Danny’s on the Suicide Squad. He’s the defacto team moral compass and ray of sunshine. He plays the role of the camp counselor that keeps everyone in line. He’s not afraid of working with even the gnarliest of baddies.
Everybody on the team wonders how he ended up locked up with the villains- he never talks about what he did to end up behind bars no matter how much they pester him. Then one day they’re out on a mission and Harley or somebody is caught and tortured. Danny snaps. It’s the opposite of brutal- he takes down everyone in the room with clinical, dispassionate efficiency.
After it’s over and the team is safe he comes back to himself and is almost sheepish. He radios Belle Reve.
“Whoops. Add another couple notches on my power dampener collar, would you Waller?”
“Can’t, it’s already at max.”
“Ah. Well. I’ll have a look at strengthening it when we’re back then.”
The team just stared at him slack jawed. Good thing he’s on their side.
AKA "Dead on Main idea where Jason Todd accidentally-on-purpose adopts kid!Dani and Dan without realizing their 'father' is literally the High King of Infinite Realms, Space, and the Dead" prompt!
Ngl, this is somewhat inspired by that one family who's cat had another family and they didn't realize until the cat came back in a little outfit.
Imagine 10-year-old Dani in an Etsy Phantom hoodie and 14-year-old Dan with a spiky bedazzled jacket. Jason's like, "What's that?? I didn't buy that for you??" And they say, no, our other dad did!! :)
And then it just kind of morphs into a divorced-parents-getting-back-together trope where Jason casually mentions his "kids' dad" and people just assume he's separated. Why should he correct them? He's never met this "Danny" guy, but he's still Dan & Dani's other dad and they clearly love him. So what if people end up calling Jason "Danny's husband"? (He doesn't know why Constantine called him the "King's consort" that one time and Constantine really didn't have time to explain before Jason straight-up decked him in the face.)
Danny, who's probably in his 20s or something at this point, is just eating ramen when Sam and Tucker bust into his apartment.
"When were you going to tell us you were married to the Red Hood?? The Crime Prince of Gotham?? Danny, you're married to a legitimate crime lord???"
Danny, noodle hanging out of mouth: What??
So, yeah, that's how Danny finds out he's apparently married. Clearly, Danny has to go searching this evil-ass Cursed City for his wayward clone kids and find out who his "husband" is.
kind of gory? Not in a violent way.
Danny felt cold.
Not his core cold, or winter cold, more like a “walking around without clothes cold”.
Skulker was right, at the end.
He got his pelt, and now…
Well, Danny was walking around without skin. Hence, the cold.
He wasn’t really worried, it would grow back like his missing organs did when the GIW emptied him out.
Long story short, Skulker was a bitch, he should probably find a way to stop dripping with blood (and possibly a coat) and try to figure out where he ended up after taking the wrong portal while escaping.
He was doing well at this point, he thought. The city he was in was gloomy and humid, which was nice since he was starting to dry out pretty fast.
————————————————————————
“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck-“
Jason stared at the walking flayed guy who was taking a nice stroll around the block.
Every step he took left a matching bloody print, and he could see every single fiber of the muscles tense and relax.
The more he stared at it, the more he hated it.
He immediately reached for the coms.
“I fucking hate it, what the fuck-“
He heard the others connecting.
“Hood, everything alright?”
“Fuck no, oh my god, I’m not gonna be able to sleep anymore, that’s the most fucked up shit I ever saw my entire life, what the fuck”
“Hood, report. What’s going on?”
“OH MY GOD!” Everybody heard Oracle almost shout from the coms “That’s ugh- I’m gonna throw up, that- ugh-”
“Right?!”
“Hood! Report right now!”
“It’s like-It’s like this guy, walking around without skin and-“
Hood looked down at it. It was looking back.
“You know I can hear you, right?”
Danny is gravely injured by the GIW, his voice box is severely damaged.
Making use of his own voice is impossible, but through some ghostly means Danny doesn’t quite understand, he can mimic others voices he hears just fine.
It’s a ghostly ability he found out he had a few years ago, with just a sentence or two heard he can do a flawless impression of that person. Now it’s not so flawless. The mimicked voice warps and fluctuates pitch, it’s crackly and he has a hard time not switching between multiple voices with every sentence he speaks.
His voice is reduced to an uncanny frankenstined attempt at speech that activates the average persons fight or flight response.
It’s no surprise that Superman is startled when he calls out for survivors while freeing the ghostly captives and a “not a deer” version of his own voice responds back.
Who knows, maybe I'll add this to the dead on main fic I'm working on. We'll see. Anyway, more under the cut.
The air was cold and clammy, laden with heavy gray clouds and drizzling sheets of rain when Sam Manson stepped out onto the driveway. The rain pattered a steady rhythm on her black umbrella and she folded her long batwing sleeve over her arm to shut the car door behind her. The sleek black airport taxi idled quietly behind her as she turned to take in the familiar mansion looming before her.
The wrought iron gate arcing above her head was slick with rain, but a singular call button and speaker sat sheltered out of the rain. Sam approached and reached to press the button with a single black-tipped finger. The speaker hummed to life a moment later.
“Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth speaking. How may I help you?” The voice was smooth and poshly British, and Sam took a breath of the cool October air.
“Samantha Manson to see Bruce Wayne,” she murmured into the cold metal. It felt wrong to speak at any higher of a level.
There was a moment’s pause and Sam smoothed her hand over the black lace of her dress. She could do this.
“Were we expecting you this evening, Ms. Manson?” The voice replied after a moment.
Sam pursed her lips together and raised her chin. She put on her best impression of her mother. “No, you were not. However, I believe this to be a matter urgent enough to warrant such a visit.”
“I see,” Pennyworth said. And then, “Why don’t you come in out of the rain? I will contact Master Bruce once you’re safely indoors.”
Sam let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Thank you, Mr. Pennyworth.”
“Please, call me Alfred.”
Then the speaker clicked off and Sam took a step back so the gates could slowly swing open on their motorized hinges. She waved off her driver and watched them reverse down the long driveway, then turned back to the building that loomed above her. She took a breath.
She could do this.
⋆₊✧₊⋆
The foyer of Wayne Manor looked much the same as Sam remembered from the few galas she’d attended within its walls – vaulted ceilings, sweeping staircases, and two wings diverging off to the left and right. To Sam’s knowledge, neither she nor any of the other gala guests had ever ventured beyond the ground floor before. She wondered if that would change tonight.
Alfred Pennyworth took her umbrella at the door and she made sure to lightly wipe her boots on the mat inside the door. She felt the inherent urge to remove them before stepping further into the house, but none of the Waynes seemed to be from a similar culture, so she dismissed the feeling.
Alfred showed Sam the way to the drawing room to the right and gestured at one of the many cushy couches. “Have a seat if you wish, Ms. Manson,” he said politely. “Master Bruce is finishing up a call in his study and will be out to greet you shortly. In the meantime, may I offer you some tea?”
Sam took a seat and nodded, folding her hands in her lap. “Earl Grey if you have it, please.” Alfred nodded and stepped through a side door that Sam hadn’t even noticed. And then she was alone.
She took a deep breath and clasped her hands tightly together. She was here now, and there was no going back. If she intended to go through with her plan, she couldn’t back down now. The entire endeavor was a long shot, but it was the only option she had left.
The only option Danny had left.
Alfred returned after a few minutes with a tray laden with fine china and two steaming cups of tea. There were also tea sandwiches and scones, and Sam took one comprised of cucumber and cream cheese along with her tea. She thanked the butler again, and he backed out of the room with a bow. She almost felt like she was back in Japan.
A clock on the far side of the room ticked away the time. One minute, then two, then three. After seven movements of the minute hand, footsteps sounded from the foyer. Sam placed her teacup down and folded her hands once again in her lap as Bruce Wayne approached.
“Samantha,” he said warmly as he swept into the room. He was dressed in a crisp navy suit with the top few buttons undone. His shoes were a clean but well worn pair of loafers. “Or Sam, rather. Is that right?” Sam nodded. Mr. Wayne crossed to and settled into a chair opposite Sam, seizing the second cup of tea from the tray on the low table between them. He grinned at her over the lip of it. “To what do I owe this pleasure? It’s not often that people make the journey to Gotham, and certainly not all by their lonesome.”
Sam gave the man a small smile. She wanted to slap the joviality off his face.
“I’m afraid I’m here for business,” she said instead. “Not pleasure.”
Mr. Wayne’s eyebrows raised and he set his teacup down.
“Is that so?” He asked. He leaned back in his seat and regarded her with keen eyes, sweeping them clinically over her person before returning his gaze to her face. “What business do you wish to discuss, then? I don’t recall having any dealings with your parents in recent memory.”
“That’s correct,” Sam said as evenly as she could. She got the distinct impression Mr. Wayne was humoring her. She squared her shoulders. “I should clarify that I’m not here on my parents’ behalf. I’m here for my own interests.” He raised his eyebrows higher. “Or, I should say, the interests of the world.”
There was a pause. Wayne sat up a little straighter.
“The interests of… the world?” He repeated.
Sam nodded. “It is my understanding that you are one of the main financial backers for the Justice League. Is that correct, Mr. Wayne?”
“It is,” Mr. Wayne confirmed, eyebrows drawing together.
“And the Batman?” Sam pushed.
“Well…” Wayne laughed slightly at that and waved a vague hand in the air. “If he were to exist, then sure. But he’s scarcely more than a ghost.”
“He was on national television with Wonder Woman last week, sir,” Sam deadpanned.
Mr. Wayne chuckled and spread his hands like what can you do? Sam did not return his smile. She was quickly becoming sick of seeing his stupidly bright teeth and she hadn’t been in his presence for 10 minutes. She ground her teeth.
When Sam didn’t respond, Mr. Wayne dropped his hands and studied her face. Then he sat up straighter in his chair and met Sam’s gaze seriously.
“What’s this about then, Sam?” He asked. Sam tried not to prickle too obviously at the use of her name. “What business on behalf of the world have you traveled all this way to present to me?”
Sam took a slow breath through her nose. She unclasped her hands, blood rushing back into them at the release of pressure. She’d brought the folder, but the idea of actually handing it over had her stomach clenching. Amity Park and its inhabitants were her best kept secret, the one she and her friends didn’t dare to speak of outside of its borders. And more than that…
“Have you ever heard of the Ghost Investigation Ward, Mr. Wayne?”
The words just sort of fell out of her mouth, but it worked well enough as a start. It was clearly not what Wayne had expected her to say, at least. The man across from her blinked a few times before his face settled into a confused frown.
“I can’t say that I have. And, please, call me Bruce.” Sam nodded once. She’d expected that Bruce wouldn’t know of the GIW, of course, had even hoped so. But it still stung to be reminded how alone she and her friends had been in dealing with this for all these years.
Sam took a steeling breath. She could do this.
Sam reached into the depths of her sleeve and withdrew the folder. She set it carefully on the table between the two of them, to the right of the tea tray. Bruce tracked the motion before returning his quizzical gaze to her. Sam’s heart rabbitted in her chest, but she forced herself into calm. She breathed in and out once, then spoke.
“This file contains all of the information I have on an agency funded solely by the US government that has been carrying out unlawful experimentation on nonhuman entities for nearly half a decade.”
Silence. Wayne stared. Sam pushed on.
“Their work is in direct contradiction with the Meta Protection Acts, yet they have full authorization from and the full support of the federal government. They–”
“That is quite the accusation,” Bruce interrupted with a frown. Sam couldn’t help the glare she shot his way.
“It’s not an accusation,” she said forcefully. Perhaps a bit too forcefully, because Wayne leaned back slightly in his chair. She took a long breath and searched for that internal place of calm. This was for Danny. She didn’t have the freedom or luxury of letting her emotions control her right now.
She tried again.
“It’s not an accusation, Bruce,” she repeated more calmly. “It’s the truth. This file,” she tapped the closed brown cover and Mr. Wayne’s eyes followed the movement, “should have everything required to substantiate my claims and more. It contains copies of the contracts signed between the ward and the Homeland Security, as well as receipts for funds provided by the government in order to create their so-called ‘experimental facilities.’”
She couldn’t help the way her lips curled into a sneer as she spoke, but Wayne wasn’t looking at her. His eyes had locked onto the Homeland Security crest stamped across the file in front of him. Good.
“The file also contains records of the ward’s stated goals, recent movements, and the results of all of their experiments, up until about a month and a half ago. Once reviewed, I’m sure you’ll find that everything about this agency, from its methods to the very purpose of its creation, is at odds with everything the Justice League stands for.”
And you, I hope, she added silently. Please don’t stand for it, either.
Wayne was flitting between looking at the file and Sam, questions swimming in his eyes. Before he could interrupt again, Sam flipped open the folder to its first page. Bruce sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the file and leaned forward to inspect it.
Sam watched his eyes rove over the photos Tucker had managed to pull from the GIW’s database before they’d moved it offline: the torn and broken bodies of countless ghosts, the remains of beings that had been ripped apart for no reason beyond human hate and curiosity. Wayne’s eyes were wide as he took it all in, and his skin had paled to an ashy grey. Good.
“This is the business I traveled all this way to discuss with you,” Sam told him grimly. His eyes flicked to hers momentarily before they were drawn inexorably back to the carnage laid out before him. He pulled the file closer, mouth pressed into a thin line. “This is why I ventured to Gotham all by my lonesome and showed up on your step with no warning. These are the interests of the world I come to represent.”
Sam let him take in the horror before him, to soak in the ghastly knowledge that Sam had been living with for over a year now, for a long minute. When he took a breath and began to pull back, she snapped the folder closed and returned it to her sleeve. Bruce looked up when she did so, and she could’ve laughed at the look on his face if the situation weren’t what it was. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Sam,” Bruce said gravely, sinking back into his chair with a shake of his head. “This is–” he started, but Sam held her hand up. She wasn’t finished yet.
Bruce complied, leaning back in his chair and covering his mouth with a hand. Sam folded hers back into her lap.
“I am under no illusions that you extended me the favor of this unplanned meeting for any reason other than my family’s name,” Sam told him. Bruce didn’t even try to object. “So I am going to ask that you keep your opinion of me and my name in mind when I ask you for this next favor.”
Sam met his gaze, willing him to understand how much she needed this. How much Danny needed this. This was their last resort.
After a long, tense moment, Wayne nodded. “I’ll listen,” he said softly. “Whatever you need, I’ll hear you out.”
Sam’s throat tightened at the words, and she nodded stiffly. She was almost done. She could get through this.
“If you mean that,” she started, but her voice broke. She swallowed it away. “If you mean that, then what I need from you, Mr. Wayne, is a meeting with the Batman.”
The silence after the words left her mouth felt suffocating. Bruce just looked at her. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she held his gaze defiantly, chin raised. She wouldn’t let him say no. He couldn’t say no.
“The Batman?” Wayne asked after a moment. She nodded again, through the lump in her throat. Bruce frowned, steepling his fingers in front of his face. Then, “Why the Batman?”
Sam blinked. “Sorry?” She asked.
“Well, why not any of the other members of the Justice League? Surely this is something that could be investigated by any one of them.”
“I…” Sam didn’t have a response prepared for that. She squeezed her hands together. “I guess… he’s the one I trust the most to get justice.”
Wayne nodded slowly, considering her through calm eyes. “Is that what you want?” He asked. “Justice?”
Sam hesitated. There were a lot of things she wanted. Justice was one. Revenge, another. Danny to be safe more than anything, really.
But when she thought of herself, of Tucker and the people of Amity Park, of the ghosts who had simply left the Zone at the wrong time…
“Yes,” Sam whispered. Her throat burned. “I want justice.” It felt like a ridiculous thing to say, to hope for. There were so many ridiculous things she hoped for these days.
“I want to see the GIW demolished,” she continued despite herself. She clasped her hands hard, feeling the muscles shift and the bones grind. A tear threatened to slip down her cheek. “I want to see the agents pay for what they’ve d-done. I want to look every single o-one of them in the fa-face and know that they understand what they’ve d-done. The lives they’ve ruined.”
A sob bubbled up and Sam tried to push it away but it was no use. Now that she’d started, there was no stopping it, no stemming the waves of emotion.
“I want them to understand it and to be f-forced to live with it,” she said through gritted teeth. Tears slipped freely down her cheeks. “I want what they did to destr- destroy them like it’s destroyed u-us. And I want- I want anyone, anyone at all, to acknowledge that they- they left us there! They- they left us there! In that fucking town to rot! To deal with it by ourselves and we can’t- I can’t- I can’t-” Sam covered her mouth with one half numb hand, but the sobbed words came anyway. “I can’t save him!”
Just saying the words out loud had Sam doubling over on the couch, sobs wracking through her body. It felt so good to finally say it, to finally admit it to herself, that she couldn’t reel herself in.
“Oh god,” she cried into her knees. “I can’t- can’t- I couldn’t save him! He’s- and I can’t do anything!” She pressed her skull into the bone of her knees, panting into her skirt as sobs wracked uncontrollably through her body.
A weight dipped onto the couch beside her, and suddenly Sam was tilting over slightly into a strong, warm body. Mr. Wayne didn’t say anything as he held her. He didn’t offer the empty assurances she had come to expect from adults, didn’t try to convince her it was okay, or that she didn’t need to be so upset. He just pulled Sam gently onto his lap and let her cry and cry and cry.
Sam didn’t know how long she laid there, hiccupping and sniffling into Mr. Wayne’s cotton suit. It was just until the burning, aching guilt began to abate, and she was finally able to quell the tears.
Once she’d stopped crying, the two of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Mr. Wayne’s arm was a reassuring weight across her shoulder and back. Sam listened to the clock tick away across the room and tried to breathe in time with the second hand. Seven seconds in, eleven seconds out – just like Jazz had taught them.
Tears returned to her eyes at the memory, but she just let them fall where they may. She didn’t have enough energy to do much else.
“Why don’t you stay the night in one of our guest rooms, Sam,” Mr. Wayne suggested quietly. He rubbed a gentle hand up and down her arm. “Most of my children are away from home at the moment, so you’ll have the floor to yourself. It’ll just be my youngest, Damian, on the floor below you. Alfred can make it up for you now, if you’d like?”
Sam sniffed and pushed herself into a sitting position. Her face felt tight and dry despite the waterworks, and she resisted the urge to wipe at it. She relished the idea of being able to wash away her ruined makeup and sleep the day off in a real bed, rather than at the hotel as she’d planned.
“Yes,” she agreed quietly. “That sounds very nice, thank you.” She saw Mr. Wayne smile at her from the corner of her eye before he stood and called for Alfred. The two of them had a quiet conversation that she ignored in favor of gathering herself further, and then the butler vanished once again. Sam looked up at Bruce.
“You… You believe me, right?” She asked tentatively. She felt childish saying it, but she had to know this hadn’t been a waste. She had to know there was still hope. “You’ll think about what I said?”
Bruce Wayne gave her a soft smile, much realer than the ones she’d received when she’d first arrived. He returned to his spot on the couch and took her hand, looking her in the eye.
“If there is any truth to what you’ve told me,” he started and Sam couldn’t help the face she made. “Of which I have no doubt,” Bruce added quickly, with another slightly ironic smile. Then his face grew more serious, and he gently squeezed her hand between both of his. “Then I will do everything in my power to see the GIW stopped and shut down, permanently. You will get your justice, Sam. I guarantee it.”
And, just for that moment, Sam actually believed him.
Dick, drunk: Man, fuck Jason.
Roy, also drunk, near tears: Dude I'm trying.
Always excited to see you post!
If it’s not too much trouble, could we have more Dad!Tim or Tim raised by Danny?
Love your blog!
oh tysm anon!! here u go <3
It starts weird.
Which, considering Danny’s life, tracks.
He doesn’t plan on adopting a traumatized billionaire’s emotionally neglected child detective. But Tim shows up one day—scraped up, exhausted, eyes like dead stars—and Danny just. Offers him soup.
That’s all.
Not a rescue. Not a battle. Just soup, and a blanket that smells like ghost dog fur, and a “you okay?” asked without expectation.
And Tim, for whatever reason, stays.
It’s not immediate. Danny doesn’t even realize what’s happening at first. Tim starts coming by after patrol, sometimes with bruises, sometimes with files. Sometimes just to sit on the couch and watch garbage TV while Danny does dishes.
Danny, for his part, starts setting out extra food. Starts asking if Tim’s eaten. Starts dragging him to bed when he falls asleep face-first into schematics.
And one day, Tim brings his laundry over. Danny blinks. Tim blinks. They never talk about it again.
There’s a moment.
It’s small.
They’re in the kitchen. It’s 2AM and raining. Danny’s slicing fruit for no reason and Tim’s doing… something with string and duct tape. He’s muttering, hair sticking up in all directions, wearing one of Danny’s hoodies like it belongs to him.
And he says, absently, "Thanks, Dad."
Silence.
Tim freezes. Danny blinks. They both look at each other like they’ve been caught doing something illegal.
Danny says, “...You’re welcome.”
And that’s it.
No one dies. The world doesn’t end. Tim just blushes, mumbles something about the blueprints, and goes back to work.
After that, it’s different.
Danny picks up on it first. The way Tim gravitates toward him in crowded rooms. The way he asks for advice, then pretends he didn’t. The way he lets Danny fuss at him about food and sleep and schedules, even when he’s grumpy about it.
The way Tim lights up when Danny praises him. Like he’s still that little kid who wanted to make someone proud and stopped expecting it a long time ago.
What Danny finds most intriguing, is noticing how Tim starts becoming one of those quiet, velcro kids.
He doesn’t cling. He hovers. Moves around Danny like a satellite—close, watchful, drawn in by gravity. Always sitting just a little too near on the couch. Always finding a way to lean against him when tired. Always relaxing when Danny’s hand ruffles his hair without asking.
Danny catches himself more than once with a Tim-shaped barnacle attached to his side, both of them pretending it’s completely normal.
And honestly? Danny doesn’t mind.
Tim's always been a little starved. But now he has someone to curl into when the nightmares come. Now he has a home, not just a place he sleeps in between battles.
Bruce notices it too.
He notices when Tim stops calling the manor “home.” When he starts redirecting all his mail to Danny’s apartment. When someone asks who Tim’s guardian is, and he doesn’t hesitate before saying, “Oh—Danny.”
Not Bruce. Never Bruce. Not anymore. Tim doesn’t even seem angry about it. He just… moved on. Bruce tries to pretend it doesn’t sting.
Danny doesn’t know what he’s doing.
He’s not Bruce. He’s not a Wayne.
He’s not rich or trained or qualified. But he sees Tim, really sees him, and maybe that’s enough.
Maybe Tim didn’t need another mentor or mission.
Maybe he just needed someone to say: "You don’t have to earn love. You already have it." And mean it.
Danny does. Every day. Even when Tim forgets. Especially when he forgets.
Because the thing is—Danny remembers.
He remembers the first time Tim let himself laugh, unguarded and loud. He remembers the night Tim fell asleep mid-sentence, curled into the corner of the couch with popcorn in his hair. He remembers every subtle shift, every quiet moment of trust.
And he knows—deep down—Tim might never say it again. But he doesn’t have to. Danny already is. Dad, that is. And he's not going anywhere.
Dp x dc: batshit crazy driver au.
Bruce hired a new personal driver for the Wayne's. He was a nice enough guy. His grades weren't great, but he was a great driver and very patient. Like, really patient. Like, he is so unbothered by traffic, stupid drivers, and villain attacks, its kinda scary. But all the background checks came back clean. Minus his mad scientists parents, of course.
Daniel (Danny) Fenton. He could relate to any of the Wayne kids and hold an intelligent conversation with Bruce. Bruce feels that he doesn't need to be all Brucie Wayne around the young man. He doesn't know about their nightly activities yet, though. They're not quite sure if he even needs to know.
The first sign there was something more to Danny happened when Tim was sitting in the passenger seat. Tim was struggling with a math problem. It was driving him nuts. It only took a quick glance for Daniel to solve it, though, "it's thirty-six"
"What?"
"The answer is Thirty-six. You forgot to carry the three."
"Huh..."
He was right, Tim made a simple mistake, sure. But that was advanced college level math. Danny was a straight c student and never went to college. It only took him a momentary glance to solve it. Tim, though suspicious, chalked it up to a simple case of gifted kid syndrome. He related to it and began to consult with Danny on some of his math problems. Danny was more than happy to help, for a price, of course.
Then, there was a villain attack. The villain's goons ran rampant through the city, terrorizing anyone unfortunate enough to be outside at the time. But not Danny, they'll tried, oooh they tried. But those goons swiftly found themselves zip tied, in the trunk of a car, and on their way to jail. All while Danny blasted some music by a small artist named 'Ember'.
Alright. He is in Gotham, and his mother was a black belt, so maybe he was just well trained. Its good to know how to deffend yourself.
Then, Damien was kidnapped. It was so fast they barely saw, but a white van sped by and grabbed Damien as he made his way tawords the car. Initially, Damien expected the chauffeur to panic and call the police. But when shouting and cursing were heard from the front seat, and the men in the back slipped the van door open to check behind them, it was revealed Danny had followed them and he had a gun.
What could only be described as an action movie chase scene ensued. Every corner they swerved, every shortcut they took, Danny was right behind them. Driving like a bat out of hell, he shouted and fired at the wheels of the van. Knocking one out, the van swerved and was forced to come to a stop.
A kidnapper grabbed Damien by the hair and held a gun to his head, but before the threat could even leave his mouth a bullet flew through his hand. He dropped Damien and fell to the ground screaming, clutching his hand.
The kidnapper in the van already took off running but was swiftly stopped by Redhood arriving just in time to see Danny helping Damien up and checking him over, profusely apologizing for "letting this happen."
When asked why he did all of it, his simply answered, "I don't think I would get paid if I let Mr. Wayne's kid die! I can't let a kid die in general!"
Bruce, of course, gave the young man a bonus and a few days off for the stunt. Accompanied wlth a few stern words about safety. What was truly remarkable was that there was not a single scratch on the car. Untouched, meaning he never hit anything during the whole ordeal. "I just learned what not to do from my dad!" He joked, but Bruce felt that, despite the clear joking tone, there was some truth to the statement.
The family is suspicious, very suspicious. The man they previously viewed as their simple and humble driver turned out to be a monster of a fighter, and they have no idea how or why.
----------------------‐------
A/N: Feel free to add onto this in any way you would like :3
Sam: *slams hands on table* You're a YA protagonist!
Danny: *confused* I'm.....not?
Sam: *points at Jason reading in the corner* That's your boyfriend?
Danny: Yes?
Sam: Your Crime Lord Boyfriend?
Danny: That doesn't mean that I'm a-
Sam: Your crime lord boyfriend that is also the child of this citys billionaire and could buy you anything you wanted?
Danny: *flustered* Well, i-
Sam: Your crime lord boyfriend that's loaded that's also a revanant, and constantly around you because he "feels himself when he's around you"?
Danny:....
Sam:.....
Danny:.....Oh Ancients, I'm a YA protagonist.
Sam: Glad you've noticed.
Sam:..
Sam: Also he growls alot.
Danny: *flustered* Sam!
Down in the streets of Gotham, in the side alley next to Express Urgent Care run by one Leslie Thompkins and that was funded by the Martha Wayne Foundation was a soup kitchen.
Well...a soup kitchen of sorts. Not in any way official but if you were hungry in Crime alley you knew that the food would be safe and warm...and it was a place where *you* could be safe and warm.
Danny had left a week after his parents found out that he was Phantom, a week after he had seen their grief, the regret and pain in their eyes. The week had been spent in suspense, he knew that they needed to talk about what had happened but neither of his parents were ever able to even start bringing it up before they were sobbing.
Danny knew his parents loved him, thst his father felt soul crushing guilt, that his mother spent hours staring at herself in the mirror, as if she didn't even know who was looking back at her.
And to spare them both, Danny left.
It wasn't hard to do, not when he could turn invisible and phase through walls, a final text to Sam and Tucker to say his good byes (he knew that they would break and tell his parents where he would be going) and a particularly hard hug to leave from Jazz, Danny flew off with only a back pack.
He had traveled across the US for a few months, occasionally snagging a post card from a super store to send off home, paying only when he had the excess funds (Sam's rants about mega rich corporate billionaires let him know just which stores wouldn't miss the few bucks the cards sold for)
He had met up with Dani a few times, when she was in the country, handing him Vlads credit card and telling him to keep it (though he never did) only ever using it to book a room for a few nights at a hotel to clean himself up and sleep in a real bed.
He settled in Gotham after a while, he had briefly stayed in Faucett but that place didn't have nearly enough ecto for him to live comfortably.
Gotham on the other hand? It had everything, cops that don't question why a teen is on the streets, natural ecto up the wazoo and well...a crime rate that would dissuade his parents ever looking for him there.
He had set up a more permanent shelter in an abandoned apartment building (after chasing out the low level drug dealers that were using it) and found that he kinda liked the vibes of the place under the blatant crimes being committed in broad day light.
Sure people could see you getting mugged and look the other way, but if you were still alive and there 5 minutes later, they would come back, hand you something to clean up your now bloody nose and point out the bodega that had the best sandwiches.
It was a sense of community that Danny didn't know he had missed for the many months he traveled.
His first "cook out" wasn't even supposed to be a cook out, his apartment building was mostly wood and he didn't trust himself to not burn it down, so he came outside, setting up a portable stove and setting up a pot filled with some, water to boil up a soup mix.
As he waited for it to come to temp, he saw the group of homeless rubbing their hands together, watching him with curiosity, though that quickly turned to hunger as the smell of the soup spilled out into the alley.
Instead of turning the others away Danny only shrugged, pulled out his spare paper bowls and handed them out, taking a few bites first to show that it was safe to eat.
What followed was a sort of tradition, Danny would come out a few times a day, take out his hot plate and pot and set up a soup, others started asking if they could pitch in, and well...Danny would have loved to keep providing it freely but his food was quickly dwindling.
So his soup got add in, some jerky that Crazy Tom had got tossed in, a few herbs (re:weeds) were added in by Miss O'Connor, and Danny didn't even know where Lady Dimond pulled out some spices from, but he wasn't about to question the her, he had learned never to question where the working girls hid their things.
And it sort of grew from there, who ever was around came by, some came out of their way to share a meal, but it became a meeting place of sorts "Come by the Kitchen at noon, Tom got his hands on some steak! And it ain't even smells bad!"
Sure gangs tried to pull up on the meeting place, tried to intimidate the people there or coerce them into doing something...well that was until the host, some punk teen with hair darker than black and blue eyes that were so light they were white came up, and dished out a heavy handed fist into their jaws and sent them packing.
And so the Kitchen became a safe space, if you were hungry, if you were in danger, come by the little alley way, right next to the Express Urgent Care, the Host will take care of you there, if your willing to share, to stay peaceful with the rest of the gathered people, then you were welcome to grab a bite and relax, because the Kitchen was always safe.
---
It would be a few years since the Kitchen started, since people had brought chairs and tables, since an old grill of questionable origin was left out side it, since tarps with only a few holes were hung up to keep the place dry when it rained, since rugs covered the ground and the the alley it was in was swept clean of any needles or cigarette butts.
But for one boy it had only been a few short days since his Mama died, since he had found her cold and dead in the bathroom, a belt tied around her arm and a needle still in her hand.
Jason was miserable, he had stayed with her for the a single day before he knew he would have to leave, the body of his mother would start to decompose soon, so he did what he had too, calling the police with his mother's phone that didn't have a lot of minutes left on it, telling them the address before hanging up and leaving it there so he couldn't be tracked.
He couldn't be there when the cops showed up, foster care would do shit for him, and at least his Mama would be buried, and not left to rot in their bath tub.
So a young Jason Todd, scared, alone and hungry came to the Kitchen, as his mother had told him to many times before, had told him to seek out it's Host if anything ever happened to her...and well...at the very least he would get something to eat...
Danny is the owner of a quaint little book shop. It's mainly a front to collect as many ancient texts as he can but he still keeps all of the latest books in stock. He absolutely loves it when one boy in particular stops by almost every week. He gets very perplexed, then worried when the boy stops coming by.