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Sam sighed as she stared at her best friend. She couldn’t believe that Vlad had done this to him. That he had put such a stupid curse on the halfa in an attempt to take over the Infinite Realms. It was a new low, even for him.
How he had even managed to find someone who would cast a curse on a seventeen-year-old boy was beyond her understanding. Frostbite had said that the only thing that would break the curse was the power of love, or in a simplified version, true love’s kiss. Like Danny being cursed was just another cheesy fairy tale and the life of her best friend wasn’t just toppling precariously. The curse had put him in a forever sleep similar to that of Pariah Dark’s, the only difference was that the only one who could release him from his coffin was the love of his life.
And that’s where things were tricky.
Yes, Danny was in a relationship. A very loving and sweet relationship from what Sam knew but the problem was that no one knew who his boyfriend was. Both teenagers had decided to keep their relationship a secret from everyone for their own safety. Sam and Tucker had pestered Danny for months when he had first come to school with hickies smattered across his neck and collarbone.
The then sixteen-year-old had just given them a lazy smile and just shook his head, citing that it was a secret. A secret that no one would ever know. The most that they had ever gotten from him was that it was a boy from another town and that the two had agreed that keeping their relationship and one another a secret was the safest bet. When Sam had demanded why, all Danny had said was that they both had powerful and dangerous enemies who would use them against one another and that this was to keep them safe. Apparently, his boyfriend was also a hero with his own enemies who would happily try to capture Danny to get to him. And they all knew that any boyfriend of Danny’s could be used against him by Vlad, the GIW, or anyone who held a grudge against Danny. It was safer.
But damn did Sam wish that Danny had at least trusted them with his boyfriend’s hero name at the very least. It would make this shit a lot easier.
“So I have a list of all of the heroes in the world who are the same age as Danny. I know that it’s going to be a lot but it’s a start,” Tucker said, dragging Sam’s attention away from Danny’s sleeping form. Their best friend was laid to rest in a glass coffin, they could see him inside, sound asleep but had no way to reach him. No way to open the coffin. They had hoped that the love of his best friends and sisters would be enough to open it but it was futile. It was then that Frostbite had said that it could be that it has to be romantic love. Which led them to their current situation. How were they going to find his boyfriend?
Danny’s phone was on his person but they weren’t able to get to it. Tucker had tried to hack into it but whatever spells were on the coffin kept everything out. It was driving Tucker insane.
“That would take forever, He’s already looking paler than usual, what if he ends up dying all the way because of this? Because we took too long to find his fucking boyfriend,” Sam said, resting a hand on the top of the coffin, tapping her dark black nails on it in deep thought.
“What if we have an audience with the Justice League?” Jazz asked, bitting at her thumbnail as she stared down at her brother’s sleeping face. He looked so peaceful, so calm, and comfortable within the confines of the coffin. She didn’t know the last time her baby brother had managed to get more than four hours of sleep at a time. He was busy now, he was the prince of the Infinite Realms now, he was also in his senior year of school and trying to do everything he could to be the best and keep everyone protected. But there was such a thing as too much sleep and this was going to lead to that. Especially if her brother never woke from the sleep he had been put in. “They can get us connected to the sidekick groups like Young Justice and the other teams with younger heroes on them.”
“It would be a start,” Sam said softly. “Danny works with the Justice League a lot nowadays.”
“I’ll call Trenchcoat Man,” Dani said softly, still looking at her template as she pulled her own communicator out and put in the message. Where Danny worked with the Justice League, Dani was a member of Justice League Dark specifically. But at least she had a contact, that was more than the others had in this situation. Now they just had to hope that this would work.
Danny smiled as he rested his chin on his love’s shoulder and spun around slowly, his eyes closed as they swayed to the music that played from the old record player that the other had found in the attic of his family’s manor. His core felt light and at peace here in his love’s arms.
“When do you have to go back to Amity?” a deep, comforting voice that reminded Danny of warm summer days at the lake asked him.
Danny frowned as he tried to think about it. When did he have to go back to Amity. “I’m not sure, but it’s fine. Val and the others can take care of the town while I’m gone. Right now I just want to be with you,” he said and the other laughed softly before running his hands along Danny’s sides slowly. Danny just gave him a small, happy smile, his core letting out a pleased purr.
Logically, he knew that this was a dream, that he was fast asleep and trapped in the coffin. But he couldn’t find himself to care. Not when his boyfriend, or a version of his boyfriend was here with him, holding him in his arms, kissing him softly, and quietly singing cheesy romance songs to him.
He couldn’t bring himself to be worried about what was happening in the real world. Not when his Moonbeam was running his fingers through Danny’s hair and smiling so lovingly at him, not when he was whispering his words of affection and promising Danny the world.
How could he be when he had his own personal hero right here with him? Giving Danny everything he had ever wanted. Why would he ever want to wake up from suh a beautiful and amazing dream?
Sam walked steadily through the halls of the Watchtower as Dani led her, Tucker, and Jazz to the conference room where the majority of the Justice League and their younger counterparts waited for them to explain the situation.
She had never felt so intimidated in her life but this was important, it was the only plan they had for saving Danny and it was worth a shot to try their best to get him back.
The four made their way into the room and suddenly Sam felt smaller than she had ever felt before as the heroes stared them down.
“Everyone, this is Phantom’s team back in Amity,” Dani said solemnly.
“Where is Phantom,” Wonder Woman asked and Sam felt her heart skip a beat, Wonder Woman was looking at her.
Sam took a deep breath as she stepped forward. “Phantom was hit with a curse by one of his enemies. We’ve been talking at length with the doctors and sorcerers in the Infinite Realms but nothing we’ve done has been able to help him. The curse has him trapped in what the Infinite Realms calls the Coffin of Everlasting Sleep,” she said. “He’s stuck in a catatonic sleep.”
“We can have the Justice League Dark look into it, surely Zatanna or Captain Marvel would be able to wake him,” Superman said, looking between Batman and Wonder Woman who were staring at the group in mild curiosity.
“We know how to break the curse, Superman, Sir,” Tucker said slowly. “The uh, the problem is we can’t find the person to do it. The curse will only let his true love open the coffin. But we don’t know who that is,” he said carefully, trying to keep the stammer out of his voice. Sam would have to tell her best friend later that she was proud of him for how he managed to contain his excitement.
“How are we supposed to know who his true love is? Phantom is a very private being, the most we know about him is that Phantasma is his sister and he works out of Amity Park,” Green Lantern said with a frown. “You’re his friends, wouldn’t you know?”
Sam shook her head. “No. Phantom told us that it had to be a secret, all we know is that his boyfriend is a hero, that–”
“We agreed to keep our relationship a secret to keep one another safe,” a voice said and the four Amity Parkers whipped their heads over to find one of the Gotham vigilantes stepping up, his eyebrows crinkled in concern as he looked at them. “Take me to him, please.”
“ You’re his boyfriend,” Tucker said incredulously, staring at the vigilante in surprise.
The hero nodded once. “Let’s stop talking and go, I need to make sure he’s okay,” he said before striding out of the room, ignoring the concerned call from Batman. The Amity Parkers all looked at one another in surprise before they nodded in agreement and followed after the bird-themed vigilante. Dani made a face of concentration before she managed to open up a portal for the five teenagers to step through.
The vigilante sucked in a breath as he saw Danny fast asleep in the coffin. “Danny,” he whispered before he rushed over and looked at the friends. “What do I need to do?”
“Lift the lid,” Sam said, her heart felt like it was being squeezed impossibly tight. Oh, how she hoped that this would work. If it wasn’t his boyfriend, then all of this would be hopeless, Danny would be trapped in the coffin forever.
The vigilante tucked his bottom lip behind his teeth as he carefully lifted the lid, his eyes widening under the domino mask just slightly as the lid lifted with ease.
“He should be waking up now, right?” he asked, glancing back at Sam and Tucker who just looked at one another and shrugged.
“Try kissing him,” Jazz said softly. The four teenagers gave her a confused look. Jazz simply shrugged unrepentantly. “True love’s kiss, worked for Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Why not Danny?”
The vigilante huffed out a chuckle before he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s lips, his fingers brushing through the limp strands of hair. He pulled away and smiled as Danny’s eyes fluttered open.
“Good morning Doofus,” the vigilante said.
Danny smiled and sat up. “Timmy? I had the most amazing dream,” he said softly before he practically threw himself in Red Robin’s arms, holding him tight. “We were in the manor and we were dancing to that song you introduced me to and it was just so amazing and you kept telling me you loved me and it was amazing.”
Red Robin let out a nervous laugh. “I’m glad you had such a dream, but don’t ever scare me like that again,” he said, smoothing his fingers through Danny’s hair. “I almost broke our promise and came here to look for you when you didn’t answer my calls or my texts. A week of no contact was way too anxiety-inducing,” he said, burying his face in Danny’s shoulder.
Danny laughed. “I’m sorry Polaris. I was kind of out of it,” he said before he finally took a moment to realize that Tim was in his Red Robin gear and his friends and sisters were staring in curiosity behind his love. “How did they even find you?”
Tim laughed. “They came to the Justice League to get help finding your boyfriend. All you ever told them was that I’m a hero,” he said before he pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s lips before pulling away. “I think the cat’s out of the bag. B is probably having a heart attack in the Watchtower right now. And I’m pretty sure your friends are going to lose their shit if we don’t answer their questions.”
The halfa smiled and stood on his toes to give Tim one more kiss. “Fine, let’s do that.”
And with that, Sam, Dani, Tucker, and Jazz attacked, demanding all the answers.