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elizabethemerald · 1 year

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Protective Instincts: Part 1

Based off my “Mistaken Identity AU” wherein Danny momentarily mistakes Bruce as his father and is eventually adopted into the family. Full serious of Protective instincts stories will be up on AO3 when they are all written.

“Alright Danny! Courtesy of our new best friend Oracle, I have your brand new ID hot off the press.” Tucker called into the room as he entered.

Danny and Sam were in their shared bedroom in Wayne Manor. Danny was finishing painting Sam’s nails with her customary black. His own were painted a dark purple. Now that they were all finally safe and reconnected it was time to get back to feeling like themselves again. It was well past time they had fun and colorful (or black in Sam’s case) nails. Tucker would get his turn as soon as Sam’s were dry.

Of course there were more than enough rooms in Wayne Manor for them all to have separate rooms, but after a chaotic first night wherein every member of the trio had their own nightmares then panicked when they couldn’t find each other. Even Jazz, usually the most emotionally steady and mentally healthy member of their group didn’t sleep at all that first night as she kept checking on Danny, Sam and Tucker.

So it was decided that the trio would share a bedroom. The bedrooms were definitely large enough for the three of them to sleep side by side by side, and considering they had all crammed themselves into Danny’s tiny twin at the Fenton’s household, they slept comfortably. Plus it made it easier for Jazz to anxiously check on them if they were all in the same bed. Alfred and the Waynes didn’t say anything about them rooming together, though the trio did get a few raised eyebrows when they left their room together.

“Daniel Edward Nightingale.” Tucker said as he handed over the ID with a flourish.

“I can’t believe you picked Edward as your middle name.” Sam said with a sigh as she started to blow on her nails to get them to dry.

“Well Jazz wanted her last name to be Nightingale, you two wanted to share a last name.” Tucker said as he sat down and started looking through the nail polishes that Cassandra and Stephanie had loaned them. Sam’s collection was still in Amity Park. “There are so many puns I can come up with, with those letters.”

Left unsaid was that any middle name that started with an A was completely off the table. Danny didn’t need anymore reminders of Dan. Danny looked over his new paperwork as he spoke.

“Yeah and we’ve already established I’m terrible at naming things. That’s apparently something I inherited from Jazz.”

None of them mentioned Jack and Maddie’s terrible names they gave things. There were a lot of things that were being left unsaid between the three of them.

“Actually, speaking of my sister, have either of you seen her?” Danny asked, standing and stretching.

“Yeah, I handed her ID to her first. She immediately grabbed her purse and left the Manor. Apparently she’s desperate to start the job search so she’s not indebted to Bruce.”

“Did she leave alone?” Danny asked, his voice rising and he knew his eyes were flashing green.

“No, don’t worry. Jason was standing around in the kitchen and he got voluntold to be her escort. He’s got his guns, and Jazz has her creep stick. They’ll be safe.”

“Oh well, that’s good.”

“You don’t sound thrilled. I know you’re worried about her, but she’ll be ok.” Sam said as she started layering a neon blue polish onto Tucker’s nails.

“Yeah, I trust her.” Even if his voice was a little hesitant. “It’s just now that we have real IDs and everything, I was hoping she would help me get my prescription set up, it’s been like a month since I had my last T shot.”

Tucker whipped out his PDA and started typing one handed while Sam glared at him to stop moving so much lest she mess up his nails.

“I’ve got the closest respectable pharmacy, and I’ve already sent in your prescription. I’ve even rearranged their queue and marked your order as a priority fill. It should be ready to pick up in a few minutes.”

Danny gave him a wide smile, then looked nervous again.

“Uh, I was also hoping Jazz could help me administer the shot. Maybe one of you could…?”

He trailed off as both of them looked uncomfortable. Sam capped the polish she was working with and put her hand on Danny’s arm.

“Danny, we love you. But I don’t think either of us are going to be able to stick you with a needle any time soon.” She said. Tucker gave him an anxious smile and a small nod.

“Oh. Well I guess I could do it myself. No problem right!” Even in his own ears the words sounded like false bravado.

“Hey, maybe one of the Waynes would be able to help you out?”

“What can the Waynes help you with?

Before Danny could reply a voice from the hallway made him whip around. Tucker had left the door open in his excitement and standing there, not entering their space but still leaning casually on the doorframe was Dick Grayson.

“Sorry to butt in. And for eavesdropping but I couldn’t help but overhear.” Dick said with a small smile, trying to put them at ease.

Danny consciously forced himself to relax. When he had been startled he had whirled so he was in front of Sam and Tucker his fists raised and his gleaming with a green light. He let out a slow breath and relaxed his clenched and ready muscles. Dick wasn’t a threat. Sam and Tucker were safe. He was safe. He breathed slowly in then out again before he shot a smile back at Dick. He already told the Waynes his biggest secret, what was one more secret? Better to know now if there was going to be a problem before they all got comfortable.

“I was hoping for some help administering my T shot.” He was still tense, but when Dick’s face only changed to a wider smile he relaxed more.

“Oh, I can help you. I’ve helped Wally with his plenty of times. There’s just something about having to stick yourself with a needle that is so much worse. May I come in? Or would you prefer to do it in one of the restrooms?”

Danny relaxed further, almost back to how he was when it was just him, Sam and Tucker in the room. He glanced at them and they both gave him a nod so he nodded ot Dick.

“I don’t have the prescription yet. I was just going to go pick it up.”

Dick entered and glanced curiously around, but quickly refocused. Danny was sure the room was a little messy, with two teenaged boys living there, and all three of them still living out of their suitcases in case they had to leave quickly. However Danny didn’t feel like Dick was judging them at all.

“If you’d like I can swipe the keys to one of Bruce’s cars and drive you to the pharmacy. There’s no worries there.”

Danny hesitated again for just a moment before he nodded. He had been planning on going ghost and flying to the pharmacy then just taking the package with his name on it and disappearing, but maybe it would be better to do this as a human.

“Bye, Danny. Love you!”

“We’ll be here when you get back. Be safe out there. Love you!”

“I love you both too.”

Dick gave him another small smile at their farewells but didn’t say anything. Tucker and Sam had been doing that a lot more recently. He didn’t mind, his core always purred and hummed when they did and he certainly loved them, but he wasn’t sure why or where that had come from.

While he was caught up in his thoughts on his friends Dick had grabbed a set of keys and escorted him into the very full garage. Despite the number of luxury and sports cars that filled the space, Dick led him to one of the more normal looking cars. Still fancy, and still nice, but common enough that it wouldn’t be obvious that a Wayne was on the roads. Dick waited until they had pulled out the front gate and were on the road before he spoke again.

“You don’t have to worry about anyone in the family giving you a hard time.” He said, with his voice soft, comforting. “Half the family is queer and we all have friends or associates who are part of the community.”

“Thanks. That’s good to know.” Danny said. His parents… no. Jack and Maddie had been accepting of his gender identity, but had hated his ghost half. He had been afraid that the Waynes might have been the opposite, ok with his ghost half and bigoted against his gender identity. Though maybe he needn’t have worried, Dick after all, had the most Bisexual energy Danny had ever seen outside of a mirror.

The trip to the pharmacy was quick and efficient. With Dick standing guard and fully willing to stare down or call out anyone who even looked at him funny when he asked the pharmacist for his prescription, Danny was able to get in and out without a problem. Honestly with Dick towering over him at 6 foot, Danny felt as safe as he did when his sister was with him. Though she was even taller at 6’3”. They were pretty sure she was going to end up even taller with the ectoplasm running through her veins.

Once they were back in the Mansion and Danny could relax a little more (he still didn’t relax fully in the mansion, unless he had Tucker, Sam and Jazz around him. That was the only time he felt fully safe) Dick escorted Danny to one of the restrooms on the ground floor.

“You needed help with the injection, is that correct?” Dick asked.

“Yeah, usually Jazz helps me out.” Danny gave a half laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s weird I’m totally fine with stitching myself up, and giving myself injections of Ecto-dejecto, but I can’t handle the much smaller needle of a T shot.”

For a moment Danny could feel rage radiating off of Dick even though the older man kept his face mostly calm. Though that should have been its own hint at Dick’s emotions. He was almost never serious, always ready with a joke or a pun.

“It’s ok, Danny. We’re here to help. You don’t have to do everything yourself anymore.”

Danny wasn’t 100% certain that Dick was talking about the testosterone injection at all anymore, but he just nodded and let Dick help him with the injection. He had to look away from the needle and couldn’t help a small flinch as the needle reminded him of all the needles his parents had stuck him with while he was in their care. They wanted to test how ghosts reacted to different chemicals. He had experienced everything from human blood (Jack’s donation) to bleach flowing through his veins.

He didn’t realize he had tensed until he felt strong arms wrap gently around his body. Danny untensed his muscles with difficulty and took a breath, the silent reminder that at least part of him was still alive, even if he didn’t need to breathe anymore. As he repeated the breathing exercises Jazz had taught him, he slowly became aware that Dick was slowly and softly repeating calming phrases to him as he hugged him.

“It’s ok, little ghost. It’s Danny. You’re not alone anymore. You’re safe. Your family is safe. You’re part of our family now. We’re going to keep you safe. You’re ok, Danny.”

More tension bled from his shoulders as he sighed into Dick’s arms. Maybe this is what a family was supposed to feel like.

Final Author Note: I have a couple of these planned, I’ll post them all on tumblr seperately, then on AO3 all together once they are all finished. My Momma Selina story will be updated next. Then I have an idea for Papa Red Hood story that I’ll do next. Also! I have a zine coming out at the end of the week, keep an eye out for it!

#Danny Phantom #dp x dc #dick grayson #trans danny fenton #Tucker Foley #sam manson #the trio is a couple #they just haven't realised it yet #danny fenton #Writing Emerald #mistaken identity #Please reblog!

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elizabethemerald · 1 year

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DP x DC: Silent Extraction

AO3

First Prev

Team Batgirl was away from Gotham on a mission. Stephanie was proud of the fact that the Batgirls were the ones Bruce trusted with this mission. With Barbara on the coms directing, Steph as the charismatic face of the operation and Cass as the super sexy, super sneaky ninja, they were unstoppable. Combined Steph and Cass were the best team of fighters other than maybe Damian and Cass, except they didn’t work together as well. Stealth wise, Cass was obviously the sneakiest member of the extended Batfam, and Steph was… well… they averaged out to still be pretty sneaky.

They were also the team that could be counted on for the least amount of unnecessary stabbings and broken bones for the baddies. Dick could usually be counted on not to go overboard, but Jason was somewhat infamous for his whole shooting out kneecaps and breaking arms thing, and Damian stabbed first, stabbed second and once everyone was stabbed usually just stabbed some more.

Not to say the two girls weren’t capable of their own stabbing and bone breaking, but Steph preferred more reasonable methods unless a mugger really deserved it and Cass had an unbendable moral code even stronger than Bruce’s. And this was a case where they were all really tempted to hurt some civilians.

The two of them were in the Batplane over Amity Park. They were on a mission to investigate and if necessary extract Danny’s friends and sister. Bruce had apparently gotten the giant armor guy, Fright Knight who still guarded Danny in the Batcave, to talk. Babs had almost broken her keyboard with all her typing to find information on the city, Danny’s family, and his friends.

According to social media and attendance records Danny had disappeared from the public view four weeks prior, coinciding with Amity’s protector Phantom, getting shot down by a lucky shot by the Drs Fenton. Danny hadn’t been well enough to confirm any correlation between himself and the ghostly protector, and Duke refused to elaborate on Danny’s abilities until he was well enough to talk about them himself.

Oracle had continued to dig further and she found that Tucker Foley, Samantha Manson and Jasmine Fenton had all disappeared one week ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of ghosts in Gotham. Their task was to search Amity Park for any trace of the missing teens, rescue them if necessary, find any information they can on the Fentons and on Ghosts and return to Gotham.

Stephanie had already investigated the town as much as she could with her civilian identity. She used to be jealous of the Waynes and their popularity, that was until she got to experience some time in the limelight herself when she was publicly dating Tim. The paparazzi had constantly followed her around and harassed her over every little thing they felt was wrong about her appearance or her behavior. She was happy to be able to return to her relative anonymity once they parted ways.

She had dressed in her civies and knocked on the door of the Fentons, pretending to be one of Jazz’s friends from school. Fortunately the elder Fenton child was reasonably popular, so she was certain that Jazz’s parents wouldn’t recognize her as a stranger. Sure enough the eccentrically dressed woman, and the towering man she could see through the door didn’t think anything unusual about her asking if Jazz was alright, “She hadn’t been seen at school recently, you see?”

Madeline Fenton (as Barbara’s file listed her) gave the incredibly cagey answer that “Jasmine is sick and would hopefully be back to normal soon.” The deep dark rings under her eyes that would have put even Tim’s to shame and her husband shouting in the background about a “Blasted Ghost!” before punching a wall made her even more worried for Jasmine’s health. These two were obviously unhinged and whatever was going on would only continue to degrade their senses.

However they couldn’t intervene yet. There were still two more teens missing that needed to be found. Stephanie’s worry grew as Cassandra stepped out of the shadows across the street and joined her. Cass silently signed to her as they walked to the house of the next missing person. According to her body language Madeline Fenton was distracted, desperate, and heavily favoring her left side, the most likely result of a powerful kick to the ribs in the recent past. Jack Fenton was distraught and seemed to have given up whatever hope still fueled his wife. He also had a broken hand and several more injuries hidden by the disgustingly orange jumpsuit he wore.

Cass guessed that the injuries were gained from someone defending themselves against the two scientists. She couldn’t tell how recent they were without a closer look. The two women hurried to the next house. Steph was nervous about what they would find at the end of this mission.

The next house they visited was the Foley household. Mr. Foley cautiously opened the door just enough to look out. Tucker Foley had a much smaller friend circle, apparently just consisting of Danny and Sam, so Tucker’s parents would think it suspicious if she pretended to be his friend. So instead she pretended to be from the school making a worried house call. Mr. Foley said that Tucker was at a friend’s house in another state. He might transfer schools if his friend’s city was safer. He couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her anything else.

Cass joined her as she stepped away again. Mr. Foley had been anxious and unsure while speaking to her and kept looking over her head at the street as if the house was going to be attacked any minute. She said he had been telling the truth about Tucker being at a friend’s house but lying about the house being out of state. Surprisingly he had been telling the truth about the possibility of his son transferring schools.

Tucker only had one other friend, so the two girls hurried to the mansion that belonged to the Manson family, however they were immediately denied entry by a quite substantial security team. Steph saw guards with dogs, all armed and covered in body armor at the front gate and patrolling the perimeter. After she was rebuffed and had met up with Cass again, her girlfriend confirmed that not only were there multiple armed guards patrolling the entire property, which appeared to be in some kind of heavy lock down, but there was also a full squad of personal security officers on site to provide backup. Barbara confirmed over their comms that the Mansons had put a significant amount of money into their security in the past two weeks. Right before the teens went missing, rather than after.

Now Team Batgirl was above Amity in the Batplane ready to drop in on the property. With security as tight as it was, it would be their easiest approach. Leaving would be a different matter, but they would improvise on the scene as they usually did. Fortunately the Batplane was currently being piloted remotely by Barbara, so the both of them could enter together.

“According to thermal scans of the property,” Babs began in their earpieces. “There are two smaller heat signatures located in one of the upper story bedrooms. One of them is pacing while the other is sitting. Signs point to those being your targets. Approaching the drop zone.”

Cass tapped her com twice to acknowledge Barbara’s words. She pressed her masked face against Stephanie’s cheek, their version of an in costume kiss for good luck.

“Don’t trip when you land.” Cass signed as the bay doors opened for them to jump.

Then like the beautiful, sexy ninja she was, Cass jumped and flipped out into the open air. Steph felt her heart thump in her chest. God she wanted to kiss her so badly right now. She quickly followed her girlfriend out of the plane. Fortunately the Batplane could fly almost silently so they didn’t need to do anything so extreme as a HALO dive to approach the Manson house, just a quick hop out of the plane and then glide down with their capes.

Cass had already executed a perfect rolling landing that had probably been completely silent when Steph came in right behind her. She landed a little fast and would have taken a tumble off the roof if Cass wasn’t right there to catch her.

“I told you not to trip.” Cass signed, her smirk visible even through the mask that covered her face.

“Sorry I couldn’t hear you.” Steph giggled in reply, then quickly muffled her voice so the patrolling guards wouldn’t hear her. Cass pretended to glare at her as if she wasn’t the most common perpetrator of the jokes about her being mute.

The two girls focused back on the mission and Steph forced down her desire to make out as they crept across the rooftop. Barbara had a detailed floor plan of the mansion pulled up and was walking them through what rooms they were above. She had also already put a feedback loop through the cameras so they had a couple of minutes of unobserved time.

Only a moment later they were above the balcony that led into what should be Samantha’s room. Barbara confirmed that the two heat signatures were still there, one still pacing and one still sitting. Cass silently dropped onto the balcony, out of sight of those in the room and those patrolling the grounds. She pressed a small bat shaped object to the glass of the sliding door, then she hopped back up to the roof with Steph’s help. A few taps at a keyboard and Babs was forwarding them the audio from the bug.

“I’m telling you Tucker, I can’t just stay here!” Samantha’s voice came through clearly. By the changing volume of her words they could both assume she was the one who was pacing back and forth.

“I know Sam.” The tired voice of Tucker Foley came next. “You’ve told me a hundred times since we got Danny out of the city.”

“Jazz should have gotten back in touch with us. We need to go check on her!”

“I know Sam, but she was the one who told us to wait!” Tucker’s frustration at the obviously often repeated argument could be heard. “Then if she didn’t contact us we were to make our way to Gotham to try and find Danny.”

“One, I don’t see you in any hurry to leave Amity without Jazz either, and two, Danny also hasn’t contacted us yet! We have no idea where in Gotham he could possibly be!”

There was a heavy silence. Neither of the two teens wanted to consider the worst possibilities with their friend. Eventually Sam continued.

“Still, I’m worried about Jazz. She said she was going to try to convince her parents about Danny then contact us.”

“Maybe she’s just grounded?” Tucker’s voice didn’t sound at all confident in his words. “I don’t know what else they might do to her, she’s not a halfa like Danny is.”

Halfa? Steph mouthed the word to Cass who shrugged. Maybe it was a local term for a meta. They listened back in as Sam replied.

“I don’t know, but they’ve clearly lost their minds. Especially after what they did to Danny, there’s no way for us to pretend to know what their plans are or what they would do.” Sam sighed. “I’m glad mom and dad listened to me when I told them the Fentons were dangerous and upped the security around the mansion, I don’t know if Jack and Maddie would try and come after us or what, but now I don’t think even you and I could sneak out of here to check on Jazz.”

“Actually…” The hesitation in Tucker’s voice was clear. “I hacked into the email server the security company uses. Apparently Jack did show up at the front gate.”

“What?”

Steph could hear the tapping of keys in her ear as Barbara also hacked into the server. They would have confirmation in just a few minutes of what Tucker was saying.

“Yeah. Right after we settled in for the week. Jack came with the GAV. He was apparently armed to the teeth with the anti-ghost gear. Said we both must have been exposed to dangerous levels of ectoplasm and we needed to go with him. He almost tried to storm the gates.”

“Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?” Sam all but shrieked the question out.

“Your parents told the guards not to say anything. And I- I just didn’t know what to do.”

Tucker’s voice sounded broken and scared. Sam’s desperation was clear and the two Bats could hear her starting to hyperventilate. Cass rose to her feet, and Steph was only a second behind her. They needed to step in before these kids had a panic attack or did something foolish that got them hurt. And now with the confirmation that Jack Fenton likely intended harm for the kids in question and the fact that Jazz was likely in danger, they needed to act to get Sam and Tucker safe so they could rescue Jazz.

Cass dropped back onto the balcony and it was but the work of a moment to undo the latch on the door. Barbara already had the security system rerouted so the guards wouldn’t be alerted. Steph stepped through the door, dropping the hood of her costume back so the kids could see most of her face. This was a well practiced dance for Team Batgirl. She was friendly and approachable, Cass stayed to Steph’s side and just a touch behind her, keeping an eye for any threat.

The two heroes entered a room that seemed to be filled with chaos. There were two mostly packed duffles near the end of the bed with clothes hanging out of them. Another pair of expensive looking suitcases were on the bed itself. One was closed and the other was filled with an assortment of bright green objects that almost looked like toys. More of the green and silver objects were scattered across the floor, some with their casings opened and internal electronics exposed. All of them seemed to glow with green light that was far too reminiscent of the Lazarous Pits.

Sitting on the ground, surrounded by bits and bobs of green glowing paraphernalia, was an African American teen, presumably Tucker based on Oracle’s files, wearing a red cap of some kind. Pacing the room was Samantha Manson, her black hair up in a ponytail, and her heavy gothic boots clumping back and forth.

Sam spun around as soon as the door opened and Steph stepped through, what looked like a green glowing taser in her hand. Tucker stiffened at her side, some half disassembled piece of tech in one hand and ancient looking PDA in the other. Sam froze in confusion upon seeing the two Bats, but didn’t lower her taser. Steph carefully and slowly raised her hands to show that she was unarmed. She knew Cass had drawn a Batarang from behind the cover of Steph’s cape and if necessary would defend her from any threat that could come.

“It’s ok. We don’t mean you any harm.” Steph said quickly.

She took a cautious step forward but froze when Cass made a small movement. Anyone who didn’t work with Cass on the regular basis wouldn't have even noticed the movement, much less given it any significance. However Steph did know Cass. She knew her quite intimately. Cass did not fidget. She could stand still as a statue for hours on end, and had in the past during stake outs. Even the smallest movement from Cass was a message. A warning.

Steph eased back onto her back foot, taking another glance around the room, without broadcasting what she was doing. While Samantha had started to relax, dropping her aim with her taser, Tucker had tensed. Just like Cass and Steph worked together as a flawless pair, she could see the two teens were also used to working together. While Sam held her attention with the open threat, Tucker had one of the devices in his hand, the trigger primed. She couldn’t tell what would happen if the device went off, but whatever Cass had seen in his body language told her she didn’t want to experience it.

“Has there been a new ghost in town that makes me hallucinate visiting Bat themed heroes?” Tucker asked. His finger still on the trigger of his device.

“No. I don’t think there’s been any new ghosts since Phantom’s order.” Sam replied, then she narrowed her eyes at the two Bats. “What are you doing here?”

“You are allies of the hero Phantom.” Steph said, running with the script Barbara prepared based on their intel, they were about 90% certain that Danny and Phantom were the same, whatever powers and abilities they might possess. Tucker immediately rose to his feet and Sam stepped up to his side. “We’re sending word that he safely made it to Gotham. We want to make sure you’re safe as well.”

The change that came over the two teens was immediate. Tucker sagged bonelessly against Sam, his forehead finding her shoulder. Sam ran her hands through her hair, pulling it free of its ponytail, finally fully lowering her taser. She almost sobbed with relief at Stephanie’s words.

“He’s safe? He made it? Thank the Ancients.” Sam whispered.

“Wait, if you’re here, then that means he was found by Batman!” Tucker said suddenly, his eyes wide.

“Don’t worry!” Steph put her hands up to keep them from panicking. “Batman doesn’t actually have a problem with metas!” The two teens glanced at each other and after a second Cass stepped up next to Steph and signed quickly to them. Steph translated. “Or whatever he is! Batman doesn’t care. He just wants him and you safe.”

Steph wasn’t entirely certain why her girlfriend had corrected her, but it seemed to have the desired effect and both kids relaxed again. Cass continued signing to them.

“If you’re not safe here in Amity, you can come with us to Gotham.” Cass signed.

Steph was about to translate when Sam nodded, signed “Thank you” and zipped up one of the suitcases. Tucker looked at her in confusion.

“Wait, what did she say?”

“I told you, you needed to learn ASL!” Sam said, with a gentle smack to the back of his head.

“Yeah, like you knew Batgirl was going to appear and sign at us.”

Sam blushed. “Maybe not. But you still should have learned it yourself. She said we can go with them to Gotham. So get packed up!” Then she turned back to the two heroes, Steph was smothering a grin and she could tell Cass was smiling behind her mask. “Did Jazz send you to get us?”

“We actually haven’t found Jasmine yet. We were hoping you knew where she was?”

Both teens stiffened and clearly panicked. They began a flurry of motion. Tucker rapidly assembled the pieces scattered across the ground, and Sam quickly put her hair back up in her ponytail. They both started talking over and around each other.

“We need to get to Fentonworks-”

“Jazz went to try and talk to her parents-”

“They probably think she’s a ghost-”

“They must think she’s contaminated-”

“They might be hurting her like they did Danny-”

“I can put together some tools to get her out-”

“We’ll probably have to fight the Fentons again-”

“Enough!” Steph used her stern ‘Batman Voice ™’ to regain control of the room without raising her voice. “I’m sure the two of you have done a lot for your friends and for your city. But Orphan and I will be the ones who go to the Fentons and rescue Jasmine if that’s what it takes.”

They both looked like they wanted to protest, but Cass gave them a simple motion, “Stand down” and they both quieted.

“The two of you need to pack. We’ll contact your parents via Oracle, convince them if necessary that it isn’t safe for you to stay in Amity Park while the Fentons and GIW are still looking for ecto-contaminated individuals. As soon as we have Jazz in hand we’ll be flying out to Gotham so you can reunite with Danny.”

Sam gave a shaky nod and pressed a hand to her face. Tucker handed them a flashdrive.

“When you get Jazz, give her this.” Steph put the flashdrive in one of the pouches. “The easiest way to get the Fentons out of their house is to hack into the city’s ghost siren and lead them on a chase. If you’re friends with The Oracle it shouldn’t be an issue for you.”

Oracle’s voice piped up in Steph’s ear. “Already on it. I’ll have the system cracked by the time you get to Fentonworks.”

Steph nodded, both to what Tucker said and to what Oracle said, even though Barbara couldn’t see her. The two Bats retreated out the balcony and nimbly avoided the security guards on the property. The last thing they heard as they left was a tired Tucker muttering to Sam.

“I guess now we just have to convince our parents.”

The Batgirls left the two teens to that task. Barbara, Bruce and Alfred would all be on call to support them in that regard if needed. Hopefully the parents would see the benefit of getting the kids out of the city until they were safe to return. The two women jogged and grappled their way back across the city towards the obnoxiously designed Fenton Works. Amity Park didn’t have enough tall buildings for them to grapple all the way and that slowed them down, but they were still able to make good time to the building.

“The city’s ghost alarm system is currently going off on the other side of town.” Oracle’s voice sounded in their ear as they approached the house. “The Fenton’s have already been spotted en route on traffic cams. They are driving some kind of tank. Looks like it could rival the Batmobile.”

“Good to know.” Steph said. “Any security inside?”

“I genuinely have no idea what’s going on with the Fentons’ security. When you go in, you’re going in blind. Try to get in and out as quickly as possible. We already know ghosts make our tech go haywire, so we’ll lose contact as well.”

“Copy that Oracle.” Steph said and Cass tapped her ear piece to acknowledge as well.

Cassandra led Steph in through the backdoor of the Fentons’ place after they had jumped the back fence. The security system activated as they entered and they both tensed to dodge as some kind of laser cannons popped out of the walls. However after a moment of analysis the system seemed to dismiss them as not a threat. The cannons still actively tracked Cass’s location in the room, but they didn’t open fire.

“No wonder Oracle was confused.” Steph whispered. Cass nodded, keeping an eye on the strange defenses that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Lexcorp lab. They both could only hear small bursts of static in their ears which meant they were really alone.

The two Batgirls quickly swept the upper floors of the house. Every room was clear, though the bedroom that was probably Danny’s considering it matched the pictures on his social media looked like it had been ransacked and the room that likely belonged to Jasmine had nothing out of place except two packed duffle bags. They glanced at each other, concerned by everything they were seeing before they began to descend to the lowest floor of the house, the basement laboratory, where according to the Fenton Works website the elder Fentons had successfully built a portal.

Cass bypassed the security on the door into the lab, the tightest security they had seen so far in the house while Steph watched her back. With how tense the situation was, she for once, wasn’t literally staring at Cass’s backside, but watching their surroundings for any possible threat. Cass had some incredible assets, but now wasn’t the time.

Steph followed her girlfriend down the steps into the basement. Cass of course walked almost completely silently even on the metal steps. When Steph joined her on the steps they both tensed as something rattled below them.

“Mom? Is that you?” A girl’s voice called up to them. “Dad?”

They both hesitated. There was a lot of emotion in that voice. Grief and anger. A tension that hid pain. They both hurried down the stairs as fast as their cautious nature would allow.

The lab was like something out of their nightmares. All manner of jars filled with green glowing things that might have been organs covered the shelves on the walls in between racks of all kinds of weapons. A circular structure took up most of the room in the lab and could only be the portal itself. A pair of medical tables were pushed against one wall, one still covered in old blood and strange green stains. In one corner stood a cage made of steel bars covered in a dark green chemical. It was barely tall enough for a child to stand up right, certainly not tall enough for the redhead girl currently chained by her wrist to the wall inside the cage.

Jasmine Fenton sat up when she caught sight of them, she tried to approach the bars, but the chain on her wrist held her back. Her once long hair was messily chopped short, some places it looked like chunks of her hair had been pulled right out of her scalp. She had bruises and cuts on her face that were most likely from her struggling to defend herself. The sleeves of her shirt had been cut or torn off and they could both track marks up and down her arms. Alongside the marks of repeated sloppily done injections or blood draws she also had short cuts, repeated in a far too precise manner. Some of her injuries had been haphazardly treated, but most were left as if they had just been dealt. Just like her brother, Jazz had been tortured by her parents.

“Orphan? Spoiler?” Jazz asked, her head tilting slightly to the side as she looked at them in confusion before she suddenly brightened. “Wait, if you’re here, then you must have found Danny! Please tell me he’s safe, tell me he’s alright!”

Her words were desperate as she pulled against the chain holding her to the wall. Cass signed to her to calm her before the girl pulled her arm out of her socket.

“He’s Safe. He’s with the family.” She signed. Jazz nodded immediately and signed back her thanks, she continued to sign along as she spoke whenever she had a hand free to do so.

“Thank the Ancients.” Jazz whispered. “He’s safe. He made it out.”

“Yes he did.” Steph said, bring Jazz’s attention back to her. “And we need to get you out too.”

Steph moved to grab the bars, then had to pull her hand back with a yelp as a spark of electricity shocked her. Cass was at her side immediately to make sure she was ok.

“You have to disarm the system first. The panel on the wall. Password to disarm should be ‘blasted ghost’ with a zero in the place of the o.” Jazz explained. Steph gave her skeptical look but went to the panel nonetheless. “I know. I know. They hate ghosts more than anything in the world. They tried to rip Danny apart because he was a part ghost. When I helped rescue him, they were sure that the only reason I would help a ghost is if I was possessed.”

Steph worked to disarm the system as Jazz was speaking. Then when the security powered down with dull hum Cass picked the lock on the cage and set to work freeing her from her manacle. Steph was carefully memorizing what she said just in case their equipment didn’t work to record the conversation. Danny was a part ghost? What did that mean? Jazz seemed almost delirious with relief and exhaustion, so she didn’t seem to be aware of what she was saying. She gestured to herself as Cass worked.

“Hence their trying to ‘free me from the blasted ghost.’” Jazz’s disdain was clear in her voice. She stood and stretched out her back as she was finally able to be free of the cage her parents had kept her in. “It doesn’t help that their own poor lab safety protocols made everyone in this house contaminated with ectoplasm. They had to keep taking samples to see if they could narrow down the contamination. Hair, skin, even marrow samples." She rubbed at her collarbone subconsciously as she spoke. "Don’t worry, as long as you don’t stay down here too long and don’t eat anything from the house you should be fine. We need to go and make sure Tucker and Sam are safe now.”

As Cass had been helping her stand on shaking legs, she was the one to respond.

“Tucker and Samantha are safe at the Mansons. They have a lot of security. We will be bringing them with us to Gotham to stay safe.” Cass signed.

“Oh, did you already check on them?” Jazz asked and Cass nodded, she smiled. “Did Tucker give you a flashdrive?”

Steph pulled the drive out of her pouch with a raised eyebrow. She handed it over without more than a second’s hesitation. Jazz immediately plugged into the computer sitting next to the portal, clicked a few things, then began gathering all the weapons and equipment in the lab and putting it into some heavy duty bags.

“The drive will pull their files, wipe the computer then set the portal to explode. It will just take a couple of minutes. Feedback loop, yadda yadda. I know, Tucker is the tech genius here and don’t tell him I said that.” Jazz explained as she finished grabbing the gear with the help of the Batgirls.

Finally with shaking hands she gathered the specimen jars that were scattered around. Cass again moved to help her, but Jazz out right snarled at her, her eyes flashing as green as the portal over her shoulder and sharp fangs showing in her mouth.

“Don’t touch him!” Jazz hissed, the words coming out garbled and layered over themselves but still understandable. She continued grabbing jars as she spoke. “They hurt my brother. MY Brother! I won’t let what they took from him to be used by anyone else. No one else will hurt him ever again!”

She gathered the last of the specimen jars inside the tube shaped entrance way to the portal, just before the swirling green void. Her hands were trembling and her breath was coming faster and faster. She braced herself at the edge of the portal, then leaned over and threw up. She wiped her face and left the portal, closing the biometric lock as she did so. Cass immediately came to her side, with Steph taking her other side as Jazz could barely stand.

“I swear to the Ancients, once Danny is safe I will do everything in my power to erase every trace of their foul work from existence.” She murmured the words to herself, leaning heavily on the two other girls.

Before either Batgirl could come up with any response to that display, or to the horrifying reality of where the numerous organs that filled the jars had come from, the computer in the corner beeped and red lights began to flash in the lab. Jazz seemed to come back to herself, shaking her head to clear it, her eyes once again teal, and her incisors back to normal. She grabbed the flash drive out of the computer and pocketed it.

“We’ve only got a few more minutes. We need to grab these bags and my bags upstairs.”

Cass and Steph each grabbed one of the bags full of weapons from the lab armory and one of Jazz’s personal bags, leaving Jazz to only carry a backpack with a tired looking stuffed bear strapped to the outside. The three of them left as quickly as they could and they were only a block away when an explosion shattered the silence around them. Car alarms went off nearby and Jazz stumbled and almost fell, but the other two caught her.

“Oracle? Can you hear us again?” Steph asked as they hurried away from the scene.

“Loud and clear Spoiler.” Barbara’s voice came through their earpieces instead of static, finally. “That was one heck of an explosion. The Foleys and the Mansons have agreed their children will be safer out of Amity Park. The Batplane will be waiting for pickup outside the Manson property.”

“Copy that Oracle.” Steph replied.

The trio hurried back to the Mansons’, Steph and Cass were forced to carry more and more of Jazz’s weight as she sagged under the strain of the past week’s torture at her parent’s hands. They wanted to stop to allow her to rest, but Oracle reported that the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle was currently heading back towards the explosion and that would bring them far too close to their current location. They had to get to the Batplane to get the kids out of Amity.

The Batplane touched down in the street in front of Sam’s Mansion right as the Batgirls arrived with Jazz at her front gate, much to the bafflement of the security team on site. Sam and Tucker hurried out, calling last minute goodbyes and promises to call to the Mansons as they raced to the plane.

Steph sat in the cockpit and strapped in (even though she didn’t actually pilot the plane, Barbara would take care of that remotely (she liked to press the buttons to see what they did)) while Cass got the kids settled in the back. Just as Barbara hit remote ignition on the jet engine the GAV came screeching around the corner, an Ancients-be-damned cannon hanging off the top. Steph got her chance to hammer at some buttons as she deployed counter measures, including a guided missile that blew the cannon into a smoking wreck on the roof of the still driving GAV.

Barbara had to pull some tight maneuvers to get the Batplane back into the air and to avoid getting shot down. Tucker looked like he might throw up, while Jazz and Sam both looked like they wanted to return fire at the Fentons. Finally they were back in the air and Barbara activated stealth mode, making the Batplane practically invisible and set a course for Gotham.

Steph sighed in relief and unbuckled herself to go join the others in the back, confident they were safe in Barbara’s capable hands for the flight back to Gotham. Cass was crouching in front of Jazz with the plane’s first aid kit in her hands as she started to treat the injuries her parents did to her. Steph double checked that neither of the two younger teens were injured before she helped Cass with her work.

After a long time of flying in near silence other than the occasional mumbled word Cass finally pulled her mask off revealing her beautiful face. Steph hesitated a moment, but if Cass decided Danny’s friends and sister were trustworthy, then that was good enough for her, even if Bruce would probably get upset later. Cass met Jazz’s tired eyes with her own dark gaze.

“Danny is safe.” Cass signed. “Your friends are safe. You are safe. Danny is a new brother. You are a new sister.”

Jazz watched her signs with a growing shimmer to her eyes before she started sobbing in naked relief. Her fight was over. Her brother’s fight was over. The horrors they had both experienced were over. Cass and Steph took Jazz’s either side, wrapping her in a tight hug that was quickly joined by the two other Amity Parkers. The five of them hugged and Team Phantom cried and wailed out their grief, their fear, their anger at everything that had happened to them and those they were closest to. They were finally safe. They were heading to Gotham to be reunited with their last missing piece, and hopefully to find a family that actually loved them, cared for them and would protect them.

Kofi Link!

@starkcravingmad, @blacksea21090, @rainybyday, @dat1angel, @crystalstarstuff, @alinmenttreasure, @everything163, @the-ace-kid, @akikoyuii, @naluforever3, @theaowsomecookie,

#dc x dp #mistaken identity #writing emerald #Danny Phantom #batman #jazz fenton #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #tucker foley #sam manson #please reblog

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