Dp x Dc fic idea that wouldn't let me sleep:
"No, you don't understand! I need my powers. I'll die without them!" Danny pleaded with the officer in front of him.
"Sure, kid, and I need a burger. You'll be just fine without your flight or superstrength or whatever. Look, I see kids like you all the time nowadays. You think just because you have a few powers, you can become some kind of hero. You run away from home, cause trouble in the name of 'justice' or whatever. Then reality hits. You start stealing. What's a few stolen bucks or candy bars in the name of the greater good, right? It's a downward spiral from there. Seems you were pretty far down the spiral. Beating up government agents? Kid, there is no way in hell I'm letting you out of here without the meta power suppressant collar. You're lucky Mr. Wayne was so generous and decided to foster you until we find your parents. I would've sent your troublesome ass back to juvie."
I was thinking this was a bad timeline where the Fenton parents died and Danny ran away. The power suppressing collar does work on him somehow, and cuts him off from his ghost half, which stops the ectoplasm that was keeping him alive since the accident.
I pictured Bruce as the foster parent that decided to help the troubled teen, but it could be anyone. Imagine if Lex Luthor decided he wanted to "help" (read: manipulate the young meta into doing his bidding) Danny instead. Extra angst.
These tags from @therandomartmaker have passed peer review.
Also @atiyasnake because their au was mentioned in those tags.
Now then, Danny probably doesn't mentally clock out immediately. It, like the rest of his deterioration, is a steady decay over time. And for like a week while he's still present enough, while he still has the energy for more than a noncommittal hum; he tries, over and over and over again, he tries to tell them what's wrong. They just don't believe him. Even when he tells them the truth about the government agent he was fighting, the truth about the GIW and the Anti-Ecto acts and they look it up and verify all that for themselves, they still won't trust him about the collar.
A week in and he's too exhausted to keep arguing. They won't take his word for it. It's too much a contradiction to their understanding of how the world works. Just like the rest of him. His whole existence is a contradiction to the immutable laws of life and death. Fine. It's fine. If they won't listen, there's no point in spending his precious energy trying to make them.
2 weeks and he can feel the early stages of rot setting in to his internal organs. It hurts, but less than he thought it would. Mostly it's these growing spots of numbness that kinda burn at the edges where his body is trying valiantly to beat the necrosis back. The Justice League hosts a press conference that week. All of the founding members, including the one and only Batman; delivers a very passionate speech informing the public of, and denouncing, the Anti-Ecto acts and all those associated with it's passing and enforcement. It stirs a thought in Danny's sluggish mind. Maybe Bruce Wayne really does have some kind of ties to Batman.
3 weeks and he can tell the Waynes can tell he's genuinely sick by now. His coordination is failing, his muscles are atrophying (decaying, their decaying, rotting away inside his skin and leaving this disgusting slimy feeling behind), and his temperature is jumping between a "low grade" (for a normal human) fever and borderline hypothermia. He spends most of his time sleeping now, and most of the rest of it in a delirious dissociative haze. In one of his rare moments of lucidity, he wonders if they'll finally accept that he's right about the suppressor. But no, of course not. He can hear them talk around him, wondering and worrying at the mysterious illness. What could be causing it, how do they treat it? That one dashed hope, which was hardly a hope at all and more an errant thought, shouldn't hurt worse than his body literally dying and decomposing from the inside out. It shouldn't hurt worse than that. Somehow, it does anyway.
4 weeks in and Danny has accepted his fate. Resigned himself to this slow second death. He can't decide whether it's better or worse than his first. Idly, he wonders if he'll become a full ghost next. Or if the suppressor will prevent that too. If it does, will his soul be able to move on? Or will it be trapped in his body until the flesh rots away entirely and all that's left is bones? And some day in the far distant future even those bones crumble to dust and what then? Will he be able to move on then? Or will he still be here, bound to the dust that used to be him, torn apart and scattered across the world until the world ceases to be. Such big questions.
Danny doesn't have the energy to ponder too much. He guesses he'll figure it out when it happens and that will have to be enough. At least it's safe to think he'll be given a grave this time. Surely the Waynes care enough to give him that much. They must. They care enough at least that there's always someone sitting with him whenever he wakes up. Even when he's only semi-lucid, they're there, murmuring to him all the news from current events in the world (the Anti-Ecto acts have been repealed and the GIW disbanded, that's nice) to what new animals Damian is trying to sneak into the manor to what Alfred has cooked most recently. The rotating cast of gentle voices is nice. Not quite a consolation for them refusing to believe him, but nice nonetheless. And maybe having a grave this time will make up for the rest. A place to rest sounds heavenly right now.
Danny doesn't know how long it's been anymore. All he knows is that something is wrong. For the first time since that cop locked a collar around his neck; Danny's core is awake, active, and screeching at him to do something. Something has his protection instinct riled up and it is so very very bad that his core is generating enough ectoplasm to just barely override the collar's suppression capacity.
Danny's eyes snap open, burning vibrant, toxic green. He jolts upwards, startling the half dozen weirdly dressed people sitting around him in some kind of medical room with a strange, rough stone ceiling. There's a lot of sudden commotion, several sets of hands reaching, out trying to stop him as Danny slings his legs off the hospital cot and stands on weak and trembling legs. He's grateful for the reaching hands that catch him before he collapses onto a rough stone floor. The tiny amounts of ectoplasm his core is able to generate around the suppressor's effects isn't nearly enough to heal him. But it's enough to give him energy. Energy he hasn't had since that first week. Energy to talk. Energy to argue.
"Please! You have to. Take it off. Please, just take it off. Something is. Something bad. I need. Have to. Fight. Protect. Protect! Take it off. Take it off! Take It Off! TAKE IT OFF!"
I was thinking about what could have set off his Protection Obsession and it occurred to me. What if one of the Bats made a remark about having to bury Bruce alongside Danny?
Also, which Bat takes off the collar? (Ob Boy are they all gonna Spiral once they learn that he wasn't kidding)
I love all these additions! OK, here's my take on the incident that has them taking off his collar: The Joker bombed the manor.
It was Bruce's turn to watch over Danny for the night, so he was forced to stay in when the news of an Arkham breakout arrived. Dick suited up as Batman for the night, and it was all hands on deck rounding up all the escapees. Two hours in, and everyone was caught and put back in a cell... everyone except the Joker. Then, Joker appeared on every local radio and entertainment channel. He had a game for the Bats! Find the bombs he placed all around the city, or watch as the most important people of Gotham all blow up!
The first few were easy: The mayor's house, Jim Gordon's house, some other important figures. They found and disarmed 6 bombs, then found and arrested the Joker himself. They thought they were done, that they had won. But when cuffing Joker, one of the stopwatches lining his arms starts beeping, and he's laughing maniacally and singing "lucky number 7!"
Meanwhile, Bruce is with Danny. His coms and computers were confiscated by Alfred so he would focus on taking care of the sick boy. All of a sudden, Bruce hears a timer go off and the recorded sound of Jokers laugh echoing through the halls. He barely has time to cover Danny’s prone body when the room explodes all around them.
Alfred in batcave when it happened. He was helping Oracle coordinate the search over comms. When it was apparent the Joker was still loose, he was also tasked with keeping Jason in the cave. Jason was not happy with this decision, and was arguing loudly against it when the explosion happened. The entire cave shook with the force of it.
After a moment of silence, Jason quickly runs upstairs into the manor (in civilian clothes because his Red Hood gear was hidden by Alfred). The whole house is ablaze, wooden support pillers falling over and the roof looking like it will collapse in on itself any minute now.
Jason runs to Danny’s room, finding Bruce unconscious over the seemingly unharmed Danny (it's hard to tell if there are any new injuries under all the sores and skin decay). Jason can't carry them both, so he makes a split second decision. He moves Bruce's prone and bleeding body onto the floor, then picks up Danny (who's equally unconcious and bleeding, but again, he was like that before the explosion) and jumps out the window. Secondary blasts from inside the manor can be heard as Jason runs Danny to the front of the house. The Wayne manor is completely on fire, walls and roof can be seen caving in at some places.
Alfred joins Jason in the front yard, a safe distance back to watch the family home burn to the ground.
One minute later, Dick (as Batman), Damian (as Robin), and Tim (as Red Robin) arrive at the manor in the Batmobile. Three minutes later, the paramedics, firefighters, and police arrive, along with the rest of the bats and birds.
Jason places Danny gently on a stretcher as Dick storms up to him.
"Where's Bruce?" Dick asks in his best Batman impression, the worry in his voice hidden from anyone who wasn't trained by Batman.
Jason (in shock but not about to admit to that), just points back to the burning manor.
The fire can still be seen going strong, but the firefighters seem to be doing their job as several stream of water are fighting against the blaze.
"You left him in there? Why didn't you save him?!"
"What, you wanted me to run back into that burning building for a man who failed to do the same for me? I got Danny out! Was that not good enough for you?"
Red Robin steps between the two before the yelling can escalate into a full on fight. "Well, we're here now and we better get a game plan if we want any chance of not having to bury Bruce or anyone else tonight!"
At that, suddenly Danny stirs on the stretcher. He jolts up as though he was electrocuted, shakily standing up and opening his eyes. Dick and Tim hurriedly help him stand while also trying to convince him to lay back down. Jason notes those eyes are not the same blue color as before, but instead are green. Lazarous water green.
"Please, you have to... take it off! Please! I. I need. To protect. Someone. Needs help. Take it off!" Danny somehow managed to gasp out, in the closest thing to a moment of consciousness he's had in over a week.
"OK, fine. I'll take that stupid collar off you." Jason says, pulling out his lockpicks.
"What?" "No, stop!" Tim and Dick say at the same time.
"Screw you both, I've never liked that fucking thing anyway! Look at the kid, this might be his last request." Jason yells back, shoving their hands out of the way to get to the suppressant collar around the kids neck. He never said anything, but seeing Danny in that collar always felt wrong. In the few times he wasn't avoiding the manor, it was like he could feel the despair and inevitability of death radiating off the kid.
"He's a flight risk and dangerous criminal, Todd! Leave him be so we can go and save father!" Damian angrily stomps over, joining the conversation.
"Go and save B yourself if you're so worried! He was in Danny’s room last I saw. To your points about Danny; First off, I'm a dangerous criminal. Second, he's a dying kid! Maybe this will help him get some peace, at least. I'm doing this no matter what you say, so go fuck off for all i care." Jason worked on the lock even while arguing with his siblings. Seconds after saying that, the lock clicks open, and the collar falls to the ground. Dick and Tim had managed to get Danny sitting back on the stretcher. They back off as Danny slumps into Jason.
Danny feels like his whole body is on fire. Every nerve in his body floods with power. He feels amazing and horrible all at once as the ectoplasm rushes out to heal him. Like someone who was starving suddenly gorged themselves on a feast, the first thing he does is throw up. The second thing he does is change into his Phantom form. It's like a lizard shedding its old skin.
The Bat siblings watch in awe as their dying foster brother goes disturbingly still, then gasps and starts spasming as his wounds heal themselves with a green glow. Then, in a flash of white light, his form is replaced by a color-swapped version of the same boy. This white-haired Danny's whole body glows, but his green eyes glow the most. Danny flies out of Jason’s hold, and those glowing green eyes start sweeping the area, taking in everything going on. Then, he flies off. Before anyone can stop him, Danny flies directly into the burning mansion.
The Batfam barely had time to react before the flames were being smothered by ice of all things, and the color swapped Danny was returning with Bruce in his arms.
Bruce was set onto the ground gently, and Danny returned back to his normal colors, sitting off to the side, in a sorta dissociative state, constantly fingering his neck.
But even then, he seemed more… alive than he had been for the past month.
He no longer looked like he would drop dead at any moment.
And that didn’t resonate well for the Batfam.
Tim was the one to approach him, after Alfred declared Bruce stable enough to move.
“Hey,” Tim said, unsure what else to say.
Danny didn’t react, so Tim gently kicked the side of his leg. Danny flinched, and glanced up.
“O-oh! Hey…” Danny mumbled, and he looked away, pulling his knees into his chest.
“Guess you weren’t kidding about needing your powers to survive,” Tim said. “I’m sorry we didn’t take you seriously.”
Danny just huffed, and mumbled something under his breath.
“A lot of kids say that, and you’d been… well…” Tim waved his hands.
“Blowing them up was the only way to get attention,” Danny muttered. “No one would listen to me. It wasn’t my plan to get my identity leaked.”
“Why does… not having your powers kill you?” Tim asked hesitantly. “I mean, the meta gene isn’t a… vital gene that’ll kill you if you don’t have access. Like, I’ve been without a spleen for a few years and been fine.”
Danny turned to face him and frowned, before apparently shrugging it off. His knees pulled tighter together.
“…I died at 14,” Danny mumbled.
“Come again?” Tim said, not believing he’d heard that correctly.
“I died at 14,” Danny said. “But fate decided nope so I’m left halfway there, one foot in the grave. My powers tether me to life. If I hadn’t gotten them, I would’ve died at 14. As it is, without them, my body has nothing to hold itself together with.”
Tim didn’t know how to respond.
A brief thought flashed across his mind… Danny died at 14. Jason died around that age. They’d both come back from the dead…
Danny is still very very out of it. He still has sores and wounds and necrosis, but it seems to have healed at least halfway since the collar came off.
He's too out of it to have processed much of the conversation with Red Robin.
He's too out of it to realize RR said 'we'.
He is NOT too out of it to notice Bruce start to stir and try to sit up.
In an instant, Danny jumps to his feet and stumbles back a few feet before falling down again, his legs too weak to hold him. RR and Batman take an instinctive step forward, only for everyone to stop the moment Danny starts crawling back while scratching at his neck and screaming. "Get him away from me! He tried to kill me! Not again, please, not again!"
Everyone freezes, and the first one to speak is Jason. "Oh, fuck"
Danny looks at him and goes absolutely pale. Jason, Bruce and Alfred are the only unmasked Waynes he can see.
And Jason is still holding the collar.
Danny screams, and throws an instinctive ecto-blast at the collar, at the same time as he flickers and seems to half float, half jump to his feet before turning around and booking it. He's still weak and slow, but even tho the bats go after him, they cant catch him. He seems to be flickering from tangibility as much as he's flickering from visibility, so they lose sight of him for whole seconds, and when he flickers back they cant touch him. At some point, he's just gone.
Three days later, when Oracle manages to spot him in a camera, shivering on an alley but looking miles better than even after the collar came off, she sends the closest bat to talk to him. They approach and he immediately says he's not going back to the Waynes, and that they should be investigated for meta prejudice, "not that you'll care. I've heard you bats hate metas just as much, if not more"
"Kid... Wayne didnt mean to hurt you. He made a mistake-"
"Oh! Well then, in that case it's okay"
"...what?"
"Yeah! Thanks for letting me know, guess i can go back to the guy that let me start rotting from the inside out now that i know that he's sorry"
"Kid-"
"No really! It's fine," Danny says, with a huge smile that's a complete contrast to how his eyes have gone cold and furious, "it's not like he'd rather take the word of an organization that was being exposed as genocidal maniacs AT THE SAME TIME as i was pleading for my life to him, rather than risk a kid with powers living under his roof."
The bat flinches, and tries to find something to say. The other bats, watching through the camera feed, are just as speechless.
"I spent a whole month in that house," says Danny, "and the whole time i was surrounded by people who refused to believe me or listen to me, even as i was slowly tortured by my own body as it shut down on me, and even in my deathbed no one thought to remove the collar until i managed to get the strength to beg for it again. So tell me, why THE FUCK would i ever go back there?"
The bat looks down, unable to reply.
"Yeah, that's what i thought" is the last thing Danny says before he dissappears from sight.
THIS! This is the addition I was hoping to see. Not a Danny who grew fond of the Waynes while slowly dying in their care, unable to escape or make them understand that the collar was killing him, but a Danny who saw them as his cruel captors who chose to believe the organization that was trying to capture and dissect him. Who chose to believe he was delusional because the idea of him being half ghost didn't fit with their idea of how the world works.
I want a Batfamily that realized the error of their ways far, far too late and have no way of making it up to the brother they nearly killed. The brother they grew to love so very much as he lay decaying, trapped in his own body. And they have to try and gain his trust because they do love him- even if they don't actually know him. Even if they let him be tortured because they didn't believe him.
Even if he hates them.
And he does hate them. He has nowhere to go, but he's definitely not staying with them. But his ghost side is weakened by having to basically grow him a whole new body, so Danny can only rely on his human half when he runs.
The Bats, being the Bats, bring him back every time.
