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Danny forced a smile as Vlad clasped a hand over Danny’s shoulder and introduced the twenty-year-old as his ward to the older couple in front of him.
It had been three months since the death of Danny’s parents and since Vlad had taken him in. Sure, Danny was in his twenties, but he had still been living at home, and had still been working with his parents for them to better understand him and who he was as Phantom. Things had been going well until the GAV malfunctioned and exploded with the two in it. Suddenly, living in Fenton Works was far too stifling, too lonely and quiet.
Vlad had decided to step in at that time and take Danny in. He saw the pain in Danny’s eyes after the funeral and offered his home. In that time, they had learned to understand one another. Things were still stiff and stilted between the two but it was getting better, they were understanding one another in ways that they hadn’t before. Not only that but Vlad was trying, he was trying to be a support for Danny and honestly, that’s what he needed.
Jazz had thrown herself into her work, had focused on classes, and isolated herself, leaving Danny alone and floundering, not knowing how to handle his parents' deaths. Clockwork had been the one to push Danny into staying with Vlad and had said that this timeline was different than the last time Danny was taken in by Vlad. So he had agreed.
But, his Godfather had been forcing him to be more social than Danny had ever been in his life. The only time Danny had really gotten time for himself was in his dreams when he would finally see his soulmate each night.
Soulmate dreams were a taunting hell if he was going to be completely honest, Fate had to have been a sick bitch for giving people soulmate dreams. The dreams gave soulmates the chance to talk to one another, spend time together, and get to know one another. The only problem with the dreams was that upon waking up, a person never remembered the name of their soulmate or where they lived.
Danny had taken to calling his soul mate Birdie in the confines of his mind. He couldn’t remember why he called him that, but it felt right, felt important.
“Daniel, why don’t you grab some refreshments?” Vlad asked, looking down at Danny who tore his eyes away from the ground to glance up at his godfather. He swallowed and nodded his head before he looked at the couple in front of them and forced a small smile.
“It was nice to meet you both,” Danny said, his voice still didn’t feel like his own. The couple gave him a small smile and he listened as he walked away.
“It’s so sweet of you Vlad to take him in,” the woman said kindly. “I heard what happened to his parents, so devastating.”
“Yes, well he is my godson, becoming a legal adult does not change anything and he needed someone to rely on. I was happy to take him in,” Vlad said honestly. Danny rolled his eyes as the couple tittered and cooed over Vlad for being such a good godfather.
Danny stalked towards the refreshments table and sighed to himself. He hated things like this. The forcing laughter, faking smiles. Same old tired, lonely place. The only difference was that this was a gala in Gotham rather than an empty mansion in Wisconsin.
Here was full of walls of insincerity, shifting eyes, and vacancy. Everyone here was desperate to be seen as something they weren’t. They were desperate to impress everyone, hell, even Vlad was desperate for people to see him as more important. He wanted to be seen as on the same level as Bruce Wayne of all people which if he was going to be honest was impossible.
Danny grabbed a glass of punch and took a sip when he felt eyes on him and glanced up, meeting the gaze of someone who felt far too familiar. It was like everything vanished the moment he saw his face and Danny’s breath caught in his chest.
The halfa watched as the man stepped forward. His eyes whispered, “Have we met?”
He took in the silhouette of the man as he started to cross his way towards Danny. His hair was a dark, raven black, had piercing blue eyes and a beautiful chiseled jaw, a small smile graced his face and had Danny nearly tripping over himself as he set down his drink and met the man in the middle of the ballroom.
“Ghostie?” The man whispered as the two made their way to one another.
A small smile quirked up on Danny’s lips. “Birdie?” He asked in response and the man let out a soft laugh, running his fingers through his hair.
“What is a guy like you doin’ in a place like this?” He asked, pulling Danny’s hand in his.
“Oh you know, evil Godfather who wants to force me to socialize,” he said softly. Birdie frowned at that, his eyebrows furrowing in a way that Danny had seen him do millions of times in his dreams.
“It’s only been three months,” Birdie whispered.
Danny gave him a forced smile and shrugged his shoulders/ “What about you? It’s only been two months since you know?”
He had remembered the dream clearly. Danny had appeared in their dream, they were sitting upon the shore of a lake, Birdie–Dick’s legs had been pulled up to his chest as he stared out at the water, and a tear ran down his cheek. Danny knew immediately that something was wrong, something had happened and he didn’t think it was something he would be able to fix or help with.
“Jason died,” he whispered, resting his head on Danny’s shoulder. “I didn’t save him.”
“I’m so sorry,” Danny had said, wrapping his arms around Dick’s waist and holding him close to him as he sobbed. And now two months later he was finally getting to see his love in the flesh.
“I know,” Dick whispered, giving Danny a sad smile. “But I told Bruce I needed to get out and try. He’s a wreck, still but I’m hoping this would be a nice distraction for both of us. Would you like to dance, Ghostie?”
Danny smiled. “You can call me Danny,” he said, taking Dick’s hand and allowing the older man to pull him onto the dancefloor.
“Dick,” he said and Danny laughed and rested his arms atop Dick’s shoulders.
“Unfortunate,” he teased, the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly. “I don’t know about you but this is the best gala I have ever been to,” Danny said softly as Dick spun him around the dance floor carefully.
“Been to a lot of galas, have you?” Dick asked, his blue eyes sparkling. Danny laughed, throwing his head back as he did. The playful conversation started at that point, Danny managed to counter all of Dick’s quick remarks with his own. It was reminiscent of passing notes in secrecy. Nothing else mattered in that moment. The gala faded away to the background, none of that mattered moment, not the people, not none of it did, not when Danny had Dick in his arms in real-time. He didn’t even care that he could feel Vlad’s curious gaze on them.
He was far too enchanted with Dick to even care.
The night was sparkling and Danny didn’t want to let him go. He was wonderstruck, blushing more than he had ever done before. He couldn’t help but wonder if Dick knew just how enchanted Danny was.
The two danced through the ballroom for the rest of the night, not realizing that all eyes were on them. How could they when they only had eyes for one another? Danny smiled as Dick spun him with one arm and dipped him low, his lips brushing along Danny’s for just a moment.
“This is everything I have ever dreamed of,” DIck whispered and Danny let out a soft chuckle.
“ Lies,” he accused in a teasing tone. “I was there, you never dreamed about us dancing.”
Dick let out a hum and pulled Danny back to his chest. “You’re right, I think our dreams were full of flying instead,” he said, the question in his voice despite the fact that Danny had never voiced it. The unspoken question hung between the two of them and Danny knew what he was asking. Was Phantom real? Just like Danny wondered if Nightwing was real.
“Maybe I can sneak out of my hotel room tonight, we can fly together. You’ve boasted about your own talents for a while now. Maybe it’s time I get to see them in action,” Danny whispered.
A blinding smile filled Dick’s face and he rested his chin on Danny’s shoulder. “I need you to know just how much I appreciate you,” he whispered in Danny’s ear. “You’re the only thing that has kept me sane, that has kept me normal and, Danny you’re amazing.”
Danny felt something lodge in his throat at that. How could he get Dick to understand that he had saved Danny in the same way? That Dick’s unflappable love and support had been the only reason Danny hadn’t gone to hide out in the Ghost Zone for the rest of time? The hope of getting to meet his wonderful Birdie one day was enough to keep him going when everything else felt like it was falling apart. Dick had been the one to hold him each night and keep Danny from falling apart, had been there to stitch up the broken pieces and listen to Danny sob. And then Danny had turned around and done the same for him when Jason had died. They had become the support that they each so desperately needed when no one else could provide it for them.
Danny scoffed and brushed a strand of hair out of Dick’s face as he smiled at the man. “You’re just saying that,” he whispered.
Dick just laughed and shook his head before he twirled Danny around once again.
It was two AM and Danny was lying atop the roof of Wayne Enterprises, his hand wrapped around that of a gloved hand that belonged to Nightwing as they stared up at the ceiling.
“Phantom,” Dick whispered, staring up at the sky.
“Nightwing,” Danny whispered back, racing the stars with his eyes, memorizing the barely visible constellations that hung in the cloudy sky of Gotham City.
“Who do you love?” He asked quietly. Danny pulled his eyes away from the stars when he heard the crack in his soulmate’s voice.
“Isn’t that obvious?” He asked quietly, cupping DIck’s face in his hand and wiping the tear that traveled down the vigilante’s cheek. “It’s you, Birdie. How could it be anyone else?”
If he remembered correctly, his love didn’t hear those words as often as Danny would have liked. Not from his adoptive father, not from anyone in his family. So, Danny would have to mitigate that. So this was Danny now praying to anyone who would listen that this was the very first page, not where the storyline would end.
“I have to go soon,” Danny said softly. “And so do you, you have patrols.”
Dick frowned. “When do you leave?” He whispered.
“Tomorrow morning we fly back to Wisconsin,” he said with a sigh. A smile slowly grew along his face, though as he stared at his soulmate. “But, now that I know where you live, you’re just a flight away from me. And as you saw tonight, I can fly pretty fast.”
Dick let out a soft laugh. “Well, my thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again,” he said quietly, memorizing the freckles upon Danny’s face.
Danny felt his heart lurch and decided to say the words he had back as he was leaving far too soon. “I was enchanted to meet you, Birdie,” he said quietly as they sat up and looked at one another.
Dick slowly leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s lips. “I love you,” he murmured and a blush covered Danny’s face. And he would never admit it, but the blush lasted all the way home. And Danny knew that he would forever wonder if Dick just knew how flawless their first real night had been together, that Danny had been so wonderstruck that he danced around his bedroom all alone, wondering if Dick knew that Danny was so utterly enchanted to meet him outside of his dreams.