Chapter 9

Stark Tower was one to behold. From the outside, it used to look tacky with Stark's name all over it, but ever since he just kept the A, it looks significantly less so. Danny liked to think it was because the meaning behind it. Tony was no longer celebrating himself, but all of them.

Inside of the Tower was even better. Every single room was sleek and modern and hip. There were remnants of recently finished construction projects, and Danny had to remind himself that oh yeah, there was an alien invasion a few months ago.

"Do ghosts sleep?" Tony asked.

"Uh, we can. We don't necessarily need to most of the time, though," Danny answered, giving Stark a quizzical look.

"Good, because I gave you a bed. I guess if you aren't going to use it though Valerie could since she's human and all. Also, when we finish the tour you have got to tell me how weird the wedding was."

Right. Because Valerie, someone who is very much alive, is married to the Ghost King, who to the Avengers, is very much not. He wonders briefly how this never came up sooner.

The tour wasn't exciting, but it wasn't boring either, so he called that a win. He found out that a magical disembodied voice watched everybody's every move, so slightly less cool, but Jarvis was also super snarky, so Danny could ignore it. Especially since most of the snark was directed at Tony.

Once they get to their room, Tony couldn't help the giant grin that spread across his face. Because honestly, this room takes the fucking cake.

Danny looked around, both awed and irritated and somehow not surprised. Stark had decorated every single surface with Ghostbusters memorabilia. Every poster imaginable, pillows, blankets, books, and knick knacks. All Ghostbusters.

"Wow, Tony," Danny said as he looked around. From the look on Valerie's face she absolutely hated it. "You shouldn't have. Really."

"Oh please, anything to make you feel at home."

"Then build a fucking castle next time," Valerie said. There was a little bite to her words, but she held a perfectly innocent smile on her face as she said it. Tony was both impressed and terrified.

"First off, I would just like to say don't kill me, because this was a good old practical joke. Your actual room is two doors down. But the whole floor is yours."

"What?" Danny asked. Because honestly, this was a lot all at once. They had as many bedrooms and bathrooms as they could ever need, all stocked with clothes for the both of them, a gym, and a kitchenette. Tony was very proud of the kitchenette.

"Wipe the looks off of your faces, all members of the Avengers get a floor to themselves."

"Wait, when did this happen?" Danny asked.

"When we became friends. Official or not, you and Val are one of us. Two of us? Eh...Part of the team."


"I think it's whosoever has the same fingerprints as him," Clint said as Tony tried and failed to lift Thor's hammer.

"I get to rule Asgard if I lift this, right?" Tony asked through his grunts. Danny and Valerie laughed at him from across the table. They were sitting on the floor, his arm around her shoulders.

"Aye," Thor said, a shit-eating grin on his face. "But it looks like you're not worthy."

"Hey, Danny, why don't you give it a try," Clint said. Danny waved him off.

"Listen, I'm already ruler of one kingdom. I don't want another."

"Here here!" Thor said, lifting his mug in Danny's direction, and Danny and Valerie laughed.

"You and your dad must have a pretty good relationship if you two are the only ones who can lift it," Bruce said, watching everything with amusement.

"Somewhat. He is still king, who treats everybody the same, including me. It...wasn't easy. As a prince expectations are high, and your whole life is planned out for you."

"That sounds like it sucks," Danny tells him.

"My dad was super focused on work all the time, so he was really neglectful. He never made time for me. I felt like a stranger in my own home," Tony says, and it's so abrupt to him that he has to process what just came out of his mouth for a moment.

Thor just nods. "And you?" He turns to Danny.

"Oh, my parents tried to kill me," Danny says casually. He doesn't notice the reactions at first, because he's accepted the fact that they hated him a long time ago. Once he notices everybody's reaction to that statement, he realizes what came out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry-What?" Steve said. His whole body was on guard, and his jaw was set.

"They're ghost hunters, guys," Danny says. "It's not uncommon for ghost hunters to hate ghosts."

That does almost nothing to smooth out their anger. Natasha has stayed completely silent, save for the sharpening stone along one of the many large knives she knew she had. She looked up at him, and made complete eye contact as she took it down the blade once more, before returning her full focus to it.

"What are the names of your parents, by chance?" Tony asks. He asks it casually, but nothing about Tony's posture is casual. Danny waves him off.

"They're harmless, you guys," he tells them. "Couldn't aim if their life depended on it."

Lie.

He glanced over at Natasha, who was looking at him again. Her eyes were narrowed, which told Danny that she knew he was lying through his teeth, but thankfully she didn't say anything. Valerie was squeezing his hand, both to ground him and comfort him. To let him know she's there for him.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Bruce asked. The concern was written all over his face.

"Yes! I haven't seen them in like, eight years, so don't worry about it. They know nothing about my current whereabouts and superhero status."

"Yeah, except for the fact that the news has been playing the bank trip you had for the past two weeks now," Clint pipes up.

"Oh shit, you're right," Danny says, thinking for a moment. What if they come all the way here just to hunt him down? No, they don't watch the news. They're too focused on their killing devices. "They're not gonna go cross country just to kill someone who's already dead," Danny says. "In the small chance that they do, and in the even smaller chance that they get past Valerie, I have you guys to protect me."

"And if we can't?" Bruce asked.

"They can't do anything to me that hasn't already been done. Plus I've got Wulf. He can literally tear through time and space to go wherever and whenever he wants."

That didn't satisfy them at all. Thor was looking at him with worry and a deep determination. Thor knew his secret. He knew the traumas Danny's gone through wasn't just as a ghost.

He thankfully kept his mouth shut.

The silence in the room was deafening as they all looked around at each other. Thor's was his helicopter father, Tony without, and Danny's, who wanted to murder him in the name of science. Lucky for them, though, Clint came in clutch.

"I bet I could lift the hammer."

There was an immediate uproar and laughter at the statement. Tony came back at him with a snarky quip, Nat just rolled her eyes, and Bruce chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Danny grinned, knowing full well that Clint could in fact not lift the hammer.

He squeezed Valerie's hand back, thankful to have her ground him.


Dear Jack and Maddie,

A long time ago Danny heard that if you want a tool to help you move past traumas, no matter how old, write a letter to the people who caused it. And then burn it.

He looked back at Valerie, who was asleep in the bed Stark provided. He was floating by the window, with a notepad in his lap and headphones in.

The city was gorgeous at night. Lights twinkling, and shining, people looking like they're having a good time. The really rad looking gargoyle across the street.

He was stalling, and he knew it. He sighed and looked down at the pad of paper.

Dear Jack and Maddie,

This letter will never get to you, which is fine because I don't want it to. I never want to have any kind of contact with you ever again.

For years as a teenager you hunted me down, and was ready to tear me apart 'molecule by molecule' in the name of science. Whether I'm your son or not, that's pretty fucked up.

Then I told you I was a halfa, in hopes that you would still love me as your son, like you said you would. No matter what is what you had said. But when I told you, you no longer saw me as your son. Hell, you no longer saw me as human.

You strapped me to a table and made a mess of my insides. And when you were done, you allowed the government to come and take me away, only for them to do the same.

I still have all of the scars. I know they're scary to other people, so I wear sleeves all the time. Even in my human form. The only thing saving me from heatstroke is my own goddamn ice powers.

I really just wrote this so you're aware, at least in my mind, the trauma you've caused me, both physically and mentally. You are the reason I have trust issues. You broke me into unimaginably tiny pieces, and it took years for me to put myself back together again.

If I ever see you again, I will unleash fury onto you, for everything you've done to me.

I hope you rot in hell,

Danny.

Danny didn't realize he was crying until a tear drop splattered on the page. He took a shaky breath and wiped his eyes.

Relief swelled in him as he watched the note go up in green flames, and he finally, after almost a decade, allowed himself to cry.