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Master Post

DPXDC Fics:

Prepared For Anything: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Ambassador Danny: Part 1

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Prepared For Anything Pt. 8

MasterPost, Part One, Part Seven

“M’lady.” Danny ignored the gawking faces—even the Duckling had broken his stoic facade—and bowed, sweeping his arm out in an inviting, and elegant flourish to Orphan. She accepted his proffered hand with her own: delicate, yet he knew was rough and calloused under the glove, and he took great satisfaction in the beet-redness of her face as he brought her knuckles to his lips and gently kissed it with all the reverence and respect she deserved. “Your chariot awaits.”

Point to Danny, he thought smugly to himself.

“That horse has wings.” One of them breathed. Bruisy, he thinks. Er. Nightwing, right?

Unconcerned, Danny glanced back at the carriage idling on the roof behind him and the pure-white feathers puffed up to enjoy the breeze ruffling through them.

“. . .”

“. . .Animatronics.”

All of them turned incredulous, some downright outraged, faces on him. 

How uncouth.

“We can see the muscles controlling them!”

“. . .It’s a medical condition.” Danny leaned in and whispered, “Angel is self-conscious about it.”

“THAT IS VERY OBVIOUSLY A PEGASUS!” Purple screeched and pointed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Danny said calmly, before turning a gentlemanly smile on Orphan. “Shall we depart?”

One of them made a throaty, screaming noise of frustration.

With a short nod—he could feel her wonder coming off of her in waves—Danny stepped aside to help her up. Not that she needed it, but Danny was a gentleman, and in gentlemanly fashion, he followed her up, grabbed the blanket he’d brought for the occasion, and laid it over her lap to stave off the chill. Like a gentleman.

“Hey—no, wait a minute!” Bruisy said, stalking closer with purpose.

Danny settled beside his courted and took the reins in his gentleman’s gloves, giving them a sharp whap. 

“Cease this! I demand explanation, Fenton!”

Angel began forward, wheels starting to lift off the ground. At the sound of several screams and yells, Danny turned to look down at them.

He smirked.

The carriage was a bit heavy for Angel to fly with in a mortal realm with gravity, but her impressive strength was definitely enough to soar for a moment, to let wind rush through his hair, and to hop between buildings.

The chariot landed with a jolt and a clatter, ecto-plasmic-sturdy wheels hitting hard enough to make the occupants bounce half a foot in the air. Danny exhaled harshly as falling back into the cushioned bench reverberated up through his bones.

Nothing would ever sound as beautiful or as rewarding as the surprised, and delighted laugh Orphan let out, and Danny found himself grinning wildly.

“Oh, heck, no!”

Whipping his head around, Danny spotted Jason shooting his grappling gun to follow. The other bats weren’t far behind.

Looking front again, Danny whipped the sturdy leather and it cracked through the night like a whip. “Hyah!” 

They were off like a shot.

Pebbles and dirt ground beneath the fast pace, hooves galloped hard against concrete, wind rushed in Danny’s face, and he leaned forward. His heart pounded for no more than the glee he took in messing with the bats, and seeing how Orphan’s eyes crinkled from a smile hidden beneath her mask.

Ka-shink.

The yellow one, Sunshine, appeared on the roof beside them. His legs were not nearly fast enough to maintain the speed of a pegas—er—malformed horse, but instead of lagging, he disappeared into shadows. And reappeared ahead of them, right within their path.

Danny could detour. But they had a reservation to make. 

“My Lady.” Danny turned with a brilliant smile, holding out the reins to her. “If you would be so kind.”

Danny blushed at Orphan’s near hysterical giggle as she took them. She was clearly enjoying herself.

He cleared his throat and faced forward.

Sunshine had very obviously expected them to veer away, by the gobsmacked expression he made when Danny stood and threw a pillow at his head. Whap!

“Ow! What the—!”

“Angel, jump!” She did, leaping over the screaming Sunshine who fell back into his shadows at the last second. 

“Are you insane!?” The vigilante screeched when he popped back into existence on another roof, quickly falling behind. 

“Go to bed! It’s a school night!”

In the fading distance, he heard Signal gasp loudly. Danny loved it when he guessed right.

Ka-shink. Ka-shink. Ka-shink.

Settling back into his seat, Danny peered over the edge, and caught the end line of a grappling gun swinging hard and fast between tall buildings. Coming up to soar over the crest and down again with another shot, was a blur of red and brown and black.

“Tt. If you would mind the reins for but a moment longer, M’lady.” With her nod of eager assent, Danny clambered to the top of the small overhang that would shade the riders from the sun, or. . . .bat-signal in this case, and widened his stance to account for the turbulent ride that bounced between buildings like a gazelle prancing through a meadow.

He came from the wrong side.

The carriage was fancy, embossed with rich reds and golds, but it was not large. As the carriage shuddered under the feet thudding aboard, the small coverage of the overhang was not enough to give ample space to two. Red Hood landed, forcing himself in the space Danny allowed him, if only so they both didn’t tumble off of it, and leaving them chest to chest, er. . .chest to neck.

Danny panicked.

Scandalized, he gasped. “Red Hood! I took you for a man of honour!”

Jason stilled, hands freezing mid-air. “. . .What?”

Danny covered his chest with his arms, as if protecting himself. “This is most inappropriate! To corner and preposition another’s intended—

“You mean propositi—wait, what!?”

“Have you no shame! And in such a public spac—Gasp!—remove your hands!”

Instinctually, Jason’s hands jerked up and back as if they’d been anywhere near Danny. “What are you talking about?!”

“Alas, I am too irresistible!” Danny leaned into it, literally, laid his cheek on Jason’s chest—gaining a strangled noise out of the man—hugged him with one arm, and draped the back of the other over his head. 

Actually, this was kinda nice. Jason was like a big, warm, kevlar-covered teddy bear.

“’Tis but a smelly rose, something, something, buy a sweet name!”

“Okay, I’m out!” 

Support suddenly gone, Danny staggered to catch himself, and saw a glimpse of red disappearing over the side of a building.

Danny righted himself and cleared his throat, rolling with the bumps. “Right. Okay.” He muttered before climbing back down. Orphan was laughing at him.

The bats seemed to have given up. That, or they’d finally lost them. They were experienced vigilantes, but even in peak form they couldn’t outrun a (ahem) horse. 

Danny took over driving once more and the two occupants sat in companionable silence, enjoying the view and the night air. When they neared their destination, Danny directed Angel to descend to the streets below, before pulling up to the fanciest restaurant he’d been able to find in Gotham. A very large sum of money, which was a pittance to the totality of his vault’s contents, easily found them a reservation and not on a waiting list.

Danny disembarked first, straightened out the suit Sam had picked out for him, adjusted the plain black domino mask he’d adorned for the purpose of this evening, and outstretched his hand with a flourish and bowed head. “M’lady.” 

“Kind Sir.” Orphan said softly and took it, stepping down delicately and presenting the perfect image of a high-born lady that could kill you with one look if she so chose.

Danny didn’t doubt she could.

He hadn’t considered before they’d arrived that people would notice the horse-drawn carriage. Civilians who were brave enough to linger this late, which was a surprising number of people considering the crime rates, stopped and gawked no matter the age. 

Some had their phones out.

Oops.

“Took you long enough.”

Danny and Orphan turned to see Red Robin materializing from an alley.

”Oh—what—Uhh. . .how?”

“Fanny Denton. Really? At least pick something more original. And I took my bike. Duh. Now. Mind telling me how—”

“You can take Angel if you lead the others on a wild goose chase.” Danny spurt quickly in one breath.

The change was immediate. Tim perked. An evil, little smile grew on the vigilante’s mouth. “Deal.” He was already stalking towards the animal, making to greet her before ordering her around. Probably a good idea.

“Pet her flank; she likes that.” Danny called as he took Orphan’s hand in the crook of his arm and walked to the entrance.

Like a gentleman.

He opened the door for her, like the gentlemanly gentleman he was, and entered the most expensive-looking food eating place he had ever been in. 

The receptionist behind the podium looked up, and her eyes turned starry-eyed when they caught on Orphan. As they should.

“W-welcome! Do you have a reservation?” She asked brightly.

“Two for Fanny Denton?”

The barest of glances was spent for her book laid open on her podium before she was moving away. “Yes, right this way!”

If the restaurant was fancy, the people were even more so. Bejewelled women in expensive silks and sparkling gems accompanied by various versions of Vlad in gold watches, cufflinks, and rich ties all did double takes at the pair as they passed by.

Of course, being the gentleman that Danny was, tipped his top-hat to the nearest person on the left.

And on the right. And another person on the left as they went by.

The hostess lead them to the back where a heavy, wooden door was opened to a private room, set up with a small, square table draped in a black tablecloth. A single candle entrapped in a gold-gilded, glass cage was set between the two chairs on either side. No windows: the perfect place for Orphan to replace her mouth covering for a domino for when the food came.

Entering first, Danny pulled out Orphan’s chair for her, and went ‘round to sit in his own.

The hostess went to alert a server of their arrival.

. . . . . . . .

The conversation had been going splendidly. Perfectly. Amazingly. Everything new Danny learned about Orphan made him hunger for more, crave for every morsel she would give him. She danced. She was a ballerina, and Danny had decided then that ballerinas were the epitome of existence.

It was hard work to maintain the kind of strength and agility needed to be a dancer requiring such dedication.

She spoke of her recitals and told him she’d like him to attend one in the future, which he’d readily agreed to. Was honoured that she would like him there, that she would be comfortable sharing her identity at some point.

They’d delved a little into Danny’s interests.

And it had been going splendidly until: “I can take you sometime.”

It had just come out. Without thought or consequence. Orphan had expressed interest in his interests, asked questions about the things he liked to talk about, and he’d lost focus.

Normally, there would be nothing unusual about this line.

If they hadn’t been speaking about space.

Danny blinked, rebooting, as he realized what he’d said.

Orphan’s’ glass paused half-way to her mouth. Her head tilted in the most adorable way.

“I mean. . . .”

CRASH!

BANG! 

“AHHHH!”

Talk about being saved by the scream.

Both leapt out of their seats and lunged silently for the door, listened for a half second to the intruders yelling at patrons to hand over their valuables, and eased it open. Danny was thankful for the well-oiled hinges.

Creeping down the hall, they paused before the corner as to not be seen, and crouched low to the ground. 

Four men slithered through the tables and occupants with backpacks, waving guns facilitating quick divestment of necklaces and rings and gold and whatever shiny thing the rich hadn’t been fortunate enough to hide in time. A few wept quietly, shaking in fear and others in anger. The scowling face of one woman was red with blood pressure.

Glancing back, Danny met Orphan’s gaze freed from the domino, and she nodded.

Except, they were interrupted.

Clang! Red Birdy dropped from somewhere above.

Bam! Bang! Bang! “Ah!” Red Hood kicked in the front door, guns firing, with the Duckling coming in behind with knives already airborne.

Fwap! Purple and Bruisy blew in through the flip-flappy door that led to the kitchen.

Well. . .dagnabit.

Reaching to the side of his hip, Danny gripped a knob, and yanked a gentleman’s walking stick from his pant leg. He and Orphan jumped into the fray, disarming weapons and knocking the men out, the crack of the walking stick loud. It was laughable, really, how quickly it went down. 

Danny used a small roll of duct tape to bind his guy’s wrists together while Orphan got his ankles, and he sighed, irritated, as he stood. Orphan came up next to him, hands on her cocked hips. They felt similarly, then. Was it strange that he loved that?

“Really?” Danny crossed his arms.

Bruisy cleared his throat as he stood, having finished zip-tying another guy’s wrists. “What?” 

Oh. He was trying to play casual? Cute.

“You were spying on us.” Danny narrowed his eyes at them. It was the only explanation for their swift interference. “And you!” He pointed at Red Birdy. “We had a deal!”

Red Birdy shrugged, unrepentant as he let a body fall limp to the ground. “They caught up.”

“Still a traitor.” Purple muttered mutinously and crossed her arms.

“As if you wouldn’t have done the same thing!” Red Birdy pointed an accusing finger.

“Please. I would have stolen her and screwed Danny over!”

‘Wow. What high aspirations.’ Danny thought dryly to himself.

“I demand to personally assess the creature.”

“You mean you want a turn to ride her.” Jason drawled as he hefted one of the bags of goods onto an empty chair, which he leaned on.

The Duckling’s face went adorably red. “I do not!” He shrilled.

Red Birdy shrugged and made an “I don’t know” noise. “Somewhere on a roof, probably.”

“Anybody hurt?” Bruisy called to the crowds.

Oh. Right. Civilians.

“Wait.” A weepy-eyed woman warbled, and before Danny turned to look at the middle-aged woman with light, brown hair pulled into an up-do, he would have guessed she was still crying. Her face leaked mascara and she sniffled into a tissue and dabbed at her eyes, while her other hand worked a glittering earring back into her ear. “You were spying on Orphan on her date?” That sure was a quick turn-around from distressed to nosy neighbour.

“Uhh.” The bats collectively froze.

“. . .Undercover mission.” The Duckling cleared his throat and sheathed his katana. “Obviously.”

“Sounds toxic.” Said the bad guy at Danny’s feet.

“Thank you!” The halfa said.

“You don’t get a vote!” Bruisy exclaimed at the would-be thief.

“Wait, so was it a mission or not?” A random man with a goatee in the back asked.

“Not.” Danny said when everyone else minus Orphan said “yes.”

The vigilantes and Danny glared at each other.

“Does Batman know about this?” Another said.

Sirens sounded in the distance.

“Oh! Welp, that’s our cue!” Purple made to flee with the others.

Danny rolled his eyes and took Orphan’s hand to follow. It would not be very gentlemanly to stay and make her suffer through interrogations. The bats had ruined any chance of finishing their time here, anyway.

At least they’d had their food.

As Danny and Orphan exited, pulling up like the perfect valet, was Angel, carriage in tow. Without stopping, the couple ran and jumped in.

“Hey!”

“No!”

“Hyah!”

The race was on once again. The rumble of an engine being turned over echoed from a nearby alley, and Danny flicked the reins, urging Angel to speed up. Red Birdy trailed just behind on wheels. The others had learned from him, having called for their own.

The city had gone to sleep, shops turned down, the majority of restaurants having long closed, and the the streets were bereft of crazy traffic. The lamps pouring ominous spotlights along the roads were dull, one broken for every four that flickered. 

But it wasn’t quiet.

Gun shots cracked echoes through the streets, sirens wailed near and far like banshees premonitioning deaths, and there was yelling and screaming up ahead mixed with the rain of bullets that disclosed the location to the vigilantes.

Orphan tapped against the com in her ear. She looked to him and they shared a nod.

Danny didn’t mind taking a detour.

‘Gang fight.’

Danny tsked, like a disappointed parent. 

They turned and came upon a veritable war zone. On both sides, half-collapsed buildings were aflame, cars shielded men and women from sprays of bullets embedding into the metal, and dead bodies speckled the road here and there.

Not expecting to so quickly be amidst the chaos, Danny inhaled sharply, grabbed a couple cast iron frying pans from behind him, handed one to Orphan, and deflected the bullets pinging off of it as they shot down the centre of it all. Danny swung the pan back and forth like a fly swatter, ensuring Orphan didn’t get hit behind him. He protected her back and she protected his.

Danny could sigh in bliss. This was what true love was.

“Jump?” He asked.

“Jump.” Orphan confirmed.

Out they jumped.

The couple stayed near each other as Angel shot into the sky, slamming the flats of their pans into heads and knees and backs. . . well, Danny did. Orphan was more versatile, using her limbs or pan, whichever suited her in the moment. He had to consciously make himself focus so he didn’t end up watching her movements.

It was like the white rapids of a river: dangerous, fluid, entrancing, and graceful in it’s torrents.

The other bats weaved among the area, taking gang members down swiftly and efficiently. 

“Is that a frying pan?” Jason called over the fighting.

“What, didn’t have a bazooka under that jacket?! Bruisy added, coming across oddly mocking for some reason.

Danny dodged a punch. “What? No? That doesn’t sound safe at all!”

Purple barked an incredulous laugh.

“That is not a suitable weapon.” 

Oh, bat-dad was here! He didn’t look to be in a good mood.

A guy coming up behind Orphan raised his gun. Danny scoffed. “Have you not seen tangled!? It’s very multifaceted!” The frying pan whined through the air as Danny hit the guy over the head with a satisfying thunk.

Like a gentleman.

It took five minutes tops to subdue the gang members with people brought down like flies every few seconds, vigilantes flitting like birds on the wind between them all and leaving bodies in their wakes. It was cool.

Panting, the bats came together after it was all over, fireman on scene, and cops conveniently absent. Red Birdy propped his hands on his hips, giving Danny a look behind the mask, though he didn’t know for the world why. Bat-dad joined, gaze not straying from Danny.

“Hey.” Danny gave a quick wave, setting his hands on his own hips. How as he supposed to greet him? Did Bat-dad like him? Danny wanted him to like him.

Counting the vigilantes, he found one to be missing.

“Where’s Duck—er. Robin?”

“Here.”

The rush of wind and near silent flapping preceded the boy’s voice, and everyone turned to see the carriage Robin occupied descending to the streets. As Angel’s hooves thundered onto the pavement, Bat-dad’s head slowly turned from the animal to stare at Danny. If the halfa could see his eyes, he’d bet he wasn’t blinking.

Danny showed teeth. Bat-dad was impressed with his daughter’s transportation. Right? Everyone else had seemed to be.

Without looking away, Bat-dad grunted and Duckling responded like he’d been given a full, comprehensible sentence. “Fenton arrived in Crime Alley at 11:03 with a pegasus—

“Horse.“

“. . .a pegasus! and carriage.”

“Geez.” Danny grumped.  

“At 11:05, Orphan and Fenton boarded and absconded across the rooftops. We pursued. Red Robin extrapolated their destination by assumption of activity and probable venues and correlated patterns, and met them at Ce restaurant est une couverture at 11:10. However—“ Duckling narrowed vicious eyes at Red Birdy who grinned. “Red Robin was weak and succumbed to enemy solicitation and mislead us with said carriage until 11:40, at which we apprehended Red Robin with bribes of caffeine—“

Danny gasped loudly in offence. That was all it took?!

“—and monitored Ce restaurant est une couverture for unscrupulous activity. At 12:30, armed, petty criminals burglarized the patrons and we promptly quelled the situation. At 12:35, Orphan and Fenton intended to once more flee, but were distracted by the latest gang fight. End of report.”

“You have a pegasus.” Bat-dad said and Danny resisted the urge to find another water bottle for the guy’s throat. It hadn't been well-received last time.

“Oh. No, no. Angel isn’t mine. She was doing me a favour.” Angel snorted indignantly.

The vigilantes all looked at him with varying degrees of disbelief and confusion.

“She is sentient?” Duckling perked.

“Yeah.”

“Would she be amenable to taking residence with me?”

“Uhh, Da—Robin, I don’t think—“

“Oof.” Danny’s cheeks puffed with air and released. “I dunno. Her rates are steep for that sorta thing.”

Purple seemed to break from the stupor first. “Rates??”

“Well, yeah. Do you know how coveted p—er—malformed horses are with the livvvvveeeer people, people with livers?”

Awesome. Saved it.

Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy, but what else was new?

“How else is she supposed to make bank?”

“. . .But she’s an animal?!”

“And?”

“What currency?” Duckling asked, and aww, he seemed so sincere.

“Eh. Whatever.” Danny shrugged. “If you don’t have what she wants when you call for her taxiing services, then she scrams. Live-in rates are even higher.”

“Taxiing services. . .” Jason repeated faintly.

Like the weight of a building rested on his shoulders, Batman’s head drooped with a massive sigh, nose-bridge pinched between his fingers. He was probably old. Why was he out here and not in bed?

This seemed like a good time to leave before Danny was asked anything else, and he looked upwards to the other end of the street as if something had caught his attention. When everyone followed his gaze, he phased into the ground.

That would never get old.

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I just want you to know that I really love 'Prepared for Anything'

Dead Silent is my fav Dp×Dc ship, and you write it so well!

Thank you for blessing the internet with your creation :)

Oh my gosh, thank you for your kind words! It has lit up my day. I’m glad you enjoy the fic! :)

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Prepared For Anything Pt. 7

Part One, Part Six, Part Eight, MasterPost

Jason’s emotions were difficult to discern. He wouldn’t even look up from the white box, a quirked, dubious eyebrow lilting judgmentally. His hands planted on his hips gave Danny flashbacks to when his parents lec—

Nope; don’t think about that.

“Open it.” Danny encouraged. He couldn’t take this anymore. The last few days had been of few, tense words, awkward exchanges on Danny’s part, and quiet upset on Jason’s. Which was understandable. But Danny wanted them to be “good” again. It was painful, like a throbbing, open wound digging and twisting on his heart like a physical manifestation of the anxiety and stress.

Jason didn’t know that Danny knew his secret identity, but the incident had still left an off-centredness in their relationship no matter how the former had tried not to let there be.

Jason was his best friend. His first friend since he’d arrived here. His neighbour.

His neighbour’s jaw contorted a bit as he sucked on a tooth, and reached out.

He opened the box.

Danny would be the last person ever to say he could bake after the incident with the flour demons nesting inside the fresh pan of cake and the slimballs of icing that almost chomped off his fingers.

So, instead, he’d made one out of ice cream. He couldn’t go wrong with store bought ice cream.

He’d tried his best, really he had. The instructions were pretty clear, he’d done. . .er, tried to do layers. The Oreo cookie crumbs had managed to mostly stay in the middle layer, and the vanilla ice cream had sorta kinda begun to melt whilst he was making it and mixed with the vanilla in a way it wasn’t supposed to. But it was all inside a pan and was. . .sorta the right shape.

The picture he’d looked at had pretty white icing, and rimmed the top edge in graceful, grooved edges.

Danny’s looked like it was done by a toddler who was trying to make a cylindrical block toy fit the wrong shaped hole.

He bit his lip, hoping it was good enough. This one was his fifth try and he was pretty sure it was about as good as it was going to get.
 Jason blinked at it, stone faced, reading the words Danny wrote. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “What is that supposed to say?”

Danny coughed. Geez. He didn’t think it had been that illegible.

“I’m sorry.” He said weakly, a small, shaky smile fighting to his lips before falling.

Gosh, he really was so sorry. He couldn’t say for what exactly on the cake, but he could do better; he wanted to. His friendship with Jason meant a lot to him and he didn’t want to mess up like that again.

The sound Jason made could have been a laugh or a scoff, amused, or making fun of him. . .or both, Danny couldn’t tell.

“That’s supposed to be English?” Okay. Definitely both, Danny decided, as Jason proceeded to laugh at him. But, he was laughing, he didn’t look that anxiety-inducing mix of upset and stressed anymore, so Danny would take it.

——————-

The blanket was nicely laid out, the picnic basket was full, there were extra blankets in case Orphan got cold, and there were a couple bottles of sparkling juice. Of course, the hard cement roof wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable as grass and earth, and it was overcast and dark out instead of clear sunny skies in the daytime, but it would have to do. Danny wasn’t a magician. 

. . .

Well, not a very advanced one. He only knew some basics of ghost magic. 

Pleased with the set up, Danny moved onto the next step; raising his hands and shooting off thin streams of ectoplasm to sing high into the air, bursting into green and blue fireworks. That was sure to get Orphan’s attention. At least someone’s attention to let her know about it, right?

He was so excited. Was this a date? They’d only confirmed they’d be hanging out, not that it would be a date. Should he ask? No. That was stupid. What if Orphan didn’t see him that way? She’d called him a friend, and that was a good sign, but he shouldn’t push it. 

It was the only reason he’d rejected the temptation to bring candles.

After a few minutes, Danny debated sending up more fireworks when he heard the mechanical whir of a grappling gun scrape onto a corner of the building, and Orphan appeared on the roof, gracefully and effortlessly pulling herself up.

Butterflies fluttered in Danny’s stomach at the sight of her, shooting ridiculously giddy nerves up into his throat, and he had to clear it with a soft cough.

Danny grinned wide and gave a small wave. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

Gosh. What did he do now? He was suddenly very nervous. Danny looked around and gestured awkwardly at the cushions spread around for her to sit on. 

“Uh. . .I thought, er, you might be hungry, with the, ya know, swinging all around Gotham thing. Or, oh, of you don’t have a way to eat without covering your face, we could, just talk, or. . .um. . .go somewhere else?”

In response, Orphan reached into a pouch of her utility belt and pressed a mask to her upper face, and removed the cloth covering the lower half.

Danny took it in, the angles of her jaw, the shape of her lips and nose. If he was being honest with himself, he would have been able to pick her out of a crowd just by the aura of her soul. And if not that, then her eyes and hair and structure of her body shape, and he had a feeling Orphan knew that too. 

Giving the appearance she was at least trying to protect her identity was a formality at this point.

She took the hand he held out to her. Her hand was small, but even through her gloves and gentle hold, he felt the strength in it. It was a battle not to focus on it too much as she followed to settle on the ground next to him.

He may be struggling with the whole. . .trying to date her by not dating her but not trying to trick her into dating him cause that would be a jerk move(she wouldn’t fall for it anyway, she was too clever for that) but hoping to bring her around to the idea of dating, but if there was anything his parents had succeeded in teaching him was how to be a gentleman!

They broke hands once they were sat.

Danny bit his lip and went to open the basket.

He had come very prepared. Other than Mac and cheese and Minute Rice, he couldn’t cook to save his life, and so he’d gone to the Lunch Lady for help. Still, despite the variety he’d brought, he didn’t know Orphan’s preferences, or if she had allergies or anything, and he anxiously withdrew the first few dishes.

He almost went to Jason to get the scoop, and then realized Jason didn’t know he knew he was Red Hood, and therefore, Orphan’s brother.

. . .

Oh no. . .

Was Jason still upset with him? He hoped Jason didn’t mind that Danny was pursuing Orphan(not that Orphan would ever let anyone influence who she dated so heavily), but he wouldn’t want this to put a strain on their relationship. Orphan was his favourite, but if he couldn’t be good to her family as well as her, then he may as well burn down this potential bridge right now.

“So, um. . .how’s patrol been so far?” Danny placed down a bowl of proper Mac and Cheese—not the “swill” Lunch Lady had blown up in his face—a hot pan of fresh lasagna, and Lunch Lady’s famous garlic bread, all still covered in tinfoil to keep the heat in.

In his peripherals, he saw Orphan nod. Danny nearly jumped out of his skin when she reached out to gently touch where his shoulder and chest met in a purposeful way, the butterflies suddenly turning into flesh-eating moths with the intensity they were trying to escape the burst of warmth.

He was nodding before he could even form the words in his brain, mouth moving uselessly before it did what it was supposed to. “Ye—uh—ga—gogood—good too. . .” He clamped his mouth shut, quickly turning the burn in his face studiously towards the food and drinks he continued pull out.

He was gonna die. That was so embarrassing.

But then, Orphan giggled softly, and he thought dying of embarrassment might be fine if it could elicit that sound.

What happened next, happened so fast, that he almost didn’t register it.

He turned to face her, gaze flicking to her hand which lay comfortably in her lap, but he knew he hadn’t imagined it.

“Everything okay?”

She nodded.

Danny licked his lips, fumbling for a topic to address as he took out bottled waters and packaged foods, packed in case she was dubious about eating things from unknown sources. “So, anyway. . .” Danny didn’t know what to do with his hands or what to focus on, so he just kept unpacking more and more food. Orphan didn’t bring attention to it. “Any-anything new going on?”

Gah! Why was he so bad at this! Why was talking to her so much easier when it took place in crime scenes!

He supposed they hadn’t really had a proper conversation yet. . .

Okay, he just had to chill. Talk to her like he would talk to Sam and Tucker and Jaz—

No, NOT Jazz! Definitely not Jazz!

Keeping his sights on both the basket and Orphan, so that he wasn’t directly looking at either, he saw her move to sign. But then she aborted, whipping a hand up to her ear and down again to sign, so fast, he thought he saw after-images.

Danny paused to actually look at her, trying to focus on what she was signing rather than that marvellous act of impressive speed and agility. Did that count as agility? He was counting it towards her superior agility.

‘Actually—‘ Orphan huffed, interrupting herself to tap a series of clicks against the com in her ear. 

Not a second later, the Duckling appeared on the roof, soon followed by Red Robin.

Danny sagged while Orphan rolled her eyes.

He had been wondering when they’d show themselves. NightWing and Spoiler seemed to have decided to remain in hiding.

“Hey, guys.” Danny sighed not so subtly. This was his first opportunity to get some sorta alone time with Orphan and they were crashing it.

He couldn’t say he didn’t understand it though.

Red Robin crossed his arms, his stance relaxed but very obviously judgemental, like a high school girl assessing his worth.

“Tt.” The Duckling also crossed his arms, appearing much more condemning, in a “I’m better than you in every aspect and will execute you if I want to” way. So. The usual. “A roof is a poor choice for a romantic venue.”

Danny’s face turned beet red. “This isn’t. . .it’s not meant to be—we’re just—“

“Is your ultimate goal not to woo Orphan?” The Duckling narrowed his eyes at him. Red Robin snorted out a laugh.

“Wha—well—I mean—“

“You can do better than this, surely.”

“Stop.” Orphan said.

Robin’s lips pursed, face scrunching adorably.

‘Need something?’ Orphan signed, a clear invitation for them to leave. That was a good sign, right?

“Yeah. Robin has something to say to Danny, don’t you?’

If it was possible, the Duckling’s face screwed up even further in displeasure. “Tt.”

“Oh? What is it?” 

Robin didn’t look down at the ground, that would be much too unbecoming of his stature, but he did avert his gaze, the slightest shift in the weight between his feet giving away his discomfort. “You’re. . .interference last week didn’t result in catastrophe.”

Danny fought to keep the smile down. He had a feeling that was the closest he was going to get to a “thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He said anyway, garnering a glare in return, though there wasn’t much heat to it.

“Speaking of interference.” 

Danny leaned back on his hands and threw his head to the sky with a sigh as NightWing and Spoiler finally decided to join them.

“What was that rock you had?” 

WOW. What a smooth segue.

“And how did you find us?” Red Robin sauntered closer and dropped to the ground across from him. Orphan did not look amused.

Danny hummed, slightly annoyed they were using his time with Orphan to corner him. They must have known escaping just wouldn’t be worth sacrificing this. “I won a guided trip through the Himalayas and got separated from my group. I heard something going on in this temple thing and followed it.” He shrugged. 

Thankfully, they didn’t question his story further, either from resignation or (the more unlikely reason) from belief. “And the rock? You just so happened to have a rock that could magically break mind-control?”

“Yep.” Danny popped the “p”. It wasn’t even a lie. Ever since he came across it in the treasury, he’d kept it on his person to avoid having his mind taken over again, in the unlikely event that his mental resistance and training was not enough. “Never leave home without it.”

“Where’d you get it from?” Spoiler looked at him suspiciously.

“I inherited it.”

“You did not just inherit it.” Red Robin rejected like it was the most outlandish thing he’d ever heard.

Danny glanced over the lot of them, taking in their more-than-usual suspicion and wariness. They didn’t appear hostile, however. 

He sat up.

This was because they hadn’t been able to find records of him, wasn’t it?

Welp. He’d known to expect this.

“It’s the truth, I don’t know what to tell ya.”

“Are you magic?” RR asked casually.

“Um.” He rose an incredulous eyebrow, as if he didn’t know how to respond to such an obviously ridiculous question.

“An inter-dimensional being?” RR leaned forward slightly, tone lowering and becoming more intense in a quiet way, like if he pretended to be calm enough, Danny wouldn’t notice his overwhelming need for knowledge.

He’d already failed. It was very noticeable.

“What? Where did you that idea from?”

“What’s your real name?”

“Danny Fenton.”

“It can’t be! Unless you’re an alien or something!”

“Stop it.”

Danny and everyone else turned to Orphan’s unexpectedly exasperated tone. RR, the Duckling, NightWing, and Spoiler all shared looks.

‘Trust him. Leave or be nice.’

Danny’s jaw went slack at the ultimatum, indescribable emotions burning in his chest. If he wasn’t already in love, this would have been IT.

He wouldn’t even have been able to deny how his expression slowly turned smitten. He could feel it in every muscle of his face.

Red Robin went quiet like a kindergartener silenced by his teacher, looking put out and displeased. He picked sullenly at a seam on his armoured pants.

The Duckling clicked his tongue and picked his way to a cushion where he primly sat down. Danny met his unwavering glare with a self-satisfied smile. It faltered a bit when Spoiler and NightWing followed the Duckling’s example.

Orphan sighed, not happy about their continued presence, and sent him an apologetic look.

Oh boy. Did he ever sympathize.

Danny huffed a small laugh, flapping an unworried hand. “It’s ok. I get it. After my last girlfriend tried to kill me, my sister and friends were paranoid about anyone new I met.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hold on, your what tried to do what?!”

Danny sighed. “Yeah. Apparently I’m not “a good judge of character”.” Danny used finger quotations and scoffed. Letting them fall, he leaned back on them once more. “But my sister dated an undead biker who used her body to stuff his real girlfriend into, so I don’t think she has room to judge. Oh yeah—“ Danny ignored the choking sounds and straightened to dig into the basket. He retrieved a large, reusable bag.

“You can’t just—!”

“Wait, you have a sis—“

“I pi—er—ordered some desserts from other countries that I thought we could try after we eat.” Danny placed the bag near Orphan and began emptying it. She took a curious peek inside and withdrew a box of Tres Leches Cake. Danny was excited to try that one.

“How’d that even!—ohh, that looks good, can I have some?” Spoiler, easily distracted, leaned forward.

NightWing did too. “I haven’t had Papanasi in forever.” He murmured, eyeing another box.

Even the Duckling’s and Red Robin’s ever suspicious sights had been lured to the various desserts.

Danny glanced at Orphan. “Up to you if you wanna share.”

Orphan turned to look at her siblings like she was sizing up her mortal enemies. The vigilantes stared back.

She pulled all of the desserts closer to her in a possessive motion and began storing them back in the bag, never taking her eyes off of them. “Mine.” She uttered with no room for argument.

Danny grinned and laughed at all of the pouting.

“It’s okay. You guys can have some of the other food.”

Boom!

An explosion rocked through Gotham, debris blowing out from a building further down the street. Heads turned to it, listening for screaming, noting the damage and number of fleeing civilians, for anyone injured.

No one moved to get up and turned to look back at Orphan, Danny, and the spread of delicious smelling food.

Danny glanced between them all and the smoke now drifting up and melding with the sky. “Umm. . .shouldn’t you guys get that?”

“Batman’s got it.” They said it as one, and chills went down Danny’s spine.

“. . .Okay?” He carefully got some plates and cutlery out and placed them in the middle of everything for each person to take what they wanted.

“Did you make all that?” Spoiler gestured to the homemade food and took a large bite out of the sandwich she’d had to wrestle out of the grocery packaging.

Danny barked out a laugh. “No way. When I tried to make lasagna, it gained sentience and screamed at me when I tried to cut into it.”

NightWing looked up from his Mac and cheese with a confused face. The Duckling rose a dubious eyebrow. Red Robin snorted as if he thought it was funny, but didn’t really understand.

How cute. They thought he was joking.

“Plus, ya know, I forgot to add the hamburger. And the cheese. And to take it out of the oven.”

Spoiler nearly choked on her sandwich when she laughed.

“How do you forget the cheese!?” NightWing exclaimed, affronted.

“I did grate it the night before, but then I put it in the fridge, and forgot about it.”

“You’re pathetic.” The Duckling said coolly and stabbed at the salad he’d gathered for himself. “How will you provide for Orphan in your wretched state?”

Danny spluttered, startled into dropping the fork he’d just picked up. 

‘It’s okay. I’ll do the cooking.’ Orphan signed.

Danny gaped at her like a fish, feeling the burn return to his face with a vengeance.

Spoiler dropped her food, wheezing through her laughter as she doubled over, bracing a forearm on the ground. The others weren’t far behind her.

Danny leaned on his knees and covered his face with his hands. He let an eye peek out when he felt fingers drifting briefly through his hair. Orphan was touching his hair.

Oh, Ancients, he really was going to die again.

He re-hid his eye.

Boom!

Everyone stopped laughing, straightening to the sound of an even larger explosion. A voice synchronized through several coms came to life, telling the vigilantes to get their butts in gear.

NightWing sighed, sadly putting down his half-eaten Mac and Cheese. “We gotta go. Catch ya next time.” And he swung off.

“We’re not done talking.” Red Robin pointed at him before he dove off the building, followed by a cackling Spoiler. The Duckling gave him a stink eye as he got up to leave.

Orphan rose as well, and Danny held in a disappointed sigh. Instead, he grabbed a few bottled waters, packaged granola bars, stuck them in the desserts bag, stood up with her, and held it out to her.

“Here, take this.”

For once, Danny could actually see her smile. Gentle, yet strong, like a tell towards her personality, subtle and quiet, but no less immovable for it. Her gentleness could move mountains.

Danny must have heartburn or something, drilling right through his soul. It was intense, and he wobbled from side to side on his feet for a second, slightly dazed at the sight.

She took the bag and turned to leave, but paused with a foot on the edge. She came back.

Before he could blink or process what she’d done, her soft lips pressed a quick peck to his cheek, withdrawing just enough for her gaze to meet his.

Danny gasped, barely holding himself from flinching back at the sudden sensation, and reached up to touch his face with wide eyes.

“Next time, we date.” She said. No, commanded. And then she was suddenly gone on the wind, grappling gun shooting out.

Danny could only watch her go, stunned. The world was still. The world was upside-down. The sky was falling, or maybe it was falling upwards. The universe had aligned in his favour for once.

No, he wasn’t going to die from embarrassment, he was going to die from pure overload.

Orphan had kissed him.

She wanted a date.

Maybe Danny had already died and gone to heaven.

-----------

@okami-love, @whataspectaclebear, @thomasdimensor, @observerblock23, @stargazer-luna, @lazerswordweilder, @random-sparks-98, @spam-extemporal, @theo-the-raven, @felicityroth, @jklpopcorn, @nontitlenym, @wanderwithwings, @8000fangirl, @vexishereandveryqueer

[noodlesstarghost]

The space boy finally fulfills his dream among the star ☄️ (I don't even know what I tried to do here, I did it in class, the time recorded in procreate was 3 and a half hours, although I felt it was more, anyway, I love Danny just being a little astronaut )

[dannypocalipse]

WOOWOW I AM SO OBSESSED THIS IS INCREDIBLY GREAT AND I AM IN OWE WHAAAT—

PLEASE HAPPY DANNY MERCY I AM IN LOVEE

[o0sleepingdead0o]

Prepared For Anything Pt. 6

Part One, MasterPost

Jason’s been gone for a week and Danny was starting to get a little worried. He hadn’t replied to his calls or texted him back to let him know the memes he’d sent were hilarious or asked if Danny even knew what the meme he’d sent meant(half the time he didn’t. He’d just missed the joy of memes, okay? He didn’t understand this world’s pop culture very well yet). A lot of them involved the bats.

So, Danny did what every good friend did; hacked into the city’s camera’s and tracked him riding down the streets and watching him get eaten by a wall . . .

A secret lair entrance. Cool. That must be where the bats hid out and did all their techy stuff and kept all their detective cork boards and yarn. . .

Underneath an alley? Did that mean their secret hide out was in the sewers? Danny was so going to make a meme involving them and the teenage mutant ninja turtles after he’d rescued Jason. 

Except. . .the cameras didn’t show Jason coming back out of the cave for the whole seven days. Was he still down there? Should he check? If he was still there, then he was probably fine and dealing with a really heavy problem with the others.

Danny’s face screwed up in thought, swirling the mouse on his laptop in circles.

He could just try and portal to him if he latched onto his ecto-signature, but that was really invasive. It was only supposed to be done by Fraid members in extreme circumstances. Skulker was the worst about breaking that rule, having tracked Danny down so often like that in high school.

. . .

Well. . .he and Jason weren’t Fraid, but it was an extreme circumstance. Surely, he’d forgive him.

With that moral conundrum out of the way, Danny straightened and closed his eyes, reaching into his core to help pick out the signature. It easily sensed the fading remains left behind in Jason’s apartment next door, and his eyes snapped open. Jason wasn’t in Gotham at all. Danny got out of his desk chair and hesitated to rip a portal open.

If he portal-ed right to Jason, he would see that he could make portals and be suspicious. Maybe he could aim just to the left of Jason’s signature, to help preserve the secret of his abilities.

Heh. Danny was so good at this. What a genius he was.

Danny began ripping and floating into the Infinite Realms, carefully avoiding pinging exactly onto the signature.

When he floated invisibly through the next portal, wind and snow whipped into his face.

“Aa—pfffth.” Danny threw his head to the side, squeezing his eyes shut at the harsh winds, while trying unsuccessfully to blow the hair out of his eyes. Eventually, he remembered to go intangible and used his hands to un-blind himself.

He was in the mountains.

A blizzard blanketed the silhouettes of nearby peaks, casting the scenery in nothing but harsh whites. It was the only reason Danny noticed the carved entrance on the side of a mountain, making it show by the unnatural, manmade ridges and peeks of dark stone where dry snow couldn’t catch hold underneath the edges. 

Making sure Danny remembered to close the portal first, he flew down, noticing people in ninja outfits(?) guarding the way. It was no obstacle for him, of course, and flew in easily under the cover of literally not being able to be seen.

There was shouting within the place and the ringing of swords. It had become a familiar sound since taking blade training from Fright Knight and Pandora. He was okay, he could defend himself with a sword in a pinch, but it was honestly more practical for Danny to just use his powers or fists in most situations.

Jason was here. His voice echoed off the stone walls fitted with torches, like memories that couldn’t quite be grasped, warbling in an eerie way. Ninjas—freakin’ ninjas. Danny was definitely going to make that meme, cause ninjas!—were stationed here and there, but most he saw were rushing to the sounds of fighting growing louder the further Danny traversed.

Was Jason a ninja? What was he doing here? Was he fighting other ninjas?

The tunnel/hallway ended at a pair of large, open double doors, opening into what looked like an arena.

There was Jason! Oh. And Red Robin and Purple and Batman. The Angry Duckling was off to the side in a balcony, viewing box thing with a mean looking lady, cuffed to the floor and unconscious.

Hmm. . .well, that didn’t look good.

Carefully, Danny slipped behind one of the large doors where no one could see him and came into the visible spectrum. He stuck his head out, finding Jason’s bright red helmet again in the crowd of fighting. He straightened as he fully came out and dipped into the fray.

“Whoop. ‘Scuse me.” Danny leaned out of the way of a blade, stepping further in and ducking behind someone with nunchucks. “Pardon, just behind ya there.” The ninja was taken by surprise and spun around so fast, he almost lost balance as he swung out his weapon. Danny caught it and pulled him back to balance. “There ya go.” Danny let go and continued on. “Oop. Careful there. ‘Scuse me. Oh, don’t wanna drop that.” Danny caught the thing someone had been about to let hit the ground and threw it clear across the arena. A smoke bomb went off. “Oh, sorry!” Danny quickly stepped off someone’s foot. “I think you’re bleeding there, Bud.” Danny told someone he passed and stepped over someone lying unconscious on the ground. “Hey, I found someone’s finger!” Danny ducked real quick, grabbed it, and held it above his head. “Anyone missing a finger?! This should be put on ice immediately!” He called out. He dropped his arm when no one seemed to hear or respond to him over the noise.

Ah, well.

He gave it a coating of permafrost just to be nice and dropped it. He was cool like that (Heh) but he wasn’t going to carry it around.

“Excuzee.” Danny said and finally found himself next to Red Hood. “Hey! There ya are, what’s—“

“DANNY?! WHAT THE EVER-LIVING—“ Red Hood deflected a blade and kicked someone in the gut. “HOW?! WHAT?!” Blocked someone and grabbed their wrist and kicked out at another guy. “WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! HOW DO YOU ALWAYS—WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHAT THE HECK?!”

“Woah! What’s with the hostility?!” Danny side-stepped a guy and cocked his head to the side to avoid a blade before falling down into a squat to avoid a horizontal swipe of a sword, and shooting to standing again. 

“Did you freakin’ stalk us to the Himalaya’s?!”

“Oh, is that where we are—what?! No! I—” Danny cut himself off, realizing he had no idea how to explain how he was here.

“DANNY?! What the frick???!!!!!” Red Robin said in passing as he duelled a swordsman with his bo staff.

“Oh, hey!” Danny waved cheerily, ducking a blow he wasn’t looking at. He spoke to Jason again. “What’s with the ninjas, by the way?”

“Are you kidding me?! Oomph! Get out of here, it’s dangerous!”

“Whaaat.” Danny drawled and moved away from another threat with a smile, to show how silly that statement was. “I’m good. It’s like we’re dancing.”

He heard Jason muttering vehemently under his helmet, mostly about how stupid Danny was. Danny laughed.

“Right?” Danny asked the next guy that tried to kill him, leaning back and leaning in, stepping to the side, and keeping eye contact the whole while. He did a little spin away, kicked a guy away from Hood, and spun back to the first guy, to bend backwards nearly in half. 

“Die!”

“See? He’s having fun too.”

Jason sighed and shot a ninja. “Why are you like this?”

“Do you want me to answer that or are you being rhetorical?”

“Uggghh!”

“So, yeah, anyway, Robin doesn’t look so good?” He tried to prompt Jason into explaining the situation.

“They used a magical artifact to brainwash him and he conked out.”

“That’s so rude!”

“Yeah, I don’t think his mom cares.”

“That’s his mom?!” Danny kicked the guy he’d been dancing with in the crotch, elbowed him in the head when he bowed over, and finished him off with his fists clamped together coming down on his head. “So, what’s the plan?”

Hood glanced at him and gave a heavy, resigned sigh. “I can’t believe this.” He muttered his breath. “You have experience fighting.” A question, statement, and confirmation all at once.

“A little. So?”

“Right now, just worry about—“

The Duckling stirred and sat up. The lady beside him un-cuffed his hands from the floor and he stood.

“My son.” The lady put a hand on his shoulder almost lovingly. Then turned to the ninjas and vigilantes. “Subdue them.”

Disgust and anger grew thick in Danny’s stomach as the Duckling nodded curtly and jumped off the balcony railing. To Danny’s amazement, the Duckling made almost no noise whatsoever as he landed.

Oh. Okay. No. Just no. This was so messed up.

Absently, Danny clocked the ninja he’d been dancing with over the head, stole his weapon, and began carving a bloody path towards where he’d last seen the Duckling. When he found him, he was fighting with Spoiler. She was having a difficult time fending him off without actually fighting him.

Ducking and weaving between ninjas and their weapons, he pulled up just behind Robin. He exhaled sharply as he dodged the blade the smallest vigilante swung at his head.

“Woah, cool it!”

“Danny?!” Spoiler exclaimed.

“Hey, wassup?” Danny drew a dark purple stone half the size of his palm from his pocket and pressed it to the Duckling’s forehead. The vigilante stilled as if in a daze, the tip of his sword lowering to the floor.

“What did you do?!”

“Stop him!” The lady shouted from the balcony.

The ninja’s numbers had decreased dramatically since the fighting began and they all rushed at him. But they were too late. Robin went limp and Spoiler caught him before he could hit the ground.

“Robin’s down, let’s get out of here!” Steph said into her coms, doing her best to protect Robin while fighting off the attackers. 

“Here!” Danny took the Duckling from her and slung him over his shoulder. They ran for the exit, joined by the other vigilantes. They kept Danny and the Duckling in the centre, warding off attackers as they ran as a unit. 

Just as they reached the exit to the arena, Danny looked back at the lady on the balcony jumping after them. “You suck!”

What a strange experience. 

As they ran through the halls, soft, controlled panting surrounded Danny, quiet, trained footsteps barely making an echo. The ninjas attacking and following that were still conscious to do so, were the same. Danny had never had such a quiet fight, or escape attempt with such a large number of people before in his life.

They broke out into open air and frigid, crunching snow. Danny let the others guide him. Batman pressed something on his gauntlet glove things, and out of thin air, a large hangar door lowered to reveal the inside of some sort of aircraft.

Oh, crud.

Now, Danny did like the vigilantes, but he wasn’t too keen on being trapped mid-air in an enclosed space with them. They always had questions he didn’t want to answer, like “How did you get here?” and “Who are you?” and “Where did that come from?” and “How are you still alive?” (So stupid), and he knew they wouldn’t let up even if he said “no”. He’d been lucky before this, having means to escape situations, but if he got on that air-craft, he wasn’t sure how things would go. If they were angry with him for being evasive, or suspicious, there’d be no escape without revealing himself, and things would get. . .

. . .

. . .Really. Annoying.

He refused to be stuck in that situation again. Last time, he was saved by the others’ utter exhaustion and poor medical states of almost dying in a desert. He had a feeling he wouldn’t get a repeat.

Danny let out a disappointed sigh. He would’ve loved to have some time with Orphan. 

But, alas.

So. With a little misleading(fake) stumbling, and a lot of midwestern manners of “ladies first” (circumventing Batman’s attempts to be the last by accidentally pushing falling into him), he tossed the Duckling to Batman just as the ramp was about to close, and jumped out the small crack that was left.

They called after him, the ramp had begun to reopen despite the ninjas clamouring underneath it’s hovering, but he dove into the snow and didn’t reemerge.

><><><><

There was either frozen lasagna he could cook up, or leftover half-eaten busy day beef casserole from a week and a half ago that had been forgotten on the counter, and Danny decided he could bare to wait a little while longer to eat. Food poisoning wasn’t really a concern for him anymore, but taste definitely was, and he was pretty sure he would not like the taste of whatever fuzzy thing was growing underneath the half-opened cellophane.

Jason must have left his place in a hurry.

Pulling a wholly disgusted noise from his throat, Danny tugged the casserole off of the surface with as little touching as possible, and dumped the whole thing, tin pan and all, into the garbage can.

Jason would thank him later.

Danny was being so generous to check up on his food—er—his apartment, making sure everything was as it should be in his absence.

Double checking everything in the fridge was okay, Danny dug out the peach cobbler safely tucked in the back, peeled off the lid, and poked at it with a spoon to see how it’s contents had fared. Smelled it. Took a small bite. Took another larger bite just to be sure. And maybe just one more to be doubly safe. A fourth to be super sure—

The door creaked open and Danny spun around, spoon in his mouth.

Oh geez, Jason looked awful.

In the doorway, his friend had paused just over the threshold, looking to be using the doorknob to keep himself steady. It had been a day since he’d last seen him as Red Hood, and his face was a bit haggard, hair mussed with sweat, muscles sagged with exhaustion, and brows furrowed in what Danny could only call distress. 

. . .distress??

Jason stared at the halfa uncomprehendingly.

Danny felt like he was missing something as a heavy weight settled in his gut, an unexpected tension filling the air, as if let in by the draft of the open door. There was a stillness, a gap between them that he felt he should understand, why Jason looked this close to having a breakdown, why it somehow felt like it was Danny’s fault—

. . .

. . .

Oh. . .

Realization dawned.

Danny had Messed Up.

The cold metal had turned warm in his mouth, and he slowly pulled it out, carefully setting it and the pan on the counter. “Uh. . .hi. . .” He greeted weakly, mind scrambling to figure how to resolve the situation, heart palpitating under the stress.

Fighting was one thing, okay? Accidentally distressing people he cared about and not knowing how to fix it was a whole other.

Jason slowly scanned him up and down. 

“. . .Are you. . .ok. . .” Danny choked out.

Okay. . .look. Danny has a completely valid reason for not contacting Jason immediately after he jumped off the aircraft, or when he got home. 

. . .

. . .

. . . He was an idiot. That was his reason.

How was he supposed to know that anyone would care?! His Fraid had long stopped worrying about when he’d disappear, and everyone else, he could safely say, would just watch as he was run over by a bus. (To be fair, Danny had survived that before and had walked away like nothing had happened).

Jason’s face was scarily still. Without a word, without taking his eyes off of Danny, he moved like a zombie to step fully inside and close the door behind him.

“Hey. . .so. . .” Danny didn’t know how to make this better. What was this reaction?! Jason looked a second away from either killing or hugging him! “You were gone a while. . .”

Jason dropped his duffle bag and came towards him. 

Danny had the inexplicable urge to move away from him, but stood his ground as Jason approached like he was seeing a ghost. . .

No! Bad Danny! Not a time for puns!

When he was close enough, Jason reached up and nudged Danny’s shoulder as if testing he was real.

Danny pursed his lips, making the executive decision to let Jason take control of the situation. It was, in no way, because Danny had no clue as to how to proceed.

“H. . .hey. . .” Danny’s voice wavered.

Never-mind. Guess he was going to try anyway.

“S-so. . .I uh. . .” Danny frantically made a small portal behind his back and slipped the solid links of metal around his wrist. “Was wondering where you’d gone, so I could. . .um. . .” Danny awkwardly showed the watch on his wrist. “Show you this. . .thing. . .that I. . .uh. . .found.”

Jason didn’t even glance at it.

Just great! This was going sooo well!! 

“It can. . .teleport. . .people. And maybe other things, I haven’t. . .tested it yet. . .” He trailed off lamely.

Jason remained silent. Staring. Still. So, so still. A stupid clock ticked from somewhere in the living room, doing nothing for Danny’s nerves.

Then, Jason’s expression shifted to something else equally indiscernible, jaw feathering, and chest expanding with a deep breath. He bowed his face into a hand and exhaled harshly.

And then. . .he walked away. . .went into his room. . .and closed the door.

. . .

. . .

Danny threw himself across the counter and internally died. He was going to have to figure out how to make this up to him.

He still made sure the peach cobbler didn’t go to waste.

------------------

Tag List:

@okami-love, @whataspectaclebear, @thomasdimensor, @observerblock23, @stargazer-luna, @lazerswordweilder, @random-sparks-98, @spam-extemporal, @theo-the-raven, @felicityroth, @jklpopcorn, @nontitlenym, @wanderwithwings, @8000fangirl, @vexishereandveryqueer

[stalagmittens]

Fan Art for Broken Bonds <333 I love this fic sm!!

[o0sleepingdead0o]

This is beautiful, oh my gosh!!! I am making inhuman noises. Thank you for sharing this, I love it so much!! G;akwDJNV;akdfbjladfb

You can SEE the consternation in Damian’s face. Beautiful, beautiful job, my gosh, I want to keep this forever.

And did I mention the attention to DETAILS!!? You got them all right, even down to the fingers!!! I thought it had to be said.

[friendlynaborhooddisapointment]

i have been going obsessed with the Danny Phantom and DC crossovers specificity the long-lost sibling fics AND THIS FIC HOLY SHIT HAS BEEN EATING MY BRAIN APART U DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS SHIT HAS BEEN DRIVING ME INSANE ITS SO FUCKING GOOD.

also i tried to color but then i gave up cuz i dont like coloring. so u get the line art too.

here it is. go read it. unless u don't fuck with the tags then dont cuz it is pretty heavy stuff.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[o0sleepingdead0o]

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!ASK;DFJVw'la;kjbfew/lJSBV!!

I am screaming!! This is so beautiful and perfect, what the heck?! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see them like this, ya know? Thank you so much for sharing this, I adore it!!! I'm ridiculously giddy.

[o0sleepingdead0o]

I can no longer boop but i am spam booping you in spirit

XD Thank you!

[o0sleepingdead0o]

MAN I LOVE THE Prepared For Anything SERIES SM

i love i love i love i love i love i love. i would love to comment specific things about what i love etc but tbh? rn im jjust screaming inside

Aww, my gosh, eee, <3<3 XD I'm happy you're enjoying it so much!

[o0sleepingdead0o]

Prepared for Anything Pt. 5

Part 4, Part 6, MasterPost

Danny debated with himself if he was a bad person or not for letting this go on. He watched one of the crooks, Sack-head, (probably the boss of all these other goons) squeeze a few drops of a misting, green liquid into a beaker and swirl it together like the most dubious cocktail Danny had ever seen.

But. . .Danny was the only captive in this warehouse (with so many lab safety violations even his parents would make some changes) and could he really be considered a captive if he could escape anytime? It was so lucky for that raccoon guy(his eye bags were almost as bad as Danny’s when he’d been fighting ghosts nearly two days straight) that Danny had annoyed Sack-head enough that he’d kidnapped Danny instead of raccoon guy.

. . .Danny was bored. . .

. . .

And maybe hoping Orphan would show.

Anywho, he did not like the look of that syringe being dipped into what could only be poison(right? It was poison, right? It was glowing ominously, like ectoplasm met magical sewer water, it had to be poison). What was he planning on doing with that? Should Danny have destroyed this place as soon as he got here? But he’d been bored and curious and slightly anticipating Orphan’s arrival, that he’d left it alone. 

Hmmm. Sack-head was coming towards him, laughing like the insane cartoon villains he and Jazz would watch as kids. The really annoying ones.

Danny didn’t do needles.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to act, and he sat back comfortably in the chair he was chained to as shards of glass sprinkled onto the concrete floor below. Vigilantes descended from the ceiling and windows with such coordinated timing, that they just had to be teammates with earpieces or something.

Danny’s face lit up with a smile as he caught sight of Orphan nailing a guy in the head. He might’ve swooned just a little. Sack-head, ever a cliche villain if Danny’s ever seen one, called “Get them!”

Danny settled in to watch.

The warehouse exploded in noises of gunfire and fighting. With Danny at one end of the warehouse, he only saw the vigilantes a little with goons blocking much of the view, but he could tell the bats were holding their own. Their skills far outclassed the goons, but the goons had numbers and so the fighting went on.

It was Orphan he spotted in the rafters a couple minutes later, sneaking closer to him, and he couldn’t help the grin he flashed up at her. She was wearing a mask and he couldn’t tell if she returned it, though he’d like to think that she did. One of her soft smiles that hid a cunning and a perceptive mind, shifting eyes, taking in every detail of body language, knowing things he was saying without him having to say it—

He needed to get himself together.

She was moving even faster now, reaching for something in her belt—

There were pointy things grazing his neck.

Danny will be honest. . . .he’d known Sack-head was coming for him, probably to give the bats an ultimatum like he was doing now, threatening to. . .poke(?) Danny with his gross claws if they didn’t back off. . .but he’d. . .he was having too much fun playing damsel in distress, okay?! This was only the second time he’s seen Orphan in weeks, and as soon as this situation was cleared up, she’d be gone again, and he, admittedly, wanted to drag this out as long as he could. Even if only by a couple of seconds. It was bad. He knew this. . .but what else was he supposed to do when the source of his affections was right there, lurking in the rafters like some beautiful goddess of darkness and death? She was perfect and he didn’t know until he’d met her that someone could feel so right. 

He could take just a couple more minutes, he’d make sure no one got hurt(severely), it was fine.

Currently, the vigilantes were frozen. Besides Orphan, there was a big guy all in black like a goth vampire, Bruisy, Spoiler, Jason(AKA Red Hood), Red Robin, and the little one with the sword. He was so adorable. Like a vicious, blood-thirsty, snooty, little duckling with anger issues.

“Hey, guys.” Danny said to the frozen vigilantes, smiling good-naturedly to let them know he was okay. “Been a minute.” He gave a little wave, startling Sack-head.

“Wh—What happened to your chains?! Nevermind, not important right now.” He mumbled the second part to himself. “Surrender!” He ordered the vigilantes who ground their teeth and reluctantly dropped their weapons. Sack-head had his goons restrain them and soon they were bound on the floor.

Danny internally winced. Okay. Maybe he should stop this now. . .

. . .

But no one had noticed Orphan in the rafters. And he would really prefer not to out himself as not completely normal. He’s done an amazing job, he thinks, of helping out where he can without showing his powers. The vigilantes don’t suspect a thing. He’s just a regular dude who just happens to come across them sometimes with useful objects to help them out. Yes, totally normal.

“You! Watch the kid!”

One of the goons came and stood nearby, finger on the trigger of a gun, and barrel pointed at the floor. The claws slid away from Danny’s skin and Sack-head stalked to the workbench where he’d been playing with chemistry.

“Uh. . .Boss?” One of the goons said nervously. “Shouldn’t we. . .ya know. . .leave? They could have back-up coming.”

“In a minute.” Sack-head snapped. “The experiment will be ruined and I’ll have to start from scratch if it’s disturbed!”

Danny glanced to the bats who were either watching him, Sack-head, the goons, or assessing how to get out of the situation. Danny caught glances of Orphan moving above, but didn’t chance looking up in case the goons caught on.

“Whatchya buildin?” Danny asked cheerily, much to the aggressive Teletubbies’ continued astonishment. 

Sack-head grumbled. “Shut u—“ Sack-head paused when he whipped his head to him. “Where did you get that?”

Danny threw another popped kernel in his mouth and jutted his thumb at the goon standing guard over him. Said goon looked bewildered, casting his gaze around and pointing to himself questioningly. Danny nodded. 

“What ar—don’t feed him! He isn’t a guest!?”

“Gave me this water too.” Danny said before taking a sip from a plastic water bottle.

“What? No, I didn’t—“

Danny hummed disappointedly with a shake of his head. “Tsk, tsk, dissent in the ranks.”

“Boss! I didn’t—“

“Figs! You’re taking over for Gertrand!”

“Yes, Boss!”

Danny waved goodbye to a distressed Gertrand as his place was taken over by Figs. Popcorn crunched loudly between Danny’s teeth as he smiled broadly at his new guard. He held out his tub of popcorn. “Want some?”

Figs stared at him for a moment. Glanced back at Sack-head who wasn’t looking. And shrugged. As he reached in, Danny gasped loudly, quite convincingly, and pointed at the other end of the warehouse. “What’s that!?”

It was too easy. Every head turned and Danny pulled out a grenade and threw it. Smoke  exploded out, billowing across the floor and thick into the air. The next moments happened fast as the vigilantes had already freed themselves and had been watching for an opportunity. Orphan dropped from the ceiling. Bodies became obscured in the smoke, the sound of them thudding to the ground between fists exchanged and shouting. There were several screams. When the smoke cleared, the vigilantes were cuffing and knocking out the last of the goons. Sack-head was thoroughly bound and lying on the dirty floor.

He spotted Orphan cuffing a guy and he grinned wide, getting up from his chair and making his way over. She straightened when she saw him coming. He raised a hand. “Hey—“

Black suddenly obstructed his vision and Danny halted, looking up at the large man. “Hi. Nice. . .horns?”

He heard someone snicker. The goth vampire didn’t react at all.

“Who are you?” The guy gravelled and wow, Danny’s sort of worried about the guy’s throat. 

“Danny. Nice to meetchya. Water?” Danny pulled a sealed bottle from behind him. “You sound like you need it.”

Spoiler burst out laughing.

“Last name.” The guy grunted out and Danny frowned. The bottle lowered when the guy didn’t take it.

“Ya know, it’s common curtesy to give your name back.”

He wasn’t sure why the others kept laughing. The goth vampire didn’t say anything for a long minute.

“Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you still don’t know who Batman is!” Spoiler was leaned against a wall, cackling like her head might fall off. “I’m so glad I came.” She swiped a tear from her eye.

A hand appeared on Batman’s(?) arm. Danny turned to Orphan with a big smile.

“Hey!”

“Hi.”

“Uhh. . .nice to see you—Y’all—uh—All of you. . .”

She nodded.

“Orphan—“

“Shush.” Orphan shushed the man with a pat on his arm, not straying her eyes off Danny and he shifted a bit on his feet. “Friend.”

Batman grunted. Apparently that meant something cause Orphan said “Stop” and stepped forward. Danny stepped back to make room for her.

When he spoke again, Batman’s voice came out a tad deeper and agitated. It was hard to spot. 

There was something familiar about the way Batman postured. Danny looked him up and down, trying to figure it out; the crossed arms, the vaguely intimidating looming, the angry scowl like Danny had run off with his daughter in the middle of the night—

“He’s an un—“

“Ohhhhh!” Danny realized with a finger. “You’re her bat-dad.”

The laughing stopped. The vigilante’s masked eyes blew wide.

Ha. Danny was right.

He restrained himself from reaching out for a handshake. He had a feeling Batman wouldn’t take it.

“Riiight, okay, I get it now. Last name’s Fenton.” Danny looked down as he ticked off a finger. “I’m twenty-three, I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, I have a stable job, a degree in mechanics and engineering, umm. . . Oh! I have my driver’s license, though that might not be vaild here. Uh, I’m from Illinois, I know first-aid—“ He was running out of fingers. “—and how to do water rescues, I’ve never committed a crime of my own will—“

“What?”

“—and I’ve never crashed through any buildings with my car.”

“. . .huh???” Bruisy asked.

“Oh. Yeah, well. Back home, people got nervous when I said I got my driver’s license and I like to make it clear my sister taught me to drive and not my parents. Anyway—“ He said to Batman. “—I just wanted you to know you don’t gotta worry about me. . .if. . .we ever hang out. . .?” Danny said the last part to Orphan shyly and rubbing at the back of his neck. She nodded and he beamed, making a pleased sound in the back of his throat.

Batman’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve committed crimes against your will?”

Ah. “Well, I should get going. You guys probably have a lot of vigilante-ing to do and saving children from fires and all that.”

“Ans—

“Not to mention these guys.” He gestured vaguely at all the tied up goons.

“You—“

“Yep, I can tell you’re itching to get going.” Danny began to back away. “We’ll talk later?” He asked Orphan.

“Find you on roof next time.”

Danny smiled at her.

“Dan—“

Danny froze and pointed wide-eyed behind the bats. “That guy got free!”

Everyone but Orphan whipped around to look and Danny dashed out of there. He couldn’t believe that’d worked a second time.

Tag List:

@okami-love, @whataspectaclebear, @thomasdimensor, @observerblock23, @stargazer-luna, @lazerswordweilder, @random-sparks-98 , @spam-extemporal, @theo-the-raven, @felicityroth , @jklpopcorn , @nontitlenym , @wanderwithwings, @8000fangirl

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic!Danny Phantom- pt. 8

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been to the hospital in the past three years, I’d have enough money to buy a bag of skittles from Target. Most of it wasn’t for me though lol I’ll add this onto the list in a bit, but I tend to do that from my desktop but I’m still currently attached to an IV drip. I’ve also never been this hydrated in my life lmao

——

Danny poked a puffed up pufferfish. The poison floated through his ghost form and did nothing but give him a little zap. Danny chuckled, wiping away a bit of oil that had gotten onto the fish from a nearby oil spill. Jesus fuck. Danny knew that bald headed, easily drawn Vlad wannabe from across the river would do something terrible to Gotham’s waters (not that it needed help being atrocious to Danny’s clean water appreciation).

The puffer fish- Danny gave up on understanding Gotham’s water ecosystem, having realized that it was a cursed mix of saltwater and freshwater and swamp- gave a fearful little wiggle and Danny let it go, turning to the oil particles floating around.

Danny took out his phone.

“Danny? Why the hell are you calling at three in the morning?”

Danny raised a hand and blasted out some ice, gathering the oil up. “Hey Sam. If I got you into contact with Poison Ivy, do you think you could team up to get rid of Lex Luthor’s new holding company in Gotham?”

“Danny, are you asking me to commit an act of ecoterrorism?”

“That’s not even the weirdest thing I’ve ever asked you to do.” Danny placed a hand on the ice mass and flew it, the oil, and himself across the river to Metropolis.

“Deal.” Sam’s voice gets further away as she pulled her phone from her ear. “I’ll text Tucker, see if he could futz with Luthor’s taxes. I heard her doesn’t even give his workers a livable wage, and that’s so not gonna fly.”

“Perfect! Thanks! We could totally meet up and hang out with my new friends!”

“Hah! That Tim guy? The one that wanted you to introduce Phantom to him?”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, goth girl.”

“Sure, dork. I’ll swing by Friday?”

“Sure! Want me to pick you up?” Danny phased through Lex Luthor’s frankly ridiculous amounts of security measures, still completely invisible and towing a giant mass of oil covered ice.

“Cool. Now hang up. I actually need sleep.”

“Ah, you must be dead tired. I get it.”

Sam hung up, and a second later, Danny got a pic of her holding up a middle finger with her signature purple nail polish.

Danny stared down at the sleeping billionaire. Gross. He let his face re enter the visible spectrum and lowered the temperature of the room drastically. Luthor groaned, waking up as he shivered like a hyped up chihuahua.

Danny bared his teeth, glowing green skin reflecting the black holes of the universe and imploding stars and burning planets as he leaned towards the frozen two bit villain.

“RESPECT THE PLANET,” Danny snarled. He unmelted the invisible ice as he simultaneously made the oil visible, the entirety of the oil spill coating every single inch of Luthor’s penthouse bedroom. Danny winked out, but not before snapping a quick picture of Lex Luthor’s absolutely covered in his company’s oil spill.

If Danny had made sure that there were fish droppings mixed in with the oil… that was his own damn business.

——

Danny floated over to a brooding Batman.

“Do you have two hundred dollars on you?” Danny asked in lieu of a greeting.

Batman grunted a yes.

“Two hundred dollars for a photo of Lex Luthor being hit with karma.”

Batman instantly handed over the cash and received a printed out photo of Lex Luthor (in his Lexcorp pjs) covered by fossil fuel.

"Is this..."

"The oil from his oil spill? Yes."

Batman stared at the picture.

"Why was this more expensive than ID'ing corpses?"

"Cause it's funnier. And dead people deserve more consideration than a egg looking ass polluting everything he touches."

Superman zoomed into the space in front of them, face eager.

"I heard you had something about Luthor?"

Danny figured that Batman probably contacted the hero, and confidently said, "$200 for personal use, $300 for commercial use."

Superman quickly got together three hundred dollars in cash and quickly forked it over. Danny gave him another physical copy of the photo and a usb drive with the photo in a digital format.

"I am so pinning this up." Superman muttered.

"Get out of my city." Batman said flatly. Superman waved a hand, beamed at Danny, and left.

"Did you know Gotham's waters is a mixture of freshwater, swamp, and saltwater habitats?"

Batman grunted.

"Also, please stop stalking Danny Fenton. It's odd."

Batman swiveled his head over. "What."

Danny stared him down. "Stop. Stalking. Innocent. Bystanders. Or else I will recreate the phrase "drowned rat" with you as the subject."

Batman stilled.

"I don't kill, by the way. I can, however, dunk you in the sea and lift you up like a goth version of Simba."

Batman relaxed minutely. "I can't."

"And why not?"

Batman gave him a despairing look. "Have you met my children?"

"... Point."

[o0sleepingdead0o]

Prepared for Anything Pt. 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, MasterPost

Danny folded his arms beneath his head where he lay on the desert floor. The sky blinked with stars and he was so happy he took a trip out of Gotham to do this. He liked Gotham, it felt kinda like home. But it didn’t have stars. It didn’t have the expanse of clear black pinpricked with dazzling, little lights and constellations.

It was handy being able to pop in and out of hemispheres any time he pleased.

“DANNY?!” 

Oh.

Danny rolled his head to the side to see a few violently shivering vigilantes coming around a scraggly, rocky outcrop. Robin, Red Hood, and a black and blue one Danny hadn’t encountered before, wrapped their arms around themselves tightly. They changed directions to walk towards him.                                                                                           

“Oh, hey guys.” Danny raised a hand to wave lazily at them and tucked it back in place. “What are y'all doing out here?” He asked amicably, though surmised they must be on some sort of mission. What a coincidence.

Hood and the one coloured like a bruise spluttered. “US?” Hood cried a little frenetically. As they got closer, Danny could see all their teeth were chattering and their lips were starting to turn blue. 

Oh. That wasn’t good. He had been sad Orphan wasn’t here. Maybe it was better that she wasn’t.

Hood and Robin stormed closer while Bruisy followed at a slower pace. “WHAT-T A-ARE YOU D-DOING OUT H-H-HERE?! H-HOW D-DID YOU GET OUT H-HERE?! I M-MEAN. . . .WHAT?!” Hood gestured his arms bewilderedly at him. “W-WERE T-TEN C-COUNTIRES A-AWAY F-F-FROM THE S-S-STATES!”

Danny stood up and reached under his t-shirt. “Here.” He handed Hood, Robin, and Bruisy large, reflective blankets, throwing Hood off from his rant.

“. . .wha. . .” Bruisy said. The vigilantes seemed slightly confused, but didn’t hesitate to unfold them and throw them around their shoulders.

“So?” Danny raised an eyebrow.

“Our p-plane w-wrecked.” Robin grumbled venomously.

“. . .and ex-exploded.” Hood added.

Danny hummed sympathetically. 

Robin opened his mouth again. “How are you—“

“Have you contacted. . um. . . your associates?” Danny wasn’t really sure what the vigilantes called each other or what their relations were like, but they acted like teammates. They should help each other out when things like this happened, right?

Bruise sighed. “N-no signal.” The man seemed particularly tired and out a little out of it. That really wasn’t good.

“A-and all the s-supers are o-off planet.”

“The what are where? Nevermind.” Danny waved his hand dismissively and reached over his shoulder. He ducked his head a little as he withdrew a three foot metal rod from the back of his shirt.

“Uhhhh. . .” Bruise said.

Danny pulled another rod from a sleeve and a third from his pant leg.

“H-how, dude, j-just. . .just w-why?” Hood said.

Danny didn’t answer and reached underneath the back of his shirt to pull out a fourth. He stuck them in the ground straight up, making a square.

“W-what are y-you d-doing?” Robin asked.

“Building a cell tower.” Danny said and reached into his other pant leg, taking out another rod. And another. From his pocket, he pulled out a screwdriver and some screws.

“. . .N-nothing a-about you makes-s s-sense.” Hood commented.

Danny snorted.

“Y-you’re n-n-not aff-ffected by the c-cold. W-why?” Robin’s eyes narrowed at him.

“Uhhhhh. . .” Danny attached more rods together and screwed some screws. “I, uh. . .I was working out. Warmed me up a lot.” He lied. He knew it was bad. He was still going to drive it into the ground if they questioned it. “And I haven’t been here that long.”

Danny fished a large spool of wire from his back pocket and a pair of pliers from the other.

Robin watched him do it. He stared at him for a long moment, his eyes narrowing further. “Meta-human.”

“Gesundheit.”

The reply seemed to take the vigilantes by surprise, but said nothing of it. They were too busy shivering and huddling on the ground, trying to warm up. At least they didn’t seem to be getting worse.

Danny pulled rod after rod from his clothes. He began to retrieve them from the dirt and sand before it became too many to say it was physically possible to have this many pieces on his person. He had to have limits somewhere. 

“. . .How d-did you k-know those w-were th-th-there!?” Hood said.

“Umm. . .I come here often. What if I got stranded and needed to call someone? Or I spotted a UFO and needed to make contact? I buried these in the sand so no one would steal ‘em.”

“. . . W-were in the m-middle of t-the d-desert. I d-don’t think you n-need to w-worry about th-that. . .”

“You found me, didn’t you?”

“. . .”

“. . .”

Dannykept attaching, and screwing, and wiring, and plier-ing, until he was finally at the top of a twenty-foot tower, and affixing transceivers to it. With the ectoplasm Danny infused into it, it should be powerful enough to work.

He had considered making them a jet, but that might take too long. This way they could get help from the nearest civilization while they waited for pick-up.

  Danny climbed back down.

Even with their masks, the baffled astonishment was clear on the vigilante’s faces. “What the heck. . .” Bruise said faintly.

Danny ignored him and flicked a switch. “Give it a go.” He encouraged the vigilantes who looked to be shaking a little less.

They shared doubtful glances and checked their tech. “It works!” Hood exclaimed and immediately sent out an S.O.S.

Danny made an offended noise and held a hand to his chest. “You doubted me?”

“Yes.” The three said in unison.

“It’s a cell tower.” Hood continued. “How do you even know how to build that?”

“Eh.” Danny shrugged. “You pick a few things up when your parents have a lab in their basement for you to play around in growing up.”

There was a long pause. 

“That is highly concerning and explains almost nothing.”

Danny’s brows furrowed.

“Seriously. How are you here?”

Danny shrugged again. “I walked.” It wasn’t a lie.

Despite explaining he had a way back to Gotham, the vigilantes wouldn’t leave without him. They slept most of the way back.

Tag List: @okami-love @whataspectaclebear @thomasdimensor @observerblock23 @stargazer-luna

[everythingfox]

That is his battle helmet

[antleredweirdo]

Me holding these out: pskpskpskpskspskpsk! Here, author author author!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

@sleepingdead96

[o0sleepingdead0o]

@weirdohasleft, Oh my gosh, this is amazing!! Thank you so much! It's so perfect. I ESPECIALLY like that one of Danny at the top of the stairs with the sword!! He looks so FERAL and it's just so accurate! XDXD Aaaa, brilliant. I love it so freakin' much!

[drrockbell]

Fandom: God there’s like NO content anymore. I wish we could get more art and fanfics :(((

Someone: Hey, I can’t draw anything digitally, because I can’t afford a tablet, but here’s a pen on paper drawing that I spent a lot of time and hard work on. Also, I took a shot at my first fanfic and I’d really like some feedback or at least some kudos if you enjoyed it :)

Fandom: Oh... yeah sorry no... not you. We actually meant writers that are already well known and popular to produce MORE content... I mean, if a popular blog shares your work then maybe. And we don’t really like pen to paper art. We just don’t think it’s professional or even looks good :/

[blackivory-27]

This is why I try to reblog things that have little notes - the fandom NEEDS new people, or it dies, but the OLD people are there to support the new creators! New creators will leave and forget if the fandom doesn't welcome them, because they feel left out. We should remember that all great artists and writers, even the famous ones in big name fandoms, they all started from nothing.

If you don't want a fandom to die feed the sparks that come anew, don't blow on the old burnt ashes hoping they'll start again.

[sapphira-mydnyte]

REBLOG STUFF IN GENERAL!!!

[babycharmander]

also please do not demand "content." Fandom does not consist of content-making machines.

It is a community.

Participate.

[murphymakestherules]

Fandom is conversation, not consumption.