Dp Prompts n Stories

That portal should've killed him completely the first time around, fuck! Danny grimaces. Bribes? BRIBES?!

Sam makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat, and her nails dig into his skin tightly. Danny hisses through his teeth and suppresses the urge to flinch away. "You want to bribe Bruce Wayne!?"

"I don't know!" He twists his head around to stare at her, "How much money you got?"

Sam makes another strangled noise, and hisses: "Not that much!"

Danny turns back around and stares widely at Wayne. Wayne, who still has his phone to his ear and hasn't dropped the gobsmacked expression and-- still has the door open!

It's Danny's turn to make a noise in the back of his throat, and it's far more high pitched than Sam's, and a lot more distressed. "Close the door!" It's bad enough that one person already saw him in a pathetic state, he doesn't want the whole party to know! He can't explain this!

He starts scrambling to his feet just as his command registers in Wayne's head, and the man blinks once, twice and then turns and slams the door shut. Then the lock clicks.

Danny's not sure whether or not to feel relieved about that. Sam grabs him by the shoulder and yanks him back down to the ground.

"Bruce?" A voice through the phone calls, "Is everything alright? I heard yelling."

"Hm?" Wayne goes, turning around to face them again. Danny keeps eye contact with him while Sam resumes whatever she's doing with his injuries. There's a noticeable hurriedness in her hands.

Danny gives Wayne his best pleading look.

Wayne looks away from him, his mouth pursing. Danny tries to intensify his pleading look, and sees in real time as Wayne begins to break. Like a sandstone getting soaked in water, he begins to crumble.

"Bruce?"

"...I'll call you back." Wayne says, hitting a button on the screen and ending the phone call right then and there. Danny's shoulders slump--which sends a biting pain down his side.

Wayne shoves his phone into his pocket, opens his mouth to speak, and Danny beats him to the punch before he can: "How much money do you want?"

"What?!"

"Danny!"

Screw it! He's committing to this! Danny grits his teeth and whirls back around on Sam again, "Sam! Give me your wallet!"

"I told you!" Sam says, "I don't have that much money!"

"Then give me my phone!" It's in his jacket pocket, and that's out of his reach. He'd use his telekinesis to pull it towards him, but Wayne is right there! "I'll text Vlad!" It's his fault this is even a problem!

Sam scoffs at him, and presses on his burn wound. "You think Vlad's gonna help you out here?"

"He's gonna have to!" Normally Danny's a lot more levelheaded than this, but unfortunately this is not a normal situation. "He can bribe Bruce Wayne for us!"

"You think Vlad is gonna bribe Bruce Wayne?"

"I'll bribe Vlad," He hisses, it wouldn't be that hard! It'd be embarrassingly easy, actually! He'd just have to sacrifice some of his own pride for it, but that's a cost he's willing to take if it means that this doesn't get out.

Because it just hit him that his reputation doesn't extend past Amity, and this is totally gonna get out.

"You're gonna bribe Vlad to bribe Bruce Wayne." Sam says incredulously, and Danny makes a frustrated sound through his nose. "You think that's gonna work?"

"I think you're forgetting that he's obsessed with me." He can bribe Vlad with spending time with him every weekend for a month, hell maybe even two!

"And I think you're forgetting that he's the reason you're like this at all."

"Excuse me?" Oh, Danny did not like that tone Wayne said that in. He looks back at Wayne and finds him staring the two of them down with an expression Danny can only describe as angry and vaguely protective.

Ohhh that's right, he's still there.

Wayne's brows furrow and he looks between Sam and Danny, eyes intermittently looking down to the various scars making cross stitch across his skin. And the blood smeared over him. Can't forget the blood.

"Vlad?" Wayne says, he takes a step towards them, "as in Vlad Masters? Did Vlad Masters do this?"

Uhhhhh-- Danny blinks widely.

"Do you take cash or credit?"

Bruce stays deliberately neutral on the outside.

On the inside, something cold and furious locks into place.

“Daniel,” he says carefully, “when you say Mr. Masters is ‘obsessed’ with you—”

Danny immediately stiffens.

Sam moves, fast, placing herself between them just enough to block Bruce’s line of sight to Danny’s ribs.

“We’re not talking about that,” Sam snaps. “You don’t need to know.”

Bruce clocks that too.

Protective peer. Gatekeeping details. Defensive posture.

Another classic sign.

“I’m not asking for details,” Bruce replies evenly. “I’m asking to understand the risk.”

Danny laughs, short and humorless. “Risk’s kinda his whole thing.”

That does not help.

Bruce’s jaw tightens.

“Does he touch you?” Bruce asks.

Danny chokes.

Sam makes a noise somewhere between a growl and a swear. “Jesus—”

“No,” Danny blurts immediately, too fast, too loud. “No! No, not— not like that! I mean— he—”

He stops.

Because explaining Vlad without explaining ghosts is impossible.

And Bruce’s eyes sharpen at the hesitation.

Incomplete denial.

Bruce has seen that too.

“So let me get this straight,” Bruce says, keeping his voice low and controlled. “This man repeatedly puts you in dangerous situations. You leave injured. You normalize it. You assume adults won’t help you. And you believe the only way to stay safe is silence.”

Danny opens his mouth.

Closes it.

“…That’s not—” he starts, then exhales sharply. “That’s not wrong, but it’s not like you think.”

Bruce nods.

That, too, is something he’s heard before.

“Does he threaten you?” Bruce asks.

“Uhh—”

“Manipulate you?”

Danny hesitates.

Sam shoots him a look.

Danny groans. “He’s… complicated.”

Bruce’s internal alarms go from blaring to screaming.

Complicated is what kids say when they don’t have the language—or permission—to say harmful.

Bruce stands.

Not abruptly. But with intent.

“Daniel,” he says, voice firm now, “I want to be very clear about something.”

Danny tenses.

“You are not in trouble,” Bruce continues. “You are not obligated to explain anything to me. And I will not force information out of you.”

Danny swallows.

“But,” Bruce adds, eyes hard, “if an adult is fixated on you in a way that results in repeated injury—intentional or not—that is something I take seriously.”

Sam crosses her arms. “You don’t get to.”

Bruce meets her stare without flinching. “I do when it happens under my roof.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Danny shifts, uncomfortable, guilt creeping in. “He’s not— he’s not doing what you’re thinking.”

Bruce exhales slowly. “Then help me understand what he is doing.”

Danny opens his mouth.

Nothing comes out.

Because every safe explanation requires the word ghost.

Tell the truth?

Then what? 'Yeah, I'm just an illegal vigilante in an unknown town fighting evil ghosts. Vlad sometimes beats me up because he wants to marry my mom.'

Whoops. Here he goes to the psych ward! Thanks, Bruce Wayne! I always wanted a new pair of grippy socks!

Yeah. Snowballs chance in Hell.

Danny grabs his coat, ignoring how weird he's going to look without his shirt, and just books it to the windowsill.

"Fuck my— Danny!" Sam shouts, racing after him as he pops open the window. The goth is trying to stuff her medical items back into her bag as she runs.

The boy wriggles out, almost falling into a rosebush as he starts to run in any direction, really.

Sam is right next to him, and he hears his named called in the distance— which must've been Bruce Wayne— but they dart through a forest. Sam has abandoned her dress shoes (which wasn't really all that bad, they were terribly gaudy and useless anyway) and he almost runs into a tree.

A branch hits him in the face and he finally decides to dart behind a large trunk, his friend following.

She looks ticked, with leaves in her hair and footprints in the dress she had been tripping over.

"Danny! What were you thinking?!" She asked, sharply, tugging his jacket back off of him. They both hissed in tandem; him at the fabric being removed from the wounds, and her at the sight of his injuries. "Looks like you made it bigger and bleed more."

"Oh, joy, thanks, I was really looking forward to learning that—"

"I'm sorry, Phantom, you look like a piece of flesh was removed from your side! How dare I point it out, that your arms look like a demon cat went at them—"

Despite feeling like the trees were closing in, yet, he feels himself laugh. It pulls uncomfortably at his ribcage, but his demented (or 'traumatized', as Jazz would say) mind imagined Vlad with cat ears and a collar.

Sam just stops talking for a bit to press gauze to his side, pausing her argument to concentrate, beginning to wrap bandages, and tugs to tighten until he gives another hiss.

The reality of the situation was coming in as the adrenaline wore off, his head thunking to the rough bark. "Ohh fuck. How are we going to deal with Bruce Wayne of all people."

"I don't think bribery is going to work." Sam grumbles, continuing to unspool the bandage roll.

"Wow, I couldn't tell." He exhaled, wincing at the sting. The pain was really starting to set in now. It felt like his whole left side was on fire, and his arms didn't feel much better. "Maybe we can convince him he was hallucinating all of it."

"Um, no the fuck we can't!"

"Why not?"

"I don't know, maybe the bloody shirt in his room?!"

Before he could get out another word, he slapped a hand over Sam's mouth as he heard a rustle in the distance. She made a muffled noise of outrage before he sent her a look.

Danny almost thought he had started hallucinating, dropping his hand from Sam's mouth.

"Daniel."

Fuck. His. Life.

Plasmius loomed over the both of them, wrenching Sam away so hard she fell and stumbled into the dirt.

Looks like he was still pissed from their little spat earlier.

"Where in Gods name have you been? And where is your shirt? I paid hundreds of dollars for that."

"Well, that's your fault, you fruitloop, I said I could've just gotten it from GoodWill."

"Answer the question." He growled, red eyes flaring in the shade of the tree.

Sam sat up, looking furious. "Get away from him! You've already done enough damage, if you couldn't tell, Vlad."

Bands of ectoplasm shot out, attaching Sam to a tree as she gave a shout of anger and surprise. "Do not call me that, little girl."

Danny immediately straightened, pushing off from the tree, his own rage quickly rising. "Put her down. Now."

"Answer the question. I won't ask again, Daniel."

"Look, Bruce Wayne walked in—"

"You revealed our status to Bruce Wayne?!"

Uh oh, was all Danny could think, and then were was a steel hand at his throat, pinning him back to the tree. Plasmius looked downright murderous.

Sam screamed at him to stop, until a rope went around her mouth. Danny did his best to try kicking him off, and yet, he couldn't concentrate on going ghost. Or going intangible. His entire side and arms felt agonized and sticky as he clawed at the ghost.

"No— ack— I did'n—"

"I am not a patient man. First you insult and demean my authority, then you cause a useless fight and make us to be late, and now you're risking our identities?"

Danny's vision was getting black spots as he could barely breathe, lungs on fire.

I'm so dead, was all he thought, seeing Sam's terrified eyes and thrashing figure. Maybe I should've stuck with Bruce Wayne for a little longer.

There was a flash of something in his peripherals, and he was released from Vlad's grip with a watery gasp.

There were large, warm hands grasping at him, and he lashed out again, trying to kick them away.

His ears ringing lessened, and he pried his eyes back open, only to see Bruce fucking Wayne over his crumpled and pathetic self.

"Lad. Daniel. Breathe," He instructed, gently prying his own hands away from his neck to survey the damage.

There was a smack sound next to him, and he turned his head momentarily to see Sam, flushed with fury and holding a large branch over Plas— wait, Vlad's body.

She hit him again, until Bruce Wayne reached out a hand and grabbed the stick, yet his gaze didn't stray from Danny. The man's tie is loosened and he looks so concerned that it hurts to the boy who grew up rifling for bandages since he was ten.

Creepy. Comforting. Danny think he hit his head too hard this time.

Nightwing was the weirdest. He always had this coin clutched in his hand, mouth pressed into a firm line and an almost solemn look on his face as Danny floated beside him. And Danny could've sworn his gaze followed him if there wasn't a white film in his mask obscuring his eyes. It's actually so unnerving that Danny takes to following Batgirl and Spoiler more often, the girls often chatting amicably to themselves and eating greasy food Danny stares longingly at. (He wishes he could eat. Lady Gotham has him feeding off ambient ectoplasm but his human stomach aches with the absence of tangible food.)

But watching Gotham's Knights has its perks. He watched Signal use photokinesis to make his motorcycle invisible, Red Robin solved an impossible locked-room murder, and he sat in on Red Hood's literal organized crime meetings. (Danny now knows how to avoid RICO charges, not that he'll need to.)

The only downside is that Danny isn't supposed to help. Phantom thrashes in his mind, Protector Spirit mourning not coming to these vigilantes' aid and helping those in need. He's not stupid enough to directly go against what Lady Gotham asked, but he's also going to lose his mind by not helping. So, he does. A little. Here and there. Just enough that maybe the trigger of a gun is frosted over while a goon points it at Robin. Or a thug accidentally trips face first into a wall very hard, even if he claims somebody pushed him. Or even Danny uses a very, very quiet Ghost Wail on Scarecrow goons, effectively terrifying them enough to tell Spoiler where the shipment of fear gas is.

(("So...did anybody else hear that or is my gas mask totally screwed?"

"I'm pretty sure everybody heard that, Barbie."

"O., can you-?"

"Already sent to R.R. for sound processing. Reports coming your way, B."

"Hn."

"Sounds like we'll finally get a read on Casper the Friendly Ghost."

Plenty of times, this led him to leaving out his window in the middle of the night only to return at the break of dawn or not at all. But while neither of his parents seemed to notice his escapades, Jazz definitely did. She didn't push, not much, considering when he came back, he seemed lighter than when he left. Once she confirmed it wasn't anything too illegal or dangerous, she let him have this.

Despite staying up most nights, his core was kept fed and it was enough to keep him up. But even that could only get him so far.

Since they were kids, Jazz was always the one to take care of Danny. Their parents tended to get so caught up in their own obsessions that they forgot all of their other responsibilities. Sure, it was worrying that Danny barely slept outside of mid class naps. But he was still eating and looked pretty healthy if not more so than before. She could only hope that Danny wasn't getting into trouble. Jazz knew hovering over his shoulders wouldn't help him, but she would be there for when he needed her.

Between his school life and hero life, Danny found himself wandering more. Finding himself on roofs or in the park, just staring up at what stars he could see. For now, it was plenty enough for him to satisfy his obsession. He had his books and star maps, and a well loved telescope, but there was something missing. It wouldn't be till his first time in the Ghost Zone that he would find what it was.

That weightless feeling. Sure he felt weightless when flying or floating just above the ground, but in the zone, somewhere as infinite as space, the experience felt new all over again. He was pretty sure that all the emotions in the realms were affecting him more than he thought. But it wasn't like he was complaining. Not when it came to space.

It turns out, even outside of the Infinite Realms there were ways of recreating the feeling of being untethered to the world around him.

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The first time after the portal incident that the Fentons went on a vacation to the beach, he felt that familiar pull of his core. It wasn't often Maddie and Jack put down their current project for family bonding, but at the request (guilt tripping) of Jazz they agreed it wouldn't hurt to take time off for the summer.

So the odd family found themselves on a long awkward road trip. Despite their promises, there were a few gadgets and gizmos in their luggage, but it could've been worse. Not everything went as planned- awful traffic, running out of gas, getting a flat tire- it ended up being a long two day drive.

In the end it was worth it.

The whole idea of a vacation started to look up when they found themselves in Maine looking over the horizon of the coastline. It had been a few months since Danny half died. By now he came to accept that fact. He had mourned his short life despite somewhat being alive still. He had better control over his ghost form and the powers that came with it.

He enjoyed the time off. Both during the day and night. But at night, there was much less light pollution here than in Amity Park. He could see more stars in the sky than he had ever in his life. The view was enough to reignite his obsession with space. And at night, when he went out back to the beach to stare into the abyss, Danny found himself floating once more. Drifting not too far from shore. Staring at the stars above for hours till it was like he too was floating aimlessly with the stars and planets themselves.

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The following morning, Maddie woke up to find Danny already out on the beach. It wasn't horribly early when she got up, so she just assumed he hadn't been out for long. And that was good enough for her. Though, she did seem to be happy with how much Danny was enjoying himself.

Maddie swore she hadn't seen him this happy for what felt like forever. He was as happy as the night Danny got his telescope, stars in his eyes and all. Perhaps this was what the family needed. It brought back the look of child like wonder that she loved. One she wished she had been the cause of, though seeing it again all but made up for that. Maddie was just happy to have found something they could bond over.

Watching Jack pick Danny up over his head and toss him in the water only to be followed by the laughter of both her kids and her husband was enough to make this part of their norm. Yeah, she loved every bit of her work life, but she loved her family more. No matter how many things she forgot to do or how many responsibilities she neglected in the process. In the end, she loved her family more than anything.

The sentiment was shared with Jack, who beamed at getting to have this much fun with his family. He was a little disappointed that neither Jazz nor Danny was this happy when it came to ghosts, oh but look at them! Even if Jack wasn't the most (emotionally) intelligent person ever, he could tell Danny had been down in the dumps for a bit. But look at him now, he was so happy!

Both Jack and Maddie had the same thought, "maybe they should do this more often."

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On the second night of the oddly relaxing get away, Danny ventured a bit father than the night prior. relaxing to the point he felt one with the waves. He found himself lucky he didn't exactly need to breath anymore.

After some time, he started to sink into the watery depth, feeling his core expand to match the vastness of the briny deep. He hadn't even realized he went ghost up until then. The other thing he failed to notice was just how far he had floated this time. At least being this far from shore he didn't have to worry about getting caught by ghost hunters, his parents or otherwise.

He was already out this far, he might as well explore while traveling back. So in all his new massive forms glory, he allowed himself to sink further down. To his surprise, while he was still close enough to see the the massive light house from the shore, he was also far enough to come across a small pod of whales, along with many other schools of fish.

For a brief moment it felt like he belonged there. Remoras deemed him good enough to try to stick to him while still tangible. Like he was just another whale or shark they were hitching a ride on. The smaller of the life around him startled at him movements and the push of the water around him.

After minutes? Hours? of swimming, his core tug once more. Deeming the spot he had come across the perfect spot. To take in the surrounding wild life, the small groups and schools that found their way to him once he rested. It was deep enough to where the moon illuminated the water above him, yet, where he sat remained quite dark. Though, maybe that was from his shadow. Casting over the sand and drop offs.

If he had to describe what he was feeling, it would be at peace. He may not be in space, but he felt just as weightless, save the pressure of the water. It was the closest thing he could find that felt like floating in the great beyond. Not like he actually knew what space was like, though if he had to say, it would be like this but better.

If he thought more on it, if he did get the chance to go to space, he was unsure if he'd ever come back down. Not only would he get this feeling and the view, both would be at the very least ten times better. He'd end up so entranced that he would never come back to earth or lose track of time. Knowing himself, he might forget that he's still half human and end up accidentally fully dying in space. Had to wonder how that development would turn for his ghost half, dying in the one place he dreamed of going to. The same place the became a part of him in the form of an obsession.

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Case and point, time passing only registered to Danny as he watched the sun cast a brighter light over the water above. He hadn't even noticed the moon setting, let alone the sun beginning to rise. Once time made sense to him again, Danny was off back to the hotel. On the fly in the direction of the light house, he grew conscious of his new form and reverted back to his normal Phantom self. And what was left in his resting place were some few Atlanteans with bated breaths. Because What, the FUCK, was that?! A fucking Leviathan??? But it was small??? Only the size of a whale. Was it a baby. Oh gods it would get bigger! Was it dangerous? Did they have to fear the Leviathan, or would they be fine if it was left unbothered.

And it kept happening. After the first siting, the (probably baby) Leviathan came back. Always at night, the left in the morning. It barely even noticed them. It acknowledged the fish swimming around it and it was aware of how its movements sometimes made the fish shrink back and flee. To the few Atlanteans that decided it was better to understand the infant Levi than fear it right out the gates, it was almost endearing that the giant tried so hard to not disturb the ecosystem much. The thing was just so curious, even with its deep reflective eyes, they could see how taken it was with how the (in comparison) small fish reacted. And like the day before, it would "play" with the fish then grow still looking up to the surface, and at the break of dawn it would snap out of the trance and leave.

It would be twice more, making it a week, till the babe Levi didn't come back, leaving only the spot it laid. Nothing else was left behind but the imprint of it. But the few days it was watched, it painted Leviathans in a different light. It was young and curious, just as an Atlantean's young would be. Nothing from its actions painted it as a fearsome predator, nothing beside the sheer size of it. Not when it paid so much mind to the smaller life forms. It was as sentient as any other being of the sea was. Judging from its size, it was new to the world.

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Danny didn't think anything of it. For the remainder of the Fenton's vacation, the family got on surprisingly well. No one was accused of being a ghost. Hell, Maddie and Jack both agreed to leave the gadgets and gear in the hotel room when they went into town for sight seeing and for meals.

The family ended up with tons of photos of their stay that Danny was sure to show off to Sam and Tucker when they went back. Speaking of which, the family were packing up preparing to go back home and back to their norms. It kinda bummed Danny out that they had to leave, but with Jazz's support of the idea, they asked if they could do this more to the delight of their parents.

This was a win for everyone. Jazz would get to enjoy more of her time as a kid, not worrying about her little brother. Danny was happier than ever, exploring during the day, spending time with his family with no mention of ghosts or getting torn apart molecule by molecule. Plus, Danny got pretty good at changing/controlling the change of his form. Jack got to have one on one time with both of his kids and his wife. And Maddie didn't drag Jack out of any trouble while also getting her baby boy back in the process. Even if it was brief due to this only being a week long trip. Point was, everyone had a blast. With the exception of the Atlanteans who had a heart attack or two when he first showed up. But he didn't even notice them.

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That night, the same brave Atlanteans that observed the baby Levi waited for some time after nightfall for its arrival. Tonight would be the night they tried to get closer to nab a sample. One problem. The Levi never showed. Same with the next night and the one after that and the one after that. Soon the encounter was shrugged off as a one time thing. Was this just a thing that Leviathans did at a young age? Find a safe, secluded, place to rest then move to a new area? It was hard to tell for sure since this was the closest any of them had been to a Leviathan for an extended length of time without being in danger.

Yeah, it was disappointing that it left, but there wasn't much to be done about it. On the bright side, it was such a mellow subject. One could only wish that their young would be that calm. Pretty soon the Leviathan would once again be off the radar, the possibility of it returning was low in the opinion of the few that got near it. They had to assure that to plenty of people plenty of times. And plenty of times Aquaman had to assure the League that no harm was done.

After it's first appearance, Aquaman was understandably warry, giving a heads up to the League in case this took a turn for the worse. But worse for worse never came. From what was observed, it was an infant. Harmless to everything that came near it. He never tested whether or not that would be the same with him or his citizens since it payed no mind to any of them, choosing to not interact or it truly just didn't know they were there. Given how it was gentle to the fish-dozens of times smaller than it- he could only hope and assume it would act the same with them. Cause in the following days it was gone. Like it wasn't nesting outside of the kingdoms walls.

It remained gone for nearly a year before someone spotted it once more. Almost the same size as before, although worryingly small for it being a year older now, which raised both more questions and new found concerns. Was this poor Levi Calf not eating? Come to think of it, where had its mother been. A youngling that small should still be near its mother, but given it had barely grown since the last encounter, the possibility that it was abandoned or it's mother died was concerning. Not being taught to be a predator due to the death of its parent could explain its mellow actions and the lack of growth. But that also meant it wasn't taught to hunt nor defend itself. Poor thing.

Then that raised the concern of if there was something nearby that was big or strong enough to hunt and/or kill a full grown Leviathan. The thought was far more concerning than a harmless youngling that wandered a bit too close to the kingdom. As complicated as the subject was, for precaution sake, Aquaman had to inform the Trinity as a bare minimum. It was better for them to know to be ready to offer what help they could if needed and having their assistance might help with gaining a better understanding of the "small" Leviathan. Telling all of the JL immediately might cause a minor panic, but keeping it secret would likely be seen as withholding information.

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Although he was still on the fence about spilling so soon, it was better to have the league on his side. That was the point of his appearance at the bi-weekly meeting. Arthur would have shown regardless of if he decided to tell or not. It was better to get it out of the way. Gods know how pissy Bruce would get if he wasn't aware of a giant ocean monster, more so if Bruce found out Arthur knew and didn't tell them. Man, B would tear him a new one.

Arthur, otherwise known as Aquaman, was sat around the table, mulling over how he was to tell the group. If he should run it by B first then tell the rest. Hell if he was supposed to know. Either way, his fellow heros would be made aware of the baby Levi's circumstances. He'd send his regards to that poor child who would soon be smothered with contingencies and monitoring until the heros were certain and satisfied. In the end this would prove to be the better choice. For everyone.

With the vaguest idea of a plan in mind he would inform the other members at the end of the standard meeting. If he wanted to tell Bruce first, he should have done so in advance. If he told him now, who knows, maybe Bruce would leave to do his own investigation and have Nightwing tag in for him. If not Nightwing, then one of the other members of his brood. That possibility couldn't be risked now.

All that was needed of him at the time being was to inform and assure that it would be handled accordingly. Not that he could stop Bruce's contingencies in the end. So long as the Levi remained calm and no blood was shed, he could consider it a win.

It wouldn't take much for any of the leaguers to act. Even the most sensible of them could be rash and impulsive, when it came to getting the job done and protecting their people.

Once the Zeta tube announced the last arrival, and the small talk and idle chatter was out of the way, the meeting would start. It was the basic stuff- tying off loose ends on incarcerated rogues, reports on the localized crime, how they could've done something better or worse- the usual. Only some minor setbacks in a bust, notes here and there for improvement. Then came Arthur's time to speak up, fill the rest of them in about the (potential) 'situation'. A low-stake, docile, seemingly parentless, infant Leviathan. He pulled from the reports of the last time it was spotted on the outskirts of Atlantis, time lapsed recordings of it doing nothing but resting and allowing the creatures around it to do as they pleased. On the occasion it would move, it did so slowly, seemingly conscious of its affect on the things around it. The youngling was considerate in that aspect. That was all it did, from night fall to sunrise, for a few days to a week at a time, then it left till the next summer came. What little was known about the Leviathan was that it deemed Atlantis safe enough to lower its guard to rest then migrated to a new place. The Ocean was a big place. Plenty of dark, secluded spots to hide and rest. Regardless of that, it returned for that week, then again a year later.

Finally was the consideration that no parent was spotted anywhere near the Calf at any point. When comparing the video from a year ago and the newer ones from the Levi resurfacing, it was painfully obvious it didn't grow much. If at all. They were sure it was the same one too. The chance that something killed its parent was at minimum concerning. Leviathans were always seen as aggressive predators, but this one seemed to be enough to disprove both parts of that sentiment. It wasn't aggressive and certainly no predator. If anything, at this state it was the prey to something else. Something bigger or simply more dangerous.

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Nearing the end of the meeting, a live feed from where the baby Levi would sleep was playing, an Atlantean citizen was finishing putting the camera in place. It was coming up on the time it usually showed up. Once in place, the Atlantean swam off, and there was nothing for a few minutes. Then there was movement in the back. Far enough that it was just a blur. But sure enough it was the Leviathan, just something was off. It was acting sluggish, moving much slower than normal.

When it was within a few meters of it's resting place, it became clear that it was injured. Green liquid with splotches of red was pouring out of its side, mixing in with the water. The Leviathan's oddly humanoid hand was covering the injured side. Small chirp-like-gasps vibrated in the water, like it was crying out for it's mother.

Danny had come from a surprise encounter with Skulker, the latter getting the drop on him on his way out past the lighthouse. The rest of his family were already in bed when he was attacked, he was far enough that the attack wouldn't wake them either. But the league wouldn't know that. All they knew was the docile baby Leviathan was hurt bad, enough that it's blood was swirling idly in the surrounding waters. Bad enough that the baby was calling out for a parent that wouldn't show. For now though, they were operating on animal planet rules. Observe, don't interfere. But watching as something suffered was fundamentally against everything they, as heros and as protectors, stood for. They could do something, they could offer help, they could find what attacked it. But then what? Have what ever it's predator was go after them? How could they even help it when they didn't even know anything about it.

Were they really just going to let nature take it's course, yeah, Leviathans were dangerous, but everything that's dangerous doesn't deserve death. Causing danger and being dangerous weren't the same thing. It was only a baby that had done no harm.

Leaving the Levi to suffer would be no better than killing it themselves, it would sit just as heavy on their conscious if it were them killing it. Even with nothing said aloud, the decision was made. Making contact would be easy in theory, if Aquaman couldn't communicate with it with his marine telepathy then maybe Martian Manhunter could communicate telepathically or read its mind. In theory. But that only worked if it stayed calm while being approached and if their assumptions about it retaining a conscious mind was correct.

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Those that could spare the time and resources returned to Atlantis with Arthur. They only had a few hours before the Leviathan, if it followed it's pattern, would leave. If it decided to do so, they had no way of stopping it. As planned, J'onn accompanied him, along with Barry and Bruce.

Equipped with flippers and oxygen masks, the three joined the Atlantean king to the Levi's resting place. It was in the same position as it had been last seen on the live feed. Curled into itself, making the same pained chirping sound. The liquid assumed to be it's blood started to settle around it's body, drifting with the movements of the group swimming closer.

Being this close, Arthur could see the Leviathan closed its eyes, lowering its guard even as it bled. In all it's time resting near Atlantis, it remained alert enough to watch the animals around it or gaze up to the surface. But it was too caught up in its own pain to keep its eyes open.

Arthur spoke to it first, alerting it of their presence. His voice reached the young spooking it at the suddenness of it. It became further startled seeing who was speaking to it. Regardless of its own agony, it jostled back away from the intimidating form.

How odd it was that something dozens of times bigger than them found the Leaguers to be intimidating. It was clear, in the reflective eyes of the Leviathan that it was scared. Perhaps that wasn't the right word. It felt unease at their presence. Something completely natural from a being that had been injured and didn't know who or what to trust. Given the sluggish movement observed earlier, it could probably barely stay conscious. But it didn't trust them. And that they couldn't blame it.

With the suggestion for Barry and Bruce to stay back for a moment while J'onn and Arthur tried to calm it, there were a few minutes of silence between the group as the latter two eased forward, lifting their hands in a surrendered motion. The moment of reasoning began with Arthur explaining that he was the king of the kingdom the infant rested by on the occasion. Then J'onn offered the explanation for them approaching making sure to specify to the baby Levi that they didn't intend to hurt or scare it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny thought that being far enough away from Amity Park meant the ghost attacks wouldn't be as bad. Actually, he thought he could get a few days with no ghost business at all. Of course he had to jinx it. On the third night of their second family vacation, a year and a half after he died, Skulker had tracked him down. Still clearly dead set on completing his hunt, the fight would have been like any other if not for the new surroundings. With the stars above on full display and Danny being on the move to his new normal resting place, Danny wasn't as aware of his surroundings as he should have been.

He'd done this plenty of times. Going to the depths to float while getting lost in his obsession. Driven by the vary same obsession, he was distracted and Skulker used that to his advantage.

Skulker's attack landed, however, he didn't expect the halfa to grow in size seconds after hitting the water. This unexpected discovery would only act as fuel to the flame with Skulker's hunt. On top of being a prey that gave him meaningful fights and being half ghost-half living boy, he also held enough power to alter his physical form. Now that was a prey worth hunting.

Skulker followed Danny's trail for a few miles out till he lost him. Seemed like the Halfa could cover much more ground (or in this case sea) in a much shorter amount of time at this size. Too bad.

It took longer for Danny to reach his safe place, his adrenaline wearing out a block out from safety. Gradually his movements became sluggish like he could collapse at any moment. And he almost did once he was finally safe.

Danny found himself curling into a ball, pressing his enlarged hand against his side. This had been a closer call than any other attack made by Skulker. Way closer to a second death than he ever wanted to get.

There was movement near him, he assumed those blobs in his blurry vision were the usual life that found their way to him. Although, this time around they looked off. Bigger maybe. Moved more like people swimming. For all Danny knew, his head could have been hit during the altercation and he was seeing things as a result. Those human looking blobs were in the distance, by the top of a drop off behind some rocks and hadn't moved any farther or closer for the next fifteen minutes.

Danny wasn't actually sure how much time had passed. He was just taking a wild guess.

Those long fifteen minutes passed and in that time his eyes finally closed. He needed to heal. To focus. There wasn't any ecto near to use to heal. All he had to heal off of were his emotions: pain, panic, relief at getting away; The creatures-around-him's emotions: curiosity, hunger, but also worry and panic, which was odd, though possibly cause by him moving too fast and freaking them out; And his own obsession.

It wouldn't take long for Danny to figure out why he was feeling odd emotions from the surrounding creatures when one spoke to him. He didn't have that ability? He couldn't speak to animals, so why was one talking to him?

As his glossed over eyes opened, he was face to face with a human! No. That's not right. He was breathing under the water. He could hear it. That couldn't be a human.

Danny's eye began to focus as he saw long blonde hair flowing in the current and a yellow/green suit. He blinked once. Then twice.

Holy shit- Is that Aquaman?! This could not be happening. Oh Ancients- Did he do something? He could hear Aqua man speaking to him in a gentle tone. Okay, so he wasn't mad. Not out right. That's good.

Aquaman was introducing himself, saying he had been resting near his kingdom. That was an enough for a existential crisis by itself. Then there was a second voice and Danny's eyes couldn't widen any more, it was the Martian Manhunter. THE Martian Manhunter. Danny's all-time favorite Super Hero. Oh Ancients, he was using his telepathy on him! He could die for a second time happy now. Wait. Not the time. Did Martian Manhunter just say the Atlantean's had been keeping an eye on him since last summer?! At least the hero confirmed he wasn't in any trouble and they weren't going to hurt him. Nice to have that cleared up. Wait, if Danny was thinking this, could MM hear it?

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J'onn could, in fact, hear his thoughts. And to his shock, the baby Leviathan knew what the Justice League was. Not just that, the Levi had favorites. J'onn felt slightly flattered.

The Leviathan being aware of them, enough so to have a favorite, meant it was much more sentient than initially thought. It was confusing. How could a young ocean predator know about the Justice League. Knowing about Aquaman and Atlantis would be one thing, but as it's eyes focused, it recognized each of them. It's thoughts were all over the place, it's emotions switching from excited at meeting them, concerned about having met them, and over all confusion.

It was almost worrying that the Leviathan knew about his powers. Knowing enough to worry if they were effected by it too. That displayed some intelligence. If this was just a baby, that could suggest that Leviathan as a whole weren't given enough credit. This young calf alone displayed actions similar to elephants returning to sources of food and water and taking migration routes. It being able to show favoritism was just even more fascinating, showing to be more human in the sense than that of Avian, Mammals, or any other Primates.

J'onn was getting distracted. He had to remember they were there for a reason. This first contact was important. J'onn introduced himself to the Leviathan, giving his proper name in place of his hero one seeing the calf already knew that one. He also happened to mention the uniqueness of the situation at hand, showing remorse to the calf for not having a parent. Now knowing that the calf was sentient, MM was more hesitant to go further than needed into it's mind. Therefore, until it was necessary, he would stick to using his telepathy as a means of communication.

Even in the mind, there could be mistranslations if a language didn't have a word for something in another language. The dialect of a Leviathan, however it was, was unknown to anything but a Leviathan. Contact with one was rare in and of itself, but communication was even more so. Encounters in the past had never been so bloodless. Well, this one wasn't exactly without blood either, but it wasn't from combat with the Leviathan and them.

From the quick dip in the Leviathan's mind, it was indeed young, only reaching sixteen in age. For a human, that was young, but a Leviathan, a creature that could live hundreds, if not thousands of years. This Leviathan shouldn't've been without a parent for another decade. When he took that quick look, he could hear the Leviathan telling him to stop. To get out.

The baby could feel him inside of his head. It's awareness was impressive. Yet worrying. J'onn apologized for the invasion, and with the help of the Levi's seeming favoritism, the apology was accepted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So not how Danny thought his night would go.

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Meanwhile Arthur has a confrontation of his own with Black Manta who is clearly not at his full strength.

his helmet is rather… busted.

“So those brats have notified you of my attack.”

"...Brats?"

“The group of meta teens that you recruited to be your daughter’s personal little protection squad.”

Arthur opens his mouth to say something along the lines of “what the hell are you talking about” before thinking the better of it.

“I’ll admit that their combat ability caught me off guard, but that trick will only work once Aquaman.”

Arthur thinks for a bit before settling on a ‘neutral’ viciously growled, “Leave my daughter alone”

Later he shares this new precious bit of info with Mera, “good news, our little girl is being protected by a group of well meaning kids who apparently can hold off Manta at least long enough to escape,” he remembers the fucked up helmet, “and deal some decent damage in the process.”

“And the bad news,” Mera asks while pacing.

“I have absolutely no idea where they went. And Manta knows about several young heroes through Tempest and Aqualad… so these teens are most likely complete unknowns.”

Mera hisses in frustration, “I want my little seastar back.”

“We’ll find her.” 

Now, Danny knows better than to just repress his powers, he doesn't want a repeat of the freezing incident. Less now that he's alone. Solution: casual use of his powers within his house. But maybe he got a little too used to that, because he kept slipping when having people over. But that's okay, he'll just play dumb and gaslight everyone into believing it didn't happen or Danny has nothing to do with it. After all, powers are not normal, and Danny is a completely normal human boy. 

Or at least Danny thought he was playing normal pretty well until his friend from school just created a shadow sphere out of nowhere and started talking about metas and Danny doesn't really hear what else, because his blood is rising in his ear. Is this normal to humans here? Has he been playing human wrong? Shit, how does he ask about what his friend clearly sees to be normal information without giving out he’s from another dimension?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Duke knows his friend from school is a meta, he’s seen Danny slip with his powers multiple times, and honestly the excuses Danny gives him are getting a little ridiculous at this point. He wants to be able to bond with his friend over the meta experience. So after much thought, he decides to reveal his meta status without revealing the whole extent of his powers. Just to give Bruce some peace about his decision. 

But instead of the opening up he had been hoping for, Danny looks completely lost. Did he come on too strong?

"Um, Duke, can everyone just… do that?" Danny asks confused.

"What?"

"I mean, I know growing up in a cult kinda cuts you off from some basic information, but I would have thought we would have at least been told if humans develop the ability to do… that."

"You what?"

All it took was one shot in his direction and Danny knew this would be the night everything changed. It wasn’t something simpler to avoid like the Fenton Ghost Fisher or even a more challenging one like the Jack O’ Nine Tails he’d dealt with a few times. It seemed like his parents and the GIW had grown tired of low powered machinery designed to subdue to allow for containment. They had swapped gears and were now dealing with enough energy to exterminate with one blow, or at least that is what the crumbling remains of the warehouse he’d been standing near gave him the impression of.

He’d done his best to evade and escape, but he wasn’t prepared for his parents to have already produced multiple of the model and dispersed them to the GIW as well. All it took was one dodge in the wrong direction and he was blasted through the air by what felt like a cannonball ripping through his side as a GIW agent managed to get a clean shot from the opposite direction.

Danny went down hard, cracking the cement sidewalk that had rushed far too quickly to meet him. With the wind knocked out of him, he had struggled to reorient himself to the danger that was quickly closing in. All he could feel was the consuming and obliterating pain eating his torso and radiating through his whole body.  But he knew that if he stopped moving now there would be no hope of escaping this time.

He was dizzy and nauseous and barely breathing when he pushed himself to stand, clawing at the ground to get traction to push himself upright. He poured all the energy he had left into maintaining his ghost form, knowing the amount of damage he would be facing in his human form would likely knock him out or worse if he didn’t heal some first.

With blood and ectoplasm seeping from what was left of his side, Danny staggered around to face his parents with the understanding that this time would be the last. That his parents had finally gone too far. That the GIW had finally crossed one line too many. That the last resort contingency plans that he and his friends had made during their sleepovers or after other near-disastrous encounters or when they whispered their what ifs about their dreams for the future would finally be enacted tonight.

With this knowledge, Danny looked into the eyes of the parents he loved even though they hurt him, who he trusted even though they tore his existence apart, and forced himself to use what remaining shreds of strength he had to whisper, “I love you,” before vanishing from their sight.

Danny had flown as fast as he could to Sam’s, knowing that his pre-packed go bag was tucked into the back of her closet. He hadn’t stopped moving until he flew through her open window into her bedroom, his form flickering into visibility with the erratic beating of his heart, all he could hear was blood rushing through his head. He felt hands on him as he collapsed to her bedroom floor and then the world dissolved into silence and nothing.

When he woke up he was in Frostbite’s hut, sore and disoriented but with the immediate knowledge and sadness that came with his location of safety. He stayed with Frostbite until the majority of his wounds had healed before Clockwork had appeared and asked if he was ready to start over. Danny knew what this meant, leaving behind his friends, his sister, and Amity Park, but he knew that if he went back his parents and the GIW would never stop hunting him to finish the job, so he just nodded and followed Clockwork back to his tower.

Clockwork explained the basics: a new dimension, a new identity, a home, decades worth of technological advancements beyond what he was familiar with, a scholarship to help cover his academics as well as get him on his feet financially, a reminder of the need to use his powers to avoid overloading himself, and an explanation to use if somebody questions his delays or lack of adjustment. Danny thought it would be hard to convince anybody that he was raised in a cult that lacked access to all modern technology and media but he trusted Clockwork to know what was necessary to get him to safety.

And that was it. Clockwork opened a portal directly into the apartment he had set up for Danny somehow. Danny Fenton no longer existed, and Danny Nightengale was the newest student to walk the halls of Gotham Academy. He did his best to adjust quickly to the advancements in the world, but he was still playing catch up with a lot of things. He’d fallen into a pretty decent rhythm with his studies as well as his own personal pursuits outside of school. He’d even managed to make some friends. He’d also gotten used to using his powers in the safety of his personal apartment.

One of the first things he had done when he settled into Gotham was start researching the city. Knowing the community around oneself is vital to blending in, after all. It was in these searches that he came across Batman and the Robins, regular humans with technological advancements to aid them as they pursued the roster of rogues plaguing the town. He hadn’t bumped into any of them, mostly because he kept to himself and only went to school and the grocery store if he could help it.

From what he could tell, nobody else he had been around had powers. He’d monitored everybody he could from his classrooms and when walking the streets of Gotham. He’d checked out as many of the rogues as he could and they all seemed to have chemically enhanced themselves or used technology to enact their plans.

So, Danny hid his powers publicly, but, in private, he used them as often as he could so that he could avoid building up too much energy and losing control.  It had been a few months of this: walking through doors in his apartment rather than opening them, cooling down his food with his cryokinesis, telekinesis to grab things just out of reach, or duplication to work on homework while he finished cooking his dinner. At first, it was difficult, he’d worry about somebody walking in or his parents finding out. That especially had been a harsh pill to swallow, acknowledging that he had been unable to fully be himself in his own home out of fear. But over time, he got used to doing it in his own space.

He had gotten so used to it, in fact, that he’d started slipping up and using powers in front of his friends once he felt secure enough to start having them come over.

The first time he’d messed up, it had been Tim Drake over to work on a school project. Tim had been sitting at the table, back to the kitchen working on building their scale model when he asked Danny to give him a hand holding a piece down. Danny had been quickly making the two of them something to eat when Tim had made his request and had, without thinking, duplicated himself so the duplicate could keep making dinner while he went to assist Tim. When Tim asked a question while Danny 1 was holding the paper and Danny 2’s voice answered from not right beside Tim, Tim had startled vocally. Danny immediately realized and pulled the duplicate back into himself before Tim could turn around and see double. Danny had said the acoustics in the apartment could be weird sometimes and had acted nonchalantly enough that Tim seemed to drop it.

Another time, he had been playing video games with his neighbor Jason, a nicer college-aged guy who lived in the apartment down the hall and had started checking on Danny when he realized he was living alone. Danny had been a little put off at first, but over time Jason had been good for odd things, like knowing how to fix the leaky pipe under the bathroom sink and how to hook up a generator for heating up food when the power grid goes down from a rogue attack.

Danny and Jason had been playing video games when Danny had gotten cold. He’d stood up, walked to his bedroom to retrieve a jacket, and walked straight through the bedroom door instead of opening it. Jason was focused on his phone and only saw it happen out of the corner of his eye, but Danny had quickly just said the door was cracked and it no longer squeaked since Jason had fixed the hinges so he didn’t hear him push it open. Danny wasn’t sure if Jason believed him but he went back to playing video games with no argument so Danny thought it was a victory.

There had been a few other close calls, but Danny had explained them away as best he could when he caught them and they seemed to believe him.

It was the times he hadn’t been catching what he was doing that were the problem.

It was Duke who confirmed it first that Danny definitely had some type of powers. He had really liked hanging out with Danny at school when he started halfway through the semester, and they had quickly gotten pretty close. Not close enough for Duke to reveal his vigilante alter-ego, but close enough that they hung out multiple days a week on average. What was easily explained by Danny as tricks of the light or acoustics had been a little believable at first, but over time the excuses became flimsy and then outright laughable.

Duke wanted Danny to be comfortable though, he didn’t want him to feel forced to talk about his powers or to feel shamed about them. Duke knew the stress of being a meta and how it could paint a target on your back. He didn’t want Danny to think that having powers would change their friendship, and, more importantly, he didn’t want Danny to feel alone.

He’d spent several weeks thinking about how he would bring up the subject with Danny when, one weekend as they were working on homework at Danny’s place, Duke had knocked a pencil off the table on accident. Before he could even begin to lean over and grab it, the pencil floated back up onto the table and set itself down by his elbow. When Duke looked at Danny, he hadn’t even seemed to have broken concentration on the math problem he was doing. Duke was excited, maybe this meant that Danny was comfortable enough with Duke to start using his powers openly around him. Maybe this was the right time for him to bring it up.

Once they’d finished their worksheets and Danny had started making lunch for them, Duke pulled from the shadows making a ball the size of a baseball that he could manipulate. He started tossing it back and forth between his hands, essentially giving himself a fidget toy, as he started talking about how cool some of the meta’s he had seen on the news lately were. He was so absorbed in catching the shadow ball that he missed the way Danny had turned around, question on his lips (he was going to ask what a meta was), and froze.

Duke had continued talking for a couple of minutes, tossing the ball up in to the air and catching it in rhythm. When he paused to wait for feedback on the question he had asked: “Who’s your favorite hero?”, he finally glanced over to Danny and quickly the shadow ball disappeared from the air where he’d just tossed it.

Danny was staring at him, mouth hanging open. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“Danny, you okay?” Duke was starting to get nervous. He hadn’t meant to come on so fast with the topic and scare Danny. He thought the pencil thing earlier meant that Danny was ready to be more open about his powers. He really hated the thought that he may have just scared one of his friends away.

“You’re scaring me a little, man. What’s going on?” Duke questioned, pushing Danny to just say something, anything.

Danny closed his mouth and took a couple of deep breaths before slowly walking over and sitting down on the couch next to Duke, leaving as much space as he could between the two.

“Um, Duke, can everyone just… do that?” Danny finally whispered, fear and wonder glinting in his eyes when he finally looked over to Duke directly.

“What do you mean? Do what?” Duke wasn’t sure he understood what Danny meant.

“I mean, I know I grew up in a cult and was cut off from a lot of basic information and all. But I just mean, like, wouldn’t I have known if humans had the ability to just do all that?” Danny slumped back into the cushions looking up at the ceiling.

Now it was Duke’s turn to gape at his friend. A cult? Danny had never mentioned that before, at least not to Duke or Tim, who had already been running his theories of Danny being a meta by him and Jason pretty regularly. He feels like Tim would have mentioned a cult to him if Danny had said something before.

“Danny, literally how have you never mentioned growing up in a cult before?” Duke was trying not to sound accusatory; he really was. But he could feel the puzzle pieces falling into place about how behind Danny was about a lot of things: tech, slang, celebrities, history, and media being just the tip of the iceberg.

“Oh, yeah. I guess I don’t really talk about it much, or I try not to. I didn’t… have access to a lot of information outside of the cult’s teachings, but I just felt like there was more out there than what they were telling us. And, like, you just had a ball made of shadows in your hand, dude. And you were fidgeting with it like you weren’t even thinking about it?” Danny twisted on the couch to face his friend. He no longer looked timid, he looked intrigued.

“Yeah, shadow manipulation is part of my powers. I’m a meta who can, long story short, manipulate light and dark. It’s pretty neat, and it’s gotten a lot stronger as I’ve worked on it and gotten older.”

“What’s a meta?” Danny asked, head tilted but with a gleam of wonder and curiosity in his gaze.

“What’s a-? You don’t?” Duke rubbed his palms over his face, leaning his weight down to where his elbows rested on his knees where he sat.

Danny stayed silent, waiting for Duke to pull his thoughts together. It took a minute.

“Danny, I have a serious question here. You don’t have to tell me, but I need to know how much you do or don’t know to know where to start explaining stuff to you, okay?” Duke glanced over at Danny, who immediately nodded. “What did the cult teach you about powers? Better yet, what did the cult teach you in general?”

Danny looked a little sheepish at that. He drew his hand up, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well… It’s… I mean, it’s kind of hard to explain. We didn’t really talk about powers on a human level? Like, conceptually, I guess, the cult taught that we were more powerful in death than in life and that those who lived successfully would be rewarded after death with the opportunity to walk the earth again as ectoplasmic entities. Those entities would be rewarded with powers, but the abilities were equated to their interests in life. So, like, if you lead a good and successful life where you gain a lot of power or influence you are more likely to become an ectoplasmic entity that has significant power or influence… does… does that make sense?” Danny looked embarrassed.

Meanwhile Duke was trying so incredibly hard to not let his absolute incredulity show on his face because what Danny just said was difficult to comprehend. In his time as a vigilante, Duke had come across quite a few cults with very questionable belief systems, but… ectoplasmic entities?

“I know it’s weird and hard to believe. The cult was small and got raided right after I managed to leave so I don’t think they even exist anymore. But I never even thought about the possibility that power wasn’t just for after death and yet you are sitting in my house manipulating shadows? What else have I missed?” Danny pressed on, anxious over his friend’s silence.

“Okay,” Duke sighed, “we have to go over several things here. One, thanks for telling me about that, I know it probably isn’t the easiest thing to talk about.”

Danny blushed and shrugged.

“Two, meta’s are everywhere, man. Most of us don’t show our powers publicly in, like, big displays. Meta’s have the metagene that once activated provides the person with abilities, which is like the most basic explanation I can pull together for you right this second.”

Danny looked like he was hanging onto every word.

“Three, I don’t know how you’ve been in Gotham for this many months and not at least heard about a meta from the news or just people at school gossiping. I feel like I can’t go a day without hearing about a new person’s powers, so I don’t know whether to be impressed or astounded to be completely honest.”

Danny chuckled a little bit.

“It’s hard to believe. I mean… that’s just amazing that people, meta’s, can do all of that. I guess I just never got around to digging that far into it when doing my crash course on what a normal life looked like.”

Duke laughed lightly with Danny at that. Then a thought hit him, and his stomach plummeted. Danny was still talking about other people having powers, but hasn’t mentioned himself at all in relation to what Duke was telling him.

Duke resisted the urge to start fidgeting with the shadows again.

Tentatively, Duke said, “Danny, I want you to know that I trust you and I hope you trust me. I don’t showcase my powers a ton because I do still want to keep them pretty private, which is a perfectly fine thing to do, but that doesn’t mean you can’t.”

Danny just looked confused.

“Okay?”

“Danny, I don’t want you to talk about it if you aren’t ready to. I totally understand and respect if you aren’t, but you don’t have to pretend you don’t have powers with me if you don’t want to.”

“What?” Danny seemed a little bit shocked and he finished twisting around so he was facing Duke head on.

“I’ve seen you use some of your powers around your apartment. You excuse them away sometimes and those excuses were believable at first but you literally levitated a pencil from the ground back up to the table while we were doing homework earlier. Last week when you answered the door to let me into your apartment, I saw a clone of you standing at the kitchen sink drying dishes over your shoulder and they were gone by the time I had finished taking my shoes off by the door. You couldn’t find your keys the other day when we were heading to the library to study and I watched you push your hand through the couch cushion, not between them, and pull out your keys. I’m just saying, you haven’t been the most subtle about them around me, and want you to know that I don’t mind if you use your abilities around me if you want to.”

Duke was being so earnest. He was trying so hard to get Danny to understand that he was accepting and wouldn't be judging whatever abilities Danny had, which from Duke’s count seemed to be numerous at this point.

Danny looked lost in thought for a few minutes after Duke finished. Duke remained quiet, letting him. He’d laid out all of his cards on the table, it would be up to Danny to decide what to do at this point.

After a few minutes of the silence, Danny spoke.

“Duke. I am not a meta.”

Duke wanted to scream. Not at Danny, exactly, but he wanted to scream at whatever closed-minded but influential person had convinced Danny’s parents that it was more believable for powers to only be obtained after death than to be granted in life even when the world was constantly sprouting new meta’s left and right these days. He wanted to yell at whoever made Danny so blind to his own abilities, his own truth, that he was fully in the belief that he was not in possession of powers even when he used them daily. He also wanted to scream at Bruce a little too, because it was due to Bruce’s training that he knew how to tell when somebody was lying, and he could tell with absolute certainty that Danny was telling Duke what he thought was the truth.

Duke was absolutely lost on what to do with Danny from here. Did he push to try and convince Danny that he was using powers or was a meta? Did he let it go and hope Danny did research on his own and figured it out without help? Did he call in reinforcements to help him try and explain it all to Danny?

Now, Danny knows better than to just repress his powers, he doesn't want a repeat of the freezing incident. Less now that he's alone. Solution: casual use of his powers within his house. But maybe he got a little too used to that, because he kept slipping when having people over. But that's okay, he'll just play dumb and gaslight everyone into believing it didn't happen or Danny has nothing to do with it. After all, powers are not normal, and Danny is a completely normal human boy. 

Or at least Danny thought he was playing normal pretty well until his friend from school just created a shadow sphere out of nowhere and started talking about metas and Danny doesn't really hear what else, because his blood is rising in his ear. Is this normal to humans here? Has he been playing human wrong? Shit, how does he ask about what his friend clearly sees to be normal information without giving out he’s from another dimension?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Duke knows his friend from school is a meta, he’s seen Danny slip with his powers multiple times, and honestly the excuses Danny gives him are getting a little ridiculous at this point. He wants to be able to bond with his friend over the meta experience. So after much thought, he decides to reveal his meta status without revealing the whole extent of his powers. Just to give Bruce some peace about his decision. 

But instead of the opening up he had been hoping for, Danny looks completely lost. Did he come on too strong?

"Um, Duke, can everyone just… do that?" Danny asks confused.

"What?"

"I mean, I know growing up in a cult kinda cuts you off from some basic information, but I would have thought we would have at least been told if humans develop the ability to do… that."

"You what?"