It happened in a crash of thunder.
They were making their way along one of the roads in an unclaimed Hyrule when the storm hit. It had been looming all day, making itself known in tight scars and aching joints.
They had just come upon a rocky cliff when it happened. Thunder boomed out of nowhere, making everyone jump. The rain came a moment later, bringing with it a chill that had some of them gasping.
“Let’s find shelter!” Warriors called. There were enthusiastic sounds of agreement.
Twilight pulled the hood of his pelt over his head only to pause. Something felt off. He did a quick headcount. All of the usual troublemakers - Wild, Hyrule, and Wind - were ahead, eagerly searching for some place to take shelter from the rain. The rest were trudging along as well as they could.
Everything seemed fine. He continued walking.
…Wait. Someone was missing.
The rancher stopped in his tracks, counting again. Wind, Wild, Hyrule- that was three. Time and Wars in their armor, glancing worriedly up at the clouds, five. Sky holding his sailcloth over an unhappy Four. Seven. He made eight.
…Where was the Vet?
Twilight glanced around, trying to spot his missing brother. He turned around and-
Oh.
Legend stood frozen in the middle of the road, hands clasped over his ears and eyes shut tight. Thunder boomed again and Twilight watched as he flinched, curling into himself with a barely-audible whimper.
Oh no.
It was no secret among them that Legend hated storms. Twilight hurried back towards his brother, calling out to try and get his attention.
There was no reaction. Legend remained frozen.
“Lege, hey, lookit me.” Twilight knelt down before him, noting with mounting worry how pale he was, just how tightly he curled into himself. Thunder rolled again and Legend flinched hard with a choked sound.
Twilight frowned. Calling his brother’s name again produced no result; Legend stayed unresponsive. A fourth bout of thunder had him shuddering and Twilight biting his lip.
He wasn’t sure what to do. He hesitated to touch him, but calling his name wasn’t working. Legend hated being touched without warning, but Twilight didn’t see any other way to get him out of the rain. With a sigh, he shrugged his pelt off and draped it over the smaller boy, making sure the hood was securely over his head before scooping him up and hurrying back to the rest of their brothers.
The Captain was the first to notice as he approached, his brow furrowing at the shaking form held close in protective arms. He sent Twilight a concerned look which only deepened when Legend let out a small, scared noise.
“We needta git ‘im outta the rain,” Twilight said. Wars nodded and was about to reply when he was interrupted by a shout.
“We found a cave! It looks like there’s enough room fer all of us!”
Wind waved at them from a large opening in the cliffside. The heroes still on the road hurried over, grateful for the chance to get out of the storm.
Inside the cave was thankfully dry and large enough for them to spread out and have their own space. The roof was even high enough they could have a fire without having to worry about the smoke.
Twilight moved to the back of the cave, as far from the entrance as he could. The sound of rain was quieter there, and he felt Legend’s trembling lessen a tiny bit.
“Shh, shh. I gotcha,” he murmured. “Let’s getcha outta those wet clothes, yeah?”
Legend whimpered and clung weakly to him as Twilight tried to gently wrangle him out of his wet things. Warriors came over after changing out of his own soaked clothes to help. Together they managed to get Legend out of his wet clothes and into something soft and dry.
The younger boy didn’t resist, only pressing closer as thunder echoed through the cave. Twilight and Wars shared a look over his head.
“Reckon he’s small, if he’s actin’ like this,” the rancher muttered lowly.
Wars sighed. “Yes, I think that might be the case. Do you think it was the storm?”
“I dunno what else it could been. ‘e was fine earlier, just grouchy cause his scars were actin’ up.”
Wars nodded before crouching down to be level with Legend and speaking softly. “Hey, bud. Are you feeling small right now?”
A muffled whine was his answer and he exchanged another glance with Twilight.
“Do you want me to hold you while Twilight gets changed? You can go right back when he’s done if you want.”
Legend didn’t respond, instead pressing even closer to Twilight as his right hand drifted towards his mouth. Warriors was quick to catch it, rubbing gentle circles into his palm in apology when Legend made an unhappy noise.
“I know, bud, I know. But Twi’s gotta get out of his wet clothes too. Come here.” He gathered Legend into his arms before shuffling around to sit against the wall with him in his lap.
He held his little brother, still rubbing circles into his hands, as he watched the rest of them work to make themselves comfortable to wait out the storm. Wild had managed to get a fire going and was in the process of preparing dinner. Four was furiously toweling himself dry while Wind went around gathering everyone’s bedding, most likely with the intention to make a nest for them all to cuddle in later.
Things had just gotten to a point where they were calm and relaxed when the weather took a turn for the worse.
Lightning flashed, painting the world a blinding white, followed by the loudest clap of thunder yet.
Legend jolted from his place against Warriors’ chest with a cry. Wars managed to catch him before he fell, wrapping his arms around him securely. Legend let him, staring into nothing for a long moment before he burst into tears.
He wailed, shoving his face into Wars’ chest to hide from the storm raging outside. His brother held him close, covering long ears and rocking side to side in an effort to calm him. Soft humming filled the air, a welcome distraction from the dull roar of rain outside their shelter.
It took time but eventually Legend’s tears slowed. Wars ran a soothing hand through his hair as he hiccuped, letting go of the tight grip he had on the older hero’s shirt to rub at red eyes. The captain gently wiped the tears from pale cheeks before pressing a kiss to his brow.
Wet violet eyes peeked up at him from behind damp hair. Wars smiled and tucked a lock behind one of those long ears. Legend sniffled and moved to nuzzle against his neck. He let him, used to the other boy’s way of seeking comfort.
“You feeling a little better, honeybun?”
A small nod against his collarbone. Wars leaned his head against Legend’s, earning a sigh.
“I bet yer tired, huh, kit?” Twilight murmured, laying a hand against Legend’s back. “Let’s git ourselves t’bed, yeah? Wind’s got a nice comfy nest built fer all’a us.”
There was a beat, then a tiny “…okay.”
“That’s th’ spirit. Awright, let’s go!” Twilight helped Wars make sure he had Legend in a secure grip before standing. Then they made their way over to where the Chain was waiting in the aforementioned nest. Wild was the only one missing, still working on dinner.
Wars settled down near the middle, Legend curled in his lap. Sky crawled over with a blanket and tucked him in with a smile. Then he took Legend’s face in his hands and pressed several kisses to his cheeks with exaggerated ‘muah!’ sounds. Legend gave a wet giggle at the affection.
Sky beamed. “There’s my little bird! Are you feeling better, baby?”
Legend nodded before his face scrunched and he yawned, nose quivering. He laid his head on Wars’ shoulder again with a content sigh.
“You can go to sleep if you want, honeybun. It’s alright.” The rain had died down a fair bit, a quiet patter on the cliff outside. Wild finished dinner and came over, plates in hand, and smiled when he saw Legend cuddled up to the captain.
“I’ll save his for later,” he whispered.
“Thanks, champion. I know he’ll appreciate it.”
Warriors began running a hand through Legend’s hair, feeling the boy in his lap relax at the soothing motions. He leaned more and more heavily into the captain, one hand grasping loosely at Wars’ shirt while the other rested under his chin. A moment later tiny squeaking snores sounded.
Sky cooed. The other heroes exchanged adoring smiles at the sight.
“Alright, that’s bedtime for us, I think,” Wars whispered. “Sleep well, everyone. See you all tomorrow.”
With that, he carefully moved to lay down, Legend still wrapped in his arms and snoring quietly. He felt more than saw someone lay a blanket over him, his own eyes already drifting shut from the assurance of safety and family.
“Goodnight, captain,” was the last thing he heard before he let sleep embrace him.
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I know in your Red Knight AU, Jason when on the rampage in another realm, after finding out that Batman replace him with another Robin.
Did Danny manage to be there for him during that time?
He did! Danny was always there for Jason. He actually wanted to chase after Jason immediately, but luckily, the first thing he did was panic call Jazz, absolutely out of his mind. Jazz promptly told Danny to let Jason have some space for a little bit to process.
Which was for the best, really. Jason needed to not feel like he was trapped and that he could be angry. He never really got that before. But the most important thing is Danny came after him and brought him home. Jason needed to feel like he could be angry, but also, like his anger wouldn't mean he'd be punished or abandoned. It was a very delicate time for him, but Danny, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and all our favorite ghosts made sure Jason knew he was very much wanted still. And that he was utterly irreplaceable.
Skulker handled this by breaking all of his weapons and suits overnight and saying he didn't know how to fix them. (Jason very much knew what he was doing, but the time spent on fixing things helped ground him)
Ember handled this by announcing that she couldn't possibly ever sing ever again unless her only other band member was there (Still very obvious, but music time with Ember usually devolved into very necessary crying time. A lot of ice cream was consumed)
Johnny and Kitty handled this by getting into a MASSIVE fight and refusing to speak to each other unless Jason mediated. (This actually was far less obvious, as the two tend to get into fights often. No one is actually certain if the fight was fake or not to this day, but they also haven't broken up once since and Jason is incredibly proud of that)
Fright Knight handled this by.... well, actually, he took the blunt approach and told Jason there was no one in any realm dead or alive he'd ever consider worthy to be his apprentice besides Jason. (This was highly effective as Frighty has always been bluntly honest with Jason. He didn't wholly believe it but it was a comfort. Frighty then beat his ass in a spar and he didn't think of much else)
Basically, everyone was there for Jason. Not just Danny. Jason was made to feel like his anger and hurt were valid, because they were. But he was also not just told, but shown how precious he was to every life he touched. He didn't get it, not at first and he struggled to really believe it.
It wasn't until later, after Danny opened up more about his own trauma and the effects it had on him that Jason actually began to somewhat understand more of what Jazz meant when she said Danny was getting better. He pieced more of the story together from the others to paint a better picture, and that's when it clicked for him. As much as he needed Danny, Danny had needed him just as much. (Clockwork may have had a hand in this as well, but whatever those two talked about, no one will ever know)
Also, as an aside, once everything calmed down, Danny was very pleased to learn the rebelling realm was now back under control and quite terrified of the Ghost King and his Knight. It saved him so much paperwork.
So yeah, this was a bit all over the place, but hopefully, it answers your question. Team Phantom and the ghosts are basically a very large family, and they might fight and bicker, but they seriously pull through and muster together if anyone is hurting. They're a bit clumsy sometimes with it, but the love they all feel is very obvious. I really, really wanted to give Jason a much more healthy origin story into becoming Red Hood than he got in canon. The poor boy went through enough. It was past time for him to get to heal.
Jason still has some hangups. His abandonment issues are still there, and his fear of rejection. But it's not as bad as it was, and because he'd been allowed to express his anger without being punished(or enabled, anger is a fine emotion to feel. But you should never let it consume you) for it, he figured out how to manage it.
He might still slip now, and then, he has trauma, and that won't go away. But Danny will never, ever let him fall. Neither will the rest of the weird little eclectic family they've built.
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