Chapter Text
Danny never expected to become a teen dad. Yet, here he was, once arm slung over a shivering maybe-ten year old kid, dressed in oversized clothes and dripping from the sudden downpour over Gotham.
…
Well, being a dad may be an over-exaggeration- but seriously!
Where were this kid’s responsible adults?
Danny knew, intimately, that there was a down-right tragic lack of responsible adults in this world. After all, all he had growing up were his own parents- Jack and Maddie- who were too busy building machines and obsessively hunting ghosts to tear them apart molecule by molecule to stock the fridge with non-ecto contaminated foods. Danny also knew, from simple observation, that most other kids didn’t have parents on quite that level of insane.
Oh well, it’s a hard-knock life and all that jazz.
Jazz…
The boy- fifteen going on sixteen- burrowed himself back into the seats of the subway car he had herded the younger boy on. Danny had found the little guy standing there, looking helplessly lost, by a bus stop topside and observed him for a few minutes in concern. The kid was small and scrawny, with a T-shirt so large it hung off of one shoulder and pants that were being held up by- a rope? The younger’s big green eyes were bouncing between his surroundings and a paper map- which is super weird, did the kid not have a phone? Danny didn't have a phone, but he was technically a fugitive so needs-must. Wide eyes were only made to seem larger by the oversized, round glasses being held together by a piece of tape in the center, over the kid’s cute little button nose. Danny had just gathered the courage to approach the kid when the universe decided to make things even more complicated.
Gotham had decided to open the floodgates and absolutely drench them both.
It had taken all of Danny’s willpower to not wince from the pull emanating from the scars on his chest as he sprang into action, making himself as small and friendly-seeming as possible while waving to get the kid’s attention. The younger boy had eyed him only slightly warily but willingly enough followed the older to the stairs leading to the subway. It wasn’t a difficult sell, considering the bus stop had recently had it’s covering torn off during a Killer Croc attack, but Danny was mildly concerned by how trusting the other boy was. This was Gotham after all- not much to trust around these streets.
Danny had learned that the hard way. Fresh from an escape from the GIW, so low on ectoplasm that his chest was refusing to heal from the most recent vivisection that he’d been subjected to, Danny had retreated to the city after a fudging post-it note from Clockwork suggesting that the young Ghost King would find plenty of dormant ectoplasm in the city to help kick-start his healing. Now, here he was 4 months down the line, hopping from abandoned apartment to abandoned businesses, never able to settle and still unable to transform fully. Growing up in Amity Park, Danny hadn’t realized how much he’d taken the safety of small-town life for granted.
Gotham was basically a hell on Earth.
The weather was horrible, the rain swept through without a moment’s notice and Danny felt like he’d seen maybe four sunny days since he’d gotten here. If the weather didn’t wash you away, then the complete lack of kindness would chase you off. There was something about these Gothamites, with their gas masks and guns, that would instantly clock a non-local. Most would ignore the people bumbling about in their city, gruffly mumbling criticisms or looking away with an eyeroll. There were, however, the more nefarious folks hiding in the shadows.
Danny had dodged no less than three muggings during his first week in the city, learning quickly that there was really no way to sneak around the city at night since, apparently, crime never sleeps here.
Like, ever.
So, he’s learned several key survival skills for Gotham: never walk around at night, don’t make eye-contact, keep a gas mask nearby at all times , stay super-duper far away from “Crime Alley,” and if you see a clown then run.
Like, immediately.
Danny was lucky that he was still able to do small things. His short bouts of intangibility and invisibility as well as his ability to hover briefly were honestly the only reason he had escaped the worst of what these streets had to offer. Using those powers came at a price though, and he felt every second of used powers as his wounds continued to struggle to heal. The y-shaped cuts were mostly closed at this point, but Danny’s messy self-stitching and extended time to heal had caused some gnarly scarring. Some spots still refused to close completely, and Danny was despairing of ever being able to even breathe deeply. Some spots of the scar were hardened scar tissue, while others had healed so thinly that even raising his arm above his head would cause that area to reopen.
When the two boys had made it down into the subway, Danny had “bought tickets”- stuck his hand in the dispenser and intangible-d two passes out - after the younger boy had indicated he was looking for the Gotham Library. The scarring had reopened a little at some point during their short dash underground, and Danny could feel the open tissue of his chest begin sticking to the undershirt he always wore in order to protect his new, kinda-stolen NASA T-shirt.
He really didn’t want to have to replace this one- it glowed in the dark.
“Hey kid,” Danny said to the younger boy, melting a little at the sight of two bright green eyes looking up at him from underneath his dark fringe, “you have a name? I’m Danny!” Danny sends the hesitant younger boy a bright smile. The green-eyed boy had initially stiffened when Danny had initiated the half-hug but quickly melted into the embrace like a cute little soaked kitten.
The boy turned his head away bashfully, pushing his glasses up his wet nose before peeking back up at Danny. His hands were clutching an oddly-fancy looking leather satchel bag to his chest, the material somehow still dry despite the state of its owner.
“I’m Harry,” the kid said quietly, “Harry Potter.”