Chapter Text
The walk to his earth science class was a short and sweet one. Not boring…
That is a major compliment where he’s from! Was it a compliment in gotham?
Probably not!
But coming from someone like Damian? That was one of highest compliments one could receive. This dude mirrored Sam when it came to personality. Prickly, well meaning, with a high sense of justice. He was the type most needed time to grow accustomed to. And Danny? Danny was ivy up an old brick wall before he even got here!
Overgrown with fondness for his friends back home he’d forgotten some consider them unsightly.
Damian looked like the type who’d be overly popular. Pretty with a nice smile most people would call a smirk. Smart and confident about that intelligence.
It was too early to say for sure but Damian wore his heart on his shoulder in the ways that mattered.
When he’d seen Danny’s map, his jaw had been set tight, fingers tightening ever so slightly around the paper. When they’d walked to class together his eyes flicked back to Danny constantly, making sure he’d never lagged more than a few steps behind. And when, in the crowded halls Danny clasped onto the hem of his sleeve Damian hadn’t flinched.
He didn’t ask why Danny needed something to hold onto. Or why he did his best to keep pace instead of dragging a step or two behind. He just slowed his pace without a word.
People ran into him back home. In the hallway at school. At the store. Even at home! And yeah, Danny was a little clumsy, his shoddy vision was to blame for that. He’d run smack dab into walls and lockers. And there wasn’t a side walk in amity he hadn’t tripped and bled all over.
Accidents came with the territory of being a Fenton. It just so happened he was more prone to them. But he’d take getting laughed over admitting his vision had deteriorated as badly as it did.
Still, it’d started to feel like people were becoming walls for him on purpose! After his accident, before and after he got out of his wheelchair people rushed past him. They saw a chair, mobility aids or a limp and suddenly became olympic joggers. Like they were so afraid they’d get stuck behind him that they’d run ahead and shoulder check him just cuz.
And don’t even him started on what happened after he “got better” People kept walking like he was invisible! They smacked right into him like they’d assumed he’d be the one to hobble away.
Sam and Tucker walked with him most days because of this. It wasn’t just an alibi thing. It was a “I’m a klutz who looks really fun to bully plz protect me,” type thing.
So yeah, Damian was the type of guy who was unashamed of who he was and what he believed in. Just like Sam or even Danny himself.
Don’t get him wrong!
Damian definitely had secrets, everybody does. But those were more of the “I’m not sharing every tiny bit of my personal life with someone I met yesterday,” It was the basic, ‘don’t provide any information even if you know they could’ve googled it’ Sam warned him about before he’d set foot in Gotham.
So why had either of them shared anything about their lives yesterday? Nerves mostly. Damian looked at him with that prickly protective expression on his face and he just spilled the beans. Danny doesn’t even like beans!
Damian didn’t share much but Danny knew the dude had siblings and that he spoke fondly of them. That and they’d been barred from the kitchen for unspecified reasons.
Damian had a low tolerance for bullcrap but he dealt with it far more elegantly than Danny could. People didn’t talk much to Damian when Danny was nearby, just whispering like they saw a ghost (ha!)
He didn’t blame them though. It’s gotham.
Who’d want to talk to the transfer student with a scarred face and a milky dead eye?
“Are you kidding me?!” A shriek sounds out, loud and incredulous as Danny takes his first step into the classroom.
Ah right this guy.
He doesn’t like Danny very much, does he? What was his name again? Caz? Callam?
Greg? Actually, did he even learn the kids name?
With all the time he’d spent taunting the guy it hadn’t crossed his mind to ask. Oh well, it's too late to fix it now.
“How are you still here?!” Offbrand’s fists shook, his face beet red like he’d just been told satan was being released from prison to wreak havoc. And yeah, with how Danny was grinning, he could be satan.
“Me?” He bats his eyes, raising a palm to his chest and scanning the room like they weren’t the only two in the room.
“Who else would I be talking to?”
“The voices in your head.”
“I’m sane.” The boy spits darkly. “Out of everyone in this school, you’d be the first to end up in arkham,”
Danny’s face lights up, his lips pulling upward into a giddy smile that had the brunette flinching backward.
“So we’d be roomies?!” With his hands covering a faux red face. “You’re so forward, asking to move in together already,”
“That isn’t- I’m not,” Danny bounces in place as the other boy stutters. Was this bullying? Probably. Was it warranted? Yes absolutely, without a doubt.
“So you didn’t mean it?” He sniffles, wiping away an imaginary tear.
“What the hell are you two dipsticks doing?” Danny turns to the door. It’s exactly who he thinks it is. A short ponytail with strands of blonde clinging to her rounded face. Her hazel eyes stared sharply at them, a deep disappointment settled behind her pupils. Maybe one day she’d be as disappointed in him as his parents were? Perhaps today…?
“He never loved meeeeee!” Danny wails obnoxiously like he’s in a soap opera.
At this point his classmates were starting to filter in from the hall. They quirked their eyebrows at his antics. Some of them shook their heads, ignoring him like nothing was happening. Others gathered round, watching with rapt attention.
“What are you talking about!?” He blushed. Three minutes before the teacher even gets here and he already looks like he wants to tear his hair out. That has to be some kind of record, right?
“You said we were going to move in together,” He sobs cupping his face in his hands.
“NO! That- I never,” He sputters.
Danny smirks, the blond girl patting his shoulder. Her face doesn’t change though it stays utterly unentertained by everything that was happening around her right now.
“Isn’t that the kid who just transferred here? How is he already breaking up with someone?”
“That’s Mark, isn’t it? Aint no way this is real”
“I’m calling bullshit. No way that lunatic pulled the new kid,”
“They were fighting yesterday, so i don’t think this is real,”
“He sounds really upset though,”
”In what world are those real tears?”
Whispers echoed through the classroom but Danny was far too focused to even try to hear them. He had to sell this. He just had to play his cards right. Land a reputation crushing blow that’d embarrass him so bad he’d never talk to Danny again!
“There is no way in hell this is real, I literally saw him hanging out with Damian the other day.”
“No way! I heard that happened but did the Wayne kid actually show him around?!”
“He did! He showed him around for the whole fucking day,”
“And they ate lunch together!”
“The transfer student made Damian eat lunch with him?”
“No. Damian waved him over,”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true! But get this… Damian was smiling at him!”
”No fucking way,”
“I thought it was a murderous smile at first but then he started fucking blushing!”
“He didn’t,”
“Uh-huh he did! Do you wanna know the best part?”
“What?”
“The new kid didn’t even notice!”
”The fuck!?”
“I know dude, I think he has some vision problems,”
“And some hearing problems, the guy hasn’t even looked at us once,”
“Isn’t he from a small town in illinois?”
“He’s got those farmboy eyes”
“A bit of an accent too,”
“Definitely not a big city kind of dude,”
”Nice observation Lauren! It’s not like anyone could have guessed that when he walked into school and got buddy buddy with Damian Wayne! ”
“I swear to god it was like watching someone let a tiger sniff their hand and then pick it up to cuddle with it,”
“How did he not get his ass kicked”
”Either Damian’s playing the long game and planning to ruin his life… or he’s actually into him,”
”I think the tactical destruction of this kid’s life as he knows it would be a less frightening concept.”
“My guy’s got that Clark Kent, farmboy charisma,”
”Shut up I’m trying to hear,”
“I never said I loved you! I said you’d be the first of our classmates to go to Arkham!” Offbrand spits like that would help his case.
“Oh shit! I forgot they were breaking up for a sec!”
“First to go to arkham?”
“Mark’’s kind of a scumbag,”
“You’re just noticing this now?”
“Should…Should we tell Damian?”
”Do you want to witness a murder,”
“I mean…? Yeah? It’s been boring around here lately,”
“If you jinx us and say those words in that order again I will make a murder scene out of you, and then your parents so your ghost becomes a witness,”
“Damn Kathy, calm down,”
“No. I refuse to be the victim of a gas attack because of someone else's hubris.”
“Yeah! We’d be roomies!” Danny chirps. “I mean, you seem to think I belong there and for what? Because my parents sent me here?”
“You’re literally putting on a scene to make me look bad right now!”
“Is that not the Gothham welcome?” Danny tilts his head curiously. “Because yesterday before you even said hello you accused me of planning mass murder and said my scars were proof,”
“That’s- thats,”
“Oh. Are you the only one here who’s allowed to pull insane lies out of the blue?”
Dude what is this?
I fucking knew it was fake.
What the hell?
Shit that’s scary.
He’s fucking smiling, that’s hardcore
I mean, it’s not hard to outsmart colin but damn
Did he really accuse him of murder yesterday?”
The real question is- did Mark really try to pin Danny’s secret criminalsona by looking at his face?
With that said, Danny steps back to his desk pausing with a grin before he sits down. “Oh hey, I almost forgot! I’ve got a birthmark on my left cheek, ya wanna guess what felony that’ll make me commit?”
“No.” Face red, he hides his face in his elbows.
The chatter doesn’t simmer down now that their spat is over. It just shifts into smaller clusters as their class goes on unsupervised. Had their teacher been possessed? No, that didn’t fit the Gotham vibe.
Had she been murdered?
Nobody knew but by god were they doing all they could to make sure she was- Wait a minute. Nope! Everyone was goofing off.
Good job guys!
Anyways, it’s not like he’s doing much better. And who would be better at recognizing a concerning situation? A tourist from a ghost town, or a native gothamite?
All he could do was sit in the same spot he did yesterday and wait.
And apparently, he didn’t need to do that either as the seating was less assigned than he’d previously thought. The girl who’d argued with Offbrand yesterday sat next to him scrolling mindlessly on her phone.
“Morning,” With a smile, he greets his seatmate.
“Piss off, you drama queen,” She scowls.
“You say that like you weren’t right next to me the entire time giving him the evil eye,” Tapping his pencil on his desk Danny’s gaze flicks between his peers and the door.
Seriously, where was the teacher? She should be here by now.
“He was shouting right next to my seat! I didn’t want to hear that shit,”
“My bad,” Danny shrugs. “Next time we fight I’ll just deck him,”
“Hmmn, please do. It would save us all the hassle of hearing either of you talk,” Danny watches over her shoulder as she takes an ipad out of her backpack.
“I can hear you!” Offbrand snaps his fists clench.
“Who are you again?”Danny asks. The blond girl smirks into the palm of her hand as Offbrand sputters.
“You don’t even know my name?” He gawks slapping a hand to his chest as if clutching an imaginary set of pearls.
“Neither of you bothered to introduce yourselves. Was I supposed to guess?” If he had asked there’s no doubt in his head Off Brand would’ve
“You look like a Kyle, maybe a Kevin if we squint,” Grinning he watches the brunettes face contort further in pure rage.
“You’re sabotaging me and you don’t even know my name?” Sabotage? When did Danny- oh. Right, yeah. He did do that less than five minutes ago. Oops.
“Do you even know my name?” Danny counters.
“Daniel Fenton.” Without a second of hesitation both of his seatmates replied.
“Damn it!” He curses.
“The teacher literally said it out loud yesterday, you dipshit,” The girl beside him spat.
“I was hoping he’d forgot it, like his common sense,” Danny sighs.
“I have sense!” Offbrand emphasises tapping out each word on the table. “It’s you two that are dense,”
The girl pays no attention to the insult, just brushing the hair away from her face and staring Danny dead in the eyes. “Just because you have the memory of a toddler doesn’t make this school preschool.” She deadpans.
“He was acting like a toddler! It was a reasonable assumption!” He defends, palms flat out.
“Nothing about either of you two is reasonable,” She rolls her eyes.
“That’s fair,” He shrugs eyeing the two of them. “But I still don’t know who you guys are. And if you don’t want a permanent and unflattering nickname, I suggest you tell me now,” This was a threat now. He was tired of referring to people he’s clearly stuck with as ‘the girl,’ and ‘Dollar store Wes Weston,’ It’s just so impersonal.
“Mark Florias,” Green eyes narrowed, the boy reveals his name with such hesitation you’d think Danny planned to steal it.
“Taylor,” The girl states plainly. “You don’t get my last name. I don’t want to give you any opportunity to find me outside class,”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Danny chuckles. “I barely made it to the grocery store yesterday. I can’t even fathom the stupidity It’d take to stalk someone,”
This was the city where pretty much everyone was packing heat or sometimes worse. There was an non-insignificant amount of people who were caught carrying around weapons that violated the Geneva convention. Most of those people weren’t even goons for the big rogues. And don’t get him started on the Bats.
The bat’s would and have broken people’s bones for lesser crimes. And Danny was planning to stay under radar from both Criminals and Vigilantes alike.
Knowing things in this city could both get you killed or save your life. It all depended on the information you got and who knew you had it. Danny wasn’t planning to be an information broker. Nor did he plan on getting interrogated by the bats or shot 24-7.
He’d like to stay stupid and unstabbed please.
Tucker bet twenty dollars he wouldn’t make it out of Gotham with all ten fingers and toes and Danny really can’t afford to be wrong right now. He’d never hear the end of it.
“First shopping trip in Gotham eh?” With a smirk she rested her face on her palm. “Did you get mugged?”
“Surprisingly? Nothing happened. But I don’t think that’ll last,”
“That’s funny,” For the first time, he hears Taylor genuinely laugh. “Most tourists seem to think they’re invincible,”
“Yeah well, bad things tend to happen around me. I’ve learned to expect it at this point,”
The clock ticks onward and so does their conversation. Ten minutes after class was supposed to start, their teacher walks in, a scowl on her face and a an stack of something in her hands.
“Daniel?” Their teacher, Mrs.Graves b-lines it for him immediately. And where Danny expects to be scolded he is instead met by a sleek new I-pad being placed in front of him.
“You’ll need this for your classes.” Fancily the tablet nests securely in a sleek black case. Durable, he’d have to try to break this one. Not that he planned to break it.
On the back of the case, in printed bold font was the school district, a logo and a return address.
“Your schoolwork should show up here,” She explains, opening up what he’d assumes is this school’s ‘homework app,’ “If you’d like a paper copy for any of your assignment’s, there’s a bin up at my desk you can pick them from,” She continues, pointing out a clear bucket sat plainly at the edge of her desk.
It’s weird having a teacher be this nice to him off the bat. Even Lancer had that freaky favoritism thing going on with all the popular kids. But it wasn’t like the change was unwelcome so he just nods along.
“If something is hard to read, you can change the text size or font of our textbooks here,” Scrolling through the settings she shows him the variety of larger, thicker fonts.
“There’s also a screen reader you can use as long as you wear headphones,” With that she hands him the tablet, smiling softly as Danny gawks at the device.
“Um, I won’t be docked points for using this, will I?” This wasn’t another ‘secret lesson’ was it? A trap to catch all the kids who didn’t pick up the textbook..
Mrs. Graves tilts her head at him, next to him raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“The screen reader,” Danny clarifies. “Kind of feels like cheating doesn’t it?” It’s not like he’s completely blind. Reading and writing weren’t impossible tasks for him. Surely there were people who needed this more than him?
This seemed like another one of those “ Accommodations,” that’d be taken away the second someone complained about fairness. That’s one of the reasons he couldn’t leave five minutes before the bell rang anymore.
“Your vision is impaired dumbass, it’s quite literally installed for people like you,”
“Taylor!” Mrs. Graves scolds harshly.
“Sorry,Sorry,” Half-heartedly she placates.
Their teacher seems to accept that apology. She hovers over his shoulder, making sure he knows what he’s doing before heading to the front and finally starting class.
For them however, the conversation has just begun.
“Screen readers have literally been a thing since they started handing out ipads,” She mutters “What kind of fucked up place do you live where a screen reader is considered cheating?”
“Illinois, Amity Park,”
“Where?”
“It’s a small town, Vlad Masters is the mayor,
“That explains so much,” Both Taylor and Mark exclaim.
“That guy is one of the sketchiest people on the planet, I’d bet my life he’s a literal supervillain,” For the first time since he’s got here Mark starts theorizing on someone who isn’t him. And he’s 100% correct this time.
Lips pulled tight, Danny debates his next move. Just thinking about defending Vlad made him feel like throwing up. Vlad wouldn’t out him for talking shit, would he?
Yes. Without a doubt he would. The man had an ego as fragile as a spaghetti noodle. But Danny didn’t care to think about future consequences. Vlad’s been fucking him over for ages. He’d be damned if he missed an opportunity.
“Dude, that’s the safest bet anyone’s ever made,” Danny laughs.
“Finally, I agree with you two about something” Taylor groans.
“Is it true that everybody voted him in as mayor,” Vlad really dropped the ball on that one. Probably one of the top ten most suspicious things he ever did. It’s like plagiarizing wikipedia word for word and hoping nobody notices. Like, at least tweak the word choice a little bit. Change the font to match the rest of the text before you turn it in.
Really, it was the most obvious case of voter fraud in the history of ever! But for some reason, it only appeared obvious to non-Amity Parkers!
All kinds of crime went unreported or un-discussed back home. Mostly because of mind control or blackmail. Turns out, when most of the town was committing some form of tax evasion, they weren’t all that eager to report a crime that huge. .
“Yeah, everyone who could vote chose Vlad,” He affirms. “Most of them don’t even remember filling out their ballots,” He muttered under his breath.
“So like all of his early business deals?” Mark asks.
“And his recent ones too” Danny nods
“Have you seen how that man acts at galas?” Taylor scowls, clenching her fists. ”I don’t care how much they try to paint him as wisconsin's version of Bruce Wayne that man is a supervillain I swear to god,”
“He doesn’t even know how to do philanthropy,” Danny complains. “He just throws money at shady sources and it fucks everything up so badly,”
“ I guess you’d know all about that considering he’s your mayor,”
“Yeah! You want to know what one of the first things he did was?” Danny would not be holding back on this one.
“What?” Both of them looked entranced as Danny ranted.
“A four pm curfew for any one under the age of eighteen!”
“Dude what the fuck?”
“I had people from other school districts giving me crud for that because the fruitloop lied and said I was the one he did it for in his little speech,”
“Wait hold on,” Taylor lifts a hand “Why would he say he did it for you?”
Danny shrinks in his chair, his expression wilting. He wanted the earth to consume him whole. Never in his life would he want to admit any relation to Vlad blood or not. “Because he’s my god father,” Danny mumbles with a sorrowful look on his face.
“Wait! You’re the one he shot!?” Mark whisper-shouts.
And wow. That story got out of Amity? Did Vlad fail to keep it under-wraps or was this just a case of Mark being a conspiracy theorist. If they knew about that, did they know about Phantom too? If regular people knew about Amity’s situation why hadn’t any older hero’s checked up on them?
”I knew your name seemed familiar,”
“Show us the scar! Mark demands grabbing Danny’s arm excitedly.
“He got me in the tit so i’ll have to pass.” Danny swats the guys hand away. Mark wasn’t his friend, he’s a prick Danny would torment into a redemption arc.
“You got hit on purpose didn’t you,” Taylor accused. “There’s no way you just happened to be behind his car when he was shooting at it,”
“I was keying his car,” Danny lies. “Protesting his bullcrap rules, me getting shot was what got them reversed,”
“Why did he shoot at the car in the first place?” Mark questions and for some reason he doesn’t mention Danny’s totally real crime.
“Didn’t you see the footage?” Danny quirks an eyebrow. How did they know what happened if the footage didn’t get out? Any article that got out should’ve included something about ghosts or Phantom.
”Dude, all I got is screenshots of news artical and all of those news articles were clipped to high hell. Masters did his best to bury whatever he did,”
“Yeah, it did not look good for him, my mom was pissed at him,”
“But why did he shoot the car?” Mark asks again.
“It was a publicity stunt, nobody knows why he did it.” Shrugging Danny starts skimming through the online textbook. He didn’t want to get in trouble with this teacher already. Even if it seemed like she didn’t care if the three of them talked. She’d definitely care if they tanked this class.
“If I were to guess. He was probably trying to win some favor with the teenagers he pissed off before they decided to pull a france and bring in the guillotine,”
“Honestly, I did see a clip of one of his speeches before it got taken down, and that man was targeting you 100%,”
“I am not his favorite godchild,” That was a lie, Vlad just had a fucked up way of showing interest.
“I wonder why?” Taylor said sarcastically.
“The world may never know,” Danny grins “I personally, find my company delightful,”
Taylor rolls her eyes. Mark looks like he’s about to pop a vessel.
“You’re about as delightful as a rash on my backside,” He spits.
“You should tell your doctor about that, we don’t need to know that,” Taylor states with a flat voice. The look of disgust on her face almost makes Danny lose it.
“That’s not what I meant-“ He sputters “ I was making a comparison!”
“Tmi dude” Danny laughs into a closed fist.
“I don’t actually have a rash on my backside, It’s a birthmark I promise,”
“Please stop talking, I didn’t think it was possible for someone to sound more pathetic but you’ve done it,”
As if God himself was listening. The bell took pity on Mark, ringing loud and high pitched. Students rushed out the door like dogs with snapped leashes.
”We’ll talk about this later,” Mark snaps, his face flushed.
“The rash?” That did not sound like a fun use of time. It sounded like a conversation that one band kid who followed Valarie around would have.
“No- ugh why are you like this?” Raising his hands they fall at his side in closed fists.
Danny takes this as an opportunity to leave. Damian was probably waiting at the door for him. This wasn’t home. He wouldn’t let anyone turn him into an unreliable friend.
But Mark doesn’t take the hint. Of course he doesn’t. Why would he start now? Instead he grabs Danny by the shoulder.
The shoulder with scars trailing down to the tips of his fingers.
It doesn’t hurt as badly as it would’ve straight after the accident. But the firm grip sends a searing pain down his neck and chest that has him yelping. Mark’s nails dig into the fabric of his blazer, Clamping down on skin too fragile.
“Daniel?” Mark freezes at the voice and Danny’s about to say something stupid to fan the flames before he also recognizes the voice.
“Damian!” Danny beams at his friend, but it seems Mark has the opposite reaction to his presence. If anything, it’s like an allergic reaction. The way he stumbles backwards, gaping like a fish and scrambling over half coherent sentences.
Damian takes a bold stride towards them, his eyes narrowed into a dark glare. The boy pries Mark’s hand off Danny’s sleeve, squeezing the offending limb until it went pink before he released him.
Mark scrambled out the door, his sneakers squeaking as he ran.
“You’re a lifesaver, dude” Danny laughs awkwardly as Damian inspects his arm, brushing away imaginary filth when he doesn't find any injuries. “Has anyone ever told you ya have the best timing?”
“Many people,” Damian hums. “Do you know why he was pestering you?”
“Yeah, he figured out who my godfather was, and was pretty eager to talk about him after class,” Shrugging, Danny slings his backpack across his other shoulder. “But uh,” he murmurs “My godfather’s a total fruitloop, and I don’t like Mark enough to hang out with him, sooooo”
“We didn’t exactly get along,” Danny laughs, his lips pulled tight. “But I didn’t pick a fight or anything. He started it,”
“I don’t doubt that,” Damian agrees. “Mark’s a pest who doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut,” The sheer venom that drips from Damian’s mouth is almost startling, like a personal vendetta popping out of nowhere. Except it’s not out of nowhere it’s just Damian having an opinion on one of the classmates he’d known for years.
“Did… He accuse you of being a villain too?” He asks, letting the boy lead him out the classroom.
”Excuse me?” Damian pauses, eyes disappointed in the world and his tone dumbfounded. “No, he’s been spreading filthy rumors about my fathers ‘external affairs’”
”Oh, gross!” Damian had it worse. There is not a world where that wouldn’t be torture to hear. Nobody needed to hear talk like that about their family.
“Did he actually accuse you of being a criminal?”
“Well, today he said I’d be the first here to end up in Arkham,”
“What?”
“Apparently, he doesn’t like my face,” Danny scoffs. What else is new?