Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.1
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As someone who lived in the middle of nowhere, Amity, the ocean both terrified and enthralled Danny Fenton.
The first time his parents took him to the beach, it was the middle of the day and heโd been stuck in the prototype GAV for hours upon hours on their โquick, ghost rumor hunting field trip.โ
It wasnโt quick, and they caught exactly zero ghosts. When Danny saw the expanse of sand underneath the summer sun, he and Jazz both bounded out of the van like feral little monkeys. Danny and Jazz sprinted down the sand, their parents ambling behind them with their arms loaded up with towels, a first aid kit, and an ungodly amount of mildly ecto contaminated food that they already fought before getting onto the beach.
Danny had splashed into the water, yelped at the freezing temperature, and then promptly found a shell to keep. His mom taught him how to swim with the waves, having come from Surf City herself, and his dad taught Jazz how to dive.
It was a day full of fond memories, especially the memory of the Great War of Sand-Castle Crushing he and Jazz waged against each other.
They stuck around for the sunset, the ripples of colors and peacefulness that swept across the vast waters caught Danny in its hold.
He hadnโt forgotten that moment. Not even when he died.
After a particularly hard day as Phantom, Danny would fly to the coast and loose hours just sitting on the sand and watching the waves lap against the shore. And when those nights were clear? It felt like a slice of his own personal heaven, with the stars shining on his shoulders and the encompassing crash of the waves sheltering his heart.
And on some days, when being Danny left him frustrated, Danny would fly out to the coast and use his intangibility to walk beneath the waves. Near the coast, itโs cloudy with swirls of moving sand and disturbed waters. He walked, and walked, and floated and floated beneath the waters, taking contentment from the way the moonlight of his stars filtered through the water. He admired the way light would glint on the scales of fish and crustaceans alike as he floated beneath the surface. On those days, Danny would pick up trash and polluted things and bring them to shore, to place in the trash cans and all of the recycling cans. He picked up shells and decorated the beaches he frequented, because if it were decorated, perhaps people would refrain from chucking their waste into the sea.
Well, usually, itโd be trash.
Danny watched speechlessly, jaw cracked open just a smidge, as an explosion happened right over his head. The distortion of the water did not hide the fact that there were large chunks of plane pelting down at him, a different figure flying away from the explosion. Danny went invisible and intangible as large metal pieces plunged into his current water space.
โGosh, people these days,โ he huffed. โThis is gonna take forever toโฆโ
Danny trailed off, seeing a humanoid shape crash into the water, clearly unconscious. Danny didnโt hesitate before shooting towards the drowning person, glowing green and fully visible again. The strangerโs eyes- holy shit, thatโs Batman- turned towards him before closing behind cracked open lenses. Batman slumped falling unconscious. Thatโs not good.
Danny rocketed out of the water with the vigilante in his arms. If it werenโt for his supernatural strength, thereโs no way lanky teenage Danny would have been able to carry Batmanโs grown ass built like a tank self to the shore. Likewise, if it werenโt for his strength, Danny wouldnโt have been able to start chest compressions through the layers of armor.
Danny leaned back with a sigh as Batman coughed out only a bit of water, because Danny hadnโt taken all that long to get to him, and held up his hands in a โI donโt have weaponsโ way as Batman whirled to him.
โHi. Are you alright?โ Danny asked, ectoplasm and instinctive ghost speak fuzzing his words a bit. Damn, Batman must have nearly died a lot. Heโll freak out about meeting Batman later.
โYou saved me,โ an awkward pause. โThank you.โ
โYouโre welcome. The other guy went that way.โ
Danny waved vaguely.
โโฆWhat are you?โ
โOh my god, Batman, you canโt just ask someone what they are!โ He immediately replied, inwardly smacking himself for the joke. He watched Batmanโs face, watching for any sign of discrimination against ghosts, or any sign the man had a sense of humor.
โโฆโ
Neither, apparently, was the answer.
โDonโt worry about it. Iโm just here to clean up the beaches. You humans really like to pollute the beaches. Itโs quite rude, you know. That plane of yours, well, itโs not your fault,โ he amended. โBut itโs gonna damage sea life. And I donโt know if youโre in the habit, but please donโt litter on the beach or in the water, especially with your unconscious body. Itโs tedious to clean.โ
โโฆI see.โ
โStay. Iโll take out your plane. Make sure it doesnโt stay on the sand, alright?โ
With that, Danny stood. Unaware of the way the moonlight lit up his hair like white flames and accentuated the sharp points of his ears, Danny turned away and flew back to the plane site, dragging the pieces up with ease.
Batman sat on the sand, likely exhausted from his fight, and watched him carry the pieces of the aircraft up.
โHere. All done. I gotta get going,โ because Danny has school and this just lost him two hours. โWill you be alright?โ
Batman nodded once, sharply.
โGood.โ Danny went invisible, watching Batman sat up straighter, glancing around in a suddenly visible awareness. Oh, well. Tuckerโs gonna freak out.
โโ
Three years later, Dannyโs moved to Gotham for university.
And after midterm season, Danny went for a ghostly walk, but this time, in the waters surrounding Gotham.
When he surfaced, Batman was crouching on a lamp post, waiting for him.
โOh, itโs you,โ Danny said. โHello. Did you know that people are polluting these waters with bodies too?โ
โYes,โ Batman said, graveled voice resounding on the shipping containers around them.
โYou should do something about that. Do you like places that are polluted?โ
Batman sighed. โWhat are you?โ
Danny hears a small, tinny voice by Batmanโs ear, coming from a comm.
โOh my god, B, you canโt just ask someone what they are!โ
Mind flashing back to the night Danny drug a waterlogged Batman out of the ocean, Danny cracked a smile.
โPhantom,โ he said, decisively. And, because this isnโt Amity anymore, โthe Beach Clean Up crew from the flip side.โ
โโ
Bruce, waking up on the sand: wtf
Bruce, seeing a child next to him who probably saved him: wtf (in โadoptionโ)
Bruce, seeing Dannyโs skin glitter like stars, hair aflame, and pointy ears: wtf (in โI can adopt fae folk, right?โ)
Bruce, seeing that Danny doesnโt leave any footprints: wtffff (detective mind goes brrrr)
โโ
Bruce, after Danny leaves: *donates 20 mil towards beach clean up efforts and anti-pollution causes*
โโ
Bruceโs Goggle Search History, documented by Oracle:
Sea spirits
Sea vampires
How to parent supernatural kids
How to thank your sea child
Are shells a good gift?
Ocean conservation efforts
Sea spirits that glitters under moonlight
Sea spirits that cleans up beaches
Wayne corporation waste disposal
Companies that dump trash into the sea
*outgoing call to Lucius Fox*
What is โmean girlsโ
โโ
Bruce, learning โcurrent pop cultureโ from his kids:
Bruce, remembering the kid who saved him and realizing heโs probably as old as his own kids are: *adoption tendencies intensifies*
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