Stars

Dick was angry. It was an odd feeling to spend every second of every day since that night being so angry that he actually twitched with it.

While the American government tried to figure out what to do with him, while the circus that had been his entire life moved on- leaving him behind- Dick sat in a stupid little cell while the man who killed his parents was out there, living life like usual.

There was no room in the foster system, they said. The only place that could take Dick in was Juvi. They threw him in here, like a common criminal, while his parents' murderers walked away, covering the end of Dick's world as a mere accident.

It wasn't fair. How dare he? How dare they tell him to sit? To wait. That man needed to die. He needed to have his neck snapped under Dick's hands.

"Well, aren't you a tiny thing?" A gruff voice huffs, dragging Dick's attention away from his blood smear thoughts. Standing behind the bars of his cell, twirling a set of keys, a teenager dressed in all black, looking like death had attempted to take him but was driven away. Dick nearly believed it was an evil spirit that the Strong Man used to warn him about.

Danny was having a terrible day, or more like a terrible week. His parents had discovered that he was Phantom, and had immediately attacked him. The only reason he had managed to get away through the portal was Jazz holding them back as she shouted at him to run.

Once in the ghost zone Clockwork was instantly by his side leading him to Far Frozen to help with his injuries. Once the worst of it was over Clockwork told him that to help keep him safe he was sending Danny far away from Amity; to Gotham. Whether he agreed or not didn't seem to matter as in a blink of an eye Danny finds himself standing in an alleyway with nothing more than what he already had.

The next few days were hard, and Danny was really trying not to let that get him down too much. So it only makes sense that the universe would take that as a challenge to do worse by raining.

When walking aimlessly in the grocery store to escape the rain he was absent mindlessly picking things up, reading them, and putting them down. That seemed to be a problem for some people though as in the next moment an older woman is grabbing his arm, and demanding him to put back what he was going to steal and asking where his parents are.

The woman doesn't even give him a chance to respond though before she is shouting at and pulling Danny towards an older teen (Tim) who is also standing in the aisle and now staring at them with wide eyes as they approach.

"You need to keep a better track of your little brother! I caught him trying to steal while you were over here looking at your phone!"

The older teen makes eye contact with those words. Now, Danny will admit that while this guy and him did look oddly a-like they weren't brothers, or at least he hoped that was the case. He would know if he was adopted right? Probably.

"Yes," Tim reaches out and pulls Danny out of the woman's grasp; tucking Danny into his side, "I'll make sure to do that thank you."

The woman obviously wants to continue talking, but before she can Tim is already walking away from her with Danny right next to him.

Part of the reason he hated shopping so much was because of the attention he always attracted. When he dressed up he got recognized as Tim Drake-Wayne and was mobbed by either paparazzi trying to get a quick scoop or actual mobsters looking to kidnap him and get a ransom. When he dressed down every store clerk seemed to assume he was there to steal. Dick said it was because his Bat-paranoia that had him constantly on the lookout for threats came across as someone up to no good, afraid of getting caught. 

He idly watched a younger teen from the corner of his eye. The scruffy looking teen picked up one of the jars off the shelf and carefully read it then put it back. Jason and Cass had both talked about how that was a way to push off attention if you weren’t planning on buying anything and just needed somewhere out of the weather. More power to him, honestly, the stormfront that had burst was looking to last another week. 

Tim tiredly dragged himself to the Bat-computer. It had been a long, almost eight hours. Two-Face was captured once more, fortunately Bruce knew which buttons to push on the former DA and was able to instigate a personal confrontation that led to his arrest. There were a few other rogues missing once the fires were out and the riot quelled, which was going to be a problem eventually. Oracle was already working on trying to track them down. 

However, the biggest concern was Jason mentioning that Black Mask had been making moves again, trying to push into Crime Alley, sending more drugs and thugs into Jason’s turf. While Two-Face may have orchestrated this breakout, he had outside help that seemed to point to Black Mask. He hadn’t been active since Red Hood had smashed through his organization. 

He had one thing that had been weighing on his mind all night. Was Danny his brother? Yeah Danny said he was looking for a sister, but civilian records were never that accurate, and it would be just like Jack or Janet to further obfuscate the records to keep an extramarital baby from getting tracked back to them. He set the DNA sequencer to run then went for the showers. 

He had caught and knocked out a few of the inmates, including some weirdo with a knife and a bunch of tally marks all over his body. He kept himself invisible and carefully knocked each of them out in one blow so they wouldn’t even know that they weren’t downed by one of the Bats. He wanted to do more, but he absolutely couldn’t be caught there. 

Have you ever been so broke that you've resorted to gigs that normally would make you seem like a minor villains goon?

Danny has.

Being practically broke, drowning in constant student debt, college student has led to some of the weirdest side gigs Danny has ever done. He can at the very least confirm that as he continues his degree in Astrophysics at MIT.

Dpxdc

Superman landed beside him with a soft thud, cape settling against the dust. “It’s over,” he said, his voice steady, calm. “You did the right thing.”

Danny didn’t look at him. “Yeah. Guess so.”

The hero gave a small nod, studying him the way scientists study something fragile but fascinating. “You know,” he said, “it’s remarkable how close your emotional responses are to human ones. The League was… surprised, honestly. You handle yourself with compassion. With restraint.”

Danny’s fingers twitched. “I am human,” he said before he could stop himself.

Superman’s expression softened — pity, gentle and infuriating. “In a way, yes. I know you like to think of yourself that way. It’s admirable, Danny. Really. You’ve built an identity, a sense of purpose — that’s rare among your kind.”

“My kind,” Danny repeated, and the words felt heavier than any chain the GIW had ever used.

Superman smiled faintly, unaware. “You’re proof that even echoes can choose to be kind.”

Danny laughed then — short, sharp, bitter. It startled them both.

“Yeah,” he said, voice quiet. “Guess we’re all just echoes, huh?”

Superman nodded, pleased at the agreement, and took off into the sky.

Danny watched him disappear into the clouds, the sound of his flight fading. The air felt too still, too empty.

He looked down at his own hands, faintly glowing green in the twilight. They trembled.

“An echo,” he whispered. “Right.”

The wind stirred, carrying away his voice.

A ghost had come to him, some slinder underweight woman with blue skin and green hair, sobbing if she was real, if any of them where real. She had been dead since the 90s. All she did was ramble about what they felt, about who she was without herself. It was jarring. Most ghost –hafe dead,fully dead or some wirered comsimic horror trapped in shrodingers box– are too focused on obsessions to even consider the fact their dead most days. They know, but its like when you have a paper cut on your hand, you only realize you have it when you use hand sanitizer. A quick flash and then you can forget about till next time.

The only ghost that cling to it, are new ones and she wasn't.

John let out a breath a string of smoke spewing from his lips. He didnt draw his eyes away from the gray trail as it floated to the ceiling, not even as the door opened and Wonderwoman called the start of the meeting.

It droned on for a few moments, congratulations on theat mission, a report on small flaws and items they need to improve, the normal endless cycle that didnt get the Glue between Worlds sobbing and ceareing in chaos.

Every Ghost, no matter how old, was distraught over the idea of death, of the fact they died. Obsessions didn't help, spells didnt help, nothing he had done had stopped the Ghost of a prison warden from nesrly ceaseing to exist.

"John." Batmans roguh voice called, it dragged him out of his spiral just enough. Just enough for his gaze to sharpen with a weary ended as he stared at the people infrot of him with only one question: "What the fuck did you do?"

John's hands shook. He coukd feel seams of undead unraveling around him. Ghost that where never ment to fade, ceaseing with an endless wail.

"What do you mean?" Superman askes with that same soft Midwestern twang he uses for victims, "Dont give me that," John pointed a shakeing finger at the man "Yall did something what did you do?"

Another string unbound, snapping back at his like a whip. A pain none of the others expect John coukd feel. He was the only one that shattered his soul into thousands of tiny fragments after all, it was only him thag coukd feel eatch better on his soul slipping into nothing.

"Do you mean the Ghost?" Barry spoke up, he was playing with a ball, tossing it to eatch hand with a speed that only let John's mind prossces the after images. "What–" John ground his teeth "What Ghost?"

The dick wad— Barry — did a so-so gesture with his hands. "You know," John fucking didnt and the calm shrug of ease didnt help that fact, "destory on operatoin that borerds on the meta-humans acts, set the trapped species free, lay the town protecter to rest?"

John froze. No one— and he means no one, lays a ghost 'to rest'. They never rest, they never stand still, always doing something, the only way to let a ghost rest is if you trap it.

"Explain."

Barry shrugged– again, with that same ease as John felt another shard of himself slip into nothing— "Phantom, he was the echo protecting the town. We stopped the Ghost Invistgatoin ward, Supes gave him the okay to move on."

"You told—" John clutched at his chest the movement startling the people around him, his heart beat like a rabbit on meth, still he wet his lips and spoke, "You told, the god of the dead.. to leave?"

The room falls into a still. The sort of still that, funnily enough, only comes with death. John laughed, throwing his head back as his ribs ached. "You! You told the dead that they could leave!"

"I dont understand?" Superman, no– Superasshole said, John had to brace himself on the table. He wanted a beer, no vodka, no, something that would make him forget what he just heard. "The only way for the dead to leave is if they stop existing." It felt like explaing something to toddlers. No one seemed to realize what that ment till he opened his mouth again, "Their takeing me with them."

That set the room alight.

Everyone had something to say, everyone wanted to say something, but John didnt have the time for everyone to ask him what he ment, or if he was jokeing, or whatever blimey nonsense they could come up with.

"We can fix it right?" Zantana asked.

John just, shook his head. He didnt have the engery for banter.

"I just hope you you can fix it before the Relams pull themselves apart."

His canteen was still hafe full, and he pulled it from his trench coats pocket. Uncapping it as everyone around him argued over what to do, and bringing it to his lips with shakey hands.

So Danny has been the ghost king and ancient of space for a long time, like a long time. Sam, Val, Tucker, Dan, Dani and Jazz also became ancients.

In this AU when GIW managed to break the connection between their dimension and the Ghost Zone, leading to the collapse of their dimensions and its total destruction. Danny managed at the last moment to tear a hole in reality to the Zone and pull his classmates with him, along with Mr. Lancer.

The first few days were hard to say but time passed, his class became more and more liminal until it stopped aging, most of us becoming ghosts because they didn't die (except for the trio, Val and Jazz). Mr. Lancer becoming a librarian at the castle. Danny taking on the role of Ghost King so he could protect his friends, for politics, freeing Clockwork from the Observants (resulting in a very unfortunate fate for them).

And at some point along the way realizing to his horror that his subjects (not the ghosts who knew him before) thought his friends were his concubines, members of his harem (fortunately not Mr. Lancer, nor Dani or Dan since the two looked like him and were assumed to be his children and Jazz being known as his sister).

Since they had no obvious role in the eyes of the fiends and didn't seem to do anything obvious besides hanging around hell the King of the Infinite Realms still gave them his protection and indulged them with whatever they wanted, except for Val, Sam and Tucker who were obviously his legitimate wives (favorites).

And Dark Pariah himself had concubines before he was put in the coffin.

And his friends, like dramatic trolls who love chaos, took advantage of this and played the part, much to his horror.

Which leads to one of the Batkids (whoever you want, I was writing this thinking of Tim or Jason) ending up being sacrificed to be the wife of the Ghost King by a cult. One small problem was that the ritual was not a summoning one, and the batkid would be registered as a child/minor.

And since Danny had long installed a clause that would teleport a child sacrifice directly to his "harem" rooms, one specially arranged for when something similar happens over the years where the person is cared for by servants.

So the batkid will find himself experiencing something of a combination of horror and imperial harem drama of

That many never leave the keep unless they are highly favored and have carried at least 1 heir (Only Tucker and Sam really ever want to leave for extended times and the rest like to hang in the keep or leave for such short periods that the ghosts dont reconize they left) (Tucker obviously had Dani while only Sam could have produced Dan)

Now what actually happens is that the people sacrificed dont actually have anything to return to. So Danny and the others dont generally ask cause the ones who want to return to their home demension tend to be crying and asking to return.

Damian did not so they assumed he was like the others and by the time they find out he was not its going to take AWHILE to find the proper dimensions with the portal fully closed.

And time behaves differently and Halfas, ghoasts, and liminals dont age mentally or physically while in the realms so Danny is very much still 15 and Damian is also 15. They slowly grow closer and closer. Danny falling genuinly in love with Damian.

Time also progresses guicker in the realms. So after a month in Damians original dimension it has actually been like a 5 years. (They are still 15 years old lol though) when the Bats finally break into the infinity realm.

Danny was shipped to Gotham and he was instantly culture shocked by the amount of violence a living human have. Like, it's understandable if it's a ghost but no, this people are alive!!! So why????

Gotham was also cursed and as a protective spirit, his own protectiveness was warped into something sinister due to it.

Cue, Danny kidnapping some rouge (Red Hood included) to play a little game called "Choose your Poison".

It's where rapist (for the first round) gets to choose a door, behind that door is a rouge, and then they have to 1 v 1 that rouge. They do not get to say no, it's that or THAT but 1 v 2.

It's also livestreamed and Danny was like the host commenting the crimes and the likes. Just

Danny: And now for the next battle, the owner of the whatsamacallit fighting KI-KI-KI-KI-KILLER CROC!!!! Let's give them a round of applause!!!

Danny: In this corner we have a sorry excuse of a Father who has been pimping his daughters to the police just so he won't get jail time while selling drugs!!!

Danny: And now the police.

It starts with typical bat level stalking and figuring out what the Phantom Ghost Host’s deal is. All of his “victims” are exactly the kind of people Jason likes turning into obituaries. After seeing that the Phantom sentenced a particularly nasty fentanyl laced psychedelic dealer that had been on Red Hood’s Shit List for a while to death by Harley Quinn, Jason starts trying to contact him. 

Minor problem, the Phantom is annoyingly hood at covering his tracks. He has a bit of a reputation, but there isnt shit about a secret identity. It’s like tracking a ghost. 

Eventually, Harley fucking Quinn tells him to just use a Ouija board. Apparently, even after being kidnapped and forced to kill someone she and the Phantom are on good terms. They even have coffee together every few weeks.

So Jason summons Danny on the roof of a 7/11 on a random ass Tuesday afternoon. They’re both apprehensive at first, and Jason is sure that he came off as awkward. He ends up giving Phantom a few names he hadn’t gotten around to eliminating yet, along with their addresses and offending crimes. 

From Danny’s perspective, he got summoned by this mysterious hot guy who decides to give him the names of potential targets. He’s definitely had a run in with some nasty ectoplasm, but all the information checks out, which saves Danny a bunch of time. The guy even bought him skittles from the 7/11! 

Danny captures and disposes of the criminals in an appropriately dramatic fashion. Every time one of them stars on his show he thanks his “anonymous tip” and honest to god WINKS at the camera. (Jason is so normal abt this btw) 

By the time the bats get around to stopping Danny, the Red Hood and the Phantom are in full blown collaboration. Bruce asks Jason if he’s heard anything, and Jason just shrugs and says “Nah, he’s just me if I became a Twitch streamer instead of a Crime Lord. Seems pretty chill, he’s been shortening my to-do list.” 

“Jason this is serious, the Phantom is capable of successfully kidnapping Rogues. He captured Mr. Freeze less than an hour after he escaped from Arkham.”

“Oh yeah, guess he’s making your job easier too.” 

Bruce’s eye twitches. “So you don’t know anything?” 

Jason knew the Phantoms phone number, sleep schedule, and favorite flavor of ice cream. 

“Nope, not a thing.” 

The fifth time that Jason meets up with the Phantom (even after exchanging contact info, they prefer to meet in person) Jason is wound up about something or other. Maybe he just found out one of his higher ranking men was actually a child molester who’d been hoping on getting close to him to dodge the Red Hood’s wrath. To make matters worse, he’d been able to slip away before Jason could put a bullet in his dick.

“Oh damn. Look, if I can find this guy, do you wanna be the rogue that kills him?” 

Jason pauses, looking into green eyes and realizing that the offer is fully legitimate. The Phantom would track down this slimy bastard, imprison him, and rig his game show so that Jason could kill him. Its one of the sweetest things anyone has done for him in years. 

He accepts. 

The show goes perfectly.

“Alrighty, you all know how this works! This fucker gets to choose a door and fight the mystery Rogue behind it. We’re going to change things up here, so behind Door 1 is the Man Bat! He’s a ‘Professional People Eater’ with a habit of tearing people’s eyes out mid flight!” 

The former goon looks freaked the fuck out. Good. 

“Annnnnnd behind Door 2 is the Killer Croc! He tore the limbs off the last guy he annihilated here! Soooooooo pick a door any door any door ya like!” 

Now this is clearly a terrible dilemma, both options fucking despise humans and are definitely pissed to be there. Just as planned, the guy points at a third door clearly marked “EXIT” thinking he’s being smart.

“Ooooooooo you chose the mystery door! No one’s ever been clever enough for that.” 

Goon suddenly has a very bad feeling about this. 

“Behind Mystery Door Number 3, we have the RED HOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!” And the door is kicked down, revealing a furious Hood. 

Red Hood laughs at his mortified expression and starts absolutely destroying him, covering him in bruises and snapping more then one bone. The Phantom gleefully chases away any sympathy for the man by listing every horrible thing he’d done to be there. None of the beating is enough to kill him, which is intentional. Once the guy is too injured to get off the ground, Red Hood pulls out a gun and shoots him in the dick, just like he wanted to. 

He venomously spat “That was for your daughter.” Then, he stepped on the guys crotch as he made his way out of the arena. 

The Red Hood was already popular with the citizens of Gotham, but people loved him even more on the game show. Especially the Crime Alley runners, who make up a good percentage of the viewers. Red Hood isn’t in the next livestream, and the Ghoulie Chat is very pouty. 

So is Bruce, because he and the Bats have had about as much success as Jason in finding the Phantom. 

What Bruce doesn’t know is that the rest of the family isn’t actually trying very hard. Ever since Red Hood started appearing on the Gotham Ghost Host, Jason has seemed so much happier. None of them know it, but Danny has been able to help Jason with the ectoplasm causing the Pit Rage. He’s been less snappish, he smiles more, and his eye bags have faded. He’s become one of the only people who can ruffle Damien’s hair without being stabbed. He sticks his tongue out at Tim, and the word “Replacement” is said jokingly instead of scathingly. He patrolled with Duke during the day after he said that sometimes he gets lonely. He even goes to movie night with Dick. But what really gets them is how he laughs freely, and it sounds so, so much like it did before he died. 

Babs asked Jason about the Phantom, since they were rather flirty in their most recent stream. She tried to make it clear that she was asking because she wanted to know about who Jason talks to, not because Bruce wants her to take down the Phantom. She was asking because she gave a shit about Jason’s life, and he turned bright red. Jason’s eyes practically lit up when he eventually started talking about the Phantom, even as he refused to give any helpful information. 

And just like that the Bats are actively preventing Bruce from stopping the Phantom. Bruce can’t trace the livestream for the life of him, because Babs did that weeks ago and buried the signal. One time, Danny breaks into the cave to ask Jason something about one of the targets. (He didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret!) and Dick sees them. He asks what the fuck they’re doing there, and then quickly tells them that they gotta leave. Damien distracts Bruce, and Tim helps Babs wipe the security footage while Duke makes sure they get out unseen. Even Alfred helps, gaslighting Bruce into believing that nothing happened and everyone is acting normal. 

This ends with Jason starting a book club, and no, they do not meet up in civilian identities. Red Hood and Phantom are regularly seen at a bookstore chugging red bull with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Sometimes, they’re still covered in blood from the most recent livestream. 

What would be awesome is if the GIW make an appearance

They come to Gotham, loudly proclaiming what they’ll do when they get their hands on the ghost, and Danny sorta checks out

It gets revealed that Danny has been at their mercy before, and Danny hasn’t done a show in a bit so people are getting worried

Then a new episode airs

Except the host this time is Red Hood and the rogues are all of Danny’s rogue friends

And the criminals?

Many MANY GIW operatives

The camera distorts for a bit before clearing up, and Danny, sounding only a little scared and a lot annoyed, "Oh shit." Because Vlad floats down from the ceiling and looks both proud of himself and irriated at whoever is behind the camera.

"So, this is what you've been up to." Harley is paused, staring wide-eyed at the vampire floating a few feet above her. The other rogues exit from their doors as well: Killer Croc and Scarecrow. The chat is exploding with confusion; everyone is wondering if this is part of the show. They very quickly realize it isn't when the Phantom Host speaks up, trying and failing to hide his fear behind displeasure.

"How in the Ancients did you fucking find me, Plasmius." The Phantom's tone made it sound like he didn't actually want to know.

The vampire, Plasmius, apparently, gave a very off-putting smile. "I have my ways. After all, if you love something, you let it go, and then it will find its way back to you one day. " No one liked that, especially not the Bats.

There was a growl that sounded from behind the camera, the lens started to frost a bit, and ice spread into view over the walls and floor. The Phantom's voice picked up static, and his natural echo seemed more prevalent. "Love is the wrong word for you to use. I'm not even sure you can feel emotions like that despite how much you preach about your maturity and grace."

Plasmius scoffed; thinly veiled rage shimmered on his face before he smoothed it back into smug self-assurance. "Of course, you are your father's son after all." Another growl, the ice spread further. Plasmius didn't stop, though. "And speaking of love and grace," He clasped his hands together, forcing a cheery attitude. "Where is dear Danielle? I've been dying to see her."

The person who's been behind the camera since this show aired leaped from behind it and tackled Plasmius. A fistfight broke out between the two, and it didn't seem like it was gonna stop anytime soon. The chat stalled as everyone watching took a moment to realize the person who had set up this game show to punish rapists and child molesters...was a child. He looked barely 16, all gangly limbs and cheeks rounded with baby fat and big, toxic green eyes. And he looked fucking pissed.

Though it's pretty easy to say that no one and everyone expected the following conversation, if it could be called that.

"You are never going to touch her again! You're never gonna see her again! She's not going back to you if I have anything to say about it!"

"Come now, Daniel, you're being ridiculous. She's my daughter as well, in case you've forgotten. And do you really think you can protect her in a city like this? This city hates children, and you're practically a streetwalker. Be reasonable. Danielle needs a home with-"

Phantom cut him off, his anger growing like the icicles hanging from the ceiling. "You call that place a home?! You only want to use us for your own gain! I'm not bringing her anywhere with you! Ancients know what you'd do to her!"

Plasmius didn't even respond, his rage clear in every part of his body language before he pulled some device from his cape, spookily similar to how Batman does.

Danny: The one with the glasses?

Bruce: Yes. His name is Clark Kent. He can be trusted.

Danny: Okay. *Writes note down* What about the woman next to him?

Bruce: That's Cat Grant, and no, she can't be trusted. Everything you say to her will turn into a gossip-lifting, life-ruining article.

Danny: Got it. *writes more notes*

Jason, watching the two from a few feet away: Say, who's that kid Bruce is media training? Is he a new ward he took in?

Tim: No, that's Danny Fenton, the face of Fenton Works. They signed up as a sub-company of Wayne Enterprise. Originally, they were a paranormal investigation and capture company- yes, I mean ghost hunters- but it was discovered that almost all thier tech can be used on metas. Bruce wants to make medical equipment that can be used by our enhanced citizens.

Jason: I see. But why a kid so young? He's your age, right?

Tim: Hmm, apparently his parents, the owners of Fenton Works, made him CEO so they could focus on ghost hunting and the occasional meta medical machines for Bruce. He got here a week ago to shadow me for CEO training, and Bruce stole him after they met outside my office. Danny hangs onto his every word, and I think Bruce forgot what it was like to have a kid actually listen to him.

Jason: Ah thats makes sense. What do you think of him?

Tim: Well, he's a little naive, easy to trick, and has way too much empathy for the cold world of business. I'm gonna have him in my bed.

Jason: Ah....well that took a turn. One I do not like so I'm gonna....*walks away*

Tim: He will be ✨️mine✨️

Remarkably competent (because he wouldn't hide that from a "student" the way he does from the wider public) and unusually chill. Most are one or the other. By now he has a LOT of experience explaining things to all sorts of people, so he's good at it and adaptable.

Yeah he started out inheriting a LOT but he also tries very very hard to do well by ALL employees AND the city AND give away as much as possible, he just has to do it via setting up his own damned charities because Gotham was corrupt as sin and its the only way to make sure at least most of the money actually does what its meant to.

And both Gotham and a lot of the world love him for it, so he never goes bankrupt despite his mega charities. (In most continuities.)

And now this fool has Danny learning all about running a successful company with the boy hanging off his every word!

Danny zips around the massive dark aquarium with a net carefully snatching up all sorts of colourful marine life before going up and gently depositing them in smaller tanks that Sam prepared.

"You do realise this is extremely illegal, right?"

"Taking these poor endangered fish from their homes is extremely illegal. We're righting a wrong here Danny, and you still owe me one"

Danny sighs and goes back down but keeps talking.

"I just don't want to be accused of stealing again"

"Tucker got us covered, we'll be fine. You just keep fishing Danny, I think we're almost done. "

Danny carefully goes through the dark depths of the aquarium again and it's then that he sees a much bigger shape dart away from him.

Sam said this entire thing was filled with poached endangered marine wildlife so everything in it needs to be retrieved. Aka, Danny goes in pursuit.

It takes some doing but eventually Danny gets a hold of it and it's worryingly little girl shaped.

He holds the little girl in front of him and just kinda looks for a second at this squirmy child that can apparently breathe underwater.

"Sam! Sam, holy Fffffffuudge"

"What!? What??"

"There is a baby in the aquarium!" He holds up the squealing little red head who has apparently decided what's happening now is funny actually.

"A baby!?"

"In the aquarium!" He points down at the water.

"Why is there a baby in the aquarium!!?"

"How am I supposed to know?! Maybe these weirdos accidentally fished up one of Aquaman's people?"

"Oh my god, we need to bring her back!"

"How the ff-frick-" the little girl giggles and goes, "Fik!" Making Danny wince,  "-are we supposed to do that, I don't know where Atlantis is at Sam"

"Call the justice league?"

"Didn't they disband again not too long ago?"

"... shit, you're right"

Danny rushes to cover the little girls ears while hissing, "language" and Sam slaps a hand over her mouth.

"Sorry..."

Danny floats in a circle above the water bouncing the child who seems fascinated with his glowing white hair, "Okay, okay, here's an idea. Jazz has her drivers license. We'll do an impromptu road trip to the east coast"

"... yeah, sounds good, let's go"

Sam holds the little girl as Danny stacks up all the tanks filled with fish and they quickly leave the premises.

"Can I just say I love you hair little miss, Naturally dark red? if only I was that lucky."

The now empty tank is surrounded by a gaggle of awkwardly shifting henchmen.

The gang has learned what a one year old eats, and how to change diapers.

They've also learned that there are a bunch of crazies out there that want  to steal a baby atlantean.

By now Jazz has fought a guy who called himself Black Manta in the new and improved Fenton exoskeleton. That battle involved a lot of lazers going in various directions.

"I thought Aquaman was an idiot to entrust her protection to a group of teenagers. But I'm starting to see his logic. You lot prepare yourselves, next time it won't be so easy"

And he'd been gone before they could correct his assumptions.

Then there was the swamp witch that Sam Out magicked with her own plant abilities.

"Curse you children, that royal blood will be mine!"

"Is she talking about me?"

"I really doubt it Tuck..."

Now they've finally reached the east coast and some big crustacean looking guy got sand guardianed by Tucker. Aka he's stuck up to his neck in the sand of the beach.

"You're only delaying the inevitable! Ocean master will have the child!"

The group just looks at him rather annoyed. 

Great, that means some other asshole is going to show up any moment now.

…

“Anyone any ideas about how we’re gonna find a legendary underwater city to bring the little girl back to her parents?” Sam asks while checking over the fish tanks in the back of their vehicle.

“This would have been so much easier if we could contact Aquaman directly somehow… do they have wifi underwater?” Tucker frowns at his PDA, “do they need social media down there?”

“Careful Tuck, I’ve read that Aquaman gets agitated at those kinds of questions,” Danny carefully lets the little girl play with the sand, making sure not to take his eyes off her after Jazz harshly told him to make sure to not let her eat any of it.

“Babies will put anything in their mouths Danny, be careful!”

Jazz reappears after locking the vehicle down, that thing isn’t going anywhere, not with the anti-ghost defenses active. they are also quite good against car robbers.

“So no brilliant ideas on how to get her back to her parents just yet?”

“It’s really annoying how we keep coming across or getting tracked down by weirdo’s and we still have no idea how to reach her parents…”

Jazz holds her hands out to Danny who hands the girl over to his sister.

“Okay, in that case-”Starts Sam, “we’ll just load all these fish onto the Manson family yacht that’s docked a little over there, and we focus on getting the fish home first.”

“Maybe a helpful atlantean will come to see what we’re doing and we can ask for directions.”

The group agrees to this plan of action and gets to work.

Danny made another ice ball. It was the only thing that was currently stopping the child from crying. She was ill, with something, likely a human thing too, but they didn't know what it was, and Frostbite hadn't been able to get them quick results, they had tried letting ehr slash around, keeping her diet well roudned.

but she was sick, and there was no getting around that.

so hey started shift, Jazz's singing lasted abotu an hour before she got fussy again, Sam and Tucker had, combined, lasted all fo twenty minutes.

Danny was still gong strong at three hours.

"Can't we just call the Justice League?" he muttered, watching their charge suck on the mini globe of ice.

________________________________________________ "My king, my queen!" "Aqualad, why did you call us?" "I believe we may have information on the whereabouts of the princess." that caught their attention.

"Where?" Mera hissed.

"Well, there is satalite footage of Black Manta fighting some-sort of exo-suit in this area of the east coast." he stood in fornt of a screen manned by Red-Robin, who was reveiwing footage while looking utterly exhausted,Authur didn't undersatnd how Bruce could work his childrne this hard, or place expectation on them that made them work this hard, but he wasn't one to judge. Aqualad continued" we managed to find a part of the footage where the vehicle is in veiw. Red's been tracking it-" "Somewhere on North Carolina's coast."

"...they are somewhere in North Carolina."

"thank you Red Robin." "no prob."

"Are we there yet?" Danny said already regretting speaking. He was still healing from the recent fight against the Ocean man guy combined with his extended use of his powers and he was drained.

"We should go south!" Sam protested cradling the now sleeping atlantian in her arms. "Are you serious Gotham is just a few states away!" Tucker said on his new mobile phone after his PDA died on him again.

This was going on for three hours now after the Mason yacht was blown up. Jazz wasn't much help and the child's sickness was getting worse. Heck they didn't have the money to bring her to the hospital and what would they say? 'Hey we found Aquamans child and the child is sick and we don't know what to do?' Yeah not the best option.

"Ok!" Danny said breaking the tension and most likely a rib. "Ok we are all currently in... very deep horse dung right now but we can't fight like this. Yes there are people after us. Yes we aren't at Atlantis. Yes we aren't that good at taking care of kids but we can't just allow all of that to cloud our reasoning."

Sam and Tucker calming down just looked defeated. Out of all of them Danny somehow suffered the most damage from the most recent fight. And Danny as of most days like these was right. The air once filled anger seemed almost depressing.

Sighing Danny turns to Tucker. "What's the lastest news story?" Tucker closes the map and opens up the news app. "Let's see uh lot's of stories... Uh oh. oh crap-" "Language." Danny hissed. "Sorry, but the news about the Justice League disbandment pretty old news appearently also apparently temporary... And looks like our digital foot print wasn't very discreet." "What do you mean 'temporary'? "

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

Arthur was at his wits end how was four teens and a baby that hard to locate? He knew that surface searching wasn't like under water searching, his people had no real jurisdiction on land. But the Justice League had all hands on deck for this thing. And they were still spread thin as it is.

"I went to the last place the 5 were seen." Aqualad said coming in exhausted. "The local residents testimonies should help with finding her. " "Put... put it on screen."

The data did not lie the 5 were heading towards Atlantis just they were constantly getting stopped by villains who were trying to get his daughter.

"The data suggests they're heading south." Red Robin says sipping on his latest cappuccino. "No, they are going north." Aquaman says flatly. "He's right the latest finding suggests-" Aqualad says pulling a photo on screen. "They tried just GOING to Atlantis. But there's a destroyed boat in their way." "Not the right time for jokes dude."

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

"Dude what flight goes to Atlantis?" Danny asks "Malaysia flight 370 if I remember correctly. " Tucker said before Danny smacked him upside the head. "I saw the meme Tuc not funny people died."

Jazz in her ecto suit is surrounded by the ones she's taken out, currently holding up the one in charge, "you better start taking or I'll keep swinging."

She's giving him her best 'I'm disappointed in you' face.

The guy himself however is looking like he's about to throw up any moment now. Probably from all the swinging around she's already done to him.

"I'm simply following orders..."

"That's not good enough." She holds him up a little higher and the guy starts scrabbling at her armor clad arm.

"They say- they said, the one who controls the princess controls the king and the one who controls the king... Its- listen, listen just- please put me down."

Parts of the lake are frozen and even though that makes for a strange sight overall the lake itself now seems deceptively peaceful. That's until about five other men get thrown out of the water and land painfully onto land after which a rather angry looking Danny wades through the water and gradually walks onto the shore. With of course a happily giggling little girl in on his arm.

Tucker turns to him and asks, "What took you so long?"

"She's great at hide and seek, and there was a lot of kicked up muck down there helping her out."

Sam grins, she remembers what a hassle it was to get her out of the aquarium in the first place, "She looks better." Sam notes.

"It might be that Aqualady over here just needs to be in water more..." Danny sheepishly runs a hand through his hair.

"That would explain why we initially found her in the aquarium." Their relaxed musing is interrupted by a shout.

"What are you doing! you traitor! Are you betraying your own kind and actually giving in to this land dweller's demands!?"

"I would like my insides to remain inside!"

The other rogue Atlantean gets up enough to throw some kind of crystal at Jazz. The others react instantly and jump to push her out of the way while she's still holding the other guy. In a flash of light all of them vanish.

"You stupid idiot, now the princess is gone too!"

"Well at least I-"

A sudden rustling is followed by a green bloodhound running out of the bushes, he sniffs the air before saying, "Oh c'mon, You have got to be kidding me..."

Next thing the rogue Atlanteans know several other titans emerge out of the bush, some more elegantly than others. Raven closes her eyes in concentration, "I sense traces of teleportation magic."

"Yeah they were here literally a second ago, the scent I was following just vanished." Gar keeps snuffling around over the ground until he's at the exact spot team Phantom just stood.

"Where are they," growls Tempest while Nightwing has a hand on his chest. Meanwhile Donna and Starfire lift the busted car out of the lake.

"I bet our lord is absolutely losing it by now isn't he," is the only sneering reply he gets though. Dick has to use a lot more force to keep Garth back and he looks over at Donna who is already running their way.

Roy mutters to Gar, "does he want to have his teeth kicked in orrr...?"

Gar shifts into a bear, shrugs, and makes a 'idunno' noise. He'll gladly help Garth with the kicking though.

"I can trace the magic, Tempest." Raven's hands start glowing. And Garth finally let's himself get pushed back by his teammates muttering a soft apology to them that's tinged with frustration.

Dick takes him aside, "Garth I don't want to do this, but if you can't keep your head cool-"

"No, I'm fine, just," he pinches the bridge of his nose, "they were so close, that's all, I'm..." a long exhale.

"Raven is tracing them, we'll know soon. Take a moment, we'll handle these idiots."

Sam glares at the rogue Atlantean (who is sweating bullets while sitting on the ground.) And bounces little Andrina in her arms.

Jazz is a little off to the side calling her parents "Hey mom, dad, uhm.. just wondering, how much pressure can the Fenton ecto-exo-skeleton handle? ... yeah- like water pressure... uhuh, oh okay, hm? Oh, no, just curious you know, no reason. Hmhm... Danny is with his friends right now so he can't come to the phone, sorry. I'll tell him to call you guys back later, yeah. Okay. Love you too bye."

She hangs up and walks to Danny who is busy freezing a layer of impenetrable ice outside of his ecto shield bubble. Right now the bubble is the only thing keeping them from drowning and getting crushed under an ungodly amount of water.

"Mom told me that their trip got extended, so I guess that's something we won't have to worry about for a while longer. You doing okay Danny?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm just thinking about how I'm gonna get you guys out of here safely..."

"Well, I'll be fine in the suit apparently, it's made so I can bust ghosts even down in the marina trench." She says mimicking their dad's enthusiasm.

"What."

"Let's not think about it too hard."

Danny pauses anyway and then says, "...Seas' haunted"

Jazz does a fake gasp, "The Flying Dutchman."

"I'll get you Davy Jones!"

Tucker is busy fiddling with his phone in the meantime, "Okay so I'm done trying to triangulate exactly where we are on my phone and... we are very, very deep."

"Yeah no kidding, I could have told you that... but where deep." Sam sets the little girl down who finds the nearest sandy puddle to splash in.

"That's harder to say..." Tucker's phone simply can't get a good signal from any satellite for that kind of stuff what with them being this deep, and he wouldn't be surprised if more magical stuff is messing things up as well. The little girl holds a handful of watery sea sand near Tucker and the water just quickly glides out of it leaving desert dry sand in her hands instead, she giggles.

"Maybe our new friend can shed some light?"

Their 'new friend' would much rather just stay ignored.

His eyes glide over the four teens, fully aware what they are capable of now.

Sea plants are already curling around Sam's ankles unprompted, a good chunk of Jazz's suit is still keeping her protected and he's seen how smoothly and quickly the rest of it can latch back on to her again. Water seems to recoil from Tucker as more and more bone dry sand surrounds him and the impromptu ice dome is handling incredible amounts of water pressure without so much as a groan or a creak.

Yeah he knows he's out of his league here, the princess is incredibly well protected, as expected from their king really. He should have known better, they all should've.

"We're somewhere between the city Tritonis and Xebel."

Suddenly Andy gets fussy and for a moment the guy thinks he's fucked up until Jazz picks the little girl up and takes a little pot of mashed fruit for babies out of her bag.

"So that's not really as helpful as you might think it is, appreciate the clear answers though, Go on," Sam urges. In the background Tucker goes, "so there are like a bunch of cities down here then?" to which Danny responds with a, "Not now Tuck."

"Uh, this was meant as a pick up point, get the princess and-" "No you misunderstand, what I meant-" "Sam I think he's been living his entire life underwater, he might not know the names we use for parts of the oceans." "…hrm, maybe a map would help, Tucker can you pull up a map on your phone?"

Before they can put that plan into action however the icy walls around them rumbles as something latches onto the it, a something that looks like a big mechanical manta ray. It starts drilling into the ice wall with what appears to be some kind of laser powered apparatus.

Now Danny probably could just reinforce his ice and just not let them through… However~

I know it's a massive cliche. But how likely is it that Black Manta's sub would have Aquaman's number saved. For gloating and threatening reasons.

Tuck is fucking about with the buttons after they kicked the bastard out of his own ship. Clicks this one button and suddenly he has an angry Aquaman on the screen. Who stops and stares in confusion. Danny and Sam shove Tucker to one side so they can show off the baby.

Mera and Arthur just slumpmfor a moment. Their baby is ok. They now know exactly what to track to find her and these heroic teens. They can take their baby home soon. Hopefully without any other ambushes happening between the meet up.

Not really, but everyone is convinced he is. He arrived at crime alley around the same time the red hood appeared, he's strong, gets along with the night girls, often gets involved in fights to protect others, and is completely unbothered by death. What really sell it was when someone finally saw him shoot a gun, the guy has a terrific aim.

Sure, no one has seen him take a life, but that's what the vigilantes shit is for, right? So everyone knows this young man is Red Hood, but that's okay, crime alley is good keeping secrets from outsiders.

Danny has no idea everyone thinks this, and is unsure why he has so many hit man's behind his head. He can't even blame this on his ghost side, this men only use human weapons! This is his Fenton luck again, isn't it?

It's been going on for 3 years but Jason only just found out now that he's going into the Alley as himself.

Hilariously, Danny ALSO is just finding out (maybe figuring out?) what's going on. Like, people have been vaguely alluding to him being the Red Hood for the past 3 years, but because Danny hasn't been keeping up with the Gotham vigilante scene he straight up Did Not Get Those References until something happened...dealer's choice: he (finally) mentions it to Sam, #1 Poison Ivy Stan, who knows about other Gotham vigilantes/rogues by proxy and explains it. Or maybe his Neighbor the RH Goon lets something slip (very wink wink, nudge nudge type of slip, like "did you see the paper today? VERY interesting article amirite?")

Or, for maximum lolz, he MEETS RED HOOD one night at random - well, probably not 'meets', more like sees him vigilante-ing and is like "oooh I get it now".

Upon figuring it out he immediately switches from 'baffled response that people think is him poorly playing innocent' to 'staunch denial that people think is him VERY POORLY playing innocent'.

Meanwhile, through hi-jinks and casual blink and you miss it fate-driven shenanigans, Jason keeps JUST missing Danny. Like, he's casually discussing his supposed doppelganger on the phone and misses Danny denying he's RH in the background. They're both grocery shopping but one goes into the next aisle when the other is just starting on the last one they were in, Jason gets pulled into a conversation at the deli and misses Danny checking out (and once again awkwardly laughing off a reference to his 'nightlife').

Tim: I get attached too easily. I fall into obsessions quickly. I hero worship to the point of worry. Oh, and I get Hangry.

Danny: I meant the character flaws you put for the assignment.....

Tim: Patricide.

Danny: Alright thanks. I'll ugh, see you around?

Tim: You won't see me but I'll see you. Through my camera lens.

Danny: What?!

Tim: Don't act surprised. I just told you my flaws.

Danny: I thought you were just being edgy!?

Tim: *frog blinks* Why would I waste this chance to speak to *whispers* Phantom.

Danny: How do you know that!?

Tim: I used to follow Batman and Robin around before Robin died, and you popped up. Good thing you did, too, because Batman was going crazy. You really saved him from the void. I love you. Also, I think someone put something in my water bottle because I'm shaking and saying things I usually wouldn't be saying and-

Danny: *Grabs bottle to sniff* someone dumped a truth serum in here. Let's go ahead and get you to the cave.

Tim: You can smell that? Of course, you can; you're half ghost, which could be considered its own species since all senses are enhanced. Plus, some ghosts are born in the Infinite Realm, which means reproduction is possible between-

Danny: Let's play the quiet game

Tim: Oh! I'm really good at that game. I never made any sounds when following the Gotham Heros around! Five years and counting!

Danny: You were nine when you started following Bruce around!?

Tim: I'm a smart stalker. But shhhhhhh, it's quiet time.

Danny: I'm both impressed and afraid.

Tim: *finger guns and winks*

Danny: And oddly attracted to you.

Batman drops Tim off with Bruce Wayne - at least that's the stroy that's told to Gordon because the Drakes are out of the country and unreachable. The arrangement with Mrs. Mac is deemed insufficient so Gordon sighs and asks the social worker assigned whether it'll be alright to direct Tim to the Wayne household. (Protection, similar social circles, obvious disinterest and lack of interest conflict given the truth serum was a targeted attack) Once the overworked social worker says yes, they get Tim situated at Wayne Manor.

Dick in tears: About two days. We were so worried-

Bruce: Where's Tim?

Jason: It's alright Bruce. You both made it out fine. He wasn't hurt at all.

Bruce: No. Where is Tim!? Where is he?!

Damian: Father calm down. Drake is-

Bruce: You don't understand! You all let Tim out of your sight! On the most dangerous night of the year!

Dick: What?

Bruce: If I was out for two days then tonight the stars align. Tim is going to summon the Ghost King!

Jason: Why would he summon one of the most dangerous and evil being in the multiverse B?

Bruce: Because he's crazy! The only thing keeping Tim's mental state together was his obsession with Batman! But his obsession with the Ghost King is much greater! We have to find him!

Dick: B, please calm down. You were out for two days. Let us worry about Tim.

Damian: I found Drake. He's in the backyard.

Dick: See? Everything is fine. Tim isnt summoning anything.

Damian: Richard, stop spreading falsehoods. Look at the surveillance.

Tim in the backyard:

Bruce leaping out bed: We have to stop him! I can not have the Ghost king as a son in law!

Jason: Wait, he's trying to summon the King to date him!?

Tim: it's too late

Dick following after Bruce:..... What do you mean it's to late-

Tim: meet my new boyfriend

Danny: Hello!

Dick: *Throws Tim over his shoulder and onto the training mat*

Tim: *Laughs*

Dick: Um... You okay there baby bird?

Tim, still laughing: Yeah, it *giggles* it hurtss. I think I pulled a musc - *snickers* muscle

Tim, who just tripped on a roof tile and slammed his head: *giggles* Oww *rubs his head* Haha... Ouch

Jason: Wow uh... You okay there?

Tim: Yeah, it's just *giggles* kinda funny I slipped on a s-stealth *chokes on a laugh* mission

Jason:

Jason:

Damian: Is Drake a sadist?

Thing is, it's one thing that this habit is highkey creepy especially when his laughter is the only sound echoing in the BatCave after a rough patrol. Bruce seems to tense whenever he wraps Tim's wounds and Red Robin is literally burying his face in a pillow, crying of laughter.

Oh, but then you get to the criminals.

Henchman, weilding a metal bat: Hah! Got em in the head

Tim, hand pressed against his bleeding forehead, a manic smile on his face as his shoulders shake with soft chuckles: Ha... Haha

Henchman: What...

Tim, leaning back, on full body laughter, his other hand twirling his Bo Staff: hahaHAHAHAHAHAH

Those instincts have her taking off to follow an invisible trail only she can sense, eventually leading her to what appears to be a glowing meta boy.

Black Bat doesn't even think, just immediately goes into attack mode and proceeds to beat the "meta" boy into submission, the guy retaliating just as fiercely.

The only reason the rest of the Bat clan aren't stepping in is because Red Hood, having a weird feeling he knows what's happening says not to interfere.

It all becomes clear once Black Bat successfully gets the glowing guy down, then proceeds to pick the now docile "meta" up and carry him in her arms in a rather possessive manner.

Red Hood: Black Bat already explained? She won so he's hers. You'll probably find em cuddlin somewhere bein cute an shit.

Batman: Hrm..

Nightwing: I want so badly to say that isn't how relationships work...

Red Robin: But for the most part, for this fucked up family, it mostly has been?

Robin: At least he showed adequate fighting skills. He was clearly holding back his strength to fight her on equal ground.

He couldn't speak out knowing the rest of the League wouldn't approve, so he let the discussion run its course, and Phantom was naturally denied.

But Batman is nothing if not thorough, and compiling DNA profiles would also help with contingencies. So Batman discretely reaches out after the meeting to give Phantom his personal permission as long as he provides the DNA samples and that Phantom understands that Batman cannot publicly defend him, but he will mitigate the consequences behind the scenes.

After another biting incident when Phantom is getting lectured by Superman:

"Phantom, you can't keep doing this. This is your last warning. Criminals or not, it's never okay to bite people just because you want to. Control yourself, or you might have to rethink your place in the Justice League."

Phantom staring at his feet and genuinely worried that he might get kicked out. He didn't think it was that big a deal.

Batman walks up and simply states. "He is controlling himself."

"Batman, you call that control? I'm trying to be understanding, but Phantom is biting criminals more than ever."

"Are they still breathing?"

"I don't see how-"

"Are their limbs still attached?"

"What are you-?"

Batman gives Superman a hard look to stop him mid question. "Acording to Constantine, ghosts from the Infinite Realms are creatures that should be avoided at all costs due to their extremely volatile nature. Generally, it's a death sentence to ever encounter one."

Superman turned to the child he'd been scolding, shocked that any of that could possibly be true about his colleague. The same colleague, who was so gentle he almost cried when he accidently killed a spider in the dining hall. "Is that true?"

Danny, glancing up but unable to meet Superman's eyes, "Yea-yeah. Intense violence is actually how most ghosts socialize. Regrowing limbs isn't a big deal for ghosts, so they tend to forget how fragile humans are."

Batman continues with his explanation, "In the Infinite Realms, ghosts have evolved to attack anything that moves as a defense due to how hostile the environment is. Everything from the plants to the very ground could attack at any moment. Their version of compassion is controlling their instincts before the killing blow. The fact that Phantom rarely attacks anybody is a testament to his constant and vigillent self-control."

Danny finally meets Superman's eyes and they are nothing but pools of liquid innocence and shame about his very being. "I'm sorry... I'm doing my best, but my ghost instincts are really hard to control, especially when emotions are high and we are carching bad guys, and I can't help but bite. But I promise, I will never let it go any farther than that."

Intense guilt washes over Superman. He knew how seriously Phantom took his promises. He had no idea he was asking Phantom to go against his very nature. Did Phantom have to hold himself back right now? Superman knew a thing or two about how scarily fragile human bodies were to someone like him. He couldn't imagine having instincts that screamed at him to attack anything that moved on top of that.

Batman turned to his old friend with a disapproving stare. "Maybe learn a thing or two before you judge our nonhuman members. I expected better from you."

Superman placed his hands on Phantom's shoulders. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Do the best you can. We can figure out the rest together. Please forget everything I said earlier."

Danny with hope sparking in his eyes, "Are you sure? I know im not perfect, but I want to stay. I really like it here, and I really like helping people."

"Of course. I'll let the others know." Superman walks away down the hall, and out of sight.

Danny grinned, lifted his eyebrows, and nodded toward where Superman ran off to convey his thanks for the save.

Batman gave a quick nod and a tiny, barely there smile of his own. He spoke aloud for the one with superhearing that was definitely still listening, "I apologize for any offense you may have taken. Know that the sentiments of Superman are not shared by the rest of us."

Danny pulled the zip lock baggie out of his pocket and silently handed it to Batman with a grin. It had a napkin smeared with the blood of Danny's most recent biting victim labeled in Sharpie. Danny responded in a wobbly voice that did not match his mischivous grin, "Thanks." He added a sniffle for effect. "I needed to hear that. I'm really doing the best I can, but i guess people dont see it that way."

Ok so I don't usually add prompts but I'm deep into dp/dc crossovers and had this silly idea.

See there's plenty of stories where Danny dies. He's a ghost so kinda comes with the territory. Usually dying for a half ghost kid is just kinda like a minor inconvenience or a good way to get out of an awkward villain monologue which is valid, me too. But here me out what if Danny can't die. Like not because of some cool ghost power or even being over power where nothing works but just cause of a technical. Like death and fate are so not dealing with the paper work it would take to kill Danny so instead they just awkwardly misses him every time.

TW: suicide attempts but for fun

After a few years of doing the whole vigilante thing, Danny gets bored of his quick and simple transformation act. He gets bored of doing the memes along with it as well — the 'I guess I'll die' was funny at first, but there's really only so many times it works.

The solution? He starts staging his own deaths. Throwing a toaster in the bathtub, comically falling down on a knife, slipping on a banana peal and hitting his head, all that jazz. He has his own list of preferred suicides, ranking from the quickest to slowest and from the least to most painful, and another one that goes from the least inconvenient method to most troublesome one. The first one on the latter is getting shot at. The last is getting suffocated in a swarm of bees so far.

His friends are long used to it — they are all Amity kids, honestly, their idea of humor is really twisted. They laugh their asses off when Danny attempts to strangle himself with one of those sour candy strips. They laugh even harder when he succeeds.

But then Danny moves for college and realizes that most people outside Amity Park don't think performed suicide is funny.

And, well.

Sucks to be them because Danny does not plan on stopping any time soon!

Danny is in Gotham for *insert generic reasons* He quickly discovers that red Hood is in fact a halfa like him. He also comes to the correct conclusion that Red Hood doesn't know he's a halfa yet.

Danny decides to help in a completely reasonable way....

By hiding away and making chirping noises at him from the shadows!

It's basically like

Danny from the rooftops: *chirp*

Red Hood: *chirps back* What the fuck!

It goes on like this for days! Red Hood is very confused because, baby ghostling??? Where is baby? He hears Danny's chirps and immediately his core latches on to him claiming Danny as his kid.

Danny doesn't know Jason basically parentally imprinted he just thinks it's funny how confused Red Hood gets when he does it. At least he thought it was funny until Red Hood started searching rather violently whenever he did it.

Danny leaves Gotham for *insert plot convenient reason* Jason is distraught and still very confused. He begins searching thoroughly through everything for even a hint of what happened to his kid.

When his family inevitably asks what the hell he's doing we get a scene like this

Redhood: *sighs* I miss my kid Nightwing,

Nightwing: ??!!???

Redhood tearing up: I miss him a lot

Loving this quite a lot actually.

Danny could figure out he can chirp by just. Being super stressed. Chirps into the void. It's not aimed at anything, it's just a distress noise.

But Danny doesn't have the full-ghost instincts to tell him what the chirping means. He just knows "oh hey I can chirp???" and starts chirping a bunch just to see how many different chirps he can make.

Just for funsies - it's a good distraction from the stress, at least, learning about something new that he can do. Even if it is kind of weird. (He doesn't make the connection between feeling stressed & chirping, he just thinks it randomly happened as his ghost powers tend to do).

Maybe Youngblood chirps at an ally during a fight & they chirp back and pop up to fight Danny together, so he thinks it's just a kind of "hey over here" noise.

So why is Danny in Gotham? Well, there's only a little summer vacation left. And he's kind of irritated that Amity Park is going on a year of being ignored by the JL. He literally had to fight Pariah Freakin' Dark. He though he was gonna die the rest of the way there.

Overall, Danny is not best pleased.

Batman is in charge of the JL from the public's perspective. So Danny, being upset about the lack of aid, decides to go snoop around Gotham. Maybe graffiti some insults.

Maybe change the bat signal to be a giant middle finger.

His parent's think he's with Tucker & Sam until the first day of school - a sort of "last hurrah" for the break.

Then he runs into Red Hood.

He's glaring balefully up at the smog filled night sky from the top of a fire escape when the icy gust sweeps out of Danny's throat, warning of an incoming halfa.

With time spent around Vlad (unfortunate) and Dani (better but sadly infrequent) he's come to notice a slightly different in how his ghost sense reacts to halfas vs full ghosts.

He figures he must have come across Dani on her travels and decides, hey, maybe they could vandalize the batsignal together.

So he chirps.

Out of the corner of his eye, Red Hood freezes in the alley below. The guy he was chasing doesn't stop, however.

There is no answering call, so Danny chirps again.

Danny goes invisible as Red Hood spins around. He thinks maybe he wasn't sensing Dani at all.

So he chirps again, louder and sharper.

And Red Hood's own chirp answers.

He'd tried chirping in lieu of whistling, once, to get Tucker's attention so he could throw him the thermos. Danny can't whistle without using his hands, and they'd kind of been occupied with angry ghost at the time. The discussion post-fight and a bit of testing proved that humans couldn't hear ghost chirps.

He literally did it as loud as possible during class once, and no one so much as blinked.

Red Hood not only heard, but replied.

Red Hood must be the halfa Danny sensed.

...

He floats down to a dead end alley just off the one Hood is in and chirps again, because why not.

Hood practically sprints into the alley, chirping back.

Seeing the guy run reminds Danny that he'd been chasing someone.

He kinda feels bad for distracting him, so he flies up and heads in the direction he last saw the guy go, giving the occasional chirp to keep Hood following.

He only saw the guy for a split second, but having to track down the occasional more-sneaky ghost has given him a habit of remembering key features. Between that and his bird's-eye view of things it only takes a few minutes to find the guy he'd been chasing. A few well-placed chirps aim him in a head-on run at the guy nearly at a corner.

Hood doesn't waste any time tackling the guy and Danny gives a final satisfied chirp before he bolts.

***

He knows he shouldn't find it as entertaining as it is to lead a bloody-thirsty crime lord around on essentially wild goose chases.

But it's fun.

Maybe it's the novelty of being the more experienced halfa for once. Or the novelty of him being the first halfa that didn't try to kill him the rest of the way the first time they met - albeit probably only because he can't see him to do so.

Besides, he is technically helping the guy.

A small bit of stalking observation made it incredibly clear that the guy has no idea that he's a halfa.

So.

Chirps.

Despite his reputation outside of Gotham, the people of crime alley love the guy - at least, the people in his haunt do.

And while blood thirsty is his most common descriptor, Danny thinks maybe it should be "smart."

The extensive territory maps he keeps and the intensive research Danny watched him do to track down a possible lead were...honestly all kind of over Danny's head.

He doesn't really wanna risk getting traced as Danny Fenton just because he talks and the guy somehow finds his voice???

Better paranoid than sorry, Danny thinks.

So, chirping it is. The guy is crazy smart enough Danny thinks he can figure out it's ghosts.

And once he comes to terms with the whole "I'm making ghost noises" thing maybe he'll ask Danny to talk. And Danny will be able to answer without worrying about being hunted down because by then Hood would be sure he's a ghost, and who in their right mind would try to track a ghost to where they live?

They wouldn't, of course, because ghosts don't "live."

Of course the whole "halfa" thing would change that, but by then Hood would know enough about the GIW and AEA to mind his business ala mutually-assured destruction.

Or maybe he'd just be friendly and mind his own business even without M.A.D. given how the people living in his haunt regard him.

Still, Danny isn't going to rely on a maybe when there's ripping apart molecule-by-molecule on the line, thanks.

And okay maybe he's really just trying to justify distracting a crime lord with ghosty marco-polo but it's fun.

*** Aaaaaand it's time to go.

Danny would be leaving Gotham in two more days anyway, but he'd rather not risk it. Hood is getting... worryingly energetic about finding him. And the guy is a halfa.

He doesn't want the guy to figure out his ghost sense & ectoblast in a fit of rage and end up getting shot. Likely? Nah. Possible with his luck? Absolutely.

So Danny goes home a little early.

Two nights later he hears a chirp.

It's Red Hood.

His heart makes a valiant effort to leap out of his chest as he lurches into a sitting position. It's only with the second chirp that he realizes the sound is coming from really, really far away.

Huh. He didn't know they could carry that far.

On the third chirp he finally realizes how distressed the guy sounds. So he chirps back.

The next chirp doesn't come until homeroom the next day. Distracted as he is, he doesn't notice that it sounds closer, just that it's still coming from the same direction and still distressed, if less than before. Again, he chirps back, thankful that humans can't hear it.

The next one comes at lunch, again he answers.

There's one in fourth period, again he answers.

Three chirps sound throughout fifth period, again he answers to each. The frequency is starting to concern him but he can't afford to focus on anything other that the math lecture the teacher decided to jump right in with or grades will be doomed from day one. There are only two and a quater-ish classes left in the day, he'll figure out what's going on after.

Another chirp sounds at the very beginning of sixth period, and by now his reply is becoming more of a reflex.

Three more chirps sound in the first ten minutes of sixth period - Mr. Lancer's class.

As soon as Danny echoes the third, Red Hood practically tears the door off it's hinges and strides in, ignoring Mr. Lancer clutching at his chest and rattling off a book title and the other students beginning to panic in favor of chirping.

Unthinkingly, Danny echoes it back.

Everyone freezes at the speed with which Hood's head snaps to stare right at him.

Danny winces.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Gotham?"

Danny will deny that it was a whine for the rest of his half-life. It was a strategic distraction to prevent Mr. Lancer from something stupid like trying to hit a known crime boss over the head with a paperback, thank you very much.

"Gotham can wait I thought you went and died for a good two days! Then I find out your still alive but practically across the country? Without so much as a goodbye? Or a hello for that matter! I thought you might've gotten kidnapped! Only to find you in a school! I'm glad you're okay kid but holy sh- uh, cow - were you trying to give me a heart attack!?"

The rant gets louder as it progresses, and by the end of it Red Hood is huffing, having not paused to breathe even once.

The sound of him catching his breath is the only one in the otherwise silent room as everyone stares, wide-eyed, between Danny Fenton and Red Hood.

Danny hunches his shoulders, grimacing.

This'll be a hell of a situation to explain away, later, he thinks.

Aloud he says, "Um...no? I'm- I'm sorry?"

He can't see his expression past the hood but he can practically feel the guy squinting at him.

"Definitely sorry," he reiterates more firmly, sitting up straight. "I just, uh, I didn't think you'd care? I mean! I kinda figured it'd be a relief, I guess? Since I was, like, kinda...bothering you?"

He winces, cursing himself for reminding the guy that he'd been annoying him. Hopefully him being worried about Danny disappearing meant he probably wouldn't shoot him.

Despite the distortion, no one could mistake the gusty sigh. Especially not with how Red Hood rubbed his nose through his mask.

When he dropped his hand back to his side...

"You're grounded."

He blinked.

"What?"

"You. Are. Grounded."

"Wh- Bu- That's- you can't ground me!?" He sputtered, leaping to his feet.

"I'm very sure that I can. Because I'm very sure that you're parents will agree that following around a known crime lord is grounds for punishment. Not even counting that time you followed me into a live firefight."

"You can't tell them that! If they find out I left Amity without permission they'll put me in the Fenton stockades!"

"YOU WERE IN GOTHAM ALONE!?" Red Hood shrieked, practically lunging the rest of the way to Danny and grabbing his face - shockingly gently - turning it this way and that like he was checking for injuries.

"Does anything hurt? Did you get hit by anything? Did a bullet graze you? Did you inhale any strange gases!?"

Danny blinked.

Blinked again, grabbed Hood's hands, and shoved them away from his face.

"Oh my ancients I'm fine I was only watching and I stayed on the fire escape for the whole fight with the guns! Seriously, what are you my mother?"

"Forgive me for being concerned about a child sat 5 feet from a shoot out and apparently without an adult in the most crime-ridden part of the most crime-ridden city in the country," Hood hissed.

Paused.

"'Fenton stockades'?"

Danny blinked, shrugged.

"It's basically this big metal human-shaped thing full of spikes - except for the floor, I guess. It's fine as long as you stand still and it's sized for my dad so it could be worse but it still sucks so please do not tell them I went to Gotham. Please."

"...an iron maiden!?"

Danny blinked and shrugged yet again. "Maybe?"

With that, the Red Hood, crime boss of Gotham, serial killer and known enemy of Batman turned and left.

***

Silence reigns, but only for a short time; the intruder alarms screeches over head not one full minute later - no doubt the moment Red Hood finally stepped off of school property.