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Maddie: Your father and I knew that you were disappointed to miss out on the family reunion because of your husband's surgery, so we decided to skip it this year and come give you some support in caring for him!

Jack: As well as giving you a break. You must be under so much stress taking care of him and the kids!

Danny, having been lying about his marriage for the past two years to get out of family obligations: Wow... that's so sweet of you.

Maddie: I'm so excited to meet everyone! When you said you were moving to a new Earth, I knew communication through the Ghost Zone was going to be rough, but only being able to connect audio calls once every four months was much harder to endure than I thought it would be.

Jack: Not to mention traveling here. We had to do so many pit stops to fix up the Spectator Speeder and let me tell you, some of those floating rocks were hard to land on. Sometimes makes me wish we had your ghosts powers.

Danny: Yeah....you both went through so much effort. To vist me. In a different dimension.

Maddie: We three! Jazz is here too.

Danny: *gulps* The whole family is here.

Jack: Oh, don't make that face. The Fenton Reunion happens every four years. We'll see your aunts, uncles, and cousins next time. You're much more important to us, so no need for guilt.

Danny: I- right. Of course. Um, have you guys eaten? I can treat us to some dinner before we go back to my place. My, um, husband is at a doctor's appointment with my eldest while I did some work. I'm going on emergency family leave but I had to fill out the paperwork at the office today. Yup yup, thats why I'm here. At my workplace.

Maddie: You alright sweetie? You're sweating a lot.

Danny: I'm fine!

Jack: You work here? This office building is so nice. What does Wayne Enterprise do? I know you have a management position but I never really understood what department exactly.

Danny, who works in the mail room: Um, Wayne Enterprise does a little of everything. I'm in... communications.

Jack: But what exactly does communications do-

Danny: Excuse me for a bit. I have to let my husband know I'm going to be a little late.

Maddie: Oh! Don't tell the kids we're here. We want it to be a suprise. We brought gifts for all of them! Jazz is actually wrapping them up in the Speeder now!

Danny: Ha ha ha ha of course! Excuse me! *walking away pretending to be tapping a contact on his phone* shit shit shit. What do I do???

Damian appearing from the shadows: You told falsehoods.

Danny: Agh!

Damian: ....

Danny: Mr. Wayne Al Ghul! I-ugh- hello! I mean, good afternoon, sir. I ugh-

Damian: Silence

Danny: Yes sir.

Damian: I heard everything, and while I normally find lies distasteful, I find your parents endearing. It could benefit my family. I shall give you aid in your facade.

Danny: What?

Damain: My father recently had surgery on his right hip- a accident on our extreme skiing trip- and refuses to listen to our family doctor. He will not get the proper bed rest he's been ordered, but he would if you acted like his very upset husband with visting in-laws.

Danny: I- Mr. Wayne would never agree to that.

Damian: You seem to believe Father has a choice.

Danny: I-

Damian: I messaged Richard about the plan. He's gathering our siblings' support as we speak. When you arrive after dinner with your family, Father will have no time to deny anything. We shall trap him in social expectations. By the way, you are Timothy's safe queer adult who was there for him in the early years of his self-discovery journey and now he wants to help you. Its how we guilt trip father.

Danny: I can't lie to Bruce Wayne like that!

Damian: It's too late. Timothy already made a shirt of your face with the words "My Gay Yoda" on it. Your path has been chosen.

Danny: What-

Jack: Danny? Who's this?

Damian holding out his arms for a hug: Grandfather, I am Damian, Father's and Dad's youngest.

Jack: Damian! Its so nice to met you. Call me Gran-papa! *crushes him in a bear hug*

Damian in the most monotone voice ever: Gran-papa, I can not feel my arms.

Maddie: Aren't you just the cutest! Danny used to say the same thing at your age whenever his dad hugged him. I'm your Gran-mama, by the way! JAZZ COME MEET THE BABY!

The rushed him to the hospital where countless nurses and doctors rushed him to the emergency room. Other than the bleeding there were countless other wounds and scars that needed to be treated along with the stabbing. During his treatment Jack and Maddie were explaining the situation to cops and social workers however when they tried to find his file they found nothing as if he never existed at all.

No one knows what happened to Danny. As far as the doctors police and social workers could guess is that Danny escaped from somewhere dangerous and they hunted him down but didn't bother checking if he actually died. During their time there Jack and Maddie became insanely attached to the child that looked at them curiously with some weariness and slowly warmed up to them. According to dad the night Danny ask them to hug him to help him fall asleep was the night they knew for certain that they were taking him home.

Danny believe them and never bothered searching for his biological parents since he was pretty certain that they weren't good people or the kind of people he wants to be associated with that was until his past came crashing down.

With assassins appearing in Amity park calling him Prince and grandson of the demons head trying to kidnap him and take him back somewhere with the vigilantes of Gotham appearing out of nowhere as well and his parents becoming more wary of the assassins and vigilantes to the point of suggesting that they take a vacation somewhere secluded was sending alarm bells to Danny's head

So he went to the only person that could solve this mystery.

Wes.

Wes figured out he was phantom as soon as he saw him in both forms. That along with some other mysteries makes Wes the only option Danny has as to figure out what's happening and the only one that knows about his phantom identity.

"Oh, isn't this a convenient development?"

Pop, insert Danny as Damians Brother, and to make things easier for Danny.

Danny is confusion, but he'll adapt and survive this crazy assassin's cult long enough to get back at Clockwork. Oh their dad is saving them? Great, he was getting tired of the strict rules and hierarchy.

It had been a long week for him, both as Phantom and as Danny. Homework and tests were crammed, with chores and cleaning the lab taking up most of his free time. Then there was a few shades and blobs captured by the GIW, regular patrols and pot-shots taken by his parents at any given moment.

They got really, frighteningly close tonight.

He's just tired. The exhaustion probably played into their ability to clip him. (Yes, Jazz, he'd treated shoulder and bicep, he wasn't a complete newbie at this ghostly vigilante thing.)

He's aching everywhere, worked to the bone, and generally is hating his half-life. Maybe that's why he doesn't question why there's a book and a cryptic sticky note on his bed.

Danny doesn't even question it the next day, when he finally opens it up to see if it was worth his time. Seeing as its about ghost portals, he decides it is.

Because he's a fourteen-year-old and portals are awesome. He might not be the bright vial of ectoplasm in the fridge, but this is a no-brainer.

He's only a couple chapters in before he starts to skim and test it out himself.

Thankfully, he's recruited Sam and Tucker. He tries to follow the depressingly morose instructions, it's just that he's fundamentally bad at that.

It takes a week and times where he's pulling at his hair in frustration to finally, finally get a portal big enough to stick his hand in. He'd reached into it and grabbed something from Jazz's room.

He's definitely getting Clockwork a Christmas present. He's a weird little omnipotent dude, but this is useful.

So, he starts to test it out a little more. Randomly just walks through swirling ovals of ectoplasm into Tucker's room when he knows his parents are away.

He does try to keep it a secret, though. So help him if Vlad found out and tried to learn himself... that'd be a disaster, even if he wasn't successful.

One evening, on the cusp of spring and summer, he's out with his best friends as Phantom. His ghost sense had been going off, but once he'd ventured into the forest, it'd been an ambush.

Sam tried to reason with his Mom and Dad at first. Pleaded for them to see logic in their biases. Danny's been hit with something, and he's dizzy and now exhausted and in pain.

But the grass is growing a bit too fast around Sam's feet in her frustration, and their weapons are slowly turning towards her despite Tucker's loud and increasingly panicked words.

So he grabs his friends, and before he can really think through his options, he summons a portal beneath his feet.

Danny's not really thinking about where to go; it's the instinctual home-safe-please that he focuses on as a destination.

But as they tumble out of his hastily thrown gateway, it's immediately obvious to him that he's not at the Fenton household.

They're tangled out of the floor, Tucker wheezing as he has the air knocked out of him by Sam falling on top. And there's people at a big, expensive looking table, and all of them are turned towards the trio.

His ghost sense goes off. Sam whispers a horrified "Is that Bruce Wayne?"

Because it's objectively funny if instinctually you're trying to teleport somewhere safe and home but the portal has you crash a billionaires family dinner.

But if they're separate universes I can think of a really cool reason Danny would end up in Bruce's dining room.

The DCU are a comic/tv series in the Danny phantom universe that the trio relied on for comfort/escapism.

Like, the Dcu has a mess of rogues and gritty, grim villainy but there's also protections for heroes and metas. Young heroes are given training! Batman is a respected figure in gotham! Bruce and his allies are powerful figures that can change the world in and out of costume.

The dcu can be dark but most of the time evil never really prevails.

Unlike in Danny's universe where the G.I.W seems to be the law and Danny and his friends feel hopeless in and out of hero persona.

I can see the trio being comic nerds for the sole reason that the dcu has laws that'd protect them if they lived there.

So I imagine Danny teleporting cross dimensionally going "Is that batman?!" At the same Time Sam is going "is that Bruce Wayne??" Before promptly passing tf out

He didn’t know where he was and frankly he almost didn’t care if his brain hadn’t finally caught up. Jumping out of bed in a panic, he scrambled for the door.

A man blocked the door with a raised eye brow and a crisp suit.

“Though I would prefer of you would stay to rest, I have a feeling you would not until you’ve met with your companions once more.”, the man said as he guides Danny down the hall.

He explains they were in the living room, talking to his employer. The man introduces himself as Alfred Pennyworth and that he will have refreshments ready in a moment.

Danny goes along with this because he is the intruder here and doesn’t want his friends to get in trouble for his actions; besides he wasn’t attacked or threatened yet.

Just wait it out until you see Sam and Tucker, Danny; you can do that much.

Then Danny walks in with Alfred and he’s not in ghost form anymore and he looks exhausted and he’s holding his arms around himself like he needs to protect himself.

Sam sees him before Tucker, lets out a relieved sigh that he’s already healing, that he’s here. She was getting more and more tense the longer he was out of sight.

They probably expect tests and requests for proof or some kind of evidence of the truth of their words because this is batman. Regardless of their own interpretations of the character, their reality now was that he’s a real person and he’s a paranoid vigilante that needs to be prepared for everything.

But Bruce asks Alfred to set up some rooms, Sam interrupts to ask that they share, much more hesitant than she normally is, but not enough to not interrupt batman. And whilst Bruce knows what teenagers can be like he can only see the shake in Sam’s hands, the weight on their shoulders, Tucker’s fidgeting. He acquiesces.

Bruce is still going to monitor everything they do, and there will absolutely be tests and confirmations the next day when they wake up after a 16 hour sleep. He probably contacts some of JLD for information about dimension travel and to be a mediator during their interviews.

The business in question is more of a cheat since being king of the infinite Realms means he is fluent in any language to exist. Safe, dead, or extinct the status of a language doesn't matter to him. With Technus's help he sets up and online portal where people can submit pictures or copies of stuff for him to translate at a premium price. He refuses to take any money from the fruit loop and the money he learns will go towards his clone's schooling when she gets to that point. Right now she is using it for her travels and sending them postcards.

People who claim his translations as their own get black listed with a huge fee coming out of their bank account for the breach of contract. He is trying to keep his business on the down low so those breakthroughs that get on the news are not what he is looking for. His main demographic is rich snobs with private art collections. What Danny doesn't know is that his main customers are the Justice League.

There are some clues but he kinda ignores them. Like when a document submitted is a summoning ritual he sends back a partial translation since the summoning is not good (there are worst beings they could summon but it will still be a hassle) however revealing knowledge of the banishment is harmless.

Gotham cultists hate him because they know he can translate the whole document/book but all of their attempts to trace the sage of tongues (trying to give invisobill kinda vibes) they find a dead end. They try submitting from different computers, locations, routers, anything, but just end up giving Danny more money lol

The Justice League is almost in tears because the jusyice league dark could not agree on the translation of the banishment ritual and everything they tried before had failed.

His favorite translations are the stories that give alien vibes. They talk about certain structures (he thinks it might be structures) as if they are common knowledge. Unknown to him those are Kryptonian fairy tales that Lois submitted. She didn't want to give Jon a funny accent so Clark can read them in Kryptonian while she does the English.

Duke having a hard time with an assignment, sends an inquiry asking if he offers homework help (he wouldn't be using it for career advancement which is against the terms of service BUT he would be claiming it for points so he asked) and that is how Tim finds out about this sketchy website that can translate anything. Danny feels the sincerity and sleep deprivation in the inquiry so he replies back "I admire your courage and will do you a solid but only if your promise to sleep a minimum of 8 hours. I'll know if you don't and snitch so go to sleep 😴" The translation is attached and already in the format his teacher requested.

Steph: How is he gonna know?

Duke: Idk but he is a life saver!

Tim: Duke, did you just sell your soul for a homework assignment?

Duke: Let me sleep and then we'll see what happens 🥱

Tim is driven crazy because he needs to know who is behind the website. And also because Constantine was kinda in the area and said no. Duke has his soul even if he doesn't sleep, lucky bugger.

The Batfamily has that weird bird whistles and chirping when their comms are off for some reason and as a form of coded language so enemies don't understand what they're saying.

But do you know who, or rather what, use chirping and whistles as a form of language? Ghosts.

Now imagine Danny, who is in Gotham for a field trip with his family (who has been learning Ghost Language after they found out their Danny-O is part spook), make some chirping sound in public, not paying attention, and everyone freeze.

Pirate x Mermaid au

Tim Drake is the CoCaptain of the Bats' Pirate Ship. While most Pirates are feared, however, the Bats tend to be Vigilantes of the sea, going after the more dangerous Pirate Crews that the Kings' Navy couldn't handle.

When reports come in of a sunken ship, Tim goes out to see the damage. There are seemingly no survivors, either those who lived were able to flee on lifeboats, or whoever didn't die from the crash was then eaten by the sea life itself. Before Tim could leave to make his report, he hears chirping coming from the captains quarters, and carefully checks it out.

Inside is trapped a merman, one who has definitely seen better days. His stomach was sunken in with ribs showing, his hands covered in healing scars from, what looked like, broken glass, and that was ignoring the other, more purposeful scars on his torso and tail, and his tail, a gorgeous dark blue with glowing yellow spotting reminding Tim of the night sky, was wrapped horribly in fishing net, some parts ripped and torn from the merman struggling to get free.

--

All Danny wanted, was to see the stars. He knew he wasn't supposed to go to the surface, but the stars were so beautiful and he wanted to know everything about them. He'd sat on that rock so many times, and never once had he been seen- until he had.

Danny remembers vividly being trapped in the horrible clear box, only being let out so the humans could cut him, and run exams on his body, before being put back into the box. He was only fed twice a week, his meals consisting of horribly harvested kelp and sea grass, not a fish or clam in sight.

Danny didn't know where they were going, or how far he was from his pod, his only comfort was that he was still able to see the stars from his containment- until the crash.

Danny can't remember much of the crash, he hit his head so much of it was fuzzy- but he remembers the clear box shattering, and pain in his hands, before one of the humans wrapped the net around him, only for the boat to tip, and for him to flea, leaving Danny alone and disoriented. When Danny finally regained his bearings, he was alone underwater but still in the blasted ship. He tried to leave, but the net kept him trapped. At least a few small fish and crabs would sometimes wander in, so he didn't starve, but he was alone, trapped, and he couldn't see the stars anymore.

Danny moves to Gotham and buys an apartment building.

It was more just a fun project for him to fix up the building, seeing as how after he took over VladCo, and cleaning up operations, Danny was making more money than ever, even after donating to various charities. So yeah, he was bored and just wanted to get his hands dirty and personally repair the appartments.

Once everything was fixed up, he opened the appartments for rent. He didn't really want to charge people, especially in such an area as Crime Alley, but not charging someone rent is way more sketchy than just asking them to pay whatever they could or wanted to. He ended up just setting the money aside to use on the appartments should it need any upgrades or repairs. He doesn't only take money either, while he denies "physical" payments and/or narcotics, he'll take lessons, like the man in 2B teaching him to sew, or the woman in 5A teaching him how to cook, or the two kids who give him very interesting shiny rocks as payment, there was even a few people who paid by cleaning the appartment building's shared places. One teenager paid rent one month by giving Danny a pair of sickly black and white kittens they found outside(they're named Casper, and Specter, and they're the Building's Managers in Pest Apprehension, and Danny loves them).

Because the appartments are so close to where the working girls/boys run, they make up most of his tenants, so Danny asks them to not bring clients back to the apartments, its dangerous to let their clients know where they live, especially because there are other tenants, including children, in the building so its a safety risk. They all agree, they don't really want their clients knowing where they live anyway.

Some do get stalkers though, and Danny is quick to get rid of them. Or when burglars manage to break in, Danny stops them before they can take anything, and if he managed to miss the burglar, he'll personally replace whatever was stolen until they could get the original stuff back. (Maybe he should adopt a gaurd dog, at least for the intimidation factor. Cane Corso's are medium sized*, hes sure he could get away with getting something like that. Something to think about later.)

A lot of his tenants say Danny is really kind, but thats not how Danny sees it, and its something he loudly denies. He's a bored rich person who was taking advantage of his wealth. Him providing them a safe place to live, and a little bit of comfort isn't kindness, its basic human decency. He's not some saint who is doing this of his own kind heart, he's a normal guy who was bored and just decided to do something helpful opposed to harmful, and he shouldn't be praised for that.

Danny's rogues were all dead so they can't actually... Die again. Like— not in the normal way, that is. The only way that they could die is by crushing their core.

Cue Bruce Wayne and the whole family Finding out his extremely timid and closed off son/brother (yes, being ooc is the point here stfu😭) is arguably the strongest being in the universe and admitting that he has a tendency to have intrusive thoughts and horrible mood swings so he doesn't trust himself with doing the family's... 'business' (knowing damn well he could kill someone if he gets too agitated) and they're almost not convinced.

Emphasis on almost.

Once they watched as the youngest of them all completely threw down a weird eyeball (they later learn is an 'observant'), threw a green dagger right beside it, kicked it violently and threatened to gauge it's eye out and disintegrate it for interrupting their dinner.

He apologized to the family soon after the thing disappeared, back to completely timid and embarrassed.

It has been alittle over a year since Danny was chased out of Amity after a bad reveal with his parents. They tried to convince everyone that he died but far too many people saw him running away from their shots. They were avoided before but now they were dispised. Tucker moved away not long after that, his parents didn't think the town was safe with the Fentons. Jazz went off to college.

They keep in contact, still trying to look for Danny. Trying to avoid Vlad, the GIW, and the Fentons.

Now Sam is here, at a gala, with her parents trying to introduce her to older, richer families and their children. Like the Wayne's, with their trillions of dollars, and many single kids.

That's when she sees him, with the Wayne's, their newest adoptee Is Danny.

Thinking quick she says something she never thought she'd say. 'Hey mom, I'm gonna go flirt with one of the Wayne's.'

Her mom stared, wide eyed. Then handed her something and said 'The Wayne's are trillionares. Go be a rebellious teenager and have some fun.'

It was a condom. Her mother just handed her a condom. She didn't even ask which Wayne! From the 12 year old Damien to the 29 year old Richard! Just "be rebellious and have fun"!

He's outlawed new deals since a lot of the time the validly of the sacrifice can be questioned. The observant s are annoyed at babysitters duty but it gets them out of annoying Danny and lets him be productive so he plans on milking it for as long as there are deals under review. Just like with the one Pariah claimed, a lot of them are undergoing investigations and that's where Janet's deal comes in.

Tim like many other firstborns are watched over. Anytime they are in danger, the observant responsible invokes Danny or his claim to protect them from the shadows. On occasion, they might have been relocated but never has Danny collected on any of those deals until Tim.

Tim unlike the other firstborns is a hero. Tim is also aware something is watching him as he will make comments for Danny or thank him for a save nobody else noticed and Danny is instantly smitten. Danny watches as Tim does so much good for Gotham both as a civilian and as a hero. Even when he is taken for granted, it doesn't slow Tim down and Danny admires him more.

Danny knows Tim has massive potential, and he trusts him to understand the gravity of how far his influence runs. He had no doubt in Tim when he was trying to clone his lost friends. Danny understood was part of his grieving process and everyone grieves differently. Did he also swoon a bit? Nobody witnessed it so it didn't happen (but his friend do tease him about it since they were aware of his crush)

It becomes the last straw for Danny when Nightwing acting as Batman turns everyone against Tim. He reminds himself everyone copes differently for all of one minute before saying man fuck that guy and sends a sticky note to Tim. On that sticky note he offers his help and protection, but it can't be revoked once accepted.

It's the first time he has 'shown' himself outside of the assists he's made, and it feels like agony as he watches Tim. Eventually Tim does take up his offer and while Danny fell first Tim fell harder. Bruce is the second person Danny saves that day and the moment Tim realizes it he is extra cuddly with Danny.

Tim Drake finds a handheld mirror when he decides to go on a side quest and visit estate sales instead of going to class. Normally, Tim doesn't buy anything other than vintage comic books, but for some reason, the little mirror held together by twisting black metal caught his attention.

It wasn't valuable. He could tell that by a glance, but it had a certain presence that called to him. A charm that was endearing enough, he found himself reaching into his pocket for a crisp ten-dollar bill. With the mirror in his bag and his skateboard under his feet, Tim flew through Gotham, occasionally leaning to avoid obstacles. A stray thought about school entered his mind, but Tim quickly dismissed the idea. He had already missed most of the morning; there would be no point in going for the rest of the day.

So this is in honor of my current undergraduate thesis situation irl but it gave me a eureka moment

--

Danny is in college, in his final semester of his degree program. He was one of the youngest was because he was insanely smart, he had special permission to overload on units and take courses with prerequisites early on. One of the requirements before you graduate is your undergraduate thesis.

Danny was never a lucky person. Lady luck was hardly on his side, so it really didn't surprise him when he was grouped with the worst members possible. You know, the ones that leave you on read when you need them, and have loads of excuses when you need something done by them?

At first, his group members showed up because why not. It was going smoothly, until one by one, all of them stopped responding.

They knew Danny was the smart one and made him the leader, like every smart and responsible person would face. And as every group leader knows, they end up handling at least 50% of the overall work and split the remaining 50% evenly.

But his group members hardly ever contribute anything significant at all. If Danny ever received contributions, it's worse than half-assed so he would do it all again himself.

So there he was, practically having given up on his group mates and pursued his thesis alone. It was tiring, but he'll manage, he guesses. He'll just get his revenge at the end of the semester, after the defense. Maybe make them pay twice, no, thrice, actually that isn't enough, maybe four times of what he spent monetarily, in labor, and in time. Or file an incident report to the Dean for justice. He'll cross the bridge when he gets there. There are still months remaining and if he starts early on, he can make it in time. He already saved the world before while doing most of the work. There can't be anything that's harder than that, right?

Luckily, in Gotham University, there's a study area where students can work on homework, projects, and other school related things. It was open 24/7 and had resting areas as well so you can nap or just camp there when you need an overnight session. This was his favorite spot because there was a coffee shop nearby, and the only time Lady Luck had ever blessed him was when they first served him his custom order that no mortal would ever drink: A Venti Iced white chocolate mocha with 7 shots of espresso, and some room on top, then laced with some energized ectoplasm (he does it himself after he gets the drink) so he stays focused. It was a wild moment for the barista when Danny first told him to leave some room up top. Imagine the barista's surprise when he sees Danny pouring in toxic-and-radioactive-looking green stuff on top.

Apparently, he has been drinking caffeine so much that it doesn't affect him as much as the normal person. The energized ectoplasm is for his ghost half, but it's energized part is basically caffeine for ghosts.

He only went there in the evenings and stayed awake the whole midnight, because it's the only time where people start to leave the room and he thrives when he's the only one remaining.

As usual as his routine was, there was a new outlier variable. Another guy whose eye bags are darker than vantablack, with two laptops and stacks of books and papers around him. Basically another Danny.

He caught himself staring at Tim Drake, the other smart kid who was in the same predicament as Danny: super smart that allowed him to get special permission to overload on units and take them all simultaneously.

It really didn't matter to him, as they were practically in different worlds. I mean Tim is famous for being a Wayne kid and Danny is just some guy who was overloading in units. He really didn't see tim as a rival either.

So he kept to himself and thought if Tim is practically invisible, Danny wouldn't have a problem with it, though he thought it would be a one time thing, or at most a month.

They kept seeing each other in the study area, which was fine, because they're too busy.

Until they were both at the coffee shop nearby.

They both ordered something and waited.

"Order for Danny. Order for Tim"

The barista then called them, and mentioned their orders. Apparently they were regulars.

"Here you go Tim. A venti "iced" coffee with no ice like a psychopath, with 10 shots of espresso so help me God, oat milk, no syrup, and no toppings. Quickly Chilled using liquid nitrogen for some coldness because you said and I quote "You need to maximize the volume of coffee in a venti cup" the barista dictates Tim's order

Danny turns to Tim with a slight surprised look after hearing the order. I mean who in their right mind, except Danny, would order a drink with 10 shots of espresso in total? Might as well be a death wish if you ask me. However, to Tim, he received it as a judgmental look, and gave a subtle one back that screams "Mind your own business"

Danny looks away and receives his order.

"And for you Danny, A trenta *sigh* iced white chocolate mocha with 7 shots of espresso what in the world, whole milk, extra 6 pumps of white mocha sauce, extra whipped cream, and extra chocolate drizzle, with a note that says "leave about an 2 inches of the cup empty" because you put that radioactive looking green stuff in there. Here you go." The barista dictates then gives Danny his "coffee"

Now it was Tim's turn to do a head turn. What does the barista mean radioactive looking stuff? The best he can think of when he hears "radioactive looking green stuff" is joker's gas aerosolized.

Tim watches Danny as he puts his "coffee" down on a table, opens the lid, gets a metal tumbler from his bag, opens and pours energized ectoplasm to his "coffee" filling the remaining space to the brim, and closes the plastic lid. He proceeds to get a straw and puts it in.

Tim gave Danny a subtle concerned look. From Tim's perspective, it looks like the other guy is gonna drink either the joker's venom or Lazarus pit water. He made a mental note to investigate it later on. In retaliation, Danny gave a subtle smirk back and his face basically says "Yeah I drink this. What about it?"

"Is that even coffee at this point? It looks like a large cup of caffeinated sugar mixed with radioactive toxic waste. How are you not getting diabetes, let alone mutate into something else?" The barista remarked.

"With pure spite due to my thesis mates not helping me. As long as I have this drink, and stay awake and spiteful, I'll manage."

Tim let out a snicker "Heh. That makes two of us. Same predicament and all."

"Is that also why you have dark circles under your eyes? You look like a panda with those dark bags." snarked Danny.

"As if you're any better, you radioactive coffee drinking raccoon." Tim retorted.

After a short pause, both of them chuckled and introduced themselves.

"The name's Daniel Fenton. Call me Danny." Danny threw in a handshake

"Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, though you probably already knew that. Call me Tim." Tim shook his hand.

"So, pretty tired boy, what's your thesis about?" Danny asked while they were both returning to the study area, drinking their unholy caffeinated drinks.

And the rest was history. Well not really. They got along well and they'd always hang out in the study area when they can. Friendship develops and all of that, with hints of romantic interest from both sides. I mean, who wouldn't fall in love from frequent unholy coffee date nights, am I right? They would talk about stuff, space, heroes, and all the like. They would also talk about their thesis, their progress, setbacks, and talk shit about their horrible group mates (I'll leave it up to you to imagine what their theses are).

"What if we help each other with our theses? then when we have our thesis defense, we would both present both topics?" Danny asks.

Then an idea crosses Danny's gremlin mind.

"Sounds chaotic, I'm in. That would put the "Not everyone has to present" guideline to good use. We'll just leave their names off, and replace both theses' group members with both our names." Tim replies.

"Now that sounds like a good date idea ;). How about we wear matching PJs and flip flops instead of formal wear as a protest of what we "endured?"" Danny asked again with a grin on his face

"Add a blazer to that match to show we "tried" to wear formal attire and I'm in. Also let's not hide our eye bags to show we're really tired lmao." Tim suggests with a smile on his face

"Well we would need to get lucky on the order of presentations, making sure"

"Leave that part to me :)" Tim replies.

And their chaotic presentation date is set.

For the next few months, they would help each other's research. And because both of them are competent, they progress even faster with both of their thesis than when they were alone. Laboratory and or mechanical works come off easily considering both their backgrounds in dealing with machines and chemicals, and with both of them barely getting any sleep, they actually finished both of their own thesis studies with a month to spare. They would then use that time for their own romantic dates and date nights at the lounge of the study area, developing their relationship :D. The only thing lacking is a proper label.

Thesis defense day arrives.

Both Danny's and Tim's group mates just say they won't present since they don't have an idea of what to say. I mean it's not like they actually did work, did they? But it works for Both of them. They are present in the venue. They just won't be presenting, as "agreed" by all of them (including Danny and Tim for their stunt of course.)

"And now, Calling in Daniel Fenton to present his thesis titled [insert thesis title here]". Danny walks and the crowd is in wonder and chuckles on what Danny is wearing.

Space themed Pajamas, green flops, and a black blazer with visible dark bags under his eyes.

Danny walked alone on stage so everyone assumed he was the only one presenting

"Good day everyone. Today, we will be presenting our thesis."

The crowd wondered why Danny said "we". Then Tim walked in in red crocs plain black pajamas, and a red blazer. Still with huge dark eye bags and both of them had crazy bed hair.

Funnily enough, the names on Danny's presentation are just his and Tim's name. This led to Danny's group mates in unease. Completely blindsided. Technically and officially they're still part of the group, so imagine the professors' confusion when the group members in the PowerPoint presentation only listed two people. Turns out not checking the students’ PowerPoint presentations beforehand was a mistake.

Now the crowd was even more surprised because who would expect to see Danny and Tim presenting Danny's thesis.

In the QnA session, Danny explained that Tim was a major help in his study and it felt right that Tim would explain and have his name up there. As for the names of the other group members, he just said "I don't know who you are referring to". That shut the judges up.

After the QnA, they were still murmurs of why Tim was with Danny in his presentation. Danny left the stage in triumph.

"Next we have Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne presenting"

"Hello everyone, we are here to present [topic]"

And again with the murmurs of who is "we". Then Danny walked on the stage again, both presenting. Only both their names are in. Needless to say, the same thing happened.

Both Tim and Danny, their "respective" group mates, the judges, the faculty-in-charge of the thesis studies, and the college dean were called to explain the stunt they made.

Each student was interviewed, but only Tim's and Danny's version of stories match. They then explained to everyone present the timeline of events on the happening. From the start of the thesis shenanigans, to the ghosting of group members, to helping each other, and their form of protest to the unjust events on their thesis journey.

Needless to say, there was a huge disciplinary action done to the dead weights. They tried accusing both of them as liars but it's not like it's believeable. Besides, who would want to get on Bruce Wayne's bad side?

All's well ends well and everything turns out for the better. Well I'll leave it to your imagination on how they got together officially but I would say it was a cheesy moment.

And now they're back in the coffee shop. Well dressed this time. The barista sees them and goes:

"Hello welcome to- oh for goodness's sake. Do you want another round of your unholy usuals?" While pinching his nose.

"Actually, not this time. I'd actually want to sleep later". Tim said.

"Me too. The presentation date day was exhausting but memorable." Danny added.

"I'd like a Grande Honey Citrus Mint Tea" Tim orderd.

"And I'd like a Venti Hot chocolate with whipped cream" Danny also ordered

"Goodness Gracious. Normal orders for once, and for both of you? Did the universe finally fall into balance?" The barista commented.

And that's a wrap :D

Danny(23) owns a petting zoo/animal rescue a few miles outside of Gotham. he has some animals from all walks of life; reputable breeders, other rescues, kill shelters, hoarding situations, breeding mills, ect. Be it dogs, to sheep, to goats, to snakes, to lizards, ro hamsters, to chinchillas, and much more- hes got a little bit of eveything. He makes sure they all have the right set ups, and can live as idealy as possible.

Damian(9) hears about this place and of course needs to check it out. Obviously, he needs to make sure the animals are taken care of and nothing else. And Damian just, immediately falls in love with the place. All the animals are so happy and healthy and the information packets are so well put together and accurate! He is disappointed that nobody is allowed to meet the animals in recovery, but he also knows its for the animals health and safety, which he appreciates. Hes impressed, and decides Danny just has to be his new father.

Bruce(34) thought taking Damian to the petting zoo/rescue would be a nice father/son bonding thing- he did not expect his 9 year old to then try and wingman him to the petting zoo owner, who, might Bruce add, is 10 years his junior!

Then the new veterinarian opened across from the animal shelter he volunteered at.

He was kind to every animal. He hand-fed injured pigeons. He let ugly three-legged cats climb onto his shoulders during appointments. He wore oversized sweaters with paw prints on them. AND WORST OF ALL—

He was the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his entire twelve years of existence.

Not regular pretty either. No. Universe-ending pretty.

Like “ethereal being accidentally trapped in human form” pretty.

Like “Greek gods would start drama over him” pretty.

Like “why is there sparkles around him when he holds baby rabbits” pretty.

And unfortunately— the veterinarian was approximately ancient. As in TWENTY.

Which meant Damian could not even emotionally justify his feelings because Grayson would never let him hear the end of it.

So instead Damian did the mature thing. He decided Drake needed to marry him immediately.