Why are we here? Just to suffer??

Second kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7a59d6a32ace63cdcce3911d529f8b88/08d1854086a423d0-e6/s250x400/3e75997487cf31a3ddd8d9314e78d3d63985ec7d.png" alt="second kudos">

Third kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/867894b77aae146acc60c681d556e02f/08d1854086a423d0-16/s250x400/83741777e69d723c92497dbc8909c1989bcfd8ac.png" alt="third kudos">

Chapter kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/6fc1963ea7479549f0ca0a924ab60ba3/08d1854086a423d0-34/s250x400/62891a8c3fb7ea15495684c732869ac20a61a6ba.png" alt="Chapter kudos">

nth kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/707e9d24c05e2e894475bb43c2018be3/08d1854086a423d0-06/s250x400/27e73cb1fb9483a6e1993d912ca95d6f0cbe8d04.png" alt="nth kudos">

yet another kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/05ec40eaf2f6948ddcfd58e7b3f6289f/08d1854086a423d0-4a/s250x400/30f9e4560583a7e145ba9869c1650ee79cd989eb.png" alt="yet another kudos">

ALL the kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ae814ede90f2637ce1e58decbe783dc1/08d1854086a423d0-1e/s250x400/c52bf3d8f978b90f9fa00fee6d748fab31ba74d2.png" alt="ALL the kudos">

elevenses kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/36bd7c053e5763e184172cd8d2cf8c87/08d1854086a423d0-21/s250x400/a7b056f3d89e6738d7760cf81b740ef4bd45b7ca.png" alt="elevenses kudos">

Heaps of kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/79486036ed102d1d6bbdcfdde40cfce0/08d1854086a423d0-97/s250x400/562c7913b5c04a0be3ae88aefb0c7b52a677de98.png" alt="Heaps of kudos">

Kisses your forehead kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/59d6eef76163bef189aab485c889d938/08d1854086a423d0-f7/s250x400/9afad07e80307757b08a752ae93d0ca30bd75f13.png" alt="Kisses your forehead kudos">

Reading in public kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2c2ef21138ac15cd86c940e18f026f18/08d1854086a423d0-9e/s250x400/1089607ba50414159c44322a09159017251b34db.png" alt="Reading in public kudos">

re-read kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/43eca1b71cd5af22991409073f73edd0/08d1854086a423d0-0d/s250x400/18f0392fd08faa883579e3839a143df37b8807d3.png" alt="re-read kudos">

This is the sole reason my sleep schedule is being ruined kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/b6c7385c4b2a18d2bdd7b2f7809f7679/08d1854086a423d0-96/s250x400/34d3bdd8263439d9ebff3a630c4ff785221da2d2.png" alt="This is the sole reason my sleep schedule is being ruined kudos">

Should be sleeping kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/fc26ea389c37ea36f7842bc7b9af0ddf/08d1854086a423d0-61/s100x200/f0959d6bfc6e5c7ced8e95bd4732a175f1b153a1.png" alt="Should be sleeping kudos">

Should be working kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/960404eda62b6161dfc5293ffbd60067/08d1854086a423d0-16/s250x400/1285e4b0e3a224a697ed7e2361ceeae383b297b3.png" alt="Should be working kudos">

Read the whole fic in one go kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/dcc0ff353b88330dcc32d0ce42126472/08d1854086a423d0-c7/s250x400/fe64765f47a12175372d9bbc69897c03b90e173a.png" alt="Read the whole fic in one go kudos">

Ungodly hour kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/0da03e4644c7b5bd068c7a5110538c3e/08d1854086a423d0-0d/s250x400/ff1fc66bfd0f927347ba887a063d01abc18a2531.png" alt="Ungodly hour kudos">

what about elevenses kudos: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/33235fdbdca4deb1f0332efe25278473/08d1854086a423d0-41/s250x400/3790c6b7c260468371f54c5d30194b07941ecbb2.png" alt="what about elevenses kudos">

You've already left kudos here!: <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3d7f5de5f16d1740360d9b264fc31d46/08d1854086a423d0-ae/s250x400/bdbfed76d384df20c1b8972f99de791e172c5c4b.png" alt="You've already left kudos here!">

You have already left kudos here. :) (red AO3 box): <img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3ab87c7fa67958f45798af8f83fef41/08d1854086a423d0-27/s500x750/978088884e0431616ff413f1401706617cf5c447.png" alt="You have already left kudos here. :)">

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answered asks about broken kudos links

After that comes the Confrontation.

​The legal "hit" was delivered two days later. Tim wouldn't go through this process in the shadows. Instead he had the papers served to Danny's so called husband right in the middle of a high-end restaurant where the man was ironically celebrating his "upcoming settlement" with a friend.

​The fallout was immediate. Tim’s lawyers didn't only bring the facts, they brought a digital trail that would make this man regret ever starting this crap in the first place.

​Exhibit A: Proof that the marriage was already in shambles long before Danny stepped foot in Tim’s office.

​Exhibit B: Text logs of the husband bragging about "taking the billionaire for every cent" using a "dead law."

​Exhibit C: The business card Danny left which was proof that the interaction was a professional solicitation for security services, not a clandestine tryst.

And then the Settlement… or well, the lack thereof.

​A week later, the husband was dragged into a deposition. He looked significantly less smug now that he was facing a defamation suit that could bankrupt him for the next three lifetimes.

​"I... I thought it was true," the husband stuttered, sweating under the fluorescent lights. "He barged into the office! He said he wanted a divorce right there!"

​"In the wrong office," Mr. Harrow reminded him coolly. "To a man he had never met. And your response was to tell the tabloids that Mr. Drake had been 'pursuing' your husband for months. That is a demonstrably false statement of fact."

​Tim watched from behind the one-way glass in the observation room. His phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.

​Danny: I heard about the countersuit… I am so, so sorry for the mess. I didn't think he'd actually try to sue you.

​Tim’s thumbs hovered over the screen. He should be professional. Overstepping is what got him into this circus in the first place… but, it's Danny.

​Tim: It’s fine. I'm paying my lawyers for a reason, and this is just another Tuesday for them. But to be honest? it's usually until after the first date before I get sued for someone's marriage ending.

Is that too forward? that's probably too forward, Tim can feel his ass getting blocked.

​Danny: Is that an invitation? Because I think I owe you a dinner. Or at least a very good bodyguard for free for a while. Ancients know you could use one what with all those damn paparazzi vultures circling you because of all this.

​Tim felt a rare, genuine smile tug at his lips. He turned back to the glass, watching the husband’s legal team practically beg Mr. Harrow for a settlement that involved a public retraction and a permanent NDA.

​"Retraction first," Tim muttered to himself. "Then date."

Bigger than he can handle it on his own or with just the JLD. Even if the whole group gives the bats not-so-stable glances as they filter in.

John notices that one of Batman's brats is missing- the smart one- but he has heard that the kid suffered some kind of psychotic break from his father's death. It's sad, really, mainly because John used to believe that the third Robin was the one with the good head on his shoulders.

What's worse is that the Third Robin up and ran off, having gone off the grid when he refused to accept Batman's death. The boy hadn't said anything besides, "The portraits told me!" after having a miniature breakdown in his home.

It didn't help that around this time, the boy teammates had all dropped like flies except for one. So yes, John knows it wasn't a big surprise that he lost it, but it was still sad to see. Kid is only seventeen.

He hopes they find him soon to give him the help he needs. John would offer a spell to try and find him, but he needs to learn about the kid better, which means his spell can only point in a general direction.

Nightwing looked downright ragged, but losing a father on the battlefield and a younger brother to his grief did a number on anyone.

John hates himself just a little for dragging the grieving family here. He does, but again, this is bigger than all of them. This is a matter of life and death- literally.

"Listen up. We have a bloody level ten on its way to Earth if it's not already here." His words cut through the muttering crowd, shutting everyone up. A level ten makes even the big, lousy Superman sweat. He snaps his fingers, allowing his magic to shift into the image of a King Phantom sitting on his throne- painted in the early 1200s and the picture that can be used to identify him.

The art style would have been almost modern if it wasn't for the unease that the painting could cause due to the glowing green from his majesty's portrait. They say the green was ectoplasm from the king himself- and that alone should warn others to not mess with him.

Everyone Justice League Dark member hissed through their teeth, sitting up straighter and a few even pale. John is once again grateful that they understand just how deep in shit they genuinely are.

"This is the Ghost King. He is not to be confused with a god or king of gods. He's something else entirely because he makes gods nervous. He is on his way here to kill whoever is dumb enough to threaten his pregnant fiancee, and I fear the rest of Earth will be collateral if we don't prepare-"

"That's Danny Phantom," A young voice cuts John off. He is surprised someone would talk over him in a level ten briefing. All eyes turn to Robin- er, the new Robin.

The kid is frowning at the image, his signature scowl already deeper than usual. He's also heard the new Robin was a spoiled boy who was not a team player.

"You know King Phantom?" John asks.

Robin nods. "Placeholder is obsessed with him. Half his room is covered with King Phantom's heroics."

"Do not call him that.," Nightwing hisses a second later. He frowned when Robin ignored him but returned to the room without further comment on the boy's cheek. "Danny Phantom is a low-level search and rescue hero. He pops up around the world but only sometimes interacts with people. Robin- Young Justice Robin- was obsessed with him."

The room gains an awkward weight as no one is willing to bring up the mentally unsound MIA teenager.

It's too bad for them. John has never cared about making anyone comfortable. "You said his room is covered in images of King Phantom?"

From the corner of his eyes, John catches sight of Zatanna's face. She's pale white, with a horrified expression as if though she was standing before the grim itself. Every other member of the Justice League Dark is in a similar state.

"Yes, he has a whole wall of posters and stuff." Nightwing conforms, and shit John knows who Phantom's after now.

The thing is, one just doesn't have pictures of King Phantom. No one knows why, but the Ghost King can not be documented. Not without having some kind of connection to the King.

Throughout history, the only ones who have ever had even one solid picture of the king- John's magic doesn't count cause he can't well hold the thing up forever- usually meant that the King would appear before them at one point.

There is also a myth if one could beat a member of the royal ghost family, then one wish is granted to them. If one can kill a royal ghost member, death can be overturned.

It's not true, obviously, for death is not easily beaten like that, but John knows that as an expert, would a mentally unwell teenager know the same?

It was also known that if the King appeared before you, something terrible would happen. The sighting of King Phantom often came as an omen and usually right before a terrible disaster.

In the last disaster, they lost Batman, and if King Phantom had shown up, where the Third Robin have spotted him? Where the Third Robin have thought the King could return the dead?

Not to mention the rumors!

King Phantom was hunting down a group of humans known as "The Bats." John hadn't put that much stock in that rumor simply because it could have been anyone- hell, when he looked up the bats seven different groups appeared, varying from boy bands to zoologists.

But if he placed the name "The Bats" next to the Third Robin's psychotic break, his obsession with King Phantom, and his intertwined fates...well, shit.

There is a slight chance that the Third Robin's fate could be intertwined with the Ghost King in a positive light, but John has learned to not be optimistic in his line of work.

"I think the Third Robin is gunning after the Ghost King's fiancee and unborn child in a misguided attempt to bring Batman back to life. He may have kicked started a war that humanity can not win," He announces. He hates to say. hates to even suggest it, but the needs of the many outweigh those of the few. "We have to find the Third Robin and attempt to stop him. If we can't reason with him, we must put him down."

Wonder Girl gasps a sob, pressing her hand against her mouth.

John hates himself a little more as she sobs; a few rushes to confront her, but no one is unaffected by the news.

"I'm ordering a hunt for the Third Robin," Wonderwoman speaks up to her steady leadership, returning everyone from their despair. "Every available hero will help. Do not use lethal force unless there is no other choice. We may be able to find him before King Phantom's armies arrive."

John just hopes they are not too late.

Meanwhile, across the plane of existence, unaware of the manhunt for his head, Tim Drake is trying to stare down a Yeti, attempting to put him in silk clothes that are just fabrics held together by strings.

"No."

"But-But- but you have such a flattering figure! You must flaunt it! The Great One will barely be able to contain himself if he sees you in this!"

"No. It looks like something you wear on a honeymoon to seduce your spouse. I'm not walking around in that."

"Well, you don't need to bewitch his majesty. You already have a child on the way." The Yeit mutters, considering the fabric in his claws with a frown. He is Frostbite's royal tailor and has been attempting to dress Tim for over an hour. Everything he's suggested so far looks like it came from those romantic fantasy games.

It's like they want to make him a sexy consort or something.

Tim's teeth grind against each other. He hates how often his role is reminded, how casually the yetis mention that Ra's expects a child from Tim.

He doesn't even know how that child will come to be, and it makes him sick. He's been bidding his time, waiting for his wounds to heal and to find a weakness in the frozen fortress, but so far, he is unsure how he will escape.

And Bruce is still out there, waiting for Tim to get him. He can't waste any more time here.

"How about this cloak?" The Yeti offers, holding up a dark metallic fabric that reminds TIm of his Robin cape. "If we are going for a more conservative look, something that screams power is just the way to make the masses wild!"