Imagine a bear standing in the river during a salmon run, catching fish out of the air in its jaws.
Shining red scales leap from the waters directly at this bear blocking the path.
Itās a mermaid with a pufferfish mace that slaughters the bear and eats it while the salmon it was hired to protect leap past safely to the mating grounds.
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Danny is a young adult studying at Gotham University. He leads a quiet, normal life, just the way he likes it
For some reason, the Waynes took notice of him. They investigated him (why?) and analyzed his DNA (how?!)
It turns out he's Daddy Bruce's biokid. Now those arrogant entitled people won't leave him alone, calling him ātheir brotherā and āmy sonā
Thank God he's legally an adult, so they can't force him to live with them. Danny wants nothing to do with them, but for some reason his refusal only attracts them more (and one of them claims that all this serendipity and his attitude is a ploy to get closer to them?! Fuck off!)
The reason they took his DNA is because Tim noticed Danny looked suspiciously like Bruce, and was a bit trigger-happy after some past incidents with lookalikes. He didnāt necessarily think the chances were high that something was amiss, but better safe than sorry.
But then he found Danny was Bruceās kid, and things went off the rails. Several surreptitious background checks later, and he decided to meet up with their new brother.
***
āIs this seat taken?ā asked an unfamiliar voice, the other young man already sitting down across from Danny at the cafe table and setting his bag down beside him.
āNoā¦?ā
āGood. Iām Tim Drake.ā
Dannyās eyebrow shot up. āThe billionaire? Yeah, right. Whatās next, āDanny, I urgently need you to buy in on my next big corporate endeavor, youāll make millionsā?ā
Tim flushed. āNo, really. Iām not trying to scam you. I actually am Tim Drake. And I need to talk to you.ā
Danny began to edge towards the corner of his seat, but Tim continued, seemingly oblivious to his obvious desire to leave. āLook, this is going to sound weird, but⦠it turns out youāre my brother.ā
Danny snorted. āPull the other one, itās got bells on.ā
āNo, seriously.ā He pulled out a sheet of paper from his bag, unfolded it, and slid it across the table. Dannyās eyes flicked across it, catching upon a few words such as āBruce Wayneā and āpaternal matchā.
Okay, this was getting creepy. āHow the hell did you even get this? I sincerely doubt my DNA is on public record.ā
Tim bulldozed past the question. āIāve already taken the liberty of informing the others and setting up a time for you to meet them this weekend. Just show up at Wayne Manor at lunchtime and Alfredāll let you in. Or I can send a car to pick you up atāā
Danny stood up abruptly, cutting him off. āNo thank you. I like my family plenty much, and I donāt need you fruitloops butting in. Good day.ā
He bundled up his belongings and left the cafe in a rush.
Tim sat there for a moment, and sighed. He pulled out his phone and dialed. āYou won the bet; weāll need to pick him up.ā
Iām imagining Danny calling his parents after getting cornered by more Waynes. Heās all like ālook Iāve told yāall multiple times to leave me alone so you leave me no choice but to call in backupā and puts it on speaker phone.
Maddie answers, āHI SWEETIE!! Itās a bit early for your usual call, is everything alright?ā
Danny: āHey Mom, just a moment, is Dad there too? Can you put it on speaker?ā
Danny, smirking at the Waynes around him now: āOh classes are great! Gotham University truly is everything itās cracked up to be. But Iām calling to let you know Iām being harassed.ā
Maddie and Jack gasp, Tim tries to say: āWait no, we arenāt-ā
Jack can be heard running away shouting: āIāLL GET THE GAV READY!! WEāRE COMING TO SAVE YOU DANNY!!ā
And Maddie asks, voice like steel: āWhoās harassing you? What do you need from us? We can call the Dean and your school counselor.ā
Danny: āThank you, calling them would be nice. Iāve already told both whatās going on, but more voices being heard will help them realize itās serious. As for who⦠Timothy Drake Wayne stole my DNA and is convinced Iām Bruce Wayneās bio-son. More of the Wayne family have threatened to take me by force to their Mansion against my will.ā
Maddie: āWHAT?! No that- that canāt be right. No. No. Weāll be there soon as weāre able to sort this out. Iāll make those calls on the way. DO NOT let them take you anywhere. You remember the self defense I taught you?ā
Danny, grinning even wider at the nervous looks the Waynes are giving each other: āOf course Mom. But fighting on campus would lose me my scholarship and Iād rather not do that.ā
Maddie: āWell then, I suppose if they find you off campus thatās a different matter isnāt it?ā
Danny and Maddie share an almost identical dark chuckle, and Tim is having some regrets.
After hanging up Danny looks up at the people who claim to be his family, and says, āI love the parents who raised me and they love me. I donāt want to be part of your family. Iāve told you to leave me alone many times, but now youāve got more of your family involved so Iām getting mine involved too. You escalated first. But I will give you a fair warning. If the rumors are true and the Waynes fund Batman, pass on the message that my Dad is a bit of a crazy driver. He drives a battle tank-ā
Dick cuts in: āBattle tank??!!ā
Danny continues like he didnāt hear: ā-and itās kinda like if the Batmobile was an RV, so it might cause a little bit of property damage. But he wonāt shoot the bazooka unless-ā
Jason: āBazooka?!ā
Danny: ā-unless heās shot at first. Now, Iāve had a long day of classes and Iām tired so Iām going to walk away. Youāre going to let me.ā
Iāve been imagining this story prompt for a week now and am finally writing it down
Danny and Tim are in the same class (college or high school idc) and Tim has a raging fever from some infection he got tumbling around Gotham rooftops and alleys. Itās a filthy city, infections are gonna happen (does he have a spleen? dealers choice).
Danny, Tim, and another classmate are put on a team project for the duration of the class, and the other notices Tim is flushed and sweaty and calls him out for it like āHey dude I think youāre super sick you should go to the nurseā and puts a hand against Timās forehead to test for fever. Timās too exhausted to protest. Heās legit almost passing out but good at hiding it.
āNah I can never tell,ā Danny says. āI run cold so checking temp isnāt something Iām good at.ā
āWell maybe thatāll help him wake up a little,ā and the other classmate grabs Dannyās hand and puts it against Timās cheek.
Tim sighs and presses his face into Dannyās hand like a cat. Danny blushes. Other Classmate laughs and shoves Danny closer to Tim, who absolutely buries his face against Dannyās neck and drags him into a vice-grip-hug.
Danny is sputtering and blushing tomato red.
The teacher finally notices and walks over. Whole class is watching, laughing, whispering. Other Classmate explains to teacher that Tim is super feverish and teacher tells Danny to take Tim to the nurse.
Danny tries to move away but Tim holds on tighter and Danny eventually just sighs and lifts Tim into a princess carry (making more classmates giggle or whistle) before walking out of the room to go find the nurseās office on campus.
Story extras -
Tim is given some basic meds and the nurse calls his emergency contact to pick him up with orders to visit their family doctor. (Bruce or Dick or anyone else, whichever fits your timeline.)
Tim becomes lucid enough to ask Danny why heās so cold (he hasnāt let go yet) and Danny says, āWell not every meta can fly or throw laser beams. Some of us are just chilly. And it comes with the perk of not needing a winter jacket.ā ā in this story Danny isnāt shy about being meta, itās a good cover to deflect any ghostliness, and being naturally cold is an easy answer alongside being something thatās obvious to anyone who touches him by accident. He plays it off nonchalantly. Maybe he goes on a rant about metahuman rights and how just because some people got a funky gene it doesnāt always result in superheroes and villains, some people are just accountants who hiccup bubbles.
Tim is severely touch starved and enjoys holding Danny for that reason. No other. Nope. Thatās all, just the touch starvation. Itās really nice to have a prolonged hug and be held by a really cute cold boy.
Danny tries to pass Tim off to whoever comes to pick him up. Itās embarrassing trying to pry Tim off him and Danny canāt seem to make the blushing go away. āIām so sorry. Wow this is so awkward. No this has never happened to me before and Iāve never talked to Tim before today weāre only in a couple classes together no we arenāt secretly dating why would you think that?! No he didnāt āfall asleep in my armsā he literally passed out from fever please get him to the hospital asap he needs an iv for fluids and meds!!ā
Danny eventually gets back to class, which is nearly over. Other Classmate joined a different group and the teacher gives Danny a printout of the assignment that he can complete with Tim within the week. Great⦠now Danny has to see the cute clingy boy again. He canāt let Jazz know about today or sheāll read way too much into this.
Ectoplasm and Lazarus water aren't the same thing, not even close.
They are two completely different substances, one is an interdimensional substance that holds the multiverse together and exists in every dimension at once through leaks and bursts from natural portals and thin spots. While the other's origin is unclear but seems to only exist in a cluster of dimensions collectively within the DCverse orbit.
While some have liked the two substances together due to their color and associations with death, they aren't the same.
Unfortunately for Danny, when he hops over to the DCverse and flashes his green eyes in Gotham he gains the attention of a group of vigilante's who are overly suspicious of glowing green eyes. No matter how much he tries he can't shake them and nothing he says can convince them that he has no connection to the Lazarus pits or that he has no idea what the Lazarus pits even are!
āI told you!!ā Danny shouted from 20ft above the rooftop, āI donāt know what a Lazarus is!!ā
He was exhausted. These creepy shadowy people had been chasing him all over the city for hours. They didnāt trigger his ghost sense but kept popping up out of nowhere like they could teleport. And more kept showing up! All heād wanted was to take some pictures of the cool gothic architecture for Sam.
āLazarus was a guy who,ā the blue and black one starts but gets interrupted by a smaller one in red with yellow belts.
āGreen shiny goop! Like if neon were green instead of red, like your eyes!ā
āThatās ectoplasm,ā Danny waves his hands as if to say Duh!
āI donāt care what name you call it,ā blue and black said, āitās dangerous and youāre infected and we need you to calm down and come with us.ā
āI AM CALM!!ā Danny shouted, āOr, I WAS calm and now you guys are freaking me out! And Iām not infected! Ectoplasm isnāt a disease, itās like my blood or something? Maybe my cells are made of it. I dunno and Iām not gonna let you creepy shadow dudes arrest me because One: ACAB, and Two: I like my blood where it is thank you.ā
āItās not blood,ā the big guy with a massive black cape said. He spoke in a tone like he was trying to keep the peace but was also impatient and tired of Danny acting like a child.
Too bad Mister Cape, I am a child so myeh!
āIt is a dangerous substance that harms those who come in contact with it. Weāve seen this before. The glow in your eyes is a very specific shade of green.ā
āLOTS OF THINGS ARE THIS SHADE OF GREEN!!! Kiwis! Granny Smith apples! Chameleons! The Eastern Green Mamba! Tansy Beetles. Hummingbird feathers. Hellebore. Celosia. Gladiolus. The aurora borealis!!ā
Rambling thoughts cuz itās 3am and Iām sitting here at work eating microwave noodles on my lunch break and thinking about Alfred Pennyworth.
I love that dangerous old grandpa butler. Heās a fantastic background character that can do a variety of cool things or just be a steady support depending on the comic or episode or fic.
Itās common in fandom to make him more supportive and more badass and more knowledgeable than his comic runs, and he loves Bruce and all the Batfam immensely.
But, well, he often supports Bruce through terrible decisions that hurt everyone else. Enabling actions most adults would know to walk away from or prevent. I know this is highly dependent on the author and comics are telling a story and people are imperfect in many ways, and retcons happen all the time
BUT!! This is where my dpxdc brain chimes in:
A āwhat if Alfred was a ghostā idea but his Obsession is Bruce. Not the family, not the Waynes, not the estate or his job⦠just Bruce.
What if he raised this kid after Martha and Thomas died, watched him become Batman, and then the first, or third, or 12th time Batman gets hurt in the field and Alfred has to drive out to pick him up (specifically thinking of that Fatherās Day comic) he just⦠gets killed. Heās an old man, after all, and whether or not he had training he couldnāt win against a whole group of men trying to beat Batman into the dirt.
But his ghost could.
And Alfred Pennyworth was not going to let death stop him from looking after Bruce Wayne.
Now, I figure this event would happen before Dick came on the scene, so his only thought was Bruce. Get Bruce home. Get Bruceās wounds cleaned and wrapped. Donāt tell Bruce he died. That would only complicate Bruceās already strange and difficult life. Just take care of Bruce. Support Bruce. Help Bruce. Make Bruceās life easier in any way he could. Bruce is all that matters.
Now of course when the kids come along Alfred loves them too. But they arenāt his Obsession. When Bruce hurts his children, emotionally or physically, Alfred doesnāt approve - he will certainly voice his disapproval - but he doesnāt leave either. He stays. He always stays.
Because he must look after Bruce.
That's a cute take on ghost obsessions :) full send
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Danny's parents are wanting Danny home for the holidays, but Danny really really really does not want to go. Danny barely acknowlages that he has a family, so Tim's not sure what the big deal is. So Tim is trying to convince him to go, until Danny fires back with:
"No! This is the perfect set up of a Hallmark Movie! Do you want me to go back to my home town, leaving behind my buisness man partner, and bumping into my teenage hood fling, falling back in love with them and leaving said buisness man so I can help them run a Christmas tree farm or a ranch or something?"
Danny ends up needing to go back for some reason but now it's Tim who doesn't want him to go and is paranoid. Who did you date when you were younger? How many people? Do you think they'll be around? Should he just come with you?
Bonus if he does run into Valerie or Sam or someone he was dating when he was younger. Tim is internally freaking out because Danny's hometown is the perfect set up for a hallmark movie, it's almost cartoonish. Crap is that a redeemed Dash who is helping out the community and wanting to apologize and catch up with Danny?
Danny and Tim have that Hallmark discussion and Tim is reluctant but agrees that Danny should stay in Gotham for the holidays - not because he agrees, but because he sees how stressed Danny is getting and drops it for his boyfriendās mental health.
But then Danny gets a call that his dad had a heart attack. Jack is in the hospital.
So Danny books a flight anyway, super last minute and Tim couldnāt cancel the five days worth of pre-holidays/end-of-year meetings he had scheduled even though he really wanted to go and support his boyfriend through a bad emotional time. Danny was freaking out about his dad but also trying to reassure Tim it was okay, he shouldnāt miss those meetings, and besides, Bruce had invited them over for Hanukkah dinners and Tim should go to those.
They reluctantly part ways at the airport, sharing a long enough goodbye kiss and hug that the airport cops yell at Tim to move his car.
Jazz picks Danny up from the Elmerton airport and catches him up on the last 15 hours of hospital notes, saying Jack is in high spirits pretending everything is fine while hooked up to monitors that say otherwise, and the only reason he hasnāt left the hospital bed is because Maddie threatened him multiple times with taking away his favorite soldering iron, denying him fudge in the future, and (the most impactful threat) saying sheād call her sister to come trade sleep-shifts with her so theyād always have eyes on him.
Cue Tim receiving texts updating him as promised. He finally gets a break to check his phone that had to be turned off while talking to the Board Members.
Danny: plane landed safely, Jazz is here
Danny: sheās always been good at seeing what people need emotionally and wanting to help others so I knew sheād be taking this harder than me but itās still weird to see her looking like this
Danny: like sheās 16 again and just a scared kid
Danny: AND THEN OF COURSE sheās immediately psychoanalyzing me
Danny: āyou shouldnāt feel guilty about leaving, Danny. It was the right choice for you.ā
Danny: āThis isnāt your fault, Danny, you canāt protect everyone.ā
Danny: like yeah
Danny: I know
Danny: Iāve been to therapy
Danny: geeze louise
Danny: this obviously isnāt my fault
Danny: but at the same time the guilt is a real emotion and I canāt help thinking that if Iād
Danny: sorry we pulled up to the hospital
Danny: seeing my dad like that is
Danny: heās always been so strong you know? Massive in height muscle and personality. Always energetic. And now he looks his age. Itās weird to think of his age being a real number. I know I left home at 18 for Gotham U and have only been back twice in five years but
Danny: my parents look old now
Danny: what am I supposed to do with that?
Danny: okay we booked a hotel room next to the hospital and bullied Mom into eating and sleeping
Danny: Jazz is watching Dad for now and Iāll take the next shift
Danny: Hope your meetings today went well. Donāt let them bully you into giving them a raise before the working class get one. You were telling me last week how the end of year numbers are higher than average and you know thatās gonna get those greedy grubbers twisting their hands like cartoon villains with money signs in their eyes
Danny: give me a call when youāre free?
Danny: love you
Timās heart ached that he couldnāt be there to hold his boyfriendās hand. But he called and laughed at Danny for typing out āgeeze louiseā instead of swearing like a normal person. Which brought up their old fake-argument of Danny not swearing at all, and come on canāt you just say āshitā once? For me? Which got Danny laughing and that helped ease the pain of distance.
They talked for a long time. Danny getting all his fears put into words while Tim consoled him, and then he told Danny all the āoffice dramaā of the day to lighten the mood a bit.
It was good, and they ended the call with their customary āI love youā and ālove you tooā and promises to call again before breakfast with continued texting throughout the day when able.
Tim went into his meetings the next day after a call with a half-asleep Danny grumbling about ācontinental breakfast is a scamā and reluctantly turned his phone off for the next several hours. He calmed himself by planning to search up restaurants near the hospital to order delivery for all the Fentons, and possibly get some non-perishable foods sent to their hotel room so they wouldnāt have to think about what to eat while everything else was taking up the mental load.
At lunch break he turned his phone back on to another pile of notifications.
Danny: just found out Star is a doctor in this hospital! Thatās so cool!
Danny: did I ever tell you about her? She was one of those popular kids at my high school. An A-Lister. And yeah she joined in with the bullies sometimes but she was kind when they werenāt around to add peer pressure. She was always way smarter than the rest of them and focused more on her studies than school drama. Now itās paid off. Sheās almost done with her residency. Planning to join a general medicine family practice type thing. Good for her
Danny: sheās not one of the doctors on my dadās case, I just saw her in the hallway and we had a minute catch-up
Danny: dadās heart surgeon says the stint is acting right. I donāt know what all these numbers mean but sheās pleased so thatās good. Maybe I should have taken more biology classes than the very minimum required
Danny: I donāt regret using up all my spare time in shop classes tho
Danny: had to build that prototype rocket and crash it into Wayne Tower or else I wouldnāt have met you
Danny: Doctor Lorel talked to Mom about getting a physical therapist to teach Dad some cardio-friendly exercises once heās back home. Low impact to start, gotta go slow and keep track of the heart monitor heās been given. Lots of talk about āgoing at his bodyās paceā and āfocus on healing before strengtheningā
There were more texts about his morning, pics of the hospital grounds and some selfies. Tim had seen pictures of Dannyās family before, but most of those were old. He hadnāt even met Jack and Maddie in person (Jazz had visited Danny on campus a few times when their holidays lined up) so it felt more real to see Danny in pictures with his parents now.
The family photo he had on his desk showed him at 14, Jazz at 16, and his parents in their early 40ās. Now Danny was sitting on the edge of his dadās hospital bed, a strained smile on his face as Jack had an arm around his sonās shoulders and grinned at the camera like he was at a football stadium. His skin was recovering from being grayish, though, and his wrinkles were deeper.
Tim shook away the memories of his own father in a hospital bed, and instead hit the call button.
Their lunchtime talk was shorter than yesterdayās but Danny was in a better mood. Seeing his dad improve and hearing the doctorās comments had done a lot of good. Tim also told him to pick what kind of food he wanted delivered - yes, seriously, no you canāt stop me Iāll just decide if you donāt, you need to eat something besides vending machine snacks and hospital cafeteria options, and speaking of hospital food, about how many people are on staff so I can have a bit of catering delivered to the staff lounge as a thank you?
Danny made fun of him for throwing money around. He approved though, saying it was better for billionaires to spend money on people instead of stocks. It was a well-worn topic they both agreed on - when theyād first started dating Danny would go on rants about how billionaires shouldnāt exist and got startled when Tim agreed. When Tim talked about all the ways Wayne Enterprises is trying to give away as much money as possible Danny started adding ideas to the pile.
The lunch break was almost over when Tim asked in a teasing voice, āSo youāre not gonna leave me for Doctor Star right?ā
āWHAT?! No!! Why would you say that?!ā
āA high school bully who turned into a smart and kind doctor sounds a little Hallmark-ish. And I know how much you love stargazing.ā
Danny laughed, which Tim echoed.
āYouāre the only constellation for me,ā Danny said in an overly sappy voice, but it made Timās insides squirm with joy anyway.
The call ended with āI love youās and Tim ordered several hot and cold dishes from the restaurant Danny chose before running back to the meeting rooms. Turning off his phone wasnāt so hard this time, but he was still looking forward to their call before bed.
The meetings ran late, and Tim quickly shoved a protein bar in his mouth (knowing Danny would call him a hypocrite after feeding a whole hospital) as he walked to the carport and turned his phone back on. He was gonna sit in his car and blast music while he caught up on the afternoon texts, then talk to his boyfriend while he drove home.
Danny: Jazz demanded I leave the hospital for a couple hours
Danny: said I have to set a good example for mom
Danny: so Iām borrowing her car and driving around
Danny: she doesnāt have any good music in her car so Iām blasting the radio
Danny: the dj is the same guy as when I was in high school
Danny: pure nostalgia
Danny: I bet I could get this station in Gotham if I get an extra large antenna and fiddle with an old radio. Bruce has an old radio, right? The kind that looks like a jukebox? I think I saw one in the third or fourth storage room. That house is too big.
Danny: and before you get your knickers in a twist (thatās my job ;)) Iām not texting and driving
Danny: I pulled over at the park
Danny: itās legit a nice day out
Danny: almost forgot what the pure unfiltered sun felt like
Danny: if Ivy didnāt have a propensity for damaging infrastructure Iād say you should throw money at her to clear up Gothamās smog somehow
Danny: plants clean air right?
Danny: maybe we should let her destroy a few condemned buildings and warehouses anyway to plant gardens or parks. Worth it to get sunlight in Gotham.
This was followed by a selfie of Danny laying on thick grass, eyes closed against the bright sunlight making his face shine. He was so beautiful. He looked way more relaxed too, the tension around his eyes was nearly gone.
Danny: lol I almost fell asleep
Danny: maybe Iāll let Jazz be right this time
Danny: about getting out of the hospital for a bit
Danny: itās so noisy there. All the machines and beeping and people
Danny: which is exactly what you say every time you visit me at work, all the workshop noises and people screaming to be heard
Danny: but itās different so :P
Danny: ope just got a text from Jazz saying Doc Lorel found a physical therapist thatās available to meet dad so I gotta head back
Danny: it was nice to drive around Amity tho. Everything is familiar. Iām surprised it still feels like home. Itās kinda nice. Gotham is so big I feel like Iām still getting used to it after five years. Guess Iām still a small town boy in my core.
A strange mixture of emotion was bubbling in Timās gut.
Relief that Danny could relax for a while. And that the doctors were doing a good job looking after his dad. There was also a grumble of home-pride. Nowhere was better than Gotham. But heād grown up here and devoted his life to it, even when traveling the world he never felt connected to any place like he did to Gotham.
If Danny felt that when stepping foot back in Amity Park would he want to move back? Heād never mentioned that as a possibility. Had actively avoided the topic, actually, and now that he thought about it, this was the most Tim had heard Danny talk about his hometown and the people in it. And he was reconnecting with his parents. Would his dadās heart attack trigger a desire to move home and be near them?
The memories of Timās own dadās hospital stay flooded him with anxiety and doubts. Heād visited his dad during his coma often, and when he woke up Tim had given up being Robin for a while to be more present and available in his dadās life. What would he have done if his dad hadnāt died? Would he eventually return to being a vigilante or would he have given it up for good? What would Danny do? Was he having these thoughts and not mentioning them? Would he ask Tim to follow him to Amity Park and work through tele-conferences like other Board Members? Could Tim leave Gotham if Danny asked?
Stop.
Breathe. Breathe deep and slow.
That was anxiety trying to tie him in a knot. None of those things had happened or were likely. Theyād talked about their relationship in long-term life planning, and Danny wanted to continue his education after a couple years working on these engineering projects.
Focus on the other feelings. Relief. Hope. Pleased at the doctorās proactive attention. Excitement about calling Danny and hearing his voice.
Yeah. Call Danny.
The time stamp on the last text was three and a half hours ago, so the meeting with the physical therapist should be done by now. It was past dinner time (or maybe still, with the time difference between them) but if he was interrupting anything Danny would just say so and text him a better time to call.
The phone rang twice before the call was picked up, but before Tim could say anything Dannyās voice hissed in a whisper,
āSh! Sh! Stop ringing! Shhhh!ā
āDanny?ā Tim spoke quietly, even though he wanted to shout whatās going on?
āTim! Hi!ā Danny said in a false-chipper falsetto whisper. He was scared. And trying to hide it.
āWhatās happened,ā Tim demanded in a donāt argue with me I know you too well tone.
āUm. Soooooo Iām kind of hiding,ā he continued to whisper.
āAre you in danger?!ā
āSh! Sh! No. No danger. Just. Um.ā
āJust spit it out Danny.ā
āIām in a hospital, Timmy, thatād be unhygienic.ā
Tim couldnāt help the snort and huff of laughter that escaped him. If Danny was being snarky he was fine, even if it meant he was extremely nervous about something, at least it wasnāt a rogue attack. Not that heād be hiding in that situation.
āCan you tell me whatās going on?ā he asked quietly to match Dannyās tone and hopefully help him calm down.
āDash is looking for me.ā
He said it like he was a fox running from a pack of dogs and men on horseback.
āI think youāve mentioned that name twice ever? Someone annoying at high school?ā
āNot just annoying!ā Danny hissed, trying to stay quiet but was obviously agitated. āHe was the worst! He bullied me every day! Trapped me in lockers and dunked my head in toilets and shoved me out of the locker room in just a towel for everyone in the hallways to laugh! I started fighting back after I got powers but then Sydney thought I was the bully and gave me one of those classic donāt misuse your powers kind of lessons so I stopped but when I didnāt fight back anymore Dash kept going and yeah, sure, I avoided the worst of it and could phase out of lockers and stay invisible when I felt like it and didnāt bruise anymore cuz getting shoulder checked into a wall isnāt enough to damage me now and, really, I kind of stopped caring about him for the most part because my life got way more complicated with all the ghosts and stuff but he was always around and then started a Phantom Fan Club with Paulina so even when I was flying around town he was somehow always around and now heās a physical therapist and Doctor Lorel was soooo excited to introduce him as āthe strongest physio on the team, heāll be able to catch Mr Fenton if he stumbles during exercises,ā which is great cuz my dad is a seven foot tall mountain but the thing thatās freaking me out the most is that Dash was being professional and kind and made my parents laugh and kept looking at me funny when no one else was looking so I said I was gonna go get dad some water and now Iām hiding because what am I supposed to do with a Dash Baxter thatās grown up and matured and is gonna help my dad heal and his biceps are the size of my head which means that he could crush me if I wasnāt so durable and-ā
āFenton?ā
Dannyās hissing rant had been growing in speed and volume and Tim was already planning to fly out there immediately to seek revenge and protect his boyfriend when the new voice cut in. It sounded loud compared to their whispering.
Danny had gone silent and Tim could hear the hinges of a door squeak open.
āWhy are you in the closet?ā the new voice asked with pure confusion.
āBecause coming out is a choice,ā Danny blurted without hesitation. His mouth often spoke before his brain caught up when he was under extreme stress.
A short burst of surprised laughter cut off, and turned nervous to chuckle out, āDonāt I know it.ā
āWait what?ā Dannyās voice cracked.
āUhhhh yeah, I, um, I came out as gay last year.ā
āWHAT??!!ā
āYeah. But thatās not why I - um, I was looking for you. I was hoping we could talk?ā
āWhat in the blazes could you want to say to me, Dash?!ā
āI wanted to apologize? I was a real piece of shit to you.ā
Silence was the only reply. Tim couldnāt picture what face Danny was making. Was he shocked? Pissed? Was he considering punching Dash unconscious and running for it? Tim liked that idea right now.
When Danny finally spoke his voice was low and flat.
āYou werenāt just a piece of shit, you were the entire asshole.ā
Oh.
Oh no this was a Danny Tim wasnāt familiar with.
Not only did he swear (twice!) but he spoke slow and clear. Not his stressed yapping or nervous jokes or righteous anger.
Tim had thought heād seen the full range of Dannyās emotions. He was so open with them. Said it was part of being a ghost, that emotions are what make a core and ghosts canāt hide what they are.
But here was something new.
A lack of emotion.
āYes,ā Dash agreed, and sounded like he was about to cry from guilt. āAnd I know apologizing wonāt change the past but Iām sorry. I donāt expect you to forgive me or anything, but I wanted to say it? And, well, I thought we could go somewhere and talk so things would be less awkward or, or so I wouldnāt upset you when I was working with your dad, but maybe itās better if I recommend someone else? I know a couple really good therapists who taught me when I was doing sports medicine so Iāll leave their numbers with your mom or Jazz and you donāt have to see me around.ā
Good, thought Tim. Leave. Go away.
āNo wait,ā and Dannyās normal voice was back. Exasperated, probably with himself more than Dash, and suddenly tired. āIām not forgiving you here, but. You⦠when you were teaching Dad those little exercises for his shoulders and lungs you⦠you did good. And Dad is pretty stubborn and doesnāt listen to anyone but Mom most of the time but you knew how to work around that which is⦠good. So you should keep working with him. I donāt have to be there at every session. So just. Keep doing good, and maybe thatāll eventually create some balance on your scales. Maybe.ā
āOkay! Okay yes! Um, thanks. Did you wannaā¦?ā
āWhat.ā
āYouāre still kinda wedged into that closet did you want to come out?ā
āIām bi.ā
There was a shuffling noise as Danny moved, and maybe the sound of cardboard boxes tumbling out of storage.
āThatās no secret, werenāt you dating Foley and Manson?ā
āNo? I mean I dated Sam for a bit but Tucker is super straight. Really into Furries though.ā
āOh. Didnāt clock that. I donāt have the best gaydar. Guess that comes from being in denial for so long.ā
āReally. Ya think?ā Danny sassed, and Tim was glad to hear it. Overhearing this entire conversation was too much to process, and a return to normality was soothing. He still wanted to fly over tonight. Maybe if he didnāt sleep he could get the batwing there and back before his 9am meeting. He just wanted to hold Danny for a moment.
āIt really shouldnātāa taken me this long,ā Dash still sounded nervous but relief that the hard bit of conversation was over was working its way back into his words, making them flow easier. āI mean, Kwan was my best friend, he still is of course, but he kept dropping hints I could talk to him about anything. And he would add dudes into our games of Fuck Marry Kill just to gauge my reaction. Shoulda known I was gay when I got a little too excited about fucking Phantom.ā
Danny started coughing, choking on his own spit, and Tim was so startled he accidentally elbowed the car horn.
Dashās concerned āAre you okay?ā at Dannyās hacking cough was immediately followed by āWhat was that??! Is your phone on a call??!!!ā and then a horrified gasp, āoh no I was just really inappropriate. Iām at work. That wasnāt okay to say even though youāre not my client I am so sorry please donāt report me please forget what I said!!ā
āI AM ACTIVELY TRYING TO WIPE THAT MEMORY!!ā Danny yelled in equal horror. Then his voice came closer to the phone mic and he said, āPlease tell me you have a villain in Gotham with a mind-wipe gun or something.ā
āWait! Who is that?! Whoās in Gotham?ā
āMy boyfriend! I was talking to him in the closet! No, shut up! Tim please tell me thereās a memory wipe gun! If I have to steal the parts from Wayne Tech to build one myself Iāll do it! Donāt think I wonāt!ā
Tim couldnāt answer because he was laughing so hard he was wheezing.
Maybe he didnāt need to plan Dashās downfall after all, he was doing that himself just fine. Flying overnight still sounded like a good idea though. Couldnāt let this turn into an enemies to lovers Hallmark situation.
AKA "Red Robin jokingly says I'll protect you to a civilian Danny Fenton, unaware this is a ghost proposal. Danny, also unaware this is a ghost proposal, accidentally accepts. So, uh... cue the awkward honeymoon phase?" Dead Tired DPxDC prompt idea!
Or: Tim Drake is a simp with a helping of gratuitously hot Danny Fenton
Red Robin is a disaster bisexual on a good day and a desperate simp every other day, or that's what Jason tells him. But seeing Daniel Fenton - Gotham-U aerospace genius and terrifyingly hot kinda-sorta-crush - about to get mugged feels like a good opportunity for Tim to show he's above all that. He's a hardened, experienced vigilante. He can do this.
Except Danny throws a punch hard enough to drop one of the muggers like a bag of bricks. His blue eyes almost glow in the dark, expression curling into something snarky and surprisingly self-confident. (Tim absolutely does not find that attractive, no. He's a professional.) Red Robin drops down into the alley with familiar ease, bo staff already swinging on the second thug. Danny's on the third one like an animal, slamming the poor guy into the wall so hard his head ricochets off the wall and he slumps in Danny's hold.
He's only wearing fitted white tee and jeans, the same outfit he was earlier on campus, so Tim can see the way his biceps flex and his pecs strain the chest of his tee when his shoulders roll back.
"Wow," Danny drawls. His midwestern accent should sound tacky, but Tim feels a flush burn his pale skin. Thank god for masks. "I was almost a goner there. Thanks for the save, Red."
Tim thinks very, very hard so he doesn't stutter. He's sarcastic and quick-witted, the smartest detective since Batman. He can flirt. (And maybe he's using his Red Robin mask for confidence, but who cares? The amount of times he's gotten tongue tied when trying to ask Danny out, despite sharing four gen ed classes with him, makes him want to claw his eyes out in embarrassment. Tim needs this win.)
"Seems more like an assist than a save. But I can be your knight in shining armor any day." Oh, god. That was the worst pick up line. Tim wishes one of the thugs would suddenly wake up and fight back just so he could get distracted from his utter failure of attempted flirting. Just as Tim's about to backtrack, apologize and say he's just joking, Danny laughs. A giddy, I-can't-believe-I'm-talking-to-you laugh that Tim's personally familiar with. He's suddenly dumbstruck by the idea that Danny might want to flirt with him back.
"Yeah? You'll be my knight?" Danny smiles earnestly, the usual nonchalant bad boy expression softening into something awkwardly endearing.
"Yeah," Tim agrees breathlessly. Jokingly, he adds, "I'll protect you."
As if Danny needs it. Clearly, he's more than able to protect himself, considering how easily he cleared two absurdly jacked muggers. He also has the intelligence of a potentially terrifying Rogue. And he's hot with his tight t-shirts and piercings and perfectly messy hair. And he's funny, matches Tim's sarcasm with his own snark, unashamed of the things he cares about with a passion. Anyways.
"I'll walk you home?" Tim means to sound confident and assured, like how he normally is as Red Robin, but it comes out almost bashful. And he is bashful... bashing his damn head against a wall. Ugh. Get it together, man! Danny laughs again and it's like the stars twinkling or something. It's beautiful. He wants to hear it all the time.
"Yeah. That's-uh, I'd like that." His crush smiles, a flush starting to dust over his ears and cheeks, and Tim turns to tie up the muggers so Danny can't see the goofy smile that takes over his face.
(The next morning, after taking Danny home, Tim Drake wakes up to a tattoo on his left hand. Specifically his wedding finger. The tattooed band is somehow glowing green with incomprehensible runes encircling his finger just beneath the knuckle. What. The. Fuck.)
((Danny Phantom stares incredulously at the wedding band on his hand. The words I'll protect you scrawl in Infinite Realms ancient script like an unbreakable vow. Oh, shit.))
Danny went about his day as normal, just switching the ring onto his thumb.
Yes, he was postponing his crisis about whatever just happened until he could go see Clockwork and demand answers, what of it?
Except... When he went to school, he saw Tim- a guy he shared a few gen-ed classes with and he would hesitate to call a friend but damn was he hot- with a band-aid on his wedding finger on his left hand, and the tattoo-ring (more tattoo than ring, the opposite of his) glowed through the band-aid, pulsing slowly in time with Danny's heart.
Fuck.
Tim is Red Robin?
How hadn't he seen this before? In hindsight, it was so obvious, especially with his experience in the teenage vigilante field, but Tim was doing better at hiding it than he had.
Same dark eyebags that looked more like tattoos than biological function, though.
Fuck... He had to talk to Tim about it, didn't he. Well... He didn't have any answers... He could postpone it until he got some answers.
What day of the week..? Thursday? Just avoid Tim the rest of the day and the next one, too, travel to the Ghost Zone over the weekend and get some answers, and then... What? Pull him aside and ask to talk after classes on Monday?
They had another shared class later that day and Danny was so caught up in his thoughts he crashed right into him walking through the door. Both men jolted in surprise, Danny reached out to steady Tim but - displaying a complete lack of Red Robinās usual fluid grace - his legs buckled, and Danny somehow ended up holding Tim in a manner that looked like he dipped him at the end of a dance.
There was a beat of silence.
Then all the other students that were early for class started laughing and whistling. Danny was immediately red in the face and pulled Tim upright, then dragged him back out the door into the hallway and even a little farther into an empty alcove to get away from the two people chanting āKiss! Kiss! Kiss!ā
Tim was almost tomato red with blush, his lips pressed tight together as he stared at Dannyās arm that curled behind him, hand pressed against the back of his ribs where heād pulled him away, which Danny quickly released like it burned him. There was a split second of disappointment in Timās expression that caused Dannyās heart to soar and crash at the same time, and all this rollercoaster of emotion is what made Danny blurt out the words,
āWeāre married.ā
Timās face froze.
Those dark blue eyes that were usually so aware despite the dark bags beneath them suddenly froze like a computer screen had fully gone Blue Screen Of Death. And Danny would swear he heard the Windows startup sound when Tim blinked, nodded seriously, and met Dannyās eyes.
āOkay. Yeah. What do I need to know?ā
āUh.ā
Danny knew Red Robin had been through a lot of strange situations in the past. All of Gothamās vigilantes had wild stories and rumors circulated on campus. But it was another thing entirely to see the hero heād been crushing on just accept the situation and ask for details like it was a mission brief.
Tim spoke up when Danny didnāt.
āIāve done the fake boyfriend thing twice before. Helped a stranger ditch a stalker. Scared him off and helped her get a restraining order. Second time was to mess with some homophobic family during Christmas. A high school friend had just come out as bi and his family kept saying shit like āso just choose a woman and itās fineā so he wanted to freak them out and asked me to ruin the holiday on purpose. It wasnāt my fault the tree caught fire but I definitely take credit for dumping the punch bowl on his aunt after she started yelling slurs.
āSo whatever your situation is just tell me what story weāre going with and Iāll memorize the details youāve already told to whoever youāve lied to about being married. Iāve never been a fake husband so we gotta figure out how we met, dating stories and an anniversary, embarrassing but benign family stories to share, and also discuss boundaries for PDA. If we stay the night anywhere Iād sleep on the floor of course. I can get a couple of my siblings to vouch for our relationship if necessary, they owe me some favors. Iām great with makeup so I can wear a disguise if you donāt want to end up in the papers being seen with a Wayne.
āOr,ā and then Tim paused. Heād been talking very fast, nodding to himself as he planned, but now he met Dannyās shocked eyes with an almost serious anger. āIf someone is being a creeper and you just want them gone, point them out and Iāll ruin them for good.ā
Danny felt like a deer in the headlights. He couldnāt move. He couldnāt look away. He was certain his heart had stopped and was grateful that wasnāt something he needed to worry about. The huge crush heād been holding for Red Robin might have just turned into love as he listened to Tim Drake Wayne talk about defending others and promise protection again for Danny himself.
āWow,ā his mouth moved without his input, āI basically said ājumpā and you didnāt even ask āhow high?ā before jumping to all the wrong conclusions.ā
Timās eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and Danny got the urge to kiss the crinkle away.
Instead he cleared his throat awkwardly and shuffled his feet. His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck, but the glint of his new ring made the hand pause, held up between them. Tim noticed of course, and his face (which had finally lost all the blush) suddenly went white.
He lifted his hand with the bandaid, and the faintly glowing words got brighter as they got closer.
āWhat is this?ā he asked. The words were quiet and almost monotone, somehow sounding dangerous. Not like a threat, but a demand.
āSo. Um,ā Dannyās guts squirmed and he tried not to fidget. He failed. āI donāt know how exactly but I have someone I can ask and I was planning to go visit him this weekend so I could get the details but then-ā
āTell me,ā Tim said flatly. āWhat is this.ā
Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly. He could do this. Just get the words out.
He glanced around the alcove and out into the hallway. Empty. Everyone was in class or moved on to another building. But even then he leaned a little closer to Tim and whispered as quietly as he could, in awkward fast sentences,
āI swear I didnāt know who you were last night when you offered to walk me home, I only recognized you out of costume because of the ring and words on your skin. Iām also - well I was a vigilante back in my hometown but retired when I left for college, and Iām not fully human. Half human. And itās the non-human half that Iām pretty sure has some cultural rite that magically tied us into marriage because we, um, we⦠kind of exchanged vows last night?ā
āVows.ā Tim still didnāt look angry, but Danny couldnāt tell exactly what he was feeling.
āYeah. Uh.ā He pulled the ring off his thumb, showed the words glowing on it before sliding it into its proper place on the ring finger. It felt good there. āMine has your words on it. āIāll protect you.ā And yoursā¦ā
Danny reached out slowly. Tim didnāt flinch or pull away, so Danny gently removed the bandaid and the glow of the words got brighter.
āYours has my words. āBe my Knight.āā
There was a moment where they both just stared at their clasped hands.
āItās not official yet,ā Tim said. His voice had gone breathy, and Danny noticed a gleam returning to his eye.
āI mean. Maybe? I donāt know and I can-ā
āNo,ā Tim interrupted, and this time he lifted his chin a little, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward. It looked like a challenge. āItās not official yet because you havenāt kissed me.ā
āWhaahahahahatt?ā Danny giggled loudly. It was such an embarrassing response that he tried to cover his face to hide, but Tim caught the hand that heād been holding and twined their fingers together. He wore a full grin now, blush returning, and his body tensed but he stepped forward anyway looking excited. Their clasped hands were the only distance between them now.
āIāve wanted to ask you out for a while. And I meant it down to my soul when I said Iād protect you. I will. So⦠kiss me.ā
Danny obeyed. He might have been floating a little when he leaned forward and closed the gap. Their lips touched and it was electric in the opposite way from dying.
āMy knight,ā he whispered, their lips still close enough they both moved with his words, and he couldnāt help but smile.
āMy husband,ā Tim responded, his excited grin turning a bit feral as his free hand reached up to Dannyās neck, dragging him back for a deeper kiss.
What if blob ghosts are treated like bats (the small wing'd kind, not the Gotham kind). Like. Yes, they exist. They are bothersome. But they also help filter ambient stale ecto and thus are an important part of the local ectosystem. But nobody wants one on their home.
People's homes don't generally have a lot of ecto, but sometimes one gets inside and then just gets stuck. Not a lot of dead energy in the living room. And then you've got a blob ghost nyooming around your upstairs hallway at 4 in the morning. Knocking things over. Scaring the cat. Is the poor thing likely harmless? Yeah. But it gives many people the heebie jeebies. So you stand there with an open window trying to tempt it back outside, holding the window screen as.... extra encouragement.
inspired by what just happened with a real bat in my real home at real 4am.
Most "poltergeists" are actually just blob ghosts stuck in a human's house.
Also, it's not just humans who don't want them in their homes. Most ghosts also don't like them in their lairs/haunts. And often react much the same way humans might react to a bat.
(Are ghost rabies a thing? I'm gonna say ghost rabies is a thing.) After all, while the blobs themselves might have developed immunity to most ecto-contagions they definitely come into contact with due to their ecological role, the ghosts whose homes they've entered very much are not. And while not every blob is infected with something, in fact most aren't because their bodies destroy those contagions pretty quickly after consumption, any blob could be. So there is a health risk from blob bites.
There's also a hygiene thing to it. Ghosts usually clean up the stale ecto around their homes and dump it somewhere more remote for the blobs to feast. So having blobs in your lair/haunt might cause others and/or yourself to wonder how well you're cleaning that the blobs even want to come in. (Even th0ough a lot of times it really is just total coincidence of a bumbling blob.
Anyway, enter Danny. Who didn't get the full run down on ghost culture until much later after becoming a ghost. Whose first and primary opinion of the blobs is that they are just cute little guys. Much nicer than the assholes coming out of the portal constantly ready to throw down for no reason.
Where other ghosts are at least a little freaked out being in close proximity to them (and humans are generally a lot freaked out by ghosts over all), Danny is just absolutely unfazed and even a bit enamored by them.
Naturally this puts him in a very good position to make some pretty decent money as a Ghost Exterminator(humans)/Blob Relocator(ghosts).
Blobs in Wayne Manor! Just, so many blobs. Damian hadn't seen them before but like a muscle you didn't know you had, he's able to train his eyes (soul?) to focus in on them.
Now Exterminator (Relocator) Danny has an assistant.
The Lazarus Pits existing because it's where ghost cities (being too populated to have anywhere in the Realms to dump it) pump their stale ecto to for the blobs to eat without having them in the city.
So technically Damian grew up around the blobs, hence why he has an easier time learning how to see them. Back in the League, they were just always there, on the very periphery of his senses. It's one of the things that made coming to Gotham so difficult for him. Something was missing, sensory input he hadn't realized he was getting suddenly vanished, but he couldn't tell what it was. Made him all sorts of anxious, unsettled, and paranoid.
There was a moment, coming back to the infested manor, that briefly felt like coming home.
Then Danny comes in, realizes the kid is subconsciously aware of the blobs, and gives him a gentle nudge to bring that subconscious awareness up to conscious awareness.
For Damian, it's like he's been nearsighted his whole life and the exterminator ("Actually, I just relocate them. Humans just don't usually care about the semantics. Some actually prefer the thought of extermination to relocation.") finally gave him some glasses. Suddenly he can see the leaves blobs. Everything resolved into a definition he didn't realize was possible.
He got dunked in a pit where they feed so it was kind of inevitable. He doesnāt know thatās what the Pit Rage is.
Raās al Ghul also has ghost rabies, heās just used to controlling the emotional outbursts because heās had it for literal centuries.
Enter Danny teaching Damian about blob ghosts. Damian is just as excited to learn everything about them he can like with his other animals. When Danny explains that ghost rabies is a thing, and its symptoms, Damian starts to see his brother and grandfatherās behaviors in a new light.
So I know it's usually a joke in media (and as always, if that's what someone would rather do here, far be it from me to discourage), but in the real world rabies is a terrifying illness with practically a 100% mortality rate after presenting symptoms. If memory serves, even the post-exposure prophylaxis treatment is an absolutely miserable experience of rounds of shots that hurt like a bitch and have a strong chance to make you very sick as well because the virus is that damn bad.
Vaccines may have slashed infections to fractions of their historic numbers, but there's a reason feral animal populations used to be such a big deal. A rabid animal among a human population center used to be a local plague waiting to happen. An animal behaving strangely used to be grounds for rounding all the kids up inside and calling the authorities to either catch or kill it. Dog catchers were basically public sanitation workers.
This to say, if we're calling it ghost rabies, I think it needs to be on that same level of severity. We can stretch it out over a much longer life(death?)span to explain why Ra's and Jason aren't already dead. Or perhaps the fact that they are still alive keeps them limping along when they should have long since ended/faded/shattered/whatever Dead Ghost lore you wanna use. Maybe do a bit of tweaking with ghost medicine if you wanna give either of them a chance of pulling through after treatment. (Or go full angst and go the "give him as comfortable a death as possible" route.)
However it is, if we're gonna give them "ghost rabies", I think we should lean into the severity of it. Make it bad. Make it grim. It's not a joke, it's rabies.
Make Damian all subdued as he pulls Bruce aside to deliver the news. "Todd might have ghost rabies. Ghostly or not, rabies is still rabies; and if it is, he is already symptomatic. Father, he needs treatment, but even with it..."
Danny has already gone off to inform the Yeti's of not one, but 2 potential cases of ghost rabies in undead humans. Cause Danny is a Blob Relocator, not a Healer. He knows to pass this off to some actual doctors.
Jason and Ra's getting kidnapped to the Far Frozen. Their families obviously permitted to come as well. Especially of they are considered to be 'not sane of mind' to consent to treatment. Talia getting told Ra's is already too far gone. Bruce being given Jason's slim (or none) odds. The grief that follows.
@ailithnight I like your thinking. Especially the āit affects ghost coresā because Jason and Raās donāt have cores - they arenāt dead, or halfa, they were brought back to life by the Pits. So their bodies have infected ectoplasm which is what the ghost rabies is clinging to, which plays havoc with their emotional states because ghosts are mostly emotion and memory.
But WHEN they finally die theyād immediately become ghosts and have their cores fully infected which would be a problem for other ghosts nearby (like a ghostly zombie virus? Or more like Chronic Wasting Disease in deer that wonder into populated areas).
So maybe Frostbite&Co at the Far Frozen do some tests with their kidnapped no-longer-dead humans and come to an interesting conclusion:
They can extract the infected ectoplasm to prevent the ghost rabies from consuming their cores when they die.
It will be a long and painful process - think multiple lumbar punctures and more needles in smaller muscles groups, followed by a chemotherapy style treatment to flush any remaining infection from the bloodstream.
And thatās the good news.
Because Jason is still young. Still within his natural lifespan. He will survive the ecto-extraction, and heās stubborn enough to work through the therapy (physical and mental) to rebuild the damages itāll cause to his body and emotional state.
But Raās wonāt make it. Thereās no way. Heās over 600 years old. Ectoplasm is the only thing keeping his body going. And of course the Yetis comment on the fact Raās canāt be allowed to ever become a ghost because it would be detrimental to all he comes in contact with.
Naturally heās going to cause problems on purpose when he gets the news.
Heād make some biting remarks about the Yetis being dogs trying to put him down instead. They wonāt let him keep using the Pits to live, and they wonāt let him die either, so whatās left? Extermination? Heās the Demonās Head! Heās the one who decides who lives and dies!
Cue Danny and Damian hunting down this ticking time bomb that escaped the Far Frozen while Jason suffers through so much medical trauma.
Damian and Talia know Raās best. Theyāre the only ones who could fight and capture him with much less bloodshed than anyone else.
And of course they need Danny to come along. Heās their guide through this strange dimension. He knows the rules, some of the layout, and has allies. Well, a couple allies, mostly enemies. But hey! At least the enemies are familiar and can be dealt with quickly - maybe even helpful by ratting out where they saw the Old Angry Sick Human go for the price of a fight with Danny!
Maybe halfway through fighting Skulker, Danny makes a comment about how heās hunting someone right now, and Skulker gets competitive and starts hunting Raās for them too!
Then thereās the constant emotional whiplash for everyone because Talia and Damian both care about Jasonās health, Danny has his internal war about taking a sick man to his execution - but the depressive thoughts are interspersed with silly Ghost Zone hijinks and obsession/territory fights and puns. Plus Danny is still teaching Damian as an apprentice for Blob Ghost Relocation while Talia pretends sheās not listening with interest.
Itās time for a, āthings I sent to my twinās inbox but she said I should post myself because I never post my own work and sheād like if I stopped spamming her inbox with ideas but I forgot about it and just kept it in my drafts notes for months and now finally Iām posting the fucking things.ā
Or for short:
DP X DC PROMPT #7:
āāāāāāāāāāāā
Danny visits metropolis and people are deadset on believing that Danny is either Clarkās little brother or his nephew from Illinois⦠despite that Clark can literally not be related to him. Not that the people at the Daily Planet know that, but even the ones who do know are giving him a hard time.
āIām adopted Jimmy!ā Clark threw his hands in the air in frustration. āYou are very aware of that.ā
āBut he looks just like you Clark, you even talk the same!ā Jimmy peaked around the corner, catching a glimpse of Danny talking to Lois in the employees lounge.
āHe has a upper midwestern accent. Iām from Kansas, Jim. Not all midwesterners know each other!ā
āSo?ā
āJimmy. You know damn well why we can not be related.ā Clark subtly gestured to his cheap āI believe in aliensā mug. Jimmy was Clarkās best friend and most of the time he really appreciated the kidās keen eye but Jimmy also seemed to be constantly dead-set on figuring how to give Clark a headache.
āBut he looks like a mini you! Have you asked him if he has a spare spaceship lying around anywhere?ā Jimmy snarked as he glanced over to Danny and Louis who were finally heading back from their break.
āJimmy, I will put you on the moon and leave you there.ā
Short (ghost) king Danny being 22, fresh into a journalism bachelor's & using work experience to help cover credits while he's in his masters program. Accidentally slipping up with his powers around Lois, Clark, and Jimmy.
For classic Lois and Clark comedic effect, Iād like to imagine that Lois doesnāt yet know Clark is Superman. So sheās dealing with Clark and Dannyās slip ups and weird disappearances. Not just Dannyās.
At one point a Casper High graduate comes to visit Danny and Lois confirms from them that Danny has had bladder problems since starting highschool that tell him when ghosts are nearby. Wait. Ghosts? Is that what those new villains that were attacking Metropolis were?!
Clark? Well, the office theorizes he has a metagene that tells him where danger or fear is & itās also linked to his bladder. But thatās also why he knows where to get the best scoops, he knows where all the big stories are.
Lois, of course, knows that Clark Kent is adopted. Wait. Similar metagenes have been shown to be genetic. Are Clark and Danny from the same bio-parents?
________
āHey, Clark.ā
āYes, Lois?ā
āWhy canāt I find any traces of your adoption certificate or any orphanage records?ā
āMy parents found me in a spaceship covered in green goo in the middle of their yearly hike through the Appalachian Mountains.ā
āEnough of the jokes, Glasses.ā
āAh, my parents found me left out in the fields on their farm when I was a baby. Why?ā
āDonāt worry about it Smallville. Now how do you spell āPhantom?ā I can never remember if itās a āphā or an āf.ā
āLois I have a deadline, turn on your autocorrect.ā
āYou know why I turned it off, it gets in my way. Besides, I have you, Kansas. So? What is it?
āItās a āph.ā
āSee? That wasnāt so hard was it, Kent.ā
āAt this rate I edit so much of your work I should be credited in the byline.ā
āOh, fuck off Kentā Lois said without heat behind it.
āYes Maāam.ā Clark replies automatically.
Carrie peers over from her cubicle across the two, āCat, theyāre squabbling again.ā
āPoint for Lois?ā
āPoint for Lois.ā Carrie says as Cat uncaps a dry erase marker and puts a tally under āLoisā on a miniature whiteboard that hangs on her cubicle wall.
It has 2 for Kent and 53 for Lois. Itās only Tuesday.
ā
Well, that absolutely riveting conversation gave her at least something to work with. They didnāt call her Metropolisās greatest reporter for nothing! But for now she needs to finish this story on the new hero thatās been periodically showing in Metropolis and brought his own colorful cast of villains to the city with him.
*sounds of crashing wood*
Ah, Clark mustāve broken his desk again. What a cultz.
Jimmy would be the one who points it out. Well, Lois starts it. Sheās trying to shake trees by making comparisons to see what info will fall out. The info she gets is (once again) misinterpreted.
āLook at you two! Youāre just like Clark and Jimmy,ā Lois smiled widely at Wes and Danny who entered the room muttering angrily at each other.
The two young men stopped to look up in confusion, then at each other.
āWes doesnāt look anything like Jimmy. Youāre just saying that cuz they both have red hair.ā
āSo you admit you and Clark look alike?ā Loisā grin shifted into a smirk.
āOh please,ā Danny rolled his eyes. Heād been fielding these comments since day one at the Daily Planet. āBruce Wayne looks more like Clark than I do.ā
āAnd donāt you think thatās suspicious?ā Wes cut in. āThree people, seemingly disconnected and from vastly different societal brackets all looking similar? Thereās a bigger picture here you keep refusing to investigate. You were all planted. Cloning has been around for -ā
āYou leave clones alone!ā Danny jabbed a finger at Wes, looking pissed, which was rare. Not that he tried very hard to hide bouts of frustration or anger, but Lois took a mental note of how this seemed to hit a personal nerve. The new kid started on a rant about those poor kids canāt help how they came to exist and just need support and love and if you bother them Iām gonna ship you to Mongolia in a wooden crate.
Jimmy snorted.
āLois has a point. You two even bicker like me and Clark. But to really look like us you need your own Lois.ā
āWhat?ā four people asked in unison. Clark had walked over when he heard Dannyās raised voice, and looked just as confused as the others.
Jimmy chuckled as he put an arm around Loisā shoulder and linked elbows with Clark, pulling both close.
āWeāre a team! Best friends working together to scoop stories and break news! Youāve got the dark-haired blue-eyed reporter, the red-headed photographer, and now you need a tiny sassy - ow! Lois donāt pinch - I meant passionate and diligent third member to make up a proper trio like we do.ā
āOh. Danny knows all about passionate trios,ā Wes said with a devilās grin. The exhausted sigh Danny released only made Wes laugh.
āTucker, Sam, and I were not dating in high school,ā he said like heād said it a million times.
āUh huh.ā
Lois knew Wes and Danny had gone to school together, but this kind of gossip was new. Maybe she should focus less on Danny and wheedle information out of Wes instead. Sheād have to sift through his conspiracies to get info she could verify, but it might be worth it.
āCome on!ā Wes was still talking, āThe whole school saw pictures of you and Tucker cuddling. And everyone knows Sam pushed you into dark corners a couple times a week at least. After that first Fake-Out Make-Out you even tried being vegan for a month just to impress -ā
āUng donāt remind me. That nearly got me disowned by Tucker. Worst argument we ever had.ā
āWait wait,ā Clark cut in. āWhatās a Fake-Out Make-Out?ā
Danny snorted and Wes laughed.
āItās when youāre about to get caught where you shouldnāt be, so you start making out then act all indignant or shy when security catches you. Fifteen year old me was very into it.ā
āAnd if weāre saying Sam is Dannyās Loisā¦ā Wes added, glancing obviously between Lois and Clark and wiggling his eyebrows.
Lois looked up at Clark thoughtfully, then shrugged, āThat could be a viable distraction.ā
Clark blushed a furious red and sputtered while the other three men laughed at him.
Then both Danny and Clarkās heads shot sideways to look out the office window. Everyone went still and in the sudden quiet they heard a distant explosion.
āI uh, gotta pee,ā Clark blurted and rushed out the door.
āMe too,ā Danny followed.
Jimmy, Lois, and Wes all gathered their things to rush out the door as well. They had a story to scoop.
āAnd they think theyāre subtle,ā Wes mumbled as the three ran down the stairs of the Daily Planet. He mumbled a lot of strange things, but Lois had to agree this time.
Danny and Clark were connected. They had the same power that notified them of danger (even if ādanger bladderā was weird, it seemed to be accurate so who was she to judge). Besides the height difference and need for glasses they looked identical.
And now Lois had several new leads to follow.
Danny was passionate about clone rights. Heād mentioned in the past how his parents had a science lab in the basement but never mentioned what kind of science they practiced. Wes went to the same school but his stories of ghosts and alternate dimensions were unreliable, but now Lois had two more names to search.
Tucker and Sam. (And good for Danny not being ashamed of being gay. Maybe he could talk to a few of their coworkers about being out and proud.)
Now if this Sam had as much in common with Lois as Wes implied, maybe he would be willing to chat.
AKA "Red Robin jokingly says I'll protect you to a civilian Danny Fenton, unaware this is a ghost proposal. Danny, also unaware this is a ghost proposal, accidentally accepts. So, uh... cue the awkward honeymoon phase?" Dead Tired DPxDC prompt idea!
Or: Tim Drake is a simp with a helping of gratuitously hot Danny Fenton
Red Robin is a disaster bisexual on a good day and a desperate simp every other day, or that's what Jason tells him. But seeing Daniel Fenton - Gotham-U aerospace genius and terrifyingly hot kinda-sorta-crush - about to get mugged feels like a good opportunity for Tim to show he's above all that. He's a hardened, experienced vigilante. He can do this.
Except Danny throws a punch hard enough to drop one of the muggers like a bag of bricks. His blue eyes almost glow in the dark, expression curling into something snarky and surprisingly self-confident. (Tim absolutely does not find that attractive, no. He's a professional.) Red Robin drops down into the alley with familiar ease, bo staff already swinging on the second thug. Danny's on the third one like an animal, slamming the poor guy into the wall so hard his head ricochets off the wall and he slumps in Danny's hold.
He's only wearing fitted white tee and jeans, the same outfit he was earlier on campus, so Tim can see the way his biceps flex and his pecs strain the chest of his tee when his shoulders roll back.
"Wow," Danny drawls. His midwestern accent should sound tacky, but Tim feels a flush burn his pale skin. Thank god for masks. "I was almost a goner there. Thanks for the save, Red."
Tim thinks very, very hard so he doesn't stutter. He's sarcastic and quick-witted, the smartest detective since Batman. He can flirt. (And maybe he's using his Red Robin mask for confidence, but who cares? The amount of times he's gotten tongue tied when trying to ask Danny out, despite sharing four gen ed classes with him, makes him want to claw his eyes out in embarrassment. Tim needs this win.)
"Seems more like an assist than a save. But I can be your knight in shining armor any day." Oh, god. That was the worst pick up line. Tim wishes one of the thugs would suddenly wake up and fight back just so he could get distracted from his utter failure of attempted flirting. Just as Tim's about to backtrack, apologize and say he's just joking, Danny laughs. A giddy, I-can't-believe-I'm-talking-to-you laugh that Tim's personally familiar with. He's suddenly dumbstruck by the idea that Danny might want to flirt with him back.
"Yeah? You'll be my knight?" Danny smiles earnestly, the usual nonchalant bad boy expression softening into something awkwardly endearing.
"Yeah," Tim agrees breathlessly. Jokingly, he adds, "I'll protect you."
As if Danny needs it. Clearly, he's more than able to protect himself, considering how easily he cleared two absurdly jacked muggers. He also has the intelligence of a potentially terrifying Rogue. And he's hot with his tight t-shirts and piercings and perfectly messy hair. And he's funny, matches Tim's sarcasm with his own snark, unashamed of the things he cares about with a passion. Anyways.
"I'll walk you home?" Tim means to sound confident and assured, like how he normally is as Red Robin, but it comes out almost bashful. And he is bashful... bashing his damn head against a wall. Ugh. Get it together, man! Danny laughs again and it's like the stars twinkling or something. It's beautiful. He wants to hear it all the time.
"Yeah. That's-uh, I'd like that." His crush smiles, a flush starting to dust over his ears and cheeks, and Tim turns to tie up the muggers so Danny can't see the goofy smile that takes over his face.
(The next morning, after taking Danny home, Tim Drake wakes up to a tattoo on his left hand. Specifically his wedding finger. The tattooed band is somehow glowing green with incomprehensible runes encircling his finger just beneath the knuckle. What. The. Fuck.)
((Danny Phantom stares incredulously at the wedding band on his hand. The words I'll protect you scrawl in Infinite Realms ancient script like an unbreakable vow. Oh, shit.))
Danny went about his day as normal, just switching the ring onto his thumb.
Yes, he was postponing his crisis about whatever just happened until he could go see Clockwork and demand answers, what of it?
Except... When he went to school, he saw Tim- a guy he shared a few gen-ed classes with and he would hesitate to call a friend but damn was he hot- with a band-aid on his wedding finger on his left hand, and the tattoo-ring (more tattoo than ring, the opposite of his) glowed through the band-aid, pulsing slowly in time with Danny's heart.
Fuck.
Tim is Red Robin?
How hadn't he seen this before? In hindsight, it was so obvious, especially with his experience in the teenage vigilante field, but Tim was doing better at hiding it than he had.
Same dark eyebags that looked more like tattoos than biological function, though.
Fuck... He had to talk to Tim about it, didn't he. Well... He didn't have any answers... He could postpone it until he got some answers.
What day of the week..? Thursday? Just avoid Tim the rest of the day and the next one, too, travel to the Ghost Zone over the weekend and get some answers, and then... What? Pull him aside and ask to talk after classes on Monday?
They had another shared class later that day and Danny was so caught up in his thoughts he crashed right into him walking through the door. Both men jolted in surprise, Danny reached out to steady Tim but - displaying a complete lack of Red Robinās usual fluid grace - his legs buckled, and Danny somehow ended up holding Tim in a manner that looked like he dipped him at the end of a dance.
There was a beat of silence.
Then all the other students that were early for class started laughing and whistling. Danny was immediately red in the face and pulled Tim upright, then dragged him back out the door into the hallway and even a little farther into an empty alcove to get away from the two people chanting āKiss! Kiss! Kiss!ā
Tim was almost tomato red with blush, his lips pressed tight together as he stared at Dannyās arm that curled behind him, hand pressed against the back of his ribs where heād pulled him away, which Danny quickly released like it burned him. There was a split second of disappointment in Timās expression that caused Dannyās heart to soar and crash at the same time, and all this rollercoaster of emotion is what made Danny blurt out the words,
āWeāre married.ā
Timās face froze.
Those dark blue eyes that were usually so aware despite the dark bags beneath them suddenly froze like a computer screen had fully gone Blue Screen Of Death. And Danny would swear he heard the Windows startup sound when Tim blinked, nodded seriously, and met Dannyās eyes.
āOkay. Yeah. What do I need to know?ā
āUh.ā
Danny knew Red Robin had been through a lot of strange situations in the past. All of Gothamās vigilantes had wild stories and rumors circulated on campus. But it was another thing entirely to see the hero heād been crushing on just accept the situation and ask for details like it was a mission brief.
Tim spoke up when Danny didnāt.
āIāve done the fake boyfriend thing twice before. Helped a stranger ditch a stalker. Scared him off and helped her get a restraining order. Second time was to mess with some homophobic family during Christmas. A high school friend had just come out as bi and his family kept saying shit like āso just choose a woman and itās fineā so he wanted to freak them out and asked me to ruin the holiday on purpose. It wasnāt my fault the tree caught fire but I definitely take credit for dumping the punch bowl on his aunt after she started yelling slurs.
āSo whatever your situation is just tell me what story weāre going with and Iāll memorize the details youāve already told to whoever youāve lied to about being married. Iāve never been a fake husband so we gotta figure out how we met, dating stories and an anniversary, embarrassing but benign family stories to share, and also discuss boundaries for PDA. If we stay the night anywhere Iād sleep on the floor of course. I can get a couple of my siblings to vouch for our relationship if necessary, they owe me some favors. Iām great with makeup so I can wear a disguise if you donāt want to end up in the papers being seen with a Wayne.
āOr,ā and then Tim paused. Heād been talking very fast, nodding to himself as he planned, but now he met Dannyās shocked eyes with an almost serious anger. āIf someone is being a creeper and you just want them gone, point them out and Iāll ruin them for good.ā
Danny felt like a deer in the headlights. He couldnāt move. He couldnāt look away. He was certain his heart had stopped and was grateful that wasnāt something he needed to worry about. The huge crush heād been holding for Red Robin might have just turned into love as he listened to Tim Drake Wayne talk about defending others and promise protection again for Danny himself.
āWow,ā his mouth moved without his input, āI basically said ājumpā and you didnāt even ask āhow high?ā before jumping to all the wrong conclusions.ā
Timās eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and Danny got the urge to kiss the crinkle away.
Instead he cleared his throat awkwardly and shuffled his feet. His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck, but the glint of his new ring made the hand pause, held up between them. Tim noticed of course, and his face (which had finally lost all the blush) suddenly went white.
He lifted his hand with the bandaid, and the faintly glowing words got brighter as they got closer.
āWhat is this?ā he asked. The words were quiet and almost monotone, somehow sounding dangerous. Not like a threat, but a demand.
āSo. Um,ā Dannyās guts squirmed and he tried not to fidget. He failed. āI donāt know how exactly but I have someone I can ask and I was planning to go visit him this weekend so I could get the details but then-ā
āTell me,ā Tim said flatly. āWhat is this.ā
Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly. He could do this. Just get the words out.
He glanced around the alcove and out into the hallway. Empty. Everyone was in class or moved on to another building. But even then he leaned a little closer to Tim and whispered as quietly as he could, in awkward fast sentences,
āI swear I didnāt know who you were last night when you offered to walk me home, I only recognized you out of costume because of the ring and words on your skin. Iām also - well I was a vigilante back in my hometown but retired when I left for college, and Iām not fully human. Half human. And itās the non-human half that Iām pretty sure has some cultural rite that magically tied us into marriage because we, um, we⦠kind of exchanged vows last night?ā
āVows.ā Tim still didnāt look angry, but Danny couldnāt tell exactly what he was feeling.
āYeah. Uh.ā He pulled the ring off his thumb, showed the words glowing on it before sliding it into its proper place on the ring finger. It felt good there. āMine has your words on it. āIāll protect you.ā And yoursā¦ā
Danny reached out slowly. Tim didnāt flinch or pull away, so Danny gently removed the bandaid and the glow of the words got brighter.
āYours has my words. āBe my Knight.āā
There was a moment where they both just stared at their clasped hands.
āItās not official yet,ā Tim said. His voice had gone breathy, and Danny noticed a gleam returning to his eye.
āI mean. Maybe? I donāt know and I can-ā
āNo,ā Tim interrupted, and this time he lifted his chin a little, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward. It looked like a challenge. āItās not official yet because you havenāt kissed me.ā
āWhaahahahahatt?ā Danny giggled loudly. It was such an embarrassing response that he tried to cover his face to hide, but Tim caught the hand that heād been holding and twined their fingers together. He wore a full grin now, blush returning, and his body tensed but he stepped forward anyway looking excited. Their clasped hands were the only distance between them now.
āIāve wanted to ask you out for a while. And I meant it down to my soul when I said Iād protect you. I will. So⦠kiss me.ā
Danny obeyed. He might have been floating a little when he leaned forward and closed the gap. Their lips touched and it was electric in the opposite way from dying.
āMy knight,ā he whispered, their lips still close enough they both moved with his words, and he couldnāt help but smile.
āMy husband,ā Tim responded, his excited grin turning a bit feral as his free hand reached up to Dannyās neck, dragging him back for a deeper kiss.
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Thinking about DP x DC Jason Todd being a revenant again. Here's my scenario. Jason gets called that by some ghost. He's like "what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He's heard the term before but he doesn't know any actual lore. He googles it. He scrolls past the Leonardo DiCaprio bear movie. He opens the wiki. Sees the words "animated corpse" and gets a chill diwn his spine. He starts reading the first section.
He closes Wikipedia.
That night he has a nightmare that his family buried him, again, this time with precautions. He wakes up in his own grave, full of stones, too heavy to move, to scream.
Okay but the more I think about this the more nightmare fuel angst potential there is.
Jason being a revenant means these tactics will still work on him.
What if one day a Rogue blows up a building (sadly common in Gotham) but Jason gets hit by debris - the shockwave knocks him over and the bricks and mortar that flew through the air land on his legs. Itās nowhere near enough weight to cause his siblings problems (they all jump right back up and brush off the dust and rocks and race off to help and fight) but he canāt move. Itās just a couple bricks, probably 5-8 pounds worth. He regularly lifts 40 times that weight but suddenly he canāt even wiggle his legs to make gravity roll the bricks off him. Heās paralyzed.
Jason has to call for help which he loathes, and when Nightwing or Spoiler race over they think heās got spinal damage because he canāt move his legs and he hates the anguish and pity on their face even more. Nearly bites their head off screaming that they just need to move the bricks and when they do he jumps up and rushes off to punch the villain to funnel the aggression in a healthy-ish direction. (Itās not healthy. His family need to pull him away to prevent a murder fueled by dread. And then he avoids them for a month because he doesnāt want to face what happened.)
It was only because he was wearing his helmet that he didnāt get rocks in his mouth. What if he had been paralyzed AND silenced?
Oh my god. Imagine a villain figuring this out and purposefully using it against him. What do you do with a revenant? You put them back in the grave and you make sure they can't get out this time.
Jason wouldn't be too worried about being captured, at first, he's got a comm, and every Robin is as good as an escape artist. But he freaks out when he sees the coffin. It's good, solid wood, only the best for him, the villain mocks. He struggles the whole time the goons manhandle him into it, until they lay the stones on his limbs, and it's like he paralyzed.
Honestly, the villain was just doing, like, a dramatic bit. Imagine their glee when it actually works.
The others are clamoring over the comms, asking what's going on, where he is, but Red Hood suddenly falls silent. His communicator is still functional, but nothing they say can get him to respond.
So, the actual plan was always to gift Red Hood a nice new grave and fill it with concrete. And even with some new developments, why not? The night becomes a race against the clock for the rest of the bats, trying to get to a helpless Jason before the henchmen can finish digging.
Bruce Wayne is Danny Fenton's Bio dad but I'm getting sick of comically evil parents so Maddie and Jack had a 3sum with Bruce way-back-when and she never ACTUALLY got a paternity check (they forgot/it didn't matter) but then Jazz gets into knowing her bloodline and family history and does a 23andMe test and then it comes back that her and Danny are only half siblings and they're like "omfgā¦. did mom cheat on dad??? ā¦.. ITS NOT VLAD IS IT??? OH NO. OH NO" and then Maddie and Jack see it and they're like "oh! lol! that's probably Brucie :)" and then they're like "wouldn't it be nice for you to meet your bio dad? he's such a fun guy. He's funded some of our projects <3" and then they send Danny to live with Bruce for the Summer
cue Batfam shenanigans of everyone trying to keep identities a secret
It's drizzling out. Danny's hair is still a little damp from the short trip from Jazzās car to the front door. She hasn't even attacked him with a towel yet, insisting he'd catch a cold. Instead she had been too preoccupied with the pile of mail on the kitchen table. She'd screeched and dove for it, shuffling through the letters before pulling out one, large and thick, and ripping into it immediately.Ā
Danny pulls out a piece of bread and slathers butter on it. He jumps on the counter and folds the bread in half and shoves it in his mouth.Ā
Jazz stares down at the packet in her hands, face almost unreadable. āHuh.ā She says.Ā
The envelope on the table reads Ancestry.com.Ā
āWhat, find out that you're actually adopted?ā He asks through a mouthful of bread.
Jazz doesn't even [scold] him, just hands him the papers before sliding into a seat at the table, putting her head in her hands.Ā
Danny doesn't quite get all the mumbo-jumbo and graphs and actually, hey. Did she steal his DNA for this because-Ā
His eyes catch on āhalf-brotherā and he can't look away.Ā
The bread feels like cement as he forces himself to swallow.Ā
āUh, what?ā He feels numb. āThat can't- that's not-āĀ
Jazz is shaking her head, hands moving to grip at her hair. āIt's a mistake,ā she says, āthese things are- they're not that accurate. I thought it'd be fun to see if- but they must have gotten something wrong. It's probably a scam. Or something. I'm- I should call.ā She stands up, a wild look in her eye. āI'm going to tell them they screwed up and that I want my money back because this-!ā
āDann-o!ā Their dad calls as he enters the kitchen from the basement door. āJazzy-pants! After school snack time? Boy I could use a sandwich! Hey what's this?ā He pulls the papers from Danny's numb fingers. āHey, hey! You got the fancy DNA results back! Think your grandpa lied about the Scotland castle? Haha let's see...āĀ
āDad, wait!ā Jazz cries, but it's already too late.Ā
It's like watching a car wreck in slow motion. Danny watches his dad scan the paper, watches his eyes freeze when he gets to the middle of the page.Ā
Jack flips through the papers a few times, before returning back to the front page again.
His face is entirely unreadable.
āHun?ā He calls, still not looking away from the life ruining papers. āCould you come up here for a sec?āĀ
Danny makes eye contact with Jazz.Ā
āWhat is it?ā Maddie calls as she comes up the stairs. āDid the new part come in?ā She's still got goggles hanging around her neck.Ā
āI need you to take a look at this,ā Jack says, handing Maddie the papers. Danny looks on, horrified. Itās like everythingās moving in slow motion. Itās like watching someone walk up to the guillotine.Ā
Maddie doesn't notice a thing, doesn't see the looks on her kids' faces. "Sure thing, dear, what is...?" she starts to ask, then trails off as she scans the page. She frowns.
The tension that had been sitting in Danny's stomach like a lead weight finally snaps. He stands, his chair screeching behind him, and says, "Mom, Dad-" not even knowing what he means to say, just knowing he needs to stop this, now.
Jack interrupts him. "That can't be right, can it Mads?" he asks, a strange solemness to his tone, his eyebrows drawn together.
Danny has a sudden, desperate, selfish wish that they weren't doing this in front of him. He doesn't want to see his family get torn apart, doesn't want his own existence to be the thing that ruins them. He's feared for that eventually ever since the day he walked into the ghost portal, but he never thought it would happen like this.
Maddie puts a hand up to her mouth. "No, it couldn't be," she mutters against her fingers.
"Danno was born in February," Jack points out, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Right," Maddie agrees. "So-" suddenly, her eyes spark in recognition. Danny's breath catches to see it. "Oh my goodness, Jack, Brucie!"
Danny's gaze snaps to his father, who... brightens? "Brucie!" he says jovially. "That'd explain it!"
What?
"Oh, I feel so silly," Maddie says, tapping her forehead. "We should've had a DNA test done ages ago, but I didn't even think about it!"
Jack laughs. "Don't worry, Mads, it completely slipped my mind, too!"
Jazz jolts up from her seat at the table, making Danny flinch. She slams her hands down and harshly demands, "One of you explain what is going on, right now!"
"I'm so sorry Jazz, this is yours, isn't it?" Maddie says blithely, and holds out the packet.
Air huffs from Jazz's nose. Danny thinks that she's trying to take deep breaths to keep calm, but mostly she sounds like an angry bull. "Are you implying-" she says, very deliberately "-that this information is accurate, and that Danny and I aren't full siblings?"
Jack claps Danny on the back, startling him. "Not to worry, Danny boy, you're just as much Fenton as ever! No silly thing like genetics will keep my son from taking up the noble pursuit of ghost hunting!"
Danny, feeling suddenly faint, collapses back into his chair. Hearing the words "my son" is somehow both relieving and terrifying. Because, yes, it's nice to be reassured, but he really didn't need the reminder that, apparently, he and his dad aren't even related.
Maddie turns to him as well. "Brucie is a perfectly fine genetic source, sweetie, it's alright. Very nice man, very handsome, a little dim a times but, well, he certainly does alright for himself."
Jack's hand comes down on Danny's back again. "No wonder the kid hasn't hit his growth spurt."
"Brucie is over six feet, Jack."
"Explain. How. This. Happened," Jazz seethes.
Maddie gives her a look. "I'm fairly certain that you know where babies come from, sweetie."
Jazz throws her hands in the air.
Surprisingly, it's Jack who actually picks up the thread. "Back before our research really took off, your mom and I used to get out a bit more."
"I was so happy we found a good babysitter for you, Jazz, do you remember her?"
"And Brucie was the best," Jack continues. "He always knew great spots! Jazz clubs, wine tastings, the works! We all got to be such good friends, and he even helped us start our business!"
Maddie smiles. "Our first investor," she says fondly.
"Our only investor!" Jack corrects.
Jazz also sits down, very abruptly. "Are you saying you were swingers?" she asks.
"Nothing so regimented as all that," Maddie says, flapping a hand. "Brucie only brought his own dates a few times, really. And we'd been spending time with a couple of others before him, but he was the last one. Gosh, Jack, we haven't seen him in forever!"
Jack agrees, "You're right, it's been too long, hasn't it?"
Finally, Danny manages to croak, "Who's Brucie?" His head is spinning with this new information, barely even latching onto the connection between himself and a man he's never met.
Jack says, "He's Bruce Wayne, of course!"
Jazz pops back up to attention. "Bruce Wayne?" she asks incredulously. "The Bruce Wayne?"
Maddie claps. "We should go for a visit! I'm sure he'd be happy to see us, and he'd love to meet you, Danny." She smiles warmly at him.
"That's a great idea!" Jack bellows. "A Fenton roadtrip to Gotham!"
Danny has a sinking feeling that his life is about to get significantly more complicated.
Alfred wasnāt surprised that his pseudo son had inherited his parentās romantic preferences, preferences Alfred knew better than anyone.
Alfred was surprised by Master Bruceās choice in partners. Partners who apparently had a child and had recently discovered that their son was not Mr. Fentonās biological child.
At least the Fentonās had the decency to inform Master Bruce once they discovered the ⦠mix up, unlike Miss Al Ghul, whom just showed up at his doorstep with a ten year old.
Master Bruce had such⦠eclectic choices in romantic parents. At least the Fentonās werenāt villains or heroes, though they definitely were some flavor of mad scientist.
But who was he to judge. His own paramours were not people one could call ⦠conventional.
Master Bruce must have inherited that trait from himself.
Nevertheless, Alfred now had a new mission to focus on.
The mansion was to have guests soon and he needed to inform Master Bruce his brood had expanded while he was away.
Alfred has set up three rooms, one too many he thinks, but one can never be certain, goes down to the bat cave, with a fresh batch of pastry goods, waits, seated, for Master wayne and brood to return.
The screech of the batmobile can be heard.
"Bruce, we need to talk, young sirs and young ladies, please, leave us, post haste, take a pastry with you" Alfred speaks before anyone can get a word in.
All of Bruce's brood, take their preferred pastry, and leave Bruce in the thick of it.
"Alfred, what is it, it sounds serious" Bruce asked taking his cowl off.
"Remember Madeline and Jackson Fenton's,"
"Well, uh, I do"
"Their son Daniel Fenton, who has a birthday in February has no relation to Jack Fenton"
Bruce squints his eyes in deep thought, "ok and you bring this up why?"
Alfred, looking disappointed, world's greatest detective, his ass "9 months before, you and the couple, were in a intimate relationship no"
Bruce, gears turning, but he doesn't want them to turn "I have another kid, Alfred, request them to come visit please"
Alfred sighing "already on it master Bruce, should I tell Madeline and Jackson your room is open, or no"
Bruce walks away.
Alfred "duly noted sir, they will be here with young master Daniel, and young lady Jasmine in a week from now"
Bruce sighs "you already made plans, thanks Alfred"
---
The ghosts of Martha and Thomas, who are watching over their third.
"we have another grandson and granddaughter. Yay"
"but did it have to be with the ghost hunters, they nearly caught you in that box, I just barely got you out of it"
In what felt like no time at all the Ghost Assault Vehicle was packed with their weekend bags and the Fenton Family was barreling down the highway toward Gotham.
Danny hadnāt even gone to school that next Thursday morning, too lost in reeling thoughts to care about taking the day off - Jazz had called him out sick for the next two days, and sheād sounded shaken enough as well that the school office worker hadnāt questioned it.
Neither of the siblings had spoken much since the big reveal, both trying to wrap their heads around everything their parents kept excitedly gabbing about as they tossed photo albums, travel toiletries, and ghost weapons into a suitcase. But they sat close in the back seat of the GAV, supporting each other emotionally as well as physically through Jackās merging and screeching curves.
Danny had at least texted Sam and Tucker Thursday morning to let them know he wouldnāt be in classes and was taking off to Gotham for a few days. He wasnāt sure how to say āhey turns out my dad isnāt my dad - well he still is but not my bio-dad - guess what itās Bruce Billionaire Wayne! Haha, whodathunkit? Two himbo fathers for the price of one! Turns out my mom has a typeā so instead he just asked his friends to take notes for him and keep their ghost weapons and extra thermos close in case the Box Ghost or Klemper showed up.
They knew to call if something major popped up. Sam told him to take pictures of the cool gargoyles all over the city, and Tucker said if he had time to visit a Wayne Tech store for the newly released memory bank heād send Danny the money to pick it up for him. Danny responded to both messages with a thumbs up and tried to avoid thinking about the added squirming in his guts at the thought of being related to the guy who owns the company that pays the inventors of those memory banks.
On paper the drive between Amity Park and Gotham was about 11 hours, but Jackās driving shortened that to 8 1/2 even with a couple bathroom stops and fast food drive-throughs.
The closer they got to Gotham the more Danny felt like puking those chicken nuggets back up. He must have made some kind of noise when he saw the āWelcome to Gothamā road sign lit by the setting sun behind them because Jazz reached over and held his hand.
āItās just two days,ā she whispered, also looking a bit sick but meeting his eyes intently. āFriday and Saturday here, then we leave early Sunday morning to drive home. Just two days. This doesnāt change anything between us, Little Brother.ā
āOf course not,ā he responded immediately, then gave a weak grin. āItās not like I could donate you a kidney since my accident anyway. And a DNA change didnāt stop me before so why let it now, yeah?ā
āThatās the spirit.ā
They both snorted at the unintended pun, and entered Gotham laughing.
Pulling up to Wayne Manor was a shock even though they knew a little of what to expect. What they didnāt expect was Bruce Wayne himself walking out the front door to greet them, and Jack launching himself out the abruptly parked GAV with a shout of āBRUCIE!!ā to literally scoop the man up into his arms and plant a kiss right on the billionaireās mouth.
Maddie laughed and jumped down from her seat to walk over, āLet him down, honey, so I can say hi too!ā
Bruce was smiling widely as his feet touched back on ground and he leaned down to give Maddie a peck on the lips, holding her hand as he kept the other hand on Jackās chest. Jack in turn had a hand on each of their hips as they stood in a tight circle.
Danny just stared. The whole scene looked⦠so normal? Sweetly domestic?
His parents had packed up the hazmat suits in their luggage and worn what they call their āon-the-town clothes.ā Not date-night clothes, but nice outfits. He honestly hadnāt been paying much attention to them during the morning pack-up and long drive, but seeing them greet their old flame in real people clothes, acting like humans with a past instead of scientists with a lab in the basement⦠Danny felt like he was in a different universe. He knew logically that they had lives before him and Jazz were born but it really struck him in that moment.
And then Bruce Wayne looked up and their eyes met and everything came crashing back.
@zahnie i am kind of mad tbh bc now i keep thinking about that leverage/batman crossover and itās ridiculous. theyāre using a charity gala as a way to get into the manor. eliot immediately pegs alfred for former mi6, but he canāt figure out what the fuck bruceās deal is. something about the way he stands or the way he watches the room or his shoulders or something. āis it not distinctive enough?ā āoh, itās distinctive as hell, i just donāt know what it isā. letās say itās older bruce so hardison has to get into a hacker fight with tim. sophie canāt grift bc there are too many rich people whoād recognize her in attendance. parker canāt infiltrate the catering service because they run that shit tighter than the white house (WHY is he so paranoid about his CATERERS what the HELL iāve seen BANKS less lax about tracking employees than this) so she has to pretend to be a model. that backfires so fast because bruce is so nice and wants to know if sheās okay bc she seems uncomfortable. parker is thrilled when she discovers the house is full of secret passages but that also ends poorly when she turns a corner and bruce is standing there like āhey there, you seem lostā. heās still wearing the tux and drinking his champagne. he helpfully guides her to the bathroom since she is having such trouble finding it. eliot has a tense standoff with alfred bc this is wayne manor alfred and that means he is like an older, british eliot whoāll shoot a motherfucker. hardison and tim get distracted playing wow together and it isnāt clear exactly how that happened. there has to be at least one scene where eliot and bruce are fighting and the rest of the team just watches instead of doing anything useful because itās actually kind of really hot. they donāt even really hurt each other so itās fine. probably fine. just let them keep pinning each other to the floor for a while, itās fine. bruce has a lot of helpful critiques for nateās plan that nate does not appreciate. the obvious thing is that they figure out heās batman but itās kind of funnier if they donāt and just think bruce wayne is an inexplicable bamf. theyāve all learned a valuable lesson about judging people based on appearances. bruce flirts with sophie and nate pretends not to be bitter about it but he gazes out at the gotham skyline and broods. itās just what happens when youāre in gotham. itās a very broodworthy skyline. make fun of batman all you want but you look out at that skyline and try not to brood. you canāt. even superman broods. i mean, he looks like heās brooding. heās usually trying to remember if he left the oven on because every time he decides to make himself a nice dinner a supervillain attacks and four hours later his baked ziti is charcoal. it still counts as brooding. nate never stood a chance.
āParker, if he so much as gives you a bad feeling I want you to get the hell out of there as fast as you can.ā
āWhat?ā Parker looked back over her shoulder at the man currently adorned with three blondes, five brunettes, and a redhead. āWhy?ā
āSomethingās not right,ā Eliot said, which wasnāt an explanation at all.
āThink you can maybe give us a little more to go on than that?ā Nate asked, the kind of sardonic authority that was easy to pull off when he wasnāt even in the building.
āNo,ā Eliot snapped. āI donāt know what the hell it is, I just know itās bad news.ā MI6 in the way he held his champagne and CIA in the way he stood and a soldier in his shoulders and Interpol in the way he looked around the room ā no, CIA again ā no, FBI ā League of Assassins? Obviously not that, couldnāt have been that, so what exactly was it that had him wanting to grab Parker and get the hell out? If he could get closer he might be able to tell, the mezzanine might as well have been a different building entirely for all the good it did him. All forest, no trees.
āNot distinctive enough?ā Hardison asked, but it wasnāt a real question.
āToo distinctive,ā Eliot answered, even though he knew Hardison didnāt actually care. āIāve just never seen it before.ā
āIf youāll pardon the intrusion, sir,ā said a voice not in Eliotās ear, and he did not make it obvious how he stiffened at the address. Eliot turned, let harmless confusion and interest soften his face.
The butler, the one heād seen before. Pennyworth. That familiar combination of MI6 and Interpol, muddied with domestic service but present all the same.
āMay I have your name?ā the butler asked, his hair was white but his eyes were sharp.
Mr. Pennyworth exuded serene amusement. āSo sorry,ā he said, ābut Iām afraid youāre not Mr. Easton.ā
āDonāt try to deny it,ā Sophie said in Eliotās ear before he could respond. āHe couldnāt make it so he told you to come.ā
āYou caught me,ā Eliot said, sheepish. āTurned out he had some kind of a family thing, said I could use his invite. Didnāt think anyoneād notice if I used his name. Heāll be flattered you remember him.ā
It was unclear if Pennyworth bought this story, as placid as before. āI donāt, actually,ā he said. āBut Iāve always made it a point to examine the guest lists personally. If there were meant to be a former green beret in attendance, I would know about it.ā
Eliot was, for the most fleeting of moments, stunned.
The butler smiled. It was not kind. āThe way you watch the crowd,ā he explained. āItās very distinctive.ā
Eliot froze. He frowned. His brow furrowed.
If Hardison laughed any harder, he was going to hurt himself.
ok but, the leverage crew definitely arenāt conning the bats right? theyāre after someone else, & want into the manor for some paperwork bruce specifically keeps in his home office cuz itās less weird if your house where your kids live is more fortified than the average military base. except, obviously bruce has this paperwork cuz he is also after whoever it is, maybe as batman or maybe just as a rich guy who has tricked all the other rich guys into thinking heās also a shitbag so they brag to him about all their shitbag exploits
which is to say. leverage crew are unknowingly speedrunning this guyās demise. bruce was already handling it, heās just content to play a longer game cuz taking down evil rich guys who do run-of-the-mill rich people crimes and not, y'know, increasingly elaborate supervillain crimes often involving fun new dangerous chemicals and explosives is the batman equivalent of a hobby. he combs thru the banking records of gothamās elite to relax
and. because in both the leverage crew and the batfamās experience people who have a very particular skillset and are lying about it do not mean well, they spend the whole gala convinced the other group are Villains.
so the longer the job takes the more nate suggests maybe they just bail, guys, they can find another angle that doesnāt need those files, they have definitely stumbled into something bigger here and he has no idea who bruce wayne actually is but he does not want to piss him off, while parker and eliot stubbornly refuse to leave because, no, they are figuring out what the fuck wayneās deal is. hardison is having too much fun talking to tim to take a side. sophie canāt decide if the inevitability of someone being stabbed is worth finding out why dick grayson is subtly grilling her about a few very specific pieces of artwork and their exact locations
(for the record dick is mostly trying to figure out if she knows selina) (he is asking the wrong person) (parker hasnāt ever talked to her but theyāve crossed paths) (only so many buildings containing incredibly expensive things in the world. yknow how it is)
and the more of the evening that passes the more bruce starts to develop a twitch, because these people are here for A Reason but no one can find anything on them, theyāre not trying to get in the kitchens, theyāre not armed, he sent tim off to hack into their comms two hours ago and he still hasnāt come back, dick is convinced the older woman is a prolific griffer but bruce is reasonably sure sheās related to him somehow, what are they trying to do why are they here bruceās head hurts
eventually, eliot hits his subterfuge limit and just starts for the office, and bruce follows him, and they get in the aforementioned brawl in a relatively out-the-way hallway that slowly attracts parker, sophie, nate, and dick, and as that is playing out hardison finally says something he thinks isnāt incriminating but makes tim go āohhh youāre after the medical fraud guy. shit, why didnāt you just say so? iāll send you the files nowā
meaning hardison finally gives his full attention back to the main comms channel and says āuh, nate? itās cool, i sorted it, you can bounceā, only for nate to reply āeliot has bruce wayne in a chokeholdā and then, as hardison splutters, āno, wait, bruce wayne has eliot pinnedā no, eliot hasā no, i thinkā wait, maybeāā
āyou, uh. you can break it upā hardison says, desperately trying to find a security camera with a good angle, and tim pipes up āhey, can we set up your guy and bruce on some playdates?ā as nate, caught between bemusement and concern, says āi think? this is fun for them?ā
and then alfred appears to remind bruce he canāt mysteriously disappear when itās his party (āno, i think i canā āi am not saying it would be implausible, master bruce, i am saying it would be impoliteā), and sees the leverage crew out, and the leverage crew have the weirdest debrief of their lives and then get their actual con off w/o a hitch thanks in part to some extra bonus files tim sent, and a couple weeks later bruce sends them a fruit basket and a standing invitation to any and all events he hosts
Iām absolutely in love with but especially with the idea that the Leverage crew does not find out that heās Batman and he just is a weird badass suspect ātoo distincitveā rich guy. Tho it would be a funny tidbit if one if the leverage crew, Iām thinking Parker, finds out about the bat vigilante aspect but just simply does not tell anyone (Tho Cass totally knows Parker knows and Parker totally knows Cass knows she knows).
Itās just fun to think of the funny interactions they would have with each other. Along with what chaos they could cause at following events, they attend all together.
I think that more fanfiction should be written with the aim to tackle the original meaning of hanahaki. Because when the concept of hanahaki disease was originally created, it was intended to be a metaphor for suppressing oneās feelings.
Your feelings are this beautiful garden of flora inside of your chest. When you express how you feel honestly, you allow for it to grow freely. But when you hide how you feel out of fear of rejection, and try to make it smaller and smaller, the flowers become cramped inside of you, until you choke on your own feelings. Every flower you cough up is something youāve felt, but refused to say.
The whole ādyingā thing is intended to be more symbolic especially. Youāre killing off bits and pieces of yourself and how you feel, because youāre afraid to express yourself.
Itās not really supposed to be, āThe one I love doesnāt love me back, and Iām dying from it.ā Rather, itās more along the lines of, āRepressing your emotions is bad for you, and itās better and healthier to express them freely, even when itās scary.ā
Which is to say that, one, the cure for the disease should be telling the person that you are in love with how you feel. How the other person feels about the person afflicted should have nothing to do with it, as the trope is meant to be about feeling your emotions unapologetically.
And that, two, itās not an inherently romantic trope. Obviously, it has romantic applications, but it can be written for any situation where a character is hiding how they truly feel. This can include a refusal to address a specific trauma, a desire to indulge in something that theyāre ashamed of, and even really practical things, like wanting to ask oneās boss for a higher position.
Although (as an aromantic person myself) I donāt agree with this conclusion about the trope, this application would also avoid people calling it arophobic. When the thing killing the character is a refusal to be honest with themselves, rather than an unrequited love, itās on nobodyās hands but their own to save their life.
There are a ton of ways that this interpretation of the hanahaki disease could be applied in new and interesting ways in fanfiction, and Iād love to read what things people could come up with!
Non-romantic applications for fandoms Iām currently in:
Danny Phantom - Danny wonāt tell his parents heās half ghost. Undergrowth cursed him with hanahaki and coughing up flowers is getting harder to hide than the ghost powers.
DC/Justice League - the entirety of the Gotham vigilante crew start coughing up flowers and none of the other heroes know why and are very concerned. The Bats just went through a major Arkham breakout with all hands on deck hunting down Rogues and short-term patients alike, trying to keep civilians safe from multiple madmen with chemical weapons while also herding the escaped group therapy session of suicidal 20-25 year olds away from the bridges. Basically a very traumatic week that none of them will talk about.
BBC Merlin - Merlin has hanahaki because he refuses to tell Arthur heās a sorcerer. Yes theyāve been fuck buddies for years, thatās just a background fact unimportant here.
Marvel/Thunderbolts - Bob starts coughing up flowers and the whole group freak out because this must be connected to the darkness within him somehow and they canāt have that returning. Bob stole some fancy foreign candy from Avaās room and is scared to admit it. He thinks itās the candyās fault, like, maybe it had seeds in it and theyāre growing in his stomach? His mom told him that happened with watermelon seeds as a kid.
Superman and The Flash have their annual 50 lap race around the world when an unknown joins them on their yearly get together⦠a glowing teenager with blinding white hair, toxic green eyes, and a face of sheer delight, whooping and happily shouting as he does his best to keep up with the Speedster and Man of Steel
This āraceā is a real thing in comics and Barry goes easy on Superman
How often does these two racing come up? More than youād think
In the early races they would tie. DC liked to tease it out. Whoās the fastest? Who know, after all you canāt say one is faster if they tieā¦
Then they casually drop the bomb that Barry has been holding back for years every time they raced. The race was a publicity thing, he was having fun and putting on a show, meanwhile Clark was actually going as fast as he could
So keeping that in mind, Clark and Barry are both holding back for Danny to remotely keep up with them. A bit like a dog running next to a vehicle, the vehicle could go faster but the dog is just having fun trying to keep up
All of this is adorable. Danny doesnāt get to go this fast most of the time because heās protecting people or fighting ghosts and while he can use his speed itās for a purpose not just for the thrill of speed.
Back to the dog running next to a car analogy - Danny is like a sheepdog. Heās got the speed and agility but itās focused on herding. Making his target move in particular ways to avoid damaging infrastructure or herding crowds of people away from harm.
But when you get to see a sheepdog just sprint in a straight line?! It feels like watching a jet scream past you at an air show. Sleek and perfectly attuned to its job.
Lightning is still faster than a jet, but Barry can enjoy sharing the sky with this kid whoās thrilled by the storm.
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Clark had a cousin growing up, and he literally just found out, as an adult with a child of his own, that the cousin was just Some Guy Ma and Pa found in their field.
He'd been talking with Ma, remembering Pa, and had mentioned that he hadn't seen his Cousin, Danny, in awhile.
His Ma told him that she had no way to contact Danny, because Danny was just Some Guy that showed up to lay in the snow on their field at random intervals, and he looked enough like Clark that they could get away with saying he was a cousin.
Apparently, he'd been harmless enough, and when Pa had pointed a shotgun at him for trespassing, the only thing he'd done was say "fair" and still refuse to move. Pa had done some interrogating, while Ma had kept a six year old Clark distracted, and found the long and short of it; the boy was an ice meta, and he'd overheated, so he was cooling down in the snow on the field before leaving again.
Pa had told Ma, while Clark was still distracted, and she'd ordered him to go out there and give the boy the last tub of ice cream they had.
After that, the boy, Danny, had sporadically returned every winter, stayed for a few days, helped around the farm, babysat Clark, and then disappeared.
When Clark had left for Metropolis, Danny had only come by one or two more times, then the visits stopped.
Danny hadn't even come back after Pa died.
Ma had assumed that the worst had happened, but since she only knew Danny's first name and that he was an ice meta, had no way of finding him. She hadn't said anything because she hadn't wanted to add to Clark's stress.
Clark, though, has a whole lot more resources at his fingertips; he's going to find Danny.
Do you think Nurse Joy has a pet/would ever get a pet? And if so, what type?
She would love to own a cat or two, but her dad is so allergic she wouldnāt ever be able to have him visit and would need to keep a change of clothes without dander in her car to change into before going over to his house. Cats are her favorite and it makes her sad she canāt have any. Sheāll stop to pet strays anytime they let her, but also keeps a lint roller in her car to get rid of the worst of it and then immediately throws those clothes in the wash when she gets home.
Joy considered keeping a bearded dragon when her coworker was moving states and couldnāt take it with him, but after studying tank/environment maintenance and dietary needs she decided it was too much work on top of nursing hours. She likes lizards, thinks theyāre cute. Especially blue bellies when they do their little pushups.
Small dogs are okay if theyāre polite and not yappy but sheās not a fan of big dogs. The only exception is her uncleās dog that she watched grow from an eight week old puppy - a half german shepherd half bull mastiff named Bodhi that has never barked, only makes a quiet boof noise when she hears a stranger come up the driveway, and doesnāt jump on people when excited. Bodhi is a very well trained gentle giant who enjoys sleeping in tall grass and puts up with Joyās baby cousins crawling all over her. Joy has decided this is the perfect example of a big dog and all others are found lacking in comparison.
Joy doesnāt really have the time or energy to keep a pet, at the end of the day. Thereās a couple house plants sheās kept alive, and is proud of that. But sheās happy to pet-sit for friends and coworkers if they have low-maintenance pets and want to take a weekend trip.