Author's Note: This chapter is a little shorter, kinda explaining why Danny is there. It may be a while before I post another chapter. I'll be focused on Time and Time Again for the next few months. Once I finished the first part of TTA I'll be going into a semi hiatus and may decide to post a few chapters of this fic and some others during that time.
Hope you enjoy!
Danny had never had a normal childhood, ghost hunting parents aside, he'd been adopted after somehow escaping the portal. How he escaped was lost to his memory, as was the first seven years of his life. He wasn't sure who he'd been, he remembered his name was Danny, and he remembered his birthday… beyond that he couldn't recall what had happened.
His parents found him wearing strange clothing after he was ejected from the portal, one of many failed attempts to start it. The clothes were strange and old, timeless, and it was hypothesized quickly that he may have been transported to them from another time. Maddie had theories that old stories of Fae kidnapping people may be somewhat attributed to ghosts. That theory was applied to Danny's strange appearance from the portal, attributed to his ecto-contamination, and explained away his strange fashion choices.
Danny admitted that he was something of a feral child at first, this was attributed to his stay in the Ghost Zone and needing to fight to survive. He doubted any other foster family would have accepted him as he was. No other family would have been so patient with him in teaching him how to be a real person. He had adapted quickly enough, able to fall into patterns, mimic behavior and become Danny Fenton, not whoever the feral boy he was before. He still held habits from his time before for a long time. Scanning room to ensure there was an easy route of escape, checking for threats, making sure his back was never to the door in case a threat came though. Some of his other habits died slow deaths, he stopped checking his room for interference when he was ten, stopped hiding knives on his person when he was twelve, and by fourteen he was all but a normal kid, albeit with ghost hunting parents… until he wasn't.
The portal accident took much from him. Burning through his body and replacing him with something new, something different, something dead. Perhaps due to what happened before he came to the Fenton's his body was primed and ready to accept such a change.
He remembered screaming until he felt like his lungs would burst. Electricity tore through him, keeping him tensed and upright, though he wished only to fall to the ground into the sweet release of death. His body unmade and then remade in the span of seconds, over and over again. He died and he lived and he lived as he died, a perfect paradox, the ultimate contradiction, a singularity unto himself.
Danny burned brighter than the stars he so loved, burned right to his core and lit it with a cold fire. And still he screamed.
Oh Gods how he screamed.
The screams haunted his friends Sam and Tucker, even a year later.
Danny collapsed to the ground in the portal, barely conscious, his mind a blur, surrounded by green energy and fog, somehow so familiar and so foreign in equal measure.
He rose from the ashes of his body as a ghost, cold and powerful with a renewed sense of purpose. He had to protect the humans from the ghosts he'd unleashed, and protect the ghosts from the humans that would take them apart.
His parents wouldn't understand, wouldn't realize what the ghosts were, how they truly worked. Perhaps on a scientific level they did understand, understood them better than even Danny himself… but on the metaphysical level? On a spiritual level? The Fentons could never really know what ghosts were like, who they were, or how they worked.
Danny kept many things a secret after that. He kept his ghost half a secret from his family and the town. He kept his status as alive a secret from the ghosts. As much as he hated that the ghost attacks interrupted his normal life, the feral 7 year old that came out of the portal rejoiced at the chance to fight, to hone his skills, to win. He kept that part a secret from his friends.
He felt he was finally getting his feet underneath him as a hero. He wasn't just Danny Fenton anymore, he felt he was something bigger, not just bigger, but better. As Phantom he could do so much, he had so much power at his disposal, he finally thought he could handle everything life threw at him… until he couldn't.
The future was terrifying.
His future was terrifying.
The burnt out shell of the world, countless dead, a sun blotted out by destruction… all because of him.
Seeing his future and the evil he had succumbed to was nearly too much to bear. He'd had nightmares for months afterward. Each time he woke and reassured himself that he wouldn't succumb to evil, no matter the source. He vowed to protect it all until his final end. It didn't stop the nightmares though.
With time the nightmares slowed.
They passed.
As do all things.
Danny regained his confidence. He fought the ghosts, he saved the town, he even did mundane things such as retrieving cats from trees and helping the elderly cross the street. Sam thought it was because he was a good person, Tucker thought that it was because he liked the fame, neither of them knew the truth. Danny could only hope to outdo the evil his future self had wrought.
He fought the ghosts, he saved the town.
He was a hero… At least he tried to be.
Then everything changed.
The GIW was getting bolder. Not just bolder, but better! Their gadgets improved, their machinations became more elaborate. He wouldn't have minded if they had done more to help… but they didn't. They only caused more destruction and more pain. They had caused too many accidents, too many injuries… too many deaths. In their quest to capture a ghost, they made far too many along the way.
Danny thought he could help, thought he could fix things, thought that despite everything that he'd be able to keep the balance… but then he'd been the one captured.
The walls were white… of course they were… but they didn't remain white for long.
Glowing green stains splattered the walls, dripped eerily down and pooling on the white tiles, seeping into the groves between each tile and illuminating the grout.
It took everything in him to remain a ghost, not to let them know that there was a human underneath… It didn't make a difference in the end. They would have taken him apart regardless. The GIW had no true care for human life, especially not someone who was only half human.
Danny wasn't sure how long they had him, wasn't sure when he'd escaped, but he'd collapsed bleeding into a safe house Sam had set up and nearly died again before Tucker had checked in and found him. Sam and Tucker had stitched him up, put him back together, saved him… but that was only the beginning of their worried.
The GIW decided that the whole town was too ecto-contaminated. They'd locked it down, they had plans, and experiments… lots of experiments.
It was one thing for Danny to be there. He could handle it, even if it had nearly killed him. He hated them already, but for them to target humans… that was unthinkable… unacceptable. They'd already done enough damage to the few ghosts they had gotten their hands on. Danny couldn't tolerate it, he had to do something… but he couldn't do it alone. He couldn't even do it with the help of his parents… he needed more…
The Justice League had never helped before… plus Danny didn't want to see what could happen should the heroes become possessed. He'd managed the towns problems fine in the past… but that was no longer the case. He could no longer protect anymore. His core raged at the idea of not being able to help, but he could still go get help.
He'd said goodby to Sam, to Tucker, to his sister who had found out his secret, and to his parents who had raised him so well since he'd been tossed out of the portal and into their basement.
It had been easy enough to get out of Amity, even with the border patrol and the GIW around every corner. They weren't in his house after all… they weren't at the portal.
He traveled through the portal, checking rift after rift to find a place where he could contact help, which is when he'd discovered Gotham.
Gotham was dark and gloomy, but surprisingly rich in ectoplasm. It wasn't the same as Amity Park, but it was steeped with death, and death meant ectoplasm.
He'd spent weeks trying to track down the Bats, trying to figure out how to make his case, and then… he got lucky on his birthday.
Robin stared at him from a rooftop, Danny locked eyes with the whites of the domino mask obscuring the boy's face and he stared at him for a moment debating how best to attract the vigiantie's attention before he faded back into the shadows, traveling away from the ground and too a rooftop inorder to better face him. He needed just some time to present his case. If Robin saw him, he'd summon one of the others, hopefully Batman himself, and they could get help.
Danny sat on the edge of the roof looking over the city and steeling himself for the encounter as he heard Robin alight on the roof behind him, his voice low and wary as he spoke through some sort of com system.
"I'm uncertain, but I may have a magic user or something on my hands." Robin's voice was surprisingly familiar, it itched at the back of his brain, but he shoved the sensation away, he had other things to worry about.
"Not a magic user." Danny corrected as he sighed and looked down at his shoes, he glanced over at Robin. "I know Batman has that thing about meta's in his city… but I'm not really a meta either… I just… I need help." He said, his voice cracking with pain and emotion near the end. His city was in danger, his people left at the mercy of a shady government entity.
"Help?" Robin asked. Danny could tell he was ready for a fight and he couldn't help but feel upset. Things could never be easy could they? He sighed and looked back over the city, trembling slightly unsure how to best explain himself despite having gone over the even over and over in his mind.
"I… I just…" He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, words wouldn't come and he let the silence stretch before he finally turned to look at Robin. The vigilante had drawn a sword and his brow furrowed. Why was he attacking?
"Why…" Danny started to ask, before trailing off and looking back at the sword. "Of course." He sighed heavily, they would be suspicious of him, they may even consider him a threat, and even if they listened to him and helped the citizens of Amity Park, there would be no guarantee of safety or protection from him.
"Why are you here? Why choose that form?" Robin demanded, the sword pointed at him.
"Fuck… this was not how I wanted this to go. And on my birthday too." He grumbled. He thought he'd finally caught a lucky break in finding a vigilante, but now he had a sword pointed at him. It would be just his luck to ask for help, only to end up with a sword rammed through his chest. His hand gently touched the scars left over from his time at the GIW as he considered the boy in front of him.
"I don't want to fight! I came for help!" He tried to say as his hands raised in the universal sign of surrender. He was still ready to fight if it came to that, flee if necessary, there were other heroes to request help from, perhaps Flash, or even Green Arrow… maybe Captain Marvel would be helpful or one of the other magic users
"Then why are you wearing my dead twin's face?" Robin snarled at him. This question caught Danny off guard. Of all the questions he was expecting that certainly wasn't one. It took him a moment to formulate a response.
"Twin?" He asked, confused. "I… this is just my face." He protested as he gestured to himself. "This isn't a magic disguise or trick, this is just me!" He scoffed at the boy, what use would he have in disguising himself as Robin's twin, he didn't even know Robin's civilian identity to make such a thing. He was offended that anyone would think he was someone other than himself. Thankfully Batman arrived, though it didn't relieve any tension, at least he could be sure that Robin wouldn't kill him with Batman around.
"Robin, stand down." Batman said. Danny looked him over. The Dark Knight was as intimidating a sight as he was a welcome one. Danny glanced back at Robin who seemed conflicted about the order.
"This has to be some manner of trickery." Robin protested, clearly the boy didn't trust Danny. Danny bit his lip as he waited to see if this encounter would turn into a fight.
"Stand down." Batman said firmly and Robin sheathed the katana. Danny relaxed slightly now that there was no longer a blade pointed at him. He didn't relax fully though, that would be a mistake especially when he had no idea how this meeting would go. He looked between the two heroes as he tried to figure out what to say.
"Hi… uh… My name is Danny… Danny Fenton and… I really need your help." He said, he nervously rubbed his hand over his neck while Batman scrutinized him. That look seemed like it could pierce through steel, he was surprised that Batman didn't have any powers when his eyes seemed like they could see his every secret, even when they were covered by the white out lenses of his cowl.
"What do you need help with?" Batman asked.
Danny hesitated, here it was, the time to get help. He took a deep breath and looked at Batman with determination.
Here goes everything, he thought before speaking.
"What do you know about ghosts?"