s go.” Just as Hazel turns away from Samuel and Danny, she whips towards them again as if she had forgotten something. “Wait, what is this? You guys expect me to walk in front of you with no weapon, while you two have a sword, axe, and bow? What shit are you trying to pull?!”

“Oh my god if I give you the machete will you shut up?” Instead of snapping back like Danny expected she would, Hazel only pauses for a moment, visibly thinking through it before stalking back to them.

“Fine.” Danny watches wordlessly as Samuel hands her the machete, his stomach twisting at the look of disgust and fury she sent his way. If she tries to kill me, will I be able to fight her off? I mean, of course, I think. But whose side would Sam choose?

“Daniel, care to take the lead? You are the only one that knows where we’re going after all.”

"Uh, yeah. No problem.” As Samuel had suggested, Danny takes charge of their group as he passes them, trying to ignore Hazel’s look of fury still directed towards him. Danny’s grateful that they remained quiet as they walked through the trees and undergrowth, both because he didn’t want to deal with their arguments, and because he knew that if they made even the slightest sound, it could scare any game near them away.

After walking for what felt like hours without seeing anything, Danny’s ears perk up as he hears a soft rustle in the bushes about 15 feet in front of him, raising his hand to stop the other two. Before they can question him about why he had stopped, he raises his pointer finger to his lips, gesturing in the direction of the sound with his other hand. Silent understanding passes over their faces, and he walks a few paces towards whatever was still rustling around in the bushes, his steps quiet and calculated. I just need to get close enough to see some part of it.

He spots a flash of brown amidst the deep green and immediately ceases his movements, raising the bow with his left hand as his right blindly finds an arrow from the quiver on his back. Nocking the arrow, he allows himself a moment to steady his arm as he waits for the perfect opportunity, finding it quickly. The arrow cuts through the air and finds its target in the blink of an eye as the rustling stops. He wastes no time in getting to whatever he had killed, pulling the arrow from the bushes to find a large rabbit at the end of it.

Removing the arrow, he wipes it on his pant leg and replaces it in his quiver before making his way back to the other two, who had watched the entire event go down in silence. “Hold this, will you?” He hands the rabbit to Samuel, trying to ignore the look of slight awe on his face.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That. I didn’t even hear it, and I don’t know how you could see it through all the leaves and shit.”

Danny shrugs, resuming their path knowing the other two would follow. “Practice.” He chooses to ignore Hazel’s scoff, knowing better than to call her out for it. Jesus Christ, I can’t do anything around her, can I? Ignoring her, he continues on, his eyes scanning their surroundings for the slightest movement.

It isn’t long until he finds some, a soft scamper of a small creature in the bushes to his left grabbing his attention. With how close he already was to the animal, he nocks his bow immediately, watching and waiting to see some flash of the creature’s pelt through the leaves. His body freezes as a small weasel, an ermine, scurries out onto the path before him, stopping just in front of him as it looks up. Oh my god. Daphne? His heart breaks a little more each second that it stays, seemingly unafraid of him. His sadness quickly transforms into rage, understanding the more likely reason he had come across the creature. Those bastards in The Garden were listening in on our conversation. They put that here to test me, to see if I’d crack. I refuse to give them the pleasure.

“What are you doing?! Shoot it!” Hazel’s voice rips Danny from his thoughts and effectively scares the animal away as Danny watches it disappear into the undergrowth. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“There are better animals for meat. I refuse to kill any of them without reason. Let’s keep going.” Danny keeps all emotion from his tone as he resumes his path, praying that if his tears fell, he wouldn’t be close enough to Hazel for her to see them.

--------------------------------------------------------

This is fine, you can do this. Just find the cavern and be alright being back in that place without-

It had taken their group a couple hours to make their way to the fire section of the portion, and Danny had easily found the small “canyon” that Daphne had only days before. They now walked through it without a word, the results of Danny’s hunting held by Samuel and Hazel as he led them towards where he hoped the cavern would be. It doesn’t take him long to find the path into the cliffside, that same soft orange light emitting from within, although somewhat dampened in the dying light of the day. Venturing into it first, he hopes that Hazel and Samuel would follow. What if this was all a set-up? They have food and now know where to cook it, what if they kill me or run? His fears are cast aside as he enters the cavern, the sound of Hazel and Samuel trying not to stumble over rocks echoing against the walls from behind him.

“Holy shit.” Danny turns to see Samuel looking around the cavern with wide eyes, a smile on his face as Hazel emerges from behind him. “How did you find this place?”

I didn’t. He only shrugs as a response, making himself busy as he clears away the burnt remains of his and Daphne’s fire and replacing it with the sharpened wood from his bag. No use for these now, I guess. Thank god the supports and roasting sticks are still here. I didn’t even think about getting new ones.

 “We need to leave, someone else has been here.” Hazel’s voice is sharp as she looks around them in what Danny could only describe as fear, as if she expected to be ambushed by other tributes hiding in the rocks. “They could come back, it isn’t safe here.”

“Daphne and I stayed here for the first day and the first two nights.” Danny shoves the reminder out of his head the second he feels tears come to his eyes, knowing he couldn’t risk Hazel seeing him cry. This is wrong, it feels wrong. Being back here with them and not- and not her. “There’s no one else here, we’ll be fine for a day or two. Trust me.”

“Fine.” Hazel stalks over to join Danny by their makeshift firepit, dropping the game she had been carrying quickly as if she didn’t want to be touching it any longer. “You two start roasting those and I’ll go access our surroundings. See if there’s anything useful out there.”

As much as he hated taking her orders, Danny says nothing as she leaves them again, grateful that he would have at least some break from her. As Samuel joins him, watching Danny’s hands as he starts a fire, he could tell that the other man felt the same. Around Hazel, Sam seemed to have a slight, permanent frown on his face and his shoulders were always tense as he refrained from snapping at her.

“How many did I get? I lost track.”

 “Uhhhh looks like 4 rabbits and 3 squirrels.”

“Not the best I could have caught but it’s good enough.”

“Better than what Hazel or I could have done.” Danny gives him no reply as he sets in on skinning their game, the repetitive motions allowing him to turn his brain off momentarily. Samuel seems fine sitting in silence until Danny sets in on spearing the meat on the roasting sticks before finding a spot by the fire to cook them. “So, how did you find this place?”

“I didn’t.” Sparing a glance over, Danny can see slight confusion present on Samuel’s face, and he quickly continues his explanation. “Daphne did. She’s the one that figured out the arena is split into elements, too.”

“What?”

“Elements. This is fire, she thought the forest area was earth, there’s a water area too, and then the mountains are air.”

“Huh. Well, if that’s true, we’ve already been to the water area, we aren’t good fishers, but the sea is freshwater so that’s a plus. And wait, wouldn’t the mountainy area be earth, and the forest air?”

A small smile graces Danny’s lips at the comment. “That’s exactly what I said. I guess it really doesn’t matter in the end though, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Samuel goes quiet, allowing Danny to finish roasting all the meat, moving on to the organs next. “Hey, thanks for doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Hunting for us, showing us this place. I know Hazel isn’t the best ally to have, and she isn’t going to thank you for it, but I will.”

“No problem. Thanks for you know, not killing me. And making the time spent around her a little more bearable.”

“No problem.” Samuel laughs the words out, sending unexplainable butterflies to Danny’s stomach. God I could listen to that for hours. He really is starting to make this alliance worth it. Don’t get too attached, Danny. Don’t let what happened with Daphne happen again. There can only be one victor.

--------------------------------------------------------

Taglist: @jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka @milojames16 @gretnavannfleet @aioba1503-sdm @sanguinebats @cheersdannyx2 @musicislove3389 @holdingup-fallingsky @freyjalw @Maddie-Rae

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Afterlife Lessons

Masterlist

Chapter Twelve:

Danny didn’t show up at school the next morning.  It made Sam way more nervous than it should, but she couldn’t shake a deep “something isn’t right” feeling.  She could barely enjoy watching everyone be baffled at the gym uniform in the wall or the dodgeballs stuck in the ceiling (though she did enjoy it).

She could tell Tucker was nervous about it too, so she brought it up while they walked to their next class after homeroom, hoping he had more answers than she did.

“So is Danny sick again?” she asked, trying to keep her voice casual, because there really was no reason to be this worried.  He just hadn’t been there to see the results of some pranks he didn’t even know they’d pulled.  She hadn’t wanted him to see them that badly.  Why did she feel so strongly that this was a bad sign?

“I haven’t heard anything,” Tucker said.  Sam wasn’t sure if it made her feel better or worse that he sounded as nervous as she did.  She glanced around the hallway, hoping to spot Danny sneaking in through the doors with an easy explanation about oversleeping again.  Or maybe he still was, and his family just hadn’t been able to drag him out of bed that morning.

Yeah, that was probably it.  There wasn’t anything to worry about.

Probably.

“Hey,” Sam said, ignoring that thought and turning to face Tucker.  “Let’s go check on him.”

Tucker blinked.  “Right now?”

“I mean, it’s not like it’ll take us that long.  We probably won’t even miss the whole period.”

Tucker considered that for a second, then nodded.  “Okay.”

So they both ducked down a side hallway as they passed it, then, once the main hallway emptied out and they were alone, they transformed and dove through the wall.

Sam kept hold of Tucker’s hand as they both flew upwards, intangible mostly out of habit.  They both headed towards Danny’s house, passing above the cars stuck in rush hour, the people out on walks with their dogs or running for exercise, screaming civilians running away from Phantom while he flew for his afterlife from another ghost—

Wait.

Tucker pulled Sam back around, seeming to have realized that was relevant a second before Sam did.  And sure enough, there was Phantom, flying quickly away from them followed by a bigger metal ghost, with a hand pressed to his side as he flew.

“That doesn’t look good,” Tucker said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Sam agreed.  “Come on.”

“Wait, what?” Tucker said, but he didn’t pull away as Sam pulled them both after Phantom and the metal ghost.

Both of the other ghosts were a lot faster than her and Tucker, but they managed to stay at least in sight of them, meaning they saw when the metal ghost shot a huge missile at Phantom that hit him right in the part of his side he was holding.  Phantom cried out in obvious pain, and went down hard into a nearby alley.

“Phantom!” Sam cried.  She managed to push herself to a faster speed to catch up, though she didn’t really have much of a plan.

Tucker seemed to realize this too, because he asked “Sam, what are you—” a second before she slammed them both intentionally into the back of the metal ghost.

The metal ghost made a sound that was more surprise than pain, but it gave Sam enough time to flip around and give him a kick in his big metal butt.

“Go check on Phantom!” she called, letting go of Tucker’s hand, and seeing his intangibility drop as she did.

Tucker nodded at her and dove down for the alleyway, and Sam turned back to the metal ghost, dropping her own intangibility in order to make herself something to shoot at.

“Well now, who is this?” the metal ghost asked, raising an eyebrow with an interested smile.  “Has the whelp brought me some new prey?”

“Ugh, you’re a hunter?” Sam asked, wrinkling her nose.  “I don’t think we’ll get along.”

“That’s not generally a goal of mine, new ghost child,” the hunter ghost said.  He lifted an arm, and fired a similar looking missile right at Sam.

She managed to dodge it, and flew forward just far enough to throw her best approximation of a punch at the hunter ghost.

Unfortunately, the fact that he had a metal suit and Sam wasn’t super experienced at this yet meant she ended up wincing and shaking out her hand more than anything else.

The hunter ghost chuckled.  “You seem new at this,” he said.  He lifted his arm again and aimed it at Sam’s chest, and Sam had just enough time to brace herself for getting hit by a missile at point blank range when, suddenly, a ecto blast sailed over her head and hit Skulker in the face, and then Phantom flew right overhead and slammed a thermos down on top of the eyes of the suit.  He fired it up, and sucked something into it, and then the suit itself started to fall to the ground, seeming emptier than it had a second ago.  Phantom seemed perfectly content to watch it go.

“Stay away from my Sam,” he growled at the thermos, slamming a lid on top of it.

“Woah,” Sam said, feeling herself starting to grin.  That blast looked cool.  She couldn’t wait until she could do stuff like that.

The next second, however, Phantom turned a glare just as angry on her, and Sam floated back slightly.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Phantom snapped.

“Dude, we were just trying to help you,” Tucker said, flying up next to Sam.  “It didn’t look like you were doing so hot, and we were right, ‘cause you weren’t.”

Phantom pressed a hand to his side for just a moment, and Sam spotted green liquid that was starting to seep through his suit, which couldn’t be good.

After only a second, however, he shook it off and went right back to glaring at them.

“I told you to stay away from ghost fights!  It’s not safe!”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sam said, gesturing at his wound.  “You couldn’t have handled that guy on your own!”

“I’ve done it plenty of times,” Phantom growled.  “And you don’t know what you’re doing.  You could get hurt.  And you should be in school!”

“You got hurt!” Sam exclaimed, gesturing wildly at him.

“That’s not the point!”

“How is that not the point?  That guy was gonna corner you if we hadn’t stepped in!  Plus, we’re fine!  Tucker wasn’t anywhere near him, and he didn’t even hit me!”

“He was about to!  Plus, he knows about you now, and that means he’ll come after you again!”

“Good!  That just means we can keep helping you!”

“Not good!  I told you to stay away from ghosts fights for a reason!  It’s not safe, and you will get hurt if you don’t know how to fight!”

Sam threw up her hands.  “So teach us!  We can learn!”

“Absolutely not,” Phantom snapped, crossing his arms and giving her a firm glare.  “I’m not going to let you get hurt.  You’re too important.”

“To what?  I’m no more important than you!  You’re the one flying around protecting everyone all the time!  How are you not sick of doing everything yourself?  We can help you.”

“I don’t want it,” Phantom growled at her.  “I can handle things just fine without you.  I could before, and I can now.”

Sam narrowed her eyes.  “Liar.”

Phantom blinked, seeming as surprised as Sam felt about what she’d said, but he just shook his head and turned away.  “I’m going to take Skulker back to the ghost zone,” he snapped.  “Go back to school and stay there.”

He flew off, and Sam crossed her arms and watched him go with a huff.

She turned after a second to face Tucker, who’d been quiet for most of the screaming match.  He was still looking after Phantom, a concerned and thoughtful look on his face.

“Tucker?” Sam asked, and he turned to face her.  “What are you thinking?”

Tucker shook his head.  “I don’t know.  Something isn’t… I don’t know.”

Sam looked at him for a minute.  “You still want to check on Danny?” she asked finally.

Tucker looked in the direction Phantom had gone, then slowly shook his head.

“Let’s just go back to school.”

Sam nodded.  “Okay.”

She grabbed his hand as they both turned intangible, and they both turned and headed back.

[laxyaklovesloz]

DannyMay 2024 #27 Zombie AU

[Instead of receiving life-saving medicine, Chelsea becomes patient zero: a zombie. Eventually, the zombie apocalypse hits Amity Park.]

“Dad, a ghost shield won’t work against zombies,” Danny yelled across the room. “Zombies are like… the opposite of ghosts.”

“You’re right, Danno,” Jack yelled back while tinkering with the controls. “But with a few modifications, it should work.”

Danny threw up his hands in defeat and stalked out of the ops center. “I’m going to get the blasters ready.”

“You do that, son!”

At the bottom of the stairs, Danny met his mom.

“How are preparations going, sweetie?” Maddie asked.

“You’ll have to ask Dad,” Danny replied hotly. “He seems to think the ghost shield will work with some ‘modifications,’ whatever that means.”

“I’m sure the two of us can figure something out,” Maddie said. She was too calm for the situation at hand.”

“Mom,” Danny huffed, “do you realize what’s going on? Zombies are coming. A ghost shield isn’t going to help! We need blasters, and lots of them!”

“You and Jazz can handle the blasters for now,” Maddie said, just as calm. “Your dad and I will help after we figure out this shield.”

Danny suppressed a growl.

Seeing his expression, Maddie finally changed her tone. “We’ll be okay, Danny,” she said softly. “You know I love you, right?”

Danny sighed, “Yeah, I do.”

Maddie kissed his forehead. “Now, get to work. We don’t have a lot of time.”

≈∞≈

The town was preparing for the oncoming zombies by building a barricade. The ghost shield was modified and expanded to cover the whole city despite Danny's hesitations. He hoped the barricade would help. At the very least, it would slow the zombies down. They weren’t very good at climbing.

There were only a handful of blasters to go around, so residents with guns volunteered to help. Some of them were a little too eager to shoot down zombies. It was like they were training for this very thing to happen. That group called themselves “Preppers.” There still weren’t enough to cover the whole barricade, though, so Danny knew he would have to help out.

He wondered if any ghosts would aid him. Skulker would be able to handle the zombies, but would he be willing to set aside his hatred for Danny? The same went for Ember and a lot of other ghosts. He didn’t have many allies in the Ghost Zone. Then he remembered Frostbite and the Far Frozeners. But they couldn’t fly, so how would he transport all of them through the portal?

Danny clutched his head in frustration, messing up his hair. It felt like all of the pressure was on him to figure out a solution. His mom and dad were in the ops center, still fiddling with the controls. Jazz entered the room and saw him sitting in frustration on the couch.

“What is it, Danny?” she asked.

“Mom and Dad are trying, but will it be enough?” Danny said, not looking up at her. “I just feel like I should go to the Ghost Zone and get some allies, but I don’t know who to ask.”

Jazz sat on the couch next to him and he leaned into her. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a comforting way.

“You don’t have to figure it all out on your own,” she said. “You have allies here. We’ll help you figure it out.”

“Alright, so who do you suggest?” Danny challenged.

Jazz took the question seriously. “What about Princess Dorathea?”

Danny brightened slightly. “I hadn’t thought of her. I’ll go talk to her now.”

Jazz smiled as she watched her brother leave the room.

≈∞≈

“I’d be happy to help,” Princess Dorathea said to Danny’s question. “But you’ll need more than just me.”

“What about your subjects?” Danny asked desperately. “Can any of them help?”

Princess Dorathea shook her head. “I’m afraid they’re not the combat sort. May I suggest Lady Pandora?”

Danny perked up. “You think she’ll be willing to help?”

“It won’t hurt to try.”

≈∞≈

Danny spent the afternoon gathering allies. Pandora agreed to help and offered her minotaurs as well. Danny found more ghosts than he thought possible willing to help him and his town. Eventually, he had an army to fight against the oncoming zombie hoards.

Then he came across Skulker. Or rather, Skulker came to him.

“I heard you’re battling zombies, whelp,” Skulker said. He appeared behind Danny, so Danny whipped around to face him, raising his arms to defend himself.

“What do you want,” Danny spat.

Surprisingly, Skulker held up his hands. “I want to hunt zombies,” he said… gleefully. Danny couldn’t believe his ears. “This is a prime opportunity for me!”

Danny put down his hands. “You’re… you’re serious?”

“Absolutely! And I’ll get others to join you as well.”

“What others?” Danny asked suspiciously.

“The ones you won’t ask yourself,” Skulker replied. “You know, Johnny 13, the Box Ghost, Ember, those kinds of people.”

“You’d do that for me?” Danny wondered.

“Not for you,” Skulker said. “For the hunt. I assume you’re outnumbered out there, else you wouldn’t be looking for help. I can grow your numbers.”

That was the strangest encounter Danny had ever… well… encountered.

≈∞≈

The day came when the zombies appeared at the border of Amity Park. To Danny’s surprise, the ghost shield actually kept them out. He guessed he should call it the zombie shield now. He wondered what that would mean for ghosts. In his ghost form, he went up to the shield and tentatively held out his hand.

Nothing happened.

What a relief! Danny sighed and went to tell his troops the good news.

Then the battle began.

[q-gorgeous]

Holey Moley Chapter 1

fanfiction

ao3

warnings: blood, gore, angst, ambiguous ending

heres the first chapter of my ectoimplosion fic :D this was a really fun event to participate in. its based off of art by @nicktoons-brainrot yoyoyoyoyoyo

“Everything’s all clear out here.” Danny spoke into his earpiece. “That ghost that my parent’s scanner picked out must’ve cleared out already. Hopefully they went back to the ghost zone.” 

“The city’s all clear too.” Tucker replied into his ear. “Tonight’s a pretty quiet night. The ghosts must have all stayed at home tonight.”

“The only ghost I saw was the box ghost.” Sam said. Danny could hear her moped starting up through her microphone. “I gave him one of the empty boxes I put in my backpack though and he went back home for the night.”

“Great. Thanks for patrolling the city tonight while I checked out the woods, you guys.”

“No problem!” Tucker called into the microphone.

“It’s no biggie, we’re here to help.” He could hear Sam smiling as she talked. “I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.”

“Bye, guys!” Tucker said.

“Bye!” Danny heard their feedback cut off and he took his Fenton Phones out of his ear and put them in one of his pockets. 

He tilted his head to look at the sky. The stars were twinkling softly. Tonight would be a good night for stargazing. 

The sound of a twig snapping startled him. He looked away from the sky and his eyes widened. 

His mom stood in front of him. She was dressed up in a suit he’d never seen before. It was bulkier than her normal hazmat suit and it was equipped with a full gas mask. Why did she have that?

“I’ve got you now, Phantom.” She said, her voice muffled by her mask. 

Danny backed away. She pulled a gun from where it was hanging off her back next to a canister. He’d never seen this weapon before. He didn’t know what it would do. 

“Oh, yeah?” He said, backing up more. “You’ve said that plenty of times before. What makes this time so different?” 

“I’m done pulling my shots.” She snarled out. “Jack never agreed with making weapons like these.” She held up the gun in her hands. “He said they were too dangerous. That we couldn’t make weapons that would be able to harm humans as much as it did the ghosts. But I knew that this would be the only way to get you. That this would be what it would take.”

Danny’s heart sank. He floated up into the air as he continued backing away from her. “So you went behind your husband's back to make that? I’m sure he’d love that.”

“It won’t matter. Not if I come home with my prize.” She growled out. 

Danny couldn’t see her face, but he could tell that there was no more arguing with her. He turned around, ready to fly away, but he was struck in the shoulder by a blast from her gun. He fell back to the ground and he grimaced in pain. As he laid there, he heard a click as she turned a dial on her weapon. A soft spraying sound filled the air around them. 

Danny looked back up at Maddie. She was spraying some kind of gas from her weapon. He covered his mouth as he breathed it in and started coughing. What was this stuff? 

“You’re the only ghost who still mimics breathing. You take your guise to appear human the furthest I’ve seen in any ghost. But this will also be your downfall. By insisting on mimicking human breathing, you’re only allowing this neurotoxin to be absorbed inside of you that much faster.”

“Neurotoxin?” Danny whispered quietly. He shakily stood up. 

“Soon you won’t be able to get away.” He could hear the way she smiled. It’s a smile he’s never seen on his mom before, and he’s glad he didn’t have to see it now. “Soon you’ll finally be mine.”

She leveled her gun at him and switched the dial back to the other setting. Just before she could pull the trigger, Danny shot an ectoblast at the gun and she hissed, dropping it to the ground as it sizzled in her hands. She snarled but then started laughing as Danny ran away.

“Run all you want, but in a couple minutes you won't even be able to stand!”

Danny tried jumping into the air, but only glided for a couple of seconds before his feet hit the ground again. 

Did this thing neutralize his powers?

He continued running but he grew more and more lethargic as he went on. He needed to lose her somehow, but what could he do? He couldn’t fly. He didn’t even know how long he would be able to run for. His best bet would probably be to go intangible and hide in the ground beneath him but he didn’t want to risk getting stuck if his powers malfunctioned. He didn’t want to find out what it would be like if he went tangible while inside the dirt. 

The only other option he had would be reverting back to his human form. His ecto-signature as a human showed up as a lower level than his ghost form, maybe his mom would just believe that he had gotten away and that another ghost was roaming the woods. 

Danny coughed a wet cough. His limbs were getting heavy and he didn’t know how much longer he had left. He couldn’t transform back into his human form now. His ectoplasm was thicker and his pulse was slower as a ghost, his heart would pump his human blood and whatever was in his system much faster than it was now. 

He stumbled in between the trees. He tripped and leaned against one for a moment, his heart pounding, when he felt something drip down his face. Was he crying?

He dabbed a gloved finger at his eye and when he pulled it back his heart stopped. It was covered in ectoplasm. He was bleeding out of his eyes. 

His head swam. Of all the injuries and power related grievances he’s had, he never expected this one. 

“There you are!”

Danny jumped as his mother’s masked face appeared from around the tree he was leaning against. He could hear the crazed ill intent she held in her smile as she spoke. 

Suddenly, she punched him in the nose. The force and surprise of it sent Danny flying towards the ground. Really, he shouldn’t have been so shocked. He did destroy her weapon after all. 

“After all this time I’ll finally get you on my table.” She towered over him menacingly. “I’ll finally get to cut you open and see how you work. Why you’re so different.”

“Ghosts aren’t what you think they are.” Danny coughed as he looked up at her. “Maybe they’re all like me and your biases make you blind to it.”

“No.” Maddie took another step towards him. “There’s no other ghost quite like you. The ghosts we have studied in Amity Park all fit our hypothesis. You are unique. I want to know why.”

Despite the situation, Danny rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the ground. “The ghosts in Amity Park are just about the worst demographic you could have ever picked to study.”

“But they know they are ghosts.” She stared at him through her mask. “It’s almost as if you think you’re still human.”

Danny’s eyes widened at that. He took a step back and she tilted her head at him. 

“Did that touch a nerve?” He could hear the smile in her voice again. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Danny coughed.

She barked out a laugh. “You don’t? You try to win over the town’s favor, you play your hero games. No matter how good you think you are, your humanity is a farce. It’s not real.”

“How would you know?” Danny ground out. His legs were shaking. He needed to leave. “What about your own humanity? Where has yours gone?” 

“I have more humanity than you ever will.” She walked towards him and he took another step back. 

Danny tripped over a tree root and nearly fell backwards to the ground. “What about your son? Do you think he’d want to see you like this?”

“I do this to protect him.” He can hear her clench her teeth together. “Him and his friends have been brainwashed like everyone else in this city. They’re always trying to talk us out of ghost hunting, that we don’t need to be doing this. But we have to get rid of scum like you.”

Danny took a deep breath.

“You love your son?”

Maddie had a visceral reaction to that question. “How dare you!” She snarled and Danny took another step back. “Of course I love my son.”

“If you really loved your son you would listen to him.”

She lunged at him suddenly. Danny dodged her and grabbed onto her arm and the mask over her face. He called an ectoblast to both of his hands and started burning the material of her suit away. 

She let out a shout and pulled away from him. He could hear the sizzling of her suit from where he stood. Her mask had burnt away revealing one crazed and raged filled eye. 

“You Phantom son of a bitch!” Maddie screamed at him. He flinched at her words. “I’m going to kill you!” 

Danny’s heart jumped at the way his mom ran at him. There was no remorse, no guilt, no hesitation. She really meant what she said. She wanted to kill him. 

Without thinking Danny shot an ectoblast at her. It hit her hard in the stomach and sent her flying away from him through the bushes. He turned around and started running as fast as he could through the woods. 

He could feel himself slowing down, though. He needed to get home. If he could just find some ecto-dejecto he could stabilize himself while the neurotoxin worked its way out of his system.

He just had to hope he made it there in time.

[jakescaravel]

Love At First Sight

This is sort of just a cute little Jake imagine, it's really short, enjoy!!

Josh Pov

You’ve been sick for a few days so unfortunately you haven't been able to join the group for your normal festivities. Secretly you are more than enjoying the peace and quiet and today you sit on your couch while the rest of the boys are off somewhere practicing. Your phone lights up on the coffee table.

*Messege from Jake*

Jake

Josh, I met someone today.

She was our server today when we went out to lunch. Her name is y/n and we got to talking because she mentioned she liked music. Josh, she’s so perfect you don’t understand. She likes all the same stuff I like, cream, the who, led zeppelin, the beatles. There was just something about her though, she was so passionate and got super excited to talk about music with me, and her face lit up and her cheeks got all pink. And she was staring into my eyes when she talked to me. I felt my heart actually break just looking at how perfect she was. And she was so pretty, beautiful really, just really really beautiful. And her hair looked so soft and she was wearing really cool clothes. And she just seemed like I didn't know, just so sure of herself? if that makes sense like she was so confident and held herself so well. and she was so easy to talk to.

Oh boy. Another one of Jake’s crushes that won’t last longer than a month.

*Messege from Sam*

Sam

Send help he won’t stop smiling like an idiot and he won’t shut up about her.

*Message from Jake*

Jake

i think I love her

Josh

Jesus christ slow down, did you even get her number?

Jake

Yeah i did, i was so nervous to ask for it but danny made me, he just said fuck it! and I was like yeah! 

Josh

So she gave it to you?

Jake

She did yeah, she started blushing too, and i was blushing 

*Message from Sam*

Sam

Yeah it was disgusting, they were just smiling at each other and me and Daniel we’re sitting there like.. what the fuck??

Josh

Sam, stop reading Jake’s messages.

Sam

Well he won’t tell us what he’s typing about so I had to see. Aren’t you supposed to be sick or something? Go to sleep.

*Message from Jake*

Jake

She also had this really pretty headband in her hair, it was pink and orange and had flowers in it. And I don't know if this is weird to say but she smelled really good. kind of like earthy, like a garden, but really sweet. and her nails were matching the hair band, it was so cute.

*Message from Danny*

Danny

dude you gotta help, he’s actually like going crazy 😭

Josh

Yeah I know, I'm trying to deal with it.

*Message from Sam*

Sam

HE SAID HE'S WRITING A SONG FOR HER SEND HELP!!!!!

.

.

.

[karatekels]

I saw your writing recently, and I must say, I love,love love it! Do you think you could write something about kk3 Terry? The reader maybe training along with Daniel during that time. Him not being able to say no to keep the act up and genuinely training her on the side, a contrary to Daniel's 'classes'. Maybe they've been a little flirty here and there but as soon as she found out Terry's plans, she's been rather cold. She gets a little too 'friendly' with Daniel and Terry snaps with the immediate need to claim her *spicy spicy* , dragging her to his home that night to make her his! The little virgin gal...

I'm sorry I went on forever there, but my brain conjures up scenarios 100 miles a minute for this guy! Thank you in advance🤍🤭

I’m happy to give it a try, anon – this will be my first KK3 Terry request (though I do have an ongoing fic on AO3 with him right now!) This should be in 2 parts, so enjoy! (Part 2 | Oops, I lied. Part 3)

This now has a sequel that starts here!

---

Silver Seduction - Part 1

---

“Trust me, Y/N. Mr. Silver offered to train me, and since Mr. Miyagi won’t, I’ve got to take him up on it! I can’t let those guys knock me around, and if you’re going to be hanging out with me too, I need to be able to keep you safe!” Daniel LaRusso explained, walking with you through L.A. to a karate dojo. You had only known the boy for a week or so now, but he seemed to have latched onto you with the attentiveness of a puppy and a strong sense of chivalry.

Danny was a sweet boy, just shy of eighteen, but was entirely too sweet, not to mention young, for you. You had been introduced by your little sister, Jessica Andrews, who was planning on leaving L.A. to reunite with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, just as you had arrived to visit your aunt. You were on summer break from university and having just turned 21, were looking forward to a bit of independence in a city as big and important as L.A.

Before leaving, Jessica had filled you in on what had been going on with Daniel. A karate champion from last year’s All-Valley, Daniel had had several unpleasant run-ins with bullies trying to threaten him into competing in the tournament again, and was currently having a strained relationship with his mentor Mr. Miyagi, who he was living with for the summer. Your heart went out to him, imagining he must be quite lonely without any family or friends his own age to confide in, and you agreed to keep an eye on him while you were in L.A., as you didn’t have any friends here either.

“Settle down, Danny – no one has attacked me yet!” you point out, laughing good-naturedly at his enthusiasm for playing the knight in shining armour.

“And I won’t let it come to that,” he promised sagely, and you bite back a smile at his serious tone. “Okay, here we are!” he announced, pointing to the entrance with a grand gesture.

“Cobra Kai karate?” you say incredulously, reading the name above the door. “Isn’t this the place where the last bullies came from?” you ask, trying to keep things light, but unsure if the boy had thought things through.

“Yeah, but that was under the old sensei, Sensei Kreese! Mr. Silver said that he had died, and he’s done nothing but help me so far. He seems like a really nice, hard-working guy, and he doesn’t have any students right now since he’s fixing up the place.” Daniel explains. “Now come on, I don’t want Mr. Miyagi to find out we were here.”

Danny leads you into the dojo, and you walk in quietly to see a man training on his own. He moved through a series of punches and kicks; his kicks were especially amazing, especially for such a tall guy! After a moment or two, he bowed to his reflection in the mirror and turned to face the two of you, trotting over to greet you both. Uh-oh, busted.

“Hey hey, Danny!” he welcomes Daniel warmly, seeming excited, and you take a moment to look at him more closely. He was an incredibly handsome man, probably in his late-twenties or early-thirties, with long black hair tied back in a tight ponytail, stunning blue eyes, and a friendly smile. He seemed to be looking you over as well, his eyes twinkling as he takes you in. Maybe accompanying Daniel on his karate quest had been a good idea after all?

“Hi, Mr. Silver. Listen, I thought about your offer, and-”

“Now Danny, where are your manners? Don’t you think you’d better introduce me to your lovely friend here?” he interrupts. “C’mon, am I gonna need to teach you how to be a gentleman and karate?”

“Oh, uh, sorry, Mr. Silver, of course. This is Y/N Andrews, she’s visiting for the summer. Y/N, this is Terry Silver – he’s going to train me in a different kind of karate.”

Mr. Silver turns to you, bowing, and you blush lightly. “Y/N,” he repeats, savouring your name, “great to meet you.” He hasn’t turned any lights on in the dojo, and the light from the windows is fairly dim, which must explain why his eyes look like they’re glinting.

“Likewise, Mr. Silver,” you reply, smiling shyly. He looks like he’s about to say something else to you, but Danny cuts in.

“So yeah, Mr. Silver, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to take you up on your offer. Just short term, I mean…”

“Trouble? Are you kidding? It would be an honour!” He responds to Daniel with enthusiasm that seems genuine, but you think you may have seen a flash of annoyance on his face as he turned from you to the boy.

“How does Mr. Miyagi feel about it?”

Daniel hesitates. “Mr. Miyagi, he uhh… he doesn’t know about it.”

You give the two of them some space, stepping away to take a closer look at the dojo as the matter didn’t concern you. You had never been in a karate dojo before, but it felt a little familiar. You had taken gymnastics classes for years, while your sister had taken up rock-climbing, and you imagine that this was where the feeling of familiarity stemmed from. Based on the moves you’d just seen from Mr. Silver, karate sure looked like a lot fun. Maybe he could teach you too, you thought, half-serious.

“It’s not much yet,” Mr. Silver says, and you jump, not having heard him approach. He puts a hand on your shoulder to steady you, giving you an apologetic smile. “But it will be when I’m through with it!”

“I’m sure it’ll be great, Mr. Silver! Danny says you’ve been working really hard to fix it up,” you encourage. He smiles at you, taking a couple of steps closer and bending down to speak in your ear.

“Hey, c’mon, you’re not some kid I’m teaching. You can call me Terry when it’s just us!” he whispers conspiratorially. You find yourself smiling, pleased that he sees you on more equal footing with himself.

“Okay, Terry,” you emphasize, and he gives you a pleased smile. “Where’s Daniel?” He gestures down the hall to a closed door.

“Changing; I had a spare gi in the closet. He wants me to train him, and we’re not gonna waste any time!” he declares. You find it sweet of him to take Danny under his wing so immediately. “What are you doing with that kid, anyway? You his babysitter or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” you laugh. “My sister introduced me to him before she went back home, said he’s been dealing with some kids harassing him. I don’t really know anyone here, and he’s a nice kid, so I thought I’d keep an eye on him.”

“Hey, you know me now, so you can hang out with someone your own size!” he jokes, clearly referencing Daniel’s short stature. You take a step back, making a show of looking up at him to emphasize your height difference, and he laughs. “Well, someone who’s also an adult, then,” Terry concedes, smirking slightly and looking over your shoulder.

“I’m basically an adult!” you hear a voice from behind you, and turn to see Danny standing there, having changed into the uniform for training.

“Danny! Wow, you look great,” you say, gesturing to his gi. You hope you haven’t embarrassed him with your conversation. How long had he been standing there listening, anyway?

“Thanks, Y/N!” he says, beaming at you. He was so sweet and innocent, and it was so easy to make him happy. “Are you gonna stay and watch me train?” he asks hopefully, and you can tell he’s eager to show off. You look over at Terry.

“I’d love to, if it’s okay with Te- with Mr. Silver, of course,” you say, winking at him. He grins, giving you a once over, and you blush. “I mean, I’d love to learn a few moves myself. Oh, I know!” you exclaim, hopping up and down in your excitement. “You guys can use me to practice on!” Daniel balks at the idea immediately, but Terry considers you with a thoughtful expression.

“I don’t wanna hit you, Y/N!” Daniel protests, but you shake your head.

“No, nothing like that. But if Mr. Silver is going to show you how to flip someone or sweep their leg or something, you can practice on me! That way he can make sure you’re doing it properly. I won’t get hurt, I’ve done gymnastics for years and I know how to land safely! Please let me help?” you ask, looking at them both hopefully.

“I don’t know…” Danny hesitates, still seeming uncomfortable with the idea, so you turn to Terry, knowing that if you can convince him Daniel will have to go along with it.

“Oh, come on! I let you and Danny practice tossing me around, and I pick up a few moves in the process! It’s a win-win! Please?” you ask, eyes bright. You had told Jess that you would keep an eye on Danny, especially with the bullies that had been bothering the two of them lately, and this would give you a great opportunity. Plus, you really wanted to spend some more time with Terry. You’d had fun talking with him today, and he was more than easy on the eyes. Terry eyes you, sizing you up and clearly contemplating something.

“Alright, alright!” he gives in, raising his hands up and grinning. “I guess I could use the help. But you’re both gonna have to listen to me, alright?”

You and Danny both nod, excited to watch Daniel train and to learn from Mr. Silver – Terry – yourself.

---

You landed on the floor on your back as your legs were kicked out from under you, hitting the ground the way Terry taught you, and giggled breathlessly. That was fun!

“You like that, huh?” he asks, grinning down at you. You take his offered hand and hop to your feet, smiling back. You had had a great time, watching Terry put Daniel through the paces – you tried to follow along with the kata as best you could, trying to copy them but not wanting to take Terry’s attention away from Danny. He’s the one that really need to be trained, after all.

“See, Danny? I’m totally fine!” you point out to him, and he folds his arms and rolls his eyes, but gives you a smile.

“Fine, I guess it’s okay,” he concedes, and you and Terry share an amused look.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Terry says. “Why don’t you go get changed, Mr. LaRusso, and I’ll walk Y/N through another couple moves so that she can practice with you tomorrow?” Danny nods, heading back down the hall to get changed. Terry turns back to you, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“You’re a pretty fast learner, Y/N,” he compliments. “I saw you trying to follow us through the kata, and you’re not bad. I bet I could really teach you a lot if I didn’t have to focus on the Karate Kid,” he says, pointing back to where Daniel was with his thumb. You blush at the praise.

“Thank you, Mr. Si- Terry,” you correct yourself, and he smiles wolfishly. “But Daniel only has a few days to train, so he should of course take priority.”

“So I’ll train you separately!” he proclaims, and you go to protest, but he cuts you off. “I was gonna have to train Danny without you anyways, to go over the stuff that you can’t help with, and he can’t train all day; he’ll wear himself out!”

“Won’t you wear yourself out, training both of us all the time?” you point out, raising an eyebrow at him.

“It takes a lot more than that to tire me out,” he says, winking at you, and you bite the inside of your cheek to keep you from smiling. Still, you hesitate, not wanting to take up too much of his time.

“The response you’re looking for is ‘Yes, Sir’,” he offers teasingly, quoting himself from an earlier conversation with Daniel, but his eyes are intense. You bite your bottom lip, and see that his eyes track the movement.

“Yes, Sir!” you concede, giving him a mocking salute. Terry beams at you.

---

And so it went. Terry would spend the next few days alternating between teaching you and Daniel together, going through the kata and using you to demonstrate moves, and then teaching you separately, Daniel visiting the dojo in the early afternoon and you coming by in the evening.

You were on your way to the dojo now for your evening class, and took the time during the walk over to think about all that had happened in the past week. You were definitely sore, and had more than your share of bruises, but from the way Daniel had been limping around (trying his best to hide it), you can tell that Terry was training him way harder.

Still, the training had been worth it – not only were you learning to be a decent fighter, and helping Daniel to improve, but getting to spend time with Terry, especially during your 1-on-1 sessions, was really fun. You had been getting more comfortable with one another, and had definitely been flirting throughout your private training with him. Did he get a little closer to you when correcting your form than he would need to, and did his touches linger as he adjusted your hips, adjusting your stance to land a proper punch? Most definitely, but you couldn’t find it in you to mind. Terry seemed genuinely pleased by your progress, and you loved the charming smile he gave you when you perfected a move. And yesterday, when you walked into the dojo, he had presented you with a beautiful flower, saying that he’d seen it on his drive over earlier that day and that he couldn’t resist picking it for you. You had accepted the gift, smiling shyly, and had reached up, pulling him down into a hug so you could place a quick kiss on his cheek.

He was just so wonderful, and you could definitely feel yourself falling for him. You were very inexperienced when it came to dating, having only had a couple of relationships in high school, and had been too focused on studying in college to waste your time with boys. But if Terry decided to ask you for a date, you knew you would be helpless to resist him.

Smiling at the thought, you turned the corner to the Cobra Kai dojo, but were startled out of your daydreaming by the sound of a panicked scream and laughter. The door banged open, and you quickly dashed into the bushes outside to hide. Daniel came running out, clutching his stomach, and you could see blood on his shirt and that he looked absolutely terrified. What on earth was going on?

You heard the door open again, and heard bare feet hitting the pavement at a run.

“Get back in there, LaRusso,” demanded a young boy in a white Cobra Kai gi.

“Leave me alone, Barnes! I’m not fighting anymore!” Still, he turned to face the boy as he said this, assuming a defensive stance and trying not to let the pain on his face. Barnes? Wasn’t that one of the kids that had been harassing him and Jessica? What was he doing here?

“Hey, we ain’t done with you yet!” yelled the boy, taking a threatening step towards Daniel.

“But he is now done with you.”

Mr. Miyagi stepped in between the boys, appearing from nowhere. Where had he come from? Had he seen you? You tried not to panic, pushing yourself further against the outer wall of the dojo to stay hidden.

“Was I talking to you, old man?” Barnes sneered dismissively.

Quick as a flash, Mr. Miyagi had picked up the boy and thrown him clean through the dojo door.

“You stay here, Daniel-san.” He ordered, walking in after the boy. Daniel hesitates, eyes wide, but after a moment or two sneaks in after him. You hear a scream, and the lights in the dojo go out. Turning, you try to see what’s going on through the window. Where was Terry? Was he alright? But you can’t see anything through the closed curtains, and can only hear the sound of fighting. Just how many of them were there? You couldn’t bear the thought of Mr. Miyagi going up against more than one person. You knew he was a good fighter, but he was so small.

Suddenly, you hear the now-familiar sound of Terry’s voice, but he doesn’t sound quite right. He sounds mean.

“You think this is the end of it, old man? I’m going to open Cobra Kai dojos all over this valley!” you hear him scream. Terry was fighting Mr. Miyagi?

“Hell, I might even teach for free! From now on when people say karate around here, all they’ll mean is Cobra Kai karate – John Kreese’s karate! You won’t even be a memory!” Kreese? Hadn’t Daniel said he died? What the hell was going on.

You hear Daniel’s voice, close to the entrance. “Yes he will! You won’t!” he cries passionately, and the door opens again, and you see Danny and Mr. Miyagi step out onto the street once more, both thankfully looking unharmed. As the door swings shut, you hear the sound of men laughing evilly, like hyenas, and it sends a chill up your spine.

“Now will you train me?” Danny asks desperately.

“Hai,” the man agrees, nodding sagely, and the two of them head down the street back home. But Daniel suddenly stops in his tracks, looking horrified.

“We gotta tell Y/N to stay away from them! She’s probably on her way for her lesson!” he exclaims, taking off down the road. Mr. Miyagi walks quickly after him, and you feel your heart warmed at the thought that they were looking out for you. But you were an adult, and you didn’t need others to take care of you, at least, not without you getting a word in first.

Steeling yourself, you take a deep breath and walk into the dojo. Immediately, you take in the mess of broken glass and paint, and are immediately relieved that Danny and Mr. Miyagi appeared to walk out unharmed. Stepping quietly into the dojo, you see the younger boy, Mike Barnes, on the ground, looking bewildered with his head in his hands. Terry – covered in paint, for some reason – is talking in a low, angry voice, to a shorter yet still very intimidating-looking man, who you recognized from signs in the dojo as John Kreese. So, not dead then, you realize, and your heart immediately clenches at the realization that Terry had been in on it from the beginning. How could you have been so stupid?

“Terry?” you call out to him, hating how your voice comes out weak and shaky, but your anger has caught you so off-guard it isn’t able to burst out of you quite yet. Barnes jumps to his feet and immediately takes a fighting stance, but Terry waves him off with a hand. The three of them move to approach you, with Terry in the centre, eyes wild with excitement.

“Hey hey, beautiful!” he greets boisterously, clapping his hands. You’d think he’d be a bit less exuberant, covered in paint and having had his ass kicked by a man twice his age and half his size. He lopes over to you, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you over to the others, and you’re in such shock by his lack of awareness that you let him.

“Johnny, this is Y/N! Ain’t she something?” he asks, standing behind you with his hands on your shoulders and looking to Kreese for approval. The older man looks you up and down, and you feel dirty.

“When you told me to enjoy myself in Tahiti, Terry, I felt bad enjoying the company of those women you’d provided. It would’ve cleared my conscience to know you had found yourself a girl stateside!” Kreese joked, leering at you. The pair share a laugh that sounds more than a little cruel, and you feel yourself start to tear up. But the feeling of devastation is quickly overwhelmed by your anger.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” you yell at him, wrenching yourself out of his grip. “What did you do to Danny?” he crosses his arms, looking down on you like he’s disappointed that you’re even asking, and shakes his head.

“Don’t worry about it, baby girl,” he croons, reaching for you, but you swat his hand away, and a flash of anger crosses his face. “That little prick ruined the name of this dojo, my dojo, and I needed to teach him a lesson!”

“What are you talking about? I saw him come out of here bloody and hurt! He’s just a kid!” you exclaim, and he laughs under his breath, smirking. Who was this guy, and where the hell had the sweet, kind Terry you’d gotten to know gone? “You… you lied to me.” You hear your voice shaking, and you’re close to tears. You hate how weak you must look in front of these men, these monsters, who would jump a kid just for winning a karate tournament.

“Hey, I didn’t lie to you,” Terry says smoothly, and you try to interrupt him, but he continues. “I lied to him, and you just happened to be there.”

You’re shocked at how cold and callous he’s being, your mouth falling open, and he comes towards you once more. You feel yourself shrink back in fear.

“Come on, doll. This doesn’t have to get in the way of you and me,” he croons, reaching towards your face. Without thinking, you reel back and punch him in the face, causing him to stumble back, more from the surprise than the force.

“Don’t you ever come near me again, do you hear me? I’m fucking done with you!”

Kreese looks shocked, but doesn’t make a move towards you, standing his ground with his arms crossed and surveying the situation, but Barnes comes towards you again, fists clenched. Terry, one hand clutching his bleeding nose, reaches out with the other to stop the boy.

“Leave it,” is all he says, and Barnes obeys like a well-trained dog. You back out of the dojo, staring at Terry through your tears, and as soon as your back hits the door you turn, running off into the night.