A hooded individual watches as their newest ally conducts his deranged experiments on the unsuspecting ghosts of the Zone. They mentally drown out the screams and laughter as they ponder their thoughts.
It was quite a surprise to find him floating around the green expanse of the Realms. A like-minded individual who has no qualms about some mild torture and control of ghosts and humans alike.
Besides, the Joker was all too pleased to hear they wanted his help to get rid of the crown prince, who was, coincidentally, his killer.
Naughty, naughty, Phantom. Killing humans?
Their mutually beneficial alliance was quickly formed. They provided him with the basic knowledge and materials, and he combined it all into a new weapon, a new toy, for them to use.
It wonât be long until the formula is fully complete, and then all thatâs left is finding their way out of the realms.
SoonâŠ
---
Barbara stares at the screen in front of her with a pensive look on her face.
On the screen, text has appeared that reads âYOU ARE A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT, BUT SEEM TO HAVE AN ISSUE IN SKILL LEVEL. A SKILL ISSUE, AS THE KIDS SAY TODAY.â
After trying to break through the strange firewall surrounding one of the suspects of the Jokerâs death, and coincidentally Jasonâs date, for the nth time and not getting any further than before, it seems sheâs suddenly being contacted by, presumably, the one who wrote the code.
What ifâŠ
Barbara wastes no time in messaging back.
âAh shucks, it seems I have been bested once again. There is no way I can ever get through here.â
âFINALLY, YOU WILL SUCCUMB TO MY AWESOME POWER. NOW BOW DOWN BEFORE ME, TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLIANCES.â
"Technus", huh? Barbara quickly notes it down.
âHey, Technus. Before I do that, can you tell me more about this code? Itâs really well done, but way beyond my current level.â
âTECHNUS DOES NOT REVEAL HIS SECRETS. GO ON, TRY MEâ
âHow did you make self-writing code? You canât have been online to block me 24/7, right? Or are you working together with someone else?â
âNONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! SEE?â
Hmm, this doesnât seem to be the way to go. She could tryâŠ
âCâmon man, I really need to get through. I just need to talk to some people from Amity Park. Iâll be in and out before you know it. Itâs just a quick favor for my friend, Danny.â
âWAIT, YOU KNOW THE GHOST BOY?â
Bingo, though, a "ghost boy"? Thatâs interesting. Now, time to take a gamble.
âYeah, he asked me to get in contact with some old friends from his hometown. But he forgot to tell me about the firewall preventing me access.â
âWELL WHY DIDNâT YOU SAY SO SOONER? HERE, IâLL LET YOU THROUGH, AND PERHAPS YOU SHOULD GET SOME ECTO-TECHNOLOGY FOR NEXT TIME.â
âThank you, Technus. Youâre the best! Iâll make sure to do that.â
âAHA! IT SEEMS SOMEONE HAS FINALLY RECOGNIZED MY POWER. YOU, YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPER, ARE CORRECT. I, TECHNUS, MANIPULATOR OF MACHINES, AM INDEED THE BEST!â
âOH, AND PLEASE TELL THE GHOST BOY THAT I REQUIRE ANOTHER ROUND OF DOOMED AGAINST HIM AND HIS WHELPS, TO PROVE THAT I AM FAR MORE SUPERIOR!â
âIâll let him know, thanks!â
Barbara smiles. As soon as the message is sent, the text disappears, along with the firewall that had been blocking her access to the information she needed.
---
The ride back to Dannyâs apartment is silent, both of them deeply stuck in their own thoughts. Jason stops in front of the building, staying seated as Danny gets off behind him.
He turns to look at Danny as he rocks back and forth on his feet, seemingly trying to find the right words before speaking up.
âHey, so uh, weâre good, right?â Danny asks.
Jason stares at Dannyâs nervous but hopeful expression and feels his own gaze, which is obscured by the helmet on his head, soften.
âYeah. Weâre good.â He confirms. âI do need some time and space to think everything over, figure some shit out. But⊠Like I said before, Iâm willing to give this a try.â
âRight! Yeah, of course! Take all the time you need. And if you have any more questions or anything, donât hesitate to ask. Iâll try to answer to the best of my abilities, and if I donât have an answer for something, I can get in contact with some friends who can help.â Danny quickly replies, tone anxious with a hint of relief shining through.
Jason gives him a nod. âThanks, Iâll keep it in mind.â
Danny just nods back. Seeing Danny still so high-strung, Jason decides to take some pity on him and lets out a gruff âAdios, hippos,â to try and lighten the mood a little.
He smiles as he notes some of the tension leaving Dannyâs body before turning his head back around to look at the road. He drives off after a wave to Danny, who waves back with a small blush and a smile.
Jason ignores the figures on the roof following him and lets his thoughts wander a little as he makes his way to one of his safehouses.
He needs some time to think on⊠all of thisâŠ
---
Danny enters his apartment. As he takes in the room, he freezes at the sight of something that wasnât there when he left.
There, on top of his kitchen counter, is a gift basket with various items in it.
Danny, without moving from his spot at the door, takes another look around his apartment. Nothing else seems out of place. The windows are still closed, the door was locked when he got here, and it doesnât seem like any of his ecto-alarms have gone off.
After his inspection of the space, Danny finally moves. He makes his way over to the basket, cataloging the items inside.
The basket holds all sorts of things, including some expensive name-brand chocolate, a snow globe with an astronaut inside, a pair of NASA socks in his exact size, a brand new WayneTech tablet, a scented candle in the shape of a duck, one of those mugs that shows an image of the galaxy once heated, and some, seemingly homemade, cookies.
Thereâs also a card attached to the basket, which heâs only now able to see, after having come closer.
Danny takes the card in hand, reading it with a small frown. He scratches his head, slightly confused, before letting out a small sigh and grabbing his phone.
---
Private chat
PolarBear: hey, so uh
PolarBear: quick question âïž
PolarBear: would you have any idea why Red Robin would leave a gift basket in my apartment?? đ€đ€
Kangaroo: What?
PolarBear: yeah itâs got a card saying âplease donât let him kill meâ signed by Red Robin đ€·
PolarBear: wasnât there earlier
PolarBear: and like
PolarBear: nothing else seems to be different in the apartment đ€
Danny being dragged to a gala, against his will, by Vlad, only he notices that Damian also looks like he wants to be litterally anywhere else, so Danny approaches him.
Danny: Listen, you don't want to be here, I definitely don't want to be here, want to stage a fight so we can both leave.
Damian: ...*cracks his knuckles* You are my new favorite person. *punches Danny in the face*
Danny: *grinning with a bloody nose* Likewise! *punches him back*
(aka i posted this in the dp x dc discord and I'm posting it here now.)
I present you this.
Alfred has finally gotten time to himself. All bat kids patched and accounted for, bruce finally asleep after drinking Alfred special tea, the manor is clean and everything is peaceful.
Until he hears a knock on the back door in the kitchen. He opens it to see a familiar girl (she looks 20 tho) with black hair in a ponytail bleeding green on the stairs.
Phantom's emergency contact form, particularly in a no one knows AU
At first, Danny tried to reject doing an emergency contact form and pushed it off for as long as possible.Â
He had some great points on his side: He was already dead, he didn't even know If he could die again, Ghosts don't have families (to his knowledge) and he really didn't want anyone to find out just how long he's secretly been pretending to be alive.
The other members of the Justice League asked gently if he really wanted to leave his loved ones wondering should he suddenly disappear one day.
And he hesitated.
That made the other JL members realize he definitely had loved ones that-- for whatever reason-- he didnât want to know he was a member of the Justice League.
While they understood protecting their loved ones from their enemies, it was also important to protect them from being hurt by their friend disappearing without warning.
Flash wouldnât shut up about it, Wonder Woman made stupidly good points. Batman kept pushing to put in the paperwork.
Finally, Batman handed Phantom a folder of all his blank paperwork and insisted Phantom finish it that day, or else he would be pulled from his missions.
Phantom really didnât want to stop investigating the crime syndicate he was working on with Robin, so he took the papers with a sigh.
Danny agonized over the emergency contact form in a private room of the Justice League headquarters.
A singular piece of paper to be set in a box that would self-destruct at any attempts to open it without at least three personalized passwords from different members of the league after the Leagueâs internal systems recognized Phantom as deceased or missing for longer than 48 hours.
It was as thorough as Batman could get, albeit not flawless.
Danny is already aware his friends and family are concerned about him. Their constant attempts to reconnect only to be met with radio silence on his end was a sign enough.
He tried to imagine to how Batman would react to having to call the âFenton Hotlineâ and tell them their teenage son died on a mission for the Justice League⊠that is, if they even pick up.
oooooo... But what if since no one in particular knows aka anyone alive Danny can just list those who are dead. It's foolproof.
So Danny just lists those he can remember from his little rogues gallery or like other more peaceful ghosts. And he lists them as so (with the correct summoning circles of course)
Clockwork - Mentor & Ancient of time
Pandora - honored amazonian & keeper of the BOX(you know which box)
Frostbite - Doctor & Leader of the frozen north
Nocturne - Master of the dreamscape & Ruler of sleep
Princess Dorothea - Dragon lord
Walker - Prison warden & enforcer of rules
Fright Knight- Knight of the king & Ancient of fear
Needless to say when Batman asks Constantine about the beings listed in Phantom's emergency contact he was not pleased when Constantine proceeded to ask if there was anywhere he could refill his flask.
Jazz: I've been thinking of working out this summer. How's that gym you joined? Is it any good?
Danny: You should. It's phenomenal! They pair you up with a workout buddy, help you with routines, and provide private rooms for you to use if you're shy. They're even doing a whole nutritional plan for me, completely free! Damian says he's already starting to see the difference in me, and we've only been partners for two months.
Jazz: Damian?
Danny: He's my workout buddy. Apparently, he's been training for various Olympic sports since he was a kid, so he helps out at the gym for people our age to make some quick cash. He's so cool and the nicest guy around. I never felt bad for struggling to do some exercises.
Jazz: Well, he sounds great. And he's right, you've really started to build up muscles. Everyone back home will lose their minds when summer break is over.
Danny: Thanks! :D
Meanwhile at Wayne Manor: >>>>>>>>>>>>>
Damian: Alfred, will you please review this nutritional plan? I wish to make sure it's balanced enough to build lean muscles.
Alfred: Certainly, Master Damian. Is this for a new training regimen for you?
Dick: Damian, for the last time, just because a random scrawny foruteen year old walked up to you at my gym it does not mean he was asking for your hand in marriage. He thought you worked there!
Damian: Why would he assumed that?
Dick: You were wearing a shirt with the gym's name and carrying a clipboard!
Damian: I was supporting my brother's new business endeavor and ensuring that inventory was accurate. It's been two months, and Daniel has followed my routines to the letter. That's basically a proposal.
Bruce: ......You know a lot of things involved with your mother suddenly lined up in my head.
How to create a character for an online or tabletop RPG (also a good guide on creating characters in general)
Royalty/nobility TV Tropes page
Basic character profile
OC masterpost
Random character generators - (1), (2), (3), (4)
D&D Character Building Tool
Character Design Ideas:
How clothing affects a characterâs personality
Character Design Inspiration blog
Concept art, fan art, cool art to be inspired by
Character design references and inspiration
Sources for POC character design ideas and models
Create your own character model using HeroForge
For horned characters
Body and hair types guide
Random outfit generator
Naming Help:
Amazing site with an endless amount of naming resources
General advice on avoiding naming appropriation
Hispanic Surnames
Gothic Victorian names
Huge master list for character things in general
Masterlist of names of all types - including but not limited to ancient/old world names, Celtic, African, Northern European, Southern and Central American Native names, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Polynesian, and more
Another name masterlist
How to pick a character name guide
Yet another names masterlist
Creating Background/backstory:
Character Sheet/Development Sheet
Another character development list
In-depth character personality, motivations and traits sheet
320 talents and passions for characters
On writing likes and dislikes that arenât frivolous
Why you should write non-human characters non-conforming to the gender binary
Stereotypes, tropes, and archetypes
Random backstory generator
Assassin and thief character tropes to avoid
Character Interactions and putting your character into your world/story:
Comparing character height/height references
Characters who are scientists and writing about them doing science
Describing what different voices sound like
Describing skin tones
Writing friendship interactions that are platonic
Why having one character knock their friend unconscious to prevent them from doing something is a bad idea
Advice on shipping OCs with canon characters and what to avoid doing
Sweet Polly Oliver and Sweet on Polly Oliver situations (think of Disneyâs Mulan for an example)
How to write multiple viewpoints/juggling a main cast of more than 4 to 6 characters
How to make readers care about your morally gray hero/anti-hero
On platonic OC and canon character relationships
How to avoid Godmodding in RPs
When itâs cheap to kill off a character
Writing dialogue
Things you shouldnât do to canon characters
Avoiding purple prose in writing and RPs
Slang resources
Dialogue tips
Websites to chart your story/plot/character relationships
They separate after a moment. Once again, two pairs of glowing green eyes meet. They let silence wash over them once again as they gaze at one another, locked in embrace.
After a while, Danny breaks the silence with a small sigh.
âI guess I might as well explain some more, if you still have some questions? I havenât quite explained everything you should know yet, I suppose,â He offers.
Jason gives a small nod.
âYeah, I⊠Iâd like to know more, if you donât mindâŠâ At Dannyâs nod he continues. âYou keep mentioning ectoplasm, which I think is what I have previously always known as Lazarus water. Could you tell me more about it?â
Danny smiles at him.
âThis is ectoplasm,â Danny says, putting his open palm between them and letting ectoplasm pool on top of it.
Jason flinches and leans back a bit, eyeing the ectoplasm apprehensively.
âYeah, looks like Lazarus water to me, apart from the lack of bubblingâ He replies stiffly. âAnd youâre â weâreâmade of this stuff?â
âEssentially? Yes. Though we are only partially. But that doesn't matter right nowâ
âIt sounds like something that should matter right nowâ
âNah, right now the important part is that your ecto,â Danny emphasizes by pointing at Jason, letting the ecto disappear in the meantime, âis not healthy.â
âSomething's wrong with the Pit? Pfft, I couldâve told ya thatâ Jason huffs sarcastically.
âWell, this Pit you keep referring to seems to be some kind of corrupted or contaminated version of the standard ectoplasm. And this Lazarus water you mentioned? Well, ectoplasm is not supposed to be bubbling, soâŠâ
Danny lets out a small hum as he thinks.
âLike Iâve said before, from what I can guess, this corruption might be partially responsible for the madness youâve referred to. And itâs probably the thing that has stunted your core growth.â
âMy what growth?â
âYour core. Each ghost has a core. Itâs the entire culmination of their being. Their vital organs, heart, brain, soul, etc. No matter how damaged a ghostâs physical body gets as long as their core doesnât get damaged they can recover.
âYou can think of it a little like the gems in Steven Universe,â Danny adds on, slightly unhelpfully for Jason as he has never heard of Steven Universe before, but he just nods along.
âIf the core gets damaged, or even worse, destroyed, then the ghost is ended. They fade away, their entire existence getting erased in the process. Itâs a fate worse than deathâŠâ Danny trails off before shaking his head a bit to clear it.
âAnyway, each ghost core also has an element or theme it is inclined to. We call it a core-type. For example, I have an ice core, making it so that I donât get cold easily, and it gives me some ice powers as well.
âBut I also know someone with a shadow core, someone with an electrical core, a fire core, etc., etc. Baby ghosts havenât quite grown into the core-type yet, so you have nothing to worry about for now.â Danny says reassuringly.
Jason pulls a face at being referred to as a âbaby ghost.âÂ
âRight, and Iâm supposed to have one of these cores but, what, the âcontaminationâ in the Pit stopped it from appearing?â
Danny shrugs. âYeah, pretty much.â
He then gives Jason a contemplative look.
âI might be able to get rid of the corruption myself, as ghosts have a built-in filter so shit like the Pit madness doesnât happen.
âBut seeing as Iâm not a full ghost and I havenât really seen contamination like this before, Iâm not entirely sure itâs healthy for meâŠâ He trails off before giving a small shake of his head. âAnd Iâm no doctor, either. So, youâd probably have to see Frostbite for an official diagnosis and treatment plan.â
âFrostbite?â Jason inquires.
âHeâs my ghost doctorâ Danny explains. âI can talk to him about it beforehand, see if he knows more about this corrupted ecto situation. Though he might ask you to come by for a checkup either way.â He shrugs.
Jason agrees before bringing up another question. âSo, whenever someone dies, they just,â he makes a vague gesture, âGo to the Ghost Zone and become a ghost? Why havenât we really come across any ghosts like that before?â
âNot everyone that dies becomes a ghost,â Danny shakes his head slightly, âAnd not even every ectoplasmic entity, or ecto-being, is someone that has died.
âEcto-beings can be people who died, if they died a traumatic enough death with enough raw emotion and enough ambient ectoplasm in the area for them to form a core.
âBut that certainly doesnât happen often. And not every ecto-being is like us either. Yes, you have those with a physical body, but then thereâs also shades.
âShades are formed when thereâs enough ambient ectoplasm in the area they died to kickstart their core formation, but not enough to sustain the entire process.
âThey have a core, but due to the lack of ecto during its formation they canât use a lot of ecto at once and it takes longer for them to replenish. This also makes them unable to be tangible or visible for long periods of time.
âBesides the consciousness of dead people being ghosts, thereâs also the neverborn. True to their name, the neverborn were never actually born in the traditional sense.
âThey could be sentience given shape by enough raw emotion occurring in an area saturated with ambient ectoplasm, like most blob ghosts.
âOr then thereâs also the ones who are more forces of nature and/or abstract concepts taken physical form. These are the Ancients, and they embody concepts like Time, Space, Weather, or Dreams, for example.â Danny explains.
âThereâs the personifications of places or beliefs taken shape, and then there are also the neverborn formed through ghost procreation.â
Jason raises an eyebrow.
âGhosts can give birth?â
Danny makes a so-so gesture with his hand.
 âYes and no? Itâs not exactly comparable to human conception, but two ghosts can come together and combine parts of their core to create? spawn? form? a child together?â He shrugs âI donât know the exact workings or details, youâd have to ask Frostbite for more information.â
âHuh..â Is all Jason can say in response.
âThen you have the liminals, zombies, demons, and other dead-adjacent beings that I wonât get into right now.â Danny dismisses before pausing thoughtfully. âThough, Iâll clarify revenants a bit as that was what you were initially.â
He continues at Jasonâs nod.
âA revenant is, in simplest terms, someone who died in an area without much ambient ecto, and with an immense need for revenge. A need so strong in fact that, despite the lack of ecto necessary to form a core in order to become a shade or full ghost, their potent emotions remain after death.
âAnd these emotions are what tie the remains of the personâs soul to their body, which together are able to take control of the corpse in order to enact that revenge, despite the mind of the person being long gone.
âNow, as soon as they have been avenged, they usually go back to their grave, if they have one, and well, die again, I suppose... The emotions fading and letting go of their hold on the soulâŠâ Danny rubs the back of his neck before moving on.
âWell, last but not least, thereâs us, the halfas. Thereâs only about fourâwell, fiveâof us in existence currently.
âLike Iâve said before, halfas are half-dead and half-alive. We have a living human body, and a ghost form we can transform into that is completely made out of ectoplasm, like the average physical-bodied ghost.
âWe also have all the basic ghost powers, like flight, invisibility, intangibility, overshadowing, ecto-rays,â as Danny starts listing the basic ghost powers, he ignores Jasonâs interjection of âIâm supposed to have ghost powers?!â
âBut each ghost, depending on their power level, can also have some powers exclusive to only them. I know of a ghost with musical mind controlling powers, a ghost with wish granting powers, thereâs my ghostly wail, and more.â
âSo⊠If I get cleansed of this uh, corrupted ectoplasm, Iâm gonna have ghost powers?â Jason asks again, a strange and thoughtful expression on his face.
âYeah, probably. Though we wonât know which individual powers youâll get till you get them.â Danny shrugs. âIâm also not quite sure how fast your core development will be and how fast your powers will appear once the corrupted stuff is gone.â He admits.
âWhile the stunted growth could have slowed the entire process down permanently, thereâs also the chance that, once your proto-core has the freedom to grow, with some healthy ecto as a boost, your core might grow instantaneously because itâll finally have the space to do so after being repressed for so long.â He looks at Jasonâs chest, deep in thought, before shrugging again.
âBut like I mentioned before, Iâm no doctor. So, weâd need to consult with Frostbite first to be sure. And as for not being aware of ghosts before and not having met any, thatâs just mainly due to the lack of reliable portals around.â He explains.
âThere are only two semi-permanent portals that I know of, both of those artificial, and one of those is in my parentsâ basement. Natural portals do occur, but ghosts rarely use them if they happen to come across one.
âItâs because the locations and duration the portals stay open are random. Besides, whatever time period they open in is also unpredictable. If youâre not careful, you could end up in ancient Rome.â Danny pulls a face before shaking his head a bit to clear his mind.
âLastly thereâs ghosts who have the power to open temporary portals themselves, but itâs quite rare amongst ghosts, so most just rely on the artificial ones to enter this dimension.â
Jason throws him a questioning glance. âWhy do ghosts wanna enter this dimension anyway, if their home is in this Ghost Zone, Iâm assuming? Is unfinished business like an actual thing, or?â
Danny pauses, thinking over his answer.
âWell, each ghost has their reasons for coming to this dimension. Some wanna view this dimension like tourists, others might come through the portal to visit for a quick brawlââ
âThey come here just to fight?â
Danny nods.
âItâs very socially stimulating and healthy for ghosts to throw down every once in a while. Itâs basically the ghost equivalent of puppies playfighting or friends checking in on each other and asking how youâve been, you know?
âIt helps them feel more, well, alive. We, as halfas, donât really have the urge to fight other ghosts as much due to still being half alive, obviously. But some still visit me sometimes just for a quick fight.
âThough I do have to remind them sometimes that Iâm more squishy than them, as the attacks they use sometimes would be fine for a full ghost, but for a human...â Danny winces before quickly moving on.
âBut anyways, another reason for them leaving the Zone could be cause itâs just easier to manage their Obsession in this dimension than in the Ghost Zone.â
At Jasonâs interjecting question of âWhatâs an obsession?â Danny elaborates. âEach ghost has an Obsession, capital O, and itâs what keeps them mostly sane and keeps them from fading.â
âFor example, my Obsession is space, though we thought it was something else at first. But then you have other ghosts, who might be Obsessed about things like boxes, being remembered, technology, etc.
âGhosts can also have multiple Obsessions, but it depends. It all varies from ghost to ghost, but thatâs the basic gist of it. And for a lot of ghosts, it could be more difficult to fulfil these Obsessions in the Ghost Zone, instead of here, where they might have more access to their Obsession.
âThough, either way, for us halfas itâs a bit different. Because weâre still partly human and alive, weâre not as bound by our Obsessions as other ghosts might be.â
Jason nods a little, taking it all in. At the small lull in conversation, Jason brings up a slight change of topic, having enough information he still needs to digest for now.
âSo, ghosts, huh?â He starts. âAnd here I thought you were some kind of vampire metaâ
Danny sputters after hearing Jasonâs admission.
âA vampire meta?! What gave you that idea?â
Danny looks at Jason incredulously. Jason gives him a considering look before starting to list his âevidence.â
âWell, let's start with the fangs and pointed earsââ
âThat doesn't have to mean anything!â
ââNext off, youâre cold to the touch, impossibly strong, impossibly fast, as you appeared in no time after I texted you about your sisterâ â
âBut I have an ice core! And that wasâ â
âNot to mention the fact that when I asked how you got there onto the roof that fast, you told me you flew, which, you could do if you were, oh, I donât know, a batââ
âI wasnât a bat though! Iâm not that good at shapeshifting yetââ
âAnd besides all of that, Iâm around 90% sure your sister drank some of my blood when biting me. And family members with the meta gene having similar powers isnât uncommonââÂ
âThatâs just how Ellie is! I think she got that from Vlad more than anything,â Danny protests.
Jason raises an eyebrow before putting on a fake serious tone of voice.
âI know what you areâŠâ
Danny blinks and pauses before pushing him gently with a laugh. âJasonââ
âSo, youâre telling me you donât sparkle in the sun?â Jason asks with a grin.
âDude, youâve seen me outside during the day before!â He smiles.
âItâs Gotham! The sun doesnât shine here, which is obviously why you moved here. So, you wouldnât easily be found out by going outside,â Jason argues teasingly.
Danny falls still for a moment, giving Jason a pondering look before grinning.
âYou wanted to be like Bella Swan, with your own dramatic romance novel moment, didnât you?â
Dannyâs grin widens as Jason stills.
âThatâs it, isnât it?!â
âNo. No, no, noââ Jason starts vehemently denying it as Danny pushes on.
âYou want to be a main character in a YA romance novelââ
âI do notââ
âItâs alright, Jason. For you, Iâll be the Edward Cullen to your Bella Swanâ Danny tells him reassuringly, patting his back lightly as Jason just sighs and hides his face in his hands.
âYouâre gonna be the death of meâ He groans.
âWell, fortunately for you, âtill death do us partâ doesnât really apply to us, Ghost Boy.â Danny jokes.
It does the job, and Jason gains a small smile on his face as he shakes his head at Danny with a huff. He then moves his gaze from Danny back to the side, onto Gotham. Danny follows his gaze.
They stay seated in each other's hold, enjoying the otherâs company and presence. It was getting quite late.
âShall we go back?â
They gaze out over the city from their spot, city lights reflected in their eyes.
AKA "Danny moves to Gotham and records TikToks with absolutely deranged captions. He films Get Ready with Me in Gotham videos, fit checks, and even A Day in the Life of a Ghost in Gotham! Except everybody is freaking the fuck out in the comments" prompt idea!
No, you don't understand, I'm obsessed. Like, what if Danny's idea of "safe" is just... anything that doesn't actively try to kill him? So Metropolitians, Star City, and Central City citizens are literally biting their nails and sweating bullets every time he posts, because what if he gets merc'd by the "Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag" Red Hood?? And that's one of the nicer villains in Gotham. And Danny's just like wow, this place is niiiiiice, I haven't even been murdered yet!
Maybe Jazz took a 12-year-old Danny to Gotham to escape their parents. Gotham's cheap, dirty, and doesn't ask questions: it's the best place to go to disappear because damn near half the city's population are either super villains, hostages, dead, or vigilantes. She gets a job at an understaffed hospital as a clinical psych intern. She enrolls Danny for online schooling because she's scared a public high school would be too easy for their parents to track.
Which leaves Danny alone for hours. He makes a TikTok account called "Danny Phantom" because, c'mon, he's a kid. And, like most kids, he doesn't really comprehend the idea of a digital footprint or that his account is public, accessible by literally anybody.
He's also a little shit. So, the first TikTok he uploads is of a man getting carjacked, but the caption reads: love to see people helping each other. remember it's always okay to ask for help! it's okay, I don't know how to parallel park, either :)
And you just see this guy in a mask shove a businessman away from his car, gesturing with his gun, before getting into the driver's seat. Except the car is parallel parked so the carjacker just slowly inches back and forth between a Prius and a Honda until he can wedge himself out of the parking space. And then gets stuck in stand-still traffic. The TikTok goes viral. It's talked about on the Gotham news and Gothamites are losing their shit, pointing out the exact moment you can see the carjacker start to soundlessly cuss through the car's windshield or the way the businessman is just... standing on the side of the road, watching with a deadpan look.
Danny doesn't know about it being on the news, but he sees all the comments, likes, reposts, and feels something. He wonders if this is what Ember feels every time people listened to her music. So, he keeps posting. Usually, it's short three-second videos of a hilariously unexpected situation with an even more deranged caption. But then he's accidentally caught in the reflection of a store front while recording and doesn't know, posts it like he always does; only for this TikTok to go viral, too. Because "Danny Phantom" is a child??
He doesn't notice the shift in his comments, but the public opinion quickly changes from wow, Gothamites are just like that huh lol to what the FUCK, kid, get inside!!! anytime he posts.
Except Danny never gets hurt. Even in the most dangerous situations, when you'd think this kid is a goner for sure, he's just happily yapping in the background. He's so different from Gothamites because he lacks that dead-eyed, despair-inducing aura of someone who's lived in a hellmouth their whole lives. (A couple people post that Danny kind of reminds them of Golden Boy Brucie Wayne, all air-headed and unrealistically optimistic, and suddenly there's memes of "what happens when you've never gotten shot in Gotham" or "how i act when Commish Gordie accuses me of shoplifting again" with them side-by-side.)
And then Danny's posts go viral again and again. Danny doing a fit check with a blond-haired woman with a checkered outfit, she ruffles his hair and kisses him on the cheek. A picture of him wearing an old jean jacket with a bright red lipstick smear on his cheek is trending for weeks. Spoiler, fully suited up in an all-purple vigilante attire, and him shoving gas station hotdogs in their mouths. He even has videos of him clearly in Killer Croc's lair, with comments of are you in the sewers??? DANNY??? and he responds, no, i'm in mom & dad's basement :) (Waylon Jones is actually sitting behind him in one of the videos, intently watching a TV show on an iPad.)
Everybody adores Danny - Rogues, Gothamites, even the Bats. (There's at least six videos of Nightwing teaching Danny how to do backflips, handstands, and other acrobatic moves. Even the youngest Robin has been caught on camera quietly talking with Danny, a shocking lack of violence that left half the city's population suffering from cuteness aggression for the kids.)
So, yeah, Danny belongs to Gotham.
But the internet is widely accessible and Danny made it so, so easy to find him. Jazz obviously didn't know he was posting videos of himself publicly; she was too tired after back-to-back 12 hour shifts at the hospital that she hadn't even checked social media in months. Otherwise, she would've told him to be careful, to never show his face or post his real name on the internet. Then again, Jazz would never have expected all of Gotham (and Superman himself, totally endeared by the kid after Kon and Jon showed him a couple TikToks) would beat the absolute shit out of anybody going after Danny.
Imagine GIW's surprise when they track down Amity's former residential Ghost only to find an entire city frothing at the mouth to protect their Phantom.
Danny was the newbiest of noobs on the street rat scene. Poor kid isn't cut out for the cut-throat culture of Gotham homelessness. His soft heart and mid-western manners means he ends up giving up the lion's share of what he does manage to scavenge.
It concerned Jason. Being soft like that was a great way to get killed. Danny was chum in the shark infested waters. Hood asked one of the older alley kids how Danny hadn't gotten eaten alive.
"It's like taking candy from a baby" she confided in Hood. "Easy as fuck, but you can't help but feel bad about it."
Now, Red Hood has a deal with the alley kids. If anyone manages to steal from all of the Waynes without getting caught, he will pay for all their necessities until they turn 18.
Really, it's a win-win. Bruce and his brood get extra awareness training and more incentive to stay out of Jason's territory. The kids get bought a meal after they're inevitably caught. Jason gets to laugh at his family.
He never expected his deal to be taken advantage of by Danny of all kids.
"Psst! Red Hood!"
Jason glanced over to see Danny beckoning him over. Curious, and a bit wary at the nervous look on the boy's face, he approached. "What's up kid?"
"C'mon! Over here!" Danny insisted, moving further away.
Jason followed. "What's this about?"
Danny didn't answer. Instead he just grabbed his hand and sped up. He kept glancing back at him and it was making Jason nervous. Did the kid get in over his head and coerced into luring Red Hood into a trap?
"Kid?" He asked again, tension leaking into his voice.
"Not yet. Almost there."
Abruptly they stopped on a random street corner. Jason noted that it was tactically a poor place for an assassination. Still, if something was gonna go down, he'd have to make sure the kid made it to safety.
"Danny-"
"I abducted you." Danny interrupted, confirming Jason's suspicious. "I used persuasion to get you someplace you don't wanna be," He pointed at the ground at that, presumably for emphasis. "Which counts as abduction. And I didn't get caught by the Bats."
"Okay? Danny, you-"
"You're sort of a bat which means I stole you from the bats!" the kid interrupted again. "And the bats are the Waynes. So I stole from all the Waynes without getting caught! I won the challenge!"
As Jason's brain rebooted all he could manage to say was, "What makes this spot someplace I don't wanna be?"
Danny just grinned and pointed at the ground again.
Jason looked down. He was standing in a chalk outline with lots of arrows titling it the "Stupid Circle"
Based on these two posts:
Pickpocket for Hire:
I literally love this idea. But specifically the version where Danny targets the Batfam and they're like?? wtf is happening??? And Jason op
Jason gets 'kidnapped':
Jason's body jerked on reflex when he felt someone grab his hand. Unable to pull away he swiftly looked down to face his assailant. The curs
AKA "inspired by that one post about Danny being a flerken and living with the Batfam" idea! Except he looks pants-shitting, "oh dear god, what is that" terrifying.
I just love slightly feral animal-like Danny in a... shape. It's not immediately identifiable as a cat or dog, maybe he has a few too many legs that kind of look like a tail at one point? And when he skitters up walls like a particularly small dog-sized tarantula, it's terrifying enough to make seasoned criminals squeal.
Let's imagine Danny had some sort of accident with a portal and was Wizard-of-Oz'd into Gotham, a literal hellmouth of a city with so many curses that it'd make John Constantine start to sweat. And this city also has... weird Ecto. (In my brain, there's a connection between the Lazarus Pit and ectoplasm, like pit waters are the sewers of ectoplasm or something.) It's enough for Danny to still exist but he can't seem to stay human-shaped. It's better than being a Blob Ghost, but not by much. His fur-scales-feathers-skin-something look dark as the midnight sky.
And who should stumble on this weird-looking Thing aside from Damian, secret animal-whisperer and passionate Pokemon collector? Damian, who known what a scared feral animal looks like and who can coax it into his arms? It doesn't matter that Danny has maybe five or six limbs. He can make himself slightly smaller at will (not in a Magical-Girl-Transformation way, mind you. When he changes shape, there's the distinct snap of bones breaking and wet, fleshy sounds of his organs, muscles, ligaments, tendons, everything shifting).
Damian has literally been trained by the League of Assassins under the Demon Head. He's likely seen more people's insides than an ER surgeon; he's killed more than enough people in incredibly grotesque and violent ways to be totally unphased by Danny changing shapes. Maybe he'll actually be sort of touched, a bit pleased, that his new Thing pet would change itself so violently so Damian could hold it.
What would Damian name it? He's outwardly violent and aggressive towards others, but pretty passionate and heartfelt once he cares for someone. Alfred the Cat comes to mind. So maybe Damian takes one look at this supposedly scary Thing and thinks, "It looks like Father."
As in, Dark as Night? A shadow inspiring fear amongst criminals? Spoken about in whispers, sometimes laughed off as a joke but still cautiously reverent, just in case?
Danny's new name is Batman.
Of course, this causes some confusion when Damian comes home to Wayne Manor and says, "Batman and I will retire to my room." In front of Bruce, who naturally and kind-of-correctly assumes his son picked up another animal while on patrol. Bruce had a hard time explaining this to a very concerned Dick, who was holding up a wooden stake and a bible (Dick totally wasn't going to kill Bruce if he turned out to be a vampire but it's always good to be prepared!), after Damian apparently made a wayward comment that "Batman refuses to eat anything besides raw meat."
And Danny is having a great time!! Sure, Damian treats him like a pet, but he gets affectionate pats on the head, incredibly expensive steak, and a soft place to sleep. He awkwardly dragged several blankets from the living room to Damian's room to make a bed in the kid's closet. (Alfred watched from behind the couch as this six-legged hairy-ish catlike Thing determinedly waddled with three blankets in its mouth, occasionally tripping on its own legs. He went back to dusting the crown moulding silently. So, that's why Master Damian requested uncooked sirloin steak twelve times in last few days. Hm.)
So, the Batfam accept there is another Batman in the family. Except they haven't actually seen Danny (aside from Alfred and Damian).
Until Dick needs to talk to Damian and goes into the boy's room. But it's empty?? He could've sworn he heard somebody talking or something in here, but maybe not? He turns to leave and then hears it again: a soft kind of thump coming from Damian's armoire. A shit-eating grin spreads across his face as his Older Brother Instincts kick in. Jason used to hide in closets and try to scare Dick when he was little; Damian, despite being a child soldier and trained assassin, was still a little kid at heart, right? The kid's clearly hiding from Dick to scare him or something.
(Damian was in the Batcave, studiously typing "Google, what non-Earth animals reside in Gotham, please?" into the Batcomputer. I like to think that Damian uses the internet like a 85-year old man who thinks a Google employee personally replies to each question.)
So, Dick creeps forward and abruptly slams open the armoire doors!! Only to let out an unholy shriek of terror as Danny, who was taking a nap, frantically skitters out of the closet looking like a Frankenstein cat-dog with bat wings. He crawls under Damian's bed as Dick scrambles into the hallway.
The cat-dog-Thing is out of the bag now. Damian looks utterly deadpan as he explains that Batman is his pet and not to concern themselves with it; Bruce, Tim, Jason, and a white-faced Dick disagreed. They need to see it to make sure the Thing won't harm anybody, especially considering it's fucking living with them!! How do they know it won't try to eat them in their sleep??
"Batman does not eat raw human meat, Todd. Why are you concerned now? It has resided with us for two months now."
"Two months?" Dick nearly faints (again).
"Yes, Batman is very well-behaved, Master Dick." Alfred, who's been feeding Danny for the last two months and has seen all the little quirks the Thing has, offers a consoling half-smile.
Ultimately, the Batfam decide to keep Batman in exchange for scary dog privileges. They'll have to think of another name for Danny considering having two Batmans in Gotham would be pretty confusing (especially if one of them decided they did, in fact, like raw human flesh).
Clark Kent is firmly in his civilian persona.
This is a problem, given that the airplane he's on with Lois is about to collide with another plane on the runway.
He can see the other plane about to t-bone them, and is fully prepared to...somehow fumble his way through an explanation as to why he disappeared and superman took his place, but the meta kid sitting next to him has a different idea.
The meta kid let's out a strangled shriek, grips the armrests of the seat, and the entire plane goes intangible.
The other plane delicately just...glides through their plane, and everyone on their plane and everyone on the other plane just stare at each other as they pass by in horrified silence.
The people seated where the other planes engines are passing through harmlessly initially let out a few terrified screams, but they taper off when they realize that nothing is happening.
Then it's over.
The kid, hyperventilating, lets go of the armrests once the other plane has completely cleared them, and immediately goes for one of those little baggies to empty the contents of his stomach.
His nose is bleeding, his ears are bleeding, and he looks dazed. He clearly overdid it.
Clark is running a hand up and down his back, trying to get him comfortable, while the other passengers and crew stare at the kid in awe.
After all, there's only one person acting like this after something as insane as making every single person intangible. It has to be the kid. The kid has to be a meta, and that meta just saved all of them.
But the kid peeks up at Clark, eyes full of fear, and says something that makes his heart drop into his stomach.
Tim pays danny and absurd salary to work in WE coffee place because he's the only one willing to make Tim's coffee because every time he does he faces reckless endangerment charges because of how strong the coffee is and no one else is willing to risk it.
Danny takes his coffee the same way but with a shot of ecto, which is fine until Tim sees Danny put the green!water into his coffee. Tim, being the most rational bat, doesn't freak out and kidnaps Danny for where he got Lazurus water and just asks his.
Danny explains that his parents are one scientists of the "only not a rouge on a technicality" variety and have been synthesizing this shit since before he was born, and that while it's the single best energy booster on the planet its also poison to humans, which Danny says he isn't quite sure he is anymore.
Tim's eyes light up at the "single best energy booster on the planet part" and asks for some, completely disregarding the poison aspect.
Danny says fuck it, but Tim is going to have to build up a tolerance over time, so a single small spirt of ecto once a day to start.
A few months to a year later Tim sends one of his siblings, preferably Damian, to get his coffee from Danny, and then proceeds to freak the fuck out when he watches Danny put Lazurus Water in Tim's drink.
Damien is not the most rational bat.
Tim never does get that coffee.
Danny is in a bat holding cell having a panic attack.
let's make damian and danny have a mortician and gomez type of love.
Let's let danny be a known sought-after goth who everyone knows has a broken regeneration ability but can't prove it because he lets himself scar and can control when and where he regenerates. He wears stelletos and other heals and has a variety of weapons on him. People think he's a vampire, and he normally hangs out at the cemetery and such. He's a nightingale in this au, and the nightingales are the Addams family. Damian is smitten. Danny and him are in high school, Gotham Academy, and danny gets into fights with him a lot. They spar past first blood drawn and damian respects that. Let's make it enemies to weirdly stalker friends to lovers. They both partake in this, damian gets people, maybe tim, to dig stuff up on him and danny asks the dead about him.
Anyway, fast forward to them flirting and trying to court each other. Let's just say Gotham is terrified and happy for damian to have finally met his match. Danny once, during a galla slides in and, with his heart pulled visibly out of his chest resting inside a bunch of flowers asks damian to take what's his( his hearts) damian obliges and takes the flowers ripping Danny's heart out. Danny then gets up, he's taller than damian, and takes off his bloody shirt and courset and changes in front of him and asks him to go to dinner with his family. Danny doesn't button the top buttons of his shirt, leaving his chest out with the now gaping hile that isn't bleeding outta and tightens his courset. He tells damian that the food has a tendency to come alive, so he's going to have to impale it and kill it to eat it. Before he gets an answer, he takes a quill out of his pocket and stabs his arm, and then takes damians other hand to write out the date and address. And then waves goodbye, and while he's walking towards the window to jump out, he tells him to bring a vial of his blood so he can wear it. He leaves, and damien looks back at Danny's heart, opens it, and pulls out a necklace that has a vial of Danny's blood on it. He's smitten turns toward his horrified family and very proud Jason and says he's going.
Danny and damian give each other the heads of their enemies and wear each other's stuff. What if Danny's wedding courting includes fighting the father of your lover if their taking your last name. Like it could be in anything way the father chooses. I'm just imagining damain telling danny that he's taking his last name and Danny's like bet but you have to beat up my 'dad'( in this case imma make it his guardian aka the eldest male Dan) and danny wants to fight batman so he proposes that he challenges his father and damians like as you wish whoever wins gets to keep their last name.
Phantoms still a criminal and their both aware of the others hero identity but hasn't said anything. Please I want them to flirt in the weirdest ways.
Would Tailia approve of him?
The batfam are VERY concerned and wary of Danny and damians' relationship. Jason feels like he's watching a dark romance novel come to life and is here for it.
Please, I want danny eventually telling damian about being half ghost, and he then goes on to ask all of Danny's ghost friends and mentors on how to properly care and court him. They are ecstatic to teach him.
Anger management can also be in here. They like that but in more subtle ways.
They sit there in the dark for a while, in embrace. After a moment, Danny leans back, shifting to lay his head on Jasonâs shoulder. The tears on their faces slowly dry as they are ignored.
Neither knows how long they sat there in quietude before Jason breaks the silence.
âLetâs⊠try this againâŠâ He takes a deep breath before speaking up next. âI told you about the Pit, how it⊠how when Iâm under its effects, I lose control.â He runs a trembling hand through his hair.
Danny doesnât speak, letting Jason talk.
âItâs just that, whenever I feel the Pit, itâs usually accompanied by anger and rage but⊠Ever since you killed the Joker, ever since we met, itâs changed.
âInstead of anger, the Pit feels calm. Instead of throwing things and beating people up, I made chocolate fudge.
âAnd donât get me wrong, I donât miss the madness. But something made it change, and Iâm not sure if I can trust that change⊠and I think that something⊠has to do with you.â He ends, looking at Danny.
âWellâŠâ Danny puts his hand to his chin as he thinks âGhosts are beings of emotion. Itâs part of how weâre formed, itâs part of our language, and itâs part of our being. While your ecto has only ever been projecting rage to you before, I think I can at least theorize the reason behind the change.â He starts.
âI think a large part of why you came back in the first place was revenge, which initially made you a revenant. But that was before you were thrown into what I can only assume is some sort of pit with corrupted ectoplasm, which is what turned you or, well, tried to turn you, from revenant to halfa.
âThe ecto stitched your undead body and soul together, brought back your mind, and tried to form a core within you, but the corruption prevented it from doing so. So it was only able to give you the beginnings of a proto-core, which is what made it difficult for me to sense you until we were close enough when we kissed.
âAnd this is currently keeping you in a constant state of being on the verge of core formation.â Danny takes a breath before continuing to hypothesise.
âYou mentioned it was the Joker that killed you, and that the change in emotions happened after he died. To me, it seems like one of the reasons, if not the reason, you crawled out of that grave in the first place was to avenge your death and kill the Joker.
âAs ectoplasm is largely emotion-based, the contaminated ectoplasm you gained from that pit probably latched onto this anger and want for revenge and held on to it. The contamination is what likely increases your feelings and what makes them able to overtake your actions, as it were.
âAfter he died, the major driving force behind you being undead, and behind the rage, was gone. As a revenant you should have gotten peace and gone back to being fully dead, your soul finally able to move on.
âBut the ectoplasm within you that was left behind mustâve fused your soul back into your body again, not letting it escape as the revenant rage left you. This, paired with the beginnings of you becoming a halfa, is probably why you stayed.
âWith the revenant rage gone, the pit likely canât hold onto that specific emotional range any longer. So instead, it latches onto any emotion you currently feel in the moment, which again, since he died, is probably more peacefulness and happiness due to being avenged. So now the corruption will amplify those feelings instead.
âThe amplified feelings might also lean more towards the happier side because of me being around. Either because I was the one to avenge you, or because your ecto could have recognised me as the same as you and been calmer because of it. ThoughâŠâ Danny trails off for a bit.
âI have also heard from other ghosts, I sometimes just have that effect on people as crown princeâ Danny says, rubbing the back of his neck a little sheepishly.
Jason had been vaguely following along until the last comment stunned him. âYouâre a fucking prince?!â
Danny waves him off unconcerned. âThat is something Iâll explain later. There is a lot of other context youâll probably need before Iâll be able to explain any of⊠thatâŠâ
Jason lets out a breath and runs a hand through his hair once again. âRight, yeah, sure. Weâll come back to that.â As heâs trying to make sense of what heâs been told, Jason decides to get into some of the other concerning stuff Danny mentioned before.
âSo⊠your parents⊠built an artificial Lazarus Pit?â He tries instead.
âWell, I guess? Itâs more of a portal. It doesnât exactly heal or harm anyone going inside, it just brings them into the Ghost Zone.â
âRight⊠Whereâd they even put it that their children could easily access it?â
âTheir lab in the basement of the house.â
âTheir lab in the basement?!ââ
âYeah⊠Looking back on it, I guess the house was practically one big OSHA violation, huhâŠâ
âThere was more than just the lab basement?â
âWell, yeah, and I guess the dungeon and the Emergency Ops Center that can turn into the Fenton Blimp on top of the house are another big part of itâ
Jason gives him an appalled look.
âA lab and a dungeon?! Why do your parents have a dungeon in their house? I thought parents were some kind of scientists, or like ⊠ghost biologists?! â
âMhmmâ Danny nods in confirmation. âTechnically theyâre ecto-biologists, but they also just call themselves ghost hunters.â
âAnd youâre a ghost?â
âHalf ghost. And you are too. Thatâs what halfa stands forâ
âRight, yes. Weâll come back to that in a bit. But first, did your parents know about⊠â
âAbout me being dead? Nah, they didnât. Well, they do now, but not back then.â
âHave they ever hurt you?â
Danny turns his gaze to the side uncomfortably as he considers the question.
âWellâŠâ
âDannyââ
âI guess, not really? I mean yeah, theyâd chase after me with guns yelling about how they were going to rip me apart molecule by moleculeââ
âThey whatââ
âBut dadâs aim is shit and after a while I began getting better at dodging momâs shotsââ
âThey shot at you?!â This seems to give Jason some kind of revelation âDonât tell me thatâs whyââ
âBut theyâre really not that bad. Theyâve never actually intentionally hurt me while knowing it was me, their son. But, theyâre totally fine now!Â
âLike yeah, before they knew they gave me a tough time sometimes, but to be fair they really didnât know I wasnât some evil ghost there to hurt and destroy.
âAnd at least they werenât like the GIW, you know?â
âNo, Danny. I donât know. But please tell me you know this wasnât okay?â Jason throws him a troubled look.
Danny frowns, shifting to sit up straighter. âThey didnât knowââ
âMaybe not,â Jason cuts in, âBut that doesnât mean it was right or that it didnât hurt you anyway. The fact that they didnât know doesnât make it any better.â
âThey never hurt me seriously enough that I couldnât recoverââ He tries to protest.
âYou shouldnât have gotten hurt by them at all! Not physically, and not emotionally,â Jason states, giving Danny a pointed look. âYou shouldnât have had to recover.â
Danny shifts his gaze towards the ground with a frown, picking at the grass a bit with one of his hands.
âYou sound like Jazz,â He responds with a small grumble.
âThis Jazz sounds like a wise individual to whom you should probably listen more often.â
âShe isâ Danny admits with a sigh. âAnd youâre right, I shouldâŠâ
A beat, and then âIâm sorry for shooting youâ
âItâs fine! It didnât hurt me and itâs not like I havenât been shot at beforeââ Danny tries to reassure, but Jason shakes his head.
âNo, Danny. It is not fine. I shouldnât have done it. And you shouldnât be used to it.â He says decisively.
âButââ
âNuh-uh, nope. It is not fine. I should not have done it. Period.â
âYou likely had a good reasonââ
âI did it because I wasnât sure I could trust you,â Jason replies.
âI mean, you appeared out of nowhere, basically avenged my death, affected the Pit and made it act in ways it never has before, and then finding out you might have connections to the League?
âI just, itâIt scared meâ Jason confesses. âAnd I couldnât deal with that fear.â
âSo, I used my good old Red Hood interrogation techniques to try and get answers. You know? Shoot âem in the calf or thigh so itâll be painful for them without being lethal and make it harder for them to get away.
âBut while those are explanations for what I did, none of that is an excuse. There is no excuse.â
âThatâs not true.â Danny tries to interject with a shake of the head.
âIâm a terrible person who has done terrible things.â Jason interrupts.
âNot just to you, but others as well. Iâm dangerous. Iâve hurt innocent people. Iâve hurt my family. Iâve almost killed some of themâ and not all of those times were because of the Pit, either!â Tears have formed in the corners of Jasonâs eyes.
âHey, Iâve killed someone too,â Danny objects, âThe Joker counts, and I donât have a Pit.â He tries.
âDanny, you did it on accident, and if anything the Joker definitely deservââ
âWell, then I guess I must be a terrible person tooâ Danny cuts in. âFor liking you despite all of thatâ
âDannyâŠâ
Danny ignores Jason and grabs his hands in his own before looking him back in the eye.
âMaybe youâre not good for me. Maybe Iâm not good for you. Perhaps weâre not good for each other, not good together. Terrible togetherâ Jason opens his mouth to say something but Danny quickly continues, not letting Jason get a word in âBut Iâd still like to give this a try. To give us a try.â
âMaybe itâll end in disaster. Maybe it wonât, but⊠Iâd be willing to take that chance⊠together⊠If youâd still have me?â
âDanny, I interrogated and shot you. Not just with bullets that didnât hurt you, but also with a ray gun that you gave me that did hurt you. If anything, I should be asking you if youâd still have me despite all of that.â Jason says, clearly distressed, a few stray tears now rolling over his cheeks.
âAnd I doubt youâll pull anything like that again, will you?â Danny asks with an eyebrow raise he learnt from the countless amount of times Jazz threw it at him.
âGod noââ
âThen I donât see the problem.â
âDannyââ
âWe can go to couples therapy,â Danny states resolutely.
âDannyââ
âWe can each go to normal therapy as well.â He adds on.
âDannyââ
âJason Todd.â Danny interrupts. Jason stills. âWill you be my boyfriend?â
After a beat of silence, Danny adds on âOn the condition we keep up clear communication between the two of us, and perhaps look into getting some form of therapy, of courseâ
Jason lets out a slightly exasperated huff and wipes the tears away, before giving Danny a soft look.
âYouâre too trusting.â
Danny lets out a hum.
âAnd you donât trust enough. But Iâve heard opposites attract, soâŠâ Danny pauses. âWhat do you say?â
Jason gives him a small smile.
âIf youâd still have me?â
The response is immediate.
âI do.â
Danny places his hand on Jasonâs cheek.
âMay I?â
Jason nods.
They both lean in, and they kiss.
---
Jason feels the Pit stir and resolutely ignores it and whatever feeling it brings with, keeping his eyes closed and gently pulling Danny in closer.
