I have gotten into DCxDP lately and while I do tend to ship Danny with any member of the Batfam, this is decidedly a Dead Serious idea.
I want you all to know that I have interacted with maybe 1%-3% of canon for either series, all of my knowledge is semi forced acquisitions from Tumblr. But I think we’ll be ok, right? We’re working with Damian is 19 and Danny is 20, both are in their third year of a bachelor's degree (so just out of the gen eds and into their actual interests-Vet Science for Damian, Engineering for Danny).
So we start with a cult trying to summon the Ghost King (coin toss whether they knew which Ghost King they were getting, but I digress) for power. They have decided to capture the Bat Family and do the summoning in Gotham. Specifically they decided that Robin (still in costume) would be the sacrifice.
Ghost King Danny is summoned, already a little pissy because the cultists had interrupted him during his Engineering homework and caused him to lose his train of thought, and is not pleased that the cultists are trying to sacrifice someone to him. Ghost King Danny sees Robin and is instantly smitten (Look his soul is super pretty, plus it took 10 cultists to hold him on the sacrificial altar, and it looked like they were having a tough time of it).
The thing is Danny, partly because he grew up in Amity Park (more on that in a bit) and partly because he died at the age of 14, is pretty much pure ghost as far as flirting/courting/relationships go. Ghostly flirting includes a lot of fighting (both together against others and against each other), playful threats, both weapons and violence as gifts, and a not so great handle on human boundaries.
Which is why Damian Wayne wakes up the day after taking care of the cultists to a bouquet of 20 hands, carefully disarticulated from the 10 cultists who had held him down, in his bedroom at home with a note that implied that either the ghost king was displeased about their failure to sacrifice Damian, or only the Ghost King was allowed to kill Damian.
Damian is a former child assassin, so no stranger to violence, but he is not enough of a ghost to read the intentions of the ‘Gift’. He is admittedly a bit nonplussed by the bouquet of hands
Do you know who is Ghostly enough to read the Ghost King's intentions? Jason Wayne-Todd, Revenant. Jason, who is a hopeless romantic under the leather and guns. Jason, who looks at Damian and goes ‘he’s little brother shaped’ and saw the Ghost King and went ‘he’s brother-in-law shaped’.
Jason ships it. Jason ships it so hard he is practically cooing. Unfortunately he communicates that he ships it before he manages to communicate that he thinks the Ghost King is flirting (Jason instinctually can tell Danny’s intentions but doesn’t really know how to communicate that instinct into anything concrete). So the Bat Fam takes his assertion that Danny is flirting into consideration, but cannot take his instincts as conclusive evidence that the Ghost King is not, in fact, trying to hurt Damian. Basically the Batfam is trying to figure out if they are in a romance movie or a horror (and trying to be really careful not to get it wrong). Jason, after he made sure that Damian would be interested if they could be sure Danny is flirting (which Damian is-Danny is interesting, cute, smart, and exceedingly dangerous), goes back to writing RP fanfiction about their potential wedding.
Over in Amity Park Danny is the full on giggling/swooning type of smitten. This is a good Fenton Parents/ everyone knows that Danny is Phantom kind of universe. It is also an extremely liminal Amity Park kind of universe. I also want it to be an Amity Park is naturally very liminal kind of universe, and has been very liminal for a long time. Almost all of the residents grew up there and because of that their flirtation/courtships/romances tended to be ghostly in nature. In addition, by the time Danny is 20 Amity Park has all but become an extension of the Infinite Realms. The Ghosts tend to come and go freely and are now part of the community.
The entirety of Amity Park also ships Danny/Robin. They are all helping him with his courtship, and very supportive of the bouquet of hands. His parents are helping him source (or build, Jack Fenton is very enthusiastic about wooing your future spouse with custom built weapons instead of buying generic ones- which is the real reason Maddie picked him over Vlad) weapons to give to Damian-they even built a smithy in the lab once they realized Damian preferred blades. Jazz is giving him advice on making sure he pays attention to Damian’s interests (Danny lured Damian to a warehouse where they were able to bust a dog fighting ring together). Sam ended up bonding with her parents in trying to make sure Danny was dressed appropriately to see Damian while Tucker furiously hacks into all kinds of criminal databases to find people that Danny can fight to impress Damian. Even Mr.Lancer gets into the act, giving Danny advice on word choice for the notes.
Basically it starts out with Danny in the middle of a Meet Cute and most of the Batfam trying to figure out if this is going to end with a Murde Mystery.
Some time passes, enough that actual communication happens. Danny and Damian start dating. A number of jokes are made that Jason is not allowed to be a chaperone, with the punchline being that he would abduct them to be married at gunpoint (Jason’s frequent indignant response: Hey, I would at least drive them to Vegas, first). During this time, Tim, Technus, and Tucker formed some kind of unholy alliance that may or may not include a friends with benefits situation; everyone is afraid to ask. Technus somehow got Tim to sleep an average of 3 more hours a week, so can do no wrong as far as Alfred, Dick, and Bruce were concerned.
Danny, as phantom, and Damian, in costume, go for a date in Amity park, with plans to head into the infinite realm (there were several of the realm bound ghosts that wanted to meet the King's boyfriend). They are accompanied by both Nightwing and Red Hood.The Joker decides to track down Red Hood for nefarious reasons. The Joker may be the prince of crime in Gotham. Not so much for Amity Park. Red Hood gets to watch his murderer get beaten within an inch of his life by a group of young teens (some of the newest members of the fan club, most of whom were barely old enough to remember what happened with Pariah Dark) from the Phantom Fan club, who took exception to a clown trying to ruin Danny’s love life.
Red Hood turns to Nightwing, “I think I just felt my ‘Bruce Adoption genes’ just activate”
Nightwing sighs. “I would talk to their parent first, at least”
