#ples

From what Tim had overheard *cough*snooped out*cough, his Aunt Alicia lived in the middle of nowhere without much electricity or even internet, and while she would have taken him in, the social workers worried the drastic, and sudden change in environment, on top of his grief, would make everything even harder on him, especially since Alicia lived hours away from any therapists, which was a requirement due to the situation. His Aunt Maddie and her husband Jack were immediately denied, given the state of their home and the 'open lab' concept they had going on down stairs, not to mention the fact that their own kids had seemingky cut contact as soon as they turned 18. The next person they looked into was his cousin Jazz, Maddie's oldest child, but while she looked like the best fit on paper, given her job as a therapist and psychoanalysis gave her the means and emotional capabilities to raise a child, but Jazz's job wasn't stationary, she helped a lot with the FBI, and more specifically, the rehabilitation of Villains and Rogues, meaning she traveled a lot and tended to have a target on her back due to her Job, it just wasn't safe or consistent enough for rearing a child. That left Danny, Jazz's younger brother. At just 25 years old Danny was a freelance engineer, and consultant that worked according to his own hours, not only did having the ability to chose his own work schedule make it easier for him to spend time with Tim, but the fact that Danny could work anywhere meant that Tim didn't have to leave Gotham, as Danny was willing to move to Gotham so Tim didn't have to change schools, or leave his home.

So here Tim was, in Drake Mansion, sitting across from a cousin he had never meant before, his new guardian, trying to wrap his head around the entire situation as best he could.

--

When Danny heard from Jazz about their estranged younger cousin, he hadn't thought much on it. He felt bad for the kids situation, and he hoped the kid was actually getting looked after, but never in a million years did he expect to be deemed 'most suitable' to care for the kid. Honestly he's thought Jazz, or Aunt Alicia would be best suited, Jazz had the fancy "feelings degrees", and his Aunt had a peaceful farm, Danny was just a freelance engineer that worked out of his condo most days, while portaling back and fourth to the Ghost Zone to help Clockwork, and other Ghosts with whatever wacky hijinks they needed help with.

Phantom had retired, the Portal in his parents house sealed, and their blueprints tampered with just enough to not be obvious, but still make making another portal to Ghost Zone impossible. Danny had graduated with grades passable enough to get a partial scholarship, and then he left Amity, working labor jobs on the weekends to live and pay the rest of his tuition. Once he graduated, Danny started working with a company, before eventually breaking off to start working for himself.

Once Danny had left Amity, he got his name changed. He didnt hate his parents, but Danny had just started to not care, it was painful to yearn for acknowledging repeatedly, only to be ignored in favor of work, so Danny just stopped trying, changed his name, and simply didn't call or visit his parents. Jazz hadn't totally agree with his actions, she'd kept their parents name, but she didn't visit or talk to them much either, not unless they reached out first, so she didnt have much of a leg to stand on.