Drabble 58: Lightning
When the Avengers met Danny, they figured the kid had been through a lot of shit in the past. Enough to become half ghost. So when he would be vague about answering questions or needed time up in his room, none of them really questioned it.
What threw most of them for a loop though was the way he dressed.
He wore sleeves, even in the summer despite having an ice core and probably needing the cold for it. Whether it was a sweater or a jacket, he was always covered up. It was the complete opposite of his personality. He was always so open and laughing and joking around with them, but if he ever had the urge to roll up his sleeves he would ignore it and distract himself from that longing with more conversation. Now he was 20, and they still hadn't ever really looked at his arms much.
They all found out why soon enough, however.
When Bruce found out it was because of a mission gone wrong, and he needed to tend to Danny's wounds. He was really the only one qualified to do that kind of thing, so the others left to give him all of his concentration in helping their fallen friend.
Danny was unconscious and had reverted back to his human form. His leather jacket was ruined from the blood, and he was going to need a new shirt considering Bruce just sliced through it to get to the wounds.
He quickly cleaned him up and stitched the gashes in his side, quickly but precisely. When he was done with that, He cleaned up the rest of his torso, throwing his jacket and shirt in the trash.
As he wiped and wiped, he began to notice something strange. He had heard of these types of scars, but had never actually seen them in person.
Until now that is.
There were long, short, jagged, smooth, black lines running all along Danny's torso, covering his chest, stomach, back, arms, and Bruce was gonna go ahead and guess his legs too. It was the type of mark you got when you've been struck by lightning and survived.
It all made sense now. Why he covered up was to avoid questions he didn't want to answer. Why he went to his room was so nobody could see him in pain, because despite having survived, he knew they could burn like nobody's business. Why he never swam with them. That one time Clint pulled a prank and Danny came out with his torso and arms invisible, which would still be comical if not for the reasoning Bruce had discovered.
He decided he wasn't going to ask Danny about them. It was his business, and when he decided he was going to tell he would. Instead, he just draped a blanket across the sleeping ghost and sat down at his computers, keeping an eye on him and his vitals.
Next was Thor, who had been fighting with Danny in the gym as he was a worthy opponent indeed. Though he wore sleeves, he seemed unbothered by the extra heat his body was taking.
Thor and Danny had been at it for hours, tossing banter back and forth like it was a hacky sack and legitimately enjoying themselves, one super being to another. It was when they were taking a water break that Thor noticed something odd.
The water itself wasn't odd, but when Danny had lifted his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his face. Thor's eyes narrowed at the black markings on his friend's stomach, eyes widening with realization. He had seen those markings on several of the being s he had fought throughout his life. Those were the scars of those who had survived his lightning attacks.
"Daniel," Thor's voice was tinged with worry. "I have seen those marking across your skin many times before." He just needed reassurance, not noticing the way Danny stiffened and straightened out his shirt. "I know what those are from but I must ask-was I the one to cause you that harm?"
Danny stared at him, absolutely dumbstruck at Thor's worried expression. He was asking if he had killed Danny? What? Danny almost laughed, but instead he just smiled and shook his head.
"No, dude. I got these from when I..." his voice lowered to w whisper and he looked to the ground. "From when I died."
It had occurred to Thor that he nor the others have been told how he had died, for it was a very touchy subject among Daniel's kind. Hearing the aftermath he felt like he was trespassing on emotional grounds. The ice was thin and one wrong move would make him fall to hos death. But Danny just smiled at him again, punching his arm in the soft, kind way that mortals do, and laughed. He laughed, as if Thor hadn't overstepped his boundaries.
"It's no big deal, Thor," Danny said, placing a hand on the Thunderer's shoulder. "Don't worry about it." Thor gave him a look, unsure if Danny actually meant it, but nodded nonetheless.
"Aye, as you wish."
Clint really needed to learn to stay out of Danny's room. But he just had so many knick knacks to play with and fancy ghost guns that glowed, and he knew that if he left before Danny got out of the shower he'd be fine.
Only sometimes Clint didn't realize when his hearing aids ran out of batteries. SO when he was playing with a ghost-level finger trap and getting frustrated because he couldn't get out of it, he hadn't noticed Danny coming up behind him. Not until he was already behind him, turning Clint around. He seemed pretty ticked off, and was talking to him, but he wasn't looking at Danny's lips. No, instead his eyes traveled across his torso, raking his eyes across the multitude of scars that marred the skin from both ghost hunting and world saving. But there was one that never seemed to end. Noticing this, Danny had turned his top half invisible.
Danny was so dumb. He should have put on a shirt. But he had gotten so used to the idea of his room being the only place in the Tower where he could walk around shirtless and not worry about prying eyes. Only to find out that Clint was the one who had been messing with all of his stuff.
He noticed Clint wasn't even listening. He snapped his fingers, yelled the archer's name, but he didn't respond. He sighed and walked over to his night stand and pulled out a pack of batteries, throwing them to Clint with in irritated look.
"Oh. Er-thanks. but uh, how do I get out of this?" He held up his trapped fingers and Danny rolled his eyes, his irritation slowly melting away as he pressed against the encrusted design on the top, releasing Clint's fingers.
"Thanks. And hey, Danny," Clint said as Danny started walking away. He stopped when he heard his name. "I won't tell anybody. But if you want to talk about it or anything I hear my shoulder is pretty comfy."
"Clint, you can't hear at all."
"Asshole."
Despite himself, Danny was grinning now, nodding his head and considering Clint's offer. He nodded.
"Thanks, Clint."
She had known from the start that Danny had something about his body he wanted to hide, and Natasha hadn't been able to figure it out. But judging by the sudden increase in trips Danny had to Clint's room, she figured her best friend had found out. She didn't pry, though. Clint wouldn't spill Danny's secret, not even to her. It was one of the reasons she admired him.
She knocked on Danny's door after a few months of this. Fury had given her an assignment, and she was pretty sure it involved ghosts. All she needed was a few pieces of his equipment and maybe a thermos. She knew Danny would be mad at her if she ever ended any of the ghosts.
She knocked again, and for the second time she gained no answer. A small knot of worry grew in her stomach, her instincts telling her something was wrong. She quickly had Jarvis open up the door for her, immediately being blasted with a cry of pain coming from the bathroom in Danny's room.
She quickly ran over, nearly kicking down the door. But Danny didn't even seem to notice. He was curled up into a ball, eyes squeezed shut and his breathing heavy. He was shirtless, and Natasha stared for one moment more before running to his fridge and grabbing a cup of ice before coming back over.
Somehow she managed to get him into a sitting position, uncurling him slowly. She was able to give him something else to focus on. Her voice, the cold from the ice cubes she rubbed against this back and chest across the black lines zig-zagging across him. She knew what those scars were caused by, and guessed that that was how he had died. But instead of questions coming from her mouth, it was an old Russian lullaby, soothing him. It took a while, but his body finally relaxed, and his eyes drooped a little bit, tired from all of the pain. All of the heat.
He slumped against her, and she set the ice cubes down. She kept singing, this time running her hands through his hair, urging him just to the brink of sleep before stopping. He was so tired he didn't even notice. And when she got him to stand up and walk over to the bed, she was sure he wasn't going to remember much of what had happened.
After she tucked him in she grabbed some ghost equipment and left a note, telling him she was borrowing his stuff and that if anything like that happened again to give her a call. She made Jarvis promise to call her if that happened and she was in the building.
Danny didn't have to be alone anymore.
When Steve finds out, it's because of Frostbite. Danny loves him, but sometimes he just can't keep his big mouth shut.
Captain America had accompanied Danny to the Far Frozen for a friendly cup of tea and whatnot. Steve found it odd that, despite the cold nature of the yetis, they preferred warm tea over any other drink.
Thanks to Tony tinkering around with the suit, Cap could walk through the unbearable cold all nice and toasty, minus the exposed part of his face. The two trekked through the snow, side by side without really saying much. Both of them knew that it was fine though. They were their more for the company than the small talk.
Despite being fully aware that Danny had an ice core, he still worried for the boy when he walked through the snow in nothing but his upgraded suit and a new jacket. The black leather went nicely with the skin tight suit.
"Cap? You okay?" Danny asked, knocking Steve from his thoughts.
"Yeah. I guess I'm just not used to seeing anybody walk though this much snow with practically nothing on. I worry about you sometimes," he replied smoothly. Danny made sort of a snorting sound, amused by Cap thinking he even needed his jacket.
"Halt!" They heard. "Identify yourselves!"
"Relax, it's just me!" Danny yelled back, trying to be heard over the wind.
"Great One?"
"Who else?" Danny rolled his eyes but there was a big smile nonetheless. A few moments later Frostbite emerged, bring Danny in for a hug before guiding him and Steve over to his cave, where it was significantly warmer.
"What brings you to the Far Frozen, Great One?"
"Well, I mean, you make the best tea in the Zone. And I thought it would be nice to just hang out. I brought Steve, too."
"The young captain is welcome at any time, Great One."
There seemed to be an unspoken something between the two that Steve couldn't quite pin down, but he was sure that whatever it was, it was none of his business. The thought drifted away quickly when he caught himself having fun, laughing at the stories Frostbite had of Danny, sharing a few of his own. Danny came prepared though, having though of a few stories of Cap he knew Frostbite would get a kick out of. He found himself...Relaxed.
That is until Danny frowned at his tea.
"Dude, did you spike my tea or something? It tastes different than normal."
"Why yes! It is a new pain medication I brewed myself to help with the scars! The pain will be less, and the heat will be less frequent. Of course, you will have to drink it a coupe times a week, but I have unlimited supplies at my disposal."
"Scars? That...Burn?" Cap asked worriedly, turning to Danny. He went pale, and reused to meet Steve's eyes. Frostbite, knowing he had fucked up, tried fixing the solution.
"Oh, um, from his ghost fights!" It was a piss poor attempt, but Steve had to admire the king for trying. "As you probably know, ectoplasm burns through the veins, and is especially hard on people with ice cores, such as the Great One." Frostbite gave him a toothy smile that wasn't really convincing. Danny would have laughed if it had been under better circumstances.
"I was electrocuted, Cap," Danny said, knocking away Frostbite's lie. "Lightning leaves scars that burn. Some days it feels like I'm dying all over again, so I asked Frostbite if he could whip something up to help with that. Take a look."
Steve did, not really knowing what to say as Danny took off his jacket, then unzipping the top half of his suit to revel the lightning across his skin, a black-ish blue in color. He looked like he was covered in permanent bruises, and there wasn't an inch of him that didn't have them on top of his scars from ghost hunting and crime fighting. They some how looked brand new, being raised on the skin despite having them since he was fourteen.
"And it burns?" Steve asked again. Danny nodded and shrugged.
"Yeah, sometimes. But Natasha helps with that whenever she's in town."
"Who else knows?"
"Now? I think it's everybody. Bruce found out when he stitched me up, CLint found out when he was going through my shit, Thor found out when we were sparring, you get the picture."
"What about Tony?"
"I'll tell him. Eventually."
By the tone in Danny;s voice Steve knew that he was planning something mischievous, and it made him smile.
"Well, I'm here for you if you need me." Danny smiled at him, and at Frostbite.
"Always, Cap."
Tony found out when Danny was half way through figuring out how he was going to show him, and it made Danny a little disappointed. But it was better late than never, he supposed.
Tony had always been obsessed with upgrading not only him, but the team as well. This included Danny and his HAZMAT suit. This time without sleeves, and an ecto shield that activated if he ever encountered a big bad like Vlad, and now had a shock absorbing feature because despite being able to go intangible, Danny had a knack for making craters in the street, and he knew that that was no good on the boy's back.
"Dan-Dan, nice of you to finally join me," Tony said, turning around quickly and dramatically as he could in his rolly chair. He threw the suit at Danny, who caught it with ease. "Put that on. We're going to run some tests."
"Bossy much?" Danny grinned before heading to the other room. He came out a few minutes later, typing something in on his phone, not noticing the way Tony's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the markings on his arms. Danny seemed unconcerned, though.
"Danny, how long have you had those?" Tony asked. He didn't to make a big deal out of it. Because it wasn't one. Unless it was and he's just been hiding it from them the whole time.
"These?" Danny asked, looking down at his exposed arms. It felt good to finally be rid of sleeves. And everyone else already knew. It was finally time he ditched the jackets and sweaters that were holding his core back. "Since I got my powers." It was like some great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't feel like he had to hide them anymore, and they didn't seem to bother anyone all that much. It was...Nice.
"Oh," Tony said before composing himself once again. He shrugged. "Okay. Are you going to tell the others?"
"They all already kind of...Found out?" Danny had the nerve to look sheepish.
"You mean I am the last one to know? Danny I thought we had a special bond!" Tony whined. Danny scoffed.
"Please, I'm not Bruce. Now, come on, tell me what the new suit can do, dude."
It was something Danny still didn't want to talk about. Despite always having a knack for prying, Tony knew when it was best not to. SO he turned back to his work and started off with the science jargon he knew Danny couldn't understand but pretended like he could. Tony smiled to himself when Danny asked for him to say it in normal people terms.
Maybe in the next suit he could install a cooling system...