Imagine Danny as an adult adopting a dog, and when talking to the shelter he says hes fine with big dogs, so the shelter owner brings out a Tibetan Mastiff for him to meet, and Danny positively loves her, but hes a little confused. The shelter said she was a big dog, but Danny thinks shes not very big at all and he wonders if maybe shes still just a puppy and will get bigger. And the poor shelter owner is also confused because this dog is Massive, even in terms of a Tibetan Mastiff shes huge!, what kind of dog is this guy used to dealing with that a full grown Tibetan Mastiff is considered 'not very big'?!
Turns out, learning how to take care of dogs via a ghost that can shape shift into the size of a litteral truck, warps your sense of what a "big" dog is.
Either way Danny adopts her, even if shes smaller than he expected, shes a cupcake and he loves her.
- For reference, female Tibetan Mastiff's can weigh up to 120lbs and can be like 25 inches tall up to their shoulder. In Danny's head, thats 'not very big'.
-Also they're SUPER fluffy and great for the cold and I feel like that makes her perfect for Danny who needs slightly cold environments due to his ice powers.
-Also grooming her fur helps with Danny's anxiety, and he has little bows that he makes puts in her fur.
-He basically pampers her like shes a Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and not a 120lb Gaurdian Dog.
-I can't think of a name for her, but I feel like she needs a soft, baby-girl name like Sugar Plum or Sweet Pea, so that when he mentions her to people, or they go to the vet everyone thinks he has a sweet, tiny, little Pomeranian, but then he actually brings her around and its like BOOM War Dog. [Dash who hasn't been redeemed, making jokes about Danny's 'pansy' little rat dog, only to see Danny the next day at the park playing fetch with a dog that looks like a lion].
I feel like at some point during their friendship, Damian would complement Danny’s dog handling, and Danny would mention how his first dog was the size of a van.
Between that and Danny showing him a photo of a glowing green dog (holding a comically small stuffed toy), Damian semi-correctly assumes Cujo is a Meta.
Damian asks to meet Cujo and Danny panics internally because he really likes Damian and as much as he loves his family, it could be too much with meeting them all at once in Amity Park where there’s a high change of a ghost attack.
Danny, as of this point, is completely unaware of how bat-shit crazy the Wayne family is. if he had immediately agreed and exposed him to the chaos, Damian probably would’ve taken the entire situation in stride.
(Except after hearing Cujo’s backstory, he’s subtly texting Tim, demanding information on Axion Labs so he can personally ruin whoever made that decision.)
AKA "Danny Fenton accidentally hits the Joker with the GAV during a livestream. It quickly becomes a Gotham meme." DCxDP prompt! TW: Brief description of vehicular assault.
Pro tip: Don't drive while on the phone. You could hit somebody.
Okay, so Danny does ghost-hunting livestreams (endorsed by FentonWorks) and tours the most haunted cities in America. Gotham happens to be in the Top 10 Cursed Cities of America, featured by youtubers like Buzzfeed Unsolved and Netflix true crime documentaries. Danny just... capitalizes on that a bit. He needs to make money, okay?? His "ghost hunting" is mostly debunking supposedly haunted places, doing side quests for ghosts with unfinished business, and interviewing interesting people.
Anyways. Gotham City is confusing. The streets make no sense, half of the city is blocked off due to the latest Rogue attacks, and he's pretty sure he saw an ambulance smash through a barricade with zero hesitation followed by several cop cars. Danny's livestream chat is blowing up, begging to see what just happened, and he's fumbling with the dashboard phone holder when several groups of people in clown masks start swarming the street. They're surrounding the truck, actually shooting at him, a couple swinging baseball bats and crowbars. He takes his eyes off the road for one second just to check whether the GAV has its shield deployed.
One second is all it takes. He feels more than hears the thunk of something particularly human-shaped hitting his front bumper. And his stomach drops. Heart-stopping panic grips him and all he can do is grip the steering wheel and drive forward. He can vaguely hear shouts all around the GAV but shock blurs everything together until he's frantically driving away. He somehow ends up in a quiet one-way street that looks half-abandoned. His livestream comments are a mess of what just happened?? and r u okay?? and, notably: WAS THAT THE FUCKING JOKER?!
As Gotham finds out, Daniel J Fenton did, in fact, commit a hit and run on the Joker. The GCPD dismissed a vehicular assault charge as the livestream showed Danny being shot at during the time of the assault; judges would absolutely categorize the case as self-defense. The Joker unfortunately didn't die. Also unfortunately, screenshots of the livestream got leaked and now Danny's absurdly baffled and horrified expression post-hitting the Joker is trending on Gotham News.
A new trend of "Get Ready With Me to Hit The Joker With My Car" circulates, much to Danny's utter horror and mortification. Gothamites adore Danny. There's something hilariously ironic and slightly endearing about some out-of-towner hitting the only person in Gotham that everybody agrees should be dead with their car. Unintentionally, too. Even the Bats begrudgingly can't even be mad about it. The situation for the kid was clearly traumatizing and horrific.
(Although once Danny learns what the Joker's done and why everybody's so viciously gleeful, he feels a little less bad.)
Joker initially vows revenge on Danny for humiliating him and proceeds to put himself in situations where Danny is inevitably going to run him over.
He tries ramming the GAV with a 18 wheeler? Squish goes the clown.
He tries to sneak around the GAV to sneak attack Danny? Well, Danny can’t see him so when he starts the vehicle, squish.
Joker decides to take a break from attacking Danny to do something calming, like threatening to shoot up a gala.
Just as he’s getting to the crux of his evil monologue, there is a distant rumbling and before he can react, bam! The GAV busts through a wall, Kool-Aid Man style and rolls to a stop right on top of Joker.
Everyone is frozen for a moment before attention drifts to Danny.
The Justice League summons the ghost king. Danny was in the middle of an emergency that only he could stop.
He screams and cries and begs them to send him back, tells them it's life or death, tells them they can summon him again in 24 hours just PLEASE send him back NOW everybody was going to die
They argue and deliberate for almost ten minutes before they send him back.
They summon him again the next day. He's different.
They try to talk to him but he just hangs there numbly, floating and staring at nothing.
Nightwing can't take it anymore. Maybe the ghost king is an eldritch god, but to him he just looks like a traumatised child.
Without hesitation, he steps into the circle (Constantine told them all to stay back from it the first time he summoned Phantom but what's the worst that could happen?)
Everybody protests but Constantine keeps them back, tells them more people in the summoning circle will only make things more dangerous.
So, Nightwing does his thing. He hesitantly approaches the loose ball of glowing limbs that is Phantom, talking gently as he goes.
He asks Phantom if he can touch him, and still gets no response. Just dull, dead eyes looking past him.
Cautiously, he lays a hand on the ghost-boy's shoulder. No response.
He pulls him into his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and talking softly.
All at once, the king crumbles. He turns into the one-armed hug, fisting a hand tightly into Nightwing's costume. He buries his face in the hero's shoulder and begins to sob. Terrible, wretched noises of agony.
Nightwing makes soothing noises to the child in his arms as he turns to meet eyes with the rest of the Justice League.
They summoned him in the middle of an emergency and instead of sending him back immediately they kept him there. Kidnapped him.
I need to make a separate post that references this one.
The JL and Constantine gather as Constantine sets up a summoning circle.
He makes several pointed comments at Superman and Flash about not believing what the Spirit is disguising itself as. It’s almost 100% going to be a sympathy play.
They summon a powerful spirit to help them.
Surprising no dcxdp fans, it’s Phantom.
But Phantom starts losing his mind, begging to be sent back, promising John anything in return.
John immediately clocks the kid as either a very young spirit or some random ghost-ish kid he accidentally grabbed instead.
John, despite being the most jaded mfer in the entire JL, knows that for him to promise “anything” the kid has to be both young and so deeply panicked that he forgot a hard-set rule.
John dismisses Phantom, surprising everyone.
Batman gets pissy but John dismisses him, eager to talk to Zantanna instead.
(DCxDP) The obligations of a rogue versus those of a parent (subscription post | masterlist)
Please subscribe to this post in order to get notifications for the Obligations story. I’ll be adding links here each time I update the story, and will be putting them in the replies as well.
If you comment on this post, your comment will be removed and I’ll probably block you. Reblogs are fine.
To bring up Danny’s sour mood, they steal/modify random costume stuff until they get Danny looking like he belongs among the Batfam.
Danny then spends the next few weeks taking out purse thieves, scaring away creeps, etc. and always suggesting but not outright stating that he’s one of Batman’s kids.
Even better, Riddler and Scarecrow feed into the rumors (Riddler thinks it’s hilarious, Scarecrow is just happy that Danny is having fun).
After a week the Batfam are completely scrambling to find this “Grackle” kid and get him off the rooftops before he gets killed.
Potential continuation:
Once he’s established a little, Danny starts letting certain comments “slip” while tying up bad guys or bandaging civilians.
These comments range from, “If this takes any longer, I’m going to miss Robin’s ballet recital.”
To, “I should’ve picked pet-sitting Hood’s hamsters over extra patrol. This is the third purse-snatcher on just this street.”
And this goes on until he casually disappears only to show back up as Scarecrow’s assistant.
Deaged Ghost King Danny is being babysat/mentored by say Frostbite or Pandora for the day while CW is pulled into an important meeting and can't watch over his Ghostling (and he knows his Ghostling will be bored during the meeting and will get into annoying trouble not hahaha trouble)
So yeah Danny is being babysat... until a ghost summoning happens during his nap time (Danny is in a baby harness, his caretaker is huge/strong so despite being a toddler he's smol still)
Needless to say, his caretaker isn't happy they (not Danny) was summoned during their babysitting hours and now look the Ghostling is awake and cranky!
Meanwhile the JL (or the Bats, love the Bats tbh) are upset they couldn't stop said summoning of an important being from another dimension/afterlife.
Frostbite is going his utmost to stay calm and not cut these humans into ribbons for waking up the Great One.
Danny is only just starting to settle, curled up in Frostbite’s furred arm when he perks up and starts floating towards the heroes.
Frostbite tries to gently redirect him but as soon as Danny looks at him with those puppy-dog eyes and makes grabby hands at Captain Marvel, he’s immediately moving closer so Danny could reach his intended target.
The JL are freaking out, the JLD are freaking out x10, and Billy is just silently praying for a quick death.
With a little bit of direction from Frostbite, Captain Marvel manages to hold Danny, his heart melting as the toddler rubs his face into Capt’s shoulder.
Batman steps closer, both to see Danny better and to offer silent support to Billy who has likely never held a baby before. (Of course he knows Marvel’s secret identity, he’s Batman.)
Danny half opens one eye to glare at whoever dares to intrude on his and his new cuddle-buddy’s personal space.
Danny: Fwu Woop
Batman: 😓
Frostbite: 🤨
Capt: What does that mean?
Frostbite: I believe he is attempting to pronounce ‘Fruit Loop’.
Batman: Meaning?
Frostbite: It’s his way of indicating someone is not of sound mind and needs to be avoided.
With all the similarities vague enough to keep the misunderstanding.
A vampire rich guy with a weird basement who has an adoption problem, a double identity to hide, an obssesion and smarter/cunning than people think they are.
Just imagine Barry staring down Bruce during several JL meetings and Bruce, due to his emotional constipation, refused to ask Barry why he's staring him down.
Maybe Barry assumed (depending on the age difference) that either Bruce tried to take Danny away from his parents, OR tried to take Leodan from Danny. Or for shits and giggles, both depending on what Vlad tried to do.
Barry ends up venting to Wally, who immediately goes to Dick to ask him what the fuck is going on.
Dick tries to help instead of automatically assuming Batman is innocent (because be for real that man has an addiction to adoption) but because Danny is not very forthcoming with his information, they don’t have a lot of concrete facts.
So of course, all of his siblings get pulled into the mystery and their panic starts to feed off of each other until it gets to the point where they’re ready to stage an intervention for Bruce.
And to his credit, Bruce listens patently through the whole thing before asking if Danny or Leodan ever directly stated they were talking about him.
Everyone feels kind of stupid as Dick reveals that the info came from Wally who got it from Barry who was never directly told that it was Bruce.
Diana: I think Batman has been replaced
Clark: His heart beat is the same
Diana: Shapeshifts have tricked you before.
Clark: True. How about you use your lasso?
Diana: I can, but I need to take him by surprise. Can you distract him?
Clark: No....but I know someone who can. PHANTOM!
Danny: Yessss~?
Clark: Can you go haunt Batman for about ten minutes while Wonder Woman and I set up a surprise for him?
Danny: But of course!~I have slime that needs a canvas~!
Diana: You sent the thing haunting the Watch Tower after Batman? Isn't it the soul of a child? You honestly think a child will hold off Batman or someone with the skill to impersonate Batman?
Clark: Look, no one is better at being discracting than Phantom, plus every attempt to get him off the Watch Tower has failed. This could prove Batman is Batman, and we can control the local ghost child. Two birds with one stone.
Diana: If it does turn out I am wrong, and that is Batman, let's just hope Batman doesn't trap Phantom with magic or something. We know our coworker can't handle jokes.
Clark: No, we tried that. I even tried getting him to say his name backwards.
Diana: You think he's an imp?
Clark: No, the boy couldn't say words backwards. He started crying and had to write on the whiteboard to flip the letter around. He bit his tongue three times while trying to say Motnahp.
Diana: ....And no one in the Justice League Dark could get rid of him?
Clark: Why do you think they were building conspiracy boards in War Room 201? I think the closest they got was asking Captain Marvel to tell the kid to please stop interrupting meetings.
Diana: I can't believe it. I go on a six-month mission in space, and you all get a ghost pest problem.
Clark: Please stop leaving us for long periods. None of us knows how to function without supervision from a trusted adult.
Diana: You're an adult
Clark: No.
Danny, who makes Jewlery as a secret hobby using Pariah Dark's treasure, because he had no idea what else to do with it, starts dating (DC heroish person of your chooseing). Danny never sells his pieces, he usually just gifts them to his friends/family, so that goes to say, he ends up gifting his partner a lot of his jewlery to this person, but he's embarrassed and worried they might think hes weird or creepy, so he never tells them he's the one that makes it. But, Danny's pieces are really well made, and with the highest quality of material, like one of the necklaces Danny made could sell for $80,000. (Person you chose) gets super suspicious because they can't find anything like on line and any sort of serial number, and the professional jewler they took the pieces to is super impressed, saying they've never seen pieces like that before. (Person you chose) comes to the horrible conclusion that Danny is involved in some sort of jewlery heists, or smuggling operations.
This feels like a Tim type of obsessive research but I’ll leave it neutral for the masses.
The s/o is so frustrated with their futile search that they do the last thing anyone would expect them to.
They communicate with their partner.
S/O: Okay, I’m dying to know. Where are you getting this jewelry?
Danny: …you sure you want to know? Because if we take the mystery out of it, it’s not as fun anymore.
S/O: Oh God, it’s worse than I thought.
Danny: No! No it’s… embarrassing I guess. But fine I’ll tell you.
Danny leaves for his room only to come back a minute later with a handful of cut gems and a half-finished pendant.
Danny: I inherited this stuff a while back and while I’ve been able to send some of it to museums or back to the religious sites they were stolen from, there was a lot that was just unorganized loose gems and precious metals.
Danny: I learned jewelry smithing in high school while i was trying to work through some things and once I had access, I started making pieces with the expensive stuff.
His S/O is furiously trying to reconstruct their theories but Danny keeps bulldozing them with each new word.
S/O: Why not sell some of it? You live in a shitty apartment with a shitty landlord but also have easy access to 5 karat rubies?
Danny: Profiting off of someone else’s suffering is bad for my mental health. Even if that suffering wasn’t caused by me.
Danny: But I love spending hours designing and crafting each piece so they bring out your eyes in every perfect way.
S/O proceeds to silently fall a little bit more in love with Danny.
———
Later
Constantine: What’s the news with your burglar boy?
S/O: I don’t know why you know about that but it’s none of your business.
Constantine: Really?
Constantine: Because little rock you’ve got hanging from your neck has one of the most powerful protection blessings I’ve ever seen. I bet you could bitch-slap Trigon while wearing that and walk away untouched.
S/O:
S/O: …asking for a friend, how would someone inherit something like that?
Constantine: Congradulations mate, you’re dating a demigod.
OK, but has anybody written DC x DP with an ex-Talon Nightwing AU?
Skip past all of the deprogramming stuff and start with the main four boys all comfortably brothers (Jason never died because Dick is such a mother hen).
Nightwing (name-pending) is a very rarely seen hero, who is technically part of the justice league, but does not make public appearances. He strictly shows up when the world is ending or when heroes need information that can only be gathered by an insanely well-trained person.
Though he still at peak physical fitness, he doesn’t want to risk ever falling back into his programming.
He’s also ridiculously protective over his little brothers and by extension any sidekick younger than him.
There is and will always be a part of Dick that none of his family understand or can relate to. There’s a certain trauma that comes with being undead or half dead that no one can relate to. Of course he says he’s fine but there’s a hint of loneliness as he tries and fails to make meaningful connections with Deadman and Grundy.
He runs into Danny after a cliché “bad reveal means he needs to GTFO” storyline.
Something much deeper than he can explain, whispers to Dick that this kid is A, also dead and B, in need of serious help.
Whether or not you want to include the absolutely fucked up mental status that would come from Danny being vivisected depends on the author. But it would also be another point that Danny and Dick can deeply relate with, and Dick is uniquely qualified to help.
But either way, Dick picks up Danny like a stray kitten and brings him back to the Batcave.
Originally Danny was a bit freaked out but could tell Dick was a kindred soul, just not a ghost or something from the Infinite Realms. He’s so physically and emotionally exhausted that he decides to take a chance with this guy.
Later, someone comes down to the Batcave for whatever and acknowledges Dick in the medbay but they’re distracted. It takes them walking by the med bay three times before they notice that the black-haired, blue-eyed teen that Dick was tending to was not Tim.
Danny has to do his introductions to the rest of the family while Dick is still obsessively testing his baseline vitals.
The US Government has a very strong, very unknown meta that they use to threaten the Justice League when they feel the Justice League goes too far.
He is rarely brought out, he's taller than Superman, and every time the League thinks they know what he can do, they're surprised by more.
He's got white hair, green eyes, and can literally possess any leaguer and force them to do what the government said anyways.
They suspect something is off, but any attempts to reason with the meta are rebuffed with a punch.
Impulse sees him once, and while he hovers behind the General threatening Superman, Impulse zeroes in on one thing.
That meta is wearing a collar. It's well disguised, but that's a collar. He'd recognize one anywhere, being as recognizing one meant surviving in the Future.
He glances at Red Robin.
Red Robin nods subtly back.
Impulse launches forward and attaches himself to the big, scary meta's front.
The meta's hands dart out to grab him, and Impulse dodges, tricking the meta into crushing his own collar.
I would read this. At the moment? Only if this was the first chapter and the rest was nice and soft recovery, found family, and bonding over decimating the government facilities while abolishing the laws that allowed it to happen ^^ but I would 100% read that story XD
"Well tell the boy to come on down, we could always use a helping hand around the farm."
And Clark agrees, cuz he's hung out with Danny since he was freed and knows the man just wants a place so far removed from the facility he'd been locked away in and yeah, the farm is perfect for that.
Danny becomes Clark's unofficial adopted brother by osmosis.
Ellie coming out of hiding and just appearing on the farm one day, the Kents are like
"Ah, we have a daughter now. Understood."
Tucker and Sam getting into contact via letter and then phone, before randomly showing up in Gotham next to the skylight with multiple hard drives and flashdrives and paper files to convict certain govenrment bodies enough to spare the ones rich enough to abolish the Anti-Ecto acts so that they'll play along.
Danny just vibing in the middle of a barn, surrounded by cows, just enjoying being alive.
I'm taking so many liberties with Bart's future, I think, given I have only watched 7 episodes of the YJA series. Pulling dystopia, apocalyptic vibes from fanfics and other sources. Also, I won't be exaggerating Superman's response to Conner. Since this would diverge from the show during Season Two, Both Clark and Conner have bonded and settled on being Brothers. They have a solid older/younger sibling dynamic.
The JLA know This Military Weapon Meta as Axion. Because that's what the project was called, and weapons don't need people names. The plan was probably to pass him off as like an advanced android or something Alien Tech-like.
Bart's Batman was Damian, who is currently probably an infant and unknown to Bruce atm. Also sprinkling in a bit of Young Just Us Bart traits for fun. and some core four bc I'm weak as fuck
I’m taking so many liberties on who’s currently active as part of The Team bc wow what a revolving door. The Reach thing hasn’t happened yet and also I’m 300% ignoring Black Manta and that messed up deep cover arc bc fuck Mount Justice being blown up kay thanks
---------
Bart had been ecstatic for the chance to meet Phantom when he was sent back in time to save the future. The spectral hero had fallen in the later years of the war, but before Bart had been created. From the stories he'd learned, Phantom had been not just their heaviest hitter but the primary source of Hope for their side.
Phantom always had a warm smile or hug that was impossible to turn down, despite the callousness that festered among survivors and rebels alike. When the Light took him down, it was a devastating blow.
Bart had spent hours some days at the magically enclosed altar that contained the few midnight blue shards of crystal that had been recovered of his Core. Fractals of frost speckled the sides of the enclosure.
Sometimes, when it was quiet, and he knew he was alone, Bart could almost hear the sorrowful murmurs of something larger than anything he could conceive of. It was in those moments he felt the hum of electricity, the buzzing under his skin itching to strike. To put right an injustice that never should have been.
Yes, sure, his mission was important and critical. Of course, there were more important parts to focus on. No time for hero worship and all that. He understood, obviously, he wasn't going to fuck up their Hail Mary.
Running his way into the Young Justice team wasn't as difficult as he expected it to be, given the insane security measures they often had in the future. Heck, it was concerningly easy to fool Megan during their mental check on his story about being a Time Tourist. Not that he could hold it against her, he had been taught by one of the last living Bats after all.
Meeting the Robin that Bats would talk fondly about one minute and deny it the next was a little surprising. He'd expected the serious, no nonsense, super genius his mentor at the time painted a picture of.
Likewise with Superboy, the younger hero in front of him was much more emotive, easy to rile up. Nightwing mentioned he'd had an even more hair trigger temper a few years ago, but he'd mellowed out.
Bart figured it made sense that his future self would be so closed off. Loosing his older brothers one after the other couldn't have been easy. Probably, it wasn't an experience Bart was really familiar with himself.
Unless you counted, knowing everything he did here would erase everyone who'd raised and trained him. Might erase him.
Months had passed, and Bart found it easier and easier to not think about the changes he was trying to make to the future. It was easier to actually relax and not lean so heavy into the act of scatterbrained and short-sighted.
Fewer nights he would have to run across the planet to avoid the haunting images of death and suffering.
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman had come to Mount Justice to oversee training again when he overheard them complaining about a specific meta. One that the government had started to use against the League to push them around, trying to make them into a military force for the United States. Not caring that they were a privately funded international defense organization.
Since one of their primary HQ's was in the States, they obviously should answer to the President. Or, well, the Secretary of Defense.
"Why not get Phantom to deal with them?" Bart asked, tilting his head to the side. Robin stopped beside him, giving the speedster an expression that he was well aware meant something like 'Bart, what are you even talking about this time for crying out loud.' He didn't pay the look any mind, mildly distracted with the cartoon image of chibi Phantom patting a little shadow man on the shoulder to give a 'join our side pep talk.
All three adult heroes looked at him and Bart was confused to find them giving him the same curious looks.
"Impulse, who is this Phantom?" Batman asked, kneeling down to be on level with him, which was still wild. He hadn't gotten used to the weird mix of emotions he felt, seeing the same habits of his own Batman mirrored in his interactions with the original.
"Uh, wait, you don't know Superman's brother?" He blurted out before he could think the response over. Ah, well, fuck. "I mean, uh, ohwowIshouldgocheckonmydentistintheoven!"
Superman stopped him from bolting by putting a hand on his shoulder. An image of little cartoon Impulse being yoinked to the ground by a ten ton weight flashed through his thoughts.
"You're not talking about Conner, are you." He said in that way that wasn't a question but an observation. Impulse let out a measured breath.
"No." He looked at the trio, aware of Superboy and Robin flanking his left and right. It was comforting knowing they were with him and not boxing him in. Wonder Girl was at home with her mother, or he knew she'd be there too. "When I came from, Phantom was a super cool, badass hero who gave the Light hell. I don't think anyone I heard stories about him from had a bad thing to say, he was just real nice, and they say his smile was so genuine nobody could hate him. I'vebeendyingtoaskifIcouldmeethimsinceIgotherebutIdidn'twanttomakeabigdealaboutitand-"
"I'm afraid we're unfamiliar with this hero, young one." Wonder Woman smiled softly at him in that way she did anytime he said something that hinted at how depressing the future actually was. "Perhaps you could give us some information, and we can try to find him."
Impulse was pretty sure he'd walked into a trap.
---------
Impulse had shared some of the wholesome stories about Phantom comforting civilians and keeping the villain of a battle vague. It was the dramatic reciting of some nerds' poem describing Phantom that landed him, Superboy, Robin, and Wonder Girl, in the lot of some military airfield.
"This is a military base, Superman, not a playground." The secretary of Defense snapped as he walked over to them. Impulse knew Robin was cataloging every aspect of their situation, he could rely on him and focus on the figure hovering off the ground and following behind the Government official.
Phantom was easily six foot, broad like a boxer. His hair bright the way freshly fallen snow reflected the sun. That was where the similarities to the stories ended.
Impulse squinted like someone picking out the answers in a 'spot the difference' book. The wash of power that drifted off of Phantom was cold, with a bite that threatened blackened limbs and deadened nerves. His eyes were hard and empty, even as they glowed with the wrong-bad-no red color against the deep black of his sclera. The black and white military fatigues covered the armored jumpsuit Impulse had heard all about.
It was then he caught it. Phantom's natural glow was bright enough to almost hide it, but dimmed enough he could see the glint of steel.
A Collar. "That is so Mode." Impulse huffed under his breath, emphasizing the word like the curse it was meant as. An early model, Batman had insisted he know all about, teaching him the ways to disable and dismantle each iteration of the damned things.
At least until they started being connected directly to the persons spinal column. Only Phantom had been able to remove those.
It was partially hidden under the collar of the shirt. At the back of the neck would be a seam that could be used to pry it apart with time and the right tool. He turned his head and nodded to Robin, who gave the smallest grin in return. It wouldn't seem like much to others, but Impulse knew now that they shared the same ability for chaos; after all, this was the Robin who'd befriended Klarion, and that was Robin's 'Go Feral' smile.
Impulse could hear Robin directing Superboy and Wonder Girl to acquire and destroy something the Government guy was holding, but his full attention was on Phantom. In a second, he was latched onto the hero's neck, dangling there and staring back at a blank faced Phantom.
It turned out that Phantom was Fast, faster than Impulse had expected somehow. Luckily, so was he, because what happened next took place in the space between seconds. Impulse, darting up and over his shoulders, while Phantom reached for him at the same time.
Cold nipped at his own suit, and Impulse could hear the creak of the material buckling to the freezing temperatures. The direction was correct, but he needed Phantom angry, needed him to try to crush whatever he grabbed, which would hopefully not be him.
Murmuring a soft apology, he took a breath, speaking with the Speed-force the way Banshee had taught him. "It's your fault they're gone. You're never strong enough." Impulse felt his suit shatter in the few places where the cold touched it and the sting of it now against his skin. It had worked, and he twisted his body, both terrified and relieved to watch clawed hands grab for him.
Instead of catching him they came into contact with the collar. The metal it was made of was strong, but not strong enough to withstand the near absolute zero temperatures of deep space. It shattered apart at the same time Impulse's feet touched the ground in what he hysterically thought had to be a sickening parody of the Hero's death in a future that couldn't be allowed.
Phantom sank to the ground on his knees, staring at the frost covered bits of steel in his hands. "It's... over?" If Impulse hadn't darted over to kneel in front of him, he never would have heard it. The red long gone and in its place was the warm, comforting vivid green swirl surrounded by black. The way his pupils gave the impression of a Black Hole was so much more amazing in person compared to the few pictures he'd seen.
"Yeah." Impulse said, swallowing hard and taking his hands. "I'm sorry, What I said, I didn't meanitIdon'tknowwhoyoulostbutit'snotactuallyyourfaultBatman- Oof!" Impulse let out a wheezed breath when he was pulled into a tight hug and...
Oh, that was what everyone meant by warm and comforting.
Bart Allen finally let himself drop everything and curled into the spectral hero’s hold.
-------
The Secretary of Defense might not have been pleased, but Superman was delighted by the cohesion the four young heroes displayed. Robin took after his mentor in many ways, like his ability to distribute orders efficiently. He hadn't even known the Official was holding the gem attached to a chain around his wrist.
Nor had any of them known about the collar that was laying on the ground in pieces.
Letting his team handle the Military heads, several of which looked properly alarmed by their expressions and heartbeats, the Man of Steel kneeled down to gently place a hand on the newly freed meta's shoulder. It was very alarming to find both he and Impulse were crying.
"Axiom?" He asked tentatively, as that was the name they had heard him called several times.
"Phantom." Two voices said at the same time. One soft and followed by a wet, relieved laugh. The other was a sharp snarl that chilled him to the bone. Bizarrely, the snarl came from Impulse, who glowered at him, from where he was bundled against Phantom's chest.
"E-Easy little one. He didn't know." The man said softly against the speedsters' hair. Impulse softened and again hid his face against his shoulder. At least he wasn't sobbing anymore.
“Phantom.” Superman amended with a small smile. He was surprised when Phantom opened his eyes and looked at him. The bright green was soft and warm, alive in a way the lurid red hadn’t been. Suddenly he wondered how none of them had realized this man had been trapped in his own mind. “Can you stand? I want to get you to a safe place you can recover while we deal with the situation.”
For a moment neither moved until Impulse made a soft humming sound followed by a chirp that seemed to surprise him as much as it did Superman. Phantom responded with a pleased rumble and rubbed the teens back. Fluidly, as if gravity were something he heard about in passing, Phantom lifted off the ground and straightened. Impulse wrapped his legs are the mans waist and continued to cling, evidently unwilling to extract himself from being held.
Since Phantom also seemed to prefer holding Impulse, cradling him as though he were the one being rescued instead of the one who had helped carry out the rescue mission, Superman didn’t try to separate them yet.
With the other three in tow, they joined up with the other young justice members at the bioship. Their infiltration mission had gone surprisingly smoothly, without any of the hiccups of other missions.
It was a fact Superman filed away to bring up with Batman after debriefing. He watched the wonder Phantom displayed when introduced to Baby The Bioship and then Miss Martian. Impulse still clung to him like a baby koala and he was hard pressed to attempt separating them. Especially since the teen was more relaxed than any of them had ever seen him and he was nodding off against Phantom’s shoulder.
Reaching Mount Justice, Robin was quick to lead the way to Impulse’s room where Superman observed him tuck the boy in. Stepping back into the hall Phantom held out his hands, surprising him.
“I will show you to the debriefing room where you can tell us your story. We were informed that your previous actions were not your own. As ling as you honestly don’t mean us harm I don’t see a reason to cuff you.”
The suspicion mixed with pure relief left his heart aching. So he smiled and squeezed his shoulder gently. “What year is it?” Phantom asked while following Superman to the room. When Superman answered Phantom frowned. “Almost five years then.” He murmured.
“I’m sorry?” Kal-El froze near the meeting table. He couldn’t have heard that correctly.
“I was in there for almost five years. It was 20XX when my rival sold me out. Probably to try saving his own ass.” He rubbed his chest a moment before scowling and literally stepping out of the military garb. The fabric dropping to the floor not that it was no longer being worn. Phase Shifting was a power they were familiar with him having.
Underneath his previous clothing was a fitted hazmat style suit in black and white. The stylized insignia on his chest the most shocking thing yet.
"Uh, wait, you don't know Superman's brother?"
Kal-El’s own symbol stood for Hope, the House crest of the El family. The symbol displayed on Phantom’s belonged to the family who had founded the Mediator guild of Krypton. A family line that had faded out, married into various families that would eventually become the Six Houses. His mother was descended from them, teaching him some of that lost history through the crystal archive he’d been sent away with.
The crest of Phantom’s chest stood for Peace.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t have helped you sooner.” Kal-El said slowly, carefully keeping his voice steady. Why had he never heard of him?
“I’m sure if you’d known you’d have tried.”
It was true. Of he had known about a Brother sent after him, known he was held captive, he would have torn the world apart.
“Yeah. Come, let’s raid the snacks before Flash gets here and hogs them all.” The smile he was given soothed the ache in his heart. Too soon they would hear of the horrific training and methods of control the government had inflicted on him. They would do tests to verify his identity as well as a genetic test that would tell Kal-El wha he already knew.
——————-
I’m weak for Bart Allen okay. Also the speed force being like the realms for speedsters, giving them similar ways to communicate.
Also yes, Banshee is Elle. Elle has currently retreated into her Core that is tucked up safely beside Danny’s own. Plasmius did not survive the facility.
And I know you're trying to imply that Danny is decended from kryptonians here, and I love that, but also, my brain is now thinking about Sam being decended from kryptonians, because in the show, Sam designed the symbol that Danny wears on his chest...
Love me a character that goes "Don't just internalize your trauma. Externalize it. Make your trauma everyone else's problem. Murder some guys about it maybe. And whatever you do, never ever stop being interpersonally unpleasant to be around."
At this point he’s started to get attention from people outside Amity thinking it’s a roleplay twitter with a really elaborate ghost-teenager storyline. He never corrects them.
He sometimes just tweets directly but either it disturbs people how calm he is about his own death, the potential to get ripped apart “molecule by molecule”, near-gods wanting him dead x2…or he’s just posting death puns.
AKA "Officer Dick Grayson finds out he has a 13-year old son. It's too bad Dick only finds out because the coroner's office calls him." DPxDC Prompt idea! (TW: Mentions of child death. Danny is only half-dead, don't worry.)
John Doe: Approximately 13 years of age, black hair, blue eyes, 5'1, relation to Richard John Grayson. Cause of death unknown.
Dick never expected to be a father, much less... like this. The boy is so small, close to Damian's physique, but seemingly so much more fragile where he's laid out on the metal gurney. The medical examiner graciously allowed Dick a few moments alone in the morgue with his boy. And now that Dick's looking, he can see the resemblance. Curly black hair, thick eyebrows, that curved nose. Dick can see bits of his mother, his father, himself, in this kid. There's a little divot in his cheek that Dick is sure would've been a dimple if the kid smiled wide enough, just like his own.
The kid, John - and God, that's his Dad's name, too - is wearing the same street clothes he was brought in with. A well-worn grey hoodie, baggy jeans, and sneakers. He didn't even have anything with him - no phone, wallet, keys, nothing to identify him other than the DNA results which matched him to Dick.
Gently, Dick brushes the tangle of curls away from John's face.
"Spoczywaj w pokoju." His voice is tight with grief. Being a police officer in Bludhaven means he's seen his share of violence, being Nightwing even more so, but the death of a kid is hard to swallow. But this isn't just any kid. This is his kid. His kid, who Dick should've been there for. First steps, first words, first everything. (It's like Jason all over again. Dick wasn't good enough. He didn't know, didn't save him, couldn't-)
"Um. This is awkward."
Dick jerks back, accidentally slamming his knee against the leg of the gurney while his foot skids against the floor, a loud squeaking sound overlapping with Dick's own muffled cursing. Suddenly, Dick's on the floor looking up at the definitely-not-dead-kid sitting up on the gurney. He's sheepishly thumbing at the strand of hair Dick had pushed away from his face earlier. There's a pinkish flush tinging his cheeks and ears. So different, so alive, compared to the rigor mortis-blue color he was moments ago.
"What... How? You-," He's trying to piece together what the hell is happening while the kid - his kid - swings his legs over the gurney. He winces and stretches out his legs as if... stiff. (He was more than just stiff, the kid was dead. The medical examiner said he had no pulse, no brain activity, was likely dead for hours before being found. So how..?)
"Yeah, sorry. Sometimes, I-um. Sleep really hard? Uh. I'm Danny. Can I leave... or...?"
"Officer Grayson." Dick's muscle memory, his Robin training, takes over and the everything (grief, self-hatred, rage, devastation) compartmentalizes in his brain. "You were documented as deceased on site. We'll need to get you checked out at the ED and fill out some paperwork. We need to contact your... your parents."
Do you know? Dick desperately wants to say, do you know I'm your parent? Your dad? Another, angrier part of him wants to know just who Jo-Danny's guardians are so he can rip into them for letting their kid die. Because now that the emotions are tucked away, repressed deep down, Dick can reason Danny is probably a meta of some kind. Maybe with some sort of super-healing ability.
Except Danny looks more panicked by this, hands coming up as if to placate Dick. And then he's pointing behind Dick with a dramatic gasp. Dick whips around, hand automatically going to his shoulder where his escrima sticks usually are, only to see... nothing. He turns back around... only to see nothing. Danny's gone. His son-.
(Danny edges around the cop, turning intangible as he slips through the door of the morgue. He flies haphazardly until he's a couple blocks from the hospital and finds his way to the bus station. Ancients. Who knew falling asleep on the bus would cause such a nightmare? Sure, he looks a little dead when he's asleep and maybe he stops breathing, but people in Amity were nice enough not to call EMS on him every time he takes a nap. Now he has to find a bus from Bludhaven to back Gotham. Distantly, Danny sees a flicker of a light in the sky, kind of shaped like a demented bat... On second thought, maybe he'll get an Uber.)
He doesn’t exactly mention it to his family when he comes back- he was more than a little busy trying to figure out what he missed, where his children were, what the fuck had even happened. Besides, he’d put it in the report that he’d encountered some sort of primordial time being- even if he was still investigating that on his down time.
So he thinks he can be forgiven for forgetting to mention anything until Clark drops a cup while staring at him with a pale expression and shakily asks why there’s a second, slower heartbeat in his chest. He just also wishes it wasn’t in the middle of a League meeting.
I missed the original tags the first time around, so we’re pretending it’s core incubation instead of human pregnancy.
Since Superman said "chest" instead of abdomen or stomach, I assumed this was a core incubation thing.
I'm going to instead assume you can hear an approximation of a heart beat coming from a halfa's core. So no baby bump and very little danger to Danny even if Bruce is hurt.
And how dead is Batman to have enough ecto-energy to incubate a core?
In spite of all the weird interactions with his kids because he's "carrying precious cargo" he does acquiesce patrol to Dick and Damian for the time being. He saw how good they did while he was gone and trusts them.
On another note: he’s dealing with “pregnancy hormones” aka Danny is heightening his emotions randomly so he gets weepy over his original sidekick taking on his own Robin.
All of the heroes and his family are kinda worried how the child is going to be "born" (Flash convinced himself that the kid is a chestburster) but instead of some big dramatic scene, Bruce starts having a coughing fit while walking down the hallway and coughs up a large marble made of icy energy. Before he can even process wtf just happened, Danny reforms as a young child right in his arms.
Everyone still fawns over the newest baby bat even if they're a little stressed by his Lazarus-green eyes and child-sized powers. Nap time is so hard when the kid can float just out of reach. (The task is given to Tim because it is very easy to falls asleep while reassuring a small child.)
What really solidifies The Waynes as his new family is the first time he turns human, everyone is convinced that he's copying Bruce's hair and eye color because he imprinted on Bruce while incubating.
The kids individually decide that if Danny's "other father" shows up again, Dick and Stephanie will create a distraction, Cass will quietly kill him, Jason and Damien will handle the body, and Tim will cover their tracks.
None of them bother to ask and Bruce forgets to mention it but the deal includes raising Danny too.
