Chapter Text
Danny couldn’t move. He was in pain, he was terrified. The restraints holding him negated his ghost powers. Tears slipped from his eyes. He watched as his own mother peeled his skin back, removing his flesh. Bright toxic green mixed with harsh red, spilling out of him. He could see his ribs, his core pulsing underneath the bones. His organs were moved, pain shooting through them. He had begged them to stop. They never stopped. His body was in so much pain. He felt hands touch his core. He screamed. A ghostly wail left him, screaming with it. His parents and the GIW agents were blown back, the lights above him shattering. The restraints holding him shattered. He felt a portal open underneath him and he fell. His back slammed into something hard and cold. The portal closed above him. He whimpered, pain shooting through him.
He sat up, wincing and gasping in pain. His eyes focused on his guts, spilling out of him. He gathered them in his arms, attempting to force them back inside where they belonged. They weren’t staying. Why weren't they staying? It hurt. It hurt so much. He started crying, unable to do anything else as his organs slipped through his arms. He felt a hand on his shoulder. His head snapped to the figure. The figure was looking at him with concern visible under its mask. It was looking from Danny himself to his spilling guts. He picked up his organs as best he could. “Help…”
The Justice League had been having a meeting, discussing different plans. They heard a crack. They panicked for a moment, worried the glass of the Watchtower was failing. They heard the sound of something tearing and suddenly a swirling green portal opened above the table. The League all readied themself for anything to come through. A black and white figure fell through, slamming into the table. The portal closed. The figure whimpered. It sat up. It was an older teen, but still a child. The League was frozen, unsure what to do.
The boy began to cry, struggling with something. Batman was the first to recover. He moved quickly, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy had stark white hair and pale blue green skin, pointed ears that were drooping slightly. The boy looked at him, glowing green eyes filled with tears and fear. The eyes were striking, and Batman felt a small chill go down his spine at the specific color of green. Batman saw the problem and nearly threw up. The boy’s internal organs were spilling out of a large wound on his torso. Bright green and red were mixing on the table. He was worried. All he saw was a hurt and scared child, clinging onto life. It scared him to no end, a child dying in front of them. The boy gathered his organs in his arms, or at least he tried. He said one word. “Help…”
That snapped the rest of the League back to the present. The Flash ran to the med bay, getting it set up. Superman helped Batman get the boy to the med bay, keeping his guts from spilling out of him even more. Wonder Woman was talking to the boy, trying to help keep him calm. He was terrified, they didn’t blame him. Green Lantern and Green Arrow stayed behind, agreeing to clean the table of its green and red stain. Aquaman gagged slightly, trying to keep himself under control. They got him to the med bay, carefully laying him down. They attached him to different monitors to keep track of his vitals. They luckily had a sedative on hand so they could put him under while they stitched him up.
Unfortunately the second they put the IV in, the boy started screaming and crying, trying to get away. They had to hold him down, apologizing to him as he screamed, thrashing. They didn’t want him to hurt himself anymore than he already was. The sedative took effect, causing him to lose his strength. He slumped against the bed, still crying. Wonder Woman ran her hand through his hair, murmuring to him, trying to calm him. Batman was holding his hand, comforting him in the best way he could. His eyes slid closed.
The heroes were keeping their emotions under control. Just barely. Everyone was worried about the meta child who just fell into their meeting with his guts spilling out. They put on gloves and began to carefully remove the boy’s shirt. It looked like a hazmat suit, an insignia on the front that was damaged and cut. They managed to get it off the boy, leaving his pants on but taking off his boots. They began to rearrange his organs back inside his body carefully, making sure nothing was tangled. The League literally looked up a diagram of human organs so they knew where they were supposed to go. They noticed the blue glowing orb in the boy’s chest, pulsing underneath his ribs, just like his heart. It wasn’t attached to anything, just floating in the boy’s chest, an almost ice-like exterior to it. The Flash stitched him up, quick and easy. They cleaned off the boy’s skin, careful not to cause any extra pain or jarring. Green Lantern came in. He took the top of the boy’s outfit and his white gloves and went to go wash them. The League all stayed in the room for an hour, watching as the boy slept, tears coming to a stop. Batman had to literally be pried away from the boy’s side to go eat and take care of himself. Wonder Woman stayed in the room, fingers carding through the boy’s white hair.
Danny was confused. Where was he? He didn’t remember. Why couldn’t he remember? He heard a voice talking to him. He didn’t recognize the voice, but it was nice. He wanted to see where it was coming from. He forced his eyes open, wincing at the light. The light. He screamed, trying to get away. He felt hands on his shoulders, trying to push him to lay back down. “Hey, hey it's ok! You're alright!” The voice said.
“Light! Bad! Please no!” Danny yelled, voice rough, throat shredded from all the screaming he did while strapped to the table.
“You don’t like the big light? Ok, we can fix that.” The voice said.
He heard a click and the light was gone. He sighed, letting the hands push him back down. He looked around, taking in the room around him, the surprisingly soft bed beneath him. He realized he wasn’t wearing his suit, feeling bandages wrapped around his torso. He felt a hand in his hair and turned his head. A woman sat there, long brown hair falling over her shoulders. She was looking at him with concern, a sad smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. “Hey there, feeling a bit better with the lights off?” The woman asked.
He nodded, head a bit achy. His stomach and chest hurt, pain radiating from the wound. It hurt more when he moved, his abdominal muscles damaged. He was also hungry. The woman sighed slightly. He looked at her. “Right, you don’t even know my name.” She said with a small laugh.
“I’m Wonder Woman.” She said, smiling at him.
He figured that wasn’t her actual name. Based on her outfit she was probably a hero. “‘M Phantom…” He said, his voice still rough, causing him to whimper in pain slightly.
Wonder Woman made a sympathetic noise, ruffling his hair. She got up and he heard a faucet. She returned with a cup of water. He went to sit up to take it, but pain shot through him. She wrapped her arm around him, helping him to sit up. She helped him guide the cup to his lips, downing the water. It was soothing against his shredded throat. “Thank you…” He mumbled.
“You're welcome.” She said, helping him lay back down.
He was tired, his body still healing. He let himself fall asleep, the gentle fingers running through his hair lulling him to a peaceful sleep.
The Justice League members were sitting in the cleaned meeting room, discussing. “We all know he can’t stay here forever…but then where does he go once he is healed enough?” Aquaman asked.
“He can come with me.” Green Arrow said.
“He should come with me. I know how to raise a kid.” Superman said.
“He’ll come with me. End of discussion.” Batman said, causing everyone to look at him.
“What, why?” Green Lantern asked.
“I have raised many kids. I also have kids who are similar in age to him.” Batman said matter of factly.
“Don't you have enough little birds?” Flash asked.
Batman glared at him. “I was the first to move to help him.” Batman added.
The rest of the League couldn’t argue with that fact. They all eventually agreed. Batman was probably the best person for this strange meta to go to.
When Danny woke up again, the man in black was in the room with him. He blinked at the man. The man walked over, cautiously. Danny went to sit up, wincing in pain. “Hey, take it easy ok?” The man said, helping Danny to sit up.
“Thank you…” Danny said.
The man gave a small, sad smile. “You are welcome, but you don’t need to thank us. You were hurt.” the man said.
Danny’s stomach rumbled, hunger making itself known. His face flushed with embarrassment, green ting on his face as his ears drooped slightly. The man chuckled. “I’ll have someone bring you something to eat, alright? Do you think you can stomach some soup?” The man asked.
Danny nodded. The man tapped on something. He then sighed and looked back up at Danny. “I’m Batman. But you can call me Bruce.” The man said.
“Phantom.” Danny said.
“I just have some questions, Phantom. You don’t have to answer if you don't want to or don't feel comfortable answering them. I just want to know how you ended up in this situation.” Batman said.
Danny tensed slightly. The man sensed his hesitance. “It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I was captured…They had been threatening me for years…” The white haired boy said.
“They just kept sticking me with needles, taking pieces from me…” He said.
Batman made an angry, yet sad sound. The man put a hand over Danny’s. The boy looked at him. “Once you're feeling better, stronger, I want you to come live with me and my family. At least until you fully recover. I want to make sure you're taken care of.” The man said.
Danny’s green eyes widened. The man was offering him a place to stay when he barely knew anything about him. He didn’t know what to make of it. He thought he might like it. He nodded. The man smiled. Danny smiled as well, ears perking up slightly.