Danny keeps on meeting Brucie Wayne at Galas when he goes to keep Sam company. He hates the man. There is no adoption, no adoption jokes, he never meets Batman. Give me Danny Fenton and his unending beef with Brucie Wayne. Bruce finds this absolutely hilarious. This feisty 14 year old is incredibly fun to antagonize.

Sam: He’s an airhead and a billainaire but he’s decent, Danny, stop fighting the poor man. He doesn’t even know you’re beefing

Danny: Oh he knows Sam… I can just tell he’s laughing about this

Brucie, drunk to the gills: *giggles and waves*

Danny: He knows

Sam: Danny. Brucie Wayne wouldn’t notice if the sky and the ocean switched places unless someone told him. He’d believe they were switched if some random pickpocket told him that to distract him. He can’t tell friend and enemies apart. The guy is a moron.

Danny: *narrows eyes and flicked a watchjng you motion*

Brucie: *beams and sends back a peace sign*

Danny: I hate his guts.

Oracle, watching this shit show: *wheezing, choking, laughing with tears streaming down her face*

Hold on I need a theme song to write this to. I choose this.

~~~~~~

Danny narrowed his eyes at Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Wayne widened his eyes at Danny, tried to take a drink of champagne, missed his own mouth, laughed, reached to grab a napkin with the hand holding the glass, and dropped the glass.

"I hate you. I hate the fact that you breathe the same air I do." Danny said sincerely. "I just want you to know that."

"Why 's it bad if I breathe the same...oh! Oh no! You're allergic to champagne!" Bruce Wayne shouted, wildly looking around for...something. "Quickly, someone get an Epileptic Pen!"

All around them, various gala goers started giggling into their hands. The wait staff, pity in their eyes, tried to explain what an Epi Pen was to the infamously ditzy billionaire.

Danny glared at him harder, but was yanked away by Sam before he could say anything else.

~~~~~~

"You can't keep getting away with this," Danny hissed, fully aware that his ears were turning red with the force of his rage.

Bruce Wayne's dazed, drunken smile in response only served to further piss Danny off.

"Did you know there was a pool here? Cuz I didn't." Bruce Wayne slurred, hand slapping against the rim of the newly broken water fixture. The replica of the Venus de Milo, broken in half, was dribbling water out of where her spine would have been instead of her eyes, like it had been doing before Bruce Wayne decided to kiss her.

"Yeah, sure, it's a pool. The other end is ten feet deep; you should dive into it headfirst from the roof." Danny agreed, eye twitching.

Sam dragged him away by his ear before Bruce Wayne could say anything.

Later, when Danny saw Bruce Wayne again, he slipped up and cracked the glass of apple juice he was holding.

~~~~~~

"You're a disappointment," Danny deadpanned from the doorway, arms crossed as he watched Bruce Wayne try to figure out where the door was.

By dragging his gross alcoholic hands all over the marble wall.

Disgusting.

Bruce Wayne froze, shoulders hunching up, and for a solid second Danny thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd gotten through that idiot brain. That maybe, just this once, Bruce Wayne understood he'd been insulted.

But Bruce Wayne slowly turned around, eyes wide and full of wonder.

"How'd you know what my sons call me? Are you...are you a psychic?" The man asked, completely serious.

Danny threw his hands into the air and walked away in disgust, roughly shoulder checking the two security officers that were on their way into the room he just left.

"It's just a moron, leave him in there and he won't be able to find his way out until tomorrow. Please, leave him in there." Danny called over his shoulder, "Or punch him so hard his eyes swell shut, I don't care which."

~~~~~~

Danny slapped the pills out of Bruce Wayne's hand, before proceeding to crush them into dust under the heel of his stupidly fancy shoe.

Bruce Wayne, for some unknown reason, looked affronted.

"Do you even know what was in those pills?" Danny asked, trying to keep his voice down.

Bruce Wayne, still mystified, slowly shook his head.

"You-! I can't. I can't. I fucking can't. Where's Damian?" Danny cut himself off, turning away to look for Wayne's youngest. "He's the only one in your family with a single bit of sense."

"...But those were my medicine?" Bruce Wayne asked, sounding lost.

Danny stopped looking for the youngest. The youngest Wayne would actually kill him for something like that.

He'd seen the pills and just...assumed. That they were illicit.

Slowly, so slowly, he turned back to Bruce Wayne.

"Oh. Shit. For like...nevermind. That was...my bad. I'm...I'm...sorry." Danny forced out the apology, feeling like every word was broken glass.

"Aw, you do care!" Bruce Wayne said, pulling Danny into a hug.

Well, he tried.

Instead, he grabbed Danny, smooshed him into his chest, lost his balance, fell backwards, landed on table hosting the tower of champagne glasses, and got both of them absolutely soaked with alcohol.

Sam had to drag Danny away in a headlock.

~~~~~~

Bruce had, honestly, no idea what he'd done to earn Daniel Fenton's ire.

But it was the most amusing thing he'd seen at any gala in years, and one of the reasons he'd started attending more of them.

Was it childish, perhaps, to deliberately antagonize a fourteen year old for fun?

Yes.

Did that stop him?

No.

In fact, Barbara insisted on recording his run-ins with Mr. Fenton. According to her, it was hilarious to watch with the full knowledge that Bruce was Batman, and this scrawny child kept telling him to die in various ways.

Bruce couldn't antagonize his own children, not like he did with Mr. Fenton. No, they'd get even with him.

Mr. Fenton, though?

Seethed.

It was...funny.

Especially because, if Bruce was being honest, he was certain that Mr. Fenton himself had absolutely no idea why he hated Bruce Wayne so much, just that he did.

Bruce had a hypothesis that it was because, subconsciously, Mr. Fenton knew he was lying whenever he was playing the part of Billionaire Playboy. From what he could glean from his background check on Mr. Fenton, the lad hated liars.

Reasons aside, though, Mr. Fenton's hatred was something Bruce, quite frankly, treasured.

Mr. Fenton's luck, however, was probably a meta power, if Bruce was being honest with himself.

Every single gala that boy went to, Bruce was able to find a crime that needed to be investigated.

~~~~~~

Bruce fumbled the glass of drugged champagne, letting it shatter on the ground.

""I hate you. I hate the fact that you breathe the same air I do." Mr. Fenton said sincerely, his eyes deep wells of fury. "I just want you to know that."

In his comm, Oracle let out an ugly snort, followed by an almost shrieking laugh before she managed to mute herself.

"Why 's it bad if I breathe the same...oh! Oh no! You're allergic to champagne!" Bruce improvised, searching the room to see if Robert Haydara had already fled the scene. "Quickly, someone get an Epileptic Pen!"

In the chaos that ensued, Bruce managed to convince the staff to show him an example of an Epi Pen. In doing so, he brought to light via the staff members themselves that the Nurses Station, set up for emergencies as was normal for all Gotham Galas, was missing literally all of it's Ketamine.

Ketamine, the drug that, in small doses, was one of the only things that could keep people even slightly sane during a Scarecrow attack.

The gala was quickly shut down, and everyone who'd had any champagne was quickly escorted to the hospital.

The robbers, hired by Robert Haydara, were found in a nearby broom closet, waiting for the gala attendees to either die or fall asleep.

A case wrapped up cleanly, all thanks to Daniel Fenton's unwitting help.

~~~~~~

Sitting in the cold water of the fountain was uncomfortable.

Trying to figure out how to run away with the bomb hidden in the Venus de Milo's head was harder.

Luckily, using Mr. Fenton's suggestion, Bruce was able to have an excuse to excitedly run through the halls and disappear long enough to disarm it.

He came back, shame faced, and told everyone that he'd gotten lost, unable to find the roof.

Mr. Fenton glared at him from across the courtyard, the glass of apple juice in his hand cracking.

Bruce, very unlike himself, actually let a small, real laugh slip out.

~~~~~~

Bruce was having a hard time finding the secret door, and Oracle couldn't find a way to force it open.

It was on a closed circuit she couldn't access.

The guards were getting closer, and Bruce knew he didn't have a good excuse to be where he was-

"You're a disappointment," Mr. Fenton's voice rang out, tired and true in far more ways than the boy would ever know.

Bruce froze, trying to find...something he could say, anything to let Mr. Fenton keep thinking he was an idiot.

"How'd you know what my sons call me? Are you...are you a psychic?" Bruce asked, somehow keeping a straight face even as Dick proceeded to lose it through the comms.

Oracle muted him.

Mr. Fenton, hand in the air as a sign of exasperation, turned and left, apparently talking to the security guards on his way out.

The guards, when they entered, were no longer suspicious.

No, they just looked at Bruce with pity.

"Come on, Mr. Wayne, it looks like you got a 'lil lost. Let's get you back to the party, okay?" One of them asked, his voice kind and pitched like he was talking to a ten year old.

Oracle, who had been doing so well, let out one of the ugliest laughs Bruce had ever heard her make.

~~~~~~

The note had been clear.

Either Bruce Wayne took the poison, or someone close to him at the gala would die.

The problem was, almost everyone was there.

Barbara was accompanying James Gordon, Tim was there representing himself, Dick and Damian were present as Bruce's children, Duke was attending as the newest addition to the Wayne family, even if it wasn't adoption, Cass was Barbara's date, and Jason...

Well, he had no idea where Jason was. It wasn't at the gala, and they still weren't on the best of terms. So Jason would be fine.

More importantly, normal people had no idea Jason Todd was alive, and the threat was being made towards Bruce Wayne, not Batman.

But Bruce could do this. He'd trained himself to be resistant to most poisons, and the threat said nothing of leaving to get medical assistance.

He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and...

The pills were slapped out of his hand, onto the ground, and then crushed into dust.

Bruce had many things going through his head.

Who had managed to sneak up on him? Why had they done that? What was he supposed to do now?

"Do you even know what was in those pills?" Daniel Fenton's voice hissed, barely audible over the sounds of the gala.

Oh, that was why he hasn't sensed anyone; against his judgement, it looked like Bruce just...didn't see Mr. Fenton as a threat.

He would have to work on that.

Instead of saying anything, Bruce shook his head.

After all, he had absolutely no idea what was in those, other than it was apparently 'poison'.

"You-! I can't. I can't. I fucking can't. Where's Damian?" Mr. Fenton sounded like he was trying very hard not to yell, but Bruce spotted a potential issue when he spun around to search for Damian; the ground up pills kicked up into the air a little bit.

Poison dust particles. Hmm. Not good.

"He's the only one in your family with a single bit of sense." Mr. Fenton continued, about to step away.

Bruce could not let that happen; if his foot left where it was tamping down on that dust, the results could be devastating.

"...But those were my medicine?" Bruce heard himself say, and was relieved when it actually worked.

Mr. Fenton didn't lift his foot.

Instead, he stopped moving entirely, suddenly very pale.

"Oh. Shit. For like...nevermind. That was...my bad. I'm...I'm...sorry." Mr. Fenton said, and Bruce could tell it hurt the boy to say that because it sounded like it did.

In the comm, he heard Cass let out a small coo.

Barbara, however, was literally shoving a napkin in her mouth to stop from laughing again. He knew. Not due to her sounding like she was shoving a napkin in her mouth, but due to him watching her do it across the room, neck and ears red as she fought to remain quiet.

More pressing, though; the red dot that had just appeared on Mr. Fenton's shoulder.

It had only been there briefly, before disappearing. Bruce knew it was currently on the boy's head, though.

So he had to make sure Mr. Fenton didn't get shot, and also that the dust under his shoe didn't get airborne.

...

A fairly easy solution popped into his mind.

"Aw, you do care!" Bruce shouted, reaching forward and yanking Mr. Fenton into his chest as he fell backwards.

The shot went wide, hitting the wall behind Bruce, and the champagne that soaked both of them prevented the dust from going airborne.

Perfect.

Then Mr. Fenton punched him in the face.

Bruce felt his head snap to the side, astonished.

He spat out a small bit of blood from a split lip, staring up at the furious teen.

"Wait; if you punch like that...how are you getting bullied?" Bruce asked, not thinking of the consequences.

He really should have expected the other punch.

~~~~~~

"Hey Sam?" Danny asked, voice choked from where she was still restraining him.

"What? Danny, you have got to know how mad I am at you right now, I cannot believe you-"

"How did Wayne know I get bullied?"

"...Huh. That...I don't know."

"I told you something was off about that gu-ack!"

"You are not getting out of this! You punched Bruce Wayne, Danny! It was just an accident!"

Every day, there's an important event written on Danny's arm. Or, at least, his parents and Jazz say they're important. Danny was just happy to be getting to know his soulmate through the ever changing soulmark.

The event written on his arm was the most important thing to happen to his soulmate that day. They helped him understand what it meant when his mark told him that his soulmate learned they were never going to see his parents again. They worried with him when his arm said that his soulmate's uncle got rid of his soulmate. They got upset with him every time it said that they'd run away from foster care, every time it said that his soulmate was hurt by the foster families. They comforted him every time the soulmark on his arm told him that his soulmate almost died. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were there with him the day the mark on his arm said "Became Champion of Magic".

His soulmate stopped having near death experiences as often after that.

Billy had tried to check his mark every day, but most of the time it was rather bland. His soulmate had a very bland life. Other than the occasional "parents exploded something" or "got shoved in a locker" their life sounded amazing. He was kind of jealous. Not that he thought being bullied was easy or anything, but he didn't want to be homeless or in the shitty foster care system.

He became very worried when "dies" is written on his arm and is very confused when there continues to be more important events written on his arm after that.

Ok, so I read a Spideypool fic that used this same soulmate au idea, but after Wade died the first time Peter's soulmate mark morphed into Wade's fingerprint and only told Peter if Wade dies that day or not.

What if, Billy's mark for Danny morphed in a similar fashion and only told Billy if or even how many times Danny dies that day?

What if it was Danny's that morphed and only told him how often or if Billy was going to be hit by lightning?

Danny was worried. It was 2 days before his 18th birthday and he hadn't met his soulmate. Anyone who hadn't met their soulmate died on their 18th birthday. What would happen to him? He's already half dead, would he be fully dead? Would he stop existing? Did the soulmate thing even work for ghosts? Or halfas? Would nothing happen? Dan was technically 25 when they "met" and he's met adult ghosts before.

The more he thought about it the more anxious he became. It got to the point that his friends told him to spend a few days traveling. And now here they were 2 days before his birthday in Jump City.

He'd been a few seconds from stepping into traffic while stuck in his thoughts when a white and red blur ran into him. Or rather, through him. The shock of a soul-bond snapping into place kept him from accidentally walking into the road.

Ok, replying to my own prompt post because I wanted to add something funny to this:

Bart saw Danny begin to walk right in front of oncoming traffic and attempts to whisk Danny to safety, but Danny unconsciously made himself intangible while worrying about his 18th birthday. Bart runs right through him and trips because of the shock of "I went right through this guy like he was air" and the soul-bond.

Danny's introduction of Bart is Bart falling flat on his face after attempting to save Danny.

Batfam: ghosts aren’t real.

Danny, having been trying to explain that he’s the dead boy to them or 3 hours: *pulls sleeve up and sticks out arm*

Danny: Find. A. Pulse.

Batfam: Danny, how is this—oh my god where is your pulse?

Ok, this, but the Batfam being under the impression that Danny's immortal since they found evidence of him existing in ancient times and deciding to mess with him by pretending not to believe in ghosts.

The Waynes never really did fireworks. At least not correctly. To one Danny Fenton at the very least. He had to help this poor family.

The bats are losing their ever loving shit. Their newest addition to the family is playing with explosives. A manic grin as he quick scrambled away after lightning the fuse.

I am glad to inform you that as Gotham is in New Jersey, most home fireworks are illegal there aside from some small ground novelties, causing the Bats to lose their shit more.

Memory Loss Billy Edition

I've seen a few "Billy gets hit with a spell that causes him to forget that he's captain Marvel" fan works but I haven't seen anything for the opposite.

Cap gets hit with a spell and forgets that Billy Batson ever existed let alone that that's who he is.

If no one knows he's Billy; everything's OK for a while. But then be starts acting differently. More serious and less happy-go-lucky. He's got too many memories of past lives and none of them fit who he is currently. He starts having episodes where he questions if everything about himself is just a purely magical facade of a human. Is his personality and looks just the wizard and the gods idea of a perfect human being? Of a perfect Champion? Is anything about him actually him? The Justice League has to figure out what the spell did to Marvel and how to reverse it.

If they do know; the League has to convince Cap that he's actually a 8-12 year old boy while trying to find a way to reverse the spell. It doesn't help that Cap thinks the spell has affected the League and is also trying to find a spell that will get them to stop thinking he's 8-12 when he's clearly an adult.

If you add the god chat into the equation you could make it even more funny or angsty depending on how the writer decides to have things play out.

Hey, DPxDC fans? question: How would you incorporate Danny Phantom into this? (character wise or fandom wise)

Okay, so, Brain Dead rejected soulmate AU but Danny is the one who rejected Tim.

Let's say in this world that there are many types of soul bonds.

You've got your standard and fairly common First Words and Skin Art.

Then you've got less common things like Shared Dreams, Colorblind Until You Meet, and Red String.

And then you've got the very rare Telepathic Bond and Empathic Bond.

Finally, there's the ultra rare, one in a million, Shared Pain* soul bonds. It helps that the flip side of this particular bond means Shared Comforts**, but still, it is not the kind of bond people hope for.

Naturally, Fenton luck dictates that this is what Danny (and by extension, his soulmate) gets stuck with.

And at first it's fine. Like, bumps and scrapes happen but it's no big deal. Then the bullying starts and Danny feels a bit guilty that his soulmate has to deal with it by proxy.

But, Danny learns how to minimize damage. And the way Danny can feel his soulmate gentle nursing the pains when he can't, indulging in extra comforts for the both of them, makes Danny think that maybe it's okay.

After all, if it was really to much, Danny's soulmate would have already rejected him.

And when Danny's soulmate starts getting a bit more roughed up when they're 13, naturally Danny returns the favor; never wishing to sever the bond, only wishing he could prevent the pain all together.

Then Danny turns 14.

Then Danny dies. But survives.

He cries that night, his soulmate desperately trying to push comfort through their bond while all Danny can think about is how he shouldn't have gone in that portal. He shouldn't have been so reckless. He should have PROTECTED them.

And to top it all off, suddenly he's not just Dash's personal punching bag. No, there's a whole host of ghostly rogues that like to come bother Danny. And maybe it was still okay when it was just ectopusses or Lunch Lady or Boxy.

But as more and more powerful ghosts come through, as the fights get harder and Danny takes more damage, the guilt over what he's subjecting his soulmate to eats at him.

And after Danny meets Vlad, the first enemy he faces that he really can't beat, he makes the decision. This isn't going to end. These fights, these pains...

Someday he's going to face an enemy that is going to grind him into the dirt. That's going to kill him again, probably slowly and unpleasantly, and Danny already subjected his soulmate to one death, he refuses to put him through another.

So Danny mentally reaches deep inside himself, real hands placing themselves above his heart.

Feeling around for the source of that gentle warmth his soulmate is pushing through their bond.

He finds it, grasping with imaginary hands while his real ones clench the fabric of his shirt.

Feels the way the warmth stutters. The sharp jolt of pain on his elbow as his soulmate probably knocks it when he realizes what Danny is doing.

Danny pays it no mind. He holds the bond between then tightly; tears welling up in his eyes as phantom arms wrap around himself, his soulmate's desperate plea for Danny not to do what he's about to.

Danny yanks, physical hands all but tearing the shirt off his chest as mental ones rip the bond from his and his soulmate's hearts.

The last pain they'll ever share comes crashing into him, the distinct Rejection scar crackling across his chest not unlike the Lichtenburg on his arm.

It hurts, but less than dying had.

Then the pain is gone. Or rather, that pain is gone.

The dull aches from the fight with Plasmius throb and a part Danny finds himself missing the soothing comforts his soulmate had provided him, emptiness filling the space they used to occupy.

But another part of Danny, the part that is more ghost than human, swells with pride knowing he has protected his soulmate from Danny's own inevitable fate.

As Danny inspects Rejection spidering out from his heart, a strange hollow giddiness settles in his stomach. It makes him giggle.

His brain notes that if Dash ever sees this, he'll assume he finally succeeded in making Danny's soulmate reject him.

Danny giggles harder.

Not that Danny will correct him. Or his friends or his sister when they find out for that matter. They worry enough about him as is. They don't need to know just how far Danny is willing to go to protect the people he loves.

He's stifling laughter now, trying not to wake the neighbors.

Sitting alone on the roof of Fentonworks at 3 in the morning, Danny laughs until he sobs, then laughs and sobs until he can't breathe, then laughs and sobs and struggles to breathe until a light blue mist comes gasping past he lips.

His hysterics taper of and he lets the now familiar cold feeling of his ghost form spread across his body, pausing only for a second when he notices the new spiderwebbing across the chest of his hazmat suit, just a shade darker than the rest of the black material.

Oh well. It's not too noticeable and if some sees it he can just pretend it was always there. Just like he's going to pretend the emptiness in his heart was always there. Where it belongs.

~~~

Tim is at the Bat Computer desperately searching for any kind of clue who and where his soulmate is.

Of course, Tim had searched before, been searching basically since grade school when it became clear his soulmate was dealing with either bullying or an abusive home.

But Tim's efforts had tripled lately. Ever since that fateful day 4 months ago when he'd practically had a seizure in the middle of family dinner.

It had felt like he was dying, the echos of electric shocks up his arm and into his heart coming through his soul bonds. Followed soon after by the sense of something terrifying and foreign opening up in his chest and forcing its way into every molecule of his body.

Tim is pretty sure he screamed.

It was several minutes before the sensations ended and a strange coldness filled his being. For a minute, Tim was terrified his soulmate had died, until the cold retreated to a place just beside his heart and phantom hands could be felt trying to comfort and soothe.

At the time, Tim thought that would be that. Some kind of terrible accident. A story his soulmate would tell him when they finally found each other.

But that wasn't that.

It started with that strange coldness never leaving the space beside his heart. Then sometimes the coldness would spread, filling his whole body for brief periods of time. Then those periods of time started to come with some kind of pain. A scrape, a bruise, sore muscles.

The kind of injuries Tim got on patrol as Robin.

Which was something he'd not been allowed to do near as much since the aftermath of that dinner when Bruce had learned what kind soul bond Tim had.

"Tim, you can't keep throwing yourself into the line of fire. It's bad enough when you get hurt, but for your soulmate to have to suffer too?"

Stupid Bruce and his stupid rules. Tim and his soulmate had been fine before, thank you very much. And it wasn't Robin that got struck by lightning or something. Tim really isn't sure what kind of accident would result in the things he had felt that night, but electrocution is at least part of it.

But since then, Tim's soulmate had been getting more and more injuries at any and all hours of the day. If Tim had been worried before distressed now. Something had happened and now Tim's soulmate who was already dealing with something before now seemed to be in constant danger. Tim needs to find them, needs to help them, make them safe.

He doesn't look, doesn't take his eyes off the news articles on the screen as a presence appears behind him. No 2 presences. And the elevator dings bringing a third. But Tim keeps scanning articles, looking for some clue about a kid getting electrocuted and a town gaining a young vigilante shortly after.

A heavy hand lands on his shoulder, gravelly voice speaking in gentle tones. "It's almost 4am son." Tim doesn't respond. Bruce sighs and spins the chair around. Dick and Alfred are both there looking concerned and stern respectively. "It's bed time."

"My soulmate is in trouble. They're not safe. I need to find them. And you're worried about my bed time?"

"You need some sleep, Master Tim. You won't know you've found anything if you're to tired to see straight." Bruce nods and Dick puts on his best big brother face.

"Get some rest, Tim. We can keep looking later."

Tim opens his mouth to argue, but pauses at the strange tugging sensation in his heart. He briefly wonders what trouble his soulmate is in now before he realizes what the almost feeling of hands on his soul bond means.

He gasps and jerks in the chair, knocking his elbow on the arm rest and the warm blanket he'd cocooned himself in to send comfort back to his soulmate off his shoulders.

Even Alfred's expression turns concerned when Tim wraps his arms around himself, trying to convey along the soul bond his plea for his soul mate not to do this.

"Tim?" Tim isn't sure which family member speaks. Can't focus on it as his soulmate yanks on the bond, ripping it and the strange comfortable coldness out.

Tim cries out, three sets of hands immediately moving in to comfort him. Sight and sound turn to static as Rejection burns across his chest not unlike the electrocution had crawled up his arm four months ago.

Then the pain vanishes.

And Tim looks up at Bruce, knows he's got tears rolling down his face, searching pitifully for a father's comfort.

"They Rejected me."

Bruce startles, but quickly stoops down to wrap Tim in a hug and Dick lays a comforting hand on Tim's head and Alfred retreats probably to make something comforting and Tim cries at the emptiness where the bond should be and the now too warm spot beside his heart.

And yet, deep in his mind where gears are still turning, Tim resolves to still find his soulmate, even without the bond, if only to ask them why.

.

This was supposed to be a prompt, maybe a premise, but I got carried away.

So now y'all can have this piece of pain I have no intention of continuing. Enjoy!

And since I don't plan on continuing, if some else wants to run with it, have at and have fun!

*Shared Pain in this AU just means soulmates feel the pain, not that they recieve the injuries. So if a soulmate breaks an arm, the other will feel the break, but their arm will be physically fine.

**Shared Comforts meaning that soulmates also share good feelings. So if one person is all wrapped up comfy cozy in a nice thick blanket, the other also feels that warmth. But like with the pain, it's a phantom feeling. Won't keep the soulmate not bundled up from hypothermia.

Had to continue, just... so good.

...

Danny thought it would be better, easier without his soul mates phantom caresses and random pains. It was not. He found himself waiting for the feeling of a bruised elbow, a scraped knee, a black eye. Sure he got plenty of those himself between Dash and being Phantom. But, those were HIS hurts not, theirs. There was something almost soothing to it, like a reminder they were still there still a possibility.

Now?

Now Danny aches, the Rejection scar feels like what grandma Ida says arthritis feels like, a deep ache in your bones coming in waves but never truly gone. He feels jittery and nervous. A cell phone ringing ringing ringing but never connecting.

He hopes desperately his soul mate doesn't feel like this. It's almost worse than the fear of making them die, not quite, but a close second. Trading one fear and hurt for another.

He finds himself distracted more easily, his left hand almost always resting on his Rejection scar. A reminder, a reason, a promise. He gets more injures as phantom. More as Fenton too. His parents don't notice, Jazz does but she just makes sure his backpack always has snacks and a freshly packed first aid kit.

Sam and Tucker try, they really do. But neither of them have Rejection scars, Sam has a drawing on her right hip, and Tucker has a phrase on his left arm. They worry for him but they can't understand. They argue about whether or not it was the right thing to do. Yoyoing back and forth creating another background argument for his life.

Its been three months since he Rejected his soulmate. He wonders how his soul mates doing as he stares blankly out his classroom window.

Danny's chest hurts.

....

Tim felt like shit. His chest ached like someone had stomped on it and fractured his ribs then poured boiling hot water over it. His incessant scratching and rhythmic thumping on his chest surely didn't help but it was the only things that could replicate what the bond felt like, even if it was just the feeling of Rejection.

His eyebags had carryons as Dick liked to point out. Tim had hardly left the cave in the last 3 months. Between bouts of incessant sobbing and intense hyperfocus he has gone through thousands of hospital records around the world of people being electrocuted. He has narrowed the list slowly crossing off people by things like,

- way too old

- wrong place on body to be electrocuted

- has a soulmark of some kind like words or drawing

- date of electrocution

And finally after narrowing it down to 30 people, he went through each person to see if they had a vigilante in their home neighborhood.

Nada zilch nothing.

Except. Well, one didn't have anything. No social media, no email, no pictures, no adress, except a town name. Amity Park, Illinois.

Tim dug deeper. His detective senses tingling. He can smell government conspiracy bullshit a mile away. As soon as he hits the strange firewall he knows he found something important. Even if the person, he glaces at his notes Danny Fenton, isn't his soul mate, this could be something to tip the league off to, illegal meta experiments maybe?

It took Tim three days to break and ask Oracle for help, it was like the firewall was Alive, rebuilding and shifting around him everything he tried to Crack it.

Even with Barbara's help it took another two days with them working together. Finally they did it, and were immediately overwhelmed and horrified. An entire town wiped from the internet, from maps, from social media. An entire town overrun with ghosts, wepon happy government agents, crazy locals, and... a local teen... superhero.

Phantom. A ghost. Not, exactly what Tim was hoping for. He dug deeper. Danny Fenton, son of the Dr's Madeline and Jack Fenton, with an older sister named Jasmine Fenton.

Danny was electrocuted in his parents lab.

Danny was electrocuted the same day as Tim's near seizure.

Danny was electrocuted on his LEFT hand.

Danny is bullied at school.

And in every picture he can find Danny has a hand pressed to his chest and looks exhausted.

Tim found him. He found his soul mate.

Now he needs to help him. Because he looks like a stiff wind would blow him over and like he hadn't eaten in a few days.

He was going to find him and he was going to get answers. Time thumped his chest and pain radiated from the deep bruise he'd created on his chest. It felt good.

....

May continue this but I'm at work soooo

Um, excuse me @britcision, why are you making me laugh on my own angst post. 🤨

Nah, but honestly, you're not the first to suggest that the Soul Bond can be reformed and while I do find the 'Rebirth' idea compelling...

I've decided that in my version the Soul Bond rekindles over time if/as they fall in love.

I like the fluff potential of just Danny and Tim slowly discovering that this thing they assumed was forever broken can, in fact, be mended. That day by day the Rejection recedes ever further back to their hearts. Steadily fading from their chests until one day they wake up and oh

And maybe their bond is all the stronger for it. Unbreakable even. Because this time it wasn't fate or divine will or cosmic intervention or dumb luck. It was a choice. Their choice. Tim not to give up. Danny to love in spite of his fear. To come together again. To love each other even knowing it will hurt sometimes.

😈 the best place for crack is surrounded by juicy juicy angst it’s the unexpectedness that makes it pop

And then of course the return to angst is all the sharper for having that momentary reprieve

Also yessss I love the idea of a slow and gentle healing process, especially if the way they discover it’s back is Danny stubs his toe, Tim swears, and they both dissolve into tears

(Part of the process should totally be napping together it’s a great bonding activity and helps your subconscious adjust to other people so it’s good good soul material)

(Also no reason they can’t both be Wrong and come up with just a BUNCH of wrong answers so the bonding and falling in love happens while Tim is going full Mad Scientist to reform the bond and Danny’s just trying to keep him alive)

Rereading this and realizing that since I wrote the Rejection scar leaving a mark on Danny's Ghost half, possibly on his bare chest too, but notably as a pattern of slightly darker material on his suit. Well, that pattern is probably a lot clearer after Memory Blank when Sam slapped the white symbol on the middle of his chest.

Also, thinking about how the Memory Blank episode would have affected the events of this fic, since the wish made it so that Danny was never Phantom, would the bond still be broken with Danny not even knowing why (because being Phantom and meeting Vlad is what drove him to Rejecting Tim) or does Tim wake up and the bond is back only for the Rejection to come back immediately after having to experience The Accident Part 2 Electric Boogaloo.

I can imagine it working either way since in the episode, the wish didn't end up retconning anything else that definitely should have happened without Phantom around to stop it. So it doesn't necessarily have to retcon the Rejection, but maybe it could. Or maybe there's like this sphere of influence and things outside that sphere aren't retconned but things inside it are. Maybe Danny has his soul bond back during that episode and Tim doesn't.

It could be fun to have to also grapple with the fact that not only does she have to kill her best friend again, but in doing so she will subject him to a broken soul bond again. Oh, and subjecting Danny's soulmate to that Death as well if the soulmate also has the bond back (which she'd probably at least assume they did if Danny did).

Not that any of that can stop them from doing it. The fact remains, they need Phantom to defeat Desiree. Also, I guess Sam would have to know at that point that Danny Rejected Tim as a direct result of becoming Phantom and fully believing that at some point being Phantom was going to get him killed. Which, in what I wrote, is a fact Danny intends to never share with them ever. (I'd say he plans to take it to the grave, but to late for that idiom I guess.)

I guess depending on how someone decides to hash out those details, any number of these possibilities and more may apply or not apply. Anyone else wanna add thoughts?

I really want after everything is said and done and they can heal the rejection for the scars to look like the Japanese gold mended broken pottery, the word is escaping me currently. The scars are still there, but mended worth the strength of devotion, the strength to push through and find each other anyways

Ooh! Tasty!

So, I imagine the Rejection scar pattern looking kind of like a cross between the shatter pattern of glass around a bullet hole and a ball of lightning, obviously centered right over the heart. Like

mixed with

Color wise, I see it looking like a normal scar. That is violently pink/red when it's fresh and fading to white over time.

So maybe as the Bond reforms, the scars gradually (subtly) shift to a silvery color with faint undertones of a color representative of the soulmate's soul.

So Tim's scar might turn that silvery color with faint undertones of that icy blue. (That blue, btw, is not just icy but also the color of the hottest flames. Space Core Danny ftw! Both extremes and all betweens.)

Not sure what color would best represent Tim. Maybe Red or Gold like his suit colors? Or also icy blue, but specifically the blue of Tim's eyes? Or, for a touch or crack, deep coffee brown. Or just come out of left field with hot pink because why not.

Hmm, thinking about this prompt again.

This time in the vein of the ghosts learning Danny rejected his Shared Sensations soulmate to Protect him from what Danny percieved as an inevitable, painful death.

Especially good in AU's where ghosts fight to bond and (at least most, if not all of) Danny's normal Gallery never intended to do any real harm.

Ooooo, you're so right!

How many would be mad at themselves? How many would be upset with Danny? How many would wilfully ignore their feelings on the matter in favor of trying to fix things? How many would wilfully ignore their feelings in favor of trying to pretend like nothing happened?

Ghost Writer, I think, would be upset with himself and the others for not realizing that Danny didn't know they were trying to bond with him.

Youngblood would be upset with Danny for not just knowing the difference between a play fight and an actual fight was, like the rest of the ghosts do instinctually.

Ember and Desiree would try to ignore their feelings and try to fix either the miscommunication or the soulmate bond.

Johnny would def ignore his feelings and pretend that Danny knew the whole time that they were just trying to get to know him. Just ignore the feelings of guilt and hurt that were swirling inside in order to continue on with the fun that didn't feel as fun anymore.

Necromancy

Tim's a necromancer. He was very careful - normally - about who he let know about that fact. He just wasn't expecting the new ghost on his team to be so easy to resurrect. He had a lot of questions.

Danny was a halfa. But one off-handed comment made by his new teammate and suddenly he wasn't anymore. He was just... alive.

Tim had gotten hit by cuddle pollen that had been mixed with some sort of narcotic. The combination made him dizzy and cold and his brain fuzzy. Luckily, he'd stumbled upon his new brother - Danny - and immediately had a cuddle buddy.

A bit later, Batman found them. Like a good Robin and brother, Tim threw Danny under the bus, "Danny snuck out of the house."

got the idea from this quote: " "Hood was hit with pollen," Tim reported, like a good little Robin.  Always better to throw your fellow vigilantes under the bus when it came to Batman’s disapproving stare, and nothing caught his attention like a potential injury. " - drain by envysparkler

Danny: No i didnt! I dont even know you!

Tim had decided that Danny was his new brother right before cuddle attacking him, and Danny is so confused

#the indignant confusion danny must be feeling#tim probably has a concussion to have just dubbed his cuddle buddy his new brother

Danny: Mr Batman. Can you please get your son to let me go? He's been clinging like a koala for hours. And he's not heavy or anything. But he keeps telling me things in pretty sure I'm NOT MEANT TO KNOW!

Batman: ... Both of you in the batmobile. Now.

Danny: What! Why me too! I'm a victim here!

Tim: New brother is nice! He hasn't tried to kill me even once!

Danny:... I'm no longer sure I want to let him go home....

Batman:... In the car! We can discuss this later.

Okay but what if Danny did take Tim? Like, lists the red flags Tim has said plus the "hasn't tried to kill me even once" and doesn't give him back, or steals the bat mobile, or hides in an inaccessible place (to anyone without heavy duty power tools or powers) "nope, you don't deserve him, I'm taking him home for some r&r and then a holiday, if he wants to come back he's free to leave" and if Danny tries there's nothing they can do lol. Have this be a trend. After the vacay Tim goes back and then Dick is dosed and it happens again. Then Jason. Cass. Duke. Damian. Alfred. And finally Bruce. After they each have a break they're like "yeah actually I needed that and we have problems let's talk about it". Healthy communication facilitated by kidnapping forced holidays by a random guy

Danny goes with Batman back to the Batcave, but doesn't complain anymore about Red Robin clinging to him. Instead, he rubs his back and shoulders soothingly and lets RR melt against him.

But when they get to the Cave, Damian makes a biting remark about how 'of course Drake would be so clumsy as to get hit with a new strain of pollen.' Because he hasn't realized Danny the civilian is there yet.

Danny frowns and hikes Red Robin higher in his koala hold as he gets out of the Batmobile. Tim whines and hunches his shoulders, ducking his head into Danny's chest. Batman chides Robin for using names and directs Danny to the medbay. Batman gets a sample of RR's blood to synthesize an antidote.

While Batman is busy with the antidote, Damian pulls a bladed batarang on Danny and threatens him for their compromised identities. He berates Tim for being a fool, before Nightwing and Red Hood arrive on their motorcycles.

Hood demands to know what the Replacement was thinking as he stomps into the medbay. He pulls up short at seeing Danny. Dick followed Jason in to check on Tim. Damian snaps that Drake was an idiot again and compromised all their identities to this random bystander.

Danny cuts in then. This whole time, Tim has been cringing into him and maybe whining unhappily at all the blame and distress being tossed at him. So Danny pipes up and tells them he won't do anything about their identities and doesn't want to know so stop saying shit in front of him.

Then he asks Nightwing if Red Robin is going to be okay, how long is the antidote going to take, and will it wear off safely without it, if they can't make an antidote anyway. Nightwing checks Red's vitals and tells him he'll be fine even if he had to sleep it off, he doesn't have any dangerous symptoms.

Batman returns and says it will take a few hours to synthesize an antidote for this new strain. Then he warns Danny about not sharing anything he learned and starts asking questions about what Danny was doing out there tonight in the first place. Danny is still a teen, it was late at night and a bad part of the city. Bruce is concerned about Danny's safety but it comes across as paranoid Bat interrogation.

Nightwing moves to try to take Red Robin from the civilian. But when he reaches for Tim, he whines and clings harder to his 'nice brother' Danny.

And then Danny goes intangible with him and Dick's hands go right through Tim.

"You know, I don't think he wants to go with you right now. And I don't think I want to give him back right now, either. He's said a lot of real concerning stuff about how you all been treating him. He even cried about how nice of a brother I am, and I didn't do nothing special. Jus' held him a bit and reassured him he was doing a good job when he started stressing about not doing enough."

And all the Bats are alarmed at suddenly having this civilian making Tim inaccessible to them. Suddenly a possible threat was holding Tim, instead of a stressed out bystander.

Danny just kept talking over the demands to release Red Robin. "Now, I ain't claiming to be an expert on you all. And maybe this pollen is making things worse for him right now than it really is. But I don't think this is healthy for him. He's already all stressed out and then gets back here and you all treat him like this when he's ill and vulnerable? You all are kicking him when he's down."

Despite the immediate protests and increasingly frantic attempts to make him drop Tim, Danny kept going and stood up. "So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to take Red here somewhere safe he can sleep this off without you all making him feel worse. I ain't gonna hurt him and I ain't gonna let anyone else hurt him, not even you lot. And when he's feeling more like himself he can head on home whenever he likes."

"You will not take my son," growls Batman. The rest are also demanding he surrender Tim.

"Thing is, ya can't really stop me." And Danny goes invisible with Red Robin. Before he flies out of there with his new brother-for-a-day, he speaks once more. "Maybe you should all think real hard about why your brother decided he likes a complete stranger, who was kind to him, more than you all."

Tim had gotten hit by cuddle pollen that had been mixed with some sort of narcotic. The combination made him dizzy and cold and his brain fuzzy. Luckily, he'd stumbled upon his new brother - Danny - and immediately had a cuddle buddy.

A bit later, Batman found them. Like a good Robin and brother, Tim threw Danny under the bus, "Danny snuck out of the house."

got the idea from this quote: " "Hood was hit with pollen," Tim reported, like a good little Robin.  Always better to throw your fellow vigilantes under the bus when it came to Batman’s disapproving stare, and nothing caught his attention like a potential injury. " - drain by envysparkler

Danny: No i didnt! I dont even know you!

Tim had decided that Danny was his new brother right before cuddle attacking him, and Danny is so confused

#the indignant confusion danny must be feeling#tim probably has a concussion to have just dubbed his cuddle buddy his new brother

Danny: Mr Batman. Can you please get your son to let me go? He's been clinging like a koala for hours. And he's not heavy or anything. But he keeps telling me things in pretty sure I'm NOT MEANT TO KNOW!

Batman: ... Both of you in the batmobile. Now.

Danny: What! Why me too! I'm a victim here!

Tim: New brother is nice! He hasn't tried to kill me even once!

Danny:... I'm no longer sure I want to let him go home....

Batman:... In the car! We can discuss this later.

Okay but what if Danny did take Tim? Like, lists the red flags Tim has said plus the "hasn't tried to kill me even once" and doesn't give him back, or steals the bat mobile, or hides in an inaccessible place (to anyone without heavy duty power tools or powers) "nope, you don't deserve him, I'm taking him home for some r&r and then a holiday, if he wants to come back he's free to leave" and if Danny tries there's nothing they can do lol. Have this be a trend. After the vacay Tim goes back and then Dick is dosed and it happens again. Then Jason. Cass. Duke. Damian. Alfred. And finally Bruce. After they each have a break they're like "yeah actually I needed that and we have problems let's talk about it". Healthy communication facilitated by kidnapping forced holidays by a random guy

Tim has finally decided to get some therapy. (Not really)

He had picked a therapist who didn't sound at all suspicious. (No, he hadn't.)

Penelope Spectra was very highly recommended. (No, she wasn't. Her clients kept disappearing.)

This was definitely him trying to go to therapy like his friends and siblings had recommended and not him finding another case to work on. (You're a lying liar, Tim.)