Chapter Text
“Hey Danny,” Tim said through the phone. “I got those results. If you want to meet up.” Tim’s voice was just as awkward over the phone as it was in person.
“Umm sure. I open the coffee shop at 5am tomorrow, and I’m supposed to be relieved around 3pm. That’s if my relief actually shows up. Ever since that Scarecrow asshat attacked, we’ve been short-staffed. Er. Shorter staffed. Like come on. It’s Gotham. Rogue attacks happen all the damn time. They should be used to it by now. Hell, back in Amity Park, a ghost attack could happen, and Lancer wouldn’t even dismiss class,” Danny ranted. Tim snorted. If Tim didn’t know any better, he would have sworn that Danny was a native Gothamite.
“I’ll have someone pick you up. Is it ok if we meet at the Manor?” Tim asked, interrupting Danny’s rant.
“The fuck’s the Manor?” Danny asked snarkily.
“Oh. I…I meant Wayne Manor. You know, like my last name. Drake-Wayne.”
“WAIT…WHAT?!?! LIKE BRUCE FUCKING WAYNE?!?!” DANNY yelled through the phone.
“Uh, yes. I thought you knew,” Tim replied as he pulled his phone away from his ear.
“No, why would I? It’s not like I keep up with celebrity news or anything. And up till the whole kidnapping thing, I was trying to keep a low profile. You know, half-ghost in hiding and all that. Can’t exactly do that if I suddenly show up claiming to be related to a son of Bruce Wayne, now can I?” Danny deadpanned. “Besides, I didn’t exactly know you existed till a few days ago. Well, I knew you existed, just not as a potential brother.”
“That’s one reason why I’m suggesting the Manor. It will give us some semblance of privacy. If we meet anywhere out in public, there’s always the chance that I’ll be recognized, and the paparazzi are always looking for a new story. They’ll either think that Bruce adopted another kid since you fit the profile or that we’re lovers or something along those lines,” Tim explained.
“What do you mean I fit the profile?” Danny asked, suspiciously.
“It’s a running joke in Gotham. Bruce has a type. Black-hair and blue-eyes. And that tracks with most of the kids he’s adopted. Even the family friends, but not all of them. All of the boys, Dick, Jason, Me, Damian, and Duke all have black hair. Cass also has black hair. Dick, Jason, and me have blue eyes. Damian is green-eyed. Duke and Cass have dark eyes. Dick, Jason, Me, and Cass are all adopted. Duke is a foster-to-adopt. Damian is biologically Bruce’s. Steph is blonde but also blue-eyed. Babs is red-haired, but again blue-eyed. Both Steph and Babs are family friends, but they’ve been around long enough they might as well have been adopted.”
“Oh.” Is all Danny can say to the info dump. “Question. Other than me. Have there been other random ass kidnappings that have been mistaken for a Wayne kid?” Danny said when he finally found his tongue.
“Surprisingly, no. You’re the first,” Tim answered. And truthfully, it had been surprising. There was an endless supply of black-haired, blue-eyed people in the world, and a good number of them likely resided in Gotham. That Danny had been the first one to be mistaken for a Wayne and kidnapped had been unbelievable stroke of bad luck on Danny’s part, but maybe good luck on both of their parts since it likely reunited the long-lost brothers. “Anyways, I figured it would be better to have the meeting at the Manor. So, I’ll have someone pick you up after your shift. Is that ok?” Danny hummed in agreement.
Danny didn’t know what he expected when he walked out of the coffee shop. It certainly wasn’t the slick, black sedan with the elderly gentleman standing next to it. And he certainly wasn’t expecting for the gentleman to be British or to greet him by name.
“Good afternoon, Master Daniel. I’m Alfred Pennyworth, Butler of the Wayne Estate. Master Timothy sent me to take you to the Manor,” Alfred said as Danny walked out of the coffee shop.
“Hey, Mr. Pennyworth. I would really prefer Danny, if it’s all the same. The only people who call me Daniel are the ones who are trying to kill me,” Danny replied without really thinking about it. Damn his brain-to-mouth filter. He missed the look Alfred gave him.
Alfred opened the door for Danny, and Danny crawled in the backseat. “Does that happen a lot, Master Danny?”
“Hmm, what?” Danny replied. He had been lost in thought. The GAV had never been this cool. Not even any of Vlad’s vehicles had been this cool. Vlad only wished his cars had been this cool.
“People trying to kill you. Does that happen a lot?”
“Oh well, that depends. The ghosts were only playing. They didn’t really know any better. They got better once they learned that I was essentially a baby ghost. Pandora had had field day with that. The Froot Loop. It depends on the day. Some days it was just your basic kidnapping. Some days it’s all ‘Daniel, denounce your father and be my apprentice’. And other days, he’s actively trying to kill me. Meh, just your average Monday for me.” Once again, Danny missed the look on Alfred’s face. Alfred was thinking that the more he learned about this child, the more worried he became.
“I see. And you can just call me Alfred, Master Danny,” Alfred replied instead of voicing his inner turmoil. Alfred had seen a lot of things in his life serving at the Wayne Manor. And considering that all of his charges were involved in Gotham’s nightlife, he had seen any and all manner of injuries. He had even buried a child, who had later come back to life. But this child that had just crawled into the back seat of the car said such worrying things with such a blasé attitude.
The ride to the Manor was otherwise silent. Danny was content to watch as the city of Gotham passed by him. Alfred was worrying over Danny. He knew that Master Jason had taken to feeding Danny as Red Hood, but the boy was still entirely too skinny. Alfred watched as Danny’s eyes widened in shock as they drove through the gates, and a small smile formed on Alfred’s face. Alfred parked the car in front of the Manor, and hurriedly opened the door for Danny. Alfred led Danny to a small sitting room where both Tim and Bruce were waiting.
“Um, hi,” Danny said by way of greeting.
Tim jumps up and runs over to Danny. He’d been checking in on Danny as Red Robin, and Jason had been giving him reports as Hood, but it was still good to see him. “Hey Danny. This is Bruce Wayne,” Tim started the introduction. Bruce held his hand for a handshake. Danny took it. Bruce was surprised at how cold Danny’s hands were.
“Perhaps the young Master would like something to drink?” Alfred asked as he ushered Danny further into the room.
“Orange juice, if you have any, Alfred,” Danny replied, after releasing Bruce’s hand.
Danny sat on a sofa and Tim sat next him. Bruce sat in an armchair. Danny began fidgeting with the hem of his hoodie. Give him ghost attacks any day. Normal people interactions…EW. That meant he had to be normal, even if Tim and quite likely Bruce knew about the ghost shit. Where was Jazz when he needed her? Right…Jazz was at Harvard. And Sam and Tucker were still in Amity.
“So, we got the results back. And we’re definitely brothers. You share 50% DNA with both Jack and Janet Drake, but also 50% with me, which is to be expected. It took Red Robin a few tries to isolate the DNA due to the ectoplasmic interference,” Tim said while reaching out to take Danny’s hand. Danny let him. It had been so long since he’d been touched by family (that he knew anyways. The vigilantes didn’t count). Or at least touched by family in a loving non-vivisection or harming manner. “Danny, is everything ok?” Tim asked as he leaned into Danny’s space.
“Huh, why wouldn’t it be?” Danny replied.
“You’re crying,” Tim said softly while he handed Danny a tissue.
“Oh…it’s just…I missed this…family…The last time Jack or Maddie touched me, me as Danny was probably 4 maybe 5 years ago,” Danny croaked as more tears flooded down his cheeks.
Once the flood gates had been opened, Danny couldn’t help himself, it seemed. He felt big strong arms encircle him, and he grabbed onto the body that those arms were connected to without thinking. He ugly sobbed for what felt like hours. In one fell swoop, he had lost everything. His home. His family. His Haunt. He didn’t even know how long he’d been held by the GIW, although he did know it had only been a few days, thankfully. But they’d been so close to discovering his core when Jazz and the rest of Team Phantom had raided the facility. He still hadn’t really processed everything. But here and now, in this Manor, this big man (Bruce his mind ever so helpfully supplied) and his brother were sending out waves of comfort/safe/warmth/care, and it had sent him over the edge. He hadn’t felt this safe since his accident. No, that wasn’t right. He’d never truly felt safe with the Fentons. Realistically, he knew his house was a lab disaster waiting to happen. The Fentons didn’t know the meaning of lab safety, even if they did wear their stupidly colored hazmat suits everywhere. But that was about it. Children shouldn’t have been exposed to the shit that both he and Jazz had been exposed to, even before his accident.
He eventually came out of whatever had come over him. “I’m so sorry,” he tried to apologize.
“It’s ok, chum. It’s probably just overwhelming,” Bruce said calmly, not leaving Danny’s side. Danny still leaned into him and was still holding onto Tim’s hand as if it was a lifeline.
“It’s just…I’ve never felt so…safe…before. And even before I became Phantom, living with the Fentons wasn’t exactly kosher, if you get my meaning. OSHA TRIED to get them shut down. After a few years, they just gave up. I was cleaning their lab by the time I was 6. And ectoplasm is radioactive. So, there’s that. Jack and Maddie wore hazmat suits practically 24/7, but not me or Jazz, if that tells you anything. After I became Phantom, the house’s automatic anti-ghost defense system started auto-targeting me. Jazz, Tucker, or me would have to go in every couple of days to reset it. I would sneak down to the lab and reverse engineer their weapons so it wouldn’t be lethal to ghosts. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a bitch when I got hit with them. And I couldn’t always sabotage them. That’s how they managed to catch me in the first place. One of Jack’s newer weapons, the Fenton Skynet, an electrified ectoplasmic net. And yeah.” Danny finally ran out of words. Bruce and Tim sat in horrified silence. The more Tim heard about Danny’s life the worse it got. Bruce had been given a summary of what Tim and Jason had learned from Danny at the safehouse, but dear and holy gods, he wished his sons had given him a better heads’ up. And Tim…Poor Tim. The more he learned about his brother, the deeper and hotter his rage burned. His time spent blowing up League of Assassins’ bases had apparently been training for blowing up shady government organization. Both Bruce and Tim knew that if Jason got a hold of the Fentons, it would be a repeat of the duffle bag incident, and neither were sure they would stop him.
“So, now, the question is Danny, what would you like to do?” Bruce asked, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He wanted nothing more than to wrap Danny up in bubble wrap and lock him away in the Manor, but he somehow got the impression Danny wouldn’t take that lightly. “I want to say that you are always welcome here. In fact, I’m sure Alfred already has a room prepared for you.”
“I don’t want to intrude…” Danny said weakly.
“You wouldn’t be intruding. You’re family. Since you’re in online school, you could just as easily complete it here in the Manor. If you want to continue working as barista just to give you something to do outside of the Manor, we could arrange for that to happen as well. And the Justice League is working on taking down both the GIW and those horrible Acts,” Tim said, trying to imbue as much comfort as he could.
“That sounds…actually that sounds really nice,” Danny said as he swallowed thickly.
“If you want, B could take over legal guardianship of you. It would give you another layer of protection between you and the Fentons if they come looking,” Tim said calmly. He would do anything to protect his little brother.
“You do realize that they’re basically certified mad scientists, right? Like they should be on Batman’s rogue watch list. If they lived in Gotham at any rate. Are you sure you want that kind of crazy?” Danny asked hesitantly.
“Danny, chum, as Tim said, you’re family. We’ll take that risk. Let us protect you,” Bruce said as he rubbed circles in Danny’s back. Danny knocked his head against Bruce’s arm his eyes beginning to close. Emotions were hard and draining, especially since he’d kept his under lock and key for so long.
“Tha’s goo. Stayin’ I mean. Don’ have much at the partment,” Danny slurred as he tried fighting to stay awake.
“I’ll send Red Robin and Red Hood to pack your stuff up,” Tim said with finality as he watched Danny slump against Bruce in sleep. Bruce slipped from under Danny and gently picked him up. Alfred led the trio to a room that he’d set up.
“Be quick, chum. I’m sure it’ll scare him to wake up in a strange room,” Bruce called after Tim as Tim raced away to get Danny’s stuff. His brother was coming home.