Refuge
Danny was not retired, technically he came when people needed him, he helped or protected them as the case may be. It just turned out that over the years they stopped needing him.
And that was fine, it meant humanity could take care of itself, it meant they were safe. That was what had to matter, no matter that deep down, the halfa was hurt by the information.
It was harder to accept change when you weren't part of it. Danny was immortal, eternal, and powerful, things that no longer fit the world. Not with all the heroes and wizards running around, not with Amity Park fading away, becoming nothing more than a part of his memories.
He fit in perfectly in the Realms, sure, but he knew that if he stayed there too long he'd stop feeling human, and that was dangerous.
So, no, Danny wasn't retired. But he lived in a simple house in Metropolis, though sometimes he got tired of Superman being able to hear literally everything and moved to his house in Fawcett. He used to switch between the two houses frequently, not that it was difficult since he had figured out how to make portals.
He had a few friends, like the orphan boy who lived at the train station and Conner, a teenager who sometimes just needed a house to stay in when he couldn't stand his father.
Neither Conner nor Billy minded his age, which was comforting, although they both got curious when he visited the other house. Danny didn't know how to explain that Eternity Rock and Superman made him nervous if he stayed too long (he didn't like feeling watched), so he just shrugged and told them he had two houses.
Neither of the kids understood but they accepted it. They both had a habit of calling him "Uncle", Danny thought it was odd, given that his appearance wasn't exactly...adult, but it seemed they were comfortable with that, and he left them alone.
Apparently his house (occupied or not) had become a haven for them. Danny always greeted them with a sandwich, or cookies, even though he felt like a grandmother doing so. He smiled for the first time in years, feeling happy to fit into someone's life.
That's why it was quite disconcerting to find the Justice League outside his door asking him to join them. Danny chuckled internally, because the current heroes actually believed they could force him into something, but he accompanied them anyway.
Superboy and Captain Marvel scowled at the League as soon as they entered the Watchtower, when they were told they were bringing in a "dangerous individual" they didn't expect to see their unofficial uncle.
Danny is like a cockroach. No matter what happens he just keeps coming back.
Every Wayne has watched this kid die.
Every single Bat and Bird has failed to save him
They don't realize it's the same dude at first
They all just think they're having an absolute shit week.
He saved Damians life when he took that bullet
Jason watched him give his life for a kid when a bus was coming and the kid wouldn't get out of the way in time. Jason wasn't close enough (maybe they both would have lived if Jason had been closer. Faster. Better)
Cass saw the knife fly at him. She was too far. Couldn't tell to save him. She watched him fall in silence. He never made a sound.
He was at the top of a flight of stairs. Barbra watched him lose his balance. She was trapped by her chair and the daylight hours. She watched. Helpless as he tumbled to the ground, and lay, broken, before her.
Bruce was running late when it happened. His car stalled. Just as a boy, no older than his sons, ran (or flew or appeared) down the street. Out of breath. Covered in blood and bruises. Clothing torn. Bruce made to get out of the car as the boy turned and shouted. As if making his final stand. Bruce watches as the boy is gunned down by men in white. It's not until much later that he realizes the boy stopped where he, did, not because he was exhausted, but because they were running towards a crowd. That he had stopped running, had givens himself up, to protect the innocent.
Alfred held out a hand to a child. Too small and young and thin by far. He was just heading out to meet an old friend. He had no supplies, no emergency button no phone. No food to share or clean clothes to offer. Suddenly he found himself on the ground with the child on top of him, head oozing from what appeared to be a piece fallen from the building above them. The child has pushed him out of the way. His final act had been to save a stranger.
They're eating a meal in silence. All together for the first time in a long while. When there's a knock at the door. A case worker. Asking if Mr. Wayne were able to take in a child. Just for a short while. It was an emergency. He had no where else to go. They were desperate.
Bruce is tempted to say no. It's been a terrible couple of weeks. But who was he to turn away a child in need. Of course he has room. Let him tell Alfred. Just come through to the dining room when you're ready, you remember where it is of course? Excellent. We'll put extra places out for the both of you. Of course you're welcome to join us for dinner, it's awfully late and you must be starving.
Bruce goes back to let Alfred know they'll have dinner guests and is just settling in when the Boy They All Watched Die walks in closely tailing the social worker.
Chaos ensues
(reposting cuz someone wrote an awesome fic on AO3) Linking below. leave them some love if u like. they really took this snippet and ran with it!)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/51328789/chapters/129695641
I’ve never read something and had the urge to uproot my life in order to write the nastiest 300k word fic about a nonsensical prompt like this before. I NEED THIS HOMOEROTIC TENSION ON Ao3 LIKE, YESTERDAY! If I end up writing it, be rest assured, I WILL MAKE ANOTHER POST ABT THIS DELICIOUS PROMPT 😍
Danny would like to state, not on the record or anything, that shallow graves are the easiest to crawl back out of. So if these mercenaries could keep using them instead of the deeper ones, he might just thank them the next time they try to kill him.
He always gets back up, pretty firmly stuck in between life and death rather than ever being on one side or the other. They're never going to succeed, no matter how hard they try. Even things that used to hurt aren't really anymore.
Ectoranium? He built a tolerance to that a long time ago. Blood Blossoms? Those lost efficacy after his twentieth(?) exposure.
The amount of terrible lines he hears is just getting old, as well. "Dead men tell no tales." Classic. Epic. Wrong. Especially when you can't even kill him properly. The dead love to talk, you jerks firmly on the side of the living just can't hear them.
All things being equal, though, nothing brought more joy than the look on the face of one Lex Luthor when Danny showed up at a press conference with a microphone and a question after the former went through all the trouble of having Danny dropped off in the middle of the ocean in a concrete box.
He watched on in silent humor as he had divers swim for his concrete prison and bring it back up. Inside was a perfect impression of Danny, down to the folds of his clothes, but no Danny.
Neither man was a fool, but Danny was having fun with it. Subtle, but pointed, as he needled Luthor and protested every action his company took. Messing with Mortal megalomaniacs is a favored past-time.