Tim stared at the glowing boy that had just entered the cave. the boy seemed unreal, with pale skin, white hair, and a vacant expression. they glowed with a faint white light and were floating a few inches off the ground. the blinked a few times looking around the cave as though they were lost.
âare you guys seeing this?â Tim asked, making eye contact with the boy. his eyes were glowing a familiar Lazarus green. Tim would normally take that as a sign that they were here as a threat except the being was raising itâs eyebrows and looking confused as hell.
âhmm?â Dick hummed, not looking up from his spot at the bat computer.
âthe glowing dead kid,â Tim clarified.
Dick yawned, âi think you need some sleep, Timmy.â he still hadnât looked up.
Tim frowned. he was tired. he didnât think he was hallucination tired yet though, that usually hit around the three day mark. Tim was solidly at two and a half. but no one else seemed to be acknowledging the being so Tim did the only logical thing.
he approached the boy to get more information. normally that would be considered dumb and reckless, but hey, it wasnât like he was alone. if the being started attacking him, the others would at least notice that.
âare you real?â was the first thing he asked the glowing boy. it seemed best to rule that out first.
the boy blinked a few times. âi think so. i mean probably.â
Tim nodded, more to himself than as an answer.
the boy gazed at Tim, âthis isnât a bodega.â
Tim nodded again, this time in agreement. he was right about the boy seeming lost.
they stared at each other for what most would consider an awkward amount of Tim.
âcan you point me to the nearest source of coffee?â the boy asked.
Tim took a moment to process the rest of the sentence. âoh, uh... Alfred cuts me off after midnight now.â he pouted. he wasnât allowed to drink the coffee that was upstairs.
âokay.â the boy said.
the stood silently again. Tim thought some more.
âthereâs a gas station on the edge of the city limits thatâs not far. probably only 7 miles or so.â
the boy lit up. literally, his glow brightened. âcan you show me?â
âoh yeah, for sure, the coffee is crap but itâll do the job. can I come? I need to get my bike.â
âDude, of course you can come, i have no idea where youâre talking about and I somehow ended up underground. I need you, bro.â the boy said reaching out a gloved hand. Tim noticed that he was wearing a hazmat suit for some reason. he didnât recognize the company logo on the front. âand donât worry about the bike, I can just fly us there.â
oh so he was a superhero. that made sense and probably explained why he was glowing and floating and could access the cave despite the security.
Tim took the heroes hand, smiling happily. he was gonna get him some coffee
Dick went to bed, under the impression the Tim had already went up. Bruce, who had a meeting in the morning, had already headed to bed and left his kids to finish the case files for the night. Damian had gone to bed the moment they returned from patrol because he had school in the morning.
it would be many hours before anyone noticed Tim wasnât in his bed or at his job. Bruce and Damian went off to where they needed in the morning. Alfred had knocked lightly on Timâs door but decided to let the boy sleep in. dick had slept in and spent the morning lazing around the manor because he had another day before he had to return to Bludhaven.
it was around noon when Alfred decided to properly wake Tim up and found his bed empty. he asked dick if heâd seen him. dick answered in the negative. he called Tam at Wayne Enterprise and received a negative answer. he texted and called Timâs cell phone and received no answer, only later finding the phone in the batcave charging on an outlet. Alfred was starting to feel concerned so he contacted Barbara.
it turned out the last anyone had seen Tim had been last night when dick told him to go to bed. Barbara checked the batcave cameraâs and found something quite bizarre. a spot of static appeared on the cameras from multiple angles. it was like the static was in reality rather than a glitching of the screens.Â
Tim stared at it. Dick didnât notice it. Tim walked up to it. Tim seemed to talk to the static for a long moment. Tim touched the static, Tim's form became static. the static disappeared soon after. all this happened unnoticed behind Dickâs back.
Barbara set out a red alert and started searching her cameras for any other instances of static since Tim had gone missing at 1:34am. it had been almost 12 hours.
the trip to the gas station had been uneventful by Tim's standards. they flew over, entered the shop portion and ordered coffee. the worker barely blinked at the glowing boy, and he was well used to seeing Tim at ant hour. the hero paid for both their drinks and Tim held and sipped at his paper cup.
ahhh, this was shit. but it was warm and caffeinated and that had to be enough for now.
slowly some of his finer brain functions came back to him and he found himself staring at the glowing boy and realizing he had no idea who the guy was or even if he was registered with the league. heâd bought Tim coffee so he doubted the boy was evil, but hallucinations didnât generally buy him coffee so this might well be a person he was interacting with.
âwhatâs your name?â he asked belatedly
the boy sipped his own coffee. âDanny.â he said as though he too were confused at how they had both wound up there but was too content to drink shitty gas station coffee to act overly concerned. âyou?â
Tim glanced down at his clothes to see if he was still wearing his costume. he wasnât he was wearing bike shorts and a large pink t-shirt that said âsnexy (snail sexy)â in bold letterers. his guess was that it used to belong to either Dick or Steph. it was his now. âTim,â he finally answered.
Danny nodded. âso want me drop you off back home?â
Tim tilted his head, turning his cup in his hand. he wasnât allowed to have the coffee at home. âi have time,â he decided.
Danny nodded again. âis there a place to get better coffee at this time of night?â he asked, clearly knowing that the shitty gas station coffee wouldnât sustain him for long. Tim of course agreed.
âthereâs a 24 hour internet cafe on grotto st.â
Danny held out his hand. âlets goâ
Tim and Danny ended up playing doom in the internet cafe for 4 hours. Danny it turned out was really good at it and knew a lot of cheat codes Tim didnât. Tim tried not to take that personally. it was still surprisingly fun and normal and no one has tried to kill them in the 5 hours theyâd been out. Tim wondered if Danny was shielding them from harm or something. maybe he was just lucky? Tim didn't want to jinx it.
finally they wound down, the workers were changing shift and that was usually a good indicator that it was time to leave. Tim stretched and Danny stretched further. he reminded Tim of Dick a bit, it was like his bones were made of rubber or something.
ânow what?â Danny asked and Tim checked his watch. he was definitely hitting the territory of sleep deprivation where heâd start hallucinating and he doubted Danny would be much help given he also was clearly just as sleep deprived as time. theyâd both been chugging espresso while playing doom. Tim felt wired but also tired.
never let it be said that he didnât recognize his own limitations. âguess we should probably head to bed. you live near here?â
âme? live?â the boy chuckled raising his eyebrows. then his smile dropped. âi have no idea where here is.â
âokay, thatâs chill. iâm too tired to think of a solution yet, so how about we just crash at one of my safe houses and iâll call you a cab when we wake up and figure out where youâre from.â
the boy made a face, possibly because Tim said safe house instead of apartments. but shrugged anyway. âsounds good to me.â
the nearest safe house was one of Jason's but Tim doubted heâd be using it or mind overly much if Tim slept there. Jason was one of the biggest worriers about Tim's sleep schedule so heâd probably appreciate the fact that Tim was sleeping.
Danny crashed on the couch and Tim watched as two rings of light spread from his middle out and turned him into a normal looking teenager in ratty clothes. it was honestly better than a hazmat suit. he even stopped glowing and floating. so Tim mentally shrugged and put it in the superpower column of what he knew about Danny and went to the bed to sleep.
it was several hours later, but not long enough that someone burst into the apartment. Danny being closer to the door rolled blearily to his feet and raised his fists to fight whatever ghost had decided to interrupt his nap. Tim wasnât far behind, bursting out of the bedroom holding a long lamp as a makeshift staff.
âwhat the fuck, Tim!â Jason yelled and Tim needed a moment to process that it was his brother who burst in.
âoh, hi, Jason,â Tim put the lamp down but Danny didnât leave his fighting stance. he looked slightly more confused and relaxed when no one immediately attacked him.
âdonât hi me, where the fuck have you been? who the fuck is that orphan wannabe? whatâs going on?â
Tim, still half asleep, shrugged. âthatâs Danny.â
Danny was staring at Jason with squinted eyes. âyou smell bad.â
âexcuse you?â Jason hissed eyes flashing green.
understanding dawned on Danny's face, an expression Tim had found to be rare in the hours heâd known Danny.
Danny stepped out of his fighting stance and went to stand directly in front of Jason. âany recent portal accidents, my guy?â
âwhat?â Jason asked, only to be cut off by Danny shoving his hand into his chest. there was no blood or gore or anything. Danny just cleanly passed through Jason like he was made of mist.
âwhat are you doing!?â Jason gasped alarmed as Danny seemed so rotate his hand like he was spinning yarn around it. time was also getting alarmed and picked his lamp back up. before he could hit Danny over the head with it though, Danny finished what ever he was doing and pulled his hand out of Jasonâs chest. Jason was seemingly uninjured.
around Danny's hand was what looked like red glowing goo. the slime ran down his fingers and smelled rank even from this distance.
âall done,â Danny said sleepily and reached into a back pocket with his clean hand to pull out a thermos. he clicked a button and suctioned the red goo off his hand with a flash of light.
âwhat the hell...â Jason whispered, putting a hand to his chest. he no longer felt the hazy green pit rage that had haunted him for the last three years.instead there was just a feeling of warmth. like a hot bath, like steam at the center of his being. âwhat did you do to me?â
Danny yawned. âcleaned your plasm. you smell less like fruit loop now.â
âwhat are you?â tim asked, now somewhat awake enough to ask the questions he didnât last night.
âhalfaâ Danny shrugged. âso is this guy, though heâs a lot weaker. needs to drink him some non-contaminated ectoplasm. will probably help stabilize his core.â
âwhat...?â Jason said. he was still whispering, clearly going into some sort of shock.
Tim inwardly shrugged. he needed coffee before he could start a proper interrogation. âhey Jay you have any coffee?â
Jason gave him an incredulous look, but Danny hummed in agreement and started checking cabinets
âi should probably head back to my hotel before my sister freaks out,â Danny said finding the beans and giving a small cheer. Tim cheered with him and helped Danny set up the pot. Jason was still standing in the doorway, hand against his chest and staring into space like he was haunted by something. âi had fun though. itâs been a while since I've had such a normal outing.â
Tim thought for a moment about everything they did and the weirdness that was Danny. finally he hummed in agreement. it was one of his more normal outings. âwanna exchange numbers?â
âsure,â Danny said. âwe should do this again sometime.â Danny glanced at Jason. âand i guess you should call me if you guys have any questions about him. being a halfa isnât easy, especially when youâre figuring it out alone.â
âhalfa...â Jason repeated in a distant voice.
the coffee finished brewing and Tim poured them both a mug. Danny took a deep sip, cradling the cup in his hands and just enjoying the aroma and moment. he wrote his number on a napkin on the counter and then smiled brightly at Tim. this time he wasnât literally glowing, but it was no less bright.
âsee ya, Timâ he said transforming in a flash of light and flying through the wall. he took the coffee mug with him.
Tim blinked several times sipping his coffee and finally waking up enough to realize that that was not at all a normal encounter and he probably should have asked a lot more questions and what the hell did that kid do to Jason? Tim looked at the number on the napkin and hoped it was real because he definitely had questions.
maybe if he was lucky this would all be a hallucination after all.