Had a thought about the Reluctant War and made myself a bit sad and I have no idea if it'll make it into the story proper so I'm going to inflict it upon all you guys:
Dick Grayson on the streets of Gotham trying to do everything he can to help as everyone join the ghosts in fighting the GIW, suddenly has a version of the GAV barreling down towards him and for some reason he can't get out of the way in time.
He thinks he's about to join the army of the dead in a whole new way, when the tank fo a vehicle is suddenly sent flying as something massive charged it from the side. He hears a familiar bellowing and then realizes that it's Zitka, a ghost after passing away peacefully a few years before.
She wasn't apart of the army of the ghosts, wasn't brought in to fight. She's just been following her tiny human child around all these years and now that there's enough ecto in the air to do so, she's going to protect him with all her might.
Dick is emotional, so thankful to have his old friend back, but the city is still in a state of chaos. He gets onto Zitka's back and they get to work, running - flying - around helping to grab the injured and whisk them away to safety or take out other GAVs and the like.
It's absurd and freeing and wonderful all at once to be literally flying through the skies of Gotham on the ghost of his elephant best friend, and if Dick wasn't already on the side of King Phantom he is *now* and -
He gets shot off Zitka's back.
A GIW agent was aiming for the Ghost elephant but somehow *missed* and hit Dick instead. Not enough to injure him too badly, but enough to send him flying off Zitka's back and plummeting to the ground. His grapple is broken, and Zitka is diving for him but she's being shot at and she's not going to make it in time and -
A hand, reaching out to him in midair, familiar with its callouses and strong grip as he reaches out and grasps it, body suddenly swinging in a different direction and muscles acting on memory as he falls into the old, achingly familiar routine of his childhood. His mother, ethereal and bright as she smiles down at him, hanging upside down from a bar suspended from nothing but open sky as they swing and he is let go, flipping on instinct and caught by the steady strong hands of his father.
The Flying Graysons reunited in the skies above Gotham, Dick's ghostly parents determined to ensure their little bird never falls the way they did.
Bianca and Nico used to switch clothes as kids because Bianca liked pants when she was playing (no scuffed knees!) and Nico liked twirling around and making the skirt swish swish.
Hazel looking through old photos of Nico and Bianca that Hades saved, then popping off to the nearest shop to put something together, showing up hours later in front of the Hades cabin in a pressed suit that's just a little on the big side. Her hair is slicked back into a low bun, scrunchie making some threats beneath her hat.
Nico leans against the doorframe. "You look interesting."
She hands him a dress bag. "Get dressed, doll. I'm taking you out on the town."
With an amused grin, he takes the bag. "Does this surprise come with the right jewelry?" He gestures to his hole-worn, bedhead, sleepless form. "A girl's gotta look right in mixed company, you know."
She snorts and pulls out a silk bag. "Would I ever do you wrong, kitten?"
He rolls his eyes but disappears back into the dark of the cabin. It's a few minutes before he remerges, shadowy tendrils clingy to his neck as the wisp and weave his hair into a soft braid. Most of them dispel away in the low light of the slowly setting sun.
He spins around and pulls his hair to the side. Pulling the necklace out, she clips it around his neck. The pearls look nice against his skin. His thumb slides against one.
"Oh, they're real," he murmurs.
"Of course they're real!" She looped their arms together. "I'd never let my best filly hop around with fakes." He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a crumb, Nico." She flicked his cheek. Then tugged him off to the nearest shadow. "Now let's shake a leg and go have a bang!"
Wait wtf is DC doing with this new not-reboot called Absolute Comics? It's just like... more comics with the word Absolute on the title lmao? And giving writers more creative freedom? But still working alongside the main line of comics? So it's like Elseworlds but not, and it sounds like it's supposed to crossover with the main line in some big event in the future.