Chapter Text
Danny Fenton was a ghost, which was not good.
But Danny Fenton was also not a ghost, which was good. And a bit confusing.
And Danny Fenton had accidentally exploded his parents lifetime project, one which he kinda thought they paid more attention to than their actual kids, and then they had rushed downstairs, seen him in all his ghostly glory, and started blasting before he got a word in edgewise.
So Danny did the only thing he could think to do, and he ran.
Well, technically, he flew.
He had chased the sun in the sky, flying after it until it finally set and Danny found himself in a coast side city he didn’t know the name of.
He had spent the night in a small cranny on the roof of an out of the way apartment building, and had woken up with a crock in his back and a rumbling in his stomach.
Danny flew down to the ground beside the apartment building, looking around at the dingy alleyway, before his eyes fell on a dumpster with its lid slightly cracked, and Danny weighed his options.
On one hand, eating from a dumpster was kind of gross, and Danny could hear Jazz’s voice in the back of his mind, telling him about all the fatal diseases he could get.
On the other hand, Danny had grown up eating living spaghetti and reanimated hot dogs, so his gross factor was out of wack. Also, he was already kind of dead, and he was pretty sure (hoping) he couldn’t die twice.
So he pulled his hoodie over his head, crouching down before the dumpster and then- leap!
He landed, perching on the edge the dumpster for only a moment before the forward momentum kept carrying him, (since when was he this strong what the fuck).
In an attempt to not get a face full of dumpster, Danny flailed his arms, pinwheeling wildly and- oh shit oh no he was over correcting nope nope nope-
Danny crashed onto the cold concrete of the ally with a loud bang, groaning a bit and the sudden presence of concrete under his back.
“Ow.” Danny’s voice was loud and echoey in the near-silent alleyway, so when Danny heard the sound of footsteps, he turned his head, squinting at the entrance to the alleyway.
It was a tall and broad man that walked towards him, not as wide built as Danny’s Dad Jack or Dash, but still muscled and strong looking all the same.
He was wearing a bomber jacket, a green shirt, jeans, and a soft smile. His hair was brown and wavy, with a small streak of gray hairs on the side of his head.
A hand reached towards Danny, lightly scarred and with thick callouses, attached to the man whose face seemed to be both amused and sympathetic.
“Need some help?” Mystery man asked, looking him over with sharp eyes that made Danny feel like he was being observed from under a microscope.
“Nah, I’m good. I’m one with the floor now. We’re bros.” Danny said, his voice a little bit breathy as he tried to get air to go back into his lungs. He was dead, he shouldn’t have had so much trouble with breathing. (He shouldn’t have been breathing at all, but that was a crisis for another time.Or never.)
The mystery man grinned, and Danny briefly considered a career as a comedian. He needed to make his own money somehow, right?
“Well, if you want to separate yourself from the floor, I’m going out for waffles, and I could use some company.” The man’s offer was tempting, and just the thought of food made Danny’s chest rumble in excitement. Which was kind of embarrassing.
“I don’t know man, the floor is kind of my bestie now. Also you realize how much you sound like a kidnapper, right?” Danny asked from his place on the floor.
“What if I promise not to kidnap you?” Mystery man asked, before raising two fingers in the air. “Scouts honor?”
“You were a Boy Scout?” Danny tried to put all his disbelief into the raise of one of his eyebrows.
“They kicked me out for consistent insubordination after two weeks, but it still counts.” Mystery man shrugged, not looking ashamed at all.
“Well…” Danny drew the word out, internally acknowledging that going with a random stranger who found him in an alley in a city he didn’t know was A Bad Idea©. “If you’re paying…” Danny reached a hand towards the taller man, and he felt himself be pulled up with surprising strength.
“Oh I’m paying. And you’re gonna love it. Best waffles in Coast City.” Hal said, dropping Danny’s hand and placing his hand on Danny’s shoulder, leading them out of the alleyway.
Mentally Danny noted that he was in Coast City. Which was cool, because Green Lantern spent most of his time on earth in Coast City, and Green Lantern was a Space Hero, which was objectively the coolest type of hero.
“I’m Hal, by the way. Hal Jordan.” Danny was glad he could finally stop referring to Hal as Mystery man.
“I’m Danny.” Danny responded, deciding to leave out his last name.
He wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but he knew he did not want his parents finding him. He had learned over and over that their obsession with ghosts far outweighed their love and care for their children.
“Alright Danny, it’s waffle time.” Hal grinned at him, crooked and wide, and for the first time since the portal exploded on Danny, changing him and ruining his life in one fell swoop, for some inexplicable reason, Danny felt content, and he felt safe.
Geez, how messed up was Danny’s life that he felt safer around a potential kidnapper than he did around his parents?
Considering the fact that he was the half-dead child of ghost hunters, following a random stranger through an unfamiliar city, Danny came to the conclusion his life was very messed up.
At least he was getting waffles.