Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Damian hated thinking about Dana. He had killed her in a show of loyalty to Ra al Ghul, a man he no longer follows. Does that mean she lost her life for nothing? Did Damian kill the one person who chose to understand him as a person rather than the weapon he was destined to become for nothing?

He doesn't think about her because if he does all he will find is grief and regret.

So he didn't tell his father about her existence. He had learned after her death, when the league was forbidden to remember her, that it was easier to pretend that she didn't exist. If there was no Dana then there was no feeling that made him weak, that made him physically sick to his stomach.

It’s easier the older he gets. His memories of her fade. The sound of her laughter no longer rings in his ears. His body has changed, his voice no longer sounds like hers nor does his face look like hers. Every birthday it’s easier to forget that someone should be beside him.

So when he’s out patrolling alone it takes him a second to recognize her.

“I’m not going to jump.” There was a person sitting on the edge of the roof. They were looking out over the city. It was a starless night like many before it in Gotham. The moon breaching through the clouds every so often. He thought he was silent as he approached but it appears that he was wrong.

“Do you mind backing away from the ledge then?” Robin had asked. The person had snorted but scooted away from the edge. They turned to look at him. Their long hair was black, blending into the night around them. Their eyes an icy blue. A teenager around his age. Presumably a girl.

“Couldn't sleep. My brother likes to look at the stars. I decided to come up here and see if I could spot some of the constellations that he has shown me. But clouds. So I’m people watching instead.” They explained. Their accent wasn't from Gotham, something more Midwest. Someone newer to the city then. Even Damian’s accent was becoming more Gotham sounding as the years go on. His first thought was a tourist, but the building they are on is a flower shop, not a hotel. They aren't old enough to be in college, so the most likely scenario is that the parents must have moved their family. Being in a new environment, especially an environment as stressful as Gotham can be, can lead to suicidal feelings. He needs to approach this carefully, despite what they might be saying.

“Hm,” he acknowledges them. Robin takes a step forward, testing to see if his company is welcome. They don't flinch or move, so he takes a few more steps and sits beside them.

“You really don't need to stay.” He makes no move to get up. They let out an exasperated huff. The first gear in his mind shifts. He knows that exact look on their face, it’s familiar but he can't remember from where. “Don't you have some crime to fight?”

“I’m on break. This is my favorite view of the city.” It’s a lie. They're too far down to see all of Gotham. His favorite view of the city is from far above, when the people are the size of ants and the lights look like stars.

“I guess the architecture around here is cool. Sam might like it,” they murmur. He files the name away for later. “You’re Robin right?”

“I am.” Definitely new to the city if they have to ask.

“Dani with an I.”

“Is one of them fake?” It's a rude question. One he knows he shouldn't have asked when talking to a potentially suicidal civilian.

Dani looks at him with a confused scrunch of their nose before letting out a small giggle. The second gear in his mind turns. “No. I guess that doesn't make sense if you don't know that my brother's name is Danny with a Y.”

“Your parents both named you Dani?”

“Well, we're twins so it comes with the territory. But Dani, me Dani, not brother Danny, is short for Danielle.” The rest of the gears in his mind start to spin. The anguish the thought brings with it is heavy.

This person has his sister's face.

He doesn't know what to do. If he should do anything. Did his mother make a clone of Dana after all of this time? It’s doubtful. She too likes to pretend that Dana never existed to ease her grief. Is everything this person has told him a lie, or is even now his mind forgetting what she looked like? Filling in the blanks with someone who looks similar.

“What is brother Danny’s name short for?” He finds himself asking. Giving himself time to think.

“Nothing. He’s just Danny.” Danielle tilts their head up to look at the clouds. They can't be Dana, the slit in their throat isn't where he left it. Yet he wants them to be. “Batman and the rest of the Gotham vigilantes are part of the Justice League, right?”

“We are.” It’s more complicated than that, but giving this stranger the complete rundown on the relationship between the Justice League and the Gotham vigilantes feels unnecessary.

“Does that mean you work for the government?” Danielle’s question is cautious like they don't want to hear the answer. Weary of the government. He jots down in his mental notes.

“No. The Justice League helps all over the world. We are not governed by a single government.”

“That's good,” Danielle yawns. “Shit, it’s getting late. I need to get to sleep or else school is going to kick my ass tomorrow. Sorry for stealing your spot. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” Damian wants her to stay. Robin wants her to go. Danielle gives him a small wave before heading back inside.

Robin swings down to street level. The Walker’s Flower Shop. He memorized the shop name. He knows he’s going to be back, wanting to see the face of his sister again, even if it isn't her behind the skin.

Chapter Text

He isn't stalking Danielle, he’s investigating her. He’s the son of the world's best detective, but that doesn't mean he is immune to illogical reasoning. He knows that she can't be Dana, but he wants her to be. People in his family have come back from the dead before. Why not Dana? So he’s collecting evidence.

Gordon

Can you

I need information

I have

⚫⚫⚫

[      ]

Alone. His family doesn't need to know. It will only turn into something it's not and he will not let that hope take root in him without good reason for it to.

They're the same age. With the same birthday, even. Plenty of people were born the same day as him, but how many of those people have the face of his dead sister?

She and her brother were adopted not long after Dana had died. Also adopted by Jack and Maddie Fenton at the same age Dana was when she died. Her medical records were a bit strange, but nothing worthy of a third or fourth look. Her school records were the same. With her grades being below average since elementary school. Usually signifying a learning disability that isn't getting the proper tools to overcome it. Unfortunately, that is not uncommon. Nor is it illegal. He hasn't ruled out the possibility that there has been tampering, but they would have had to painstakingly go back and change things that even the Bats have a hard time faking.

He swears he saw her eyes flash a vibrant eerie green briefly as if she was affected by the Lazarus Waters. However, the camera footage had glitched at that exact moment, and he was unable to verify what he saw.  Maybe it was just a trick of the light, maybe the angle was off, or maybe he was too desperate to see something that wasn’t there.

She had snuck up on him once. Something not many people can do. Clearly indicating that she had some training.  He'd watched her interact with others, paying attention to how she kept her distance, how she analyzed every room she entered. It was subtle, but there.

How many coincidences does it take to become a pattern?

Maybe Mother lied about Dana’s body not surfacing out of the Lazarus Pit and sent her on a secret mission where no more harm could be done to her? Maybe she came back to life with amnesia like Todd? Perhaps he is wrong and Mother did make a clone?

The only thing standing in his way of concocting a solid theory that Danielle could possibly be Dana was Danny, her own twin brother. If he wasn't there that hope he is killing could flourish. Hope doesn't make truths, but it often muddies the waters.

~~~

Dana al Ghul was prim and proper. She could never step out of line. Could never be anything other than what she was told to be. She was born minutes before her brother, but because she wasn't born a boy she wasn't given the title of Heir. And it was drilled into her that she was to make up for that fact.

Danny Fenton got to be free. He got to be himself. To have friends. To have fun. He was happy.

Danny Phantom is tired. He’s the Infinite Realm’s heir apparent, a title they created when he wouldn't accept the Ring Of Rage, a ring made out of the first High King’s core, to become the next High King. He never wanted the title of king before and he doesn't want it now. He has the observers hounding him to know when he will finally step into his role, they're getting tired of his excuses. He was the first ghost to pass up the opportunity, but he was also the first halfa to be given the chance in the first place. He has a life to still live. He doesn't want to spend it in the Infinite Realms.

Instead, he works the night shift at a bodega near the flower shop. The person who hired him didn't ask his age and Danny wasn't going to rat himself out. He’s pretty sure the place is a front for some gang, but they need the money so he keeps his mouth shut and does his job.

Which currently involves doing a whole lot of nothing. Not even Gotham’s ghosts are pestering him tonight. It’s odd. Normally he would have a few stop in by now. Ghosts can get into the Infinite Realms at their final resting place, whether it's a grave or the place where their ashes are scattered. With a place as big as Gotham and with how much crime they have it's not a surprise how many ghosts don't have either, causing them to linger. They're a lot friendlier than he expected to be. But even the most hardened of criminals get a new lease on life after death.

Maybe they got bored of him already?

He pulls out his phone to see a few texts from Sam and Tucker. All of the late nights spent ghost hunting have eroded their sleep schedule. He’s sure one of them is up still.

💚🖤💛

Sam

[Picture of Sam and Tucker's hand flipping off a white van]

Danny guess who your parents are working with

Tucker

This wasn't even the first van we saw

Danny

Do you guys know what for???

Tucker

I hacked into their servers

The government needs better security BTW this was super easy

They are funding your parents to rebuild the portal

Danny

They barely got the thing to work in the first place

I'll start to worry if they can get the thing up and running

Sam

Danny this could be a huge problem if they get their hands on a way to get into the Infinite Realms

Danny

Well it's not like I'm there to stop them

What do you want me to do???

Usurp the government???

Keeping an eye on them is the best we can do right now

Tucker

How are you and Dani getting settled in Gotham?

Have you met Poison Ivy?

Is she as hot as we think she is?

Danny

No

And I keep telling you, you can't kiss her Tucker her lips kill men

Sam

I'll do it for you Tucker

Tucker

My hero

Danny

Gotham’s fine for a place known for its crime

Dani isn't doing too well in school and hasn't made any living friends

I miss you two

You guys should come visit

Sam

Once we are sure your parents can’t track us we will

Promise

He wishes he could go back to before everything got out. Go home to the smell of chocolate and electrical fires. Where he could spend his nights in bed with his partners. He doesn't regret giving it all up for Dani. She’s his sister, no matter how unconventional, and he is going to love her until the day his body becomes one with ectoplasm and he fades away. Still, he mourns for what was.

His eyes traveled to the magazine talking about some charity work Damian Wayne did. That was another thing about Gotham. He’s choosing to ignore that Damian is here. He’s glad his brother got out of the League, but no matter how much he has changed Danny doesn't want to see him. The last time he saw his brother he had pushed Danny’s dying body into the Lazarus Water. The most important thing in the-Damian-he-knew’s life was the title of Demon Heir. He needed to be better than everyone at everything. Danny in the end was a reminder that he couldn't be. So no he doesn't feel the need to see his brother again. He severed their relationship along with Danny’s throat. The final nail in Dana al Ghul’s coffin was figuring out he’s trans. He doesn't need to pry it open to see if her rotting corpse is still inside of him. Besides, it's not like they’re rich enough to be in the Wayne’s orbit.

He knows he fell through the Infinite Realms, but all he remembers of that moment is the ectoplasm oozing into every one of his orifices like an empty jar. He remembers his eyes feeling like they were being corroded. He remembers his blood stopped suffocating him only to be replaced by the ectoplasm filling up his lungs instead. (Leaving behind a scar that has faded over the years. Danny can barely tell it’s there now.) He remembers falling out of a natural portal near the Fentons.

He’s pretty sure that was the reason the Fentons wanted to adopt him in the first place. Even back then they wanted to run tests on him. It’s lucky that because of this whenever their inventions went off around him they wrote it off as the residual ecto in him that they couldn't get rid of. They didn't get so lucky with Dani.

Now he’s starting over. Again.

He got brought out of his reminiscing by a little girl popping her head up from the freshly mopped tile floor. She looked around before floating over to Danny. She was dressed like an American girl doll from the 1960s. This was Rhonda, a ghost that often visits Danny on his shift. She died in some natural disaster way before he was born. “Hey, Phantom have you seen Lee?” Lee was another ghost. Her neighbor when they were alive. The two of them didn't go anywhere without the other.

“He’s not with you?”

“If he was you think I would be here asking you?” Fair point.

“Nobody has come by today other than you.”

“No one huh? Not even Esmeralda?” Esmeralda is a ghost of an old lady. She’s not much of a talker, but she likes to check up on him and Dani. He asked her why once. Said she was the welcome wagon and left it at that.

The bell above the door chimed. A living customer. He was a middle-aged man who was slowly losing his hair. He stopped in front of the chips.

“Just you.” He doesn't care if he looks like he is talking to himself. It helps keep the potentially violent customers in line. Apparently, nobody wants to fuck with crazy in Gotham. “Maybe he moved on.”

“He wouldn't do that without telling me.” Rhonda rolls her eyes at him like the idea of Lee moving on was impossible. “I haven't seen Kim in days either.” She tapped her small foot on the floor. The middle-aged man jumps at the sound. Kim was a student at Gotham University a few years ago. These days he follows Esmeralda around like a lost puppy.

“You think they're in trouble?”

“I hope not,” Rhonda grumbles. “Keep an eye out for me? You know, do your damn job.”

“What do you think my job entails?” She died before she could get a job. What does she know?

“Not working for the livings making a penny on the dollar. That's for damn sure.” Rhonda sighed, her body flickering. Ghosts who never made it to the Infinite Realms are weak. Some have a hard time keeping a form. “Look even a ghost as powerful as you must have someone you care about. Would do anything for.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” he murmurs. It’s probably nothing. She exited the same way she came in.

The middle-aged man made his snack selection and plopped the bags of chips onto the counter. He also, with shaky hands, pulled out a gun. “I don't want any trouble-”

“Then maybe you shouldn't point a gun at people's heads.” He knows he shouldn't be sassing the person with a gun, but what is he going to do to Danny? A regular bullet isn't going to kill him and that's not an ecto weapon.

“I just want the money in the register.” The man adjusts his grip.

“You know I would be more scared if the safety was off.” Danny really doesn’t give a shit if this place gets robbed or not, but his bosses will and he doesn't want to get fired. The man flicks off the safety. “That's a good start.”

“Just give me the money.” This man isn't going to try to kill him. Danny can see it in his face, he doesn't have the resolve.

Before Danny can do anything a local vigilante, Robin, swoops in. He disarms the man in a single blow. If only Phantom was that efficient. Maybe then he wouldn't be a D student. He also glares at Danny before hauling off the would-be shooter.

He didn't even do anything and he’s already pissed off the local vigilantes. Great.

He wants to go home and take a nap before school starts in the morning, but he has a few more hours of this shit. And now he has another job to do. He thought he left his own vigilante life back in Amity Park. Whoever said the dead rest in peace was way off the mark.

Chapter Text

Dani is like a toddler in a teenager's body, everything is new and fascinating. She has the thoughts and feelings of a teenager, but none of the memories to go along with having lived a life. She never had sleepovers or birthday parties or play dates. It's like she has amnesia with the only clues about who she should be in her brother.

Robin keeps coming back if the night isn't too busy. The same place, at the same time. He sometimes asks her questions. Some of them are easy. Like how her days have been. Her life has been more peaceful here than in Amity Park.

Some were harder to answer. Like how school was coming along. School is kicking her ass. Vlad had only taught her what she needed to know to kill Danny. She was still trying to grasp the basics while fighting through high school classes. Danny is doing their best to help her, but has also been barely scraping by for a while now.

Others she couldn't answer. Like why she came to Gotham. She had told him that she and Danny had a bad coming out. The Fentons were great with Danny being trans. It was their ghost halves they had problems with. Their inventions started to go off around her. They said she was new. That she didn't know to wear a Specter Deflector. So they tried to take the ghost out of her. In the end, Danny chose her over his parents. He said it was an easy decision. That he would choose Dani over his parents every time. It might be true, but it doesn't make her guilt go away.

They fled to The Walker’s Flower Shop. A flower shop that has been in the Walker family for generations. Their aunt gave the key to Jazz who in turn had given it to Danny. The shop hasn't been operational since their aunt got divorced. The apartment was small, with furniture and wallpaper still from the seventies. The place had only two bedrooms, a small combined living room and kitchen, and one bathroom. It’s nothing like Vlad’s mansion. Still, it feels more like home than any place with Vlad ever could.

Despite all of the questions he asks her, Robin won't answer hers. It’s to be expected. He’s a vigilante with a secret identity. But she wouldn't mind knowing more about her strange friend.

~~~

“Hey, what do you want to eat?” Danny asked her. She sat up on the couch to look at him. He was wearing his binder and sweatpants, his hair still dripping from the shower.

“Pizza.”

Danny groaned. “We had pizza yesterday. We're going to have Chinese.”

“Why ask my opinion if you weren't going to listen?”

“I thought you would have a good opinion.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “What do you want?” He asked while handing her the takeout menu.

She flopped back down onto the couch and read through it. “Do you want to share an order of spring rolls?”

“Crab Rangoon?” Danny sat on her feet. She kicked at him but he didn't move.

“We’re allergic to crabs.”

“Not enough to kill us. Plus I think they use imitation crab,” Danny argued. If their throats close up they can just stop breathing.

“Fine. Lemon chicken also please.”

Danny called and ordered their dinner. Jazz never taught Danny how to cook and Dani is new to life. She doesn't have any skills yet. So they have been eating takeout. She’s thinking about taking a few classes at the community center, to pull her weight. It would be cheaper if they could make their own food.

“Is this mine or yours?” Danny throws a shirt at her. It’s black with the words I ❤️ Gotham on it. It’s two sizes too big for them. She sniffs it.

“It smells like you.” She tosses it back to Danny. He shrugs and pulls it on. “Have you noticed your ghost friends going missing?”

“Bolt hasn't been around as much.” Bolt was a cat that got struck by lightning. They are the only native Gotham ghost that gets close to the shop. Back in the day the place used to be run by Briget Walker. The plant they were best at selling were blood blossoms. Her husband Milton Walker was a cop. They both have passed, but Bridget faded while Milton still tries to police the dead. Even though they have been dead for a while the memory of the place stays in the minds of Gotham ghosts. “Why? What's up?”

“Nobody has seen Lee, Esmeralda, and Kim in days.”

“I haven't noticed anyone missing. Maybe Fern, but they travel all over the city. I could have just missed them.” Fern is a year older than them and likes to follow the bats around. Maybe they will be with Robin tonight. Danny hummed, frustrated. “I’ll keep an eye out for anything.”

“Don't go out of your way to get into trouble,” Danny sighs.

They eat while Dani paints their nails. After Sam painted them the first time Dani kept painting them. She bullies Danny into letting her paint his too. Sam and Jazz were the ones to teach her how to do girly things like that. They taught her how to put on makeup and different hairstyles. They took her shopping to get clothes she was comfortable in. They let her practice walking in heels with their own pairs. She loves her brother and understands how he was uncomfortable in their body, but she loves being a girl.

“How do you make a friend?” She asked through a mouthful of rice.

“You have friends.” Danny points a chopstick at her. She forces his hand back into position.

“Yeah, but they’re all dead or dating you. How do you make a normal living friend? I don't think he would like it if I punched him in the face.” Punching the local vigilante isn't a good way to get them to like you.

“Who are you trying to make friends with?”

“Just someone I've been hanging out with.” She would tell him she has been hanging out with Robin at night, but she doesn't know if that will make Robin mad and well, she is trying to be his friend.

“Just be yourself,” Danny tells her unhelpfully. How can she be something she doesn't know?

“I’m already doing that.” To the best of her abilities. “How else?”

“Dani, do you have a crush on someone?” Danny teases.

She gags. “Eww no.” Robin couldn't be any less attractive to her if he tried. Danny cackles at her face. “He’s just so stubborn and it's like he has to be in control of the conversation all the time.” The vibes Robin gives off are integration, and the questions he asks give off friendship.

Danny shrugs. “I don't know. Me, Sam, and Tucker have no problem yelling over each other. Maybe yell at them.”

“Your advice is terrible. I’m just going to ask Jazz.”

Danny snorted. “Good luck with that. She’s going to give you an hour-long presentation on how friendship is formed and its relation to the human mind.”

~~~

She did end up asking Jazz, but all she got out of the conversation was to treat Robin like a feral cat. Go slow, let him sniff her hand so he knows she’s not a threat.

They have been in Gotham long enough for the weather to get from chilly to brisk. Her core loves it. When Robin noticed she was just wearing her pajama pants and her cropped hoodie he draped his cape over her shoulders. “Your attire isn't appropriate for this weather.” He snapped at her.

She blew a raspberry at him. “Like your spandex is any better.”

“It’s Kevlar,” Robin states. “And insulated. It’s important that you must regulate your body temperature so you do not succumb to the weather. Wearing the appropriate clothing is something you should have learned by now. But since it seems you need reminders, never wear open-toe shoes. No outfit looks good with broken toes. If possible, in the winter, eat one hot meal a day. Layering up can help prevent illnesses, which are more common this time of year. If you can, take a first aid course, you never know when you or someone you know might need it. Never give out sensitive information to strangers. Are you getting all this?” Who knew Robin could be such a nag? She’s incredibly happy that he is. This is the most he has said to her.

~~~

Robin wasn't on the roof tonight. The first time this happened, she was worried she had scared him off, but it turns out he’s busy fighting crime. So she left him a crude drawing of him with the words “Missed you tonight. Hope you stayed safe.” Next to it she left a bag of Sun Chips and a water bottle. They were gone when she checked in the morning.

~~~

“Do you get paid?” She wasn't paid for her vigilante work and neither was Phantom.

“No.” Holy shit. He answered one of her questions. Progress.

“That sounds like a labor law violation,” she tells him. Does she know any labor laws? No. Can she make an educated guess as to what they are about? Yes.

“I’ll bring your concern up to Batman.” It was hard to tell but she thinks Robin is joking. She didn't know he knew how to do that. She wonders if she could get him to do it again.

~~~

They're sitting on the rooftop like the nights before. Watching lights flicker on and off, people still going to and fro. Gotham is way more active at night then Amity Park ever was. “What hobbies do you enjoy?” Robin asks her. Another hard question. She is still trying to find things she enjoys. She has tried to get into astronomy like Danny, but she would rather listen to him talk about it than anything else. She tried to get into tech like Tucker, but she got confused immediately. Her favorite of the things she has tried was taking care of Sam’s plants. Also a lot of waiting but she enjoyed digging in the dirt. Ember took her singing, but she couldn't do it without using her ghostly wail. Young Blood played pirates with her, but that's not a hobby. She’s not into boxes at all like The Box Ghost. Eating what she made with Lunch Lady was fun, but the clean up after was awful. “Fighting?” She answered.  All ghosts like fighting. It’s in their ectoplasm. “What about you?”

Robin hums and she knows that is all she is getting out of him. “Martial Arts?” He questions.

“A friend taught me Pankration and a different friend taught me Fencing as well as Kendo.” Pandora and Fright Knight are great teachers. And are always willing to play with young ghosts.

“You know how to use a sword.” It was a statement, not a question, but she gave him an affirmative sound still. Robin touched his own sword, but his hand jumped off of it quickly as if it burned him. He didn't say anything else, leaving them to stew in silence.

She can't stand it. Why take time out of his busy night to sit with her if he doesn't want to engage with her? “Why do you keep coming back?”

“Why do you?” Robin turned the question around on her.

“Because other than my brother you are my only friend in this city,” she angrily bites out. She wanted not to yell at him, but sometimes she feels like yelling. “It’s fine if you don't see me the same way, but why do you keep coming back if you don't want to spend time with me?!” She demanded.

“I do.” Robin sighs. He pauses, turning his next words over in his head. “When I look at you I don't know what to say.”

“Are you trying to flirt?”

Robin’s lips formed a disgusted snarl. “No.” He didn't have to say that like the idea of her being attractive was disgusting, but she's glad that this isn't him with a crush. “You remind me of my departed sister.”

Dani doesn't know how to be herself. Doesn't know who that person is yet. Danny tried to tell her that no teenager knows who they are yet, but they have a life to fall back on. She has nothing. But she wants to be given a chance to find out who she could be. She thought that now that she was out of Amity Park, out of the place where she is known to be Danny’s clone, she could explore more of herself. But she is still just being held up to a mirror that isn't right for her. “I’m not your sister,” she growls out.

“I know. You could never be her,” Robin growls back. The covered eyes of Robin’s mask are unwavering, but his jaw is clenched tight, as if the words he just spoke took something from him too. It’s the kind of tension that feels like it might crack the roof open and swallow them both whole. They go back to silence.

“I just want to be… me,” she cracks first. “And if you don't want to hang out with me then don't come back. I’m not going to be your sister’s ghost.” She’s already her own ghost, she can't add another. Robin is the one to end their conversations, swinging away into the night, but she leaves him out on the roof, being the first one to depart for a change.

She tosses and turns for the rest of the night. And all through school the next day a pit in her stomach eats away at her. But when she comes back the next night Robin is sitting in the same spot he always does. When she sits next to him he hands her a piece of paper. “What is this?”

“Go here on Saturday. The Fencing lessons will be paid for.” Silence falls between them as she stares at the paper in her hands. Was this an apology? “Art.”

“What?”

“My hobbies include art. My preferred medium is painting, but I like to try other things. Currently, I am fascinated by Kintsugi.”

“Kintsugi?”

“It’s the art of repairing pottery with lacquer mixed with metallic powders. It helps me see the beauty in imperfection. That just because something isn't the way I want it to be doesn't mean it doesn't have value. I have not been fair to you,” So it is an apology. “I will try to only see Danielle when I look at you from now on.”

That’s all she's asking.

Chapter Text

“I’m leaving!” She shouted at Danny as she left.

“Have fun!” Was shouted back at as she closed the door behind her.

The fencing studio was a short eight stops away by bus. She’s happy the bus exists as a way of public transportation, but also hates it with a burning passion. Eighty percent of the time it’s fine, fifteen percent of the time it gets waylaid by villain attacks, and the final five percent of the time people, mostly men, are creeps to her. She can handle herself, but she shouldn't have to. This would all be solved if Danny just let her fly, but he is scared that hunters have come to the city with all of the ghosts that have gone missing.

Dani was thirty minutes early to the fencing studio. The place was old, but not as old as the flower shop. She arrived just in time to see a group of ten small children pack up and leave. They all looked wealthy. The wealth disparity between the eight bus stops was on clear display.

A woman who was in her forties approached her. “You're new. Are you looking for lessons?” She asked with a tired smile.

“My name is Danielle Fenton. I was told to come here.”

The woman gasped. “So you’re my new student. Since you're here a bit early, why don't you try on the gear you're renting? Make sure it all fits.” The woman goes into an office and comes back out with a duffle bag full of gear. Dani knows livings use gear when fencing, but with Fright Knight, all they used was their swords. She’s not sure how to put all this on.

Good thing she spots a ghost. He’s an old man with wispy hair and a large mustache. He was watching the woman she was talking to. “Psst. Old man,” she called him over. His eyes widened as he realized she was talking to him. “How do I put this on?” She gave her gear a small shake to emphasize her question.

“I’ll be, you're the princess of the Infinite Realms.”

“Only technically,” she whispered to him. Danny might be okay with looking like a loon talking to ghosts in public, but she would like to at least get through her first session without anyone thinking she’s crazy.

“It’s an honor to have you here.”

“Yeah, sure. Can you help me or not?” She sighs.

“Yes, I can.” He tells her how to properly put on the protective gear. Dani’s not sure if she wants to know how Robin got her size correct and is choosing to believe it’s standardized sizing. “Princess, can I ask for a favor?”

“You can if you call me Dani.”

“Very well, Dani. If I may, will you have a duel with me? I might not look it now, but back in my day, I like to think I was a great fencer.”

“Hell yeah.” She loved ghost fights and all of the strange ways they could appear. Getting to know the way someone fights is like getting to know them. Every move in a fight, conscious or subconscious, helps ghosts get to know one another. She likes it better than getting to know a living person. It makes her feel like she is her own person. That even if she consciously doesn't know who she is yet, her core does.

“Do you mind if I practice some before the others get here?” She asks the woman from before, waving her Epee at a Strip.

“Go for it.”

With the green light, she and the old man start their fight.

They take their starting positions. With the rules for fighting with an Epee the full body becomes a target, rather than selected areas. This was better for Dani because she learned how to duel from Fright Knight first, then learned the rules for fencing second. From the moment the fight started, Dani knew who the victor would be. The old man was a seasoned fencer. All of his movements were well-honed, while Dani was still figuring out how to move in the confined space. When the fight ended, she was itching to go again, to see what she could learn from his movements.

“Can I bother you for another favor?” The old man asked.

“Sure.” Their fight was fun, she could do another favor for the guy.

“Can you tell Hope that she is doing a good job for me?”

“Hope?” The old man points at the woman. “Who is she to you?”

“My granddaughter,” the man says with a longing look. He floats over to Hope and pats the top of her head. Hope looks around, but doesn't find what she is looking for. Dani nods her head at him. “Thank you.” He bows his head to her.

The rest of the students show up. Logically, she knows that they are just people, that no one chooses to be born into wealth or poverty. She knows that even if they are rich, they could be more like Sam than Vlad, but that doesn't make her feel any less othered. They’ve already grouped up with their friends. She’s the new one who can't afford these lessons or even the padding she is borrowing. It’s like they can sense that she shouldn't be here and have already cast her aside.

“Do you want to spar with me?” She turns towards the voice. Dani and Danny haven't been in Gotham for very long, but they still knew of Gotham’s very own celebrities, the Waynes. Whenever they get brought up, Danny looks like he would rather be fighting Pariah Dark again. “They’re rich fruitloops like Vlad. It’s best if we stay away from them,” he had said when she asked what his problem with them was. And yet here Damian Wayne was asking her to spar.

“I would love to.” She could feel the smile on her lips. Damian matches with one of his own.

Fighting is the best way to bond and get to know other ghosts. She knows living people don't feel this way, but that doesn't mean she learns nothing about Damian from the way he fights. He’s good. Holding a sword in his hand was as easy as breathing to him. It was like he was born to do this. Every point he scores is very deliberate, which tells Dani that he’s not just thinking about how he can get a hit but how he can position himself to get another off. It also tells Dani that the best way to break through his onslaught is to surprise him. Yet when she did, he adjusted his strategy in a fraction of a second. He has multiple plans and is able to change between them effortlessly. Despite all this, he lets her win.

And that pisses her off.

“You've bested me-” Damian tries to congratulate her, but she cuts him off by striking him with her Epee.

“Bullshit. I want a rematch. And don't let me win this time.”

“I didn't. You are quite remarkable,” Damian huffs. “I can tell from the way you moved that you have a background with other fighting styles. You were able to improvise in a way I haven't seen in fencing before. It gave you the upper hand.”

She struck him with her Epee again. He moved to block. And they fell back into another fight. And another. And another. By the time their group’s lessons were finished, she was bouncing in place, her core happy.

“I had fun sparring with you today.” She pulls out her phone. “I was wondering if you wanted to exchange numbers and hang out sometime.” Damian texts himself with her phone and saves his contact as Damian Wayne.

They split up with a wave. She stays behind to give Hope the old man’s message.

Dani stretched her arms over her head, she felt her back pop. Maybe she should stretch next time. She watched the old man ghost take a deep breath before stepping through the front glass door of the fencing club. “Princess!” The ghost exclaims. “You're still here.”

“The bus doesn't come for another twenty minutes,” she whispers to him. “Are you going somewhere?”

“I-” The old man looks over his shoulder at his granddaughter. “I think it’s my time.”

“Do you want company?”

“I can't ask that of you. You have already done so much for me.”

She smiled at the old man. “I know the way.”

“Thank you, Dani.” She walked in step with the old man all the way to the graveyard. Graveyards normally are filled with ectoplasm, all of the ghosts coming and going, leaving a way to the Infinite Realms. But this graveyard was quiet. They were the only ghosts there. The ectoplasm was chokingly low. Where was everyone? Gotham is too big of a place to have an empty graveyard.

They made their way to a shiny gravestone. Eugene Baston. Died at the old age of 94 six months ago. “This is me.” The old man crosses the threshold of his grave, and light bisects him. Normally, when Dani sees this process, Phantom is left in her brother's wake, but as the light travels on Eugene, nothing is left. He is gone to the other side. Hopefully, he is happy there. She sits on a nearby bench for a few minutes, letting her ecto mix with the graveyard. Maybe if she gives some more ghosts will find their way here.

As she made her way back to the main road, she spotted Robin up on the rooftops. He looked to be waiting for her. She gives him a wave to let him know she sees him. He jumps down to her level. “What are you doing?”

“Our neighbor’s wife is buried here. I did him a favor and dropped off some flowers for her. Had to tell him that the flower shop wasn't actually operating, too,” she lied.

“Did you not go to the fencing club?” Robin questioned.

“I did. Thank you for that, by the way. I brought the flowers with me.”

Robin stands silently just long enough for it to be awkward. He nods slowly. “Did you have fun?” She’s pretty sure he doesn't believe her, but is surprised he isn't grilling her on her lie.

“I did. I even made a new friend. Don't worry, you're still my favorite.”

“I’m glad.” Robin tucked his face into his cape, but Dani could see the edges of a smile.

Dani made her way back to the bus stop, Robin following in the shadows. He stayed until the bus came. Did he come all this way just to check up on her? That’s kind of sweet.

Chapter Text

He hasn't gotten very far in his search for the missing ghosts. Even Rhonda has disappeared on him. His first major lead is in Marcus.

Marcus was a goon when he was alive, and still likes to keep his ear to the ground. If any ghost knows where the missing ghosts have gone, it’s him. The only thing about Marcus is that if he asks him for information, Marcus is going to ask for something equal in return.

Danny doesn't find Marcus. Marcus finds him.

Danny and Dani are on their way home from school. As they turn a corner, Marcus is there waiting for them. “Heard you were looking for some answers.” Smoak billows out of Marcus’s mouth and the large hole in the side of his head. His voice is harsh from a lifetime of cigarettes.

“You got any?”

“Depends on what kind of answers you're looking for.”

Danny sighs. “Do you know where the missing ghosts have gone?”

“I know where some ghosts have gone. I’ll tell you if you can get me a pack of Camels.”

“That’s all you want?” Dani asks.

“Turns out dying doesn't kill your addictions too. Do we have a deal or what?”

“Come by the bodega after my shift ends and I'll give you a pack.” Hopefully, his boss won't notice.

“Deal. I don't know where the missing ghosts have gone. Anyone who did is gone themselves, but I know that ghosts have been fleeing to Crime Alley. The thought being that Red Hood will keep anything strange out of his haunt.” That’s less helpful than he wanted. He should go to Crime Alley. Maybe a ghost who saw something also heard that the place might be safe. “You kids stay safe.” Marcus leaves to broker a deal with some other desperate ghost.

~~~

The closer Danny gets to Crime Alley, the more he can feel the boundary of Red Hood’s haunt.

Danny has seen many different kinds of cores. Ghosts that once were alive usually have cores that are crystal ball-like. Never-born ghosts start out as blob ghosts. Each blob ghost is formed from ectoplasm attaching itself to one strong emotion. Something like anger or sadness. Those blob ghosts form schools kind of like fish until there are enough of them to form into a core. These types of cores look like polished green eye agate. For Liminals, the ectoplasm in their body swirls together like cooling magma, creating a faux core. Waiting for the day they die to solidify into a real core.

There are many different ways these base concepts form and deviate. Tucker’s faux core isn't trying to find its shape, because he is a reincarnation, it knows its shape and is waiting to harden. Dani’s core is closer to a never-born because she was made using blob ghosts. Every little thing can change the way they look, from what type of core to how the ghost died.

The core of the person in front of him, Danny has never seen before. It was like a lava lamp. The outside of the core looked like what once living ghosts have, but swirling around inside of it was a faux core.

While Danny has never seen something like it, he thinks he’s been in its presence before. Back when he couldn't see ghosts and their cores, but was Liminal enough to feel them anyway. Back in the league.

“Jason?”

~~~

He didn't recognize the kid in front of him. Yet he must know him well enough for him to know Jason behind the mask. He has floppy black hair and icy blue eyes, looks he is intimately familiar with. If he had to compare him with any of his family members, it would be a young Bruce, but not in the way Damian looks like Bruce. Jason has always thought Damian looked more like Talia than Bruce. Growing into his Wayne looks as he grew older. He thinks this kid looks like Bruce, who is growing to look more like Talia.

A thought he had once before. But it can't be. Right?

He pulled a gun on them. No matter who they might be, anyone who knows his identity is dangerous. “How do you know that name?”

The boy sighed like this was a huge inconvenience for him. “I used to go by Dana, though it’s Danny now. The last time we saw each other, I was this tall and a girl.” He holds his hand at his waist height.

“They're dead,” he snaps. The last time he saw Dana, she was finishing up practice. She saw him from afar. Her carefully practiced mask had cracked for a split second, a small smile pushed at her lips. Then she had walked off, and Jason had never seen her again. When he had asked Talia, she told him she had been killed, and that was the last he had heard of her. He thought Damian would say something to Bruce eventually, but he never did. It didn't feel like Jason’s place, so he kept his mouth shut too.

“I got better. If anyone can understand that it’s you.” They rested their forehead on the gun and their eyes glowed a Lazarus green. He can feel the Lazarus Water in his veins pump the feeling of familiarity into his brain. It takes him by surprise. Normally all it does is cloud his mind with anger.

“Prove it.” He can't be sure this isn't a trick by the league. He needs proof.

“You have a scar behind your ear from the time you let me give you a haircut.” Talia can't replicate that knowledge. He lowers his gun but keeps it out of its holster. Just because he knew someone when they were a sweet kid doesn't mean they're not dangerous now. “Are you here to see Damian?” Him or Bruce are the only reasons he could think of as to why Danny is in Gotham.

Danny snorts. “No. I know some people. They're letting me crash at their place.” He nods his head off in presumably the direction of the place he’s staying at. Jason doesn't push. He gets not wanting to see old family members. That is also conveniently the same direction that Robin has been taking his new breaks in. Just because Danny doesn't want to see Damian doesn't mean Damian doesn't want to see Danny.

“Why are you sulking around Crime Alley?”

“Some friends of mine have gone missing. A different friend said they might be here.”

“Who are they? I could keep an eye out.”

Danny rocked back on his heels. “You can't, but thanks for the offer.” Why can't he? Is Danny friends with someone who doesn't want to be found by Red Hood?

“You know, Crime Alley can be dangerous. Not a place for a lost kid.” He tries to get Danny to open up again.

“I know. It’s not really a walk in the park.” Danny scoffed with a mischievous grin. If he didn't know he was related to Damian, it would have been a dead giveaway. However, on Damian’s face, it always spelled out trouble.

“Don't try to be funny,” he groaned, the modulation on his helmet making it sound more angry than he meant. Danny muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “I don't need to try.”

“Are you going to follow me while I’m here?”

“I might.” Jason doesn't make it a habit of telling the people he’s stalking that he’s following them. He doesn't know how much Danny has kept up on his assassin training, but if he has, then he will notice someone tailing him. Might as well be upfront about it than play coy and get stabbed for his effort.

“Then our next stop is just up ahead.” Danny leads him to an “abandoned” building. The place has been deserted after a Rogue attack, and the family that used to live there didn't have the funds to repair all of the damage. Now people without anywhere to go squat in its remains. If the person Danny is looking for is staying here, they must have no other choice. But Danny doesn't go inside, doesn't even look at the house, instead, he makes his way to the side of the house where a plastic table and chairs stand empty. The table had a deck of cards laid out like a group of people left in the middle of a poker game.

Danny asked the air a couple of questions, but the air didn't speak back. He nodded his head and took off to their next location. “Who were you talking to?” Jason questioned.

“Ghosts,” Danny answered. He can't tell if this is another joke or not.

Their next stop is in a trash-covered alley behind a bar. Danny asked the air the same questions here, but the air still didn't speak back. He’s beginning to think Danny’s ghost answer is real. Neither Bruce nor Talia has the meta gene, so this must be a power he got after his death. But if that was the case, why couldn't Jason see or hear these ghosts?

“What were those ghosts saying?” Jason asked as they made their way out of the alley.

Danny hummed. “They haven't seen anything useful. Also, they wanted to know if you were single. I told them I didn't know.” Danny turned to look at him. “Back in the league, I had a small crush on you,” he said with a laugh. Danny is practically his little brother, and the thought of him having a crush on Jason made his skin prickle. “It was less romantic feelings and more gender envy, but I didn't know that at the time.” Danny sends him a wink. Jason can't help but laugh.

The final place they stop at is a restaurant. Danny’s stomach grumbled the moment the door opened and a wave of delicious smells hit them. “Why don't we take a table while we're here?”

“Can't afford to eat out for lunch and dinner,” Danny said.

“My treat then.” He did more than just protect Crime Alley as Red Hood. He also made sure the kids around these parts had food to eat, kids like Danny. He doesn't mind paying.

Some employees gawked at having Red Hood in their place, while others tried their best not to look their way and mind their own business. Danny ordered his lunch and also enough takeout for two people. When he saw Jason’s mask under his helmet, Danny choked on his water. Now and again, Danny would ask questions to the ghosts. From his facial expressions, he wasn't getting the information he wanted.

“How can you see them?”

Danny paused shoveling his food into his face. “I died.”

“But I can't see them.”

“You're alive.”

“And you're not?”

“I am.” Danny sighs and puts down his spoon. “Trust me, you don't want to be able to see them. They're needy and like to start fights. Speaking of, can I help you?” Danny looked to the side, but nothing was there. “Yeah, I am. Do you know anything?” A moment passed before Danny’s eyes glowed Lazarus green. “Fuck. Thanks.” Danny’s head hit the table softly.

“Bad news?”

“Annoying news.” Danny lifted his head again. “I heard that Red Hood is the only bat that kills people is that true?”

“Why?” Danny couldn't be asking Jason to kill someone for him, could he? Why couldn't he do it himself?

Danny sighed. “A group of ghost hunters has come into town and started kidnapping ghosts. I was wondering if you could keep them out of Crime Alley.”

“By killing them?”

“If you want to. It would make my life easier.” Danny shrugged.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He didn't want to promise anything. For all he knows they could be harmless and Danny is setting him up.

“Great. They're dressed in all white and look like goons. You can't miss them.”

They finished their food, Jason paid, and they started to part ways. “Oh, by the way, The Guys In White work for the government, so don't get caught. Thanks.” Danny scurried off. What did he get himself into?

💚🖤💛

Danny

[Picture of Danny flipping off a Guys In White van]

Look what I found

Tucker

Fuck

Sam

How did they find you???

Danny

That’s the weird part

They didn't

They have been capturing low level ghosts

They don't even know that we’re here

Tucker

Why?

Danny

We're trying to figure that out

Can you keep an ear out for anything

Tucker

I'll see what I can find

In the meantime lay low and stay safe

Danny

I will

Sam

Liar

Robin was perched on a rooftop, letting the shadows conceal him. He was watching the bodega across the street as Red Hood approached him. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard that Red Hood acquired this property. I wondered what made you choose a building not in Crime Alley, so I came to check it out,” Robin scoffed at him.

“Really? It has nothing to do with the cashier down there.” He’s not sure how much contact Damian has had with his brother. Does he know his new name?

“What do you know?” Robin asked.

He doesn't want to give Robin information he doesn't already have, so he keeps his answer simple. “I know.”

“She’s- They’re not Dana,” Damian grumbled. He has never seen his little brother fold into himself as he is now. His cape wrapped around him like a protective blanket.

“No, they’re not.” He never doubted that Damian would accept Danny’s new name and pronouns, but it’s nice to hear that confirmed.

“Are you going to tell Father about Dani?” He could almost trick himself into thinking Damian sounded timid.

“Why would I tell B about anything?” Jason counters.

“Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Hail bounced off the Gotham Airport, sounding like thunderous applause as Dani sees Jazz tower above the flood of other people. She’s bundled up for the cold weather, with a teal backpack slung over her shoulders. The moment she sees Dani, she flings her arms open. Dani takes the invitation and barrels herself into the hug. Jazz is visiting them for winter break.

And she’s not the only one.

Danny is swept up in a gothic tornado. Sam swings him around in her arms. Her lipstick is smeared on his cheek. Running up to them was Tucker, struggling to carry the mountain of bags they brought with them. They all tumble to the ground as he joins his partners.

~~~

Danny should have predicted that the first thing Sam wanted to see was the flower shop. So Danny and Dani gave her a tour while Jazz and Tucker got themselves settled upstairs. The place was covered in a thick layer of dust. Sunlight peeked through the windows, which were covered in old newspapers that were flaking off. It smelled like rotten plants. They knew they wouldn't be using the space, so neither he nor Dani decided to clean it up.

Sam dragged her finger through the dust that had settled on a counter. “I would love to have a place like this, yet you're just letting it go to waste.”

“Neither of us has the green thumb you do,” he reminds his girlfriend.

“Plus, it’s not like we have anything to grow,” Dani pipes up from where she was drawing blob ghosts into the dust.

“There has to be something around here.” Sam opens the door to the small, empty office space in the back. She disappears inside. The sound of cabinets and drawers opening and closing flooded out. “Guys, get in here!”

Sam is sitting on the floor, in her hand was a plastic baggie. Small black and purple seeds were tucked inside. Stapled to the bag was a ripped piece of paper with the words “Blood Blossom Seeds” written on it.

“Do you think they're the real deal?” Sam asked. Danny reached his hand out to touch them. Sam smacks his hand away. “What are you doing?”

“If they burn me, they're the real deal.” Danny takes the plastic baggie from Sam and shakes one seed out. A burning spreads through his hand as his blood and ectoplasm bubble. The seed erodes a hole through his hand, falling out and onto the floor.

“Danny!” Sam chastises. She grabs his hand just in time to watch his wound sew itself closed.

“Hey, now we know they're real.”

“There were other ways we could have found that out.”

“What do we do with them now? They might be the last Blood Blossom seeds on earth.” Dani buts in before him and Sam get into a fight. She thinks he takes too many risks. Danny just knows his limits is all.

“We should plant them.” Sam scrounges around for a spare pot and grabs some dirt from the half-dead and overwatered curb strip outside.

“I don't know if I want a plant that can kill me growing in the apartment, Sam,” Dani says.

“Keep it in the shop then. These seeds could be the start of bringing back an extinct plant,” Sam argues back. She tucks the seeds into the dirt. “Why are they so oily?” She whispers to herself. As Sam hands over the pot to Danny, he knows that she won't take no for an answer. He accepts his fate and brings the Blood Blossom up to the apartment with them.

~~~

She knows she should knock, but she was too excited to spend the whole day with her friends and family, so she busted into Danny's room. She's lucky nothing was happening. The three of them were still asleep. Tucker laid in the middle of the bed and was sawing logs. Sam was tucked into his side. Danny was only identifiable as a lump under the blankets and Tucker's yellow hoodie, and the tuft of black hair splayed over Tucker's neck.

She decided to let them rest.

“Where are the others?” Jazz asks when Dani makes her way back to the living room.

“Still asleep.”

Jazz looks at the watch on her wrist. Her eyebrows met her hairline. “Still?” It's a quarter to one.

“I say we let them rest and spend the day just the two of us. Have a sisters day.”

“That sounds lovely. What do you have in mind?”

“Downtown, there's a Christmas market. Danny looked at me like I sentenced him to death when I asked if he wanted to go. Since you aren't a Scrooge, maybe you'll want to go with me.”

“I would love to.”

It started snowing on their way. Light and fluffy flakes highlighted the dazzling twinkling lights that were strung from stall to stall. She was used to people staring at Jazz. After her last growth spurt, Jazz ended up six feet four inches, and with her muscular build, she stood out everywhere she went. One memorable occasion, an Amity Park tourist asked if she was an Amazon. Currently to Dani, she was the best shield she could ask for. Jazz parted the crowd like Moses with the Red Sea.

They stopped to look at handmade glass ornaments, knitted stockings, and hand-carved nutcrackers. They ate cookies and drank apple cider. The market had a snow sculpture contest, they didn't participate but did walk around to see the submissions. Seeing Jazz cram herself into the kid-sized train for the light show tour brought a laugh out of Dani. The line for Santa was long, but worth it to hear that all Jazz wanted for Christmas was for her younger siblings to be happy.

The last thing on their list was ice skating. The rink wasn't very big, and the crowd made it feel even smaller. Dani never skated before and was holding onto Jazz's arm to help keep her feet under her. They chatted as they went around in circles.

“Are you and Danny doing okay, just the two of you?” Jazz asked.

“You know we are. I text you about how we're doing every day.”

“I know, but it's different in person.”

“What if I said we're not? What would you do then?”

“Find a way to take you guys with me.” There was such strong conviction in Jazz's voice that tears swelled in her eyes.

“You don't need to. Even if we aren't fully happy yet, we are on our way.” Dani patted her sister's arm. “Danny missed Sam and Tucker more than anything. And there's whatever is happening with the ghost and the GIW. But recently, Danny made friends with someone named Jason from work. The ghosts have been welcoming, and you know how territorial we can be. Plus, I made a few friends of my own, the ones I texted you about.”

Jazz slowed their speed. “I'm happy for you two.” Dani could tell that Jazz wasn't done talking, but needed time to get the words in her head right. They went around in a full loop in silence before Jazz spoke up again. “Danny has always been independent. He had to be with his life before. But that didn't mean he didn't need me. I showed him what having a normal childhood could be like. I cooked for him. I helped him with school. I taught him how to drive. And then you came along. You needed me, too. I wanted to give you all of the things I gave to him. And I knew when I went off to college that I wouldn't be around as much, but I knew I would try to be around for when you guys needed me. Now you're farther away than I imagined. A place I can't get to easily if you need me. And you're doing well for yourselves. I'm happy about that, I am. But it feels like you won’t need me anymore.”

“Jazz, you're our sister. Even if a day comes when we don't need you, we will still want you.”

~~~

“You came all this way for an office building?” They were standing outside of Wayne Enterprise. Tucker had insisted that they had to see it.

“And for you,” Tucker defended himself. Sam snickered at Tucker's exasperation. Danny shot her a glare.

“So, what's so great about this office building?”

“This is Wayne Enterprises-”

“I can see that.”

Tucker gave Danny a nudge before continuing. “They're one of the leaders of technical innovation alongside LexCorp. Getting a job here would be a dream come true.”

“Being a corporate cog is a dream come true?” Sam scoffed. “Wouldn't you rather work for yourself?”

“Not all of us have a family fortune to fall back on, Sam. Plus, I thought you liked Bruce Wayne.”

“I like his philanthropy. For all I know, the man is a kind-hearted idiot,” Sam grumbled.

Danny doesn't know much about his biological father, but he does know he has a reputation for being an airhead and donating a lot to local charities. He gets why Sam might not hate him as much as other billionaires. Still, Danny wants nothing to do with Bruce Wayne at all. “Are you sure he's not a Fruit Loop?” Danny scoffed.

“Of course he is. Anyone who has that kind of money is a Fruit Loop,” Sam says.

“None of that matters because he doesn't run the company anymore. It's his adopted son, Timothy Drake-Wayne. He wasn't much older than me when he took over. Can you imagine?”

Taking over a huge responsibility at their age is something Danny can imagine, and is currently trying to delay for as long as he can. He wonders if his adopted brother felt the same crushing weight he feels now, or if he was as starry-eyed as Tucker currently is.

“Come on lover boy, let's check this place out.” Sam slings her arm over Tucker's shoulder and starts walking him to the door.

“We can't. It's not a public place,” Tucker protested.

“The lobby is,” Sam sang. Danny followed them as she frog hopped Tucker into the building.

The lobby of Wayne Enterprises wasn't much. Polished marble floors with a matching countertop. Two secretaries were standing behind it. Elevators to the higher floors are to their right. Everything was overlit and perfectly clean. “Can I see some identification?” The closer secretary asked them.

“Oh no, we're just here to look,” Sam says.

The secretaries look at them with horror, and the guards rest their hands on their tasers. “Sorry about them. They're tourists,” he apologizes. One of the security guards grumbles something into their radio. “And we were just leaving.” He pulls his partners back outside.

“Oh my god, we almost got kicked out of my dream job,” Tucker grumbled into Danny's shoulder.

“So, in this dream, where are we?” He asked.

“You're the high king of the infinite realms. And you're doing an amazing job. Sam is-”

“I've taken over the flower shop,” Sam interrupts.

“You want to take over the flower shop?” Danny asked.

“Well, I want my own flower shop, and you have one that you're not using. Plus Tucker would be close to-” Sam waves at the building in front of them. “And Gotham has enough ectoplasm that it would be easy for you to go to and from the ghost zone.”

“Sounds perfect.” Tucker kisses Sam on her cheek.

Danny almost agrees. It would be perfect if it didn't mean a lifetime of avoiding the Waynes and lying to his partners.

~~~

Closed.

The word mocked her. The fencing studio was closed due to an attack from Killer Croc, leaving the whole block without power. The sign on the door mentioned an email that got sent out, but it must have skipped over her.

She wasn't the only one.

Half of her class was also stuck out in the snow. Including Damian. She threw a snowball at him to get his attention. Damian turned around with a scowl that softened when he saw her. She lobs another snowball at him. It hits him square in the face.

Damian uses the side of the building as cover. He scoops up snow and makes his counterattack. Snowballs flew like bullets in the air. Damian managed a perfect hit to Dani’s red beanie, knocking it clean off.

Dani wasn't going to go down so easily. Three snowballs exploded on Damian's chest. She took a few hits while she rolled a larger ball. Damian began running away when she hoisted it above her head, but he slipped on a patch of ice, giving her the chance she needed. She slammed the big ball of snow on her friend. He collapsed onto the ground. As she started laughing, a snowball hit her in her mouth. She collapsed next to Damian.

“Truce?” Dani gasped, out of breath, holding up a gloved hand.

Damian slapped it with a snow-dusted grin. “Truce.” They laid in the snow watching their breath in the cold air. “I made you something.” Damian sits up and ruffles through his bag. He plopped a stack of chocolate chip cookies wrapped in seasonal plastic onto her chest. “They're an old family recipe. I'm nowhere near as good at baking as Alfred was. This batch was the closest I could get.”

She takes one out and takes a bite. “Don't put yourself down like that. These are amazing.” She breaks the cookie in half and gives the other half to Damian. “I owe you. Next time I'll bring you some of the best brownies you've ever had.”

“I can't wait.”

~~~

Danny is texting Dani, leaning back in his chair, with his feet up on the counter. She keeps sending him pictures of the game night she, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam are having without him. They're playing Settlers of Catan, and Dani is crushing the others with Danny's help.

The bell jingles. Danny looks up to see Jason. He's not wearing his Red Hood getup. He walks up to the counter and gives it a light knock. “Hey, Danny.”

“Jason. What's up?”

“I had a friend of mine look into the GIW. She found out why they came here. They're harvesting low-level ghost cores. What for? We still don't know. But we also found out that everything they've done is legal. That any being with a higher than average ectoplasm level isn't considered sentient, and they are able to experiment on without repercussion. The thing is, they also set the bar for what is considered an average ectoplasm level. They can just keep lowering the bar to get what they want. How did this happen?”

“They snuck it in with some other kind of bullshit laws.”

“Fuckers,” Jason cursed under his breath. “What even are ghost cores? And what could they want with them?”

“Cores are a ghost's only organ. You can compare it to a soul.” It's an oversimplification, but it's the easiest way to get his point across.

“So they're experimenting on human souls.”

“And it's all legal,” Danny reiterates. “Do you have any idea where they could be operating out of?”

“Like every other shady asshole, out by the docs,” Jason sighs.

“We'll look into it.”

“We?”

Danny can feel the smile stretch on his lips, but he can't help it. Having Jazz and his partners in Gotham has been the best. It almost makes Christmas time bearable. “My adopted sister, Jazz, and my boyfriend and girlfriend, Tucker and Sam, are in town for the holidays.”

“You have an adopted sister and partners?” Jason asked with a soft smile.

“They're the best.”

“Tell me about them.”

“Jazz is taller than you and almost as buff.” Jason's eyebrows rose up in surprise. “She took care of me after I left the League. She's the smartest and kindest person I've ever met. And is currently studying psychology at Central City University. I've been dating Tucker longer than Sam. He was a huge rock for me when I was discovering I was trans. He's a huge tech nerd and builds all of his own equipment. Sam we started to date during freshman year of high school. She's goth and is loving Gotham's architecture. She also has very strong convictions. Her favorite things to do are protesting and gardening.”

“They sound lovely. Are you guys doing anything for Christmas? If not, I'm going to a Holiday party and you guys could come along.”

“That's nice of you, but we're going to participate in the Yule truce.”

“That sounds… yeah, I don't know what that is, but I hope you have fun.”

~~~

She dragged Danny into a headlock and ruthlessly gave him a noogie. “Get your boob out of my face.” Danny shoved at her, but she didn't let go.

“We have the same boobs, chill out.” Danny bit her arm in retaliation. “Ow, Dickhead.” She gave him a stronger noogie before letting him go. “Nice hairstyle,” she says, proud of how she got Danny's hair to stick up all over the place. She gets flipped off for her complaint.

“Be nice,” Jazz chastised.

“S-she was the one who attacked me!” Danny sputtered.

“I was talking to her,” Jazz said.

“Hey! I was being nice.” She stuck her tongue out at her siblings. “How much longer are we going to wait?”

Danny had gotten a lead on the GIW. The five of them headed to the docks the moment the sun went down. Unfortunately, their stakeout had been boring as hell so far. She's surprised they haven't caught the attention of her favorite Gotham vigilante. Or the GIW, for that matter. Gathering intel at the start of the night sounded fun, like they were going to be spies or ninjas, but quickly became super boring. So she found other ways to entertain herself, mainly picking on Danny.

“I would have thought someone would have come or gone by now. How reliable was your source, Danny?” Sam sighed.

“I trust him. At first glance, you might think he’s a thug, and he is, I guess, but he’s also smart. He wouldn’t tell me this lead without believi-”

“Wait, shut up. Someone is coming,” Tucker shushed Danny. He was watching through a pair of binoculars despite them being close enough to see the warehouse clearly without them. He brought them along and was determined to use them.

They all watched with bated breath as a van pulled up. The warehouse doors creaked open. Inside, she could see a blacksmith’s forge. The light from the forge was a distinct, ectoplasmic green. A dozen GIW goons unloaded ghost cores from the van and loaded it back up with shattered, broken cores. The cores didn't look to be shattered in a normal way, but rather melted and formed into new shapes.

Dread filled her core. From the feeling in the air, she wasn't the only one.

The GIW has built a Core Forge. When ghosts are ready to fade, sometimes they visit a Core Forge to have their core reforged into a gemstone for their loved ones to keep. These gemstones often contain powers from the ghost they came from. The most famous case being The Ring of Rage, which contains one of these gemstones, made from the first King of the Infinite Realms, and gives a significant boost in power when worn. Freakshows staff, the Reality Gauntlet, and the Amulets of Aragon are all items that also have these gemstones in them.

“By the looks of it, they are using the low-level ghost in Gotham to practice shaping and melting cores. That way, when they get the ghost portal back up and running, they can use the cores of the ghosts they capture,” Sam growls out.

Danny lunged, but Jazz caught him in time and pulled him back. “Don't go rushing in. We don't know what kind of powers they have accumulated.”

Danny passed through Jazz’s hand. His eyes glowed a bright green. “I have to save them.” Danny zips off. She followed on his heels. She can't stand by and watch her kind be killed like this.

They destroyed the forge and a few surrounding buildings. A few ghost cores were able to be saved. Their message was clear and ruthless. Phantom is in Gotham and isn't going to let this happen.

~~~

Crime doesn't take a day off. Even if it is Christmas. Part of the docks got destroyed without a clue. As if it wasn't cold enough, Mr. Freeze was causing trouble near City Hall. Then Father was making Catwoman take back all of the stolen gifts she had gotten for them. It was all becoming an annoying headache. Luckily, it's time for his break.

Robin landed on top of the flower shop softly. The snow had stopped falling, but it still blanketed the ground. Danielle had already arrived. She was huddled up in a blanket, sitting on the roof, waiting for him. Nestled in her lap was a gift wrapped in red paper. Her face lights up when she sees him.

“Hey Birdy. I didn't know if you were coming tonight, but then I heard Mr. Freeze was causing trouble, so I figured I'd wait and see.” Danielle jumped to her feet. “I got you a gift,” she sang out as she shook the present.

“I didn't know if you celebrated Christmas or not, but I got you something too.” He produced Danielle's gift from his utility belt.

“You didn't have to, you’re already paying for my fencing lessons,” Danielle sighed. “And here I thought I was going to pay you back.” She exchanged their gifts.

Danielle went to shake hers, but he stopped her. “Careful, you'll break it.” Overcompensating, she slowly and carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. Inside was a black vintage vase he had repaired with silver lacquer. “The other night, you said a friend of yours started growing plants in the shop again. I thought you might want a vase to display them in.”

“It's beautiful, thank you Robin. The flowers Sam started growing, Danny and I are allergic to, but I'll find something to put in it.” Curiously, the only allergens that were recorded on Danielle's file were to crabs. Another similarity to Dana. It could be a recent discovery, a plant native to New Jersey that can't be found in Illinois. “Your turn. Open it.”

Robin unwrapped his gift. Under the paper was an ornate box with a paw print on it. And inside of that was a dog whistle. “If you're even in trouble, blow this whistle. A ghost dog named Cujo will come to help you out.”

Danielle and Danny were from Amity Park, the most haunted town in America. From the research he has done, this claim is true. The town is guarded by a ghost named Phantom. Phantom is a ghost that has been seen throughout history, and has recently been switching between a Male form and a female form. From the reports, most of Amity Park's older residents have a strong hatred for all of the ghosts, while the younger residents like a few of the ghosts. The most prominent being Phantom. It wouldn't be impossible for Danielle to make friends with one of the ghosts from her old hometown.

And now Danielle was giving Robin this connection. He could feel the weight that this gift brought with it.

“Thank you, Dani.”

Chapter Text

Danny and her are on the bus back home after grocery shopping. Sam and Tucker, unfortunately, had to go back to Amity Park to spend the rest of their winter break with their families. Jazz is still with them for another week before she has to head back to college. They were sent out to grab the ingredients for the dinner Jazz was making.

Their bus was stopped in the middle of the road. Outside her window, she could see Robin and Nightwing fighting Killer Croc. This was the first time seeing her friend in action. She grabbed Danny's sleeve. “Look, that's Robin. The friend I told you about.”

“That's Robin? I thought you had a normal friend named Robin, not that you were friends with one of the Gotham vigilantes.”

“What's the big deal?”

“We're supposed to be laying low, not attracting attention from Batman.”

“We destroyed a government base,” she reminds him. “Plus, you big hypocrite, you said your friend Jason is one of them too,” she hissed quietly so no one could listen to their conversation. Saying she's friends with Robin was one thing, announcing the identity of a vigilante was another.

“I know I can trust Jace,” Danny whispered back.

“Well, I trust Robin.”

Seeing the resolve on her face, Danny sighs. “Okay. I trust you. If you think Robin is trustworthy, then I believe you.”

“Good, because I'm right.”

She turns her attention back to the fight. As the fight continues, she recognizes the moves. The way Robin positioned his feet, the way he positioned his sword, and the way he dodged all reminded her of Damian.

There's no way, right?

“Dani, has Robin ever said or done something weird to you?” Danny asks, his eyes following Robin as he fights too.

“Not really. He said I reminded him of his dead sister once, that's kind of weird, but mostly he's been nice.”

“Nice?” Danny muttered to himself. “I guess it was only a matter of time.” He bumps his shoulders into Dani's. “We need to talk when we get home.”

~~~

Danielle was waiting for him as he landed on the flower shop roof. Unlike other times, she didn't look happy to see him. He approached cautiously.

“Hello, Danielle.”

“Hey Robin.” She stood up and dusted herself off. “My siblings want to meet you.”

That's a reasonable request. He is a stranger meeting up with their sister on their roof every night. Still, it feels like a trap. If it is, he's confident he can take Dani in a fight; her siblings, on the other hand, he's not sure. He's never seen them fight, but knowing how much Dani values a good fight, it's safe to say they would have been taught the basics at least. He's been trained by the best, but that doesn't mean going into a three against one fight, with people who were also probably trained, is a wise idea.

But he trusts Dani. She has shown no ill intentions previously. While she could have been lying and acting, Damian was the first to approach her. She was as sceptical of him as he was of her at first.

So he goes, despite his gut and his training telling him not to.

Waiting for him were Danny Fenton and Jasmine Fenton. Neither of them looked happy to see him either. Danny’s body language clearly conveys that he is bracing for a fight, so he mentally prepares himself for the same. “Hello,” he greets them.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Jasmine says. She gestures to the couch, but he doesn't sit.

Danny sighs and scrubs his hands across his face. “What do you want?” He asks in an exhausted and angry voice.

“I want nothing from Danielle other than friendship.”

“No,” Danny groans. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing.” It’s the truth, yet the look Danny gives him makes him feel like it’s not. What is it that her brother thinks he’s getting close to Danielle for? What did he miss in his research on them? Who are Danielle and Danny Fenton really?

“So this hasn't been a ploy to get my attention? You genuinely want to get to know Dani?” Danny sounds so confused like Robin is speaking in a language he doesn't understand.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Do you not like your sister. Can you not comprehend why someone would want to be her friend?”

“I love Dani and think she is an amazing person. I’m glad other people are seeing her qualities, and she's making new friends. Why do you specifically, Damian, want to be her friend? Are you trying to lower her guard to kill her? Are you going to tell Talia? Is this some Batman bullshit? Are you working for the GIW? What?” This is bad. Did Danielle piece together that he is Damian Wayne and tell her brother? He mentioned Mother, so they must know his connection to the League. So did she know from the start? He is now at a severe disadvantage. They know who he is, but he no longer knows who they are.

Robin draws his sword. He swishes it in the air as a distraction so they wouldn't notice him activating his signal for backup. Red Hood pipes up on coms, “I’m closest to Robin. I’ll check it out.” Not who he wanted, but Jason had met Dani as well, maybe he knows more about the situation. “Who are you? How do you know the name Talia?” He growls out, doing his best impression of Father.

Danny stills and looks at Damian like he’s crazy. Then burst out laughing. “Oh. My. God. You don't recognize me,” Danny wheezes. “I've never felt this much gender euphoria in my life. This rocks.” Danny has started to cry from how hard he’s laughing.

“You really don't know, do you?” Danielle takes over the interrogation as Danny is clearly unable to continue at this time.

“I know you tricked me.”

“No, I didn't. Our friendship was real. I just found out today that you're also Damian Wayne and that Damian Wayne is Damian Al-Ghul.”

“Damian, I’m Dana,” Danny stops laughing enough to say, and points to himself.

What?

All of the similarities between Dana and Danielle weren't just a coincidence. He had the wrong twin.

Then who’s Danielle Fenton?

Him and Dana were twins, not triplets. Mother had no other children after them. While she made clones of him, Grandfather forbade making clones of Dana to help erase her from the Al-Ghul name. Is she a clone of Damian who found Danny and became a woman?

“Dana is dead,” he reminds himself.

“Yeah, you killed me, I know. I got better, like Jason. Can you understand why I wasn't happy to learn that you were stalking Dani?”

A knock on the fire escape window drew everyone’s attention. Red Hood let himself in. “Heard I was missing the party.” His helmet was tucked under his arm, and his guns were holstered. Some backup he is.

“Jace, what are you doing here?” Danny asked.

“Robin called for backup. I came to see what all of the fuss was about.” Red Hood held out his hand for Jasmine to shake. “You must be the hot sister.”

“Ew, Jason, if that’s how you're going to be, you can leave,” Danny gagged at the same time Jasmine says, “That would be me.”

“Shithead one and two-” Red Hood points to him and Danny. “Who is this?”

“My name is Danielle, but you can call me Dani. I’m their sister,” Danielle introduced herself.

“I thought there were just the two of you.” Red Hood’s head ping pongs between him and Danny.

“There is,” he states.

“There was. Dani is my clone, but she is her own person. And I fully see her as our sister.”

“Talia?” Red Hood questions.

“No. Vlad Masters. He’s a creep,” Danny says with an eye roll. He added the name to his list of things to research when he got back to the cave.

“Danny, can I talk to you on the roof?” He asks. There is something important he needs to tell him, and he doesn't want an audience when he does.

“Sure,” Danny sighs.

One of the earliest memories Damian has is of staring up at the night sky. He snuck out late at night with his sister's hand clasped firmly in his. Dana is only convinced to break away from the watchful eyes of their mother with the promise that it would be good practice. What kind of assassins would they be if they weren't stealthy? He could still hear his sister joyfully whispering his name when they climbed the top of the hill and saw the dancing lights above them peek out from behind gray clouds. Danny’s eyes still sparkled as he looked at the stars above them, even after all this time.

“I would look up at the stars and pretend you were watching them with me like we used to do,” he admitted softly, breaking the silence.

“You know I hate you, right?” Danny sighs.

“I know.” He hates himself for what he did. He doesn't blame Danny for doing the same. “I was young and angry. I thought if I pushed you into the Lazarus Water it wouldn't matter how much I hurt you, that you would come back. I shouldn't have wanted to hurt you in the first place. I know me saying it doesn't change anything, but I truly am sorry. I will carry that guilt for the rest of my days.”

“I never thought I would see the day that you would apologize for anything.”

“Yes, Father says I have ‘mellowed out’ since coming to live with him.” He finger quotes Father's words.

“Still… Dani is her own person. She can make her own choices, so if she chooses to still hang around you, I’m not going to stop her. But if you hurt her, I’m going to kill you.” It’s not a threat. Danny says it as a simple fact.

“I understand.” He had no intention of harming Dani before, and especially not now that he knows that she is his sister. “Can I spend time with you too?”

“Why?”

“You're my brother, and I love you. I want to get to know the person you've become.” He never told Danny that he loved him before. He never knew he did until he was gone. Apprehension passes on Danny’s face. “I promise not to kill you this time.”

Danny huffs out a laugh. “I guess if you promise.”

Chapter Text

“I’m heading out,” Damian said. He hummed in acknowledgment, barely paying attention. More important things were demanding his attention. He had been researching a new case on the bat computer for the past… oh god, four days. After Alfred's passing, it's all on his own shoulders to peel him away from his research now. He’ll get some sleep… in a bit. After he finds out what destroyed the warehouse on the docks. And after he digs into the strange connection to the government it has. And what the Ghost Investigation Ward is. He should put on another pot.

“Where are you going?” Steph asked. He didn't hear her come into the cave.

“The art museum with some friends,” Damian answered. His brain immediately pinged that answer as odd. Damian is a frequent patron of The Gotham Art Museum. People don't want to lend out their expensive painting to a place in Gotham, rightfully thinking they will be stolen, so The Gotham Art Museum has a rotating collection from local artists. Damian even had a piece displayed there once. That’s not the odd part. What is strange is the use of the word “friends”. Now, Damian, despite all odds, has a few friends. But none of them are in Gotham at the moment. Jon and Conner are off-world, and Raven is dealing with a magical threat on the other side of the country. So who is Damian going to meet up with?

“Oh? That’s nice. Have fun.” Steph waved their little brother off like this was a normal thing that was happening and not a strange disturbance in the force.

“What was that?” He asked Steph.

“That was Damian. If you're forgetting who Damian is, maybe it's time for you to head to bed, Tim,” Steph joked.

“Ha, ha,” he faked a laugh to show her that her joke wasn't funny. “I’m fine.” She didn't look convinced. “I meant, what was up with Damian suddenly having new friends?”

“He’s probably meeting up with that girl from his fencing class that he was talking to Dick about.” He could practically see the lightbulb go off above her head. “He was being all cryptic when talking to Dick. Dick was basically begging for more information on her. Do you want to spy on him, see who his new friend is?” Who does she think she is talking to? Of course, he wants to spy on them. Honestly, this was on Damian. If he didn't want them to spy on him, he shouldn't have chosen a location with so many easily accessible security cameras.

He tapped into the security cameras and they watched as Damian met up with two people around his age and a college-aged woman who was about a foot taller than the rest of them. The two around Damian’s age looked too similar not to be twins. Also looked to be the perfect adoption bait, and he was glad Bruce wasn't here. He immediately started to run a facial recognition scan in the background. It pinged back with already created files. Someone must have looked into them already. Probably Damian, if he had to make a guess. He was trained just like the rest of them to be suspicious of everyone around them and wouldn't have made friends without looking into them first. The files were for Danielle Fenton, Danny Fenton, and Jasmine Fenton. Danielle’s had the most in it, which makes sense if she is the girl from Damian’s fencing class, like Steph had said. Danielle and Danny were twins and were adopted at a young age by Dr. Madeline Fenton and Dr. Jack Fenton, who had a young daughter at the time, Jasmine. From there, the file depicts an average life growing up in a small town. With Danielle and Danny having average grades, while Jasmine was a valedictorian. A few trips to the principal's office for fights. A small group of friends. Oddly enough, they're from Amity Park, Illinois. A place that the group he is researching has extensive notes on, and a base nearby. A town overrun and terrorized by the dead. In Damian’s notes, he put down the reasoning that Danielle and Danny moved to Gotham was because of a bad coming out, but the records show that Danny had started to socially transition years earlier and was openly out as bisexual with multiple partners. What the coming out was for is not specified. Jasmine is currently a college student at Central City University. Her studies were on the effects a person's death could have on their own psyche. A strange topic for anyone else, but for someone who has grown up around ghosts, not so much.

With the cameras, they could see that Damian was leading their group around, pointing out different artwork. Danielle was bouncing alongside him, happily taking in the information Damian was undoubtedly yammering on about. She would interrupt every now and again, telling jokes based on the others' body luggage. He wishes they had sound to go along with the visuals. Jasmine was in the middle of the pack, stopping to look at different pieces, but never too far behind Damian and Danielle. In the back was Danny. He didn't look like he wanted to be there, but was dragged along by his sisters anyway. Strangely, Damian would stop and wait for Danny rather than rushing to the next thing he wanted to talk about, like he did whenever they would visit the museum with him. Damian once touched Danny's arm, and Danny pulled away instantly, causing Damian to look unexpectedly crushed. Who does this jerk think he is, upsetting his little brother like that? And why does Damian care so much about this jerk's opinion? Danielle must notice because she pokes her brother in the ribs as revenge. Which seemed to start a playful fight between the siblings that they dragged Damian into.

“Aww, Damian made new friends,” Steph cooed as she watched him stab his pointer finger into Danielle's ribcage. “And they seem normal enough.”

“I don't know about that. They're loosely connected to what happened at the docks. It’s possible they could know something,” he hummed.

“We should keep watching them to make sure they're not fully connected to the docks situation, of course.”

“Oh, of course.” Steph gave him the sly smile he was expecting from her. Stocking is so much more fun in a group.

The next day, when Damian headed out, Steph and him locked eyes. Damian didn't say where he was going this time, but it didn't take long to find him. He was with the same group as the day before. This time, they were getting dinner. Unfortunately for him and Steph, it was a lot more boring to watch than the museum. With still no audio, it was mostly watching them eat. Damian is also not the most sociable person, so the conversation seemed to flow between the siblings.

“What are you two doing?” Duke asked. He was changing out of his suit, signifying the unofficial shift change.

“Spying on Damian having dinner with some friends,” Steph sighs.

Duke paused changing and walked over to see. His face scrunched up. “What’s wrong with the cameras?”

“Nothing?” As far as he could tell, they were working fine. It would glitch slightly every now and again, but nothing glaringly wrong.

Duke pointed at Danielle and Danny. “Right there. Why are they sometimes reversed colors?”

“They're not. Your powers must be seeing something we can't,” Steph says.

“You think they might be metas, too?” Duke asks.

“Their files indicate that they both tested negative for the meta gene.” It’s possible that Damian could have changed that information, but why? He knows as well as the rest of them that the rumors of Batman going after meta-humans are false.

“Who even are they anyway?” Duke questioned. Steph filled him in as he took another look at their files. From the logs, they have been updated rather frequently up until recently. What changed? And what is Damian hiding from them?

“Do you think they are the ones Robin meets up with every night?” Duke wonders out loud. He feels foolish for not coming to that conclusion also. Their listed residence is an old flower shop in the area. Does that mean they know his identities, or simply that he’s checking up on a friend? And again, who are they to warrant this amount of affection from Damian in such a short amount of time?

“They have to be,” Steph sighs. “Man, I want to pay them a visit myself tonight, but Damian will know, and I don't want to deal with his ire.” Steph cracked her neck.

“You’ll keep me updated, right?” Duke asked as he headed towards the elevator.

“Sure,” he said, scrolling through the past updates on the files to see if he could find out what the exact changes Damain made were.

Day three of watching Damian and his new friends was the most exciting yet. The four of them went to paintball. They split up into teams of two. He initially felt bad for the team of Danielle and Jasmine for having to go up against Damian in combat, but he was proven surprisingly wrong. Danielle was average at best. She held the gun awkwardly as if she had never held a gun before, but her aim was fine. Jasmine, on the other hand, looked like a trained soldier.

Shots were flying in the air. Damian and Danny have taken cover. They wordlessly communicate as if they had done this before. It speaks of a bone-deep muscle memory that he doesn't like the look of. The thought that they could be from the League of Assassins claws its way into his head, and he has a hard time getting it out. If they are, the paper trail that they forged is phenomenal. It's also possible they could have left a long time ago and genuinely lived in the Midwest all of these years. Them being from the League would explain why Robin checks up on them most nights. But would Damian want to see anyone from his league days again? He doubts it.

“Is that Damian?” Dick asks over his shoulder. He jumps slightly in his chair. When did he get here? Steph doesn't bother to hide her laughter.

“He’s playing paintball with some friends. They might be related to a case Tim is working on, so we're watching to see if they do anything weird,” Steph explains. Dick nods his head in understanding, like he has done the same countless times. Probably has.

“Where have I seen him before?” Dick points at Danny.

“She’s the one from Damian’s fencing class,” he says, pointing to Danielle. He doesn't begrudge him for mixing up the two, they do look quite similar.

“No, it was definitely him,” Dick hums. “Hold on.” Dick hops on the elevator going upstairs. He shares a look with Steph, but she doesn't know what Dick is talking about either. He comes back with a framed photo in his hands. “I was wrong. It’s not quite the same. But you can't tell me they don't look alike.” He holds up the photo next to the video of Danny. The photo is of Bruce in his teens. It was a candid photo, most likely taken by Alfred. The resemblance is striking. The differences are easier to see when directly compared, but he could see how Dick came to the conclusion he did.

“Shit,” Steph swore. Shit indeed.

Silence encircled them for minutes. Breaking it was the distinct footsteps of Bruce Wayne. He hastily turned the camera feed off. Bringing Bruce into this secret they just uncovered will only complicate things further. This isn't the type of situation they can talk about without a plethora of information for Bruce to absorb, and they have only just scratched the surface. “What are you three up to?” He asked with a slight tilt to his head, indicating he was curious but not mad.

“Nothing?” The three of them chorus at the same time. Bruce’s eyebrow twitches; clearly he doesn't believe them. He wouldn't either.

“What is a photo of me doing down here?” Bruce continues to question.

“I was just heading out,” Dick says, heading over to his suit.

“Me too,” Steph joins him.

“I need to get some sleep,” he says, knowing Bruce won't follow up lest it keep him up longer. Plus, he does need to sleep. Or at least grapple with what they just discovered quietly and alone. As they scatter to the wind, Bruce grunts in displeasure.

The next day, when Damian announces that he is off to fencing practice, Dick, Duke, Steph, and he all gather around the bat computer to spy on him. Last night, Dick told Barb, who then told Cass, but neither of them was at the manor at the moment. Dick also texted Jason, but got no response.

There wasn't much of anything other than fencing practice going on. They were all waiting anxiously for any sign of something greater going on. Danielle was Damian’s opponent. She was holding her own against him. Was that proof or a skill learned from their past duels? Jasmine and Danny were watching from the sidelines.

The roar of an engine takes his attention away from the screen. Red Hood was chucking off his helmet, looking annoyed underneath it. “I’m here. What warrants eighteen texts today and thirty-two yesterday? This, and I quote, ‘not bad emergency. Very good, smily face. Call me, call me, call me, call me, call me, phone emoji. Come to the cave. Tomorrow, misspelled by the way. Please. Please. Cherry emoji, please.’ That’s not even the worst one, by the way,” Red Hood asks Dick.

“Good, you're just in time.” Dick waves Jason closer. “We think Damian is hiding siblings from us.” Jason just grunts, as if he’s not surprised. Why is he not surprised?

“What do you know?” He accuses.

“More than you guys, clearly,” Red Hood huffs. “You should leave them alone. Danny and Dani aren't doing anything wrong. And Damian will tell Bruce when they're ready. Best not to overwhelm them with you idiots, too.”

“So they really are siblings?" Duke asks.

“Yeah, they're… triplets,” Jason sighs. There are secrets between Jason’s words that he can't even begin to parse. “Seriously, leave them alone.” The protective tone in his voice spoke of a past. He must have met Danny and Danielle in the League.

He turns back to the screen just in time to see a breath escape Danielle and Danny’s mouths. Did the fencing studio not have heating? If that were the case, wouldn't they see all of the students' breaths? Danny said something to Jazz and left the building. He had a camera follow him outside. A high school-aged boy with blond hair and a black trench coat was leaning against a motorcycle, waiting for Danny, he looked anxious about something.

~~~

Dani was glad that Jazz got to watch her fence before she had to fly back tomorrow. Danny has stopped outright hating Damian. Upgrading him to annoyed at his continuous presence. Which, in a way, is better, and also worse. As their time ends, she runs up to Jazz to hear her thoughts on how she did, but she notices Danny isn't back yet. In the middle of one of their duels, they felt a familiar ghost core nearby. Danny went to investigate. He should be back by now. “Where is Danny?”

Jazz turns around to look out the window. She scrunches her face up when she sees that  Danny is gone. “Last I looked, he was talking to Jonny 13. Don't know what he wanted. I thought he was still out there.”

“Have you seen Danny?” She asks Damian as he approaches them.

“He isn't back yet?” Damian looks between her and Jazz for an answer. She shakes her head ‘no’.

They each try to call him. When he doesn't answer, they try to text him instead. Still no answer. She can't feel his core nearby. “Do you think he went somewhere with Jonny?” She asked Jazz. “A ghost friend from back home,” she explains to Damian.

“Possibly, but that doesn't explain why he’s not answering his phone.” Jazz bites her lip in worry. It’s rare for Danny to go missing like this these days, not having much of a secret identity to hide anymore.

Where the hell is he?

Chapter Text

Of all of the stupid things he has done in his life and death, this might be on top. He should have seen the trap immediately, but they knew he would be blinded by his rage for his friend. Kitty’s core was never the end goal. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Johnny and her got into another fight. She went to watch over his living sister in Gotham as a way to cool off. She didn't expect to be used as bait.

They didn't account for his stubbornness. They heard tales of him being the next in line for the thrown. They thought they could use his core to control the Infinite Realms. Little did they know he refused to be crowned.

Johnny was able to get away before they captured him. He took Kitty’s core and the Ring of Rage with him. While not the most reliable ghost he knows, there is no doubt in his mind that he will deliver it to Dani. He just has to endure until then.

~~~

It’s in a ghost’s nature to disappear. A good assassin knows how to stay hidden.

Never before has Danny eluded her like this, and it’s pissing her off.

They searched and searched, but nothing. The biggest lead they had came from Jason. Damian called him to help with their search. The man admitted that the rest of Damian’s siblings had gotten suspicious and were watching them through the security cameras. Jason was able to lead them down the same path Danny and Johnny took, but that ended in a literal dead end. If only she had a way to track him.

She turns to Damian. The light of the setting sun hit her eyes. For a split second, she could almost think that Danny was the one next to her. How could she not see the similarities this whole time? It’s hard for her to unsee the truth now that she knows it. Not that she wants to, even if she is back to only having her brothers as friends in Gotham. “Do you have the dog whistle I gave you?” Damian fishes it out of his pocket. Always prepared, a trait he must have learned as Robin and his assassin days. “Do you think Cujo could find him?” She asks Jazz.

“Maybe if we had his sent.”

So off to the flower shop they go.

~~~

Even if he isn't the ghost king, his core is still powerful. It only made sense that they would want to refine it and use it themselves. His chest is cut open. Ectoplasm is dripping from his wounds onto the metal floor of the van. Out of all the ways he thought he would die in a car, this wasn't ever one of them. The Suit that is operating on him is pulling at his core in a surgical manner, as if they have done this before, probably have if they were able to open a core forge. His core doesn't release from his body peacefully. It feels as if someone scooped out his guts like a pumpkin. Each pull, a scrape of the spoon, until he was hollowed out. As soon as they were able to get his core out of his body, his body turned back from Phantom into Danny. He was a halfa, of course he would leave a body behind.

By the look on the Suit's face, they didn't expect that. He did all he could in this moment and spat blood at them.

He could survive without his core, but not for long.

~~~

The blond teenager that Jasimine and Dani knew as Johnny 13 was waiting for them back at the flower shop. He held a knife to their throat. They phased through him as if he were a threat at all, a ghost.

“Fucking finally. Took your sweet time,” Johnny 13 complained. He was protectively cradling a green ball to his chest.

“Where is Danny?” Dani demanded.

“Catch.” A ring with a glowing green gem was tossed to Dani. He’s seen Danny carry it around.

“No,” Danny whispered as she caught the ring.

“The GIW got him. Last I saw, he was getting hauled into one of their vans. I don't know where they took him.”

“That Kitty?” Jasmine asked while nodding her head to the green ball in Johnny 13’s arms.

“I asked Phantom for help finding her. I didn't know it would lead to this.” From what he can tell, the ghost sounds remorseful. “Look, you have the ring; my debt is paid. We're going back to the Infinite Realms.” Johnny 13 began to disappear. “Good luck,” were his final words before he was gone.

“Looks like we have something Cujo can use to find him,” Dani sighed as she looked at the ring.

“Why did Danny have your ghost friend deliver his ring?” He questioned.

“Because the holder of this ring signifies the Ghost King. Danny is supposed to take up the mantle since he defeated the last Ghost King in single combat, but he refused. Not wanting the realms to be without a ruler, the council decided to make him the crown prince for now, until he is ready to wear the ring.”

“But that would mean…” that his dearly departed brother is still dead.

“You didn't know?” Dani cocked her head. “Aren't the bats the world's greatest detectives? We’re halfas, Danny and me, both alive and dead. Soon to be fully dead if what Johnny said was true.”

~~~

He didn't think it could get any worse than his core being ripped from his body. He didn't think he would feel it after it was taken out of his body.

He was wrong.

The first step to reforging a core is to melt them down into moldable ectoplasum.

Heat spread from the center of his chest like a star expanding. Burning everything that gets close until there is nothing left but all consuming fire. The ectoplasum in his DNA is boiling. The tears running down his face feel like ice against his skin. He couldn't help the screams escaping him. His core isn't suited for these temperatures. Like the wicked witch of the west, he too was melting.

The second step to reforging a core is to shape it.

Every hit his core took reverberated through his body like a bell chime. A wave of pressure and pain consumed him.

“Shit, it’s-” One of the agents started to say, but he couldn't hear the rest as nothingness washed over him.

~~~

Cujo led them back to the warehouse that Phantom destroyed. The building still lay in ruin, but the forge was hastily cobbled back together. Dani and Damian took care of the agents with ease. A white van was parked nearby with its back doors flung wide open. That’s where she found Danny’s body.

His chest was ripped open. The scattered pieces of his core were strung along the bottom of the van. His heart was still beating, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before it stopped. Without his core, Danny could not survive, and with it shattered, there was no way to put it back inside his chest. She couldn't watch as her little brother died; instead, she picked up the pieces of his core. The coldness of it stung her fingers, but she held on tightly.

“No,” Dani sobbed as she saw the sight of their brother.

Damian grabs his wrist to feel for a pulse. “He’s still alive. We have to do something.” She held out her hands so they could see the remains of his core. His soul is broken. What could they do?

“No. There has to be something we can do.” Dani looked around frantically, hoping to find anything useful. Her eyes go wide. She grips Damian by the shoulder roughly. “You! You can fix him like you fix broken pottery.”

“Our brother’s soul isn't broken pottery,” Damian reminds Dani. “I don't know if gluing it back together will work.”

“We have to try something,” Dani snaps.

Damian nods his head. “I’ll need something to adhere the pieces together.” The three of them search the van from top to bottom, but find nothing.

“What if we melt the pieces and stick them together that way, like melting plastic. Will that work?” Dani asks.

“That should work,” Damian confirms.

“But how are we going to do that? A blast from the ectoguns the GIW had is too big and would destroy his core further.” She knew she should have packed her ecto-laser lipstick, but this was supposed to be a vacation.

“I have just the thing. It’s back at the shop. I’ll fly there and back as fast as I can. Keep him alive until then.” Dani flew off, leaving her with Damian.

They couldn't stitch up Danny’s chest wound until his core was back inside of his chest, but they could stop the bleeding somewhat. “I’m sorry,” Damian whispered to Danny. “I have no right to ask this of you, but please don't die. Not again.” She let him have their moment as it could be their last.

Very carefully in Dani’s hands was the pot with the bloodblossom seed. “The oil can melt ectoplasm, and since cores are condensed ectoplasm, this should work,” Dani explains to Damian. She takes the pot away from her little sister and digs up the seeds. The tiniest of sprouts had erupted from one of the seeds. She hands them over to Damian.

“Normally, I do this with a paintbrush; I will have to make due.” Damian lightly rubs his finger on the seeds and transfers the oils to Danny’s core, melting it slightly. Piece by piece, he reconfigured their brother’s soul.

When he is done, they place the core back into Danny’s chest. The ectoplasum in Danny’s blood reached out for it as if welcoming it back home. The chest wound sewed itself closed.

Danny’s breathing was still shallow, and his pulse was still slow. They had no idea if this was going to work. He’ll need to be monitored constantly in a place the GIW can't find him. She tells Dani and Damian as much.

“The Batcave has state-of-the-art medical equipment we can bring him there,” Damian offers.

Chapter Text

The winter chill has given way to spring. The snow has melted, and the weeds are springing up from the cracks in the concrete. It’s a time of new beginnings, yet Danny still lies unconscious. Her life has changed so much since coming to live with the Waynes. A new school, a new group of siblings, a new father.

She was barely passing her old school with the help of Danny. Gotham Academy expected more out of her, and she can't keep up. She’s drowning in all of the work foisted upon her. Her life raft this time is Damian. Every day after school, they bunker down next to Danny’s comatose body in the cave, and he tutors her. Her peers have collectively decided that they don't like her. They whisper under their breath as she passes. A few have tripped her in the halls. Nobody wants to pair up with her for assignments. She thinks how close she is with Damian started it, seeing as they don't care much for him either.

Once upon a time, she had more siblings other than Danny and Jazz, but they all melted, so she was excited to get to know her new siblings and have the big family she was meant to have.

Jason, she had met briefly already. In that short period of time, he didn't seem as angry as he does now. She gets that. She, too, is angrier these days. Maybe she caught him on good days. Maybe he’s lashing out because of Danny. She figures reality is somewhere in the middle. He will sit next to her by Danny’s bedside and reassure her that he will make things right. Yet all he is doing is causing more death. She finds that she doesn't have it in her to feel sympathy for the GIW agents he’s hunting down. Occasionally, when she is haunting the halls, unable to sleep or watch over her brother, she will hear him and Bruce arguing. From what Damian has told her, the two don't get along.

Barbara is her current favorite of her new siblings. And that's only a little because she reminds her of Jazz. She doesn't make empty promises, she doesn't ask how she is doing, and she doesn't expect anything out of her. She understands that the only thing that will heal her wounds is time, and is willing to give it to her. She’s nice in a way that doesn't feel patronizing. They talk from time to time, but more often, if it’s just the two of them, they fall into a comfortable silence, letting the other stew in their thoughts. Once and only once, in the middle of the night, with no others around, an offer was made. “You wouldn't be the first to come into Bruce’s care with a desire for vengeance. If you feel the need, we haven't had a new Batgirl in a while.”

The sibling that expects the most out of her is Tim. When he looks at her, he sees Damian the same way Damian saw Danny when he first looked at her. An image of the past brought to life. He was wary of her. Damian once confessed that he hurt Tim in the past and expects Danny and her to do the same thing.

Every time she sees Steph, there is a smile on her face. She knows that not all of them are real. Steph has taken up the burden of being optimistic for her. Even if she doesn't believe everything she is saying, Steph constantly reinforces the idea that Danny will get better because it’s what she needs to hear.

Dick is the oldest, and just like Jazz, falls into the role of parent more than sibling sometimes. He will bring her meals if she’s missed them. He guides her to bed after the bats come back to the cave. Along with Damian, he helps her do her homework. He’s made promises to do a whole host of fun things together after Danny wakes up, from shopping trips to picnics at the park. She thinks he’s taking care of himself as well as she is herself.

Cass is strange, but in a cool way. She’s the most like a ghost out of all of her new siblings. And from the taste of ectoplasm at the back of her throat whenever she's around, she might not be all that far off. Cass has been off doing her own thing since before Dani got here, so she isn't around much, but when she is, she makes time to check in on her and Danny.

Duke is fun to mess with. His powers and her ghost form don't get along. He says that looking at her and Danny is like looking at a lenticular print. She had to look up what lenticular ment, but after that she spent about twenty minutes waving her hand in front of his face just to see how nauseous she could make him. Turns out, pretty nauseous.

Bruce is… Bruce is difficult. The last rich man who had someone who looked like her stuck down in their basement didn't turn out so well. Bruce isn't as insane as Vlad, dressing up as a bat and fighting crime aside, but he was just as obsessed. She would be lying if she said it didn't bother her. She can see it in his eyes, the way he moves, and the way he carefully pieces together what he says around her. He wants to bond with her, but doesn't know how. Every interaction with him is awkward, to put it nicely. Yet he has opened his home to her and Danny, so she has decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Part of her can't fathom why they care about Danny, a person most of them have never met, so much.

~~~

Her eyelids were heavy. Each blink was lasting longer and longer. She knows that she should be in bed, but she couldn't sleep, no matter how tired she was. Instead, she sat watching Danny do nothing but sleep.

Judging by Batman looming in the corner of her eye, it was later than she thought. She thought he had left only an hour ago, but the time must have slipped past her. “I’ll let Gotham Academy know that you will not make it today. Get some rest,” Batman rasped out. He checked Danny’s vitals before leaving the cave.

Between one blink and the next, she woke up with Jason’s coat wrapped around her shoulders. Sitting on the table next to her was a plate of animal cookies and a cold cup of tea. She munches on them as she continues watching over her brother.

~~~

“Hey Dani, do you want to join us?” Stephine asks. She and Tim were planning on going to the movie theater. “It’ll be fun.”

“No thanks,” she says. A frown graced Steph’s face for a quick second before she plastered on a smile.

“Maybe next time.”

“Maybe,” she mumbles, despite knowing the answer will still be no.

~~~

“How is he?” Bruce asks. He’s replacing Danny’s bedding. He was gentler than she thought Batman could be.

“The same.”

“And how are you?”

“The same.”

~~~

Damian is sitting next to her. A book spread open on his lap, yet he wasn't reading it. He was staring at Danny instead. “Some individuals in a coma can hear people talking to them. Do you think he can hear us?” They took a scan of Danny’s brain when they first arrived. He has brain activity; he’s not brain dead. So they have been calling Danny’s condition a coma.

“Is there something you want to say to him?” She asks.

“Plenty, but most of it is for a face-to-face conversation.”

“Then save it and tell him when he wakes up.” No ghost has ever recovered from having their core shattered, but she has to keep believing he will wake up, that it really is just a coma.

~~~

Her eyes blink open slowly. The morning sun annoyingly greets her. She pulls the blanket over her head to ignore it. Tiredness still sits in her bones. She’s tired all the time now. Jazz says it’ll get better over time, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

She forces herself to get out of bed and sluggishly walk to her closet. She puts on her school uniform. When she first saw it, she had the thought that Danny would hate it, making her hate it too. She spends too long looking for her shoes before remembering that she tossed them off in the entrance yesterday, and they are likely still there.

She makes her way to the kitchen and grabs a banana to eat for breakfast. Normally, the ghosts haunting the manor are in the dining room for breakfast each morning. The old man never fails to wish her a good day. Today, they were enjoying the morning sun outside in the garden. Damian joined her. Only leaving her side as the first bell rang, and they had to split off to different home rooms.

School passed by in a blur. Classes rushed around her. None of the information is sticking in her brain. People tried to talk to her. She can't remember their faces or what they wanted. Lunch was so bland that she could only stand taking a few bites. She wasn't hungry anyway. Damian hands her an energy bar. For his sake, she does her best to finish it.

After school, they make their way straight back to the manor. She sits in the chair next to Danny’s bed, and that is where she will stay until she goes to bed. Damian is next to her and will be until Gotham needs Robin. Fluttering in and out of the cave are the other members of the bat family. Dick stops by to give them dinner. Bruce sits silently before he suits up. Steph asks how school was that day. She shrugs and says it was fine.

The sun had fallen hours ago. The bats were out, stopping crime, leaving her alone to watch over Danny. She hears the steady beeping of the machines keeping his body alive even in her dreams these days. Nothing has changed with him because nothing ever does. Even the dead have more life in them than he does these days.

“When will he wake up?” She asks. There is no answer. “I know you can hear me, Clockwork. When will he wake up?” She repeats herself. Between one breath and the next, a round object was clutched in her hand. She opens her fist to see the ring of rage sitting on her palm. She knows what Clockwork wants her to do. “He’ll hate me.” Again, there is no answer. “Is there any other way?” Between the ticks of the clock, her fist clenches around the ring again. That’s a no.

Fuck.

She steels her nerves and slips the ring on Danny’s finger.

Chapter Text

His head was fuzzy. What was he doing again? He peers around his surroundings. The lights in the Fenton basement flickered. Tucker was sitting on his right and Sam on his left. They were laughing over something, but he couldn't remember what. In Tucker’s hands was one of his parents' many failed experiments. Oh, right, his partners and he had snuck down to the basement. He had just made a joke about getting into the failed portal.

His feet carried him without permission. Just in case, but really, what could go wrong, he put on his hazmat suit. It stretched over him like a second skin. He stunted around the empty portal like a show pony, making his partners laugh. That’s when he tripped.

Pain courses through him, and his vision goes black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was somewhere different. His head was still fuzzy, like he was trying to grasp something just out of reach. He was shorter and his hair was longer. A feeling of ants crawled inside his skin. His body felt wrong. Why? She was the granddaughter of the head of the League of Assassins. She should be the perfect assassin; she doesn't have the luxury of feeling wrong.

Cards were slapped down in front of her. Jason grumbled under his breath. She had just beat him in poker again. He was the one to teach her how to cheat at the game; it’s really his fault he is losing now.

Something was wrong. Where was Damian? No, that’s not right. Damian doesn't play cards with them. Why is he worried about Damian?

The world changes between blinks. He was taller, but not by much. Jazz is holding his hand. They are sitting on the curb outside of their house, and their parents accidentally locked all of them out again. Rather than picking the locks, they wanted to make a device that could pick the lock for them. It’s been hours. Jazz and he were staring up at the stars. He was telling her about his favorite constellations. Why was he worried about Damian again? He hadn't thought of his brother in months. Did that make him a bad person?

The constellations swirled together. He was blinking the lights out of his eyes. Dani was staring at him with wide eyes. She had just gotten a good hit on him. They were play-fighting. She pumps both fists in the air like a total dork. “That’s another point for me. And do you know what that means? I win,” his sister gloated.

“Whatever. You just got lucky,” he teases. That’s right, he wasn't worried about Damian; he was worried about Dani. But Dani is right in front of him and is fine. “Let's go another round,” he suggests. Dani happily agreed and rushed in.

As Dani’s fist was about to hit, he realised it wasn't Dani at all, but Box Ghost. He got into gear and changed his stance from a friendly fight to a real fight. He dodged the hit and retaliated with his own. He felt his fist connect. Connect to a brick wall.

He was angry. Just needed to punch something and blow off steam. He held back so that the flower shop didn't crumble and leave them without a home, again. Gotham isn't a safe place overall, but it’s the safest place for them. Yet he doesn't feel safe.

She doesn't feel safe. She never does when she is training with her brother. It’s what the league wants; they wanted them to understand that they could die at any second.

He doesn't feel safe as he is running down the halls, Dash hot on his heels. Phantom might have pulled a small little prank on him. Now he’s taking his anger out on Fenton. Sam said it was karma for his actions, but helped him out by tripping Dash.

He doesn't feel safe, but he will not back down. He knows this is his final stand. Either he kills Pariah Dark, or everyone gets killed. The army is encroaching. They're practically on his doorstep.

He opened the door to see his new friend Tucker waiting for him. He’s never had a friend like Tucker before. “Come in, come in,” he said as he grabbed his new friend’s hand and dragged him in. It’s his first sleepover, and he’s excited.

He pulled his hand out of Damian’s. He knows Dani wants them to get along, but things haven't been going well. And he doesn't think it’s ever going to get better, but Dani wants him to try, so he’s trying. Damian wanted to show him a new piece in the Gotham Art Museum. He didn't think before he grabbed Danny’s hand like they were children again. Damian marched on like it didn't bother him. They all followed after him.

He’s running after Dani. They are zipping around the Infinite Realms. An impromptu game of tag has led them from the Far Frozen to Clockwork’s tower. Once he tags her, he flies away. Soaring and falling with a laugh on his lips.

He’s falling through a toxic green sea. It’s filling his lungs, choking him. He struggles and gasps, but nothing is working. He’s floundering until-

He bursts out of the water, gasping for air. The sound of Sam fighting Dash is distant as water is still clogging up his ears. He shakes his head, splashing drops of water all around him. The metal on the pool ladder as he exits is hot enough to burn his skin. All he wanted to do was sit by the pool and rest for a single day, but that was too much to ask for.

His eyelids keep falling without his permission. Being out of training for years and then suddenly being thrust into the role of town vigilante is taxing work. He might just sleep for a thousand years. All he has to do is make it to his bed.

The bed under him was plush. The moment he opened his eyes, he wanted to go back to sleep. Everything hurt, and he was still exhausted. An IV was hooked up to his arm. He didn't recognize where he was. Some sort of infirmary surrounded by a cave.

The Fentons had Dani. She’s strapped to the table down in the lab. With promises on their tongue that they will make her better, but he knows better. He needs to save her before it’s too late. And he knows that they will take it too far, that there is no reasoning with them when they get like this. “Danny?” his sister weakly calls out as he storms downstairs.

“Danny!” Jazz yells, annoyed. “Are you even listening?” He thinks he was, but he can't remember why he’s even here. Judging by the homework laid out in front of them, he asked Jazz to tutor him. “I’m only going over this one more time, so you better pay attention,” Jazz sighed. He groaned and hit his head on the textbook in front of him.

He lifted his head from Sam’s shoulder. A laugh bubbled out of him. They were watching Tucker complete a level he had been stuck on for days now. Of course, Sam had beaten it first try, while he hadn't even made it here yet.

The sting of the computer light in the dark hit his eyes. Sitting in front of the screens is someone he doesn't recognize. He’s back in the cave again? Why? He doesn't remember being here before. What was he doing to end up here? He stalked forward to the guy in the chair. “Where am I?” he asks them.

They spin around, black hair flopping in the wind. Their blue eyes were wide. “You're awake,” they gasped.

Dani gasped and squealed over the sight of Cujo rolling around in the grass. He’s being extra adorable today. Like he knows he’s meeting someone important to Danny and is trying to get on their good side. “Can I pet you?” She asks the puppy. Cujo gives a happy little wiggle in the grass as an answer. She takes it as permission. As she reaches out, something jolts him and brings him back to the cave.

“Danny? Can you hear me?” The stranger asks. But he’s not a stranger, is he? He’s seen his face before. Where? “Dani is on their way.” But he’s already here?

“Danny,” he proclaimed. That is going to be his new name. It feels right. More than the last few he tried out, that's for sure.

“You could name yourself anything, and you're going with Danny?” Tucker said, bemused. “That’s so close to your name already.”

“Then it won't be a big adjustment period,” he said back.

Tucker! That’s how he knows that face. Standing in front of him is Timothy Drake Wayne. Why is he with Timothy Drake Wayne? Why does that name feel important? “Timothy?” he croaked out.

“You know my name?” He sounded weirdly happy about this fact.

He had many questions, but he summed most of them up into “What?”

“The one time I’m not down here,” another voice exclaimed. It’s a familiar voice, but he can't place it. He turns around to see…

Oh, Dani’s here too. She will help him.