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Matchmaker!Damian

Damian sees that Danny can interact with extinct species (and has a glowing green dog) and wants to also be able to interact with said animals.

And so, he thinks the best plan is to have Danny as part of the family - but not adoption.

No.

Damian thinks the best idea is to have Danny be his Brother-in-Law so he gives everyone (who is within age appropriate range) a survey and chooses the highest scorer.

The little drama king probably doesn't have much of a concept of how romance works to start, which means he'll have to start with research -- probably a mix of popular media, drawing forums, and Jason's Jane Austin books. Various conclusions he could come to:

1. High stakes situations / rescues build bonds

2. Mysterious strangers are considered [bleh] "sexy"

3. Artfully torn clothes to reveal abs/muscles are considered attractive

So, while Damien might be a dramatic little shit I think he's mature enough not to put anyone in ACTUAL danger-- growing up with the League would make him more aware of mortality than most I think. Which means that this kidnapping/rescue scenario has to be under his control at all times.

Who is the go to villain for Robin-masquerading-as-villian? RED X

I can see this going in two different ways

1. Evil Disney princess Damien Red X

Damien can't use any of the recognizable bat animals, but he could totally start feeding / recruiting his own mob of crows for this. Steal the old Red X suit from Dick, and baddabing baddboom you've got a Red X with an army of crows perfect for creating tastefully artistic tears in costumes via dive bombing claws

2. Damien gets caught by Dick while trying to steal the Red X suit and Dick gleefully reprises his role as Red X

Does Dick ship it too? Does he just like messing with Jason whenever possible? Is he encouraging Damien in taking an interest in the family in any way possible? Is he just a dramatic bastard who never passes on the chance to cause chaos? You decide, too late Dick's already steamrollered his way into this. Damien begrudgingly agrees when he realizes it means they can have a person on each side for maximum control of the situation

SO, plan A failed onto plan B. We're talking a full Jane Austin-esque regency era masquerade ball.

I strongly suggest a scene of Damien stalking up to Bruce at the breakfast table demanding a ball to the flabbergasted bat family. Tim actually goes to bed after staring at his coffee in betrayal because he thought he had another day of sleep deprivation before the hallucinations started

Maybe something like:

"Father, I demand that we host a ball."

[Bruce stares at his least sociable son, who threatened to stab a man at the gala LAST WEEK]

"A.... Ball?"

"Correct, preferably a masquerade ball. In full costume."

[confused stare increases. Tim squints at his coffee in betrayal]

"May I ask why?"

"No you may not. All you must know is that it is necessary."

---

Dick may or may not be dying of laughter in the background & jump in to help at this point. The end result though is that A. Damien gets his ball and B. The rest of the family is HELLA SUSPICIOUS THERE ARE SHENANIGANS AFOOT

Danny didn't actually have an issue with it. He would however like a heads up. And a proper introduction to Red Hood. Look the guy is stacked, just muscles for days. And that ghost adjacent possessiveness of his lair, along with no well he control s his haunt? Hot!

Luckily, he just got sent an invitation to an actual, true to recency era, masquerade. At Wayne manor, where the bats and birds are based. This also feels of sibling shenanigans, but it will be the perfect cover for him to figure out who's causing this. And the figure out who knows why. So he can cause maximum drama. Look, Danny has been handed the perfect opportunity to be as dramatic as he likes. He will take that with both hands.

Now what to wear to the ball? Since he was cast as a damsel in distress last week he should lean into the theme. Danny is going to go full Cinderella. Time to pull out the group chat, Sam and Ellie will want to help. Tucker will enjoy the laugh as well.

----

Danny walked into the ballroom with his head held high. He was on a mission, and nothing would stop him. Now, he was definitely going to find his Prince Charming and ask for dance. But he wanted to find out who kept damselling him. Was it funny? Yes. Did he want to encourage this behaviour? Not towards himself.

Danny could see people turning to stare at his group as they entered. Well, he could understand why. They had gone all out after all. The four of them looked fabulous. But stil, staring so blatantly is rude! At least the commotion should help him stand out. Ah, there was one of the Wayne's. It looked like the oldest. And he appeared to be dumbstruck by his sister. Hmm the could be useful.

And done! :D I really like the idea of Damian experimenting more artistic skills, like body painting- But first he gotta start with something small, so- Makeup!

Hmmmmmmmmm

Idea.

So we all mostly headcanon that Jason was around tiny Damian when in the League right? And if we do demon!twins or siblings Danny they meet too?

Well what if, now hear me out, what if while taking care of them Jason notices early on how Danyal, or as he likes to be called Danny, doesn't seem to have the heart to be an assassin compared to Damian. And even under the pits influence and the LOA teachings, Jason's protective instincts of protecting kids is still strong. And notices how... lack the protection around Danny is compared to Damian, the true heir.

What if, when Jason leaves the League to start his revenge against Bruce, he fakes Danny's death by killing off the little 'guards' he did have and takes the kid with him.

But as he goes to Gotham Jason has to decide.

“I need only one heir Talia”

Ra’s. It had to be, there was no one else who would dare speak to Talia that way.

He kept walking cause he wasn’t stupid, thanks - but the phrase kept bouncing around in his head.

Only one heir

Danyal and Damian were close. Of course they were, they’re twins. But Damian had always fit the league much better, less hesitation with the bloodier parts for sure. Fully intrenched in the leagues teachings. Danyal was different. Not that he was weaker, he did all the same training as Damian after all. But the blood and death had always affected him more than his twin. That split second of indecision that had made him the less favorable heir in Ra’s eyes.

And now it seemed that Ra’s had decided he was done indulging his daughter.

Jason lay on his cot, mind swimming. Technically speaking, it shouldn’t fall to him to get Danyal out. Talia’s his damned mother he would hope that she’s got some plan in the works. But Jason didn’t know if he could trust that.

Turning over he decided. He had been waiting for a chance to get out of here anyways. Might as well get the kid out too. He definitely couldn’t take both, no way he’s get Damian to agree and kidnapping and unwilling 7 year old was not on his bucket list.

But Danyal. Danny. He preferred Danny, he had told Jason in a near silent voice one night. Jason had been taking a walk, hoping the stars would help clear his head. Danny had been quiet as a church mouse up on the wall, the only reason he’d seen was he’d been looking up already. Damn near scared the poor kid half to death too when Jason had climbed up to join him.

“So what’re you doing out of bed so late kid?” He’d asked in a quiet voice.

“Nothing I swear!” Danny had replied

“Not gonna snitch on you if that’s what you’re worried about. Pretty sure I’m not supposed to be out here right now either.”

Danny seemed to mull that over a bit, before leaving in and whispering “I love to watch the stars” with big eyes and a small smile on his tiny face.

“Well can’t deprive little Prince Danyal his stargazing time of course” Jason replied with a chuckle. “Do you know any of the constilations?”

“Yes!” The little boys voice rose with his excitement. “Our tutors taught us some, but there books in the library too!”

The rest of the time was spent listening to exited rambling about the stars. Both the physical and mythological, kid knew his stuff.

As small eyes drooped, and Jason gathered up the tiny body to make their way back to the princes quarters, Danyal’s hand came up to Jason’s arm.

“Wanna know another secret?” His tired voice asked.

“Go for it kid”

“I like Danny better than Danyal”

And before Jason could even think of a response he was out like a light.

Yeah no way he’s was gambling on Talia getting the kid out. He’d have to think of a way to do it himself. He’d flopped back over to his back, the hot night and racing thoughts keeping him awake. They’d catch on within hours if the kid just went missing. Even if he left in the dead of night when it was safest, if Danny didn’t show for breakfast there’d be a manhunt. They’d search the compound first of course, but with the leagues manpower it wouldn’t take them long to expand into the surrounding area. So just cutting and running was out.

Jason’s eyes grew heavy and thoughts began dissipating as he finally started drifting off. Honestly the only way the league wouldn’t go running after them is if they thought Danny was either still there or dead.

The plan of making the league think Danny was still in Nanda Parbat was taking a backseat. He’d need some sort of body double, or magic, and he had no access to either at the moment. Making them think he was dead? Still difficult but less impossible. But with no body to leave behind, Jason would need to make the scene real convincing.

Jason went about his days as normal. Luckily, he’d been snooping around the compound since he’d gotten enough of his senses back to feel boredom. He knew there was some sort of blood bank especially for the princes. They needed transfusions on occasion when training or a mission went south. There were a few other places of interest that might help them get out undetected. But planning was slow going, and Jason had no clue how much time he had to get the kid out before Ra’s decided to enact whatever he had in mind. He hadn’t heard anything since three nights ago, in the hall, but that didn’t mean much when dealing with professional assassins. Secret keeping was kinda in the job description.

Mulling over options, he was walking around the walls, looking at the stars. Danny said the stars were the best secret keepers after all. Looking up, he spotted a hint of fabric disappearing over the Parapet wall, Jason grinned. Following quickly, hoping to catch Danny before he disappeared into one of the many tiny crevice or passageways that littered the outer walls of Nanda Parbat.

As Jason climbed, something felt off. He couldn’t connect the feeling to anything directly, but his life thus far had taught him never to ignore his instincts. Keeping himself low and silent, Jason peaked his head over the edge of the rampart wall enclosing the walkway used to patrol the edges of the compound. He’d long memorized the guard schedule, and there shouldn’t be anyone in this part of the path for at least another 30 minutes.

He barely even processed the scene in front of of him before his vision went green

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason came back to reality slowly, Pit Madness clawing at him mind, trying to remain in control. Checking his body and senses before properly opening his eyes; when he did he sat straight up.

Blood

Blood everywhere

Now Jason was no stranger to blood. Crime alley, Robin, and now the League, he’d seen his fair share of gory scenes. But this struck a different chord.

The assassin was no where to be seen. Jason could only hope his Pit Mad self had disposed of the body somehow. That was a loose end he really didn’t have time for right now.

He moved over to Danny’s side, desperately feeling for a pulse.

“Please please please” he chanted under his breath and his fingers trembled, “don’t be fucking dead. No more dead kids- please”

There. Faint but he could feel it. Weak, stuttering pulse, and the slightest movement from Danny’s tiny chest.

“Thank fuck” Jason gathered Danny up into his arms, trying to be careful of the kids wounds but knowing he had to move fast. They were out of time.

Jason knew Danny was dying. The kid hadn’t responded to any of the jostling as Jason ran. Feet silent and he fled, the first rays of dawn just starting to peek over the snowy mountain tops surrounding the League compound. Mind going a mile a minute as he made his way down through tunnels and passageways towards where he knew a smaller, less heavily guarded Pit lay. He assumed it was a small offshoot of the main pit, Lazarus Water flowing into a different cavern behind where Ra’s preferred to bathe.

Nothing to do about the blood trail. Jason tried to keep pressure on the main ones, the boys neck and abdomen had deep slashes, but the defensive wounds on tiny forearms left little droplets down the path. Nearing the branch that would take them down to their destination, Jason heard voices and footsteps getting nearer and nearer. Green threatened to take over his vision again, but Jason white knuckled his grip on sanity. This was no time to be running on rage and instinct. He needed a clear mind to get them through this.

Dodging patrols and hiding in alcoves, Jason finally found himself at the edge of that horrid green pool. The green was luminescent, rage built and built but Jason was stronger. Lowering a tiny body into the pool with Jason’s sash tied around Danny’s waist. Jason knew he would have to deal with the consequences once Danny emerged, but there was no way he’d have been able to keep the kid alive long enough to get out and to medical attention with his injuries.

Watching intently for any movement, still fighting with the green at the edges of his vision, Jason noticed something. This pool looked different. The color was less toxic, brighter than the main pit. Not to mention the current. There was a swirling motion that was sucking Danny down. Jason wrapped the sash around his hand and planted his feet. The suction grew as he watched desperately for a hint of movement that would say this was working. It HAS to work, Danny was still alive when Jason submerged him, he was sure. The healing should have taken effect already.

Frantically knotting the end, fighting to drag Danny closer to him as they were sucked deeper, down into the cave with the main Pit, the water above them gaining that toxic sheen. Danny floated through line between the luminescent waters Jason was in and the venomous green of the upper half of the pit. Jason’s lungs burned, his strength waning as the oxygen deprivation caught up to him. Then he saw it.

Danny opened glowing green eyes, thrashing bringing him down out of the polluted layer and into the shining depths. They both fell, current spiraling towards a point that seemed brighter than the rest. Jason’s vision tunneled, watching Danny’s frantic movements slow. As they passed through the bright singularity at the bottom of the pit, Jason saw movement at the edge of his vision.

“Don’t worry, young Knight, the Prince will live - all is as it should be.”

~~~~~~~~~

Coughing and hacking, Jason was sore all over, opening his eyes for the second time that day to a night sky with much fewer stars than seen in the skies above Nanda Parbat.

“Danny” he whispered, whipping his pounding head around, spotting the boy next to him. Clothes still torn and bloodied, but the wound on his neck was gone.

Jason crawled over to feel for a pulse again, untying the sash on his wrist, and noted the pale scar across the tanned skin of Danny’s neck. As if the injury was years old, long healed.

“Pulse strong, regular respiration, no visible lacerations.” Jason muttered to himself, going over a checklist in his mind and he untied the sash from Danny’s waist as well, to check if the stomach wound had healed similar to the one on the boys neck. Same thing, long pale scar, this one knotted and rough, slanting across the boys belly at an angle right across his navel. Danny began twitching, eyes peeking open before bolting up and scrambling back.

“Where - where are we? What happened?” Danny asked, voice quiet and trembling.

Jason sighed, not sure how to answer that. “Not sure kid, and a whole lot. What do you remember?”

“I was stargazing.” Danny started. “Someone came up the wall.” His lip trembled slightly. “They said - they said that Grandfather no longer had use for me.” Looking down to hide the shine in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry Danny,” Jason said, “I was planning to leave, and take you with me. Seems I waited too long.”

“But we did leave!” Danny exclaimed. “You took me with you!”

“More like you took me with you.” Jason stated with a small chuckle. “First thing is figure out where we are.” The asphalt beneath them meant they at least weren’t anywhere near the league compound, and the corn fields narrowed the climate down. “Think we should just pick a direction and walk. We’ll have to find new clothes too.”

Danny nodded and moved to stand. Jason eyed him warily, looking for any signs of instability.

“You feeling okay? Nothing hurts?” Jason asked, carefully keeping any anxiety out of his tone.

“Yeah I feel great!” Danny exclaimed. “That was scary but I’m better now!”

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Jason took him at his word, at least for now. He’d keep an eye on him to make sure he was truly healed, but they’d have to make the best of the situation.

The two walked north, “Towards Polaris!” Danny informed him, entertaining himself by naming off stars and constellations, telling Jason the stories that come along with them.

After a few hours worth of walking, Jason was beat and Danny was starting to flag.

“Think we should take a break for a bit?” Jason asked the tired child.

“I can keep going!” Danny said “I’m strong!”

“I know you are kid, but we should probably get some rest anyways. don’t wanna be too tired to make a plan once we come across a town or something.” Jason didn’t want to poke at too fresh wounds, so he added, “I’m getting pretty tired.”

“Oh,” said Danny, “We’ll if you’re tired I guess we can stop!”

Jason nodded gratefully, “Thanks kid.” As they moved over into the empty field to their right. They had yet to see a car, but the road signs and mile markers said they were in Illinois, near Chicago.

“We’re getting close to a city, we’ll be able to make a better plan once we’re there.” Jason already had a couple options in mind, but he’d talk to Danny about them after some sleep. He knew that if he wanted to follow through on his plans in Gotham, he couldn’t have a kid hanging off of him. Plus Danny would be easier to find if they stayed together. Better to leave him somewhere to start over, to be a normal kid. But he wasn’t sure how Danny would take that idea.

Danny nodded sleepily as they laid down in the grass. “What city?” His small voice asked?

“Chicago,” Jason replied, “it’s a city in the United States, in Illinois.”

“Huh, we’re pretty far away from home.” Danny’s lip trembled again.

‘This poor kid.’ Jason thought. ‘He’s been through so much in such a short time.’ Out loud he said, “Yup really far, but that means you’re really safe.” He wasn’t sure what to add, as he didn’t want to make promises Danny knew he couldn’t keep. Jason opened his mouth to keep going, but noticed that Danny’s eyes had closed. Kid was out.

“I have longer legs,” Jason had explained, “so really you’re still taking more steps than me, even if I carry you for a bit.”

There had been a few houses scattered along the country road, and luckily for the two, one of them had laundry drying out on a line. Out of the League uniform, Danny looked even smaller and younger than Jason ever remembered seeing him. Just seven years old, and he’d already gone through so much, yet Danny kept a smile on his face more often then not.

Danny kept touching his new clothes, nose wrinkling slightly at the texture of the fabric on his red and white Tshirt, the stiffness of the jean shorts he now wore. The ensemble looks a bit strange with the soft leather of the league boots, but beggars can’t be choosers and there weren’t any shoes left out to dry. It was already miracle enough that they both found clothes that fit.

They walked all day before coming across a small town. Welcome sign proclaiming it “A Nice Place to Live!”. Jason steered them clear of it, small towns weren’t safe right now. Everyone knew everyone and word of newcomers would get around fast. There was a gas station on the outskirts that had closed down for the night, and it was laughable how easy for Jason to get in. League masks covering their faces and Danny on Jason’s back, they made out with all the cash in the register as well as a backpack full of water, snacks, socks, and a change of shirts for them both.

They slept in another field that night, but if Jason’s math was right they should get to Chicago in about a day and a half, even if Danny insisted on walking most of it himself. Jason felt more at ease now that they had more then just the shirts on their backs. The backpack provided a nice cushion for Jason’s head while Danny finished the last of one of their water bottles and snacked on some jerky, pointing out more constellations with a half full mouth. There were more cars passing on the road now, but Jason had hidden them deep in some over grown pasture, so they were well out of sight.

‘Wonder what the league thinks happened to us.’ He mused internally, Danny’s words becoming mumbles as the boy pillowed his head on Jason’s stomach. ‘The blood trail would have been easy enough to follow, but it stopping at the edge of that weirdly bright pit with no sign of us anywhere else in the compound would leave more questions than answers. Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll assume we fell in and died.’ He thought with a scoff. ‘As if I’ve ever been that lucky.’

They arrived at the outskirts of Chicago mid afternoon, a bit later then Jason had predicted, but they’d had to find their way around a couple overpasses and freeways to get anywhere near the actual city instead of heading into the surrounding suburbs. They were running low on water and food again, so they’d have to stock up soon. As they walked, Jason began to slowly broach the subject of next steps with Danny.

“It’s not safe for you to come with me.” Jason told the little boy. “Gotham is dangerous by itself, and when the league find out where I am, they’ll come looking for you too.”

He could tell the thought of being separated worried Danny just as much as the prospect of the League finding him, but the boy stayed silent, league training preventing him from speaking his mind.

“You can tell me what you’re thinking kid.” Jason sighed. “I promise I won’t bite.” He wriggled his eyebrows to break the tension, and grinned when the boy giggled lightly.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Danny started, voice barely above a whisper, “but I don’t want Grandfather to find me more.” He trailed off, quiet for a bit, as Jason gave him the space to put words to what he’s feeling.

“I miss Dami, and Mother, and home,” the boys continued, tears gathering in his eyes, “I miss the mountains, and the trees, and the stars. The stars here aren’t the same.” And promptly burst into sobs.

Jason scooped him up, patting his back and shushing him softly, trying to comfort the little boy best he could.

“Bu-but I don’t wa-wanna go back!” Danny exclaimed through hiccups and tears. “Grandfather ha-hates me now! I’ll nev-never be a better heir than Dami!” Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, obviously trying to calm himself. “You said you’ll keep me sa-safe, and you’ve never lied to me before.”

“I don’t plan on starting now either.” Jason said, still rocking Danny against his chest. “I’ll make SURE you’re safe, I promise.” Jason got an idea. “We’ll get phones. Special ones just for us. That way if you ever need me, I’ll come get you right away.”

Danny looked up at that, “you promise?” Hope in his eyes obvious as he calmed in Jason’s hold, breathing deep shuddering breaths.

“Promise,” Jason said as he held out a pinky, “pinky swear on it. If you need me I’ll come as fast as I can.”

Danny interlaced his little finger with Jason’s, and wriggled to be let down. “I’ll be strong! So you don’t have to worry about me!”

“I’ll always worry about you kid.”

Jason’s pick pocketing skills proved useful as they walked the packed Chicago streets. He got more than enough money to get a couple burner phones and load them up with minutes. Found a cheep motel they could get with cash, and while the water pressure wasn’t anything Jason would call good, showering felt amazing after days of walking. Danny bounced happily on the bed, sandwich Jason had picked them up disappearing as he watched cartoons on the small boxy TV.

Library computers were a god send, as Jason was able to research options for Danny. There was some sort of adoption fair going on in the intercity in two days. Perfect to sneak Danny in and watch from a distance, make sure whatever family picked him up had good intentions. He wouldn’t have any records, but in a city the size of Chicago, with how under funded their state care system was, it would get swept under the rug as paperwork getting misfiled or a bug in the system. And Jason was sure Danny would get adopted. He was young, but he was still an assassin. Assimilating himself and endearing himself to his targets was one of the first things he’d learned. Knowing it was the safest option, and that he would still have access to Jason through his burner phone, Danny would easily be able to convince some couple that he’d be the best addition to their family. The concept was a little fucked, Jason admitted to himself, but at least it made his job a bit easier.

He and Danny spent the night cuddled up on the bed, TV on low playing some colorful children’s cartoon and Jason explained the plan. There were more tears, but they both knew this was the best course of action. The next day was spent coaching Danny on what to say if anyone questioned his presence at the fair.

“Miss Pierce dropped me off!” The name of a rather corrupt social worker, who was already being looked into for many mistakes and oversights. Script after script, answer to any question Jason could think of.

“Make them uncomfortable,” Jason advised, “no one wants to listen to a sob story, and they’re’ll be enough kids around that they won’t have the time to dig too deep.”

Danny’s acting skills were phenomenal. Like, worryingly good. Bright blue eyes could become glossy in seconds, and he remembered everything perfectly.

“You’ll do great kid. And I’ll be watching, follow you back to make sure the house is safe too.”

Stealing a “my name is” sticker from a pile in the back corner of the fair, he watched from the outskirts of the park as Danny smoothly inserted himself into the throng of children that two frazzled social workers were attempting to organize. Couples and families made their way into the designated area, kids grouped off by age, and no one noticed there was an extra child in the group. Several couples talked to Danny, but a young family of three spent the most time with him.

Jason could hear a booming laugh from the tall heavy set man all the way over from the bench he was sitting on pretending to read a news paper. His size worried Jason at first, but the goofy mannerisms and the way he so oblivious loved his wife and young daughter put Jason at ease for now. The slight auburn haired woman looked tiny in comparison, the little girl even smaller. Danny laughed at something the young ginger girl said, sitting side by side in a retainer wall in the grassy expanse of the park.

The couple watched on as Danny and their daughter played side by side, leaving an hour later with a promise that they’d be right back. Jason watched as they made a beeline for the table with the social workers in charge of the event, little girl vibrating with excitement. Danny was left alone in the grass, looking cautiously excited himself. There was a moment where the social workers looked a bit panicked, seeing as how Danny actually had no record of being there, but they hid any sign of it, simply following the young family over to where Danny was.

The plan was working perfectly. The State agents obviously assumed Danny’s paperwork just never got filed, and while they did spend a decent amount of time questioning him, Danny’s answers satisfied them as they filled out new forms. The couple signed some things, were given names and dates they’d need to remember for court documents and inspections, but when they left it was with Danny in tow.

Jason couldn’t believe how well this worked out. The GPS in Danny’s burner phone would lead him right to the new families house, so Jason was able to follow behind using busses. Amazing how much faster the public transportation was then walking, even with multiple transfers to get back to that small town he had avoided in their way to the city. The house looked weird, the parents obviously some kind of freelance scientist, but in the days Jason watched there was no sign of anything on his immediate extraction list. He called Danny every night, after the rest of the family had some to bed. Danny was adjusting and nervous, but hopeful.

“How you holding up kid?” Jason asked the night after he was brought to the family’s home.

“They’re weird but nice!” Danny had whispered. “Jack said I’m a Fenton now! And Maddy said that I fit right in! Jazz is fun to play with, she says that since we’re siblings now that means we’re best friends!”

Jason chuckled, happy to hear the boy was being treated well. “And how are you feeling?”

“I miss you. And Dami. And Mother. But if I can’t be with you then this is good, as long as I can still talk to you.”

“You’ll always be able to talk to me kiddo, and if I don’t hear from you for long enough I’ll come looking even if you don’t say anything.” Jason took a steadying breath , emotions welling up now that the time to part ways was closing in. “Remember that I’ll always be one call away, Gotham isn’t that far, and no one from the league will find you here.”

Jason stayed in Amity Park for a week, watching over Danny. Social workers came and went, and Danny settled in more every day. It would obviously take much more time before he truly felt at home, but Jason was confident he would be well taken care of, and happy with his new family in due time. He had suggested Danny write letters to his mother and twin, that even if he couldn’t send them getting the words out would do him good.

“What’s the point of writing to Dami if he doesn’t read them” Danny had asked once Jason made his suggestion.

“Who knows, maybe he can read them one day.” Jason responded, “and even if he doesn’t, it might help you feel better.”

As the last day of his hotel rental came to a close, Jason checked out and went by the brick house once more. Danny waved from a window, Jazz’s long red hair visible behind him as she grabbed something from the kitchen cupboard. There was some scaffolding on the roof now, seemed the Fenton parents were adding some sort of structure on top of the building, but Jason focused on Danny’s face as he waved back. He pulled out his phone and texted a simple, “see you later” and walked to the bus station that would take him back towards Chicago. It would be easier to find his way back to Gotham once he had a ride of his own, and the city would make much better cover for acquiring a nondescript bike.

Jason was so happy when Danny talked about making his first friend. A boy in his second grade class had been getting picked on by some of the other kids.

“They were being so mean to him!” Danny had exclaimed one night on a phone call with Jason. “I wanted to punch that stupid Dash in the throat! But I didn’t!”

“Good job controlling yourself kiddo.” Jason had praised him. “I’m sure just being your friend helps him to feel better.”

“Yeah Tucker probably would’ve been scared if I hurt Dash,” Danny continued thoughtfully, “but one day I’ll figure out how to give Dash a taste of his own medicine without it being traced back to me.”

“That’s the spirit Danny,” Jason chuckled, “just make sure there’s no blood, remember that he’s just a kid too.”

“He’s an asshole of a kid though.” Danny pouted, and Jason lost his battle to the full belly laughter he’d been holding back.

“It’s true! Don’t laugh at me!” Danny cried, “You’re kinda an asshole too Jay.” He grumbled under his breath until Jason finally got ahold of himself.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jason wheezed, “I’m not laughing AT you I swear, it’s just a little funny to hear you talk like that, you gotta admit!”

“I do suppose it must be rather jarring.” Danny said in his best snooty prince voice, before breaking out into giggles himself. “Ok yeah I see what you mean.” Danny admitted once they had both caught their breath. “Everything is so different here.”

“But a good different, yeah?” Jason asked

“Yeah, a good different.”

Jason made sure to call Danny often, and Danny did the same, but as time went on the length between calls got further. Danny got busy with school and new friends, civilian life being surprisingly fraught with stress and joy alike. Holding himself back from showing some of these kids what he could truly do was difficult at times, but if he wanted to keep his new life he’d have to act the part. Jason was living the vigilante and crime lord life in equal measure, both causing and stopping disasters, and helping out during the semi-annual World Ending Events (TM).

There were several times when Jason almost went back to Amity Park, the urge to see that Danny was safe in person so strong he almost hoped on his bike to ride east, but Danny managed to talk him down over the phone every time. The worst was always after some big attack or timeline altering event.

“I’m Fineeeeee Jay!”

“I know, I know, but I had to make sure!”

“You know if you try to come out here after every big battle your family is going to get suspicious.”

“Their your family too ya know”

“I’ve never met B in my life, he doesn’t get to claim me as part of his furry brigade.”

Their laughter always calmed Jason down enough to remember why their only communication was through the burner phones, ones he had highly encrypted the second he’d gotten back to Gotham, and walked Danny through doing the same to his. It was to dangerous to go see Danny in person, especially with the way Talia had been on his ass the second she realized he was back in Gotham.

“I want her to know I’m alive,” Danny had said in one of their calls, just before Jason’s first encounter with Talia, “but not where I am.”

Luckily with how they had been deposited in the middle of nowhere Midwest by a magic portal no one knew about, it was pretty hard to trace an exact location. Sure, given time, Talia would probably be able to do it, but Jason had managed to convince her this was the best possible solution for Danny’s happiness.

“Where is my SON!” Talia had almost gotten the drop on him. Jason’d only been in Gotham for a few days before Talia appeared behind him while he was scouting one of Black Masks bases.

Jason hadn’t jumped. He absolutely did not. Maybe just a little hop. She definitely didn’t scare him thank you very much.

“Not here.” he’d said hurriedly, voice distorted by his helmet, grappling off the building down to where his bike was.

He lead her back to his most secure safe house, one that scanned for bugs or transmitting devices the second you entered. Talia lit up like a Christmas tree with all the devices she had on.

“I’ll tell you what I can, but first all of that has to go.” Jason was not negotiating on that one. Talia, obviously disgruntled by being told what to do by a 19 year old she’d personally cared for while he was recovering from his death and subsequent resurrection, tried to be sneaky and leave a couple trackers and listening devices on Jason, but even without the tech alerting him, he was trained by the Bat himself, and Talia wasn’t gonna get anything by him, especially if it would put Danny in danger.

“He’s alive.” Jason had confirmed, once Talia had put all her equipment in a lead lined box.

“Where is he?” She had demanded, desperation leaking through the tight control in her voice. “Where is my son?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. Not after what happened-“

“Nonsense!” She cut him off, “he is MY SON, he belongs with ME!”

“After you failed to protect him?” Jason was getting angry now. “I know you love him Talia but he’s OUT! He’s safe! He is finally getting to be the kid that he is-“

“He is no normal child!” Jason was getting tired of being interrupted. “He is a prince! One of the Demon Twins! He belongs with me! With his brother!”

“And he would be if you had stood up to Ras! If you-“

“My father is-“

“Stop!” Jason was done. “YOU allowed your children to be brought into Ra’s’ sphere! You could’ve hidden them away, put them somewhere safe! But no, you thought that you could convince your father to have an actual heart!” He took a deep breath to steady himself, Talia blessedly silent for once. “You put them both in danger, and just because Damian hasn’t been irrevocably harmed yet, doesn’t give you the right to Danny after what the kids been through.”

“I just want him to be safe,” Talia finally admitted. “After I heard- once I’d discovered what my father had ordered,”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Jason cut her off this time. “You failed your duty to Danny as a mother. You lost the right to be the one watching over him.”

“I followed the trail. I thought it would be easy to find you both, that the blood would lead me right too you. But when the trail ended at the edge of that cliff-“

“Cliff?” Jason asked, confused.

“The cliff.” Talia said, as if he was being intentionally obtuse. “The one in the cavern behind the Lazarus Pit? The trail of blood ended there.”

Whatever portal had brought him and Danny away from Nanda Parbat must have closed, taking the Not-Pit with it.

“I won’t tell you where he is.” Jason stated again. “And I won’t tell you how we got out.”

Talia sighed, “But he is safe?”

“As safe as I could make him. And he’ll only stay that way if neither of us interfere. If Ras catches wind he’s still alive…”

“He won’t.” Talia affirmed. “My father assumes him gone, that his plan worked, but the assailant was never found. He may become suspicious, especially since there was no body recovered, and you disappeared the same night.”

“Then you have to lead him to believe I got out myself, under the cover of the chaos.”

“And Damian? He is grieving his twin.”

“He’s too young. He may be a good assassin, but we can’t expect a seven year old to hide the fact that his twin brother is alive out in the world somewhere. Even if he doesn’t say anything outright-“

“The change in attitude could alert my father, yes.”

Jason asked Danny after, if there was anything he wanted Jason to pass on. It would be a risk, letting Talia know they were still in contact, but if Danny wanted to get a message out that was his right, in Jason’s mind.

“I’ll keep writing my letters, to mother and Dami, but I’m not ready for them to read them yet.” Had been Danny’s response.

“It’s up to you kid,” Jason replied, “when it comes to this, you’re in control.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time kept moving forward, and Jason’s cluster fuck of a family continued their crusade of miscommunication and chaos. The biggest bump in the road came when Damian was dropped off in Gotham. Kid lived up to his name Demon Prince for sure, and Jason watched from afar, only interfering when he knew about the situation and felt it absolutely necessary. Damian refused to even acknowledge that he knew Jason from his childhood in Nanda Parbat, and Jason played along.

Jumping between The Outlaws and his position as head of the Red Hood Gang, he kept in touch with Danny as much as possible, but deciding what to tell the boy about his brother was difficult. He didn’t want to scare Danny, or make him feel guilty for his relatively peaceful civilian life, but he felt obligated to at least keep him updated once everyone was okay and the danger of the week had passed. He didn’t tell Danny everything, Jason knew he himself didn’t even know the half of the shit Damian and the rest of the Bat Brigade got up to, but Danny deserved to know that his twin was in Gotham with their father at least.

Years passed, trauma and death following Jason and his family like a shadow, and Jason began keeping more and more from Danny. ‘He’s just a civilian child now,’ Jason reasoned with himself, ‘there’s no way I’m putting any of this shit on him.’ Danny still asked about his twin, and Jason gave him the PC version of events, skipping over some things entirely.

Reconciliation with Bruce, and Jason’s ever growing collection of adoptive siblings, was slow going. One step forward a hundred steps back kind of slow going, but Danny encouraged him to keep trying.

“He’s your father and he loves you.” Danny would state unequivocally. “He’ll have to accept that you two have different methods and morals eventually.” Really, for a kid only 12 years old, Danny was wiser than many people triple his age, but in the end he was still a child, and had the emotional and impulse control to match.

Danny updated Jason on his life in every call, complaining about school and chores and homework like any child his age. He spoke about his friends and adoptive family, about fitting in and learning about the world around him. Hiding the calls got more complicated as Danny got older, the Fenton parents easy to dodge with how much they worked, but Jazz was another story. Danny’s older sister was smart, and paid far too much attention to his actions for Danny’s liking.

“She’s so nosy!” Danny complained to Jason. “She acts like shes an adult already!”

“I’m sure she’s just looking out for you,” Jason consoled the disgruntled preteen, “if you wanted to, I’m sure you could open up to her a bit. She seems mature enough to keep your secrets, as long as they don’t put you in danger.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Danny sighed, “I think I might tell her about you, at least so I don’t have to be so worried about hiding the phone. She’s almost caught us talking a couple times now.”

“She probably already knows about the phone, especially if she’s as perceptive as you’ve told me.” Jason said. “She might just be waiting for you to come to her.”

“I’ll tell her. Say you’re an older brother or cousin or something. That you couldn’t take me in back then, and that’s why I was at the adoption fair.”

“Whatever you want kid, you don’t have to tell her anything you don’t feel comfortable with.”

Things settled into a new normal as Jason began working with the Bats more regularly. He still had his Gang, and The Outlaws, but he found himself turning to his father and siblings more regularly; helping them when they asked for it, and sometimes when they didn’t. He’s pretty sure Barbie knows about Danny, Oracle sees everything after all, but she’s kept her findings to herself to Jason’s knowledge, so he didn’t bring it up.

Danny and Damian turned fourteen, new horizons opening up with their freshman year of high school looming closer. Danny seemed more distant lately, but Jason tried not to worry too much. Puberty’s a bitch and Danny probably wants to figure stuff out on his own without telling Jason about every little thing. They still talk, but less regularly than they used to, and Jason could tell Danny was holding things back.

‘It’s a normal stage of development.’ Jason told himself. ‘Once he feels more stable in his own skin again I’m sure he’ll be more comfortable talking to me about what he’s been up to.’

Danny seemed more tired on their calls as well, but promised it was just late nights out with friends, or school assignments left for the last minute. Jason felt there might be more to it, but didn’t push. He didn’t want Danny to feel cornered, so Jason made it his mission to make sure Danny knew that he could tell Jason anything, and that he would always be there if the kid needed him.

“And I think that their fundamentally incorrect understanding of ecto-entities will get in the way! I don’t know what they’ll come up with but I’m sure it won’t end up good for me.” Danny grumbled. “You know how they are! We’ve both tried to show them evidence ghosts are sentient, feeling beings but they refuse to even acknowledge any of it! They mental gymnastics it at an Olympic level to make it fit their theories.”

Buzzing in his pocket had Jason pulling out his phone to an alert, he’d set up something to notify him when That phone got a call or text. He didn’t want to be carrying it around, with his luck it’d get broken on patrol, or worse, one of his family members might see it.

Making his way back down into his apartment, Jason went straight to the bottom drawer of the bedside table where he kept the burner phone. Thing was ancient at this point, but still functioned, and honestly? Old tech was harder to hack with modern remote methods. Still buzzing with a call Jason brought it to his ear.

“Hey Danny, what’s up?”

Jason turned stark white and ran from the apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“How could everything have gone so wrong so fast.” Jazz thought frantically as she hid around a corner.

The day had been going perfectly to plan. Mom and Dad were sat on the blanket she and Danny laid out, Dad digging into his fudge and mom focused on fixing the lipstick laser in her hand.

“Mom, Dad,” Danny started, “I have something to tell you.” He sounded nervous, nervous enough that they both focused on Danny immediately.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Maddie asked, still turning the broken laser in her hand.

“Yeah, Danno, what’s on your mind?” Jack said.

“Remember how when you guys had just finished the portal, you tried to turn it on, but nothing happened?” Danny’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Yes? We assumed it was a timing issue-” Maddy began.

“Yeah! Just needed to sit for a bit!" Jack exclaimed.

“Well it wasn’t so much a timing issue as it was a… wiring issue.” Danny said hesitantly.

“A wiring issue?” Maddie said. “No, if it was-“

“Time doesn’t fix wiring Danno!”

“- a wiring issue then we would’ve had to-”

“GUYS!” Jazz didn’t quite yell, but her voice did get louder. “Listen to Danny’s explanation, please!”

“Sorry Danno!”

“Sorry sweetie, go ahead.”

“Yeah, so,” Danny continued, “there was a, well, there’s no easy way to say this really,” he fidgeted with his hands, before continuing, “you guys put an on button inside the portal.”

“But Danny, if there was an on button inside, how did it get turned on?” Maddie asked, clearly not believing her son. “That much electric output, plus the-”

“The ecto-overload alone would’ve melted anyone inside when it opened!” Jack interrupted.

“Yeah…” Danny was stalling at this point. He just needed to get it out and over with.

“The combination of the two, ectoplasm and electricity, in such high concentrations…” Maddie trailed off, gaining a strange look in her eyes.

The floodgates finally broke. The whole story spills right out of Danny’s mouth, from the stupid dare that got him to go in the portal in the first place, tripping on the wires and hitting the on button on the wall. Waking up with Sam and Tucker over him, powers developing, ghost fights, just one last detail to show them.

“How have we never seen you using these powers?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, we’re out every day fighting those spooks! We would’ve noticed!” Jack agreed.

This was it. The moment that would determine everything. Danny took a deep breath.

“Because I’m Phantom.” He transformed as he said it, letting the bright rings separate around him, floating off the ground as he watched nervously for whatever reaction was coming.

He never got to see it.

The second Phantom was hovering in the air above their blanket, the park exploded with noise and light. GIW agents came pouring out of the trees and screeching into the parking lot with their white vans. A group of them shot what looked like a modified Fenton Ghost Net right at Phantom, dragging him down as it wrapped around him and stuck.

“DANNY!” Jazz screamed, scrambling to her feet to try and chase after her little brother.

Jack and Maddie were still sitting, looking shell shocked. They watched as Danny was dragged into a van, Jazz chasing behind them, until one of the men pulled out a device, aiming it at Jazz.

“Ecto-contamination level 3, detain immediately for examination and purification.” The robotic voice sounded out. The agents that weren’t busy driving away with Danny in tow turned on her, dark intent in their eyes.

Finally Jack and Maddie snapped out of their haze. “You step away from my baby!” Maddie yelled, pulling a collapsible bo staff out of some invisible pocket.

Jack jumped up to rush at the crowd of white suits, yelling, “Get out of here Jazzyrinces!”

Jazz watched in horror at she lost sight of the van that had taken Danny. Dodging Guys in White, she booked it toward where she last saw it turn, hoping for some sort of clue. It was hopeless. There was no way she could catch up to a van on foot. Her phone buzzed as she pulled it out, Tuckers name filling the screen.

“Jazz! Please tell me Danny’s still there! He’s not answering my calls and when I saw what’s on the rest of the GIW server-“

“They took him.” Jazz’s voice shook. “They were waiting the whole time and they TOOK HIM.” She was crying now

“No. NO! I was so close! If I had just cracked the sigil a bit earlier-” Sam’s voice was tight with anger and frustration.

“Can you find him?” Jazz cut in. There was no time for self deprecation right now.

“We will. I promise.” Tucker swore as he hung up.

Jazz what at a loss. What were the next steps. No way she was waiting around for Tucker to find something.

“The BOOmerang!” She said out loud to herself. It could work, it tracked Danny before, should track him now.

Jazz ran back to the house, pulling apart the lab in search of anything that could track Danny. The BOOmerang was nowhere to be found. Jazz ran back upstairs to look in Danny’s room, but no luck. She did , however, find an old outdated flip phone. She knew that there was only one person that Danny used this phone to call.

They needed help, and Jazz knew of only one person that was outside Amity, and also gave enough of a shit to try and get them that help. Danny didn’t want to tell him, but if he was able to help Danny escape from his life before in Gotham than maybe Jason will have the skills to help find Danny and get him out of wherever the GIW put him.

She pressed on the saved number, and pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hey Danny, what’s up?” So this is Jason.

“This is Jazz. Jasmine, Danny’s older sister.” Jazz had no idea where to even start. But they needed help and fast, so she pushed on before he could question her. “Danny has been abducted by a government agency known as the Ghost Investigation Ward. I have people working on finding him, but Danny was our heavy hitter and without him our chances of breaking into wherever they’re keeping him and getting out alive are slim. Can you help us?” There. Short and to the point, getting across the urgency without giving everything away.

“Whoa whoa whoa, what? Ima need some more information.”

Jazz sighed. “Time really is of the essence here.”

“We can talk while I drive.” Jazz heard the roar of an engine, presumably from Jason motorcycle if Danny was to be believed. “Now what’s this Ghost Investigation Ward, and why is Danny involved.”

Jazz sighed. Danny would be pissed at her, but she couldn’t outright lie here, not without potentially messing with Jason ability to help them get to Danny.

“Danny was exposed to an incredible amount of ectoplasm when our parents portal to the infinite realms opened.” Jazz started, “His ectoplasm contamination levels are high enough to subject him to the Ectoplasmic Containment and Termination Operative Acts, or the ECTO Acts.”

“The fucking what Acts? What are the “infinite realms”? Also ectoplasm as in Ghosts?” Jason broke in, clearly confused.

“Yes, ghosts are real, the Infinite Realms is sort of a dimensional in between, where most ghosts reside.” Jazz stated in a no nonsense tone.

“Yeah, okay, sure, but these ECTO Acts are in direct violation of the Meta Rights Protection Acts. There’s no way-“

“Lex Luthor’s presidency got a lot passed a lot of people.”

“That goddamn scumbag,” Jason mumbled.

“So, can you help us?” Jazz asked again. She needed to be sure.

“Hood, where are you going like a bat out of hell?” Well, he silenced everything but Barbara. He never had figured out how to keep Oracle out of his business

“Nothing you need to worry about, O.” Jason replied, tone clipped.

“You sure about that, Hood? Cause theres not many things that would make you rush out of Gotham like this, and the Outlaws would’ve picked you up.”

Damn perceptive Barbie. Can’t get shit done without her knowing about it. “I can handle it.” He insisted.

“Yeah, I’m sure having someone research the back end of the problem would be such a hardship.” Barbara drawls. Jason could practically hear the raised eyebrow.

“Hmnn,” Honestly he wasn’t so against the idea of getting help with the reaserch part, especially since Barbie definitely already knew about Danny. “I need whatever you can find about the Ghost Investigation Ward and the Ectoplasmic Containment and Termination Operative Acts.”

“Of course it’s ghosts, why would I expect anything normal with this family.” Babs muttered. “I’ll send it your way once I have something.” And she was gone. Not even a click. Jason really needed to figure out how to up his security, but honestly, if he wanted to keep O off his helmet he’d probably need her help with the coding, and she’d just give herself an emergency back door anyways. He briefly played with the idea of contacting the Outlaws, but they all had shit on their plates already, and he didn’t want to have to explain the whole backstory.

There was one more person that maybe should be informed about the situation, who could probably help, but Jason wasn’t sure the repercussions of letting him in the loop would be worth the help he’d give. He’d decide once he had a better idea of what they were dealing with. For now he just focused on getting to Amity as fast as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jazz never did find the Boomerang. The organization system in that lab was so far past hazardous that it was an active threat- she doesn’t even wanna know how Danny always manages to find what he needs. At least the security system was keeping GIW agents out, she’d managed both a snack and a shower after her search. It was a bit concerning that neither of her parents had shown, but Jazz really didn’t have the bandwidth to worry about them right now.

She poked her head arround the corner, scanning for GIW agents. Seeing none, she booked it crossed the street, making her way to the Manson Mansion. Well, not the main house, but the garden shed around back she knew Danny, Tucker, and Sam had turned into a backup base of operations for when Fentonworks wasn’t an option.

Sam was already inside, going over books and scrolls. “Tuck’s on his way,” she said, not looking up, “GIW at his house.”

“Of course they are,” Jazz shook her head. “They’re either searching for me, or for anyone with high enough Ecto-contamination to fall under the acts.”

“What’s the threshold on that? Is there even actual measurements?” Sam muttered, mostly to herself.

“No clue, probably not.” Jazz answered anyway. “I called in some reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements?” Sam actually looked up at that. “Who do we even have to call that’s not ghostly enough to also be in danger?”

“Not we,” Jazz responded, “Danny. Well, I don’t know if he’s told you and Tuck anything about Jay?”

“J? J-what?”

“Jay. Danny’s older brother.”

“Danny has an older brother? Since when?” Sam was sounding a bit indignant.

“Since always I assume, he didn’t even tell me about him till he’d been living with us for years, but he’s always had this little old flip phone that he tried to keep hidden. It’s the only contact they have.”

“A whole older brother.” Sam grumbled. “That boy and his secrets I swear-“

“What now?” Tucker said, announcing his entrance. “How could he possibly have any secrets left at this point?”

“One should never underestimate Danny’s ability to hide important personal details.” Sam muttered, clearly annoyed. “I swear, if we hadn’t been there when it happened, we’d have no clue he’s our towns very own dead superhero.”

“There are signs of you pay close enough attention,” Jazz stated, feeling a bit smug.

“If you live with him 24/7 maybe,” Tucker joked. “So what’s the latest secret?”

“Apparently, an entire older brother.” Sam said, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the open book in front of her.

“His name is Jay,” Jazz said magnanimously.

“At this point I’m not at all surprised.” Tucker sighed as he took a seat next to Sam, pulling his laptop out of his bag. “Danny’s tight lipped about his life before he got adopted. So what about this Jay?”

“He’s the one that got Danny out of Gotham. I called and he said he can help.” Jazz said. “He’s on his way now.”

“Gotham?” Tucker asked. “I thought he was from Chicago?”

“Apparently not.” Sam muttered.

“We adopted him out of Chicago, yes,” Jazz started, “but from what he’s told me he and Jay are from Gotham.”

“Well at least a Gothamite won’t be to thrown off by all the- well” Tuck faltered.

“The Gostly Bullshit?” Sam offered.

“Yeah that!”

“Any luck on pinning down where they’re taking Danny?” Jazz asked. “They threw him in a van, but I lost them after the first turn.”

“Not yet, I’m thinking they’re using magic to hide from my usual tracking methods.” Tucker said dejectedly. “Hoping Sam will have something to counteract that?” He glanced over at their resident witch.

“I’ve tried three tracking spells already, no dice.” Sam said with her nose in a scroll. “It doesn’t help that I can’t exactly tell what out of all of this actually works. And the GIW probably has something to block exactly this, considering that apparently, the one thing they’re actually good at is magic.”

“Where did you get all this anyways?” Jazz asked, glancing that the books and scrolls sprawled across the tabletop.

“Won it in a game of cards from a sad British man in a trench coat.” Sam said, a smug grin on her face.

“Do I want to know why you were gambling with a sad British man?” Jazz asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Probably not, no!” Sam said happily.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jason had been riding at frankly irresponsible speeds for the last 7 hours, but in his defense, most of it was straight open highways, and his bike made 175 feel like 75 with how smooth she runs. He slowed down considerably as he closed in on Amity Park, Illinois.

Something felt different as he drove closer and closer to the town. The last time he was in Amity was 9 years ago, but it felt like the air itself was made of caffeine now. Jason felt more awake than he had in his entire life. Amity did have some sort of effect on the pit last time he was here, but its influence on him is basically nonexistent nowadays, so he can’t use that as a gauge.

Either way, something was different about Amity Park, and Jason would bet his last dollar that whatever it was, Danny was right in the middle of it. It was a family trait, after all.

“Jay, why does this shady government agency have a magic firewall?”

And there was Barbara, timing as impeccable as always.

“I dunno Barbie, you’re the tech wizard here.” Jason said with a grin.

“Har har,” she said, obviously not appreciating his brilliant pun. “For real though, this thing is basically alive. I might need to call in Z if I want to get past it. There’s a damn spell circle made of code! I didn’t even know that was a thing you could do!”

Jay wasn’t ecstatic about bringing in someone with no stake in the situation, but Zatanna wasn’t the worst option if they needed magical insight. “Do what you gotta. Got anything else for me?”

“Yeah, these ECTO Acts are fucked up.” Barbara stated. “Looks like Luthor passed them buried between some environmental acts, and the congressmen either didn’t care, or didn’t read carefully enough to tell Eco- from Ecto. They were officially passed through, so getting them off the books will take some work.”

“Of course they were.” Jason sighed. “Anything we can do quietly?”

“Unlikely.” Barbara said sympathetically. “The Justice League does have lobbyists, and Bruce has his own, but this is gonna take social pressure and time.”

“Great,” Jason said sarcastically. “Any other good news?”

“Yeah, everyone’s getting curious what you’re up to.” Barbara said apologetically. “I’m trying to keep them focused on other things, but-“

“They’re nosy assholes who don’t know the meaning of leave it be?” Jason finished for her.

Babs sighed, “Yeah, that.”

“They can wonder all they like, as long as they don’t dig too deep. I’m not cleaning that mess up.” Jason muttered. He knows B especially will want to know every little detail, and Jason doesn’t plan on spilling.

“Thanks O, keep me updated?”

“Will do.”

Jason called Jazz as he closed in on Amity Park.

“Jay?” She asked. That was fair, he had called from his cell, not the burner. Hopefully she knows better than to save any numbers in Danny’s phone.

“Yeah it’s me,” he replied, “are you at home? I’m about 15 minutes out.”

“No, Fentonworks isn’t exactly a secure location at the moment.” Jazz replies, sounding nervous.

“Where should I meet you?” He asked once the silence had stretched out a bit too long. She was hiding something.

More silence, some shuffling, and then finally, “I’ll send you the address.”

Said address popped up on the display in his helmet visor. “See you soon then.” Jason said as he took the exit off the highway and made his way into Amity Park.

~~~~~~~~~~

“He’s almost here.” Jazz stated as she closed the flip phone. “So we gotta decide now what we’re saying and what we’re not.”

“Well that’s easy,” Sam said from the couch, “tell him as little as possible.”

Tucker nodded, “Yeah, this Jay might be Danny’s older brother, but we don’t know him and Danny obviously hasn’t told him much. We should respect that.”

“Well might not have much of a choice if we want his help.” Jazz said, looking around the shed. It was well build out, an ideal backup base. There was even a full sized fridge, and hammocks for emergency naps. “He already knows that Danny’s Ecto-contaminated enough the fall under the acts. Also that I’m working with people to find him, but he was our heavy hitter and we need help to get him out.”

“Then let’s keep it at that.” Sam said. “That’s more than enough info for him to get started. If we absolutely have to clarify something, we can, but keep it to a minimum.”

“Yeah we can explain liminality and stuff if we have to, but I doubt Danny would be happy with us if we just spill everything.” Tucker agreed.

“Jay seems pretty perceptive,” Jazz said, “he might pick up on things without us actually saying anything outright.”

“We’ll deal with that when it comes to it.” Sam dismissed. “He knows to go around back and not come up to the main house, yeah?”

“Yes, I told him to he discreet.” Jazz responded.

“I’ve narrowed down Danny’s location to a few nearby bases.” Tucker interjected. “Most of the farther ones are either still under construction, too far to be reasonable, or not equipped to hold someone as powerful as Danny. Ruled a couple more out for similar reasons, and after we broke Jonny and Kitty out of the one closest to us, I doubt the GIW will be holding him there.”

“That’s good!” Jazz encouraged, “Any progress on the magic side of things, Sam?”

“Well I’ve put up warding against they spying on us, and managed to figure out at least one of the spells they’re using to block me, but I haven’t been able to narrow down a location.” Sam said. “I know he’s still in the states, but that’s about it right now.”

“Sounds like progress to me!” Jazz said, trying her best to sound positive. “Maybe Jay will have some way to get more information or narrow things down further.”

“I just wish Danny had let me make a summons for him.” Sam sighed. “It would make all this so much easier.”

“He was worried about outsiders finding it or figuring it out.” Tucker explained at Jazz’s confused look.

“Can we create one now?” Jazz asked.

“No, it needs his input and consent, otherwise it needs more power than I’m capable of.” Sam replied. “Not to mention the GIW may have found a way to block that too.”

“Well how many bases in the US can hold him?” Jazz asked, turning to Tucker.

“Not many,” Tucker replied. “Max 7, but that’s generous. He’s most likely either in Chicago, Metropolis, Star City, or San Francisco.”

“Did you find how they were tracking him?” Jazz asked.

“They got ahold of his Ecto Signature somehow.”

“How’d they manage that?” Sam asked. “They’d need to have Danny for a few hours at least to run the scan to get one accurate enough to track him.”

“That’s what I can’t figure out!” Tucker exclaimed. “This says they extracted it from specimen P-02 in the San Francisco base, but…”

“Wait”

“DANI!” They all yelled at once.

“How could we have forgotten about Dani!”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that 5 hours ago-“

“Shit how long have they had Dani-“

Their panic was interrupted by a knock at the door. The sudden silence was deafening.

Jazz was the first one to recover her senses, and walked over to the door. The man on the other side was much bigger than expected, not quite Jack Fenton sized but surprisingly close.

“Jay?” She asked, still blocking the doorway. It couldn’t hurt to be cautious after all.

“Yeah, it’s Jay, you Jazz?” Jason asked, even though he knew the answer to his question already.

THIS IS ME EVERYTIME I SEE YOU ADD MORE TO THIS PROMPT.

I am in LOVE with the way you write and how it keeps me captive I am not kidding.

I'm excited, I'm at the edge of my seat! I need more, but take your time I understand its always worth the wait.

Actually that makes a lot of sense but still hurts. Why didn't Danny tell him? He could've helped make their safe house, or whatever this was, safer and better! Jason sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache forming. Because of course being a Wayne meant you couldn't get out of being a vigilante.

"Of course this is what he wasn't telling me. He just had to get into crime fighting. God please tell me he isn't running around in bright spandex too."

The way the trio shared looks gave Jason his answer as he groaned louder. You weren't a Wayne if you didn't he guessed by now. He rubbed his face with his hands before running them through his hair. He sat down on one of the chairs and stared at Jazz.

"Please tell me he's at least had help and hasn't been doing it by himself."

The trio shared looks again and Jason sighed. Good on them for helping Danny and keeping his secrets safe but he needed information if he was gonna be able to help. If what Jazz told him was true then Danny has been missing for hours now and is probably already in a secondary location.

So I've seen AUs where Ra's tries to sacrifice Damien to GK!Danny, and I've seen AUs where dead or injured Danyal got thrown in the pit and was transported somewhere he could be found by the Fentons instead of revived/healed.

Let's combine the two.

No.

This couldn’t be happening.

Danyal had won.

Danyal had beaten him.

Danyal had proven himself worthy.

So why?

Why was the King taking his brother?

Why wouldn’t the guards let go of him?

He needed to save his brother.

Danyal was better than him.

Danyal may have not been stronger

Danyal may have not been swifter

Danyal may have not been smarter

But Danyal was kinder.

Danyal deserved to live.

Danyal deserved to live with their father.

Danyal deserved to escape.

So why?

Why was his brother chosen?

Wait.

Was that why his brother was chosen?

Did the Ghost King know what he had done?

Did the Ghost King know Danyal was the “weaker” twin?

Why?

Why did the Ghost King have to take Danyal?

He would have been satisfied dying so his brother would live.

How was he going to live knowing his brother was gone?

Why?

Why?

Damian’s heart dropped.

“Tell them Danyal!” He was screaming his throat raw.

But his brother said nothing.

Danyal didn’t move. He did not make one move of resistance as the guards grabed under his arms and dragged him forward. He didn’t back away as the entity came closer. Gently grabbing the boy’s hand in a mockery of tenderness. He didn’t resist as the creature pulled him forward, into the bubbling pool of Lazarus water that sizzled against his league uniform.

Danyal turned to Damian to give his twin a sad smile.

And even as Damian thrashed against the guards’ hold on him, screaming whatever he could to refute the entity's claim on his brother. To beg for his twin to be spared. Crying that they are taking the wrong one.

Titus gently nosed at one of Damian's hands. Hoping to help his owner calm from what was a horrible nightmare. Damian of course reacted to the gentle nudge. He reached down and pet Titus while still staring at the wall. The dreams were getting worse and worse. Damian was remembering that day almost every night.

Dead End Call

Dani's constant "help. help. emergency help." And Hal's prolonged moment of realization of What Kind Of Situation Exactly He Hung Up On just getting worse and worse, with Flash giving that final blow of verbal confirmation of just how bad Amity Park is...

Danny's gravelly injured. He's completely dying as he's fighting to keep his people safe. Imagine the absolute horror on the heroes faces when they see how easily this branch of GOVERNMENT is shooting down kids and innocent people.

Watching them shoot a literal child out of the sky then celebrate thinking they've won the war. It makes all of them feel sick watching this happen. Especially when Dani starts thrashing in Flash's hold screaming in panic as the kid that was falling from the sky is caught by the same people who shot him out of it.

....

....

.....

I

....

I had another 11pm brain worm.

Enjoy

-x-x-

Daniel Wayne, the younger toddler brother of Bruce Wayne and the son of Martha and Thomas Wayne had been kidnapped the night their parents were murdered.

Daniel had been snagged the moment their killer heard people headed to the alley and Bruce in his state of shock didn't realize it until it was far to late and could only scream in horror (from everything) as his baby brother is crying his name. (If you wanna make it even more heart wrenching, make it Danny's first time being able to say Bruce's name right and/or Bruce had said some mean things to Danny earlier after he accidentally broke something of Bruce's, something like 'I wish youd go away' or 'I never wanted a brother, you're such a bother!')

Bruce is being held by Alfred as some police officers are chasing down the Wayne's parents killer while some stay behind to see if they could do something.

Minutes turn to hours and as they wait, praying the police at least found Danny, Bruce is ridden with guilt. From his parents death to allowing his brother to be kidnapped.

Eventually the police return to give Alfred and Bruce the news. And it's not good.

The killer escaped and Danny was nowhere to be found.

And it would take many years before he would be found.

-x-x-

Bruce gets a call from Damian during school hours one day. When he answers he is greeted with Damian demanding him to get to the school and explain himself.

Confused Bruce asks what does he mean and Damian responds with

"The two new students in class today are the spitting images of you and I father! Either they are poorly created clones or you have more hidden blood children!"

-x-x-

Meanwhile the very students being discussed are calling up someone too

"Ellie? Dan? What's wrong? You better not have made too much chaos already, I just paid for the uniforms for that place."

"DAD! I THINK ANOTHER ONE OF THE FRUITLOOPS FAILED CLONES SOMEHOW SURVIVED!"

Bruce rushes over to the school (the pros of being a billionaire who can leave at the drop of a hat from wherever with very few consequences) and reaches there in record time. Damian meanwhile is stalking Ellie and Dan through the day to see what they're doing. Damian gets called to the office because his father's there.

Ellie and Dan who'd been taking great pains to act normal breathe a sigh of relief when they discover Damian making haste to leave. One of them (take your pick) slips off to check out what is going on with the weird looking clone who was spying on them.

Plus Danny and kids being openly suspicious of this billionaire?? *chefs kiss*

Most of the siblings are eagerly watching but trying SO HARD to not overwhelm Bruce's long lost little brother and his kids. It's bad enough that Damian has got off to such a bad start with the new cousins. They all meet in the hallways now and it's like two semi-feral cats (Dan and Damien) and one mischievous ferret (Ellie) having a stand off.

Dan and Damien: *locked gazes and raised hackles*

Ellie: *trying to decided which BatBurger would be the best option to stage an after school brawl behind*

Dick, in the distance: "I have the sudden premonition that I should check in on Damien today."

Steph, also in the distance: "Something's happening. I don't know what but I want to be there."

MEANWHILE

Danny, on the phone with Tucker and Sam: "He has a creepy lair in his basement I just KNOW IT."

Batman, lurking: *sweats*

Red Robin, watching Batman Lurk™️: *trying not to laugh*

Duke has only met Danny so far as Signal, but former Teen Hero Danny Fenton spots him and is SO intent on giving this young hero high calorie snacks or even a damn gatorade. If he sees him he will sprint into the closest store if he has to. Duke has a large collection of random post-it notes or wrappers/bottles with affirmations and gratitude Danny wrote. (It goes with other similarly sentimental gifts from Gotham citizens).

Danny hasn't MET Cass personally, but he has taken the kids to a ballet performance once with Jazz when she visited as "cultural enrichment". Surprisingly, Dan liked it more than anyone thought he would. Ballet is incredibly physically demanding, and he can see the beauty in that in their movements.

Jason tho. Jason sees Danny eye sad-wet cat Brucie Wayne with deep suspicion and immediately pushes his way into the Fenton's lives.

Jason LOVES Uncle Danny. Both because it gets Bruce's panties in an absolute twist and because something about the Fenton family just clicks with him. (Danny has absolutely clocked Jason as having returned from the dead. He's not a halfa or a ghost, but he has died and returned from the dead. Probably some type of Revenant? Danny's not sure when or how to broach the topic as they don't know each other well enough yet to our themselves, but Jason being around the family in the meantime will be good for him. Plus the kiddos love'm.)

Bruce is struggling to get his emotional constipation under control long enough to establish a non-hostile or unintentionally-creepy-billionaire relationship again with his baby brother.

Meanwhile Jason is already on the couch playing games with Ellie and Dan. He's already ordered himself a "I'm Someone's Favorite Nephew" mug which he absolutely drinks from at the Manor almost exclusively while he's there. Alfred allows this, given Jason got Danny to agree to meet him.

Jason will happily give Bruce the middle finger but he loves Alfred fiercely. It takes a bit but eventually Danny agrees to meet him. Jason takes Ellie and Dan out for the day to terrorize Gotham, and leaves the two older men to talk.

Danny has a long talk with Alfred, who absolutely has tried so so hard not to cry during all this, but absolutely does eventually. He must have felt so guilty for so long, his beloved friends Thomas and Martha gone, and their youngest son Daniel stolen and he had been unable to do anything but hold Young Master Bruce in both their grief. And yet here he is, a kind father to two beautiful children, telling him he's happy and grew up with a family who, despite a weird, bumpy road, loves him and his kids so so much. Danny doesn't have a photo album available right now, but he and Alfred set a date for Alfred to come back and have dinner to meet both Dan and Ellie, and to look at photo albums together, Fenton and Wayne both.

Alfred reminds Danny of Clockwork just a bit, with his impeccable timing and knowledge/intuition.

Slowly as Danny gets to know Alfred (and Jason, despite how he rags on Bruce, or how Damien seems to have become Dan and Ellie's highschool nemesis, which makes Danny think fondly of fighting-as-bonding in the Infinite Realms) he warms enough to agree, finally, to have dinner at the Manor with the family so Alfred can host, back in his environment as the impeccable Wayne family Butler.

Omg I love it.

I love all of this.

Gosh can you imagine how the rest of the fam reacted to Bruce having a long lost brother, if he ever told them, and showing them the few pictures he has of Danny that him and Alfred guard in little safe boxes because the memories still hurts of loosing Danny. The heckling he'd get when someone points out 'So this why most of your adopted kids have blue eyes and black hair!'

Dan and Damian being mortal enemies at school (make it worse. Have them rivals in academics, Dan is Danny and they're smart but Dan has the confidence Danny didn't in High School so he pushes hard for grades. AND have Dan and Ellie be technically older than Damian by like a few days, so Damian has to deal with being the 'little cousin') while Ellie fans the flames of war because she is a troll. She wonders if she could sell tickets to the brawl.

Danny I like to think has job at the reopened observatory, Sam invested in the repairs of the place when she got her inheritance, and works a bit part time as Gotham's musem in the galaxy/space area, and he just kept feeling this calling to Gotham. Especially when he meets Lady Gotham (all she did was appear, stare at him and his kids before smiling and dissappear into the night, the Fenton's agreed that was... a little unsettling. They have yet to see her again since but they know she's watching, that's the thing with city spirits, they're everywhere and nowhere but at least she hadn't chased them out)

I can also see Tim frothing at the mouth when maybe during a rogue attack, there is a very complex machine going to like destory the city and Danny in the middle of the fight takes RR's screwdriver from in his belt and works on the machine while the others fight without anyone noticing until the Rogue pushes the button but nothing happens. They all turn and see Danny holding up a important component and just snickering. Red Robin wants Danny to work for WE because when he looked at the machine blueprints he saw how complex the thing was and it would had taken even him a 10 minutes and Danny dismantled it in like 2 without damaging anything. He's beggimg Bruce to stop being awkward with his own brother. Please.

He totally 'mother's' all the young heroes/vigilantes. He understands the stress and everything that goes into it. Of course he's going to feed them.

Also I love the idea of Dan liking ballet! Let him sign up! And when Cass notices him at the dance studio she uses it to get close to her little cousin and his family. Dan totally is sus at first buttttt he may had watched her kick butt when she and him went to get some ice cream after class and were almost mugged and is wowed how badass she was! He totally tell Ellie about the fight too!

Jason totally rubs it in Bruce's face that he's on amazing terms with Danny and the kids. OH! Have Ellie totally declaring he's her favorite of the Wayne kids, Cass is Dan's fav. I can just imagine him teaching her things, like how to fix a motorcycle and stuff like that.

Dick is dying, he wants to be the greatest cousin, the best cousin for the Fenton kids but ugh his siblings totally are! The least he can do is wrangle in Damian when he gets a little too over the top, or so he thinks they're all having a blast fighting each other. Even though they won't admit it. They're mortal enemies after all.

Alfred and Danny talking. My God. My heart. Alfred trying not to cry now that Danny is home, in Wayne Manor where he should had been raised in along with Master Bruce. He wondered how it would had been like but tries not to dwell on it. The young master was home, with his own children Master Dan and Miss Ellie in tow. Alfred shows him all the pictures he has and tells Danny about his birth parents. He does eventually talks to Jazz, thanks her for being there for Danny during the years away, and chats with the Fenton's thanks them as well for rasing Danny (no matter how weird and insane they could be, they still loved Danny like their own. Good parents Fenton's btw)

Also the Twins fighting Damian and finding the cave totally happens. Dan and Damian were totally rough housing but during it Ellie is exploring around, using her powers to find secret pathways and goes into Bruce's office (this happens when the family just got comfy with each other). Damian catches her and well, starts being Damian. Dan finds them in the office and things escalate from there and the two are fighting in the office until Damian roughly tackles Dan towards the old grandfather clock. Who instinctively uses his powers to phase them so they don't hit it. And they both go tumbling down the steps into the batcave. Ellie hot on their heels flying down to them in a panic.

Cass probably talks to Dan about it tho, helping him stretch at the dance studio on a day when it's just them cause Cass is giving him extra lessons. Dan had insisted everyone got sign language classes when he first started going to the studio and getting close to Cass, so it's a very slow conversation. Bits and pieces of story exchanged in-between involved stretches and practicing dance moves, away from prying eyes and with barely a whisper beyond soft music from what they're practicing. The whole story isn't shared in a day. Jason got himself his own mug. Dan gets Cass a "favorite cousin" mug (for the Manor) and water bottle (for the ballet studio), especially since she doesn't snitch to their dad's.

It does spread, slowly. Jason next, because Ellie's bothering Robin on patrol like the MENANCE she is, so he simply reroutes to Crime Alley and essentially tosses his ghostly cousin at Red Hood on a rooftop with NO explanation besides "She's YOUR problem now, Todd" before grappling away. She is in fact, Red Hood's problem that night.

Dan doesn't sneak out as often, between studying hard to TROUNCE Damien in exams, ballet, and using his duplicates to cover for Ellie. (Listen- Listen. Danny knows something's up. He knows his kids. But he also knows that if anything genuinely comes up they'll ask for help because he made DAMN SURE his kids could, would and do come to him for help. Ellie was a wanderer long before she went from his clone cousin to being his kid, and her sneaking out to fly around at night isn't exactly new.) When he does, he either follows Ellie to bully their cousins or he shadows Cass, learning more than just ballet.

Barbara absolutely finds out quickly once the twins start sneaking into patrols, but silence is bought and her lips are sealed. (They get her in contact with Tucker and she can't be bothered to inform Bruce, when she's getting a head start on MASTERING ectoplasm-enhanced computers and ghostly hacking and counter hacking before Tim even has a whiff, who is busy trying to investigate the weird patrol behavior of his siblings.)

I think the Twins, Ellie especially, essentially become the Batkid's hot potato on quiet patrol nights, for as long as they can get away with it before Batman stops being distracted by Danny being back long enough to be suspicious.

(Me at new addons)

Gosh I love the freaking idea of Damian, Dan, and Ellie all keeping that they know™ their secrets a secret because it's like a cousin code lol. You don't tell our parents and I won't.

Danny had been so desperate to pass just ONE test as a freshman, just one good grade, and it doomed a whole timeline with a grief that still hangs on Dan's shoulders like a cloud on the bad days. He would have killed for support for his education back then!!!

And Tim, teenage acting CEO of a major company, teen vigilante hero, simply dropped out because no one would believe or help him. (They're superheros. Magic is real, aliens live ((somewhat)) openly on Earth, and heroes have come back from the dead on more than one occasion. And yet, he still received no help from his family, his team, in following this lead.)

Not to mention the only reason he got involved in the first place is because Bruce was so violent and uncontrolled at the time that Tim was desperate to get him help, and apparently the linchpin to that was having a kid sidekick.

(That's not even touching on Jason. Loud, wonderful asshole of a young man Jason, who pushed his way into the family far too easily, of whom Ellie adores. Jason who is a Revenant. Jason who died. Jason who died as a teen vigilante to a Gotham rogue who's been escalating for YEARS, and yet keeps getting put back in the same asylum that rogues escape from constantly.)

Danny has never been so furious in his life, so much that he briefly genuinely considers becoming a Gotham rogue for the explicit purpose of kicking Bruce's ass.

But! I think you all are missing out on all the angst this would bring up on Dan's end.

Dan, whose grief led to him destroying his whole world.

Dan, who must've had to destroy the entire Justice League to do so.

Dan, whose anguish over losing his second family caused him to murder his own brother, the very last of his first family left alive.

---

Dan hated that smug bastard Damien at first sight. He hated his stupid fucking face! It was wrong, uncanny, familiar-but-not. Like a word you can't recall so your mind conjures similar sounding ones that are still, wrong wrong wrong!

There, there Danny. Won't you smile for big brother?

So yeah. Dan hated Damien.

And it's not the Wayne kid was any better! He glared at him and Ellie with suspicious, narrowed eyes and muttered about clones. And well. He was half right on that count, but that still gave him no right to treat Dan and his little sister with distain!

Dan was long past razing worlds and murdering trillions. He had family again to soothe the part of his obsession inherited from consuming Vlad's core. But his new his third family was the subject of his original protective obsession, and by the ancients, Dan my be done with murder, but school yard brawling was very much On. The. Table.

Obviously Ellie was happy to join in. Chaos gremlin.

The fight was surprisingly satisfying. The wrong-faced-bastard was a better fighter than expected, though it grated on Dan that the other pulled his punches. Of course, he and Ellie did the same, staying within human limits and suppressing their powers. But even with both sides holding back, it was a good fight. Just good enough to almost calm his ghost down from the rage of seeing Damien look at him with disgust using that face.

Danny was called in to the school and Ellie proceeded to explain how they ran into another clone named Damien and they had a fun fight and does that make him their new brother?

"Absolutely not!" Dan snapped. "He is not my brother! He's just some-some stuck-up doppelgänger! He doesn't deserve to have his- our face!"

And now the anger was back.

And then they came into the room. Damien and a man in a fancy suit. Of course the bastard was the son of a rich frootloop.

Dan watched as the man, presumably Mr. Wayne looked around with a sheepishly apologetic look which turned to pale, stricken shock as soon as he laid eyes on Danny. "It's you..." He whispered through bloodless lips.

Batman stared up at Dan the Destroyer, blood in his teeth and tears in his eyes. "Please little brother, it's me" were the last words he ever spoke.

Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His anger was getting to him. That was all. A reminder of what his rage could lead to if left unchecked. But he was fine. He had Danny, apologizing over his kids' behavior to the stock-still billionaire. He had Ellie, unapologetically grinning and ready to stir up more shit. He had Jazz, no doubt ready to drop everything to talk about his feelings. He had Sam and Tucker, willing to video call or play online games when they had the time. He had more than he deserved. He was fine.

He was not fine.

Mr. Wayne was under the delusion that Danny was his long lost brother. And Danny was appropriately suspicious. Until for some observants forsaken reason, Danny had agreed to dinner at the frootloop fucking mansion! It was bad enough Dan had to see Damien's stupid face at school, and now this??? Dan would be surprised if the night didn't have at least one disaster.

It did.

One thing led to another, and because Dan and Damien couldn't spend an hour together without fighting, they did exactly that. Only this time instead of the school, they were in some sort of fancy ass study. Dan made a scathing remark, provoking Damien into an undignified tackle.

It was so undignified, in fact, that it took Dan by surprise. He lost control of his intangibility and he and Damien fell through the grandfather clock... and.... down.

They landed in a cave. It was. The batcave. And.

Batman was a ruthless tactician at heart. He no doubt had found the source of Dan's madness in that other time, and hoped claiming familial ties might cause him to hesitate. He only said it to exploit a perceived weakness.

Bruce Wayne was another crazy billionaire who wanted to play pretend that Danny was family.

Bruce Wayne was Batman.

Batman was Bruce Wayne was Danny's brother was Batman-!

Dan killed Batman.

Lil comic of my fav crossover couple <3

Dpxdc

Do you have in mind the theme of the multiverse? I do

In the fandom, we often call it the Ghost Zone, or sometimes even the Infinite Realms. But something that doesn’t come up as often is what happens to alternate versions of Danny once he becomes the High King.

My idea is that, in different timelines, every version of him becomes aware of each other. The distance between universes might affect when or how this awareness develops, but eventually, they all wake up with the memories and experiences of their counterparts.

—————————————————————

When Danny took the throne of the Infinite Realms, something shifted — not just for him, but for all of him. Across every timeline, every branch of reality, every fractured shard of “what if,” the crown echoed. And one by one, the other Dannys stirred.

They didn’t meet face-to-face, not at first. It started with dreams: memories that didn’t belong to them, feelings from lives they hadn’t lived. The boy who grew up trans in Universe 32 woke one morning with the weight of a hundred other lifetimes pressing behind his eyes. He remembered being born male, he remembered laughter with his best friend that became something more intimate, he remembered victories and deaths that were not his own.

Each Danny was still himself, still shaped by his own choices — but now they were also something greater, a chorus. A network of selves stretching across infinity. The closer two universes lay, the quicker the connection came; the further apart, the slower the awakening. But no version of him was truly alone anymore.

To be High King meant to rule the Infinite Realms. But it also meant to be infinite — a single soul spread across endless reflections, finally aware of itself.

——————————————-

The attack came without warning. Alien fleets tore through Earth’s defenses, and even with the Justice League throwing everything they had into the fight, the cost was staggering. Cities burned. Millions were lost before the final mothership fell.

And yet, when the smoke cleared, one mystery stood out above all others. Amity Park — and the few towns circling it — remained untouched. Not a single building had collapsed. Not a single civilian had perished.

The League couldn’t explain it. Their satellites had recorded the same devastation everywhere else, but for some reason, every assault ship veered wide of Amity Park, as though the city simply didn’t exist to them. When Superman and Wonder Woman flew reconnaissance, they confirmed it: Amity had been in the middle of the warzone… but shielded by something they couldn’t sense.

Whispers spread fast. Some claimed it was luck. Others feared some darker bargain.

Danny, meanwhile, sat in his room with his head in his hands. Because he knew. He knew it wasn’t luck. He knew it wasn’t the League.

The crown had acted. Or rather, he had — not consciously, but through that vast, tangled web of selves that had awakened the day he became High King. Across the multiverse, other Dannys had felt the attack too. One had reached for power. Another had willed safety. A third had whispered a desperate “not here.” And together, they had shifted reality just enough to keep Amity untouched.

The price was that Danny could feel it now: the grief of every world, every self, pressing down on him. The weight of millions dead. His neighbors smiled in relief, but Danny couldn’t. Because he remembered their faces, even if they hadn’t lived here.

——————————————-

The League didn’t waste time. Batman had already noticed the inconsistencies in satellite footage — alien ships changing course mid-attack, their formations subtly warped as though bending around an invisible barrier. He didn’t believe in coincidences.

“Something protected that city,” he said in the post-battle debrief. His tone was sharp, leaving no room for argument. “And it wasn’t us.”

The others agreed. Superman pressed for patience, suggesting it could be a natural anomaly, but his eyes said he didn’t believe it either. Wonder Woman pointed out that magic often left subtle traces, and she had felt something in Amity’s direction during the fight.

So, they went. Not in force — not yet — but with a carefully chosen delegation: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and J’onn. They arrived in Amity Park two days after the battle, to a town buzzing with unease. Citizens were celebrating their survival, yes, but there was also an undercurrent of guilt; everyone could see the newsfeeds, and they knew how badly the rest of the world had suffered.

The League found Danny easily. He hadn’t exactly been hiding — but he also hadn’t left his house since the attack. His parents thought he was shaken from the destruction elsewhere. Only Jazz noticed how hollow his eyes had become, how he flinched when anyone mentioned the survivors.

When the knock came, Danny already knew who it was. He could feel them. The crown inside him — the network of selves whispering across infinity — hummed with warning.

Batman was the first to speak once they stood in his living room.

“Amity Park was untouched. The invaders ignored it. Why?”

Danny swallowed hard, his mouth dry. He wanted to lie, to say he didn’t know. But the problem with being tied to infinite versions of yourself was that you carried all their instincts too. And one of them, somewhere out there, was too honest for his own good.

J’onn tilted his head, watching Danny carefully, and said the words the others were afraid to ask:

“What are you?”

Danny froze at J’onn’s question. His throat tightened, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. What are you? It wasn’t the kind of question you answered lightly — not when the answer had the potential to shake their world.

“I’m just… me,” he finally muttered, eyes down. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t know why Amity was safe.”

Batman’s stare was sharp, but he didn’t press — not yet. He simply said, “We’ll be in touch,” and the League left as suddenly as they’d arrived.

But they weren’t done.

Over the next few days, strange things started happening around Amity. Superman, flying high in the atmosphere, noted an energy field radiating faintly over the city — one that didn’t match any known technology or natural phenomenon. Wonder Woman left subtle wards near the town’s borders, only to find them tangled by dawn, as though another force had rewritten their pattern overnight. J’onn attempted a surface scan of Danny’s mind but was immediately met with static, like a thousand voices whispering over one another in a language he didn’t know.

And Batman… Batman went digging. Files on the Fentons and their ghost-hunting tech that never worked.

The League regrouped.

“He’s hiding something,” Batman said flatly, pulling up grainy footage of Danny phasing through rubble to rescue civilians after the battle. “And it’s not small.”

Superman leaned forward, expression troubled. “But he also saved people. Maybe whatever this power is… it’s protective.”

“Or dangerous,” Diana countered. “He may not control it. And if that’s the case, it’s only a matter of time before the balance tips.”

J’onn was the quietest, but when he finally spoke, it chilled the others.

“When I reached for his mind, I didn’t find one presence. I found hundreds. Overlapping. Reflecting. Each one felt like him, and yet… not. As though he carries more lives than he should.”

A long silence fell. None of them liked the implications.

“Then we need to know the truth,” Batman said at last. “Before the world finds out what kept Amity Park safe. Because if we don’t understand it…” He shut the file with a snap. “…someone else will.”

—————————-

Amity Park should have been celebrating. The rest of the world had burned under alien fire, but somehow their little city — and the towns around it — were left untouched. No craters. No casualties. Not even a scratch.

But instead of relief, unease settled over the streets.

Because people weren’t stupid. They saw the news. They saw how every major city on Earth had suffered. And they saw the Justice League arrive in Amity Park days later, not to explain, not to reassure, but to watch.

Always circling the same boy.

Danny Fenton.

At first it was little things — Superman “coincidentally” flying past the Fenton household three times in one day. Wonder Woman asking teachers at Casper High strange questions about Danny’s attendance and behavior. Batman spotted on a rooftop overlooking the Nasty Burger just as Danny left with his friends.

It didn’t take long for the town to notice the pattern.

Whispers spread fast.

“Why him?”

“Was he part of the attack?”

“Is that why we were spared?”

The relief of survival curdled into suspicion. No one said it too loudly — no one dared, not when the League could hear everything — but people began keeping their distance. Parents pulled their kids closer when Danny walked by. Neighbors who once waved now shut their doors a little faster.

The irony was that Danny didn’t seem any different. Still awkward, still trailing behind Sam and Tucker, still the quiet kid who never made trouble. But the more ordinary he looked, the more unsettling the League’s fixation became. If they were watching him this closely, after millions had died elsewhere… what did they know that Amity Park didn’t?

By the end of the week, the whole town was holding its breath. They had survived the aliens, yes — but now their safety felt less like a miracle, and more like a warning.

A new voice had joined the cocophany.

And this one had dealt with the Justice league before. Has dealt with their wariness and suspicions, their inability to let things lie. And how their investigations can do more harm than good.

This voice whispers cautions and contingencies, worried for their other self.

One day Danny noices something that sends the voice in a klaxon of warning. They have a new student. Danny sees behind his eyes, a vision of Yellow, and red, and green. Robin.

Bats. In his class.

He stays calm, and goes through the rest of his day normally.

Later that night, he writes a letter to Jazz. Explaining what it means to be the King of The Infinite Realms. And how fighting Pariah had consquences he didnt expect. How taking that crown so vlad couldnt made him aware of every version of himself.

How he remembers. All of the paths he could have taken.

All of them do.

Not at first. No. But eventually.

Danny cant take the scrutinty anymore. Or the animosity having the leagues attention brings him. Especially since he now knows a Bat is in his class. Hes worried what that will mean for him now. Hes scared of their parents and the GIW, and the league giving him to them.

So hes leaving. He hopes Jazz understands. He tells her he loves her. And Danny sets it on his dresser, slips down into the portal, and destroys it just as he slips through.

Smoke was still rising from the ruins of the Fenton laboratory when the League returned. They weren’t the only ones: police sirens, fire trucks, and news crews already filled the streets, but no one approached the girl standing firm in front of the burning remains.

Jazz Fenton didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She just watched them, her eyes red, with a coldness so piercing that even Superman hesitated to step forward first.

“Are you satisfied?” she asked, her voice clear, each word sharp as a scalpel. “Is this what you wanted? To watch a sixteen-year-old boy as if he were a criminal until he had no choice but to run.”

Batman parted his lips to respond, but she didn’t let him.

“You thought we wouldn’t notice? The constant patrols, the questions at school, the stalking in the streets. You, the ‘great’ Justice League, reduced to chasing a teenager as if he were a terrorist. Congratulations. You did it. You pushed him away.”

Diana frowned. “We were trying to understand—”

“Don't! You didn't try to understand anything. ” Jazz stepped forward, her hands trembling not from fear, but from contained rage. “Because you never looked beyond what was convenient for you. You didn’t see Danny wake up every day carrying a burden none of you could bear. You didn’t see him fight, not for glory, not for power, but to keep a city safe that doesn’t even realize what it owes him. And you harassed him. You isolated him. You marked him as a suspect when he was the only real hero here.”

A tense silence fell. Superman pressed his lips together. Batman watched her impassively, but his eyes revealed hints of doubt and caution.

“I’ll tell you something,” Jazz continued, her voice dropping to a tone so icy that even the silence seemed to tense. “Danny isn’t here because you pushed him away... ”

The soft, cold voice carried a low echo, subtle enough not to draw the attention of the authorities nearby, but sharp enough to pierce the figures who were the targets of her searing fury.

“And I warn you from now on, if you try to look for him, track him, or lay a hand on him…” The teenager’s eyes met theirs in a terrifying void, startling several members. “I assure you, an alien invasion will be a mere pebble in your shoe compared to me.”

Until now, they hadn’t noticed anything unusual in any other member of Danny’s family—just the eccentricity of his parents.

But now...It seems their own calculations led them to underestimate someone they thought was out of the equation.

Without waiting for any action or word from the heroes, Jazz turned and walked away, disappearing behind firefighters rushing toward the debris.

She didn’t care about the alarms she had triggered among the heroes; she had to see how her brother was.

And let him know he wasn’t alone.

That he never had been.

Dick: What? Why?

Danny: Bruce is hiding us from the Wolves. They wanted me to join their gang for some quick cash or be killed in the crossfire, but I knew it would lead to an early death, and I couldn't leave Jason on the streets. Not after our mom died. So I struck a deal.

Dick: What kind of deal?

Bruce: As you know, Batman and I, have a understanding -

Jason: They kiss in the moonlight.

Danny: Jay! Hush up! But it's true, we know you're dating Batman.

Dick: *Snort*

Bruce: *clearing throat* I am not dating Batman.

Jason: Sure ya ain't.

Bruce: In any case, Danny gave Batman all the information he knows about local originated crime. Not just about the Wolves but five of the major crime families controlling the streets, and I've agreed to shelter the boys until Batman and Robin can ensure their safety for this knowledge.

Dick: Really? You think Batman would have considered chatting with Robin before making such a big decision. Then again he's just a sidekick isn't he?

Danny: Hey, don't you disrespect Robin. He's the only one with heart in this stupid city.

Jason: Yeah, respect our hero, or you'll face our wrath. We're scary!

Alfred: Lads, I've made the arroz con leche that you requested. I know it's won't be as good as your mother's, but I do hope I came close.

Jason: Oh boy! *Picks up spoon*

Dick: Oh yes, I'm shaking in my boots at the threat of your wrath.

Danny: Look, Dick is it? Fitting name, by the way, I can tell you aren't happy to have us here but relax. It's only temporary. We aren't going to replace you or steal your trust fund. Besides, you won't even know we're here.

Dick glancing at Jason:

Dick: Right. I won't notice you at all

Danny: Yeah so if you want to sneak Robin in for some fun time that's cool to-

Dick: *chockin* Excuse me!?

“See man, the moon!” Kid Flash said as they came outside, standing on the pile of rubble.

“And Superman! Do we fulfill our promises or what…” his voice trails off as a grinding clanking sound echoes behind them.

They turned around, confused to see a tricked out pale yellow Volkswagen bug trucking its way up the rubble and crumbled building blocks. It stopped before it got too steep, a man in a familiar white lab coat stumbling out.

Immediately, they were on guard, the man haphazardly climbing towards them.

Robin drew two batarangs in each hand, standing in front of Superboy as he got closer. It didn’t even matter that the Justice League had just landed behind them, if this CADMUS scientist tried something, Robin would be the first to defend Superboy. Without hesitance.

The man stopped in front of them, huffing for breath.

“You’re-!” He stopped, leaning over his knees with gasping breaths, “Sorry, one sec!” He held up a finger, gasping for another few seconds before stepping forward-

Chains of water surrounded him before they could blink, Robin looking back surprised to see Aqualad standing with extended weapons and a grim face.

“This is odd.” The man looked at the water wrapped around him, wriggling a bit before shrugging. His eyes zeroed in on Superboy, “You’re okay!” He said with a blinding grin.

Superboy recoiled and Robin immediately stepped between them.

“What.”

The man glanced at him briefly before looking back over Robin’s head, “You are okay right? I mean I tried my best but I couldn’t figure out a way to get you out- I mean if I’d known you were there to begin with I’d would have never-but then I wouldn’t have-

“Who are you?” Superman asks, suddenly close from behind them.

The man’s mouth clicks shut, looking between them all before a grimacing smile rises to his face.

He extends his hand at the elbow between the liquid chains, “Dr. Danny Fenton, ex-biochemical engineer of CADMUS labs Mr.Superman,sir.”

Flash zips forward, the eyes of his cowl narrowed, “Ex?”

The grimace turns into a wince. “Oh.. heh, yeah, I’ve found that arson is usually a pretty good kickstart of sudden unemployment,” there’s a thoughtful pause as he looks over the rubble, “It’s usually accidental though.”

Nobody responds.

“What? You didn’t think that lab fire started on its own did you? How else was I supposed to get you here?”

“There’s a Justice League public phone! That’s literally its entire purpose!” Kid Flash shouts, throwing his hands in the air. At this point, Aqualad cautiously lowers his water bearers, releasing Fenton.

“Oh, sure, I call a bunch of superheroes and tell them my boss is doing a Grow-Your-Own-Superman in the boiler room. That’d go over well.” He pauses, “Though the sidekicks was a surprise.”

The comment goes uncorrected, as the rest of the league has snapped to face Superboy the moment he says it.

Superman looks stricken as Superboy reveals the logo on his torn shirt.

Fenton unceremoniously breaks the tension, “Sorry I never asked, do you have a name? I’d feel really bad just calling you-“

“… They called me.. Superboy..” He says, still not looking away from the man of steel in front of him.

“That’s not-“ Fenton rubs his temples and sighs harshly, “Okay, I can fix that later, whatever-“

“You’re not gonna be ‘fixing’ anything, Doctor.” Robin snarls.

Fenton blinks. “Huh?”

Batman steps forward, “Green Lantern.”

Green construct cuffs snap around the Dr.Fenton’s wrists, though he looks at them puzzled.

“Superman, check for survivors in the damage, Flash find some salvageable evidence before it finishes burning. The rest of us, we’ll continue this interrogation at the hall.”

“Wait what?” Dr. Fenton says, perking up like a meerkat even as Batman turns away with swirl of his cape.

“What about me?” Superboy asks, desperation in his hesitant step forward.

Batman looks to Superman. Superman nods, and then shoots off into the rubble and emergency vehicles.

“For now, you come with us.” Batman says, and Superboy’s shoulders loosen just a hint.

The dark knight pauses again before turning completely, “And don’t think we’ve forgotten the rest of you,” he says, cowled eyes narrowed over his shoulder, “Robin.”

Robin shirks back, “Heh.. Right.”

“Wait what’s going on?” The Fenton scientist yelled back over his shoulder as Green Lantern pulls him away.

He starts to say something but the construct fully engulfs him now, shifting from a platform to a soundproof bubble.

It seems to shock him enough, Fenton tapping at the walls and looking like he wants to take it apart and take a sample.

Robin grit his teeth.

He was not gonna let these CADMUS freaks touch Superboy again.

But more seriously Danny is going to have so much dirt on Cadmus. After everything Vlad, the GIW, and his parents put him through he has learned to have things well documented with back ups.

Also want to bet he took the Cadmus job to get resources to stabilize Dani/Ellie?

Basically he’s gonna Johnny Cash “One Piece at a Time” this situation. Steal enough parts over a long period of time so he can slap together what he needs for Ellie.

Danny is arrested and put in jail, with a shortened sentence for being the whistleblower, and stays there for a few months. He could break out at any time, but he decided that it would be better to wait a little while first.

After all, the Kid (he didn't know if he had gotten a name yet) thought that he was an Evil Scientist who wanted to experiment on him. He was still just getting acclimated to having a normal life, he didn't need the fear of being recapture and tortured overshadowing his new life.

But a few months in, there is a slight complication.

Ellie decided to bust him out for Father Daughter Bonding Time, and now the JLA thinks that Danny had another Superman Clone hidden away somewhere ready to bust him out when he got caught. He is now on the Run with Ellie, who thinks evading the Government is perfect for a Father Daughter Bonding Activity, trying to figure out what to do from there on.

So what if, Danny's on his father daughter bonding trip, and something goes wrong. Ellie has a sudden decline in stability and Danny's scrambling to figure out how to fix this (he was supposed to have more time, this wasn't supposed to happen so fast, she was okay just yesterday, what hApPeNeD) and he's desperately trying to figure out what to do.

Enter. An explosion with superheroes. Somehow Danny gets whopped on his head by stray piece of wall but thanks to his half ghost status you can't actually see the lump on his head and there's no cut on the skin either but there is a concussion. Danny doesn't quite realise it, but he is most definitely concussed. He grabs what he thinks are the two injectors of stabiliser and runs to Ellie and jams one into her.

He's about to jam the other into her too but some scuffling happens and it accidentally gets jammed into him.

Once the dust settles there are a few lightbulb moments for everyone in the room.

One. The scientist is obviously loopy.

Two. The two injectors are marked but are of different solutions. One is a stabilizer and the others a truth serum?

Three. The girl they thought was another Superman clone is actually pretty attached to the scientist and refuses to go anywhere without him though her condition is unknown. (the stabilizer injector was right next to her so it was probably used on her.)

When asked why he didn't say any of this before, Danny gives a kind, loopy smile and goes "oh, since none of you would even try to listen to me and just assumed you knew what was best, just like my parents, I can't trust you to keep a dog alive, let alone know about my precious Ellie. Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again. I'm never trusting you with anything."

Ah, whoops.

Danny, in a cell, having a mild panic attack because the JL bases are WHITE on WHITE and our boi’s got some nightmares that start like this: “Hey! Don’t I get a phone call or something? I still have rights!”

He doesn’t actually expect the JL to listen to him when he says that — and Green Lantern looks like he’s not gonna at first, but surprisingly, Batman and Flash both acknowledge that he IS entitled to a phone call. Batman is, of course, monitoring the call and tracing the number. Dr. Fenton didn’t call a lawyer, though, but instead called — a Wayne Industries programmer? This sparks a whole new host of concerns.

Meanwhile, Danny’s on the phone with Tucker, explaining things poorly. “Hey man, I think I’m in trouble, I got caught and I’ma need you to call Sam or Jazz and get to the GZ, maybe ask Pandora to contact that stanky soul guy? … I need someone to bail me out so I can explain the whole thing that happened, it was, uh, probably not my smartest move? … No, no, it’s not anything like the GIW, I don’t think, they probably won’t try to pull me apart molecule by molecule? … Oh yeah, well, remember how I had that emergency with Ellie? Yeah I found a place and got a job but, it was, like, Certified Fruitloop stuff… Yeah, I might have channeled my inner Dan a bit. You know how Fruitloop stuff gets to me! … Nah, I wish it was the cops, it’s the Cosplay Conventioners… NO! I’m in enough trouble as-is, I’m not gonna ask Wonder Woman that! I don’t want to have an Amazonian Princess punt me through the wall! You remember what happened last time you asked a woman that?”

The conversation did nothing but deepen Batman’s concerns.

And then twenty minutes later: Constantine, sweaty and mid-panic attack, portals in and practically screams, “LET HIM GO! You don’t know the backlash, there could be inter dimensional war from this! Bloody hell, don’t do anything to piss him off!”

JL: ???

....

....

.....

I

....

I had another 11pm brain worm.

Enjoy

-x-x-

Daniel Wayne, the younger toddler brother of Bruce Wayne and the son of Martha and Thomas Wayne had been kidnapped the night their parents were murdered.

Daniel had been snagged the moment their killer heard people headed to the alley and Bruce in his state of shock didn't realize it until it was far to late and could only scream in horror (from everything) as his baby brother is crying his name. (If you wanna make it even more heart wrenching, make it Danny's first time being able to say Bruce's name right and/or Bruce had said some mean things to Danny earlier after he accidentally broke something of Bruce's, something like 'I wish youd go away' or 'I never wanted a brother, you're such a bother!')

Bruce is being held by Alfred as some police officers are chasing down the Wayne's parents killer while some stay behind to see if they could do something.

Minutes turn to hours and as they wait, praying the police at least found Danny, Bruce is ridden with guilt. From his parents death to allowing his brother to be kidnapped.

Eventually the police return to give Alfred and Bruce the news. And it's not good.

The killer escaped and Danny was nowhere to be found.

And it would take many years before he would be found.

-x-x-

Bruce gets a call from Damian during school hours one day. When he answers he is greeted with Damian demanding him to get to the school and explain himself.

Confused Bruce asks what does he mean and Damian responds with

"The two new students in class today are the spitting images of you and I father! Either they are poorly created clones or you have more hidden blood children!"

-x-x-

Meanwhile the very students being discussed are calling up someone too

"Ellie? Dan? What's wrong? You better not have made too much chaos already, I just paid for the uniforms for that place."

"DAD! I THINK ANOTHER ONE OF THE FRUITLOOPS FAILED CLONES SOMEHOW SURVIVED!"

Bruce rushes over to the school (the pros of being a billionaire who can leave at the drop of a hat from wherever with very few consequences) and reaches there in record time. Damian meanwhile is stalking Ellie and Dan through the day to see what they're doing. Damian gets called to the office because his father's there.

Ellie and Dan who'd been taking great pains to act normal breathe a sigh of relief when they discover Damian making haste to leave. One of them (take your pick) slips off to check out what is going on with the weird looking clone who was spying on them.

Plus Danny and kids being openly suspicious of this billionaire?? *chefs kiss*

Most of the siblings are eagerly watching but trying SO HARD to not overwhelm Bruce's long lost little brother and his kids. It's bad enough that Damian has got off to such a bad start with the new cousins. They all meet in the hallways now and it's like two semi-feral cats (Dan and Damien) and one mischievous ferret (Ellie) having a stand off.

Dan and Damien: *locked gazes and raised hackles*

Ellie: *trying to decided which BatBurger would be the best option to stage an after school brawl behind*

Dick, in the distance: "I have the sudden premonition that I should check in on Damien today."

Steph, also in the distance: "Something's happening. I don't know what but I want to be there."

MEANWHILE

Danny, on the phone with Tucker and Sam: "He has a creepy lair in his basement I just KNOW IT."

Batman, lurking: *sweats*

Red Robin, watching Batman Lurk™️: *trying not to laugh*

Duke has only met Danny so far as Signal, but former Teen Hero Danny Fenton spots him and is SO intent on giving this young hero high calorie snacks or even a damn gatorade. If he sees him he will sprint into the closest store if he has to. Duke has a large collection of random post-it notes or wrappers/bottles with affirmations and gratitude Danny wrote. (It goes with other similarly sentimental gifts from Gotham citizens).

Danny hasn't MET Cass personally, but he has taken the kids to a ballet performance once with Jazz when she visited as "cultural enrichment". Surprisingly, Dan liked it more than anyone thought he would. Ballet is incredibly physically demanding, and he can see the beauty in that in their movements.

Jason tho. Jason sees Danny eye sad-wet cat Brucie Wayne with deep suspicion and immediately pushes his way into the Fenton's lives.

Jason LOVES Uncle Danny. Both because it gets Bruce's panties in an absolute twist and because something about the Fenton family just clicks with him. (Danny has absolutely clocked Jason as having returned from the dead. He's not a halfa or a ghost, but he has died and returned from the dead. Probably some type of Revenant? Danny's not sure when or how to broach the topic as they don't know each other well enough yet to our themselves, but Jason being around the family in the meantime will be good for him. Plus the kiddos love'm.)

Bruce is struggling to get his emotional constipation under control long enough to establish a non-hostile or unintentionally-creepy-billionaire relationship again with his baby brother.

Meanwhile Jason is already on the couch playing games with Ellie and Dan. He's already ordered himself a "I'm Someone's Favorite Nephew" mug which he absolutely drinks from at the Manor almost exclusively while he's there. Alfred allows this, given Jason got Danny to agree to meet him.

Jason will happily give Bruce the middle finger but he loves Alfred fiercely. It takes a bit but eventually Danny agrees to meet him. Jason takes Ellie and Dan out for the day to terrorize Gotham, and leaves the two older men to talk.

Danny has a long talk with Alfred, who absolutely has tried so so hard not to cry during all this, but absolutely does eventually. He must have felt so guilty for so long, his beloved friends Thomas and Martha gone, and their youngest son Daniel stolen and he had been unable to do anything but hold Young Master Bruce in both their grief. And yet here he is, a kind father to two beautiful children, telling him he's happy and grew up with a family who, despite a weird, bumpy road, loves him and his kids so so much. Danny doesn't have a photo album available right now, but he and Alfred set a date for Alfred to come back and have dinner to meet both Dan and Ellie, and to look at photo albums together, Fenton and Wayne both.

Alfred reminds Danny of Clockwork just a bit, with his impeccable timing and knowledge/intuition.

Slowly as Danny gets to know Alfred (and Jason, despite how he rags on Bruce, or how Damien seems to have become Dan and Ellie's highschool nemesis, which makes Danny think fondly of fighting-as-bonding in the Infinite Realms) he warms enough to agree, finally, to have dinner at the Manor with the family so Alfred can host, back in his environment as the impeccable Wayne family Butler.

Omg I love it.

I love all of this.

Gosh can you imagine how the rest of the fam reacted to Bruce having a long lost brother, if he ever told them, and showing them the few pictures he has of Danny that him and Alfred guard in little safe boxes because the memories still hurts of loosing Danny. The heckling he'd get when someone points out 'So this why most of your adopted kids have blue eyes and black hair!'

Dan and Damian being mortal enemies at school (make it worse. Have them rivals in academics, Dan is Danny and they're smart but Dan has the confidence Danny didn't in High School so he pushes hard for grades. AND have Dan and Ellie be technically older than Damian by like a few days, so Damian has to deal with being the 'little cousin') while Ellie fans the flames of war because she is a troll. She wonders if she could sell tickets to the brawl.

Danny I like to think has job at the reopened observatory, Sam invested in the repairs of the place when she got her inheritance, and works a bit part time as Gotham's musem in the galaxy/space area, and he just kept feeling this calling to Gotham. Especially when he meets Lady Gotham (all she did was appear, stare at him and his kids before smiling and dissappear into the night, the Fenton's agreed that was... a little unsettling. They have yet to see her again since but they know she's watching, that's the thing with city spirits, they're everywhere and nowhere but at least she hadn't chased them out)

I can also see Tim frothing at the mouth when maybe during a rogue attack, there is a very complex machine going to like destory the city and Danny in the middle of the fight takes RR's screwdriver from in his belt and works on the machine while the others fight without anyone noticing until the Rogue pushes the button but nothing happens. They all turn and see Danny holding up a important component and just snickering. Red Robin wants Danny to work for WE because when he looked at the machine blueprints he saw how complex the thing was and it would had taken even him a 10 minutes and Danny dismantled it in like 2 without damaging anything. He's beggimg Bruce to stop being awkward with his own brother. Please.

He totally 'mother's' all the young heroes/vigilantes. He understands the stress and everything that goes into it. Of course he's going to feed them.

Also I love the idea of Dan liking ballet! Let him sign up! And when Cass notices him at the dance studio she uses it to get close to her little cousin and his family. Dan totally is sus at first buttttt he may had watched her kick butt when she and him went to get some ice cream after class and were almost mugged and is wowed how badass she was! He totally tell Ellie about the fight too!

Jason totally rubs it in Bruce's face that he's on amazing terms with Danny and the kids. OH! Have Ellie totally declaring he's her favorite of the Wayne kids, Cass is Dan's fav. I can just imagine him teaching her things, like how to fix a motorcycle and stuff like that.

Dick is dying, he wants to be the greatest cousin, the best cousin for the Fenton kids but ugh his siblings totally are! The least he can do is wrangle in Damian when he gets a little too over the top, or so he thinks they're all having a blast fighting each other. Even though they won't admit it. They're mortal enemies after all.

Alfred and Danny talking. My God. My heart. Alfred trying not to cry now that Danny is home, in Wayne Manor where he should had been raised in along with Master Bruce. He wondered how it would had been like but tries not to dwell on it. The young master was home, with his own children Master Dan and Miss Ellie in tow. Alfred shows him all the pictures he has and tells Danny about his birth parents. He does eventually talks to Jazz, thanks her for being there for Danny during the years away, and chats with the Fenton's thanks them as well for rasing Danny (no matter how weird and insane they could be, they still loved Danny like their own. Good parents Fenton's btw)

Also the Twins fighting Damian and finding the cave totally happens. Dan and Damian were totally rough housing but during it Ellie is exploring around, using her powers to find secret pathways and goes into Bruce's office (this happens when the family just got comfy with each other). Damian catches her and well, starts being Damian. Dan finds them in the office and things escalate from there and the two are fighting in the office until Damian roughly tackles Dan towards the old grandfather clock. Who instinctively uses his powers to phase them so they don't hit it. And they both go tumbling down the steps into the batcave. Ellie hot on their heels flying down to them in a panic.

Cass probably talks to Dan about it tho, helping him stretch at the dance studio on a day when it's just them cause Cass is giving him extra lessons. Dan had insisted everyone got sign language classes when he first started going to the studio and getting close to Cass, so it's a very slow conversation. Bits and pieces of story exchanged in-between involved stretches and practicing dance moves, away from prying eyes and with barely a whisper beyond soft music from what they're practicing. The whole story isn't shared in a day. Jason got himself his own mug. Dan gets Cass a "favorite cousin" mug (for the Manor) and water bottle (for the ballet studio), especially since she doesn't snitch to their dad's.

It does spread, slowly. Jason next, because Ellie's bothering Robin on patrol like the MENANCE she is, so he simply reroutes to Crime Alley and essentially tosses his ghostly cousin at Red Hood on a rooftop with NO explanation besides "She's YOUR problem now, Todd" before grappling away. She is in fact, Red Hood's problem that night.

Dan doesn't sneak out as often, between studying hard to TROUNCE Damien in exams, ballet, and using his duplicates to cover for Ellie. (Listen- Listen. Danny knows something's up. He knows his kids. But he also knows that if anything genuinely comes up they'll ask for help because he made DAMN SURE his kids could, would and do come to him for help. Ellie was a wanderer long before she went from his clone cousin to being his kid, and her sneaking out to fly around at night isn't exactly new.) When he does, he either follows Ellie to bully their cousins or he shadows Cass, learning more than just ballet.

Barbara absolutely finds out quickly once the twins start sneaking into patrols, but silence is bought and her lips are sealed. (They get her in contact with Tucker and she can't be bothered to inform Bruce, when she's getting a head start on MASTERING ectoplasm-enhanced computers and ghostly hacking and counter hacking before Tim even has a whiff, who is busy trying to investigate the weird patrol behavior of his siblings.)

I think the Twins, Ellie especially, essentially become the Batkid's hot potato on quiet patrol nights, for as long as they can get away with it before Batman stops being distracted by Danny being back long enough to be suspicious.

(Me at new addons)

Gosh I love the freaking idea of Damian, Dan, and Ellie all keeping that they know™ their secrets a secret because it's like a cousin code lol. You don't tell our parents and I won't.

Danny had been so desperate to pass just ONE test as a freshman, just one good grade, and it doomed a whole timeline with a grief that still hangs on Dan's shoulders like a cloud on the bad days. He would have killed for support for his education back then!!!

And Tim, teenage acting CEO of a major company, teen vigilante hero, simply dropped out because no one would believe or help him. (They're superheros. Magic is real, aliens live ((somewhat)) openly on Earth, and heroes have come back from the dead on more than one occasion. And yet, he still received no help from his family, his team, in following this lead.)

Not to mention the only reason he got involved in the first place is because Bruce was so violent and uncontrolled at the time that Tim was desperate to get him help, and apparently the linchpin to that was having a kid sidekick.

(That's not even touching on Jason. Loud, wonderful asshole of a young man Jason, who pushed his way into the family far too easily, of whom Ellie adores. Jason who is a Revenant. Jason who died. Jason who died as a teen vigilante to a Gotham rogue who's been escalating for YEARS, and yet keeps getting put back in the same asylum that rogues escape from constantly.)

Danny has never been so furious in his life, so much that he briefly genuinely considers becoming a Gotham rogue for the explicit purpose of kicking Bruce's ass.

But! I think you all are missing out on all the angst this would bring up on Dan's end.

Dan, whose grief led to him destroying his whole world.

Dan, who must've had to destroy the entire Justice League to do so.

Dan, whose anguish over losing his second family caused him to murder his own brother, the very last of his first family left alive.

---

Dan hated that smug bastard Damien at first sight. He hated his stupid fucking face! It was wrong, uncanny, familiar-but-not. Like a word you can't recall so your mind conjures similar sounding ones that are still, wrong wrong wrong!

There, there Danny. Won't you smile for big brother?

So yeah. Dan hated Damien.

And it's not the Wayne kid was any better! He glared at him and Ellie with suspicious, narrowed eyes and muttered about clones. And well. He was half right on that count, but that still gave him no right to treat Dan and his little sister with distain!

Dan was long past razing worlds and murdering trillions. He had family again to soothe the part of his obsession inherited from consuming Vlad's core. But his new his third family was the subject of his original protective obsession, and by the ancients, Dan my be done with murder, but school yard brawling was very much On. The. Table.

Obviously Ellie was happy to join in. Chaos gremlin.

The fight was surprisingly satisfying. The wrong-faced-bastard was a better fighter than expected, though it grated on Dan that the other pulled his punches. Of course, he and Ellie did the same, staying within human limits and suppressing their powers. But even with both sides holding back, it was a good fight. Just good enough to almost calm his ghost down from the rage of seeing Damien look at him with disgust using that face.

Danny was called in to the school and Ellie proceeded to explain how they ran into another clone named Damien and they had a fun fight and does that make him their new brother?

"Absolutely not!" Dan snapped. "He is not my brother! He's just some-some stuck-up doppelgänger! He doesn't deserve to have his- our face!"

And now the anger was back.

And then they came into the room. Damien and a man in a fancy suit. Of course the bastard was the son of a rich frootloop.

Dan watched as the man, presumably Mr. Wayne looked around with a sheepishly apologetic look which turned to pale, stricken shock as soon as he laid eyes on Danny. "It's you..." He whispered through bloodless lips.

Batman stared up at Dan the Destroyer, blood in his teeth and tears in his eyes. "Please little brother, it's me" were the last words he ever spoke.

Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His anger was getting to him. That was all. A reminder of what his rage could lead to if left unchecked. But he was fine. He had Danny, apologizing over his kids' behavior to the stock-still billionaire. He had Ellie, unapologetically grinning and ready to stir up more shit. He had Jazz, no doubt ready to drop everything to talk about his feelings. He had Sam and Tucker, willing to video call or play online games when they had the time. He had more than he deserved. He was fine.

He was not fine.

Mr. Wayne was under the delusion that Danny was his long lost brother. And Danny was appropriately suspicious. Until for some observants forsaken reason, Danny had agreed to dinner at the frootloop fucking mansion! It was bad enough Dan had to see Damien's stupid face at school, and now this??? Dan would be surprised if the night didn't have at least one disaster.

It did.

One thing led to another, and because Dan and Damien couldn't spend an hour together without fighting, they did exactly that. Only this time instead of the school, they were in some sort of fancy ass study. Dan made a scathing remark, provoking Damien into an undignified tackle.

It was so undignified, in fact, that it took Dan by surprise. He lost control of his intangibility and he and Damien fell through the grandfather clock... and.... down.

They landed in a cave. It was. The batcave. And.

Batman was a ruthless tactician at heart. He no doubt had found the source of Dan's madness in that other time, and hoped claiming familial ties might cause him to hesitate. He only said it to exploit a perceived weakness.

Bruce Wayne was another crazy billionaire who wanted to play pretend that Danny was family.

Bruce Wayne was Batman.

Batman was Bruce Wayne was Danny's brother was Batman-!

Dan killed Batman.

Instead of cursing her to an eternal sleep or death, Maleficent declares that the princess will grow up to betray the kingdom and serve her instead. So the king sends Aurora away, but one day the young adventurous girl strays a bit too far and right into her territory.

Jason: They make you say that?

Danny tired: Yes, they make me say that. What do you want to order?

Jason: I don't know. What has the least soul?

Danny: ....You're one of those guys mad that we built over the old chili hot dog vendor's spot, aren't you?

Jason: IT WAS THE BEST FOOD IN GOTHAM AND YOUR COMPANY RAN HIM OUT.I'VE BEEN EATING THESE DOGS SINCE I WAS SIX

Danny: Sir. I don't own this place. I'm just a minimum wage worker. I did not make the corporate decision to screw over a fellow lower-middle-class man.

Jason: Right. Right. Sorry. I....I love those hot dogs. And now he's gone. Run out by a big company that sells the same thing with no taste.

Danny: He's not gone. He just two street away. I bought my lunch from him.

Jason: what?

Danny: Yeah, I liked his food too. So I helped him get a permanent spot with the city. Here is his card.

Jason: I love you

Danny: Yeah a lot of his clients tell me the same.

Jason leaning over the counter to stare into Danny soul: No. I love you.

Danny inches from Jason's face: Ugh. Okay?

Jason: If you need anything. You tell me. And if anyone bothers you, I will kill them for you. I will send Red Hood after them. You just say the word.

Danny: I...I rather not.

Jason: Okay. I'm leaving my phone number for you just in case.

Danny: Yup.

When you like someone so much you want to BITE them - and other adventures of Hedwig (Pticenoga) and Vaughn >:)

I've been dealing with some health issues (nothing unusual for me, so no worries; also my husband takes care of me the same way Vaughn does here lol), which kept me from posting for a while. Now I'm trying to get back into it 💀

As you can see, I've also been experimenting a bit. I have 0 training in animation, but I've always admired it, so I decided to try animating something small myself. These are some of my older attempts, I've created more since then (you can find them on my Patreon), and I even revisited Hedwig's leg animation to make it smoother and as if she's rushing forward. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm really excited about it!

Like Imagine

Red Hood: Be My Robin

Tim Drake: You know what, why not. Dick just fired me. He gave Robin to Damian.

Red Hood: Oh that sucks man i’m so sorry.

Red Hood: So… Red Robin?