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Danny felt calmer than he had in a long time. There were people here who believed him, who wanted to help him.
He still found it a bit hard to believe that the Bats and the Justice League wanted to help. But Batman had been genuinely surprised when Danny had described Amity Park’s situation. He’d checked the Justice League records and found no evidence for their calls for help.
They didn’t know why they hadn’t gotten the calls, but they wanted to help now. Bruce, Batman, had told him that he had the Justice League’s best lawyers working on getting the Anti-Ecto Acts repealed and the GIW disbanded.
But in the meantime, the Bats were planning on going to Amity to get the GIW out of town. Danny had told them that a lot of Amity Parkers, especially the kids, were some level of liminal.
They had wanted to leave Danny behind, but he had successfully argued that he knew the situation and the people best.
He didn’t tell them that he desperately wanted to check if—
No, best not to think about that.
Danny let out a breath, trying to ease the anxiety in his chest. They were fine. They had to be.
He was also anxious about bringing anyone to Amity. He didn’t have any ghost fighting weapons to give them or any spector deflector belts. What if they got overshadowed? He had even told them about the possibility, even though it made him extremely nervous to do so. What if they didn’t trust him anymore after finding out that he could overshadow them? But they had simply said that they would contact one of their magician associates.
Danny hoped that it would go okay. He hoped that when he got to Amity he would see—
As Danny was wandering the manor’s many hallways, trying not to think too much about anything in particular, he rounded a corner and ran right into Jason.
“Oh, hey Danny, sorry about that.” Jason said, steadying him.
“It’s fine.” Danny muttered.
“I was actually looking for you. I wanted to aks… um…" Jason looked away, running a hand through his hair.
“What?” Danny asked, tilting his head.
Jason let out a breath. “Your scars,” he started, and Danny tensed. Jason glanced at him, but kept going. “Were those done by the GIW? I hate to ask, but the more we can pin on them the easier and faster it will be to get them disbanded.”
Danny looked away, wrapping his arms around himself. He could sense Jason’s uncomfortableness with the topic, and Danny did see how knowing what the GIW had done could help speed up the process of disbanding them. But… he could feel the phantom pain of a scalpel cutting into him… he shuddered.
“Um…well…the GIW…they…uh.” Danny bit his lip. He wanted to blame it all on the GIW, but they’d be going to Amity soon. They had to know what other threats they might be facing, who else they needed to arrest. Danny closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “They also did..uh…that.” Danny said gesturing to his torso without opening his eyes. “But…” Danny paused again, his breathing becoming shaky.
“Hey, you’re okay.” Jason said, placing his hands on Danny’s shoulders, grounding him. “You’re safe now. I won’t let them hurt you, none of us will. “You can take your time.”
Danny gave a jerky nod, taking a few moments to just breathe before continuing. “They weren’t the first. The…” He swallowed. “Did I tell you that my parents are ghost hunters?”
Jason inhaled sharply, and Danny gave a rueful grin.
“They don’t like ghosts. They say they’re all evil and nonsentient. When I— when I became this.” Danny gestured to himself. “I didn’t tell them. I’d always hoped… I’d hoped that they’d accept me when they found out. But they…” Danny closed his eyes again. “They just wanted to fix me.” Danny finished, quietly.
Jason pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly against his chest, and Danny breathed shakily, sniffling slightly.
“They won’t hurt you again.” Jason said, his voice hard with promise.
Danny tried his best to believe him. He still needed to tell them about… He’d tell them later today. Danny just needed a moment.
He just needed a moment to breathe and to try to believe that these people, the Bats, would help him.
He wasn’t alone anymore.