Danny Likes To Just Be For Once - Tumblr Posts

Danny smiled from his place on the clocktower roof. He'd been in Gotham for a while now, two years to the day exactly, but he'd never get tired of the view. Sure, he hated not being able to see the stars at night, but there were worse things. He did make sure to leave the city every night to see them, though.

He liked being up high. It reminded him of, not simpler times, but times when he wasn't as alone. Jazz had made her way to Harvard, Tucker was MIT, and Sam was at Pomona. Danny was nowhere.

They say after he turned fourteen, he died. It, to say the least, wasn't a pleasant or painless death, though it didn't hurt past the initial shock and revival. When he was sixteen, he realized he wasn't aging. Sure, Danny Fenton aged until he was sixteen, but Danny Phantom stopped at fourteen. Good for keeping a secret identity, but horrible for wanting to half live normally.

The day after he turned eighteen, exactly four years after he died, Danny disappeared. He left everything behind and hid out in the one place he'd always said he'd avoid. It was the one place no one would look for him. The one place where he was just another face in the crowd.

Gotham City allowed Danny the anonymity that normally came with death. Instead of just another headstone in the graveyard or a body in the harbor, though, he was just another kid on the streets in a busted hoodie and jeans. No one looked twice and no one asked questions.

In the two years he's spent on the streets of Gotham, he's learned a lot. Survival was something all humans are born with, but growing up with neglectful parents amplified that instinct. Dying and becoming an unwilling hero honed those instincts. Living in Gotham gave him a chance to learn more.

Learning the lay of the land was another thing he learned very quickly. Batman is over all of Gotham except for Crime Alley. That's Red Hood's haunt. Gotham Proper was split into blurry lines and shared between Batman and Robin, Red Robin, Orphan, and Spoiler. Nightwing is over Gotham's sister city, Bludhaven. Signal is the only day shift, so he had the most ground to cover in the least amount of time.

Of course, the Rouge's all had their own territories drawn with hard, barely flexible, lines. Black Mask was really the only one to breach those lines by trying to take Crime Alley, but Red Hood had been keeping him in check.

Learning the rules for each territory and how to interact with each person, Rouge or Vigilante, took time, but he managed. His own experiences had probably helped with that.

The next thing Danny had mapped out was where the neutral stations were. Every territory had them. They were places no one attacked because the important ones have standards. In Crime Alley, it's The Club. In Penguin's area, it's the Iceberg Lounge. Ivy marked off Robinson Park. Etcetera. The Joker is really the only major Rouge without a neutral mark on his map, but that's because he's more of an asshole than the rest. An asshole with standards, but an asshole nonetheless.

Very few of those neutral areas were available to spend the night in. Even fewer we're hiring. So, the homeless population of Gotham City stuck to the streets and back alleys.

However, there were two places Danny knew he could go where he'd be safe from scrutiny if someone looked too close at him. The Club in Crime Alley where all the working girls and boys checked in and reported any Bad Johns or Bad Janes, and The Iceberg Lounge in the richer parts of Gotham.

The clocktower was where Danny liked to spend his nights when the streets were too loud and the lights too bright and the fights too close for comfort. Oracle, who was Batman's eye in the sky and ear to the ground, worked from the clocktower, but he made sure to avoid her. It wasn't easy with what's basically super hearing that he can't turn off, but he found a spot near the very top where he could block out all Bat Business. Plausible deniability and all that.

Danny misses the stars. He misses being able to peek his head out of his bedroom window and name of each constellation he could see. He can't do that in Gotham because of the light pollution that clung to the sky like black mold. It was part of the reason he'd sworn to never go to Gotham.

There are Shades in Gotham. Shadows of people who have died but aren't quite ready to move on. He helps them as best he can, but there's so many that he sometimes feels like he's cutting off a Hydra's head. He gets to see results, though. Some days the parks are more colourful, the clouds have drifted enough to let natural sunlight through, and the graveyards are buzzing with thankful energy.

Danny forwent the thought of trying to get a job a while ago. As far as the world is concerned, Danny Fenton is missing, likely dead. Being dead, in case it wasn't well known, is a legal barrier. Sure, most jobs in Gotham didn't do background checks, but Danny didn't really want to join the Goonion. He's just fine living on the streets.

Ectoplasm is scarce compared to Amity Park, but that's to be expected. Besides, the miasma crushing the city like a weighted blanket was enough to sustain his basic abilities. Food was a bit harder to come by, but, like sleep, he could survive longer without it than a living being can. If anyone were to ever ask - though the likelihood of anyone even finding out - how he was alive, his answer was "Photosynthesis, but for ghosts."

Danny liked being just Danny. No name, no responsibilities outside of keeping himself alive.

Danny Fenton, the loser nerd who fell to the bottom of all his classes, who's obsessed with space and everything in it, who could tell you exactly how long it would take to get from Earth to Betelgeuse and back, is dead. He died the day after he turned fourteen.

Danny Phantom, the hatefully loved vigilante who appeared with the throngs of ghosts, who grew more powerful with every fight, who won more fights than he thought he could because there was no other option, is gone. He disappeared after exactly four years.

Danny just exists. He lives on the streets of Gotham City, staying away from trouble because he learned how to recognize it as soon as he could walk. He loves space and finds every opportunity he can to get out and watch the stars and moon and planets. He likes heights because being up that high reminds him of when he was living and not just surviving. Was there really a difference anymore? He hangs out in graveyards and the docks because the dead are so much more tolerable than the living.

Danny liked being just Danny because Danny doesn't have the world of Infinite Realms and Possabilities on his shoulder.

Danny likes to be able to just be for once.

Storyboard Part 2

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