Danny Had Thought That There Were Lines That Nobody Crossed. He Knew That There Were People Out There

Danny had thought that there were lines that nobody crossed. He knew that there were people out there that were fucked up enough to cross those boundries, and he knew that he’d probably end up encountering them at some point in his life, especially with the job he’d picked up, but knowing something and having it happen were two completely different things.

The reality of the situation hadn’t fully sunk in until he’d gotten to Red Hood’s safe house. Lu knew where he was, but no one else.

Lu’s the best.

Shock is a helpful thing. Unhealthy, but helpful for compartmentalizing and keeping from a public freak out, but it wore off eventually. And when it did, everything hit full force.

Danny didn’t think he could ever just be again. Not after this. He got off easy, with Red Hood and…Nightwing? there to pull the guy off of him before much of anything could happen, but he was still terrified. There was a little part of him that blamed himself for the situation, but he didn’t give it much thought.

The shock made it easier.

The second the door of the safe house closed behind Red Hood, Danny found himself collapsing to the floor, hugging the plushie to his chest and pulling the jacket tighter. He was crying again.

He didn’t believe in ‘once upon a time’s. But, gods, he wished he did. ‘Once upon a time’s are for fairy tails with happy endings and true love. Maybe, if he were in a fairy tail, one that began with ‘once upon a time’, then he could be happy. The bad things wouldn’t happen to him because they were happening to somebody else. He was tired of the bad things happening to him!

“My name is Red Hood. You’re at my safe house in Crime Alley. It’s a little past three in the morning.” Red Hood was saying, his voice soft. He repeated, “My name is Red Hood. You’re at my safe house in Crime Alley. It’s a little past three in the morning.”

Danny nodded his head.

“You back with me?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Good. It’s only been a few minutes. Are you okay to move, or do you need to stay in place for a little longer?”

He tried to move his legs, but the wouldn’t listen to him. Why wouldn’t they move? He needed to move!

“Hey-” Red Hood steadied him when he swayed. “Take you’re time, hun, we’re in no rush.”

He sniffled again, willing the tears to stop. They didn’t. He was going to be so dehydrated when he woke up. Though, he didn’t think he’d be sleeping much for a bit. After a few more minutes of matching Red Hood’s breathing  as best he could, he let go of the plushie with his right hand and grabbed Red Hood’s. “I-I don’t think- I don’t want-”

Red Hood seemed to understand. “Do you want to sit on the couch or go to bed?” If Danny could see his face, he’d bet that the man had a really soft look in his eyes, maye a smile, too.

“Couch,” he whispered.

“Alright,” he answered.

Slowly, and with all the gentleness that was probably achievable by a man buit like a refrigerator, Red Hood helped Danny to his feet. He kept him steady as they made their way over to the dust covered couch. It was uncomfortable to sit on, and probably even worse as a bed, but Danny wasn’t going to complain. He curled up in the far corner, his knees squishing his plushie to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs, and his eyes scanning the room, never leaving Red Hood for too long.

“Do you want to change?”

Oh. That sounded nice. But, Danny didn’t have any clothes here. All is stuff was- probably ruined. He’d moved what he could to the top of the Clocktower, but his clothes and such were all probably ruined or gone.

“That’s alright,” his voice was soft and understanding and made him want to cry again. “You can use some of mine. Are you going to be okay being alone for a few minutes?”

Danny nodded, but clutched the dog plush tighter.

Red Hood hummed. Slowly, he reached up and took his helmet off again. Then, he set it on worn coffee table behind him.

Red Hood is a handsome guy. His hair looks soft, just long enough to pull it into a small ponytail or bun. His jaw is square aand his cheekbones sharp. Although he column’t see them, Danny was sure that his eyes were blue.

“I’ll leave this here, okay? I’ll be quick.”

His voice was soft and smooth, though there was a heavy accent that was a strange mix of Crime Alley Local and Old Money. It worked, somehow, and fit perfectly with him.

“Okay,” Danny answered, his voice quiet.

As Red Hood stood to leave, Danny reassessed his build. The man is tall and had muscles for days, but he wasn’t imposing in the slightest. He was probably making himself seem smaller so as to not upset Danny. It was nice.

Not even three minutes later, Red Hood came back out of a room just down the short hallway with some sweatpants and a hoodie. The pants were loose and blank and were going to drown Danny. The hoodie was the same, but there was a blood read bat on the chest.

“You buy your own merch?” Danny asked, a small laugh colouring his voice, but not quite escaping.

Red Hood smiled. “Only from small businesses. Eat the rich, y’know?”

Danny took the clothes. Red Hood turned around so he could change. “I’d rather rob them for all they’re worth and give it all away.”

“A real Robin Hood, ey?”

“Only from and for people who deserve it.”

“Fair enough.”

There was a few minutes of quiet between the two while he changed. He was quick to do so, folding his dirty clothes and setting them as far as he could away from himself without moving from where he’d sat down again.

Red Hood left and came back with a warm, wet rag. “For your make-up,” he explained.

Now back n his own head, Danny felt a blush creep up on his cheeks. He probably looked a mess. He had a really good excuse, but that didn’t stop the embarrassment.

“So,” Red Hood asked, “What’s your name, hun?”

“Danny,” he said quietly. Red Hood probaby already knew that though.

“Nice to meet you, Danny,” Red Hood smiled at him. “I’m Red Hood, but you knew that already.”

Danny nodded. He did know that, but it was still nice to get an official introduction. “Yeah.” He paused for a few beats. “It was Nightwing with you, right?” Red Hood nodded. “Will you tell him ‘thanks’ for me?” He blinked. “I haven’t thank you yet, have I?” Oh, no! He’d been raised better than that!

Red Hood chuckled. “It was no problem, babe. And, yeah, I’ll tell Nightwing for ya.”

“Good,” Danny nodded, “Good.” He pulled jacket he had yet to give back over his legs, letting it cover him like a blanket. His eyes felt heavy.

“Are you tired?”

“Yeah,”

“Do you want to sleep here or in the bedroom?”

“Here’s fine,”

“Do you want me to stay or go?”

He paused, breathing deeply as he debated. Finally, “..stay.”

“Alright,” Red Hood had a soft look on his face. “I’ll stay.”

Part 3 Part 5

I'm at work again, a double show.

One of these days, my coworkers might realize that I'm not lying when I say I have this entire show memorized word for word

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

"Hey, Babs,"

"Dick? It's late, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"I'm about to go on patrol, D, can this wait?"

A sigh. "No."

"What's wrong?"

"Blockbuster's after Oracle."

***

Gotham Proper is a thirty-three minute drive from Bludhaven. The drive to Bristol from Bludhaven is a fifty-one minute drive through Drescher, Burnside, Sumerset, Victoria Place, and Little Stockton before crossing the bridge over Gotham River into Bristol. Gotham Proper is made of four islands connected to each other and the mainland via several bridges. Technically, all of those cities and towns - as well as Charon and Brentwood - are sister cities like Bludhaven, but everyone counts them as a part of Gotham anyway.

Dick spent the entire drive alternating between sulking and panicking.

Danny would know. Ghosts, as he's come to understand, are beings made of emotion, meaning that he can sense emotions better than living beings. Though, he didn't need an empth ability to read the air around Dick.

'What if something happens while we're gone?" Dick asked for the nth time in the past few minutes, "What if Brutale decides to blow something up while I'm gone? What if Blockbuster starts something big?"

"Bigger than what he's already doing?" Danny didn't bother to look up from his conversation with Tim. "The fact that you can't even name specific examples proves that you're not actually worried about Blockbuster or Brutale."

"I'm worried about Brutale blowing something up, thank you very much."

"Yeah, 'something'. Who even is Brutale anyway? I don't think I know that name."

"No one you need to worry about." He moved into the right lane.

Danny turned his phone off and set it face down on his leg. "What are you really worried about, Dick? I've known you for five weeks now, and I've never seen you this worried about anything."

"You've known me for three weeks."

"No, you've known me for three weeks. I've known you for five weeks. And don't change the subject."

Dick sighed, running his left hand through his hair before dropping it back onto the steering wheel.

"Is it Bruce?"

"...yeah."

"You know he's at work, right?"

"Yeah, I- How do you know that?"

He waved his phone a bit. "I checked with Tim. So, it's just going to be Tim and Alfred at the Manor when we get there."

"You know Alfred?"

"I know of Alfred." Danny slapped his right shoulder, "Stop trying to change the subject!"

"I can't help it! Deflecting has worked pretty damn well for me up until this point!"

"Oh, yeah? Against who?"

"Literally everyone!"

"Everyone?"

A beat. "Okay, so maybe only most people, but that's not the point!"

"Doesn't matter what your point is because we're going back to talking about mine!" He huffed. "If you don't want to go straight to Wayne Manor, then stop by somewhere else. You had to have gained at least one friend in Gotham before you moved to Bludhaven."

Dick paused for a moment, eyeing the signs. They'd only been driving for twenty minutes. He could hang a right just before Sumerset to cross the New Trigate Bridge into Arkham Island, take another right onto Midtown and drive to Old Gotham to meet Babs/. Yeah, that'd be nice. But, the detour would increase the chance of running into Bruce later on in the day. Maybe he could have Bab's drive to the Manor?

"Is it too late to turn around?"

"Yes."

"Why are you even so insistent on going? You don't know anyone in Gotham!"

"I know Tim!" He argued. "Besides, healthy relationships are good in this kind of work."

Dick raised his eyebrow, glancing at Danny from the corner of his eye. "You wanna second to rethink that or..?"

Danny clicked his tongue. "Look, I know you don't want to talk to Bruce, and I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to apologize to Tim for snapping at him. If you end up with better relations here in Gotham, then that only works in your favor."

Dick groaned, ditching the turn onto New Trigate and continuing on through Sumerset. "Fine! But we're leaving before Bruce gets back. I can't stand him right now."

Danny smiled, a sad look in his eye. "Alright."

He knew very well that Dick's relationship was near irreparable. From what he'd gathered, from either overhearing or snooping, Bruce had been a pretty good dad and boss to Dick up until he'd turned seventeen. He hung up the Robin mantle when he was eighteen, appearing as Nightwing when he was nineteen. Bruce, apparently, hadn't taken this very well, but copped, adopint ong Jason Todd when Dick was twenty years old, giving him the Robin mantle a few months later.

According to Dick, when Jason was killed, he'd been off world. Bruce hadn't even called him to inform him, let alone tell him about the funeral. And, when Dick got back and heard what happened from Batgirl, he'd confronted Batman in the Batcave. Batman, apparently, though he's inclined to Dick's side, punched him the face and shifted the blame.

Danny doesn't blame Dick for being angry. Not for a second. He can't really relate, but he understands.

Entering Bristol, there was a shift in the air. Outside was stuffy and smelled like money. Inside the car, however, was tense. Dick's attitude shifted to his work smile. It was plastic.

This was going to be a long day.

He didn't say anything. Quietly, Danny messaged Tim, letting him know about the shift. Tim was quick to respond, letting Danny know that he was fully prepared for whatever was coming. Danny didn't think he was.

Danny knew that something was going to happen. The air was suddenly suffocating, the world fake manufactured to perfection.

"You alright there, bud?" Dick asked, his voice perfectly professional.

"Yeah, fine. I-I'm fine." Danny wanted this car to turn around.

Part 10 Part 12

Moving was a mistake!

I was in the connected building because I knew I wouldn't be able to focus with a musical coming over the speakers. I was right.

My seat was in the sun and I couldn't sit anywhere else in the building, so I had to move back to the theatre building so that my laptop doesn't overheat.

I got four steps into the building before I started mouthing along with the actors...

sigh

I accidentally wrote a thing that fits with, like, eight of the protags I've written/are writing......

oops