My Stories

Hey guys, I am NutMeg.

I write occasionally and I love it when I do, and wanna share that with you.

[ I am currently on hiatus and all works are on hold until further notice ]

Most of my writing is original fiction, some original stories in the Elsewhere University realm, and most recently I have begun to dabble in the DPxDC fandom.

You can find a masterlist of my personal favorite writing I've done here.

All my Danny Phantom X DC works here

The first part of my current Alive Again DPxDC story WIP and the Subscription post to get update notification here.

And now fan art!

The first part of my shorter DPxDC completed fic Fucking Clowns and the Master post for that.

The first part of my current longer DCxDP WIP Fucking Lab Rat which is a continuation of the Fucking Clowns fic and the subscription post for that.

Some miscellaneous stories here.

My Dark Ones writing here (Cw: multiple warnings… violence, manipulation, trauma, graphic death etc).

and my poetry here.

I plan to fully re-write my Burning Ashes Elsewhere University story so once I have started work on that I will add a link to it here.

Please feel free to send in asks, or shoot me a message about any of my writing. Talking about writing gives me more motivation to write!

When they left it wasn’t all at once, but it still hurt like something was being torn from his chest. He understood, really he did. The three boys he lived with all had complex and demanding lives beyond this house they shared. They had relationships to maintain, work to get done, things to do, whole lives to live! The thing is though, that when it came right down to it, the Guys had lives to live and Danny… didn’t.

His life was confined to the albeit beautiful but still limited grounds of the property. In truth he still didn’t have enough energy to even make it out to the borders of the property, he mostly puttered around the house, or when he was feeling motivated made it out to the garage or to the sparring grounds the others used almost religiously.

He’d come a long way for sure! he was able to stay up and about for a few hours at a time now, working on various projects with Tim and Jason, but he still couldn't do everything on his own, and he would admit he was still a little bit dependent on the others and their company.

The point is, it hurt.

Dick was the first to leave, and the building ache in his chest was something he had to burry down. Dick had work to do, back in Blud where he actually lives his actual life. He’d given plenty of warning before the time came (plenty of time for Danny to feel that ache build and build and build like it was trying to consume him), and when he did finally leave it was with big hugs all round, a dazzling smile, and a promise to be back soon. Danny waved and smiled while Tim and Jason heckled their brother to get out of here already. He’d made it all the way to his room before the crawling panic made it out of his chest and up his throat and threatened to tear him apart. There was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to go straight back out there and drag Dick back here and tie him down so he could never leave. That ofcourse was not an impulse he would be indulging, but it was worrying how hard it was to stop himself.

Eventually the ache receded to something he could tolerate, something he could hide, and he sought out the remaining brothers company, their company a balm to his aching chest, their banter and turmoil fuel for his recovering mood.

Jason was next, no warning this time, just a tense phone call and a see ya later shouted over his shoulder. He’d be back. He would. He wouldn’t just… just leave. Not for good anyway. He would be back. Anyway, Danny told himself, Anyway haha calm down Tim is still here. He still has Tim. He’s not Alone. No, Tim is here and everything is fine, its fine it’s fine it’s fine. Danny calmly rises and without a word turns to go to his room. He tries not to notice the way Tim watches as he retreats before the horrible aching tears its way out again. He stifles his sobs and hopes beyond hope Tim won’t hear, won’t think too far into it, won’t take notes.

Tim didn’t take notes, he had promised himself and the others not to treat Danny like a case or a project. So, no notes, no research, no probing questions. But that didn’t mean he was blind to how low Danny’s mood got after his brothers had to leave. So, when it came time that he couldn’t put off appearing at WE in person any more he decided it was time for Danny to meet some more of the family.

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Bruce is over the moon that his kids are trying to sort things out. And even Tim seems to be taking some steps to have a healthier work life balance, taking breaks after missions and delegating tasks at work. Its good, he really wants to believe it’s good, he is going to choose to believe it’s good.

He squashes down the urge to investigate his sons. He is putting in a Lot of effort, effort that they deserve, to build healthier relationships and respect boundaries of his kids. It’s hard, but they are worth it. He’s made so many mistakes with them, ones that he will likely never forgive himself for. But mistakes are opportunities to learn, and he can learn if he really applies himself.

So instead of investigating his sons Batman picks up another file to glance over. There’s a number of open investigations on his plate at the moment, but the one he keeps coming back to is for this meta kid that paralysed the Joker before seemingly disappearing into thin air.

The details on this case are frustratingly scarce and he’s so far been unable to make any real progress. It worries him, to have an unknown meta with potentially catastrophic abilities to be in the wind like that. He didn’t seem to be enough of an active risk to make locating him a priority, or to pull one of the others off their current cases to look into it either. He knew Oracle already had this Danny on her radar, he’d seen her note on the potential rogues list. No, better to just keep it on his own plate for now, put in some work for it where he could.

It was strange though how the kid didn’t leave a trace when he disappeared, no trail left by anyone else who might have assisted in breaking him out either. It was all just a bit too clean for his liking.

“Hn” he mulled it over as he settled in for a hopefully slow night in the Batcave.

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:3

Ooohhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuuck

The ribs

The gaping chest

The ooze

The TEARS

The way he looks like he's kinda glitched into reality

It had been another long long day for Red Hood; the last few nights had blurred together in a haze of blood and bullets and self hatred. Now he trudged home ready to collapse in the empty safe house he still hadn’t left in the futile hope that Danny might come back to it.

He dreaded tomorrow morning when he would inevitably wake up alone and bruised and bloodied. Fuck, what he wouldn’t give to have Danny back. To make coffee for him with too many shots. To hear the shitty jokes he’d fill silences with. To tumble on the mats together at the gym. To marvel at the dark humour that matched so perfectly to his own. To feel... Just to feel again really. Since the moment he’d left Danny, closed the door and turned away, there’d been nothing but the anger churning in his gut and a green tint to his vision.

But that was it wasn’t it. He’d left. He’d left Danny and now Danny was gone, and he wasn't coming back, and Jason was going to be alone again forever, just like he was meant to be.

The lock clicked gently in his door and the absence of alarms told him his safe house was still secure, yet his gun was up and levelled before the door had even fully swung open. Someone, something, was here. Something that hadn’t tripped any alarms. Jason’s mind raced, Danny? Dick? Maybe Bruce had come to put an end to the Red Hood’s tirade across Gotham. Then the door opened enough for him to see in and

Oh shit, oh fuck that’s not human. That’s a fucking monster and it’s Fucking Huge. Like take up his entire living space huge. Holy shit. It had claws the size of Jason’s hands, and a barbed scaly tail that slithered across his floor like a fucking basilisk. He took in and catalogued risks in an instant, anticipating how this monster would fight, how it would move, and calculating how he could counter it. His fingers twitched at the trigger, his first instinct was to fire, put it down, kill the monster, get to safety. But.... But there was something about the way it was staring at him, something in the dripping green that oozed from wounds all over it. Something in the way this thing felt to him.

And then, in a voice like thunder that he felt deep in his chest, it spoke “Mmmmmyyyyy Jaaaaasonnnnn”

It was!

“Danny?”

The thing lifted its head higher in response, and holy shit are those his ribs??? What. The. Fuck.

Jason’s heart was racing in his chest and he thought that maybe he was hallucinating but... He did recognise this creature, gory as it was in this form. He stepped fully into the room, holstering his gun and pulled the door shut behind him.

“Hey Danny”

“Jaaaaaasssssssoooooonnnnnnn” Danny answered in a low drawn out rumbling growl that echoed strangely in ways that just should not be possible in this tiny room. Jason shuddered and tried to ignore the things that growling voice did to his hind brain. Fucking hell now is not the time to be feeling like that.

Jason cleared his throat and tried “Glad to have you back”, ignoring the way his voice caught on the words.

Danny just rumbled in response and continued to reach out towards Jason.

Jesus Fucking Christ those hands are as big as his whole chest, and they have, yep, yeah he had been right those claws were definitely the size of his hands at least. And they looked viciously sharp. He tried desperately to push the thought of what it would be like to have that hand wrapped all the way round his chest, and for those fangs to rest at his shoulder scraping at the soft skin. Nope no. No. Not the time or place for that.

He took a deep steadying breath before stepping up to Danny’s outstretched hand. As he did the monstrous form shuddered and began to shift. Jason watched fascinated as the gaping ribcage began to close back up, along with some of the other wounds, and Danny shrank somewhat. Not exactly to normal size, but enough to move from the crouched and cramped position he had been in.

Jason pulled Danny into a crushing hug, the relief finally breaking through. His Danny had come back to him. It lasted almost a second before an ice cold trickle of shame settled in his stomach at having doubted and at what he had done when he’d thought he’d pushed Danny away. He buried that feeling down and with effort deliberately concentrated on the relief instead “I’m so glad you’re back”. He didn’t bother to bite back the emotion in his words, he knew Danny could likely feel it anyway. Oh... damn. Jason rested his forehead on Danny’s chest trying to ignore his burning cheeks as he realised Danny had probably also felt his reaction earlier. He cleared his throat again and tried “Where’d you go off to?”.

Danny’s response had slightly less echo in it this time but was still mostly just a growled out word “piiiitttss”.

Oh shit. “The pits? The Lazarus Pits??” Jason shoved back gripping Danny by the shoulders and searching his face “The pits caused this?”. Fuck, now he really felt like an ass for those thoughts.

Danny gave the vocal equivalent of a shrug, his gaze going distant again. Jason looked back over Danny with a new perspective; it looked like he hadn’t rested in all the time he had been gone. As he watched he saw that Danny’s form was shifting slightly between more and less monstrous, and he realised Danny must be putting a lot of effort in to try and control it. What was concerning about that was that Danny was clearly too exhausted to regain his form. Jason understood that when he was in his less human form Danny was more malleable, but he was pretty sure he should be able to control it. The thought that Danny didn’t want to be in this form worried him, and the shame of his infatuation with it twisted in his gut, mixing with the already overwhelming concoction of emotions he was trying to bury.

“C’mon” Jason pulled Danny over to the shoebox of a bedroom he’d been staying in and was grateful that Danny was able to just phase straight through the doorway instead of having to try and squeeze him through. “you should rest”.

This time all he got in response was a hum of agreement as he guided them both towards the bed.

Grimacing at the grot and blood from himself and the dripping green ooze from Danny that he would have to deal with later, Jason kicked off his shoes, set down his mask and pulled them both onto the bed. As Jason wrapped Danny in his arms he was reassured to notice that Danny’s form shifted again to something closer to what he thought of as normal.

They drifted off to exhausted sleep together, both just happy to be home.

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This means that after next Fridays update of Alive Again all my current WIPs will be on hold. As always I will ping their respective subscription posts once I am back and have more to share.

Danny felt his claws scrape idly through the bricks as he passed buildings by. His usual wispy tail now scaled and slithering heavy through the air a few metres above the streets.

Not much further now and he’ll be home.

His chest rose and fell though no lungs could be seen within the gaping cavity of his torso, his ribs bent strangely like a bear trap waiting to be sprung.

Nearly home, nearly home to his Anchor.

A trail of ectoplasm sizzled gently behind him evaporating a few seconds after he’d passed by, dripping from his tired eyes, and gaping chest, and oozing wounds along his form.

He tried again in vain to pull himself together. Almost home to his Jason.

Fangs and claws and gahstly wounds refused to leave his invisible form as Phantom slowly wound his way up up up the floors of the apartment of His Jason’s safe house. He finally let himself collapse in a heap of green on the floor of the tiny apartment. He absently noted how much smaller it was now, even hunched over as he was his back scraped against the ceiling, and he thought that if he reached out he could probably touch both of the walls at the opposite ends of the room. Why was it so small.

Why did everything ache.

Why was it so hard to keep his form.

Oh. Right. The pits.

Unfocused eyes blearily watched as the front door swung open. A gun already bloody and smelling of gunpowder levelled at him before the door was fully open. Danny smiled wide and feral as the feeling of the man that held that gun washed over him. He carefully reached out a trembling hand towards them. “Mmmmmmyyyyy Jaaaaasonnnnn” it came out as a possessive snarl, the sound reverberating through the too small room like thunder.

“Danny?”

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Danny had another bout of frustration as he stood in the kitchen staring at two different flavours of chocolate. There was something about the vegan one that was making the back of his mind buzz, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"why do I know you" he asked absently, his tone accusing and a little betrayed "you're fucking disgusting, so why do I want you here?".

"he's talking about you" Dick said has he jabbed his toe into Jason's side. "Fuck off Dick Head" Jason replied shoving his brother off the couch "he clearly means Tim". That earnt him a squawked "hey!" As Dick thudded to the floor, and a cushion to the back of the head from Tim who was in the other room working on some project again.

Danny rolled his eyes "you're both idiots, I mean the chocolate. It's Fucking disgusting, so why do I want it? Why does it feel so familiar?". Tim put down his screwdriver and looked up with curiosity "that's a good question actually".

Jason groaned and let his head thump on the back of the couch, and Dick said from the floor "oh Here we go".

"Maybe not yet Tim" Jason tried, knowing the kid would get real intense real fast. They’d all put in a lot of effort to not push Danny, and none of them wanted that to all go up in flames.

"No" Danny said absently still staring daggers at the chocolate "it's fine".

Dick and Jason shared a look and Dick tried one more time "you don't know what you're in for dude".

But it was already too late, Tim had his go ahead, and he plunged on. "what kind of familiar is it? Do you remember eating it or just being near it?".

Danny squinted at the offending chocolate again, considering his answer "maybe near it" he shrugged.

Tim stepped into the kitchen with Danny, his laptop open on the counter and his fingers tapping away, firing off searches. "Okay well then it's probably familiar because someone you know likes it. So then the question becomes who in your life likes expensive and delicious high quality vegan chocolate?"

Danny just hummed in response

"availability doesn't narrow it down too much, it's available across most of the country and can be ordered online for everywhere else. But" Tim turned his screen slightly so Danny could see "demographically the market statistics suggest it's most likely someone who's younger and someone who's a girl"

Tim ignored Jason's muttered "oh boy" and continued as if he hadn't heard it

"So do you remember any girls in your life? A sister maybe? Or a cousin? A friend?"

Danny shrugged again "I'm not sure. I kinda get the feeling of someone when I try to think of each of those. But no details"

Huh, that's interesting "Brother?" Tim suggested, opening up another document to add data points too.

Danny shook his head "no, I don't get a feeling there".

Huh, very interesting. "What's the familiar feeling like? Can you describe it?"

"uh" Danny could feel his heart rate start to pick up, but wasn't sure why. Maybe responding to how excited Tim was. Was he excited? He didn't feel very excited. He kinda felt a bit sick.

Tim kept on, oblivious to Danny's hesitation "do you think there'd be a distinct feeling for each person if there was more than one, like if you had more than one sister, do you feel two different familiarities?"

"Tim"

"Or is it the same feeling for each familial tie?"

"Tim wait"

"I bet if we plotted it all out we could track down what your immediate circle looks like and really hone in on your identity."

"Tim!"

"Just a sec Jason. Give me a minute and I'll hash out an outline for a test we could run through to plot out your memories as data points."

Tim snapped out of his excitement as Jason shoved him hard. He was about to retaliate in kind when Jason pointed over to where Dick and Danny were "Shut the fuck up replacement. You're freaking him out"

Dick walked Danny through controlled breathing exercises, rubbing his arms and his back in soothing motions as the kid sucked in short sharp breaths and stuttered out "not a lab rat. M not a lab rat. M-m-mum I'm, I'm not, I'm not a lab rat"

"hey shhhhh no, you're not a lab rat Danny" Dick continued to soothe the trembling mess of a kid in front of him, stubbornly stamping down the protective anger that rose up from those words, and doing his best to ignore his brothers as Jason berated Tim. "You're not a lab rat Danny, you're safe, Tim didn't mean to upset you. You're safe with us. No one's gonna make you a lab rat"

"no experiments. N-n-no tests. M not a lab rat. P-please. Please. Please."

"you got it bud. No experiments. No tests. Jus, just jokes and coffee okay? You're safe here bud I promise. Nothing but jokes and coffee here" Dick looked to his brothers for reassurance. Fuck, being on the other side of a panic attack sucked almost as much as having one.

Tim was already around the counter, fishing out Danny's favourite mug and getting a fresh coffee made.

Jason came to sit on the other side of Danny, leaning his back against the cupboards and speaking in soft firm tone. "Yeah Danny, you're safe here. We don't have to talk about anything you don't want. We're here for you man".

With Dick on one side, Jason on the other, and a fresh mug of coffee waiting for him on the counter Danny started to relax. And after a Little while felt the unfortunately familiar feeling of a post panic crash. A little embarrassed he managed "sorry. That was dumb" he waved off the others protests and assurances, too tired to really listen. "I think I remember now why I came to Gotham. I think" he swallowed hard not really sure if he should be saying this but, well, he did trust them "I think I'm running from something. Someone. I think maybe someone wants to make me a um. A test subject".

Danny missed the looks the other two boys gave each other, determined and deadly. He leaned into the warm body beside him, hand clutched in someone else's, and felt the exhaustion finally pull him under.

Tim left that night, convinced his presence would only upset Danny again. He pushed too far too soon. Been too intense, he always was. He took some time to show his face around Wayne Enterprises, reported in to Bruce on the mission he'd been on as cover earlier that month, and generally kept appearances. Playing the part of WE CEO and Red Robin perfectly.

He made a promise to himself that he would not push Danny again, he would not ask probing questions or try to solve any mysteries about Danny until he was ready. He would give Danny some space and then when he returns to the holiday house he'd give Danny as much time as Danny needs. He will not ruin this. It will be okay.

When Tim does return, before dragging him off to see what wild contraption he'd been working on Danny crushes him in a hug and whines at him in an accusing tone "Alooone, with no one to make me good coffee, and no one to appreciate my genius!".

Tim couldn't help but laugh "I missed you too Danny"

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“You guys are so Old” Tim groaned as Dick pulled out yet another decrepit looking board game.

“Ancient” Danny agreed, and then he paused for a second, the word leaving a strange taste in his mouth and a now familiar itch at the back of his mind. The others carried on, used to the odd little moments where Danny zones out, though he’s sure he sees Tim noting something down, and like the dozens of other times he feels his gut twist at the thought. But before he knew it the board was set up and he had a hand of cards dealt to him. He did his best to shrug off the feeling and get into the game.

Tim piped up again as Dick went over the rules “wait wait is this another weird mash up game you and Jason have come up with?”

Jason snorted “course it is Timbit. Best way to play” and Dick cheered “fuck yeah it is”. “besides” Jason continued elbowing Dick “its the only way to keep Dickhead from cheating too badly”

Tim just rolled his eyes at his brothers antics and Dicks indignant squawking and inspected the cards infront of him shuffling them into some new order and muttering “can’t have anything normal with you people”.

Danny couldn’t help but laugh “Normal is overrated anyway”.

Dick of course did spend the rest of the night finding new and outrageous ways to cheat. Tim despite his complaints quickly dominated at the game, exploiting the distractions that Dicks cheating caused. Jason tried and failed to not let himself get too competitive in the shitty mash up game, and not for the first time wondered at the way his usual temper seemed to abate around their new friend. He couldn’t tell if it was just the fact that having Danny there shifted the dynamic in the group or if it was something to do with the meta abilities that seemed to have become dormant since their rescue. Either way though he enjoyed being able to rile up his brothers without risking their tempers all getting away from them. Without risking losing them all again.

Danny had to call it quits after the first hour, his stamina for the game clearly not up to matching the other guys. He decided to play the morally grey advisor for Jason who seemed to be the only brother actually trying to play by the Frankensteined rules. He found it was actually more fun than playing himself, and by the end of the game he could feel his jaw aching from smiling and laughing so much. He loved these game nights.

Tim won of course, closely followed by Jason, and Dick took the loss like a champ throwing handfuls of popcorn at the rest of them and playfully accusing them all of cheating. After cleaning up and clearing away the game Danny felt himself happily dozing off and wondering if he ever had anyone to play ridiculous games with like this before. It felt familiar, the playful banter and teasing, the not so casual competitiveness, the closeness. He liked to think he did have this before with someone, and as he drifted off he wondered what they were like, the people that might have played crazy board games with him before, he hoped they were doing okay without him.

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There was something he was missing. Some part of himself he couldn't fully remember. People, places, things that happened to him. It all felt like whisps of smoke, intangible and fading whenever he reached out for them.

He was different, he knew that. His hunger didn't manifest like the boys he shared this house with. Always sated when spirits were high, or when heated arguments broke out. Something in him felt exhilarated and satisfied by it, and the Waynes were a veritable buffet of emotions when together.

Danny found he couldn't help but push at them when those tensions rose, playfully prickling at the other boys, not enough to make them really blow up at each other, just enough to get that feeling of contentment to swell in his chest.

And when they come together with too much heat, threatening blood and bruises they'd later regret, Danny loved to eat away that blazing anger and indignation until the others were settled enough to sort out their shit.

It was a little trick he was learning to get ahold of.

There were other things though that just would not come to him. Things he thought he might remember but seemed more like a dream. Walking through walls, flying through the clouds, summoning a frigid frost, blasting targets out of the air. Like some kind of fantasy. Did he do those things? Or just dream them all up?

And the ghost of memories of people, why did they make him so afraid? Why did his stomach twist in fear and and and other things when he tried to recall his family, his friends?

Was anyone even looking for him? Where was he before the Waynes took him in? Was anyone even missing him?

What had happened that left him so weak and tired? He should ask Tim, or Jason, or Dick, anyone of them he's sure they would level with him if he just asked but every time he tried the trembling in his hands and the burning numbness on his tongue killed the words before they would form.

He was missing so much of himself, and his chest ached with all the hurt of people and things he's lost that he can't even remember.

He'd figure it out.... Eventually. For now he could just enjoy the company of his new friends. For now thats enough. Right?

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He’d fucked up- of course he had he was pathetic he always fucks everything up, always has and always will. That’s who he is, who he’ll always be, that’s why no one ever stays. That’s why no one fights for him. That’s why the Joker’s life is more valuable than his, even to his own Dad, even the one that had chosen to have him. How could he have ever forgotten that? He even has the scar at his throat to remind him and everything.

Jason’s hand stroked over the scar again as he stalked through the streets of Gotham, the feeling of it making his stomach twist nastily.

So Fucking stupid, how could he forget. How could he forget that he was replaceable. His Dad had replaced him with a new Son, a new Robin in his suit. And now he’d fucked up and Danny was gone, and he was probably out there finding someone better, someone more worthy, someone more deserving of his time to be His.

He put bullets in the brains of the next two goons that tried to jump him.

Selfish how fucking selfish could he be, Danny didn’t need him to save the Fucking world. Danny didn’t need him for anything. Batman didn’t need him, Bruce didn’t need him, Talia, Dick, his own mum didn’t need him. No one did. He was worthless, and a disappointment, and a burden on everyone he had ever imposed himself on.

He took the punch to his face like it was nothing, lashing out savagely to break the arm at the elbow, dislocating the shoulder and catching the gun to shoot its owner in the back as they fell.

He didn’t know why Danny had left. Did he really need a reason beyond the fact it was Jason he was leaving. He was only out for one night, he’d waited as long as he could before he had to go back on patrol, before the Red Hood had to be seen again. When he’d come home again in the morning Danny was gone, Of course he was, and that was four days ago. There’d been no word from him since then, no note left to explain, he didn’t deserve an explanation anyway, and he had no way of knowing where Danny might have gone.

Maybe he’d decided that this world wasn’t worth saving after all, just like he wasn’t worth saving, just like he wasn’t worth anything. Maybe it was him that made this world not worth saving.

Red Hood’s rampage through Gotham left a trail of blood and bodies behind him. He hadn’t been known for such extreme violence since he’d first made his statement with a bag of bloody heads. It wasn’t long before anyone with a drop of self preservation was keeping their heads down, everyone eager to keep in line, and keep their heads.

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The knife in Jason’s hand bit deep into the training dummy before he tore it out and sent the dummy reeling with a solid kick. Stab, slice, kick, circle, slice, the movements methodical and familiar, and not exactly comforting. He’d learnt a lot by Batman’s side, but he’d learnt more under Talia’s thumb in more recent years. It was hard to be here sometimes, away from his responsibilities in Gotham proper, and stuck in close quarters with two brothers he wasn’t on amazing terms with. He wanted things to get better between them, he really did. He wanted them to be able to be brothers again but there was just so much between them now, it was hard to believe they could really make this work. But they were, making it work. For Danny’s sake and their own they were making it work.

Sometimes it was easier to just lose himself in training than to think about how it felt to share the same house, the same rooms, the same table with his brothers. Safer to not think at all than to think about how badly he had treated the others, and how much he didn’t deserve to feel accepted or welcomed in the house with them. Now was one of those times.

--

Tim watched Jason train in the courtyard, his movements precise and packing a punch that Tim himself could never hope to achieve without assistance of some kind. It was…. Nice, to see Jason training. He’d never moved like this in his time as Robin, not that Tim had seen anyway. Jason had always been a great brawler, keeping pace with the adults that he’d take on in the mask, but now he had a technique that had been honed to savage precision. He had to admit it was pretty fucking impressive.

He'd missed this, getting to see Jason in action. He had quietly admired Jason for so many years when he was Robin, and now he got the chance to see him again, alive and breathing and moving with such an incredible power and grace. He’d really missed this.

Tim squashed down the part of him that said he didn’t deserve it. That said he’d taken Jason’s place and that he would leave again and it would be his fault. That he would drive Dick away, that he wouldn’t be good enough for Danny. Jason had forgiven him, and he had forgiven Jason. Tim told himself firmly if Jason could forgive him then he could be forgiven again, even if he did fuck up, they wouldn’t leave him, it was going to be fine.

Suddenly Tim was sick of sitting and watching from the side lines. He’d watched from a distance for years, and now here Jason was, alive and kicking, literally. He grabbed his Bo and descended on the courtyard below.

Jason whirled around in time to deflect the staff coming at him, no where near hard enough to actually hurt him, a warning shot then, that was almost insulting “gotta try harder than that replacement”.

Tim grinned, ignoring the little twist of guilt at his nickname, and circled round coming in fast for another hit and laughing with glee as it struck true. “couldn’t let these dummy’s have all the fun.”

Jason snorted a laugh at that, shrugging off the blow “so what” he struck out with the knife lightning fast but catching nothing but air as Tim dodge away “you brought a staff to a knife fight?”.

Tim’s grin grew a little wild as he thumbed the button that sat flush with the staff, hidden from prying eyes, and the razor sharp blade slid smoothly out and into place at the end of the staff. Jason paused for a moment to reassess the situation. The little shit had a hidden blade “Batman know you’ve got that?”.

The momentary glimpse of panic and guilt in Tim’s expression was all the confirmation Jason needed. This little shit had a hidden blade that B didn’t even know about. Damn, he might actually like this little shit more than he wanted to admit. There must have been something in his own expression that gave some of his feelings away because Tim noticeably relaxed back in to his earlier playful mood.

“Don’t worry” Jason assured him “I can keep a secret. Now come on, show me you know how to use that thing”.

Jason found it was surprisingly easy to fall into step with the kid, and training with him was a lot more fun than just beating on the lifeless dummies. He was glad, and not for the first time, that Dick had convinced him to take a chance and reach out to Tim. Regardless of the shit they’d been through, and put each other through, he was glad Tim was here with them.

Tim felt like he could fly with the exhilaration he felt. Jason, the real Robin, His robin was sparing with him. Not trying to beat him to a pulp in blind hatred, not smacking him around for being less than he should, not drilling him on moves to iron out his imperfections. Jason was meeting him as an equal, acknowledging him as capable, accepting him into his space! They were sparing! Together! For fun! It felt fucking amazing.

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Phantom floated alone through the air taking in the sight before him. It felt good to be in his old hero form. Maybe he would get the chance to be phantom again in the course of fixing whatever was wrong with this realm, he’d like that, but first he needed to check on something for his Anchor.

Jason had been reluctant to leave him on his own, but couldn’t afford to go unseen in his haunt any longer. Phantom understood all too well the restlessness that came with a haunt unprotected, and after the emotional ordeal of the night before he couldn’t blame Jason for needing some time and the familiarity of a routine he had interrupted. He’d promised to be back sometime tomorrow though which gave Phantom plenty of time to sight see.

What he could see now was a massive pool of ectoplasm. Or something like ectoplasm anyway, it must be heavily tainted to be bubbling and churning like that. Jason had called them the Lazarus Pits and had apparently taken a dip in them after clawing his way back to life.

Phantom wondered idly if ectoplasm could rot, he’d never thought so before but what he was seeing and smelling now made him doubt that. Taking a bath in this could certainly cause a malformed halfa’s core to become rotten and twisted. His heart sank to think of it, how awful it must feel to be formed not by pure ectoplasm but by this noxious sludge. The more he thought on it though, the more he was certain that is what happened. That Jason is a halfa, that he does have a core albeit a malformed one, and most importantly that he could help heal and form it properly.

Phantom sunk closer to the steaming surface of the pit and swallowed down the bile that rose up at the aura coming from it. Carefully he pulled back his sleeve and sliced a shallow line up his arm, watching the thin stream of ectoplasm it produced as it landed in the ooze below. The pits hissed as his ghostly blood hit the surface, turning a small patch of Lazarus water into clear and calm ectoplasm before dissipating into the rest of the pits.

Yeah okay, definitely corrupted or rotten ecto. The next thing he needed to know was how deep this rot went.

If Sam or Tucker had been there with him, they would have told him just how stupid he was for doing what he did next. But they weren’t, and so without so much as a second thought Phantom plunged first his hand, and then the rest of himself into the roiling pits.

The screaming began the moment his head sunk below the surface. Screaming and wailing and desperate cries of souls bound here and unable to pass on. The taste of iron flooded his mouth and he felt like he was swallowing mouthfuls of stale blood. The corrupted ectoplasm pulled at him like a million grasping hands as he flew his way through them, deeper and deeper. He needed to know how far down this pit goes.

If it’s just one little pit he could take care of this now and be done and back to help Jason heal in a week or so. The problem was that as he sunk deeper and deeper he couldn’t find the bottom. As a multidimensional being with incredible power over all things dead, decaying, and ectoplasmic he felt he should definitely at least feel, if not find, the bottom of this damned pit. He probably should have turned back, given up and tried something else. But he was nothing if not determined, and more than a little bit stubborn.

Phantom swam with the cries of the dead and trapped echoing in his ears. He swam through clamouring hands desperate to be pulled out tearing at his ghostly skin. He swam through rotten ectoplasm, corrupted so far as to be almost unrecognisable. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours turned to days turned to only clockwork knows how long. Still he swam. Eventually the flow of ooze shifted round bends and through branching pathways and when he finally finally breached the surface, he found himself somewhere entirely different from where he had started. The unfamiliar stars of the night sky shinning above him.

He pulled himself, exhausted, from the pool of ooze and flopped in a dripping puddle on the grassy ground. Absently he looked at the strange pattern of growth near the little pool, shriveled plants interlaced with thriving greenery. Magnificent flowers, purple and bright with an iridescent sheen dotted the area, the smell of them was a welcome relief from the suffocating stink of the pits.

Phantom couldn’t tell where he was or how far he might have traveled. He found himself completely disoriented and more than half asleep after his swim through the pits, but he could feel the pull of his Anchor in the distance. And so, not knowing how long had passed, and with his ghostly body struggling to keep its form, he made his way slowly towards home, towards his Anchor, towards his Jason.

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Jason was never great at being idle. None of them were if he was being honest, Dick would start climbing something high, or swinging off chandeliers if he could find one. Tim would find endless intricate projects to work on, revising, refining, and recreating things until they were beyond perfect. And well, Jason had his bike.

It hadn't taken long for him to bring his favourite bikes down to the house to work on. A couple repairs here and there, a custom mod or two. For his Red Hood bike he had to be careful not to let it be tracked here, but it was due for a weapons upgrade, and would make a good project to pass the time.

He clocked the soft footsteps immediately as he lay on his back making an adjustment. He'd assumed it was Tim come to ask him for something, or maybe Dick trying to sneak up on him. He hadn't expected to see Danny out the corner of his eye, as far as he knew the kid hadn't been out of the main house much yet. This was good, getting out and about.

"wow" Danny sounded a little breathless and Jason instantly worried the kid might have over done it already, he shifted so he could see the kid fully, but when he saw Danny's face he had an expression of wonder on, not one of exhaustion. "She's beautiful" his hand was ghosting, ha, just over the bike. Respectfully not touching but clearly wanting too.

Jason huffed out a laugh, so the kid liked bikes. Who'dve guessed. "Thank you, built her myself". From the teasing he always got from Roy and the rest he knew he sounded embarrassingly proud. But, well he was proud damnit, and no amount of teasing was gonna stop that.

"yeah?" Danny sounded excited, and okay, it was kinda cute. Jason watched him inspect his bike, eyes roaming over it and taking in all the details with a critical eye before moving over to the one he was working on now. "Ohhhhhhh and this one's armed!?" Very excited, and yeah, okay, very cute.

"she sure is".

Danny stayed for another hour, sitting on a workbench and kicking his legs as they talked shop. Jason was intrigued by the ideas Danny was suggesting, but they sounded a little too much for his tastes. The kid clearly knew some stuff about engines, and building a powerful machine but was lacking a lot of the terminology and fundamentals he'd expect from someone who was used to working on a bike. Hmm, maybe they could work on that together, get Danny out of the house for a bit and working with his hands.

The next week Jason brought up a frame and a bunch of spare parts and tools. He couldn't help but grin to see the look on Danny's face when he told the kid it was for him and that he could do whatever he wanted with it. It was great working on the project bike with Danny, slow going maybe, but the guy was great company.

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