Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jason's heavy boots are stomping hard against the black Gotham pavement. Not his Red Hood boots, no, just his plain old Jason Peter Todd boots. The splash he sends over his jeans from stepping in one more puddle does not help his growing anger, either.

It's been a long fucking day. Long fucking week, actually. From handling crime to his own underlings to his siblings, this week was just too goddamn much. And it was just Wednesday.

Bruce wanted a, what did he call it? Ah, yes, a 'family brunch'. A brunch that turned into lunch turned into "Bruce I swear to god just fuck off" at 4 in the afternoon.

He's almost at the block where his most comfy hideout was at, his 'real' apartment, when he gets soaked by a passing car, not even slowing down in the slightest when he nears a giant lake forming on the side of the street.

Jason doesn't even bother yelling or even grunting when he turns into the next alleyway and punches the nearest dumpster, leaving an immense fist shaped dent in the rusting metal.

"Off all days", he mutters, dripping wet hoodie pulled over his face. "One day of peace, just the one, can't I have that?"

Thunder rolls overhead and he takes it as a universal no when the rain becomes heavier and water starts collecting in his boots.

"You kill a few people!" he exclaims, waving his hands in the air, "You try to make up for it! You even move back to the shitty city it aaaaaallll started in, you even promise not to kill anymore, and what? Can't have one, just one tiny bit of reprieve?"

He punches at the wall behind the dumpster, less impactful but enough to rattle the brick façade as he shakes his anger off.

Hints of green are pricking at the corners of his eyes, but he takes deep breaths, forcing them away with evened breathing.

'Not now. Not today. We're not doing this'
He's almost at a calm pace when he hears gunshots further down the alley, instinctively reaching for his own guns until he realizes he's in civies.

He grunts, but still pursues the commotion. He doesn't need guns to punch someone, after all.

Jason expects a mugging, a hit-and-run, or even assault of the worst kind and is ready to crack skulls instead of walls when he sees two gunmen cowering behind a heap of trash, guns pointed at a kid who couldn't be more than 15 at best.

Even more bizarre is the fact they're shaking not from the cold, but from fear. A closer look at the boy shows him the boy is hunched over, snarling and guarding what looks to be a thermos and a myriad of small boxes, exuding an eerie familiar green glow.

He outright growls at the men to back off and when the two men refuse, he braces himself for an impact of several bullets, were it not for Jason.

He snatches the guns from their hands with such an amazing speed he barely has time to register the guns he's holding, ammo dropping to the ground and shoved to the side along with the weapons he pulled it out from.

"If you have half a braincell between you two", he towers over the trembling men, "You leave and don't look back. Capice?"

He says it more like an order than a question and the scrambled attempts at running away are more than enough of an answer for him. But something tells him, it's not from him they run.

He looks back at the kid, worried he might be bleeding somewhere when he sees him calmly packing up the items on the ground.

"Uhm, hey, are you-"

Jason moves closer but halts. The boy hisses and protectively holds the cubes and thermos to his chest. The same green colour flows from his eyes and he can see patches of it on his utterly soaked hoodie and t-shirt. More importantly, he can see it in his cheeks.

He stares at the kid who's breathing in heavily and whose eyelids drop lower with every second standing there in the rain despite the fixed gaze he keeps on him.

He may not know why he has the weird coloration in his cheeks, or what the patches are from, but he knows a fever when he sees one.

"I'm not gonna hurt you", he keeps his hands up, palms outstretched towards him, "I just wanna help."

Jason expects the boy to yell. In all honestly, that would've been the normal response. To tell him to fuck off or for him to run, really. There's all sorts of responses he has gotten over the years, friends and foes alike.

When the boy disappears before his eyes, that startles him, sure. Wouldn't have been the first time he finds a meta with teleportation powers or someone with super speed.

But when he turns around and finds the boy sniffing him, he doesn't exactly know how to react.

"Uuuuhm...I'm not-, I don't-," he slowly tries to add more space between him and the boy, but the kid creeps closer, vibrant green eyes boring into his skull , and Jason swears the kid is floating, until he finally seems satisfied somehow when he rests against his chest and breathes out a long, tired sigh.

The kid clutches his belongings close to his chest as they stand there in the pouring rain, just the sound of water crashing into the sewers below.

Jason isn't quite sure how to react to that. He decides to comfort the kid and slowly pats him on his back.

"There there", he says, mentally already picturing Dick scolding him for his approach but in his defense, what the fuck was he supposed to do?

'Be a functioning adult?' he hears Dick scream in his head but let's be real here, was he either of those things?

A purple backpack then catches his attention, a noticeable hole on the bottom of it.

"That yours?" he points, and the boy barely glances up from where he's standing.

"Yeah", he mutters with a drawl.

"Alright, you have a name to go along with that backpack?"

The boy waits a moment before he speaks up again. The silence grates against his nerves with the boy standing so close to him.

He replies softly, like he's scared someone else but Jason will hear him.

"Danny."

"Danny. Okay Danny, how about we grab your backpack and find shelter?"

He gently pries the boy away from him as he marches over towards the purple bag.

"I know there's a homeless shelter nearby, if you don't have a place to stay at, and there's a diner across from it where you can get some fo-"

A loud thump makes him spin around, dropping the backpack to the ground again when he sees the boy, Danny, had collapsed, still clutching the cubes tightly.

Jason rushes over, unsure of how to proceed with this clearly non-human kid as he goes over his options.

He is definitely not calling Bruce or any of the other birds, fuck that. He doesn't need help that bad. But just dropping him off somewhere else is out of the question too.

He glances around for a solution to drop out of the air when he spots the balcony to his apartment, begging him to come home.

Jason sighs, taking the boy and his stuff in his arms as he starts making his way home again.

"It's been a long, long fucking week."

Chapter Text

It's been at least 10 hours since Jason got home. 10 hours since he encountered Danny in that alley. 10 hours since the kid laid down, asleep, on his couch covered in all the blankets Jason could find in his tiny apartment.

It's been approximately 9.5 of those since he completely lost his shit when he discovered Danny's pulse was barely there and instead of warm, the kid felt colder that a corpse. And he should know, after all.

But he seemed, oddly enough, to be doing better. His breathing, or, lack thereof, was even. He was sleeping soundly and a small puddle of drool was forming at the base of his pillow.

Jason hadn't dared to remove the cubes from his hands but he did manage to get him to put the thermos down next to him, even if it was just to calm him down whenever he reached for it.

He didn't want to pry, this kid was none of his busines but...He was here now. All up in his space. He even forewent his patrol and when asked about it by one of the bats, he shrugged it off with "Do you want me out there when I want to rip all your heads off after that 'brunch'?" and that seemed enough to them.

He had started a book a while ago and has read the same page over and over because every time he saw Danny move, he put it right down to check on him, a false alarm every time.

It didn't look like the kid was going to wake up. Not that he wanted the kid gone that bad but it wasn't like Jason was the best person to be around. Especially not fragile kids like Danny.

He moved towards the kitchen, wary not to make too much noise and started making some food for himself. And maybe a little bit for Danny.

Could he eat? What couldn't he eat? What if he was allergic? What if he killed the kid with bacon??

'What the fuck am I even saying??'

Jason scrunches up his nose at the incessant worrying over absolutely nothing.

"I fucking sound like Bruce", he mumbles, placing the strips of meat in a hot pan.

"What do I know about kids? They eat, just like anyone else. I can always ask if he's allergic when he wakes up."

He glances over his shoulder, Danny still soundly asleep on the couch.

'If. If he wakes up'

"He will, he will. He's fine...I think."

He finishes plating up some bacon and moves to grab a kettle. One thing he owes Alfred at least is the way he taught him how to make tea.

Prepared with a plate of meat and a cup of camomille lavender tea, he sits on his kitchen counter. He tries not to tap his feet against the cabinets as he munches on the food, sunken in thought.

'What's my plan here even? Kick him out as soon as he's awake?'

'I can give him another backpack, got enough spares and some old clothes that might fit him. And then he'll be gone. Marvelous'

He glances over to Danny and then back to his food when he glides off the cold stone surface. He softly makes his way to the sleeping kid and places the food down on the coffee table as he kneels in front of him.

"Kid?" he whispers. "You awake?"

Danny doesn't respond.

"Hey, I know you want to sleep but, ya gotta eat."

He reaches a hand over towards him to pull away at the blankets when a hand grasps his wrist.

Danny holds him still with those green eyes of his until the glow gradually ebbs away to reveal bright blue eyes staring back at Jason's.

'Mental note: do not show to Bruce'

Slowly but surely Danny lets go of wrist (and Jason makes note of the way too tough grip that kid has)

"Sorry" he mutters weakly.

"'s Okay", Jason assures him. "I'd be surprised if you weren't wary when you wake up someplace unfamiliar."

He smiles gently at the kid, but he can clearly tell there's still a slight panic in his eyes as he looks around the room. Seemingly content at the barren walls of his modest abode, he stares at the food Jason set beside him.

"Can I?" he points bluntly.

"I did tell you to wake up and eat so," he hands him the plate and a fork, "yeah, you can."

Danny shoves his face into the leftover food and Jason's already on his way to the kitchen to make more.

"You want some eggs with that? Or cereal?"

"Is it morning already?"

Jason peaks out behind the blinds on his windows, the sky as dark as ever.

"No fucking clue. It has been half a day already but any time is breakfast time when you're just awake."

He grabs some eggs as he turns to Danny. "Scrambled? Omelet? Benedict?"

"Who the hell is Benedict?"

Jason lets out an undignified snort as he cracks the eggs open in a bowl and starts mixing them together. "Scrambled it is"

He reaches for his spice rack when he pauses.

"You uh, allergic to anything?"

"Crazy fruitloops and animated hotdogs, but other than that, nothing much."

"Oooowkidoookiiii", Jason lets out, definitely not understanding what this kid is babbling about.

Danny giggles behind him, still snuggled up under blankets as he stumbles towards the kitchen counter.

"What?"

"You said okidoki"

"....And?"

"Just, you, big, buff and all raaah I'm tough", he curls his biceps.

"Didn't think someone like you would say that."

"Kid, full offense, you barely know me, you woke up on my couch and you have the balls to insult me? I'm wounded."

"Oh boohoo", Danny quips, "I'm so scared and sad now"

'This kid has some goddamn nerve-'

Jason can't help but smile at the retort.

"What?" Danny asks confused.

"Nothing, nothing. Just reminds me of something."

Danny narrows his eyes but doesn't press further. Instead he focuses on the eggs sizzling on the furnace.

"I'll make you more bacon, relax. Eggs first."

Danny doesn't protest. Instead he chooses to wait patiently until Jason finishes cooking up a full breakfast for him: bacon, eggs, cereal and even fresh fruit juice at that.

He inspects the food intently. Too intently for Jason's liking.

"I don't know whether or not you think I would poison you, when you've been unconscious this entire time, or that you don't like my cooking. I prefer the former."

"Just checking it won't kill me."

Jason raises an eyebrow at that, but when Danny starts eating happily from his eggs, he doesn't get to ask any further.

It doesn't take long before this plate too is empty again and Jason has to wonder if it's because of the fever or...

"Are you still hungry?"

Danny shrugs a bit too nonchalantly which is supposed to mean no, but Jason knows better.

"I don't have any more bacon", he looks inside his fridge, "or a lot of eggs for that matter, but I can make you pancakes. Will take a bit longer though."

Danny pipes up at the mention of pancakes. There's a hint of hesitation there, but he hums in a way Jason can feel resonate in his chest that tells him it's okay.

Jason's been in the kitchen longer than he intended to today, but he doesn't mind as much when he sees how happily the kid eats his food. At least someone appreciates his other talents.

"Sooooo..." Jason drags on as Danny finishes up his nth pancake with a godawful amount of syrup.

"Want to, ya know, explain the whole," he gestures at his face, "green thing?"

"You mean the glow in your eyes?"

"The-, In my eyes?!" Jason panics and looks in the reflection of his window to see what the hell the kid means. To his relief, his eyes are normal.

"I'm-, I am not even going to begin talking about that." he runs a hand through his hair. "This is not about me, this is about you, you little shit."

He directs his attention to the cubes in his lap and the thermos next to the couch.

"The fuck are those and the fuck are you?"

He sees Danny shrink away a little, clearly not happy with the attention.

"Sorry, that-," he pinches the bridge of his nose, "that was too harsh, I didn't-"

He slides his greased hands over his face. Probably not the best idea but hey, at least there's your excuse for a shower, he thought.

"Look, kid, I am not in the best headspace right now but I know I can't just let you leave without an explanation. I can tell you're not entirely human."

Danny cradles the cubes, running his thumb around the edges as he looks deep in thought, as if he's considering using whatever powers he has to just up and run.

Jason doesn't know how he could stop him, considering all the exits are locked but, well, if it didn't stop Tim from snooping around his stuff he doesn't see how it would stop Danny from leaving with the powers Jason thinks he does have.

Eventually Danny gets up to retrieve the thermos. He puts it down before Jason but keeps the cubes to himself.

He motions for Jason to go have a look at it, himself gazing instead at the cubes.

Jason lets the thermos roll around in his hands. It's sleek and obnoxiously coloured in silver, white and neon green accents. He notices a series of scratches on the paint, faintly deciphering the word 'Fenton' on it but not much else.

When he opens it, Danny watches him from the corners of his eyes, as if he's making sure the thing doesn't eat him.

Jason sees noting out of the ordinary. It looks and feels like a thermos, although he can feel a soft tugging on his chest before he caps the thing again.

"Okay, that, does not tell me much, kid."

He puts the thermos down and leans over on his arms. "Want to actually tell me the truth or am I going to have to investigate myself?"

Danny's eyes grow wide, an inherent dread crawling across his face which makes Jason back up immediately.

"I'm not gonna-, kid what do you think I'm gonna do to you?"

Danny doesn't answer, but the way his shoulders tense is enough to provide one anyway.

"I don't want to know for the hell of it", Jason explains. "I just, want to know what to do from here on. I don't exactly know how to take care of metas."

"I'm not a meta", he says pointedly. "Just....different."

"Sure, that you are but, please, be a bit more specific."

"What do you want to know?"

It's careful, the way he asks. Like he knows he needs to give some info but he needs to be sure what that info is. How he will give it. If he will give it.

"Maybe, like, for starters, the way you have superstrength? And likely superspeed from how you turned on me so fast. Or something like that."

"Something like that."

"And whatever those cubes are", he nods, "must be pretty damn important if you're willing to risk your life for them."

"They're my..." Danny wrinkles his nose, searching for the right word. "They're my...responsibility. If I don't care for them, no one will."

Jason hums, not entirely content but he knows Danny isn't going to give him any more than that.

"What about family? You got someone waiting for you? Friends?"

"I have a sister", he replies. "But she's got her hands full right now."

"No parents?"

"No parents that matter."

"Sure."

Jason doesn't want to ask further, sensing it's a sensitive topic and instead asks about other things.

"Do you need...stuff?"

"Stuff?" Danny echoes

"You know, the way speedsters need extra food and Kryptionians need sunlight, that kind of jazz."

Danny looks even more sad when he asks the question, but he doesn't really understand why.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I said I don't know!" and Danny almost wails.

Jason's hand is under the kitchen counter, mindlessly keeping it in reach of a taser. It's a force of habit, to reach for anything that can be a weapon in a moment's instance. But he takes it away when he sees how Danny's eyes get wet.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay."

"I-", Danny's voice breaks a little. "I don't really need to eat much I just need...ct..pls...."

"Heh?" Jason lets out.

"Ect...pl..m."

"Ect...Ect what?"

"Ectoplasm."

Now Jason is definitely in over his head.

"You mean, the stuff that-, ghosts? The supernatural? The whole spiel?"

"Yeah..." Danny shrugs once more. "It's enough to keep me going. If I don't have enough, I need to eat more. Sleep more."

"Even without a fever?" Jason tries to tease.

Danny rolls his eyes at him indignantly. "Even without the fever, yes."

"Okay, so, you're one of the magic meta's"

"That sounds so fucking wrong."

"Hey, language."

He raises a stern finger at him.

"Where do you get this...ectoplasm from?"

"I don't need to like, eat it. I mean I can, technically and sometimes it really does wonders for me but, normally just, the environment provides it. Gotham is just a giant ectoplasm pool. It's basically flooding into everything."

"I'm just going to assume you mean the rain and not an inconspicuous substance, thank you very much", Jason laments, really wanting that shower right now.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep big guy."

He fills the air with silence as he fiddles with the cubes again, reluctant to share anything else.

Jason, again, is the one to continue on.

"You didn't seem fulfilled though. Considering," he gestures at the plates around them.

"And if you say Gotham has enough ectoplasm to practically drown you..."

He doesn't like to think of where this kid was that it got so bad he was essentially starving, but he knows it sure as hell wasn't Gotham.

"Have you been eating well?"

Danny considers the question, like he's asking him what it's like breathing underwater, or having two heads.

"Mayhaps."

"Aight, that's a no."

Jason picks up the plates and places them in the sink behind him. He then moves around the living room, grabbing his jacket and finally, placing a hand on Danny's forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever, not that you feel any less cold than before."

"I feel fine, I'm fine, you're fine, it's all fine", Danny swats at his hand.

"Yes, yes I can see that Mr. Smartass."

Jason walks over to his bedroom, rummaging through the closet.

"Here", he throws a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie towards him. "I've got an extra backpack in there too. Get changed."

"You're already kicking me out? After pouring out my life story and everything?" Danny quivers his lip, putting a hand to his seemingly wounded chest.

"No, dumbass, I'm giving you clothes and bag so you can go out with me and get groceries, maybe even lunch. Or dinner, whatever, we'll see when we get there."

"You're not gonna rat me out?", Danny eyes the clothes thankfully yet with worry. "Sell me out to the Justice League or, or Batman?"

"Fuck if I care what Batman thinks. My house, my couch you slept on, my rules. Do you want more grub or not?"

Danny walks over to him, inspecting him again like he did before and Jason swears the kid is chirping at him.

Without a word Danny leaves to get changed and is right behind him in minutes as he packs his belongings in a small red backpack.

He waits patiently for Jason as he leaves the apartment and Jason has to convince himself he didn't just chirp back at the kid, hoping grub is all he was going to give the kid.

Chapter Text

In all honesty, Jason thought Danny would have bolted as soon as he stepped foot outside the building. Why wouldn't he, he got food in his belly, sleep and new clothes and a backpack. Or maybe he's just staying for the extra food he's about to get.

Every time Jason rounds an aisle, he expects Danny to be running out the front. And yet, he doesn't. He's scouting up ahead, sure, but never too far away.

By all means of logic, this kid shouldn't even be around him. What crazy kid stays with the first random person that doesn't try to mug him and takes him, unconscious! For the record! To a strange apartment! Then again he did some weird shit as a kid too. And as a teen. And-

'Okay, message clear, brain, we're both weird and fucked up.'

Eventually Jason makes his way to the back of the store and stares at the frozen produce section. He figures it's best if Danny gets fresh food and who's he kidding, he can make incredible lasagne himself, but he still takes a few meals with him, just in case.

He's about to ask Danny if he wants any ice cream, after debating it's wise to turn the corpse cosplaying kid into an icicle when someone slams the door to the store wide open, a rack of snacks near the register falling over from the force.

"Nobody fucking move!" a man calls out as he waves a gun in the air.

Jasons curses, crouching down to the floor and peeking in between chips and bags of nuts to take a look at the guy. From afar, he can tell the man is nervous. Nervous is bad. Calm people he can predict, they follow patterns and rules they made in their head. Nervous people? They're too trigger happy and reckless.

The gun the man is holding is small, ridiculously so. From afar Jason think it might even be a derringer. But he's not worried about the man with the smaller gun guarding the exit.

He's more worried about the m1911 his companion is pointing at the cashier. Sure it's nothing compared to his own guns but it's still a weapon aimed at someone's forehead. A young teenager no less. Much like his own who, now that he's looking for him, can't find.

"Fuck me" he mutters under his breath.

He leaves his basket of food behind as he crawls closer, looking for a good hiding spot where he can neutralise the man at the register. He reaches for his own weapon and silently smacks himself in the face.

'Rubber. Fuck.'

Jason wanted to get a nice shot up his noggin, that would've solved shit pretty quickly but noooooooooo "JaSon YoU cAn'T KeEP kiLliNG pEoPLe iF YoU LiVe iN GoThAm".

Instead he opts to throw something at the aisle behind him, making sure the gun is pointed away from the teen so that when he breaks the man's kneecaps, he can't reflexively shoot. When he finds a can of salted cashews, he gets ready to launch it across the story but then, he freezes.

"Drop the motherfucking Cheetos!" Tiny Gun Idiot shouts, pointing his gun (definitely a derringer) at his idiot.

Danny's standing in front of him, unbothered by the gun as he munches on a Cheeto, fingers and mouth stained a staunch orange. "I was gonna pay for it, I swear."

"Get down on the fucking ground, or do you have a death wish?" Bigger Gun Idiot gives him a crazed look.

"I mean, are you a genie then?" Danny chuckles in a way that is too unsettling for anyone present, especially for the other shoppers who do not have a deathwish.

On one hand, Jesus fuck this kid reminds him too much of himself, on the other, he's succeeding at what Jason was trying to do, so, if they survive, he's gonna get the kid more Cheetos.

He makes his way over to the terrified cashier, making it clear he needs to stay quiet as he points his gun at their assailants. Luckily for him, the cashier stays quiet. Danny however-

"Whatcha gonna do, shoot me? You can't fucking shoot me, that would make you an extra bad criminal. Like, stuffed in the oven and cooked a bit too long, ya know?"

Jason isn't sure whether to laugh or cry, why is he like this? Why must he have the same nonsense attitude as Damian?

Shoving aside the growing worry about both the kid and the people who also decided to go shopping at the bitching hour, he aims for the man closest to him. With a soft pop, the rubber bullet hits him in the back of his kneecap which sends him down the floor with a scream.

He's on the guy's back in an instant, taking his gun from him and pushing his boot onto his definitely fractured knee. He's keeping his weapon on him and an eye on the second one, fluttering from staring at Danny and Jason.

"Drop the gun, or your buddy gets it."

"You can't shoot him! That's-, that's illegal!"

"But armed robbery isn't??" Danny exclaims from behind him. "You guys went in here with your guns first."

"B-but he can't shoot him, he's not a cop!"

"Exactly, I'm not a cop", Jason clicks his gun for dramatic effect, "no rules for me to follow here."

As he talks to the guy about how he has not a single moral backbone, he lulls him into a fake sense of calm while Danny behind him grabs a fire extinguisher. Jason hopes he's gonna use it to knock the man out while he silences the man below him, also taking note of Danny's actions and trying to warn his partner, to no avail.

When Tiny Gun Idiot starts to frantically panic, Jason yells at Danny to hit him.

"Uuhhh, you're a stellar looking fella?"

"Hit HIM, not on HIM!"

"Oh, right!" 

Danny brings the red metal cylinder down on the man, sending him straight through the floor of the store as he lets out a whooping "Oof".

"Danny what the fuck-" Jason brings Bigger Gun Idiot upwards, restraining him by his wrists.

"I panicked! I never had to fight humans before!"

"What the fuck does that even mean?!"

"I'd like to know that too", a low, smooth voice enters the store along with a man with black hair and a blue bird across his chest.

"Noooooooooooooooo", Jason drawls, letting his head drop low as he knows immediately who just decided to catch him red hood handed amongst the mess. "Please just leave Nightwing-"

"And what, leave you here like this", his older vigilante brother teases, "Now that would be irresponsible."

Jason stares, deadpanned: "Irresponsible like when you flung off that chandelie-"

"Apapapapapapapap!" Nightwing presses a spandex covered finger against his lips as he takes the injured robber from him, putting cuffs onto his hands he pulled from Ancient's know where on that skintight suit.

"Be responsible here, random citizen, let the pro's handle it."

"Fine", he smiles with venom, "You dig him out yourself then, I am not gonna help you anymore"

"Like you were going to do that in the first place!" Nightwing calls out when Jason leaves the store.

He's walks away a good few blocks before he realises a) he left his groceries and b) he left the kid he was getting groceries for.

"ONE BREAK", he yells rushing back towards the store, "JUST ONE!"

When he returns, Nightwing and some police offers are handeling the robbers and are interviewing the people from the store. Unfortunately, he doesn't notice Danny among them. He doesn't know if he should be relieved or worried about that.

He decides he's annoyed at it in the end, especially when Nightwing approaches him for a "Witness Report".

"Come on, sir", he ushers him away from the crowd and behind the store building. 

"So," he puts his hands to his hips, "want to tell me what happened there?"

"Nothing."

Nightwing doesn't even raise an eyebrow at his bullshit answer.

"Fine, fine. I just went to get food, there were men with guns, I just intervened, no one got hurt."

The aforementioned men with guns are loaded onto an ambulance as he explains himself, groaning and grunting.

"Okay maybe those two but not badly."

"One of them was smashed through the floor!"

"Not by me!" he defends himself, "I just shot the other one!"

"You shot him!? In civies!?"

"IT WAS A RUBBER BULLET PLEASE GET THAT STICK FROM YOUR ASS."

"That still counts! That is still shot!"

Jason grunts, louder than the wounded gunmen and drops his head against the brick exterior. "Dick, please, just let it slide, I'm not in the mood to deal with this now."

"I can't just ignore it either, you know I can't. Otherwise-"

"Yeah, yeah, B will do it for you, I know, I know."

Jason slides down the wall, plopping down the asphalt. He's really not in any way willing to talk to Dick about something so stupid as a robbery, where he didn't even kill anyone!

To his surprise, Dick slides down next to him, resting his arms on his knees.

"Want to talk about the kid?"

Jason ignores the question, instead looking at rat scampering away.

"He's not....yours, is he."

"What?" he whips around to face him.

"You didn't...ya know...Do the frick frack-"

"Dick, when would I have?? Where? With whom? Why-, ya know what, we're not-, we're not gonna talk about that. No he's not mine."

"Oh. Cool. Cool cool cool cool cool..."

He rubs the back of his head to fill the awkward silence. "He looks like a Bruce Adoptee-"

"I know right?" Jason gestures with his hand. "He even has the weird recklessness all of us has and the snark and the sarcasm and-"

"And?"

Jason closes his eyes, unsure of whether or not he should talk with Dick about Danny properly. It's Dick, he wouldn't snitch. He would be pissing annoying, yes, but he'd shut up. Probably.

"I found him."

"Where?"

"Couple blocks from my place. Soaking wet, fever, getting mugged."

"Hmmmm." 

"I wasn't gonna do anything other than scare the thugs away. I thought he was on his way home or towards a shelter or something."

"Let me guess, he wasn't?"

"Honestly, I think he was going to keep walking till his legs gave out. He collapsed before I could get an answer."

"And what did you do then?"

Jason hates it. The way Dick asks that question. The "You should know better" tone. The rhetoric "Come on, tell me what you did wrong" approach. In some ways it's even worse than when Batman gives him the disappointed dad speech.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Be all condescending and high and mighty."

"I'm not!"

"Dickhead you always are. But if you are so set on giving me a lecture, I took him to my place."

"Your place."

"Yes, echo of the day, my place. I put him on the couch and he slept for like, 10 hours. I gave him some spare clothes and stuff and went to get more food and hoped he'd be gone by then."

"Well, that last part is true."

Nightwing rolls his head over towards him. "I tried to talk to him when you left but he was just, gone. Don't know how he got away, he's not even visible on any of the camera footage. Think he took your generosity and bolted."

"Great, that's good for me. I don't have to feed him, not my problem anymore." 

Jason gives him a halfassed smile he doesn't bother making genuine.

"Geez, you really have the adoption gene bad, huh?" Dick elbows him in his side. "You know him, what, not even a day? And you're already worried about him."

"First of all, fuck you. Second of all, fuck you. Third of all-"

"Fuck me?" he grins.

"Yes, and also, no, I don't want to adopt him. I'm just worried."

"There are a lot of homeless kids on the streets of Gotham, Jay. Even meta ones. We can try looking for them, but if they truly don't want to be found, they won't."

"I don't think he's a meta", he eventually admits.

"Either he's a meta or another super clone. Don't think Supes' will be happy about that, he's barely working through it with Connor."

"That's not really it either", Jason differs. 

"Then what do you think he is?"

Jason bites on his lip as he thinks about it. What was Danny? He said he's not a meta and Jason is inclined to believe him. But anyone could see that the kid was not normal either. Definitely not with the animalistic tendencies, the weird chirping, the green. The toxic, violent Lazarus pit green. He knows Danny isn't some kid you can just leave roaming alone unsupervised. Hell, if Jason had half the powers he has when he was that age he would have done more than just steal the tires of the Batmobile.

"Dick, how much do you trust me?"

Even under the mask, Jason sees his expression change from neutral to surprised. "Why do you ask that?"

"It influences the next part of the conversation, dumbass."

"I mean..." Dick sighs, positioning himself across his younger brother and crossing his legs over each other. "You've only been back to Gotham a couple of years."

He takes Jason's silence as a sign to continue.

"And things...they've not been all too good. But-",

"But?"

"I know you're trying. I can tell you are. And I...I'm here for you, okay?"

He thinks about putting a hand on Jason's shoulder but Jason isn't that emotional.

"Okay that uh, that's enough, right."

He clears his throat while Dick still smiles at him. "You can talk to me. I won't snitch."

Jason takes a deep breath, grating his head against the rough texture of the wall behind him. "I think he's sorta like me."

"You mean..."

"The Pit, yeah. I can't really prove it or explain how but there is something about this kid that just screams Pit at me."

"In a bad way? Have you...."

"Opposite really," Jason says in earnest. "I was seething, close to it after that 'brunch'."

Dick shudders when he mentions it.

"I thought I was going to kill those thugs mugging him in the state I was in. But Danny just, has the opposite effect on the Pit. Yes he stresses me out but the Pit was so quiet when he was around. I'm not saying he got dunked in it. But I think he might have been exposed to it at least. He mentioned ect-"

Jason bites his tongue, thinking that maybe this is not the time to bring that up yet. "Extra strength", he says instead, "not like Superman I don't think, he's fast too. Or something of the sort. He reminds me a bit of myself when I first came back. Maybe he just stumbled across a pit, maybe not, I can't say, but I don't want this kid alone on the streets. And I definitely do not want B to know of this."

Jason gets up, staring at his older brother. "Promise me you won't tell him. Not yet. Let me figure things out on my own."

Nightwing gets up too, stretching his back along the way. "I won't tell him. But we both know that if you're going to hide something from him, he's going to find out eventually."

"I'm counting on eventually."

"Right."

Jason breathes a sigh of relief, glad Dick is on his side on this one.

"What do you need from me?" 

"For starters, food."

Jason looks back at the store, the police drizzling out. "I left it during the robbery."

"Can do. You want help finding your kid too?"

"He's not-", he grunts, "I don't care, fuck off."

"Sure, let me get your food and we'll start making a plan at your place."

"Whatever, never mention this again."

"Love you too little wing!" Nightwing calls as he leaves for the store.

"I'm still taller than you!" Jason calls back

"Only in height!"

When Jason makes it back to his building, Dick is already waiting for him there, suit changed for jeans, a T-shirt and a blue denim jacket.

"How did you get here so fast? In civies no less?"

"Hmmm, secret of the traaade", Dick sings as he follows him inside.

"You sprinted on the rooftops and got changed behind that one Batburger, didn't you."

"Can't I have one ounce of appreciation for my drama?" he whimpers.

"You are such a loser."

"Says the one who literally lost a child."

"I'm regretting telling you."

"Take an L."

"What the fuck does that mean??"

"I don't know, Tim said it to me once."

They both shrug it off as they near his apartment.

"I think we can begin with some of the other stores", Dick starts," if he needed the food that bad he might have gone to another store for it when he didn't get any from the one you were at."

"Yeah I already have a map ready for that," Jason mutters as he turns the handle to his home.

"We can try the sh-Hey! What gives, Jay?" he yelps as he crashes into his back upon attempting to enter the room.

Jason slowly moves into his living room, Dick following suit when he sees why Jason stood frozen in the doorway. On the kitchen counter, eating cheetos, was a blue eyed, black haired kid waving at the two men.

"Hi."

Chapter Text

Jason stares at the orange speckled kid sitting on his kitchen counter. He drops his groceries to the floor as he walks over towards him. Danny leans back, just a little if it was just to keep Jason from grabbing the Cheetos away from him. Jason keeps a trained eye on him as he places his hands on his shoulder, taking in a deep breath before he cries out:

"Where the FUCK have you BEEN!?"

Jason is almost shaking him like a ragdoll at this point and Danny lets him, reaching for another chip as he does.

"You are the one who left the store and me behind. I should ask you where the fuck you've been!"

"Don't you dare spin this on me!"

"Well, he does have a point-"

Jason shoots his brother an antagonizing glare, daring him to continue that sentence. Unlucky for him, Dick is not threatened by him in the slightest. For now.

"It looks to me he just went back to the apartment when you left him at the store. Not the best plan of action, but it's a close second."

"See, this guy gets it", Danny wiggles a Cheeto at him.

"The name's Dick," Dick walks over to him as he puts more of the groceries next to him. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Dick, I'm Danny. See, this man has a good brain and manners. Even introduced himself to me."

And then it dawns on Jason he never actually told the kid his name. From the way Danny is wearing a devilish grin on his face, that is exactly what he was jabbing at.

"Riiiiiight....Introductions...."

Jason dances on the balls of his feet with an awkward clap of hands when Dick asks him the unavoidable question.

"Jay...Did...Did you not tell him your name..."

"Maaaaaybeeee....I kind of....forgot..." he mumbles the reply as he diverts his attention to the groceries he needs to put in the fridge and freezer instead of looking at the two around him.

Dick and Danny laugh as he puts his eggs and bacon in the fridge, pretending to think about what food he's going to prepare.

"So, his name's Jason", Dick eventually clarifies. 

"Yeah, I kinda already knew that", Danny admits with the biggest shit eating grin Jason's ever seen. "Saw it on the inside of the backpack he gave me."

Jason essentially gains a strawberry blush he manages to hide by sticking his face in the fridge. "There is no fucking way it has my name in there, absolutely no way."

Dick agrees quickly, both knowing none of them leave personal info on items that could be traced back to them, not even civilian items. It's because of this they eventually stare Danny down.

"There is no way that is true", Dick says in earnest at Danny, crossing his arms as he does so. 

"Uuuugh," Danny groans, "Don't do that."

"What?"

"That's such a dad pose. 'Young man, you know you royally fucked up, come clean now and I won't give you a spanking'"

"Do I look like-?!"

"Well, he does have a point-" Jason mimics his brother.

"Shut up Jay." He turns his attention back to Danny. "From what did you learn his name?"

"Okay, I'm gonna tell you, but you gotta promise not to get mad. Or give me more Cheeto's. That also works."

Dick tosses him a bag of Flamin Hot Cheetos, waiting for his explanation.

"So," Danny opens the bag and eagerly takes some of the chips, "Uhm. How do I explain this nicely without you guys being like, overly worried."

Both Jason and Dick give him a raised eyebrow in response.

"Okay so I didn't actually leave the store, I was just hiding and I was going back here but then Jason walked back and truly, I am touched you would get so worried over little old me, and he started talking to you-"

"Wow wow wow wow, hold up", Dick holds his hands in a T position, "Back to the 'and then he started talking to you' bit. I was never there."

Danny halts a Cheeto right at his mouth, eyes screaming:  "Really. That's the route you're gonna take?"

"Aside from the fact he called you Dick", Danny munches on the lingering snack, "Assuming he used your name, it's not like I can't tell you're the same person. Also you really need to find a better changing spot than behind that one Batburger. It's not that secluded", he mentions casually.

From the way Dick and Jason have their mouths hanging agape, Danny takes it as a sign to continue talking. "And then on the way home you did also call him Jason so yeah, not that hard to figure out."

"Can we like, pause at the part where you never left the store and was with us the entire time?" Jason rounds the corner of the kitchen counter. "Where? We never saw you anywhere!"

"Uh, duh, that was the point?" Danny hops off the counter towards the sink. He grabs the dish soap and starts cleaning his hands after he rubbed the excess Cheeto dust from his face. 

"How did you do that?" Dick asks curiously.

"I just, turn invisible?" Danny shows him by vanishing before his eyes and reappearing behind him to rummage through the rest of the grocery bags. "It's not rocket science."

"Kid, let me just", Jason leans against the fridge. "Before we left, you didn't want me to know a single thing about you. And now you're just, showing us one of your abilities? Just like that?"

Danny shrugs as he notices a pint of ice cream, turning it over in his hands. "Yeah?"

"Why?" Dick asks in disbelief. 

"Because you promised Jason not to snitch on him and Jason said he was worried about me."

"I never-"

"Subtext, subtext", Danny waves a hand. "Can I get a spoon?" 

Jason grabs the ice cream from him and sets in in the freezer behind him. "No ice cream before dinner or answers."

"But I just gave you answers", Danny whines.

Jason has to admit, he did answer them. Sort of. He pulls out some pasta sheets from the bags and shakes them at the boy. "Shoving aside the fact you blindly trust us just after that, if you heard what we talked about, how much of my speculation was right then?"

Danny, to his surprise, doesn't evade the question. "I mean, I don't really now what a "Pit" is. Or who Lazarus is and why it's his but, it sounds like you're just talking about ectoplasm to me."

"The ghost stuff you mentioned."

"Yup"

"The what stuff?" 

Dick looks back between Danny and Jason. "Did you just say ghost?"

"Yup" Danny pops the P at the end. "I thought you already knew about that? Sure when I told Jason he thought I was talking bullshit but even if you call it something else, the same thing still applies. Rose, name, sweet yadda yadda."

"I am....not prepared to deal with this", Dick mutters with a hand over his mouth.

"What? Both of you deal with this on the regular from what I can tell and it still surprises you?"

"We never deal with ghosts. The supernatural, occasionally, but ghosts are not our territory."

Danny snorts: "You say like Gotham isn't one giant ghost hub, lmao"

"Did he just say lmao out loud?"

"I think he just said lmao out loud..." Dick whispers to Jason. "What's a lmao?" 

"Anyway", Jason ignores that for now, "So, what, you're saying you're a ghost. And that we're ghosts."

"I never said that. I just said you deal with it. You're like me. Dick is liminal."

"Excuse me."

"Good Ancients, am I explaining this to toddlers? I've had lunch meat more cooperative."

He points at Dick: "You surround yourself with death and ectoplasm, but you're still human. Just a bit wonky. Slightly to the left. "

"You on the other hand", he then points at Jason , "You died."

Jason knows he's right. And if he's a ghost, it makes sense he would know. But for someone to just blatantly point it out like it's nothing is a new experience for him.

"Oh, uh, I see you haven't really processed that yet..." Danny says apologetically. "Sorry, I figured with how long you've been back you would've. But I should've known in your condition it wasn't, my bad."

"My condition?" Jasons sits down, ingredients to a dish forgotten dropped to floor. 

"You called it Pit Rage? I think?"

Danny picks up the fallen produce and puts them in the sink as he gives them a good rinse. "You thought I calmed it?"

Jason doesn't like to admit it when he mentions it. He balls his fists, staring into nothing and no one.

Danny senses his growing unease and looks him over, a decision forming in his head. He reaches into his backpack and walks over to Jason. He extends a hand, waiting for Jason to accept it. When Jason finally relaxes his hand, he reaches for Danny's, not knowing what he will do.

"Here," he places one of the cubes in his hand. "How does it feel to you?"

"Like, a cube?" Jason doesn't really know what to think of it. Danny lets Dick have a go at it but keeps his hand on his, wary despite the trust he gave them moments ago.

"It feels, like, it's humming?" Dick responds. "It's heavy and light at the same time? Like there's a weight to it, an importance to keep it in my hand. What is it?"

Danny contemplates how to explain it. "Have you ever played Pokémon?"

"Of course we've played Pokémon, we're not cavemen."

"Well, look at this as Ghost Pokémon."

"There's a ghost in this-" Dick looks at his hand as if it grew ten times the normal size.

Danny gently rubs against the sides of the cube before handing it back at Jason. "Does it feel like, safe, in a way? When you hold it?"

"I suppose so? Fuck if I know", Jason rumbles while staring at the cube. "It feels...warm I guess?"

"Good, good, that means your core can detect it as a safe space."

"My what now-"

"Your core. It's like, your ghost heart? It's complicated but that sort of sums it up really."

"So you're saying I am a ghost."

"I said ghost heart, stop jumping to conclusions man, it's not like I have a Powerpoint for this kind of talk. I've only ever met one other halfa and he already knew more about it than I do. Not that he was that nice about explaining it, but still."

"If he's not a ghost, then, what is he? What are you?" Dick tears his gaze away from the pulsating cube. "A, what did you call it, a halfa? And why are you talking like Jason somehow is..."

"Wrong?" Jason interjects. "Faulty?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh yes you did, I can tell you wanted to say that."

"Jay, calm down, I just want to know what Danny meant."

"Yeah, and what do you think that is. He already pointed out I died, it wouldn't surprise me if he knew how I came back aaaaaall wrong."

He's growling at him against his will, his grip tightening around the cube. 

"Uh, Jason, hand me the cube back, please." 

Danny is edging his way closer to Jason who had shot up from his chair. He's almost at the cube when Jason pulls away, a hiss escaping him.

'Why am I doing this? What's going on?'

There's a panic building in his chest, a rising green to his eyes.

'He's not attack me, he's trying to help, stop, stop, STOP, STOP-'

Jason's shaking now, eyes darting between Danny and Dick and he can feel the cube resonating against his palm.

'Why is it pulsating, am I hurting it, am I breaking it, what am I doing, why can't I let go?'

It's taking every fibre in his being to not crush the cube in his hand or to lunge at the people in front of him when he feels a pair of arms wrap around his torso. His chest is heaving but the ache is settling, calming down. The green drains from his eyes along with the strength from his arms as he lets his weight rest back on his feet.

"It's okay, you're safe", Danny whispers against the fabric of his shirt. 

He shouldn't be the one doing this, a kid shouldn't have to be comforting an adult damnit, why can't he get a grip on himself? But it feels warm and safe and it lulls the pain away from the Pit in a way it had never done before. There's a purring in and against his chest Jason can't shake because it feels so natural. Like this is how he was supposed to feel along along, back when he came back to Gotham, when he saw his family again, when he came back from those pernicious waters.

The tension in his jaw dissipates and he feels his shoulders drop. Along with the cube he was holding.

With a sharp thunk the metal thuds against the ground.

"Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck-" Jason is back to panicking again until Danny calmly picks it up.

"Danny I'm so, so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay", Danny smiles warmly.

'How can it be fucking okay? I just dropped one of your most prized possessions after I almost broke it'

"It's okay, really", Danny is almost a radiant sun with how he's holding it so softly.

"It's sturdy, it won't break from a fall alone."

"But...I-"

"I didn't know how badly your core was damaged, I'm really sorry", Danny admits. "I thought it was just, ya know, a little ecto deprived. Usually being around other ecto beings would fix that, especially things like the Ecto Cube that are housing them. I wouldn't have given it to you if I knew."

Jason rubs his hands together, a restlessness settling into his digits. He doesn't ask further about the state of his core, not wanting to have another episode like that. "Are you sure it's okay?" he opts to ask instead.

"Yeah don't worry, it's all fine! It doesn't hurt the ghost inside. Besides, if it did agitate them, the ghost would just leave the cube and I don't think they did."

"Oh boys, what a messy kitchen this is!" a female voice chirps up from above the furnace.

"You can't really make lunch here like this, can you?"

Danny chuckles nervously, turning around to explain to a concerned Dick and Jason, a fighting stance baked into their bones ready to fight. "Okay, this isn't what it looks like-"

"There's a ghost lady floating above my onions!"

"Okay, maybe it does , but she won't hurt anyone!"

"Hurt anyone, why would I do that? Unless", the woman looms over towards Jason and Dick, a static lacing her voice, "Have you not been feeding the boy well?"

"Uhm", Dick gulps, "I just showed up with groceries..."

"Groceries!" she exclaims happily. "Let me see what you got, what were you gonna make? Pasta?" 

She eagerly snatches the pasta sheets from the counter.

"Lasagne?" Jason offers carefully. 

"Wonderful! I'll get started on that right away!"

Before Jason can even protest to someone else using his kitchen, several knives, pans and pots are already floating throughout the room, slicing at onions and tomatoes.

"Danny, what the fuck-" Jason ducks away from the kitchen, joining Dick and Danny in the living room again.

'I'm going to be saying that a lot now huh'

"Like I said, she won't hurt anyone! If you're just nice to her about food. Her name's Lunch Lady and she just wants to cook food."

"Her name's just Lunch Lady. Just that", Dick exclaims.

"Ghosts often don't remember their names or their past lives, just what kept them here. For her it was serving food, specifically at school. She's a really good cook though."

"Aww, thank you dear, that's so nice of you!"

Dick gives Jason the 'what the hell are we gonna do with this look', which he returns with 'fuck around and find out'.

"It smells really nice, actually", Jason admits. He takes a closer look at what she's doing and hums approvingly. "That's like how I would do it."

"Right? It's easy and delicious", Lunch Lady agrees excitedly.

Jason awkwardly tries to help her with cooking, a gesture of peace he supposes. 

"I'm uhm, sorry for, ya know..." he tries.

"Oh don't sweat it dearie, I just thought a nice homecooked meal would be good for all three of you. Here, have this."

She hands him a few breadsticks and a green looking dip, smiling an extra toothy grin. "It's good for you, really."

Danny eyes the suspicious dip before making a grabby hand motion.

"Of course you also get some, child." She hands him another bowl of the substance. She then turns her attention to Dick, a stern expression on her face. "Now, you can have some too, but not too much. Only for halfa's and ghosts."

"Yes ma'am", Dick replies, not interested in the slightest to eat whatever she just gave Danny and Jason.

Lunch Lady returns to her stove, satisfied, and continues stirring the ragout in a pan.

"What is this?" Jason whispers to Danny as he takes a seat next to him while Lunch Lady takes care of their food. 

"It's ecto dip."

Jason waits for more information that never comes. He tries to discern a smell to the dip but he can't detect any. He doesn't like how it looks like Lazarus Water, even though this looks clearer and lighter.

"Is it like you mentioned earlier? How you can eat ectoplasm but don't have to?"

Considering Danny's share is already halfway empty, he takes it as a yes.

Carefully, Jason makes an attempt to eat from it, ignoring the crazed look in Dick's eye who absolutely does not want him to eat the glowing green dip. Such a buzzkill, really.

To his amazement, the dip actually isn't that bad. The opposite in fact with how much it fills his stomach and chest with a buzzing he can't quite explain. It tastes like everything and nothing all at once, as if he's eating every thing he ever ate and then nothing at all. Overall 10/10, would eat again.

"See, told you it was good", Danny remarks after Jason finishes his in one go.

"You never said anything of the sorts, but yeah", he scrapes the sides clean, "Pretty damn good."

"Poor thing, you must be starving."

Lunch Lady hands him and Danny another serving. "I hope you at least fed yourself well, Danny."

Danny strategically opts to look at the counter. 

"Danny?" Lunch Lady asks, spatula in her hand.

"Oh wow look at the patterns in the wood here, so pretty."

"Danny ", Lunch Lady speaks up. "What would Jazz say if she found out you weren't eating properly?"

Danny drops his breadsticks along with the ecto dip, a sudden realization dawning on him. He jumps from his seat and snatches his backpack, rummaging frantically through it.

"Everything okay?" Dick enquires as more cubes are piled on the counter along with a thermos.

"Peachy, yup peachy", Danny mutters as he finally finds what he was looking for. He holds out a phone, tapping the passcode into the screen. He winces, like the phone he's holding is scalding hot.

"72 missed messages and 23 missed calls", he grimaces.

"Oooof, you're in for an ass whooping, " Lunch Lady whistles, turning down the heat on the furnace.

"From who?" Jason wonders aloud.

"Um, well, remember I said I have a sister?"

"Yeah?"

Danny dials the number shown on the screen, arm outstretched as the phone rings.

"H-"

"DANIEL PETER CASPER FENTON!" a girl shrieks from the other side of the phone.

"Hey, Jazz", he shields his ear from the screeching, "I missed you too."

Chapter Text

It had been close to an hour ever since Danny had started the call with his sister, taking his leave towards Jason’s bedroom for privacy. A silence sat between the people left behind in the living room, save for the occasional shouts or cries.

Lunch Lady had retreated back into her cube after she made sure the lasagne was to her standards. Jason had been given as much ecto dip as he still wanted, which he clearly abused considering the 6 empty cups in the sink, sides scraped completely clean.

After leaving enough for Danny, he had picked up the book he had started the night he met him. He’d made more progress than last night, actually becoming engrossed in the story when he could tell someone didn’t want him to be.

He put down his book once more, turning his head towards his older brother. Dick was sitting on the couch stuffing his face with gummy worms as Jason spoke up:

“Are you going to spit it out or are you going to bore more holes into me than bullets ever did?”

Dick looked at him incredulously. “You mean, the worms or-“

“Not the fucking worms you idiot, whatever it is that’s keeping you staring at me while I’m trying to read.”

Dick swallowed the candy down with an undignified gulp. “Well if we’re going to open a can of worms-“

Jason groaned, regretting putting down his book.

“How are you?”

The questions wasn’t unexpected, but it still surprised him. “I’m fine?”

Dick shot him a look, knowing full well he was talking bullshit.

“I’m fine, Dick, really.”

“After all the information you just got? You’re fine? Really.”

Jason can’t help but scoff at the incessant habit of nagging his brother seemed to have. Even when he does appreciate the concern.

“What do you want me to say? We’ve heard weirder things.”

“Yeah about others. But this is you. This is information that, if we had it when…when you…”

“Dick, it’s been so long ago, it’s fine-“

“Is it though?” Dick snaps back. “If we knew what we know now back then, when you…” he wished the blockage in his throat was just from the gummy worms, “when you died. When you came back. Maybe, maybe if we knew, then we could’ve-“

“If you knew back then we wouldn’t be sitting here like this. You weren’t even there in the first place, regardless if you knew about ghosts and halfa’s.”

Sure the comment was harsh and cut at Dick’s guilt even more, but it’s not like Jason was going to sugarcoat anything for him.

“Did you know we…we considered it?”

“Considered what?”

“Bringing you back?”

Jason blinks, startled by the information. “You thought about bringing me back?”

“Well, not me, Bruce did. I think a few days had passed by then. I had to talk him out of it.”

“So, you didn’t want me back, I see, I see.”

“I wanted you back more than anything”, Dick almost lunges himself off the couch towards him. “But I knew it would hurt you more than it would help us. I-, I thought you’d feel out of place, and who knew if you might still feel pain from when…From when you died.”

Jason mindlessly crosses his arms. It’s not like Dick was wrong, but it wasn’t as if he wanted him to be right about it either. The nights Jason wakes up bathing in sweat because he can feel his blood flowing over his face from when Joker made it collide with steel. The heat from the explosion fusing the fabric of his Robin costume with his skin. The clawing at his ribs, the yelling, the screaming of something inside of him to be let out, to be held and be safe. It’s only now that he knows that was his core trying to form, and failing miserably at it.

“We can’t do anything about the past. Just work with the consequences.”

Dick looks back at the bedroom door, Danny’s shadow cast underneath it whenever he walks past it. When he returns to Jason, he finds him staring at it too.

“You think he can help you?”

“He already did. When I almost destroyed his cube.”

“But you didn’t.”

“But I could’ve.”

“But you didn’t.”

“But I could’ve.”

“And you could’ve behaved at the last gala but you didn’t do that either.”

“And you could’ve landed on the floor instead of the appetizers but you didn’t do that either.”

“You make one mistake-“

“And this is what happens, Dickie boy.”

Jason laughs as he walks over to join him on his leather couch, the brown, worn leather sagging as he sits himself down.

“Do you think you could’ve come back like Danny, if we knew?”

“What, not with my ass backwards like a lego figurine?”

“Not the way I’d say it but sure, not backwards.”

“Maybe. Who knows. Maybe I could’ve been stable. Maybe I wouldn’t have hurt people the way I did.”

It’s out before he knows it, the guilt, the pending apology. He knows his anger was just, he had every right to feel like he was betrayed and forgotten. But knowing how much his messed up core messed him up, who knows how much of it was really him? Was it all true what he felt?

“What if Danny can fix you? Your core, I mean.”

“Then I can finally turn invisible and fuck up your gym equipment.”

“You’re a little fucked up evil boy, aren’t you, Jay.”

“Fucked up? Yes. Evil? Eeeeehhhhh, maybe. If I feel like it.”

Dick hits him on his arm, knowing just how hard to punch to make his tank of a brother feel it. Which in his case, was quite hard.

Jason snorts, swatting at his hand. “Yeah yeah, whatever, bro bonding over, get a grip on yourself.”

“Awwww.”

“What.”

“You called it bonding! You care!”

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“What, like it’s hard?”

“It was! In fact! Very hard to kill you! Unlike me-“

Jason slaps his knee as he cackles loudly, even more so when he saw Dick’s miserable face.

“You can’t make that goddamn joke-“

“I can, you can’t.”

Jason laughs even more at his own jokes, wiping away a stray tear when Dick burrows his face in his hands.

“I hope when Danny fixes you, he fixes your awful sense of humor too.”

“Hey, let’s not put too much pressure on that kid, he has it hard enough.”

They hear Danny talking wildly on the other side, pacing up and down the room. “More than we think.”

Dick and Jason both hope he will emerge soon but judging from the way the conversation in the other room was still going on, it didn't seem very likely. It makes both of them uneasy when they think of Danny being in trouble, or worried.

“You care about him, don’t you. Not just because you’re alike in sarcasm.”

Jason crosses his legs, leaning back against the cushions. “In more than just one way.”

“We can’t make his life miraculously better, you know that.”

“I think we’re already doing more than whatever his folks did when he got his powers.”

His mood sours after he thinks about it for a second. “You ever thought about it?”

“What?”

“His powers. What he is. What I am.”

He starts explaining: “I came back wrong, I know that. But he’s around the same age I was when I died. But I got to grow, to grow up. If he has his powers now…”

“It means he either died very young or really recently.”

Neither wants to continue that train of thought. To imagine Danny having to go through dying and coming back and being on the streets of Gotham protecting ghosts more than he would protect himself…That wasn’t something a kid should go through, or anyone for that matter.

“You think his sister knows? Or his parents?” Dick finally asks.

Jason hums in response: “I know he said his sister had a lot on her plate, so maybe he didn’t tell her so she wouldn’t worry. His parents though.”

He balls his hands into fists. “I hope for them they’re out of the picture.”

“Abusive?”

“Maybe. He didn’t want to talk about them. But what parent would let their kid go through this unnoticed? Either Danny is afraid of what they’ll do to him, or what he could do to them. Either way, I hope we don’t have to cross paths.”

Dick fumbles with the bag of gummy worms again, offering one to Jason who takes one in his mouth.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do from here”, he admits, sucking on the soft candy. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, for starters, you’re not alone.”

Dick reaches for another bag of gummies, sour ones this time. “I’ll help you out. We can both take care of Danny until we find a way for him to live a life, as much as he can live as a ghost. And while he stays with you, I’ll try to figure out how to keep B and the rest of the bats away.”

“You think you could do that? Have them keep their nose out of my business? It’s only been a few months that B stopped having you guys track my every move. If they see Danny, they’ll ask questions.”

“Then we just have to keep him hidden.”

“What, like locking him up? House arrest? Regardless of the fact he didn’t even mention staying here, let alone somewhere we take him, I can’t just make him listen to me or you for that matter.”

“He can be invisible when you go out. And, yes, we can’t make him do anything, but, do you really think he wants to go anywhere else?”

Dick makes Jason turn his attention to him. “He came back from the store. He didn’t have to. He could’ve bailed on us, on you anytime he wanted. With his powers he could have been all the way in Metropolis by now, but he didn’t. He trusts you. The least we can do for now is offer him a place to stay.”

“But then what happens after that?” Jason gets up from the couch swinging his arms around exasperated. “I can’t take care of a kid! Definitely not a kid like him.”

“In all honesty I think you’re the only one who can. Would you rather Bruce adopts him?”

“I’d rather fucking die again before he can do that.”

“See, you already have that parental defense for him.”

“Don’t say that!”

“I’m not wrong! You both benefit from it! And it’s either this or him being on the streets, would you rather have that happening?”

“No, but taking in a kid is a lot of responsibility! Do I look like-?”

“Absolutely you don’t, but what else is he gonna do?”

Jason groans, knowing Dick is right. “Why am I doing this.”

“Doing what?”

Danny’s voice rings from the bedroom. He’s tucking away his phone when he enters the room again.

“Nothing, nothing. How are you?” Jason asks quickly.

“All good, all good.”

“Right. And your sister?”

“All good, all good.”

Jason and Dick exchange knowing looks, years of repression and training as vigilantes putting the obvious lie on display.

Danny looks tense, a wariness etched right underneath his eyes as he walks over towards the kitchen, grabbing a cup of ecto dip and breadsticks.

“Danny, if something is wrong with you or your sister, we will try everything we can to help.”

Jason leans over the kitchen counter, closing the distance between him and Danny. “You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to, though.”

Danny shrugs, swirling the ecto dip around. “She’s okay, really.”

“But are you?”

The tired teen looks up, giving both him and Dick a tired smile. “I’m not really hiding it well, am I?”

“You’re pretty transparent, yeah.”

“Wow, 10/10 great joke Dick, would recommend the Joker to add to his repertoire”, he rolls his eyes at him.

"Ouch. I'm wounded, Danny"

 "Oh do you want a kissie wissie for your ouchie wowchie?”

Jason cackles, happy to see the kid at least still has enough in him to make jokes. When he finished making fun of him, he turned back to Danny, eyes serious once more.

“All jokes aside”, he says in earnest, “If you don’t want us to know, that’s fine. It’s none of our business. But you’re welcome to stay here, and that also means you can tell us if you’re in trouble, or if something’s wrong. With you, or your sister.”

“Gee whizz, Jason”, Danny gives him a dry laugh, “I didn’t know you were such a half cracked vigilante mom.”

“Don’t push it, kid.”

“Aight, noted.”

Danny sighs, setting aside the dip and choosing instead to sit down and fiddle with his thumbs. Jason can see he’s forming some sort of icicle between his fingers, rolling it back and forth. He adds that to the increasingly longer list of powers Danny seems to have. Hopefully the last one of them.

“I just…miss her. That’s all.”

“Are you two close?” Dick asks, grabbing a seat across him.

“I mean, we were as kids, and then we weren’t, but we're good now. Not like, close close, but still. Normal brother sister stuff, ya know?”

“Yeah, we know”, Dick nudges Jason who scoffs softly back.

“For all her worrying and nagging, she’s a good sister. Taught me how to read, made me breakfast, lunch and dinner. Helped me with school. Tried to take care of my bullies at school, as much as she could as a 16 year old of course.”

“You were bullied?” Jason remarks.

“Oh, all the time,” Danny jokes. “It got better though. People can change.”

“Sure. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool.”

“You can’t go after my high school bullies, Jason.”

“Not that you know I would.”

“Sure, whatever you say big guy.”

Danny’s smile quickly drops, a tiredness breaking through the façade he put up. “She’s already had to do way more for me than she should’ve. She doesn’t deserve to have to worry about me more.”

“That’s just what siblings do. They want the best for their younger siblings”, he glances over to Jason. “Even when they get taller than you.”

“Nah, my sister is a giantess in the making. I’m lucky to still be able to hug her around her waist by the time I make it to her age. If I even do, I’m not even sure I can.”

Noticing the heaviness he put in the air, he quickly changes the subject. “But yeah, she’s…she’s real good. Not having her around constantly…It’s.. lonely, I suppose.”

“Does she live back home?”

“No she’s…she doesn’t live back at home anymore either. But she has to deal with so much right now. She’s gonna be eighteen soon and she wants to go to college. She wants to be a psychiatrist, or a therapist, you know? Jazz has her way with psychology, I’m sure she’d do great.”

“Then why the long face? I’m sure she’d like you to share in that happiness.”

“I- I know, I want to be there but…”

“You’re afraid of your powers, aren’t you?”

Danny drops the icicle he turned into an orb, barely able to hold it in his hands before it rolled off the counter.

Jason points to it as he lets it sit underneath his fingers. “Does she know?”

“She does. She does…”

The way Danny says it snatches onto Jason chest. It’s a feeling he knows all too well. One where he knows that people would be hurt around him, afraid of him or on his behalf. It’s the feeling he had when he couldn’t save his mother, in his final moments.

When all you want is to just sit on a couch, read a book while they’re next to you, safe and without having to worry about this or that. He sees how Danny is already carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders so others don’t have to.

“Don’t you want to see her then?” he offers. “I think she’d like to see you again after ignoring thousands of messages and calls.”

“I can’t just do that!” Danny scoffs in disbelief. “She has-“

“A lot on her plate right now, yes. But if you go see her, that’s one less thing she has to balance on it. Wouldn’t you want to see her if the roles were reversed? Wouldn’t she go see you?”

“I-, I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

“Really?” Dick interjects, sour gummy worm in between his teeth. “Cause you sure had a lot to talk about when you were in there.”

“That’s different, I missed my check in call with her so she was worried.”

“All the more reason to go see her! Show your face after she was so worried just now.”

“I don’t know, I…I don’t…” Danny stumbles across his words in a way so unlike him.

“What if we take you?” Jason offers. “We can give you a ride, you can show her who you’ve been crashing with, all that jazz.”

He puts an emphasis on the jazz part, now realizing why it had irked him when he said it before. Luckily, Danny gives him a warm smirk for his efforts.

“You’d go with me?”

“All the way.”

“Just because?.”

“Just because.”

“Not because you feel guilty or you’re planning some weird experiment.”

“Kid, if I wanted to dump you I would’ve done that before I let you drool on my couch or got you food. Besides”, he points at the green goo, “I think I am well beyond being sane enough to give a shit.”

Danny looks at Dick, expecting a similar response.

“I’m here for the gummy worms, man”, Dick grins at him. “And also for that idiot over there. He couldn’t take care of a kid to save his life.”

“You took me to a club when I was 15 and passed out on cocktails. Pot, kettle, black.”

“Well fuck you too then.”

Dick downs another gummy worm and moves to grab his jacket, taking a pair of keys from it. “We taking my car?”

“Fuck no, I’m not letting you drive.”

“Oh, are we gonna sit on your motorcycle then? All three of us? No snacks?”

“You can’t just persuade Danny with snacks.”

Jason found himself proven wrong when Danny had already taken his backpack and another bag filled with snacks, appearing right next to Dick with a smile raring to go.

He groaned, closing the door of his apartment while they went ahead.

“Mimimi, I don’t know if I should go mimimimi oooohh snacks!” he mocked the teen. But when Danny had dozed off leaning against him after Danny had entered Jazz’s address in the GPS, he let a tiny smile show, unbothered if Dick saw it in his rearview mirror. He promptly fell asleep himself, having gone without for almost two nights now.

When he woke up to the sound of the navigation telling them they had arrived, he tried to see if he recognized the place. He had expected a small apartment much like his own, or a studio fit for a soon to be college student. He knew they hadn’t been driving for more than 3 hours and thus he scanned the scenery so see where it had brought them.

He hadn’t expected to arrive at a tall white building, the parking lot surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges. Walking inside, they passed several people dressed in scrubs going in and out of the numerous rooms.

Eventually they reached a room numbered 229 where a nurse walked out, calling over her shoulder. “Don’t forget to take a break from all your studying, Jazz. You need the exercise!”

“Will do, Vera!”

Danny waits in the doorway, hesitant to walk in. From behind him, Jason can see a young redhead surrounded by books sitting upright in bed, blue covers laid across her legs and crutches standing in the corner. He gently taps him on the shoulder which prompts him to look back at him. With an encouraging nod, Danny knocks on the open door.

“Vera, I promise I’ll take a break, I’m almost done-“

Jazz moves to look up at the doorway, jaw dropping when she sees her little brother, waving at her. The book she was holding falls to the ground as she starts to cry when he comes close to hug her.

“Hey sis”, he croaks when he she pulls him in.

“Hey, bud", she sobs, burying her face in his hoodie as she returns the greeting.

"I missed you too."

Chapter Text

Jazz has a hard time letting go of Danny, keeping him in a chokehold.

“Where have you been, did you come all the way over here on your own?” she cradles his face in her hands.

“Of course I didn’t, wouldn’t waste all that energy on my sister, come on, that’s just lame.”

He laughs, sitting back on the bed after moving some of her books. He turns to point at the two men still standing in the doorway.

“I got a ride here”, he says.

He beckons them to come in, introducing them to Jazz.

“These are Jason and Dick.”

Jazz tries to leap out of bed, detangling herself from her sheets. Danny helps her land her feet on the floor. As she’s hopping over towards them, Jason moves to stop her.

“No need to go through all the trouble for us, you can just sit, it’s okay.”

“Oh I’m sure it is fine”, she waves the comment aside and stands in front of him, supported by Danny.

The mentions of her being well on her way to being a giantess weren’t exaggerated as Jazz was already close to shoulder height for him. Standing a little wobbly, they can sense the unfaltering boldness she possesses, taking both men in intently.

Likewise, they give her a run over as well. She and Danny couldn’t be more different: the red hair versus the black, her light blue eyes against Danny’s cold blue. Even their noses are different. But they both have that same determination in their eyes, a similar clenching of the jaw when they’re thinking of their next move.

It’s the way Jazz stands in front of Danny protectively, even when everyone here knows Danny is more than capable of defending himself. The most prominent features of Danny’s sister though, are the bandages on her right leg and arm, peeking out from underneath her shirt out onto her neck as well. There’s burn marks on the other side of her body, signs of healing already setting in.

Jason wonders what could have caused her injuries and if she has similar powers to Danny. Questions he tables for later.

“I’m Jason”, he speaks up after she’s done inspecting him. “This is Dick”, he waves a hand to his left.

“Ah, yes, Danny mentioned you two.”

Her expression softens and she mentions for Dick to close the door behind him as she walks back to her bed. Even that short distance seems to be difficult for her when she reaches for a bottle of water on her nightstand. Jason hands it to her with a smile, hoping to find out soon what made her end up here.

“If you’re that curious”, Jazz huffs, “I got into an accident. I’m getting physical therapy here while my wounds heal.”

Jason retreats his hand in surprise, slightly worried Jazz might be a mind reader.

“I can see you staring, it’s okay to be curious.”

She smiles in an earnest way as she motions for Dick and Jason to take a seat in one of the chairs in her room.

“Danny told me you took him in after he”, she shoots the boy daggers, “felt unwell.”

She scrunches her fingers to make air quotes as she says the last part. “You’ve been really kind to him, for which I am grateful.”

“No biggie”, Jason remarks, “We feed him a Cheeto an hour to keep him happy. Quality enrichment.”

Jazz snorts, knowing full well how easily Danny is persuaded with food. Lowering her gaze back to Jason, she continues talking.

“He also mentioned you know about his…” she glances around to Danny and back to the vigilantes “, condition.”

“We’re aware, yes.”

“And how does that make you feel.”

She tries to hide it underneath the blanket cover, but they catch a glimpse of a hand reaching for what seems to be a tube of lipstick and another towards Danny.

Jason holds up his hands in surrender: “We’re not going to hurt him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I am”, she replies bluntly. “You wouldn’t be the first person to try and take advantage of my little brother.”

She pats him gently on the head. “As sweet as he is, he has been hurt by too many people claiming they care about him. I’d rather not Gotham has to lose two of their vigilantes because of it.”

They whip their hands towards Danny, sighing in disbelief.

“She knows?”

“Dude, she knew even before I knew.”

Jazz beams at the praise. “I have a lot of time on my hands here.”

“Note to self”, Dick mutters to Jason,” Upgrade our secret identities and security.”

“Now, I know as vigilantes, you wouldn’t hurt Danny, it’s not in your moral code.”

“Pff, what moral code”, Jason snickers but quiets down quickly after Jazz shoots him a look.

“As I was saying, I don’t think you’d harm him, but that doesn’t mean you don’t see him as a threat regardless. And even though he isn’t a meta, we know about Batman’s “No metas in Gotham” rule and that it could extend towards him as well. What reassurance do I have you won’t just hand him over to him or chase him out of the city?”

“I’ve escaped Batsy myself for years, hiding Danny wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Even when he makes you choose?”

Jazz folds her hands in her lap, Danny leaning tiredly against her.

“If he presents you with a choice. Danny or Gotham. Would you still choose Danny? Would you keep him safe even when all of Gotham is after him? If Batman is after him? What’s Danny worth to you?”

‘Damn, she really is something.’

In his defense, Jason wasn’t prepared to be put on the spot like that. He stares at Danny who’s idly flipping through his sister’s books. This, the careless doing nothing. That’s what he deserves. Not ghosts, not dealing with superpowers or being on the run or vigilantes trying to track them down.

It’s the way Danny purposefully hunches his shoulders when he walks in public or the light thread in his steps. It’s the way he scans the entire area, looking for ways out or in. It’s the way he gulfs down as much as he can whenever he gets the chance to eat because he isn’t sure when the next time will be.

It's Jason looking at himself, trying to fight the entire world but barely being able to make a dent.

“I can’t guarantee Danny won’t have to look over his shoulder”, he starts after a while. “It’s only a matter of time before Batman or one of the other bats or birds catches wind of him or his powers.”

He straightens his back, using his height as a reassuring gesture. “But I can provide food on the table. A place to sleep where he doesn’t have to keep one eye open. I can help him learn control and discipline for his powers.”

He looks Jazz deep into her turquoise eyes. “I can’t promise no one will ever find out about him, or his ghost half. But I can promise to try my goddamn hardest to be there if they do. I won’t leave him.”

Jason’s surprised at his own conviction, definitely not intending to be that present for Danny. But how could he not? This is a chance for Danny that he missed, that he could see in reach but never quite caught in his hands. Maybe he’s doing it more for himself than he’s doing it for Danny. Maybe, he thinks, maybe this way, they can both heal. Be happy.

“If there is even the slightest chance that this can work out, whether that is him staying with me or helping you both move on, I’ll take it. There’s no reason any of you has to do this alone.”

Jazz clicks her tongue, seemingly satisfied with his explanation. She then turns to Dick, waiting expectantly.

“I don’t think I can add anything to that, I’m gonna be real here.”

“Well I hope that means you have the same devotion Jason has. Or else.”

Dick chuckles, not that intimidated by the redhead.

She raises an elegant eyebrow, unimpressed. “You will, or I’ll contact Starfire myself.”

“How do you know-, when-“

“I’ll meet you in Bludhaven if I have to, if you even breathe wrong at him.”

“Jazz, they’re superhero’s, you can’t just threaten them like that. Besides, I could handle them myself.”

“I know you can, that’s not the point Danny.”

She pats him gently on his head, planting a kiss on his hair. “I almost lost you, multiple times. If I ever have to find out it comes close to that again and I can be there to do something about it, I will without a shred of doubt. Superhero or not.”

Danny casts his eyes down to the brown white tiled floor while biting on his lip, the tiny edge of a fang protruding.

“We’ll do everything we can, promise”, he holds a hand to his chest and one up in the air to distract Jazz from her brother. “He doesn’t even have to go back with us if he doesn’t want to. I won’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want. Except for occasionally relenting his snacks. You can’t survive on Cheetos forever.”

“Fucking watch me”, he smirks, earning a gentle smack to the head from Jazz. “You will eat normal human food, not snacks,  and you will listen to Jason and Dick when they are looking out for you, understood?”

“Fine, fine, I’ll try to behave. No promises though.”

Jazz sighs, annoyed but relieved. She then asks Danny to hand her a phone, resting on the bed next to him. The phone has a light purple case with a small charm dangling from it. The reflective acrylic of a ghost can be seen shimmering when she holds it in her hand and starts typing before handing it over to Jason.

“I’d like a way to contact you. And for you to contact me, if you ever need help. Or just…advice or someone to talk to. I’ll be 18 soon and when I get dismissed I can start moving into a place of my own where Danny can stay with me. I need check ins every day.”

“Every day?”

“Well”, she retreats. “At least twice a week. I don’t think I am mentally stable enough to miss another check in. No offense.”

“None taken”, Jason replies after typing in one of his phone numbers and handing the thing to Dick next.

“I might ask for some advice on the ghost stuff though”, he says. “Just in case.”

“Of course”, Jazz agrees. “I have a file assembled about Danny and his powers up in my mind palace.”

She points at her head. “Access only by me and mind readers.”

The four chuckle, the serious tension slowly dissipating. Jazz continues asking about Danny’s stay with Jason. The incident at the store does not make her happy, but she’s glad he didn’t have to ‘go ghost’ as she called it. When Danny mentions Lunch Lady, she nods, not liking it when ghost are out and about, but relieved she just wanted to make food.

“Did you like the ecto dip?” she asks them. “It’s a unique experience.”

“I did, Dick was a coward and didn’t.”

“It was glowing!”

“And? It tasted incredible.”

“To humans it tastes like nothing”, Jazz clarifies. “To people like you and me, it just tastes bland.”

“You mean, you’re liminal?” Dick wonders.

“Side effect of living the way we did, plus having a brother who’s half ghost. Although he was liminal before that too.”

“In a bad way?” Jason asks hesitantly.

“In a, sort of in the middle leaning towards bad, way.”

She waves her hands around as she speaks: “Our parents are scientists. They always investigated ghosts and ectoplasm and such. Our whole house was basically soaking in the stuff, so we were used to it from a young age.”

She offers Danny a grape from the fruit bowl standing on a table to her left. “Not that it was good, mind you, but we’re fairly good at recognizing others who are liminal too.”

“So you’re not a ghost then. Or, a halfa like Danny.”

“Me? Oh, no, I’m just regular old me. No powers. Just weird and worried.”

“Sounds exactly like Dick when I came back to Gotham.”

“You tried to kill me several times.”

“Yes, and? You were and still are weird and worried.”

Danny smiles, remarking how they remind him of his friends back home when someone knocks on the door.

“Come in”, Jazz calls back.

“Jasmine, it’s time for you check- oh, pardon me.”

A nurse, Vera, walks into the room. “I didn’t know you had visitors.”

“That’s okay, is it time for my check-up already?”

“Afraid so, although you still have a couple of minutes. We can wait a little.”

“No worries, miss,” Danny gets up from the bed. “I don’t want to trouble you in your work.”

“Aw, thank you young man. I suppose you must be Danny?” she extends him a hand.

“I must be famous if it’s that easy to guess!”

“Nah, Jazz is just very proud of you. Showed us a lot of pictures from when you were kids. You share the same smile too!”

Jazz climbs off the mattress, grabbing her crutches from the corner before joining Danny and Vera. “Thank you Vera.”

She bumps Danny against his head with hers. “I’ll get going to my check-up. The sooner they declare me healthy the sooner I can leave here with you.”

“That’s true, that’s true.”

Vera opens the door wide for Jazz to walk through. “Sorry for the interruption though. If I knew I’d have scheduled it for another time.”

“That’s quite alright, miss. I’m just…glad I got to see her.”

“I can imagine”, her smile is warm and inviting underneath her dark curls and amber eyes. “Come visit again soon!”

“Will do!” he calls after her. Soon enough, he’s left alone with Jason and Dick. They get up from the soft but rigid seats and wait for Danny to move.

“We can go get lunch, you know. Wait for her to come back.”

“It’s okay, she needs her rest too.”

He grabs his backpack from the end of the bed. “I could tell she was getting tired.”

“Recovery asks a lot of energy”, Dick pats him on his back. “We can come back any time you want.”

“Thank you, I…I appreciate that.”

The trio walks out of the room, choosing to leave the hospital through their inner courtyard. The sun is shining brightly on their faces, warmly welcomed after the rains from before. It brings them a comfortable silence as they stroll past willows and ponds. The yard is bigger than they thought it would be, finding they were going for quite a bit.

Jason has a bunch of questions still, especially after meeting Jazz.

‘Our whole house was basically soaking in the stuff’

Scenarios present themselves before Jason. Images of Danny’s parents digging up graves, desecrating the dead, or worse, using a Lazarus Pit like Ra’s al Ghul. But the worst thought appears when he hears Jazz’s voice echo through his head:

‘I almost lost him, multiple times’

“Danny”, he speaks before he realizes it. “Did your parents have anything to do with your death.”

Danny stops, hands tight around the straps of his backpack. His lips are pressed tight against each other as he stares straight through Jason.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve thought before I spoke”, he apologizes. “It’s just, from the way Jazz mentioned losing you, I thought…”

Danny doesn’t reply, instead he rubs his neck, reaching almost for the contents of his backpack. Eventually he looks back at Jason, voice tiny as he begins his reply.

“They didn’t do anything, if that’s why you want to know. But…when Jazz mentioned almost losing me, it’s…It is related. I don’t…want to talk about it.”

“Okay, okay, then we won’t”, Jason promises him. “Would you maybe like to tell us about your life then? High school, friends, hobbies? Or not, if you just want to go home.”

“I mean, I’d like to go to Batburger on the way home. I’m starving really.”

“That’s an option too.”

While they walk back to the car, Danny starts talking again.

“Stars.”

“Stars?”

“And space”, his voice is giddy with glee as he speaks. “I always wanted to go to space. Or work for NASA. If I didn’t drop out of school, that is.”

“Astronaut huh?” Dick ruffles his hair. “Yeah that suits you. Little Danny, exploring the moon.”

“Or working on the stuff that astronauts would need up there. Their suits, shuttle, equipment…If I wasn’t just a C student I think I would have a chance.”

“You’re way too smart to be a C student, kid.”

“Ha, Jazz says the same thing. But can’t do much without a diploma. And there’s also the whole being dead thing. I don’t think they hand out diploma’s to ghosts.”

“First time for everything”, Jason implores him. “You can always go back to finish school and then go to college.”

“With ghost money, you mean”, he chuckles. “I would have to take up five jobs if I were to afford it. The little I have is going to Jazz.”

“What do you mean?” Dick ask, hand on the door handle of their car. “You’re not paying for her education, are you?”

“Of course not, she got a full scholarship and then some. It’s for her…” he glances back at the building. “It’s for her recovery.”

After that, Danny doesn’t talk further and gets into the car, slumping against the car window.

“Dick-“

“Already ahead of you, Little Wing. I’ll take care of it.”

“You don’t have to, I can do it too.”

“Consider it a gift for becoming a father.”

“You ruined it, you know that.”

“I know”, he grins holding the keys above the roof. “Do you want to drive?”

“I’ll pass”, Jason looks at Danny through the window, munching on a gummy worm Dick brought with him.

“I think I’m going to stick with Danny.”

Chapter Text

The first couple of days back home things went smoother than expected. Dick had left them as soon as they came back from the hospital visit, saying he was going to work on their cover and some ‘other things.’

First order of business, Jason decided, was to go shopping. Not just for food, this time.

For starters he was going to get some fresh sheets for the spare bed he kept in the spare room, which he had turned into a library annex armoury. They had decided for this part Danny had to remain invisible so no one would ask questions, but so he could have a say in the colours and fabric.

When they moved on to clothing, of course he was allowed to try them on. Jason soon found out, however, that Danny had a lousy fashion taste.

“Danny you can’t just wear sweats forever.”

“Okay mister leather jacket and red hood-y”

“That was such a shit joke.”

“Your face-“

Jason dunks him in t-shirts and sweaters before the teen can finish his sentence, spitting out fabric left and right.

“Serves you for insulting my beautiful face.”

Danny, unbothered, reaches a hand out from underneath the pile, turning intangible right before he launches Jason inside of it and emerges unscathed.

“How dare you use your powers.”

“Yeah, yeah, no powers in public, yadda yadda.”

“No”, Jason’s muffled voice rings from the clothes pile, “How dare you use them on me.”

He stealthily shoves a hand from the pile and wraps it around Danny’s ankle, dropping him straight to the ground and face first into the pile.

“Okay”, Danny grumbles,” I deserved that.”

“Damn right you did”, Jason’s face emerges from in between shirts and jeans.

After cleaning up their mess, they leave the store with plenty of clothes Danny does like and some extra ones Jason thought he needed as well.

“You’re not getting on my bike in shorts and sandals, kid.”

“I NEVER SAID-“

And so on it went until Danny had a little place of his own. Jason had moved some of his books and weapons so Danny could put his belongings, how little they were in numbers, somewhere aside from in his backpack, although he still took them with him if they ever left the apartment.

The first time Jason had to leave him alone for his duties as Red Hood was a hard one. It’s not like he expected a carnage when he would return home. After all that was his brand. It was the weird feeling of having someone wait for you to come back home. The dread of the possibility of that person not being there when they did.

Mid fight, in between bullets and punches, he had to pause and call home once or twice, just to check.

“Yes, sir, I am fine.”

“But did you eat?”

“Yes, sir, I did eat.”

“….Did you eat food, or snacks?”

“Uhm…” Jason could hear the wrinkling of a chips bag hastily being thrown aside”, Oh yeah definitely.”

“I’m calling her.”

“NO PLEASE DON’T”, Danny protests, running towards the kitchen judging from the myriad of noises coming from the cabinets and stove.” I’m cooking I’m cooking!”

“If I come back and Lunch Lady tells me you haven’t, I’ll be the least of your concerns.”

“Yes sir!”

The first time Jason comes back injured from patrol, is something else entirely.

A mug clatters against the floor, spilling water across the wooden planks as Danny rushes over towards the man entering through the window.

“Oooohkay, okay, okay”, Danny calms himself spinning on his heels and searching for the first aid kit. “Okay, okay, okay.”

“Yeah, you’ve uh, you’ve said that before already, kiddo.”

Jason, despite the blood dripping from his arm, easily glides inside and lands on his living room floor, already taking off his jacket.

“Are you fucking insane?” Danny chastises him, cloth ready in his hand. He puts a hand against Jason’s jacket and costume underneath it, turning them intangible and putting them to the side as to not disturb the wound. He takes a good look at the cause of the blood, eying the frayed edges and bullet stuck deep into Jason’s shoulder.

“Kid, this isn’t the first time I’ve been shot, it’s not even that bad.”

“I’m going to put my finger in there if you keep bullshitting me.”

Danny’s already starting to clean the wound when Jason puts a hand on his to stop him. “Danny, go. Sit on the couch. I’ve done this before, I know what to do.”

“So do I, you’re not special.”

He’s reaching into the wound, hand intangible and pulling a bullet out. With speed and ease he shouldn’t posses at that age, he threads a needle and starts sewing, focused on his work. In a matter of seconds, the wound was cleaned and stitched up and with Jason’s accelerated healing, already starting to close up.

Jason, despite Danny’s protesting about disrupting the wound, picks him up by his arms and sets him down next to him on the couch, ignoring the bloodstains on his clothes and couch.

“Hey, look at me”, he says gently. “Do I look like I am in pain?”

Danny sighs, tired of waking up in the middle of the night and adrenaline wearing off. “No.”

“Am I in mortal danger?“

“…No.”

“Is there any logical reason to be panicking about me right now?”

“Aside from the fact you’ve been shot?”

“Yes.”

“Then…I guess not.”

“I’m grateful you helped me with the wound, I really am, but you should’ve been asleep, bud. And I am worried about how you’re so good at treating wounds.”

Danny, smirks, circles under his eyes. “I am pretty good aren’t I.”

“Not the point here.”

“Fine, fine”, he holds his hands up in surrender. “I just wanted some water. You just happened to come home when I got it.”

“Alright, I believe that you were not awake all night waiting for me to come home.”

“I wasn’t!”

“Sure, and the reason I can see the light from my laptop from your room is a coincidence too.”

Danny looks back at his room, the word ‘Busted’ written across his forehead. “Okay, maybe I was watching a documentary or something.”

“Or something, right.”

Jason gets up from the couch to get his gear, dumping them in a laundry hamper. “Are you alright, Danny?”

“I’m not the one who got hurt on patrol.”

“Touché, but, you know that’s not what I meant.”

He moves to stand across the coffee table. “You knew from the start about the vigilante stuff, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect you when I come home like this. You’re allowed to be upset about it.”

“I’m not upset”, Danny crosses his arms. “You just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

Jason smiles, thinking about teaching the kid to learn to lie better when he too feels the rush of adrenaline fading. With fatigue setting in, he guides Danny off the couch.

“How bout we talk about it more tomorrow and try to get some sleep tonight?”

As much as Danny tries to fight it, sleep starts to get control over his eyelids once more and without too much fuss, the two manage to get to their bedrooms for a few more hours of sleep.

It’s in the early hours, when the sun hasn’t yet begun to rise, when a sudden noise wakes Jason up.

Reaching for the gun underneath his pillow, he listens, and waits. For a couple minutes, nothing happens. Sleep tries to win over her previous victim once more until Jason hears soft cries coming from the room next to his.

Quietly, he gets up from his bed and presses an ear to the wall.

To his relief, he realises it’s just Danny, talking in his sleep. But when the soft cries become louder and louder, Jason is out of his room before he knows it.

From the other room, he can hear him cry out.

“Dad! Please!”

He barges into the room,  looking for anything that could be hurting Danny.

Once more, Danny cries out and Jason has to dodge as a green beam fires past him, right into a Brontë collection.

Realising it came from Danny, he rushes over, cradling the boy.

“Danny, hey, it’s me, it’s Jason.”

Danny opens his eyes a Lazarus green, locking onto Jason before turning blue again.

“Dad, please”, he whispers as the last green fades away and he closes his eyes.

Jason licks his lips, dry as parchment. “Dad’s here, you’re okay, you’re okay buddy.”

 “Dad. Please don’t hurt me.”

Danny clings to his tear stained shirt, eventually falling back asleep in his arms.

Jason doesn’t move that night, his own bed going cold. Were it not for the fact Danny was asleep right there, he would’ve been out as Red Hood, looking for the man who Danny had the displeasure of calling ‘dad’.

He gently strokes his hair through his fingers, humming whenever Danny seems to wake up distressed again.

‘This is wrong. How…How can anyone…’

Tears slip through his closed eyes, holding Danny closer when they fall down his face.

‘I’m here for you, buddy.’

Jason may never have thought he would be anything more than a kind stranger to this kid, but it’s this night that he realises that he will be anything for him, for his kid. As the sun lets her rays trickle through the blinds, he feels a click reverberate through his chest, a piece of his core putting itself in place.

He’s not sure yet what kind of effect it would have on him. Would it turn him into more of a halfa? Or more of himself? As he looks down on Danny, he doesn’t care. Core or no core, he’ll be there. As Jason for Danny, and as Red Hood for whoever had the guts to hurt him.

When Danny begins to stir again after a few hours, Jason doesn’t mention the nightmare he had, or the things he said.

“Oh my Ancients”, he shrieks, noticing the hole in Jason’s books. “Jason, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-, I-“

“It’s no big deal, books can be replaced”, he assures him, patting him on his back. “You were asleep, it was probably a reflex, I’m not angry.”

“I-, I’ll find a job, I’ll pay for it-”

“Danny, I have more money than you can dream of, you don’t need to worry about a thing. I can always get more books, I can’t get a new you.”

He puts his hands on his shoulders: “I don’t think I have enough money for that.”

Danny laughs, relief washing over him. “Are you sure…I can work for it.”

“Well, we can talk about that at another time. You still tired?”

“A little, but it’s fine.”

Jason hums, a plan forming in his mind. “Hey, you mentioned you liked the stars, right?”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Get dressed”, Jason orders him. “Meet me in the living room in 10.”

Danny has to wait 10 more minutes himself until Jason arrives in the living room, a small device in his hands and stealth gear adorning his body, along with his helmet.

“Alright”, his modulated voice rings throughout the living room. “Now, what we’re going to do, is highly illegal.”

“Okay.”

“And possibly dangerous.”

“Okay.”

“But, I did check, and I am 87% certain we can pull it off.”

“Okay.”

“Danny I don’t like how you’re just agreeing to all the bullshit I just gave you.”

“Listen man, it’s like, 4 in the morning.”

“It’s 5:52 actually which is why we need to get moving.”

He pulls Danny close, mask to tired teenage face. “Are you sure you wanna do this in sweatpants and a bright white T-shirt?”

Danny raises a lazy eyebrow before sporting a mischievous grin. He takes a step back, holding up his hands. White blinding light appears around his waist, forming circles around him and spreading towards his head and feet. When they pass around his body, a black and white suit appears where his clothing used to be, a ‘D’ spread out across his chest. His blue eyes turned toxic green and his black hair turned a snowy white, the same colour Jason’s hair was about to become from what he was seeing.

“Tada”, Danny makes a jazz hands motion. “You think this is more suitable?”

“Okay fuck this shit I don’t get paid enough for…all of this.”

“You get paid?”

“Not at all let’s go!” he grabs Danny around his waist, clicking a button on the device he was holding.

“Go where-“ Danny’s voice trails off before he’s engulfed in particles, spinning faster and faster around him.

When the light fades and he feels his molecules rearranged (again) he has to remember to not float forwards to the giant glass window. He gasps, barely believing what he’s seeing.

“Are we…” he whispers excitedly.

“Yup!”, Jason beams, walking in front of the window and raising his hands.

“Welcome!” he exclaims.

“To the Watchtower!”

He takes in how happy Danny looks when he watches the sun rise and floods the room in warm light.

“It’s like I can almost touch the stars!” he’s floating a few inches above the ground in excitement. “I can’t believe we’re here!”

“I know right, I’m awesome.”

He grins underneath his mask. “I’m gonna show you some other spaces, let’s go.”

“We literally just got here!” Danny sounds exasperated.

“Yes, yes and the leaguers on shift will be here in…6 minutes so unless you want to get caught here, we better be sneaking.”

“I can do sneaking!” Danny giggles like a kid with a lollipop. He flies over to Jason and sports a grin Cheshire Cat would be jealous of. And Jason should know. She still wants to kill him.

He floats up higher and morphs his legs into one, long, flowing tail that Jason is internally panicking about.

‘HIS LEGS, HIS LEGS-‘

He doesn’t have much time to worry about it more when Danny wraps his arms underneath his armpits.

“Danny, no I’m too heavy-“

Danny, lifting him up with ease and turning invisible, leans over his head with a smile. “I can lift like, a bus. You’ve met several supers and people with super strength, how does this still worry you?”

“Yeah yeah, none of them are my kid though”, he mutters as Danny floats away with him. And if Danny suddenly hugs him when they fly after he says it, he’s happy his helmet doesn’t show the pride he exudes.

“Where do we go?” Danny asks eventually.

“Okay, so, you go right here, then left, then we have to go through a door with a relatively high security clearance, but I can easily get around th- or we just phase through the wall, yup, that works.”

Danny brings them into a garden, a perch right above the door where he drops Jason.

“Would it be bad if I make a bird slash former Robin joke now you’re perched here?”

“Do you want to come back here ever again?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suggest you be a silent ghost instead of a sarcastic little shit.”

Jason stretches his legs as he lets Danny explore the garden, knowing none of the leaguers should be here at this point.

“Avoid any cameras!” he yells at him as he zipping around a tree.

“They don’t work on me!” the ghost teen replies.

“I keep forgetting about that!” he thinks for a moment. “Don’t do it anyway! The static change is still change that they might pick up on!”

“Fine, I’ll look out!”

Jason chuckles, reaching for a snack stashed on the perch by Hawk Girl. He’s about to feast on some liquorice when an incoming call enters through his helmet.

“Who the fuck calls me at fuck all in the morning?” he grunts.

“Hood, it’s Nightwing.”

“Now is really not a good time, dude”, he sighs, eyeing Danny gaze at the stars.

“I think it is, really. Did you per chance use that pocket transporter you stole from me a while ago?”

“Who’s asking.”

“The person who saw you use it and knows you used it to go to a point in space which I believe is the Watchtower.”

“…Bet-“

“Jay, for fucks sake, are you there yes or no?”

“Yes, what gives?”

He pauses, almost like’s he considering not asking. “Is he with you?”

Jason sits up, nerves tingling at the question. “Why do you need to know.”

“Cause Batman just left to hold an emergency meeting at the Watchtower, that’s why. If you’re there with him, you have to go now.”

Jason ends the call immediately, yelling for Danny. “Bud, we need to move.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Danny asks disappointedly and it hurts Jason to see him that sad.

“Apparently there’s an emergency meeting, it should be fine, we can just leave with the transp-“

“From here on out, no technology will be of any use-“

A familiar voice grates on Jason’s ears, making his heart beat faster.

“Oh for fucks sake-“ he grabs Danny and pulls him out of sight and as far away into the ledge as he can.

From the vantage point he can see Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg and Flash walk into the garden.

“Fuck-“

“Why, what’s wr-“ Danny looks and freezes when he sees Batman, back turned towards the vastness of space he was admiring seconds ago. “Fuck.”

“Fuck indeed, we have to leave by zeta.”

“What’s a zeta?”

“It’s those tubes you saw when we arrived. They’re the bigger version of the thing we used and can be used more than just the two times we would use.”

“Can’t I just move us somewhere else and then use it?”

“Not when he’s around”, he points at Cyborg. “He’s the one blocking everything in and out. We’ll come back another time, I promise.”

“Doesn’t he have like, an on and off switch?”

“Danny that’s a living human. That’s called murder.”

“Just a suggestion, man.”

“As much as I condone murder,” Jason glances over the edge to see Batman debrief his team, “that would alert them we’re here, and that’s bad.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty bad.”

“So, we’ll just come up with a plan.”

“Why do we need one? I can just bring us to the tube.”

“Cause it won’t work on you”, he explains. “We’re all registered into the system so no one can get in or out unnoticed. I’ll have to figure out how to take you with me. Honestly I’m still surprised on how I’m still in there considering, well…”

“The murders and crimes.”

“The murders and crimes, yes.”

“Won’t they see you left via zeta then either? If you use it?”

“Hmm, yeah, true…”

Jason leans back against the wall, thinking of a solution. “If I can just mess around with their system, I could just insert the DNA of Dick and blame it on him, as if it was a system failure.”

Danny eyes him disapprovingly. “Dick doesn’t deserve that.”

Jason grunts, offering a different solution. “What if I use that of Replacem- I mean Red Robin.”

“Never met him, suits me.”

“Wonderful”, he softly gets up from the back of the ledge. “Now to fuck around and find out.”

In his defence, Jason didn’t know Danny had a knack for messing up electronics by just being around them, let alone physically entering them. So yes, maybe he told Danny to make it appear as if Red Robin was trying to hack into their system. Maybe it was incredibly funny.

And maybe it was also a bad idea to do that when said Robin appeared in the very same room they were trying to leave from.

Alarms were going off and Batman was scolding his protegee for messing with their emergency meeting. In the commotion, all the leaguers were standing right in front of the zeta tube they were trying to use.

“Well, this isn’t ideal”, Jason mutters as he thinks of a way around it.

“I mean, we did say fuck around and find out.”

“Good point. Counter point, this is worse.”

“Point taken.”

Jason mentally goes over his equipment. Guns, as per usual, some bombs, also as per usual. But nothing that could help with this current situation. He’s about to go over a plan with Danny when he sees him floating away, back towards the garden.

“Danny”! he hisses, “Get back here!”

“I’ve got this!” he replies with his thumbs up.

A few moments later, the alarms shut down, along with the lights. In the total darkness save from the sun outside, all movement stops, leaguers on edge.

Suddenly, a loud booming voice calls out from the atrium:

“I AM RED ROBIN: SUCK MY ASS LEAGUERS” followed by a mad cackling.

Danny quickly reappears next to Jason, hiding with him in the shadows as everyone leaves the room towards the voice.

“How did you do that?” he asks in bewilderment

“I let Technus in there. He’ll be back home with us when we’ve left, he’s preparing the zeta tube for us now.”

“Technus?”

“A tech ghost. He promised he wouldn’t use their tech against them. Too much.”

“Danny.”

“Yes?”

“You had a tech ghost with you this entire time and you didn’t say or do anything that could’ve avoided this mess if you had just done this beforehand?”

Danny looks down at the ground and then back at Jason. “Listen, high intelligence low wisdom okay.”

“Duly noted”, he groans, picking Danny up and making a run for the zeta tube.

“Big tube will feel a little weird okay, bit weirder than the mini zeta, but it’s all fine.”

“Yeah, uhm, I-, I trust you.”

Jason smiles, even though Danny can’t see it.

The zeta tube lights up, a whirring to signify it’s starting up. A voice, Technus, Jason deduces, lets them know that it was almost ready and safe to use.

Just when they’re about to go through, the lights spring back to life and the faintest glimpse of a ghost can be seen retreating back around Danny into one of the cubes attached to his belt.

Jason’s heart drops, knowing who’s about to turn the corner with the sound of a cape made with Kevlar rapidly dragged across the floor. He’s holding on to Danny, death grip on his suit as he takes him closer towards the tube.

“Come on, come on”, he panics slightly. With every step that the cowl comes closer, Jason’s heart skips a beat. He looks over to Danny and that’s when he sees it. The panic. The freeze. The moment where even with all the powers of the world, you can’t do anything.

He sees his kid, scared, one hand turning intangible, one hand frozen in place, legs, tail, legs, tail-

Jason doesn’t remember when he pulled Danny behind him. He doesn’t remember holding on to him or the way Danny shrunk underneath him. He doesn’t even remember closing his eyes. All he remember is taking Danny, wanting him safe, wanting him hidden from him, from his own father.

“All clear”, Batman’s voice calls out to his colleagues. “Zeta tubes are acting irregular, I’m heading to the main control unit. The rest of you go the vault next.”

He’s gone just as fast as he arrived.

Jason sighs a breath of relief, happy that Danny managed to turn them invisible just in time.

“Good timing, squirt.”

He moves to pat him on the head but he’s still invisible, not knowing where that would be. When Danny doesn’t respond, Jason’s panic rises tenfold.

“Danny, Danny are you there?”

“Jay?” he calls out from nowhere. “Jason where are you?”

Jason falls backwards, frantically looking around until he can finally see his own hand and that of Danny’s again.

“Don’t fucking do that”, Danny hugs him tightly. “At least tell me if you’re going invisible before you do it.”

“I-, I what-“ Jason stammers, shaking his head. “I didn’t do that, you did.”

“No, you did, I couldn’t see you so I didn’t do it, which means you did it.”

“Danny you know I can’t-“

“Red Hood?”

Jason snaps his head to see Red Robin standing right in front of him.

“Uhm…no?”

The zeta tube behind him stops whirring, giving a steady glow as it was ready to be used.

“Uhm, toodles!” he shouts before diving into the tube along with Danny, materialising right into his apartment.

He takes off his helmet, fisting pumping in the air at the triumph. “Thank Technus for that, I did not want to be dealing with ending up in the Hall of Justice or the Batcave instead, right Danny?”

Jason turns around, expecting a happy Danny. When he doesn’t see him right behind him, he drops his helmet, looking around the kitchen and bedrooms for his kid.

“Danny? Danny!”

He slides to the floor behind the couch, finding Danny curled up in a ball, rings of light covering him over and over and over and over while he’s crying, holding on to his head.

“Make it stop, make it stop!” he cries out.

Jason reaches for him but retreats his hand immediately, a shock traveling up his spine.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Danny yells, eyes flickering from blue to green. “I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know!”

“We’ll figure it out, we’ll be okay!” Jason tries to assure him through flooding tears.

Danny screams, arms across his chest. “This is just like then, it’s just like then, I don’t want to die again!”

Jason hesitates, thinking of what he put his kid through.

‘What do I do, what do I do??’

He’s trying to reach for him but the shock slaps his hand away before he can even get to Danny.

“Ghost DNA, ghost biology”, he’s racking his brain to find a solution. “Ghost core-, Core? Your core!”

He’s biting through the pain and through the muscles spasms, holding on to Danny’s shoulders. “Stabilise it!”

“I don’t know how!”

“Yes you do, yes you do!” he encourages him, teeth grinding together. “You know how you do it for me?”

“I barely know how that even works!”

“Doesn’t matter, we’ll try that, okay?”

He’s pushing through the rings, putting Danny’s hand against his chests with trembling hands. “You can sense mine, right?”

There’s tears pricking in his eyes as he speaks: “We just, we put them together, okay? Like puzzle pieces, we find the right pieces and-, and we put them together!”

Jason is fighting the green flowing through his veins, blurring his vision.

‘Not now, not now, not with him.’

“You can do this Danny, okay, breathe with me”, he seethes. “That’s right, let’s just count one-“

Danny’s eyes start to settle on blue while Jason’s become more and more green.

“Two.”

Slowly but surely Jason manages to calm Danny down along with his ghost powers. The teen is back to his blue eyed black haired self after what seems to be an eternity for both of them. When Danny passes out in his arms, Jason finally feels the result of being hit by what feels like twenty lightning bolts.

His arms are trembling as he wraps them around the sleeping kid. The green veins glowing across his skin don’t go unnoticed by him, even when he can barely keep the ectoplasmic green from his eyes.

As he tries to get up and put Danny to bed, he feels his own consciousness slipping, all energy and strength flowing away.

‘No no no no no, at least let me get him to bed, we can’t leave him here like this’

He’s forcing himself to get up, fighting the green darkness overtaking him. Swaying from side to side, he eventually makes it onto his feet and quickly regrets it. As he feels his head falling down, he holds onto Danny tighter before dropping to his knees.

"Please, I just want him to be safely asleep-"

Soon his head follows, completely down on the floor.

The last thing he sees before he too succumbs to sleep, is a lady with long black hair and green skin appearing from one of the cubes, looming over him and Danny.

"So you have wished it, so it shall be."

Chapter Text

“I think he’s waking up.”

“Honestly I think he’s gonna throw up.”

“Ember, don’t say that. I just finished baking the cookies, I’d rather not he vomits before eating them.”

“You’d rather he do it after?”

Jason groans, bring a heavy hand to his face to rub into his eyes. He blinks a few times, trying to remember what happened as he stares off into the darkness of his living room. He tries to roll over to his side, attempting to sit up.

“See, told you, he’s going to throw up.”

“I’m not!” he growls, “Going to throw up!”

He pushes himself off the floor, leaning against the couch. “Who the fuck am I even talking to?”

“Oh, right pardon”, he hears Lunch Lady speak. She turns on the kitchen lights, leaving the rest of the apartment darkened so Jason’s eyes can adjust. “Thought it be best to let you sleep, you know.”

“Lunch Lady?” he blinks tiredly. “When did…Where’s…”

He scans the room, searching for Danny. When he sees him asleep in his bed, the door slightly ajar, he relaxes slightly.

“He’s soundly asleep, dontcha worry dear.”

Lunch Lady floats towards him, a baking tray in her hands: “Cookie?”

Jason eyes the cookies in the dimmed lights, noticing green blobs inserted in the dough. “Ectoplasm?”

“No, just M&M’s”, she laughs. “Of course they are, child, I made a couple of them.”

“More like a few dozen”, the ghost next to her says.

Jason sighs, massaging his brows before he bites into the cookie, taking in the new additions to his apartment.

Next to Lunch Lady in the kitchen he finds the ghost he saw right before passing out. She’s stirring into a pot while humming a strange tune.

On the seat across from him, a young lady loosely holds a guitar in her hands, blue fire adorning her head instead of hair. Or at least, the fire is her hair. Maybe she and Starfire would get along, he thinks.

“I’m going to go jump to a conclusion here and assume you are the other ghosts Danny carries with him?”

“Some of them, yes”, the lady at the stove replies. “Technus, Johnny and Kitty are still in their cubes. It was getting crowded here as it was already.”

“You can always leave, Desiree”, the guitar ghost says bluntly but without any bite.

“So can you, Ember”, she floats towards her and hands her a cup of a steaming green liquid, presumably ectoplasm. “Although it’s nice that you’re here.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She takes the cup and sips from it, waiting to smile until Desiree had taken her eyes off of her.

“I am Desiree”, she turns her attention to Jason. “This is Ember. You already know Lunch Lady, and Boxy is with Danny.”

“Boxy?”

“I am the Box Ghost!” a voice softly calls from Danny’s bedroom.

“He’s making sure Danny is safely asleep, just as you wished.”

“Wished?”

“Yes, you expressed that desire before you lost consciousness, which is what prompted me to exit my cube.”

“She deals in wishes”, Ember explains. “It’s like, her whole thing.”

“So, you’re here , because I wished for him to be asleep?”

“Safely. Safely asleep, yes”, Desiree clarifies.

“Okay, what about, this whole”, he waves his hands around, “Tea party going on here. Why are you all here. How long have you been here? How long have I been here?”

He rubs his neck, feeling like he had been asleep on concrete for weeks.

“Hmm, the sun was just rising when you passed out and the sun has risen again…how many times now?”

“Like 3 days, give or take”, Ember replies. “You’ve been out cold for a bit but what’s a day to a ghost, ya know?”

“And you just left me on the fucking floor??”

“Hey, you wished for Danny to be safely asleep, not for yourself to be in bed. Not our problem you don’t specify your wishes, dumbass.”

“Ember, was it?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not very nice.”

“Geez Louise, sir, you saw right through my disguise!” she raises her voice in a mocking gesture.

“If Danny wasn’t already such a little shit, I’d believe he got it from being around you.”

Jason brushes off the crumbs, the ectoplasm serving him well. With more straining in his arms than he would’ve liked, he manages to hoist himself on the couch, reaching for another cookie.

“Is he okay?” he points at Danny’s bedroom. “He…he isn’t…like…”

“He just got…scared, that’s all.” Lunch Lady assures him, mixing the liquid Desiree was stirring into a large mixing bowl.

“That wasn’t just scared”, Jason retorts. “That was way, way more than scared. What happened to him?”

Ember stops strumming her guitar when the three ghosts look at each other, waiting for one of them to provide an answer.

“Why did he think he was going to die again?”

Jason’s voice cracks in a way it hadn’t since he was a kid. “Did….Did I do that to him?”

“No, no, of course you didn’t, dear”, Lunch Lady quickly responds.

“Then what-“

“It’s…not up to us to explain”, Desiree begins. “Our deaths are private. We don’t talk about each other’s passing without permission, or when the situation is so dire it needs to be explained.”

“So, it did have to do with his death. I killed him. I killed him again.”

Jason holds a vicious grip on the sweets he just grabbed, crumbling them in his hands.

“You did not kill him”, Desiree lays a hand over his, relaxing his fingers. “It…brought up memories of it, and he merely panicked. You did all the right things you could have done then.”

“I shouldn’t have brought him to the Watchtower.”

Jason drops the crumbled pastry to the floor. “If I hadn’t done that-“

“Then Danny wouldn’t have been as happy as he was when you did.”

Ember nonchalantly begins plucking at the strings again. “Hasn’t been this happy since, well, ever, I think.”

“That is true”, Desiree confirms. “He hasn’t been that happy in a long, long time. Taking him to see the stars was a wonderful gift. Even if he ended up with a panic attack. Neither of you knew that taking the zeta tube would end like that. It was not your fault.”

“Then why does it fucking suck so bad?”

“Because you care about him, duh? You’re like, literally his parent?” Ember chuckles.

“I am not-“

“Not as a human”, Desiree explains. “As a ghost. Even though your core is…somewhat on the less fortunate side, Danny still imprinted on you. He’s just an infant himself, after all.”

“A what now-“

“An infant. A strong one, yes, very much so considering he defeated the former King, but he’s only been a halfa for little under 2 years now.”

“He’s that powerful”, he points at Danny, “And just an infant.”

“Indeed.”

“And you’re saying he imprinted on me.”

“Correct.”

“I am…not ready to be a father.”

Jason falls back into the cushions. “I can’t be a father, I’m barely functioning as a human and a halfa myself!”

“I’d say you’re doing pretty well, all things considered.”

Lunch Lady inserts another tray into the oven, putting away her oven mitts. “There have been worse people.”

“Don’t get me started on that fruitloop”, Ember groans. “He has like, no swag.”

“Swag?” Jason laughs. “Damn, he must be really bad.”

“Yeah, tried to clone Danny a few times, tried to eradicate and betray us, fun times, fun times.”

“He tried to…okay, okay, I’ll ask Danny about that later.”

“I know right? Just trying to betray me? Me, Ember Mclain? Pathetic.”

Jason considers for a minute, if he should ever introduce Ember to Harley. He decides against it in the end.

Despite his appetite dropping, Jason continues to munch on the pastries, the ecoplasm feeding him and his core, which buzzed in approval.

“As much as I dislike people, or ghosts, showing up unannounced at my place”, he sighs, “I’m glad you’re here. Danny’s lucky to have friends like you.”

“Pffff, can you imagine that?” Ember cackles in a way that reminds Jason way too much of Harley, further enhancing his notion to never ever let them meet. “Imagine that, Danny calling us friends.”

“I mean, we have been closer than before. I’d say we are friends.”

Desiree gives her a gentle nudge, a blue blush settling on Ember’s face.

“Are you saying you aren’t friends then?” Jason asks curiously.

The three ghosts laugh, boisterous and warm, as much as ghosts can be like that.

Lunch Lady snorts, preparing yet another dish: “We definitely weren’t in the beginning, dearie. Oh my first fight with the young man. It’s like it was yesterday.”

“I’m pretty sure I survived longer than you before I got souped”, Ember laughingly points at her.

“Hey, I was his first fight, you know!” Lunch Lady waves a batter covered spoon around. “And we all know he’s more conniving and stronger than we all thought when we first saw him.”

“True, true”, Desiree agrees. “It took him forever to figure out he could just wish me into the thermos!”

Jason interrupts the three loudly, bringing the room back to him. “What do you mean ‘first fight’ and ‘souped’? Did you used to fight each other?”

“Honey”, Desiree gives him a shining smile, “We’re like Poison Ivy and Harvey Dent for Danny.”

“You’re his rogues?” Jason shoots up with intense regret, immediately falling back down. “You’re his enemies?”

“Former enemies”, Lunch Lady corrects him. “Yes, technically we’re still his rogues, but not now. Back when he was Amity Park’s protector, yes, but right now, we’re just friends.”

“What do you mean, protector, what do you mean  former enemies?”

“He’s really not the smartest of the batbunch huh”, Ember rolls her eyes at him. “We used to fight, now we don’t. It’s that simple.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t want to like, kill him. Again.”

“Honey sweetie baby”, Ember mocks him again. “Don’t you think we could’ve done that way before now if we wanted to?”

Jason considers it, and yes, she does have a point.

“Then…why are you here? If you used to fight.”

Ember’s smile falters, the flames around her hair flickering erratically.

Jason then looks at Desiree and Lunch Lady, both casting their eyes anywhere but at him.

“I think, it’s best if Danny is the one who tells you more about us and about his past. The things that have happened”, Lunch Lady sighs, “Were complex and…not the most pleasant. Just know that we have his best interest at heart. Well, at core, I suppose.”

“But why?” Jason still can’t grasp their reasoning. “Why would you?”

“Because he has our best interest at heart, too.”

Jason recalls the first night Danny stayed at his place, tired and protecting the cubes, his rogues, with all he had.

“They’re my…responsibility.”

He’s about to ask more when Boxy calls from Danny’s bedroom, seemingly worried.

“Ember, he’s doing the thing again!”

Ember gets up from her chair, floating fast towards him with Jason right behind her.

Inside, he finds a giant glowing box covering the bed and a smaller ghost nervously looking at it from the corner. Within the box he sees Danny twitching, tangled up in his sheets and whimpering, clawing at his chest.

“Danny-“ he rushes over and slams head first into the box, barely even making a sound as he did.

“The fuck-“ he massages his throbbing forehead.

“Sorry, safety measure”, the smaller ghost, Boxy, he deduces, apologises.  He waves a hand and the box shimmers out of existence. Once more Jason tries to reach for him when Ember takes up residence on the opposite side of the bed.

She starts playing a tune, softly singing along with it:

“Ember, one thing remains”

“Oh, Ember, so warm and tender”

 As she sings, Danny stops reaching for his chest and drops his hand, although he still shakes and weeps.

Jason, unsure of what to do, just stares, watching the music calm his boy.

“Ember’s power is music”, Desiree whispers behind him. “Normally she feeds off of the attention her music gives her when people listen to it, but, we found out it also helps when Danny has his…nightmares.”

“H-how often does he have them?” he asks in a hushed voice.

“Not that often, ever since we left Amity. Once or twice when they’re this bad, a few smaller ones once in a while, usually when he hasn’t slept much. He only had one bad one when you two fell asleep.”

“Is he in pain?” Jason gently pries Danny’s hands from the sheets, feeling them go lax in his hands.

“Not that we know of”, she says. “But we’re not him. We never know what he truly feels.”

Ember stops singing, looking up at Jason.

“He’ll wake up soon. The nightmare is bothering him too much, even with my music.”

She floats over them, back towards the living room and towards one of the cubes laying on the coffee table.

“You better take care of him, or else.”

Jason doesn’t even have time to reply and she’s already gone.

“Don’t take it as an offense”, Desiree assures him. “Using up so much energy while being away from our haunts gets exhausting after a while.”

“Aren’t the rest of you tired too?” he looks at the remaining ghosts. “How long have you been away from your haunts?”

“A little while, but we manage with the cubes.”

Jason frowns, not liking the answer she gave him. “I’ll take care of him, you guys can rest now.”

Boxy gives him a challenging look, even when he too looks tired.

“You’ve worked the hardest of all of us, Boxy, you can leave him now", Desiree coos.

“I’m the Box Ghost. I control the boxes.”

“And you did wonderful, Boxy, but you need to rest too.”

Boxy sighs, making his way towards his own cube after he stops by Jason. “I put up a protective box over your apartment”, he says. “Are you sure I can drop it?”

“I’m sure”, Jason gives him a tired smile, “Thank you for taking care of Danny.”

Boxy grins, and a quick “I’m the Box Ghost!” later and he’s gone too. Desiree and Lunch Lady follow soon after, a silence returning to the apartment once more.

True to Ember’s prediction, Danny starts to wake. Frantically he starts to sit up, breathing heavily until he spots Jason, calmly watching on.

“Jason?” he blinks twice, “What-, what happened?”

“You had a nightmare, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay”, Danny leans back against the headrest. “Just a nightmare.”

Jason bites on his lip, deciding to bite the bullet. “Actually”, he sits closer to Danny, hands folded in his lap, “You had more than just that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You had a panic attack. You started transforming and detransforming and I didn’t know what to do.”

He’s picking at the skin around his nails, a nasty habit he never seemed to let go off. “Eventually you got to calm down, and we both passed out.”

“Both of us?”

“Yeah, both of us. Getting to you wasn’t easy and it…” he’s unsure of whether or not he should tell Danny. “It hit harder than I thought it would. Everything turned green and I couldn’t stay awake. If your rogues didn’t appear, we’d still be laying in the living room.”

“M-my rogues”, Danny’s eyes grow wide in realisation, hands grabbing and releasing the sheets as if he just got his greatest secret exposed. “You met-, oh.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me”, Jason assures him. “They didn’t tell me anything about how you all met, why they’re your rogues or anything about your past. And if you’re not ready to tell me that’s okay, even if you’re never ready. I just…I want to know so I…”

He licks his lips, struggling to continue.

“When you made that hole”, he points at his books, “I heard you yell, in your sleep. At first I thought you were just sleep talking, but then…Then you yelled for your dad to stop hurting you. And when we came back from the Watchtower, you said you didn’t want to die again.”

“Danny” his voice is barely above whisper, “Did I hurt…Did I kill you? Again?”

“What? No, no, no no!” Danny launches himself at him, “You didn’t hurt me, you didn’t do anything wrong!”

“But something was wrong, wasn’t there?” Jason pleads with him. “I-, I don’t need to know everything but, I want to know there is something I can do, something to be sure I’m not fucking things up. The last thing I want is to hurt you on accident again.”

Danny shrinks, and he’s so tiny there, wrapped in bedsheets and bags under his eyes. At one point Jason thinks maybe he should’ve let Danny be with Dick instead when Danny leans closer to him, mirroring his own body language.

“I…I died, in a portal, similar to the zeta tube.”

Jason stays silent, letting Danny take hold of the conversation.

“My parents had build a ghost portal in their lab. It never worked and I was stupid and an idiot and I…I went inside of it. I just wanted to know how it worked, but then, it just, it just turned on and I-, I-“

“You don’t have to continue”, Jason tells him softly. “I understand.”

“But you don’t, that’s, that’s the thing really”, Danny sniffs. “After I…died, ghosts started coming through the portal. My parents thought it was amazing that the thing worked so they never shut it down so ghosts just kept coming and coming and coming-“

Danny runs a hand through his hair in distress. “I was the reason they all got there, I had to fix it, especially after my parents started hunting them. I barely slept, I fucked up so much in school, if my friends and Jazz weren’t there to help me, I think I might have died twice.”

He chuckles, a wet cry escaping him.

“The ghost don’t mean to hurt anyone, they’re just driven by their obsessions and, and protecting just became mine, I think. Both humans and ghosts. And for a while, things were relatively okay!”

Danny wrangles his hands nervously, unsure where to put them.

“But then, a couple months ago, there was this law the government passed, the Anti-Ecto Act which declared ghosts weren’t sentient and thus could be captured without a fuss and-“

Jason doesn’t really catch the remainder of the Act, rage building up inside of him, boiling over when Danny starts crying uncontrollably.

“My parents sold weapons to the Ghost Investigation Ward, assigned to capture ghost and…eradicate them. I tried to stop them as just me, as Danny, and I begged my parents to stop but then, suddenly my rogues stopped appearing and I thought, hey, maybe they finally laid off, right?”

Jason reaches over towards him, arms wrapping around him. “Danny you don’t have to-“

“I found one of my rogues, Boxy, captured, in the basement. Boxy is literally the nicest ghost along with Lunch Lady, he doesn’t hurt anyone! Sure he was annoying but, he didn’t-, he didn’t hurt anyone. And then I found out my parents were going to…they were going to hurt him.”

Danny’s full on bawling at this point.

“They were so convinced that ghosts couldn’t feel anything and that they didn’t know anything about human emotions so I, I thought, if I showed them I was a ghost, then, then maybe they…”

He rubs at his eyes, red and puffy.

“If Jazz hadn’t found me that night I…”

“Danny”, Jason looks him dead in the eyes, “Did they hurt you?”

Danny doesn’t speak, crying still. He then lowers the collar of his shirt and that’s when Jason sees it: an incision similar to his own, running from his shoulders across his chest over to his abdomen.

“I never had scars after I became a halfa”, Danny mutters. “Except this one.”

Jason is fuming, not even bothering containing the green glow exuding from his core while Danny finishes his story.

“They thought Jazz was possessed too, trying to keep her away from me. She then ran towards the portal and threw one of their inventions in there. I guess they cared more about that than about vivisecting me, cause Jazz was able to get me out but…”

The tears keep streaming across his face, but the sobs had resided, as if Danny’s chest had already given up on the repeated cries.

“The portal exploded, and with my injuries, I-, I didn’t react fast enough so…”

“She took the hit”, Jason exclaims. “The accident she mentioned, that was it.”

“She’s in there because of me”, Danny looks at him with eyes so broken, so full of guilt. “She had to suffer, because of me.”

“No, she had to suffer because of your parents”, Jason lifts his face level with his own. “Your parents did that, not you. You didn’t hurt her baby brother, they did that. She would protect you no matter who it was. This is not your fault, Danny.”

“But it is my responsibility.”

“Fuck responsibility!” Jason raises his voice ever so slightly, regretting it when Danny flinches backwards.

“I’m-, You’re-, you’re just a kid, Danny. You shouldn’t have to deal with any of that!”

“But if I didn’t then who would?” Danny snaps back. “If I didn’t collect all of the remaining ghosts in Amity, if I didn’t go after them so the GIW or my parents didn’t find them first, then who would? Someone has to help them!”

“Fucking hell, Danny, why-“ Jason cradles his face in his hands. “Gods, why are you so much like me. I owe B an apology for putting up with my bullshit at your age.”

“See, then you know what I mean!”

“Yeah but I didn’t have any powers!”

“Well sucks to suck then!”

Jason stares, both of them not saying another word. It’s the silence that breaks the heavy tension, shattering it into a million pieces until one snort escapes the vigilante and ghost hero, and then another, and another until both are cackling, wiping tears of laughter from their eyes instead of guilt and compassion.

“We both suck”, Jason finally lets out, falling back onto the duvet.

“Yeah”, Danny exhales. “You more than I, though.”

Jason rolls over him, holding him into a death grip, rubbing his knuckles over his head, much to Danny’s dismay.

“Dude, fuck off”, he laughs, weakly hitting Jason in his sides.

“Phase off if it bothers you that much.”

“What if I do, huh, then what?”

Jason releases him, the two spread out on the bed looking up at the white ceiling.

“We’re going to have to get you some therapy for that trauma, you know.”

“My last therapist tried to suck the happiness out of me and the rest of my classmates so she could be eternally young and then tried to evaporate all of us.”

“Batman keeps a sentient starfish alien in a jar in the batcave that he gave the title of Robin and he said he’s his favourite.”

“….Touché.”

“So”, Jason turns to look at Danny. “What’s your plan then? Running away from home?”

Danny exhales loudly. “I took everyone with me that I couldn’t portal out right away. I’ve been trying to get them back ever since I left but it’s taxing.”

“You can teleport?”

“Not really. I basically defeated this ancient king dude of the Ghost Zone and got like, a ring that I can use to make portals there. It takes tonnes of ecto from me though cause I’m like, just getting used to all my powers, and I couldn’t send everyone through. But even then, some stayed behind anyway.”

“Like the ones I met earlier.”

“Yeah, especially Boxy and Lunch Lady. They really don’t want to leave me alone.”

“They’re good ghosts.”

“Most of them are. I don’t think I would’ve made it to Gotham without them.”

Danny now looks back at Jason. “I had just sent some back when we met.”

“When you looked like you were sick as hell?”

“Yeah…I maybe, potentially, used up too much ecto after not having eaten or rested well for a couple of days.”

“I should strangle you myself for doing that to yourself.”

“Really, you’re lecturing me on not being nice to myself. You, the infamous Red Hood, Jason Todd, second son to Bruce Wayne, headlining several newspapers for being reckless and-“

“Ouurgh, you sound like Dick”, Jason groans. “Normally it’s the older one who lectures the younger one, ya know?”

“Guess you influence me too much.”

“That was before we met, you prick.”

Jason drops an arm on him, too tired to properly hit him. He waits until Danny’s done laughing, glad to see the tears dried up.

“What if we explore your powers, safely. So you can send everyone back, control your powers like I promised to your sister, and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Are you gonna take me on patrols then?”

“I said explore your powers, not abuse them.”

“But you do exactly the same.”

“Do as I preach, not as I do, right?”

“Besides”, Jason sighs, “I’m gonna need to have someone be there for my own powers, if they come out more.”

“Aha, you did turn us both invisible back then!” Danny pokes him in his face.

“Mayhaps.”

“So”, Danny rests his head back on the bed. “You have the discipline, I have the powers?”

“And hopefully in the end, we’ll have both.”

Danny chortles helplessly, wondering where it all went wrong.

“…This is going to be one hell of a shitshow, isn’t it.”

“Yup”, Jason grins. “One hell of a show.”

Chapter Text

"I can do this, I can do this."

Danny tried to get a hold on his breathing, as much as that was possible for a corpse. He stared straight ahead, taking in Jason in his updated Red Hood regalia, specifically the special gloves that made him able to punch those of the ecto variant.

"Come on kid, you're going to have to move eventually."

"Don't pressure me!" he yelped back. "I'm nervous!"

"Anyone is nervous in a fight, or at least a little afraid."

"Bullshit, you're the Red fucking Hood."

"Language!" Dick yells from atop a container, voice bouncing of the metal walls of the warehouse they were in.

"Ah, but he does have a point." Jason shifts his weight, darting behind one of the other containers.

Danny spins around, trying to locate him. He appears behind him, high up in the sky to land a blow: 

"I do be the Red fucking Hood."

With a loud crack, he smashes into the ground where Danny just stood, small rifts forming in the concrete.

"Dude, that would've seriously hurt if you hit me!" Danny complains, floating in the air. 

"But it didn't so you're improving", Jason said calmly before jumping up and grabbing Danny by his tail, slamming him back onto the floor. With a loud groan, Danny rolls over back on his feet.

Concentrating intently on the energy radiating from his core, he sends it to his hands, forming a glowing green energy ball.

"Apapapap", Jason is right in front of him, swiping him back to the floor with a swift hit from his legs. "We agreed, no ghost powers."

"What's the point of ghost powers if I can't use them", Danny groans, sinking into the floor and appearing on the other side as he attempts to hit Jason with his ecto blast.

Unimpressed, Jason tilts his head to the side, the blast missing him by several inches. "Because you need to learn what to do in case you can't use them. You're half ghost, half human. So, you got to be at least half decent at normal human fighting."

He launches at him, a fist on his way to connect with his chest that Danny easily blocks, holding up his arms to intercept it. "Says the man using guns and bullets to win fights."

"Guns run out of bullets too, kid", he replies, using Danny's arms against him as he swings him over his shoulder. "Besides."

He towers over him: "It helps with knowing where your strength lies, and where you need to hide your weaknesses. Just because it looks easy, doesn't mean it always is."

"Fine, fine," Danny rolls his eyes, squirming underneath the 6ft behemoth on top of him until he manages to slip an arm loose, smiling at the vigilante as he points one of his own guns at him. "But sometimes it really is easy."

"Hmm, are you sure about that?" Danny can't see him grin through his helmet, but he can tell he fell into a trap without seeing him. As he pulls the trigger, a flash blinds him, dropping the gun in response. When he looks up again, he sees Hood holding the gun instead, pointing at him.

"Bang", he says. "Dead again."

"That is, so unfair", he mutters while rubbing into his eyes as Jason pulls him up again. "What the fuck was that even?"

"Life is unfair. And death," he takes off his helmet while showing Danny the gun. "Special protection I had installed. Only works for me. Anyone else who tries to fire my gun, gets flashed. Right Dick?"

Dick groans, crossing his arms in frustration. "The one time I want to use a gun...."

"Get your own, stick man."

"Hey, those sticks are nasty", Danny shudders. "Electric sticks my abhorred."

"Fair, those bitches suck ass. But hey, what do you expect from Dick?"

"I can just leave, you know", he sulks, jumping off his spot and joining the duo.

"You're the one who wanted to come along, I didn't force you to be here", Jason shrugs, walking over to a table to put his gun down next to a myriad of other weapons and tools.

"You did when you broke into the Watchtower and then went MIA for almost a week", he follows him. "And the fact I couldn't get into your apartment for that time."

"It was an accident", Jason refutes, not entirely without truth. "I didn't mean for all of that to happen."

Sensing the sour tone, Dick backs down, leaning against the table. "I'm sorry Jay, I was just worried. About both of you."

He glances at Danny, casting him a sincere smile that Danny returns before looking at the weapons on the table.

"Appreciate it", Jason admits. Without Dick, they wouldn't have gotten out in the first place, but the way Dick didn't let him do anything alone anymore after that unnerved him in several ways than just annoyance. He doesn't like it, but he would've done the same if the roles were reversed. Which is the only reason Dick was allowed to be here at all.

"Anyway", he takes a look at his gun, inspecting the metal and disassembling it with ease and practiced care. "Do you want to continue today's sparring match? Danny lasted a minute longer against me than last time, so your training pays off I'd say."

"As much as I absolutely agree with you that my lessons help", he ruffles Danny's jet-black hair, "Maybe we should focus on other things."

"Such as?" Jason inquires without looking up from his work, showing Danny the inner workings of the weapon which the young teen follows along with eagerly.

"Well, firstly" he looks eagerly at Danny. "Some practical things."

"If we're going to discuss a 'parental planner' again, " Jason gags at the word, "You can go fuck yourself."

"Uhm ouch, my parental planner was great."

"You calculated breaks into it. Fruit breaks, Dick", Danny disagreed. "I'm not 4."

"Both of you have the collective braincell of a two year old, I was compensating."

Ignoring the death stares from the two, he continued. "What I mean to say was, I took care of those things."

"Things?" Danny looked confused.

"Oh, the things!" Jason put the weapon down, smiling excitedly.

"Yeah, consider that one favor done", Dick smiles, showing him something on a tablet.

"What, what is it?" Danny reaches for the tablet that Jason snatches from Dick before he could do it, holding it high above his head.

"Billionaire advantages," he simply states, watching Danny jump up and down to grab it until he finally lowers it again, showing Danny the screen.

He stares, lip quivering and eyes watery: "You paid for her recovery? All of it?"

"And everything else that might arrise", Dick adds. "Jazz won't have to worry about a single cent."

"Why?" Danny is quiet, opposite to his usual demeanor and clutching the tablet tightly, as if it might disappear if he loosens his grip.

"Well, we're both sons of a billionaire", Jason says casually, "I also have a boatload of money as a crimelord, and I didn't want you two to have to worry about finances."

"But this is so much money, I can't repay this-"

"You don't have to, that's the point. However you can make up for it in other ways."

"Such as?"

Jason chuckles, poking a finger at Danny's chest and connecting with his core. "Taking care of yourself. Improving. Beating me someday."

"If that's all", Danny thinks confidently, "I'll have your butt kicked by next week."

"That's the spirit!" Dick laughs, winking at the joke.

"I will ignore that and ask what else you two have been up to", Danny looks back at the screen, trying to find out their secrets.

"Oh, that", Jason takes the device back, typing something in. "That depends on you, really."

He hands it back, a sliver of hesitation in the movement. He waits, reading every micro expression on Danny's face as the boy reads the text on the screen.

"Is this, real?" he eventually asks. "Like, this isn't a joke or a cover or...."

"It's real, kid. But only if you want to and only after we've gotten everything taken care of, legally speaking. There's a few places tha-" 

He huffs, feeling the air knocked out of his lungs as Danny slams into him with a hug. 

"I take it you like that surprise?" he laughs, patting him on the back. 

"You're willing to pay for and let me go to several schools so I can get into an aerospace engineering program, yes, I like that!" Danny exclaims.

"When you're ready, of course", Dick interjects. "We can't just let you run around without any ID."

"I mean, technically I am declared dead, so..."

"Well technically so was I but ya know, Gotham."

"Yeah...Gotham" all three sigh in unison.

Danny finally releases Jason, looking back at all the schools he can apply to and the future he thought he'd never have again. As happy as he looks, Jason can't help but notice the small frown forming in his brows.

"You sure you're okay with it, Danny?" he carefully asks. "I just looked at the ones that could offer you something catering to your interest in space but if you don't want that, we can always look at something else."

"No no, I am thrilled!" he replies in earnest. "Just a weird deja vu, that's all."

"Weird as in bad?" Dick asks.

"Weird as in..." he glances up, looking for a way to explain. "You wouldn't be the first to offer me something I really want only for it to not be real or a trap."

"Do I look like someone who would lie and trick people?" Jason questions before answering it himself. "Don't answer that."

"No I don't think you two would do that to me but", he sighs as he mentally makes a top 3 list of the schools he's looking at, "I think I've had my hopes up high too many times before they were crushed. I don't believe in getting things handed to me, except for my ass in a fight."

"Well, maybe you deserve to be proven wrong on that part", Jason assures him. "I am slightly worried about the part where you think it would have been a trap."

"Yeah what's all that about?" Dick puts a hand to his hip, "I'm offended on a medium level that you'd think I would use money as leverage, on a child no less."

"Only on a medium level?" Jason raises an eyebrow.

"What, I'm not Bruce. He's the billionaire."

"See, if Bruce would've offered this to me", Danny explains, "I think I'd have to punch him."

Jason and Dick buckle down, absolutely losing their minds at the thought of scrawny boy Danny punching the lights out of Bruce.

"I-, I'd-, " Jason wheezes, "I'd pay you for that-"

"W- why-", Dick cackles, trying very hard to breathe between the laughing and crying, "Why would you do that though?"

"Well the last millionaire who tried that got mad I didn't agree with it and then tried to clone me and then used said clones to kill me who I then had to see melt into a puddle of ectoplasm."

The vigilante brothers abruptly stopped laughing.

"Is this by chance a fruitloop?" Jason asks in all seriousness.

"Yeah! You know him?"

"Ember mentioned clones and a fruitloop to me once. Absolutely no swag."

Danny grunts: "I know right? Masters has all this money, all of these materials to his disposal and then he chooses to dress like a vampire fruitloop."

"Wait, Masters?" Dick interjects, "As in Vlad Masters?"

"The one and lonely", Danny confirms. "He's a halfa like me, sort of."

"Sort of?" Jason wonders aloud. "Like me?"

"Oh no you and I died, he's just a loser with an obsession for my mom after an accident with a mini portal he and my parents made when they were in college."

"Danny every time you tell me something more about your life before Gotham I feel like another strand of my hair turns white", Jason grunts, dragging a hand across his face.

"Hey you asked, " Danny bounces on his feet, "Wanna hear about that time I fought an evil version of myself from the future who wanted to kill my friends and family so I would end up like him?"

"How about we stop talking for a while", Dick puts a hand over his mouth, staring happily past him.

"Do lets", Jason agrees, tapping something into the tablet. "Back to the uhm, school thing", he says while quickly making a file on Vlad Masters, "I know you're excited to go, but there's other things we need to take of before you can go."

Jason grimaces a bit when he looks at Danny's top choice. "Gotham High, really?"

"What, it's a good school", Danny argues. "If I need a diploma from a good high school, it might as well be Gotham High."

"Not arguing with that, although you might turn out like blue bird here considering he graduated from it."

"It's a good school!" Dick complains with a pout.

"But it's also the school Damian and Tim go to", Jason explains. 

"Oh", Danny realizes, "Right, I understand."

Seeing the abundant disappointment on his face, Jason quickly follows up on his previous statement. 

"I'm not saying you can't", Jason tries to reassure him, "But that's part of the things we need to take care of first."

He puts the tablet back on the table. "Faking an ID for you is easy, I've done it plenty of times."

"That really is not something to boast about", Dick mentions.

"Neither is appearing in public with that hideous Discowing outfit but I'm not bringing that up every 2 minutes either."

"Mimimimimi mimimimi", he sulks.

"What is currently on my mind", Jason continues, "Is you having to take care of your rogues and the fact you defeated the former king of the Infinite Realms."

He puts his hands on Danny's shoulders, giving him a gentle squeeze. "As soon as your rogues are back safely, and you can control your powers, we'll go through the applications together, okay?"

"For real?" Danny looks up in excitement, "you will?"

"Ghost business first, then the rest", Jason reminds him.

Danny vibrates with excitement, flying over towards his backpack. He returns quickly, cubes in his arms just like when he and Jason first met and eying Jason just as nervously.

"When I said ghost business I didn't mean ghost fighting already."

"I don't think he wants to spar, Jaylad."

Dick taps him affectionately on the back, sensing what Danny wants to do.

"You want to send them back?" Jason stares. Danny nods lightly, as if waiting for approval. Jason reaches for the cubes with a gentle touch. "Are you sure about it?"

He retracts his arms, crossing them in front of his chest. "We've only been doing this for little under a month ever since the incident at the Watchtower. I admit you're making great progress, but opening up a portal wasn't exactly in the training program, kid."

"I can do it, I know how!"

"That's not my concern", Jason softens his voice. "I know you can do it, buddy, but I don't know if it's a good idea to do it so soon."

"You can trust me, Jason, I've done it before."

"It's not about trust, Danny", Dick adds in. "It's about being worried about you and what it would do to you."

Dick turns his attention to anywhere else but Danny. "I may not have been there when you came back from the tower, but I know what it feels like to not know what you did wrong or how you can help fix things. Neither of us wants a repeat of that situation and potentially lose you."

"Guys", Danny replies a little guilty, "I will be fine."

"How can you be so sure?" Jason sounds almost demanding.

"Because", Danny releases the ghosts from their cubes, "You'll be there when I do it."

Jason scoffs, feeling both pride at the compliment and flashbacks appearing before his eyes of a young Robin jumping off buildings, blindly trusting into getting caught by Batman if things go wrong. 

"What's all the ruckus", Ember groans, stretching her limbs.

"Yeah, I was busy!" Technus sulks, having left whatever project he was working on in the cube.

"There's nothing wrong, is there dearie?" Lunch Lady floats closer, inspecting the three men. "Or are we having another sparring session?"

"With all of us?" Desiree laughs, "That's a challenge."

"Actually", Danny pipes up, "I would like to try making another portal."

The ghost remain dead silent, sneaking glances at each other.

"For all of us?" Desiree eventually asks.

"Yeah, for all of you."

"Danny-"

"No, I can do it, I swear!" he puts more confidence in voice than he actually has. "I've made a large one before with way more ghosts going through."

"Yeah, and you passed out for almost 3 weeks after that!" Ember roars, fiery hair flaring up. "If we didn't stay behind who knows what would've happened to you!"

"O-okay, yes, but, but consider!" Danny puts the cubes down on the table next to the tablet. "I have grown, I have experience now and we're literally in Gotham! Lady Gotham wouldn't mind!"

"Lady Gotham?" Dick whispers to Jason.

"I'm not even going to ask anymore", Jason deadpans.

"If you want to get rid of us you're gonna have to try harder, boy!" Technus cackles.

"Beware the Box Ghost!" Boxy agrees.

"Kid, if your own ghosts don't even trust it, don't you think we shouldn't? Or at least wait a bit longer?"

"I do understand where the boy is coming from", Desiree says pointedly. "We long for our own haunts and being away from them is not easy."

"But this is your own choice to make, you have nothing to gain from this", Dick joins in the conversation. "Not to sound like a hypocrite because I too just want the best for Danny, but I'm not dependent on a haunt to stay 'alive' .

"Yes, we do need it to stay 'alive' so to speak", Technus agrees, "But this process is not to take lightly. Danny hasn't even been crowned yet and he's already making more portals than should be humanly or ghostly possible! Next thing you know he shreds himself into atoms!"

"That's a thing?!?" Jason yelps rather undignified. "Why didn't you tell me last time?"

"Well, it's purely speculation", Technus clarifies, "But you may never know!"

"Even if he doesn't, we're not going to let him make one so big!" Ember argues. "Sure, the portal he made for Johnny and Kitty worked perfectly fine but do you not remember the strain it took on him for just a small one?"

"That's true", Lunch Lady concedes, "I had to make so many ecto cookies, I feel like he'd die of sugar!"

The ghosts and vigilantes continue to bicker, both presenting arguments against and in favor of making a bigger portal. Even though they all agree it's in everyone's best interest, they can't seem to agree on what their next action should be. It's not until they hear static coming from where Danny was standing that they drop the bickering.

Turning towards him, they see him in full Phantom form, the ring on his finger glowing a bright green. As he starts to float, a dark purple shimmer swirls around him, placing dotted stars along the bright ecto energy he was conjuring. A thin circle of eyes forms a ring around his feet, acting like an achor for the energy to surge through. Deeply focused, Danny opens up his eyes, sclera's overtaken by toxic green and dark swirling galaxies.

With a deep breath, he raises his arms, fingers extending into claws as he rips apart the fabric of reality. Cracks oozing with ectoplasm sprout from his fingertips, webbing all across the air until he pulls on it, tugging at the seems. From the fissures, a bright green light seeps into the warehouse, filling it with a blinding glow.

As the dust and luminescence settles, all attending parties see a swirling hole with ghost swarming the other side.

Danny lets out a low rumble, warning the ghosts on the other side to stay put. He then waits for the ghosts on his side to approach. Instead of the ghosts, it's Jason who takes the first step forward.

"Is that really..."

"The Ghost Zone", Ember whispers, hair down to a light flicker. "He really pulled it off."

"How are you feeling, kid?" Jason carefully approaches him. "You okay?"

Danny lets out a series of sounds, ranging from howls to deep rumbling before he remembers to speak English. "I'm okay!" He lets out in a cheery voice. 

Jason chuckles, a little taken aback by the animalistic noises he just made. Ember is then the first to go forward of the ghosts.

"Are you sure we can go, Danny?" her voice is soft, no trace of the usual edge in there.

"Go home, Ember", Danny smiles a smile with too many sharp teeth. "You deserve to go home."

Ember gives him a quick hug before she goes through, happily flying towards her haunt. Soon enough, the rest of the ghosts follow through with Lunch Lady and Technus the last ones after Boxy gives Danny a crying hug.

"Take care of my boxes" he whimpers.

"And of yourself", Lunch Lady adds. "I-"

She wipes away a tear. "I will miss you, sweetie. Come visit us once everything is over."

"Of course I will, wouldn't want to miss out on those cookies", Danny jokes.

"We uhm", Lunch Lady nervously rubs her gloved hands together as she ushers Technus closer. "We made something in case we weren't around anymore or, you know, a, a little gift."

She turns to Jason and Dick, urging them to come closer. "For the three of you."

"For us?" Dick wonders along with Jason.

"Well yes, you have taken adequate care of the boy, not as great as the Great Technus would, but you tried and that, well, deserves a reward of some kind."

Technus then hands them a small, round device, looking like a mechanical biscuit with a button in the centre. 

"I call it the Creative Apparatus for Making Ectoplasmic Recordings and Apertures!"

"So, a camera?" Jason chuckles.

"Wh-, I'll have you know my device is way better than a mere camera, young man."

"We sincerely appreciate it, Technus", Danny replies. "What does it do?"

"Aha, here's the brilliant part!" he presses the button in the middle, both him and Lunch Lady waiting eagerly as the device boots up. A beam appears before them, turning into a screen showcasing the ghosts and Danny sitting underneath a tree at a cemetery before getting replaced by another scene, one of many in what appears to be a slide show.

"Are these..." Danny hovers a hand around the edge of the screen. "Photos? Of us? How?"

"Technus made this special device that makes pictures of us!" Lunch Lady explains. 

"But if the GIW finds this, or my parents-"

"Then they won't find anything, it will just play ska music!" Technus waves a hand and the pictures disappear immediately, replaced by aforementioned music. "I made it so that only people with a specific ecto signature can access it, that being the ghosts in the pictures and your two guardians."

"I have an ecto signature?" Dick shrieks. 

"My boy, what part of liminal did not stick to that smooth brain of yours?" Technus cackles. "And I added one more thing! Well, two but who's counting?"

"Aren't you ", Danny inquires.

"I am! BWAHAHAHAHA!" Technus presses the button again and an index appears, along with an icon resembling a microphone. He clears his throat and moves closer to the device, lips sealed. He starts making a string of clicking noises, lips still pressed tightly against each other. The machine starts showing a text, along with the option of text to speech:

" I created a translator! I am brilliant! And an index! A ghost index! For our growing boy and his humans!"

"You basically made a ghost guide for dummies", Jason snorts. "That's...awesome."

"Well", Technus speaks again, without the CAMERA: "I am a genius."

"Yes, you are Technus. However," Lunch Lady looks at the portal, its edges starting to shimmer and shrink. "I do believe our time is up here."

"Ah, yes", he smiles sadly behind his shades, "I do believe so."

The two ghosts make their way to the portal, turning back to Danny one last time.

"If you need us", Lunch Lady says lastly, "You know where to find us."

When she fades into the Ghost Zone, Danny finally falls back to the ground, turning human once more. Down on his knees, he pants until he eventually rolls onto his back, laughing hysterically.

Jason and Dick are at his side in seconds, worried he took it too far until he drops an arm on his face. "Told you I-", he breathes heavily, "I could do it!"

"Yeah, you did, you did it kiddo", Jason laughs, poking him in his side. "You did great."

"I'm fucking awesome", Danny chuckles, eyes dropping low. "I-, I wanna sleep for a week now."

"How bout just an afternoon, champ?" Jason scoops him up in his arms, the teen resting his head on his shoulder. 

He doesn't respond, save for a few chirps and clicks before drifting off to sleep.

"Wonder what those chirps mean", Dick snorts, taking all their equipment with him as Jason walks out with Danny.

"Yeah" he replies, smiling at the CAMERA.

"Thanks, Dad."

"I wonder."

Chapter Text

"You know I can just as easily see through your hands, right."

Danny lets out a chuckle, trying to drag Jason's hands away from his eyes.

"Consider, that's not very nice," Jason retorts as he gradually drags Danny onto a flight of stairs.

"When have you ever cared about being nice," Danny hears Dick shuffle along with him, no doubt recording the ordeal.

"I can be very nice sometimes, like, I make your favourite food every month, and! You get to pick the food every Friday!"

"That's only because you don't want me to mention saving your ass that one time with-"

Jason moves one of his hands over Danny's mouth, effectively shutting him up from spilling the beans again.

"No no," Dick tries to pry a finger away, "Let the boy talk."

"I will put olive oil on every piece of your equipment you own if you make this any harder than it already is, Dickhead", Jason glares.

"Oh please", he releases his hand, "Like you wouldn't do that regardless."

Jason rolls his eyes before he lets go of Danny, standing at the top of the stairs in triumph.

Danny stands frozen, containing the buzzing excitement trying to burst out of his core: "No way."

"Yes way" Jason smirks, proudly holding out a hand for Danny towards the entrance of the building.

"I thought this place was closed for renovations," Danny glances at the stream of people going in and out besides them. "And even then, getting in now would be impossible! The normal way that is."

"Sneaking into the planetarium the phantom way wouldn't really be fun now, would it?" Dick smiles behind the camera. "Besides, now you can go to the gift shop too. The legal way."

"What's the catch", Danny narrows his eyes playfully. "What are you bribing me for?"

"Danny", Jasons gasps, clutching invisible pearls, "When would I ever?"

The boy deadpans, already listing the amounts of times he did. He lets out a strangled string of grunts, just below a whisper.

"Language" Dick points out.

"You don't even speak the language!" Danny argues.

"We don't need to be fluent in Ghost Speak yet to understand you're calling bull", Dick points out.

"Besides", Jason puts an arm around the teen. "It's not a bribe, I promise"

"Then, what is it?" Danny asks in earnest.

"Well, let's call this the 'We survived 7 months without being detected by B and are aliven't for a year now!' celebration!"

"Who lets you pick names."

Jasons rolls his knuckles over Danny's head: "The same person who got you tickets to the planetarium and into a school you like."

"....Touché", Danny lets out a shriek as his hair gets the big brother treatment.

"For today", Jason sighs happily, "You can walk through those doors, and buy your ticket", he hands Danny a small card, pressing it into his hands firmly, "As Danial White, legal citizen of Gotham."

"I still think that is such an ironic name", Danny giggles as he looks at the new ID. "Like, Danial and Jessie White?"

"We can turn it into Daniel Todd later on," Dick winks as he walks past them, heading for the tickets. He definitely doesn't miss the smile creeping up on the corners of Danny's mouth and the blush dusting Jason's cheeks.

"So," Danny clears his throat, changing the subject. "Does this mean..."

"Yeah. No trace of Danny or Jasmine Fenton", Jason doesn't let go off him. "And, legally speaking, you'll be my ward soon enough."

"Ward. Right," Danny's smile fades a little. He knows why it's ward. Not son. He knows it's because of the implications that would bring for Jason. To have a son, to bring a new member into the batfamily. He was there when they decided on it, of course he knows. But, even so...

"Jazz will be my legal guardian after that. Yeah..." he lets his shoulders drop, just an inch or two, but Jason can feel it nonetheless.

"It's what you wanted, right?" he says. "Just like you planned."

"I-", he doesn't even register he got a ticket into the planetarium. "Just as I planned, yup."

Jason lets out a breath of air, pulling Danny closer:" You're such a lousy liar."

"Am not," he pouts as they trail behind Dick, leading them along.

"You are", his eyes are warm and thoughtful. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing-, it's nothing", he lies, plastering a smile on his face. He should be happy with the new ID, with the new life he's going to lead with Jazz. He's at the planetarium with the newest exhibits and installations and everything he could ever hope to see from the universe down on earth and yet, he doesn't feel the same excitement as before.

"Any slower and you will miss the presentation on Pluto!" Dick calls from the next room over.

"Come on," he drags Jason along to disperse his thoughts, "We might miss it!"

As reluctant as Jason is to let it go, he doesn't want Danny to miss out on anything happening today.

As they walk around, he almost forgets something was up that morning when they had just arrived. Danny shows him all the stars and planets, every tiny piece of the cosmos is at his fingertips as he explains how they were discovered, their names, the way they were formed, as if Danny was right there to witness it.

When they lay down on the seats to look up at the animated night sky, he looks to his side, seeing Danny lost in space en he feels a part of his core forming again, clicking into place. It's the feeling he had when he was Robin for the first time, helping people out on the streets of Gotham because isn't that what it was all about?

Being a hero? Keeping people like Danny safe from harm, from danger, from whack ass clowns chasing them down? 

Jason could take Batman in a fight, could handle the entire world if needed, but he was never the strongest Robin, or bat for that matter. 

Dick sees it in the way he lets a genuine laugh escape through the mask, the hopeful giggle of a child. He sees it in the way he talks to Danny, to kids and teens alike. How he softens his voice often hoarse from alcohol and cigarettes he never shows in front of kids. He sees it in the way he looks after Damian when he gets hurt on patrol, even if Damian himself doesn't know. It's the way he leaves the last cookie or the last batch of coffee when it's been a rough case for Tim. It's in his attentiveness when Cass performs ballet, how he makes sure she sees he's watching.

It's in his humanity and kindness that he shows how he was never the strongest, but always the most emotional, the most caring. The most vulnerable.

Jason watches Danny roam around the massive giftshop, watching from the balcony above to make sure he doesn't spend Bruce's fortune in one go, when he frowns, an ache settling into his chest that Dick catches onto way too easily.

"What's upsetting you?" Dick asks cautiously.

"Not upset", Jason replies.

"But something is bothering you."

Jason grips onto the railing, careful not to bend it or phasing through it. "I don't know, it's not...I don't know what it is."

"A feeling of responsibility and care that flows over so much you can not contain it?" Dick speaks out casually, looking down at Danny grabbing a second basket to fill with souvenirs.

"Not the words I'd use but..." Jason sees the basket fill with globes and projectors. "I guess I just...I want him to be safe and happy, is that so weird?"

"No, it's not. It's the way I feel about all of our siblings. Pretty sure Bruce feels that way about all of us, too."

"Nasty way of showing it then", he huffs. "Can't really see it."

"You're the most like him, you know that right?" Dick glances at him now. 

"Bullshit," Jason turns towards him. "I'm nothing like him."

"For all the times I had to talk him down from something or cool him down?" Dick cackles dryly. "I could hardly tell if it was Bruce or you I was talking to."

"Stubbornness", Jason hums, "Yeah, that I can see."

"You both come from the same place," he explains. "You don't want others to be in danger, to be hurt. I remember when he used to look at each of us when we started out the same way you look at Danny."

"It's kinda hard to believe he cares", Jason admits.

"He wouldn't pester us with brunch every week if he didn't."

"One more brunch and I swear I will shove a croissant-"

"There's kids around", Dick cuts him off, gesturing towards the class on a fieldtrip walking behind them.

"But that's not really what the matter is, is there?" Dick leans on the railing again.

"Asking as a friend or as a detective", Jason inquires.

"Asking as a brother."

Jason can't help but feel a sense of familiarity, a peace between them they haven't had in a while. "I don't want him to run forever."

"He's not, he has a new life now."

"A life with his sister who's still healing. Who's too young to be raising herself and her brother while she should be going out, making friends, get a degree."

Jason turns to his brother: "I want them to live."

"With you, right?"

Dick wears his signature sunshine grin. "To live with you."

Jason doesn't even bother hiding the sadness and pride mixing in his throat. "It's not for me to decide that."

"In all honesty", Dick grimaces as he sees a kid next to Danny grab the last NASA themed notebook, "I think he would want you to decide that."

"What?"

"To be a family. With him."

"I barely know him, I can't ask that of him."

"Pff, barely know", Dick pulls out his phone, scrolling through his camera roll. "Monday, you get him his favourite icecream."

"Anyone can guess that."

"Last week, Wednesday, received the latest edition of Mechanic Mayhem, a monthly subscription, mind you, and made a working rocket with him."

"Which exploded."

"Which exploded, true", Dick admits, "But."

He shows photos from the months ago. "Stayed up to look at a meteorshower. Carried him to bed."

"Anyone would do th-"

"The point is that you, Little Wing, did that. You care about him. You don't even need eyes to see he cares for you just as much as you care for him. Besides, I think Danial Todd sounds better than Danial White anyway. You both already have the same middle name, what's a last name to that?"

"You know what that would mean," Jason pouts. "That would mean he's mine."

"And? You think he would oppose?"

Danny waves at them from below, showing 5 full baskets of memorabilia he wants to get. Dick smiles, letting him know they will be down soon.

"I-...I don't think he would", Jason thinks back to all the moments he had with the kid, the proud moments, the sad moments. The moments where he had been called 'dad'. Of course Danny wouldn't mind. "As much as I despise our family-"

"You love us."

"As much as I despise our family", he repeats as he pushes Dick away who leans in way too close, "I think Danny would like having one. A family. That would back him up. But..."

"But?"

"We both know the trust in me and my decisions isn't high, Dick. I'm the broken Robin, remember?"

Jason drops his shoulders, hair falling in front of his eyes. "I'm trying, I really am. I don't want my past and my troubles to rub off on Danny. Even if they accept him for what he is and what he can do, I don't want B to make a contingency plan for him. That he has to find out there are people around him that would want to take him out if necessary. I don't want him to ever look over his shoulder again. Especially not because of me."

"So, you're sacrificing both your happiness, because of who you are?" Dick speaks gently. 

"Who else am I if not the son who does everything wrong?" Jason's smile lacks the venom he puts into it. He pulls his lips into a tight line after he says the words he believed for so long.

"Jay", Dicks speaks up without looking at him. "I don't think you're afraid for Danny. I think you're afraid for yourself."

"Who you calling scared-"

"You're afraid that maybe, after everything, you still are loved, and cared for. And that if you let us all in again, if you let Danny in with you, you'll lose it again. That Danny might lose you the way you lost Dad."

"Don't fucking call me out like that", Jason snaps, not too bitter, not too cold. It's fine, Dick lets him. Of course he lets him. They're both still hurting from what happend all those years ago.

"Then, what it is? What do you really want?"

"I want-"

Jason backs away from the railing, ready to head down to get his kid. 

"I want Bruce to care."

"I do care."

The vigilantes spin around, facing a man in a fine black suit, wearing a NASA cap on his head and a blue star balloon in his hand. 

Jason stops, muscles tense and jaw clenching. From the corner of his eyes he sees Dick too got caught by surprise, the panic masked behind his famous smile.

"Bruce", he finally lets out.

"Jason. Dick. "

For a long while, no one says a word until a woman, presumably a teacher, tells Bruce how thankful she is for him being there with them.

"So", Dick starts when she leaves. "Class chaperone..."

"Yes."

"More like class clown", Jason mutters.

"I have a reputation to uphold", Bruce remarks, glaring at someone in the distance. "Margie can not win."

"She's just a soccer mom", Jason points out.

"And she's going down", Bruce grins as she sees a horde of kids flood into the atrium where cakes are being served. He then turns his attention back to his sons: "But, I uhm...Didn't expect you here."

"Likewise, B."

"Out for a brotherly trip?" he tries to sound casual as if he didn't hear Jason just now.

"Sure."

"Right..." he glances down at the giftshop. "Just the two of you?"

"Yup", Dick agrees too quickly. "Just us."

Seeing Bruce tiptoe around the conversation isn't highly unusual. He's not being Batman right now after all. But he is just with his son, people who know him. He shouldn't be that circumnavigating, unless, he wants to avoid embarrassment.

"Say what you want to say B, we all know you heard us talking", Jason drags him back to the topic at hand. "Or don't, but don't dance around us like we're paparazzi."

"I uhm...I'm not going to dive into personal topics at the planetarium. But you know I do care about you, right?"

"Sure, whatever", Jason brushes it off. "Love you too pops, see ya at home at 9, toodles."

"Jay, I mean it."

Taking Bruce seriously when he looks like a half spit out NASA chew toy sure proves harder than one thinks it is. "I..."

He fiddles with the ribbon of the balloon.

"Stop being so billionaire playboy", Jason grunts, "It's us, just talk."

"I know about him. Danny."

Jason gulps, regretting his big mouth immediately. "Okay."

"I didn't look into him," he states dryly, like the Bruce they all know. "I didn't know you were here, I was here for the class, and the ticket lady mentioned him."

"Oh really now?" Jason stares in disbelief.

"Really", Bruce pleads honestly. "I walked in and she mentioned how the two of you were here. With a kid."

"And she gave you his name too, right? So nice of her", Jason scowls.

"She did mention it...But-"

"You already knew, didn't you?" Dick lets out, a hint of disappointment showing through.

"I don't want to discuss this here", Bruce says quietly.

"How long did you know, B ," Jason tries not to make eye contact with him.

"Since the Watchtower-"

"You knew?!" 

"Of course I knew, Jason."

"It was Tim, wasn't it?" he snaps at him. "He ratted me out."

"No, he didn't."

Bruce moves to stand next to the railing with them, tying the balloon ribbon around the metal. "He tried to hide it, though."

"What do you mean with that?" Dick asked first.

"He saw you at the Watchtower that night. As well as the boy," Bruce explains calmly. "I sensed something was off but Tim said nothing happened. Sure enough, when I looked at the cams, nothing was there."

"Then how could you know if anyone, definitely not me, was there?" Jason prods. "Nothing to see, right?"

"It's the way I know he tempered with the cams, Jay. I know he was hiding something, I just didn't know what."

"So you started investigating because it was suspicious and that's how you found out about Jason and Danny," Dick sighs. "So much for being a technical prodigy."

"Oh no, he definitely is. I couldn't recover the original footage, so Tim was extremely thorough with that."

"But?" Jason perks an eyebrow.

"But he did some digging on his own in regards to you and your latest activities and he also fell asleep in front of his research, so that definitely didn't help him."

"I am going to snap the kid's neck so he sleeps permanently, " Jason growls, making sure to pay a visit to the Manor soon.

"In all fairness, it was just files on you," Bruce continues, idly fidgeting with the ribbon. "So I had no reason to find it strange. He has covered your tracks before, wouldn't be the first time."

"Then how did you find out about Danny?" Dick asks.

"I didn't find out about him directly," Bruce admits, "I found out because Tim was looking into a scientist couple named 'Fenton'. Of the supernatural variant. After that, it was easy to find out about their children. Or, 'deceased' children, according to the article he dug up. I'm assuming," He points at Danny below, "That was a well written article by you?"

"Well written?" Jason smirks a little, "I'm sure the author would appreciate to hear it."

His smile quickly fades, turning serious once more: "So, what was your plan then? Were you waiting for an opportune moment to confront me? Or him?"

"At first, yes," Bruce continues to watch Danny chat with the lady at the register, "I decided to look into it one day, see what you were going to do."

"And let me guess, you didn't like it one bit," Jason huffs, crossing his arms.

"Honestly," Bruce now looks at Jason again, "I don't think I could be more proud of how you acted."

"Sorry, what?" Jason drops his arms to his side. "Dick, did you hear that?"

Dick blinks a few times before he speaks: "I'm not sure I heard that correctly, repeat that again?"

"Haha, yeah yeah I get it, make that your ringtone," Bruce waves the comments aside with a smile. "But I mean it."

He lets go of the ribbon, hands displayed openly in front of him. "I'm trying to be a better father, for all of you. And I know things haven't been easy since you got back."

"Understatement of the year."

"When you got back, I got confronted with my mistakes head on."

"No need to rub it in, old man," Jason doesn't hold back on the pain that sentence carries.

"Not the mistakes you made," Bruce clarifies, "But mine. How I let you down. How I wasn't there. I am trying desperately to make up for it and I understand that the way I do it doesn't really work out."

"For shit, really?" Jason rolls his eyes, "That's a laugh and a half."

"Jay, he's trying," Dick pokes him in his ribs.

"I know, I am dragging it out for as long as I can," he whispers back.

"Point is", Bruce stands a little closer to his sons, "I saw how you were, with Danny."

Jason waits, he waits to see where this goes. 

"I do wish you would've contacted me so I could help, but you've handled it really well. I would say you're too emotionally attached to him but, the last time I found a street rat in an alleyway he took the tires of my car and I offered him a place at home, so, wouldn't that be hypocritical of me?"

Dick shoots Jason a "I told you so" look of affection before Jason shrugs it off. "Why didn't you say anything afterwards? If you know about him....What he is.."

What I am-

"I..." Bruce sighs deeply, "I wanted you to tell me yourself. Don't get me wrong, if things escalated or if you sneak into the tower again, I will ground you."

"You can't fucking ground me-"

"However, I've come to the conclusion it's no use chasing you down. I'd like you to be a part of our family again, but, only on your terms."

"Is this Batman speaking to a potential threat?"

"It's just me trying to be a better dad", Bruce promises.

"Sure, sure," Jason sneaks a glance at Danny, having made his way up the stairs, no doubt wondering why it took them so long to to come down. He stopped at an expo about the latest technological advancement, equal parts because of genuine interest, and because of Bruce.

"And you have no plans for him at all? Didn't do any more digging? I'm supposed to believe that?"

"You wouldn't be the detective you are today if you did."

Bruce slides his hand into his pocket, taking out a sleek, black phone. "It's not like I could find anything about Danny and his powers. As far as I'm concerned, he's just a meta. One you've been handeling quite well, by the way."

Jason pretends the compliments wash over him, but inside he does appreciate them.

"I did look into other things", he admits, "His friends, family, hometown."

"And what did you find?"

"That the town is supposedly filled with 'haunted activity', which I will look into later, but the main things I am interested in-"

"You mean worried about-"

"Interested," Bruce corrects his second eldest, "Are his parent's research, Vlad Masters and the GIW."

The two vigilantes make sure not to react as they see Danny behind Bruce tense up, no doubt listening in on the conversation.

"I take it you both know about those."

"All you need to know is that they're of no concern. To you."

"They are of my concern because I have a feeling they aren't done with Danny yet."

That does incite a reaction of Jason: "In what way?"

"I found out about something called the Anti-Ecto Act."

"Danny mentioned it, yes", Jason makes sure not to draw too much attention to it.

"I am trying to get it rescinded."

"Just like that?" Dick asks in disbelief. "Why? How?"

"It doesn't take someone with a law degree to see how flawed this law is. Not to mention it's based on biased research published by scientists who would sacrifice the first entity they find in the name of 'science'."

"I don't want to take over," Bruce continues, "But I don't want to sit idly either. It's not really in my nature."

"It's not for anyone in this family," Jason crows softly.

"I will take care of all the behind the scenes stuff, the past that should stay in the past."

Bruce then turns around to wave at Danny, who in his surprise almost walks into the cardboard cutout of an astronaut.

"When-" He pauses, thinking over his words, "If, you feel comfortable with it, I'd like to invite you and Danny to brunch."

"Not fucking brunch again-"

"Or dinner! Dinner works too!" Bruce pleads.

The trio laughs, no masks, no lies, no secrets. Jason thinks, taking in the scenery: His family, out on a trip, no fighting, no rogues, no spandex or guns. Just, regular people. How nice it must be to have that more often for him. For Danny.

"I'm...." he contemplates, "Considering it. It depends on Danny. I'm not letting you meet him if he doesn't want to. No offense, but that might not be any time soon yet."

"That's okay", Bruce hides the disappointment well, "I won't force him. The Dark Knight persona isn't the friendliest face after all."

"He's not afraid of him, B. He's afraid of you."

"Of me?" that does catch the billionaire by surprise. "That's a first."

"Yeah, we were surprised too," Dick confirms. "He has some past grievances with the rich and wealthy."

"Masters?"

"Masters."

"I see."

He loosens the balloon from the railing and takes it back into his hand. "I'll see you for patrol tonight," he tells Dick. "And, uhm..."

"You'll see me tomorrow night", Jason adds reluctantly, but affirmed in his choice. 

"Great," Bruce then makes his leave, calling once more over his shoulder before he disappears: "I told the cashier she could put everything you guys want from the shop on my name. Five baskets of souvenirs is not enough to my tastes."

With one last wave, he merges into the sea of visitors, giving Danny the signal that he can come closer now.

"Bruce Wayne huh," he mutters casually. 

"Yup."

"And he won't interfere at all."

"Yup."

"You know that's bullshit, right?"

"Yup."

"What now then?" Danny asks a little on edge. "Does it mean I have to..."

"You don't have to do anything, kid," Jason assures him with an arm on his shoulder. "Except for pick up your souvenirs from the gift shop."

"Well you were supposed to come get them with me 20 minutes ago," he sulks down the stairs.

"Not my fault mister playboy billionaire showed up. Plus," Jason picks up two of the baskets, "He said he's paying."

Danny chirps, grabbing a few more baskets, "I am taking advantage of that."

"Attaboy", Jason laughs shortly, expression souring fast. He takes in the items Danny had collected: snow globes filled with tiny stars instead of snow, notebooks he no doubt will fill to the brim once he goes to school, plushies and pillows with zodiac signs and other constellations. In one of the baskets, he finds a decorated photo frame, swirly purple writing saying "My space-tastic family!" waiting to be filled with a picture.

"He's not safe yet, is he?" Jason asks to himself as he picks up another picture frame, one that makes the stock image family look like they're inside a galaxy.

Dick gives him the answer they both don't want to hear: "No, not as long as that law is still here and those people can move freely."

"I can't leave him behind to find them," Jason recognizes his ordeal. "I'm useless in this scenario."

"You're not," Dick soothes him. "You're where you need to be. With him. Me and B will look into everything else. You just gotta do what you do best with him."

"Which is?" Jason wonders as he follows Danny in his second treasure hunt, grabbing an astronaut photo keychain for himself.

"Easy," Dick hands him a pack of gel pens and a moon shaped notebook.

"Be a dad."

Chapter Text

“Today, is a…special day. No, fuck that sounds stupid.”

Jason looked down at his bathroom sink before staring back at the reflection in the mirror.

“I think today is a little different than others!” he spreads a wide grin across his face, uncomfortable and with teeth that weren’t as sharp many months prior.

He sighs, hands on the faucet and letting the water fill up the bottom of the sink. A quick splash across his face and several curse filled whispers later, Jason’s back to standing alone in his bathroom.

In a while, Danny should be back home from his first day at school. Jason insisted he’d come pick him up personally, but Danny refused, adamant to prove he could handle himself more than enough on the streets of Gotham.

“I gotta learn to use public transit someday, right?” he said with such a warm grin that morning.

The entire day, Jason was feeling restless. It had happened before that Danny wasn’t there, of course. Sure, there were loads of trips he took with Dick, or with his recently recovered big sister he had missed so much, or just little trips to the store, or the times when Jason himself was out for patrols or missions.

But today was Danny’s first day back at school. One that yes, on occasion would have a rogue attack or two, but at least not ghosts. Danny could handle that, Jason made sure of it. And if Danny didn’t handle it, then Damian or Tim would’ve, considering they roam the same hallways now.

That thought still sent shiver down Jason’s spine, but it had was bound to happen somehow. Better than forcing a meeting with the entire family on him, anyway.

Jason walked out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen, checking the fridge for the 9^th time that day. The cake he had made was still there, frosting untouched. The roast he prepared earlier was resting in the oven, waiting to be fired up one last time to deliver an extra fine finishing touch Alfred himself would’ve been proud of.

But more importantly, Jason let his hands glide over a package standing on the counter. He had inspected the contents over and over to make sure it was perfect, wrapping it up with a bow eventually. Good thing Dick wasn’t there to see how he had to retry that joke five times to make the wrapping sit snug around every corner.

Any minute now, Danny would come home to find the gift. 

Any minute now....

Jason grunted, socks sliding across the wood of his living room.

"I've been in situations more dire than this, fuck this shit man." He moved to grab a ball from one of his cabinets, throwing it up and down in his hands to calm his nerves. After a few meditating breaths, he had almost calmed down, until the ball fell straight through his hands.

"Okay, okay, happened before, happened before," he chuckled nervously, bending down to grab it. "Stupid ghost powers that I can't control yet, just you wait."

When he touched the plastic surface of the ball, he focused, making sure his hands were nothing but tangible this time. At first glance, he seemed to be able to wrap his fingers around it no problem, but then, the tips of his fingers started to tingle, then along came a shaking that Jason couldn't control, like his bones wanted to leap outside of his skin.

"What the f-", he yelped, a hot searing pain shooting out through every digit. He stared down at his hand, grabbing the wrist to stop himself from shaking more as his vision doubled. Or, his hand seemed to double right before him. Between grunts of pain, he saw a vivid green outline of his limb shaking left and right as if it didn't know how to get back to the original. It was as if he saw himself drawn on a light table without the artist seeing where the last pencil stroke had been.

What the fuck is going on, why now, what is this, Danny, Danny, he can't see this, he'll be home soon, I need to-

The sound of keys rattling at the front door snapped him out of his thoughts, knowing who was about to walk through that door. With a loud booming voice, Danny walks in, calling out for Jason.

"I'm hooome!" his voice is airy, happy and content until he sees Jason on the floor. 

"Whacha doing down there?" he says, both worried and confused.

"Oh, I um," Jason looks back at the floor, seeing his hand returned to normal. He gently releases his wrists, sensing no more pain. He tried the ball once more, no signs of the struggle apparent as he holds it up for Danny to see.

"I was impatient about you coming home and tried to calm down, normal human being behaviour."

"Uhu," Danny replies unimpressed, "Must've been really stressed about that the way you're breathing heavily."

In all fairness, Jason was under intense stress. Just, not the same kind Danny meant.

"Okay, I dropped the ball cause it fell through my hand and I was working on those ghosts powers," Which wasn't entirely untrue. It was however enough to appease Danny as he made his way over and dropped his backback, eyes drifting over towards the present on the counter.

"So...Is that..." he casually inquired.

Jason snickered, both relieved the pain was gone and happy Danny was so curious about the present.

"Well, since it was your first day at school today, I decided we could celebrate it a little, so I got you a gift. And food of course."

Danny pumped his fist into the air: "Fuck yeaaah!"

"Watch your language," Jason mimicked his older brother as he passed the teen to get the cake from the fridge. "How was your first day?"

"Pretty standard. Introductions were made cause I'm new and all, but there's 2 other new kids as well so it wasn't that bad." He eyed the chocolate cake Jason set down in front of him.

"I also got a temporary schedule for now and I share Chemistry with Tim. Haven't seen him yet though. The other kids told me they hoped I wouldn't be partnered up with him cause he's 'such a lazy ass for barely being there'. Meanwhile I'm sitting there like 'Tim Drake is out there making sure you can even sit your ass down on that chair but sure, he's a lazy ass.'"

"He's hardworking yes, but he doesn't sleep like, at all, which is why he's asleep during 99% of his classes," Jason explains. "Most people who partner with him get his part of the project the morning of the deadline which as you can guess, most people do not like."

"Fair, fair", he admits, sneakily swiping a bit of frosting from the cake before turning his attention to the big red box. "So, what's with the gift?"

"You really can not wait until after we eat cake to know what's inside, do you?"

"Dude, it's like saying 'do not push this button' to me. I WILL push the button."

"Alright, alright," Jason laughs, slicing the cake. "Go ahead and open it."

Danny needn't be told twice.

With the intensity and speed of a cat on crack, he opened up the box to find several gadgets and a suit, neatly folded and topped with a mask.

"Wooow, is this like, my own batsuit?" Danny didn't let it go out of his sight.

"Not a batsuit", Jason clarified, "but your suit. Just because I reclaimed the batsymbol doesn't mean you need to. You're your own person after all."

"But it's definitely Wayne Tech that all you bats and birds use, isn't it."

"Oh yeah," Jason grins when he bites into the moist cake, "You betcha."

"Awesome", Danny lets the fabric glide through his hands, surprised at how light it is. "Do you think it'll..you know, stay on me? When I transform?"

"Well", Jason slides him a plate with a slice, "If I followed the instructions of the CAMERA properly, it should connect with your ectoplasm signature. Perhaps B, Tim or Oracle can make better upgrades to the suit itself but I am not entirely keen on them learning about ghost tech."

"You just want to have one thing related to tech that you're better at than them, don't you."

"How bout you just eat your cake, you backwards noodle."

In between bites of cake, Danny looked over the remaining gifts. An upgraded version of the thermos and cubes, integrated into a toolbelt onto the suit, a kickass mask that covered his entire face and lit up when he turned it on.

"Oh my Ancients, I'm like, Darth Vader," He giggles through the voice modulator.

"Not that you need it of course, but better be safe than sorry," Jason is sure to snap some pictures with the CAMERA to show Dick later. "Now, I don't condone teens acting like superheroes," he did add, "But I know you'd do it without my permission anyway, so I'd rather you have the best stuff available to protect you while doing it."

"Do I not getting any fancy weapons like you have?" he puts on his best puppy eyes for Jason.

"You will get a gun when you're old enough."

"Didn't you run off of roof tops when you were even younger than me?"

"Ah, but not with a gun now, did I?"

"Alfred kept them locked away from you, didn't he."

"I fear one man and that is Alfred, you do not mess with that man."

"Aye, aye, captain", Danny salutes him. "I do wish I could've gotten like, some cool batarangs or something."

"Try on the gloves." 

"Huh?" 

"Try on. The gloves." Jason points a chocolate covered fork at the sleek black and white gloves resting next to the toolbelt.

"Oookay?" Danny complies. "Now what?"

"Now try making those tiny energy blasts, like we practised. Imagine they're taking the shape of a batarang."

Danny scrunched up his nose in concentration, rubbing his fingertips together until finally, a glowing green batarang appears in his hands.

"Holy shit holy shit! I don't even know how I'm doing that!" he exclaims.

"Not gonna lie, I didn't think it would work," Jason admits with a laugh. "I just tried something out."

"Well! Explain! Now!" the boy bounces up and down with more and more batarangs forming in his hands, eager to know how it works.

"It's based on the principle of you using your ectoplasm to convert it into energy. The gloves draw either from your environment if there's enough ambient ectoplasm, or you make them yourself. I've read about ghosts using it to make object for themselves, like weapons and such, or like Johnny and Kitty to fix their bike sometimes, so until you've learned how to do that, you can use the gloves. And even if you did know how to do it already, they help with conducting the ecto around you so you don't have to spend the energy yourself."

Jason proudly continued on how the principle extended for the entire suit and how he had thought about expanding Danny's skillset that way.

"Expanding ice shards," Danny whispered, "That would be an improvement to just throwing them around, I can shoot them as darts and have them expand to immobilise people without hurting them, or I can use them as construction beams for support or to knock people out in an instant or-"

Jason happily watched Danny write down the numerous ways that he could utilise the suit and the new abilities that could grow along with it. He hummed along with his core, like a bird seeing their fledgling fly for the first time. Underneath the mass of emotion, however, Jason could feel something else. Something not quite bad, but not quite good either. An unease, a dam trying to hold something while it was slowly breaking at the seams. Was it worry about Danny not truly escaping the life he left behind? Worry that he'd have to fight at an age no one should be?

As Danny tried on the suit, he tried to drown the claws inside, washing away below restless waves. 

It's Danny's day, focus on Danny.

He watched Danny hesitantly put on the mask, strapping away the few gadgets he had: "Well? How do I look?"

"Like someone the cops want to arrest," he grinned. "You look like a real vigilante."

He turned the CAMERA towards him, showing him the pictures he took. Danny made a myriad of clicks, showcasing his excitement.

"That is one hell of an upgrade from my old suit."

"I sure fucking hope all this expensive equipment is better than that old hazmat suit you wore beforehand."

"Can I test it?" Danny asked, flying towards the mirror in his room to check out his outfit in real time. "Like, properly?"

"You mean, on the streets?" Jason put the remainder of the cake back in the fridge, sensing he wouldn't be finishing it tonight. "Absolutely not."

"But, whyyyyyy" he whined.

"Because this suit is still in testing fase, I don't want you running around in that only to find out it like, makes you get stuck in a wall or something."

"I wouldn't be running around, I'd be flying around," Danny corrected him as he made finger guns at his reflection. 

"Tomato, tomahto, I am not letting you loose on the streets of Gotham. Or the rooftops."

"But isn't the best way to test something to take it out on the road?" Danny floated back to him. "You said it yourself when you were working on your motorcycle."

"A motorcycle isn't the same as a living dead kid," he pushed him backwards as Danny started poking his cheeks in defiance. "A bike I can replace, you, I can't."

"But-"

"No."

"But what if-"

"No."

"But what if we-"

"Don't make me repeat myself a third time, Danny."

"But what if we go out together-"

Jason narrowed his eyes, not liking the impromptu negotiations. "Bold of you to assume I'd even let you out alone in the first place."

"Okay, okay, consider, proposition."

Jason crossed his arms, not intending to give one inch aside from the space left when he raised an eyebrow.

"You need to go on patrol tonight right? Let me come with you."

"No."

"I wasn't done talking yet!

"I am not taking you with me on patrol. Word's out there might be a heist planned tonight and I am not dragging you in there with me without prior training with that suit."

"I won't interfere unless it's safe, I promise!" Danny was practically begging him at this point. "And you said yourself the suit helps me control my powers better right? I won't even use them on people! I can just practice when we're away from the busy streets, I'll keep it to abandoned places to try out the new upgrades and only with your permission, I swear on my grave!"

"Do you even have a grave?" Jason stated.

"Besides the pooooint, pleaaase."

Danny touched down on the wooden floor, taking off his new mask and making the biggest puppy eyes he could muster, helped of course by the hood on his suit, framing his face even more.

"Please?"

Jason groaned, looking anywhere but his kid who of course was aloft in front of him no matter where he looked.

"I will stay close to you, I swear!"

"B will be out tonight too, you know?" he argued, looking up at the ceiling. "What if he decides to meet you in person as Batman tonight, huh? What then?"

"Then I will just 'peace out' and go invisible and leave?"

"What if-"

"Jay, come on!" Danny sighed in exasperation. "You can't keep me away from the world forever."

Jason let out a long, tired groan, knowing Danny was right. If he really wanted it, he'd leave without his permission regardless. Accompanying him would be his best bet. Logically speaking it would be better to be there to keep him out of danger. He could always ping Nightwing to handle the bigger threats if he didn't like Danny being there. Despite the clawing coming back at him, a sure sign to stay home tonight, he didn't like seeing Danny so dejected, so he did what any responsible adult would do in that situation.

He took one last check at the oven, making sure the roast was fine and the oven turned off, when he strut towards his own room.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked quietly, mischief threatening to break out.

"What does it look like?" Jason tossed his helmet on his bed. "Getting suited up for patrol."

"And I-"

"Can come along, yes. Make sure you're ready and everything is cleaned before I change my mind."

"H to the L , Hell yes!" Danny shouted, twirling in the air.

While Danny started cleaning up the little bit of clutter they had back there, Jason strapped on his chest plate. As the kevlar connected, the tingling he felt before spread out across his skin, dancing along the edges of the suit. He brushed it off as the electricity coming from the plate seeping through, paying it little attention as he continued strapping on his gear. As he and Danny made their way towards the rooftops, he focused on keeping Danny close instead of the tremor in his hands.

He hoped he wouldn't need a steady hand tonight, praying that it would be quiet but as he saw a woman dressed in red and black enter through a window with the aids of a plant loving redhead, he knew tonight would be anything but. Especially when he saw Danny eyeing the pair too.

"We're not going there," he grabbed him by the hood and away from the pair of criminals in the distance.

"But it's Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn!"

"Which is exactly why I am not letting you go there. They're probably the ones behind the heist people have been talking about."

"Hood, come on-"

"We are not fighting them, you aren't ready!"

"I don't wanna fight them!" Danny broke free of his kitten hold. "I, uhm... I just..."

"You what, want an autograph?" Jason chuckled. When Danny didn't immediately refute him, his laughter faltered. "For fucks sake, you're not serious are you?"

"Not for me!" he refuted. "My sister is very interested in Harley cause before she went supervillain she was a well respected psychologist. Her books are really good, ya know? And I have a friend back in Amity, she...she would've loved to meet Ivy, even if I can't go back to Amity myself, it would be nice if I could give her something that shows I'm okay and that I spoke with her favourite eco friendly terrorist."

"What makes you think they would even give you an autograph? They're villains, not celebrities."

"Consider that I am very persuasive."

"Bull."

"I got you out here with me in the new suit too, didn't I?"

"I hate how you do that."

"Do what?"

"The whole," Jason paced around the rooftop, "Turning things around on me. That's my thing."

"Oh no, it's almost as if I learned it from you or something. Craaazy, woooow, who would've thunk, weeeeoooowwww."

Normally Jason would've shut him up by shoving a hand in front of his mouth. Now, Danny had a mask on. Regrets were adamant that night and he was about to add one more to the pile.

He tapped on the side of his helmet, checking if anyone else on patrol was already heading over to where Ivy and Harley were. To his disappointment, no one was even in the vicinity. Readying his grappling hook, he gave Danny a side-eye while he stood on the ledge. 

"No fighting."

"No fighting, cross my heart or hope to die."

"Don't say that," Jason replied while soaring through the air.

"What, like we're gonna die again?" Danny smiled behind his mask. He sped up, reaching the building sooner than Jason. "Last one in is a dead loser!"

Without waiting for Jason, Danny silently disappeared in the vast darkness, making sure he was invisible even without the cover of night.

"Never thought I'd ever say it," Jason murmured as he went in after him, "But I'm sorry B, for extra decades worth of stress I gave you as Robin."

Luckily Danny waited for him in the rafters, like a diligent young Robin never would've have.

"Alright, two autographs to go."

Chapter Text

"What do you think they're robbing the place for?" Danny whispers to Jason, crouched behind a metal beam.

"I'm guessing either something related to the fact the owner of this company discreetly disposes of his waste by dumping it and causing a natural disaster, or something related to the fact a few floors below us is a vault with enough money to make both of those clowns retire for life twice over."

"Hey, only Harley is a clown," Danny says in earnest, "Respect the trade."

"Riiiiiigth," Jason concedes. "So, what are you waiting for?"

He gently nudges Danny forward: "Go ask them then."

"Are you insane?" the teen shrieks softly, "They'd kill me on sight!"

"Kid, they don't hurt teenagers, first of all and second, you don't expect me to go get it for you, do you?"

"I mean...It would help a little..." Danny crosses his arms with a huff.

"If I  had to ask Wonder Woman when I was Robin, then you need to ask Harley and Ivy yourself too."

"You asked Wonder Woman for an autograph?" Danny snickers.

"Uh, duh, have you seen her? Don't get me wrong, Artemis is still my favourite Amazon, but someone had to have taste in women around the Wayne household, you know?"

"Fair fair, it's Wonder Woman after all." He glances back down at the women, Harley doing several tired stretches and Ivy typing hastily behind a pc set in the back of a large office floor. Why anyone decided to decorate the place like a classic Gotham henchman warehouse was anyone's guess, but it did provide them with the perfect hiding (and brooding) spot.

"Okay, I'll just go down and ask, no biggie," Danny steps off the ledge, floating forwards. When he's almost down to the floor, he flies back up to the rafters, leaving a gust of wind to ruffle the deadly duo's hair below.

"Nope, nope, can't, I can't-."

"Oh my god, are you chickening out?" Jason chuckles. "What's the worst they can do to you?"

"Chastise me and make me look like an idiot?"

"As opposed to how you do that yourself already anyway?"

"Screw you man, they're intimidating!"

"Alright, I'll-" he grunts, a sharp pain quickly shooting through his chest. 

"Hood, are you okay?"

"Yup", he manages to get out between gritted teeth, "I think, I uhm, my legs are getting tired, I'll go down and talk to them."

Before Danny can protest, he leaps downwards, coming down silently behind Harley.

"Sup Harley," he breathes out, relieved the pain disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Well look what the bat dragged in," Harley spins around with a smile, "Red Hood, where have ya been, toots!"

"Everywhere and nowhere, you know how it goes. What's the party plan for tonight?" he leans on a nearby cabinet. "Don't tell me it's just some bank accounts you're emptying."

"Pfff, do we look like?" Harley cackles. She twirls her mallet around her as she skips back to Ivy. "Some blackmailing and stuff, all for Ivy."

"It's not blackmailing, Harley, I explained this," Poison Ivy sighs with no venom, halting her typing to look at Red Hood. "Anyway, you here to catch us Hood?"

She lifts up a hand to which the plant in the corner obeys, growing vines twice her size:" Cause you know we're not going easily."

"Oh no, I couldn't give less of a shit to be honest," he holds up his hands in surrender. "I actually need a favor from you two."

Harley and Ivy give each other a confused look, checking to make sure they heard it right.

"From us?" Ivy narrows her eyes. "What could you possibly need from us you can't get from one of your other superhero friends?"

"It's precisely because you're not superheroes actually," he looks up, waving a hand at Danny.

"Ya brought another bat or bird without them entering with ya?" Harley pouts, "That ain't no fair play, Hoodie."

"No no, not a bird or a bat." He waits for Danny to appear next to him. When he does, he starts again:

"This is, uhm, wait, what name are you going by, kid?" Jason recalls them not agreeing on a vigilante name yet.

"Uhmmm, uuhmm," Danny stammers, trying to think of a name fast unrelated to his former hero identity:" Inviso-kid?"

Jason groans, shaking his head in disapproval while Harley and Ivy suppress their giggles.

"Inviso-kid, yer sure about that?" Harley pities him. "I mean, it'll be the name people know ya by, so it bettah be good."

"I didn't have time to think about it beforehand!" he defends himself, "Give me a minute, I'll come up with something! Like, uhm..."

"Like?" Poison Ivy continues clicking on the keyboard as she smiles.

"Like, uhm...Shadow Menace, yeaaaah, that sounds okay, right?" he looks at Jason for approval. 

"You are a menace alright", he nudges him in his ribs. "Is it villain approved?" 

Ivy shrugs, not particularly interested in the ordeal: "It's better than Inviso-kid."

"I think it's great!" Harley encourages him. "Can't be worse than like, Condiment King, ya know?"

Danny clasps his hands together in delight. Approval from the Harley Quinn!

His delightful delusion however is cut short when Jason ushers him forward, reminding him of why they're there. Danny clears his throat, sending a weird vibration through the voice modulator as he does so.

"So, uhm, I would like to ask you both, politely if I uhm," He glances at Jason who gives him a thumbs up, "If I could get your autographs?"

Ive stops, slowly turning around on her chair. "Sorry, did you just say-"

"Autographs?" Harley finishes for her.

"Yeah...If it's not too much trouble! If not that's fine too but, can't hurt to ask you know? Because you both are such brilliant women and you have contributed a lot and-"

"Kid, kid," Harley leans over on her mallet, "We ain't exactly saints, ya gets it?"

"No no, I mean, not like that it's just," he nervously rubs his hands together, "My sister had all your books when we were younger. She really benefitted from them with raising both of us and trying to understand the world. And I had, well, have a friend, it's complicated, who admired your work from before you got your plant powers," he glances at Poison Ivy, "She studied your work and publications religiously and you influenced a lot of her own goals and ideals! She got our old town to create a protected forest based on your research on restoring biodiversity in rural areas and-"

"My boy, my partner in spandex and kevlar," Jason put his hands on his shoulders, "For the love of everything, fucking breathe."

Danny takes in a big gasp of air he technically doesn't need, but he relaxes a bit at the movement: "I want to get your autographs for them, if that's okay?" 

He rubs the back of his head absentmindedly. "Plus both of you are also, like, super cool and smart."

Ivy can't help but laugh at the flustered boy in front of her. Seeing Danny shrink a little at that, she clarifies: "Not many people remember or know about our backgrounds that well, it's... nice to see someone appreciate both our lines of work. Previous and current."

"If those bozos hadn't revoked my license, I'd still be doing both," Harley gives him a cackle. Once she's done, she quickly puts on a serious face.

"Don't like that part where yer sister had to use my books to raise ya, though. Those books ain't suited for kids."

"Neither is eating radioactive hotdogs but ya know, c'est la vie or something else French."

"Say what now-"

"Don't ask", Jason interjects, feeling pressed to wrap their conversation up. "But, would you mind?"

"Please?" Danny's puppy eyes don't work all suited up, but the women don't feel any reason to refuse someone as polite as him.

"Alright, I yield," Ivy concedes, grabbing a pen and paper from the desk, sprawling an elegant signature on it before sliding it over to Harley, who dots her name with stars and smileys.

"I better not see this on the black market, ya hear?" She winks.

Danny stares at the paper in his hand, barely registering the names written on it: "Pamela 'Posion Ivy' Isley & Harleen 'Harley Quinn' Quinzel"

"They're so not gonna believe me," Danny whispers as he floats around in glee.

"He flies?" they watch him do loops around the room.

"And other tricks," Jason exclaims proudly.

"Didn't take you for a father figure, Hood," Ivy gives him a smirk and a side eye. 

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Jason asks bewildered, "I am great with kids!"

"Uhu, uhu," Harley laughs as they keep their eyes on Danny, "He's cute though. Wanna pinch his cheeks and all that."

"Of all people, I think he'd let you," Jason chuckles, "Don't be fooled, he's just as much a fanboy as his sister and friend are."

"Yeah, we figured," Ivy agrees. She pulls out a flash drive from the pc, shutting it down and getting up to stand beside Harley and Jason. "So, what now?"

"What do you mean, what now?" Jason replies.

"Well, we did break into this place and I did steal company secrets," Ivy explains.

"I also wanna get some cash from below, " Harley admits, "I ain't got nothing else to do here."

"Hmmm," Jason hums in a similar matter to the Batman himself, "The way I see it, I checked the place for a burglary, and I don't see no one here."

"You see any burglars here Ivy, I don't see none," Harley smiles. 

"No, none at all, Harls, that sure is crazy."

The two pass Jason on their way to the elevator down to the lower levels, waving at him and the new vigilante: "Been nice seeing ya Hood, don't be no stranger!"

Jason gives them a quick salute and tries to catch Danny's attention when his hand falls down next to his side, pain shooting through his arm.

He tries his best not to buckle under the pain, focusing instead on getting his grappling hook to get out of the building again. When he fumbles with the gun, Danny catches sight of him trembling.

"Hood, what is going on with you?" he asks both angry and worried, "What are you not telling me?"

"It's fine, I'm okay," he tries to assure him. He shows him his perfect aim, getting up the rafters again. "See, nothing wrong."

"But there is," Danny pressures him. He stops him when they reach the rooftop once more: "Are you okay?"

"I'm-", he takes a few minutes to breathe, hoping that would help. When the pain in his arm subsides, he looks up at Danny, clearly not believing his denial.

"I'm not," he finally admits, "I don't know what's wrong, but it's not your job to worry about me."

"Fucking bullshit, of course it is," Danny puts his hands on his hips, "You worry about me, I worry about you, that's how this stuff works." 

He floats up closer, arms crossed. "Are you in pain?"

Jason hesitates, closing and opening his fists: "A little."

"I don't believe it's just a little," Danny points at his hands, "You're literally shaking."

"I know, I know," Jason holds up his trembling hands out in front of him. "I don't understand what's going on but if I don't know myself, I'm not making you worry about nothing."

"It's not nothing if it affects you that much!" he responds, "Why didn't you say you were feeling bad?"

Danny floats down, feet touching the rooftop:"Why did you go out with me? We could have gone another time if you didn't feel well, I wouldn't have asked so much."

"Because," Jason grunts as he feels the pain coming back up to his chest, "Today was about you, I wanted you to enjoy today, I don't want you to worry about some small pains."

"But you can trust me that I can handle it!" Danny argues, "Why won't you trust that I can?"

"I do trust-, " Jason stops, falling to his knees and breathing heavily, "I trust-," he tries again but he can't, gasping for air instead. All around his chest he can feel something screaming, something burning, spreading throughout his body. He registers Danny shouting, but not what, the blood rushing in his ears too loud, too hot. He claws at his chest, trying to get whatever is in there out, trying to get that fire extinguished.

He feels Danny's hands on his arm and he howls, every fibre of his being rejecting the touch and he flinches, not at the pain but at how Danny fell back in guilt, scared of something he did. Jason tries to lift a hand, to reach for him but he can't as his vision doubles, as every bone in his body is breaking and setting every second. 

"I-," he heaves, "Sorry-," he tries again, thinking through the pain, thinking Danny, keeping Danny safe.

Get home, go home, Danny, help, Bruce-

He opens his mouth but no words flow out, only screams bouncing of the metal of his helmet and buzzing in his head. He sees Danny reach for his helmet to take it off but he rolls backwards with every bit of strength he has.

It's protected, the electricity, Danny, don't touch it, DON'T TOUCH IT

"DON'T TOUCH!" he manages to be coherent for a moment.

"...Help you!" Danny shakes, mask on the ground next to him and he sees him, he sees him cry, he sees him afraid, he sees him worried and everything he was not supposed to be, not here, not with him.

"Hurts...You," he manages to speak, the pain reaches a degree he knows will cause him to black out. "The helmet...will hurt-"

He fumbles with the metal, glad the gloves he wears provide him with enough friction to be able to take a hold of it. As he takes it off, he gasps, taking in the fresh air that fills his aching lungs.

The cold night air gives him the relief he desperately needs, cooling him down as sweat trickles down his forehead.

"I-, " he stammers, going over his options. 

"Jason, what do I do?" Danny keeps as much of a distance as he can while still being close, trying very hard not to wrap his arms around him again.

"Call-," another surge of pain wrecks its way through his chest, darkening his vision.

No no no no no no I can't leave him here, I can't!

He makes an attempt to put on his helmet again, resting his head on the cool metal. "Call-" he tries again but can't register what he wants to say anymore as he feels his body sway towards the ground. He can tell from the cold touch that Danny is supporting his head, making sure it doesn't collide with the concrete. The words he's speaking at him are lost, along with his vision as he gradually loses consciousness.

"Jason!" Danny cries out, not knowing what to do as he holds him in his lap. He frantically searches for his phone until he realises he doesn't have it with him. He puts on his mask again, hoping he could call Nightwing with it but of course that wasn't the case. The suit was brand new and not connected to the Bat network yet.

He was alone. With Jason crying out in pain and nothing to help him with.

He tries to gather his thoughts: "Come on think, think!"

Danny frantically looks around for something, anything to help Jason when his eyes land on his helmet. 

"His helmet, of course!" Danny reaches for the red metal but retracts when he realises what Jason meant when he didn't want him to touch it. With a short flash, electricity stuns his hands, making him drop the helmet.

"Argh fuck this!" he yelps, "I don't have time for this, how am I supposed to use this when I can't-"

He gets interrupted by another shriek from Jason, body trying to find Danny on instinct.

"I'm sorry, Jason, I'm sorry, I can't-, " he sobs as he looks at his dad. When he looks back at the helmet, he growls, snatching it up and pinning it down on the ground as he forces his hands to phase through it while fighting the tears, disabling the security. When the pain stops, he sighs in relief, putting the helmet on himself.

"Hello?" he tries out, helmet sliding off his hair slightly. " Is anyone there? Nightwing?"

When no one replies, he tries again, voice breaking at the second attempt: "Oracle? Do you read? Anyone?"

After an eternity of waiting, a voice answers: "This is Oracle, who is this and how did you get acces to this channel?" 

"Please, I don't have time for this, something is wrong with Jason, i-is Nightwing there? O-or Batman or anyone! Is anyone here-"

"I don't know who you are or how you know Jason, but if you did something to him-"

Oracle gets cut off by a bone chilling shriek.

"He's convulsing, I don't know what to do someone please! Help him, please help my dad, please!"

"I-, I notified Batman, he's-"

Danny hears the mic get muffled on the other end. He prays the line didn't somehow get cut when no one speaks for a few minutes, until he hears a familiar voice.

"Danny, are you there?"

"Dick?" he sobs, "Dick, Jason's shaking and in pain, I don't know what to do-"

"B is on his way, he'll be there soon, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's Jason!"

"Is he injured?"

"I don't think so, he just said he was having pains and then he just collapsed."

Overhead, thunder rolls over Gotham, bringing rain with it. 

"Stay where you are, okay? We'll be there soon, you'll be okay-"

Danny doesn't listen to what Dick is saying next. As the rain pours down on the duo, he curls over him, putting up a dome of ice to protect them from the cold rain. With the storm roaring from the distance, drowning out the sound from the helmet, he sobs, holding Jason close to him and softly chirping at him, making sure he could hear him even if he was unconscious.

Hang on, dad....

Chapter Text

Covered hands dug into the steering wheel of the Batmobile, keeping them from shaking. Every so often, Batman snuck a glance behind him as he watched his son shake and seemingly phase out of the straps keeping him in place. Next to him, Danny tried to keep himself from lunging at the down vigilante by keeping his arms crossed.

Batman cleared his throat with a soft grunt, not sure of what to say. When he arrived on the rooftop Oracle sent him to, he didn't expect to find Jason performing a painful impression of Martian Manhunter encased in ice, and even less so a distressed Danny trying to keep the ice dome from covering the entire roof.

When he asked him what happened, the boy was as clueless as he himself was. Trying to get Jason into the car next was even worse. Every so often he would fall through their hands, almost hitting the cold, wet ground. It's a miracle in and of itself he didn't fall out of the car while driving to the Batcave.

The entire road home, nothing showed up on scans, on physical exams or on any occult screenings they had on hand. All Batman could do was break the speed limit thrice over in hopes of finding a solution back home.

As they approached the woods towards the cave in the distance, he finally spoke up again in a hushed voice, hoping not to startle Danny.

"Are you alright?" he asked a little awkward. Of course the boy wasn't okay. He just saw his father figure and mentor convulse and collapse onto the floor without knowing who to call, what to do or what to say. But he had to start somewhere.

Danny didn't take his vibrant green eyes off of Jason, replying with just a shrug.

"We'll find out what's going on, I promise," he tried again. 

"Sure," Danny said eventually. "Sure..."

Batman refrained from any more conversation with the teenager, knowing that it didn't help any more at the moment. As he neared the entrance of the cave, he called in:

"Batman coming in."

"Copy that. Med bay is prepared for your arrival. Although..."

He waited for Oracle to continue.

"I'm not sure what I needed to prepare for so we're just....waiting with everything we have."

"That's alright," he watched Jason tremble in he rear view mirror, "We'll...figure it out as we go. Entering now."

He pulled up as close as he could to the platform, jumping out of the car immediately as he opened up the side for Jason to be pulled out. Dick and Alfred were already waiting for him, stretcher behind them while Barbara watched from upstairs.

When they moved to intercept Jason, Danny leapt in front of them, creating a solid slab of ice that he held afloat in front of him. He carefully loaded him onto it, making sure he wasn't overusing his superstrength.

"We can help you carry him," Dick offered.

"I know," he said as he continued, ignoring the offer. He carried the slab of ice with Jason on it towards the med bay, not even stopping to say anything to the remaining vigilantes in the cave.

"How is he?" Dick asked Batman worriedly. 

"Jason, or Danny?" 

"Both of them," he trailed behind the teen.

"According to Danny, he stopped shaking as violently as when it first started, but he's still convulsing and often times phasing through solid objects although it's been manageable."

He took off the cowl and watched Danny settle him onto the prepared bed in the med bay. "Danny hasn't spoken much since then."

"Yeah," Dick sighed, "Makes sense."

"Status on the others?" he continued in typical Batman fashion.

"Tim and Damian are on their way home. Duke and Steph offered to take their patrol tonight. They don't want to admit it but," he continued as he hooked Jason up to several monitors, "They're worried about him. Pretty badly."

"He's their brother," Bruce muttered as he typed something into a computer, "I'd be disappointed if they weren't."

"Danny, buddy," Dick carefully stood next to him, "I'm gonna need you to move a little, I need to attach some wires."

Despite the protests, Danny eventually let him, closing the distance instantly after Dick was done.

"Dick, reset the system, his vitals are all over the place." 

Dick examined the monitor, one moment it showed Jason as being perfectly stable, the other he was dead on all accounts. 

"I don't think it's the machines," Danny offered. "I think it's just him."

"What do you mean just him?" Bruce inquired. "He can't be both dead and alive."

Danny stared at him, eyes glossing over for a moment: "I am."

"Do you think he's..." Dick folded his arms. "Dying?"

"I-..." Danny mulled it over. "I don't know. I just know that if you hook me up to something like that, the same thing happens. I sometimes fake vital signs but if I don't, that happens too."

"You fake vital signs?" Bruce exhaled in disbelief.

"I technically don't have a beating heart anymore, nor do I need air," Danny explained. "I make my heart pump around blood and take oxygen in sometimes to fake being alive. Kept doctors off of my case when I just died."

"Okay..." Bruce put that away for later, "Does that mean that Jason has died...again?"

"I don't know," Danny sounded irritated, "Just because I'm a halfa doesn't mean I know everything about ghosts!"

"We're not saying that," Dick assured him, "But you're our only ghost reference here and I think we both know that whatever is happening to Jason," he glanced at his shaking brother, "Isn't a normal human thing."

"Yeah no fucking shit," Danny's voice cracked, "Don't you think I know that?" 

He started pacing next to Jason, leaving tiny snowflakes around his feet. " I know this isn't normal, I know this is something ghost related, I know it's a problem and that he's in pain and that something is wrong but I don't know how to fix it, how the hell am I supposed to fix it, I don't-"

"Danny, " Bruce looked him in the eyes, "No one expects you to fix it. We're just putting our heads together, okay? You know what you know, we know what we know, we'll go from there."

It didn't stop Danny from the attempted sobbing, but it did stop the pacing around. 

"Okay."

"Okay," Bruce turned towards Alfred and Barbera: "Sit rep."

"So far, our equipment is as good as useless. It keeps showing him dead and alive, and any readings we do come back with nothing. All we do know is that he's breathing, in pain, shaking and struggling to stay conscious."

"Right, " he then looked back at Danny, "What do we know on the ghost side?"

"He has been developing his ghost powers," the kid rubbed the back of his neck, "Just the basics, invisibility and intangibility. When I got home he said he dropped something because he was training his intangibility, but later on he said it just happened and that it hurt. I think that has been happening all evening."

"Alright," he typed it into the computer, "Could it be a final stage of development? To exclude this being malevolent."

"I can't say for sure," Danny admitted, "For me it was just being stuck in a wall every once in a while and that happened to Jason too when he just started out. It has never been...I've never been..."

Danny reached out a hand for Jason, halting just within reach and letting it rest on the bed. "The only time something like this had happened to me I was fighting a ghost or when...When I..."

He gripped the sheets, hand straining as he clutched the fabric. He looked up at Dick: "When I...Like when we got back from the Watchtower but not....Like the first time-"

"Hey, hey," Dick put his hands over his, carefully helping him release the sheets, "I get it, it's okay."

The boy nodded, stopping his explanation to take careful breaths while Dick clarified.

"He's referring to his death," he told the other adults in the room. "It's...," he rubbed Danny's hands, "It's something very personal."

"I'm sorry," Bruce said in a gentle voice. "I don't wish that upon anyone."

"Could it be," Barbara spoke up, "Could it be related to Jason's death? From all those years ago?"

"I don't really know how that all works, I just know how it is for me. It's different for everyone."

"I don't mean to insinuate that," Barbara held up her hands, "But maybe it is related somehow."

"What if we check the CAMERA?" Dick suggested. "Could it help us further with that?"

"The CAMERA-," Danny's eyed went wide, "I completely forgot about that stupid thing-"

He fumbled with his belt, looking for the small device. He pulled it out, holding it out in front of him. "Please have something on here to help here, please please please-"

Danny flicked through several tabs and functions, having circled through them all multiple times before Dick stopped him: "That one, maybe that could help?"

He pointed at a tab labeled 'Medicine and Mourning' , opening it up expecting to find a wall of text or an index when instead, the screen retraced and a voice spoke up:

"Welcome to Medicine and Mouring, this is your Ecto Emergency Assistant, how may I help you?"

"Uhmmm..." the attendants in the room nervously glanced around.

"Uhm," Danny started, "Could you tell me what's wrong?"

"Scanning."

A green beam of light emerged from the device, engulfing Danny and scanning him from head to toe: "Stress levels elevated-"

"Not me, not me!" he pointed at Jason, "Him!"

"Affirmative."

The disk spun around, hovering over Jason and performing the same action it did with Danny.

"Abnormalities detected. Delayed Core forming. Interrupted Core forming. Severe Ectoplasm deficiency. Last Resort forming. Ecto decontamination-"

The list went on and on as it showed a screen displaying the abnormalities it found, increasing the worry on Danny's face as it continued.

"Stop, stop," he pleaded, "What does that all mean? How-, how-"

"Jason's core has been undergoing accelerated formation after having been malformed when his core was created. The acceleration combined with the Last Resort forming as close to his death date has resulted in a severe instability and Ecto Poisoning."

"Explain that in words I understand!" Danny screamed with tears in his eyes. "What do you mean accelerated? What Ecto Poisoning, death day?!"

Before Ecto Emergency Assistant could answer his question, Jason screamed, hands digging into the bed and through the sheets. When they tried to restrain him and put him back onto the bed, they froze, unable to move even a finger as they had to watch him trash around. The air in the room reeked of fire and smoke, pressing onto their chests and forming tears in their eyes. It took all their strength not to collapse on their knees as Jason continued to yell and growl in ways no human should be able to. With one final cry, his eyes rolled back into his head, body going limp as if nothing had ever happened.

As Jason laid still, the others fell towards the walls and bed railing, gasping for air and trembling on their feet.

"What-" Bruce gasped, "Happened-"

"I-, I-", Dick tried, steadying himself as he tried to answer. When he opened up his mouth, he could only continue taking as much air as possible. When enough air had filled his lungs, he searched for any signs of an attack until his eyes landed on Danny, curled up on himself on the ground.

"Danny-," he crouched, giving him a thorough look  over, "Are you hurt, are you okay?" 

He wanted to put his hands on his shoulders but stopped when he saw Danny shrink in further, as if his touch was going to burn him. 

"Danny, what's wrong-," he started being desperate, having not one but two ghostly family members seemingly in pain, unable to help. He saw no injuries on him, just a scared and crying kid. Above his head, he could see a crown flickering in and out, a ring and cape shimmering before eventually all three disappeared altogether.

"It's so painful, so violent, how can-," Danny whispered as he rocked himself back and forth, "I can't deal with this, why- why-"

"Danny what are you talking about?" Dick's felt his throat close. He looked at Bruce for help, finding him being just as perplexed and lost.

"He was just a kid, just a kid," Danny cried out, "We were just kids!"

He looked up with dark sclerae and green irises glaring at the vigilante, fangs bared and claws protruding through his gloves.

"Danny-" Dick stood his ground, not backing away even when every fibre in his being told him to run as far away as possible, "It's okay-"

"IT'S NOT OKAY!" he bellowed as he jumped up, stance feral and aggressive.

"What the fuck is going on here?" a new voice rang from the doorway. Facing the entrance, they saw two masked faces staring right back at them, staff and katana at the ready.

"What demon have you brought home, father?" the smaller one of the two spoke plainly, leveling his sword.

"Weapons down, he's not violent," Bruce gestured towards them. 

"He doesn't look like it," the taller one disregarded the order, pointing his staff at him.

"He's not, Dick pressed further, directing Danny's attention at himself: "Danny, look at me, we have to focus on Jason, okay?"

"THIS IS ABOUT JASON, HIS PAIN, HIS-," Danny's breath started shaking, his chest heaving as he closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. With trembling hands, he folded back into himself, arms wrapped around him again while tears streamed down his face.  

He slid against the wall, knees pressed to his chest while the black faded from his eyes and his claws retracted. The eerie green however stayed behind closed eyelids as he sobbed. 

"Stupid-", he rubbed the tears away, "goddamn ghost powers, stupid kingly ghost powers-" he hiccupped.

"Are you okay?" Dick sat down next to him, carefully hovering a hand next to Danny, which he eagerly leaned into.

"Fuck no-," he croaked, "Reliving my own death is awful enough, experiencing someone else's just sucks."

"What do you mean reliving a death?" one of the voices in the doorway asked. "That's impossible."

"Don't fucking tell me what's impossible regarding death," Danny snarled with fangs not entirely gone.

"But-"

"Robin, enough," Bruce scowled. "Danny, could you explain?"

"It's-, it just-, it fucking sucks-," he rubbed at his eyes again. "If they told me defeating the last king would result in me having a bajilion more powers I would have politely declined."

"More, powers?" Dick chuckled dry to relieve the tension. "Isn't what you have enough?"

"You'd think so right?" Danny luckily returned the laugh, "But nooooo, make you feel your subjects pain and death, that definitely is the bonus I wanted."

"You can feel their-," Dick smacked his lips, "That is...sucky."

"Yeah," Danny scoffed, glad the remaining tears were the last ones coming, "It's not even my own grief, it's theirs mixed with how I feel about it and it's so overwhelming and-"

He took a deep breath before he finished explaining: "You already feel a little of it anyway when you're a regular ghost or halfa. But I guess being a king makes it like, ten times worse. No wonder Pariah went mad."

"So," Bruce interjected, "Does that mean you experienced Jason's..."

They all stared at the man on the bed, seemingly peacefully asleep.

"The beating, the Joker, the explosion," Danny exhaled, "I don't like, feel what he felt exactly but like, it's as if you're sharing it? I don't really know how to explain it. Think of when you've heard someone you care about tell about a bad experience, and you get mad on their behalf even though you weren't there yourself."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Bruce apologised, "Jason's death was..."

He put a hand on the railing next to Jason's head, not sure if he was allowed to touch him: "...very violent and hard on all of us."

"I know," Danny dropped his arms next to his body, relaxing a little , "I can tell."

"Are you sure you're okay though?" Dick asked once more. 

"As okay as I can be, I guess."

He hoisted himself off the ground, choosing to float rather than stand while he crossed his legs in the air. 

"I don't really care about me right now, I care about Jason more." He reached for the CAMERA, holding it gently in his hands.

"Are we not going to address what happened just now? Are we just going to ignore the whole screaming, hissing etc. ?"

"Tim, I don't think that is high on the priority list right now," Dick pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's been a day."

"Wow, really, not even going to pretend I have a secret identity, much grace, Dick," Tim rolled his eyes, taking off the mask and rubbing his face.

"My dear brother I don't think Danny cares or didn't know already anyway."

"Didn't care, don't care, you do you bird boy," Danny muttered, looking through the CAMERA.

"Tsk, as if it matters to some civilian like you," Robin scoffed.

"It doesn't, I couldn't give less shits, Damian," Danny glared at him, "But just to be clear, I've been a vigilante longer than you, and if I cared about titles, I'd rub it in that I'm King of the Infinite Realms, but sure, as if it matters to some vigilante like you."

"Why you devil spawn-," Damian readied his katana at him, halted only by Bruce putting a firm grip on his shoulder. 

"Children, Jason is currently going through whatever ghost related problem this is and currently the only person able to help us is already very, very annoyed and irritated, let's not make it worse, alright?" 

Damian growled, but complied, putting his sword back in its sheath: "What is your solution then, oh so important King?"

"Fuck if I know," Danny said dryly, stilling going through the contents of the device in his hands. "Scan Jason again."

The device complied, performing an examination once more. The results however, were mostly the same, except one major difference:

"Core stabilising."

"What does that entail? Is he recovering?" Tim tried to come closer, looking at the device in wonder when Dick held him back. 

"What, I just want to see!" Tim whined. 

"Yeah no, your ecto signature hasn't been added yet and I do not want you to trigger the security on the CAMERA."

"What security?"

Danny grabbed the CAMERA and floated towards him. He stretched out the device closer for him to see when loud music started to play, the display gone.

"That security," Danny smiled, backing away so it would return back to normal. "If you're not me, Dick, Jason or Jazz, you can't get within close range of it if you want to sneak a glance at its contents."

"Well, that is just shit," Tim frowned. "Teach me how to do that."

"You can chat all you want later, " Bruce stopped him from asking more questions, "Is Jason alright now?"

"I think so?" Danny looked at the CAMERA again. "Maybe?"

"What do you mean maybe? Is he or not? After that... whatever the hell that scream was, " Barbara pointed out, "He hasn't moved a single muscle since."

"I don't know, stop thinking that I do!" He yelped back. "I know just as much as you do right now!"

"Calm down okay, let's see."

Dick took the CAMERA from him, looking at the diagnosis: "Okay so, if I understand correctly, his core is stable now, he still has Ecto Poisoning, and he just....made? Created? Formed? A 'Last Resort' ?"

"What do any of those even mean?" Bruce inquired.

"The Ecto Poisoning is from his core being unstable and malformed," Dick read out,  "Normally, a core will generate its own ectoplasm, kind of like blood in humans. Jason's however was malformed and because he was basically possessing his own corpse, it got contaminated, which is why he had what we called Pit Rage. According to this, the glitching he experienced was his 'living' side fighting with his 'dead' side, like the dead were rejecting the living and vice versa because his core was trying to stabilise too fast by creating healthy ectoplasm."

"Why was it stabilising too fast? How did it even do that?" Tim wondered.

"I'm not sure..." Dick murmured as he clicked on the other tabs. "It says here accelerated core forming can occur when exposed to more potent ectoplasm or when binding to a stronger core. Like if you would feed an infant protein shakes and pure carbs instead of baby food. And I suppose someone's death day can affect them as a ghost and halfa, especially when in a state like Jason's."

"Has it been that long already?" Bruce murmured. "Since...."

"It's usually not a day we celebrate, you know?" Dick tried to soothe him.

"But Jason hasn't been close to any Lazarus Pits since then," Bruce changed the subject, trying not to linger on the thought of this happening on the day Jason had put away the Robin mantle for good all those years ago, "where could exposure like that have occurred?" Bruce pointed out.

"I don't think it's Lazarus Pits that would do that, honestly. I thought those were bad ectoplasm pools anyway, right Danny?" he looked up from the CAMERA to the young teen.

"Danny?"

"Hmm?" Danny hummed somberly.

"Hey, you listening, champ? You got all that?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that."

He fiddled a ball of ice in between his hands, seemingly avoiding Dick.

"What's bothering you?" Tim asked pointedly. "Unless you're uninterested in Jason's condition."

Taking the bait Tim laid out, he barked back at him: "Of course I'm interested, asshole."

"Then why the dejected demeanour?" Dick continued before Danny could strangle Tim. "If I'm not understanding it correctly, you can correct me you know?"

"You're not, I know, it's nothing."

"It's not nothing if you're suddenly fidgeting again," Dick said, "I know you longer than today, kiddo."

"What if it's my fault?" Danny suddenly snapped. "What if this is because of me?"

"What makes you think that?" Dick asked incredulously.

"I think he's referring to his own core, correct?" Bruce clarified. "Yours being fully developed and with your status as King, being stronger? You think that influenced him."

Danny nodded, attention back on his hands. "It makes sense. He's been developing his powers only after we met. I'm the only one with a core."

"No, stop that," Dick crossed his arms out in front of him.

"It makes sense-"

"I know it makes sense and that it can be a clarification, but you're doing the 'this is all my fault and I'm an awful human being for it' spiel and I am having none of it."

"But-"

"No, no buts," Dick stared him down, "You didn't know, you couldn't have known, don't play the blame game like that. Jason wouldn't have it either if he knew you were doing it now either."

"B-", he stopped himself, seeing Dick already raised a daring eyebrow saying 'try me'.

"Fine, no blame game, I guess."

"Good. Now let's focus on the rest. He has a stabilising core, but he still has Ecto Poisoning. How can we counter that, Emma?"

"Emma?" Danny asked. "Who the hell is Emma?"

"Emma!" Dick tapped on the CAMERA," The Ecto Emergency Assistant. E- EM- A!"

"Oh good lord you're such a dork", Barbara rolled her eyes.

"And you know it!" Dick gave her a proud grin, tapping along on the CAMERA.

"Advised treatments for Ecto Poisoning: Abundant exposure to pure, healthy ectoplasm, recommended procedure bathing. Core retraction."

"Neither of those are exactly possible right now," Danny hovered next to Jason. "I don't think I want to see human body retreat into their core or to bring him into the Far Frozen right now."

"The what?" Bruce pondered.

"It's an area in the Ghost Zone where you have yeti's who are expert healers but I don't think Jason can muster going through the Ghost Zone in this state. Not to mention the other ghosts who wouldn't mind fighting both him and me."

"First off, I am 99% sure that none of those things are real things and I'm in some kind of social experiment," Tim interjected, "Second of, aren't you the king? Why would they attack their king?"

Danny shrugged, holding up his hands in surrender: "Ghost culture. They won't continue if I tell them no, but it's just how ghosts work."

"Suuuuuuuure," Tim tapped something into a tablet of his own, letting the ghost teen continue.

"Any other options?" Danny asked hopefully.

"Ectoplasm transfusion from a Haunt member."

"Oh great, if I recall correctly, Jason's parents are dead, so if they're ghosts I can just find them in the Ghost Zone and ask them."

"So Haunt member is the same as family member?" Bruce asked, "And we'd be asking for a blood transfusion."

"Kinda yeah. Haunts are sort of like territories where ghosts roam. Haunt members are the people who are allowed to roam that territory with them. Often enough it's family members who died together or end up together again."

"Alright then, I suppose that we could do that, although I don't really like the thought of you going off on your own like that," Dick admitted. 

"We don't really have much choice do we?" Danny landed next to him, stretching as he prepared to make a portal. "Alright, where is the nearest Haunt member?"

"Nearest Haunt Members: High King Phantom, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Damian Wayne. Recommended member for transfusion: High King Phantom."

"Sorry what-" Danny snatched the CAMERA from the air. "What the fuck do you mean me?"

"More importantly, what do you mean, every single person in this room?" Dick took it back from him. "None of us are dead."

"Well, technically speaking you are all liminal, so, you could be part of the Haunt. Like how Jazz is part of mine."

"I'm actually quite surprised Jason sees us as part of his Haunt," Barbara expressed her amazement. 

"Todd was always the more emotional one," Damian grunted. "A weakness, really."

"Is that why you looked so touched when your name was mentioned too?" Tim jested.

"I will deny any of such accusations," Damian huffed as he looked anywhere but his sibling.

"Going back to the matter at hand," Bruce brought them back to the conversation from before, " Would it work if we use our own blood? We have spares for emergencies."

"Unless you have pure ectoplasm coursing through your veins," Danny casually explained, "I don't think it would."

"Fair enough," Bruce conceded, "Alfred?"

"Already preparing for transfusion, sir."

The butler was already on his way to collect the right equipment, leaving the rest of the batfamily to their devices.

"I know it's a frivolous thing to ask, but, are you alright with donating, Danny?" Bruce gave him a pleading look. 

"Even if something possessed me to say no, you could have literally pulled it from my cold dead body if it means helping Jason."

"Hey, consent is important," Dick said. "It doesn't hurt to ask."

"Fair enough, fair enough," Danny conceded.

"Not to bother you and your trivial small talk, " Damian spoke up, "but I would like you clarify what that 'Last Resort' means."

"Yeah I kinda want to know too," Tim admitted. "We didn't really, like, address that."

"It's a last resort, what more do you want?" Danny replied nonchalantly.

"Oh wow, that really explains it all, right?"

"Truly clarifying, Drake, we have all our information now."

"Oh wow if even Damian joins in on the sarcasm," Dick elbowed Danny, "Then you've really done it."

Rolling his eyes, Danny made himself clear: "It's basically a ghost's most powerful move. A guaranteed escape plan, so to speak. It has a big cost so that's why it's called a Last Resort."

"And Jason has one," Damian asked matter of factly.

"I believe his is some type of paralysis, considering none of us could move back then. It's most likely related to him not being able to move after he was beaten and then killed in that explosion."

"So it's a recollection of one's death, channeled into an attack that drains a ghost because it's related to how they became a ghost," Tim recounted.

"Uh, yeah," Danny agreed in amazement, "That was, yeah pretty much it."

"What?" Tim replied when Danny didn't stop staring at him. "It all becomes quite logical when you understand the basics of ghosts."

"You know about it for like, 20 minutes?"

"And? Like it's hard?"

"Okay, smart ass I'll keep an eye on you in the future," Danny narrowed his eyes.

"Do you have one?" Damian continued his interrogation. "A Last Resort."

"Pff, all ghosts do, it's normal."

"But do you?"

"That," Danny smiled sharply," Is none of your fucking business."

"What, does the High King not have one?" 

"Damian-" Bruce chided.

"I am merely inquiring about it considering Jason's was formed only now."

"Death is a personal thing," Dick responded instead. "Don't push those things."

"Who hasn't been revived these days, it's not that bad," Damian muttered under his breath.

"Oh yeah, sure, sure, everyone can be revived, yeah but imagine being killed by the thing that revives you," Danny shot back angrily. "Imagine being stuck between the dimension of the living and the dimension of the dead and that dimension both killing you and keeping you alive while your molecules get all rearranged to become a stranger to both worlds."

Danny stared at the monitors connected to Jason while he continued ranting: "Imagine electricity forcing dead molecules and living tissue together and fusing you into something that is hated in both worlds while you're screaming for someone, anyone to come help you until your throat is burned and your nerves get fried and revived for an eternity while you're dying."

"Danny," Bruce gestured calmly as the lights started to flicker and the temperature dropped significantly. 

"So yeah, I do have a Last Resort, a scream that hurts both me and everyone around me to a point I can eradicate an entire town that I had to use on my own evil self from a future where he used that power on everyone I love."

He kept a cold stare in his eyes as the lights settled again, along with the room temperature as he finished talking. 

"I...apologise," Damian spoke softly, realising the error he made. "That was rude and I understand my mistake."

"You wanted to know, you got your answer."

While the silence hung heavy, Alfred approached with all they needed for a transfusion. "Everything alright, sir?"

"Yeah," Bruce accepted the needles, bags and tubes. "Just tired and tense tonight."

"I see..." Alfred knew not to pry. "Shall I prepare a room for you?" 

Danny didn't realise Alfred had asked him until Dick asked him again. 

"Oh, no, I don't need to sleep."

"Your ghost half doesn't, but the human part does," Dick reminded him. "I don't think it matters if you do Alfred, I doubt I can pry him away from Jason tonight."

"Very well, shall I at least provide you all with some sustenance?"

"I don't-"

He stopped, interrupted by sounds of several stomachs growling.

"I take that as a yes," he smiled, turning on his heels and upstairs.

"If all is okay," Barbara also turning her wheelchair around,"I'll be heading back to the monitor."

"Of course, Dick and I can take it from here," Bruce looked at Tim and Damian. "You can go and rest up."

"Yeah, no, we'll get changed and be back soon," Tim took Damian with him, "See you for dinner!"

As Bruce started prepping the needles, Dick moved to the other side of the room next to Bruce. 

"You okay too dad?" he asked. "It's been....a night."

"I'm quite alright, thank you for asking."

"Everyone in your family are such bad liars," Danny snorted as he watched him work.

"You're part of it, you know that also applies to you, right?" Dick smiled.

"Ha ha, so funny," Danny conceded, transforming back into a human so the needle could pierce his skin.

"Like it or not, the CAMERA confirmed it," he said while inserting the needle into Danny's skin, "You're one of us idiots."

"Maybe being alone on the streets wasn't so bad," he sighed, feeling the adrenaline fade as he settled into a chair in the corner, next to the bed.

"Truly one of us," Dick chuckled, seeing Danny start to close his eyes.

"I'll wake you up for dinner."

"Hmmm."

"You too old man," he pulled Bruce back from the monitors. "Go rest."

"I could say the same to you."

"Eh, my kid, my responsibility."

"Eh, my kids, my responsibility," he parroted back.

"How bout we do it in shifts?" Dick offered.

"Fine, I suppose that could work."

"Alright, first one is on me, get some coffee ready."

"Sure, will do."

He lingered a bit in the room, thinking of his next words.

"Anything I can get or do for Danny?"

Dick smiled, the even rise and fall of Danny's chest making his shoulders relax. "Just continue what you're doing. You're doing great."

Chapter Text

"You've always been the most emotional Robin."

"Are you sure you can handle this?"

Jason could barely make out the thoughts swirling inside his aching head, a splitting pain pulsating through every vein.

"Use your brains for once, not your brawns."

He's telling his arm to lift, to help alleviate the pressure upstairs but it stubbornly stays down, refusing every command to move. A mere groan is all he can muster.

"You're an outlaw, you don't have any rights here."

With another groan, he wills his fingers to move. Reluctantly, they agree, letting him open and close his hands. With a bit of persuasion, he manages to at least lift his lower arm, albeit slowly.

"Hang on, dad."

"Danny," he croaks, creaking open his eyes, his arm finally complying as he rubs his tired eyelids. When he finally opens his eyes, he has to remember not to scream.

Above him, a glowing, floating green eyeball stares right at him, way too close for comfort but not close enough for Jason to grab it. It gently flies to the side, giant pupil fixed on his being. Returning the stare contest invitation, he keeps his gaze towards the eyeball as he tries to hoist himself upwards.

"Greeting-"

"Oh my fuck you talk, you talk, okay-" Jason stammers, falling off the bed as he scrambles back. "Where are-, when-"

He glances around while recognition of the familiar barren rock walls seeps in. 

"When did I get to the cave?" 

"Well that would be approximately 39.5 hours ago, Earth time."

"I-, okay, okay, I'm...not sane enough for this, what-" he gasps, feeling a slight tremor in his hands.

"Do not worry, you have been stabilised. This is merely the aftershock," the glowing eyeball stated matter of factly.

"Right, right," Jason said, feeling the tremor subside already. "So, you're saying I'm fine?"

"That depends on your definition of 'fine', but if you are referring to your hand, then I can say it is in fact functioning like it should."

"Oh. Good," Jason smiles as he launches a tray right at the eyeball, hitting it right in the iris.

"Oh my gods I didn't think that would hit you," he says as he scampers out of the room, "But I'm glad it did!"

His victory escape is fueled by familiar voices coming out from the other side of the cave, giving him the strength to keep going. It does not, however, give him the elegance to do so as he manages to fall over his feet right as he leaves the med bay, tumbling to the ground.

"Are you absolutely fucking insane?" he hears Dick groan while he lifts him up.

"No I'm testing gravity, actually," Jason mutters. "It works, by the way."

"You're so lucky Danny didn't see that, he would kill you-"

"Too late," a grim looking Danny replies, coffee mug in his hand. He puts the steaming cup down, helping Dick carry Jason to a couch. When he is assured Jason is alright, he sighs.

"Don't you ever fucking do that to me again," his voice is soft while his arms remain tight around him, scared to let go. "Ever."

"I'm sorry Danny, if I knew, I'd have-," Jason whispers while one hand rubs circles on his back and the other holds Danny's head close to his. "I'm sorry."

"You owe us like, 20 litres of coffee," Dick speaks up with a shaky voice. "Not including Tim."

"Don't tell me you were worried about me," he teases his older brother.

"They were very worried about you," the green eyeball appears once more. "Annoyingly so, if I may say so myself."

In an instant, Jason is holding the coffee mug threateningly in front of him while Dick lets out an undignified yelp.

"What is that?" Tim came rushing down the stairs, bo staff in hand and bunny slippers on his feet.

"Oh, I am-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhh!" the eyeball was interrupted by a green energy blast originating from Danny's palm, sending him back into a wall.

"I heard a scream!" Bruce joined Tim with a sleepy Damian trailing behind him.

"Why do you all look so shitfaced?" Jason turned to them while the others kept looking at their new guest.

"It's 4 am what do you think we were doing at this hour if not patrolling?" Damian retorted as they all descended the stairs.

"Fair enough," Jason conceded, now also looking at Danny. "Care to explain the energy blast?"

"No," he pouted, still curled up against Jason. "No I do not care."

"Your Highness, please, " the eyeball appeared before them again, "There is no need fo- PLEASE JUST LET ME EXPLAIN-"

Danny lowered his glowing hand ever so slightly, calming the eyeball just a little.

"I told you not to call me that, don't you have anything better to do? Can't you like, bother Clockworth or anyone who isn't me?" Danny lulled his head back, black hair falling in front of his eyes, now coming with a set of eyebags.

"Ah, but it is Clockwork who insisted on observing, I am merely following orders. And, while I am here, I could also, of course, persuade you to-"

"Say paperwork once," he glared at him with glowing eyes, "And I will send you not only straight back into the Zone, I will send you in a goddamn thermos."

"Buddy, hey, " Jason whispered to him, "Could you a least explain what and who he is, and what he's doing here? I woke up staring to him so I'd like to know what I'm punching back into the Zone."

"You woke up to-, " Danny snapped back to the eyeball, jumping from his seat.

"I have an-" he dodged another energy beam, "Explanation," another ecto blast surged past him, "for this!"

"I draw the line at stalking my loved ones, I made that very clear last time, you piece of ecto shit!" Danny growled.

"Please your Highness, it is of utmost importance that I am here, I swear!"

"Paperwork is not! Of utmost importance!" 

"Yes, yes it is!" 

"Can we PLEASE, get an explanation?" Bruce's voice boomed throughout the cave, signature batman scowl adorned on his face.

Danny sighed in defeat, rubbing a hand over his face. "That there, " he pointed at the eyeball, "Is an Observant. They see the past, present and future of a singular timeline and are in charge of what you could call, all things ghostly administrative. They're also stupidly annoying and do not help you out in any case."

"I can assure you my work is instrumental to the upholding of the Ghostzone and in turn of Earth," the eyeball swirled its cape with a huff.

"Hmmm yeah sure, that's why you were in my bathroom when I was showering. Or at school during class. Where were you when I was getting my ass kicked, hmm? Or when Jason was-" he lamented. "Point is, they never do anything. Except when they want something from you."

"First of all, that was not me, those instances were my other associates," it clarified.

"And you are?" Tim asked bluntly.

"I am Observant DA-E111945-"

"We'll call you Dave," Tim interjected, sitting behind a laptop. 

"Tksk," Dave scoffed, "Dave?"

"If he says it's Dave, it's Dave," Danny agreed, settling back next to Jason. "What is the purpose of your visit, Dave?"

"Well, aside from the obvious, namely the paperwork that you need to prepare for your official coronation, I am here to update your Haunt data and provide your new members with the appropriate information and mandates, as you are sure aware of."

"Uuuurghghgh," Danny buried his head in his hands. "Let me get this straight," he groaned," I've just had Jason wake up from several days of recovering from some fucked up ecto disease, which, you could've helped with considering you watch my every damn move, but instead, you're here now because of the new stupid titles and shit he gets?"

"That is a rather undignified way of portraying it but yes, I am here for him and the other Haunt members. Besides, we knew he would be fine after his diagnosis, you all treated him well. I'm sure Frostbite would be proud."

"I am souping you, I am so damn souping you," Danny got up, looking for the thermos but stopped as Jason held him in place like a wild monkey.

"What titles are we talking about?" Jason asked innocently, "Like, does it matter much?"

"Of course it does, as his Highness' parental figure, you receive the title of King Regent until he is of age, afterwards it shall be Duke or simply Lord. All your Haunt members shall receive their ranks and titles accordingly to your status."

"Parental figure," he smiled teasingly at Danny, "You see me as your dad?" 

"Oh calm down edge lord," Tim teased him back, "We already know you see him as your kid."

"And also how you perceive us, Todd," Damian joined in. "Truly heartwarming how you love us so."

"Like you didn't blush when that was revealed," Bruce ruffled his hair.

"Going back to the matter at hand," Danny quickly changed the topic with a croaking voice, hiding his own blush, "You can like, do all of that paperwork on your own, they have no use to any of them here anyway."

"Of course it is, they need to prepare for your coronation too. Wouldn't want them to appear in those rags they call vigilante outfits now do we?" Dave replied.

"Excuse me-"

"I worked very hard on my outfit-"

"Like your attire is so much better?"

"I just want some coffee-"

A cacophony of voices argued back and forth, giving Danny and Jason some respite.

"Are you okay?" Danny looked at his hands, searching for a tremor.

"I'm okay," Jason assured him by holding his hands, "You did great."

"I just called for help," he shrugged, "I didn't know what else to do."

"That was the right call, you did good. Glad you could call Dick, really."

"Right...Yeah, I- I did," he lied. "You...gave me a real scare."

"I'm sorry," he apologised again, "If I knew it was this serious...Whatever this was, I'd have talked to you sooner."

"Why do I think you'd Jason your way out of it anyway?" he chuckled.

"Oh, okay, wow, since when is 'to Jason' a thing? What did I do to deserve that?" 

"Okay," he answered himself as Danny deadpanned him, "Nevermind, I did deserve that."

"Glad you know that too," Danny gently nudged him.

"So," he took Danny under his arm, making sure the pressure was just right, "You're alright with...you know, being like....my son? Gods that, that's something I need to get used to I guess."

"Yeah no, don't start like that," Danny chortled, "But yeah...You uhm, you're my dad, boogie woogie woogie or whatever. Ghost wise at least."

"Yeah...." Jason watched along with Danny as Damian brandished a knife at Dave, "Would...you like that to be human...I mean, would you like that to be the case here, on this side too? Don't have to of course, I still see you as my kid regardless, but I know your thoughts on adoption by rich people."

"I...would like that," Danny admitted, "You'd need to ask Jazz for permission first thought but, yeah. You're an okay rich asshole."

"That's the kindest thing you've ever said to me," Jason mimed wiping away a tear as he sniffed, "So proud."

"Regrets, regrets, I have regreeeeeets," Danny sang as he received a knuckle sandwich from his ghost dad and soon to be legal dad.

"You better know it," Jason smiled wildly, pride filling his chest and resonating with his stabilising core.

"I YIELD," Dave interrupted them with a shriek, "FINE, I YIELD."

He floated towards Danny, handing him a scroll: "Here is the information you need, please sign it all accordingly, let your Haunt members read and sign it and- OW!"

A green batarang hit him in the back of the head, sticking out like an antenna.

"When did you make those?" Jason whispered to Danny.

"I was bored, I needed to occupy myself while you were passed out," he whispered back. "Practised my ecto creation skills a little."

"I don't know whether to be glad or scared now you've given my little brothers more weapons to study and use."

"Eh, I can always freeze their hands."

"Touché"

Danny then got up, chasing Dave around as well and landing next to Damian, pulling on his special gloves and making more ecto-rangs.

"Could you make me a sword like these?" Damian eagerly accepted the batarangs, "I'd like to test it."

"Not until I'm sure you won't use it on me."

"Wise words, Daniel. Wise words."

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" Dave eventually screamed, backing away from the tired vigilantes but not before facing Jason one last time.

"Be prepared," he whispered, voice metallic and hollow, "His battle for the throne might be won, but his fight is far from over."

"What-" Jason tried to ask but found the Observant gone already.

"What did he say?" Danny shouted.

"Nothing," he answered with an assuring smile. "Nothing to worry about."

---------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere in Elmerton

"Did you locate the signature?"

"Yes, we have located it, however due to the large amount of resident ectoplasm, we have not been able to pinpoint it."

"And you are sure of it?"

"Yes, sir. It's him. We verified it with our other source."

A wide grin cracks open as the man continues: "And how is that source doing?"

"Retreated into her core, sir. Her form is no longer stable."

The man closes a folder, content with the answer as he puts the thick bundle of information into a cabinet right behind a matching one.

"Soon, our collection will be completed."

"Sir, another thing?"

"Yes?" he turns, closing the cabinet Phantom behind him.

"We picked up another signature, similar to his but more violent, unstable. Seems it is newly formed"

"Well well well," he speaks, voice low and velvety, "Two halfas in one city, what are the odds?"

He crosses his arms behind him, two security guards promptly beside him as he walks towards the exit. "Prepare our finest team. All methods allowed."

"Where to, sir?" One of the guards holds open a door as he puts on a white coat.

"Why, Gotham, of course."

Chapter Text

To be back at the Manor was, of al things, more lively than things had been with just the two of them at their apartment. In more ways than one.

The whole 'meet the family' thing was never Jason's forte, especially not with Danny. Considering the circumstances at which this particular instance happened, it could not have gone worse of course.

It wasn't that he was counting the days they'd been here and not at their own little piece of home, and it definitely wasn't that he got a little antsy whenever he saw Danny hanging out with his family (well, technically, their family) because wouldn't these normal, mundane interactions in between breakfast, the normal, ordinary conversations about what Damian and Duke were doing at school mean that, maybe, it all was normal?

Maybe it wasn't that bad to have ended up here again, after all?

So far, things had been uneventful.

Boringly so.

"We're leaving."

"What?"

Bruce nearly dropped his spoon as he scooped up another bite of carrot-pumpkin soup. "Right now? Where to?"

"Not right now, obviously," Jason rolled his eyes, slathering a bread roll with butter, "I wouldn't be so rude as to leave in the middle of dinner, do you know how much time Alfred puts into cooking for you lot?"

He dipped his bread in the soup, letting it soak all the moisture in.

"But I don't know," he shrugged as he felt several eyes zeroing in on him," Probably a couple days from now? I'm being courteous here by announcing it."

"And by we, you mean you also asked Danny?" Dick asked nonchalantly.  "Who says he wants to leave?"

"He is sitting right here, and can hear you too," Danny graciously slurped from his soup. 

They waited for him to continue as the liquid got refilled as quickly as he consumed it.

"Thank you, Alfred," he thanked him as he continued to eat, "But yeah I would like to, spread my wings like a Robin, as they say."

"Not a single person says that, Daniel," Damian patted a serviette along his lips.

Danny groaned, resting his elbows on the table: "I told you not to call me that."

"And we told you he will keep doing it regardless," Tim spoke up, not looking away from his tablet, "Trust me, he won't."

"I am tenacious if anything," Damian smirked. "And also, I couldn't refer to you as Todd. That would be confusing. Although both of you share the same stubborn defiance."

"You're defiant-"

"I'll fucking show you defiant-"

"Ahem," Alfred glared at them once, and only once, to which the boys sat down once more.

"In any case," Danny spoke again, "I was never one to stay cooped up, even in a manor. Scratch that, especially in a manor. I need to like, go do something, punch someone in the guts for robbing an old lady, ya know? I will literally explode otherwise."

"That seems a little over dramatic," Duke piped up softly. "Or...do you...actually?"

"I mean, I probably won't?" Danny waved his hands around. "But like, you know how, hmmmm...."

He pondered over his soup how to best explain it.

"You know how certain mechanisms are designed to do one thing? Like move in one specific direction regardless of obstruction and they'll keep doing it until either they or the obstruction breaks or both?"

"I didn't think of that before but I get what you mean, thanks," Duke replied with a nervous smile and continued eating quietly like before.

"Point is," Jason continued for him, "We know you guys just don't want us to leave, considering," he gestured towards himself," All of that, but I, have a business to run and Danny needs to do, uuuh,"

"Vigilante ghost training!"

"Yes, that, totally," Jason agreed. "Plus it's getting a little crowded with us all together like this for such a long time."

"It's been months since we've finally been able to sit together like this, Jay," Bruce swirled his spoon around, "With no one on patrol during dinner, thanks to Superman."

"Which, by the way!" Jason completely turned towards him, "Are we never going to address that?" 

He looked at his siblings: "You just bat your eyelashes at Supes and he just happens to be in Gotham with nothing to do so he will happily patrol for you? Paranoid you? Who wouldn't let us patrol on our own for, how long was it, Dick?"

"Oh for me at least several years."

"You pummeled criminals while cackling, Dick. It wasn't just for my own sanity, that was for Gotham's sanity."

"Point taken," he admitted defeat with a grin.

"Anyway, not the subject, not important," Bruce waved the topic aside, "It's just, medical observation."

"Medical. Observation," Jason repeated.

"Yes."

"B. It's been weeks."

"Recovery can take up to several months."

"I'm fine. We're both fine," he growled more than he grunted. 

"Can we not discuss this during dinner?" Bruce pleaded. 

No, that wasn't right, Jason thought. Bruce doesn't plead, he orders. Demands. Requires. He does not plead. Pleading insinuates care and expectant empathy. 

As much as Jason didn't want to have any of that, didn't want to feel any guilt because why? Why should he feel guilty or bad about wanting to go home with Danny? 

Maybe, he already was without accepting it.

Regardless, he sighed: "Alright," he held up his hands in surrender, one hand holding bread and the other a knife, "We'll discuss it later."

"But-" Danny wanted to protest. A swift glance at his dad however, made him realise that this wasn't the right time to discuss his freedom. He too had to admit, they weren't held hostage. They were held onto. A feeling he usually only got from his sister, friends and Jason since recently.

Having a whole extended family was something he needed to adapt to. The least he could do now was appreciate the food that family's butler made.

Not that he had any trouble doing so.

Dinner dragged on, like several others to follow. And still, they remained at Wayne Manor. 

"Oh I need some help with this case"

"I totally need to show you this latest thing"

"Have you seen this? You gotta check this out!"

By being as obnoxious as possible, they managed to keep the pair tied down. Yes, they knew it was to prevent them from leaving. Yes, it felt absolutely suffocating.

But, it also, felt nice, for a change.

No patrols, no work, no fights.

No danger.

That last part especially is what made Jason so easy to persuade. Ironic considering having Danny meet this circus full of monkeys and what nots was the thing that had unnerved him most of all, but now that it happened, he forgot how nice it was to have more people to fall back on.

Not that he didn't have that after he left, far from it. The Outlaws were often at times more family than his actual family ever was. Sides he could show them but never Bruce. Vulnerability which could resurface with Artemis but never Dick.

And yet, seeing how Danny got along better than he expected, seeing how he himself felt better at ease within the tall walls and polished wooden floors than he wanted to let on, he couldn't fully go back to this life. 

The life of the second son, second Robin.

He still remembers, as he walks down several corridors, how his pictures had been removed when he had died and only a while after been put back. How worn out the carpet leading up to his room was, the threads thinner than they were when he was still alive.

He remembers how the dust in Dick's room sat quiet longer than it usually would. How the dust in his room never settled, as if the room itself was waiting for his return.

There was an urge to fill up what he left behind, the gaping hole that death made into the small family of barely four. A hole that never quite got filled, not even when he came back.

After all, he came back wrong.

In a place as big as this, having so much room could feel intoxicating. A sense of freedom that concealed how truly trapped you felt. 

A bird in a cage, made to perform.

But there was safety in that cage. Food and water. Warmth, and shelter. 

A cage, no less.

Was he not putting Danny in that same cage? Was he going to exchange his wings for golden bars? Was he-

He stopped at the end of another hallway, right in front of a large, ornate mirror. Jason clenched his fists, landing his knuckles against the grainy wallpaper of the wall next to the mirror.

"Am I like Bruce?" he whispered to his reflection.

"I sincerely hope you're not," a voice rang from behind him.

Looking back at him in the looking glass were a pair of green speckled icy blue eyes. Danny calmly walked up to him, forehead slightly creased in thought.

"I don't think you are," he added finally. "You're similar, in a way, but not the same."

"In a bad way?" Jason asked.

"In a bat way," Danny replied.

The older vigilante chuckled, pressing his back against the wall and running a hand through his hair. Danny mirrored him, opting to cross his legs mid air instead of leaning against the walls. He continued as he floated:

"You both have that same, tenacity, I guess you could call it?" he scratched at the back of his neck. "You have this almost obsessive urge to protect the people you care about most."

"Well, according to EMMA, that seems to come with the core," Jason retorted. 

"Okay just because you happened to have that-"

"And so do you."

"JUST BECAUSE I HAPPEN TO HAVE THAT-", Danny gestured dramatically before settling down again. "You both just want the same thing."

"Done in different ways."

"I guess?" Danny turned to lay down mid air. "I'd like to go back home, but there could have been worse ways to be right now. Also the food, man."

"Told you Alfred is amazing."

"I am going to like, find his favourite author in the Ghost Zone or something like that. Portal to get him his favourite limited edition tea or such."

"I think he'll appreciate you just complimenting his skills."

"Okay but tea though."

"Valid, valid," Jason sighed happily. They listened to a clock ticking away from the other end of the hallway as Danny drifted up and down, taking in the place Jason lived in, as short as that time was. 

He could hardly imagine Jason, the Red Hood, living as some rich kid in a mansion, going to galas and being the latest Wayne addition. Then again, Sam also lived that life and was nothing like the elite her parents mingled with.

"I can't imagine you as a kid running through these halls," he eventually admitted. "It seems so foreign."

"What, the running through a mansion or me being a kid?" Jason chuckled. "I used to be your height too at one point you know?"

"Ha ha, yeah yeah built like a brick shithouse Todd," Danny rolled his eyes. "I dunno," he looked at the ornate artworks and paintings on the walls, "You just never, I mean, I know about your Robin days. But I can't really see you in bright primary colours or clinging to a teenage Dick like that."

"Hey woah woah, I did not  'cling'," he held up his fingers in quotation marks, "Dick was barely around when I got here. Emo rebellious ass was too busy."

"Emo-," Danny floated closer, " rebellious ? "

"I tell people this ALL THE TIME," Jason waved his hands in exasperation, "But Dick! Was never! A sunshine! Kid! He was a bitch boy!"

"Le gasp!" Danny patted his cheeks. "No fucking way."

"Yes way!" Jason got off the wall. "Come on," he dragged Danny away, all the way back to his room. 

"Where are we going?"

"I'm gonna-," he opened his room, unlocked as locking a door in this house would never be locked longer that 0.3 seconds anyway, "Show you."

Despite having been here for a while, Danny had never been inside Jason's actual room. Always retreating to his own guest bedroom (which Bruce insisted on could be his own actual room) or one of the other hundred rooms they all commonly used, he respected Jason's privacy that much.

Piling into the spacious bedroom, Danny expected things to be...different.

Large red curtains draped onto the floor ever so slightly, framing the giant windows and bound by golden tassels. A bit too ornate considering Jason's usual taste, but considering this was a manor and not an apartment in the city, he guessed it made sense.

As Jason went over to a drawer, Danny inspected the built in shelves:

Several objects were put on display or carefully laid out like little keepsakes. An old version of a batarang, with a different alloy. A little pin, shaped in the signature Robin R. A note, hastily scribbled down on a napkin reading "Thank you" laid underneath it. A crudely carved birdarang, or maybe it was a birdarang that never got repaired, Danny didn't know.

On the shelf next to it were several books, neatly stacked together and arranged alphabetically. On was leaning against the others, seemingly missing it's predecessor which Danny found laying on the night stand next to the bed. A small drawing protruded out from the the back of the book, indicating Jason was almost done with what looked like a well worn book. He couldn't make out what the drawing was, only a signature D.W. at the corner.

"Where did I put them-," Jason muttered as he was looking around the wooden edges of the drawer, definitely not looking inside it like a normal person would.

Danny let him continue, walking over to the walls lined with pictures. Several people he didn't even recognise, most of them he did. It showcased how little he knew about Jason before his death. Or even from before they met. He did know that some things, he best not know at all.

"Found them!" Jason laughed triumphantly, having seemingly disassembled the drawer somehow.

"What'cha got there?"

"Blackmail" he grinned. He pushed onto one of the handles and to the side of one of the panels and the disassembled drawer became whole once more. "Dick never figured out how to get into the secret compartment. And I also have some copies elsewhere so he wouldn't bother even if he did."

"So," Jason plopped onto his bed with a browned envelope in his hands. "Now this, is what Dick looked like back when I was Robin."

He handed Danny a pile of pictures, some of Dick, some of Jason, and some of both of them.

Danny hardly contained himself as he let the different depictions of Dick slide through his fingers.

"Not the heavy eyeliner-" he nearly cried, "Ancients above, the mullet-"

"And the foul language back then!" Jason exclaimed, "He's all 'watch your language mimimimi' now but if I had a nickel for every time that man spouted profanities or insulted people, I would be richer than Bruce."

"But he's so, he's such a-"

"A golden retriever?" Jason laughed," A goody two shoes? Dick is the most unhinged Robin out of all of us. And that says something."

"With your current Robin that is surprising," Danny admitted. "And here I was thinking you were the trouble child."

"Hey, hey, come now," Jason put his hand to his chest, "Don't mock my reputation. I was a delight back then. I am a menace right now only because the people around me were worse."

"Pppffffft," Danny pushed him off the bed with only a tiny bit of help from his super strength. "Bet?"

"Fucking bet!" Jason leapt up again. "I am the one and only Red Hood, of course I am."

"Aight, mister Red Riding Hood-" Jason delivered upon his kid a whole tray of knuckle sandwiches as Danny continued, "When are we sneaking out then?"

"Oh, are you challenging me?" Jason felt delighted to see Danny have a bit of mischief going on for him, "Are you challenging me?"

"I'd say yes, but it is hardly a challenge," Danny taunted him. "I do want to be back on time before dinner tonight though, so let's make it a race."

"We gotta make it a race the Flash can't even win," Jason gathered the pictures again, "I have to help Alfred prepare. Timing is key with this roast."

"Normally I'd mock you for saying things like that," Danny whirled around him, " but having tasted his cooking I'm afraid I'll get cursed if I do."

"Yeah," Jason hid away his blackmail folder again, "Do you wanna race the civilian way or the vigilante way?"

"Uh, duh? ", Danny replied mocking him. "Soul divorce style."

The rings flashed over him in an instant, revealing his vibrant green eyes and white hair once more.

"We gotta work on your catchphrases," Jason said already walking out the room. 

"What, going ghost not good enough? Let me sewer slide? Gonna sleep with the fishes?"

"Nooooo."

"Pushing daisies?"

"Gods help me", Jason groaned as he closed the door.

"Singing with the angels?" Danny continued.

"Who raised you?"

"The dead?" Danny retorted. "You?"

"Man did I do a poor job then," he laughed.

"Oh!" Danny clutched his metaphorical pearls, "I am at a loss for words!"

Despite being at a loss for words, Danny continued to make several jokes until they almost reached their apartment. Of course, he won by a mile.

"I don't know why I thought I could win," Jason huffed as they reached the final rooftop. "You cheat."

"Uh, you said vigilante style. Not my fault you can't fly as a vigilante," Danny responded with a cheeky smile.

"One day," Jason laughed with his voice modulator on, "One day I will win."

"Sure, whatever you say pops," Danny lazily flew ahead. "You think we can go back in real quick?" 

Danny pointed at their place: "I want to grab some ecto cookies."

"Wouldn't they have gone stale after all these weeks?" Jason pushed himself off from the ground.

"The cookies. The cookies made with ectoplasm. The cookies made with the stuff that keeps the dead alive. The ectoplasm cookies-"

Jason put his gloved hand against his mouth, the fabric of Danny's mask muffling his laughter a bit.

"I get it I get it, jeez," Jason teased him, "I'll leave you behind next time."

"Little old me?" Danny phased through his hand, "You wouldn't dare."

He floated off the edge towards their apartment building as Jason suddenly grabbed his hand.

"What, scared you'll lose again?" he joked.

"Something's off," Jason turned serious. "Look at the windows."

"I don't see anything at the windows."

"Exactly."

Jason tapped the side of his helmet. "When we left, that night, what did we do?"

"Uh, I don't really recall?"

"Were our curtains open, or closed?"

"Open?"

"So why are they closed now?"

Danny turned to look at the windows again, eyes narrowing: "Someone's in our apartment."

Jason readied his grappling hook, guns at the ready as he aimed: "Time to welcome them then, don't you think?"

"Homecoming it is."

As the duo made their way over, they waited, using Danny's powers to enter their little abode once again. Cloaked in darkness, they made out a figure rustling about the place, carefully looking over every cabinet, crack and object they could find.

At Jason's signal, they both wrestled the figure to the ground, Danny pressing his knee on their back and Jason holding them at gunpoint as he turned on the light of their apartment. Immediately, he was startled by the sight:

"B?" 

"Br-, I mean, Batman?" Danny's eyes widened.

"Hnnggg," he groaned in response.

"Gee whiz Batman, what the fuck are you doing here?" Jason exclaimed as he lowered his gun.

"Investigating," he replied as Danny released him.

"Investigating what, exactly?" Jason's anger rose. "Behind my back no less? I-, for fucks sake, I was starting to finally trust you a little!" 

Jason waved his hands around exasperated. "You do this every damn time, you know?"

"I have an explanation, I can explain-"

"Well then start explaining fast!" Danny joined in, equally mad, "Is this just a billionaire thing? Lying to people and then backstabbing them? I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, man!"

"I wasn't lying-"

"Not telling someone who lives in your own house that you are breaking into their home while not letting them leave is kind of like lying and if I may say, a little if not a lot of manipulating!" Jason yelled. 

"I was trying to make it safe!" Bruce yelled back. 

"By breaking and entering?" Danny snapped.

"I admit that was not the best way to do it, but it had to be done discreetly, I don't know who else is listening or monitoring you."

"Aside from you, of course?" Jason bit back.

"I swear," Bruce held up his hands, "I only arrived today. I wasn't planning on doing it. But I needed to check."

"Check what? That we're not a threat? That I needed to be collared and put on a leash?" Danny's venom was palpable. "That I wasn't going to hurt Jason?"

"Only at first, but-"

"Oh, so you do think I'm dangerous, of fucking course," Danny hunched in on himself. "It's always, always the same-"

"I was not investigating either of you!" Bruce hissed. "I was investigating the people hunting you."

"What?" the perplexed vigilantes stumbled backwards.

"I looked into it a while ago," Bruce admitted, "First it was just you, yes, I admit that, but I knew you weren't a threat any more than Superman is. And I trust both of you with my life. But the reason you ended up here, the reason you had to run...."

He looked over at Jason: "I needed to be sure that it wouldn't follow you here."

"W-what did you find?" Danny turned more transparant. "Did they?"

"I-" he stopped, eyes on the windows. A fleeting shadow cast over the curtains.

"DUCK!" he yelled, grabbing Danny with him as the glass shattered over them. Smoke filled the room along with several figures in white, honing in on Jason. Several dropped to floor already as Jason took them out, leaving Bruce with Danny.

The table shattered as Jason got pushed towards it, dropping his guns from the impact.

"Oh yeah, guess what you fuckers, I got some new upgrades!" he yelped triumphantly.

"Jason don't! They're not-" 

Danny got cut off by Jason's ear piercing shriek, dropping lifeless to the floor as the figures in white loomed over them, weapons in hand that marked the horrifying signature of Danny's family heritage.

"B, you have to help him, don't let them take him," Danny begged him with tears in his eyes as he turned the assailants next to them into human icicles. "I can buy you time!"

Bruce nodded, already crossing the distance and taking out the people dragging Jason's body away.

"Like hell you will," he growled as he landed his kevlar boot with a sickening crunch onto one of their faces. The other tried with the same device, landing it on his lower abdomen and grinning widely, only to be met with a fist as Bruce knocked him out cold.

"I don't know what you think you're achieving with that thing," he said, turning to the last assailant who was very eager to suddenly leave again, "But it won't work on me!" 

With a swift punch to the gut, the third one lay motionless on the floor along with his colleagues. Enemies down and secured, he focused on Jason.

"Can you hear me? Hood?" he checked for vitals, glad those were at least still there. "Jay, can you hear me?"

With a groan, Jason slowly turned towards him. 

"Hey, easy, easy," he helped him get up, propped up against the couch. Not the first time that had happened. 

"Wh-," he wheezed heavily, "Danny?"

"He's okay, he's-" 

Bruce turned, scanning the room for the kid. 

"Danny?" he left Jason on the ground, going back to where he last saw him. Then to the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom-

"Danny!?" He yelled, voice filling with desperation when he found only his mask.

He was gone.

Chapter Text

"Why didn't you protect him", Jason snarls, barely held back by Dick and Tim.

"You were unconscious!" Bruce replies, equally exasperated. "He begged me to help you, he held his own-"

"Yeah, I can clearly see that!" Jason is on the verge of tears, fighting against his brothers.

"Jaylad calm down", Dick struggles with his younger brother.

"We won't be doing jack shit if you're behaving like this", Tim added onto that. 

"Son, I-", Bruce started but got shoved towards the cold, damp walls of the Batcave. He can fight back, he knows, but he doesn't. He understands the severity and the anger his second eldest is going through, having been in his shoes several times before.

"I don't need you to be my dad, I don't need you!" he holds his eyes brimming with green onto his father's. "I need the detective to find my son."

"And we will, we will find him, but arguing with me won't speed up the process."

Jason relents, slightly. His hair bounces wildly between his fingers as he paces before the giant monitor. 

"I can't think straight, I-" 

The last time he felt this panicked, he was half the size he was now, half as mature as now. Standing surrounded by more family that he ever had before, he felt utterly alone, defeated.

Useless.

"Captives?" he eventually asked, feeling the nervous buzz of a very unnerved core resonating throughout his body.

"None that are talking," Damian eventually chimed in. "Unless I am allowed to do the interrogation."

"No," several people responded, turning Damian's usual sulking expression even more sour.

"I'm not saying we have to sever their phalanges," he clarified, "but normal human interactions don't seem to work on these people. They have seen things. Things that scare them more than we do."

"I'll show them something to be afraid of", Jason growled as he stormed towards their holding cells. Now usually, they don't keep people right at their own home. Especially not the kind they don't know much about. The Justice League has custom rooms just for guests like these and even then, there's plenty of other places to go. 

Quiet, unknown places. Far away from prying eyes. 

Right now though, none of those things are of Jason's concern.

Let them see. Let them come here. I'll be waiting if they do

He swiftly made it to a wide corridor. At the end, blue tinged energy shields resonated against the rocky surface of the ceiling and floor. Several cameras monitored the movement of the people locked up inside of the box. One of three captives was stretching, seemingly unbothered by their situation as they chattered along about nothing to their coworkers. As if they hadn't just kidnapped someone.

My someone.

Jason tapped a code on the nearby keypad, teeth grinding together as he felt them become sharper the closer he got to his intended target.

The box separated the three into their own little corners, making sure the other two couldn't make a break for it as he dragged the last one out of his cell.

"You can't-" they sputtered, sliding across the floor as Jason held onto their collar, the fabric barely held together as the edges of his fingernails started to rupture through his gloves and tear into their uniform.

He never slowed down, no matter how hard they pleaded or cried out how this was a violation of their rights, not even when he jostled them through and through in front of the remaining Batclan members.

Only when he reached their sparring room, did he drop the impromptu prisoner, right in the middle of the room.

"Do you know where you are?" he whispered low, voice layered with static.

"You can't keep me here against me will!" they tried to defy him.

Jason smiled dryly, making his way to the console panel they used when they trained here: "You see, I personally don't use this room as much."

He tapped something into the console, the exits blocked by a similar energy field as from the cells.

"Red Hood, don't do this", Nightwing stood on the other side, knowing full well what his brother was planning.

"We use it for simulations," Jason continued, "scenarios where we train for, among others,  those kinds of events that aren't really limited to just bank robbing and minor criminal activities. World ending threats and the like, you know?"

"What, you think a simulation will scare me?" the figure scoffed. 

"Of course not," Jason replied in earnest. "That's not what I'm doing."

With the exits sealed, he walked back over to the person on the floor, crouching next to them: "What's your name, pal?"

"Go fuck yourself"

"I see, well, it was more of a courteous action, I don't want to be rude when I am calling you names."

Jason examined his gloves, noticing the growing claws. "I don't like it when I'm beating someone to a pulp without a little bit of basic interlocutor etiquette. See, for example."

He pointed towards himself: "I'm the Red Hood, you even get to see me without my helmet on, only a minor mask for you, that sure is special."

"You see," he cocked his head, a canine peaking from behind his smile without his consent, but not unwelcome, "that kid your boys kidnapped?"

He whispered in their ear, hand on their thigh as he let the claws sink in, drawing pinpricks of blood: "That was my kid."

"Are we not, like, going to stop him at all," Tim asked Bruce and Dick from afar. "He's going to kill them."

"Not until he gets what he wants," Bruce acknowledged. "Until then, we are on stand by."

"B, are you sure?" his eldest asked. "Jason's not....stable."

"Nightwing," Bruce kept his gaze on Jason. "What would you do if you were Jason?"

He looked back at his brother, keeping a firm grip on his captive: "I think they'd be dead already."

"So", Jason felt his nails grow longer, digging through layers of muscle while the person underneath tried not to scream, "Just tell me who you are. If you don't, all fine by me, there's two others I will have no problem going through after I'm done with you."

They screamed as Jason's fingertips were almost embedded in his leg, his gloves soaked with blood.

"Sorry, what was that?" he held up a hand to his ear, "you need to enunciate that better."

"I don't have a name!" they cried out, "We're just numbers!"

"And which number might you be then? Who assigns these numbers?" he retracted his nails, pressing the palm of his hand on the wound instead.

Once more they screamed, beads of sweat forming on their forehead: "I don-, I don't know their name-,"

"Sorry, wrong answer," he drenched the heel of his boot with their blood. He could feel his arms shaking with adrenaline as the person yelled out for him to stop.

"D dash one R seven seven seven! We don't know our bosses, just their orders!"

"Seven seven seven?" Jason grinned maliciously, "Lucky number, right?"

He released the tension on their leg, crouching beside them once more: "Well then Seven, can I call you Sev? I would like to know, where the rest of your boys, took my kid. Just answer that, and I'll let you go."

"Never, I won't negotiate with your kind," they spat.

"My kind?" Jason responded bewildered, "now, Sev, what is that supposed to mean?"

"All you disgusting creatures, pretending to be human," Sev clutched at their injured leg, "Pretending to be something you're not, thinking you can just, own whatever you want, do whatever you want just because you defied the after-"

They gasped, hard, not expecting the knee with hundreds of pounds pure rage attached to it pressing down on their rib cage. The soft snap echoed through the sparring room louder than it should have as Jason's image started to flicker.

"Listen here, you cretin," his voice was hollow, his hair slowly turning into tiny wisps, "I don't give a shit about you, your organisation, your remarks or your believes. I only care about my son, and believe me, I was doing this job long before I gained these upgrades."

"Hngnng," Sev groaned and panted, "I-, If you tr-truly, th-think that, y-you're just as, as bad, as that vermin we took from you."

Jason howled, screamed with a rage he hadn't felt since the Lazarus Pit. White flashes appeared before his eyes, coating the entire room in a blinding white light as he could feel his hands turn to cinders, pure fire coursing through his fingertips as he grabbed Sev, launching them across the platform they were on and into the wall, leaving a Sev shaped indent.

Blue flames appeared in his hand, growing hotter and hotter until they condensed into pure energy, a whirring and spinnig mass gathered in the palm of his hand. He crossed the distance in flash, ghostly energy engulfing the hand he landed next to Sev's head, scorching the hairs right off and leaving first degree burns as he lingered there.

"You're all the same," Sev cried, "Filthy, unnatural creatures."

Jason's breathing became erratic, overcome with emotions he was never able to control well. On instinct he tried to dig his claws into Sev's chest, closing his hand just in time to just land a sucker punch instead of tearing out his vital organs. He watched, from the corner of his illuminated eyes, his brothers and father frantically trying to get into the room.

He slowed, trying to put oxygen in his half dead lungs. The fire retreated, the air still thick with heat. 

Sev didn't move as Jason stood there, hunched over them. Slowly but surely, colour returned to his face, his hair, back to strands of black and white. He inhaled, collected his thoughts:

"You will tell me," he opened his eyes, returned fully human, "Where you took him, or else, I will break every bone in your body, torture you in a way you wish turned you into the ghosts you so despise, and destroy you. The regular, human, non supernatural way."

Sev trembled, their pristine white outfit covered in dirt and grime, turning red at a rate too fast for their own good: "You can't get away with this. We won't stop until we're free of you."

"I don't think you're in a position", he pressed his elbow against their chest, "To talk of freedom right now. And I'll tell you this."

He leaned with his full weight on their injured ribs, waiting for more of the satisfying crunch: "If I don't find him, or, if I do, and he has a single hair on his head ruffled, a single scrape or bruise, I will skin you alive."

"You'll never find it," Sev laughed hysterically, "Even if you do, you'll just make our job easier. Two birds with one stone."

"What" he slammed his their head against the wall, just enough to hurt, "is" he hit them again, "Your"

He grabbed onto their face, the blood from his gloves smeared all over them: "Goal?"

"Hruagh," Sev gagged, a concussion sure to have followed from the beating, "We'll show, show all you filth, not even, even, y-your king is, s-safe."

Jason roared, the lights above him sporadic in their illumination as he shook Sev around: HE'S A CHILD."

"It's a menace" Sev croaked out.

"Where. Is. Danny?"

Sev whimpered, not looking him in the eyes: "Preten-, prentending that thing has a, has a name. Rancid"

"Sev," Jason grabbed their face, forcing them to look at him, "You're not afraid of ghosts, are you?"

"You lot,  can't fucking, break me," they managed to let out. "I know everything about your kind. I know how you work, your intimidation techniques."

"Ah, so, not the human kind then?" Jason grabbed a gun from his holster and held it right against their forehead. "Humans, after all, are the biggest monsters out there. Maybe-"

Jason clicked the safety off the gun: "Maybe I will just turn you into a ghost then, keep you trapped here, as that thing you hate so much."

"You won't, you're bluffing," Sev hoped. "You can't kill me, I didn't, I did not, do anything wrong."

"Oh, is kidnapping no longer a crime?" Jason grinned, kneeing Sev there where it hurts most. "I guess I have nothing to fear then."

"Ghost don't have rights!" he cried once more, crumpled up on the floor, "You are not sentient, not intelligent, you're less than a wild animal!"

"You fucking wish I was a wild animal," Jason held up his gun once more and fired a round into Sev's knee, a blood curling scream following suit. "Wild animals don't torture their prey."

"Now", Jason instead pulled a knife from his belt, holding it up close for Sev to see: "Where. Is. My. Kid."

"Hood, enough" Bruce intercepted the knife, the exit open once more. "That's enough."

"It won't ever be enough," Jason snarled, still looking at Sev.

"I know," Bruce gently pulled him away, letting Nightwing intercept them. "We don't need them dead."

"I want them dead," Jason's hands were trembling as Nightwing escorted them back to their cell. "I want to find him."

"We will," Bruce assured him, leading him back to the monitor where Tim was rapidly typing on the keyboard, several cans of energy drink empty on the table next to him.

"I have several possible locations where he might be," Tim explained. A tab appeared on screen, showcasing a map of the surrounding areas. "From what I can tell, these guys operate under a legitimate branch of the government."

"Like fuck they are," Jason retorted.

"Not for long," Bruce guaranteed him. "Their legal operation is shoddy at best. I already have Lois and Clark working on processing it faster."

"Is that why Supes was here?" Jason inquired. 

Bruce nodded, joining Tim at the helm: "I can't do much else as Batman," he turned to his son, "Or as Bruce, but I can rely on others to help where I can not."

"I'm not sorry for what I did to them, if that's what you're hoping to achieve," he stared at his bloodied hands, removing the gloves and examining the slightly elongated nails. 

"I'm not asking," Bruce conceded, trying to to look at the physical changes Jason was experiencing, "I don't think I'd contain myself the same way you did."

"I find that hard to believe," he tossed the gloves aside, looking for a spare pair. Or at least some fingerless ones.

"You don't know what he looked like when you were gone," Tim replied, back turned against him. "You haven't seen what grief did. I think he of all people, understands the feeling of losing your kid."

The reply silenced them. Bruce's grief over Jason was rarely addressed and if it was, this was not the part they mentioned. It was always the actions that followed the grief that predominated the conversations, or, the lack thereof.

"I'm....sorry," Jason eventually said. "For lashing out at you. You did what was best." He opened and closed his fists as he spoke, struggling with the claws and the apology.

"Don't be, I-, I get it," Bruce comforted him. "It's my fault."

"Fuck off, man," Jason scoffed, "You didn't bring them there, they were probably following me and Danny anyway."

"Even so, we've handled worse, I was perfectly capable of protecting both of you."

"You can't always do that though," Nightwing joined back in, having tended to Sev's wounds. "You can't always be there for everyone."

"I was there, I-," Bruce lamented, "I was there. Not Batman."

"It's hard to be him when you're our father too," Jason remarked. "You always thought us the cowl comes first."

"It should, but," Bruce balled his hands into fists, "You're still..."

"I know," Jason gave him a small smile. "Unable are the Loved to die."

"For Love is Immortality," Dick placed a gentle hand on Jason's shoulder. "We'll get him back."

"If we can narrow it down," Tim interjected," we could get him back sooner than later."

He beckoned his older brothers closer: "These facilities are the ones used on the record by the Ghost Investigation Ward."

"And off the record?"

"Several adjacent ones," Several green dots appeared on the map. "These two are closest to our current location. Danny's most likely to be in either of these."

"Assuming they don't have any other transportation means," Jason pointed out. "We're basing this on normal logic."

He paced around again, hand to his chin as he thought out loud: "These guys are no stranger to ghost logic. It's how they took me out and got Danny so fast. They're not going to follow regular procedure."

"Hmmmm," Tim hummed as he typed, "If you want to hide a ghost, where would you do it?"

"Somewhere people don't want to enter. With enough space to house the tech needed for it."

"Looking for a place with a high power usage," Tim continued tapping. "Large enough to have cells or other equipment."

"There's a chance they use portal technology," Jason pointed out.

"Like ours?" Tim inquired.

"No, the ones..." Jason trailed off, looking at the display of confiscated materials, gaze landing on the weapon used to stun him. He picked it up, inspecting the logo on the side. The same logo scratched out from the thermos Danny carried with him. The weapon shattered in his hands, engulfed by flames as it crumbled unto the floor.

"That was evidence-" Damian tried, but quickly relented.

"It doesn't need to work," Jason quickly retorted. "After I get him back," he watched the fire in his hands burn out, "I'm going to pay a 'family' visit."

Jason ignored the steaming pile of scrap metal, walking past it and on route to retrieve his helmet. He put it on the scanner next to the monitor, syncing it up to the Batcomputer.

"What are you thinking?" Dick inquired.

"I'm thinking," Jason replied, looking for the CAMERA function linked to his helmet.

"Welcome, Jason Todd."

"Tim, hook it up to the map."

"I thought I couldn't interact with it?"

"Add ectosignatures: Tim Drake. Bruce Wayne. Damian Wayne"

"Affirmative."

"I'll see if I add the rest later," Jason sighed, looking for a specific tab. "Emma?" He tried.

"Ecto Emergency Assistant: Activated"

"Told you the name was accurate," Dick grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jason let a smile small escape. "Emma, can you locate my haunt members again?"

"Affirmate: Dick Gray-"

"I know, I-, fuck," Jason groaned, the fading adrenaline slowly being replaced by fatigue, "Locate Danny."

"Error. Haunt Member not visible."

Jason's heart dropped: "What?"

He sat down on a nearby chair. "He can't-"

"Emma," Dick jumped on it before Jason's mind could spiral, "What do you mean, 'not visible'? Do you mean he's just invisible? Like, he's using his powers?"

"Haunt Member not visible: Ecto Signature obscured."

"Okay, okay," Dick sighed in relief, "He's not gone, he's just...obscured."

"How do you obscure an Ecto Signature?" Tim asked the device.

"Method one: mask the signature by cloaking. Method two: core retraction."

"Let's hope it's not the second one," Tim muttered. "How do you cloak one?"

"Recommended procedure: natural cloaking. Suggested materials: Blood Blossoms."

"Blood Blossoms..." Tim hummed, opening a second tab on the monitor. "What do they look like? What do they need to thrive?"

As he continued to click away, Emma showed him several pictures and instructions on how to care for them.

"Caution is advised. Close and repeated exposure to Blood Blossom can result in: Nausea, headaches, numbness, paralysis, extreme pains, death."

"Tim, type faster," Bruce hurried him.

"I am, I am," he said, looking for-

"There!" he pointed at the screen: "This place received a shipment of flowers resembling Blood Blossoms a while ago. According to what I could find of the place, this is the only facility with enough space, power and resources to cultivate them. It's a botanic garden, open to the public not that far away from here."

"Do you have any footage?" Jason piped up, "anything?"

"Not from recently" Tim admitted, "It seems like what little cameras that are there aren't up to date. It's just shipments of plants and the like that get in and out, along with the few people that visit the place."

He flicked through the images, showing the same building throughout different times of the day, all without any signs of nefarious activities.

"Maybe I was wrong," Tim apologised, "Just cause they house the flowers doesn't mean they also have Danny."

"Wait, go back", Jason leaned on Tim's chair. "There."

"This one?" Tim enlarged the footage. "There's nothing there except some crates and some decorative ornaments?"

"Those ones, the ornaments."

As Tim zoomed in on the image, Jason clutched his stomach, needing to stop himself from retching as he held a hand over his mouth. Several clicking noises escaped him, not being able to stop himself while he trembled, more and more high pitched clicks and chirps freeing himself from chest.

Realisation dawned on him, panic and terror forming bile on his tongue.

"He's there, I know it."

"How can you tell, from just some, some ornaments?" Damian felt the rising distress, his fellow family members barely able to supress the urge to reply with clicks and chirps of their own.

"Those ornaments," Jason looked up at the screen, illuminating his face, white as a sheet.

"They're ghost cores."

Chapter Text

Cold, buzzing metal hummed against Danny's back, seemingly telling him to get up. Soft grunts escaped his lips as he tried to roll to his side, halting when he felt a sharp, thin object sticking out from his neck. Blindly he reached for the object, pulling it from his skin.

The thin dart still dripped with a sour liquid, albeit only minimal. He tossed it away, resting on his arm as he rubbed his eyes.

"Couldn't even be bothered to remove it," he thought.

He couldn't open his eyes immediately, the poison still lingering in his bloodstream. With one eye cracked open slightly, he tried to make out where he was, although he could take a gander as to where that might be.

Green, pulsating energy coursed around him, forming the walls of a cylindrical prison, kept alive by surging energy rods above him. He knew all too well how those worked, having lived inside a similar contraption for years, albeit a bigger one.

With a grunt, he pushed himself on his knees, slowly breathing in, and out. The air was cold, and metallic and would have been filtered if he still had his mask.

My mask...I left it...

His head throbbed, trying to remember what happened before he ended up here. 

We were....

"Home," he breathed out. "We were home."

With painstaking effort he remembered racing someone home. 

"Dad?" he couldn't come up with the name, what was his name again? Someone else was there, in his home. 

Our home. Jason's home.

He blinked, looking at the black kevlar clinging to his arms.

Black. Black figure. 

He recalled pressing his knee down on someone. A bad someone? 

Batman?

Batman isn't bad. Batman is good. He's a good dad.

Danny shook his head: "How do I know that?"

Jason is a good dad. He's my dad. Batman....

"Bruce..." he whispered to himself. "He was there..."

He pushed his fingertips to his temples, frowning to recall the memory. 

"Come on man, remember...." he grunted. "He was...investigating...hunters?"

He opened his eyes, the glow of the energy shield no longer blinding. 

"Oh, fuck," he muttered under his breath.

Danny frantically spun around, looking around for any other cells. Both to his relief and spiking anxiety, he found that his own prison was a uniqueness of the room.

"At least he's not here," he said. 

"Or anywhere else that is here", he hoped.

Slowly but surely he pushed himself upwards, resting on his knees every so often. Whether he liked it or not, whatever cocktail they injected him with was incredibly potent. Maybe he should ask them for the formula. Might make some great sleeping pills.

Eventually, he managed to stand upright, wobbly, but upright. He tried to balance himself, reaching out for the walls of his cell to hold onto, with immediate regret following suit.

Sparks flew as the electricity zapped through him, regardless of the fact he wore special gloves. Hissing in pain, he stumbled backwards, almost against the other side of the cell. Danny dropped back to his knees, clutching his hand.

"Someone sure fired up the voltage on those", he groaned, waving his hand up and down to regain some sensation. He sighed, falling back on his hands and facing the contraption above him once more. He tilted his head, thinking and pondering.

"Surely they wouldn't," he murmured. He crouched, ready to levitate upwards but found his ass back on the ground after no more than half a second. 

"Ouchie," he gasped as he landed. "Guess they indeed would not."

Exasperated, he let his head drop in his hands.

"Alone again..." he stifled a cry, "Naturally."

Of course it had been too good to be true. Things really couldn't go well for too long, they never did.

Finding out your billionaire family friend is like you so he might help and understand you? No, he tries to kill you, clone you and or replace you.

Come clean to your parents cause they told you, you could trust them with anything so you tell them 'Hey, your portal kinda killed me and now I am stuck like this ?' They strap you to a table and vivisect you.

Scream for your sister because she was the only one to ever treat you decent? She gets brutally injured trying to help you.

Find a nice dude who kept you fed and warm and safe and doesn't treat you differently because of what you are because he's also like you and protects you and has a nice, loving family and, and-

His thoughts stopped, interrupted by his chest hiccupping involuntarily. Warm, salty streaks lined his cheeks, leaving thin lines across his skin as he buried his face deeper in his arms. Danny pressed his fingers down on his arms, injuries be damned, he just wanted to be held.

'I didn't ask for any of this', he sobbed. 'I didn't do anything wrong, I'm not doing anything wrong!"

He tried to no avail to rub away the tears, but more kept coming the more his breathing became erratic.

'I just want to go home....I just...I want...'

Soft melancholic chirps filled the frigid room, even though they would never reach the intended target. Knowing that made them even more frequent, until they turned into haunting wails. Short cries that bounced off the metal walls, reverberating all throughout.

Danny was on the verge of completely falling back on his Last Resort until he heard it.

..c..h..rp...

"Hello?" he croaked, head lifted up from his arms.

ch...r...

The sound was weak, barely even there and easily mistaken by the creaking of a door or hinge.

He jumped up, tears wiped from his damp face.

"Chrr?" he chirped, unsure.

....cl...cl...pr...

He scanned the room once more, trying to locate where the sound came from. Yet again, he saw no cells, no prisoners. The walls were lined with control panels, tables and cabinets. A few crates were stacked in the corners, dozens of papers placed neatly on the edges. He saw nothing else that could house a person.

Another chirp originated behind him, making him turn towards one of the tables. On it sat several tubes and containers, notes stuck on and to them. In the middle, he saw a smaller version of the contraption holding him hostage. 

Not big enough to house a person.

Alarmed, Danny rushed as close as he could get to get a better look, but even without seeing it, he could already tell. The closer he got, the closer the chirps followed in succession.

'Dany-...Home-....Safe-...Help-....Sorry-...Dany-...Home-....Safe-...Help-....Sorry-...Dany-...Home-....Safe-...Help-....Sorry-...Dany-...Home-....Safe-...Help-....Sorry-...' until they all became a jumbled mess. Desperate cries ringing out for him.

Tears brimmed on the edge of his eyes again, but not in fear or despair, but anger. Pure rage and resentment for his captors pushed the tears to fall over his face and onto the floor as he slammed his hands onto the energy shield, uncaring of the pain jolting him all the way into his shoulders.

"Ellie-" his hands shook from pain and effort as he couldn't think of anything else but the scared, unstable ghost sibling strapped to a table like an insect, trapped for Ancient's knew how long.

'Stop-...You-...Hurting-...'

Ellie rang out to him from the table, illuminating the surrounding beakers and flasks with a faint blue light. 

"I'll save you," he exhaled, "I'll come get you."

He tried to think, think, think, think. 

Think like a human. Think like Jason. No ghost powers-

He stopped, trembling limbs pressed against him.

Focus.

Danny calmed his breathing, letting the familiar sensation of cold-hot-fire-burn-freezing wash over him again as he detransformed, green eyes turned to blue, yet the same angry glow remained.

He pressed his hands against the shield again. The pain was less intense, still sending the hairs on his arms upright, but without the same hurtfulness as before. He pushed onwards, feeling how his hands traversed layer after layer and becoming numb the more he pressed on. As his hands freed themselves, he pushed his legs forward in the same manner, shaking with every inch. After he managed to get his head and torso through, he held onto the corner of a table, needing a moment to rest.

"I'll get you," he gasped, recovering his senses, "I'll come get you Ellie."

The glow grew brighter, yet kept its dull colour as Danny inched towards her.

As he finally reached the table she was positioned on, he halted, horrified by what he saw. His hands went towards his chest, feeling the scars burn hot, as if the scalpels and knives were cutting through him right there. It took all his strength not to collaps on the floor, seeing the state of Ellie's core:

Several cuts had been made all across the middle, a crude impression of a Y incision. Blood and ectoplasm still stained the tray underneath her, a catching mechanism attached right to it. Viles of green and red sat on the rack next to her, various labels stuck against them that Danny couldn't be bothered to read, knowing all too well what they contained.

A filed laid in front of her, an ordinary pink post-it stuck on top, as if it was a passing note between high schoolers.

"Subject unresponsive, will continue tests later"

There was a date scribbled in the corner, labeled several weeks ago.

Weeks? Has she been here that long?

He anxiously opened the file, thick with papers and notes, the dates going as far back as several months, close to when he finally settled in with-

'Nonononono-'  he closed the file abruptly, 'You've been here all this time? While I was....'

"Ellie I'm so, so sorry," Danny cried, attention turned to the device holding his younger sibling, "I should've been there."

'Not-...fault-...'

The chirp was weak, and gentle. Danny sniffled as he looked for a way to free her. He tried to see if they had modeled this device after the one holding him and whether it was a blessing or a curse, the Fenton logo still sat proudly on the back of the device.

Seeing as they didn't bother to change the mechanics, Danny quickly disabled the contraption, catching Ellie in the process.

He held her tenderly, close to him as he cooed: "You're safe, I got you, I got you."

Ellie's core pulsated, a low hum rumbling against Danny's chest which he returned eagerly.

'Safe-Warm-Safe-Missed-Protect'

"I'll protect you," he promised her, concentrating on his own core, hoping it would help stabilise Ellie as much as he could in these circumstances. 

He tried to look for a way to keep her close, and most of all, safe. Covering some of the crates were some pieces of tarp, which he cut some off of, only to find that it too was lined with some sort of anti-ecto material. No wonder the whole room felt leaden and heavy.

"We'll do it the old fashioned way then," he smiled, transforming back. Gloved hands at the ready, he closed his eyes, concentrating. He let the ectoplasm mold itself in his hands, coated with thin layers of ice. He wove it together, spinning it into strips of fabric until a makeshift sling laid in his hands. He strapped it around him, secured tightly at the back with a small pocket in front, where he gently placed Ellie's core in.

"You can rest here, okay? I'll get us out," he assured her as the core fit snuggly inside. Ellie hummed, the glow retracting all the way down to the centre of the core. As she recovered, Danny encased her in another layer of ice, just to be sure.

"Right", he shuddered, adrenaline leaving him slightly buzzed. "Now to get out."

He felt antsy, quickly discovering he couldn't phase out the room, especially not with Ellie down to her core. He grew even more nervous as time passed, not knowing when someone would come back to check on either him or Ellie.

For all their luck, at least camera's didn't work here, so they didn't bother putting them in the room full of ghosts. They did, however, have vents.

"Alright, surely nothing bad ever happens in the vents," Danny smiled. He grabbed the fabric he tore off before with him, hoping it might mask them now Ellie wouldn't suffer from its effects. Floating up, with one hand on Ellie, he opened up the grate with ease. It might be phase proof, but not superstrength proof.

"Okay, now where to go next," Danny muttered as he floated through the vents. Sadly, they didn't mark their rooms and exits up there, so Danny had to guess where he had to go next. Eventually, he stumbled upon what looked like to be a control room, overseeing other parts of the facility.

From inside the vent, he could see several monitors showing parts of the lab, as well as other parts. 

Parts that were outside.

'There's an outside. A public outside.'

He just needed to find it.

Danny was eager to make a run for it, but remembered not to jump the gun too soon. It had gotten him beat with Dick and Jason's sparring sessions before. He continued to observe the room.

Two men in white sat before them, bored as they played a card game between them, feet propped up on the table. On the monitors, he watched as people went in and out of what looked like a garden.

Freedom was so close!

On the panel underneath, he could see several buttons and switches, most of them turned on, including a bright green one labeled: "Ghost shield"

'Fuck' he cursed. 'Even if I can get out-' he glanced down at Ellie.

'Alright, shield first, then out.'

He took in the guards. Nothing extraordinary about them. Judging from the Spector Deflectors on their hips however, Danny could tell he unfortunately wasn't fighting them ghost to man.

Fortunately for him though, he was trained by the best man. He just hoped his aiming skills were as good as him.

As he readied himself, he tried to look for a target. Behind the two guards, he noticed a small table, stacked with some snacks and a coffee machine. He aimed for the coffee, hoping he could cause a diversion that looked like a normal, mundane accident.

He held up his hand, forming a tiny ice dart between his fingers, and launched it at the machine. Without a sound, it pierced the plastic, a slow steady drip of coffee and water filling up the table. As the drops soon splashed onto the floor, one of the guards slammed down his cards and jumped up.

"Man, I told you to put the thing back properly!" he yelled, careful not the step in the coffee. "Now there's stuff leaking everywhere! Again!"

"Bro you make ONE MISTAKE!" the second man groaned, leaving their game on the table to help his colleague. 

"Uuurgh, go get a mop," he grunted, taking the leaking coffee pot and placing it on a towel as the coffee had dripped down to his shirt, leaving the room to get it off.

"You could also be a little nicer," the second guard's voice faded away as he followed the first one.

With both of them gone, Danny lowered himself into the control room, flicking off the ghost shield with a simple switch of a button. Having a closer look to the panel, he tried to deduce where to go next. The monitor labeled "Greenhouse" seemed to be his best bet for now.

'Although....' he thought.

He quickly made a mental note of the other rooms, seeing what else he could do here. He decided to freeze the door shut, the hinges fusing together with the ice, and got to work.

He scanned every room, trying to see if there were others trapped here. He found several other ghosts, most retracted to their cores in two other labs, but no prisoners.

"At least he's not trapped here too," Danny sighed in relief. "Dad's safe."

"Now for the others," he cracked his knuckles, flicking a few switches and analysing their outcomes. In one of the labs he set off the sprinklers. Several people in lab coats ran around, putting all the cores together in a locked safe, presumably to protect their experiments.

The other one, he let the alarm go off, audible from far across this small monitoring hall. 

'Good. That'll be the first one on the way'

He got up, ready to unfreeze the door when he paused. He looked back at the unlit switch, having come up with another idea. He crouched behind the console, opening it up with ease. Inside, he catalogued the wires and mechanics. There's at least one thing his parents did well.

He followed the wires for the ghost shield, smiling as he rewired it so that the light turned on again, but no feed was going to the shield itself, keeping it off. But he didn't stop there.

His fingers nimbly rewired the entire console, throwing a few definite fire hazards in the loop, and closed off the panel again. To finish it all off, he grabbed the leaking coffee pot, now half empty, and poured its contents on the console. 

A little je-ne-sais-quoi.

He unfroze the door, peeking out beside it. The guards were arguing, their voices ringing from the bathroom nearby. Danny floated up, high above the ground and invisible as the guards and presumably someone above their paygrade walked hastily with them to the console panel.

"I told you no beverages allowed in here!" the woman shouted, looking at the coffee on the panel.

"We didn't spill any!" they defended themselves.

"Oh so it just happened to have dunked itself on it, hmm?" she sounded more irritated than angry.

"I mean, it could be haunted" the one with the mop in his hands tried to counter.

"Steve, I will fire you," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"But you won't cause you like me around, right?" the second one, Steve, smiled sweetly.

"I don't because I literally have no other personnel to put there," she smiled back with more venom. "We are blessed to house not one, but two Phantoms here and the boss already did all the work capturing them for us. We have to keep things running smoothly while he's here or he will take the specimen with him! Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," the two guards deflected.

As they continued to be berated, Danny made his way over to the lab closest to him. Inside, he saw people clutching their ears, trying to assure each other it was probably a false alarm.

Danny, ever the opportunist, decided to give them a real cause for concern. He snuck above them, making his way to whatever machine was closest and could give the most reason to want to bail out on the room. From his pockets, he grabbed several smoke bombs, glad Jason had insisted he keep some with him for emergencies.

Eagerly, he dropped them behind the machine. Smoke spread around fast, giving the scientists a valid reason to run, research clutched in their hands.

When everyone had evacuated, Danny tried to find every last ghost present. He called out to them, kingly privilege at all that. Luckily, the majority of the ghosts there were simple shades and relatively unharmed. At least, not in a way like Ellie was.

He gathered those up quickly, having them pile together into the pouch Danny made for Ellie.

"You keep her safe there, alright?" he petted the little blobs on the heads. Were they heads? On the globs.

The little shades didn't have to be told twice, forming a little nest inside. With the first lab secured, Danny bolted towards the next one. He simply needed to follow the train of soaked white coats to find them.

These ghosts however, were not simply shades.

He could tell from the cores these were stronger, more emotional. More unstable.

There weren't many, only five or so that he could count, although there were several spheres strewn about. It looked like those were ornaments, glass and crystal orbs made to look like a core.

Eerily enough though, they did look like cores.

Dead ones.

Danny shakingly picked one up, hoping it wasn't. To his relief, it was regular glass decorated with swirls of colour. It sat on a display next to a real core, as if they were trying to mimic them. For what purpose, Danny didn't want to know.

The thought of people having ghost cores in their houses or yards just to put them on display made him sick. It was the same with Vlad and his several hunted animals hung up on the walls or turned into carpets. Really, as a half ghost, he should know better than to keep corpses in your home.

He approached the one before him slowly, clicks evenly spaced. He waited for the core to respond, trying to show who he was and that he meant no harm. Timidly, it responded. It sounded just as frail and scared as Ellie, as if they were barely the same age.

Danny wove another pouch for the core, placing it in there tenderly, assuring it they would be free soon. For every other core, he made them a little pocket. He tried to ignore how some of these cores were still so young, only a few decades old or so, and how some of them were already so old, they should've been left to rest.

"Don't worry," he spoke to the last core he found, "I got the others too, I'm not leaving anyone behind."

Now with a clutch of cores, he formed his escape plan. Opening a portal would have been way nicer, but he would not risk opening a rift that the GIW could abuse. Or worse, get into the Ghost Zone with.

As he made his way through the complex, he finally stumbled upon a stairway labeled "Garden". With freedom finally within reach, he quickly opened the door. Behind the door, he followed a narrow hallway until light spilled into the corridor.

Immediately he could feel the heat of a greenhouse, several plants already peeking around the corner with their leaves. He had no time to admire the flora, instead trying to find the large double doors he saw on the cams. The deeper he ventured into it, the heavier he felt his limbs become, floating lower and lower until he finally opted for walking instead.

He started to panic, not seeing the doors as soon as he wanted to. The more he ran around, the more the fatigue settled in, his chest starting to ache. Eventually he had to stop, panting as he slid against a wall.

'Why am I so tired?" he pondered as he pushed himself onwards, spurred on by the calming hums resonating from the cores. Eventually he found the exit, closer than it actually felt to be.

But as he staggered towards it, he saw a gardener, tending to the surrounding plants. Unafraid, he kept going until the gardener turned towards him, eyebrows and trowel raised.

"Uh, can I help you?" the man asked.

Danny turned around, looking for the person he was talking to. When he didn't immediately find them, he pointed a finger at himself.

"Yeah, you, the guy with the balls strapped to his chest wearing that weird outfit?"

"I uhm," Danny sputtered, suddenly having lost his invisibility, "I'm uhm..."

"Are you one of those cosplaying types?" the man asked.

"Yyyyes, yes I am," Danny laughed, "You haven't seen anyone else dressed up like this? I kinda got cut off from my group."

"Not that I have seen," the man returned to his work, "But you best head back to the public area, this one houses plants that aren't ready to be put on exhibit yet."

"Right, right, right," Danny replied. "How do I uh-"

He stopped, hearing voices come right his way. He left the gardener to hide behind a large exotic tree, hoping his powers would come back soon. As he hunched behind it, he could feel his throat start to close, his eyes tearing up. He had to supress a cough, trying desperately to keep hidden as he fell to his knees, hand over his nose when he was almost face to face with a familiar red flower.

The black and purple leaves brushed against his hand, sending a burning sensation right through the gloves. He jerked back, arms protecting the cores as best as he could.

'Blood blossoms'  his mind was racing, close to panic as he couldn't move, the potent fragrance of the flowers burning his nostrils. He glanced at the gardener, still in front of the exit and talking when he pointed towards Danny. 

With a rough jerk, he got snatched from his hiding place, thrown harshly unto the ground.

"Well, seems we found our missing specimen," a tall man, dressed entirely in white laughs coyly. "Nice to see you again, Phantom."

"Uh, I think I'd remember meeting a behemoth like you," Danny blurts out as he gets back on his feet.

"Oh no, we haven't met," the man chuckles, glasses obscuring his eyes. "But you've met several of my operatives before."

The man snaps his fingers, to which several men enter the room, armed with anti-ghost gear.

"And we will gladly escort you, and everyone else, back to your cells."

"Yeah," Danny cocks his head to the side, engaging in a fighting stance, "Not gonna happen. Not with freedom right in front of us."

"You think you'll be free?" the man chortles, "You think you could escape even if you manage to get out? Boy, you will never be free. We will always haunt you."

"Bold words to use for a ghost hunter," Danny says, fists held up in front of him.

"Very well then," he looks to what appears to be his right hand man, "let's get you back the painful way, ghost boy."

At their boss' command, they pounce, launching at a surrounded Danny. Faced with several opponents without his ghost powers, he does what he does best.

Improvise.

The sling safely secured, he grabs a spare grappling hook from his belt, firing it towards the tallest tree inside the greenhouse. Swinging away from his assailants he lands next to a fountain, safely away from the gunfire as he hides behind it. 

As they gained ground on him, he hopes he's far away enough from the blood blossoms to retrieve at least some of his powers.

With several gunshots whizzing around him, he topples the water feature, splashing the first few men. He slams his hands down in the water, freezing it immediately and taking out four of the men before him.

He doesn't have long to celebrate before a long, bright green whip is lashed at his feet, sending him running once more. He dodges in between several bushes and trees, praying that nothing hits the cores and they don't feel the effects of the blossoms or the weapons.

He weaves back to the exit, most of the guys in white hot on his heels. One of them makes a leap for it, putting himself between Danny and the exit.

"Wrong move, bozo," Danny grins. Not expecting Danny to come up close, he fumbles the whip he's holding as Danny lands several punches to his wind pipe and solar plexus, sending him crumbling to the floor. 

Another one grabs Danny from behind as he tries to make a break for it, holding his arms pinned down while another tries to cuff him.

"You forgot my feet, idiots," Danny cackles as he kicks the cuffs out of their hands and lands a blow square to the chest, making his captor stumble. Using this momentum, Danny topples him, making sure to jump down on the man's face for good measure.

He now has most men shaken off, the handle of the door almost in hand when he gets slammed against the glass, an ecto-net encased around him. He falls to the ground, already fishing for a knife as he slices through the net but finds a gun pointed not at him, but at the cores strapped to his chest.

"I suggest you surrender," the tall man speaks once more.

Begrudgingly, Danny holds up his hands, thinking not of himself but of the people he's protecting when an explosion resounds from the back. 

Taking advantage of the confusions, he grabs the weapon and snaps it in half, rendering it useless. The men scatter, leaving Danny in favor of finding the cause of the explosion. As the smoke files into the greenhouse, Danny can barely contain himself.

'It's him, he came!'  he can't believe it, he found him, they came for him!

"We'll be home soon guys, he's here!" Danny runs towards the source of the explosion, not caring about the exit behind him when all he wants is to see his dad again.

"Dad?" he calls out eagerly, hoping to see Jason again and go home.

A tall man appears from the smoke, towering over everyone else and Danny almost jumps at him until he sees flashes of an orange jumpsuit, joined by the teal to his side.

He staggers backwards, scrambling for the exit when the smoke finally settles, revealing two figures he hoped to never see again.

"Danno! Our son!" the man calls out.

The woman in teal loads a type of gun Danny only vaguely remembers, the mere blueprints finalised last time he saw it.

"Or rather, the thing pretending to be our son."

It's then, that Danny finally freezes.

Chapter Text

To say Jason was angry was an...understatement to say the least.

"You're benching me?" Jason was shaking. "You can't fucking bench me!"

"I'm not benching you," Bruce calmly explained again as he put on the cowl. "I am telling you to sit this one out."

"Which is the exact same thing as benching me, okay, go off I guess," Jason turned around exasperated. He stomped around, grabbing his own gear regardless until Bruce put his hands on the holsters.

"B," Jason seethed, "I implore you to let go."

"Can you for a second calm down and look at this with a bit more rationality?" Bruce stared him down. It was a gaze that said "This is not up for debate" and was already in use way back when Dick was Robin. Did it always work? No, but the effort made them think twice, most of the time.

"A bit more rationality?" Jason scoffed as he pulled his hands away. "Rationality?" he pointed at the computer screen still showing Danny's possible location."Danny is out there, kidnapped, and you're telling me I shouldn't go after him? To leave him out there? With those maniacs who will do Hell knows what with my kid?"

"I'm not saying that!" Bruce snapped back, showing more agitation that he normally would. "I don't want you near them, we can handle this."

"Oh, so you don't trust me is what you're saying," Jason strapped the holsters to his body, "Glad that hasn't changed after all these years. Should I be surprised? No, but alas, a man can hope."

"Jason, I don't think it's about trust," Dick tried to intervene, already suited up and preparing their transportation along with Alfred.

"If it isn't about trust," Jason spat, "then what? If that were you out there" he glared at Dick, "We'd get you back. If that were Damian out there, you'd all be out there."

"You say that like we wouldn't do the same for y-" Dick stopped, not looking Jason in the eye as he stared at him with a green glow.

"Enough!" Bruce demanded, voice echoing through the cave. He stalked over to Jason, staring intently with a softness Jason couldn't place.

"I don't want you there, because you're like Danny," Bruce's calm demeanour was slipping ever so slightly as he spoke to his second eldest, "They have means and methods to hurt and trap you specifically. You were out from just one hit from whatever it is they have as weapons and they already took Danny inside a facility that could house worse things and I am not about to hand them you as well on a silver platter."

"What," Jason swallowed," Like I can't handle myself? That I'm too weak?" He stepped back slightly. "You think I'm not strong enough to be there, is that it?"

"It's not about your strength, Jay-"

"Nonono, that clearly implies the 'you would only get in the way' message behind it," he scoffed.

"Jay, can we stop arguing about this?" Dick pleaded, "We're wasting time this way."

"Exactly," Jason smiled with venom, "So can we can the 'disappointed father' routine for afterwards? I already know the way that plays out so when you're done thinking about how I don't qualify for the job here, I would like to go get Danny."

Bruce grabbed him by the wrist as Jason twisted around: "You're. Not. Going."

"Bruce," Jason breathed, "Let go of my arm, or we'll both do something we'll regret."

"I am not letting you go there, end of discussion, even if it means I have to lock you up here."

Jason yanked his arm back, gun pointed at Bruce: "Give me one good fucking reason not to shoot you in the leg here and walk out myself."

"Woah, calm down," Dick gently placed himself in between, "Let's talk about this."

"I don't have time to talk about how Bruce thinks I am going to fail here when I could have spent it finding Danny!" the gun clicked in his hands as he held his ground.

"Even if you shoot me, I will not let you go there," he clenched his jaw, shoulders tense.

"What is your fucking deal man!?" Jason yelled exasperated, "I don't care that you're still have trust issues with me, I don't care that you still see me as the wasted potential, this is a kid we're talking about! My kid! You think I wouldn't do anything to get him back? That I wouldn't try everything I have for him? Are you seriously still so hung up on the fact I made one mistake, which I already owned up to, that you can't let go of my failure-"

"Because it wasn't your failure but mine!" Bruce screamed.

None moved as the bats on the ceiling flew around frantically, startled by the noise. Tim and Damian gave each other a nod as to not interfere, keeping to themselves as they watched the bats fly overhead while they prepared their gear. Bruce rarely screamed, rarely raised his voice towards any of them. Tim knew though. He and Dick knew what that Bruce was like, what that Batman was like. It was a blessing that the people who came after them never had to see him like that. Even a glimpse like this proved to stun the other two who had never dreamed of their father being like that.

 Bruce steadied himself, taking deep breaths. He walked over to Jason, gun still pointed at him as he grabbed him by the shoulders. "I can't put two of my kids at risk at the same time, when I couldn't even protect one."

Jason lowered the gun silently, unsure of what to say.

"You had, and have, an incredible amount of training, more than Danny ever had, and they took you out with just one hit," Bruce's voice was soft. "It was...It was almost like we were back in Ethiopia and I was right there this time."

He locked eyes with Jason again, a silver lining fighting hard to make itself visible. "I was right there with you this time, and I had to choose between you and Danny and, I chose you. I will always chose you, Jason. I don't want you out there," he glanced at the monitor, "Not because I think you're a liability for Danny, but because you're one for me. I won't lose you again. Not this time."

"B..." Jason hesitantly put his hands on his father's: "We're not in that warehouse anymore. You need to leave that behind," he sighed. "I-...We're not alone this time. I don't know what we'll face when we're in there, and I know whatever is in there could very well harm me more than it does you guys, but that's a risk I am willing to take because I know I have people who got my back."

Jason turned them both to Dick, who in turn glanced back at Tim and Damian already in the jet: "I know you guys got my back. For now we need Danny to know that we got his as well."

"Jay..." Bruce sighed, clenching his fists as they walked towards the others. "When you died-"

"It's fine," Jason tensed, "We don't need to discuss that."

"I almost killed him."

Jason stopped, watching Bruce's back.

"I almost did. And I did way worse in your absence. Grief...it's...." Jason caught up with him, hand on his back. "We...we'll talk about that in detail another time. Just know I..."

He put on his helmet, voice modulator on: "I never blamed you for what happened. I knew you grieved a fallen soldier."

"I never grieved for a soldier," Bruce walked up the ramp to the jet, "I grieved for my son. I hope I can spare you from that."

Jason joined him, closing the door behind them as Dick and Tim took their seats behind the controls.

"I have full faith that we can do that together."

Dick clasped his hands together at the sight, then wiped underneath his mask: "Oh if only Alfred could see this..."

"Don't worry," Tim chirped, "I got that recorded."

"You punk," Jason flicked his ear. "Can't have shit in Gotham."

"Shouldn't have put on your helmet when you said that then," Damian smiled, "Our comms record, after all."

"Urgh," Jason regretted sitting down in his seat, "I should've dropped you off a bridge when I had to chance."

"Ha!" Tim laughed, "But ya didn't!" He and Damian gave each other a fist bump before Bruce took his seat from Damian, who begrudgingly handed it over.

"I was piloting just fine," he scoffed.

"You will pilot just fine as well when you're older," Bruce smirked as he combed his fingers through his hair. "Nice try though, taking advantage of emotionally charged situations."

"Thank you, only the worst for you two," Damian nodded to Jason as he sat down next to Dick.

"I am moving to Metropolis with Danny after this is over good Lord," Jason groaned.

"Oh no," Dick said, "Whatever will we do then if we are a city away?"

"Surely there isn't a family of people we know in Metropolis that would gladly pay you a visit sometime?" Tim glanced over his shoulder with a smug look.

"I hate all of you."

Surprisingly enough, the remainder of the flight was relatively quiet. Relatively being the key word here. After the usual bickering, business became apparent as they closed in on the destination.

"Alright, that covers our first six plans," Red Robin muttered as the jet flew on autopilot.

"I still believe plan K is better, " Robin replied.

"Just because plan K involves you and your katana being thrown at the enemy targets," Red Hood checked his ammo one last time," doesn't mean that we should go ahead with plan K."

"Tsk," Robin crossed his arms.

"I didn't say we shouldn't keep that as plan B though," Red Hood put his guns back in his holster. "If the opportunity presents, why not?"

"Because we are not about to slice and dice people," Nightwing interjected, "That's why."

"Man, you used to be more unhinged when we were younger," Red Hood chided him, "I miss that."

"Boys," Batman called them over, "We're here."

They landed the jet discreetly, a distance away as to not set off any suspicions, or alarms. Preferably, they'd have liked the cover of darkness so that wouldn't be much of an issue. But with time running out and the sun setting behind them, they spread out, covering the area and taking in all the exits, entrances and any camera's they might have missed during the debrief. So far, everything matched up. It really didn't look like anything sinister was taking place here. Employees were finishing up for the day and leaving the facility. The parking lot was almost empty and the lights were dimmed.

"Nightwing coming in."

"What do you see?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Red Hood replied. "How's that important?"

"No, I mean, I can not see anything here," Nightwing responded. "I'm looking at the greenhouse and it almost looks like it's filled with smoke in there. I can make out a few figures though but it's hazy."

"Any sign of him?" Red Hood hoped.

"I can't tell, there's interference on my thermals."

"Same here," Red Robin interjected. "There's something going on here, we're definitely in the right place."

The sound of Red Robin tapping away filled the comms as a display came into view.

"Secret basement?" Red Hood watched the images dart around as he looked them over, "Seems a bit cliché in my opinion."

"If you're an organisation posing to help humankind by exterminating another species then you might as well throw in all the tropes," Red Robin interjected. "Oh I think that's a lab as well."

"Well then," Red Hood stretched his legs, "Who wants to go first?"

Before he could go in first himself, an explosion was heard. A small one, but definitely not unnoticeable.

"Nightwing?" Batman ordered.

"Already going in," he replied, making his way to the greenhouse.

"Aight, chances are that it's either Danny causing the explosion-," Red Hood followed suit.

"Or him being the reason someone or something else exploded," Batman finished for him. "Red Robin, Robin, go look at the lab. See what you can find. No casualties."

"And if we find out there were casualties caused by them?" Robin asked, hood up and following his older brother inside a vent.

"Then perhaps our comms were down and we didn't hear a thing," Nightwing replied.

"Affirmative, Robin out."

"Alright then," Red Hood exclaimed, standing on the roof of the greenhouse with Nightwing and Batman."What do we have here?"

"I count at least 6 figures, some incapacitated, and then 2 more from further away," Nightwing mused.

"They seem to be circling away from the explosion," Batman continued, "Seems like they aren't afraid of whatever caused it or don't seem to mind having their backs turned towards them."

"Which means whatever they're focused on is more important than that," Red Hood muttered as he crouched, carefully opening a rooftop window. Smoke fizzled out of it, gently dissipating into the cool evening air. "I think it-" he stopped, falling back on one hand to support himself.

"Red, you good?" Nightwing watched him carefully.

"I-," Red Hood shook his head, "what..." He tried to look at his brother but found it hard to focus as he felt a familiar feeling creep up in his hand: "Oh no-"

He grabbed onto the closest thing he could find, which in this case was Batman as his hand slipped through the glass, throwing him off balance. A blinding pain ran through his arm as he quickly pulled away, trying incredibly hard not to scream.

"Red Hood, are you okay?" Batman held him away from the open panel, examining his hand but found nothing. "If you are experiencing that ghost thing again-"

"No, no I'm not sitting this out," he breathed, "And it's-, it's not that."

He peered back into the greenhouse, getting close enough to feel himself get queasy again: "There's something in there that, feels off."

"Perhaps there is something in the smoke, but your helmet shouldn't let anything in," Batman thought.

"No it's not the smoke," Jason breathed again, "Something in there is messing with whatever ghostly stuff I have going on right now."

"If that's the case Little Wing," Nightwing started carefully, "Maybe you shouldn't join us here-"

"I am not-"

"I'm not saying you need to leave, but maybe you need to join Robin and Red Robin instead. Who knows what's in there and what it could do to you if you get closer? We don't know-"

Nightwing got cut off as a green beam perforated the glass behind them, leaving a clean hole in the glass, melting it around the edges.

"Woops, guess I missed ya too much, Danno!" a voice rang from the greenhouse.

Needless to say, neither vigilante stayed on the rooftop much longer after that. They jumped in immediately, finding themselves surrounded by plants they hadn't even encountered in Poison Ivy's lair. Several men in white lay unconscious at their feet while the remaining few had several weapons pointed at hem, including two people in orange and teal.

Behind them, hiding behind whatever shelter they could find, they saw another person. Red Hood turned around, guns ready when he staggered, vision swarming as the shadow launched himself forward. He couldn't fire a single bullet and before he knew it, he was on the ground, wrestling with his assailant until his vision cleared and he saw the attacker crying.

"Crying?" he muttered. "Why are you crying-" he shook his head, taking off his helmet in hopes of getting a clear picture but felt his chest being constrained. No, not constrained, hugged.

"You shouldn't be here," they whispered, "They'll get you too."

Red Hood returned the hug, smelling the familiar scent of his kin and burying his face in his hair: "I'm here kiddo, I'm here."

Danny cried, latching onto Jason for as long as he could, not believing he was here. "The things they do here, Ja-, Hood, they-"

"It's okay bud, it's okay," He held him up for him to see and he hated what he saw. The bruises already forming on those cheekbones he tried so hard to fill in, the cuts on his lips and the tears mixing with red and green blood. "They won't hurt you anymore."

"I don't care about me being hurt!" Danny cried out, "I care about you!"

"Well it certainly is my lucky day to have not one, but two specimen right in front of me," a man who looked like he had too much free time and money on his hands clapped them together.

"Ah, is this the one you referred to in our dossier exchange?" the woman in teal moved forward, red glasses shining ominously. "I didn't know he was an associate of the Bat-clan?"

"Yes, they have their, differences, sometimes I believe?" the man spoke. "But you are not from around here, it's no shame in not being in the up and know about these affairs."

"How about you shut your yap?" Red Hood growled as he held Danny close to him, gun trained square on the man's chest.

"And what if I don't? You can barely stand, boy," The man laughed.

To Jason's dismay, he was right. His vision was still not a hundred percent and he could feel himself wobble.

"It's the blood blossoms," Danny whispered. "They only affect ghosts. Or ghost adjacent people."

"And you've been around them before?"

"Yeah...not the greatest experience."

"And they taste delicious for us humans too!" the man in orange exclaimed as he bit into one. "Not so much for your kind. Ooh, that might actually be an interesting experiment darling, do ghosts have a digestion track that can be affected too?"

"I suppose we will have to test that, dear!" the woman replied excitedly.

"Let me guess," Red Hood pointed towards the duo, "DNA gifters?"

"Unfortunately..." Danny shrugged. "I was hoping it was you who exploded the place, not them."

"That can still be arranged," Jason smiled at him. "I'll have you know, " he turned back to their adversaries, "I have been in way worse situations and gotten out, there's only one difference here."

"You mean the obvious fact you lot can not possible be allowed to leave here?" the man in white replied.

Red Hood grinned:"Nah, this time, I'm not out here alone."

Batman took out three men to his left, with Nightwing taking out the remaining ones on the right, leaving just the man in charge and Danny's parents to be dealt with.

"You picked the wrong family to mess with, pal," Nightwing charged up his escrima sticks, letting the electricity crackle through the air.

"Oh you poor man," the teal woman tutted, "They got you under their control too?"

"It really is a shame how these ghosts keep turning people against the people who do good," her husband replied, "They even got Batman and his brood!"

"Last time I checked," Batman growled, "Torture isn't exactly a thing good people do. Especially not because you dislike an entire species."

"Those things killed our son!" the woman cried out, "And then replaced him with one of their own! My son would not lie to me! My son was doing so well until he showed up!"

"YOU killed me yourself!" Danny snapped. "Your stupid machine killed me! Your neglect killed me! You didn't even notice I was hurt and unwell until months after I had died! What does that say about you!"

"See!" the woman cried out, "My son would never snap at me like that!"

"You-"

"Let them, Danny," Red Hood held him tight, "They're not worth the energy. We'll take you home and forget this ever happened."

"Like hell you are," the woman charged up her weapon, somehow folding outward into a bigger and bigger machine, "I am sending that thing back to where it came from, and you as well!"

"I'm afraid, you'll have to get past all of us then," Nightwing grinned. He launched himself, dodging strange blast after bullet after net. Really how did they manage so many different objects into one weapon? As he concerned himself with Danny's mom, Batman took on the big guy.

"Any last words?" he held up a few batarangs.

"Sorry Batman," the man in orange pressed on the cuffs of his suit, "But this is gonna hurt." Metal sprawled all over his arms, joining at the back to form an exoskeleton over his upper body as he charged at the vigilante, leaving Danny and Red Hood with the head of the organization.

"Before I kick your ass," Red Hood steadied himself, "Care for some introductions? I'd like to know what name to put on your cell in Arkham."

"Oh you're a joker eh?" the man chuckled, "The name's Hunter, that's all you need to kno-" A bullet flew past him, straight into a tree.

"Don't call me that," Red Hood snarled. "And the next one won't miss."

Hunter scowled at the bullet hole, reaching into his pocket as another bullet launched itself from Red Hood's gun, hitting its mark perfectly. Hunter's snarl turned into a howling laughter, continuing to reach into his pocket until he pulled out a rod. The bullet dropped to ground, the gun still smoking as Hunter pressed onto a button, turning the rod into a whip.

"You don't think," he lashed around him with it, "That I'm not prepared for a fight against ghosts?"

He lashed out at the tree with the bullet hole, cutting it straight in half. "I've been hunting ghosts for a loooooong time, boy. To have the king and his ward mere inches away from my possession? I won't let that slip."

"What, you some kind of meta?" Red Hood changed the ammo of his gun, "Like I haven't fought those before? I've handled supers, what will you be doing to me?"

"To you?" Hunter laughed once again, "Maybe a few punches here and there but to him?" He pointed his whip at Danny. "Now he'll hurt way mor-"

Hunter hissed as blood trickled down his arm, coating the base of the whip.

"I have plenty of different types of ammo, asshole," Red Hood explained. "If regular non lethal bullets don't make it, lethal it is, superpowers or not."

"Who said I had super powers?" Hunter spat as the blood dried up and the wound closed. "I have powers of the supernatural kind." He stormed forward, whip expanding as it reached for Danny. Red Hood jumped in between grabbing the end of the whip and pulling it taut.

"So much for the supernatural," Red Hood taunted.

"Oh you ghosts are so predictable," Hunter snickered, twisting a dial on the whip. The tips started to glow bright green, a path traveling from the tips to Jason's hands until they released a light, accompanied by a massive blast, sending him straight into the wall. Hunter pulled back his whip, laughing as Jason struggled to get up.

"You all are so overly defensive of your own brood, jumping in harms way even when it is detrimental to yourself. It's pathetic really."

"Having people in your corner is pathetic?" Danny started as he helped Jason up, "Having a family is pathetic? Protecting those you love, is pathetic ?"

"Come now boy, you should know by now that that is your greatest weakness," he held the whip in front of him, "It's how we caught all of these monsters in the first place. But it does make an effective bargaining chip."

"Bargaining chip?" Danny asked.

"The best protection against ghosts, is other ghosts. If ghosts don't want their own brood to be hurt, they'll hurt others for you to keep theirs safe. And if they don't, they'll just be added to the arsenal that will. How do you think these weapons work, boy?"

Danny's eyes widened as he looked at the equipment used against him and his family. How the blasts of those guns felt so similar to those of other ghosts.

"You-, you didn't-" he stammered, feeling his blood boil and his vision turn green, "You didn't."

"Don't act like you're not guilty of that too, you used your family's equipment yourself."

"I didn't know!" he yelled, making the greenhouse tremble, "How was I supposed to know!"

"You know now, don't you?" Hunter grinned, "That all those ghosts were slaughtered and captured using other ghosts. That somewhere in these weapons," he let his fingers glide across the handle as he cocked his head, "Is a ghost. Maybe alive, maybe not."

"Danny," Jason groaned, holding him back," he's taunting you, don't let him."

"Personally I like this one," Hunter continued as he closed in on him and pointed at his belt, showing a gleaming belt buckle. "It grants me protection from all ghost related projectiles. Unfortunately," he looked at the scar on his arm, "mortal weapons still hurt. But hanging out around these things does give you a, what do they call it, increased healing factor? So I suppose there is some benefit to you lot being around us."

"I will slaughter you," Danny's eyes were blazing, the crown of fire glowing brightly above him. Ice engulfed the blood blossoms, forming a dome over the greenhouse even Mr. Freeze would be jealous off.

"Always with the slaughter," Hunter yawned, "That's all your kind cares about anyway." He cracked his whip, letting the tendrils surge towards Danny. To his surprise, Danny didn't even flinch, letting them wrap around his arm. As they tied themselves securely around him, he pulled, sending Hunter spiraling towards him. He pulled the whip from his hand as Hunter's chest connected with his foot, sending him to the other side of the greenhouse, leaving cracks in the ice and concrete.

"I will slaughter you," Danny slowly started to hover, whip still dragging from his arm. Fatigue, reason and pain left his limbs, bruises clearing and cuts healing as a mantel draped itself over his shoulders. Stars glittered in its wake, the endless void spiraling in the folds. A ring appeared on his hand, glowing as brightly as his irises while his sclera slowly darkened.

Whispering started to fill the greenhouse, overlapping and stretching wide as Danny approached the man on the ground. Darkness, true darkness, settled over the facility as a king walked the grounds.

He deserves a faith worse than death He Hurt Us Save us He can't leave Kill Him To War With Humanity Worse Than Death He deserves a faith worse than death He Hurt Us Save us He can't leave Kill Him To War With Humanity Worse Than Death Death Death Death DEATH DEATH

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you right here," Danny hovered over him, hand blazing with green and swirls of black.

"Because we don't kill people," Jason's voice rang out behind him. A hand pressed down on his shoulder, gripping it firmly. Danny watched, watched as Jason joined him.

"We don't kill people," he began again, as he looked at Batman. "I know I have, and I know I could again, but that doesn't mean we should get to be judge, jury and executioner whenever we want."

"He hurt them, hurt you, hurt so many people," Danny's face was lined with fury, "He can't be unpunished."

"I'm not saying he won't be punished," Jason assured him. Batman and Nightwing were already tying up Danny's parents, watching them as they did. "But we can't kill them for it."

He held Danny's hand, green fire and all. "You can't hold the hands of those who are innocent if those same hands are stained with the blood of the guilty, Danny. I made that mistake once."

Jason's eyes were bright green and glossy, tears staining his eyelashes: "You don't need to bear that burden alone, kid."

Danny's face softened, anger releasing its hold. His feet touched the ground, his stance unsteady. His regalia vanished, like they were never there in the first place.

Hunter stirred, blood oozing from every orifice: "F-, finish it then,-n, c-coward."

"I'm not like you," Danny lowered his hands, fire gone. "I can do the right thing."

"And that's," Hunter spat out blood, "Your, mistake-"

He pulled out two orbs from his pocket, wheezing with pained laughter as he held up a knife: "What will it be, boy?"  he crushed the smaller one, opening a rift behind him.

"Me?" he held up the knife, "Or her?" he slammed the knife into the last orb, throwing it towards Danny as he fell through his makeshift portal.

An ear piercing shriek echoed through the dome, shattering the ice as the metal sank through the surface of the orb.

Danny paled, patting his chest until he launched for the orb on the floor as he realized, too late, that one was empty.