Fearing Survival
dpxdc fic idea
Ok. So. We have post portal Chronic Pain!Danny right? Where dying and coming back to life repeatedly has long-term consequences. His body aches, his hearts kinda shit at being a heart, maybe he has seizures, whathaveyou. but the ambient ectoplasm and constant Going Ghost of life in Amity has kept the worst of the side effects to a minimum. But he can't stay in Amity forever (maybe he has to leave cuz of a reveal gone wrong, or the GiW, or for college. whatever the reason. He has to leave the "safety" of Amity Park) and winds up in Gotham. Now, Gotham has enough ambient ecto to survive, but not thrive.
So Danny is having a rough time. He can make his own ecto if he eats enough but he's broke so he's getting Normal Human calories, not Halfa calories. and he can't really Go Ghost because he's trying to lay low/be normal/retired whatever, so no help there.
Danny can also feed off of emotions-particularly fear- to make up the difference between what Amity and Gotham has nutrition wise.
Except. That's what ~Evil~ ghosts do, and regardless of his relationship with his parents, he has trauma around being considered Evil or bad or no good etc. So, he doesn't feed on any of the fear around him.
And now he's in pain. Constantly. All the time. I mean he's been in pain essentially consistently since the accident but this was different. His muscles were spasming. His joints were swollen. He couldn't sleep. He was always sleeping. constantly exhausted. He looked like shit essentially.
Which takes us to a random Tuesday in March. Danny is out (walking to/from work/school/a friends/etc) trudging along. When a rouge attack starts. Suddenly everyone is running, screaming, as cars go flying and buildings start crumbling.
The Bats arrive. They see a kid looking to be on the verge of death trapped. they try to block the attack to give him cover for an escape.
Danny is done. He wants to give up right there on the sidewalk. but then he hears a little girl cry out. She's blocked behind some rubble. He can't save her. He looks around. The bats haven't noticed her. The building's crumbling. By the time they see her it'll be too late.
Danny takes a ragged breath to fortify himself and makes a decision.
He lets the fear in and consumes it like he's a starving man at an all you can eat buffet.
The color returns to his cheeks. His breath comes easier. The shaking in his hands slows. His muscles stop their errant twitching. His eyes flash green and he's moving. Faster as he allows himself to consume more and more of the ambient terror. He moves the girl to a safer location. Steady's the building material so it's less likely to collapse on someone. He sees other civilians trapped and begins to move without thinking. Free from pain for the first time in months.
The fights over.
The dust settles.
Danny looks around and debates whether to stay for clean up or dip before anyone tries to talk to him. The guilt starting to settle in his bones even as the bruises he took heal before his very eyes. A reminder of what he is. A monster. A ghost. The thing that goes bump in the night.
"Thank you mister," comes the voice of a little girl, pulling him from his thought spiral. Danny looks around before seeing her next to him. The child he had saved at the start. She was alive. A few scrapes and a tare in her shirt, but otherwise fine as any child in Gotham could be. "My Mama told me to tell you Thank you Very much and that you are welcome for dinner anytime."
"Oh. um. It was nothing. I'm glad you're alright. That's more than enough thanks for me." Danny stuttered out. Had he ever been thanked before? vilified sure. Glorified and hit on yeah. but properly thanked? He didn't think he had been. The little girl gave him a hug before scampering off. "ummm. okay. ya. sure." Danny blinked after her for a moment before shrugging and making to continue his walk.
Unfortunately, the combination of his uncertainty and the girl thanking him meant that the local vigilantes had more than enough time to handle the villain and circle back to the crime scene. And Danny.
He felt them arrive before he saw them.
"Can we do this later?" he whined already knowing, and dreading, the answer.
"No."
"Ya, I figured."