Danny was strong and resilient and so incredibly smart, though with some of the shit that comes out of his mouth you would never be able to tell. He is fierce, and holds a righteous anger in his heart that only really jumps out if someone hurts those he cares about. He is, in a sense, a true hero.
Now, when people talk about who their hero is, the typical answer is mom or dad.
Now, the Avengers have met the Fenton duo.
They were not impressed.
They met Jack and Maddie first. Danny gave them a lengthy tour of the place. They were impressed. What was even more impressive was how they fit the topic of ghosts into every aspect of said tour. Needless to say, Danny had been a little frustrated by the end of it.
Danny, who had worked hard to cultivate the relationships he has with his team. Danny who has saved the world single handedly more times that anyone could count. Danny, who was smart and brave and kind. Danny, who was neglected and ignored at every turn.
There was no doubt in anybody's mind that Jack and Maddie loved Danny. The problem was that they loved their work more.
After they met the parents, it became obvious why Danny never really spoke of them. He had fond memories, sure, but there was always the fog of ghost talk around them, and with ghosts being one of the causes of his trauma, there was really no separating the two. His parents and ghosts, the ghosts and his parents. Two sides of the same bent, fucked up coin. There was no room for Danny on either surface.
But then there was Jazz.
Danny's face lit up brighter than the sun any time he got the chance to talk about his older sister. His older sister who took him to the park on his birthday when their parents forgot. His sister who patched up his scraped knees and who taught him how to cook and who helped him with his homework.
After meeting her, they all saw where Danny got his spark from.
Jazz was kind and compassionate and smart, so incredibly so. She was overbearing, but not in a suffocating way. She nagged at Danny to eat his vegetables and brush his teeth and get some sleep. Jazz's anger was as righteous as Danny's. She cared for people so deeply, and had taught that same lesson to her brother.
Jazz was not Danny's mother. She was his sister.
And his hero.