DPXDC Prompt #88

Danny and Damian are twins but they get separated at age 7, years later when they’re both 14 they both are going to high school and their schools decide to create a program where they wind up as pen pals to each other unknowing that they’re talking too each other as it’s been set up to be anonymous. Danny decides to take a leap of faith and encrypts a message about the media blackout around his town and how they’re overrun with ghosts and could use the Justice Leagues help through out all of his letters knowing that very few could actually understand it but he just felt so tired and this was the only way he could think to get any help for his town.

Damian just wonders who exactly his pen pal is to encrypt these letters like this.

DPXDC prompt: Dead on main. No trick only treat.

~~Сhildhood friends and deals~~

The Justice League has to summon a ghost from another dimension to address the threat. They don’t know what price the Ghost King will take but there’s little time to bargain. Another spirit threatening them has already seized all the computers on their base. John doesn’t know what else to offer. A summoned ghost starts to look bored. Gold, jewelry? A favor from a member of the League? Like the Ruler of All Dead needs it. No one dares to make another offer, and the King is in no hurry to set out his demands. Maybe try to pull off a soul sale scam?

Suddenly, Red Hood breaks into the hall, walks up to Phantom and shakes his shoulder vigorously. Red Hood: You, get Technus out of here right now. I need access to the files and fast. Phantom: That’s rude, dude. Where did you grow up? in the cave? No "hello, no how are you, Danny", really? Red Hood: I’ll pay the usual price. Phantom: Deal.

What is the price? John sees Batman and gets in his way. The usual price, his guy said. Means Jay was already out of the deal alive and well. This hyperprotective bat would only piss off the ruler if he interfered.

The King quickly deals with his subordinate using a thermos and remains to watch working Hood. Red Hood: What do you want? I’m busy. Danny: You and I have a contract~ Red Hood: All right, all right. Jay throws M&Ms right in the face of the ghost. But king doesn’t look angry. He opens the package and starts sorting the candies by color. Phantom quickly eats up all the green ones and passes the red ones to Hood. Jason takes them without any questions.

Strange. John has never seen a summoned creature share its reward with a human. And the son of a bat looks too comfortable with it. Wait, since when do super-powered beings think that candy is a decent wage?John makes one of the most likely deductions using his experience. Constantine: Batsy, how long has your son been sleeping with the King of Ghosts? Batman: He…what?!

~~~~~~~

Dick *knocking at the door*: Little Wing, you hate ectoplasm and everything what is neon green, so why? He’s dangerous! Jason who turned on the music to not listen to his crazy family: ~He’s poison but tasty~

Dick: NoOOoo

~~~~~~

Jason: And now everyone thinks that I sold my virginity to you for a bargain or something, because interdimensional creatures like you aren’t supposed to help for nothing. Like you’re playing favorites. I’m gonna fucking kill John. Danny: Well, I wouldn’t say no to that. Jason: What? Danny: I mean, to k-kill John, yeah. How dare he.. Jason: Omg, you’re still so terrible liar, Fenton.

Danny: Sorry :(

Jason: No. Say it again.

~~~~Twelve years ago~~~~ Maddie wasn’t thrilled to learn that Danny was trying to make friends with Todd’s son. Their neighbor was terrible. And his son was definitely a street rat and probably a juvenile delinquent. Maddie: Danny, honey, there’s got to be a reason this boy is talking to you. Even kids from the crime alley are always looking for a bargain they can make or a fool they can fool. Danny: But Jason is so cool! He knows so much about books and alleys and.. Maddie: But you don’t want to be a fool, do you? Danny: Okay, Mom, I get it.

So, if Danny wants a cool friend, he’s got to offer a bargain.

He didn’t have a lot of pocket money for every month but Jason needed it more anyway. And his lunch that Jack was picking for him was big enough for two and only bitten on Tuesdays. Nice. Jason: Do I understand correctly? You will pay me and give me food, and I, what? Protect you from bullies? Danny: No! I’m not weak, I don’t need to be protected. Just..maybe we could sit together at lunch and walk each other home sometimes? Jason: Nay Danny: But why? You want something else? Jason: Money’s fine but your homemade food is…strange. Danny: I can bring sweets if you want. Jason: Deal. 3 pop tarts for a joint lunch, a party size bag of M&Ms if you waste my time out of school.

~~~~

Sometimes they share sweets when they hang out but more often Jayson takes them home to save in case his parents have money problems. Sweets have a long shelf life stored and he may not be afraid to poison himself. Over time, candy becomes their currency and a secret language for all occasions. Need help without unnecessary questions? M&Ms. Problems with learning? Skittles. The question is about family? Snickers. There will be a serious conversation? Pop Tarts.

Jason: One snickers and a pack of gum. Danny: Yeah, Jason? What do you want? Jason: My mom wants to meet my friend. Come to lunch on Sunday. Danny: Okay, you managed to pay for my expensive services. Jason:…and you just lost the gum from the deal.

~~~~~~

Jason threw a package at Danny: Three pop tarts. We need to talk. Danny: All right? Jason: Why are you avoiding me all week?! Danny: Well, it’s just..you’re Wayne now. Jason. Still Todd. And what about that? Danny: You can hang out with the cooler guys now, I didn’t want to embarrass you. Jason: Bullshit! I’m still the street rat, and you’re trying to avoid our contract. me. And I don’t even need money from you anymore. What the hell? I thought you are my friend. Danny: And I am!

~~~~~~

Robin: What’s a schoolboy doing in an alley at night? Danny: Um, I…nothing? Don’t tell my parents, Mr. Robin sir. Robin: It will cost you so many Chunky Bars, you have no idea. Danny:...Jason? Jason: N-no. Danny: Damn yes. What are you doing in green shorts on the street at night?! Jason: Cosplay. Danny: Oh yeah? Then I’m just your hallucination. Don’t hesitate to ghost me. I’m going home, Disgrace In Pixie Boots, bye. Jason: fu%&c$#u

Standard 'cultists demand the ghost king destroy and remake the world,' but danny answers with:

"Been there, done that, its not nearly as satisfying as it sounds."

Because, canonically, he HAS. Multiple times.

Not only has he aborted the timeline that created dan, but he also had another alternate timeline adventure to try to stop vlad and cure the ecto acne.

He also used the reality guantlet to fix the changes that freakshow made.

If one is generous, you can also count any event in which a rogue was on the verge of 'taking over the world' and he stopped them just before they could get into the swing of things. This includes but isn't limited to: pariah dark, technus, ember, undergrowth, and nocturne.

And if you're being generous about that, you can count the infi-map adventure, where he repeatedly prevented vlad from taking over the world AND left his mark on history.

(But we're all just gonna ignore the disasteroid, unless we want to make it canon with a mindwipe that erases everyones memories, then it counts TWICE.)

And THEN, because this is already a ghost king au, you can imply any number of other events that are a consequence of the title. Maybe clockwork has used him a few times to deliberately alter some event for the better.

So danny just drops that bomb on the cultists, and they're just like, what? And danny just rambles on that the world is already the way he wants it and they're cultists that worship him so they shouldn't question his judgment, and the cultists are like, 'no we're binding you to us to do our bidding.'

Danny, because he already knows he's immune to binding spells and expected that answer anyways, just doubles down, 'do you really think I'd remake the world in a way that would allow someone to take away my agency? You should be grateful you even exist with the agency to come up with such stupid ideas.'

The justice league slash bats slash whoever crashed the summoning or got used as a sacrifice, have no idea how to handle all of this information. Danny is a 'capital G' God, and God is a snarky teenager who clearly doesn't get enough sleep. One of these days, he's gonna get summoned and just snap, and there's gonna be nothing they can do about it.

OK, there are several time traveling heroes. They definitely knew, at least somewhat, about Danny, becoming Dan right. But what if they don’t know exactly the age?

Dan’s been having a pretty good rehabilitation time. However, he does not like the idea of leaving Jazz alone when she goes to Gotham university psychology, so he decides to go with her. Tucker sent him up with a fake identity of being her older brother, and he Gets enrolled in astrology program.

Then, the time travelers are trying to figure out how to stop him, when they see Jazz, absolutely commanding him not to be the guy who cat called her, dragging him by the ear away from the terrified man. They realized, oh, Jazz has control. And figure, somewhat truthfully, that Jazz died and that’s what made him snap. So they just have to protect Jazz and everything will be fine.

However, Jazz lives in Gotham and Bruce is a paranoid person. So he has his son infiltrate for classes and serve as a kind of bodyguard. I’m going to leave it up to you which of the brothers is infiltrating, though I personally prefer it to be Jason. He’s just supposed to keep an eye on her, but he does fall madly in love with her.

However, they also want someone keeping watch on Dan. Which leads to another bat kid enrolling in several of classes. Again, it can be whatever bad kid you want, but I’m personally imagining it’s Cass.

Q an awkward family dinner, where they are trying to ignore the fact that Jason and Kas are making out with the person who starts the end of the world, and the only person who can control them

Bonus points if Dan, Danny, and Ellie come to Gotham, personally to threaten, Jason, and Dan makes a comment about how he has killed before, and he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again for her. That alone would definitely send the justice league into a spiral.

Fictober23 Prompt: 21 - "Just in case this doesn't work."

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: -

A/N: Inspired by this Post about Danny bullshiting his way by saying he is Tims future kid. Also once again posting this early, cause I need to destress tomorrow and not worry about writing or work or anything.

Edit: Thanks to @kisatamao in the comments I found the post again that inspired this and linked it!

"Chronus"

"Nowadays I go by Clockwork."

"Fine, Clockwork then."

"John Constantine."

The Ancient of Time and Justice League Dark members stared at each other blankly. Until the ruler of time smiled and Constantine sighed. "How is the time baby doing?"

"Very well. Your timeline is safe. There was an incident that could have possibly splittend the timeline again and in a way it did but the destruction timeline was once more prevented, by the child himself like I hoped for. Three times now."

Constantine grunted, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. "You know if Bats or any of his kids ever learn about this I will be the one to take the burn right?"

Clockwork only smiled a knowing smile and Constantine paled. "When?"

"Where is the fun if you knew. The little Drake has been quite unpredictable and entertaining." The Ancient mused floating around the room and Constantine's eyes narrowed.

"There won't be a paradox?"

Clockworks tilted his head with a mischievous smile on his face. "Well the timeline in which he was born no longer exists and his father of this time line has ceased his efforts in cloning. He never even got to the point of trying to combine his own DNA with the one he so desperately wanted to clone."

"I feel like I am hearing secrets I definitely do not want to know. Just tell me if this timeline is safe or not now."

"It is safe. Your timeline has now a true Ancient of Balance in the making and just in case this doesn't work, I have anchored Daniel's existence in this timeline with several means one of which was his own time clone created from a split of destruction line."

Constantine's eyes twitched. "For all of our sakes I hope Bats never finds out about this. If he ever learns that I replaced a still born with a grandson of his from a different destruction timeline… You know what, I am not nearly drunk enough for any of this mate!"

Clockwork chuckled, his eyes glinting with unhidden amusement. "Well John Constantine, would you like a word of advice?"

The JLD member took another long drag of his cigarette before flicking the butt of it somewhere to the side. "No riddle."

"When 17 turns to 4 it is not the grandfathers, you should fear."

"I said no riddles!" Constantine huffed as clockwork disappeared from his side. He brushed his hair with one hand, glaring at the spot where the Ancient of Time had been. He should have never agreed to help that damned being 15 years ago, having been somewhat of a beginner then John did not realize what kind of deal he had agreed on.

Now he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or fearful of the consequences. Especially now that he had worked with the Bat Family a couple of times already.

Exactly one year later Constantine decided he was fucking fearful!

Unknown to the Brite a lot of things can happen in three years. Like Parents turning on their child after accidentally learning about a truth. A teenager that was already hurt trying to salvage whatever peace he could.

—--

"Mom! Dad! I swear it's still me, Danny!"

"Give me back my baby boy you monster!"

—--

A governmental organisation committing mass genocide on an interdimensional species.

—--

"Ember, get out of here! Now!"

"Baby Pop! What about the others?!"

"Dan already released them! Get out of here! I will hold them off and keep them busy!"

—----

The interdimensional species try to convince said teenager fighting for them to forgo humanity.

—--

"Welp, this can't go on. No hunt is worth this much."

"Give it up already. The humans made their decision."

"They broke too many rules, it is time they suffer the consequences."

—--

A heavy conflicted ending with the teenager receding into its core and getting picked up by one of his papa from a different timeline.

—--

"What kind of crystal is that? It radiates a pretty strange but familiar energy."

"I wanna see! I wanna see!"

"If it's not dangerous, why not keep it?"

"It looks like there are snowflakes in it."

—--

The kid then reformed out of his core in his ghost age instead of human age with a green note appearing on his forehead. Said note confusing the kids papa making him contact the kids dad.

—--

"Tim you won't believe this…"

"Kon you sound weird, what is going on?"

"Remember that shiny crystal I picked up at the end of our last case?"

"The one with the snowflakes in it, yes."

"I think I just became a dad."

"WHAT?!"

—--

Which then led to the dad overanalyzing the note while the kid insisted that a certain ghost was involved. The child's grandparents then getting tipped off through the grandchild of the Ancient Constantine still curses in his mind.

—--

"So Pandora mentioned something to me."

"Hn."

"Have you tried asking Constantine about it? He is apparently in contact with a being that likes to write cryptic messages on green notes, or that's what Pandora told me at least."

"..."

"And your new grandchild came with such a note right?"

—--

And now John Constantine was fearing for his life, because Batman had tried to contact him several times now. Several times Constantine had found reasons to ignore. Only for the Bat to come knocking on his door -well more like rudely kicking it down- with fucking Super too! He was cursing up a storm internally and thinking of how best he could get out of whatever had crawled up the two hero's asses when right behind the two hero's stood another set of hero's he did not want to face especially when he noticed one of them holding a four years old toddler in his arms.

"Chronus you fucking asshole!" The Brite muttered to himself as the four hero's plus time baby stood before him demanding answers.

That was when the toddler piped up, eyes glowing a bright green. "So Clockwork does have something to do with this! I knew it!"

"Danny, sweetheart not now. You can tell us you were right after we figured out what timeline you are from and if we need to send you back or can keep you." Red Robin calmed the now pouting toddler Super Boy was holding and petting with a small chuckle. While Batman and Superman turned on Constantine.

The Unspoken Deal

Fandom: Danny Phantom, John Constantine, and DCU Characters: John Constantine, Danny Fenton/Phantom, Batman, Superman, other JL members Words: 3507 Summary:

Danny and John have a deal. It's a simple deal. Every month they have a meet up. Danny keeps as much control over the ghost as he can in return John keeps track of them in the human realm. That's it nothing else should be so simple.

So why do feelings keep getting involved and why does the justice league suddenly seem so interested in the beings of the infinite realms.

John knows one thing for sure: This is all Danny's fault.

“You know these meetings are supposed to be taken seriously? Right mate?” John Constantine asked, only a little annoyed at dealing with the half-ghost.

“Who says? The council, meh I don’t really fully care what they have to say,” the half-ghost laughed, throwing another snowball at the human.

“Why do I put up with you again?” Constantine rubbed his hand over his face.

“You love me,” the ghost teased.

“What makes you so sure,” John hid the small smile that was on his face. He would never admit it, but the half ghost does hold a special place within his heart, a place that very few ever made it to.

“Any big threats I need to know about?” the ghost floated in front of John, ignoring the question that was being asked of him.

“Nothing I’ve heard about oh Danny boy,” John nodded towards him, watching as the Ghost King looked him up and down.

“Sell your soul recently?” Danny eyed him.

“Don’t know what your talkin about mate,” John avoided looking at the ghost, choosing instead to focus on his neglected cigarette.

“Well mate,” Danny easily copied the brit’s accent. “I happen to have a soul piece here.” Danny took the small delicate object out of his pocket, showing it off to John’s widened eyes.

“Be careful with that!” He shouted, seeing Danny just throwing it in the air as if it was a plastic ball.

“I would be if you didn’t treat your soul like a throw away joke,” Danny glared at his old friend, watching him put out the cancer stick as the two walked inside the castle also known as phantom’s keep and talk. “I’m serious John. Every time you sell your soul, I have to find a way to get it. You’ve sold over half of your soul. Soon you won’t have any pieces left,” Danny rolled his eyes, walking into a room where he keeps a singular candy jar, dropping the glowing piece in the jar. It made a small clink as it fell with the other pieces.

“That really is my whole soul isn’t it,” John peaked into the room to look at the jar.

“Farid so. Makes almost a whole soul. Be careful, our time is almost up so I’ll be seeing you next month?” Danny frowned at the idea of John leaving.

“I’ll be sure to give you a call if something comes up mate,” John assured him.

“And the heroes will be kept out of my realm?” They both know Danny’s rules about humans walking around the realms. Even now, years later from his teenage years, the humans he allows in are few and small. Adding heroes to that list just makes it worse.

“No heroes,” John assured him, opening the portal with a simple spell, stepping back into the house of mystery. “I’ll be seeing you ole Danny boy,” John smiled a sad smile at watching the portal close, shutting off his communication with the older ghost.

Recently all of their monthly meetings have the old warlock feeling like this. Feeling like something is missing or wrong. Sometimes he debates saying more, extending their meetings, even offering to meet more than once a month, but it never goes that far, choosing instead to ignore the feeling and continue on his day.

Pouring himself a drink, a favorite activity of his. He couldn’t help the groan that came from his mouth at hearing his phone ring.

Ring Ring Ring

Constantine sighed as the annoying ring hurt his ears. It was worse when he checked the caller ID. “What do ya want bats. Ima little busy?”

“Meeting at the watchtower. Be there,” the rough voice ordered from the phone.

“You could at least butter me up a little,” the thick British accent responded. Batman didn’t dignify him with a response, choosing instead to just hang up the phone.

“Well doll seems I still can’t take a break,” John signed, talking to the house. Downing his drink within one gulp he casted another spell, landing him right in the watchtower.

“Do you have to appear on the table every time?” Superman asked in wonder.

“Just how magic works mate,” John dusted off his tan coat, stepping off the table that was surrounded by multiple leaguers. “Alright what’s this whole shin dig about?”

“We have gotten multiple reports and sightings about strange creatures,” Batman started, clicking buttons on a small remote for all of the leaguers to see. Up on the big screens were creatures, creatures that Constantine was very familiar with. A bad feeling began to weave its way into his liver ruined gut.

“Are they aliens?” one of the leaguers questioned.

“Nothing in any of our databases,” Hal shook his head with crossed arms.

“Nothing from under the sea,” Aquaman agreed.

“So, they’ve come from a strange place that none of us have heard about?” Wonder Woman threw her hands in the air from disbelief.

“I don’t believe they come from the underworld, but John would be a better judge then me,” Zatara looked towards the brit.

“I don’t know nothing bout them mate. Prolly best to leave them be for now,” John shrugged, ignoring the questioning looks he was getting from some his ‘coworkers’ with trust issues.

“I’ll look more into them,” Zatara nodded. “Find out if they become a threat.” He assured the league.

“We’ll be looking into the lantern database and getting contact with others, find out if anyone knows anything,” Jon agreed, nodding towards Hal. All three getting up to leave the table.

“Well, if that’s all I’ll be on my bloody way. Drag me out of my house for notin,” John muttered angrily.

“Actually, John if you wouldn’t mind having a conversation with me?” Zatara asked, waving him over.

“Fine,” the brit groaned, getting a pack of his smokes out, lighting one up within the watchtower, ignoring glares he was getting from the three top dogs.

Zatara had taken John to a lone room, nothing really in it besides a desk, a few chairs, and one small couch, it was clearly only a room used for conversations.

“What’s this bout?” John wondered.

“You know something about those creatures,” Zatara stated firmly.

“I know nothin bout nothin,” John nodded, not agreeing with the magician’s statement.

“Oh please, you’re eyes widened when you saw the pictures. If you know something it should be shared. I will not reveal your secrets, however if you refuse to say anything it will just cause everyone, including me, to dig deeper into them.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise. They could be dangerous.”

John laughed at that statement. “If that’s all I’m leaving.” Zatara was ready to fight back but looking up he discovered to see the brit gone.

***

“Danny mate pick up your damn phone!” John yelled at the blasted thing from his third time calling his old friend, now pacing around the old House of Mystery. Grabbing the full glass of scotch that the house kindly made for him.

“Sorry John. I was in a meeting,” Danny smiled into the phone. He may be a supernatural being, but he still had plenty to use of his fourteen-year-old mind, an age he hasn’t been for many years.

“Danny you bloody idiot! I thought that you were keeping them under control!” John yelled into the phone, surprising Danny.

“Don’t you dare yell at me John Constantine!” Danny yelled back into the phone, stopping him in his place.

“You’re right. I’m sorry Danny boy. The Justice League just got on my bloody ass about your spooks. Bats is ready to go to war with them,” John sat down in his chair.

“Want to summon me? We can talk about it?” Danny asked into the phone, both knew the undertones of the conversation.

“Things never go right when I summon you,” John refused to look towards a picture of him and Danny. The old ghost laughing, his baby face unable to grow much facial hair, as John cheered a beer, a smile on his face as well. It was one of their first nights out together in the human world.

“But it’s fun. No funny business this time?” Danny offered.

“Now you’re just tempting fate love,” John grinned into his scotch.

“You’re easy to tempt,” Danny nodded in agreement, both understanding the silent message.

Grabbing a piece of green glowing chalk John stumbled towards an empty part of his floor, no need to look up the sigils Danny choose for his summoning. He didn’t understand most of them, but the guy laughed every time he appeared in the human realm, a silent joke that only he knows. He remembers one drunken night when Danny tried to explain, he got nowhere with the brit.

“Numquam agnus dabo te

numquam agnus dimittam te

numquam amet discurrere et deseram te

numquam agnus fac te clamare

numquam agnus dicere vale

numquam agnus dic mendacium et nocuerunt tibi”

John, always confused by the spell, spoke it loud and clear, letting the candles and lights around the house dance as the green fire descended from the hells, lighting up the circle, leaving in a swirl with a half ghost king, smiling and evil smile at him.

“You summoned me,” Danny stepped out of the circle, walking closer to John.

“I summoned you,” he agreed, the mood much different from their business meeting they had just yesterday. John’s breathing becoming deeper and heavier the closer Danny stepped towards him. It forever amazed him that the ghost could become bigger or smaller with just a thought.

“I promised no funny business,” Danny noted, his half breaths just as deep.

“Screw that!” John declared, pushing their lips together, creating a fire between the two. A fire that would not let out till the two were done.

This was routine for when John summoned Danny. A routine that neither is sure how it started, but neither regret. They both agree it’s just sex. No feelings need to be mixed in, but John can’t help the flutter in hie heart when he thinks about everything that Danny does for him. Keeping him updated, collecting his soul contracts, giving him this. It was everything that he could dream about.

“Do you want to stop?” Danny asked carefully, his breath on John’s.

“If you stop, I will exorcize you,” John glared at the ghost.

“Fair enough,” Danny laughed, the two stumbling towards John’s room in the old mystery house.

The next day, both barely clothed, wrapped up in blankets and each other, John woke up, staring at Danny, tracing his fingers over the old, faded scars.

“You’re staring again,” Danny’s eyes fluttered open.

“You make it hard not to,” John grinned at him, turning around in the bed to light a cigarette.

“You said my subjects are hurting the humans,” Danny started to sit up in the bed, the ring of rage glowing proudly on his finger.

“I never said hurting. I keep an eye on them for you here. I promised, didn’t I?” John turned towards him, clearly understanding that this is no longer pleasure, only business.

“Then what was the call about?” Danny raised an eyebrow, getting up from the bed in a way only one trained in royalty could. John thought that he was beautiful.

“Bats called in a meeting. Trying to figure out where they came from. I was honest. Told them they ain’t form the underworld. Bloody Zatara caught me. Wanted to know how I recognized them. Refused to tell him that they were looking for limbo. I made a promise to ya Danny boy and I intend to keep it,” John tapped his cigarette on the ashtray he keeps by the bed. Watching as Danny slowly dressed himself in his torn-up jeans and shirt, a jacket going with it. One would never think he was dead, much less royalty.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” Danny asked.

“Do you want to talk to them?” John uno reversed him.

“I’m free in two days. I’ll calm down the Justice League,” Danny snapped his fingers, disappearing in green fire, just the same as he arrived. John knows that when he walks back to his living room all evidence of his summoning will be gone as well.

“Damn. You have it bad,” a voice laughed from the living room.

“Damn it!” John shouted, face turning red from anger as he shut his bedroom door, a door that was not shut last night, as he quickly got dressed, stomping back into the living room. “Chas. What the bloody hell are you doing here?”

“Checking up on you. Someone has to,” he shrugged. “Haven’t seen you be like that with someone in forever. So, when’s the next date?” Chas teased.

“Sod off Chas. We’re not dating,” John waved him away, grabbing a cold beer.

“Sure. You only look the people you shag like that because no feelings are attached,” Chas nodded, clearly sarcastic.

“He doesn’t want a relationship. He just wants to make sure I keep his subjects out of trouble while in the human realm. Nothing more nothing less,” John took a big gulp of beer.

“Have either of you ever actually talked about this?” Chas asked.

“C’mon mate. We’ve never talked about it because there is nothing to talk about,” John yelled. “We meet in his realm at a set time we talk. If something comes up, I can call him,” John shrugged.

“so, nothing ever happened while in his realm?” Chas raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing worth bringing up in conversation,” John argued back, the jar that contains his soul in the back of his mind.

“Sure,” Chas snorted, clearly not believing him. “I’ll leave you. Just. Don’t ruin this for yourself John. You are clearly happy with him and that doesn’t happen often with you,” Chas walked out of the house, leaving John by himself, only the house to keep him company.

“I don’t like him. I can’t like him. Why would I even like him?” John asked himself and the house. “The guy only rescues my soul every chance he can get. He willingly comes to visit the human realm for me. He willingly gave me his summoning. “Fuck!” John shouted, realization hitting him.

Panic still fresh in his brain he called up Batman. “I have news about the creatures. Meeting in two days.” John didn’t give the guy a chance to reply, closing his phone and ending the call. He has two days to get his body ass unsober as possible before he has to see Danny again.

***

“Alright bats. Everyone here?” John asked, appearing once again on the table, the annoyance clear on Superman’s face.

“You have news about the strange creatures?” Batman asked, coming from him however, everyone knew that it was an order.

“Yeah yeah. I’ll get to that. Move out of the way people,” John only got down form the table to put his bag down, grabbing the green glowing chalk, and walking back up on the table, aware that he has other magic user’s eyes on him. Writing the familiar symbols, he knew by heart. He still had the old book on his shelf, but he has no use for it.

“Be prepared mates. He’s a tad dramatic,” John warned, muttering the same summoning from before. His eyes turning white as green flames enveloped the room, clearly it was done in a more dramatic way for the audience the two have present.

“Numquam agnus dabo te

numquam agnus dimittam te

numquam amet discurrere et deseram te

numquam agnus fac te clamare

numquam agnus dicere vale

numquam agnus dic mendacium et nocuerunt tibi”

Unlike yesterday where all Danny was wearing was ripped jeans, a t-shirt full of small holes and a warm jacket, today he was draped in armor of black, white, and ecto green. The crown of fire worn proudly at the top of his head and the ring of rage glowing proudly on his finger. Fire forming under his feet as he took steps down the table. John had to take a smirk at how Danny presented himself. This is the same person who tripped over his feet walking in a straight line the other week, crashing his face right into ghost rocks. It never amazed John that Danny could present himself this way, but no one could deny the affect that it had.

“Who are you?” Batman asked, taking the lead as usual.

“Did you not explain to them?” Danny’s voice now held an echo to it, a few leaguers unsure if they were hearing him correctly.

“Sorry love figured you would love to do the honors,” John waved him off, taking a seat.

“I am Phantom. King of the Infinite Realms. John Constantine is the watcher of the human realm for me. He has informed me that the “Justice League” was getting curious about my subjects,” Danny chooses his words carefully. John snorted at his phrasing of the Justice League. “My subjects are not causing lasting harm to any humans. No humans have been injured from them or have been killed. There should be no reason that this club house is looking into my subjects,” Danny’s eyes glowed a deep green, clearly angry about the accusations he has formed in his mind.

“We never claimed that your subjects have injured anybody. We were just concerned. These are new creatures. No one knew of them, and we wanted to make sure they were not a risk,” Wonder Woman was quick to jump in.

“Hah!” Danny grinned, showing his fangs in full view. “My subjects are not new. Most have been around longer then you have been alive. It is your ignorance that has made you assume such a thing.” John knows that if this was with just the two of them alone Danny would have cracked some stupid joke like, “You know what assuming does right? Make an ass out of you and me! Ha! Come on John! It’s funny!”

“I’m sorry?” Wonder Woman was confused.

“My subjects are mostly ghost. Spirits who have refused to pass on. Spirits who have been formed from human ideals. Death, Nocturne, and Time. These are all spirits that have been formed from the thoughts of humans. They will live as long as their ideas live on. There are ones that form naturally, there are ones who have died and left this world, unable to move on they come to my realm. They come back to finish what they started, their right to, or to just cause petty mischief, something they need to do to survive. I keep an eye on every single one in the human realm. From now on if there is an issue you go straight to John. Do I make myself clear?” There was a fire burning in Danny’s eyes as he turned around, stomping out, not wanting to hear any more questions.

“Guess I have no choice but to follow his highness,” John sounded like he was mocking the king, but he knows that if Chas was here, he would call John out on his bullshit quicker then he could snap.

“Did you see their faces?” Danny smiled, as John grabbed Danny’s arm, easily bringing them back to the house of mystery.

“They believe that you are a ruthless tyrant who cares only for his people,” John agreed, pouring himself a drink.

“Pour me one. I know it’s great isn’t it! I worked all day with Ember to get that speech perfect!” Danny’s grin couldn’t get wider, John handed him the drink, watching as Danny drank it with ease.

“Listen Danny boy,” John started, happy that he had the famous liquid courage to help him In this moment.

“What is it, John?” Danny looked up from his drink. There were no problems. The Justice League was handled. What else could there be.

“Mate- Love. It has come to my attention that we might have to rethink our situation John tried, not fully sure how to get the words out.

“You’re going to have to be clearer with me John,” Danny crossed his legs, floating in midair as if Gravity didn’t exist.

“Love I-“John’s throat stopped, not letting him get the words out. “Damn it!” John chugged the rest of his drink, cursing the heavens at his predicament. “Danny I- “once again he was stopped by himself, his beer not helping him at all.

Tired of trying with words, John did the next best thing, he let his actions speak for him. Grabbing Danny, pulling him close, no lust in the moment, unlike a few days ago, he took a deep hopeful breath and pushed a messy kiss upon the half ghost. “Danny, I like you,” John was finally able to whisper.

“Took you long enough mate,” Danny’s smile was wide and hopeful, grabbing John’s neck to kiss him once again. John knows that he’s in for a lifetime of puns, but he is kissing Danny, kissing the half ghost he doesn’t regret a single thing.

Tim gets cursed and turned into a swan and must find a prince or princess to kiss him or he'll be trapped as a swan forever. Unfortunately for the magic users, Tim didn't take being turned into a literal bird lightly and attacked them with his newly acquired beak (I mean. Its a swan. They should have expected this.) The magic user- clearly not well versed in bird attacks- started flailing and threw random things and spells at Tim in an attempt to escape.

This is how Tim found himself in the Ghost Zone as a swan.

---

Meanwhile, the rest of the bats find and capture the magic user and find Tim's Red Robin uniform discarded on the ground. At first they thought he was hiding somewhere due to being, ya know, naked. But the magic user idioticly boasted that they turned him into a swan.

After making sure the person couldn't hurt anyone else they turned them in to the authorities and gathered Red Robins things and began looking for him. How hard can it be to find a swan?

Apparently pretty hard when it's in another dimension.

----

Danny was currently hating his afterlife.

He was the first prince the zone had had in several eons and everyone and thier dog wanted to gawk at him. It definitely didn't help that he's been drowning in marriage requests since he turned 15. He was way too young to get married but some peopled seemed to disagree.

Like the Elderan kingdom and their very pushy princess. They had come over again tonight as guests to "discuss the political climate between thier kingdoms" which he knew was a power play because as the high prince thier kingdom was a part of his kingdom and Danny was about ready to slap one of them. Preferably the king, but the princess was a good second. Hes almost certain she was stalking him.

Danny wanted to stay locked in his room in the castle for as long as he could get away with, which is how he got a first hand view of a very much alive swan flying in from the balcony and staring daggers into his soul from Dannys own bed.

Tim saw Danny in his black and white armor and black crown and made a beeline for the balcony window. If this guy was a prince then he was Tim ticket to being defeathered once and for all. Then he could figure out a way out of this crazy place. The vigilante turned birds menace flew strait at the prince, pressing his little feathered head against the princes mouth, effectively stealing a kiss and reverting back to a human.

After a few embarrassing moments of Tim making a toga out of the princes bedsheets, he explained what happened.

Danny puts his newfound political training to use and scores not only a possible alliance with a group calling themselves the Justice League, but also manages to convince Tim to enter a fake engagement with him as Red Robin so that he can ditch the suitors. All it cost Danny was a ride back to Tim's home world, a bit of tech and some weapons.

Needless to say when Tim returned to the batcave via portal with supernatural tech, a glowing bedsheets toga and a freaking fake relationship fiance, the batclan lost thier collective minds.

Nightwing: You ditched your clothes for an hour and came back with a husband

Red Robin: Fiance.

Nightwing: I'm so proud.

Red Robin: Its a fake relationship anyway

Nightwing: For now ;]

I've been seeing a lot of Damian and Danny Twins AUs lately, but they always seem to recognize each other by appearance. They're two kids raised by the League to, assuredly, be a deadly duo at least until Ra's decided one of them had to go. Once Robin starts working with Batman--depending on the canon, he's also trained by the League--those team(twin) fighting lessons and years of practice should come back like muscle memory. For Danny, that should resurface at least a little as he works with Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and possibly Valerie (for this specific AU it would make a *lot* more sense if Valerie was added since she can also fly and then have Danny train her to fight like a Leaguer beside him).

Somehow, probably a ghost nut convention, Danny ends up in Gotham. Batman has been incapacitated and captured by Scarecrow, who is once again bragging about his latest fear toxin that will bring Gotham to its knees, starting with its Dark Knight. Danny has to help a fellow vigilante out and heads off, following the signals of Gotham's shades to Scarecrow's base. Danny, being cautious for once in his vigilante career, surveys the base, and sneaks in.

Robin, the only other bat in Gotham by some misfortune, decided to sneak off to "rescue" his father all by himself. He had no clue who the newbie breaking in Scarecrow's base was, but his father wouldn't want him to let them die, which is why he found himself following the *glowing* imbecile.

*Nice going Fenton, you could have just turned intangible. I guess old habits must come back,* and not wanting to miss another opportunity for improved sneaking, Danny promptly turned invisible and broke left as he continued to creep farther into the building.

*How did that idiot manage to evade me?* Damian wondered with no small hint of irritation after he entered by the same entrance and turned towards his right.

Minutes later, both teens entered into a large, open area. Apparently Scarecrow had set up shop in a large warehouse with ample office space at the front, which the boys had found empty of threats, to their mutual frustration. Danny, still invisible, flew to the rafters and slowly drifted deeper into the warehouse towards the source of the noise and lights he could see. Robin kept to the right of the warehouse, grappled to the rafters and swiftly darted along them towards the area where Scarecrow was likely holding his father.

As Danny neared the back of the warehouse, several things became very clear. The first was that his eyes had been correct, those were *actually* massive vats of chemicals. The second was that massive vats of chemicals without lids existed somewhere outside his parents' basement. The third was that this "Scarecrow" guy, with all his advanced chemistry lab set up, advanced formulas, TV cameras, hired thugs, and insanity was...just a dude with a sack on his head. Danny shook his head, *this is why I don't fight humans.*

Robin, on the other hand, was primarily focused on finding a way to neutralize the thugs around Batman long enough to free him. Robin thought for a moment, Damien Wayne thought for a moment, and Damien al'Ghul thought for a moment. Something in his gut told him his plan would work, and father had said to trust his gut unless it told him to kill people.

Robin leapt from the rafters onto the thug nearest Batman and after absorbing the rest of his fall with a precise roll to his right into the back of another's ankles (ACL tear if done right...or wrong for the rollee), he darted, again towards his right, attempting to clear a space around the objective.

Danny, from his vantage on the rafters, saw a flicker of motion before *Robin* dropped through his field of view and instinct kicked in, pulling Danny after him. Danny, feeling years out of practice, barely avoided twisting his now-much-larger ankle on the shoulder of the goon he crashed onto, and his roll to his left into the next thug's calves was horribly off target to the point he had to yank the man's feet from under him with ghostly strength, but this fight felt...right.

Damian noticed the stutter after his partner landed, that didn't normally happen. *Normally? Ttt, father isn't so clumsy...*

After a minute, perhaps two, had passed, a small space and a shorter window had appeared for Damian to free Batman.

Danny, appreciating the moment he and his mysterious partner had bought, made eye contact with their objective. Tall, dark, brooding, bat-obsessed, and intimidating was putting it mildly. The Batman was terrifying and his gaze was fixed on Danny, so Danny pointedly looked away from him and returned to his job, keeping watch. Dam-- his brot-- Danny had never been that great at rescuing the target anyway, he'd made the best distractions when necessary though. *Could have just phased the bindings off him, stupid,* the voice in the back of his head chided him. *Great going, Fenton. Really slipping up today aren'tcha?*

Damian's hands fumbled for less than half a second as he released Bruce from the table, but he couldn't help it, that had felt...just like before. As the bindings fell away, Batman removed himself from the table and focused the full might of his glare on Scarecrow.

"Forgive me, Dark Knight, if I'm not afraid of your...theatrics. You see my new toxin will--"

An echoing, teenaged voice cut him off, "Blah, blah, crumble the Dark Knight to ruins and bring Gotham to Wisconsin or something, just give up already!"

Scarecrow's mask twisted to match the sick grin underneath, "Is this a new bat for me to te--"

"Am not," the voice, coming from the glowing figure, retorted.

The few goons who had managed to regain their feet since the first beatdown slowly worked to form a perimeter between the 'Crow and the Bats (and co).

"Good, then try *this*!" Doctor Johnathan Crane cried as he hurled a small vial filled with a yellow fluid at Danny's feet. Both Batman and Damian lunged to make space and time to don their filtration masks, but the glowing figure didn't move and vial smashed between his feet.

Damian's heart clenched in fear, *Why didn't you move!?*

The Bat's eyes narrowed.

Danny breathed in the sweaty aroma. *Ugh,* "Dude, was this supposed to smell like gym shorts?"

The Scarecrow stood amidst the vast chemical distillery he had set up in his months out of Arkham, behind the wall of hired muscle he had found, and his jaw fell slack. All his calculations had amounted to was the smell of used gym shorts!?

While the 'Crow's brain tried to reset from Danny's perfect distraction, Danny turned his head back to face Robin with his customary, cocky grin.

Damian recognized the signal for what it was and they sprung back into action together, in sync. As they bounded through the remaining thugs like scythes through a wheat field, every thug they threw was stomped out by the other, every combat roll to quickly find a new angle was covered, and every opening was protected just like they'd been doing this for years.

The fight came to an end to the symphony of Scarecrow's screams, "It's not possible. It's just not! My formula was perfect!" They ended when Batman, who had already handcuffed the pleading lunatic, had knocked him out for "resisting arrest."

Danny and Damian stood near each other to catch their breath, supposedly, but they were appraising each other. Their physiques matched, even if one of them glowed, the eyes matched, even if they shouldn't, and the hair, which was still waving around despite the lack of wind, definitely didn't match, but Damian had a feeling.

Robin was dressed like a stoplight. It was really not Damian's style...at least not back then, but maybe it could have been by now. The hair was the same, he couldn't make out the eyes through whatever was covering them, but this was Damian, no doubt about it.

Danny stepped closer to Robin. Robin's body language immediately became tense in a falsely disaffected manner. Definitely Damian. Danny swooped in for a hug and turned his head intangible, *Ha! Got it right that time!*

When Damian swung at the mystery glowstick's head, he didn't expect his fist to go through it, but his fist certainly collided with their ribs.

Yup, it's Dami.

Damian let himself relax, this was Danyal. Somehow, he was alive, and Damian returned the hug. He'd kill Danyal for not telling him he was still alive later.

"Robin!"

Damian's eyes cracked open to see the disapproving figure of Batman glaring down at him.

"Report!"

In case it wasn't clear, Danny was "slipping up" because he was running on instincts from his days with Damian, not cause he's having problems.

okay okay okay. so we all like us a good danny damian twins au, yeah? I'm a sucker for duos who are twice as dangerous together than alone, either adapting to or being taught to cover each others weak spots.

Samurai typically carried three swords on them, if what I recall from 8th grade and what my 10 minutes of googling tells me is correct, a longer sword that was used for longer-range combat, a shorter sword used for close range combat, and then the third was a smaller sword, if it really counts as a sword, that would be used to honorably kick the bucket in case of failure. Anyways.

now this could work with three people, I dunno make it more interesting or whatever, but the primary two swords, a longsword and a shortsword, (technically there were five swords (???) , but I'm not going too deep into it right now) they were to be used in different scenarios, to cover different weaknesses. Do you see where I'm going with this? Now obviously they'd be trained to use both, but Damian uses a katana specifically, a longsword and one of the longer swords used by a samurai. I know they aren't samurai. Doesn't change the fact that the weaponry is at least similar in some regards. Damian learned to use a katana, the longsword of the pair primarily used, where Danny could have primarily used a shortsword. Damian, taught more longer range with the sword, meant to cover the broad majority, being more comfortable with everything and the older twin. Danny, younger by only a couple minutes raised with the shortsword, usually being less comfortable with the whole killing thing with the exception being when it comes to Damian. Whereas Damian would cover the broad majority, Danny more agile and ever sneakier would cover blind spots.

They both still learn to use the others weapon. They both still learn to have their own backs. But when they're nine or so, something goes wrong, an intentional test to both where Danny can't move fast enough, and to avoid the heir taking the hit, takes it himself. He doesn't quite get back to base soon enough to survive. Talia rolls him into the pit, and Danny is sent away, practically kicking and screaming. Gets picked up by the fentons, and learns to fight differently. He learns to shoot, he learns all kinds of ranged combat, and he is gifted a proper katana that can be used against ghosts for his 14th birthday, three days before he walks into the portal. He learns to fight in ways that the league hardly ever considered, so that when Damian finds him again, or the day that he can go back arrives, Damian will never be at risk from Ra's and neither will he. He never uses the katana.

Eventually, someway somehow, Danny finds Damian again, out in Gotham. I'm impartial to trying fenton parents, who don't quite know how to react, never poorly, but unsure regardless. Danny doesn't know how to deal with the tension in the house and follows Jazz to gotham, locking the portal finding ways around it on his own.

Whether it be a night that Robin is out on his own, or maybe seen with another bird, but not the bat himself, he is on his own, and he missteps. A wrong footing, an instinctual move that cannot be followed up without a partner to battle with, regardless, Danny is there in a moment, eyes as green as the day he rose from the pit, to fill in the blanks again. A moment, a word, a name exchanged (Pollux, to Castor. The Demigod who survived after his mortal brother died, an ironic tale for the two now.) and the scuffle lasts no more than a few moments after.

Damian thinks he'll keep this one to himself for a moment, ensure it's him, not another twisted clone, and learning about the time spent apart. A week later, Bruce is hearing of Robin's shadow coming to life, before Danny is brought into the fold. The first time there's an Arkham breakout is when the bats and the birds really understand why the simple slip ups on the training mats happened, why Damian seemed to much better and clumsier when fighting alongside somebody else.

They also learned how dangerous the two can really be.

My mind is jello please excuse spelling errors and grammar mistakes I haven't slept much lately due to issues with insomnia. Either way I hope you guys have been enjoying the silly little writing prompts I make :D I like day dreaming when I can't fall asleep. Sorry in advance this one is a bit long.

Trigger Warning: injury, dissection/vivisection

--------------------------------------

This is another Danny and Damian are twins au. In this AU we got the there can only be one heir thing and Damian is the one to come out on top due to how protective Danny is of his sibling. So Danny ends up in Illinois and goes down the path to becoming Phantom.

Eventually Danny's parent's discover he's Phantom and try to study and dissected him and Danny has to go on the run deeply injured physically and emotionally. His running leads to him being homeless and hiding in Gotham. He's super paranoid and trusts nobody trying to keep his distance from people so he hopefully doesn't get caught and dissected molecule by molecule.

One day Alfred is out grocery shopping when he spots the terrified injured teen in an alleyway and it's the weirdest thing. This kid looks almost exactly like Damian except his eyes are an icy blue and the poor kid is skin and bone. He looks to be about the same age as him aswell.

Alfred tries to offer the injured child some help but the kid vanishes. The whole situation is baffling but he was never one to give up that easily and he can absolutely tell the kid is in a dire situation and really needs help. So he decides the best course of action is to take it slow and try to slowly earn the kid's trust.

Every day Alfred goes "shopping" he goes to the grocery store and leaves a meal and supplies for the kid. He can't really tell the others especially Bruce due to how paranoid the bats can be. All signs point to possible league activity but Alfred can tell the kid isn’t dangerous just terrified. If he had to guess he would guess the kid was going to be used in some league plans but managed to escape. He knows Bruce would be far too harsh with the kid and that's the last thing someone so terrified needs right now.

So Alfred's secret meetings with the kid continues slowly gaining the kid's trust more and more until eventually he gets the kid to talk to him. He learns Danny's name and Danny thanks him for the help and kindness. Everyone can see Alfred is acting a little cheerier after that and nobody knows why. They won't really question it though the man is baking cookies more than he used to and well his cookies are worth staying in the dark for.

One day though Danny doesn't show up to their meeting. Alfred begins to worry something feels wrong. He decides to contact Barbra and ask her for help locating the child. He trusts her to not overreact and he knows she's the best person for the task.

Barbra can absolutely see why Alfred kept this a secret once she locates Danny. This kid's resemblance to Damian is scary the only thing that makes her believe this might possibly not be a clone is the ice blue eyes. Locating Danny reveals he's been heavily injured and Alfred rushes out to aid him.

Upon arrival he realizes this is a bit more than he himself can manage especially in some dirty Alleyway and with the possible league ties he knows he can't take the kid to the hospital so he has to give in and tell Bruce about the situation. Of course at first he just starts with a call saying to bring in Dr. Thompkins which makes Bruce anxious as hell.

Danny is brought into the batcave out cold and Bruce of course is his paranoid self. The rest of the family is quite curious about the odd child that Alfred brought in and is hovering around. Damian doesn't understand why the others are so nosy that is until he catches a glimpse of the kid and realizes it's his dead twin brother.

Damian has his guard up majorly after that. The doctor helps Danny and the Y shaped wound from his run in with his parents is discovered and its not doing so great so this kiddo is gonna need a lot of bed rest aside from the odd burns.

Turns out Danny had a run in with the GiW they located him in gotham and he barely escaped. He's out for a hot minute tho so that leaves all the family to speculate. Bruce is being super paranoid and a bit hostile with the kid but Alfred vehemently defends him.

Damian is deeply conflicted he doesn't feel his brother could possibly want to hurt him. He knows how protective Danyal had been. He knows Danyal gave his life to make sure he would live on, but there's no way Danyal can be alive without the League's involvement. Damian refuses to leave Danyal's side until he knows for sure what is going on, of things will be safe, and if Danyal will be alright.

This leads Bruce to question him and thats when everyone discovers Damian and Danyal are in fact twins. Bruce is heartbroken he never even got to know about his 2nd son and this stirs conflict between Damian and Bruce. This also makes Bruce want to believe that Danny is safe and would hopefully join the family, but this also makes him far more anxious about league involvement and makes him raise his guard.

Eventually Danny wakes up and is forced to explain things though he tries to leave the half ghost stuff out and everyone can see he's hiding something making paranoia grow within the batfam members but everyone also tries to give Danny a chance. It could just be processing trauma after all and if he was really after something he would have made a move by now right? The only one fully trusting of Danny is Alfred whom has become rather close with the child. Alfred is happy to have another grandchild to bond with.

Eventually Damian forces the whole truth out of Danny since Danny's ghostly obsession makes him desperate for family and he deeply doesn't want to risk losing Damian again. Damian promises to help keep Danny's secret but tries to reassure him that it's okay to share it with Bruce and that they'll help keep him safe but Danny's fears make it very hard for him to do so.

Eventually the truth forcibly comes out when the GiW comes knocking down the front door for Danny. Danny runs for it absolutely terrified and Alfred threatens them with a gun. We all know Alfred isn't afraid to kill in order to protect his family. Eventually the bats are able to sneak in and knock the agents out but Danny is missing.

The bats bring the Agents to the cave and interrogate them and Damian goes looking for his brother. The Agents tell the bats Danny's secret and demand they hand over the "Ecto Scum" the Bat's are pissed with the agents and now understand why Danny was so secretive.

Damian eventually locates Danny and is able to comfort him and get him to come back to the manor with him. The family doesn't tell him they know his secret. He gets to share it when he feels safe enough to. They do however work hard and get the anti ecto acts repealed.

Eventually Danny gets adopted, the Fenton's go to jail, and Jazz, Tucker, and Sam are reunited with Danny and Danny gets to have a healthy life in Gotham with his new found family. Eventually becoming a Gotham vigilante and getting back on track with things in school. Basically everyone gets a happy ending :D

It Began With A Run

Forgive me, for my mind as taken hold in a way that is foreign to me, yet familiar. New ideas, new stories, and far too little fanfiction, even if the phantom is very much not-dead :p

Enjoy loves! And may Clockwork be ever in your favor.

(I had to do it, I just had to)

This was not planned. Hell, Danny didn’t understand couldn’t tell you what was planned, because there wasn’t one. However, he can tell you how it began.

Telling my parents about being Phantom was not the best idea, but in my defense, they had been calm over the last year or two, and I’d spent more years dealing with their constant ideas and prejudice towards the other version of me than could be healthy. Deep down, I was tired, bone creakingly tired of being on constant edge, worried they would find out and what they would do to me.

I never meant to tell them but when you’re running on 2 hours of sleep over the last week and a half because school and ghost/heroism do not mix, no matter what the bats will tell you, it just sort of spills out. Puns are not the way to go, by the way, if you are trying to tell your parents you are half dead. Another thing, Fuck you, I know for a fact that those bats are kids, one of them is my twin brother. He just… doesn’t know that I know who he is. Listen, not my best brother moment, but I lost the rights to even be a part of that competition when I left Damian with the league.

Besides… he doesn’t recognize me anyway. I’ve changed too much, been gone too long, I don’t even look like him anymore. How do I know this? Because I just handed him his batburger nasty burger is way better and he just looked right on through me. He looks happy though, surrounded with Tim Drake and Richard Grayson, that smile glare was proof of that. His eyes are alight with so much more than I had ever seen when I was with him.

“Hey Demon, Pretender, Dick” I turned to the door, the perfect customer-service simile on his face. However, that smile grew into a real one when he saw who it was. Jason Todd, although, he wouldn’t tell you that, he’s got to keep a low profile, he is meant to be dead after all. I turned and ordered Jason’s usual, a red-hood burger. It is really good, much better than the regular bat burger, but I couldn’t tell you what it consists of, only Red Hood himself knows. Maybe I should just ask Jason, I’m sure he would tell me.

I turned back around now, his order in my hand and his drink made with ghost ice. What? It calms him down It keeps your drinks colder for longer without melting as fast and Jason always complains about the ice melting in his drink, this just shuts him up. I lean against the counter and wait for a minute, today is pretty slow so its just us in the joint, other than the cook but he just went on lunch break. Jason finally looks over at me and I hold up the order with a smirk on my face.

“I can’t believe you’re just letting your burger get cold like this. Maybe I should just eat it instead, it’s not the best but it will do…” I peak into the bag, skewing my face into something akin to contemplative. I hear Jason huff and the others stifle a laugh and tense ever so slightly.

“Don’t make me come over there Danny, I’ll make you regret it.” Jason threatens, but we all know that he doesn’t really mean it. At least, that’s what I though, until the others tense further and Dick steps in between us slightly.

“Alright Jason, I’m sure the kid didn’t really-“ Richard spoke, his voice calms and his hands slowly going up, but he gets stopped short when I pop up under his arm and between him and Jason.

“Yeah Jason, take a chill pill. It’s my job to be a hot-headed, angsty teen, not yours” I push the bag and drink into his hands and flick him on the forehead, pushing some of my ectoplasm into him. The effect is instant, even if no one else notices. His shoulders drop a little, his smile grows, and his eyes, oh his eyes, they went from a muted, dull happy, to a fiery swirl of joy and excitement.

“Alright Alright” Jason’s voice was soft like silk, “Hey death buddy, meet my family, that’s Tim, Dick, and that your look-alike Damian” Jason paused for a moment and tilted his head. “Damian, I think you have a clone, I mean, look at him” Jason made gestures at me, his eyebrows drawn together in thought.

Damian made a tt sound with his mouth and moved to rebuke Jason’s claims, or, he would have, if the name hadn’t struck a chord core memory feelings, thoughts, home home home. It hit Damian full force; I could see it. My twin, my brother who I love beyond all else and failed worse than any other, tried to hug me.

What can I say, this story began with a run.

Restless Summons

Summary: Constantine cashes in a favour with Danny as a last resort. Danny just wants to fucking sleep.

based on @grubchen0217's prompt "Zombies vs Ghosts"

Ao3 Link

~

Blood, pain, misery. 

The smell of ash in the air from after effects of flammable projectiles and heat powers. 

A charged crackle in the air as if even an ember from a dying match would light the whole bridge aflame. 

Bruce panted as he readied another three explosive batarangs in each hand. He took a moment to flicker his gaze across the others on the battlefield. His kids all looked about as haggard and roughed up as he did, and from a glimpse in the cracked side mirror of a dented car earlier, he knew Alfred would have him laid up in bed for weeks after this.

The other gravity bound heroes didn’t look much better, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter in particular looked like they were about ready to fall over. 

The ones in the air were less hurt, but ordered to stay far far away. As a form of long-range combat, and, if necessary, a contingency should the grounded heroes succumb to the virus.

Clark—Superman, had frowned at that plan, and Diana had clearly expressed her displeasure, but ultimately both Superman and Wonder Woman agreed and the others fell in line. Similar, but much more vocal protests came from the other hero teams present, but the arguments died down as his kids stood silently by his side, clearly in agreement and unwilling to change their minds. Earlier, they were running out of time until the first wave, so, with bitter expressions and clenched fists, the other young adults and teens held their tongues, but still kept a defiant look in their eyes. 

He had to watch the fastest flyers when he had time to make sure they didn’t do anything reckless or lose the advantage, but as wave after wave came, all anyone could think about were the hoards slowly overwhelming their forces.

Their last resort, a favour Constantine had gotten from some King of the Underworld, was flimsy at best, less than useless and possibly counterintuitive at worst.

But as the newest wave of undead crashed against the Lantern’s wall construct—the sole focus for all three green lanterns to funnel the hoards to one point and make it easier to destroy them—Bruce could see the minute cracks in the construct, the small breaks and missing chunks, start to spread much further than he felt comfortable with.

The zombies were energetic as always. Full of a starving hunger that urged them to eat the first living thing it sensed. And without the feeling of pain nor a need for functioning organs, not only were the Justice League and assorted heroes outnumbered, they were guaranteed to lose the battle if it dragged on any longer. Fighting based on whichever side has the most stamina will always end with the zombies winning and rampaging across the world in no time.

Bruce grit his teeth. He didn’t want to give the order to bring something that might be far worse than these zombies, but at this point he didn’t have much of a choice.

He threw the last of the batarangs in his hand and tapped his communicator. “Constantine, it’s time. You’re sure you can get that favour without killing half the planet?”

“95% sure Bats. This one’s a pretty good hearted being. Despite being a little shit.”

“Call them in.”

“You got it. Oh, and tell the rest of the guys to keep away from the big bright green pillar, eh?”

“Understood.”

He sent along Constantine’s message to the others, as well as new orders for the fliers with close combat skills to join the grounded heroes in the front line. They just needed to stall until Constantine finished his summoning spell, then the fliers could grab grounded heroes and they could all retreat far away as whatever eldritch being owed a favour to Constantine took care of the zombies. That would make strategizing a counter attack much easier as well, should the being choose to turn on them for their own amusement.

Just as he said, a massive pillar of bright green light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire bridge and simultaneously giving the signal to everyone to get ready to retreat at a moment's notice.

He was too far away to know what, exactly, Constantine had told the being, but less than a minute after the pillar went up, a blur of black and white shot through the air towards the nearly destroyed walls and a new wall of green energy appeared right behind the Lantern’s constructs. 

“Hey! Let down your wall things and let me handle the rest!” A young voice yelled from far above them. While the grounded heroes and non-Lantern fliers started to retreat, Bruce took a moment to survey the sky, to see their potential future enemy.

“I don’t know who said that, but we’re the only ones keeping those things from coming through!” John yelled, stubbornly holding his arm up higher and pushing a burst of energy into the wall to start to repair the damages. It was slow progress, but Bruce found himself simultaneously appreciative and annoyed by his dedication. They knew the order was to clear out once the being arrived to take care of the hoards and though he didn’t like putting all his eggs in an unknown, and likely highly dangerous, basket, they had no choice if they wanted everyone to survive.

“We’ll support the being that Constantine summons from afar once it shows up, but until then, we’re staying right where we are,” Hal said, gritting his teeth as another chunk was taken out of their combined construct. 

Guy wasn’t saying a word, his teeth clenched so tightly Bruce wasn’t sure he’d be able to even grunt without pain for days, but the way his body was angled, plus what Bruce knew of his character, he knew Guy wasn’t going anywhere either. 

There was a mirthless chuckle. “You guys sound ridiculous, you know that?” The newer green wall, of which was a lighter shade than the Lanterns��� construct, expanded in height and length. “Well, if I can’t get you to see reason, I guess it’s time to show off a little, huh?”

They heard a long intake of breath before a loud whistle echoed in the area, somehow even louder than the groaning zombies and likely the source of the newfound shakiness to the bridge’s structure. 

The sound left a ringing in Bruce’s ears despite the cowl’s automatic sound dampening function past a certain level of decibels. And he could only imagine what that must have felt like to someone without any type of ear protection. But that was something to add to the strategy book later, if the being proved a threat.

There was another long intake of breath before something that sounded like TV static filled the air. Bruce wasn’t quite sure what the being was doing to make a noise like that, but at the moment, he didn’t really care. It did… something to the zombies, making them all pause and stare up at a spot in the air where the being was assumedly floating, and that gave the rest of the heroes the opportunity to escape behind where the bridge connected to Gotham.

“Eh, you guys would’ve smelled me anyway. Might as well have fun with it, right?” The same young voice said. “If you understood a word I said, you might not have been as happy though, considering I just called for your extinction.”

As the being said the final word, two things happened: a glowing boy in a black and white hazmat suit appeared where the voice, and subsequently the being, was presumed to be floating, and a large influx of colourful beings with a similar glow around them as the boy, flew towards the hoards of zombies.

The same hoards of zombies who, when the boy appeared, immediately threw themselves at him with a vigor even more frightening than before. Which begs the question, what changed?

They must see the boy as some sort of threat, but then what of the Justice League? And if the zombies saw the Justice League as some sort of mere prey, then what exactly made this boy—this being—so different? 

Bruce was being carried away by Diana at the moment, so he still had a bit of time to observe before meeting with the founders to figure out their next move.

Once the boy started to be attacked, the other floating beings wasted no time in coming to his aid. A good third of them charged and fired green beams of energy, similar in appearance to the pillar of light and the boy’s shield, and left a number of large, burning holes in the bodies of the zombies, rendering many unable to move or, in some cases, completely turned to ash.

The size of their attacks and the sheer number of all the floating beings made Bruce wonder if he should’ve agreed to Constantine cashing in his favour earlier in the fight to save everyone the injuries or if he never should’ve agreed to it at all. Many of their team leaders were badly injured and a few had to be administered the few antidotes the League was able to synthesize before the fight. They would’ve endured permanent casualties if he hadn’t agreed to use the last resort option, but most of them won’t live to see tomorrow if the beings choose to take over or end the world instead of going back to their own.

And it seemed that’s not all they could do. Besides invisibility, those energy beams, and the manipulation of gravity to float and fly around without resistance, Bruce noticed many of them had their own unique set of powers that they tended to favour: there was a blue haired girl using her powers to amplify the sounds of her guitar to be a physical force that caused blunt force trauma on any zombie ahead of her; a metal suit with a flaming mohawk was sending a barrage of never-ending missiles and beams from lazer guns that practically disintegrated the zombies on the spot; and there was some sort of large werewolf creature slashing through zombies with its claws like butter.

Slowly but surely, the hoards were thinning. And with the wall created by the summoned being,  there were no further waves coming through the portal. The Justice League and the rest of the heroes present had hardly done anything since those beings showed up.

They were powerful, swift, organized, and easily summoned, if Constantine was to be believed. They were good allies, but they could be terrifying enemies.

And Batman knew nothing about them.

He sincerely hoped the summoned being and his army weren’t like Klarion, the little witch boy who did whatever he wanted in the moment and used his powers however he saw fit without care for how it might harm others. 

He hoped, but he wasn’t foolish enough to rely solely on hope.

---

Ohh yessss, Danny was going to have the nicest sleep tonight. 

Lancer cancelled tomorrow’s test due to some gas leak in the gym, the ghosts were actually less world domination seeking today—he might almost call them docile—and his mom washed his favourite space pajamas with the astronomically correct constellations on them.

Danny was going to pass the fuck out and stay that way the whole night through.

He closed his eyes and jumped above his bed before slowly floating back down and phasing under his comforter so that he was completely snug. He quickly started to drift.

“Kid. Hey, kid.”

No. Danny was not getting up. Constantine could go fuck himself.

“I know you’re probably cursing me out in your head, or whatever your equivalent is, but I’m cashing in that favour you owe me. Now.”

Hnnnngggg. Danny hated owing favours.

He peeled his eyes open and realized he was, in fact, not snug in his warm bed with his favourite pajamas anymore. No, Danny was now floating inside a large pillar of green light—he was pretty sure that was just the atmosphere from the Ghost Zone leaking out, but he’ll probably still have to come back to check and make sure no one escaped through here, ugh—and floating on his side while in ghost form.

Danny glared at the man in front of him. “I am literally going to haunt your ass this weekend, Constantine.”

Constantine smirked. “Love you too, kid, but can we leave the greetings for later? The League needs you and your subjects’ help.” Danny grumbled, but poked his head out of the pillar. His eyes widened marginally at the remains of the Golden Gate Bridge around him, then he looked around to the different people sitting or standing around Constantine, either heavily injured or assisting one of the injured.

Danny turned back to Constantine. “What—?” Constantine pointed behind Danny, and he fully emerged from the pillar before looking to the other end of the bridge. 

The part filled with corpses.

Danny flinched. “Uh, I know I’m a dead guy of unknowable age and wisdom or whatever, but did you really call me out here to bury like, a couple hundred dead people?”

“What? No, look a little further.” Danny followed his direction and squinted into the cloud of dust covering the path further ahead. He noticed small flashes of light and then a large explosion going off as dozens of heroes, familiar and not, came racing through the dust cloud towards them.

There was no sign of the Green Lanterns or a few of the founding members that Danny remembered, but at the moment, he was more preoccupied with how one of the corpses’ hands were stuck in a tight grip on Nightwing’s boot.

Danny sucked in a breath. “Oh. Oh fuck.”

“You see why we needed your help, yeah?” Danny nodded. “You think you can handle it on your own or do you need some time to gather your forces?” 

Danny didn’t answer, still staring at the arm of the corpse where the hand had torn off with intense focus. A deep feeling of fear surged through his core when it began to wiggle, tightening its hold even further and nearly causing Nightwing to trip. Danny aimed a hand at it, ectoplasm building in his palm, but just before he could fire, Constantine pushed his arm down.

“Let me handle that one. You’re not exactly the best with close quarters aim.” Constantine muttered a spell and the hand burned to ash, but left Nightwing unharmed.

Danny blinked, calming down. “Sorry, I don’t really know what came over me.” Constantine scoffed. Danny rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I know some of what you mean, half of the time.”

“That was a terrible joke.”

“You should lighten up more.”

“You bring out the worst in me, you stupid old fart.”

“Hey, can we, uh, not right now?” Red Robin asked, panting with his hands on his knees for a moment before straightening. “I mean, as much fun as it would be to see Constantine eat shit for fucking with things beyond his control, we kind of have a crisis on our hands.”

“Red Robin’s right.” Nightwing turned to Danny. “I don’t know exactly what horrific things Constantine did to get a favour from you—”

Constantine grumbled. “You know, I don’t like what you’re implying there—”

“But we do need help and at this point, we’re willing to accept just about anything.” 

Danny hummed. He thought about the corpses that weren’t really corpses and the possible repercussions from just agreeing to help all willy nilly like this. Even with the favour he owed Constantine, he didn’t really have to do it. Then he thought about being a dick about it and pulling a loophole on them about ghost law. He’d come back, obviously, but he was just so fucking tired and these guys are the Justice League; they could handle a few hours without him, right?

Danny was about to cite some Ghost King bullshit so he could leave, but then his eyes caught onto another hero behind Nightwing. Red Hood, he thought, was his name. Wasn’t exactly a hero, what with the whole killing people thing, but generally had good intentions from what he remembered.

It was strange though, the more he looked at Red Hood, the more he could swear that he was—

His core instinctually let out a small call for his subjects as well as projecting his general aura of peace a bit further than his usual ghostly glow. The Red Hood’s tense body language instantly relaxed and he walked, almost dazed, to stand in front of Danny before taking off his helmet and his domino mask underneath. Nightwing and Red Robin were firing questions at their ally, but Red Hood stayed silent and kneeled with his head bowed before Danny.

“My king,” he said.

Oh. 

Well, that answered his question.

Danny was going to, uh, not think about the possibility of another halfa that he never knew about and was possibly another bitter and murderous old man like Vlad. Instead, he was going to go solve that zombie problem and then go home to his bed, like he planned all along. 

Hopefully, this was all just some fantastical dream that his brain conjured up to entertain him while he had a blissful snooze.

Danny was never that lucky, but it’s nice to hope for things.

He was getting off track. He had one more thing to check before he agreed to help.

Danny held out his hand. “Rise and show me your core.”

“What is happening?” Nightwing asked Constantine. 

Red Robin watched with wide eyes. “B is sooo gonna kill us if Hood gets sent to hell again.” 

Danny ignored them, his eyes trained on Red Hood as he stood and didn’t move.

“Is something wrong?” Danny asked, a million thoughts flying through his head.

Red Hood shook his head. “You asked about my core. I don’t know what that is.”

Danny’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “What? How could you be a halfa without—?!” Danny paused, seeing the tension ramp up in the other heroes. He took a deep breath. “Very well.” He toned down the signals from his core and pulled his aura back. Red Hood’s eyes slowly started to become clearer. They were also changing colour, going from a light green to a dark blue.

Huh, interesting.

“Welp, I guess I’ll help you out with minimal complaint this time, since you’ve been taking care of one of mine for so long.” Red Hood’s been around at least since Danny started middle school, though probably longer. He didn’t have that freshly dead scent about him, like some of the corpses on the bridge did. Though the fact that he didn’t have a core…

Danny might need to pull Ghost King bullshit just to investigate that. Can’t have Red Hood accidentally outing the halfa secret, if he even is one. Either way, it’d open up a whole new can of worms for that guy and, halfa or not—hell, ghost or not—Danny’s not about to ditch someone who was likely to be caught up in the GIW’s inhumane experiments and hunting practices at some point. The Red Hood cursed and started asking why the hell he felt and acted so weird. Nightwing threw out a theory regarding some kind of pit and that Danny was a creature that spawned from it, which, fantastic, absolutely fucking amazing; something else for Danny to look for and make sure there isn’t another leak in the Ghost Zone. Red Robin made a joke about Danny being the grim reaper and thinking he was too ugly to take Red Hood back to hell. Red Hood grabbed his collar and started shaking him like a ragdoll.

Danny had turned invisible immediately after saying he’d leave, if only just to examine the Red Hood while he wasn’t paying attention, though this was a funny bonus; who knew the Red Hood was friends with the Bats? 

Regardless, he had a job to do, and he needed to see if there was a core in Red Hood after all that he just didn’t know about. 

But while Red Hood was still holding up Red Robin, before he had even put his domino back on—even before his eyes had fully turned blue and left the light, glowing green behind—he turned, looked straight at Danny and raised an eyebrow, saying, “So, are you going or what?”

The other three heroes looked at him quizzically and then jumped when Danny popped back into the visible spectrum with a laugh. “Yeah, I’m gone.” He turned invisible once more, gave a wave and a quiet whisper of a promise to talk later, before shooting off into the sky.

---

The battle ended quicker than Danny expected and thank fuck for that.

He got Wulf to seal up the massive zombie spitting portal and then he and Wulf worked together to make one huge portal back to the Ghost Zone for everybody. 

He made sure to loudly state that any ghosts trying to cause mischief in the Living Realm within the next 48 hours would get a whole week of thermos time. Repeat offenders would get another week of thermos time, but in the fridge. He thankfully didn’t have to worry about any ice cores trying to make trouble since Frostbite and his buddies were practically the only ones and knew how to keep the rest in line. He doesn’t really have any other punishment methods than sticking them in the fridge and he’s wayyy too tired to think of any right now.

Danny had a vague feeling that he needed to do something, but mentally shrugged. If it was important, he would’ve remembered.

The last stragglers flew through and Wulf closed the portal on his way in, waving goodbye. Danny yawned through a goodbye of his own and opened a portal to his room. He felt something bite the back of his neck and he scratched at the spot absentmindedly before stepping through and closing it right after. There might have been a few frustrated people trying to ask him what the hell kind of abomination he was, but his hearing became extremely selective the moment he realized he could leave. 

Also, he really didn’t care. 

It was bedtime, fucking sue him.

When Danny saw his bed again, he nearly cried. 

He closed his eyes and jumped atop the bed, floating down slowly before phasing under the covers. Midway down, he changed from Phantom to Fenton and traded form-fitting hazmat that smelled like ash, blood, and decay for a soft pair of blue and white pajamas that smelled of a fresh wash with his favorite constellations hand stitched into the fabric.

Danny had a brief thought to set his alarm for school before remembering it was Saturday and letting out a little sigh of relief. Not even the sun’s warm rays and painting the inside of his eyelids red could stop the way he started to drift.

Oh, that was nice, something blocked out the sun anyway. On the off chance this was Fright Knight coming about something important, Danny squinted through one eye. Then both his eyes flew open in surprise.

Superman was hovering outside his window with Batman held in his arms. Both were staring directly at him, Batman’s hands holding a lock picking set up to the window lock and a holographic screen hovering above his wrist showing a blinking GPS centered on Danny’s house.

Danny groaned, already mourning his precious sleep-in weekend plans. “Ah, fuck. I knew I was forgetting something.”

Chapter 15 of "Fly Like a Bat" is now uploaded! Thank you to everyone who has read it and waited while I finished up my Invisobang story. ("Ghost on a Feather") We're about half-way done with FLB, so please read and enjoy!

Chapter 15 Summary: Things get a little tense at the hospital for Maddie. She and Jack have a heart-to-heart. Sam and Tucker question Maddie, then the doctor does too. The League gets a report on what happens.

Chapter teaser below cut:

“Ok, Mrs. Fenton. Tell me again what happened.” The detective sighed and shook his head. The woman was hiding something—he just didn’t know what.

“I’ve told you and the doctors, already! We were routing power and the relay didn’t work. Danny left the safe zone and touched the breaker box. There was a short in it, and he got electrocuted. My husband was injured when he pulled Danny off of the current.”

“That’s it? Are you sure that is exactly what happened? Your ‘light experiment’ had nothing to do with it?”

“I’ve made my statement. We’re done. You want more—talk to my lawyer. I’m going to sit with my family.”

Maddie turned on her heel and left the weary officer behind in the consulting room. She made her way to Jack’s room. The man had been thoroughly checked, and was recovering nicely. He was only being kept the night for observation. Maddie found it strange to see him in something other than his orange jumpsuit.

“Hey, honey. How are you feeling?” She gently wiped her husband’s hair away from his face.

“Mmm. Better now.” Jack leaned into her touch. “How’s Danny?”

Maddie sighed. “He is having some issues with his heart, but the burns are the worse part.” An unnoticed tear ran down her cheek. It left a small wet spot on Jack’s blanket. “They’re not sure yet if he’s going to need surgery. He’s in ICU right now, and when his heart stabilizes, they’re going to move him to the Burn Unit.”

“This is all my fault!” Jack felt responsible for the entire situation. “If I hadn’t made us wait for him to try turning on the portal, this never would have happened!”

“Hush, honey. I’m just as much to blame as you are. We both need to deal with our emotions so that we can focus on Danny’s recovery.” She still hadn’t told him about Danny’s appearance—and lack of vital signs—that had occurred when he was first pulled out of the portal. It made her feel a bit guilty—she was hiding it, after all—but she wanted to make sure that everyone was going to be ok before opening that particular can of worms.

Jack noticed her silence. “Mads, what are you thinking about right now? You look so far away.”

The teal-suited woman turned her gaze back to her love. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired. That’s all.”

Jack frowned. He knew his wife. She was definitely keeping something from him, but he knew from experience that she wouldn’t tell him until she was ready to talk about it. “There’s a pull-out bed in the chair next to me. Why don’t you take a nap?”

Maddie gave a half-smile. “I need to go check on Danny again, first. I don’t want him to be alone any more than necessary.”

A large hand reached up and cradled Maddie’s cheek. “We’re going to get through this. I promise. That boy is a Fenton, he’s going to come out of this stronger; I just know it!”

“I love you, honey.”

“I love you too, Mads. Now go check on our kid. I’ll be here when you need me.”

Maddie turned her face and pressed a kiss into Jack’s palm. Without another word, she slipped off of Jack’s extra-large hospital bed and walked towards the door. With a final look back, she waved and headed towards the ICU. She hoped that the doctors were done with all the testing. She really wanted to see her son.

When she reached the ICU, it was nearly “Visiting Hour” time. The waiting room was full of anxious people awaiting their turn with their sick and dying. Maddie looked around the room and spotted Tucker and Sam sitting in a corner. Tucker was typing madly on his PDA, and Sam was scowling at the window. Neither one noticed her. She quietly made her way through the room.

“Hey kids. How are you guys holding up?”

Tucker squeaked and jerked into a straight sitting position. Sam gave him the side-eye and huffed a breath. She was the first one to speak. “What happened to Danny, Mrs. Fenton?? No one will tell us anything other than that he’s in the ICU. They won’t let us in, either.”

Maddie looked at the floor and took a deep breath. She turned her gaze towards her son’s best friends. “There was an accident in the lab with the portal. Danny got electrocuted when he touched a live breaker box that had shorted out. We tried to stop him, but…”

The accusing look in Sam’s eyes darkened. “Why won’t they let us in to see him?”

“Sweetie, Danny has some really nasty burns, and he’s in a sterile room. Until he stabilizes and is moved to the Burn Unit, I’m afraid that they’re only letting immediate family in to see him.”

“Where’s Jazz?” Tucker finally found his voice. “Why isn’t she here?”

“Jazz left a few days ago for summer camp. I thought Danny had told you.” The listening pair both shook their heads. Maddie sighed. “She’s flying in tomorrow.”

“Are they going to let her see Danny?” Sam’s voice was edgy and harsh.

“Of course they are! She’s his sister, and…” Maddie looked away and swallowed. “….and we don’t know yet if he’s going to recover.”

Sam’s hissed inhalation was in perfect sync with Tucker’s whispered, “Danny?” Tears formed in both pairs of eyes as the teens took in the new information. Tucker choked out, “Will we…get to say goodbye—if it comes to that?”

Maddie’s silent tears dripped to the floor. She nodded. “I’ll make sure of it.”

A nurse stepped in the doorway and looked around the room. “Mrs. Fenton? Is Mrs. Madeline Fenton here?”

Maddie turned and faced the unreadable nurse. “Yes.”

“Ma’am, Dr. Severn would like to speak with you.”

“Of course, I’m coming.” Maddie’s soul felt like it was going to be crushed. She prepared for the worst, but managed a small smile when she looked back at her son’s best friends. “It’ll be alright, kids.” She didn’t begrudge their looks of disbelief. She didn’t believe herself.

The mother of two took a fortifying breath and followed the nurse out of the waiting room. The nurse used her badge to open the door to the ward. The “click” if the barrier unlocking sent a wave of dread through Maddie. Why was the doctor asking for her?? She had no idea.

They made their way past curtained rooms, vital-sign monitors, and crash carts in the hallway. Once they arrived at the nurses’ desk, the dark-headed doctor who had admitted Danny stood up from his chair. “Mrs. Fenton? Please join me in the consultation room.”

Maddie numbly followed him. “What’s this about? When can I see Danny?”

Dr. Severn didn’t answer her until they were in the small room with the door closed. “Mrs. Fenton,” he started. “You told us that he touched a live breaker box on accident—and that it was the source of the electrical damage we found. I need to know whatever it is about his accident that you’re keeping from us. Don’t lie to me; I can easily ask the police and CPS to find out those answers if you do.”

Maddie sat down hard. Police? CPS? What were they looking for? “I’m not entirely sure what you want to know…”

Read the whole chapter HERE.

Some Danny Phantom/DC crossover thoughts

So I love these kinds of crossovers, and they vary just because of the different kind of series and canons that exist. And I have very basic knowledge regarding a lot of DC related topics and characters but we all know Batman and usually that’s enough. There’s good Justice League intervening and finding a small ghost child somehow keeping godly creatures of chaos in order with a mere glare, there’s teen titans and Danny interactions, there’s a lot of Danny’s friends and family dying and him getting adopted into these groups, basically you can find so much content.

One of my FAVOURITE concepts is the whole ‘Danny is Batman’s son’, which my favourite execution of it is The Phantom and the Knight by savya398 on Archive of our Own! Why is this my favourite? Why not a ‘Danny is Richard Graysons twin/lost brother? Because Dick is a nice dude, maybe getting serious from time to time but generally? He’s a good bro, makes me think of Jazz and Danny’s relationship.

Now Danny as Batman’s son? Well this has many implications. And my favourite is this makes DAMIEN Danny’s brother. Literal demon spawn finds out he has a brother and it’s DANNY. This child of pure chaos would not be impressed at all with this scrawny, c student mess. How dare this sorry excuse of a teen even be considered in being related to him! Or the great Batman!! The pure feral sibling bonds are to die for.

Even better is that this fic DOESN’T kill everyone off. Which I enjoy very greatly!! So yeah, if you like crossovers between Danny Phantom and Justice league where they don’t kill everyone Danny knows off, this is a good fic!! And while I’m at it, I’m gonna recommend some other really great Danny Phantom/DC fics!

The Meddling Jerkwad League by StrawberryCamel

A series that has the Justice League accidentally medaling while Danny and Tucker slowly finds less reasons not to strangle them all. It’s funny and entertaining!

Ghost Kings and Gotham Bats by BlueGhostCardinal

This is a good one. Phantom gets caught up in Gotham stuff, Danny gets mistaken as Damien, Bruce wants to adopt him naturally, everyone thinks he’s a clone or lost twin or something, and while we are at it, there’s a lot of established ghost lore!! King Danny heck yeah!! As well as the classic batfamily banter!

And so it Ghost by Evandarya

This one has Vlad as Danny’s guardian and Danny looks into getting into collage in Gotham! Of course it goes wrong and attracts the attention of the Batfam as they try to figure out what is going on with this kid that knew a little too much about the villain that attacked.

Operation I’m Totally 300 by I_Am_Toast

This one. Is hilarious I love this fic. It’s just Danny trying to convince the young justice league that he’s an old wise ghost based on the recorded appearances he has of himself in the past. We all know Danny just sucks at improv and so shenanigans are ensued.

Dressed for Death by Nohvarrs

Another great one, Danny ends up in John Constantine’s house and then he can’t seem to stop showing up wherever he goes. Danny’s problems only get more annoying when the Justice League tries to find out who he was before his death.

So yeah! Superheroes and Danny Phantom! I’m a big sucker for Danny Phantom crossovers. Especially since this child is ridiculously OP. He’s like an invasive species. He is a basic teen hero in Amity because he faces people and enemies that have very specialized weapons that can affect him. You drop him anywhere else? Almost nothing can touch him and he’s basically One Punch Man. Amazing.

Chpt 27 Vacation Crashers

For some reason Tumblr is being wonky with posting for me so I gotta use the old way.  Ao3 Vacation Crashers Chpt 27 Link

It had taken almost all of the bats and the Fenton siblings to corral Bullwinkle into leaving the building, while distracting the parents. Then they could finally make their way-The stairs were destroyed.

Dick and Jason glanced at each other, recognizing it must have happened when they fought Plasmius, but neither recalled the stairs falling. The remaining staircase wasn't sturdy enough to grapple too either, as it shook if too many stood on it. “Elevator?” Cass suggested. “We need to restore power or get it stuck on another floor.” “Hey B-” “On it.” -uwu-

Batman had already taken a look around while the others were floors above. Catfish refusing to leave, followed at Batman's heels, swimming in the floor. He was in the lab, the one Dick, Danny, and Jason had first found. Interested in one thing, since Dick already grabbed the information. Well two things, he wanted to look at the portal himself. But first-Looking upon the shards of glass from broken capsules, not a drop left of ectoplasm. Danny must have absorbed ectoplasm from here. Glancing around the machinery, he found the dead clone. Danny must have carried it here to, by the way it was posed. It almost appeared to be sleeping. Reaching out to touch the clone, he tried to search for vitals. But it was as Dick said, the clone was dead. It was starting to stiffen, from being out of the ectoplasm. It felt wrong to leave the body be. Especially with how closely it resembled Danny, and in extension his other kids if they were younger. Perhaps he can give it a proper burial later.  He found a tarp and properly covered it. He moved towards the secret part of the lab, seeing most of it smashed. The portal was broken. He remembered the vultures telling him that earlier when he “inquired” their help, still he wanted to check it out for himself. There was colored ectoplasm spilled everywhere and a sweet scent was still fairly strong in here. Batman walked carefully over the broken glass, trying not to step into the ectoplasm. The smashed portal no longer had a frame and seemed to have collapsed completely onto itself. Yet, it was still enough for Batman to get a vague idea. This type of portal was potentially the same as the one Danny was... It was also supplying the ecto-batteries. Hopefully this meant production had stopped long enough for the Justice League to get a handle of things. And for Bruce to find some evidence to convict Vlad Masters of anything. Tonight was far too many close calls. Hearing their dilemma on the comms, Batman swiftly walked out of the room. There was nothing left to examine. He walked back, making his way to pick up the clone on his way out-only to find it missing. No trace. Batman didn't like that, glancing back to see if the Catfish ghost was still on his heels. They were gone too. Bruce picked up the pace to find the breaker room, he had a bad feeling. -ewe-

It wasn't hard to find the elevator on this floor, especially since Danny was in well enough shape to read the writing on the walls. Though he became very sour that there was an ecto-spa on one of the floors. “No, had to get sprayed in the sink instead.” Jason snickered at the memory, as he worked on prying the elevator doors open with Dick, to check the shaft. “Danny, do you really trust Vlad's judgment in spa-” “Yes! Have you seen his skin?” “...He does have nice skin, doesn't he?” Jazz pondered on this revelation, she figured it made sense. Vlad did suffer from ecto-acne, so of course he be very strict about his skincare. “Well if ectoplasm is anything similar to the Lazarus pit, it seems very likely it could keep skin youthful.” Tim theorizing. “Daw, that's why my baby brother still has baby-” Jazz pinching Danny's cheeks who smacked her hands away. “I do not!” “Do too.” Jason grinned. Danny huffed, crossing arms. Puffing out those baby cheeks. Damian turning from everyone to pat his own cheeks, wondering if they too were baby like. That would be most unfortunate. Cass poking his cheek with a chuckle, making Damian huff with a glare. Dick peered into the open shaft, the elevator still stuck in place where they left it. He hopped down, on top of the elevator, checking to make sure the cables were fine. Jason had just jumped down after, when all the halls lit up red. Sirens blaring through the building. Everyone looked around startled. The bats recognizing it as a- “Self-destruct sequence initiated, Sweetums. Countdown commencing. Please evacuate the building within ten minutes or risk becoming a ghost.” Maddie's voice called out through the speakers. “Uh-oh.”   Danny banged his head on the nearby wall, eye twitching. This was all because Vlad escaped. All frustration from earlier returning. “No time to be dramatic, Danny.” Jazz pulling her brother off the wall. “Ten minutes is plenty of-” Danny blinked as he shoved down the elevator shaft by his sister. He was caught by Jason, still a bit stunned that his sister just shoved him down a shaft. “I'll go get Mom and Dad.” Jazz said as she turned, calling for her parents. Cass following her leaving the boys at the entrance to the elevator. Jason put Danny down with a rough ruffle of his hair and went to open the trap door at the top of the elevator so they could all climb inside. --owo-- Bruce had reached the power room. Everything was tossed around, generators smashed. Not from a fight, but a tantrum. Batman could tell by how the damage surrounded mostly in one area. He hurried through the cables and broken pieces to see if there was anything that could be done. He walked up to a control board, one smashed, the other had glitchy text, and the third was in good condition. He used a nearby map that laid out all the floors that was plaster to the wall as a guide to figure out where power was coming and going to. Even though everything was written in ghost, Batman was familiar enough with machinery such as this to figure out roughly what was going on. Even if it relied on a different power source. Pulling a switch, all the lights in the room went off, the alarm still ringing in the distance. Batman turned on his flashlight and worked on redirecting the power to the the center of the building, more so focusing it on the elevator and loading dock area. Though he had hacked into the tunnel to keep it permanently open, he didn't want to risk it closing. -->w<-- Danny had climbed inside the elevator. Damian jumped in after. Tim stayed up to look out for the Fentons. Dick climbing back up to wait with. Jason staying on top of the elevator. “Its appears as if something died in here.” Damian staring at the mess of slime that dried and stained the walls and a corner of the elevator. “Yeah, me. That's when I was melting into goop.” Danny stated with a grin. “And yes. it felt as gross as it looks.” Damian scrunched his face up, raising a brow at Danny. It was hard to imagine the teen now as a mess of slime. “Jazz, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton this way.” Tim spoke seeing the Fentons and Cass running down the hall, ushering them towards the elevator. Jazz was the first into the shaft, reaching out to cling to the cables. Only to scream as she slid down faster than she like. Jason there to catch her if she fell. “That could have gone better.” Jazz chuckled, embarrassed. She climbed down into the elevator cheeks pink, Danny chuckling at her. Who she shoved plafully. Next was Tim and Cass, each jumping into the elevator. Maddie and Jack climbed down, Dick jumping after. Jack looked at the opening of the elevator, frowning as he could tell he wouldn't fit easily. Maddie suggesting Jack to go ahead in case they need to push. Reluctantly Jack tried to squeeze, getting stuck. The five in the elevator pulled on Jack's legs as the three above pushed. They stopped for a moment to get a breather, as they barely managed to budge him. “We got roughly 6 and a half minutes left.” Danny frowned grabbing onto his father's boot again. “Ok, help me pull again.” All of them grabbed onto Jack giving another pull/push. Danny using his powers to turn his father temporarily intangible. Causing the man to fall right on top of them all. Maddie, Jason, and Dick blinking down surprised how easily Jack popped out. “Whew. Talk about a tight squeeze. Thank you kids.” Jack picked up Tim, Dami, and Cass in one arm and Danny and Jazz with the other, putting them back on their feet. Danny looked like he was going to throw up, but just gave a grin to mask it. Cass reached out to rub his back, to see if it helped with the sickness. The other three jumped in after, just as the lights flickered and the elevator stuttered to life. Just in time. Jason lightly punched the ground floor. They let the elevator take them down, taking the mini breather they had as the alarms kept blaring. “5 minutes remaining until self-destruct sequence commences.” “I really need to sue for likeness.” Maddie put her hands on her hips, frowning at the voice as she stood near her kids and husband. Batman greeted them at the elevator, as the doors opened, ushering them to the dock. His hand on his side, hidden under his cloak. Cassandra rushing to Batman's side, providing little support she could. “To the GAV, I'll get us all out of here in no time.” Jack stated. “Unless you have the keys, it be faster to run.” Jazz remembering how awful it was to wait on the scanner. The GAV horn honked and lights flashed as a sign of being unlocked. The sound of keys dangling. Damian held them out in his hand then reluctantly tossed them to Jack. “They dropped to the floor after you kicked the ghost's groin.” Damian explained choosing words wisely. “That's my girl!” Jack pulled Jazz into a side hug as they ran, half-way carrying her. “Daaad.” Jazz whined, though blushed at the praise. Then her eyes shot wide open, glancing at Damian and then back to Danny and Jason. She mouthed her concerns 'spray'. It took them a moment to understand what Jazz was saying. Then all the bats looked back at Jason and Danny, looking concerned. Would they be ok? It had been about two hours since it sprayed. Jack had revved up the GAV, Maddie sitting in the passenger seat. The bats clamored inside except for Jason and Danny. They were more caution getting into the armored vehicle. Danny getting into a coughing fit as soon as he breathed in the air, covering his lower face with his hands as he moved as far back into the GAV as he could. Jason doing the same. “One minute remaining.” “Everyone buckle up! Its going to be a rough ride!” Jack bellowed. “There isn't enough seatbel-” Jazz screeched as Jack floored the gas swerving the GAV around. She clung tightly to the bodies next to her which happened to be Damian and Tim, mushing them closely together in her arms. Cass and Batman kept close to the ground, Cass doing her best to keep them still. Dick had his arms spread out, as if he could protect the others if they crashed. Danny and Jason were up against the back doors, Jason having one hand over his mouth and the other tightly gripped the back of Danny's shirt to keep him from flying. Jack drove the GAV as if it was a race car. Which was almost impressive, if they weren't in the vehicle as well.  Maddie pulled out a tiny capsule, popping it open to inflate a boat behind her. “Since you kids can't buckle up. That should reduce any impact.” Maddie smiled, seeming unbothered, by the reckless driving. “Thanks Mom.” Now they were all comically squished together. “30 seconds remaining.” Jack sped through the tunnel as fast as he could, only slowing down when nearing the lift so they wouldn't crash. Maddie pulled out her ecto-blaster, sticking her upper body out of the window. She aimed at the lift's button, waiting until they were close to fire at it. “10. 9. 8...” The GAV made a hop as it hit against the ledge of the lift, as it rose. Jack swerved the GAV into a circle until came to a jarring stop. “5. 4..” Jack relaxed back into his seat, glancing at his review mirror, adjusting it to see over the inflatable boat back at the kids and bats. Jazz had a death grip on Damian and Tim, both pressed to her chest. In protective mode. Dick felt stiff from trying to keep from moving, arms still covering them. Danny was curled up into a ball, trying to keep nausea down. Jason no longer had a grip on Danny's shirt, but now had an arm around to keep him still. Cass had white knuckle grip on Batman's cape and the other on his arm. “1...Self-destruct commence. Note if this results in an untimely death, we are not liable for any compensation. Thank you.” With that the underwater castle erupted in a series of explosions, soon filling the tunnel behind them. Causing air to pressure under the lift, sending the platform up into the air before they had time to drive off of it. Screams came from the GAV as it tumbled in the air, then rolled on the ground, landing on its wheels. Everyone was in a tangle of bodies. The boat had protected them for the most part, but now they had to crawl out from underneath each other. Dick who laid upside down, shifted back to his feet. “I think its safe to let them go now,” Dick half-smiled amused as he pointed to Jazz's frozen grip on his brothers. Damian and Tim were both close to passing out from her strong hold. Jazz let go, with a jolt. “Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?!” Jazz checking them over, feeling terrible for clinging onto them so tightly. Tim wobbled, then shook it off, “Its.. fine.” Damian was taking in deep gasps of air, glaring. “Don't touch me.” “Fair. Sorry.” Jazz looking at them with a pleading look to forgive her as she twiddled her fingers. Batman holding his chest tighter, letting out a heavy breath. Cassandra was under his other arm with his cape draped over her. He had covered her when they went flying, in an attempt to protect her. Cass flopped out of his cap and arm, shaking off the dizziness. Jack and Maddie readjusted in their seats. Jack kept a stressed smile, hands gripped tightly at the wheel. Maddie had a hand over her chest as she released a breath. “Is everyone alright?” Everyone let out a groan in response. That's when they noticed they were missing two. Jason and Danny. Scrambling to open the back door of the GAV to search, they got clear view of Danny puking near a rock, as Jason patted his back. “ughhhhh.. I hate puking.” Danny spit, wiping his mouth on his arm as he stood. “I be mildly concerned if you enjoyed it.” “Just mildly?” “I think there are larger concerns when it comes to you.” Jason was staring at a pair of them now, as Jack and Maddie stepped out of the GAV. Jason watching his family, stumbling out of the back as if they were drunk. He smirked as Bruce was not spared from that fate either. “Ouch thanks for the honesty.” “Anytime.” Jason crossing his arms as the Fenton parents rushed over. Taking a step back. “Danny!” Danny was pulled into his mother's arms, being held tightly. Maddie rubbed her cheek against Danny's hair. “My baby.” Danny blushed, adjusting his mother's arms so he rested comfortable against her. He forgotten how nice her hugs were. Melting into it. “Not a baby.” “Still my baby.” Maddie smothering her son in kisses. “How did you two get out of the GAV?” Jack ask scratching his head. “Weeee fell out?” Danny replied. Which wasn't a lie. “He phased us out.” Jason whispered to Dick, after he walked back towards bats. Though the others overheard the whisper. They all nodded at the answer, as it explained why Danny was sick. Jazz walking over to her family, joining in hugging Danny, letting out a breath of relief. Jack wrapped his arms, gently this time, around his family. As it sunk in that the situation was finally over, both of the siblings sniffed away tears. “Aw. Kids.” Maddie tightened her grip around both her kids, letting them bury their heads into her shoulder as they melted into her embrace. If they cried, none of the bats could see. Though what would normally feel like a heart warming moment, left the bats feeling bittersweet. Almost could be fooled that they were a normal family, but the truth stood ugly and proud at the fore front of their minds. However they let the family have their moment. Dick and Cass ushered Batman over to the jet was sitting near the edge of the lake. They needed to look at his injury again. Tim stretched then decided to get a better look at the GAV. Damian decided to go to the edge of the lake, watching the island burn in the middle. Jason leaned on the side of the GAV, watching the family with his arms crossed. Things couldn't be simple, could they?

Phantom Children Ch. 6

Hi guys! I'm back <3 (also, I'm currently looking for alpha/beta readers for Phantom Children, so if you're interested, feel free to shoot me a message!)

In Which: Danny Attempts to get Answers, Bruce Learns, and Dick Finally Learns What's Inside the Door that Doesn't Exist

AO3 | Prologue | 5 | [ 6 ] | 7

DANNY IS KNOCKED DOWN three, four, eight times on the ice. Each time made his back ache, his bones bruised and tired, and his mind burning with embarrassment and a drive to lash out. But each time he gets back up. Each time he lasts a little bit longer against Talia.

The ice still shifts, cracks and rumbles with every wrong move. Danny learned to roll with it. Move on light feet but attack with a firm stance, gauge which parts of the ice are stable and which should be avoided. Multi-tasking has never been Danny’s strong suit, but he’s good at learning and learning quickly.

Talia corrected his form as much as she beat him down. Exploited every one of his openings until he learned to defend them and praised him whenever he managed to pull one over her. The League’s martial arts was the holy amalgamation between almost every single fighting style there is, mashed and refined to perfection to become almost unpredictable to the untrained. A vast improvement to Danny’s previous ‘fuck around and see what works’ brawling and had the added benefit of meshing together with his spontaneity.

“You are doing well, Daniel,” Talia said as she sheathed her sword, hand resting just above her hip. “You have improved greatly in such a short time, as I have expected.”

It takes every ounce of Danny’s superhuman energy to not collapse to his knees, his every breath a ragged shudder as he tries to get his breathing under control. “Still can’t beat you, though.”

“Very few can boast that feat.”

“I’m not exactly sure if that’s supposed to make me feel any better or not. Do I get my prize at least?”

Tahlia tossed her braid over one shoulder with a laugh. “Come, then, let us rest in the caves. The sun is to set soon and we must make camp before we freeze to death.”

“Hypothermia is so last season. I’m way too cool for that.”

He didn’t know whether to be disappointed that Tahlia didn’t react to his pun. It was pretty clever, in his opinion.

('Puns are the lowest form of comedy,' said mind-Jazz.

Says the one who named the Box Ghost the ‘Crate Creep.’

'That’s alliteration, not a pun.')

It was kind of pathetic that even his mind-version of Jazz was smarter than him.

“What would you like to know first?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sarcasm dripped from Danny’s voice. He sheathed his sword and let it hang loose at his side. “Maybe how old this mysterious brother of mine is?” Ancients, his life was weird enough already, it wasn’t supposed to sound like the B-plot to a bad soap opera.

“Damian is younger than you by a little over four years. He will turn eleven this year.”

“Huh. Never been an older brother before.”

“Perhaps you might have been, if circumstances had been different.”

Cryptic. Great. Danny stepped over a particularly large crack in the ice and scampered over to solid ground. “You gotta give me more than that. What’s he like?”

“Prideful,” she said. “But skilled enough to warrant it. He was raised like a prince—as how you should have been.”

“And he lives with…our dad?”

“Yes. In America.” The cave was deep enough to shield them from the worst of the eventual mountain winds. Tahlia had already started building a campfire with equipment from her knapsack, embers eating away and growing into a steady flame. He sat down, legs crossed, beside the fire, hands tucked beneath his armpits.

He bit his lip, a question forming in his mind. “Do…do we have the same dad?”

Tahlia looked up at him. “Of course. Only your father has had the privilege of being called my beloved, and only he is worthy enough to have sired my children.”

Once night fell, it fell quickly. Blanketing as far as Danny could see from the mouth of the cave in a thick darkness. Snow fell from the skies in thick tufts and covered their footsteps.

“Does he—do they know about me?”

“No, they do not.”

“And you probably aren’t going to tell them anything about me, if you could help it.”

“That is very perceptive of you, habeebi.”

“You won’t tell me anything more about them, will you?”

“In due time, I will.”

Danny blew part of his fringe away from his face. Figures.

Despite the ever-present niggling at the back of his mind, Bruce had yet to see what was in the flash drive. The weeks since his strange meeting with Vlad Masters suddenly exploded with criminal activity with the recent breakout in Arkham and the brewings of another gang war in the shadows of Gotham’s paved streets. It was all hands-on deck. And Bruce, whether as Batman or Wayne, had always prioritized Gotham and its citizens over anything else.

The flash drive remained on his person despite the crisis, tucked away in one of the sturdier compartments of his utility belt to prevent the data inside from becoming damaged. Sometimes he found his hands gravitating towards it, fingers brushing against the button that would release the mystery from its confines before he realized what he was doing and steeled himself. Hands fisted to his side and attention forcibly directed elsewhere.

Eventually, the rogues were placed back into Arkham, and Gotham let out a shuddered breath of relief as it remained standing for another day.

Most of the family were out on a light patrol, cleaning up the remains of the breakout and helping where they can. Jason and Dick bickering over the comms whilst Barbara laughed in her clocktower.

(“It’s not that bad.”

"‘It’s not that bad’—shut the fuck up.” Jason spat. Bruce could hear him revving his bike. “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that? Certified Grade A idiot. B’s gonna kill you.”

He could hear Dick roll his eyes. “Sure, pile it all on, Jaybird. Blame the victim.”

"It was your fault.”

“It’s not my fault I didn’t see it there!”

"You tripped and got a concussion. From a stick. A. Stick.”

“Can we please just leave that out of the report?” Dick groaned. Barbara laughed. “Oh god.”

“Richard motherfucking John Grayson. I swear if you vomit on me then—”

“I’m not gonna vomit on you! You just turned the corner a little too fast. It’s nice to see you care though.”

"Fuck no, I just don’t wanna smell like regurgitated cereal.”)

Damian was benched from a patrol. Their last conflict with Poison Ivy ended with Damian sticking a bad landing and twisting his ankle. He dealt with it with as much grace as can be expected. Meaning that he spent the last few days sulking as he caught up on his missed schoolwork and shooting daggers at everyone else who came back from patrol.

Bruce flicked the flash drive open and plugged it into the computer. The flash drive contained only a single folder dated six months ago.

He clicked it, and a news headline popped up.

LOCAL TEEN DIES AFTER DRIVING OFF CLIFF

Beneath it, a picture. Blue eyes. Black hair. A familiar face.

Blood pounded in Bruce’s ears. He could hear nothing except a sharp gasp from Damian behind him.

When Dick and Jason arrived at the batcave, it was to an eerie silence. Not that it was usually loud, only that Bruce spent most of his free time down in the cave and Dick had come to expect hearing some signs of him around. Typing on keys, the clicking of a mouse, the heavy thuds of a fist meeting a punching bag or a training dummy, etcetera, etcetera. Or maybe even Alfred cleaning up around the cave, feeding the bats, or restocking their med bay.

(Dick, it turned out, didn’t have a concussion. Probably. Not a severe one anyway. What mattered most was that he managed to convince Jason to have dinner at the Manor. Alfred was making a tarte tatin for dessert tonight and those were absolutely to die for. )

One of Tim’s cases took him to the other side of Gotham. The only person in the cave was Damian, who was staring agape at the batcomputer.

“Why the hell is the demon spawn looking at old pictures of Bruce? We get it. They look alike.

“Uh, Dami? What’s up?”

Damian snapped his mouth shut. “I believe it might be best if you asked father that, Grayson.” Despite his clipped tone, there seemed to be little anger in his voice. His proud shoulders were hunched over on the chair, eyes trained on his lap.

He looked so small.

Damian clucked his tongue. “He’s upstairs, if you need him. So is Pennyworth.”

Dick shot a glance at Jason who raised his hands in mock surrender. “You’re up golden boy. Whatever the fuck the old man’s problem is this time, I’m not dealing with it.”

Dick sighed. “Fine.”

There was a door in Wayne Manor that didn’t exist.

When Dick was a child and recently adopted by Bruce Wayne, one of the first things he did was explore the manor. It’s the prerogative of every child that somehow found themselves in a large mansion—even more so given the castle-like exteriors of Wayne Manor. All castles have secret passages, and if the Batcave lay in the subterranean depths below, then surely the manor proper must have its own secrets.

Dick would tumble and cartwheel along the hallways, opening any and every single door he came across. A lot of them were just empty bedrooms or unused parlors and sitting rooms; the furniture covered by white sheets to keep the dust away. Alfred was probably magic, but even he can’t keep the entirety of the manor dust free.

The majority of the unused rooms were unlocked.

Except for one.

It was a room in the west wing, on the second floor. A couple doors down from where Bruce’s and Dick’s were. Why it was locked, Dick never found out. But he was curious since it was the only room on that floor that remained shut.

When he asked Alfred about it, the old butler only said that it was an unused storage room they preferred to keep locked just in case. When he asked Bruce about it, he’d be quick to change the subject. Usually something Batman related. Which, well, always worked, because it was Batman related. And Dick, young and spry and itching to fly under Batman’s wings, would quickly forget about that curious little mystery in favor of punching bad guys in the face and flipping over rooftops.

At some point that locked door quietly disappeared, leaving a blank expanse of wallpaper and a decorative vase where it once stood. It was never brought up again. And Dick slowly forgot that it was ever there in the first place.

Until now.

The wooden table and vase were shoved off to the side. Wallpaper sliced away to reveal the lines of a doorway. The door, covered in its faint damask wallpaper, was kicked open, the wood around the bolt splintered and cracked. He could hear voices—Alfred’s and Bruce’s—speaking softly on the other side.

He pressed his back against the wall and kept his breathing quiet.

“Three times, Alfred.” Bruce’s voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “Three times she’s done this to me.”

“Master Bruce…”

“I don’t—I don’t understand why—” Bruce choked, swallowing a shuddered breath. “Damian, I can understand. Jason, I can too. But…This? I—” Bruce suddenly quieted. Dick knew the jig was up.

He unlatched himself from the wall and slowly slid through the once-hidden-door, a hand kept on the frame. “Um. Hi, Bruce? Alfred?” The words fell flat, stilted. Dick winced as he said them. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but, uh…” He trailed off the second he registered what was in the room.

It was large, as so many rooms in the manor were. The room was covered in peeling green wallpaper with faded pictures of baby deer and owls and other woodland creatures prancing about. There was a dresser on one wall. A shelf filled with little picture books and stuffed animals on the other. A brown teddy bear had fallen on its face on one of the shelves.

In the middle—where Bruce was hunched over—was a crib. The wood streaked and aged with time, the beddings within pristine and untouched, if not dusty. Hanging overhead was a mobile with little animals dangling on a string.

“Worry not Master Dick. It is good that you are here since it will inevitably involve the rest of the family at some point.”

Dick nodded absentmindedly, trying to lock eyes with his guardian. “B? What’s—what’s going on?” Dick took one step deeper into the room. “The pictures in the cave. I thought they were you since they were too old to be Damian—” Bruce’s hands on the crib’s railing flinched.

Dick’s breath hitched.

“They’re…not your photos, are they.”

Bruce took a deep breath in, the lines of his shoulders tense. “No. They’re not.”

In their line of work, the answer could have been anything. Clones, magical doppelgangers, alternate universe counterparts, hell, even just someone’s genetic code being coincidentally similar to another person. But…this room, this nursery, pointed towards only one conclusion.

“Who is he, Bruce?”

Bruce angled his head towards Dick, unshed tears glimmering in his eyes. “He’s my son, Dick.

“He’s my son.”