The next day at school Danny managed not to fall asleep during his first two classes mostly by thinking about how he was going to manage the new complications with his family. He was going to have to be even more careful than usual. It was possible his family had noticed he was sneaking out from time to time, but they wouldn’t care if they thought it was just insomnia or young man’s folly. He just had to make sure that no one connected him to Hafit, so he couldn’t let anyone put two and two together that Hafit showed up whenever Danny went missing.
The best way to do that would be for Hafit to make an appearance when the family already had eyes on Danny. He couldn’t do it in person obviously, not without a clone of his own which… no that would take too long and still wasn’t completely guaranteed. Best he thought that he could manage was to have Hafit appear on camera while he was at home, while he and Oracle were both on the computers, and sneakily enough that she wouldn’t notice. That was going to be a tough trick to pull off but with a bit of planning he thought that he could manage it.
Until then he was going to have to be even more careful than he already had been, since he clearly hadn’t been careful enough! He barely managed not to groan out loud at the thought of all that extra work. This would all have been so much easier if Bruce wasn’t so overbearing! Tim would have probably enjoyed joining in on some of these experiments. Maybe they should have waited just a bit longer to get Bruce back from the time stream.
Danny immediately felt guilty about that thought and physically shook his head as if that could cleanse it from his mind. That was stupid, and cruel, no matter how much more careful he had to be it was worth it to have Bruce home safe with his children where he belonged.
“Hey Tucker, do you mind if I come over to your place this weekend?” Danny asked Tucker at lunch, sliding him a note as he did. ‘I have work to do and I need a cover story. Can you provide? Give the note back once you’ve read it.’
Tucker read the note quickly and then passed it back. “Sure dude, the house is pretty crowded on the weekend so ask your dad for some money and we can go wherever we want as long as we text my parents hourly to let them know where we are and that we’re safe.” Tucker confirmed which made Danny smile. It was the perfect cover, he could spend all day in the lab, go back to Tucker’s for dinner, and once everyone was tucked into bed he could easily sneak back out to go back to the lab if he wasn’t done!
He paused and then pulled a pen out of his pocket and scribbled down ‘Do you actually want to come to the lab with me?’ He asked, passing the note over to Tucker who grinned crookedly and nodded, passing it back.
“Ya dude, wherever you’re comfortable. Maybe we can get some work done together,” He agreed.
Danny smiled back nervously and then shrugged and nodded. It was risky bringing Tucker with him, but as long as he went in through the tunnels and stayed out of sight of the camera it should be fine. He’d give Tucker a spare mask, just to be safe.
“Hey, that's not fair!” Sam squawked as Danny carefully tore up the note he had written. He’d dispose of the scraps in multiple trash cans so it couldn’t be pieced together. “I want to come too!”
“Next weekend, okay Sam?” He asked, pocketing the scraps. “Or the one after that if Damian wants to spend time with me. I’ll need an excuse to get out of the house as often as possible for a while.”
“Is everything okay at home?” Sam asked. It was a fair question, but it made him wince anyway.
“Everything is fine,” He assured quickly. “Well, as fine as it ever is and better than sometimes. Everyone is stressed but they’ve also agreed to therapy! We’ll be good, I just need space you know?” He asked, and Sam nodded sympathetically.
“Sure, of course Danny. You know you’re always welcome at my place,” Sam agreed easily.
“And mine too,” Tucker added cheerfully. “I know we don’t have as much space, but my parents and sister all adore you.”
“Don’t sell yourself short dude. I love coming over to your place! And honestly you wouldn’t know Sam’s place has more space with the way her parents are always hovering over us,” He joked, making Sam groan and flop backwards in her chair dramatically.
“God they’re such a paaain,” She complained, which easily transitioned the conversation into her latest issues with her own parents. Danny was glad to go on from… well, anything to do with him really.
--------------------
That weekend Danny went over to Tucker’s place with the money Bruce had handed to him on the way out the door. He wasn’t as out of touch with reality as people thought he was, but he still had a habit of overestimating how much things cost and giving Danny far too much money for a day out with his friends. Not that Danny minded, he always used all of it even if it was just to leave whatever was left with Tucker so that he could save up for whatever new piece of tech he was desperately eyeing at the time. This time the few hundred-dollar bills would work as a bribe to get Tucker and him out for the day and have Tucker pretend Danny was with him the whole time.
As soon as they were out of the house and in an area that Danny knew didn’t have any cameras, he handed the money over to Tucker and pulled up the map of cameras up on his phone. He held it out, showing Tucker the map.
“This is all the cameras in Gotham I happen to know that… certain people have easy access to,” He explained softly. “I’ll send you the map, don’t worry about it too much but try to avoid them as much as possible, okay?”
“Holy shit dude,” Tucker breathed as he eyed the map. He handed Danny’s phone back and when his PDA pinged to say the message had arrived, he studied it on his device as well. “What people? Who are you trying to avoid?”
“The bats mainly, they’re a nosy bunch and I don’t want them in my business,” Danny grumbled with a scowl. “But the LoA accesses them sometimes too.”
“How do you know? Scratch that, I forget sometimes you're almost as good of a hacker as I am,” He sighed, shaking his head.
“So, I’ll mostly just be assembling tech today anyway so it should be safe. I’ll come home with you tonight and go back out after bed for the more active work,” He decided with a little grin. “You’ll have to cover your face though, and wear gloves. We’ll be going in through the tunnels under Gotham sooo.”
“Ah,” Tucker winced. “Why don’t we go to a second-hand store and use some of that cash your dad gave us to get me an outfit that I would never wear that covers everything?” He suggested, Danny chuckled.
“Ya, let’s do that,” Danny agreed and pulled out his phone to check the nearest second-hand store. If they’re lucky they might even find some clothes that used to belong to another rogue, though they probably wouldn’t fit Tucker even if they did.
They found a hoody, a mask, and a pair of gloves and it said something about Gotham that the cashier didn’t even blink when she rung them up and they paid in cash. She just grumbled about having to make change for a hundred and Danny told her to just round down the change to the nearest whole bill which placated her a bit.
They leave the store and Danny directs them to a place that was safe from the camera where they could both change into their disguises. Danny was a little insecure about putting on his entire Hafit garb in front of Tucker, but he did it, and at least he looked more put together than Tucker’s outfit.
“Are you sure you’re not turning into a rogue,” Tucker teases Danny.
“Nah I’m not planning on it. But I know how this will look so I’m trying not to get on the bats' radar, I just want to do my mad science in peace you know?” He cackled softly and Tucker shakes his head at Danny.
“Yep, definitely turning into a rogue,” Tucker laughed, shaking his head.
“Shut up,” Danny mumbled. “And follow me,” He added and ducked out of their changing spot, darting to the nearest manhole cover and dropping down. He landed gracefully, and caught Tucker when he dropped, breaking his fall enough to put him down on his feet.
“It smells gnarly in here,” Tucker grumbled and Danny laughed through his voice modulator.
“This isn’t even the worst spot!” He chuckled and shook his head. “Also your voice is recognizable so try not to speak until I say it’s safe, okay?” When he saw Tucker nod he nodded back before he started to lead the way confidently through the tunnels under Gotham, until they were under Crime Alley where Danny knew there weren’t any cameras.
“Alright, we’re almost there,” He said softly to Tucker, glancing back at him. “But the tunnels under this area of Gotham are very poorly maintained so it’s a little bit more treacherous, try to follow my steps and don’t be afraid to grab me if you start to lose your balance, okay?”
“Okay, where are we?” Tucker asked, his eyes fixed on his own feet, squinting to make out his steps. Danny needed to remember that his night vision was much better than the average human and bring a flashlight when he brought Sam or Tucker again.
“We're under Crime Alley, my lab is in one of the abandoned warehouses. It’s the perfect place for an operation like mine,” Danny chuckled.
“Right, makes sense. Is it safe?” Tucker questioned and Danny shrugged.
“I mean, you knew what I was doing so I assumed you knew it wouldn't be entirely safe, but you should be fine. If we're lucky Red Hood might be coming for a visit, he's been helping provide my research materials. Actually, I should text him that you're here for a visit otherwise he might freak out seeing someone he doesn't know in my lab,” he realizes and pulls out his phone to shoot Jason a quick message on his secure burner phone.
“Right, of course he is,” Tucker grumbled before yelping as he slipped and grabbed the back of Danny’s jacket.
Danny laughed and helped steady Tucker before leading the way on the last stretch with Tucker still holding on to him. “Right, here we are,” Danny said before jumping up and grabbing on to the bar beside the manhole with one hand. He reached up and concentrated hard to phase his hand through the metal and undo the latch from the other side.
“Holy shit how are you doing that? Is it a false wall or something?” Tucker asked from below.
“Nah I can do some minor density shifting, just my hands and feet really but it helps secure my lab to make sure basically no one else can get in. There we go,” he muttered and flipped upside-down to push the cover off with his feet and flip through the hole, maybe he was showing off a little. He looked around his lab to make sure no one else was there and there was nothing dangerous exposed before he reached back down through the hole. “Hop up and grab my hands, I'll pull you through.”
A second later Danny felt Tucker's hands close around his wrists and Danny grabbed back, using his knees to lift Tucker up through. He put Tucker back down on the edge and returned the manhole cover to its place.
“Damn, You've got yourself really well set up here huh?” Tucker whistled once Danny turned the lights on.
“Yep,” Danny said proudly. “The newest addition is that kettle over there if you want a cup of tea,” He joked before he went over to a pile of boxes he’d amassed over the last week or so and started unpacking them. Some contained highly technical machine parts, some contained second hand appliances he intended to cannibalize.
“Sure, do you want a cup? Since I doubt I can help with all that,” Tucker asked, gesturing at the steadily growing pile of miscellaneous machinery.
“I’d love a cup, you know how I take it right?”
“Of course dude,” Tucker confirmed and wandered over to Danny’s makeshift little tea station.
As Tucker made the tea Danny finished unpacking and started disassembling the appliances. Tucker brought over the cups and pulled up a chair, checking how much focus Danny would need before pulling out notes from one of their classes. Danny groaned but didn’t object to using this time to study as well, his mind worked better when his hands were busy anyway.
Danny’s hands moved with practiced ease as he worked, mostly listening to Tucker read his notes aloud and answering the occasional POP QUIZ questions Tucker threw at him. Danny got the distinct impression Tucker was enjoying playing teacher. Once Danny had all the parts he needed from the appliances he got up and stretched with a groan.
“Can you help me clear the rest of this away? I’d throw it out but I don’t know if I might need any of it in the future so for now I guess I’ll just shove it into a corner. I’m only using about half the warehouse as a lab right now anyway, the rest can be storage space,” he decided, already gathering up an armload of stuff from the discarded pile.
“Sure dude, you never know when you might need scraps of twisted metal,” Tucker said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Danny but setting his note cards aside and got up to help Danny without any real complaint.
“Ya ya,” Danny grumbled with a huff. “I’m going to need more concentration for the assembly, so I won’t be able to study during the next part. Also I’ll probably get, like, really zoned in once I start so if you're hungry or you need anything we’d better take care of that before I start,” He added. He would have been sheepish but Tucker knew exactly how he was so he didn’t bother.
“Sure, ya, where’s good to get food around here?” Tucker asked with a shrug, Danny knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t actually hungry right now but was preempting being hungry while Danny was unresponsive for the next few hours.
“J- Red Hood took me to a really good taco truck last week, I can get us takeout from there,” Danny suggested, internally kicking himself for almost using his brother’s real name. Absolutely fucking not! He trusted Tucker with his life but he couldn’t unilaterally trust him with someone else’s secret!
“That sounds good, do you want me to come with you?” Tucker asked.
“No, it would probably be better if you didn’t,” Danny denied, shaking his head. “Crime alley isn’t exactly the safest place, they’ll know me since I’ve been running here for a bit, but the less you appear on any sort of cameras or anything the better. Just tell me what you want, okay?”
“Ya, makes sense,” Tucker sighed, and Danny didn’t think he’d imagined the way Tucker relaxed. Apparently he hadn’t been thrilled about the idea of wandering around the Alley either. He told Danny his order and Danny put his helmet back on before he ducked out and went to get them both lunch, sticking to the rooftops as he went, out of sight even more than usual since he wasn’t used to running in broad daylight like this.
He ordered, paid with another hundred dollar bill and told the worker to keep the change, because he really appreciated them being willing to serve him without prejudice even in costume. He brought the food back and refused to let himself even think about work while he and his friend ate, just enjoying the food and banter.
Once Tucker was full, and Danny was satisfied he pulled his blueprints for the collectors out of the safe and made himself a nest to start building as many as he had parts for. Tucker got comfortable as well, shoving a few chairs together so he could lay down across them for an afternoon nap. Danny made a mental note to collect more pillows and blankets so that his friends could be comfortable while he was working, maybe some second-hand armchairs or couches so that it was more hospitable to people who weren’t the types to get completely wrapped up in tinkering like Danny could.
Before he could settle himself in the middle of his collection of parts and tools he went to grab the ectoplasm from the working collector he had. He checked the amount inside, and once he’d determined he would have enough to treat the necessary parts with some left over he took a swallow of it and brought the rest over, trying to ignore the pleasant tingling shiver the substance sent down his body.
“What’s that?” Tucker asked curiously.
“Ectoplasm,” Danny said with a shrug as he finally sat down in the middle of his odd little nest.
“You drink that?!” Tucker asked, equal parts curious and horrified.
“Yep, but before you asked you can’t. It’s toxic to anyone who hasn’t died before,” Danny told him with an amused huff.
“Ah, wait, you've died before?” Tucker asked, sounding shocked.
“Shoot I forgot to mention that part of the story huh? Yes I did, but that was years ago now and I’m okay now. If you want more details please wait until both you and Sam are here, I don’t like talking about it and would rather not do it more then once.”
“Ya, sure that seems fair,” Tucker said, trying to hide how unsettled he was. He settled back on the makeshift bench and Danny nodded, turning his attention back towards his work.
He set aside the thoughts about couches, and the future conversations with Sam and Tucker. For now Danny let Tucker close his eyes and honed in on first treating the parts of the collector with ectoplasm and then started assembling.
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Danny: Wally ssseriousssly, don't try to pick me up! I weigh like 500 poundsss!
Wally: No way! The ground is freezing, and you're burnt out from being in your Phantom form so often. *grunts as he tries to lift Danny's tail* Let me help!
Danny: I appreciate it, really, but itsss not posssssible. I can, well not walk but like ssslither? myssself. I don't mind a bit of a cold floor.
Wally: *deflating* I wish super speed came with super strength so I could help you more.
Danny: You built a giant heat lamp for me, and risssked getting in ssseriousss trouble jussst ssso I could sssee the ssstarsss again by sssneaking me into the WatchTower! You help me a ton! *hugs him and coils around him* Besssidesss, you're like my persssonal ssspace heater too!
Wally: *snorts* I guess I do help more than I thought.
Part 1(I guess)
Bonus
*Later*
Kid Flash: *watching as Superboy easily lifts a truck over his head* You're so lucky.
Superboy: *carefully puts the truck back down* ???
I was rewatching Teen Titans(2003) and had the passive thought; "Hey, doesn't Danny sometimes feel like, in an AU, he could totally pass as a Beast Boy x Raven love child? He has Raven's looks(*), sass, and knowledge of the occult, but he has Beast Boy's outgoingness, prankster personality, and killer Puppy Dog eyes. And we can also probably tie in BB's scientist parents to the Fentons somehow if we really had to."
And now, I can't unthink it!
*Raven has Purpleish Black hair and Purpleish Dark Blue eyes in my opinion, which when mixing genes could lighten them to Blueish Black hair and a Lighter Blue eyes with offspring.
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Danny, teasing: Disgusting, did watching FernGully as a child teach you nothing!
Damian: I have never watched "FernGully".
Danny: What? Okay, you are coming to my appartment and we are watching FernGully one and two and if you try to get out of this *eyes glow green* I will curse your entire bloodline.
Damian, stunned: For some reason I found that very attractive. Okay, lead me to your appartment.
Danny: Yes! You're gonna loves these movies, I promise!
Dick, gulping: Is this-Is this really where we're supposed to meet Wally's new friend?
Roy: This is where the coordinates say to meet him. I'm sure its fine, Wally wouldn't ask us to go somewhere dangerous.
Dick: That's complete bull and you know it!
Roy: Wait, do you hear that?
Dick: Hear what?
*from the dark a huge white tail darts out wrapping both of them tightly in its coils*
Phantom, his torso connected to a 20 foot white snake tail: And who daressss trespassss in my nessst? *forked tongue licks the air showing off sharp fangs*
Dick: Can't breath!
Roy: Can-Can't move! It has my arms!
Wally: Woah Woah Woah! Phantom its okay! They're with me!
Phantom: Oh? I'm sssorry then. *carefully and slowly unwinds his tail*
Dick, wheezing: Wally, what-what the heck?
Wally: Sorry, I got sidetracked and kinda forgot about this meeting. *clears throat* Ahem, this is Phantom. He helped me out on one of my missions! Hes a half ghost cursed to be a Naga. Phantom, this is Roy and Dick, they're some of my friends!
Roy: What?
Phantom: Well, thats the sssshort of it I ssssuppose. Thissss form wasss actually meanr to be a blesssssing but considering I can no longer live among the living in my human form, it ssssure feelssss like a curssse. *wraps around Wally, and rests his chin on Wally's head* Alssso the essss sssound issss annoying. All the sssame, itsss nice to meet you.
Roy: That's all well and good but you attacked us!
Phantom, rolling his eyes: I wasssn't going to harm you. I wasss going to ssscare you and let you go. Itsss not sssafe down here for the living. Wally isss only here becaussse he hasss my protection.
Wally: See?! Phantom's cool!
Dick and Roy: *share a skeptical glance as Phantom nuzzles into Wally's hair in front of them*
Had the craziest desire to see Jason in a poofy, cute short dress and then this was created
I can’t imagine why they’re dressed like this, but y’know those fics where Jason meets Cass and Damian in the League of Assassins? Maybe this is an AU where Talia has somehow met Jazz and Danny and hires them and then makes all four of them take care of Damian??
