Chapter Text
Danny wasn’t quite sure how he ended up here, in a puddle of dirty water, cold and alone. A dumpster a bit closer to the mouth of the alley filled the air with the scent of old trash and motor oil, though the chill in the air mercifully kept the smell from being suffocating. The rough concrete of the alleyway scraped against his bare heels as he tried to curl into himself, and the brick of the building behind him leeched the meager warmth from his small body. His much smaller than it should be body, that is.
Where….am I?
The thought came sluggishly, which sent a dull pulse of worry through Danny’s frame. He forced himself to raise his head, and took in his surroundings, barely noticing his eyes glowing to see in the dim light. Danny’s hands curled into fists, gripping the hems of the sleeves of his worn NASA hoodie. The same hoodie that now fits a bit like a nightgown on his body, the fabric swallowing him whole. Danny noted that it seemed to be quite late at night, and the street past the mouth of the alley was completely silent.
This isn’t Amity… But Clockwork said-
The thought of Danny’s ghostly mentor had Danny whipping his head around wildly, furiously scanning the deserted alley. As he searched, Danny could feel his head clearing, the memories of the past few days slowly slithering back into his mind. It was those dark memories that had Danny searching the alley for minutes longer than was really needed, the dead-ended alley holding no answers that he could see. Danny scowled when he finally abandoned the search, huffing an annoyed breath that hung in the chilly air.
“Figures Clockwork would pull this.” Grumbling to himself, Danny finally stood, pushing himself off the wall. It was then that the high pitch of his voice and the fit of his beloved hoodie finally registered to the exhausted halfa’s brain.
“What the fuck??” Danny winced at the volume of his voice as it echoed in the alley before looking down at himself and was horrified to find his hands appearing much smaller than he remembered, though he distantly noted the same calluses and scars he had just yesterday were still there. Danny patted his face and whined softly at the distinct roundness he found there. Continuing this search of his person revealed more of the same: he was much younger than the sixteen-year-old teenager he should be. Danny felt his chest tighten in the familiar beginnings of a panic attack. Here he was, alone in an unfamiliar alley, in some unnamed city. And he was a child again.
Not that you were ever not a kid. Dead kids don’t grow up.
The unhelpful thought pushed a short bark of laughter out of Danny’s throat, and he winced once again at the pitch of his voice. It was a higher and softer than his real voice, bell-like and, dare he even think it to himself, cute. It was enough to stop his spiraling, though Danny could still feel the tightness in his chest.
“Okay, you can do this Danny. Just…figure out where you are.” Talking to himself was a new habit, but similar enough to chatting with Sam and Tuck during patrols that it had the intended effect of helping Danny focus. Taking a step forward, Danny was reminded again of his lack of footwear. He grimaced, the water of the puddle he was standing in was freezing. Danny sighed, realizing that walking around a strange city with no shoes was probably a bad idea. Without a second thought, Danny reached into his core and pulled, figuring it was late enough that no one would see a young child floating down the street.
At least, that is what Danny would have done if it had worked. Instead, a bolt of bright crackling pain shot through his chest, along with a soft blue light. Danny gasped against the pain, hunching into himself to try and hold himself together.
He stayed in that position for one shuddering breath. Two.
Danny was still reeling from the sudden pain when he heard it. The soft shuffling of a small, furred body moving, the clicking of nails against concrete. Danny whips his head up at the sound, his body shifting into a ready stance of its own volition. He ignores the much duller flash of pain that arcs in his chest at the movement. Small mercies, the pain is already fading to a much more manageable level.
Even with his ingrained fight readiness, he still gets bowled over by the green streak that runs headfirst into him, bringing the stinging in his chest back with full force. Danny lands on his back in the puddle he was standing in, the cold water immediately soaking into the back of his hoodie. Dazed, Danny lets the green blur lick all over his face for a few minutes before he finally realizes what, or rather who, just found him.
“Cujo!” Danny wraps his arms around the excited pup, smiling widely. “How did you find me? Did Clockwork send you?” He sat up a bit, using the wall to prop himself up enough to hold Cujo in his lap.
The ghostly dog yapped quietly in response, his tag wagging so furiously that his entire body was shaking with the movement. Unwilling to be held still, Cujo jumped out of Danny’s lap and ran in half circles around him, clearly overjoyed to find his favorite ghost boy. Danny laughed at the sight, feeling his anxiety leaving him like a weight off his chest for the first time since he woke up alone in the alley.
“That’s a good boy Cujo.” Danny scooped the pup again into his lap. “You wouldn’t know where we are, would ya boy?”
Cujo let Danny pet him for a minute before leaping out of his lap for the second time. The ghostly dog ran to the mouth of the alley and looked back at Danny, his tail wagging and tongue lolling as he panted. When Danny didn’t move immediately, he ran back to Danny and licked his hand before running back to the end of the alley.
Danny chuckled. “Alright alright, I’m coming.” Danny stood, grimacing at the feeling of his now sodden clothes sticking wetly to his skin. Remembering the pain of trying to use his ghost powers to float, Danny decided to stick with no powers for the moment as he followed Cujo.
As Danny stepped out of the alley, he looked around the deserted street. It was narrow, and rather dirty, with trash piling up on the curbs. It was also completely deserted, though Danny could hear traffic in the distance. Looking across the street, he saw the sign of a closed shop and froze.
“No way…”
But there it was, in blinking red neon: Gotham Family Pharmacy.
“Fuck.”