DissociativeHyperfixating

The program was underfunded, running on generous donations with little to no participation from Gotham Academy students. Most of the student body at Gotham could afford travel, but the students who were switching places with them couldn't, and the program was desperate to give less fortunate students a chance to travel. Bruce basically bribed the school by giving a big slum of money for the program and ensuring they met their exchange number quota by signing Tim up.

So here he was, living with his host family- the Foleys- for half a school year to ensure he could graduate with his class. Their son, Tucker Foley, was currently living with the Waynes for the same amount of time. He was the only one who signed up for the exchange program- whether that was because Casper High could only afford one slot or no one knew about it until it was too late, since the announcement was for Computer Science Enthusiasts, Tim didn't know.

He stood out at Casper High for being the shiny new thing, but no one here seemed aware of who he was. It made sense; Bruce is a celebrity in Gotham for all his charity and his scandalized nightlife; however, that hardly touched the lives of Amity Park's residents, so the people didn't care about him or know him very well. Thus they knew his children much less.

Now Tim didn't go out of his way to hide his connection to Bruce, or that he was wealthy; he was just so used to people already knowing that about him that it slipped his mind. Thus, his classmates at Casper High were under the impression he was from the same lower-middle class as they were and that he was a scholarship kid from Gotham Academy.

They also had no idea his parents had passed and that Bruce Wayne was his father.

In the first few weeks, everyone wanted to talk to him, but soon interest faded, and the school's long-standing cliques slowly iced him out once they decided whether he was one of them.

The A-listers (what a concept: the populars were so popular they gave themselves a nickname and no one thought it tacky) were the first to deem him unworthy. While Tim is great on a skateboard, he had no interest in football and saw no reason to flash his wealth, and that was enough to drop him. They attempted to bully him, but Tim shut that down real quick. He might not be allowed to fight in school (Bruce and Jason said it was an unfair advantage), but that didn't mean he was about to let them walk all over him.

The next to drop him were the skateboarders because Tim was used to traveling all over the city with his board, and found it odd that the small town only allowed them to board the tiny park with only three ramps and one bowl. He got a lot of warnings from the local police force for merely walking around with his board and grew tired of it. The skateboarders thought him too pretentious for complaining.

The next group to drop him was the basketball team, the soccer team, and even the swim team. Mostly because Tim has the same amount of interest in those sports as he did in football. Though he thought he had developed a kinship with Wes through thier shared enjoyment of conspiracy theories, it became clear that Wes only cared about ghosts and gave Tim judgmental looks when he broached the topic of aliens. He had no idea why; Superman is famously known as an alien alongside Martian Manhunter.

The pattern continued for the art kids, the theater kids, and the band geeks. Casper High wasn't big enough to have more cliques than that, which was rather sad. There were small groups of friends who didn't fit the stereotypical cliques, but it was rather forced to talk to them because they had known each other since kindergarten, and Tim always felt out of place when they invited him. They all seemed relieved when he left, and that stung a little.

By the end of the first month, the only people willing to speak to him was the only goth on campus, Samantha Manson, and her dorky friend, Danny Fenton. However, that was only on occasion because they too knew eachother for years, and breaching thier space felt awkward. Fenton also had a habit of wandering off for hours, doing who knows what, and seemed like a troubled kid, based on all the issues the staff had with him.

Tim wondered if Foley was also having a horrid time in Gotham. He doubted it, because if anything else, his siblings would throw the best welcome wagon anyone could ask for.

He still had three and a half more months to go, and Tim honestly thought he would go insane before it ended. He didn't even have his gear for heroing. Alfred had confiscated it, along with a lecture about balancing his work and private life. Only because it was the respected butler (and the real patriarch of the family) did Tim listen to take a break from fBr Robin.

Tim almost wept with joy when the first ghost attack occurred. Gotham on a regular day was dangerous, but little sleepy Amity Park was so peaceful it set his teeth on edge. He hated how unaware everyone was, walking around without a care for thier surroundings or a hurry to get wherever they were going. Not to mention the friendliness that was socially expected here.

People stopped in the grocery aisle to chat for up to twenty minutes, even when they didn't like each other. Tim was just not used to the slow life, and he felt he came off as rude when he made excuses to end conversations as quickly as possible.

So yeah, he was happy when a ghost attacked the school and the blanket of fear and worry settled over the crowd. It might have been wrong of him, but it made him feel a little less homesick.

The ghost had attacked Casper High during lunch break. One lunch break, because the school was small enough that they could have all students eating at once regardless of grade.

Tim had been in the process of standing up and snapping instructions to the crowd of students when the local hero beat him to the punch. He hadn't even been aware that Amity Park had a local hero, but there he was, Phantom, in all his glory, fighting away the ghost.

In an impressive amount of time and little to no property damage- something not even Superman or Wonder Woman could boast- Phantom had the ghost defeated and locked away in a cylindrical device. By the time lunch ended, students resumed thier daily lives like nothing had happened.

They spoke about the incident as if it were a regular school fight, and Tim was once again thrown by how boring this stupid little town was.

"Are you alright?"

Tim was snapped out of his brooding by Sam, who took the seat next to him. This was the main reason he referred to her as Sam instead of Manson: it was the one class she didn't share with Fenotn, and thus had her complete attention.

It was one of the five elective options- gosh, only five electives for a whole high school. Tim should tell Bruce to send money to this place- and it wasn't the most popular.

Not that Tim could blame the other students for finding the photography class boring. They didn't even get to take pictures because the school decided to buy the football team new uniforms instead of getting cameras.

He had been horrified that the entire class was spent studying photography techniques from a textbook printed in the 90s and watching videos on how to take pictures. The teacher didn't even teach that much; he just told people to fill out worksheets and let the class to thier own devices most of the time. It was mind-numbingly boring.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighs, lifting his chin from where it was resting on his fist. Tim had been glaring out the window at Amity Park's clear blue skies and chirping birds. He couldn't even hear traffic because the streets were empty. It was the middle of a workday, and apparently that meant the majority of Amity Park was busy, because they were that small.

"Ghosts can be scary the first time you see them," Sam comforts, obviously misunderstanding his mood. "Don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not." The entire attack had nothing on the big names from Gotham. Heck, even a regular dispute about overly charged coffee was far more terrifying than the blob that attacked earlier.

Sam hums, obviously not believing him, but the goth doesn't push the issue. She pulls out her textbook, the old thing obviously seen better days, and a notebook. As soon as she turns to a fresh page, Sam dives into doodling, even when the teacher clears his throat and gives a half-assed lecture on lighting settings.

Tim immediately zones out, turning his attention back to the window, even if there is nothing of interest there. There is nothing of interest in this whole town.

"Don't worry, ghosts usually only attack once a week," Sam mutters on his left. Not low enough, because an upperclassman turns around in his seat with a sneer. Another thing about this school. There weren't enough students to fill an entire class, so they mixed grades for electives; either that was because they had no choice or they needed enough students to keep the class was anyone's guess.

"Aw, is Tiny Tim scared of a ghost?" He mocks, to the scattered chuckles of his tablemates.

Tim blinks slowly. "I'm sorry, Tiny Tim? As in the Christmas Carol? That's the name you're using to make fun of me with?"

A girl laughs like Tim is actually devastated by this, and Sam bristles at his side. Before his friendly acquaintance- because they aren't friends. Not really. They only chat in class- can snap Tim continues. "Seriously? That's the best you can do? Dude, I didn't think it was possible to be bad at making fun of people. I mean, that's so pathetic. I just feel bad for you. How can you be a failure at being a bully?"

The upperclassmate's mean smile flatters at Tim's honest pity for him, and the other students seem unsure how to proceed. It wasn't the reaction they were expecting.

One gathers his wits enough to sneer, "We weren't the ones almost shitting ourselves before Phantom saved the day!"

"Didn't you run during the attack? I'm pretty sure you were the one screaming while running to the student parking lot." Tim considers the boy, trying to remember if he was the one who tripped over a bench or was the guy who hit his face on his window while searching for his keys. These people had terrible procedures for danger. Did they seriously not have any drills in place for ghost attacks? He felt like they should have, given how apparently common ghost attacks were.

"Well-! What were you doing during the attack?" One girl jumps in, placing her hand on the sputtering boy's arm. He thinks they're dating, but he's unsure. Everyone was so touchy here; Tim had to remind everyone to stay out of his bubble. That had caused a lot of his potential friends to stop talking to him.

"I was eating a sandwich." Tim shrugs. "It was peanut butter and jelly. By the time I realized we were being attacked, Phantom was already there. Good hero, by the way. Efficient."

"You expect me to believe you were unbothered by a ghost attack?" She scoffs, but thier conversation must have been loud because someone from the back of the room shouts.

"He was! I got it on video. I left my camera set up the minute the ghost showed up." One of the newspaper guys strides over with a tablet displaying the feed. Tim doesn't know his name, but he was pretty sure the school newspaper only had three members and was relatively low on the school social ladder. This guy was recently moving up because he recorded attacks and edited them. Wes showed him a few. "See?"

And there among the screaming and panicked crowd, sitting literally in the middle of it all was Tim, chewing on his sandwich. It wasn't like he didn't notice the danger- the ghost had picked up the table next to him to fling at Phantom, but Tim had merely slid down the bench while pushing his meal with him and continued eating. He had originally been sitting on the spot where the two picnic tables were met, so it wasn't too much of a hassle to move.

He looked utterly bored in the video, like the attack was interrupting his meal rather than being a danger to his life. At one point, he had picked up his water bottle and sandwich above his head because Phantom had been flung across the tabletop, and it would have knocked his food to the ground otherwise.

The group of upperclassmates grew uneasy by the video, and even Tim was surprised by his own behavior. He hadn't realized how blank his neutral expression was or how little he batted an eye at danger. In Gotham, this wouldn't have stood out too much; if anything, people would think him rather mature for not reacting.

But in Amity Park?

Well....Tim wasn't surprised that by the next class period whispers of him being a sociopath started spreading. He was a little hurt that Sam seemed hesitant to sit near him and found it rather rude of Fenton to start following him around. Wes made it clear he thought Tim was a ghost upfront, but Wes said that about everybody, so Tim didn't take it to heart.

Apparently, Fenton was the son of the local ghost hunters, and Tim's lack of reaction to danger meant he was in cahoots with a ghost in some way. Even his host family seemed weary of him at dinner time because gossip in small towns traveled fast, and honestly?

It was hilarious.

Tim could explain why he was like that, but he had literally nothing else to do. He decided he was going to be as vague and as odd as possible to see how long it would take for them to try to prove he was a ghost. He already was super cagey about his life in Gotham (not on purpose; his small talk from big cities was different from thier small-town small talk), and no one could find him on social media because the Waynes' PR team had locked that up tight. Bruce didn't want what happened to Dick to happen to the rest of them.

Tim still remembers the countdown to Dick's eighteenth birthday before Bruce finally ruined the ones running it. He was practically a ghost online unless you knew what and how to find him, which none of these people could do. Apparently, that was enough to doubt that he was human.

Bruce and his fellow rulers stared down at the scroll that had just been delivered to them. They had been relaxing, the yearly meeting between the various kings and delegates from distant lands almost a mere formality now, seven years since the sudden retreat of King Pariah Dark's forces back across the border. They still don't know the why of it, simply that after over a decade of pillaging and bloody battles suddenly the enemy had retreated.

The completely different name listed with the title of High King may explain it.

Bruce and the rest of the kings of Justria, along with representatives from various allies, had gathered in the Watchtower, a fort built next to the border between the two regions and the only known pass through the treacherous mountain range that separated them, as had become tradition. A single rider on horseback had been spotted approaching from the enemy's side, but all she did was hand over a box to the messenger from their side that dared approach before turning and heading back the way she came.

And now here they were, staring at the scroll that had been on the very top, laying neatly on a bed of crisp, cream colored envelopes, each with a name and a title written in neat, precise handwriting and sealed with wax stamped in an unfamiliar royal crest. Bruce had carefully opened his to find a simpler, less decorated copy of the scroll along with writing in a script Bruce didn't recognize under. It also had additional information such as when and where the wedding was to take place.

"Who's this King Phantom guy?" King Barry of Centralia asked. "I thought the king was Pariah Dark."

"He was, during the war," Sir John Stewart of the Order of the Green Dawn said ominously.

"This may explain why they suddenly just stopped," Delegate Shayera of Thanagar said coldly. "Internal politics, someone got sick of the old tyrant and overthrew him."

"Why invite us?" King Clark of Metropolis asked, forehead wrinkled as he stared down at his own invitation.

"An offer of friendship, or at least peaceful coexistence," Princess Diana of Themyscira said decisively.

"If truly this new king overthrew Pariah Dark out of displeasure for the war, then this is indeed the first attempt at holding a hand out in friendship." Delegate J'onn of Martia looked around the room as if reading their faces.

"I find it unsettling they knew exactly who was here to receive these invitations," Bruce said darkly. While Atlantis was a part of the League of Justria it was so distant King Arthur couldn't always make time to attend, King Oliver of Star had refrained from attending due to Queen Dinah's impending labor, and other, smaller kingdoms such as Blüdhaven or Dakota Kingdom had only sent delegates to these meetings before, if they sent anyone at all. And yet they were often here for the alliance review, so where were their invitations?

Everyone around the table looked back down at their invitations in a grim new light.

Barry leaned back, "Bruce is right, this suddenly feels like a trap."

"Nevertheless, to refuse would be a grave insult," Diana said decisively. "I shall take this home and discuss with my mother about sending a delegation and the proper gifts such a momentous occasion calls for. If this truly is an attempt at opening peaceful relations we cannot afford to offend."

"Right, as always Diana," Clark said with a chuckle. "I think we'd do well to contact the other members of the League and find out if they also received invitations as well."

Bruce nodded along.

Tim took a deep breath as he and his delegation approached High King Phantom's castle. They had stopped at the Watchtower, where Bart and Cassie were already waiting, Conner and the Metropolis delegation had arrived the next day and together they had set out, now the whole group were finally arriving at their destination. Every kingdom in the Justria League had indeed received the invitations, all had agreed that sending their actual rulers was not happening, but a representative from each royal family must go. Conner, Bart, and Cassie had been chosen by their respective families, Tim had volunteered.

It made sense. Dick couldn't go, both because he had never been legally adopted by Bruce and thus wasn't legally a member of the Wayne royal family, and because he had Blüdhaven to rule. Damian was too young. Duke may be a ward, like Dick, but he was not adopted, like Dick. Cass had also volunteered, but she was technically not in line for the throne, not immediately. Tim was fairly certain if the worst happened and all the men of the Wayne family were to die the nobles would find some way to make someone else king before putting a woman on the throne.

More fools they.

But Tim wasn't a Wayne by birth. He was in line for the throne before being adopted, yes, but he was way down on the list. The nobles had been happy when Bruce adopted him, they thought he was using the tragedy of the Drakes' death as a way to secure himself a proper heir. Then Damian had come along, the blood son born out of a foreign marriage no one had known about. Now there was question on who would inherit. Should something happen to Tim in the Realms… well that would just secure Damian as the true heir. It made sense.

Considering the similar contention Conner's birth caused the royal family of Metropolis Tim could only guess there was similar reasoning behind him being chosen. After all, do you choose the son born of a legal marriage birthed by the current queen, though he's technically second born, or do you choose the son born to both the current king and the previous king, though he was born of the dark and twisted magics of their enemies, out of wedlock, and certainly without the current king's consent or knowledge?

Cassie and Bart were lucky, they got chosen simply because they were closely enough related to be appropriate choices.

"Well, here we are," Bart said a bit nervously as they approached the castle, their retinue following behind them.

"Here we are," Cassie agreed.

Tim stared up at the castle with its tall towers and taller turrets. The whole thing was imposing, built out of dark, reddish stone.

"It was actually built by Pariah," one of the Realms soldiers that had joined their delegation after crossing over the mountain pass said casually. "I hear King Phantom hates it, but refuses to renovate or build new."

"Well, I imagine with a new… spouse perhaps it may happen yet," Tim said with a twist of his lips. He had assumed the titles of King and Sir were a misunderstanding, someone unfamiliar with Justrian culture using the male titles by default rather than Queen Regnant or Dame. They had found out that both parties were in fact male, something considered unthinkable for a position that required an heir and a clear line of inheritance in Justria. Then Tim remembered how Conner was born and realized for the people of the Realms that may not matter.

He was perhaps a bit jealous.

He'd asked their guides about how the titles would work, but had been given their titles in the Realms' native language, which told him nothing. It was like the Great Retreat all over again, none of the Realms soldiers who spoke Justrian had bothered to tell them what was going on, just celebrated in their native tongue as they all returned home.

"I think Sir Revenant rather admires the castle," their guide replied airily. "Poor King Phantom may have missed his opportunity to remodel."

Another soldier said something in Ghost Speak, then made kissy noises and batted his eye lashes dramatically. It was clear he was saying the king was smitten with his future husband.

Bart gasped in delight, "Are they a love match?!"

"A love match? Oh, oh that. Yes. A love match." He turned to the other soldiers and said something that had them all laughing.

Tim frowned at the rudeness, but they were entering the courtyard and the immediate bustle of activity took Tim's attention. He and his friends all dismounted and headed in, eager to be shown to their rooms and wash off the road.

A group of well dressed people waited inside. In the center stood a young man close to their age, white hair braided out of his face, bright green eyes peering at them from unnaturally pale skin, dressed in deep black trimmed in blinding white. Most notably, floating above his head was a flaming black crown. He smiled, showing off sharp looking fangs, and held his hands wide. "Welcome!"

Tim stood for a moment, stunned. This couldn't be High King Phantom himself, could it? Surely not! Surely this must be a lesser king sent to greet them on Phantom's behalf. Tim decided not to risk it and bowed deeply, "Thank you."

The stranger flapped his hands, "Oh no need for all that. We can do the formalities later, right now you must be tired from your journey. I won't keep you, just wanted to welcome you to the Infinite Realms." The people lined up on either side of the stranger, also all around their own age, tittered. The stranger turned and glared at them, then turned his attention back to their group. "Your rooms have all been prepared, Sir Hal Jordan and Miss M'gann have already arrived. There'll be a feast tonight." The stranger lowered his voice like he was telling them a secret, "There's been feasts every night!" More tittering from the rest of the welcoming committee. "Anyway, I won't keep you, we'll do the proper formalities before the feast. Rest well!" With that, the stranger left, followed by his retinue.

"Was that really King Phantom?" Cassie asked in shock.

"Yes," a blond woman with bright red eyes and shimmering green scales for skin approached. "That was indeed King Phantom."

"By the gods," Tim murmured. His friends elbowed him.

"I'll show you to your rooms, this way."

---

Tim stood gathered in a cluster with the other Justrians, lost in a crowd of Realmsmen in every shape and size imaginable and a few even Tim could never dream of. Everyone was gathered in the throne room, lined up to leave a clear walkway for the wedding procession to walk down. It was only two days after Tim's group's arrival and the wedding was already happening. Two days! The date on the invitation had been the date of the actual event, not the start of events leading up to the ceremony. It was utter insanity. Apparently in the Realms it was completely normal.

Tim was just thankful they had arrived on time for the ceremony, rather than in the middle of it.

He was also rather curious to see Sir Revenant for the first time, the "bride" to be had been notably absent from the few events there had been in the last two days. He'd been told the king had decided to include the Justrian tradition of separating the prospective newly weds leading up to the ceremony. Considering the easy way King Phantom spoke Justrian with a faint country drawl, completely absent of the lilting accent most Realmsmen spoke with, Tim had a suspicion on the why.

Perhaps there was more hope for friendly relations than they previously believed.

King Phantom and his retinue, most of the same one that had greeted Tim and his friends, stood at the foot of the dais the thrones sat upon, Phantom just before his throne and his retinue lined up just to the side. Floating practically between the thrones was an old man in a royal purple cloak who seemed to be growing slowly younger. And now presumably Sir Revenant's retinue was walking up the aisle.

A woman wearing Amazonian armor walked confidently up the aisle and stood to the side of the queen's throne. Tim and his friends exchanged glances. "I don't recognize her," Cassie whispered.

A man with pale skin and dark hair followed next. His skin was so pale and sickly it appeared gray, but he looked well muscled and walked confidently, defying any illness. He also wore the crest of the House of El but reversed upon his chest. Again Tim and his friends exchanged glances, Conner shrugged and shook his head.

"Is that Roy Harper?" Sir Hal asked in a harsh whisper.

Indeed, King Oliver's ward was just passing them to go stand off to the side from the queen's throne. Roy Harper stepped from between M'gann and Bart to stare at himself in utter disbelief. "What the fuck?"

The Roy Harper in the wedding party looked them over and sneered when his eyes landed on the Roy Harper standing in the crowd.

"What the fuck indeed," Sir Hal agreed with Roy.

They were so distracted by the second Roy they almost missed the "bride" passing them. Tim looked over in time to see a tall, bulky man pass them by, somehow walking silently despite wearing full plate armor that gleamed black under the faerie lights lighting the hall.

Tim felt his breath stop.

"Jason?" The hair was a glowing, ethereal white, his eyes were a luminous green, but the face… one Tim had only seen in paintings and drawings or occasionally at a distance the few times he'd been dragged along to court by his parents when he'd been younger. "It can't be." But it must.

"Who's Jason?" Bart asked.

"Bruce's son, he died before I was adopted." The body had been authenticated, but lost before he could be returned home and properly buried. What was he doing here? Alive and well in the Realms? Getting married?!?!

"That is him," their Roy agreed. "But how? He's dead!"

A few of the Realmsmen around them shushed them. Up front King Phantom was smiling brightly as Jason carefully removed his gloves and handed them off to other Roy, then took Phantom's hands in his own.

Tim's head was spinning, too caught off guard to pay much attention to the ceremony. Simply that it was very similar to Justrian traditions, with oaths and a crowning at one point, then Jason and his new husband walked out hand in hand, followed by their retinues. Was the ceremony unusually short or was Tim too caught up in questions he had no way of answering.

Tim blindly followed his friends as the crowd spilled out into the courtyard to celebrate. There was already drink flowing, taps set up on barrels and the sound of bottles popping, glasses and tankards already being passed around. Music and laughter filled the air, Realmsmen already dancing. In the center of the courtyard a pole had been set up with ribbons hanging from it. Tim found himself wondering at its purpose, a far safer subject than Bruce's seemingly prodigal son.

"Cousin!" The man from Jason's retinue, the one wearing the crest of the House of El, slapped Conner on the back before any of them could react to his jovial greeting. "Me am happy see you!"

Conner reeled under the friendly back slap, "Uh… what? Cousin?"

Tim looked the man up and down, he'd changed into more casual clothes, no longer wearing the family crest from earlier.

"Yes! You am cousin. Been a long time since me see family, am good finally meet new cousin!"

"Like cousin Kara?" Conner asked.

"Oh, cousin Kara here too? Me am want see her." The man looked around the crowd as if expecting Kara to just pop out.

"No, no she didn't come with us. Um…" Conner looked to his friends. Tim held his hand out and mimed shaking hands. "Ah, right. I'm Conner, it's nice to meet you." Conner held his hand out to the man.

"Me am Bizarro, am nice meet cousin Conner."

The read haired woman in Amazonian armor from Jason's retinue approached, holding out a tankard for Bizarro.

"Red Her look! Am cousin Conner!"

"Yes, we're all happy you get to meet a family member. I'm sure he'll stay a bit longer so you can get to know each other, right?"

Conner nodded, "Of course, there's so few of us, we should all get to know each other."

"Are you an Amazon?" Cassie cut in, moving closer to Red Her.

She looked Cassie up and down, "No."

"But-"

"I'm not from Themyscira, never even been there."

"But your armor," Cassie insisted.

"Is my armor, it doesn't make me your sister."

"I never-"

"Well this wasn't fun, I'm going to go party with people who actually know how to party." With that she left, slipping into the raucous crowd.

"Red Her so funny! Come, meet Red Him and King Man." Bizarro jovially hustled Conner towards a long table, of course the rest of their group followed. At the center of the table sat King Phantom and Jason, who was leaning over to speak into the ear of the other Roy. All of them had changed into more comfortable clothing, gone was the armor and in its place were tunics dripping in embroidery, on the other Roy's head was a fur cap, the tail of the animal hanging at a jaunty angle. "Red Him, King Man! Am cousin Conner!"

The three looked up, King Phantom and Jason both looked to Conner and Bizarro, while the Other Roy looked to their Roy. "What the fuck?"

"I should be the one asking that!"

"Well now I know where my missing arm went," Other Roy said snidely, holding up a hand that was made of red, translucent, glowing flesh.

"Like hell I'm believing a word you say."

"Let's all just stop before this turns into an international incident," Hal cut in.

Their Roy grit his teeth, "You and I will be having words later."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Jason?" Tim asked, unable to hold it in anymore as he finally saw the new queen up close.

The three sitting at the table all stiffened. "How do you know that name?!"

"Jason Peter Todd-Wayne, first prince of Gotham." Tim hesitated a moment, then added, "My older brother."

Jason looked completely confused, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Wouldn't the first prince be Dick?" Other Roy asked.

"He was never adopted," Tim gently corrected. "He has since become the Prince of Blüdhaven."

"Well either way I think you mistook me for someone else," Jason said, looking Tim up and down.

Sir Hal stepped forward, "No, no he hasn't. Unless you're another copy," he motioned towards their Roy, "you're Bruce's son. I recognize your face, though the hair and eyes are a bit off. Considering the company you keep…" Hal pointedly looked at King Phantom, who also had glowing green eyes and silvery white hair.

"You do have amnesia," King Phantom said gently.

Jason's brow furrowed, "I don't have amnesia, I died. My past life doesn't matter anymore, whoever that person was is dead now."

Tim felt his insides twist, hearing Jason talk about his own death in such an easy manner. "You did die, and it nearly killed Bruce. But you're here now, you're alive."

"No, I'm not." Jason turned to Phantom, "Hey, I wanna dance."

Phantom glanced nervously between Jason and Tim for a moment, then stood and offered his hand to Jason. "As my queen commands."

Jason laughed as he stood and took Phantom's hand before leading him into the crowd.

Several hands patted Tim's shoulders consolingly.