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“What kind of tea would you like?” she asked, pulling down the tea box from the cabinet above the microwave.

The tension in the air increased a bit before dropping away.

“What kind do you have?” came the mechanized voice from behind her.

Jazz smiled as she turned around and held out the tea box. “I’ve got a lot of different flavors and some plain black.” 

The Red Hood stood before her in all his armored glory. Jazz fought to keep herself from blushing. She had heard so many things about the vigilante and researched a lot more, though she had held herself back from trying to figure out his identity. He was someone like her brother, who was just trying to make the world a slightly better place for people to live in. And she couldn’t deny that he was also kind of attractive. Though she, of course, had never seen his face.

“I’ll take the peach oolong.” he finally responded, and Jazz nodded as she brought out two mugs, setting a peach oolong tea bag in one and a blueberry lavender one in the other. 

“I assume you have questions.” She poured the hot water into the mugs before bringing them over to the small table and sitting down. 

The vigilante followed, sitting down stiffly. 

“You’re Jazz Fenton. Daughter of Jack and Madeline Fenton. Your younger brother is Daniel. You’re here studying psychology and criminal justice at Gotham University. Your parents,” he paused, “call themselves ecto-biologists and are self-proclaimed ghost hunters.”

Jazz winced.

“So, tell me. What are two kids with ghost hunter parents going to do with the fact that one of Gotham’s vigilantes is ghostly?”

Jazz could feel the aura of threat emanating from Red Hood, but she could also sense the undercurrent of fear and uncertainty. She took a sip of her tea before answering. 

“First of all, I want to be sure you understand that we won’t be telling them anything. Secondly, remember that Danny mentioned that both of us are also liminal? They don’t know about that either. And we’d like to keep it that way. It’s why Danny’s living here with me instead of with them.” She paused, looking down into her mug. “We know that what they believe about ghosts is wrong, and we’ve tried to convince them otherwise. But…”

“They don’t listen.” Red Hood finished for her.

She cradled the mug close to her chest. “Yeah.” She loved her parents, and she knew Danny did as well. Which meant it hurt all the more when they ignored them and practically called them stupid when she and Danny would try to show them that their opinions on ghosts were wrong. And even though they both hated to admit it to themselves, Danny more than her, they were both scared of what their parents would do if they found out their children were liminal and that one of them was the so called ‘ghostly menace’ they had vowed to tear apart ‘molecule by molecule.’

A staticky sigh came from Red Hood before he reached up and pressed something on his helmet before removing it.

And yup, Jazz was doomed. Why did the Red Hood have to be cute? He was still wearing a mask, so she couldn’t see his eyes. But the rest of his face was otherwise exposed, and Jazz could see a faint scar cutting across his cheek. 

His hair was black with a white streak, similar to Danny’s though her brother often dyed it. He claimed it was to not draw attention to himself, but Jazz had seen his nervousness when the lock of hair had started to grow white. She suspected that more of his hair had started to go white as well, but she hadn’t brought it up. She knew how anxious Danny got whenever it seemed like more of his ghost form was showing up in his human form.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their tea.

Finally, Jazz spoke. “Did you have questions?”

Red Hood hesitated for a moment before speaking. “You said I was liminal. But… what exactly does that mean?” He was looking down at his tea, gripping his mug tightly. Jazz could sense fear and uncertainty coming from him.

Jazz wasn’t as good at projecting as she was at sensing emotions, but she relaxed her body posture and tried to put out feelings of reassurance. Thankfully, Red Hood did seem to relax a little.

“Like my brother explained the other day. Liminals are people who lean a little to the ghostly side. You can think of them like metahumans, though there isn’t a gene that sets them apart. Instead, it’s like,” she paused for a moment, frowning, trying to figure out how best to explain it to someone who hadn’t grown up in Amity. “Okay, so think of ectoplasm as radiation. Being near it for long periods of time, or being exposed to a lot all at once, can leave lasting effects on your DNA.”

“So, I'm suffering from radiation poisoning.” Hood deadpanned.

Jazz bit her lip. “Sort of. Think of it like this. Atrophy, the energy of decay, is one force, while the energy for life is another. Ectoplasm is the medium through which they’re filtered. When something atrophies, that energy is cycled into the Realms where it’s recycled and renewed into life energy which is then pushed back into the Living Realms. And sometimes, when someone dies, a little bit of their consciousness gets carried over into the Realms and forms a ghost. It’s a lot more complicated than that and there are a lot more beings in the Realms than just ghosts created from dead humans, but for now think of it like that.” 

Jazz paused to sip her tea before continuing. “So when someone is close to death but is then brought back, sometimes a little bit of ectoplasm is pulled back into them. That’s one of the ways a liminal can form. It’s more likely to happen if ectoplasm was involved in bringing the person back, if there was ectoplasm nearby, or if the person had prior exposure. Something like that is what we think happened to you.”

“What about you?” Hood asked. “Why are you liminal?”

Jazz hesitated. “Another way for a person to become liminal,” she started slowly, “is for them to be exposed to ectoplasm for a long period of time, or when they’re really young.”

“So…” Hood started, “being liminal just means that, what?, you’ve just got this supernatural energy bonded to you?”

Jazz nodded. “That’s the simple explanation, yes.”

“But I'm alive.”

“You are. But…” Jazz reached over and set her hand on one of his. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t be something a bit more too.” She smiled at him. “We’re both still human, still alive, we’ve just got a connection to something a little beyond this Living Realm. And while that may cause some side effects, ultimately, it doesn’t change the fact that we are still more of the Living Realms then of the dead.

They sat in silence, drinking their tea. Jazz refilled their mugs, and they continued sitting quietly as they drank their second mug of tea and ate the grapes Jazz had brought out.

Finally, Hood spoke. His voice was gruff and his expression neutral, though Jazz could still feel the same mixture of emotions that had been emanating from him throughout their talk. 

“Thank you. For explaining.” He cleared his throat. “I still have questions, but…”

Jazz smiled at him. “You need time to process. I understand. I had to take a few days to myself when I found out I was liminal. Take all the time you need. I’ll be here when you’re ready to ask more questions.”

They stood, and Hood pulled the helmet over his head. He nodded at her before making his way to the window. 

“Thanks.” he said again, without turning away from the window. Then he was gone.

Jazz waited for a moment then went to close and lock the window before she washed the mugs and put the tea away.

She hoped he’d come to visit again soon. It was nice to be able to talk to someone other than her brother about these things now that they were out of Amity where most of the younger population was some level of liminal. Especially since it had been getting harder and harder to contact anyone from Amity

But more than that she hoped that Hood would be able to accept this side of himself. That he’d realize that ultimately this didn't affect who he was. Ancients knew that Jazz had struggled when they’d realized she had also been changed by their parent’s recklessness. 

But most of all, she hoped that unlike her parents, the rest of the Bats, if, when, they found out about Hood’s liminality, would accept him.

—-------

Well, Jason thought, that talk didn’t go as planned.

Sure, he had found out more about liminality and while his brain was still in a bit of turmoil, he felt a bit better.

However, he hadn’t been able to get around to asking about the Fenton parents, Amity Park, or the Danny maybe being a clone situation.

Ugh. It looked like he’d have to involve someone else after all.

At least the Family Dinner was this Friday. He wouldn’t have to figure out another excuse for visiting the manor. And he might even be able to subtly question Tim about clones. Or maybe a possible brother. Hah! Wouldn’t that be hilarious!