Gotham's New Private Detective
So! When Wes finally proved that Danny and Phantom were one in the same, he had expected to feel so much better about it.
Instead all he could feel was bile rising up his throat, every time he thought back to that fateful day when he presented all of his evidence to the school. It was supposed to be a "Gotcha!" Moment, to have Danny admit he was right so he could move on with his life. Instead, as peoples heads began to turn to Danny in shock, all he could see on the boys face was horror.
It wasn't until later that day, when he saw on the news that the Fentons had engaged in a huge battle with Phantom in the middle of the street, that he realized he had fucked up.
It wasn't until he was standing over Danny's mutilated body, having broken into the Fentons Lab just to ease his worries, that he realized just how Badly he had Fucked Up.
From there his actions were a blur.
He could vaguely remember prying the restrains off of Danny with a crowbar, hurriedly wrapping up the worst of his injuries, and hauling him onto his back. He could also remember using his experience as a 3am YouTube prowler to hot wire a random Car parked on the side of the street, and floor it as far out of the City as the gas tank would allow.
He could also remember the burning Hatred in Danny's eyes as he eased him into the Back Seat.
When the Car he had stolen ran out of Gas, he pulled into a parking lot and stole another, this time driving off into a completely different direction. He repeated this a few times.
Eventually the landed in Gotham City, not Wes's first choice, but to be honest it was one of the better places to hide from the authorities. The Police there were famously incompetent (and corrupt), so there was very little chance he and Danny would he found.
From there he tried his best to help Danny. He found a back alley doctor who agreed to stitch him up discreetly, though it took most all of the money he had hastily taken out of his personal savings account (there goes his College fund), and then found an abandoned apartment building they could use to sleep. The remainder of his savings went into making the place livable.
A part time job at a local shop was enough to pay for some Groceries for himself and Danny, but not much else. He made liberal use of Gym Showers, and helped Danny stumble there as well when he wanted one. Aside from that, Danny barely interacted with him.
And he understood. Really, he did. Wes had Ruined his Life.
Despite everything else he had tried to do for Danny in the past few weeks, it was still his fault and his fault alone that Danny was in this situation.
He knew that there was a high chance that Danny would never forgive him. He also knew there was a 100% chance that he would spend the rest of his life trying to atone for his mistake.
As time went on, Wes provided for himself and Danny with his part time job, and kept his head down. He knew the kind of trouble he could get into if he stuck his nose into other peoples business. He swore he would never do so again.
But...
...Well, there was a case on the News about a murder that took place a few blocks away from their building. And in a moment of weakness, Wes had decided to look up the specifics of the case. Then he dug a little deeper, and deeper, and before he knew it he had linked it to 2 other murders and had figured out who the Killer was.
But he couldn't act on it, he just couldn't. He had sworn to himself that he would keep his nose out of other peoples business...but this was important wasn't it? More people would die if the murderer was left to run free...but the Bats or Police would probably be able to solve it on their own right?
Except it had been a week already since he had figured it out. And if he was right, the Killer would strike again soon...so maybe...just this once...?
(And thus, Gotham City got a new Private Detective. Not a costumed vigilante or a dangerous metahuman. Just a concerned citizen, trying to make up for the terrible mistakes he made in his past.)

















