#she kinda understands danny'd struggles

[hypewinter]

The expectations from everyone around him had been too much. His sister and teachers wanted him to be a good student. His friends wanted him to be the perfect hero. The town wanted him to be everywhere, all at once. And his parents wanted him strapped down to a table.

Danny couldn't take it anymore. It was all just too much. So he left. He disappeared, covering his tracks and only leaving a note to let everyone know he was okay.

He traveled a while before he eventually encountered some heroes investigating an occult crime. All he did was give them a little hint and suddenly they were all over him. He had panicked for a second. Memories of his suffocating past came to him. But to Danny's surprise, these heroes were more worried about him than anything. Something about the knowledge he possessed being dangerous.

It actually felt a little nice being worried over like that and before he knew it, Danny found himself tagging along with these heroes. Apparently they were called the Justice League Dark and their whole schtick was investigating the occult.

Danny had thought he was over the whole hero thing, but he didn't mind helping the JLD. There where finally capable adults in his life who protected him. Who cared for him. They never expected him to balance two contradicting responsibilities. Nor did they expect him to be their main heavy hitter when facing a threat.

For the first time since he had turned on that stupid machine, Danny was allowed to be a kid again. He was allowed to be annoying, to ask a million questions (no matter how dumb) and most importantly, he was allowed to have fun.

Being a hero with the Justice League Dark never felt like the world ending pressure he was under back home. They had even told him he was welcome to quit anytime! Not that he wanted to.

Sure, Danny felt guilty about never contacting his friends and family and letting them know how he was doing. But he was scared. Scared that they might try some way to force him back home.

He could never go back to that place, he just couldn't. To do that would truly crush his soul.

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #winter's tales #everyone from amity park sucks this time around #his parents are obviously too obsessed with their research #and the town only likes phantom when it's convenient #sam and tucker started getting a little too excited for the heroing business #and as danny grew and got more powers #they stopped understanding why he was getting so fatigued from the constant battles #even the great jazz isn't infallible in this one #she kinda understands danny'd struggles #but at the same time still expects him to be on top of his grades somehow #all in all #danny gets pressured from all sides and just dips