(This will be updated as I make new prompts. Asks are also open if anyone has questions or wants to pick my brain about a specific idea/prompt.)
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DP X DC Prompts
#1: Lair of Mystery au (DP X DC)
Main Prompt
Side Prompt #1
Side Prompt #2
#2: Danny Gets Kidnapped Twice (DP X DC)
Prompt
#3: Reaper of Heroes au (DP X DC + DP X MCU)
DP X DC
Main Prompt
Continuation #1
Continuation #2
Leslie the Lazarus blob art by me
DP X MCU
Main Prompt
Side Prompt #1
Side Prompt #2
#4: Just a Shade (DP X DC)
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#5: Lair of Mystery + Reaper of Heroes
(Convergence of my main two prompt ideas. Mainly DP X DC but has brief mention of the Avengers, which resulted in the MCU portion of the #3: Reaper of Heroes au)
Prompt
#6: Escape to Smallville (DP X DC)
Prompt
Continuation #1 (sort of)
Continuation #2 (sort of again)
#7: White Means Death (DP X DC)
Prompt
Continuation
#8: Radio Silence (DP X DC)
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Possible Continuation
#9: Lost Children Saved by the Lost (DP X DC)
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#10: The Sapphire Stone Sits Highest on the Throne (DP X DC)
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#11: Love Never Dies (DP X DC)
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#12: Friends in Orbit (DP X DC)
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Continuation
#13: Mistaken Species (DP X DC)
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#14: Living in Technicolor (DP X DC)
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#15: A Lonely Star Shines in the Night (DP X DC)
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#16: Punchlines Aren't Supposed to Hurt! (DP X DC)
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#17: Who You Gonna Call? (DP X DC)
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#18: Handle With Care (DP X DC)
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#19: Echoes of the Soul (DP X DC)
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#20: To Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (DP X DC)
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#21: Gotham's Phantom Royals (DP X DC)
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#22: Bring on the Night (DP X DC)
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#23: Bleed Me A River (DP X DC)
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#24: Pen Pals (DP X DC)
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#25: Family Reunion (DP X DC)
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#26: Going Supernova (DP X DC)
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#27: Visitation Rights (DP X DC)
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#28: Chartreuse (DP X DC)
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Below the Green Depths (DP X HADES)
#29: [no name yet] (DP X DC)
Prompt
Other DP Crossover Prompts (NON-DCU/MCU):
Prompt
TRIGUN Prompts
Prompt
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Feel free to take/build off of any of these ideas! Also don't be afraid to ask me questions about any of them. I may not know enough canon info to full-on write them myself but I have no problem with adding on more ideas for people to work with.
Maddie: Your father and I knew that you were disappointed to miss out on the family reunion because of your husband's surgery, so we decided to skip it this year and come give you some support in caring for him!
Jack: As well as giving you a break. You must be under so much stress taking care of him and the kids!
Danny, having been lying about his marriage for the past two years to get out of family obligations: Wow... that's so sweet of you.
Maddie: I'm so excited to meet everyone! When you said you were moving to a new Earth, I knew communication through the Ghost Zone was going to be rough, but only being able to connect audio calls once every four months was much harder to endure than I thought it would be.
Jack: Not to mention traveling here. We had to do so many pit stops to fix up the Spectator Speeder and let me tell you, some of those floating rocks were hard to land on. Sometimes makes me wish we had your ghosts powers.
Danny: Yeah....you both went through so much effort. To vist me. In a different dimension.
Maddie: We three! Jazz is here too.
Danny: *gulps* The whole family is here.
Jack: Oh, don't make that face. The Fenton Reunion happens every four years. We'll see your aunts, uncles, and cousins next time. You're much more important to us, so no need for guilt.
Danny: I- right. Of course. Um, have you guys eaten? I can treat us to some dinner before we go back to my place. My, um, husband is at a doctor's appointment with my eldest while I did some work. I'm going on emergency family leave but I had to fill out the paperwork at the office today. Yup yup, thats why I'm here. At my workplace.
Maddie: You alright sweetie? You're sweating a lot.
Danny: I'm fine!
Jack: You work here? This office building is so nice. What does Wayne Enterprise do? I know you have a management position but I never really understood what department exactly.
Danny, who works in the mail room: Um, Wayne Enterprise does a little of everything. I'm in... communications.
Jack: But what exactly does communications do-
Danny: Excuse me for a bit. I have to let my husband know I'm going to be a little late.
Maddie: Oh! Don't tell the kids we're here. We want it to be a suprise. We brought gifts for all of them! Jazz is actually wrapping them up in the Speeder now!
Danny: Ha ha ha ha of course! Excuse me! *walking away pretending to be tapping a contact on his phone* shit shit shit. What do I do???
Damian appearing from the shadows: You told falsehoods.
Danny: Agh!
Damian: ....
Danny: Mr. Wayne Al Ghul! I-ugh- hello! I mean, good afternoon, sir. I ugh-
Damian: Silence
Danny: Yes sir.
Damian: I heard everything, and while I normally find lies distasteful, I find your parents endearing. It could benefit my family. I shall give you aid in your facade.
Danny: What?
Damain: My father recently had surgery on his right hip- a accident on our extreme skiing trip- and refuses to listen to our family doctor. He will not get the proper bed rest he's been ordered, but he would if you acted like his very upset husband with visting in-laws.
Danny: I- Mr. Wayne would never agree to that.
Damian: You seem to believe Father has a choice.
Danny: I-
Damian: I messaged Richard about the plan. He's gathering my siblings' support as we speak. When you arrive after dinner with your family, Father will have no time to deny anything. We shall trap him in social expectations. By the way, you are Timothy's safe queer adult who was there for him in the early years of his self-discovery journey and now he wants to help you. Its how we guilt trip father.
Danny: I can't lie to Bruce Wayne like that!
Damian: It's too late. Timothy already made a shirt of your face with the words "My Gay Yoda" on it. Your path has been chosen.
Danny: What-
Jack: Danny? Who's this?
Damian holding out his arms for a hug: Grandfather, I am Damian, Father's and Dad's youngest.
Jack: Damian! Its so nice to met you. Call me Gran-papa! *crushes him in a bear hug*
Damian in the most monotone voice ever: Gran-papa, I can not feel my arms.
Maddie: Aren't you just the cutest! Danny used to say the same thing at your age whenever his dad hugged him. I'm your Gran-mama, by the way! JAZZ COME MEET THE BABY!
Danny in a horrified whisper: Did my boss trap me in my own web of lies?
My dad figured out BL/GL anime exists thanks to YouTube the other day. Asked me if I knew while we were in the car, and I akwardly said yes. I don't know how to feel about his discovery...
Me reading this realizing tunglr dawt kom gave me more information about my medication than MYDOCTORRRRRSSSSSS MYYYYYYYY FUCKENNNNN DOCTORSSSSS PLURAL MULTIPLE DOCTORSSSSSSSS
Citric Acid is added to A LOT of food items as a preservative and flavoring agent. Things you may not even consider having it. Check ingredient labels on everything!!!❤️
PS: Citrus affects SO MANY other drugs as well. Check your info sheet, or go online for contraindications and drug reaction info.
**For those saying this is misinformation: citrus DOES render some meds ineffective. I have to even disclose this to owners that give their dogs fruit treats ( just like milk products affecting some meds too). Keep in mind a lot of the meds I’m dispensing for veterinary use ARE ALSO originally used for human patients (vet industry does a lot of off label use).
Tumblr should take away the ability to like posts for a few weeks so peeps understand this website cannot survive with just liking. I see so many gorgeous gifs and edits and they get like....13 reblogs and 700 likes. That's not right, fam
The funniest part about the zukka stuff is that we never expected anything to be canon. It’s basically been like 20 years since the original show. They killed Sokka in Korra, so like we’ve all just been playing with our dolls, having fun, with no worries about the canon material, and then boom, here’s free cake, you weird little guys, because there was a leak. That leak just came with free yaoi subtext that you didn’t even want or need. Truly it’s great but also we’re all freaking out cause no one expected them to give us anything never mind free cake.
Little me didn't even know what being gay was back when I watched this show as it was airing, and you're telling me I get to participate in the fandom this time with full knowledge that it's an option? Say less and point me towards the fanfics. Now.
You may be wondering why I haven't posted much in the last few days.
Unfortunately, I hurt my back and developed sciatica. I've spent the last four days sobbing, lying on the ground, and medicated to kingdom come. It doesn't feel like it's getting better. It actually feels like it's getting worse.
Idk how long I'll be away, but it may be a while. Thank you for understanding .
Turns out it wasn't just sciatica. One of my discs pushed out and was pinching my spinal cord. It made my leg go completely numb and I had to rush to the ER again due to the pain.
From there, they decided that my small town ER wasn't enough support and had an ambulance transfer me an hour and a half away. I spent the last two nights here waiting to see if they would clear emergency surgery, while being pumped full of pain meds. They decided to go with a steroid shot and physical therapy after getting the inflammation down, but it's going to be a long road to recovery.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I can't afford all of this, and due to my injury, I can't go to my second job.
I am going to try to do my best to write up a storm now that I'm bedridden. If any of it brings you joy, or even a slight amusement, I hope you would be able to leave me a small tip on my Ko-fi.
I am not doing commissions because I can't generate coming through on the writes (it's going to be a challenge to do it on my phone, since I can't really move too much on a keyboard) but I am pretty desperate at this point. The ambulance ride alone was nearly 5k.
Again, it's only if you can and if you like to. I love writing and want to make sure fandom works stay safe.
Life and burnout just keep screwing me over anytime I think I might have an opportunity or motivation to keep writing. Not joking one bit. For now, my wips just sit there on AO3, judging me. 😖
Tucker: That was a great Comic-Con. I got to meet so many voice actors.
Danny: I know! I underestimated big city cons. I went way over budget.
Sam: How much did you spend?
Danny: four hundred
Sam: FOUR HUNDRED!?
Danny: I'm including the hotel room.
Tucker: Oh thats not too bad.
Danny: Might be easy for you to say. Both of you guys have money to spare. My extracurricular activities make it impossible to keep a steady job. I need a sugar Daddy. Anybody on this escalator want to be my Sugar Daddy?
Jason turning around: Sure
Danny: *Gasp*
Jason: How much you need, gorgeous?
Danny:...I dont know. I was joking.
Jason: If you want, we can go back down the escalator to the con, and I can buy you whatever you want, then you join me for dinner in the nerd theme bar.
Danny dazed: Okay
Sam: What's happening?
Tucker: I think we're witnessing the beginning of a Rom-con.
Sam: While cosplaying Pride and Prejudice?
Jason: Your cosplay was why I noticed you, actually. I always wanted to romance Mr.Darcy.
Danny: And I always found Red Hood really attractive. Your costume is perfect.
Jason: Thank you, gorgeous.
Tim, slightly in front of Jason: And you said this would be a waste of time.
I might be too much in love with the Death Echoes trope. So, have a whole bunch of Bruce taking care of Danny. It's basically a sickfic with extra hurt/comfort.
It takes place in the same verse as More Like Home but probably won't happen until after the plot of that fic is done. At this point, Danny has been living with Bruce for a little under a year.
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At noon, Alfred called Bruce to ask him to come home early. Bruce turned around and walked out of the board meeting without even looking at anyone, but did throw a distracted 'family emergency!' over his shoulder. He might have carefully cultivated his airheaded Brucie persona, but even then people knew that he took his kids seriously.
He ignored the board member that grumbled 'enough fucking family to have an emergency every day if he wants.'
"What is it, Alfred?" Bruce asked, once he was clear of the board room and in the elevator. Calm. Calm. No running. Brucie doesn't run.
"Master Danny declined to specify the nature of his sick day this morning," Alfred said, in a dry tone that didn't do a bit to hide the worry underneath it. "Apparently the anniversary of one's death is rather... physically harrowing for a ghost. He's admitted that he'd like to have you here."
But of course he hadn't asked for it, because that would require bringing up what he was. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'll be there as soon as I can. Ten minutes at most."
"I'll let him know. Come prepared to spend several hours in his room, if not the rest of the day. He indicated that he may be well enough to eat by eight or nine o'clock, but even then..."
Meaning he expected to be debilitated until then. "Understood. Should I bring anything?"
"He's not aware of anything that will help, but some topical analgesic might be of use. I will see if I can find anything else to try."
"He's in pain?" Bruce's brow furrowed. Alfred hesitated before answering, which made Bruce's heart sink.
"He is... physically reliving his death, he says, and will be for most of the day. He is in quite a bit of pain."
"These kids will be the death of me," Bruce muttered. Danny hadn't even hinted at anything like this when he asked for the day off. Bruce made a mental note to keep him off patrol the next night as well. The elevator stopped, and he took off at as quick a walk as he dared. "I'll be there in ten."
"Yes, Master Bruce." Alfred hung up, hopefully to return to Danny.
On the way, he collected a few items that seemed promising: IcyHot cream in the strongest available formula, both heat and cold packs, a variety of compression bandages, and some muscle relaxers from the Batcave infirmary.
Bruce knocked on Danny's door. Cool air drifting out of it indicated either Danny or Alfred had turned the thermostat down lower than usual. Fortunately, Bruce had grabbed a jacket just in case.
"'M in," Danny mumbled, barely loud enough for Bruce to make out.
He pushed the door open and was unsurprised to see Alfred seated beside a miserable-looking Danny. He was surprised to see Danny in ghost form, as it wasn't a form he typically spent recreational time in, particularly when he was unwell. Perhaps it made the ordeal easier. Danny was curled up in his bed, on top of the covers, with his jumpsuit removed and a set of soft pajamas in its place. Alfred was running one hand through Danny's soft white hair, slow and comforting, while his other held one of Danny's.
"Hey, chum," Bruce called out quietly, drawing Danny's attention to him. "Heard you're hurting today." Danny hummed unhappily instead of denying it, which was concerning. "Think you'll be able to eat anything for lunch? Applesauce, bone broth, yogurt? Maybe with ectoplasm?" Danny didn't seem to have any intention of leaving ghost form.
Danny started to shake his head, but stopped to consider when Bruce brought up the last point. "Applesauce and ectoplasm," he mumbled. "Maybe. Nothing after like, two, though."
Alfred gave Bruce a warm smile and gently extracted himself from Danny. "I will see to it," he promised. "Do you need anything else, Master Danny? Master Bruce?"
Danny shook his head mutely, and Bruce said, "I'll text you an update once we've tried these." He hefted the bag he was holding. "If you could bring me lunch when you can, I'd appreciate it."
"Of course," Alfred promised. "I hope you feel better, Master Danny."
"Thanks, Alfie."
Alfred left, shutting the door gently behind him, and Bruce took his place, setting the bag at his feet for now. Danny didn't stir from his leaden sprawl, not even to lift his head.
"You didn't have to leave work, y'know," Danny mumbled, half into the pillow. "I'll be okay."
He didn't apologize, Bruce noted. That was progress. "I know I didn't have to. But someone should be here with you."
"I don't-" Danny choked, his hands squeezing into fists as his whole body shuddered and jerked as if tased. Danny panted through the spasm, his whole body rigid, and when it was over he slumped down and let out a weak moan of pain, making no attempt to continue arguing. It took Bruce a moment to remember to breathe, reminding himself forcefully that this was no attack.
"I brought you some stuff," Bruce said, softer. Danny grunted in discontent. Bruce leaned down and opened the bag anyway. "IcyHot lidocaine cream and muscle relaxers." Danny shook his head without looking. Bruce wasn't surprised. He hadn't realized Danny was in ghost form. "Both heat and cold packs." Danny hummed in mild interest but didn't open his eyes. "And compression bandages."
Danny blinked his eyes open to consider them. His usually neon eyes looked dull. "Worth a try," he muttered after a moment.
Good. Something was better than nothing. "Do you need help sitting up?"
Danny's mouth quirked in a dry smile. "Not yet."
He pushed himself up with a grunt, and shrugged off his pajama shirt with intangibility rather than lift his arms. Bruce had to suppress an immediate and visceral reaction to the glowing lines that coiled up his left arm, which he had only gotten glimpses of before; a telltale Lichtenberg permanently etched onto Danny's ghost form. In contrast to the rest of him, which had dimmed to about the light of a glowstick, the Lichtenburg mark was painfully bright.
"Where do you want these?" Bruce asked, lifting one of the rolls of elastic bandaging. Danny cocked his head and considered it. Then he gestured silently, indicating his left arm from his wrist to his shoulder, and twisted to give Bruce access. With the ease of long practice, Bruce started to wrap it. "Anything I should expect?"
Danny watched him unroll the bandages for a minute, around and around, getting halfway up Danny's forearm before he answered. "The pain comes in waves. They'll keep getting longer, more severe, and closer together until around four, and then they'll die down completely about two hours after that." He paused, watching Bruce loosen the bandages around his elbow before moving on. "It won't ever get as bad as actually dying, but it's still pretty bad. And I'll be really emotional for a lot of it, especially when it hits peak."
"When are you not." The words were out before Bruce could think twice about them. Fortunately, Danny laughed, tired but genuine.
"You've got me there. How many rolls of bandages do you have?"
"I brought three. Alfred can obtain more if necessary." Pretty bad, Danny said. Bruce had no desire to experience pain that Danny described as 'pretty bad.' His tolerance was high even for their family.
Danny shook his head. "That should be okay. Can you do my back too?"
"Yes, but I'll need to be closer." Danny scooted to make room, and Bruce shifted to sit next to him, then tapped a spot low on Danny's spine. "Starting here?" Danny nodded. "Alright. Is there anything else I should know?"
Thankfully, Danny seemed to genuinely think about it, but eventually he shook his head. "I've only had two of these," he reminded Bruce. "There's more stuff I don't know, probably."
Ah yes, a frustrating constant. The elusive nature of comprehensive information about ghosts. Even Constantine had large gaps in his knowledge, which Bruce would grudgingly admit was rare for the man. This? This was definitely not in the introductory handbook. Was Bruce now obligated to share information in return? Hn.
Danny squinted at him. "What did Constantine do now?" he asked.
"Constantine."
"You have a very distinct 'thinking about Constantine' face."
"Hn."
Danny smiled briefly, then yelped, curling up like a bug and accidentally dislodging Bruce's grip on the bandaging. Instinctively, Bruce tucked Danny against his side, and Danny shook and twitched against him, a desperate whine tearing itself free as Danny rode out the wave of pain. Bruce all but held his breath until Danny finally slumped again, breathing heavily. His chill crept through the jacket Bruce had slipped on before coming in.
"Ready to keep going?" Bruce prodded, once Danny's breath evened out. Danny laid there for another few seconds, then nodded and pushed himself upright with a wince. Bruce picked up the dropped end of the bandage, tightened what had come loose, and kept going. "You're sore?"
"Ha." Danny lifted his arms slightly, enough to make room for Bruce to work. Bruce shifted and encouraged Danny to rest his arms on Bruce's shoulders, and Danny did, leaning against him. "Yeah, I wake up pretty achy already, even though I don't start getting spasms until ten. Just to make sure I have a really miserable day."
Uncharacteristically bitter, Bruce noted, but unsurprising under the circumstances. He didn't comment. "Remarkably, we don't currently possess any upper back bandages. I'll ask Alfred to retrieve one if you're happy with the results. We do have shoulder and wrist bandages." Bruce finished wrapping Danny's torso but didn't pull away.
Danny turned his head to squint at the bandages peeking out of the bag. "Why'd you bring so many?"
"I know how you died," Bruce reminded Danny evenly. Electrocution implied muscle pain, and Bruce had suspected his left arm would take the brunt of it. Danny shuddered, a natural one this time, and pressed himself against Bruce for comfort. Bruce dropped an arm around his back, holding him. A minute or two passed, and then Danny pulled away with a sigh.
"Okay."
Right, yes. More compression bandages. These went by much faster, simply needing to be strapped on, and soon Danny's hand and shoulder had joined his left arm and mid-back in compression. He seemed satisfied with that and laid back down on the bed, somewhat more relaxed than when Bruce had first come back in. Bruce hesitated, then shifted closer again and set his hand on Danny's upper back, carefully trying to smooth out the painful knots that had developed there. Danny 'mm'ed softly but didn't otherwise react.
Alfred knocked on the door, and Bruce called him inside when Danny made no move to. Alfred pushed open the door and brought in two plates, one for Danny and one for Bruce. Bruce accepted his with a nod.
"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said quietly. "Danny, are you up to eating?"
Danny didn't answer at first, but then shifted around to glower half-heartedly at the bowl Alfred had brought. Then he buried his face in Bruce's arm, grumbling, and Bruce's mouth twitched in amusement. It disappeared when another tremor wracked Danny's body, and the young teen bleated in pain, his grip tightening painfully.
Bruce forced himself to breathe evenly this time, and massaged Danny's hand with his own, pressing through the thick bandage. Danny slumped, panting, and with care, Bruce shifted his hand to massage all the way up Danny's arm, coaxing the tension out of the muscles there until he reached Danny's shoulder, skipped past the compression bandage, and pressed his fingers into Danny's back. Danny didn't say anything, but he pressed into Bruce gratefully and stayed relaxed. Somehow, still, Bruce was startled when Alfred joined him, cupping Danny's temple in one hand.
"Master Danny?" Alfred coaxed, more firmly than Bruce had. "Can you stomach some applesauce?" Danny whined, a softer-toned protest than the low keens of pain he'd let slip. "I know, but you will feel worse if you don't eat anything. I don't think you want that."
Danny grumbled something that sounded like 'no' and acquiesced, allowing himself to be propped up just enough to poke the glowing applesauce with a spoon. He brightened a little at the reminder that Alfred had added ectoplasm, and started to eat. Bruce followed his example and worked quickly through his sandwich.
"I see you're making good use of our extensive collection of medical garments," Alfred said to Bruce, making Bruce snort quietly. "Will you be needing anything else?"
"If he's satisfied with the improvement from these, we'll need one for his upper back as well," Bruce said. "I'll let you know."
"Perhaps after this, the collection will be complete."
Danny got through about half the applesauce before he pushed it away, and Bruce set it on a clear spot on his nightstand before Alfred could pick it up. He glanced up at the butler. "I'll see if I can coax more of this into him later."
Alfred gave him a small smile. "Very well. I'll check in later to see how the two of you are doing."
Bruce nodded, and Alfred left to attend to the manor. Bruce turned his attention back to Danny and considered him. He had a few more questions - why Danny was staying in ghost form, if there were any physical effects from this - but nothing that couldn't wait until Danny was less ill. He picked up his tablet instead. "Would you like me to read to you?"
Danny tilted his head up to look at him, then nodded. It was barely twelve thirty and he already looked exhausted, pale even for his ghost form and cradling his left arm protectively. Bruce hoped he'd be able to sleep at some point, but that seemed unlikely until the pain had passed, which apparently would not be for hours.
Bruce picked up his tablet and quickly downloaded a book. Danny had mentioned wanting to read 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' a few times, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. "The story so far: in the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Danny snickered softly.
As always, reading to his kids made time pass a little faster. It also gave him easy access to the digital clock, and with the note function innate to the Kindle app, he could keep track of the time and Danny's progressing condition, most importantly the interval between spasms and the relative severity of the pain.
After half an hour, he noted that the current interval period was about twelve minutes and asked Danny, "Are the compression bandages helping as much as desired?"
Danny nodded. He'd pulled a thin blanket over himself after a while, mainly for comfort, and his hold on his left arm was still loose enough that Bruce believed it was more psychological than physical for the moment. "Hurts less when I can't jerk around so much. One for my upper back would be good. The shoulder one isn't quite cutting it." He made a face.
Bruce shot off a text to let Alfred know. "Anything else you want?"
Danny wrinkled his nose. "Heat pack?" he asked, softer and more tentative, as if there was anything Bruce would say no to right now.
And that was simple enough. Bruce activated one of the handheld heating packs and handed it to Danny, who shuffled around a little before putting it on his neck, by the junction of his shoulder. Bruce picked his tablet back up and continued reading.
Alfred returned about twenty minutes later with the requested bandage, and Danny didn't protest when Bruce went to help him sit up. He wasn't weakened, Bruce judged after a minute, but there was a minute tremble in his muscles that indicated the pain was ramping up even outside of the periodic spasms.
Bruce helped him get the new compression bandage on, and then paused to smooth out some of the building tension there. Danny leaned in gratefully - he was much more physically affectionate than most of Bruce's children, he'd come to realize, except perhaps Cass and Dick. Bruce kept an eye on the clock, and made sure to get Danny down before the next spasm hit. Danny groaned, the sound drawn-out and wavering unhappily, and clung to Bruce through it before falling into a shivering, panting slump.
Alfred ran his fingers through Danny's hair, nodded to Bruce, and left quietly, as harried as ever when one of the kids was suffering.
"You happy like this, chum, or do you want to lay back how you were?" Bruce asked Danny quietly. Danny grunted, then squirmed further into Bruce's lap. It was a little eerie, Danny being so light and cold in this form that Bruce could have mistaken him for a lap full of snow, but it made Bruce smile for a moment. "Alright."
He settled down and picked up his tablet to resume reading, noting the time and event before he continued.
A part of Bruce, a not-so-small part, was furious that Danny had meant to handle this alone, without anything to even try to ease the pain; it reminded him of when nine-year-old Tim had caught a bad strain of flu, and how confused he had been when Alfred insisted on him staying at Wayne Manor to be cared for. This might not have been particularly dangerous, it was true, but Danny was miserable now and only promised to get more so through the day.
He wondered briefly how Danny had spent the previous two such events. Certainly not with his parents, there being no human explanation for this. Could he even be home for it, in the comfort of his own room, or did he have to go elsewhere? Had he been alone for either of them? It unfortunately seemed likely, especially if he hadn't known about it in advance the first time.
Even with the bandages stabilizing half his upper body, Danny's groans and whines slowly progressed into low keens of pain, and he started to clutch at himself through each one, gasping for breath like it was the only thing that would bring him comfort. Bruce shifted so one of his hands rested on Danny's shoulder, where a gap between the shoulder and upper back bandages seemed to be creating a sharp spot of pain that Danny kept trying to get at. He massaged it carefully without looking away from the tablet, and Danny relaxed a little, panting.
At two thirty, Danny started to cry, exhausted tears shining on his cheeks and faint, breathy sobs following each spasm. At three, Bruce noted that the interval had decreased to six minutes, then set the tablet aside and transferred his attention to comforting Danny.
"How are you feeling, chum?" he asked quietly.
"Hurts, God, it hurts," Danny choked out, trembling like a leaf and his better hand clamping down on his shoulder again. "'S so cold, Bruce. It's in my bones. Shouldn' be in me."
Cold. Ectoplasm? Bruce wasn't sure. Danny had never described his accident at length. "Heat pack?"
Danny nodded jerkily, so Bruce leaned forward, careful not to jostle him, and grabbed a few. He lifted the blanket enough to place one on Danny's upper back and one on his lower, then noted the time and the request. If this was indeed a yearly event, a thought that made his blood boil, they'd need to be better prepared for it next year.
A stray thought crossed Bruce's mind. Did this happen to Jason as well? Jason had never referenced anything of the sort, but he also knew that Jason never went out on the anniversary of his death. Bruce would know; he'd specifically looked out for him the first few years, before the habit became apparent, and still kept half an eye out since.
Danny cried out, no longer making any effort to muffle the noise, and seized and jerked through another long episode. Bruce counted silently. Up to thirty-three seconds. When it was over, he sobbed and curled closer to Bruce.
"Why'd they have to build that stupid portal?" Danny choked out. Bruce ruthlessly clamped down on another wave of rage at the eldest Fentons. "God. A-ah. This sucks. I wanna go to bed. I want it to be over." His voice cracked.
Sleeping pills, or a sedative? They wouldn't work on Danny's ghost form either, but depending on why he wasn't reverting to human, they could try to get him to sleep through as much of the day as possible. Something to discuss later on. "It's 3:16." Danny whined in protest. "I've got you. What hurts the most?" He checked on the heat pack by Danny's neck, making sure it was still in place.
"My chest hurts," Danny sobbed quietly, his face wet with tears. "My heart is stopping."
Unfortunately, Bruce couldn't help with that. He set his hand on Danny's chest anyway, and Danny reached up and clutched at it, apparently finding comfort in the futile gesture all the same. Even his hand trembled.
"'M scared, B," Danny confessed after another minute, almost too quiet to hear. Bruce's chest tightened, and he breathed through another wave of frustration and hatred before he could soften his voice enough to reply.
"You're going to be fine, Danny. You'll be in pain for a few more hours, but that's all it is."
"'M already dead," Danny murmured. From inflection, Bruce deduced that it was meant to be self-soothing.
Bruce's throat ached. "...Yes."
At four o'clock, the interval dropped to two minutes, counting from the end of one spasm to the start of the next. It barely gave Danny time to breathe, and he tossed and turned until Bruce moved both of them so Danny could sit up and hold onto him, crying into his shoulder. Danny held on with bruising force - and no more, as careful as Clark even now - and jerked, hands tightening and loosening in Bruce's jacket with the ebb and flow of relived pain.
You did this to him, Bruce thought at the elder Fentons, more than once.
At exactly 4:36 - Bruce was keeping as close an eye on the clock as he could manage - Danny screamed. Bruce immediately recognized the sound from an echo audible in his Ghostly Wail. Bruce's jacket tore under Danny's hands, and a horrible, quaking tremor seized Danny in an unmistakably fatal grip. Bruce counted the seconds and held Danny too tightly for him to accidentally shake himself loose.
Forty-six seconds. That was how long the worst spasm held him. Bruce assumed that was also how long it had taken Danny to die.
In contrast to the other times, when it finally released him, Danny pressed in closer instead of loosening his grip, and sobbed hysterically.
"No, no," Danny choked out, and "Please, I don't wanna-" and "Dad, Dad."
What did you say after something like that?
"I've got you," Bruce settled on. "You're safe. You're with me."
Danny calmed down slowly, sobs dying down into heaving breaths and then into a deep but labored rhythm that closely matched Bruce's but seemed to take much more effort. The next spasm that hit was much lighter, lasting only eighteen seconds, but it still sent Danny into renewed shudders and tears, holding on tightly.
When Danny seemed calm enough, Bruce shifted him enough so that Bruce could hold him in one arm, then pulled his tablet back over and logged the time of death, length of the accompanying fit, and what had followed. Interval immediately increased back to more than ten minutes (Bruce had unfortunately missed the precise time) and period decreased to eighteen seconds.
Danny set his head on Bruce's shoulder.
After that, things got much easier. At 5:15, Danny removed himself from Bruce's lap to lay down. He removed all of the heat packs and passed them to Bruce, but kept the compression bandages on. He didn't reach for the blanket but hummed gratefully when Bruce pulled it over him anyway, and Bruce sat on the floor beside him and debated returning to reading aloud.
"Whoa. You two look wiped."
Bruce looked up. Duke had opened the door to talk to them, probably too worried by what he'd seen through the door to remember to knock first, and his expression was pinched with worry. "Duke. Anything on patrol?"
"Uh, some movement I'll tattle to Jason about, but nothing big." He studied them with concern. "How's Danny doing? I didn't realize he was this sick."
Hm. Had Alfred declined to explain what had happened? Bruce glanced at Danny as the teenager hummed unhappily, but Danny didn't say anything else, so Bruce provided, "He's had a long day. I expect he'll go to sleep soon. We'll debrief tomorrow."
"Debrief?" Duke frowned at him, understanding immediately that there was more than what he'd been told, but then he glanced at Danny and just nodded. "Alright. Feel better soon, Danny. Get some rest, okay? I'll let Alfred know how you're doing."
Danny's hum this time was more positive.
At 5:30, Danny fell asleep. At 5:45, Dick came in to check on them and left once he'd come to look at Danny's sleeping (calm) face, and at 6:15, Cass came in with a plate of food for Bruce and a few granola bars for Danny. For when he wakes up, she signed.
A little while after 6:30, Bruce fell asleep without meaning to.
Danny Fenton hates the Batman comics.
To be fair, he's only been shown the ones where Batman was a raging abusive cunt to his kids.
But he much prefers Martian Manhunter and Superman; aliens on another world, living double lives and trying to blend in and hide their other-ness.
Unfortunately, he, Sam, and Tucker said the wrong thing at the wrong time in front of Desiree. In their defense, they'd been exhausted from exam season and hadn't been paying attention. College isn't easy and they weren't disciplined enough to not sleep deprive themselves.
Also, Tucker had heard about a strange concoction from his fellow students in the Engineering department; two red bulls, three caffeine pills, a monster, a pot of coffee, and a five hour energy.
Needless to say, Tucker and Sam sipped it, declared it would kill them, and Danny drank the rest, since he was already dead.
What followed was a rant about the DCU and about Batman's terrible parenting skills specifically.
Worse, it was followed by the phrase "Man I wish I was there so I could tell Batman to go fuck himself!"
Tucker barely had enough time to say;
"Dude you know he'd probably take that as a come on and be dtf, right?"
When Desiree had shown up.
From there...ugh.
All three of them were thrown into Gotham, before Batman ever made his debut.
While they research how to get back, they go ahead and take advantage of their comic book knowledge to play the game and get filthy fucking rich. They stick to Gotham, because honestly? Easier to hide in, and Sam loves the architecture.
Also less prone to alien attacks, according to Tucker.
And...well, Danny hasn't told Sam and Tucker, but he's keeping an eye out for Robin.
He's gonna out-mentor Bruce fucking Wayne.
He's gonna make sure that kid can kick that grown man's ass if said grown man ever steps out of line.
~~~~~~
Down the line, Bruce is very confused about why Phantom, a hero that hit the hero scene four years before Batman did, keeps trying to steal his Robins.
Like, he won't lie, the extra training they get helps them immensely in the field, but he feels like he's in a competition and doesn't know what it's for.
It's even odder that, apparently, Phantom keeps telling them it's okay to kick Batman's ass, and that if they ever need to run away he'll help them escape.
John Constantine knows full and damn well that Phantom isn't a thousands year old ghost.
He knows because, in the middle of a fight against a deranged warlock, Phantom let out a small, warbling chirp in response to getting hit.
He'd quickly covered it up, but Constantine knows that that chirp is.
It's the ghost equivalent of a baby cry.
With as uncertain and lost as that one was, it was a ghost newborn cry.
Phantom isn't even ten years old as a ghost. Constantine would ventures to say that he isn't even five.
Worse, no other ghost responded to the chirp.
Phantom is, in ghost terms, an orphan.
Which is what has led to Constantine creating a portal to the Infinite Realms, so he can walk into the Realms Child Ghost Education Resource Center and make sure Phantom gets a good ghostly guardian.
The kid's been through enough, and John's gonna make sure he gets someone good.
Life is going pretty well for Danny Fenton. He's a top engineer at Wayne Enterprises, has an apartment full of plants, and is resolutely ignoring his ghostly side. Or at least he was until a run in with Poison Ivy's plants resulted in a night spent cuddling some Bats as a giant, otherwordly bird. (Or birdritch, if one would rather.)
Danny is more than a little embarrassed in the morning and more than a little confused when his life starts filling up with Waynes over the next few weeks. Why did Bruce Wayne have to be so charming? And why did his family have to feel like home?
Decided to go through my drafts and came across this...
I'm super hella interested in where this was going, but I can't remember for the life of me. All I know is it was supposed to be another dp x dc prompt. 😅
dailybridgerton
romaincrisis
2087
dededos
