Authors notes
The first half of this chapter is Danny's POV of that last chapter.
TW: Violence, Non-graphic description of injury, panic attack.
Danny glanced down at himself, -or, he guessed, Tim's self. There was blood spatter on their shirt, and he could feel it on his face. The halfa glanced up at the whimpering man above them clutching his arm like it was a lifeline.
Danny was going to be okay with getting punched in the face. He could just apologize to Tim later and hope they could heal faster. Maybe he could ice it later? But watching the man above him get shot was not what he was expecting.
Danny sensed something in the shadows from where the gunshot originated. A man in a red helmet dressed in weapons galore prowled out from the shadows like a cat. Danny stared at him, he could feel energy flowing off of him. Power, anger, aggression, protection.
'The Red Hood'Well that answers that question. Mr. Hood froze after staring at Tim for a second. Something was up. Suddenly in his periphery, he saw one of the goons next to him hold up his rifle and open fire on the man.
Red Hood quickly jumped out of the way and hid behind one of the crates that were -for some reason- so plentiful in this building. "Friend or foe?" Danny asked as he winced at the sound of the rifle going off.
"Welllll." BANG! BANG! Two shots and the goon was taken down. "friiiiend?"
"You don't seem very sure about that!"
Danny felt Tim's apprehension. "Well, I mean he is an anti-hero… But he did try to kill me once." Hood ran over to them and started on the ropes tying them down. "But I'm pretty sure he's here to help… I hope."
Now that the man was much closer Danny could feel anger, frustration. It was overwhelming him. It felt as if he were in the presence of another ghost. Hood grabbed onto the front of their blood-stained shirt and lifted them roughly to their feet.
Suddenly there was a bang from behind them, more goons. Danny leapt forward, pushing the both of them to the ground before they could be shot. "Let's hope he won't kill us then," Danny said.
Hood quickly rolled over the top of them and started firing, also blocking their body from any bullets that may fly in their direction with his own. Danny winced at the sound of all the gunfire. At least the rifles the ghost hunters use are much quieter and more like laser sounds. Not like the cacophony of mini explosions that echo around in his brain.
Hood had gotten up now. That was Danny's cue. Danny stumbled to his feet trying to ignore the ringing in his ears. He forgot how sensitive they are sometimes, although being in a human body helped. One of the goons snuck up behind them and grabbed them in a reverse bear hug, lifting their feet off the ground.
Danny pulled himself free with a little added strength and socked the guy in the jaw. He didn't like the feeling of being able to be grabbed at any time, he really missed his intangibility, that way he could get away and not be trapped.
More shots spread their way. Were these guys just waving their guns around at this point? But then he felt it - it felt like his side was pierced. He quickly reached down to where the pain came from and pressed his hand there. But when he pulled his hand away he saw blood. Not his blood…Tim's blood.
Ancients! He just got Tim shot. Danny stepped back staring at his hand in shock. He didn't want to hurt the human, he didn't want him to die. This was all a big misunderstanding, he just didn't want to be dissected, that's all… but now he hurt someone.
There was ringing in their ears, He couldn't hear anything anymore. Seeing blood just confirmed that they were hurt. Real red blood. They were shot with a real gun. Not like the ones he was used to, he has been shot dozens of times but never like this. Before it would be a burn and it would heal over, this went through, slicing through things. Lead, or copper, or whatever bullets were made of! "Phantom we are in the open!"
"I- I got you shot… I didn't mean-" Danny couldn't use his powers to Protect him. Protecting was the only thing Danny was good for and he is failing at it. Someone grabbed his shoulder and tugged him somewhere. He could feel more aggression, more anger, was it from Tim?... no.
Danny stared at his hand again, right you need pressure… yeah, Ancients! What would he have ever done if one of his humans got shot back home? He would have no idea what to do. Why can't he have his powers!? He has never been shot before! He could always avoid it if he was shot with human weapons.
"Phantom breathe!" It was strange to hear a voice so grounding, Guess you can't avoid it if it is in your own head. "In… Out… In… come on you will be okay don't panic. It didn't hit anything vital, you won't die again, you hear me, Danny?"
'In… out…' Danny repeated in his head. But it wasn't working. Why is he panicking so much today?! Normally he was great in fights; he's taken on ghosts ten times as powerful as him to protect his humans. Why was this so different?
Suddenly his arm was grabbed and he was ripped out of his sitting position. Only to be face to face with Red Hood. "What the hell were you thinking, replacement!?" The man yelled at them. "Why didn't you run? Were you trying to get yourself shot!?" Danny figured it out. This guy was radiating ectoplasm, and right now his emotions were very angry, and protective. Danny didn't hear the last part of what he said and only focused on trying to pull his wrist from the man's strong terrifying grasp.
Hood glanced down at the wrist and swore with an apology before dropping it. Danny subconsciously took a few steps back. Danny stared at him for a few more moments. He was still holding his side tightly. "-Tim?" Danny bit his lip.
Hood stepped closer. "You're not Tim." Danny's core dropped.
…
"I-" Danny didn't know what to say, he was still on borderline hyperventilation. "I- I'm not."
Hood stepped closer and aimed his gun, his very real gun at Danny's -Tim's- head. "You're not Tim." He repeated with a growl.
"I'm sorry!" Danny yelled. "This was a big mistake! I-I didn't mean to take his body. I didn't know this would happen."
Hood was gripping his gun a little tighter now, aggression seeping around Danny. Danny could feel that even Tim had no idea what to say. "Is he still alive?" Hood demanded.
"Yes!" Danny tried. "He's fine, I just overshadowed him. This- This was just a big mistake." He gripped his sides tighter. One hand was still over the wound.
Hood didn't say anything for a second and it was freaking Danny out. "Overshadowed?" his aura was radiating less of aggression now and more of a protective feeling. It helped a little bit.
"It's- It's like possession." Danny looked up at the man, but he couldn't see any facial expressions behind that helmet. It was unnerving.
He now lowered his gun, aimed at the floor, and leaned down closer to Danny's face staring him in the eyes. "So you're inside Tim's body right now?"
Danny merely nodded. Hood turned his head to the side facing away from Danny, it took a second but Danny heard sirens, and they were getting closer. "Okay, you're coming with me. We need to get out of here." He holstered his gun. "You will explain, when we get somewhere safe." Hood straightened up and scanned the room.
Danny didn't move, he just stared up. For a second he had no idea what to do. He couldn't just go with someone new now. But what choice does he have? Tim did say he was here to help, probably. He could try and run… but he had no idea how to treat a bullet wound. Or if Tim would be okay. If this Red Hood knew how to treat him, maybe he could help. But it meant going with another stranger who, for some reason, radiated ecto energy.
Hood looked around one more time, probably listening for how close the sirens were. They needed to leave soon, but Danny was in no real state to do so… Hood squatted down in front of Danny. -huh, he didn't even notice that they had collapsed on their knees on the floor- Hood raised his hands out like he was going to touch Danny but paused and pulled his arms back after a second thought.
Hood sighed. "Okay, look at me…How old are you?" Danny quickly looked up at him with confusion in his eyes. "How old are you?" Hood repeated. There was no anger in his voice.
"Wha- why?"
"How old are you? The ghost, demon, spirit whatever that is inside that body right now." He pointed at Tim.
Danny paused. It wouldn't hurt to lie here, but it would only make things worse if he did. "Sixteen." He felt Tim's surprise, maybe a little concern.
Hood hung his head a little with another sigh, it sounded strange through the helmet speakers. "Okay kid, can you come with me? It's not safe here. For the both of you." Hood stood up off of the ground and held out his hand for Danny to grab.
Danny stared up at the hand for a second. "Don't worry, I won't bite." He joked. The halfa very hesitantly grabbed on and let the older man pull him up to his feet. He was strong. "Right now we need to deal with that before Timbo bleeds out." Hood pointed at the wound.
"Will he be okay?" Danny asked quietly.
Hood nodded and started walking out of the warehouse, obviously expecting Danny to follow him. "Yeah, the kid's been shot dozens of times before. He'll live."
"Look, Mr. Hood. I'm so sorry about all this. I didn't want to hurt anyone I-"
The Red Hood turned around and cut him off, raising one of his hands. "I believe you. Right now you're just a scared kid who made a mistake and has no idea what he… they, are doing. And for some reason I can feel how you're feeling. I can tell you mean it. Just… We are going to get you both patched up and then we will get you out of my brother's body. Kapish?"
Danny nodded. "Kapish."
Authors notes
Beta read by gamma_radio (Thank you so much you are amazing!)
*evil cackles* I love Jason so much! Poor Danny and his panic. His obsession really makes him worry, especially when he can't just self-sacrifice like he used to. But he also explained (well not everything but a lot) and that will probably help him in the long run. And Hood started off really aggressive, but he got there in the end. :D
lol, these chapter postings are really random. Like this one is posted a week early. But here you go anyway. I post whenever I have the chapter finished and edited. So there will be updates about every two weeks. But this is my vacation week so I was going through and updating a bunch of my other stories. I wrote this chapter at like 5 am high on adrenaline and probably caffeine because I could, and had to come back to it later for editing XD
Please tell me what you thought of this chapter! I am very happy with it! I love you all so much and your comments help keep me going :3
