JaseisDory

“Damian?” Danny asked, waiting for his boyfriend to look up at him before continuing, “Are you ok? You seem upset.” More than upset really, the usually invisible emotions started turning a translucent red and dark blue. It looked like someone had dumped a whole bucket of dyed foam over Damian’s shoulders.

He’s only ever seen Damian this upset when his family was involved, usually after some kind of argument. Also usually with his father.

The red and blue foam thinned and turned to steam, slowly wafting up and away from his boyfriend, invisible pulses of affection replacing them as he replied, “I’m fine, just arguing with my siblings.”

Yep, called it.

“Oh,” Danny verbally acknowledges, blinking his eyes when a sharp pain sparked right behind his eyes. Man, this headache-migraine-concussion-whatever was causing his head pain, was killing him.

Suddenly the door swung open, filling the room with even more bright light. Turning his head, Danny blinked and watched as two blurry figures silently marched into the room. 

It took a second, but his eyes eventually adapted enough to reveal exactly who it was that was barging in so rudely. The Infamous Bat himself, and his Red bird partner.

Halfheartedly, Danny gestured at the chairs next to Damian, already too tired and annoyed to care about all of this. He just wanted to go home, get some more sleep and go on his date. Was that too much to ask for?

“Sure,” Danny huffed, narrowing his eyes as the two didn’t even bother trying to close the door once fully in the room, “barge right in without knocking. Just make yourselves at home, why don’t cha?”

Red Robin let out a silent huff, but kept his face as neutral as he possibly could. Batman on the other hand, didn’t even look like he had heard what Danny had said, just stood there like a silent statue.

Right, well, Danny wasn’t sure how these “Just a few questions, totally not an interrogation"’s were supposed to go, but he wasn’t going to deal with whatever emo crap the bat has going on.

“Comfy? Cool, Don’t care,” Danny started, pushing himself up and ignoring the sharp sting in his chest, he was healed. It's just going to be sore for some time, nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. He waved Damian off when the man went to stand up. 

“Here’s the run down; I was at the library with my boyfriend, he had to talk with his brother and we both know how long that takes so I decided I'd just leave. I was cornered by Nancy and her boyfriend Wyatt before leaving and was forced to walk with them. Nancy wanted to bring me along to some party-”

“Woah, ok,” Red Robin cut in, raising his hands to try and get Danny to stop.

Glaring, Danny pointed at both of them, “Zip it, Furry Boy. The only reason I'm even talking to you two is because that one,” jabbing his thumb to the side, Danny continued, “was worried and would have pulled out his hair if I pulled my usual stunt.”

“What usual stunt?” Damian asked, amused, confused, and somewhat offended. It was an interesting color combination.

“Jumping out the window,” Danny huffed, waving blindly at where the windows were, “Jazz’s took me to some rock climbing classes a little after my Accident, not sure why considering she knew how much I hated hospitals. The next time I woke up in one I figured I'd test out my new skills. It worked, and stuck. Anyway,”

Turning back to the two men still standing in front of the still open door, Danny continued talking, not even stopping to breathe, “As I was saying, I'd usually just make my way to the police station when I had the chance and leave my statement with them. So here’s what’s going to happen; you zip it, I talk, and when I'm done, maybe I'll answer a few questions. Depends on how stupid they are.”

“Got it?” Danny asked, then continued without bothering to wait for a reply. He was tired, and in pain, sue him. 

“Nancy wanted to drag me to some party, I declined, she whined, it was a whole thing. Wyatt was the one leading us to wherever it was she wanted to go. When he turned around to add his useless opinion to the conversation, some cloaked asshat wacked him over the head and knocked him out. Like thirty seconds later Nancy and I are surrounded by a mob of cloaked idiots and get captured. Some time later, don’t ask me how long, I'm time blind, we’re dragged into a dark warehouse and forced to sit with a group of other hostages."

Danny scratched his forehead as he continued, “Mr.  totally-read-one-fake-ritual-book-when-he-was-a-teen-and-now-has-to-make-it-everyone's-problem joined the other cultists a little after we got there and started spouting off the requirements his sacrifice needed to meet, which was annoying to hear because half the people taken were women, blond, or both. He claimed he needed a dark haired guy. The incompetence was staggering.”

Rolling his eyes Danny rubbed his bandaged wrist, "anyway, I get dragged from the group and tied to a chair. After getting gaged, because apparently they can’t deal with a few insults. One of them slices the crap out of my arm and collects my blood to mix in with some shitty paint. Then the camera dude shoves the camera in my face and is really incompetent because apparently he can’t remember a simple sentence. Like seriously, who needs-”

“Danny,” Damian cut in, fondly gesturing for him to get back on track.

Blinking Danny sighs and gives Dami a quick appreciative smile, “right, anyway, Mr. Cult leader decides to start chatting about summing something and whoever came up with the name Pariah Dark must have been having a ruff day because wow, anyway, they start chanting and sound really bad and off key, and then I get stabbed. Now we’re here.”

It was silent for a moment before Red Robin slowly inhaled, “right, so a few questions. A lot actually-”

“You’re trying to talk around something, what is it?” Batman demands, still standing stoically still. He had a few strands of irritation and confusion bubbling around him, but nothing else of note. Huh, good to know the dark knight was an expert at controlling his emotions. Makes sense now that Danny thinks about it though, what with Batman being known as this-

“I suggest you rephrase your question,” Damian hissed, pulling Danny out of his mind. Blinking, Danny glances at his boyfriend then back at the brooding bat.

Batman stayed silent, but a violet string wafted around his throat. What could Batman possibly be nervous about? Seriously, it’s not like Damian was going to kill him or anything.

Danny might though, if they don’t start hurrying things up that is.

“You rushed the end of your retelling, I wish to know why,” he amended, his attention now fully back on Danny. Red Robin stayed silent, looking between the three of them as if someone just took a bite out of a grenade as if it was an apple and hadn’t died.

“Right, well first of all, don’t use the W word around me ever again.” Red Robin’s brow furrowed as he focussed on Danny, “Second, It’s mostly blurry and I was in a lot of pain. Anything I remember isn’t going to be any help to you, so yeah, I rushed over it.”

Before Batman could ask something else, or for clarification for whatever reason, Red spoke up, “right, the way you were speaking implies you don’t like Nancy and her boyfriend, Wyatt. Yet, according to witnesses, you volunteered yourself to be the sacrifice when it looked like the leader was going to pick Wyatt.”

Damian sat up straight, his head whipping around so he could stare at Danny, “WHAT?!”

Gesturing for Damian to wait a moment, Danny rolled his eyes. These two were going to cause him so many problems if he doesn’t end this soon. Fine, plan V it is. “To answer your non-question; yeah, definitely don’t like those two. Acephobic and generally just idiots all around. But,” Danny stressed, rubbing his face tiredly; both because he actually was tired, and he needed a second to pray to clockwork this worked, “Old habits die hard, apparently.”

“Old habits,” Damian repeated, his eyes narrowed.

“Not that it’s any of their business,” Danny glared at the two still standing in front of him before turning to Damian. Why couldn’t he have just left a statement with the police again? Oh right, Damian wouldn’t look good bald and he’d probably be too mad to agree to go on their date later. “But after dealing with Vlad for so long, it’s just a habit at this point to volunteer."

Plan V: When all else fails, blame Vlad. Chances are, it’s actually true about ninety-nine percent of the time. And hey, looks like it’s true in this case too! It’s just definitely not why Danny volunteered. Do they need to know that though? No, no they don’t.

“I’m sorry,” Red blurted, rubbing his face. He had navy blue bubbles foaming around his head. “Who’s Vlad? And what does he have to do with you willingly volunteering to be a sacrifice???”

Narrowing his eyes at the man, Danny waited a moment before sighing. “Dami, can I have my phone? Please?”

Damian turned and dug through Danny's bag, quickly finding the desired device. Handing it over, Danny ignored how Damian intensely watched as he glanced at the space themed background, the date, and then off to the side to think. It was 9:32, round that down to 9:30, and it’s Tuesday october 13th which means Gotham’s LST should beeee… 10 hours and 30 m. Minus Gamma Cassiopeiae’s RA which is 0 hours 56 min and 42.5 seconds that makes… like 9.34? 9 is positive which means the star is to the west.

And west means Wes Weston’s birthday.

…He should probably consider changing his password equation, thinking and doing math with this headache sucked.

Entering Wes's birthday into his phone, Danny clicked on his photos, scrolled down quickly, and pulled up one of the ones dad had taken. Vlad had an arm wrapped around Danny, his nails digging into his shoulder. While Danny looked both extremely annoyed and frustrated, Vlad looked pained and mad. Mostly because Danny's foot had stomped down on the man’s toes the moment the photo was taken. The whole reason Danny even kept the damn thing, really. Vlad’s face was priceless.

Turning the phone around Danny gestured to the photo, “that’s Vlad. Vlad Masters. He’s my godfather. Long story short, because again, it’s none of your business, Vlad wanted to kill my dad and hook up with my mom. He’s crazy and pulled some serious shit. Dad’s oblivious to it and think’s they’re best friends. I’ve lost count of how many times the man’s kidnapped me and my sister in one of his crazy schemes. I usually volunteered to do whatever it was he had planned so my sister wouldn’t have to deal with it. So, like I said. Habit.”

Red Robin snatched Danny's phone, his eyes wide, “Vlad Masters, as in the missing for the past three years, obviously corrupt Ceo of Dalv-co? That Vlad Masters?”

Rolling his eyes, Danny leaned back against the bed and looked at Damian, trying to convey just how done he was with this whole thing. Damian stared at him for a long moment, before pinching his nose, “Red Robin, I would suggest handing my Boyfriend his phone back before he does something stupid.”

“It’s not stupid if it works,” Danny huffed, crossing his arms.

“Oh?” Red asked, glancing up while trying to sneakily swipe through his phone.

“Astra, Lock my phone,” Danny ordered, glaring at the red glad man. So rude. First they can’t close a door, then they can’t take a hint that Danny doesn't want anything to do with them, and now the guy’s trying to snoop through his phone.

Unbelievable.

Red Robin glanced down as Danny's phone beeped, the screen going pitch black. “What in the-”

“I didn’t give you permission to snoop through my phone, and I honestly have no clue why you would even want to,” Danny grumbled, leaning even more back. He was tired. And heavily debating making a run for it. A glance at Damian's narrowing eyes told him it was a bad idea. Danny eyed the window for a moment, if he could just-

“What do you know of the Ghost King?” Batman asked, still having not moved this entire time.

Blinking, Danny stared the man dead in the eyes, "Absolutely nothing.”

The Bat’s eyes narrowed, the room staying eerily silent. 

Danny didn’t look away, just continued to calmly stare back at the man and blink tiredly. He was telling the truth; Danny Fenton, the person currently getting death glared by the batman shouldn’t know anything about the current ghost king, and therefore doesn’t. Danny Phantom, on the other hand, knows a hell of a lot about him.

“Yet you’re not confused about his existence,” Batman continued, his voice grading on Danny's ears. “Considering my files claim you were raised an Aitheist, you should be…”

“Shocked?” Danny quipped, rolling his eyes. Why was he even bothering with answering any of this? He clearly stated that he might answer their questions. If they weren’t stupid.

“Look B-man,” Danny sighed, pinching his nose, “I’ve lived and seen some shit. I may have been raised with an Aitheist mindset, but I'm not one. I’m not sure what I believe in, but it doesn’t matter. We live in a world with “Gods” and Aliens waving on the news, fighting other “Gods” and aliens. More and more people are developing powers and abilities. More than Half of Gotham has been killed and brought back to life someway somehow at some point over the past who cares how long. The existence of ghosts isn’t all that shocking. Learning they have a king, a little surprising, but not completely out of the ball park.”

Looking up, Danny continued, “can we please cut the crap and get to what you really want to ask?”

“And what’s that?” Batman inquired, tilting his head just the slightest bit. The first movement he’s made this whole time.

“Well, let’s see here,” Danny huffed holding up his hand to count off his points, “We all know you don’t just go and question any and all victims you happen to save or had a part of saving. If you go and question someone, it’s because they have answers. Answers to things no one else could answer or are the most conveniently available one with those answers.” 

Gesturing to his side, Danny continued, “My boyfriend can tell you what I was doing at the library. Nancy and Wyatt can tell you what we were doing before getting taken. The other hostages can tell you what happened during. The live stream can literally show you it. Heck, event he cults could answer any of your questions. You could have gotten answers from any of them over the past ten hours, which you most likely have. Yet, you’re here. Which means you need something from me. The only thing no one else can answer is why exactly the ritual actually worked when the cultists obviously tried it many times before, and two what happened after getting stabbed.”

Glancing up, Danny glared at the man, “so which one is it?”

It was quiet for a moment before Red Robin slowly turned to Damian and then just pointed at Danny with his phone. Damian leaned back in his chair with a smirk. Eyeing the two, Danny almost missed when Batman finally took a step forward. Quickly shrugging off his confusion about the other two’s actions, Danny focused on the man now towering over him.

“Both,” Batman demanded, his arms crossed. The slightest drop of surprise and intrigue floating around the man.

Crossing his arms, Danny raised one of his eyebrows, “one.”

Batman stayed silent just staring at him.

Shrugging, Danny turned away and refocused on Red Robin, who had yellow sparks of surprise and awe leaping off his still raised arm. “Can I have my phone back, or are you just going to keep it?”

“Oh, uh,” Red stumbled, glancing between Danny and Batman. “Here,” he awkwardly stepped forward, handing it back to Danny.

“Thanks,” Danny huffed, holding the power button for three seconds then rapidly pushing it four times. After a second of waiting he pressed and held it for five seconds. With a beep his phone lit up, the lockscreen greeting him. Instead fo the usual space background, a picture of one of sam’s many, many plants.

Typing in it’s nickname, graciously given by Tucker in senior year, Danny pulled up the zoo’s website. Looks like Delilah was still going to be brough out at 3. Plenty of time for Danny to get home, take a nap, and then head over.

Waving his phone, Danny caught Damian's attention, “I’m still holding you to your promise.”

Damian blinked for a moment, his brows furrowed before his eyes widend. Groaning, Dami slumped and ran a hand through his hair, “Danny, Beloved. You were literally stabbed last night, and you still want to go to the Zoo?”

Narrowing his eyes, Danny pointed a threatening finger at him, “you promised. And I'm going either way. Who I spend my date with depends on you and whatever random stranger Delilah deems acceptable.”

“I’m sorry,” red coughed, trying not to laugh, “did you just threaten to ditch him and go on a date with a stranger?”

“Yes,” Danny answered with zero shame or hesitation. Damian buried his head in his hands in response.

Batman dropped his arms, taking the slightest step forward, “Both,” he demanded again.

Damian slowly raised his head, his eyes narrowed in annoyance and anger. Red Robin started at his partner with wide eyes, shooting quick glances at damian like he was going to explode.

Pausing for a moment, Danny studied the large man still glaring at him.

“You know what?” Danny asked, tossing his phone to the side and ripping out his IV. Damian rocketed out of his chair, but Danny had already thrown his legs over the other side of the bed and stood up. Marching his way over to the man, Danny shoved the man back and then again, pushing him right out the door, “we’re done here. You can collect my statement from the police. Bye.”

Turning, Danny studied Red Robin for a moment before silently gesturing out the door at the frozen man still standing there, not moving a muscle.

Red glanced nervously between him and the door before carefully making his way over and cautiously walking past Danny and out the door.

Nodding his head once, Danny grabbed the door and closed it firmly. Taking a deep breath, danny shoved the growing pain in his head away.

Turning, he marched his way over to his bag and then to the provided closet. His clothes sat on one of the sleeves, thankfully, clean of blood, though the shirt still had the rips and cuts from the knife and black stains from the paint. Shrugging, Danny grabbed them and made his way to the bathroom.

Pausing just before entering the small room, Danny turned his head to look at Damian, “I’m going home, you can either come with me or meet me at the zoo at three.”

Damian was silent, his eyes strangely intense before his shoulders sagged and he heaved a heavy sigh, “Danny, Beloved, I’m staying with you for the rest of the week.”

“Oh, well, guess you can finally meet Nancy and Wyatt then.”

Damian dropped back into his chair, his head in his hands.