“Here to bring me to a debrief?” Danny asks the shadow lurking in the doorway. He swears that Batman almost looks chastised at that. “It’s fine, Batman, I know how these things work.”
“The core Titans are insisting on being there, for moral support,” Batman rumbles. “If you aren’t comfortable with that, they’ll be sent away.”
Danny chuckles; that really is like them. “No, I might as well only go through it all once. Besides, that’s sweet. Can I at least take the time to put on real clothing?”
Batman narrows his eyes at Danny. “You’re still injured. Loose clothing only.”
“Gods, how does no one see what a dad you are,” Danny teases.
Batman smiles, just for a moment, before he turns to sweep over dramatically out of the room. “I’ll send in Flash with some approved clothing.”
“That better be my Flash you’re sending in!” Danny calls after Batman. When the doorway is free of the luring hero, Danny lets himself fall back against the pile of pillows.
A debrief. How is he supposed to explain any of this? So far he hasn’t been allowed to explain things, really. Part of it is that he’s spent most of the last several days asleep. When he has been awake, it’s to a rotating cast of heroes; all heroes that he was close to and knew behind the mask. With every able bodied hero busy with clean up, no one has been able to stay long. He sees Barry the most, what with the other’s leg, but even Barry is busy helping coordinate the recovery efforts.
(Danny’s also pretty sure that they’re using the chance to visit him as a way to make people take a break.)
While the heroes are with him, it’s been mostly Danny getting updated on everyone and whoever is with him getting information to update everyone else with. They won’t even let him work, but they do pass on information about his crews at least. It’s Wally who’s with him the most. Wally was there the first time Danny woke and as Danny breathed through panic attacks and to patiently reply to the endless stream of messages for Danny.
Speak of the devil… Danny’s phone chimes again.
He can’t look at it.
He hasn’t been able to look at it since the first message from Jasmine came in. Since they all remembered.
Wally hadn’t asked. He had just let Danny shake apart in his arms and has handled Danny’s phone from then on. ‘This is Danny’s boyfriend. He’s alive and will recover. He’ll contact you at a later time.’
“I thought we put that thing on silent,” Wally says with a glare at the phone as he steps into the room.
Danny makes shameless grabby hands at the clothing. “So did I. Who is it?”
Danny’s proud that his voice doesn’t shake at the question.
Maybe it’s fair that they’ve all been avoiding the big big questions. Maybe it really is obvious that he’s still only hanging on by a thread. He certainly feels less like a live wire and more like the one, stubborn fuse still humming in the circuit breaker.
He certainly feels weak.
“Jasmine again.”
Danny sucks in a staggered breath and lets it out slowly. “Just… just tell her that I’m sorry, but I can’t yet.”
Wally presses a kiss to Danny’s temple. “I’ll remind her that you’re healing too. You just worry about getting dressed.”
“What, don’t want to help out with that part?” teases Danny as he undid the tie at the base of his neck. The Watchtower might have pretty nice quality, but any medical garb was going to be a little scratchy, and Danny is glad to have it off. He’s careful with his taped over IV port as he slides on the plain white shirt and then the well worn hoodie. It has a faded Nightwing logo and smells like Wally.
Something in Danny’s chest relaxes a little as he buries his face into the fabric and it nearly makes him sob.
“Danny?”
Danny just shakes his head.
“Oh, babe, it’s okay, I’m here. I have you.” Wally tosses the phone onto the bed and wraps Danny up into a hug. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been around—”
“Don’t, you were saving lives,” Danny says and tucks his face against Wally’s neck. “It’s what you needed to be doing.”
“Yeah, well, I’m here now. I’ve officially been pulled off duty. My job right now is you.”
“I don’t want to take you away from anything important.”
“You aren’t. Babe, you’re why we’re all still here. Let yourself be cared for, okay? I promise if anything comes up that really needs my help I’ll go, but let me make you my priority,” Wally urges.
Danny closes his eyes. “I told myself I’d never ask that of you. I know what you are.”
“You aren’t, I’m offering. Please, babe, let me make you my priority.”
He wants to. Gods does he want to. He wants to go back home to their apartment and have Wally with him and just let the other take care of everything, just for a little bit, just until it stopped feeling like his insides were hollow. Just until he could be okay enough to lie and say that he was fine.
Just until then.
“Okay. I— yeah, okay. I think I need that right now,” Danny manages to admit.
“Thank you,” Wally whispers like it was Danny doing him the great service. “First act, let’s get you out of those pants.”
“You cad,” Danny gasps dramatically.
Wally rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling now so Danny counts it as a win. “And get you into the sweatpants.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to debrief in sweats,” Danny says as he lets Wally help him finish changing. He’s a little less balanced in his feet than he’d like to be.
Okay, a lot less balanced.
Wally doesn’t even let him walk to the debrief, instead he insists on pushing Danny there in a wheelchair. Danny knows there’s no shame in needing a wheelchair, but it doesn’t help him be less frustrated at the way he feels weak down to his bones. Hell, he feels weak down to is core. At least he gets to move himself to a regular chair once they’re inside the conference room.
"Thank you for being willing to do this, Danny,” Wonder Woman says. She’s leaning forward, arms resting on the table, and offering a smile. At the table is a selection of other top tier members: Batman, Superman, a Green Lantern (Hal Jordan in this case), John Constantine, Zatanna, and, right next to Danny, Barry.
The Titans are off to the side, slightly behind the Dark members, in chairs that were obviously dragged into the room. Garfield gives Danny an enthusiastic thumbs up that almost makes him laugh.
“Of course. I get why there are questions,” Danny says instead.
“There are,” Superman agreed. “Now, as you aren’t a Justice League member and are in no way under any sort of investigation, this is going to be a bit informal. We’re just trying to make sure our report on recent events are as clear as possible.”
Danny huffs out a breath of air. His gaze darts over to Wally before dropping. “It’s a big more than that, isn’t it?”
“Kid?” Barry asks gently.
“You all want to know what I am, which is fair. If I could have, I would have told you.” Danny looks back at Wally again and gives a half hearted smile. “Sorry I couldn’t.”
“Why couldn’t you?” Batman asks, though the rumble of words isn’t unkind.
A sour smile twists Danny’s lips. “Curses are like that. Aren't they, Laughing Magician?” Danny hears Constantine and sucks in a breath and steels himself to look up at him. “How much do you know about her? About Desiree?”
Constantine shakes his head. “Not much. It’s not wise to go digging into the affairs of a member of the Infinite Realms, even an ended one.”
“Speak normal for the rest of us,” Hal says. “A who of what?”
“Infinite realms. That means a sodding ghost,” Constantine snaps.
Barry scoffs. “Ghost’s aren’t real.”
“Boo,” Danny replies. His smile is slightly too wide.
“Not funny, Danny.”
Danny shrugs. “Not trying to be. I’m half ghost.”
“How is someone half ghost?” Hal asks.
“I’m like Schrödinger’s Cat,” Danny explains. He can’t help for for his gaze to flick over to where the Titans are sitting and find Wally’s eyes. “I’m still in the box, basically. I’m half alive and half dead. Both and neither. A balance.”
“A myth.” Constantine leans forward. He taps the butt of his unlit cigarette against the table. “Or so we always thought. You telling me that you’re a halfa?”
The question pulls Danny’s focus back to the main table of heroes. “Yep. One of three. Me, my godfather, and my clone.”
Superman clears his throat. “Ah, your clone?”
Danny just gives another shrug. “Shit gets weird when you’re a teenage vigilante.”
“Danny,” Batman says, and Danny can’t help but smile again because the man is clearly one step away from pinching the bridge of his nose like he does as Bruce when one of his children is driving him mad. “Start from the beginning. State your name for the record.”
“Danny Jasper Fenton.”
---
AN: Vote was in favor of splitting it up. I've got a chunk of the next part written, so hopefully I can get it finished up next week! Sorry if there are lots of issues, words and me are struggling atm.
Poor Danny is really struggling with things as his world has once again changed. And what will everyone think of him now...?
I no longer tag, instead you can subscribe to the masterpost.
Ship: Danny Fenton/Wally West (pre-relationship because they're disasters)
CW: (updating as the fic continues), Canon-Typical Violence, Blood, Major Injury, Minor Character Death, Self-Doubt, Jack and Maddie Fenton's A+ Parenting
They were going to lose.
It’s a simple, unavoidable fact and it hits Danny like one of Superman’s punches. He fumbles in his attempt to triage Barry’s leg before the limb was lost.
The man standing in the middle of the ruins of Metropolis would win. He and his army of hive mind clones would sweep across the rest of the planet. Humanity would fall.
They were going to lose.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
All things related to this fic can be found in the 'abson' tag on @clockwayswrites. Major links are below.
Start, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Part 5, Part 6
Part 7, Part 8
Part 9, Part 10
Part 11, Part 12
Part 13, Part 14
Part 15, Part 16
Part 17
Part 18, Part 19
Epilogue
(For those very few with ability to comment on this post, DO NOT.)
So I am absolutely in love with @clockwayswrites A broken sort of normal and the Danny/Wally ship in general. I had this idea a little over a month ago and I have been trying to convince myself to write it but I have never written anything that wasn’t a school paper in my entire life so I figured I would just throw this out into the void. If anyone decides to do anything with it, please let me know if <3
Danny and Wally (as the flash) are dating (or it could be another masked hero) and Wally is still keeping his identity as the flash secret. After a long day and a tough fight, Wally and Danny are cuddling on the couch together. Danny says I love you and Wally sleep deprived and tired says I wish you could say that with my real name. Danny consoles Wally, and they cuddle more into the night. A couple days later Danny handed Wally a flash drive and says that he has recorded himself saying I love you to the top 1000 names. Wally is extremely touched by this and later that night while he’s talking to Nightwing breaks down crying saying how much he loves Danny and that he sure he’s going to marry him one day.
Ace of Spades and the Ace of Diamonds (Iris and Sparrow Story)
Trigger Warnings: BLOOD. LOTS OF IT. THIS IS REALLLLLLLLY SHORT. DEATH, SUGGESTIVE THEMES, MAFIA, PREDATORY IMPLICATIONS... DEATH. LOTS OF IT. MURDER.
"What the HELL do you know?! You're a fucking child!" Their adversary became enraged. Sparrow let out a sigh into her hands. She was getting on her last nerve with this scumbag of a man. She noticed Iris shift and her bodyguard glaring at him. She was well aware that this man would never be a reliable ally. He was arrogant, confrontational, and lacked respect. She felt Iris start to stand up and raised her hand.
"Mr. Marks, I assure you. I'm not a child," Sparrow stated calmly as Iris sat back down. She crossed her legs and then uncrossed them again. She shifted her gaze to Slim Jim. As he watched her and Iris' movements with predatory intent, she felt a twinge of smugness. She gave Iris a look that said, "I found the weak link". She leaned forward on the table. "We're on a level playing field, Mr. Marks." Sparrow let her voice drawl, and Mr. Marks gave her a predatory smirk. "I apologize for my behavior... Iris... If you will... Please give my apologies to these gentlemen." Sparrow looked at Iris, who stood up. Iris nodded and moved over to Slim Jim's side. She began massaging his shoulders.
"My, my, Mr. Jim. Your shoulders are tense and strained... You'd make an excellent husband one day." Iris drewled as she leaned against his back. He flushed, and it was clear he had feelings for her.
"Would I...?" Slim Jim inquired, moving his hand and beginning to feel up her thigh as she stood behind him.
"You would... it's a shame it'll never happen..." Iris uttered a coo. Slim Jim was perplexed, but Iris slashed his throat open before he could open his mouth again. As he began to choke, his blood began to pool. She spun the knife quickly and stabbed Mr. Marks' dominant hand into the table. Mr. Marks screamed in pain as he yanked out the knife and clutched his bleeding hand. Slim Jim clutched his throat before collapsing over the table, limp.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING-" Mr. Marks began until Iris slashed his face, causing him to gasp in pain. Sparrow sighed, crossing her legs.
"You should be ashamed, Iris." Mr. Marks looked smug as Sparrow began, knowing that Iris was about to be punished. "You splattered blood on the tablecloth. Next time, be more cautious." Sparrow got up as she walked over. Mr. Marks glared at her.
"Are you attempting to instigate a mafia war, you bitch-" Mr. Marks snarled, only to be met with a knife in the chest. He screamed in agony as he grasped at her hand. She plunged the knife further as he hits the ground.
"You naive man... I forewarned you not to be disrespectful... You stepped onto our turf... Your reputation had already been sullied..." Sparrow pulled out her knife and handed it to Iris. Iris took it and scrubbed the blade and handle clean. "Now... You were killed in defense by an innocent little girl... My, my... We'll be moving into your little turf... And taking care of the rest of your... People." Sparrow got up and waved over a goon of her Iris.
"Would you please clean this up for us, Michael?" Iris inquired. Michael nodded and began dragging the two bodies out. "So, Sparrow... Let's get you cleaned up and then go get some food." Sparrow nodded, and Iris shrugged. Mr. Marks cursed their names as the two walked away.
