Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny is tired. He is so tired. 

Months pass by, and every day it’s something new. Something new coming for him, to bother him, always him. 

Skulker, Technus, Vlad, Pariah, the fucking Box Ghost , there’s always something there to ruin his fucking day. He can’t get a single fucking break. 

Danny hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in over 3 months, he thinks, and it shows on his face. Deep bags are carved out under his eyes, and his face is sunken and hollow. He’s skinny, too skinny. His only energy comes from his weekly trips to the ghost zone. 

So yeah, he’s tired. 

And one day, Skulker chooses just the wrong moment to attack. 

He is singled out in the middle of the street as Skulker yells at him. 

“I will have your pelt, boy, whether you like it or not!” 

There’s a moment of silence after his words where no one dares to say anything. 

Then, Danny turns, going ghost in the middle of the street. His gaze sends involuntary shivers down Skulker’s spine, confusing the hunter. 

“When will it stop, Skulker?” 

Skulker’s silence speaks his confusion more than words would, silence so thick in the air you could cut it. 

“Haven’t I given enough? Haven’t I done enough? When will it be enough, Skulker? When you finally have my pelt on your ancient-damned wall? When Vlad gets his way with my family?” 

“I-” Skulker speaks, only to be cut off.

“I’m a fool, a damned fool, for thinking anything will change, aren’t I? Nothing will change. Not you, not the other ghosts, not my parents, nothing. It never changes, and isn’t that just so fucking poetic?” 

It’s like the giant bucket at a water park. 

Danny’s bucket is full, about to spill. 

Amity Park is about to be the poor, unsuspecting child standing under it. 

“When will it be enough? When will I be enough? When will it stop?” 

Ectoplasmic tears fall down Danny’s face as his voice echoes, dangerously close to a wail. 

“When? Or am I really just the fool? Everyone laugh it up at the foolish ghost who tries to help! Doesn’t he know he’s dead too, and nobody’s fucking mourning?” 

His voice echoes through the town, wailish in quality and full of anguish. 

A storm brews above Amity, the wing whipping around Danny, blowing his hair around wildly. The thunder roars, but Danny can’t hear much above the ringing in his ears. 

The world is reacting as the Ghost King’s anguish spills over the edges. 

“I find it so ironic that despite being dead, everyone acts like I’m still alive. I’m not. I’m fucking dead, and yet I’m still expected to, what, be the town fucking hero? I’m 14, and I’ll never be more. What the fuck can I do?” 

His anguish leaks into the infinite realms as trees come down and lighting strikes everything high enough. 

“I am so-” 

Waves terrorize the coastlines.

“Fucking-” 

Deserts begin to flood-

“ TIRED. ” 

…

And then, quiet. Comfort, like a warm towel. 

‘ Hello, child, ’ says Gotham, having felt his anguish. She holds him close and warm, swaddled in stars and fog. ‘ I feel your pain. Please, let me help. ’

Danny knows his answer before she even finishes. 

Gotham smiles. 

…

Danny wakes up, three years old, with a blanket of stars over his shoulders. He is on the roof a building he knows nothing of.

Danny cries because he’s cold and it’s begun to rain in Gotham. 

Hush, child, Gotham whispers in his ear. My city is your new playground . 

Danny’s cries quiet. 

And little Danny smiles, because he feels loved. He ties his blanket of stars around his neck tighter and begins to float. His memories are hazy, but he doesn’t mind, because here is this wonderful new place for him to explore! 

And so he begins to leap from roof to roof, giggling all the way. 

Gotham smiles upon him.

Chapter Text

Edward Nygma had been free from Arkham for about a month now. 

He still doesn’t have a single evil idea. He had no clue how to go about his next big scheme. He has to admit, he’s a little guilty about how much damage his last scheme caused, and he wants his next big scheme to be fun without… how to say this… lowering rent? 

Eddie sits upside down on the beanbag in his apartment (fraudulently purchased under the name Brutus Justice) and swings his legs above him. He’s hoping the blood flow to his brain will help it work better. 

That’s when he hears something go crash in the night. In his apartment. He looks up to see a translucent figure staring down at him. 

A translucent… toddler. 

A toddler is standing floating in his apartment. Translucently. 

Did Eddie mention he hasn’t slept in a while? 

“What the hell are you?” 

The child responds by giggling and floating some more, a starry cape billowing behind him. 

“I’m serious. You’re confusing me. I don’t like being confused.” 

The child laughs out loud, bouncing in the air. 

“You’re laughing at me? Poor Eddie? What did I do?” 

“You’re silly,” the ghost says in a delighted, echoey voice. 

Eddie pouts. 

“Am not. I’m just tired. I’m sure if I were less tired, I’d do the logical thing and run away. But I’m tired.” 

The ghost’s smile falls. 

“Eddie’s tired?” 

Eddie’s 90% sure he’s dreaming at this point. 

“Yeah, Eddie’s tired.” 

The ghost frowns deeply, which is very pitiful on his little baby face. 

“Eddie can have some of Danny’s energy.” 

The ghost, before Eddie can do the logical thing and fuck off out of this haunted apartment, leans down and touches Eddie’s head. 

It feels like a shot of the best caffeine around straight into his brain. He shoots up, which causes him to fall off the beanbag and right on his ass, making the ghost laugh high and loud. 

“You’re not a dream. What the hell?”

“Silly! I’m Danny!” 

Danny, as the ghost so calls himself, smiles and chuckles brightly. His happiness is, loathe as Eddie is to admit it, very contagious. Eddie smiles incredulously. 

“So ghosts are real. What the hell, who knew?” 

“I did! I did!” Danny says, raising his hand. Eddie had almost forgotten how much he liked kids. 

“Well, I know you did, silly.” 

Danny cackles maniacally, a little playful glint in his eye. 

“What brings you to my lowly apartment, Danny?”

“You’re fun. Your air tastes like it.” 

And wasn’t that a riddle if Eddie’d ever heard one? What the hell does ‘your air tastes like fun’ mean? 

“Is that so?” 

“Yeah! I’m bored being invisible. I want to play.” 

Eddie thought about that for a moment. 

“Would helping me out make you less bored?” 

“Yeah!!! What do I do? What are you playing?” 

“I’m playing ‘Fool the Bat’. Got any ideas?” 

“Space!!!! I like space. Does the Bat know- does he know about the Space? About the stars!?!?!” Danny’s enthusiasm on the words space and stars, like they were proper nouns, is hilarious- it makes sense, though, given that the child is practically swaddled in his starry cloak that held the stars above, the ones you couldn’t see through Gotham’s pollution. 

“You thinking we go with a space theme? Sure. I like it. It’s fun, it’s novel, it’s interesting. What kind of space game could we set up?”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! When I hads my Jazz, she- she played Magic Spaceship with me. It’s where-! It’s, it’s, it’s where you’re in a magic spaceship and Jazz is an alien! She tells you stuff and you have to rememember thems, or Jazz shoots your spaceship and you DIE!” 

“A memory game? I do like those.” 

Eddie’s mind is going a mile a minute, the energy Danny had gifted him and the inspiration mixing like Flour and milk in his mind. He only needs eggs and butter, and he has his bread. 

Ok, bad allegory, but he’s focused on other things. 

“What if I gave the Bats riddles, and they had to remember each of the answers and sort them into one bigger answer to win the game?” 

Danny’s brow furrows. 

“That sounds like a hard game.” 

“That’s the fun of it, Danny, what’s fun if not a challenge?” 

Danny nods morosely as if agreeing, but Eddie can see that Danny has no idea what Eddie meant. He laughed. 

“So, Danny, how do you feel about a trip to the planetarium?”

-

Eddie sits in the car he’d stolen from Jack Drake, scrolling through his stakeout to-do list to remind himself before the real thing. The ghost boy sits in the passenger seat, buckled in and happy as a clam. 

“Eddie, when will we go inside?”

“In a second, buddy. We’re just running over the itinerary.” 

“Okay!” 

Silence settles over the car again, Danny bouncing in his seat. As Eddie gazes at his phone, the car grows colder. Eddie chances a glance at Danny, who looks worried. He sighs, putting his phone down. 

“What’s up, little guy?”

“What if- what if peoples sees me and they- they get scared? I’m scary! I don’t wanna be scary!” 

With that, Danny bursts into big, bubbling, green tears. Eddie coos and raises a hand to pat Danny’s head. 

“Hey, you aren’t scary, buddy. You’re adorable. Anyone who finds you scary is just a silly goose. Now let’s go see some space, how about that?”

Danny sniffs, still crying, but holds out his little ghost hands for uppies. Eddie obliges, and surprisingly, Danny is solid enough that Eddie can pick him up. Eddie carries the ghost out of the car. 

He looks back at Danny, and suddenly, the ghost… isn’t a ghost anymore. He was a boy. 

Eddie decides he isn’t going to question it. He hasn’t questioned anything yet, and it’s gotten him here. 

So, with little Danny in his arms, Eddie heads across the parking lot and towards the Gotham Planetarium. 

The structure is impressive even from the outside. The designers managed to mix the post-modern and gothic architectural styles pretty well, and the big dome is gorgeous in the daylight, even with the overcast sky. Danny is already calming down, so Eddie is as well. 

As they enter the building, Danny gasps. It’s even more gorgeous inside, the walls and ceilings decorated with glowing constellations, galaxies, and nebulas. Danny is bouncing in Eddie’s grasp, hands going up as if to touch the stars. He babbles nonsense, happier than a cat with the cream. Eddie approaches the ticket desk, smiling at the cashier behind it. 

“Tickets for one adult and one child, please. The full experience.” 

“Is it someone’s first time here?” 

“Oh, yeah. Danny’s been itching to go here for a while now. He loves the stars.” 

The cashier smiles, something soft. Danny seems to have that effect on people. 

“Can I get names for your passes?” 

“Eddie and Danny Justice, please.”

The cashier turns their head back to the computer in front of them, typing quickly. 

“Alright Eddie, and Danny, your badges will be ready for you right over there, past the pendulum and through the Stargate. Just tell the employees your names and they’ll hand you everything you need. Please wear your badge visible on you at all times. Have a great trip through the stars!” 

Eddie pays the employee in cash and ushers Danny away. Danny giggles and waves at the cashier as they head through the lobby to the entrance toward the rest of the planetarium. He wiggles a bit, a nonverbal request for down, and Eddie complies. Danny’s little astronaut boots touch the ground and start speedwalking towards the stargate. Eddie rushes to keep up. 

“Hey, Woah, little buddy! I know we’re excited but can you hold my hand to make sure you don’t get lost?” 

Danny skids to a stop quickly and backtracks, beeping quietly like a truck. Eddie laughs. Danny’s hand slots into his own and they walk up to the stargate. 

“Names?” an employee dressed as a scientist asks. 

“Eddie and Danny Justice.”

“Ah, yes. Welcome to the Gotham Planetarium, you two. Here are your badges- you’re free to explore, and if you’d like to join a tour, let us know at any time, and we can get you hooked up. The theater is that way, while the museum is that way, and if you’d like something more exciting, through there is the Explorium, where you can find out more about space than you ever have before!” 

Danny immediately starts pulling Eddie towards the Explorium, and Eddie quickly thanks the employee before letting Danny guide him. 

“Hey, Danny, buddy, we’ve got to put our badges on, remember?” 

Danny stops and looks up at Eddie, who hands him the little pin badge. It has Danny’s name in bold lettering, and it’s decorated with stars. Danny’s eyes sparkle. 

“This for me?” 

“Yeah, buddy! Just for you.” 

Danny squeals and yanks the badge from Eddie’s grip before jumping up and down. 

“How do I put it on!? How, how how?” 

Eddie laughs and kneels down to pin the badge to Danny’s NASA shirt. 

“Just like that!” 

Danny giggles maniacally, “I’m an astronaut!”

“Yes you are, little Star, you’re an amazing astronaut!” Eddie says, scooping Danny up from under the arms to throw him up. “Now let’s go explore the stars!” 

-

By the end of the day, they’ve explored the whole planetarium, and Danny looks ready to drop dead. He also looks like the happiest little (ghost) boy on the planet, so it evens out. 

Eddie carries Danny out to the car on his hip, the boy struggling to stay awake. Eddie sets him in the passenger seat, buckling him in. 

Before Eddie can circle back around to the driver’s side, Danny’s little hand comes up to grab him. 

“Eddie- Eddie! Th- Thank you, Eddie!” Danny stumbles over his words as he thanks the man, who simply smiles. 

“It was no problem at all, Danny.” 

Eddie closes the door and circles back to the driver’s side, only to find the passenger’s seat empty when he gets in. 

Eddie frowns, but there’s a warmth lingering from the day that tells him he did the right thing while he could. 

-

(And three weeks later, when Eddie enacts his latest game, everything seems to work in his favor before the Bats win the game fair and square. Eddie disappears, and as he sneaks away, he can swear he hears a familiar playful giggle echoing in the air.)