#Jason was a Gotham kid (an Alley Kid) and I think a lot of the rogues would have respected that

[spacedace]

Got inspired by the below tiktok and the idea of the Rogues killing the Joker in revenge for Jason instead of Bruce and had to write about it.

Here, have probably way too many words (with more to come most likely, this really won't leave me alone) of the Rogue's feelings about Jason's death at the Joker's hands and everything that followed.

(also I know the timeline is a bit screwy, shhh just go with it, we're going on vibes with this one lol)

-

Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham.

The city was hard and cruel and she didn’t care about the ages of those that were ground up and spit out in her oily black heart.

A kid could slit your throat as easy as a man grown in a place like their fine city, maybe easier even for those who still fell for the ideal of children being incapable of anything but innocence and sweetness. Children learned from the world around them though, they learned from the savagery that filled their world, the hard scrabble desperate attempts to survive. They learned what dark corners to avoid, which ones were safer to skitter down.

It didn’t mean there weren’t still some rules of decency to be honored though.

Most folks, even those in the circle of the Rogues, largely left kids out of the equation. Crossfire happened of course, hitting busy city centers always meant some kind of collateral. But there wasn’t much that they got out of purposefully hurting kids outside a black mark on their name in most levels of the grungy underbelly of the city and one hell of a big target on their back. Both from the Bat and those criminals in the dark with them that took offense to those kinds of things. They were crooks, but with few exceptions they weren’t complete monsters.

Robin had always held an interesting place in their grungy little ecosystem. Anything to do with the Bat was generally ruled as gloves-off, do what you do without hesitation. And Robin - both of ‘em - had no problem hitting hard and being ruthless. The first one in particular had a feral sort of rage to him that was a terrifying thing to be on the business end of.

But they were still kids.

Defending yourself from any kid swinging on you was fair game, a person had the right to defend themselves. Grabbing up Robin to hold hostage or bait Gotham’s local cryptid, that was all fine and dandy. You could even get away with roughing the kid up a little here and there, so long as you made sure not to go too far and always kept hits to where the kid’s armor was the thickest. No hard and fast written rules, mind, but general rules of thumbs. Lines indistinct due to the shaky ground a child dancing through the night as a vigilante left all of them on, but ones clear enough that you knew when you were at risk of going too far.

Besides, the Robins were good kids. Fucking feral little shits, of course, able to leave you bleeding just as easy from a kick as they were a sharp word. But good kids. Even most the Rogues in the Gallery liked em. It was hard not to be at least a little fond of a gutsy little punk like that.

Though they were all maybe a tad less nervous around Robin II than they were the original.

Robin I had a lot of anger burning in him, a lot of anger in him, but he was still a cheerful boy with a bright attitude that was refreshing in a world so bleak and dark as the one they all lived in. It was up in the air which was scarier about the kid: The smiled he gave when he was about to give a hands on demonstration about how much force a tiny ten year old could put into a kick when they had half a dozen spins shoved into a flip to wind up to 80 miles an hour, or the flash of his teeth when he was demonstrating the knife sharp brilliance of his belief that Batman was only as frightening as Robin was hopeful.

They weren’t sure if he realized that sometimes they felt a helluva lot more hope at the sight of the Bat when the little bird was putting the hurt on them, or if he’d simply folded that fact neatly into his core philosophy without issue.

Robin II on the other hand had this kind of quiet shyness to him - even as he was shouting the most inventive swears ever heard by human ear at someone while he kicked them in the balls hard enough to make ‘em see not just the face of their own god but a few dozen besides. He was just as unhinged as the Robin before him - seemed to be a requirement for the job really - but there was a distinct different in how the two birds flitted about the darkened skyline of the city. Where the first Robin’s smile was as much danger as it was dazzle, a fanged declaration of victory against the dark, Robin II’s was a sunny, stubborn declaration of perseverance. Kid was sassy and smart, and never - ever - flinched away from extending a hand to those he thought in need of it.

Even if the folks he offered that hand to were in the middle of an attack on some fancy Gala or Wayne Enterprises or whatever target of the week it was. Even knowing the offered hand was likely to be slapped away and followed by a right hook. Kid still always tried.

They all knew why.

The Bat was big on offering chances, on rehabilitation rather than damnation. Some of Robin II being the way he was came from the broody cryptid he followed around. But Batman couldn’t claim to be the sole reason for Robin II being the way he was, couldn’t even pretend to be the cause of most of it. Nah, they knew why the little bird was the way he was.

That unmistakable thick accent. That frame that was always a little too thin even as he got older and stronger. That unshakable, headstrong spirit.

Robin II was an Alley Kid.

A true child of Gotham.

Her polluted waters in his veins. Her smoggy air in his lungs. Her shadows clinging to his edges less like a beast looking to swallow a small bird up and more like a protective mother hiding her hatchling. He understood the world most of them came from. The one they all lived in. Knew it in a way anyone who hadn’t been swallowed up by the dark never really could.

Everyone had their favorite, but even those that claimed the first Robin as theirs couldn’t deny that Robin II was someone to be respected. Nor could they deny a fondness for the chain smoking, classic lit referencing, perpetually baby-faced little shit. They’d all had knock out drag out fights with the kid and knew how fucking unhinged the puny motherfucker could be in a fight, but he always tempered it with offers of resources, of a listening ear, of understanding.

He visited them after they’d been arrested sometimes. In Arkham, or Blackgate or wherever else they’d been locked up in after being stopped by the Dynamic Duo. The little bird would make the rounds whenever he had a broken wing or was stuck waiting as the Bat interrogated someone else or for any other reason he wasn’t out flitting about the city skyline at night. He’d bring cookies or snacks and even cigarettes from his own secret stash on the rare occasion, mask unable to hide the furtive glances around to check for the living shadow that was the disapproving Bat.

The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. And Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of them from time to time. He was a good kid.

But childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham.

Bad things happened to good kids all the time.

And some of the monsters that lurked in the city’s darkest shadows took the black mark of a kid killer as a point of pride.

Robin II disappeared one day. Just after that piece of shit Garzonas took the fast way down from the top of a tall building. There were a lot of Rogues with doctoral degrees to their names but even those Goons that dropped out of school before they learned to spell their own names could do that math.

The big bad Bat had benched the boy after the fierce little bird had done what any decent member of the criminal underbelly would have. There were those that thought maybe it’d been an accident, that the kid was pulled off duty because of being too upset at unintentionally crossing the heavy line the Bat drew in the sand. Those voices were drowned out pretty quick though.

Sure, Robin II was all about second chances, of doing better, of redemption. But Garzonas had chances to spare and only ever spat in the face of those offering them. Doubled down on being a monster in a way very, very few of the Rogues Gallery would. The kid was a sweetheart, but he wasn’t no push over and there were some things so heinous that there was only one way of handling them. Crime Alley had its own kind of justice system, and when faced with a monster that was beyond even Batman’s jurisdiction, Robin II did what he always did: fell back on his roots.

Or so the rumors said, at least.

That was the thing about Gotham’s seedy underbelly. It was a grimy, wretched nest of vipers and cut-throats, but it was also worse than any beauty parlor when it came to gossip. No one actually knew anything other than that piece of shit motherfucker took a dive while Robin was chasing him and that he’d not been seen on the streets since. But most had a fondness for the kid, and a distaste for the kind of cruelty Garzonas reveled in and there was no proof that Robin hadn’t gone and done the world a favor by drop kicking that barbaric sack of shit off a roof. So as far as most in the Gallery were concerned, the little bird had stepped up and been a hero.

Time passed. Not a lot. But enough. The Bat disappeared too, popping up on an entire other continent in a way that was awfully tempting. Even with other Masks playing baby sitter while the local cryptid was away. Rogues were scrambling to set plans in motion, Goons getting hired en masse, weapons and weird chemicals getting delivered to shady places across Gotham by the truck-full. The criminal underbelly was abuzz with the same excited energy of children the day before a big birthday party.

And then the news came in.

There were people in the dark who made their living finding things out. Knowing things that no one else did or could. Some even specialized, keeping tabs on Batman and Robin better than anyone else in the business were able. And when the information they found wasn’t anything handy to have tucked into a back pocket or a secret they were paid extremely well to keep? They held on to with the same tenacity a sieve clung to water.

Robin II had run off across the globe and ended up in Ethiopia. Something to do with a doctor doing aid work, the same something that had the Bat end up there was the assumption. Kid ran off to handle things himself or was sent on a separate path on purpose for some plan or other the Bat had cooked up on his hunt.

Whatever the reason, the kid crossed paths with the Clown.

Alone.

Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham. The city was hard and cruel and she didn’t care about the ages of those that were ground up and spit out in her oily black heart. But Robin II was hers, the child of her heart, an exception to the rule. And besides, most folks - even those in the Rogues Gallery - largely left the purposeful harm of kids out of the equation.

The Joker wasn’t most folks.

And the little bird was a long way away from the protective shadows of his mother city.

The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. And Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of them from time to time. He was a good kid.

When the news broke, it broke most of them right along with it.

Plans stalled. Schemes ended. Gotham, for an unnervingly quiet stretch of time that neither its civilians or the world at large understood, went still. Crime continued, of course, but the big names weren’t seen. It was only right, by the standards of those that lived their lives in the dark, that they hold off and give the man that fought them all so relentlessly over the past years the time he needed to focus on hunting down the monster that killed his son. He didn’t need the distraction, and they all owed it to Robin II not to interfere while the Bat at last put a final end to the Clown.

And the hellish cryptid would need his full focus on this one. The Joker wasn’t one to take lightly at the best of times, but he’d set himself up neatly in the middle of a nasty bear trap. Ugly and complicated in the way everything with the Clown was. Interference from the CIA, from the UN, from Superman.

Shit went down. People heard about the Bat and the Clown throwing down in a helicopter plummeting from the sky in one hell of a water landing. Big Blue fished Batman out of the drink before he could drown but there’d been no sign of the Joker.

But the Bat would find him.

They all knew the relentless bastard would find him. It was just a matter of time. With the hellish drive of a demon straight from Gotham’s darkest shadows, the Bat would track the grinning, child killing ghoul down and make right the terrible wrong the evil motherfucker had done. Batman would hunt him to the ends of the earth and enact the justice he held up so fiercely. Robin II would have the vengeance the kid so rightly deserved.

It was just a matter of time. So they waited. And waited.

Days.

Weeks.

Months.

The Clown still lived.

The world, impossibly, began to move on. The Bat returned to his lurking in the night, picking off gangs and petty crooks and no-name gangsters as if nothing had happened at all. More vicious, more savage, but failing to turn that rise in brutality into the killing blow against the one figure that so rightly deserved it.

No one knew what was happening. There were rumors and theories, as there always were in the underground. Some thought that it wasn’t the Bat at all back in Gotham but someone else pretending for awhile, looking after his neglected city while he continued his pursuit of the Joker. Other held that it was the Bat but the whole thing was a ploy to draw the Clown out into the open. A pretense at not caring meant to get under the Clown’s skin, make the asshole mad enough to get stupid and sloppy and reveal himself.

That the man simply had given up was beyond comprehension. Beyond what any upstanding Rogue could accept. So it simply couldn’t be true. There was a trick being played. Some brilliant game of 4D chess that none of them had been able to parse out. It’d be revealed in time, and they see the brilliant trap that had been set. The Clown would be lured out, the Bat would put him down for good, and then they’d all at last raise a glass to the little bird that had been shot down far too soon and smoke shitty cigarettes and quote literary masters and mourn the loss one of Gotham’s own true children.

They just had to play along. Stumbling forward back into their usual habits, pretending that it was a choice and not the world just forcibly dragging them along. It’d make sense, eventually. The Bat had a plan. Robin II wasn’t forgotten, his killer not left free to roam and ravage unpunished for what he’d done.

And then one day there was a new bird flitting across the rooftops.

Chasing the Bat’s looming frame like a reverse shadow. Bright flashes of color in contrast to the bleak darkness of Gotham’s grimy nights. Small and thin and young.

Not the first Robin. With his showman bright grin and bloody rage and unwavering belief in the terrifying power of hope. Not the brilliant, vicious little boy that they’d seen grow over the years into the fierce and fearless Nightwing.

Not Robin II either.

Not Gotham’s soft hearted little bruiser with his unshakable belief that people could be better if given the chance, shinning so bright in the dark as he held out a hand that even the Rogues had no choice but to believe right along with him sometimes. Not the tough little songbird they’d never get to see grow up. Unavenged and unhonored. Put in a box and buried in the ground with a name none of them would ever know carved into a stone they’d never be able to visit.

No.

It was a new Robin.

A new child with the R emblazoned upon his chest.

Sharp and quick and young in the way the birds always were when they started flying at the Bat’s side. Every inch of the boy’s tiny frame a tragedy and an insult. One very, very few of Gotham’s vicious underbelly were willing to tolerate.

Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham, but there was a damn big difference between holding something sacred and not giving a damn about it at all. There were rules unspoken but understood, a way things were done. Nothing so solid or concrete as a code of conduct, more a collection of time honored traditions. Blood for blood was among the oldest and truest, and the more precious the person taken the more vital and vicious payment was to be made in kind.

The Clown had killed Robin II.

Beaten the kid half to death and then finished the job with a bomb.

Everyone knew he’d done it laughing all the way.

The Bat should have done the same in kind. Done worse. It was justice, it was what was right. You kill a kid you’re marked forever. You kill one so well liked and kill ‘em like that and you’re destined for a cruel and cold death. The Bat had first dibs. It was his kid. It was his right to put an end to that awful laughter and let his son have peace at last.

But he never did.

Nightwing had. For a bit. For a moment.

Robin I, who half the time had scared them all more than the Bat ever could. Dazzling and dizzying and dangerous. Gave back the pain and hurt the Clown had forced upon him with clenched fists and bone shattering hits. They were glad for him, that he was able to beat the monster who had taken his little brother from him to death, that he was able to have such justice.

And then the Bat stepped in.

Revived the fucking Clown.

A slap in the face. The snapping crack of a spine beneath one straw too many. The final, unforgivable insult the man had dared visit upon not just the child taken from him but the entirety of Gotham.

The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. Respected their ferocity, admired their moxie, marveled at their ability to keep shining in the dark like they did. Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of the city’s dirty criminal underbelly from time to time.

He was a good kid.

He deserved better.

Better than the silence and peace he should be granted in death to be marred by the mad cackles of his killer still running around alive and unpunished. Better than his father giving up, returning to the same old routine as if nothing had happened at all. Better than the Bat snatching up a new bird less than a year later.

Gotham and her Rogues had given the Bat time enough to do what needed to be done.

It was their turn.

#batman #batman au #batman rogues #batman rouges gallery #dc penguin #dick grayson #jason todd #jason todd robin #dick grayson robin #bruce wayne #the joker #tim drake #dc robin #gotham city #open season au #i don't go in for Jason being the 'angry' robin or the 'violent' robin #he was the lil chainsmoking ball of sunshin robin that made sure to do his homework first before going out to fight crime #dick was the scariest robin because he was BOTH incredibly violent & full of rage AND a ball of sunshine & unrelenting hope #Jason was a Gotham kid (an Alley Kid) and I think a lot of the rogues would have respected that #dick got his respect by teaching them how many of their bones a tiny 9 year old could break in a single kick #feel like there's a scene in the extended au in which Tim gets kidnapped but instead of being held for ransom or threatened #it's just the Rogues aggressively mother-henning him and trying to make sure he's alright #Dick gets a call from Harley later that the newest Robin is fine he and Riddler are coming up with deadly traps together #No she doesn't see anything wrong with that - it's just some enrichment activities for them - why do you ask?

[deadsetobsessions]

Alley Drunk! Danny AU- Pt. 4

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3]

Danny blinked down at the cart, where a red hoodie and pants with red stripes along the side laid over the lip of the cart. Considering they’re in this universe’s brand of Marget- seriously, who names a store Target? If anything in Amity Park was named that, Skulker would have wrecked it in five seconds flat- it’s hilariously on brand. Though, to be fair, this was Gotham’s version too, which meant a lot of security guards (who definitely doubled as goons for the Rogues, Danny was sure) and the vibes were spooky.

“I’m guessing red’s your favorite color.”

Instead of the humorous way he meant the sentence, Jason looked up anxiously and Danny immediately hated himself a little bit more.

“Sh- I can put it back..?” Jason hunched in on himself.

Danny tracked the movement with clearer eyes than he’s had in a long while and ancients, does it remind him of how Dani was in front of Vlad all those years ago. And Danny has spent his entire half life being not like Vlad, so he’s not going to start now.

“Nah, you should definitely add some more stuff. This is no where near enough clothes.”

It really wasn’t. Danny had taken Jason to the store to pick out clothes- “Ther’s a second hand store down the stree’, ya know,” Jason had mumbled when they went through the doors- but the kid had only tentatively put in a small red hoodie and some pants in the cart. Now he had to put this in a way that’ll wipe the stubbornly hesitant look on Jason’s face off.

“Think about it this way, then. You’re repping me now, and while I might be the alley drunk, I’m not the poorly dressed alley drunk, yeah?”

“Oh. Tha’ makes sense.” Jason nodded to himself determinedly, and the kid strode over to the t-shirt section. For all of his confidence, he still glanced back to see if it was okay with Danny.

Well, Dani was the same way before she found her confidence (when she knew Danny wouldn’t abandon her or hurt her) so Danny just gave him a thumbs up before reaching into the rack and sweeping an armful of clothing straight into the cart. Then, he strode over to the jackets and grabbed the ones in Jason’s size and slightly bigger. Oh, he has to grab shoes. He’ll leave that for later, but Danny was going to get those ratty trainers off of Jason’s feet and into the nearest trash can if it was the last thing he does.

The halfa hummed, pausing at the first decidedly not miserable sound he’s made in a while. Dammit, if that wasn’t a sign of Danny’s attachment to Jason, he doesn’t know what would be. To be fair… Danny already committed murder for the kid, which was pretty much something he thought he’d never do, so in for a penny out for a pound or whatever.

He put a significant amount of the budget aside for the section labeled “JASON” so Danny shopped without a worry. Charlie’s ill-gotten assets were a good monetary compensation for his crime of existing near Jason or existing, period.

He picked up toiletries, toothbrushes and the like, when Jason came back sans t-shirt. Instead of a shirt- Danny had actually hoped that Jason would try to get multiple shirts- Jason was clutching a book.

Before he could even voice anything, Danny plucked the book out of his grip and put it into the cart with a disarming smile.

“Oh, good idea. We should get you books too. Wanna go pick out some more?”

“Uh- y’re just gonna get a book, just like that?”

“More than one book, I should hope. You are going to school, right?”

“…Yeah!” Danny couldn’t fathom ever being excited at the thought of school, but as Jason bounced away to peruse the admittedly poor selection of books, Danny couldn’t help but think that maybe he should give this education thing another try. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be less stressful now that he’s not Phantom.

Danny walked to the aisle next to the books and promptly proceeded to shove every single piece of stationary he thought was nice- pens, gel pens, cooling pens and pencils, a thick stack of notebooks, flash cards, etcetera- into the rapidly getting full cart.

Jason came back with three more books- nice, the classics- and froze at the sight of the cart.

“Oh, hey. Getting all of those?”

“Wha’- wha’s wit’ the stuff?”

“School supplies! Quality education starts with quality supplies, you know!” Danny said, a sliver of the grin that used to come so easily to him making an appearance on his face. "Don't worry, I budgeted. See?"

Danny handed Jason a piece of paper, confident that the kid would know if it was good or not.

"Where'd... ya get all of this?"

"Hmm... here and there."

Jason looked up at him, squinting suspiciously. "I hear' Charlie's gone poofed up."

Danny shrugged and put a calculator in the cart. "Oh, I'm sure he's busy."

Yeah, Danny thought vindictively. Busy being dead.

"Ya sound like a walking con," Jason said as he visibly decided to give up fighting against Danny's spending. "We nee' food."

"Gotcha. Well, if you need anything else, just bring it into the cart."

"I want veggies. Frozen, 's cheaper."

Danny nodded, resisting the urge to ruffle Jason's hair.

----

"Hey, you's the Alley Drunk, right? 'Bout that boy you've been toting ar-"

Danny punched the guy in the face, dropping him like a stone. He looked up slowly and swayed.

"Any of you ask about my kid brother again, and I won't bother with being drunk when I hit you."

Rapid nods. Danny shuffled away, satisfied.

----

Two weeks later, after a school day, Danny finds Jason heading to the bathroom with a box of...

"Hair-dye?"

Jason, who was marginally more relaxed and assured that Danny wasn't going to kick him out, nodded.

"Dye's fadin' n' I dun wanna get nabbed on the streets for having red hair."

Danny blinked. "You have red hair?"

"Sure do. See? Roots are showin' again." Jason pointed at his scalp where Danny could see the hair was getting lighter.

"Right. Well- I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you need help, kiddo." Danny said, desperately hoping he hid how off kilter he was feeling well.

"I don't need help, ah've been doing this for ages." The kid went into the bathroom and closed the door harshly. When the lock clicked and the faucet began running, Danny let himself slide down the wall into a crouch, hands cradling his head.

Red hair. Blue eyes. Tan skin. The facial features. The intelligence and empathy.

Danny chuckled hysterically under his breath.

Was Jason this universe's version of Jazz?

"Fuck."

#danny phantom #batman #dc x dp #dpxdc #danny adopts jason todd #jason todd #bamf danny phantom #alley drunk! danny au #danny: i'm grieving #jason: wanna bet? #that's right jason's this universe's jazz fenton #this universe's danny fenton died and that's why danny can exist here without causing issues #danny: i have adopted a random child #danny: this child is jazz wtf

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC prompt. Family? Assemble!

Reporter: Gotham News, and we have a new supervillain on the line. Mr Phantom, what are your demands at the moment? Phantom with lack of sleep and with tears: I..I want a titanium model of a spaceship! And to get a good night’s sleep and to go to the local school…and some fudge and.. Reporter: Oh, my bad. Just one question for clarification, are you by any chance an orphan or are your parents villains? Phantom: I prefer the term mad scientists Reporter: Okay. So, Gotham news! And with me on the line is the new potential child of Wayne or Batman. Want to know how two serial adopters will share a child leading a double life? Stay with us and find out. Now let's check in with Jessie for our weather report. Phantom: Wait, what?

~~~~~

Danny spends the night running from the Red Hood with a bag of fudge, Red Robin with a pot of coffee, Batman with the adoption papers and, for some reason, Brucie Wayne with an idea of internship at a space station. Ha! The Justice League will never let a ghost into orbit. Not that Wayne can blackmail superheroes or smth. Danny: Fuck you all! I’m done with vigilante activity, I’m not your competitor! What do you want from me? And I’m done with crazy billionaires too. I swear, I’d rather be adopted by a local mob boss just to piss you off! ~Later~ Danny *sees peering out of the corner Matches Malone*: Are you kidding me?! Robbie *jumps off the roof and lands right behind Danny*: Stop running, lil brother, No one’s left the family yet. Minnie: What about Neal? Robbie *shakes a knife with a bow on the handle negatively*: He’s on sabbatical, that doesn’t count. Anyway, it’s a gift for you, cub. Danny: Um, thank you, but my lab scalpels are definitely sterile, and your blade was in who knows who before you brought it here. Robbie: It’s brand-new! And Archie decorated it with a ghost on the handle. Look! It's cute! With a smile and… Dick: Hands up! You’re under arrest for trying to steal our new member! Minnie: Why is he yours, damn cop? Selina: Boys, don’t fight. He’s mine. Schrodinger’s cat is still a kitten. Killer Croc: No way, my niece is staying with me. Danny: Uncle Waylon? Long time no see. Ra's: My grandson needs steady access to ectoplasm. Danyal, come with me. Danny: Over my dead body! Oh shiii…I mean no. Anyway, don’t you think the alley’s getting a little crowded?

~~~~

Killer Croc: Is he still mad at me? RR: Danny doesn’t talk to uncles who tried to eat his beloved brother Red Robin. Killer Croc: He wasn’t even your brother then. What do you want? An apology from me? RR: That would be nice.

~~~~

Danny: I didn’t think the GIW agents would really fear the reputation of Gotham and not follow me. What a relief! Jason *quickly throws the knife into the sink*: Wow, you got lucky. Alfred: Master Jones, why don’t you eat your steak? I thought last week you were complaining to Batman that 'cause of him you got not many prey. Croc *pulls a piece of white robe from the teeth*: Well, now there is a lot of it. Bruce *gives Jason and Croc the side-eye*.

~~~~

Ra's: You do realize that Malone, Wayne and Batman are the same person, right? Boy, you were born into a family of geniuses, don’t disappoint Grandpa. Danny: Triple pocket money, triple gifts for the holidays, the opportunity to complain about the same family member three times. No, Grandpa, I definitely don’t understand. Ra's: Smart little weasel.

~~~~

Selina: Okay. Purely theoretical. Do you like to steal? Danny: I wouldn’t say that. But somehow I stole the sword from the fright knight. And also stole few jewels but then I was under the mind control. I returned them. Well, the crown and ring of the king of the ghost zone I also took without permission. Oh, and the answers to the test once. And I’m really sorry about the last one. Neal: I feel the story behind it but I prefer to know nothing about it.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc prompts #dpxdc prompt #dpxdc memes #dpxdc meme #rip giw

[clockwayswrites]

Orange, City Pigeon, Danny & Batfam @roanawayspoons WC: 864 CW: Blood, injury

“I’m just saying, you shouldn’t get to be Red by default.”

“Well I can’t be Robin and Hood is a unique identifier.”

“No, nope, just because you weren’t creative enough to come up with something other than Red Robin you shouldn’t get to just claim Red.”

“Creative enough? Oh that’s rich from the man who ripped off the Joker.”

“It was poetic!”

“It was lazy.”

“Look here, bird bones—” …and Tim was gone, Jason thought with a sigh. He turned back to see Tim still before the last jump, staring down into the alleyway with a tilted head. Jason’s hand went to one of his guns. “Red?”

“Blood.”

“And? It’s Gotham. I think the city is held together by blood at this point.”

“Green blood, Hood.”

“How do you know it’s blood then?” Jason asked, but stalked forward to look. Alright, maybe the splatter was pretty distinctive.

That particular shade of green was also concernedly distinctive.

“Well, fuck.”

“Yep.”

“Who bleeds Lazarus water?”

“No clue,” Tim said unhelpfully. “Guess we better find out.”

They dropped silently down into the alley, one after another, and followed the trail of toxic green blood. The trail went cold a few times, whoever was bleeding was clearly trying to hide, but they were inexperienced at it and the Bats had spent enough time stalking through the streets of this city that the cement and stone basically spoke to them. The trail couldn’t hide from them.

Without warning, Jason shot his arm out to stop Tim. He tapped the side of his helmet silently; he heard something. Tim nodded and they fanned out to search. A door in this latest alley they were in was cracked open, like someone had tried to close it and it had bounced back off the latch.

A green hand print was smeared down it.

Jason pulled a gun from his holster, but let Tim go through first. While Jason was far lighter on his feet than someone his size should be, there was no denying that Tim was stealthier. Jason would be just a few steps behind ready to provide the muscles and firepower.

It was odd, then, when Tim purposefully let his foot scrape against the ground as he rounded the corner. Jason just cursed silently as the idiot continued forward, cutting himself off from Jason’s line of sight. “Hey, looks like you could use some help with that wound before you bleed out.”

Jason couldn’t hear what was said back; he edged closer.

“You must not be from Gotham. I’m Red Robin, one of the heroes here.”

The person snorted. “Just… over… then?”

Tim laughed. It was one of his many fake laughs, but the one meant to soothe people in trouble. “Why would I do that? I’m a vigilante. Do you know how illegal what I do is? I just don’t want to see you bleed out. Maybe I can even take you to a safe house where you can rest.

“So… interrogate me?”

“I mean, I’d like to know who tried to kill a kid, but that’s to make them pay, not you.”

Jason’s hand gripped his gun so tightly it hurt.

The person… the kid laughed. It was a broken sound that no kid should have to make.

Jason had heard it a lot on the streets.

“Maybe I deserve it.” Their voice was raspy, like every word caught in their throat.

Jason came around the corner. The kid went rigid, which was the last thing they needed with how blood seeped from their fingers where their pale hand was clutched against a too big hoodie.

Tim leaned casually into Jason's space in a way he wouldn’t normally, putting on a show for the kid that Red Hood was safe. It was at least true for the kid. Jason leaned back, mostly for the comfort of having his brother close in the face of the sight. Seeing bloody kids never got easier.

“You’re what, sixteen?” Jason asked.

“…fifteen?”

“Yeah, no fifteen year old deserves to bleed out. You know who I am?”

They shook their head. It dislodged the hood a little. The tangled, chin length hair was startling white and splattered with dried green blood. Jason forced himself to take a breath.

“I’m Red Hood. I protect part of this city called Crime Alley. I’m not afraid to kill a shithead, especially ones that hurt kids, but I never harm a kid. I’ve got places to put you if you need somewhere safe; places not in the system. Or get you somewhere. Do you have a place to go to?”

The kid laughed again. Somehow it sounded worse this time. “That’s the thing. I do. I might, I guess. Just no one is going to believe me.”

“Why won’t they believe you? Where do you need to get?” Tim asked.

The kid looked up. Jason felt Tim tense against him. Hell, Jason tensed. They were the wrong color, but Jason knew those eyes, those brows, that slope of the nose. Everything was just a little sideways, but Jason knew that face. He knew what the kid was going to say.

“I need to get to Bruce Wayne.”

--- AN: Happy Trauma Tuesday~

Feel free to continue this, use it as a prompt if you'd like!

#dp x dc #prompalomp #how promptous #trauma tuesday #city pigeons

[reveluving]

see you soon ; jason todd x batmom reader (ft bruce wayne)

includes: jason's beloved dubbed 'princesa' (can read it as her and/or jason being latina/latino or spanish being jason's 1st/2nd language!) & tooth-rotting fluff!

a/n: combining @xoxokirby's jason todd x princesa with my batmom AU in this quick, cute thought because I just love talking about them together 💗

check out my batmom m.list <3

"Alright, so here's the hot chocolate," You carefully passed Jason the heavy double-cup holder, "And in here is your Philly cheesesteak, some soups and your girl's panini sandwich. And I threw in some brownie pudding in there since we had extra. Make sure you don't heat it up beyond forty-five seconds. You're lucky you texted me just as dinner rush started."

While waiting for Jason to come and pick up the orders he had requested you just hours ago, you closed down the necessary so you could head home with Bruce straight away once he finishes his work in the office. Not once had Jason stopped offering on taking you back to the manor first before heading back to his girlfriend at his apartment, but you insisted otherwise.

And how could he say no to his mother?

"Yeah, that's on me," Your son smiled sheepishly, holding the bags of food and drinks with ease, "Y'sure we don't gotta pay up?"

"What makes you think I'm making my own kids pay for food at my café all of a sudden?" You rested your hands on your hips, brows raised as if he had asked the dumbest question ever.

"'m just askin', y'don't have to be so mad. Sheesh," He shrugged, only to dodge your playful smack with a laugh, "Kiddin', kiddin'."

But the big smile on his face remained.

A lot of things make him smile, be it from you, his siblings, Bruce at times or his beloved, but he just couldn't help replaying how you considered his girl one of 'your kids', as if, like him, you just knew she was the one.

"Be sure to tell her about the family dinner that we're having in two weeks." You reminded him, slipping on your gloves before turning off most of the lights. It would be her first dinner with the Waynes, and you wanted nothing more than to have her as a part of your family’s cheesy traditions.

"I will," He nodded, and just as you wondered about the extra joy he was radiating, he hugged you with one arm—the one that was holding the bag of food, "Thanks, ma."

"Oh, Jay," You chuckled, returning the hug with a few pats in his back, "I'm just looking out for my kids."

Just then, you and Jason heard the sound of engine approaching, and lo and behold, the familiar black Aston Martin came into view.

"That's our cue. C'mon," You playfully pushed him from the back, drawing a worried 'ma!', afraid he might drop the food. You just responded to his pout with a cheeky smile before exiting the café, with him waiting for you to lock the door. Winter came in early in Gotham, and the citizens took the opportunity to decorate the city in ways that seemed so... familial.

You opened the passenger door, "Hey." You lit up as Bruce leaned in, his warm lips tickled your cold cheek.

"Sorry I'm late. Tried to finish up some of the last reports before the holidays."

You reassured him, shaking your head as you did, "You're not, I promise. Plus, Jay waited with me."

Bruce looked over at your door, where Jason stood, "Thanks, Jason. Head home safely and don't forget about the dinner, alright?"

"I won't," He nodded curtly as he walked backwards, heading to the alley where he parked his bike, "I'll text y'when I reach home."

"Say hi to princesa for us!" You grinned, waving as you watched your son disappear into the back of the store. You closed the door, turning to Bruce and officially greeting him with a quick but nonetheless sweet kiss, "Hi, you."

"Hi yourself," He sighed in content, leaning in for another kiss as he held the steering wheel, "Shall we?"

"Of course." You replied, and just as your seatbelt clicked into place, Jason drove past you, but not before waving at you and Bruce as he did.

With the end of the year around the corner, you were tired, and so was Bruce. Jason was no different and he didn't doubt that his girl was beat, too.

But it was impossible to suppress the smiles on your faces, knowing that none of you will end the day by your lonesome.

Just a hot drink in hand, a comfy bed to cuddle up in, and your other half to hold onto.

˚ · . f i n . · ˚

#— reve's reverie 🌹 #i wrote this real quick #just sumn i needed to let out #a mother's touch series #batmom!reader #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x batmom #bruce wayne x f!reader #bruce wayne #batmom #batman #batman x reader #batman x f!reader #batman x batmom #jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd x f!reader #jason todd x batmom #jason todd x you #red hood #red hood x reader #red hood x f!reader #red hood x you #red hood x batmom #dc #dc x reader

[ghost-bxrd]

okay so this is an idea I’ve seen brought up maybe once before, but maybe Jason (before the Bats find out who he is) accidentally lets something slip that makes them realize that he’s literally, like, a child (seventeen, sixteen, I’m not sure how old he is at that point exactly, but either works)

and Bruce “adoption addiction” Wayne promptly looks at this obviously traumatized teenager and decides that he should adopt Red Hood.

I just think Jason would be so confused (maybe a little pissed too)

I’ve touched on that a little bit in What you’re longing for (you claim to abhor)!

I think this trope is wayyy underrated. Like, Jason is still so, so young. Basically a child. Even if he died at sixteen and then spent two years with the league (even if we’re counting the time he spent dead as aging). He’s barely even legal when he returns to Gotham. Or if we’re being generous let’s say he’s nineteen.

Doesn’t matter, he’s barely out of his teens (maybe he’s still IN his teens if you bend the timeline of your fic a little) and he’s experienced horrors that would have most people become utterly unable to function. But Jason? That boy takes his trauma and channels it into anger. Which, not exactly healthy, but well.

Anyway, getting off topic:

YES. Jason is still basically a kid when he debuts as the Red Hood, and you know what else he is? A good boy who’s not gonna touch any alcohol until he’s officially 21.

“But why would he do that? He grew up in Crime Alley! Ain’t nobody got time for age limitations!”

Hear me out! Let’s assume he grew up in a household where his father, Willis Todd, drank quite a lot on the regular in addition to his mom’s addiction. Jason experienced the aftermath of this (perhaps domestic violence?) every time his dad returned from a job/jail and he grew to loathe any and all substances, including alcohol. Knowing Jason and his convictions it wouldn’t be too far fetched to assume he’d never touch a single drop of alcohol at all.

So that’s one way he could slip up while taking to his goons (and having the bats overhear) or even straight up talking to one of them where maybe Dick banters a bit and goes “Hey, perhaps you should chill out a bit. Have a drink maybe” and Jason just instinctively goes “Fuck you Dickwing, I’m seventeen/eighteen/nineteen! I’m not allowed to drink!”

And Dick just— bluescreens. And immediately goes to tell Bruce, obviously.

OR

The Bats assume Jason is this old guy (Bruce’s or Drathstroke’s age maybe) and consequently they keep alluding to things that happened way before Jason was ever even born and at first he’s so? Confused??? But eventually it just gets really annoying and eventually he just— snaps.

“How the fuck would I know which Nokia gen hit the market that year? I was born in fuckin’ XXXX, I’m an iPhone kid!”

“Stop referencing the Cold War dipshit, I’m fucking seventeen! I’m glad I remember my own damn birthday!”

“I don’t know, I was like— two back then.”

Bruce, obviously, would take .1 seconds to realize:

“Omg. That’s- that’s a whole child. That’s a whole damn TRAUMATIZED child, killing people and sawing off heads. Omg someone must have hurt him so bad. Don’t worry tho, son, Batman’s got you. You won’t have to hurt anybody ever again. We’re here for you. Would you like the room next to Tim’s or Dick’s?”

Meanwhile Jason: “what the fuck”

#ghost talks #lmao Jason would be so done at this point #like pls spare him all the horrible references he doesn’t understand #he’s gen z #and everyone is suddenly using boomer memes #and he’s so lost #dick isn’t helping #jason todd #batfamily #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #robin #tim drake #red hood #fic #batdad #good dad bruce wayne #brainstorming

[dcxdpdabbles]

Hello ❤️

Can you please write something about Jason x Danny? Maybe something about Jason having a crush on this new guy (maybe Danny works in a library or helping people as a nurse) and just falling cause Danny is sincerely nice and isn't afraid of his Lazarus's rage

Jason first notices the new face volunteering at the soup kitchen when the guy hand-makes flour tortillas for the beans. Just like his mom used to make, alongside Mrs. Huerea before she got into drugs.

It's been years since he last had some, not because Alfred refuses to make it but because the butler never has the time.

It's usually a treat for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or his birthday. Sometimes if Jason is lucky, there is another important holiday for the many members of Wayne Manor, and there is time for Alfred to get them done. He can have them more.

But mostly, Alfred had them store-bought.

That's why he wanders to the other man's line, mouth already watering as the volunteer piles smashed beans with cheese and tortillas onto plates. A name tag has a simple "Danny" on top of a white NASA shirt coupled with slightly baggy pants is the whole outfit of the stranger - odd in Gotham's winter time.

He offers Jason a smile, then, with a wink, places two more fresh tortillas on his plate.

Before he can say anything, Danny pushes the plate toward him. "I can tell you're a man who appreciates fine food. Take them. I can always make more. "

He jerks a thumb to the back, where a press awaits use. It looks just like Mrs. Huerea's iron-clad tool that, for a second, he's six again, early happy the women preparing for Christmas.

When his mother was sober, the Huereas had always opened their home to them. The elderly couple had always felt like grandparents to him.

"Thanks," He says around a forming grin. It matches Danny's.

Jason accepts the food with an excited thrill; for once, the memories of his mother are not so bitter and ruined. He moves out of the way for the next person, making a mental note to tell his men to ensure Danny gets home safely after his shift. It would be in his employee's way.

He does this often, assigning some Red Hood boys to make sure no one bothers any of the volunteers. Jason knows he can't get rid of all crime, not like Bruce believes, but he can at least protect those trying to make this place less of a shit hole.

He sits, savoring the flavor with great appreciation. He's got time to relax a little.

One of his Lieutenant is in the back, speaking to the director of the Soup Kitchen. This is one of Jason's protected areas, but to make sure people know it's not to be taken lightly, the Red Hood gang does require protection money.

He doesn't ask a lot but Jason knows that any place that doesn't have protection money is a bigger target. Of course he also here pretending to be hungry just to make sure the place is actually doing what they promised to do and feed people.

When Jason first took over, this particular place had been known to only give out half of the money they donated in food. The rest was going into the old director's pocket. When he caught wind of the senior director often refusing kids just to save money to steal, Jason quickly fed him to the fish.

His Lieutenant, Rogers, would not be able to recognize him. Jason was eating without a mask. What better disguise than his own dead face? Much less the other people in the soup kitchen.

Although he was meant to observe his surroundings for any funny business, Jason glued his eyes on Danny the entire time. It seemed the man had an easy smile for everyone and a calming personality that seemed to put even the most hostile at ease.

Snow. Jason thinks while watching Danny make more tortillas while chatting with a street kid until the young girl feels she could make one. He lets her round the table easily, showing her how to press down on the metal lever with the same soft ease. He's like pure white snow.

He would not last long in Crime Alley. Nothing pure ever does.

Jason fishes his food, unable to look away from what he knows would be a broken man in only a few weeks.

He leaves just as Rogers returns to the front clutching a brown bag. It looks like he didn't need to worry about the upkeeping of this place. He needs to check on the other kitchens in his territory before the day is out.

After three other Kitchens, Jason is satisfied that he's secured two. He must send Rogers to the last one because a few girls seemed uncomfortable with the leering crew. He'll have the creeps removed by this Friday.

He's swinging around as Red Hood on his normal patrol when he catches sight of Danny again. It's close to two in the morning, so he's surprised to see the other man cheerfully strolling about without any signs of exhaust.

He's also not wearing warm clothing despite the snow slowly falling around them. The only difference between what he was wearing earlier is the large black backpack. Jason half wonders if Danny only has nothing else to wear until the man pauses at an alley entry.

He crouches down, unzipping his bag, before pulling out a plastic-wrapped package. Jason watches him cautiously walk into the alley, following on the roofs out of curiosity.

His eyes widen when he spots a young boy hiding behind a trash bin, squishing himself against the wall as Danny carefully approaches him.

Jason hadn't seen the kid when he had passed by earlier, likely due to the boy knowing how to hide himself in the shadows. How had Danny seen him?

"Go away!" The boy yells when Danny gets too close for comfort. Jason's hackles rise, pulling out his gun in case he needs to intervene. He remembers the days when the sound of approaching footsteps to his hiding places in the streets meant.

Danny stops just on the other side of the trash bin. He places the package on top of it and backs away quickly. "I don't mean to bother you. But I thought you could use these. Stay warm, and if you need to escape the snowstorm, go to the address in the right pocket."

The boy doesn't answer, and Danny doesn't seem to wait for one. He leaves with quick strides. Jason watches him from the roof, noticing he returns to a slow stroll once he's back on the main street.

Below, the street kid carefully pulls the plastic bag towards him once he knows Danny is gone. He unwraps the bag only to gasp in delight at the jacket, gloves, hat, scarf, and socks inside. He quickly slips them on, burying himself in the small amounts of warmth they offer him.

Jason watches the boy for a few minutes before jumping down. The kid scrambles away until he realizes it's Rood Hood. Everyone knows that he won't harm street kids.

"Hey," He says, noting that the boy's new clothes seem to be made from expensive material, all in black and neon green. "Do you have somewhere warm to sleep tonight? Snowstorm is coming."

"I can handle it." The boy scoffs despite the shivers that wrack his body.

"I know you can. But it's not safe out here" He kneels at the boy's eye level. He seems about twelve, likely new to the streets since he has yet to find proper shelter. Dirty blond hair and dark, weary brown eyes stare back at him as Jason offers. "Let me get you somewhere safe."

"I won't go back to the stupid system."

"Nah, that shit's broken. I got a safe house for you to crash in."

The boy thinks it over. "Just us?"

Jason isn't a mind reader to know what the kid fears. "No. It's full of other people."

It takes a few more minutes, but eventually, he convinces Max to follow him. They travel across Crime Alley to one of the empty warehouses he had turned into an illegal shelter. Inside are various Red Hood gangsters passing out blankets and setting up cots for people from the streets to sleep.

The heaters are on, but a few still refuse to remove their warm clothing- likely in fear of theft or that it proves an extra layer of comfort- as they settle down.

Max thanks him as the boy rushes to a corner that seems to be taken over by children. He doesn't approach the others to speak to, but he looks more comfortable picking a cot close to them. Jason's eyes widen slightly when he realizes that all seven children are wearing some form of the Black and Neon Green outfits Danny had given Max.

Rogers strolls up next to him, nodding his chin at the children. "Some street kids have been saying a man is offering them free supplies. He doesn't ask for anything in return and leaves them alone with they tell him to. His calling card is the little neon green ghost he places on each item. Want me to take a few of our boys and check him out?"

Jason grunts. "No need. I already know who it is. He seems like a non-threat."

Rogers appears flabbergasted for only a few seconds before pulling himself together. "If you say so, boss."

Jason turns to stare at the man, and Rogers raises his hands. "All I'm saying is that it's a little odd how good the guy is at spotting street kids."

"How good is he?"

"It's like he can see in the dark. He might be a meta."

Jason thinks back to Danny walking around in his light clothes like it's the middle of summer instead of winter and finds some weight in the meta-theory. "I'll pay him a visit soon."

Rogers lets the matter drop, even if he is confused by Jason's involvement. Usually, he has some of the newest members of the youngest ones who reckon a personable target- or new recruits.

But something about Danny called out to Jason. He couldn't say it, but the man's snow-like personality eased the Pit Rage in him. Strangely it felt like Danny was the calm winter promising rest to the wounded parts of Jason's soul.

He didn't want to see Danny's pure heart ruined by this city.

Jason wonders if he could keep it safe and if Danny will even give him the chance to try.

He hopes so. Danny has such a lovely smile.

#dcxdpdabbles #Dead on main #Red Hood's snow #Jason falls for the man trying to make Crime Alley less terrible. #Danny is just vibing being a help to anyone that he comes across #Jason was raised along side a sweet Mexican family cause I say so #Jason falls for a man with a pure heart. #Rogers is freaking out #His boss??? with a crush??? #Hope you like!

[luffyrose]

DC X DP Siblings...?

While I work on the other dc x dp fic I had, cause I am writing it, it's got like 3500 words and it's still going, either way, other prompt/idea that's been floating around in my head!

So I love all the Danny and Dami are twins, it's very nice to see them both be like ":O OMG YOU'RE ALIVE HOLY SHIT" and get some good old sibling love again. (Even if that means pushing your sibling off your bed for existing, I have two siblings, I should know.)

In a lot of the fics, I see Damian being the more emotionally constipated one. BUT, as a counter to that, Damian is actually fairly expressive, he just does it to extremes and in weird ways. Danny is more of a "runaway before they ask" kinda guy.

So Danny ends up in Gotham, whatever the angsty reason for it may be, and ends up working either somewhere nearby to Crime Alley, or in like Batburger or something. Somewhere where he meets Jason and/or Red Hood, but may still see the other vigilantes/Waynes on a good day.

Kinda hard to keep a secret you're dead from another somewhat dead guy, because upon seeing one another, they're like that spiderman meme, and Jason is immediately like "Ah. I have a brother...child?" he doesn't entirely know but he's now visiting this also dead kid because it makes him feel better and he thinks the kid also enjoys the company.

Jason being Jason, doesn't think about whether it's a good idea to bring his siblings here for lunch and while his siblings are chatting he gets up to start ordering food, before introducing his family.

Damian, upon seeing him, just freezes as the gears in his head click together about that being his twin. Danny is also just staring back, he realizes a little bit quicker though. And without second thought, Danny hurdled himself over the counter and is out the door.

Damian is close behind, yelling, "DANYAL I WILL DRAG YOU BACK TO FATHER! GET BACK HERE." While the others scramble after the two boys.

Turns out, being a ghost makes you very hard to catch. Also turns out, Damian doesn't give a shit about that. He's not been able to lose his twin after hours of running.

Damian wants to both smack Danny on the top of the head as well as not let go of him for the next few days because holy shit his baby brother-

#dc x dp #dp x dc #danny phantom #dcmultiverse #dc comcis #danny fenton #jason todd #damian wayne #red hood #batfam #batfamily

[igotanidea]

More than blood: batboys x bat!sister

Dick was not the first one who was adopted by Bruce.

Y/N was.

And if you talk about the eldest daughter complex she was the perfect example of it.

Y/N was so much like her adoptive father. Quiet, observant, seemingly emotionally cold yet charming and enticing when circumstances called for it. Smart like hell. She knew exactly how to take care of herself, and yet, Bruce being himself was always hesitant to let her out into the streets of Gotham at night. But she fought for it. Hard. She had no natural talent for fight, but she was fast, flexible and imperceptible in the shadows. Slowly, but steadfastly she gathered enough strength and skills to become the very first Batman’s sidekick. She was not a fan of a traditional way of training. Boxing, weight lifting and throwing punches wasn’t exactly her style, but she was extremely good with skates and rollerblades and all the moves that involved a bit of dance-like moves. So that was how Bruce trained her. Three-turns, brackets and rockers just came naturally to her, both on ice on the ground and she was soon the best of the best. When she was ready to come on patrol,  Bruce created the most cliche name for her.

Batgirl.

Which she instantly refused, instead choosing to go by the name of Cover. After all, that was what she was doing. Covering.

At first, it was only Bruce and Alfred she was taking care of.  Never pushing anything but always finding a way to make sure they did the right thing. Listening carefully to their every word, getting her head around any possible situation and just being there when they needed her. She was not a people pleaser and definitely wasn’t going out of her own way for them (and that was the hot spot between her and Bruce), but in times of need and crisis she was the best possible support. Unwavering. Strong. Persistent.

And then, Dick came in. Of course, having younger brother (even if there was barely half a year age gap) put a lot more pressure on her shoulder. So she did her best to connect with him. It was hard, no denying. Dick has just lost his parents and he was harsh and murky and  a bit unpredictable. But she did not give up making sure he will finally warm up to her. And maybe Bruce.

“What are you doing?” one day, after particularly rough training with Bruce he came across her while she was working out

“Oh, you know. I was never good with all those flips” she lowly lifted herself from the floor, rubbing sweat from her forehead, her hair being a total mess. “Bruce insisted I learned some, but I was always better with my speed, skate figures and fast-thinking than actual acrobatics. However” she raised an eyebrow at the boy “I heard you are the master in the field. Care to show me a few tricks? Unless you prefer to sulk in the corner….” She smirked

And so they connected. Creating a lot of inside jokes during the year, being the support for each other. Of course, as older sister Y/N had no problem in literally smacking his head when he did something stupid and as younger brother he had no inhibitions in scaring her potential boyfriends away, but yes, they were close.

And then, Jason came in. The rowdy kid from the Crime Alley and she had to figure out another way to reach him. It didn’t take a lot of time to notice he was interested in literature, so she started leaving books around in the manor. Mostly classics, like Jane Austen and Shakespeare, but from time to time she risked more modern writers. He always took them from the place they were and returned a couple days later. He was a fast reader. One night, when he returned from patrol, all fuming and on the verge of breaking, he noticed a light coming out of her room and due to some crazy feelings took a few steps towards there.

“Hello, Jason” he might have been quiet, but she was the first trained by Bruce, so the poor boy has no chance not to be noticed.  She turned in her chair and smiled lightly “It’s good to see you.  So it happens I got tickets for a midsummer night’s dream. Two tickets. Would you maybe ….”

“Yes. Yes, please, take me with you.” his eyes was glistening with so much hope she would choose him, it made her want to cry and laugh at the same time. Pushing aside the urge to hug Jason (it was too early for that and he would not appreciate) she just nodded. And there was the connection.

And then, there was Tim. The Brainiac. Coffee addict. Sleep deprived. Constantly working, cracking cases. And being quite successful at it, even if sometimes he took the long road instead of connecting the dots to create the shortcuts.

“How’s the case going?” she asked at breakfast one time, noticing Tim’s tired eyes and disheveled hair. He wasn’t sleeping well that night, but what’s new.

“It’s not.” he groaned pecking at his food not really eating any of it “and stop making fun out of me because of it!”

“Fun?” she almost choked on her toast “Really, Tim? I’m not happy at all that you are missing the most obvious piece of the puzzle.”

“The most ob….? You were compromising my work?!”

“I was …. Checking your work” now, she had to be extremely careful with words “And what I found out is that you definitely have a criminal mind. But” she raised a hand stopping him before he could say a thing “you are also awfully messy, Tim. You splattered some coffee on the sheets and blurred the numbers. And that is why you couldn’t reach the conclusion.”

“I…. What!?”

“Hate to break it to you, champ.” She shrugged taking a sip of her own coffee “but apart from that, you did a really good job with the task.”

And with a couple more cases like this they got into real sibling relationship.

Damian was the hardest one. Trained by the assassin, treated like a threat and a menace, far more tough than Jason, cruel and with no moral compass. Not by his fault. He was the one who needed some soft care most of them all, but would never accept. So there were two options, get to him with fighting skills or by using his art adoration. She couldn’t just leave art supplies for him like she did with Jason and books, but she got one more idea, which required a bit of Alfred’s help.

‘Rough night miss y/n?” the butler asked when the girl emerged from the batcave, covered in bandages and patches.

“You have no idea, Alfred” she yawned “At first B had me running around the streets creating some sort of diversion for him, since none of the Robins where available “ a quick glance towards her three brothers “and when I got back I got lost into my latest painting…..” she trailed waiting for Damian’s reaction. Seemingly nothing has changed, but she looked carefully enough to notice his eyebrows lifting slightly and his body shift towards her to hear better. Gotcha!

“The castle?” Alfred asked, curiosity in his voice

“Yes. I’m almost finished  and I think I will need some help in hanging it in the living room soon. Will you be so kind with it Alfred?”

“Of course, miss Y/N.”

A couple days later, the painting did hang on the wall and some Sunday afternoon she found Damian standing in front of it and looking it up and down.

“I could have used a bit more blue on the edges.” She said stopping by his right side.

“Not just blue.” He retorted

“Nighttime blue?” she asked

“Nighttime blue” he said at the same time and their gazes met.  She tilted her head slightly while Damian’s face showed a bit of surprise. He was so young and so wrongly treated it was almost unfair.

“I know, but it’s too close to the color of Dick’s suit. He would never let me live it through.” She let out a laugh and Damian smirked.

“I got an idea of how we can improve your next painting if you ever were to create another.”

“Oh, you think you are better than me in the art field?” she gasped grabbing her heart in fake hurt

“I know I am.”

“Wanna bet?”

And so he warmed up to her as well. It seemed like all of the batboys were prone to her silent charm. But obviously there were times when she had bad days. Being the one with the longest training, seeing most of the violent things and crimes and living thought her own tragic events sometimes, in the times of greatest stress she was just becoming completely silent. Not able to say a word, getting through the days like a ghost, wanting to disappear, getting lost inside her own head. Usually, it lasted up to four or five days, and it was normal. Just a sign for Bruce to put her off the patrol so she can get through whatever was going on inside her head. He wasn’t the one to actually talk a lot about feelings and emotions, but even Batman had to be alerted after two weeks of radio silence on her part.

From the little intel he had on her since she left the manor he learned that for the last days she wasn’t eating properly, struggling with her work, looking tired and worn out even though she was sleeping a lot. Something was off and the only people who could actually be of help would be her brothers.  Dick was in Bludhaven, Jason was running around the Crime Alley, Tim was busy with work for Wayne Enterprises and Damian, well…there was no way of figuring out what he was up to. Bruce groaned not really sure how to call the boys for rescue but it was about Y/N so he just used the unofficial channel and simply called all of them. He did not expect that they would gang up and show at the manor at the exact same time. Those stone walls haven’t; heard that much of a banter and silly fights for a while and despite everything, deep, deep inside Bruce was glad they came.

“Let’s be clear. I’m here only because of Y/n.” Jason stated bluntly “nothing more”

“thank god, I thought Red Hood was getting soft” Dick punched his arm playfully and was surprised with how hard his little brother’s muscle were.

“If you want me to show you…..”

“Where exactly is Y/N?” Tim interrupted his brothers fight, focusing on the most important matter

“And where are her paintings?” Damian frowned looking around.

“She moved out some time ago and took her works with her.” Bruce hissed. It was somewhat …. painful to admit that she left.

“Where?” Jason hissed

None of them cared that it was the middle of the day and their sister was probably at work. They had their own methods of getting inside the building unnoticed and years of training came extremely useful in that case.

Poor Y/N. Work was hard, as usual during the last couple days, she was tired and sad and dealing with a lot of thoughts. Even her usual way of blowing steam off while skating or rollerblading wasn’t helping.  She might have left her vigilante persona behind, but old habits die hard and when she climbed up the step to her apartment she could not fail to notice shadows on the floor and almost inaudible voices coming from the inside. Her instincts immediately kicked in when she put the bag down, bracing herself and busted through the door. Her first, perfectly aimed punch met with Tim’s stomach and the half-turn kick got Damian falling onto the ground. It took both Dick and Jason to stop her from making any more damage.

“Calm down Y/N! It’s just us” Jason calmed her down smirking, surprised with her skills that wasn’t gone.

“Will you behave?” Dick added making sure she wasn’t going to attack them again and only then letting her go

“What the hell?!” she hissed getting free of her brother’s grip “what are you four doing here?!”

“since when do you know how to punch?” Tim groaned “I thought that wasn’t your style?”

“I expanded my skill set. Out of everyone here you should be the one to appreciate it, Tim.”

“I would esteem it better if it wasn’t aimed at me.”

“Right. Sorry. But the question remains. What the hell are you doing here?! You know, I;m used to one Robin, or former Robin, come around from time to time, but this?”

“Father called upon us. He was worried something was off with you.” Damian spat getting off the floor, embarrassment visible on his face.

“Bruce was worried?” she laughed ironically “Right. Sure. He was the reason I left the manor. Should have taken example from you Dick and run the hell away ten years ago.”

“It was five….” Dick tried to chime in but she did not let him

“And now he’s so worried he won’t even visit me by himself. Instead he just send a rescue party?” she turned around and  slumped on the couch

“Y/N…..” Jason tried to reason with her “come on, tell your favorite brother what happened”

“For once I agree with Todd. Tell your favorite brother what is wrong. I mean, me, of course in case someone does not get the clue” Damian hissed taking a spot next to Y/N before anyone else could do it.

“Cut it guys, everyone knows I’m her favorite. I know her the longest of us all and I know everything about her.” Dick objected, crossing his arms with a wide smile, being so sure no one could threaten his position

“Everything?” Tim scoffed “You have no idea about half of the things she likes. I learned them. By myself.”

“Yeah, by spying on her. You call that a good relationship?”

“I do not spy!”

“Cut it, replacement. We all know the most bonding thing are inside jokes. And we have plenty since we read the same books. You wouldn’t even get half of our quotes!”

“Let me get my gear and I’ll show you how half of a quote look like. Art is what connects people and you all are just nonentity in that area. Not like me. Besides, I was training with her the most, so…..” Damian interrupted and at this moment all four boys were just shouting at each other while their sister was sitting on the sofa watching the scene in front of her eyes without any word.

“Get out.” She finally said. Quietly, but they heard her and stopped immediately “All of you. Get out. Now. “

“Y/n….” Dick was first to notice his sister’s pale skin and shaking hands “Please….”

“No.” she shook her head “I;ve had enough. This is exactly why I was always making sure you won’t show up at my place at once. You just can’t seem to fight who’s better or stronger or smarter or more skilled. It’s been like that all our time together. You just try so hard to outdo one another. “

“Well, I mean, she’s not wrong” Jason smirked running a hand through his hair and was instantly met with four pairs of reproachfully eyes “sorry….”

“Is that what bothers you?” Tim asked silently bending down to look into her eyes.

“What? No. Hell no. Why do you think something bothers me?” she stood up abruptly heading to the kitchen to grab herself a glass of water. Shit, Tim was always the one to crack her faster than others.

“You have cuts on your forearms.” Red Robin pointed and she tried to cover them quickly

“And a bruise on the neck.” Damian added following her

“Those kind of traces that does not come from skating.” Jason poked at her skates thrown on the floor in the corridor

“And that means you….I mean, Cover, has been active again.” Dick finalized. “Why?”

“Oh, come in….” she was getting more and more nervous with every minute “is this an interrogation now?”

“No. This are four brothers concerned about their sister well-being.  Does that sound better.”

“Vaguely.”

“Why did you put on the suit again?”

“Because I wasn’t feeling enough!” she spat and immediately covered her mouth to stop the sob coming next

“What?!” Jason hissed and grabbed her hand which made her flinch “oh, so you hurt your hands as well.  Not so much about expanding your skills in punching, hm?”

“Shut up.” She hissed back at him, sticking her tongue out

“That’s a very mature behavior for the oldest one” Damian pointed “but Grayson’s question is still on. Why did you pick up the mantle again? You said you were done?”

“I was. Until one night I heard the weeps and screams of my neighbor being beaten by her boyfriend.”

“Y/N….”

“And the other time, when I heard on the news how Nightwing got beaten while protecting people who were trapped in the fire….”

“I did not…..”

“Oh, and that one time when some little bird brought the news about Red Hood getting in trouble in the Crime Alley and almost dying? Again.”

“ok, it wasn’t even half as bad…..” Jason tried to defend himself

“And then, Red Robin and Robin. Running loose without batman. Dealing with criminals on their own accords and getting involved in the shooting?”

“It was Drake’s fault!” Damian cried out and Tim just punched him lightly

“Stop it.” Red Robin hissed at his younger brother “let her make a point, because it’s not it.”

“Then what is?”

“Come on, sis, tell us” Jason crouched next to her and squeezed her hands lightly

“I…. I can’t”

“Of course you can. There’s no shame in anything. Safe space. And as your big brother, I have duty to make sure you are all right.”

“You are younger than me, Dick.”

“Barely younger. And still, the oldest brother. “

“Come on, Y/N. Just spit it out.”

“Fine. Fine. Just quit looking at me like that. It’s creepy. I… I might have gotten into a bad relationship…..

“WHAT?!”

“Calm down, Damian. It wasn’t that serious. I kicked his butt first time he came at me….”

“WHAT?! I’m gonna find him. I’m gonna find him and…..” Dick caught his younger brother before he could get out and really find and eliminate the guy.

“It’s in the past. But you know, all that got me thinking. About who I was in the past. The cover. And how you guys were always out there, putting your lives at risk while I was just sitting at home, watching and doing nothing…..”

“so you thought it would be good idea to just go out on patrol by yourself.” Tim threw his arms in the air in frustration “Y/N, you know better than that.”

“Come on, what was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Call me….” Jason said, but corrected himself due to Damian poking him in the ribs “I mean…. Us.”

“How could I?” she rolled her eyes.  “You guys have enough on your plates without me.”

“This is unbelievable” Tim scoffed

“You never patrol alone and we would never let you do it” Damian added

“What do you mean without you?” Dick narrowed his eyes at their sister “do you think you are some sort of burden?”

“Well…. I…. um…..”

“Are you insane?” Jason was the first one to burst. “Are you insane?”

“You do realize we are family, right?”

“This is a pretty crazy family.”

“Sure, but at the end of the day we watch each other’s back and that’s why we are all….alive.”

“Ekhem….”

“Sorry, Jayson, but we are alive. Some of us get to be alive more than once, but still.”

“I hate you, Dickhead”

“Look Y/N, no matter what you need to know you are important. You were the one to always take care of all of us, so, just for once, let us do the same.”

“But isn’t that what the eldest sibling of the family is supposed to do?”

“Since when do you care about supposed to do?”

“Never did. But I care about you guys and…..”

“Let us help Y/N. You are not alone. “

“I know. “

“So why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying!”

“You are!”

“Stop it! It’s just …. Nice, to know someone cares about you, all right? That is… new.”

“Come here, you silly one.” Dick crushed her in a bear hug to the point where it was nearly impossible to breathe “you’re not doing it again alone, you hear me?”

“So, what are you suggesting?”

“I’m thinking.….. just for the sake of all times…. A little night patrol with all your crazy brothers?”

“Dunno. Is Red Hood ready to work with the bats?” she smirked at Jason.

“Just this once. And we stay out of the Crime Alley.” He shook his head in disapproval but his words were contradiction to his action.

“How about our little Robins?”

“I’m not little!” Damian yelled

“Neither am I, but still I’m down. It’s been a while and I’m wondering if you really did enhanced your fighting skills.” Tim smiled

“So, it’s settled. Everyone meet me here at the dawn?”

“You sure you can handle four vigilantes in your tiny apartment?”

“I’ve been doing it my whole life. And I can always ground you. Big sister privilege.”

She smiled at her brothers and despite their protests she was now feeling so much better. Just knowing that she had someone (more than one) to rely on made her feel valued and cared for. This family was more than blood and they were protectors of each other as much as of Gotham.

#batboys x reader #batboys x batsis #batfamily x reader #batsis #batfam x batsis #batfam x reader #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #timothy drake #red robin #damian wayne #robin dc #batboys x y/n #batboys x you #batfam x you #batfam #batfamily

[suppose-i-was-worm]

Like the Beat of a Drum pt 2

**I'm not entirely happy about this, and have NO clue where it's going next, but we'll see!**

The Red Hood clocked Danny as not all he seemed as soon as they were alone together. After some negotiation (Danny threatening to vanish into thin air and Hood threatening to tell Red Robin), they came to a consensus.

Danny would be in human form unless one of the other bats were around, and Hood would keep his big mouth shut.

“No spooky supernatural stuff in my borough, kid.”

Danny decided not to tell the other man that he himself had a fair bit of spooky supernatural stuff going on.

He should probably keep an eye on that- Corrupted ectoplasm was never a good thing, and Red Hood was crawling with it.

Living in Crime Alley was easy. Hood had put him up in a dingy little apartment, fully stocked with anything he might need- and no surveillance equipment. Danny had checked. He spent his time while he finished the healing process taking the toaster apart. And the microwave.

Hood visited while he was arms deep in the oven and put a kibosh on larger appliances, but he started bringing small broken appliances around for Danny to fix. It was nice, having another undead hanging around. Someone who understood the constant itch under Danny’s skin to keep moving, keep working, keep reminding himself he was alive.

He even was finally able to see his soulmark! It was a name, somebody called Timothy Drake-Wayne. Hood had seen it and made some sort of choking noise, and when Danny asked, he was told that Drake-Wayne was publicly markless. Weird.

Danny was pleased that the wounds to the area had healed completely though, not marring the text at all.

The wound on his chest, not so much. It stood out, inflamed and sore against his otherwise pale chest. Its presence reminded him a little of the lichtenberg scars that crawled down his arms in his ghost form.

Maybe the Drs. Fenton had somehow killed him again, and now he was a halfa twice over? This was his penance, he supposed, for trusting them after everything.

~~~

Tim’s favorite coffee shop was packed, save for one table with a lone occupant. Once he’d gotten his deathwish coffee, he made his way over to the table.

“Excuse me, do you mind if I-“

The table’s occupant, a young man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes, nodded toward the other chair before Tim could finish his sentence.

“Feel free, man. It’s a busy day today.”

Tim couldn’t help but wonder where he’d seen the other before- his face was familiar in a strange way, and he felt- he felt surprisingly attracted.

His soulmate heartbeat thing had been unusually quiet since the night Phantom arrived, whereas before it sounded loud and clear in his head at least a few times a day and long into the night.

He was allowed to talk to cute people while his soulmate was still young, right?

“Spend a lot of time here?”

The stranger shrugged.

“Here and there. Haven’t run into you before, which I think I would have noticed. I’m Danny, by the way.”

Tim didn’t think much of the name. This young man was far too old to be his Daniel.

“Nice to meet you, Danny. I’m Tim.”

He reached out a hand, and Danny shook it firmly, giving him an odd look that quickly passed.

The two of them sat and chatted for a while, and Tim found himself wondering how he’d missed this person around Gotham- he was well spoken with a soft accent, whip smart, and gorgeous.

Tim’s watch buzzed, reminding him he had a meeting- he could have sworn he had two hours between his coffee run and his meeting, but perhaps he’d been chatting too long.

“Shit! I have to go- it was nice meeting you!”

He chugged the rest of his now-cold coffee and darted out of the coffee shop.

It wasn’t until after the shareholder’s meeting that he realized he hadn’t asked for Danny’s number.

~~~

“Hood!”

Jason looked up from his desk as his office door was flung open, and then watched in amusement as Danny scrambled out of the grasp of the goon trying to pull him away.

“Sorry Boss, he slipped by us! I’ll- OW! He bites!”

“Stand down, Marcus, he’s a friend. Head over to medical if you need to- the little shit’s feral.”

Grumbling, the goon let go of a smug looking Danny and made his way to the other door while Danny swanned into the office and made himself comfortable on Hood’s guest chairs.

“How did you find this place?”

Shrugging, the kid pretended to inspect his nails.

“You know, just followed the scent of daddy issues and rancid ectoplasm- not hard. Didn’t peg you for the office type, though.”

Jason leaned back, crossing his arms.

“What do you want.”

“Timothy Drake-Wayne is Red Robin, yes?”

Trying to keep his posture casual and unconcerned, Jason tilted his head.

“What makes you say that?”

“I met a guy named Tim at the coffee shop and he’s got the same ghosts as Red Robin.”

Danny slapped a newspaper down on the desk between them- the cover page was Tim, looking very CEO and businesslike.

Jason was pretty sure Tim and Danny would get along like a house on fire, if Danny had already figured him out.

“Also, I felt his heartbeat when we shook hands and it matches the beat of my soul.”

Pausing, Jason parsed the information he now had about Danny.

“Wait, you can see ghosts that follow people?”

“You can’t?”

Jason stared incredulously at Danny for a few beats, and then the younger man sighed.

“Right. Your ecto is all screwy. Remind me to fix that. Yeah, I see ghosts attached to people- not everyone has them, and not all of the ghosts are actually, you know, dead people, but yeah. I don’t normally think about them because they’re everywhere, but same ghosts often equal same person.”

Danny slumped further into the chair after he finished talking, letting out a small whine.

“What now?”

“Jason, he’s cute.”

With a sigh, Jason pointed over at the newest handful of appliances he needed Danny to fix for the residents of Crime Alley.

“Take that and get out of my office.”

~~~

“Timberly~”

Tim sighed and let his pen drop- if Jason was here and looking for him, he probably wouldn’t get much work done. Not that he was getting work done now- balancing a pen on his nose wasn’t really work.

Jason rounded the batcomputer, idly tossing his helmet from one hand to another, a massive grin stretching across his face. It was a scheming face, a face that said he knew something Tim didn’t, and Tim hated not knowing things.

“What.”

Jason’s grin stretched wider.

“You’ve been keeping secrets!”

With a sigh, Tim turned his attention to the computer. Of course he kept secrets- the entire family had secrets. Hell, the secrets that the entire family kept probably also kept secrets.

Undeterred, Jason shoved his head (read: his entire upper body) in between Tim and the computer.

“So, where is it?”

Tim raised an eyebrow at the other man, hoping he looked as judgmental as he felt.

“Where is what, Jason? My spleen?”

The grin on Jason’s face faltered for a moment before returning with full force.

“Your soulmark!”

The weights Dick had been working with in the training area hit the floor with a loud thump, and Tim could only assume their oldest brother was storming over to berate Jason.

“Jason!”

Heh. He was right.

Jason pulled away, grabbing the arm of Tim’s chair and dragging him along to be a human shield as Dick approached.

“Nu-uh, Dickie- I’ve got good info, here. Timmy has been hiding his entire soul from us!”

Tim would like it to go on record that he hated everything, everyone, and especially Jason. He tuned out Dick’s raised voice and Jason’s responses, trying to figure out how the other could have found out.

He almost always kept the patch on- it’s not like a civilian camera could have caught him without. Even when he took the patch off to wash or to tend a nearby wound, he made sure to do it in his Nest without any recording devices nearby.

The only way Jason could have- Maybe he’d met Daniel and seen Tim’s name? Some poor kid down in Crime Alley? A four year old at best. Eurgh.

He tuned back into the still heated conversation.

“-kindness isn’t hard Jason, and you can’t just use the excuse that we’re siblings to bully Tim for being markless! I never thought you had it in you, you-“

“It’s under my sternum. How’d you find out?”

Dick’s tirade stopped short as Tim answered, his mouth dropping open comically. Jason pumped his fist triumphantly.

“You handed him to me on a silver platter, Timbo.”

Tim did not gape, that would be unbecoming and Janet Drake would never allow a son of hers to be unbecoming.

“I’m sorry?”

Jason grinned, an evil, evil grin.

“Daniel Fenton. You gave his case to me.”

“Case?”

Dick’s voice was high and reedy, and Tim looked over to see that he was looking distressed and probably a little faint.

Jason snickered. Rude.

“I do not have a case for my soulmate.”

Jason snickered again, and pointed at the batcomputer.

“Then what’s that?”

Both Dick and Tim turned to look- it was just the file on Phantom- but by the time they turned around again, Jason was roaring out of the cave on his bike.

Tim flipped him off, just because he could.

Dick collected himself before Tim did, whirling to face him and yanking Tim’s shirt up before desperately scraping at the bare skin, trying to find the patch.

With a sigh, Tim pushed Dick’s searching hands away and peeled off the patch himself.

He felt bare without it- completely exposed to his brother’s sharp eyes.

“You never told anyone?”

Shrugging, Tim slapped the patch back on, pulled his shirt down, and turned back to the batcomputer.

“Came in late- didn’t want some poor kid to get saddled with me.”

By the hitch in Dick’s breathing, Tim could tell the older man was about to get sentimental on him, or berate him for talking bad about himself.

This day couldn’t get much worse, could it?

The Arkham escape alarm sounded from both boys’ phones, and Tim sighed yet again. Way to jinx himself.

~~~

Phantom floated invisibly above the Red Hood, filtering away the ectoplasm that rolled off of him in waves as he stood with the other bats.

“Nightwing and Robin, you’re looking for the Joker.”

The ectoplasm spiked at Batman’s growl, and Danny sighed soundlessly. Keeping Jason away from his vengeance was not the right way to go about things.

“You want another dead Robin if they find him?”

“I do not want a dead Joker, Hood, and I know there will be one if I let you after him.”

Red Hood crossed his arms with a snarl, and Phantom settled closer to the man’s shoulders, keeping a steady wave of calm floating from his core.

The beat of his soul was pounding with excitement, and he took a moment to glance over at Red Robin, who was glaring in Red Hood’s direction. Danny couldn’t begin to fathom why.

Once the bats scattered, Phantom brought his head closer to Hood’s. The older boy was muttering mutinously under his helmet.

“What if we found him first?”

Hood’s head shot up to look in Danny’s direction.

“I could help, and then we could go home and finish Jenga.”

“Help do what?”

Danny dropped his invisibility long enough to flash Jason a grin.

“Payback.”

~~~

Red Robin and Spoiler crashed into a warehouse, weapons at the ready, only to find half the rogues they were looking for tied up and watching a fight going on in the center of the room. Tim’s heart was beating a mile-a-minute with adrenaline, and so was his second heartbeat. He had been rushing to find the Joker at least, especially after Red Hood went off comms.

It took him a minute to identify the people in the fight, if it could really be called that. From what he could tell, it was a mostly unilateral beat-down of the Joker by Phantom.

“What the fuck.”

Stephanie was watching with wide eyes from his side, and Tim caught a glance of Jason watching from the other side of the warehouse, helmet off and a green glow about his face.

“We need to get to Hood and make sure he doesn’t do anything.”

Spoiler nodded, but before she could move, a shadow shifted next to Hood and Black Bat slipped from the shadows, putting a hand on the man’s arm. Hood turned his head in her direction, nodded, and then went back to watching the show.

Black Bat stepped away, seeming satisfied with Jason’s response.

Phantom smacked Joker with a backhand slap loud enough to startle Tim, and the psychopathic man went flying back into the wall, crumpling into a heap at the base.

Tim watched as Phantom floated over to Hood, chest heaving despite no sounds of breathing.

“Are you Avenged, Bat of Gotham? Feel it in your Core.”

The greenish glow to Jason’s face flickered and then floated up and away from his face, dispersing in a thin mist.

“I am Avenged, Phantom.”

Phantom landed with a smile.

“See? Killing him wasn’t necessary- just a little beatdown.”

The second heartbeat in Tim’s sternum began to slow as Phantom held out a hand to Red Hood.

Jason took it and shook, smiling grimly.

“Red Robin?”

Spoiler was at his shoulder, but Tim couldn’t tear his eyes away from Phantom’s face.

“Red, we need to get Joker to the hospital.”

Black Bat moved from beside Jason and punched Tim on the shoulder.

“Ask him out.”

Tim startled.

“I- what?”

She made the sign for soulmate discreetly, and Tim felt his face flush. Phantom couldn’t possibly- but then he thought about Jason’s cryptic wording about Tim’s soulmate the other day.

Surely not. Surely.

#dp x dc #dp x dc fanfic #dp x batman #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #brain dead #mild violence #soulmate fic

[providencehq]

I really adore the idea of Danny seeming really confident and overall having a grasp on getting along in his fake identity for a new start in Gotham. Only for it to be quickly realized he's putting on a really good act and some simple investigation unravels it all (or, most of it.) Like facts are not matching up enough for his fake identity and when members of the bat family look into why this is for him they're quickly realizing that it's maybe a shotty identity because it was hastily put together but a teenager.

Faking his age enough to be a legal adult (18) so he can control over himself? Check. Faking only part of his name because he's still attached to his old life and won't admit it? Check. Leaving no paper trails and only paying in cash? Check. Refusal to participate in things that may lead to his identity or lack of one be discovered? Check. Kid also being 15/16 at most and being shit at hiding it physically, he cannot pass off as anything else than a young teenager but all documents say otherwise? Check.

Tim and Barbra quickly notice how he covered solely for himself. At least Tim was able to fake an uncle (temporarily), Danny isn't able to fake any information aside from the basics in regards to any family. It's quick to tell he's good at faking information but he's nowhere near the skill of Tim and Barbra. Once they find a single sliver of actual information on Danny and figure out who he really is, it opens a lot of questions while closing others. It also makes getting an eye and overall some semblance of control over the mysterious Danny situation they have on hand.

Like, Tim and Bruce at the very least are going to trick Danny to come into Wayne Enterprises to discuss his scholarship and hit him with "hey, we can't exactly give a scholarship to a person who doesn't exist, we know you are hiding from something by looks of our research. People don't fake new lives for the hell of it. We will however help you with whatever is going on, give you the scholarship, if you tell us what is going on." Danny of course is like, ah, no, I'm going to bail. But of course is cut off by Bruce suggesting that if he leaves without accepting their help, they'll be forced to report him and he'll be a ward of the state at best. That some investigation will happen because them finding out that Danny Fenton is considered dead before he was abled to be transferred to the care of a Vlad Masters, that is parents and friends are dead, and is overall an orphan is a big deal. ESPECIALLY when Danny Fenton is pretending to be Danny Duxo, a legal adult, and out on his own in Crime Alley and barely scraping by to be able to get to college.

They force his hand of course and accepts their help (and basically becomes a ward of Bruce Wayne). Danny convinces them that he will have Bruce acting as a guardian for him but he gets to remain at his apartment, he doesn't want to lose his tech he's working on but he's also afraid of anyone learning about his ghostliness. Does this work out? No, not for long. After a few weeks of being on his own and going out at night as a vigilante, injuries catch up with him. Jason comes by a few times a week to drop food off and comes into Danny one day bandaging some pretty nasty wounds. He brushes it off as some malfunction with some tech he's messing with but that incident causes him to be relocated to the Wayne manor so if an injury does happen, he's not alone.

And to think, none of this would be happening if he was better at faking an identity. He should have honestly asked for Technus' help for that and maybe he wouldn't be in this mess. This is all just surrounding his human identity too! Oh my god, the bats are going to freak when they find out Danny is way more than human and also a vigilante!

#mine #shrike au #dpxdc #dp x dc #dc #dp #danny phantom #batman #allow me to ramble about the shrike au while for a moment #bruce: Danny is my newest ward and i will do everything to protect him and not allow him to follow in the same path as my children #bruce: he will stay a civilian and at least for now i can give him a family #danny: i made my own path to stopping crime and not even the richest guy in the east coast can stop me #danny: however being a ward of the richest guy on the east coast means i dont have to pay rent so i guess i cant screw this up too badly

[modernday-orpheus]

Okay, hear me out. If Tim idolized Batman instead of Robin, Bruce would be dead.

Disclaimer: I am not perfect and don't know everything there is to know about comics! Some shit here may be accidentally based on fanon rather than canon! Please be nice!

Tim, of course, respects and looks up to Batman. Bruce is his mentor and his father, so it's safe to assume he loves him as well. But his Hero™ is and always has been Robin, Dick at first but especially Jason judging by the timeline. Most people in Gotham view Robin as an addendum, an extra, nothing more than a kid sidekick. They’re disappointed if her shows up without Batman, and question his abilities. Tim’s hero worship combined with his knowledge of their identities, in this case, allows him to see things as they truly are. For Tim, Robin is a light in the dark, a balancing act with Batman, not his sidekick but his partner. He’s a necessary part of the Dynamic Duo because while Batman represents Justice, Robin represents this Hope for a better future. Sure, he’s just a kid; by all accounts he shouldn’t even be out there fighting, but maybe, if he is, no other kids won’t have to fight as hard just to survive. He represents the soul of Gotham, underneath the criminality and corruption; a city full of people, tough-as-nails, saying “No, fuck you, this is our city” despite the constant danger. He represents the people who come together in times of crisis, who help out their neighbors when each new disaster strikes. He’s trained in martial arts, of course, and he’s a skilled fighter, but Robin’s primary job is always the safety of civilians. He’s the one that gets scared little kids out of a burning building while Batman keeps the villain of the week busy, the one who stays behind with SA victims walks them home because Batman is too much for those things. He uses fear where Robin uses kindness, compassion, and love.

Tim sees this. So, when Robin dies and Batman is getting rougher, more violent, more careless, he notices. He notices that Bruce is picking bigger fights than he can handle, taking hits he could dodge, breaking four ribs instead of two, barely making it back to the manor each night. If he idolized Bruce, at this point, he would trust him the way the rest of Gotham does. He would assume it was a rough patch, and Bruce would recover, and that Batman would always save the day. He would see a solitary hero, the way Batman wants to be seen. He wouldn’t think it necessary to reach out to Dick for help, and even if he did he would think Nightwing would be enough help. He wouldn’t understand the importance of the Robin mantle, the specific role that needs to be filled. Nightwing can represent a lot of things; fluidity, positive change, and freedom come to mind immediately, but there's no world where Nightwing represents Gotham and Hope the same way Robin does. He can’t serve the same purpose anymore, not in that uniform. Bruce would die at Two-Face’s hands in that very first arc, I have not a single doubt in my mind.

Then, as Tim comes back to Gotham post-training and actually starts to help out, it’s common for him to be the conscience. He falls easily into the role of Robin, the role that makes him protector of the innocent. He’s not like Jason, raised by these streets in a very different way, though I wouldn’t say either is better or worse. Where Jason struggled and had to fight, out there each night pre-Bruce out of necessity rather than choice. He knows all the best hiding spots and back-alleys because it kept him alive. He chooses to be Robin because he needed a hero and wants to be that for other people. Tim chose those streets, and he chose them for Robin. He knows the best hiding spots because they put him closer to the action, because he raised himself on all those cold nights alone on rooftops with his camera. He knows the back-alleys because they made him faster, made it so his little kid legs could keep up with his hero so he wouldn’t miss a moment. He lives for Gotham nights, for the thrill of seeing everything, getting to know everything. He chooses to be Robin because where his parents failed to teach him how to be a good person, Robin stepped up. He bases his morals off of watching Robin help people, and because he’s a kid he assumes that it’s normal to behave with altruistic intentions and prioritize others.

There’s a point to be made here, briefly, about how this lends itself to Tim’s self-worth issues and insecurities. If his job is to assist, supplement, guide, and fill in the blanks when Batman fails, he doesn’t have the option of failure. He expects that how he does his job, as long as the job gets done, doesn’t matter because he doesn’t view himself as the hero. He never views himself as a main character in his own story; he truly thinks he’s doing what anyone else in his position would gladly do. This is why he overworks himself, why he’s known for living, for lack of a better term “like a goddamn ninja turtle”. It’s why he’s always Robin or Red Robin or even his public persona Timothy Drake-Wayne but rarely Just Tim. Very few people get to see Just Tim, normal Tim, because if they’re seeing that then he’s not doing his job.

All of these factors lead to Tim’s conclusion that if no one else can get Batman out of this state, least of all Batman himself, of course the next logical conclusion is that it’s his responsibility to step up and do the job. Furthermore, it’s only because he idolized Robin that he can fill the role properly because his relationship to Bruce, especially in the beginning, is nothing like Dick and Jason’s relationships with Bruce. He’s not his kid, doesn’t bring Robin’s joy and hope home, so instead he has to work twice as hard in the field to keep Bruce away from the edge. He’s the first of the Robins to view himself as Batman’s protector rather than the other way around, and he’s the only one who Bruce acknowledges when he tries to fill that role. Bruce accepts it when Tim manages him, reorganizes his files, forces him into the medbay, even when he very occasionally goes as far as to outright scold him rather than just pressure him to make the right choices. He’s given an inch and takes a mile, because he believes (rightfully, in my opinion) that if he doesn't then all hope is lost. And Bruce allows him to help, to guide, as much as he’s willing to because he’s not his kid first. He’s Robin first.

This mentality carries over to the Red Robin arc, where Tim spends an entire year chasing after Bruce to save him. He does it alone, and although he asks for help he doesn’t actually expect it. Furthermore, because his morals are based off of Robin in his infinite altruism rather than Batman with his rigid rules, he doesn’t mind working with Ra’s al Ghul. He doesn’t mind betraying Ra’s by killing his men, by blowing up his bases. He doesn’t tell Bruce about it to protect Bruce from having another murderer under his roof, and because he doesn’t think it matters enough. Bruce isn’t surprised when Tim is the one to save him. I believe he would have been if any other Robin had shown up. He and Dick have had a strained relationship for years, he and Jason aren’t even on speaking terms, Stephanie was so often full of rage at him throughout her run as Robin and is dead at the time, and he doesn’t even really have a relationship with Damian. Aside from all of that, he’s assumed dead. He can’t assume the Justice League will spend their time saving a dead man. And yet, despite all of that, he isn’t surprised when Tim is the one to pull him out of the time stream. He’s disoriented, sure, and a little surprised it was possible for him to be saved at all, and he even wants to hear about how he figured it out, but his doubt is never placed on the fact that Tim would be the one to understand and tear the world apart to bring him home.

I believe this also helps to explain Tim’s struggle with letting go of the Robin mantle, outside of the fact that he was the first to have the choice to move on taken away from him. If he’s always been Robin first, always felt the weight of that on his shoulders, what is he supposed to do when his very identity is stripped away right as he loses everyone who got to really know him as Just Tim? How is he supposed to cope with having to reconstruct his own idea of who he is with no one around to remind him? Humans are social creatures. We learn and grow with and because of each other. He’s encouraged by Dick to grow quickly out of Robin to fill a new role, which is a nice sentiment from Dick’s own point of view, but he’s lacking a sturdy foundation. Not because it’s not actually there, or because he lacks personality or morals, but because he truly views himself and all of his good decisions as just what anybody would do and what Robin is supposed to do. He doesn’t consider that following these morals makes them his, makes them the building blocks for wherever he goes next, he considers them to be traits of a character he no longer plays; a purpose he no longer serves.

(This is the second time I've posted this, so if you see another version that's why!)

#tim drake #red robin #robin #batman #red hood #dc robin #dc comics #dc batman #dcu #robin dc #Dc #nightwing #Dick grayson #Bruce wayne #damian al ghul #damian wayne #damian wayne al ghul #tim drake wayne #character analysis

[call-me-strega]

How to Become a Step-Dad in 5 Easy Steps: part 2 (chapter 1/?)

Here is part 1, lore

Edit: ao3 link now here

They do go to a library in this chapter so there are a lot of references to books in this chapter. I've read some but not all of them so I can say anything about their quality more than as things that I thought sounded interesting in theory. A lot of the stuff at the library was inspired by my own experiences with public libraries.

~~~

Step 2: Get to know them

Within the next 4 months Jason ran into Danny several more times. Each time becoming more and more enamored with the young man. It was hard not to when he saw how kind and hard-working he was.

~

The first time he ran into Danny after their first meeting he actually ran into Ellie first. Well, technically she ran into him but that's beside the point. But if you were gonna get technical about it he heard her little giggles before he saw her.

He had been at the library during some of his downtime to peruse some books and relax. The life of a vigilante crime lord isn't a very peaceful one, go figure. That's why Jason liked taking some time to himself every once in a while whether it was to have tea with Alfred, hang with one of his friends or siblings, or in this case visit Gotham Public Library.

Sure he could've gone to the Manor Library or gotten something online but the Manor was pretty far from the Alley and preferred having physical copies of his books rather than a computer or tablet. Electronics just didn't have that nostalgic book smell or the soft touch of a well-loved page.

Going to the library also came with its own perks. For one, he got to visit Barbie at work. It was always nice to see her as they had this unspoken solidarity between them. The atmosphere was also a plus. There was just something special about being able to be completely solitary yet still have this special connection to the other patrons. Seeing the old man enjoying a novel with his wife, the book club that met on Sundays, the haggard office worker winding down on the weekend with a graphic novel, the young woman teaching herself sign language, the teens goofing off while they were supposed to be studying, a mom reading The Kissing Hand to her kids, all of the various people here for various reasons; all of it made Jason feel like he was a part of something bigger.

He was currently browsing a display of LGBT+ books for young adults that the library had put up for Pride Month. '"Cemetery Boys", "Aristotle and Dante", "You Should See Me in a Crown", "Six of Crows", "Boyfriend Material", "Red, White, and Royal Blue", "Carry On", Oh- "The Song of Achilles" that sounds interesting?'

That’s when he felt a small chill pass behind him. He initially dismissed it as a draft from the air conditioner, but soon after he heard the sound of excited giggles nearby. He didn't think too much of it assuming it was another kid on their way out of the children's section. However, something niggled in the back of his head that this particular giggle was one he was familiar with.

That's when he felt something collide with his leg. He looked down to see a small child with a head of glossy black hair in a red beanie glomping his leg. Suddenly, the child looked up and beamed at him. Jason's eyes lit up with recognition and he laughed.

" Hey there munchkin, how are you?"

Ellie continued to smile, releasing her hold on his leg.

" I'm doing really good Mr. Jason! Daddy told me he didn't have any work today and he said we could go anywhere we wanted! First, we went to the bodega a got these really big breakfast sandwiches! Like really really big! Like the size of my face and we shared! And then Daddy took me to the park and it was really fun! I saw a squirrel there but it ran away before I could pet it! And then we came here and Daddy said we'd make me a library card so I could get whichever books I wanted. He read Oh The Places You Will Go and Where the Wild Things Are to me and then they were gonna have story time and Daddy looked tired from the park so I told him to read one of his space books and rest while I went to story time like a big girl! When story time was over I looked around and saw you so I came over to say hi and thank you for the cookies and food because daddy says we should always say thank you when people give us gifts!"

Damn, the girl sure had one hell of a motor mouth on her. It seemed she and Danny were in the middle of a father-daughter day. It brought a smile to his face to see that she was well taken care of, but based on her very informative rambles, it seemed they were taking care of each other.

" Why don't we go say hi to your dad, huh Elle?"

The young girl gasped, "That's a great idea! Then Daddy can say thank you too! And then you can read with us and come to our house for dinner! Daddy kept saying how he wanted to make something for you too since you made us the-, the- uuh... luz-on-ya and cookies!"

" Whoa there munchkin, how about we just start with hi?"

Ellie nodded with a determined look on her face, she wrapped her little hand around his pointer finger and pulled him along to the semi-secluded corner of the children's section. Sitting there in an armchair next to a small pile of books was Danny, who seemed to be out cold, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy slipping from his fingers.

'Aah he must be tired from moving in and probably from working too' Jason thought to himself. A smaller voice in the back of his chimed in with its own two cents. ' He still made time for her. He took her out and is spending the whole day with her even though he's tired. He's a good dad.' That's when he made up his mind not to disrupt Danny's nap and let him get some rest before he had to tackle the rest of his father-daughter day with his hyperactive six-year-old. He placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder, stopping her as she was about to shake Danny awake, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

" It looks like you were right about your dad being tired. How about we let him rest for now and I'll say hi another time? Besides I wouldn't want to interrupt your daddy-daughter day now would I?" He started to guide her to a different portion of the library quickly forming a plan, "Hows' bout we do something I think you'll like? Did you know sometimes they bring puppies and kitties into the library?"

The young girl gasped, " REALLY!"

" Yeah, sometimes puppies and kitties can help people who are feeling sad or nervous feel better. They also help teach kids how to act nicely and quietly so that they don't scare animals by letting them read to a puppy or kitty. I can help you sign up to read to a puppy or kitty today if you want? Then afterward, you can go tell your dad and he'll be really proud of you."

The young girl seemed so excited by the prospect that Jason worried for a second that she might explode.

" That's a great idea Mr. Jason! He'll be so proud of me and he'll bring me again! And I'll get so good at not scaring animals that the squirrels in the park will let me pet them! Then, Daddy will be so impressed that he'll let us get our own puppy and Cujo can come live with us!"

Jason winced, perhaps his plan had been a tad too effective. Single parents had a hard enough time keep themselves afloat while looking after their kids, a pet was extra expenses and another commitment to devote time and effort to. Pets were usually out of budget and out of question for anyone living in or near the Alley.

Well, he'd cross that bridge if he ever got to it. For now, he focused on getting Ellie signed up to read to Charlie, the old St. Bernard that was at the library this today. He and the trainer, he squinted reading her name tag, Amanda, supervised the session. Jason would be lying if he wasn't endeared by the sight of a young girl reading Dragons Love Tacos very enthusiastically to a dog nearly twice her size.

" It's nice to see a young father spending time with his daughter."

'I agree' Jason thought before realizing Amanda thought he was Ellie's dad.

" Oh- ah no I'm her -," Jason quickly made up his mind on the least creepy excuse he could find, " -babysitter. Although, her father does make a lot of effort spend time with her."

The dog trainer flushed and apologized for her mistake but Jason waved her off saying it was no big deal. Silently, he wondered how often Danny got time to himself. When he realized what he was thinking he raised an eyebrow at himself before dismissing it as worry for a young parent and wondering how he divided his time to be able to take such good care of his daughter.

Ellie was saying her final goodbyes to Charlie when he got a text from Alfred reminding him he had promised to meet him for tea and some chitchat. Once Ellie returned to his side he let her know that he had had fun seeing her today but that he had to go spend some time with his granddad and that he'd have to say hi to her dad another time. She accepted this with a surprising amount of maturity for a 6-year-old but made him pinky-promise that he'd definitely spend some time with the both of them next time they saw each other. Jason happily accepted and sent her back off to her dad before heading over to the tea shop he and Alfred liked to meet at.

" It is so nice to see you again Master Jason. I'm happy to see arrive in one piece. Usually when you are delayed it is due to some rather -ah, unfortunate hold-ups," Alfred greeted him. He returned the smile, sinking into his seat across from Alfred, ready to unload.

" Not this time Alfie, though it is a bit of a story."

" One I'm sure you'll be pleased to tell me all about," he challenged, raising an eyebrow. Jason just shook his head and chuckled.

" Sure thing Alfie."

~

The next time he ran into Danny and Ellie he was at the grocery store.

Jason had been examining a piece of zucchini when he felt a light, cool breeze quickly followed by the sensation of someone walking past him. A lean figure came and stood nearby inspecting the squash. Jason glanced up, having registered a new presence, before doing a double take. A small grin graced his lips as he spoke,

" Well hey there neighbor, didn't expect to see you today."

Danny looked up, slightly startled before he saw that it was Jason. He smiled back and returned his greeting in a warm tone.

" Hey neighbor, I didn't expect to see you either. Honestly, I was hoping we wouldn't meet till I had made a batch of my family's signature fudge to give you as a thank you when we returned your dishes for the food and for looking after Ellie that day in the library."

" Ah~ the little munchkin told you bout that did she?"

" She was pleased to inform me about how she was learning not to scare animals and how Mr. Jason was sooo nice and even pinky promised to spend some more time with her." he teased.

Jason flushed slightly, his hand coming up to the back of his neck,

" Oh yeah, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds there. She just seemed so excited."

" Yeah, that sounds like my little spitfire!" he chuckled fondly. He took a deep breath and continued. " Well if you don't have anything else going on tonight I'd love to have you over. Ellie has really been looking forward to seeing you again and I can whip up some fudge that you can take home with you if you stay for dinner?" Danny seemed to flush at his own forwardness before rushing to continue, " I mean- not that you have to, especially if you're busy! I just- thought it might be nice to get to know my neighbor, especially since Ellie seems to like you so much! But-"

Jason, who had just finished processing the dinner invite, interrupted before Danny spiraled deeper into his nervous rambles. He place a hand on Danny's shoulder to get his attention and spoke,

" Sure. I'd love to come over Danny." He smiled, puffing up his chest, “ Besides, I have a pinky promise to fulfill.”

Danny returned his smile with a laugh, giving Jason's shoulder an embarrassed shove. Jason grinned at having successfully made the other laugh. The two stared at each other for a beat, coming down from their high of making each other laugh, before flushing and looking away. A look of realization passed over Danny's face and he turned to speak to Jason again.

" You probably have your own groceries to finish and put away. How about you come over around 7:30? I can have the fudge cooling in the fridge while we eat, oh which reminds me, you’re not allergic to anything are you?"

Jason smiled back. "7:30 sounds great Danny and no, no allergies as far as I’m aware, though I’m not particularly fond of most shellfish."

“Well alrighty then I’ll see you at 7:30,” Danny confirmed with a smile and rushed off to continue his own shopping.

And that’s how Jason found himself standing outside the Nightingale residence in a casual maroon 3/4 sleeve tee, a dark denim jacket, and some of his nicer trousers with a bouquet of flowers he put a frankly embarrassing amount of thought into. He figured bringing more food wouldn’t be appropriate since he was a dinner guest, dessert wouldn’t fly either as Danny had claimed he’d be making fudge, and wine didn’t seem appropriate with a 6-year-old also in attendance.

‘Come on Jason, it’s just a casual dinner with your neighbors! Normal human interaction, nothing to be nervous about! You can do this!’

Jason took a breath and knocked on the door. He heard a pitched squee followed by a “it’s him daddy!” come from behind the door. Unconsciously, Jason smiled as he heard the door unlocking. As it opened he was met with a cool breeze from within the apartment and the sight of his two neighbors. Danny was in a pale, moss green apron, smudged with what appeared to be powdered sugar, over a pale blue button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and cuffed jeans. Ellie was dressed in an interesting combo of pink crocs, neon green leggings, a sparkly, powder blue tutu, a white shirt with glittery black script declaring her “Daddy’s little princess”, a denim jacket embroidered with flowers and vines on the back and sleeves, and a plastic tiara with a big purple gem in the middle fixed atop her signature red beanie.

“Hi,” Danny greeted a bit breathlessly. His young daughter stood in front of him beaming up at Jason.

“ Mr. Jason you came!” She bounced excitedly on her heels before launching forward to hug his leg. She tugged at his jacket before pointing to her own, “Look! We match!”

With a smile, Jason got down on one knee and offered the flowers to her, “ And what an honor it is to match with such a beautiful princess! Please, accept these flowers as a token of my goodwill m’lady!”

“Thank you!” The girl giggled, accepting the bouquet and scurrying back into the apartment. Jason watched her go with a smile. He then turned his gaze to look up at Danny who watched the whole interaction with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. He met Jason’s gaze and smiled.

“Why don’t you come in too my good sir,” he teased, holding out his hand to help Jason up. Jason smirked at the opportunity Danny had unknowingly presented him. He took Danny’s hand but made no move to get up. Instead, he ran his thumb over the other man’s knuckles and slowly brought the hand closer to his face. He glanced up once more, teal eyes connecting to icy blue ones.

“Of course my dear king,” he whispered. His breath dancing over Danny’s hand, his lips ghosting over his knuckles. Maintaining eye contact, the kneeling man placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles, watching a beautiful red flush bloom upon the young man’s face.

‘His hand is cold. His fingers have the beginnings of callouses on them. It feels like his hand was made to fit in mine. This feels right’

Jason is snapped out of his reverie when Danny clears his throat. He coughs into his other hand while trying to hide his blush, averting his eyes in embarrassment. He doesn't withdraw his hand however, allowing Jason to continue to hold it. Jason took that as his sign to get up before this got too awkward.

He rose from the ground still not letting go of the other's hand. The pair stood there for a moment with their hands intertwined, as if a message was being passed through their tingling palms. A charge filled the air with an exhilarating tension. The kind you feel before trying something unfamiliar and new that, unbeknownst to you, will become your favorite.

“So, uh, let’s head in then?” Danny said, slowly withdrawing his hand from Jason’s, almost as if he was reluctant to do so.

“Let’s,” Jason replied and the two turned into the apartment.

Danny had Ellie show Jason to the bathroom so he could wash up as he set the table. He had made grilled squash, a macaroni and beef hotdish, and some Greek salad on the side. The three of them sat at the table making some small talk ( how are they liking it in Gotham, how did the rest of daddy-daughter day go, does Jason have restaurant/activity recommendations, would he like to see Ellie’s favorite model airplane, etc.) and laughing with each other over horrible dad jokes and Ellie’s antics.

Jason could feel his chest fill with an almost unbearable warmth. He would’ve sworn it’d have melted him from the inside out if it hadn’t been accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of joy and desire. The traitorous little whisper in his head returned to comment on how much he’d love to be a part of the Nightingale’s family.

Soon enough it was time for Ellie to head to bed and Jason to head out, lest he be late for patrol.

“Here, I can clear off the table while you put her to bed.”

Danny rushed to stop him despite the young child koala wrapped over his torso. “Oh, you really don’t have to do that. I can-”

“Relax your highness, let me take care of this while you put the princess to bed.” He gave Danny a kind look, hefting up the dirty dishes. Danny returned it with a grateful look and turned to go put his daughter to bed. Over his shoulder, Ellie looked up sleepily and weakly waved one last time saying “Goodnight Mr.Jason” in a small voice.

Jason smiled gently at her and replied, “Goodnight princess.”

He then turned back to his task of clearing the table. Moving the dirty dishes to the sink and the serving dishes to the counter. He figured he’d get started on the dishes while he waited for Danny to return. He let his mind wander as he covered a plate with soapy suds. Danny and Ellie seemed like a good pair of neighbors. He doubted they’d cause him any trouble and if they ever unintentionally did, Jason found himself thinking he’d find it rather easy to forgive them. The two were both so welcoming and full of life. They made Jason feel so happy and peaceful tonight. They welcomed him into their home and made him feel as if they enjoyed his company and wanted him around for more than just a cursory “return the favor” dinner. ‘As If he belongs there. With them.’ The little voice returned, prompting Jason to reel in his thoughts. He’s only known them for what? Two weeks? These weren’t the type of thoughts he should be having at this point. He tried to rationalize it telling himself he just missed the domesticity of family dinners like he had when Catherine was in a good stretch or like he had with Bruce, Dick, and Alfred as kid when they were all getting along. He made up his mind to attend one of the bi-weekly family dinners at the manor coming up. It’d be nice to see the little demon brat, big bird, and nerd bird again now that they were getting along like actual brothers.

“Oh! Jason you didn’t have to do that!” His train of thought broken by Danny rushing over to protest him doing dishes. “You’re a guest! You really didn’t have to-”

“It’s okay Danny, I wanted to,” he reassured the fussing young man who pulled him away from the sink. The young man responded by pushing him out of the kitchen and telling him to grab his jacket before turning back to grab something from the fridge.

And there he stood in the doorway, 20 minutes after he had intended to leave, still saying goodbye. Danny pushed a familiar Tupperware container into his hands, which recognized as the one he had given them lasagna in, now full of dark squares of fudge sprinkled with a bit of white and green on top.

Danny smiled as he handed him the sweets. “A family recipe with my own little twist on it,” he winked. Jason gratefully accepted, wishing the young man well and agreeing that he hoped to see the other again soon. And with that, Jason rushed off hoping that he wouldn’t be late for patrol.

~ Later that night Jason returned to his apartment, exhausted. He chucked his helmet off onto the bed and stumbled to his kitchen. He pulled open the fridge in search of something to eat when his eyes landed on the fudge his neighbor had given him. He pulled it out and grabbed a square, giving it a sniff before biting in. His eyes widened at the taste.

The fudge was, well fudgy, but not overly sweet. It had a richness of dark chocolate and a sweeter note from the white chocolate chips mixed in. There were also candied orange peels mixed into it which gave the fudge a bit of chew and acidity to break up the richness. The fudge was topped with pistachios adding a nutty, earthy flavor to the experience. He’s sure that if Martian Manhunter ever tried these he’d accuse Jason of giving him hard drugs. But what Jason liked most of all was the quality only homemade food and family recipes passed down over generations have. He could practically taste the amount of love and thought that went into this fudge.

Jason smiled to himself finishing off his square and decided the save the rest for later. He headed off to bed with a peaceful smile on his face and a warm, full, feeling in his chest.

~~~

I tried very hard to balance out the dialogue and description as well as to not make it too long winded and keep the story moving so please let me know what you guys think. I love receiving feedback so if there is anything you want to see more or less of let me know. I’m also open to suggestions of where Jason should run into our father-daughter pair next.

If anyone's interested here is what the bouquet was comprised of: apple blossom- preference, basil- good wishes, white camellia- you're adorable, goldenrod- encouragement/good fortune, violets- watchfulness/modesty/faithfulness

I actually looked up a real fudge recipe so that I'd have and easier time describing it. You can find it here: https://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/candy/creamy-rich-pistachio-tangerine-fudge

#long post #like Long long #dead on main #jason todd x danny fenton #dc x dp #How To Become a Step-Dad in 5 Easy Steps #How to Become a Step-Dad #hbsd #romance #fluff #domestic fluff #falling in love #single dad!danny fenton #de-aged!dani #books & libraries #family dinner #jason todd #danielle fenton #danny fenton

[piedpiperart]

Phantom in Gotham pt 2

Chapter one

The next week, Tim asked Dick for advice about Danny. 

"And he's your age?" Dick frowned, leaning forward on the living room couch to rest his elbows on his knees. He had ha;f a cucumber sandwich in his hand, courtesy of Alfred. Meanwhile Tim was sipping his fourth coffee for the day. 

"Yeah," Tim sighed,"I'm just worried about him. He doesn't look like he's eating or sleeping very much, and I don't know. I just want to make sure he's safe at home or something. He’s actually really smart and funny too, I think you’d like him. I just don’t want to freak him out in case Batman hears about this and decides ‘Bruce’ needs to get involved, you know?"

Dick hummed, ruffling Tim's hair. His little brother was so caring, he cooed in his head. "I'll check it out. You said he goes to the library after school a lot of the time?" 

Tim nodded. "Steph and I may have followed him once or twice. I asked Barbara if she'd seen him, and apparently he goes to the library after school every day. He does his homework and then usually falls asleep until closing at seven."

Dick frowned at that. It was becoming more obvious that the kid was not in a good situation, or at the least was avoiding home. "I'll tail him when he leaves the library,"Dick reassured. "I know you're busy with the whole ghost stuff going on."

"Thanks,"Tim sighed. He also didn't want to have Danny recognize him somehow as Red Robin. It was unlikely, but not impossible. Plus, getting Dick to look into it would just give him more people on the 'Protect Danny' team. Tim was obviously president, with Steph as Co-president. With Dick on their side they’d be able to gang up on Bruce to get the kid adopted if everything turned out the way he thought it would. Of course, Tim knew it was probably unlikely, but he had to admit someone else in the family that was his age and didn’t want to kill him would be nice. 

“You really care about him, huh?” Dick said suddenly. 

“Uh, yeah?” Tim said, tilting his head to look at Dick. “He’s only been at school a month or so but he hangs out with Steph and I every day. He’s really into space, and super smart, like I’m pretty sure he’s a genius at physics and engineering.” Tim sut his rambling off, feeling his cheeks flush in embarrassment. Surely Dick didn’t need to know Danny’s hobbies. 

“Just a friend?” Dick hummed. Tim narrowed his eyes at Dick’s suddenly mischievous attitude. 

“Yeah?” Tim said hesitantly. “”Why?”

“Oh, nothing,”Dick smiled, getting up from the couch to bring his plate to the kitchen.

“Wait no- Dick what do you mean?” Tim stammered, putting his coffee down to follow. “Dick!”

-------------------------------------------

Dick had called Barbara about Tim's friend, and even the red haired vigilante was worried about the poor kid. Apparently he was there every night, and Babs was just about to contact him to do something about him. Dick didn't understand what she meant by the ‘new little brother’ joke she'd made until he laid eyes on the kid. He’d nearly laughed when he caught sight of the black hair and blue eyes. Maybe Tim wanted another sibling, one that wouldn't stab or shoot him, Dick mused. 

Still, he followed the kid to a convenience store, frowning at the kid's yawn. If the apparent lack of sleep was worrying, the fact that the kid only got a bag of cheetos and a can of strawberry tea was even more concerning. Still, Dick hopped the roofs from afar, hoping the kid would at least have someone home to look out for him.

Dick's hopes were dashed when the kid made his way further towards Crime Alley. 

Ignoring the fact that he was potentially infringing on Jason's territory, Nightwing perched on a building across from the old pizzeria, watching the kid skillfully climb the fence around the place with a sinking feeling. Dick sighed. So, apparently Danny was living in the abandoned pizzeria. Great. Jason would definitely want to know about this.  

Dick's heart ached for the kid. He hoped Danny was finding ways to get food that wouldn't get him in trouble. Considering that he was still able to afford a spot at Gotham Academy, it seemed he had some sort of savings. Just, maybe not for things outside of school.  Dick frowned. How that worked he wasn’t so sure. The school would have to know those things, right? If he was living like that, then how could he be going to such a rich school?

Dick sat back further on the roof, making a note to look into Danny’s spot at the school when he heard heavy footsteps land on the roof. However, Dick's eyes were still on the Pizzeria, hoping that Danny didn't actually live there despite the overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to the contrary. Maybe the kid was passing through. Or it was a clubhouse of sorts. 

"Wing," Red Hood grumbled, coming to a stop a few feet away. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Sorry,"Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. If he had looked up he’d see Jaso towering over him with the iconic red helmet on. "I don't mean to trespass, I was just tailing one of Tim's friends."

"Timbo's friend? What'd the kid do to get Nightwing to follow him all the way to Crime Alley? He in some kind of trouble?" Hood huffed. Or the kid is trouble, Jason thought. 

"Not exactly," Nightwing started, glancing back at the building Danny disappeared into. Still nothing.  "Tim was worried about him. Kid didn't seem to be eating or sleeping well, and was hanging at Babs' library until close. We thought maybe he was a runaway, but he’s going to Gotham Prep so he has to have some sort of funds, except tonight I followed him until he went into the Pizzeria."

Hood whistled, crouching next to his brother. "Think he's living there? Not really a good place for a kid by himself."

"Yeah," Dick agreed. He paused before adding, "Danny's a good kid. If you could maybe look out for him when you can?"

Hood paused, looking towards the dilapidated building. "Yeah, alright. But you and Tim owe me," Dick huffed a laugh. "Can't be having a kid out here all alone, especially with winter coming up. I'll see if I can talk to him eventually."

"Please don't scare him too much," Dick grinned. If he knew one thing about Jason, it was that he had a soft spot for kids. 

"So, what's the kid look like? Because if you say black hair and blue eyes I'm going to shoot you." Hood added. Dick simply smiled mischievously, causing Jason to let out a groan. "Seriously? Get out of here."

“I’m pretty sure Tim might just be looking for a new sibling. That or he has a crush.”Dick laughed, standing up and patting the dust off himself. "You'll still keep an eye out?"

Hood waved him off tiredly. "Yeah yeah, I'll look after the newest brother." He shook his head fondly at the cackle Dick let out as he grappled away. 

Looking towards the shoddy Pizza place, Hood sighed. Obviously he wouldn't turn the kid in to CPS, but with winter coming up the kid might need someone looking out for him. There was no way the heating still worked in that place, and Jason was pretty sure one of the walls had a giant bat-sized hole in it. Maybe he’d check out the place while the kid was at school, just to see if he had everything he needed. 

Though, Jason grinned, maybe he could have a little fun messing with his future baby brother before Bruce got his hands on him. Scaring the kid out of crime alley and into a shelter would be a good start. 

It had been over a month since Danny'd stepped foot in Amity Park. It had just gotten too dangerous for him to stay after... that day. The GIW had been getting more intense, so Danny had already been on edge when the news broke.

His parents were partnering with the GIW. It meant extra funding, equipment, but it also meant Agent K and the others had more access to deadlier weapons- which made his job defending people from ghosts and ghosts from people even harder. Danny had obviously been upset at first, and had called Jazz to come home from college to help him persuade their parents against it. 

Jack and Maddie were set on the partnership though, and Danny tried explaining to his parents why it would be a bad idea. Things escalated, and Danny had told them again about how ghosts aren't bad- they're not evil, they're sentient and they have feelings. Jack and Maddie had become eerily suspicious, and started thinking he was possessed. Like the only reason why he’d be advocating for ghosts was because he was one.

Things took a bad turn from there. They’d tried to trap him, which worked since he’d been Danny at the time. His transformation was an accident though, due to one of their crazy inventions activating his rings. Jack and Maddie were shocked, of course, when he'd accidentally revealed he was Phantom. He was terrified of their reactions- had been ever since he'd had the accident a year ago. Jack and Maddie had... not reacted well, to say the least. They hadn't immediately gone for their weapons, though, so Danny had stayed calm, hoping to talk things out. He thought maybe they just needed to hear his side of things. He hoped they'd accept him.

Danny had been wrong.

Waking up strapped to a table in the lab not long after being zapped by the net that had trapped him, he realized there was probably nothing he could do to convince them he was still their son. Danny had to finally admit he was scared of his parents. The realization hurt far worse than the wounds they gave him. Jazz was his only saving grace, and he thanked the Ancients he was able to call her to come home before it all went down.

Jazz hadn't heard from Danny at all after he’d called the first time, so when she'd come home it was to her parents sleeping soundlessly and her brother half-conscious and bleeding out in the basement, strapped to a table like some sort of lab experiment. She was horrified. Nearly crying her eyes out, she struggled to get Danny out of there and patch up his wounds. She did the best she could to stop the bleeding while keeping her eyes away from the various filled jars on the counter. Jazz knew that she and Danny were no longer safe with Jack and Maddie, so she started making plans.

First, she called Tucker and Sam to let them know of the situation, while she took Danny and the Specter Speeder into the Ghost Zone. She knew that was the only place her parents wouldn't be able to follow. Danny had also said before that the Far Frozen had people he could trust, as well as medical equipment that surpassed the human realm. The Yeti, who Jazz had forgotten the name of as soon as he'd said it, was horrified at what had happened, and reassured Jazz he would be well taken care of while she was making arrangements. She’d stayed a few moments to wash the greenish red blood off her hands before pulling herself together. She almost couldn’t bear to leave him alone again, but she knew there were things to get done in the human realm.

Jazz had some of the plans outlined in a worst-case scenario like this, but she'd never thought it would actually happen. Nevertheless, she was grateful that they’d made plans like this. Back in the house, she'd trashed the lab as much as she could, unfortunately, waking her parents in the process. Luckily, she’d destroyed the jars of suspicious green and red liquids before that, and she stormed out before they could say anything. Actually, they might’ve said a lot, but Jazz was not listening. Jazz no longer had anything to say to Jack and Maddie. In her mind, they were a hopeless case. They'd done something irreversible, and she no longer thought of them as her parents. Not after they had... dissected her little brother. The thought made her stomach turn, and she wiped away tears she didn't think she still had in her.

After her third short breakdown, she composed herself and kept going. Someone had to be the adult in this situation, and her little brother needed her. Jazz fought back the memories of Danny- so small, laying on that lab table, so much blood, her baby brother- and got to work. She'd had some of the paperwork filled out before, mostly regarding school records, applications, and personal information, then had contacted Tucker to help with the rest. Such as fake ID, birth certificate, etc.

Jazz knew her parents wouldn't rest until they had Danny back. Them and the GIW both. Thankfully, her parents were dumb enough to think that Phantom-Danny had been a ghost, and had kidnapped their real son, so the secret of Halfas was still safe. She knew Danny wasn't safe in Amity Park, and Danny's friends agreed. Jazz was glad Sam and Tucker hadn’t seen Danny strapped to the table, but judging by their faces, they could imagine. She made a note to talk to them afterwards as a therapist to make sure they were coping well. The three of them had met up at Tucker’s house, tears and blood- in Jazz's case- on all of their faces. After quick hugs and reassurances that Danny was alive and they'd get him when everything was ready, the three of them continued with their plans.

Sam was in charge of a go-bag. Danny would need clothes, food, medical supplies, ghost gear- just in case - and other supplies. Tucker dealt with funds- stealing from Vlad was like taking candy from a baby- fake ID, and other important forgeries. Meanwhile, Jazz got to work on paperwork. She figured schooling was most important, besides housing, and got everything set up from there. A few dozen calls and stolen funds, and Danny would be living in Gotham. Her brother would be renting a small apartment and attending a private school, with plenty of funds in his new bank account. It would be the least likely place for their parents to look for him. They kept Danny as his first name, but combined their own into a fake last name to throw off the trail. They didn't have many options with Manson and Foley, but they were too worried about their friend/brother to get too creative with it. The simpler the better.

Danny would now be Daniel Folson, resident of Gotham for a few months. The three of them figured it would be too difficult to remember a full name change, and the fact that Danny was a pretty common name would work in their favor. No one would look for him around Gotham anyway. Or so they hoped. 

Unsure about the extent the GIW or the Fentons would go to to find Danny, they prepared for the worst. That is, if the police got involved, which was likely considering a day after Jazz had dumped Danny in the Ghost Zone, Maddie and Jack had filed a missing persons report on Danny. Since there were no guarantees that Vlad wouldn't get involved either, they had to be thorough. Jazz was not completely confident that Vlad could be convinced to their side, so she didn't bother with telling him anything. The only thing Jazz could trust Vlad to do was to be a fruitloop, and no one needed his smarmy help in anything this serious. Jazz was forever grateful that Tucker was as good with computers as he was, and she made a note to help him get into a good college when he graduated. Though she figured he could probably hack his way into any college he wanted.Either way, Vlad would be none the wiser to his missing funds, and wouldn’t be able to use Technus to track Danny down. 

After they'd gotten all the supplies and paperwork ready to send Danny away- no one was happy about it but they knew things were about to spiral down from here- Tucker warned Dani of the situation, telling her not to come back anytime soon, and while she was worried and angry, she agreed. Dani had the task of leaving ecto-signatures in places far from Gotham in order to keep the trail off Danny while he healed. After a month or so of that, Dani would be okay to keep traveling around like usual. They'd keep in contact though, more than before. Jazz and Tucker were setting her and Danny up with weekly check-ins and emergency beacons and things like that. Tucker’s main job was keeping those two safe, and there was no way the two halfas were getting captured on his watch. 

The Ghosts had heard what happened from Frostbite, and after a slight kidnapping of Ember, they made sure she warned the ghosts to stay in the zone for as long as possible. In a show of solidarity, Skulker had caused a distraction downtown for the GIW and Fentons while Jazz, Sam and Tucker went to get Danny and explain the plan to him.

Danny was... heartbroken. Traumatized. Weak and still healing. Jazz was surprised to see her brother had mutated even more in his ghost form, and now sported pointier ears, paler skin and sharp fangs. They'd eventually talked Danny into leaving for Gotham- not without many tears and arguments- with the help of Frostbite and a visit from Clockwork. All of them hoped it wouldn't be forever, but with the way things were in Amity, things were unlikely to be resolved so soon. Especially with the Fentons joining the GIW. They’d promise that once he was out and things settled, they’d start to form a plan. If it was possible, they’d try to get into contact with the Justice League again. 

Flying alone to Gotham was the hardest thing Danny had ever done, and thought of turning back many times. He didn't. His friends and Jazz would be disappointed and worried out of their minds for him if he did. And he had to admit, they had a plan. He had to protect them and himself. The humming in his chest emanating from his core latched onto the fact that he was protecting everyone by leaving. The ghosts would be safe if they stayed in the zone, and Danny couldn’t stay in Amity or the Zone forever. He couldn’t be Danny Fenton or Phantom in Amity anymore. In Gotham, he could at least be Danny Fenton. Or Folson. He would be alone, but they'd find ways to check in on him when it was safe. He just had to deal with being alone for a while. No big deal. He could do this.

He couldn't.

The first few weeks were the hardest. Danny started school almost immediately, eager for some kind of distraction from the pain of leaving his friends and family behind. Because Jazz was his only family now that his parents were... hunting him. Had hurt him. Jazz was his only family now besides Ellie and he couldn’t even talk to them anymore. No one knew what Technus was up to so communication was only for emergencies and check-ins. 

Moving to Gotham would have been fine. It would have been fine, if not for the shabby apartment Jazz had set up for him bursting into flames. Something about a villain from Gotham who liked to torch stuff. Firefly, maybe. Danny wasn't sure, but he'd been able to stake out a place to live in an old building. Danny thought it used to be an old pizza place. He'd been able to stash his stuff in the rickety old attic and set up a meager living space with his sleeping bag and other supplies that Sam packed him. His wounds were still aching a bit, but his advanced healing had helped him a lot. Since he woke up from…that, he’d been able to absorb a lot more ectoplasm than he usually did. It was odd, and since he found out he could absorb ectoplasm from anywhere in the human realm, he didn’t need to eat human food nearly as much as he had before. He was down to maybe one meal a day. He could still eat three if he wanted, but the ectoplasm was more than enough to sustain him. It felt weird to eat so much food he didn’t even need. 

There was no way he could contact Jazz about the apartment though, and he knew to use the money in his account sparingly. Danny wasn't sure he'd tell Jazz about his living situation if she'd called anyway. There probably wouldn’t be anything anyone could do at this point. Hacking Vlad’s bank account had been fine the first time, but multiple times would tip the fruitloop off. Danny had rather not have to deal with the fruitloop on his trail too. If everything went to plan, Vlad would be chilling in Wisconsin and not even know about his disappearance until Jack or Maddie called him about it. Given how distracted they were, it should give them a few weeks or so. 

The phone he had been given looked old, but it was Tucker approved safe from pretty much anything. Only to be used in case of emergencies for now, since everyone back home was looking into his friends and searching for him. Danny didn’t count being semi-homeless as an emergency. As a Halfa, he didn’t need to sleep as much as a human either, especially not since his strange new mutation, and that was pretty much all he needed a house for. It was weird to think that his second near-death experience caused him to become more like a ghost, and wondered if he’d just lose his human half over time. He really didn’t want to think about that though. 

Living at the Pizzeria would be fine. The only thing he worried about was his friends and sisters, because at this point Ellie was more like his sister than anything else. Maybe after everything started to die down Danny would be able to contact them. He’d be able to hear their voices. 

He could admit, he missed their voices. Hell, he even missed Dash. So far he'd made a few sort of friends at Gotham Academy; Tim, who drank enough coffee it probably replaced his blood at this point, Steph, who reminded him of if Sam and Star combined into the same person, and Conner, who might or might not be Tim's boyfriend, but he wasn't going to ask. He was pretty sure Conor might also be goth, but he wasn’t sure. It might be weird to ask. Danny thought they were nice, but he didn't want to get close to someone only for him to disappear one day. He didn't want to lose more friends. There was nothing they could do to help him anyways, no ghosts for them to help him catch, no all-meat or vegetarian lunches in the cafeteria to riot about, nothing out of the ordinary. Danny didn’t want to get more people involved in his problems. They might get hurt, and he didn’t want that.

Danny's new place was, for lack of a better word, not ideal. He showered at a nearby gym at night, which was easier because he could turn invisible, and slept in the attic of the abandoned pizzeria. He found it more comfortable to sleep during lunch at school, or at the library, though, so he used the pizzeria for storing his stuff. Since he'd found the library, he'd been going everyday after school to do homework until he fell asleep in one of their comfy bean bags. He was surprised to find he was actually doing well in school now without the constant ghost attacks, or mishaps with his powers. Who knew he was actually pretty smart. Definitely not him. Or Dash. Now that he thought about it, Danny was pretty sure Lancer knew he was wasting his potential. He wondered if his old teacher missed him in class. Probably not. 

The Library closed around 7 though, and usually a nice librarian named Barbra would very politely wake him and kick him out. He'd then get a snack for dinner and then wander around in his ghost form invisibly. Danny didn't actually need to eat as much, considering his ghost form just leeched ectoplasm from his surroundings constantly now- something he learned from Frostbite’s lectures. Danny was just glad he wouldn’t have to make trips into the Zone to get the ectoplasm he needed. 

Speaking of his ghost form, he wasn't stupid enough to use it in Gotham. Even though Dash would argue otherwise about his smarts, Danny knew having the Gotham vigilante's attention would be a bad thing. The Justice League and affiliates were government approved, so any heroes who were in contact with him would be obligated to turn him in to the GIW according to the Anti-Ecto Act. Anything with ectoplasm was no longer sentient and sadly that included Danny. So, he figured staying invisible as much as possible would work in his favor. 

As a ghost, his core obsession to protect people determined his actions a lot more than he wanted it to. At first, he was fine with protecting himself, and staying out of the way. He'd caught glimpses of the vigilantes from afar and was not planning on introducing himself anytime soon. But his core urged him to help. The humming had only gotten stronger, and it made him extremely anxious to not help people every day. After a few days, he was wandering at night, unable to sleep in the dark attic of the Pizzeria- and also not needing as much sleep as a regular person. With no ghost attacks late at night or homework to catch up on, he was more than a little restless.                                                                                                                                                                                         

Danny had stuck to his goal of staying invisible on his nightly trips, but he'd do small things. Trip up a burglar, ice someone’s shoe to the ground, phase a gun out of someone's hand, the small stuff. Danny's core hummed with warmth whenever he managed to help a random citizen and keep the bad guys from doing any harm. He was so used to fighting ghosts, he wasn't sure how to go about fighting regular humans. Danny was very very afraid of going too far or using too much strength. Even on top of the fact that most of his weapons were only effective against ghosts. He couldn't stuff a robber into a thermos.... probably. 

So he left actual crime fighting to the Bats. Danny had gotten curious a few times, and tried to follow them across rooftops. It was easier considering he could fly, but he was still in awe at how they effortlessly moved through the shadows and jumped roofs with ease. Danny found himself tagging along more than he planned to, but the way the vigilante's bantered back and forth reminded him of his friends back home. It was… nice. And he’d already learned a lot about crime fighting with actual humans just by watching them. It was interesting to see how different Ghosts were in comparison. Danny himself would stick to small stuff, and leave the rogues to the Bats, but he tailed them as much as possible to help lessen their load or keep an eye on them. 

After one close call with a gun and an unaware Robin, Danny figured he could help out a bit and they wouldn’t mind. His core hummed louder around the Bats, and it felt…nice to feel like he was a part of things. He was invisible, and surely they wouldn't notice him knocking a gun astray, or a rock thrown at a random goon for a distraction. Danny was helping, but not getting involved in the big stuff, just like he’d promised. It wasn't like he was a vigilante, just… support from afar. It had taken a shorter amount of time than Danny thought it would for them to notice their apparent 'good luck'. 

The Bats had started noticing the small hiccups their villains were having, but didn't know why or where it was coming from, or if it was simply a coincidence. It started with staring. A few times, Danny had to hold back laughter as Red Robin examined a broken flower pot a little too seriously after he'd pushed it off a ledge towards a guy with a gun aimed at the vigilante. He knew he should probably stop following the vigilantes, but he was worried about them. Robin was just so small, and his core hummed happily whenever he protected them in some small way. 

Danny fully blamed his obsession for the bat-stalking he'd been doing. Sure, he helped people when the bats weren't around still, but it was less lonely with the group, and his core had latched onto the family. He wasn’t completely sure if it was because he was missing his own family, but Danny felt better around the Bats. He’d give them their secrecy though, and didn’t pursue them anytime they were on their way home. He didn’t care about their identities as long as they more or less let him tag along. 

The initial suspicion dissipated after a few weeks, and Danny was amused and appreciative when they started to try to communicate with him. Robin mostly ignored him after telling the empty alleyway seriously that he would not tolerate threats, and if he hurt the other vigilante's in any way, Robin would dispose of him. It was funny, but Danny had no doubt the kid would find some way to do it if the ghost crossed the little kid. 

Red Robin, when he was alone, would ask Danny questions. He figured out Danny was willing to communicate by moving objects, and asked questions to confirm some worries. It started with "Why are you helping us?" To which Danny had just kicked an empty can lightly towards the vigilante. From then, Red Robin had figured out a yes or no system that would help get him answers. Danny had fun answering the questions when there was time.

"Okay, uh, kick the can for yes, and the rock for no. Are you going to hurt us?" One kick to the rock. 

"Are you... helping us?" Red Robin asked, raising an eyebrow behind the mask, and Danny cheered internally while kicking the can. He hoped the vigilantes would let him continue to help. “I mean, you have been helping us, but you really don’t need to. We’re professionals.” 

Danny shrugged, floating a few feet in the air, but Red Robin couldn’t see that. Of course Danny knew they’d be fine without him, but he was, for lack of a better word, bored. And they reminded him of his family back home. Without his ‘nightly job’, he had no doubt that his core would reduce him to an anxious ball of goop. 

"Are you…in trouble?" Red Robin said after, and Danny wasn't sure how to respond. He thought for a moment, but before he could do anything, Robin followed up with,"We can help you." to which Danny had kicked the rock in a burst of panic. No, no, no.  He didn't want the bats in his business. For his own safety as well as theirs. No telling what the GIW would do. 

Red Robin frowned at that, but took a seat in the alley. The vigilante seemed to be thinking of a question, but Danny stayed around, eager for some sort of conversation that wasn't from school. And a part of him felt that, if the vigilantes knew what was happening in Amity they’d help. Even if they had to go against the government. Well, he hoped. Tucker had mentioned trying to contact the Justice League about their issue before. "So you need help, but don't want ours." Danny kicked the can. The vigilante thought for a moment longer, then decided to stop pushing for the time being.

"Are you a ghost?" Danny kicked the can, laughing silently at the incredulous face Red Robin made in response. "What the fuck,"He'd muttered, then froze abruptly. "Are you haunting me?"

Just for laughs, Danny kicked the can. Red Robin paled, belatedly reaching for his comm or a weapon, but Danny kicked the rock after a second, making the kid let out a breath of air. The vigilante looked around the alleyway "That was a joke, right?"

Danny kicked the can, shoulders shaking from trying to contain his laughter. "Very funny, almost gave me a heart attack,"He mumbled. A second later, he stood up, brushing himself off.  "You should hang out with Nightwing more, I'm sure he'd love to play pranks with you sometime. As long as they aren't on me,"Red Robin added. 

"Are you... older than Eighteen?" Red Robin asked suddenly, and Danny kicked the rock nonchalantly.”Alright, younger then. And you’re a ghost.”  After a pause, he asked. "Are you lonely?" 

Danny left after kicking the can. He didn't want to talk about it, but figured it would be rude to not answer at least. And he was lonely. Danny missed Jazz, and Sam and Tucker and Ellie. At that point he'd been in Gotham a few weeks and it had been just as long since he'd seen any sign of the ghosts too. He hoped everyone was okay. Danny missed his family so much his core ached. And a part of him hoped Red Robin would talk to him more or let him patrol with them if Red knew he was lonely. 

Nightwing was one of his favorite vigilantes to stalk. He'd been a little caught off guard the first few times, but after a while it seemed Nightwing was happy to have someone to chat with. After Danny had phased the gun out of someone's hand, Nightwing had continued fighting without pause, but after all the thugs were tied up he'd put his hands on his hips and looked around for where Danny might be. "Thanks for the assist Casper!" Nightwing had called out. "I don't know if you're still here, but-"

 Danny knocked over a tupperware container on the ground, and Nightwing relaxed. "Oh, sweet you’re here. That’s mildly terrifying actually,” He rambled. “You know, I have a few more places to patrol, wanna race?"

And since that time, Nightwing somehow roped him into a bunch of activities to keep his mind off Amity Park. Usually, Danny would find some subtle way to let the vigilantes know he was with one of them for the night, like tap them, or toss a rock in their direction. Physical contact wasn't usually received well, so he didn't do it often. He could tell it really unnerved Batman, but he also didn't follow Batman as much as the others. Danny was a bit intimidated. Okay, he was a lot intimidated.  

Same with Robin. He hung around him a lot since the kid was fun to annoy, and he was worried about him going off on his own sometimes. The kid had said on numerous occasions that he was more than capable and did not need assistance from a mere ghost. Danny thought Robin and Batman were pretty similar. 

So, Danny avoided touching the vigilantes as much as possible. Except for that time when Nightwing asked him to phase through him. That had been pretty funny. He'd then convinced Danny to do it to Red Robin when they met up with him, and then Robin when the kid showed up asking why they were meeting without him. Nightwing had laughed his ass off, Robin had threatened to exorcize him, and it was hard for Danny to keep quiet. It was times like those he’d go back to the pizzeria with a smile on his face. 

From there, they'd sometimes give Danny little tasks to complete, like pass notes back and forth, -or in Nightwing’s case he passed jokes- check in on one of them, or to scope out a building and tell them how many people were inside by using rocks or tapping. It made him feel useful, and it reminded him of his friends back home. Like he was part of a team. It was nice. 

Danny was less lonely at night with the vigilantes. He hardly slept in his dingy little crawl space, opting to spend his nighttime with the heroes and get an hour or so of sleep at school or the library. He still didn't need to eat as much as before the lab accident, so the snacks he got in the morning from Tim, lunch at school, and the meal he ate after the library was fine to keep him going. Danny could tell he was worrying Tim a bit, but he figured the guy was just being polite. Even though Danny didn’t need to eat much, he still ate the snacks Tim brought him, to reassure the shorter kid that he wasn’t starving himself. He'd spent a few more hours sleeping before school to make up for it, hoping his eye bags weren't as prominent as they had been lately. As a newly mutated Halfa, he didn’t need to sleep more than four hours a night usually, and if he was avoiding sleep due to nightmares, well, that was for him to know.

A month of doing his not-vigilante but kind of vigilante thing, he was finally getting some sort of rhythm. He'd received a message from Tucker not too long ago detailing that he, Sam Ellie, and Jazz were fine. None of the ghosts had been caught by the GIW and they'd been setting some traps for the guys in white and Danny's parents. He could tell Sam was having a bit of vindictive pleasure with setting the traps to slow them down. Danny was pretty sure he heard something about a scoreboard. Meanwhile, Jazz was still being monitored by the Fentons.The GIW had been told of Danny's ghost-possessing, and the city's police force was still poking their nose around. Tucker had said Vlad had been seen talking to the Fentons, so it was likely the fruitloop- and by proxy Skulker or Technus- would get involved. Technus would be bad for Danny, so Tucker said it might be a while until the next check in and promised to delete anything remotely close to their correspondence. Danny had given a short message in response and a good luck text.

Danny felt his core hum in dismay, fingers twitching with the need to help, but he knew he couldn't go back. He still hated that the three of them had to solve his problems for him but… Part of him was glad he wouldn't have to go back there. Even the thought of the Fenton's basement sent shivers down his spine. So he tried to keep his mind off things, going to school and the library, then supporting the vigilantes at night. Danny sighed, knowing it could always get worse, and that his situation was temporary. He was lucky that his parents hadn't shipped him off to the GIW the moment he’d shown them Phantom. Danny wasn't sure he'd have been able to count on Jazz to get him out if that had happened.

Everything changed when Danny ran into the Red Hood one night.

He'd been following Nightwing, who was heading towards an area they usually stayed away from, when Red Hood showed up with his guns drawn. "I assume there's a reason you're in my territory?"

Danny didn't follow along with their conversation much, too busy trying to figure out why his ghost sense was acting up. He floated around the two, and the closer he got to Red Hood, the more his ghost sense flared. Was Red Hood like him? He passed in front of the red helmet, waving his arms. Danny's arms dropped to his side when he realized Hood couldn't see him like other ghosts could when he was invisible. Soon, when Nightwing jumped gracefully to another roof, Danny decided to follow Red Hood.

Watching him after a while, Danny could tell the Red Hood knew he was there. Or at least, could sense his presence. Danny wasn't sure if Red Hood was a halfa like him, or some kind of meta. It was interesting, because while he couldn’t feel any kind of core, he could still sense ectoplasm on the guy. What caused it? Did Red Hood generate ectoplasm himself? Danny wasn’t sure, no matter how long he stared at him. Either way, he could feel some type of ectoplasm coming off of Hood in small waves. It felt a lot like the ring of rage, and Danny shivered at the memory.

Suddenly, Red Hood drew a gun and pointed it to where Danny's head was. Caught up in his own thoughts, Danny was so startled he'd accidentally dropped his invisibility, letting out a small squeak. "A kid?" He heard Hood mutter, before the guy went into interrogation mode. "Who are you and why have you been following me?"

Danny stared wide eyed, willing himself to respond. "Uh- you, um," Danny stammered, trying to figure out how to explain that Danny was following him because he was possibly a halfa or contaminated with ectoplasm. "You um, you feel like a ghost."

Red Hood froze, and Danny scrambled to explain, floating away from the gun and waving his hands in a panicked way. He made sure to give Hood his space and not look threatening, but he felt like he needed to explain. One of the vigilantes was like him, meaning there was a possibility that they were hiding from the GIW too. Was Red Hood in hiding already? Did he know about the GIW?  "I- I mean usually I can sense when another ghost is close by, and you feel like a ghost does. Sort of. I was curious, so I m-may have followed you, but I’m on your side. Obviously, you can sense me or something and I can um, sense you so I mean, I was wondering why you feel like a ghost. Sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?" Red Hood grunted, cutting off Danny’s panicked rambling and holstering his gun, but not relaxing. The glowing green eyes of the ghost kid did nothing to reassure Jason of anything good. "And what the fuck do you mean about ghosts?"

Danny floated closer, squinting at Hood, and getting a feel for the ectoplasm inside him. It felt... corrupted in a way. Like the Ring of Rage."Oh, um. Well, I'm a ghost," Danny said, straightening himself. He didn't offer to shake hands, because he knew the other vigilante's didn't like it. He was way colder in his ghost form and it unsettled a lot of people. Tucker in particular hated it when he shoved his cold ghost hands under the geek’s shirt. "You can call me Phantom."

"Red Hood," The guy grunted, still suspicious, but Danny couldn't blame him. Meeting a ghost for the first time was always kinda disorienting.

"Right, explanation. So, I was haunting Nightwing- which, okay that sounds bad but he uh, he knows about it. Um, I mean he knows about me, sort of," Danny clarified, glancing at the Hood’s stiff posture." We race sometimes. And I don’t haunt him all the time. Um. Only when I see him on the roofs and stuff."

Red Hood crossed his arms, willing the kid- Was he a kid? He looked younger than the Replacement- to get on with the story. He was curious and on edge about how the ghost kid could tell he was.. not fully alive. And the fact that he could escape "Uh, right. So when he met with you I sort of sensed you were sort of like me, so I followed you because I was confused and worried about how you-"

"What do you mean like you?" Red Hood said, stepping forward menacingly, which didn't seem to phase the kid who was floating several feet in the air. Right, he was a ghost. How the heck would he be able to fight a ghost, he wondered. Maybe he’d call up Constantine after this. If he survived. 

"I mean it feels like you have ectoplasm in you, but it’s… different. All ghosts and Halfas have a core, but… I don't think you have one," He muttered, squinting at Jason's chest. When he floated closer Jason just took a step back. Danny held up his hands in surrender, backing off before the gun-toting vigilante decided to shoot him. It was just intriguing to meet a sort-of halfa. 

"A core?" Jason asked, staring at the kids glowing white hair that moved like he was underwater. He'd started to realize this was just a kid, probably just curious about why Jason felt similar to him. But where did Phantom come from? What was a ghost kid doing haunting Gotham of all places? Actually, Jason could think of a lot of reasons why someone would haunt Gotham. He figured he might as well get some useful information out of the kid, but it was unlikely that the kid meant any harm. Just…a curious kid, Jason decided. Still. It was weird.

"Right,"The kid said, putting a hand to his chin. Jason wondered if he'd ever had to explain this to anyone else before. Did the kid know any other ghosts like him? It was a sad thought. Was this kid all alone in his afterlife? Jason thought maybe Bruce would be happy to adopt a lonely ghost kid to forever haunt the manor. "Um, so every ghost has a core, it’s like their heart. Halfas are like ghosts, because they have a core, but they also have a heart, and stuff like that cuz they're half human. Cores are sustained by ectoplasm. You though, you don't have a core, so you aren't a halfa or a ghost, but you have ectoplasm. I'm not sure why."

Red Hood was silent for a moment before answering,"I do."

“You- you know how you got all that ectoplasm? Cause it's not the good kind," Danny asked with wide eyes, then wrinkled his nose. "It smells angry." He squinted, making Jason snort.

"Yeah." Hood grunted. That’s an understatement. "I died, but was brought back using the Lazarus pits. Basically a pit of toxic green water."

"Huh." Danny shifted, coming closer to examine the angry ectoplasm a bit more. He was in awe of how close Red Hood allowed him to get. He could see a bit of a green tinge in the air around Hood, and poked at it gently, making the Hood stiffen, but the vigilante didn’t move away."The green water- sludge, whatevers, we call it ectoplasm. It um. It can be other things, not just water, but yeah. The stuff around you sounds, and feels, like some form of corrupted ectoplasm. Usually it's all in the Ghost zone- a sort of different dimension for ghosts, but sometimes there's thin spots in the barrier between worlds so some ghosts or ectoplasm can get through."The ghost explained, then added with a thoughtful expression,"I'll have to talk to the ancients about those pits, probably not safe for humans to be falling into it all the time."

The last comment made Jason hum in agreement, silently reeling about a different realm filled with ghosts and lazarus energy, but wondered if giving this kid info about the pits was really a good idea or not. Red Hood kept an eye on the ghost kid the whole time, fingers itching for his guns while the kid scrutinized him. His nerves almost got the best of him a few times with the kid staring at him so intently. Maybe this was a bad idea. He could feel the kid’s presence, and if he was telling the truth then that meant the kid was also a part of the Lazarus pits in some way. His hand went for his gun, when the kid suddenly straightened up. "Well, since you're not a Halfa or anything, want me to get rid of it for you?"

"What," Jason snapped, narrowing his eyes. Get rid of the Pit rage? Could it be that easy? Why now of all times did this tiny ghost kid come along and try to fix all his problems? Was it a trap? Jason thought, considering.

"I mean, I've never done it before, but all ghosts can kind of control ectoplasm to an extent," Phantom said, holding his hand out, which was now glowing with green, as an example. Jason stared at the collection of green in the kid’s hand, and he felt… strangely at ease with it. Unlike the green from the pits, this was lighter somehow. Not angry. And a lighter green. "Mine is not corrupted though, so it probably feels different."

And it did. Jason didn't get that same feeling he got when he encountered anything pit-related. He could tell they were similar, but not. Phantom's green was.. calmer. "I can try to draw out the grumpy ectoplasm-"

“We are not calling it that,"Jason cut in, and the kid smirked at him in a way that reminded him of his brothers. Jason felt taken aback at how easy it was to banter with the weird ghost kid. He shrugged off the weird feelings and went back to business.  "No. We’re not. What would you do with it when you have it all?"

That question seemed to stump the kid. Jason squined, half convinced the kid was going to do something dangerous with it but instead of that, the kid just looked as confused as Jason as he started to ramble. "I dunno. It probably would taste pretty gross, but I don’t have a portal to the zone to toss it into either. I mean maybe I could find a natural portal. Maybe put it in a jar? It might get out though. I guess I could freeze it? Ghost ice doesn't melt. You could keep it around as a paperweight or something." Phantom shrugged, and the idea thrown out there that his constant rage could be filtered out of his body to be made into a paperweight was so damn strange that Jason knew there was probably no way this was a trap. Phantom was just a well meaning, too curious, kind of dumb kid.

“A paperweight,”Jason deadpanned. 

“I-I mean I can try to make it into a sculpture?” Phantom winced,”I’m not great at making anything other than spheres. I can try though? If you want a.. Prettier paperweight?”

Jason stared at the kid a moment in exasperation. “No. A sphere is. Fine.” Jason huffed. “So you’re taking the pit rage-”

“Grumpy ectoplasm,”Phantom cut in helpfully. Jason ignored him.

“-and freezing it in a sphere of ice that will never melt in order to contain it forever, and giving it to me as a paperweight,”Jason finished, trying to wrap his head around the ridiculousness of everything. 

“Yea,” Phantom finger-gunned. Jason sighed. 

"Alright,"Jason shrugged, opening his arms a bit. "Do your worst." He said before he had time to regret it. This was probably way against Bat protocol, especially since he didn’t know where the kid came from or anything about him, but Jason was curious. Plus, if Nightwing spent time racing the kid in his freetime then he couldn’t be too bad. Probably. And he may be getting his hopes up a bit. No way would Batman let him exchange trauma for a paperweight in an alley with the ghost of a child. Batman never let him do anything fun. 

"Nice! Okay hold still-"Phantom said, dropping to stand the ground, which surprised Jason because he could see the kid actually had legs now. Seeing legs instead of weird wisps of a tail was strange, but oddly made sense, and he noticed the kid was wearing some sort of hazmat suit with absolutely zero protection. He watched with suspicion as he held his palms out to Jason, but not touching, and closed his eyes. The kid took a breath- do ghosts breathe?- before Jason started to see this dark green mist start to waft off of him and collect vaguely in the kid's hands.

Jason startled, about to move away when he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He felt... lighter. The green haze that seemed to always be at the edge of his vision receded, and Jason almost felt... relieved. He didn't realize how suffocating all that rage was until it was gone. It very nearly drove him to tears. For the first time in forever he just felt… calm. Like he was taking a breath of fresh air after a lifetime of pollution. 

 "Aaand done!" Phantom exclaimed,and Jason had a feeling that Phantom would be doing jazz hands if he wasn’t holding.. Something. The kid was holding a menacing swirling mist of green in between his hands like a giant marble. He focused again for a moment before Jason felt a chill to the air, and suddenly there was a blue sphere in the kids hands, the inside a swirly green color suspense within the sparkling ice. 

"Here,"Phantom offered, giving him the sphere of Jason's pit rage before the vigilante could say anything. Jason looked at it a few moments with apprehension before shrugging. He'd have a breakdown about this later, he was sure, and pocketed the now paperweight in one of his pouches. The weight of it was not comforting in the least, and part of him wanted to throw it into the harbor as soon as he got a chance. He didn’t though. Yet. "I think I got all of it, but if you start feeling it again come find me. I’ll probably be around Nightwing or something. You feel okay, right?"

Pushing aside Jason's questions of how the hell was he supposed to find an invisible ghost kid in Gotham of all places, he nodded. "Y-yeah. Thanks."

"No problem," Phantom waved, once again floating into the air, only this time sitting criss-cross applesauce. Jason sort of thought he might be dreaming. Might as well try to get some answers though, he thought. “And it won’t melt or break. Unless, like, I get killed as a ghost or something but it might not melt at that either.” 

"Why would you help me? Why would you tell me about any of this at all?" Jason asked, leaning against the wall. He felt exhausted all of a sudden, and elected to ignore Phantom’s comment about something possibly killing him as a ghost. Whether it be from the emotional whiplash or from having ecto-whatever pulled from his body, he didn't know. Still, he didn’t regret letting the kid turn his trauma into a paperweight. He had a passing thought about whether this meant he’d die without the ectoplasm, but honestly didn’t care over the relief of it being gone for good. 

"’Cause you seemed like you needed help. And I didn't have any when I became,"Phantom trailed off, and Jason winced when he gestured to himself. "It can be scary,"He continued in a softer tone. "Having to get used to new powers and stuff."

Jason shivered, and felt a pang in his chest that the kid had probably died at that age. Phantom looked younger than Tim, who was fifteen. "You mentioned Halfas? Are they common?" Jason asked, suddenly aware of a possible new threat. People who were more half-dead than Jason and possibly had powers like the ghost in front of him. "How come I haven't heard of them or ghosts like you before?"

"Nah," Phantom said, still quiet. "There's only three Halfas that I know of. And you probably wouldn't know about any of us, since we're all usually in hiding." Especially right now, Danny thought. 

"Why? Wouldn't halfas be like metas? They’d have protection." Jason asked, and Phantom could hear concern and confusion in his voice, despite the voice modifier.

Phantom shook his head, white hair swishing gently in the ghostly atmosphere, and Jason noticed pointy ears."Halfas fall under the Anti-ecto Acts according to your government. Anything with ectoplasm isn't classified as human, or sentient, and the Ghost Investigation Ward is able to hunt down and experiment on them,"The ghost shivered. "That's why I was confused about you. And worried, cause exposure to ectoplasm isn’t usually planned and can be difficult to get used to without help from a ghost.. I wasn't sure if you'd be at risk if the GIW found out about you.  They have… sort of a way to track ectoplasm. If they knew about you they’d…" Phantom trailed off, but Jason got the picture. 

"Oh,"Jason breathed. This went a hell of a lot deeper than he thought it did. And Jason could have just been taken and experimented on at any point before this and it would be legally allowed? Yikes. He needed to do more research on this for sure. "You mentioned a ghost zone?"

"Oh, yeah," Phantom waved nonchalantly. "It’s also called the Infinite Realms. Houses all the ghosts, ruled by the ghost king, blah, blah. It's been a while since I've been back, but the whole thing is made up of ectoplasm. Usually there’s weak spots that can act as a portal between the two worlds, but some ghosts have the ability to create portals. As far as I know only three ghosts in the Zone where I’m from can do that. There’s also man-made portals, where people from this realm sort of…poke holes? Into the Ghost Zone. It’s usually a pretty bad idea."Phantom added, rubbing the back of his neck. "Some ghosts can be kinda dangerous. Or ghosts who want to be left alone fall through and get trapped here. They all have their own obsessions to follow and sometimes humans can get hurt. Or the ghost hunters take the ghosts for experiments, try to kill them, stuff like that."

Jason thought for a moment, letting the info-dump process in his mind a bit before a thought came to mind. "Do you know where the Halfas are? How did they become half-ghosts?" He asked, to which Phantom inclined his head, but said nothing.

"If they're hiding from this shady government organization, I can help,"Jason argued, and Phantom shook his head stiffly. "Isn't there anything you can tell me about them?"

"If you go after the GIW, you might not come back,"Phantom warned. "They don't just exterminate ghosts, they use them to make weapons or power sources. It's dangerous, and they don't know halfas exist yet." Danny hoped so at least. His own parents thought he was just being possessed by Phantom, so there was a good chance they weren't aware of them yet. "I'd like to keep it that way. It’s safer for them if no one knows they exist. They know how to hide. They have protection. They’ll be fine."

Hood sighed, feeling the weight of his rage in his pocket. He was sure he’d have his gun out at this point if he’d still had all that rage inside him. Now he just felt kind of exhausted. He’d look into this shady organization no matter what the kid said though. Even if there were only three half-humans out there, they didn’t deserve to be hunted. Hell, even ghosts like this kid didn’t deserve to be hunted. Maybe if the Bats could get into contact with the ghost king then they can come up with some sort of truce between both realms. 

”Alright. Fine,"Jason grumbled. "I'll look into it and see if I can't get it shut down.” Phantom froze up, so Jason quickly added,”Don't worry, I won't mention any of your secrets to anyone. I won't pry about the halfas either,"He sighed again, thinking of how this was probably a job for Batman. It's possible Tim already is semi-aware of it at least, Jason figured. 

Jason wondered if Phantom in Gotham meant one or more of the halfas were hiding here, and he was just keeping an eye out for them. Was the kid protecting the halfa’s here? Were there other ghosts around doing the same? It seemed like something the kid might do. "Just, keep the halfas and ghosts safe, and stay out of trouble."

"Aye aye," Phantom saluted, before disappearing into the night. Jason paused, no longer able to feel the ghost's presence when he went invisible. Jason reached into his pocket, feeling the smooth cold surface of the pit rage. 

What a weird night, he thought.

Chapter 3

#dpxdc #dcxdp #phantom in gotham #pog #Danny Phantom #tim drake #jason todd

[cozy-earthbaby]

Crack Fic - 3 of a Soul

Part 1

(A/N - silly little fic start that I don’t know if I’ll keep writing but I think it’s funny! Crossover fic from DC Marvel and Danny Phantom lol. Also my friend’s oc cuz why not? Enjoy)

—

—

For Peter, it was a knife in Doctor Strange's bag.

For Danny, it was an old camera floating in the zone.

For Ro, it was a book in an abandoned bunker.

Next thing any of them knew, the three where floating in a void. Souls connected. Memories shared. A new world awaiting them...

---

---

A new cafe had popped up on the edge of Crime alley. That in itself wasn't strange.

What was strange was that in the month that it was there, nothing had happened to it.

No robbery, no villain attack, no cross-gun fire, no gangs trying to claim it. Nothing.

And it was making the Bats itch.

Tim had done a background check on the place. It was clean. Weird, but clean. It was under the name of three college students. All going to Gotham Tech.

First was the main down payment, done by one Peter Parker. Hier to a Tech company in New York, double majoring in Biology and Enginering, clearly brilliant. A real hometown sweetheart, much like 'Brucie'. Peter Parker was the prince of New York, and his father Tony Stark was the king. Clearly not hurting in the money department due to his father, government weapons contracts did pay well.

Next was a Midwestern boy named Danny Fenton. From 'small town USA', the kids nothing records aside from his school grades and bare bone medical info made him basically a ghost. Only his sister's local Clinic and filed complaints about his parents driving. They're both were freelance engineers, explaining his own choice in majors. Scholarship money with his perfect entrance scores.

Lastly, Aurora 'Ro' Jasimen. Bounced around the country in foster care, online schooling, birth certificate. If Danny was a ghost, Ro didn't exist. In general studies, having a scholarship as well.

Now the question was, how did these three meet, and why did they open a cafe together?

---

The first to check the place out was Tim.

Jason had been not so subtlety dropping hints that the cafe rubbed him the wrong way, and it was getting on his nerves. Their relationship is a lot better than it was at the start, but Jay was a born instigator through and through. Tim decided that he wasn't going to die on this hill and caved pretty early. The background check was weird, but nothing too crazy, but Jay kept pushing. Even Bruce was paying attention now, so that's how Tim wound up standing in front of the infamous cafe.

It was cute shop-townhouse combo, apparently the three lived here as well. The sign out front was simple yet elegant, reading 'Wha Chai Doin?' as the name of the place. The pun made Tim snort. 'Dick would love this place.'

As he entered the shop, the bell on the door announcing his arrival, Tim was hit with the comforting smell of coffee. He was almost taken aback from how homey and cozy the inside was, despite being empty at the moment. It was strange in a city like Gotham.

"Danny! Can you get that for me?" A feminine voice called from somewhere, causing Tim to tense.

'Danny' came out from the back with a lethargic grace Tim couldn't take his eyes off as he approached the counter. 'Danny' was pale, almost sickly, a tad shorter than Tim, with impossibly dark hair and, despite the eye bags, the brightest blue eyes Tim had ever seen. His presence both demanded attention and demanded for one to look away. Tim felt himself freeze as their eyes met, he recognized the look immediately, those where the eyes of a predator. 'Danny' defiantly noticed the hesitation. A lazy grin and a cocked brow rested on his face.

"Hey. How can I help ya?" His voice held mischief, despite the friendly midwestern drawl.

Tim's brain finally caught up. "Hi. Sorry. I'll... Uh, I'll take a medium Death Wish please."

'Danny' looked him over for a moment, lazy grin growing to match the mischief in his voice. "Ya got it," He said as he punched in the order, " Name?"

"T-Tim." The eye contact was making his skin crawl, but he refused to look away. This only seeded to amuse 'Danny' more, the boy sending Tim a wink as he continued.

"Alrighty-Roo! One medium order of Death Wish 'or Tim comin' right up!" 'Danny' announced, rather loudly, to the back, then turned back to Tim without taking his eyes off him. "$4.75, card or cash?"

"Cash." How in the world was Tim going to stake out this place with those terrifying eyes on him. His plan was to get some coffee and work on his computer, he could hang around for an hour or two. But now he wasn't so sure.

"M`kay." His toothy grin was getting dangerous. Teeth almost looking sharp. Fear was growing within him. He had to get out of there. He had to. He--

Not another moment later after Tim got his change, his coffee there ready. Deliverd by an angel. Both He and Danny startled.

A handsome young man with chestnut hair and sweet honey doe eyes brought it out. He was more built than either of them, slightly taller too. His face and eyes were warm and open, a contrast to 'Danny', and his smile friendly. The tension melted away. 'This must be Peter. I can see how he'd charm all of New York. Bet he's a lot like Dick.'

"Here you are! Sorry about Danny, we just got him to stop biting people." His New York accent was strong and playful. The friendly tease caused a snort from Tim and a Dramatic gasp from Danny.

"Petey! 'Att's so unfair! I was just helpin' Ro out!" Danny whined out, flopping onto the other man. "I wasn' doin anything! Swear!" Danny couldn't seem to hold in his own laugh, Peter joined right after. The intimidating aura that was coming from him all but vanished, breaking the illusion of whatever that was. Now Danny just was some attractive, tired, goofy guy, not Tim's newest nightmare.

The lovely laughing that came from Peter and Danny made Tim feel warm. "Right, 'cuz freaking out the customers is 'helping out'. I could Feel the tension from the back. At least he was able to order before you started being weird." Peter flicked Danny's head, earning a groan. Tim couldn't help his smile, the two of them were strangely charming how they acted off each other. An apologetic smile was sent Tim's way. "Sorry again about that. Name's Peter."

"Tim. And don't worry about it. I've lived in Gotham all my life. I don't mind weird." In truth Tim was embarrassed that Danny got to him. He was Red Robin! He worked with Batman for crying out loud.

"Yeah, Sorry. Ya knows what they say about old habits!" Danny smirked to himself as if he told a great joke. Peter just sighed.

"Yes, yes. You're a master of comedy." Peter drily delivered, "come on. Leave the man to his coffee we gotta work."

Danny's protest went unhear as Peter returned to the back.

After a moment, Danny turned back to Tim. "I really am sorry, man. wasn' trin'a freak ya out."

"It's ok. This Is Gotham after all." Tim offered a smile. Danny smiled back a bit tired.

" 'Preciate 'att. Hollar if ya need anything!" And with that, Danny followed after Peter, sending Tim a wink and a smirk before disappearing as well. Tim's face was as hot as his coffee.

Tim got a whole day's work done after that. maybe the place was weird, but it was charming. Even after everything blows over, he thinks that he might just keep coming to the cute cafe at the edge of the Ally.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dc x dp #dp x dc #ghost king danny #dp x dc crossover #ghost #phantom #marvel #peter parker #spiderman #spiderverse #crackship #crack fic #fanfic #batfam #tim drake wayne #tim drake #red ribbon #batman #tony stank #jason todd #ocs #i’m tried #dead tired #danny x tim #3 of a soul

[ddesertmoon]

Batman Fic Recs Feat. Jason Todd’s Return

All my favorite fics about Jason’s return to the family. Gen, and mostly hurt/comfort.

-

Red Hood by envysparkler

“Gotham doesn’t relinquish her soldiers, no matter how far they’ve fallen from the nest.”

In my opinion, this is THE quintessential Red Hood debut fic. It’s got this one trope I love: regular civilians take a chance and protect their protector (it happens a lot with Spider-Man and its really great to see crime alley thanking Jason in the same way).

-

Vermillion by xandromedan

“Jason Todd returns to Gotham with a bang. In between setting up a criminal empire, dealing with national conspiracies, and the Joker, he re-learns how to be a person.

When the Bats learn of a new face in Gotham's underground, they get interested. Some of them get friendly. His plan becomes... complicated.”

I love when Red Hood becomes close to the bats without revealing his identity… idk something about how he BELONGS with them even though he’s changed…

-

hang on ‘til the chaos is through by JustGail

“BEFORE:

Jason likes Tim. Or, he thinks he does. Tim has spent most of the week since he moved in locked up in his room, only coming out for meal times and sometimes to use the big TV in the media room, but the few words Jason has managed to extract from Tim show a bright kid who can clearly easily keep up with the best of ‘em, despite his young age. So he’s pretty sure he likes Tim, or at least will, with time.

AFTER:

Tim knows there’s something going on, and the worst part is that Batman isn’t even trying to pretend there isn’t something going on.

Stay out of it, he’d told him. Like something as big as a new player in town is something that Robin could stay out of. That Tim could stay out of.”

So so SO good. The story focuses on Jason and Tim and how they both join (or return, in Jason’s case) to the family. Both of them are characterized perfectly.

-

ghost story by envysparkler

“Jason Todd dies in Ethiopia. Well. Kind of.”

After Jason dies, he’s forced to watch his family grieve as a ghost. This gives him a new perspective when he returns to Gotham (which changes everything). I LOVE this fic. It’s suspenseful and emotional, AND there’s found family.

-

Twists And Turns Will Take You Home by Sun_Moon_Stars_Jedi

“Bruce Wayne is used to getting kidnapped. He's used to Gotham's villains hating him.

So why does this new crime lord come to his aid when he can't defend himself?”

Short and sweet. A little identity reveal fic because Jason Todd + identity reveal is my favorite combination of things. The fact that it’s told from Bruce’s perspective and you can see his slow realization… perfect!

-

miss me? by envysparkler

“Jason’s plan to observe his family’s reactions to his resurrection…does not go as intended.”

Basically, Tim, Dick, and Bruce assume Jason is a hallucination because they’re all so fucked in the head that them hallucinating him makes more sense than like. Magic or something. Very good! I love it when characters are fucked up and sad.

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Late Night Encounters by paperxcrowns

“Not long after Jason comes back to Gotham and asserts himself as the Red Hood, Tim meets Jason in a diner late at night and by some miracle he doesn't recognize him. After another chance meeting where Jason still doesn't make the connection between him and Robin, Tim decides that this might just his chance to get to know Jason Todd.”

Pretty much exactly what it says in the description. Red Hood hates Robin, but he befriends the sad teenager named Tim. The secret identity thing causes issues which cause explosive emotions and slight agony for the characters!

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best laid plans by Valkirin

“Tim Drake knows that Batman needs a Robin. When Bruce and Dick aren't interested in what he has to say, Tim makes his way to the cemetery to say a few words to the boy he's trying to replace.

Tim has the chance to say far more than he expected when Jason digs himself out of his grave that night. Tim does his best to get Jason home to Bruce. The League of Assassins finds them first.”

This one’s more about both Jason and Tim “coming home” but I’m going to count it because I love this fic. In the end, they’re all together which is all I can ask for.

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dead ringer by punkrockhades

“‘Oh, are you guys talking about Jason?’ said a familiar mechanized voice from across the rooftop, and the Bats spun around to spot the Red Hood casually leaning against the rooftop access door. ‘I miss that kid, he was a riot. Hope he’s doing alright.’

There was a moment of silence as the entire group stared at Red Hood, processing his words, and then Red Robin blurted, ‘Wait, you know Jason?’

‘Sure,’ Red Hood responded breezily, amusement written in the lines of his posture. ‘We got pushed into the Pit at the same time. He went a little crazy and fell off a cliff, but shit could only go up from there, am I right?’”

Basically Jason (as Red Hood) pretends to be his own friend and casually makes the batfam lose their minds. Very funny!

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Aftermath by ivy_and_ivory

“Now: Batman is in Paris, pulled there by a case that extends beyond Gotham’s borders, when circumstances lead him to a badly injured Red Hood – who might hold the key to Batman’s investigation.

Then: The Red Hood storms into Gotham, begins to stake his claim on the criminal underground, then abruptly disappears – but only after he breaks into Arkham Asylum and leaves the Joker dead in his own cell.”

You have to have an ao3 account to read this fic (sorry) but if anyone wants to know how to make one I can help! This is a really great case fic. Batman doesn’t know who the Red Hood is, but their relationship is complicated from the start because he was able to do what Batman never could: kill the Joker.

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Tap by CKBookish

“Bruce returns home from the time stream, haunted by phantoms and dreams. Dreams of a past that can't be real.

But all of that wouldn't be so bad if his home didn't feel so empty in the absence of one of his children. Jason, refuses to talk to him or even answer his calls and Bruce can't figure out why or what he did wrong, not after they had mended their fences before his disappearance.

Meanwhile,

Catherine struggles to hold it together for her and Jason as life falls apart around them. When all she has to give is love she does her best to give it all.”

I really love this fic because it shows vignettes of Jason’s life with his mom without shitting on her as a character. Also, it’s a bit different from the other fics here because it takes place after Bruce comes back from the timestream instead of at the beginning of Jason’s stint as Red Hood.

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when my cage is by the window (I can see the sun) by mikkal

“When he was seven, Damian finally escaped the League of Assassins - but not without his brother sacrificing himself to give him time. Now, six years later, he's Robin and Tim's been captured by Ra's in his latest plot. The family goes to Nanda Parbat to rescue him only to run into a revelation that might just break them.”

This fic is INSANELY well written. The small snippets of Jason and Damian’s time together are beautiful. It doesn’t have a happy ending necessarily, but you could probably interpret it as a happy ending!

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robin’s roast by envysparkler

“There’s a new coffee shop in Crime Alley. It’s called the Red Hood.”

Jason gets to establish himself in Gotham as the owner of a new coffee shop instead of as a crime lord. This ends up being more effective in completing some of his goals than being the Red Hood would have been.

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grave secrets by envysparkler

“Jason only came back to confront Batman and kill the Joker. His job is done.”

Be sure to mind the trigger warnings in the tags. This fic is very different from a lot of the ones on this list, but it’s VERY good.

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The Long Road Home by BumblingBeesAndWillowTrees

“The first time Jason held Damian in his arms, the green abated and he knew he had never loved anyone else so fiercely before.

The thing about love is that it is so rarely enough.”

Jason raising Damian!!!! The family meeting Damian and not knowing that Jason raised him!!! Identity reveals! Aaaaaaaaa!!

Also, you need to have an ao3 account to read this fic, sorry.

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prodigal by punkrockhades

“Dick liked to think he had a pretty good handle on the whole ‘big brother’ thing by now, even if Tim still saw sleep as optional and Damian still got a little stabby when a hug lasted too long.

But then Damian’s other big brother comes to town, mysterious and red-helmeted and oddly familiar, and seems to want nothing to do with the Bats sans Damian. Damian is strangely close-lipped about his other brother's past, but Dick is determined to find out more about the Red Hood - he could always use more little brothers, anyway!”

The batfam knows the Red Hood as a violent vigilante (and as Damian’s mysterious brother) but then they get to meet Jason!! Identity reveal and all that jazz!

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the bird, the fog, the mist by bacondoughnut

“Jason Todd returns to Gotham with a foolproof plan, to kill the Joker and protect the city as the Red Hood in a way that Batman never could. But when he gets there he makes one major decision that's not a part of the plan. He goes home.

aka; The one where Jason tries to balance being the Red Hood with repairing things with his family, and maybe learns a thing or two about forgiveness and family and love along the way”

Jason comes home but he’s still the Red Hood and there’s a WONDERFUL amount of secrets being kept. I like this one because it’s the opposite from a lot of the other fics on this list (in that the family meets Jason Before they meet Red Hood)

You need to have an ao3 account to read this fic

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forward tho’ I canna see by nex_et_nox

“One of the thugs trying to sneak up behind Robin stoops low, comes back up swinging at Robin's unprotected back with a fucking crowbar—

Metal clatters against the ground; the body follows it a second later.

Jason lifts his finger from the trigger.

Robin whirls, taking in the body dropped with a headshot. With a scowl, Jason kneecaps the idiots trying to take out Robin from behind again.

[or: Jason, newly returned to Gotham as the Red Hood, keeps accidentally helping out the Bats. It's really frustrating.]”

Oneshot with a bunch of interactions between Red Hood and the bats. Identity reveal that’s soft and sweet and everything I’m looking for <3

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Bonus: Incomplete Fics (at the time of this list’s creation)

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riptide by punkrockhades

“Jason’s first mistake was hacking the Bats’ secret comm channel.

Although could it really be called hacking when they’d never bothered to change their frequency since his Robin days? All he’d had to do was log on, and boom – instant access to the best ways to avoid meddlesome Bats while he got shit done. And since his end was carefully muted, they wouldn’t even know anyone was listening.

His second mistake was thinking he could listen without getting sucked back into their drama.”

I love this fic SO much. It made me feel so many emotions… the buildup to Jason’s reveal is amazing and the reveal itself is perfect. The last chapter is (as of right now) not posted, but that chapter is an epilogue so the story is able to stand without it! A million out of ten, would recommend.

Chapters: 5/6

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what you’re longing for (you claim to abhor) by Ghxst_Bird

“He smiles, all teeth, ‘Come on Replacement, I even got to the door with both legs busted. This should be nothing.’

‘You’re right. Jason… Jason wouldn’t have given up. He would fight, I can still—’

The boy wobbles, and Jason has to suppress the mortifying impulse to jump to his aid.

‘I can still fight. Batman needs me.’

‘That’s a terrible idea,’ he muses aloud, and if there’s a hint of real concern somewhere under all the roiling green, well, nobody can prove it.”

AAAAAAAAAGH THIS FIC. This fic is SO good. There’s a ton of interactions between Jason and the family when they don’t know his ID because they assume that Red Hood’s relationship with Jason Todd isn’t “of course I know him, he’s me” but something Very Different. Angst, humor, the whole shebang.

Chapters: 10/11

(likely to update soon as the author has been posting a lot recently, but who’s to say. Either way, great story!)

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Welp, there they are! Hope everyone enjoys because this is my favorite trope :D

#fic rec #batfam fic rec #fanfiction #jason todd #bruce wayne #red hood #Batman #batfam #dc #batman fanfiction #dick grayson #damian wayne #tim drake #Jason Todd returns home