Seeing ghosts in Gotham
Heโs walking alone. Despite how dark it is, heโs not particularly nervous, not like the couple of people hovering in an alley.
His shift at Batburger went a little long, not that heโs complaining, he needed the money.
Everything is fine. Splendid. Fantastic. A little quiet, enough to pretend itโs a nice stroll home like it was back in Amity. Of course that all kind of goes up in flames when a dark figure drops into a crouch right in front of him. About two arm lengths away is a guy who straightens to a little taller than Danny himself. From the flickering street light across the street he can spot red, crisscross yellow, and a dark cape.
Red Robin.
Danny shakes his head and turns around.
โNope.โ
A smaller body is already standing behind him, blocking his path. The little guy with a serious face folds his arms across his chest as if challenging Danny to try to get by him.
Heโs had enough tussles with Danielle to know better than to test the kid.
Danny rubs at his eyes with a hand, purposefully keeping the other limp at his side. He turns back around.
โOkay. Fine. What? What do you want?โ
โYou sent in a folder of information to solve the Boothe case,โ Red Robin states confidently like there wasnโt any doubt it was Danny who sent it in.
He frowns. It was sent in anonymously. As in they shouldnโt be able to know it was him. Then again they are detectives in their own right even if they dress weird.
โSee? This is why no one helps out the police if theyโre gonna get grilled for it later on,โ he complains sourly.
โThat case is connected to another string of crimes weโve been investigating. I need to know where you got your information.โ
Danny glares at him for a second, actually thinking about telling him, then he remembers how quickly these guys throw people into Arkham.
โDo you not get what anonymous means?โ
โWhat is your source?โ He asks, completely ignoring Dannyโs concerns.
โWhat are gonna do? Dangle me over the side of a building to get me to talk like you do with the criminals you guys pick up? Go ahead. See where that gets you,โ he shrugs indifferently.
โYouโre a runaway.โ
Dannyโs eyes widen in surprise before narrowing into a warning as he turns to look at the pipsqueak that spoke.
โFrom your poorly made fake ID and the fact you donโt look close to eighteen, you must be a runaway minor. We could bring you in to the proper authorities if you prove to beโฆ uncooperative.โ
Danny sneers in annoyance.
โSeriously?โ He turns back to Red Robin. Clearly the older of the two and the one leading this investigation. โThis is what I get for trying to help? Blackmail?โ
โRobin can be a bitโฆ abrasive. I, on the other hand, can appreciate a different approach.โ
Suddenly thereโs a couple pieces of paper money in between his fingers. Danny couldnโt see how much it was from this far away, but it didnโt really change how he felt about the whole situation.
โNow bribery? Wow, you guys really got the whole good cop, bad cop thing down, donโt cha?โ
โThen what do you want?โ
โFor you to stop wasting your time,โ Danny answers with a snap.
Red Robin pauses.
โOur time,โ he repeats calmly.
โYea. Your time. This is a dead end and you should move on.โ
โAnd why are you a dead end?โ Presses Robin.
โBecause,โ Danny emphasizes with a look over his shoulder, โthe guy youโre really looking for, my source as you put it, is dead, okay? So you canโt go ask him questions. I sent in everything that was relevant. Find another lead.โ
Red Robinโs expression remains blank as he mentally calculates his next move. Danny hopes he takes his advice and let him go home.
โHis name?โ
Danny folds his arms over his chest, a pathetic attempt to protect himself. He chews on his lip a minute. To tell him or not to tell him. Itโs not really ratting the guy out since heโs, you know, dead. Although there is a large chance Dannyโs missing something and itโs all going to lead back to him somehow.
โI didnโt kill him.โ
โI never said you did,โ the vigilante replies calmly, almost nonchalant.
Danny shifts his weight with nerves. He really wasnโt getting out of this without giving them something, huh?
โGreg,โ he grinds out like itโs painful.
Silence for a few moments, then-
โAs in Gregory Boothe?โ
The victim of this whole conversation? Yes.
Dannyโs silence is answer enough and the diverted gaze just solidified their suspicions.
โGregory Bootheโs body turned up a month ago. Presumably heโd been dead for several weeks before that.โ
Red lets that damning information hang in the air like Danny didnโt already know.
โSo when did he talk to you? Last week?โ
Danny jerks at the off handed joke, actually taking a step back and hitching his shoulders up to his ears. He grimaces at his knee jerk response, but canโt take it back. A glance toward the vigilante shows a calculating stunned expression from what he can see ignoring the mask. He looks away again finding a discarded soda can very interesting.
โWhat is that supposed to mean?โ Demands Robin behind him.
Danny tried to resist the urge to curl even more into himself, but knows he failed without even having to look.
โYouโre a medium,โ Red Robin states. Itโs not even a question.
Danny flinches and shoots the guy a scared glare.
โI am not one of those scam artists,โ he hisses firmly.
โNo,โ Red agrees, โyouโre not. You didnโt ask for money or attention.โ
Danny stares like itโs his first time seeing him. The lack of aggression or accusations was new and a little disarming. He was genuinely confused as to why the guy wasnโt immediately going to denial or throwing him in Arkham.
โHell of a city to hide in when you can see ghosts,โ Red Robin says in a light tone like he was teasing him. The small tug to his lips just proves it.
Dannyโs shoulders practically sag at the playful demeanor. A hand reaches up to rub the back of his neck self-consciously.
โYea, wellโฆ no one was gonna look for me here.โ
Which was only half the reason he chose Gotham, but it was still truthful.
โSoโฆ Greg?โ
โIsnโt here right now.โ Danny pauses and snorts at himself. โPlease leave a message.โ
The vigilante does have a sense of humor because he smirks in response to the joke.
โIs there another way toโฆ make contact? Summoning maybe?โ
Danny raises an eyebrow incredulously.
โSummoning is rude,โ he says like itโs common sense.
Instead he turns to the nearest reliable ghost in the vicinity.
โHey, Susan, can you go-โ
The vigilantes canโt hear how she interrupts him because she was standing there the whole time and knows exactly what he was going to ask.
โOkay, thanks. Meet at mine.โ
The ghost woman nods and flies off to go hunt down dear old Greg and Danny turns to Red Robin. He makes a casual move with his head to say โfollow meโ and continues walking down the sidewalk past the guy and further into the old, decrepit buildings heโs been squatting in.
They already know heโs a runaway, being homeless shouldnโt come as a shock to them. Even with his two jobs, he canโt afford to rent an apartment. No wonder so many people are in poverty or in the slums.
He ducks into his rundown building, ignoring the rats scurrying away, and hops up the rickety stairs, avoiding the ones that were unstable. It was a nightmare figuring out which steps were faulty. Lots of injuries.
At the top he turns to see Red easily copying his movements up the stairs while Robin balances along the railing like a tight rope. When they reach the top at the same time Danny just stares at them for a moment before shaking his head in exasperation. Darn vigilantes. Why did Danny have to get caught up in this mess?
He turns, walking along the floor closest to the wall before getting to what heโs deemed his room.
It used to be an office from what he can tell. A desk pushed against the far wall and a ripped sofa heโs been using as a bed on the other wall. The floors were the most stable in this room which really won out.
Danny goes to the desk where all his papers are scattered over the surface. An organizational pattern only he understands as he shuffles through the pile he pulls from the cubby above the desk. It holds all the same information he sent into the police, just in its raw form with about twice the amount of useless information. Along with it is a few other โcasesโ that sounds familiar that he just threw together into a pile. Maybe the genius detectives could decipher what he couldnโt.
โHere,โ he says, holding out the stack. Red Robin doesnโt hesitate to take it off his hands.
Thereโs no chair for the desk anymore so he slides some papers out of the way to hop onto the desk to wait.
โNo.โ
The vigilantes look at him and he shakes his head and looks over to the side.
โNo, Abby. Iโm not wasting their time.โ
Red Robin goes back to flipping through papers. Most of them were old business papers he had found in the office and just written on the back. Some were receipts or pamphlets or some other random scrap of paper he could get his hands on.
โBecause yours was an accident. Thereโs nothing for them to solve.โ
Robin watched him cautiously as if waiting for Danny to snap or suddenly turn violent. Instead he leans back on his hands in a vulnerable position which screamed โI donโt want to hurt anyoneโ.
โThere is a lot more information here than what was submitted to the police,โ Red Robin comments neutrally, purposefully ignoring Dannyโs exasperated sigh and one-sided conversation.
Danny shrugs in defense, โDidnโt think all of it was relevant.โ
The vigilante doesnโt respond.
Robin drifts closer as Danny gives a withering glare to the corner. He examines the mess of papers surrounding the teen in the low lighting.
โAre these all files of victims?โ
Danny glances over them with a knowledgeable eye.
โMost.โ He twists to point at the top left corner of the cubbies. โThose are accidents thoughโฆ well, what sounds like accidents.โ
โThere should be more.โ
Danny looks at the boy with a tilted head and raises brow.
โNot everyone sticks around,โ he explains simply.
Then something draws his attention away across the room. Surprisingly his eyes donโt glaze over like someone with mental illness, instead they sharpen to see something they canโt. It resembled Constantine or Thomas.
โGreg, these guys wanna talk to you.โ
What proceeds is a very awkward interaction with Danny as a middle man between victim and vigilante. Despite the need for a translator, Red Robin does in fact get a lead from the conversation.
โThank you for your cooperation.โ
Danny nods. โSure, no problem. Just donโt rat me out to the police and I can help with any other case that pops up with a ghost attached.โ
โYou know we can help with your living situation,โ Red Robin offers with a glance around the room.
โWhat, and put me in foster care? No thanks, Iโll pass.โ
โThere are other options,โ Robin chimes in with nonchalance that implies he doesnโt actually care.
โYou donโt pass for eighteen, but if you let me make you a new ID we could say youโre emancipated.โ
Danny frowns.
โIโd have to be sixteen to be eligible for emancipation.โ
โYou could be sixteen.โ
No, he really couldnโt. Maybe if you squint your eyes and tilt your head, but Danny is fourteen with all the baby fat and innocent face that comes with it. His license now is a clear fake to anyone who sees it, but in this city no oneโs gonna question it to his face. They just raise a brow, look at him, then shrug it off and roll with the lie.
โWhat do you want?โ He demands. All this good will and wanting to help him canโt be free.
โWe want to help,โ Red says too easily.
Danny stares for a second, eyes narrowed as he tries to block out the multiple voices around him.
Insurance. He wants Danny to owe him so he can keep coming back for more information.
โI just told you I would help. Why are you still trying to get leverage?โ He demands with irritation.
โWe want to help-โ
โYou want me in your back pocket.โ
Red Robin doesnโt give that a response, his lips pressing together to make a hard line.
Instead of pushing, he surprisingly takes a step back and heads towards the door, papers still in hand. Danny doesnโt argue.
Robin ducks out first, blending into the shadows without even a glance over his shoulder. Red Robin pauses in the doorway.
โDonโt try to skip town,โ he states like an order. Like if Danny did in fact try, he would be found and brought back.
It didnโt even cross Dannyโs mind.
โWasnโt planning on it,โ he says tiredly, too fed up with the day to defend himself.
Red Robin watches him for a moment before nodding and disappearing out the room.
Danny slumps with a groan, finally sliding off the desk to shuffle to the couch, body flopping face first into the worn cushions.
Itโs silent to everyone else but Danny.
โI know.โ
โฆ
โI know, Jack, but I donโt trust them. Even if he is your son.โ
Danny never noticed the bug planted by Robin on the underside of the desk.
















