Fountain Of Youth

Down in the streets of Gotham, in the side alley next to Express Urgent Care run by one Leslie Thompkins and that was funded by the Martha Wayne Foundation was a soup kitchen.

Well...a soup kitchen of sorts. Not in any way official but if you were hungry in Crime alley you knew that the food would be safe and warm...and it was a place where *you* could be safe and warm.

Danny had left a week after his parents found out that he was Phantom, a week after he had seen their grief, the regret and pain in their eyes. The week had been spent in suspense, he knew that they needed to talk about what had happened but neither of his parents were ever able to even start bringing it up before they were sobbing.

Danny knew his parents loved him, thst his father felt soul crushing guilt, that his mother spent hours staring at herself in the mirror, as if she didn't even know who was looking back at her.

And to spare them both, Danny left.

It wasn't hard to do, not when he could turn invisible and phase through walls, a final text to Sam and Tucker to say his good byes (he knew that they would break and tell his parents where he would be going) and a particularly hard hug to leave from Jazz, Danny flew off with only a back pack.

He had traveled across the US for a few months, occasionally snagging a post card from a super store to send off home, paying only when he had the excess funds (Sam's rants about mega rich corporate billionaires let him know just which stores wouldn't miss the few bucks the cards sold for)

He had met up with Dani a few times, when she was in the country, handing him Vlads credit card and telling him to keep it (though he never did) only ever using it to book a room for a few nights at a hotel to clean himself up and sleep in a real bed.

He settled in Gotham after a while, he had briefly stayed in Faucett but that place didn't have nearly enough ecto for him to live comfortably.

Gotham on the other hand? It had everything, cops that don't question why a teen is on the streets, natural ecto up the wazoo and well...a crime rate that would dissuade his parents ever looking for him there.

He had set up a more permanent shelter in an abandoned apartment building (after chasing out the low level drug dealers that were using it) and found that he kinda liked the vibes of the place under the blatant crimes being committed in broad day light.

Sure people could see you getting mugged and look the other way, but if you were still alive and there 5 minutes later, they would come back, hand you something to clean up your now bloody nose and point out the bodega that had the best sandwiches.

It was a sense of community that Danny didn't know he had missed for the many months he traveled.

His first "cook out" wasn't even supposed to be a cook out, his apartment building was mostly wood and he didn't trust himself to not burn it down, so he came outside, setting up a portable stove and setting up a pot filled with some, water to boil up a soup mix.

As he waited for it to come to temp, he saw the group of homeless rubbing their hands together, watching him with curiosity, though that quickly turned to hunger as the smell of the soup spilled out into the alley.

Instead of turning the others away Danny only shrugged, pulled out his spare paper bowls and handed them out, taking a few bites first to show that it was safe to eat.

What followed was a sort of tradition, Danny would come out a few times a day, take out his hot plate and pot and set up a soup, others started asking if they could pitch in, and well...Danny would have loved to keep providing it freely but his food was quickly dwindling.

So his soup got add in, some jerky that Crazy Tom had got tossed in, a few herbs (re:weeds) were added in by Miss O'Connor, and Danny didn't even know where Lady Dimond pulled out some spices from, but he wasn't about to question the her, he had learned never to question where the working girls hid their things.

And it sort of grew from there, who ever was around came by, some came out of their way to share a meal, but it became a meeting place of sorts "Come by the Kitchen at noon, Tom got his hands on some steak! And it ain't even smells bad!"

Sure gangs tried to pull up on the meeting place, tried to intimidate the people there or coerce them into doing something...well that was until the host, some punk teen with hair darker than black and blue eyes that were so light they were white came up, and dished out a heavy handed fist into their jaws and sent them packing.

And so the Kitchen became a safe space, if you were hungry, if you were in danger, come by the little alley way, right next to the Express Urgent Care, the Host will take care of you there, if your willing to share, to stay peaceful with the rest of the gathered people, then you were welcome to grab a bite and relax, because the Kitchen was always safe.

---

It would be a few years since the Kitchen started, since people had brought chairs and tables, since an old grill of questionable origin was left out side it, since tarps with only a few holes were hung up to keep the place dry when it rained, since rugs covered the ground and the the alley it was in was swept clean of any needles or cigarette butts.

But for one boy it had only been a few short days since his Mama died, since he had found her cold and dead in the bathroom, a belt tied around her arm and a needle still in her hand.

Jason was miserable, he had stayed with her for the a single day before he knew he would have to leave, the body of his mother would start to decompose soon, so he did what he had too, calling the police with his mother's phone that didn't have a lot of minutes left on it, telling them the address before hanging up and leaving it there so he couldn't be tracked.

He couldn't be there when the cops showed up, foster care would do shit for him, and at least his Mama would be buried, and not left to rot in their bath tub.

So a young Jason Todd, scared, alone and hungry came to the Kitchen, as his mother had told him to many times before, had told him to seek out it's Host if anything ever happened to her...and well...at the very least he would get something to eat...

DpxDc #5

Everywhere but home.

The Anti-Ecto Acts applied only to North America.

The USA and Canada both permitted the capture, experimentation, and termination of ecto entities.

One night, after weeks of being constantly hunted down, Danny decided it was time to leave the continent.

At first, he was terrified. 

He didn’t even need false documentation, since the GIW wasn’t looking for his human identity, and Jazz helped him get everything he needed.

He… didn’t even have to buy a flight or something, since his speed could get him anywhere.

So, a bit anxiously, he traveled down to South America.

He had a pretty good time!

People were friendly and welcoming, excited to share the beauty they had with them and Danny found himself so much more interested in other cultures.

Being surrounded by languages, Spanish, Portuguese, and even some Indigenous ones became much easier to learn.

Traveling around wasn’t a problem, he often found people happy to take him in for a shower and a meal.

It wasn’t safe all the time, but it wasn’t because he was a ghost, which was somehow nicer.

With much less anxiety, he started to travel even more.

Africa was the obvious choice since it was the closest continent.

The main cities were rich with people and modern buildings, making him feel a bit out of place like he was in a cleaner version of Hollywood.

Going away from touristy sites, everything started to become more bare, the people still welcoming, but weary of noisy strangers. Wich was understandable, so next came Asia, then Europe, Australia, and Antarctica.

By the time Danny was in his twenties, he had pretty much visited almost every country on Earth. 

He was having fun, he really was, but in every new country he visited, he was reminded how much he wished he was waking up in his bed, spending the days with his family and friends.

Once, he met a guy in London, whose soul looked like Swiss cheese, that he helped with some ghost stuff. He was recognized as from America, so he explained what he was doing all the way in England. Apparently, the guy had connections with the Justice League and promised to help.

At several spots, he even met with Dani. Every time they saw each other, they remembered that, even if it was so diverse, the World was still very small.

He was in South Italy when his phone rang.

It wasn’t hard to keep in touch with his friends and family, sending them photos or even packages of stuff he found traveling.

He answered Jazz, as she started to cry happily about the Anti-Ecto Acts being revoked.

He… hadn’t actually believed Jonh.

His mind was blank, with her sister excitedly talking over the phone.

After five years.

He could go back home.

DPxDC Prompt #17

There is a room Danny's Keep he set up shortly after defeating Pariah Dark. It became necessary when the broader magical community realized Pariah had be defeated and therefore a new King took his throne. Danny found himself briefly bombarded with waves of attempted summonings.

Which, the summonings themselves, wouldn't have been so bad. Turns out people can't just drag the King of Ghosts to themselves on a whim. Danny has to actively accept a summoning to get pulled to it. And if he just decides "No," the pull and whispers go away. No problem there.

No, the problem is the offerings. And sacrifices. The things that people put in the circle as payment for even attempting to summon him. Like having to put a quarter in the payphone just to listen to it ring and ring and ring as the person on the other end of the call doesn't pick up. Since the summoning magic regarded these things as belonging to Danny even if he rejected the summons, they usually ended up just materializing in front of him if he didn't go to them.

Which, okay. It was funny that time he got to end a fight with Vlad very fast when a whole gold bar materialized and dropped on his head. And the food was nice sometimes when it was late and everywhere was closed and his parents had left samples in the fridge to contaminate everything into animation again. But the goat head dropping from the ceiling onto his desk during on of Lancer's English tests was not appreciated. Even if it did get the test rescheduled and the whole school shut down for a few days to investigate the "potentially satanic activity."

So, yeah, it was a bit of a problem. Fortunately, it was a problem with a relatively simple solution. Danny set up an inbox. With a bit of help from Tucker and Pandora, and a couple tips from Clockwork; all summoning offerings and sacrifices would now go straight to the dedicated room in the Keep.

And! As a special touch, the summoners would also get a chipper, automated voice saying, "The Ghost King you are trying to summon has more important things to do than answer you right now. Please leave a message in the circle with your name, date, location, contact information, and reason for summoning. The Ghost King will get back to you at his earliest convenience." Sam's stupid fancy girl gala voice had been perfect for that little message.

It was the perfect solution. Danny no longer had to deal with randomly materializing offerings putting his secret identity at risk. Pariah's skeletons, who had been antsy for something to do now that they were no longer bent under the thumb of a cruel tyrant, were instructed to take care of all the offerings; making sure everything was always cleaned up and put away. And all Danny had to do was stop by periodically to check in and "Officially respond" -ie, write a fuck off note- to the summoning messages (Clockwork's insistence).

A perfect solution. Up until Danny checked in one day to find the skellies pampering a whole ass boy. No. Not just any boy. Danny recognizes that costume.

"Why is Robin here?"

Danny’s on the Suicide Squad. He’s the defacto team moral compass and ray of sunshine. He plays the role of the camp counselor that keeps everyone in line. He’s not afraid of working with even the gnarliest of baddies.

Everybody on the team wonders how he ended up locked up with the villains- he never talks about what he did to end up behind bars no matter how much they pester him. Then one day they’re out on a mission and Harley or somebody is caught and tortured. Danny snaps. It’s the opposite of brutal- he takes down everyone in the room with clinical, dispassionate efficiency.

After it’s over and the team is safe he comes back to himself and is almost sheepish. He radios Belle Reve.

“Whoops. Add another couple notches on my power dampener collar, would you Waller?”

“Can’t, it’s already at max.”

“Ah. Well. I’ll have a look at strengthening it when we’re back then.”

The team just stared at him slack jawed. Good thing he’s on their side.

Stardrops

wanna know what I want.

I want a DeadTired Stardew Valley AU

Like no really.

Tim is tired (tired of being a co-CEO that EVERYONE goes to so they don't got to deal with 'Brucie Wayne', living off energy drinks, coffee and spite, dealing with Ra's 'testing' him every other week, etc) and maybe on the fence with the Batfam (maybe even his friends too, like maybe he got into a fight with Cassie during a mission and she blurted out about him trying to clone Kon (and if I remember fight he tired with Bart like once?) and that opened a can of worms where his friends 'need space' and think things over or something)

Anyways I want Tim to finally have enough, maybe dig in some old family deeds/files or something and finds a old farm land/house his family still owned.

He decides to use it, if anything to just get away for a while and just think about what he actually wants to do with his life.

He gets to the town, it's small and hardly any tech is used and finds the old farm house. It's not much but it'll work.

Meanwhile.

Danny has to leave Amity, things have gone from okay to bad and it's all Vlads fault. The jerk decided to fight him in the middle of the night and Danny got caught changing back, and so very tired from the fight, by his parents and he freaked out and ranaway.

Well flew away.

Danny decides in his panic to take a page out of his Aunt Alicia's book and go off the grid to a near isolated and small town.

Our two boys meet and maybe eventually fall in love.

Cal x Bode

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Alice In Gotham Pt 4

Final Part (for Tumblr)

While clean up was happening along with evidence, Orphan sat off to the side with Scraps sleeping away in her arms. She was able to examine their face closely now. She had caught glimpses before, but hadn't been able to determine the true causes of all the scars on their face mid fight. Part of that was the fact that Scraps was wearing a bit of makeup. Robin brought Orphan a pack of wet wipes and sat down next to her as she cleaned off Scraps’ face. They both wanted to examine the same thing. The scars they'd noticed during the invites and the fights.

“...muzzle…” came softly from Cass as she traced scars from Scraps cheek, over the bridge of their nose to the other cheek. There were more along their jaw line, prongs in the bottom of the muzzle.

“And a collar… a shock collar most likely,” Robin tilted Scraps' head up ever so slightly. Revealing the rings of cuts and burns that decorated Scraps’ neck below the collar of the dress. The lichtenberg scars were still white but now they had some pink irritation around them. They managed to show ever all of the other scars, they were the most prominent on Scraps’ left arm and neck.

“... tortured…” Orphan couldn't remove the bracelets with the green glow, but below them saw the marks of cuffs on their wrists and upper arms, “New sibling.”

“Obviously. Their skills in battle are acceptable and their stealth is impressive with their abilities. We can train them to be stealthy without their powers. I'd personally rather have them as a comrade than a rogue,” Robin agreed, knowing his father would adopt Scraps anyway, “They need treatment, I'll get the paramedics.”

  Scraps started to stir as Robin left. Cass smiled below her mask and gently started coating her fingers through thick black hair. Soothing Scraps back to sleep, they needed more rest. Electrocution again so soon after the first was agony, they had all felt it. Cass knew Red Hood felt it the most for some reason. For now, she needed to focus on helping her new sibling feel safe and comfortable while they recovered.

—

It was quickly found out from the evidence that Tetch was planning a mass takeover of Gotham. The trap hadn't been set up yet, the supplies was down in the basement. Crates containing several cheap Alice costumes that had been stolen from Party City deliveries. His mind control chips were being produced by a machine hidden in the staff break room and hostages who were freed before the basement fight had started. Then one crate held diadem’s like the one Danny wore, were being made. There was one for each invitation and two more. Hatter was hoping to use Batman’s brood against him to over power Batman and take Gotham.

  Interrogations proved Tetch only risked it because of Scraps’ sudden appearance. Having a meta Alice had lead him to believe he could. The only thing unaccounted for were the last 2 invitations. It was unlikely the 2 extra diadem didn't serve a purpose outside of backup.

—

Danny's head ache horribly. It throbbed and swam in a way that was distantly familiar. The last time it felt this way, he woke up on top of a running train while one of his best friends was falling. However there was another feeling nearby. Someone was holding him, gently coating their fingers through his hair. His body was aching, he was electrocuted again… Why? The stinging on his face was a cut, from what? Who did he fight again? Everything is fuzzy… Why was he even fighting? None of his rogues had followed him- ah… right… the leprechaun. Memories slowly started making themselves clearer.

“Fuck…” Danny groaned as everything from the last 24 hrs ago came back clearest, but not as clear as he’d liked.

“She's waking up,” a voice to Danny's left answered.

“Her heart beat is still too low.”

“We can't do much until we know her physiology.”

  Immediately he tensed and noticed the feeling of a heart monitor clipped to his finger and an IV in his arm. He heard the beeping of his heart rate pick up and his blue eyes shot open.

“Hey, it's okay, it's okay!” He was surrounded by people in blue scrubs.

  Danny ripped the iv out of his arm and pulled away from the hands trying to grab him. He pulled off the clip, going intangible, and backing up until he was far away from them near some wooden crates.

“Scraps, it's okay. They're paramedics, they're trying to help you,” a familiar man in a black suit with a blue bird on the front of it, Nightwing.

  Danny hissed at him, well more like he said to back off in ghost speak but it came out like a hiss.

“I warned you the kid is feral,” Red Hood spoke up behind Nightwing and moved his shorter, but older, brother out of the way, “Hey kid, can I patch you up?” Hood crouched  down in front of Danny. Danny was tense, very quietly growling like a feral kitten as the large vigilante held up his hands in surrender, “You don't trust the paramedics, right? I've got a first aid kit. They won't touch you, okay?”

“... I'd rather do it myself,” Danny answered quietly, untrusting eyes scanning the area. Everyone was watching him… He needed to leave.

  They were still in the basement. Orphan was near the paramedics. He couldn't see her expression but he could feel her aura of sorry- mistake- trying to help- safe. She must have been the one who was holding him before. She didn't look hurt, he knew he could get aggressive with nightmares sometimes…

“Okay, can I watch to make sure you're doing everything right? Don't want you bleeding out because of a loose bandage,” Red Hood pulled out a small first aid kit from his belt. Safe- worried- coming from Red Hood. Danny could feel a sort of corrupted anger in the back of his mind. Right, this was the revenant he sensed. Danny's growling stopped, he didn't need another ghost fight right now. Danny was surprised when Hood opened the first aid kit and nothing made for an ecto entity was inside. All for humans, the kit was useless.

“That won't work,” Danny didn't take the kit, “My blood will dissolve it.”

“Shit, okay. Will it hold for a little while? I have your stuff in a safe house. You had a first aid kit in there, that one's special isn't it?” that made Danny tense again, they'd gone through his stuff. Nothing that could give him away was in there, but he could have his first aid kit at least. He'd kept the ecto-dejecto in a secret compartment in the first aid kit only Team Phantom knew about. Huh, he'd hidden something from the bats without using his pocket dimension. Bragging rights acquired.

“It'll only really hold for five minutes at most. I'd rather just,” he coated the open tear in his skin with his frost and only now noticing the blood was eating away at the skirt of the Alice cosplay he was in. He saw the red blood, and reminded himself it was from giving first aid to Batman. First aid… right. Signal had already seen his bigger first aid kit. All the Bats probably already knew about his pocket dimension.

“That works,” Hood waved off the annoyed paramedics who were trying to get close again, “Can you let someone else check over your burns and bruises?”

“Why?” Danny's left hand subconsciously rubbed at the center of the scar on his chest. He may have been asleep for the month he spent recovering but the memory of the pain was still fresh. It wasn't like that was the only injury he sustained in that basement.

“To make sure you're not dying. Your heart rate is low, as in you should be in an ICU low. Your temperature is hypothermic but we're not sure how much of that its your ice and how much is your health,” Hood answered, unknowingly emitting worry- concern- safe over that background anger that remained.

“If it's any lower than 50 bpm I'm actually dying. 55 to 60 bpm Is normal for me. Higher than 70 is not good,” Danny answered with a tone of irritation, “And I'm normally this cold. I'm fine. I have shit to do, can I leave?”

“No. We need you to answer a few questions,” Batman approached, his voice gruff as he narrowed his eyes at Scraps. He couldn't just let such a powerful unknown loose into his city, “Then we'll find you a place to stay before finding your guardians.”

  Danny’s heart rate picked up. He had bled in front of the bats. His blood was now green in his human form. They’d seen him use his ghost powers… Gotham wasn't safe anymore…. Panicpanicpanic- not safe- leave- runrunrun! Danny's eyes zeroed in on the collar attacked to Batman's utility belt. Panic was getting harder to control. Danny recalled the fight in how Batman had tried to collar and cuff him. Batman was going to turn him in, he'd be back on the lab table in the Fenton Works basement or worse, given to the GIW.

“Batman back off,” Red Hood had picked up on the panic quickly, he was standing between him and Danny, “They're scared, now isn't the time for questions.”

“She is an unknown who knows the Themyscira fighting style and has powerful meta abilities. She is dangerous to leave alone. We need to know a better way to handle the situation,” Batman glared. Danny still focused on the collar on his utility belt… a thick collar.

“Father if you attempt to collar them I will stand in your way,” Robin stood next to Red Hood, providing cover as Danny was beginning to spiral and could only think about planning his escape while having flashbacks of the lab. His green blood pooling at his knees on the ground. His arm sore from the injections of ecto-dejecto. The collar which would shock him and injection him with various drugs.

  Orphan approached quietly and knelt down to where Scraps had begun curling in on himself. She held out her hand and gently touched their knee, “Orphan, she/her.”

 Confused- wtf- Danny looked up from his panic attack, completely throw off by Orphan’s sudden introduction. He wasn't calm, but more focused on what Orphan was doing than the arguing behind them. He wasn't in the lab.

“Orphan,” she repeated, keeping Scraps’ focus on her, “She/her,” then she pointed to Scraps. Danny realized she wanted an introduction.

“... D… Danny,” his voice was shaky, his left hand was trembling. Orphan placed her hand over his, calming the trembling, “h… he/him…”

Orphan nodded and Spoiler quietly came up behind them, fully visible with a small plastic bag.

“Nice to meet you Danny. I brought you a change of clothes. They're Robin’s old clothes, they're the only ones that looked like they would fit you,” she handed the bag to Orphan who held it out for Danny.

“...It's fine, I'll… I’ll give them back… when I get my stuff,” Danny started taking deep breaths like Jazz had taught him. Jazz! “H… How long have I…”

“About a week and a half,” Red Robin answered as Nightwing finally got Batman to back off and Robin had cut the collar in half before kicking it away.

  Another deep breath, “... fuck…”

“Will you let one of us check for injuries? Mad Hatter isn't nice to his hostages. There are things we need to check for,” Red Robin spoke up.

“For your health and safety. Let someone, please?” Nightwing continued as they split off again.

  Danny considered his options. He knew Red Hood was a revenant, a sick one from the angry ecto he had. Robin and Orphan were liminal, they could sort of emphatically communicate with him. Red Hood, Robin, and Orphan were the only ones emitting protect- safe- friend… to him… Though every once in a while he would feel protect baby- from Red Hood. Which, rude. Danny was not a baby. He was technically a toddler ghost, not a baby.

“...Robin can do it… if he's trained too,” Robin had cut the collar in half. No one else made a move for it, but Robin did. That, but also something about him reminded him of Sam. Maybe it was how he was rebeling against Batman with that same dramatic flare Sam had.

“I am trained in first aid. I will do the examination quickly. I understand this makes you uncomfortable,” Robin ignored the order from Batman to stay near him and he took Danny to the other side of the crates for privacy. If they went upstairs Danny would end up being surrounded by cops and other freed hostages and both teens would rather not deal with that.

Danny checked the pocket of the apron as he recognized the faint ecto signature within it. He pulled out a batarang he'd pocketed while half mind controlled. A melancholy smile snuck its way onto his face.

“You shouldn’t have that. It's dangerous,” Robin reached for the batarang and Danny pulled it out of his reach.

“No, fuck off its mine. I'm keeping it,” Danny responded, backing away when Robin persisted.

“It's a weapon. Not a souvenir,” Robin glared, “Return it.”

“Well it's got my blood on it and it's radioactive so I'm keeping it,” Danny quickly stuck the batarang into his chest. He grinned and stuck out his tongue, “And now you can't take it even by force.”

“Why…” Robin was both curious and horrified that Danny could just put things into his body without a care.

“My body is a pocket dimension,” Danny shrugged, hand still rummaging around, “It's convenient.”

  The only seemed to cause more curiosity as there was another power to add to the growing list on Danny’s file.

  All is as it should be, right Clockwork? They didn't seem to know about his pocket dimension yet, but Signal was most likely already telling them. Danny felt something unfamiliar and pulled out two envelopes. One was checkered red and black, Harley Quinn, the other was covered in a leaf pattern, Poison Ivy. Invitations…

“I think you need these, for evidence,” Danny handed them over to Robin.

“We do, thank you,” Robin took both envelopes and put them away, “I can look away while you change,” Robin offered as he turned his back to Danny. Not commenting on how Danny said his blood was radioactive, but still adding that information to Danny's file.

“Wouldn't it be easier if I was undressed?” Danny opened the bag and found sweat pants with a shirt that had a paw print over the pocket. There was both a packet of women's and men's underwear. Danny gratefully opened the package of boxers and phased off the cosplay completely. He pulled on the boxers quickly. Danny felt the tug of guilt as he'd forgotten the array of scars which decorated his skin, Robin was a kid who was going to see them. He should have picked Red Hood.

“It would make it faster, yes,” Robin answered, listening to be sure Danny didn't escape. Batman had wanted to collar him because he was a flight risk. Damian didn't care, Danny would never have to wear a collar or restraint again if he could help it.

“Just, don't freak out… it's still sore… you can check now,” Danny's voice became softer as anxious- sad- betrayed- hurt- waved from him, “Or trade with Red Hood. My scars are… a lot…”

“I assure you, scars will not be a problem. I've seen the ugly side of humanity plenty,” Robin's breath stilled for a moment as he turned. He hadn't known the extent of the torture Danny had endured… His desire for justice burned more than ever at the sight.

  No, Danny was an empath, he needed to calm down and stay professional. Still, Danny flinched at each touch. Feeling justice- rage- how dare they- protect- safe here- stay from Robin helped keep Danny’s focus off the memories that were starting to echo on his mind again.

—

“What the hell is your problem old man?” Red Hood could feel Danny’s sorrow, guilt, and fear as he was with Robin, “That kid just went through hell. I don't care how much you want to know everything he is my case. I will handle him, and that means no interrogations.”

“You are compromised Red Hood-”

“No,” it was a strong clear statement from Orphan that caught their attention as the fight was starting again, “No interrogation. Danny… tortured... Shock collar, muzzle, restraints. NO interrogation.”

“Fine,” Batman couldn't go against Orphan’s judgement, especially not after that tidbit of information of Danny’s past had been revealed. Orphan could read anyone better than all of the bats, her word on behavior was always final.

“Hood, you said Danny showed up about two months ago?” Nightwing spoke up.

“Yeah… He must be in Gotham to hide. Lots of homeless kids, he blended in well, no one would notice his scars as anything special. He made crime alley somewhat cheerful fixing expensive equipment for practically nothing,” Red Hood answered.

“Orphan, there's something else isn't there?” Nightwing asked. Batman had gone quiet and brooding. Listening as Cass explained.

“Panicked when guardians were brought up. Guardians tortured him or handed him over. Doesn't like paramedics. Heart monitor and IV torn out in fear. He doesn't trust medical procedures or personnel. Trusts younger adults and teens more,” Orphan sighed as she reviewed the short amount of time she'd known Danny’s behavior. She could be more detailed in her report tonight than a verbal explanation, “Recognized Red Hood while aggressive and calmed down. Danny trusts Red Hood, but only a little.”

“He can stay with me,” Red Hood said, still feeling Danny's anxious energy, “He's not gonna go back to the Batcave. I can keep him in one of my safe houses for a while and see if he wants to talk. But I'm not gonna interrogate him either. Danny can share what he wants to. As much as I'd love to shoot whoever tortured a kid, I'm not going to force that information out of him.”

“It's worse… Oh it's so much worse,” Oracle spoke quietly in coms, “Robin's mask feed… this poor kid…”

“Littlewing?” Nightwing placed a hand on Red Hood shoulder as his eyes were glowing green, “Deep breaths.”

“I'm fine, just want to kill the assholes who hurt him,” Red Hood started taking deep breaths, counting in his head as he pushed the green back. He'd review the footage when he was around some good punching bags for stress relief.

“We are finished,” Robin came back, holding Danny’s hand with the cosplay shoved into the plastic bag. The women's underwear pack unopened and clutched in the other hand. Oracle sent a picture to the family chat. Damian willingly holding someone's hand was a rare sight. After getting dressed Danny hadn't wanted to leave his hiding spot, he wanted to disappear as so as he was alone. Robin offered his hand to give Danny some comfort, they couldn't have Danny disappear on them again. Offering a hand was a suggestion Alfred had made for the hostage protocol for Robin, it was proving useful.

“Can I just go get my stuff?” Danny didn't want to be around any of the bats anymore. He felt groggy, and sluggish. He wanted a nice shot of ecto-dejecto and to sleep for a week. They hadn't mentioned the GIW yet, but whose to say they weren't already on their way. He'd have to hide out in the ghost zone for a while before trying to join Jazz in a few months. He'd be fine in the ghost zone, “And find a place to burn this.”

“Yeah, you can stay with me,” Red Hood approached them with a laughed, “Your stuffs already at a safe house of mine.”

“I'm just gonna get my stuff and leave. I've got my own place-”

“Does your place have food, a shower with hot running water, and a bed?” Red Hood asked. Safe- protect baby- care for- safe- trust was wrapping around Danny from Red Hood. All while safe- trust- protect were coming from Robin and Orphan.

  Danny sighed in defeat as he realized the damn revenant was not going to leave him alone now that they had an empathic connection. Danny hadn't accepted it yet, but he could feel the curious sense of a potential fraid bond from Hood. It wasn't as strong as when Clockwork, Pandora, and Frostbite bonded with him. More like with Ellie, or Ember. Great, a sibling…

“Fine, mostly for the shower. Lucky Charms was a creep,” Danny answered reluctantly.

  Jason burst out laughing, Nightwing and Spoiler soon followed. Robin smirked once he connected the dots. Batman pinched the bridge of his nose as he stayed back. The kid still had a sense of humor at least, but he had no where to go now. It didn't seem like Alfred needed to ready another room just yet. He needed to regain Danny's trust first.

“Come on, let's go,” Red Hood signaled for Robin and Danny to follow. 

“I can stay with you, if that gives you comfort,” Robin whispered, not enjoying Nightwings cooing over his phone in the background.

“Yeah… thanks…” Danny squeezed his hand a little as his lichtenberg scars ached a bit. He'd had so much adrenaline earlier he had been ignoring the pain. Danny added frost to the scars, the cold helping the ache.

“Can you take standard pain medicine? We have some made specifically for metas with a higher tolerance,” Robin reached into his utility belt and found his own small first aid pocket and pulled out a pill packet.

“This doesn't really work for me. I have some medicine in my first aid kit. I need two hands though…” Danny stopped they reached the lobby. Signal was guarding the hostages near the other paramedics.

“Over here,” Robin pulled Danny to a chair off to the side and let his hand go.

“What's wrong?” Red Hood followed them as they diverted from his lead.

“I forgot I had this,” Danny reached into his chest, startling Red Hood, and pulled out the same large first aid kit as before.

“What the fuck…” Red Hood stared at Danny as he opened the kit and pulled out a bottle of pills and mini thermos.

“Pocket dimension,” Danny answered before taking 2, very much glowing, blue pills and drank out of the thermos’ straw.

“That's not fucking fair.”

“It's convenient, are things organized?” Robin asked, getting a peak at the label of the bottle. It was written in a language he didn't recognize. It looked like runes.

“Mhm…” Danny took both pills and chugged the rest of the ecto in the thermos. It wasn't ecto-dejecto but it helped with replenishing his energy. Thank you Frostbite, he thought as he put away the ghost equivalent of ibuprofen. He even had ghost morphine in this kit. Frostbite was the best for giving him this first aid kit after the whole ice power development, “It's kinda categorized in my mind. Mostly I just reach into what ever body part I shoved something into to pull it back out.”

“Why is so much of your shit glowing?” Red Robin was behind them now. Danny didn't answer. Instead he shut the case and stuck it back into his stomach. “Why-”

“That's enough questions,” Hood was quick to pick Danny up in one arm, ignoring the ache in his back, before they left through the back door and began grappling through the city, back towards crime alley.

Danny felt scarily light in Hood's arm. Robin followed close behind. If Danny wanted Robin around, it was fine with him. Demon brat could use a new friend anyway. Danny quickly got down once they stopped on a fire escape.

“One more thing,” Danny tied off the bag with the Alice cosplay and tossed it up in the air before firing an ecto blast at it, cause it to burst into ashes on impact, “I feel better.”

“That's one way to burn a dress,” Red Hood wanted to ask questions, but ignored the detective side of himself in favor of Danny's trust. Besides, Danny was too light. He was absolutely going to feed the kid as much as possible.

“You should rest now,” Robin gestured toward the open window as Danny watched to be sure he didn't accidentally set something on fire. When it was all clear, he climbed into the apartment window after Red Hood. Robin followed him, also avoiding asking questions that would possibly trigger Danny.

“Here,” Red Hood handed Danny his folded clothes and a towel, “You should go wash up. I'll figure out dinner. Your stuff is by the bathroom door.”

“Thanks…” Danny went ahead to start showering. He wanted nothing more than to be clean, and then pack up to leave.

  With the privacy of the shower, he pulled the phone from his leg. Unlike before, he'd learned his lesson and kept the phone on silent most days. It had been on in his body, he was receiving messages from Team Phantom. GIW was leaving Amity park, fuck. And Jazz was annoyed he hadn't called yet, double fuck. He didn't have a lot of time. They wouldn't want him in the shower too long, there might even be a camera around.

—

Clueless1: Can't check in. Red Hood is a revenant and it's trying to fraid bond with me. I think he imprinted on me.

Nightshade: Ha! That's ‘cause you're a baby ghost!

Also, where the fuck have you been all week!

Pharaoh-Tech: Dude, ever since Ember found out you were a baby ghost she's been dooting on you. Now Red Hood is gonna baby you too. What about the rest of the Bats?

GhostGetter: Danny! You made a new friend! I'm so proud. Batman would be a good ally to get the Anti-ecto acts taken down. Use the connection.

Clueless1: Yeah, I don't trust the guy who wanted to collar me for being a dangerous meta. I'll catch you guys up when I get away from this situation.

And Tuck, Robin and Orphan are liminal too. So far they seem okay.

GhostGetter: He what?! I'm packing the creep stick 3.0.

Nightshade: I thought you already packed the creep stick?

GhostGetter: I packed the original creep stick. I'm gonna need the metal one for Batman threatening my baby brother.

—

“Danny, you okay in there?” There was a knock on the door.

“Yeah, just messing with the water temperature to get it right,” Danny quickly turned the heat down when he realized the room was steaming and it would be too hot for him.

“Okay. Use whatever soap you want,” Red Hood’s footsteps were heard walking away.

—

Clueless1: I've got to go. They're getting suspicious. Updates as soon as I get back to my workshop.

—

Danny shoved the phone back into his leg and got into the lukewarm shower and was a little grossed out to see the water turn brown as it ran out of his hair.

“Gross…” he spent 20 minutes washing his hair three times and scrubbing his body. The cut on his cheek and arm had healed without scars. He smelt food as he finished getting dressed in clothes that fit him and Sam’s sweater. He also checked his scrambler and signature dampener to ensure they were working. The GIW wouldn't be able to track them so he would at least stay in the land of the living.

“Feeling better?” Red Hood asked, he and Robin were around the table with three new guests…

“We brought food!” Spoiler cheered as she gestured to the bags of takeout from Batburger on the table. There were six bags total… why?

“These fools had the same idea and failed to communicate to one another,” Robin sighed.

“I wanted to check on Littlewing. We got launched pretty far into those crates,” Nightwing answered, “And the Night-Wings from Batburger are delicious.”

  Danny didn't approached until Orphan gently gestured for him to sit besides her. He liked her, she didn't try to interrogate him and was way better at speaking emphatically than the other two. She handed Danny a bag as he sat down. Spoiler pulled out a six pack of sprites and passed one to each person. It was a sealed can, that gave Danny some comfort. He opened his bag after everyone else and the burgers, various fries, and other items were piled into the center. Except for two burgers labeled vegan, those were handed to Robin.

“We have plenty of food. Eat as much as you want,” Red Hood grabbed the largest wrapped burger for himself. Nightwing was opening a box of chicken wings.

Danny pulled the items put of his bag. Wings, fries, and a burger. Everyone was eating around the table, no one really focused on him as a discussion about watching a movie quickly started. It was nice, he wasn't the focus.

Orphan tapped his shoulder, “Eat? Hungry?”

“...right…” now that he was somewhat aware of his memories and body, Danny recalled Lucky Charms feeding him regularly until today. He was starving, ghost fights always made him hungrier. Using his powers in human form alway had drawbacks.

  Everyone was sharing, he didn't smell any poisons or sedatives. Vlad wasn't here to slip blood blossoms onto his food. Nothing was coming back to life so far… It was okay to eat… Danny took a bite of the burger still wrapped in the paper, he wasn't going to waste anything.

  He heard a soft chuckle from Orphan as he took another bite, “Not the paper. Open, like this.”

“I knew that…” Danny was being taught how to eat a burger… Still, it was a waste. Trash kept him fuller than regular food did. He could eat less if he ate few wrappers. They'd just be tossed anyway.

“It's okay, being new to earth must be hard,” Spoiler spoke up, “You've only been here two months, right?”

“New to…” Danny blue screened for a moment, “Wait, what do you think I am?” Do they not know I'm a ghost? I don't have to leave? 

“It was hypothesized you might have been an alien, your powers are too vast to be a human meta. Please correct us if we are wrong with our theories,” Robin unwrapped his burger and opened his soda.

“Huh…” Danny didn't really know how to feel about that, aside from relief that they didn't know he was a ghost, “Well I've lived on earth my whole life.”

“But are you an alien?” Nightwing asked, “Our friends the Superboys are aliens. My girlfriend Kori is too. Knowing your species would help us find you a home.”

“I'm half human. That's all you get to know,” Danny growled and Robin glared at Nightwing.

“Let the kid eat or I'm turning on Pride and Prejudice,” Hood threatened as he reached for his second burger.

“You have an obsession with that movie,” Nightwing remarked.

“I can appreciate art, unlike you Dickwing,”  Red Hood remarked.

“Movie?” Orphan asked Danny who was still eating the paper around his burger.

“ParaNorman?” Danny suggested, he liked that movie. It displayed ghosts as the complicated species they were. Not just hostile and dangerous, but also peaceful and wanted to carry out their undead lives.

“Para-what?” That caught their attention.

“It's a good movie… This kid can see ghosts. His uncle tells him a witches curse is gonna come true and so he has to help her ghost move on to stop the zombie uprising on the town,” Danny fiddled with the box of wings as he explained. None were moving to attack or grow teeth suddenly, “I like it. It shows that the undead aren't all evil.”

“I wanna watch that,” Spoiler raised her hand. Orphan did the same.

“That movie sounds like it has an unseen perspective on the paranormal. I'd like to watch it,” Robin answered.

“Zombies, ghosts, and witches huh?” Red Hood found the movie on a streaming service and hit play.

  Danny proceeded to eat a chicken wing whole, bone and all like it was a chicken nugget. No one said anything. However Robin did insist he stop eating the paper and containers. Danny only half listened. He had no idea when he would eat again. He even froze a burger to keep in his pocket dimension. Frozen meat was no where near as good as frozen fruit but he wasn't going to waste anything. Jazz never complained about Danny's food hiding habits. She even got herself a mini fridge for her room to hide more food in for the two of them at some point. Sometimes it was nice to not fight your dinner.

  Nightwing and Spoiler were summoned to the bat cave halfway through the movie. Everyone but Danny and Red Hood had stopped eating for the most part by that time. Danny managed to hide another burger before they finished off the pile of fries that was left.

After the movie, the vigilantes changed into comfortable clothes, leaving their domino masks on. Red Hood decided to read a book instead. Robin and Orphan seemed content to continue watching TV after Danny had rejected the idea of going to bed. He was exhausted but he didn't want them to hear what he might say in his sleep. He'd fallen asleep talking on the phone to Sam and Tucker a few times. Waking up to their words of comfort enough time to know he wasn't the quietest sleeper right now. It would only make them want to dig into his background and then they'd hand him over. He didn't have enough energy to try and portal back to the ghost zone to hide if they did. So Danny had to stay awake to keep him from another tireless sleep. He doesn't deserve another nightmare. He needs a dream instead.

  Danny hadn't been winning the battle to fight sleep. He was leaning on Orphan who’d purposefully made sure he was on most of the couch. She could easily run her fingers through his hair if he let her. He still flinched a little when she'd tried about ten minutes ago. This time, he leaned in a little more. Robin handed her a pillow and she was able to get Danny to lay down fully as his eyes shut. Falling asleep surrounded by safe- rest- heal- safe. Cass continued gently petting him as Red Hood covered him with a blanket and move the backpack to lean against the couch so he could see it if he woke. They'd all noticed Danny took occasional glances towards it.

  It was only another minute before they noticed. It was quiet, only heard when it was completely silent. Robin heard it first and was immediately curious. Danny could purr. What other species was Danny that he could not only growl and hiss, but also purr. His behavior was like that of a feisty cat. He was apprehensive, and protected himself with his instincts. He'd been abused, and was displaying behaviors of it. Hiding food for later, eating trash to keep full for longer. Not wasting anything what was safe for consumption… How long was he starved? He was so thin, yet still held enough strength to rival wonder woman.  Danny knew her fighting technique well. It wasn't perfect, and his swordsmen ship was above Robin’s expectations, however the brute strength is what Danny relies on. He said he was half human, but never answered about his hybrid half. Was he experimented on because of his race? It completely violates the Meta Protection Laws.

“Robin, what do you know?” Red Hood spoke up, noticing how Robin had tensed.

“We shouldn't talk about this near Danny. You'll want to be somewhere you can hit something,” Robin answered.

“Listening,” Orphan pointed to her coms, “I'll stay.”

  With that, Red Hood and Robin left to the closest safe house without neighbors.

“It's unforgivable,” Robin spoke up as soon as the room was secure.

“Robin you examined him. What did you see?” Hood took a seat and waved for Robin to take one as well.

“He was starved long before two months ago,” Robin couldn't unsee the sickly pale color of Danny's skin or the obvious way his skeleton threatened to poke through the small layer of flesh he had, “His body was covered in scars. Some looked like they were burns, from a type of laser or small blast. Others were cuts made at random or medically… He'd been… He's been vivisected. Same scar as you.”

  The green felt overwhelming as nothing but rage and hatred for that monster to cut open a kid surged through him. Hood got up and punched the wall, easily tearing through the drywall. Robin was right, it was best to have this conversation far from Danny where Jason could hit something. He pushed the green back, grounding himself before waiting for Robin to continue.

“Another thing I noticed was on his left leg and right arm, he had a thick scar that circled the whole of his limb. Under that scar there were no other scars or very few. It suggests he may have… regrown those limbs… the cut on his face and his arm were also healed. No scars left behind this time. He has a healing factor, a powerful one for how long he's survived.”

“I can not let those assholes live. Who ever was responsible to treating him like a fucking science experiment. I'm going to kill them,” Red Hood snarled, taking his anger out on the wall. Robin silently agreeing that these people deserved death if only to be a mercy from his wrath. 

—

“Bruce,” Tim looked back towards the man reviewing the footage from Robin’s mask which Oracle had recorded, “Danny needs help…”

“Hm…” Batman agreed, disgust and disbelief that someone would hurt a child that way, “We need more information.”

“I do have this,” Red Robin pulled the vile of green front his utility belt. Robin had slipped it to him before they left, “Robin got a blood sample during the fight. We can run an analysis on it. According to Oracle the only information they got Danny to admit was that he was half human, but nothing else so far.”

“Run an analysis and we'll go from there. Robin and Orphan will get us information over time. This situation is more delicate than anticipated.”

“Yeah,” Tim responded, starting an analysis immediately.

—

  Jason and Damian returned to find Cass had cleaned up and was resting on the recliner while Danny was still sound asleep, the purring had stopped when Cass left his side but he wasn't showing signs of struggling while sleeping. It was one of the few nights he didn't have nightmares. And the first time since he'd been found out that he'd had a nice dream. Red Hood stayed in the living room for the night while Robin and Orphan slept. It wasn't just Danny who'd gotten a peaceful rest that night.

  Danny woke to the smell of food. Recognizing the ecto signature which was starting to fade, he'd have to thank Nocturn one day. At some point in the night he'd pulled the still rolled up blanket from Jazz to keep in his arms. He'd been doing that more often. He quickly put it away and found his bag with a new toothbrush and toothpaste on top.

“Sleep well?” Danny recognized the voice coming from his left in the kitchen. Red Hood was standing at the stove with a frying pan, and cooking.

“... Yeah…” Danny answered before quieting down, “No nightmares…” he whispered but Hood hear it. Orphan heard it too.

“We're eating buffet style. Grab a plate and serve yourself as much as you want when you're ready,” Hood instructed.

  He had noticed Danny was more willing to eat from the piles of food in the table than the single bag he was handed. He was going to do what ever let Danny eat more comfortable. The kid needed to eat, he was so frail looking for someone who'd managed to kick their asses into a crate. It made sense when he said he was half human. It still left the question of what his other half is. There was even a bet on it now in the family chat. Damian stayed out of it. Tim and Dick were betting on Martian. Barb, Cass, and Steph bet he was a new species they hadn't met yet. Jason and Duke had yet to place a bet. Yet, the way Danny had pinned him as undead… Jason made a bet: Danny was half supernatural entity.

  That'll caused the others to disagree in the chat because it seemed ridiculous, until Duke agreed. Raven was half demon, maybe Danny was too.

  Danny came back from brushing his teeth and washing his face before grabbing a plate and cup. He'd never gotten to eat his fill more than once before. Vald's one good trait was he always fed Danny as much as he wanted when he kidnaped him. He filled his plate with mostly pancakes. He froze and hid a few. Hood frowned a little as he noticed from the corner of his eye.

“Eat up kid,” he placed 2 fresh sausages from his pan onto his plate. 

  It happened in a second. Danny went still before the dull dinner knife stabbed into both sausages with enough force to split them both in half and break the plate. Danny suddenly took in a breath, the green in his eyes fading back to icy blue and he realized he'd just acted out of instinct. He let go of the dinner knife which was stuck deep in the wooden counter…

“Sorry…” he whispered before starting to pick up the broken pieces. He used intangibility to free the dinner knife.

“You okay?” Orphan asked. She was still in comfortable clothes with a domino mask on, “Don't like sausages?”

“N-not really,” Danny sighed, the adrenaline coming down making him feel tired again, “They're incredibly aggressive when reanimated,” Danny shuttered at the memory of the food wars fridge of Fentonworks.

“What?” Robin stopped eating and simply stared at Danny.

“Danny… What the fuck are you talking about?” Hood stopped cooking and sat down with his own plate and a cup of coffee.

  Fuck… Danny had forgotten food only reanimated in their fridge or the ghost zone. They were all liminal but they weren't radioactive enough to reanimate food. Everyone in Amity already knew food could come back, especially food near Fenton Works. Danny did not need them asking questions. He should just leave.

“I'm just gonna go,” Danny started getting up only for Robin to grab his arm.

“You haven't eaten yet and are recovering. You should stay here to rest,” Robin started clearing away the broken plate and Orphan replaced it.

“I'm not staying if I'm going to be interrogated,” honestly, Danny really wanted to eat the pancakes hot instead of frozen. The more real food he could steal, the better. 

“So long as you eat until your full,” Red Hood placed a Massive pile of steaming pancakes onto Danny's new plate. Then an omelet on the side and a bottle of syrup.

  Danny ate quietly. Actually, everyone did. It was comfortable silence. Content hummed from all four of them as they drifted from breakfast to lounging a bit. Eventually Robin and Orphan had to leave. It was just Danny and Hood. Hood broke the silence after finishing his book. 

“Danny,” Hood called him, “I want you with me from now on.”

“What?” Danny hadn't expected that. He thought he'd be dragged to the batcave eventually if he didn't leave soon. So far each time he tried to leave he was told no and to rest.

“I'm not leaving you on the street. You can stay with me most of the time,” he repeated.

“Are you asking me to move in with you? Why?” There was no way Danny was trusting him.

“I don't think sugar coating this would convince you, so I'm going to be blunt. You look like shit, like a breeze is going to knock you over. Then there's Robin's report on your injuries. I want to keep an eye on you. Not just for your health. You are powerful as fuck and I would hate to have you as a rogue and I'm going to make sure that is not a path in your future,” Danny internally winced at the memory of Dan. That future was always haunting him… “Danny, you're a smart kid. We could put you through school, give you a chance reach for whatever goal you want.”

  Hood waited quietly for the kid to respond. Something in him didn't want to let Danny back out of the streets. He needed Danny near by so he knew he was okay. Still, he couldn't force Danny to stay.

“No thanks,” Danny got up and grabbed his bag. He was still barefoot, “I'm gonna go. Thanks for breakfast.”

“Danny, I know you're scared of something. Of someone. That's why you're in Gotham, right? You're hiding,” Hood got up, blocking Danny’s way, “We all want to help. I want to give you space to be safe.”

“It's none of your business,” it was better they didn't know. They could just hand him in. He still had a high bounty thanks to Vlad. 

“You're scared to trust anyone, I get it, but I'm not leaving you alone out there. Someone hurt you, and they're still after you. You don't have to tell me anything, but if you change your mind I'll help you. Until then, you stay with me. We'll move to a bigger safe house, you are going to learn how to cook and take care of yourself, and I'll give you a warehouse to yourself for whatever machine you want to build. We can even get you specific materials. Give some people jobs by delivering scraps to you and getting you your little handyman jobs. All I want is you sleeping here at night and eating when you're hungry. Sound like a deal?”

  Danny sighed as he felt the gentle nudge against his core. The fraid bond was formed, Hood had claimed him as a fraid member. He had completely imprinted on Danny as it was probably his first encounter with a young ghost. Nothing Hood said had been with malicious intent, he was being genuine when he offered Danny his own warehouse for a workshop. Danny felt his core throb in excitement at the space he'd have for tinkering… The revenant was at risk with the GIW anyway, Danny should probably make him a scrambler bracelet. Robin and Orphan may not ping their sensors but Red Hood would. He couldn't just leave him like this. Being near Danny would help filter out that gross ecto over time anyway… and that warehouse deal… not to mention he'd love to know how to cook without the side effect of necromancy.

“Fine…” Danny sighed in defeat, “But I'll have to move my stuff.”

“So you did have a home base. We've been wondering where you disappear to when you aren't criptidly lurking around, scavenging trash like a raccoon, or fixing someone's ac,” Hood smiled before removing his domino mask.

“Oh, I was not expecting an identity reveal,” Danny quietly spoke to himself as Hood stood up.

“We're going to be living together, might as well get it out of the way early. It's proof I trust, even if you don't trust me. And it’ll piss off Bats when he finds out,” Hood answered, “My name is Jason.”

“... Okay…” Danny nodded. He just stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do next.

“Let's go get your stuff. We can move to the next safe house tonight,” Jason answered, having already reset this safehouse.

—

  In the Bat Cave, Tim had disassembled the diadem while he ran an analysis on the microchips he found. They had an eerie green glow, the same glow Danny's blood gave off. Mad Hatter had infused Danny’s blood directly to the chips. Why? Was that how he got a hold of Danny? Why did he use so many microchips? Why was Danny so difficult to mind control that Tetch had to go so far?

The analysis finished…

“What the hell…” it was bizarre… Not even a trace of Martian DNA. He had a fully set of human DNA and it was delicately intertwined with another set the computer couldn't read completely. Danny had quadruple helix DNA. It was something that sometimes occurs in sections of human DNA of cancer cells or mutation areas. However Danny’s entire DNA structure followed the quadruple helix neatly and completely. The base components on half the sets were similar to Lazarus water. The pit water was similar in color, but Danny’s blood had a brighter glow and was thicker, more like a slime than water…

 Tim pulled up the scans of Danny’s scars. It was still a bit blurry but it was the clearest pictures of him they had. Especially when his face wasn't in frame. He had puncture scars in his right arm under the ring of regrowth scar. Not like a regular injection. No, it look like he'd been stabbed several times with a metal boba straw. Still… It was obvious Danny was an experiment of some kind. A half human hybrid, someone made him, then experimented on his body for results. Had he lived his whole life as a test subject? According to Orphan's mask feed, he didn't know he wasn't supposed to eat trash. 

“Master Timothy, it's time for bed,” Alfred shut his computer, Alfred's words were final in this case. Tim had been sucked into investigating after he and Batman searched the Botanical Gardens for more evidence of the trap and found nothing.

  Tim surrendered, after all, if Danny spent his whole life in a lab there was most likely no evidence he existed outside that lab. Tim would need to get information out of Danny to figure out who it was. He left his theories in a separate document for now.

—

“The fuck?!” Jason stood where Danny told him was the safe spot. Jason was only listening because every project looked like it had the potential to blow up with their eerie glow, “Danny… You a fuckin’ mad scientist?”

“I mean, nothing in here is a doomsday device if that's what your asking. Everything I built is essential to my survival. I do have some weapons, but only for my protection,” Danny slipped on a wrist ray bracelet and activated it.

“You got a gun to fit into a tiny ass bracelet?” Jason wanted to shoot it. How much power did it pack?

“Yup,” Danny deactivated it. Some blob ghosts were hanging around as usual. His main concern was the condenser he'd made out of an abandoned refrigerator. He opened the door to see exactly what he was hoping for. Ectoplasm, three 2 liter soda bottles of it. Each bottle was coated in layer of frost to keep the ectoplasm from dissolving the plastic. In the glass jar at the end, a concentrate was slowly brewing. An inch of it from the overflow of the liters cycling through a secondary condenser.

“Danny… I need you to tell me what that is,” Jason’s tone went serious. He had gone stiff when Danny opened the condenser to access the bottles.

“Jason, have you never seen ectoplasm before?” Danny took out one if the bottle and replaced it with an empty one, “Don't leave the safe zone,” Danny growled a bit as Jason tried taking a step forward, “Please…”

  Jason hadn't said anything about the blob ghosts, and they stayed pretty clear from him. Odd, they normally crowded around friendly, more powerful ghosts. 

  Jason took a deep breath, “You called that ectoplasm? What is it?”

“Exactly what I said, ectoplasm. It exists everywhere in every realm of the universes in varying densities and concentrations. This machine condenses it from the atmosphere,” Danny answered before taking a sip, “This is more potent than usual…”

“I know I said I wouldn't ask questions, but I have some serious concerns,” Jason couldn't tell if the green in his vision was the pit or the room. That shit looked like Lazarus water. It was deeper green when he looked at the bottle Danny brought closer. It was a different consistency. And Danny just drank it like it was a bottle of water. Yet, he felt more concern than rage. He took a deep breath, he could ask Danny questions when he earned his trust. The kid was still a flight risk. Even though this shit looked like Lazarus water, it wasn't the same. Danny needed it to live, Jason could get over it, “You need all this to live? How are you doing a week and a half without it?”

“I'll do better after drinking this throughout the day,” Danny shoved the bottle into his chest, “I don't need to bring the machines with me. So long as I can visit a few times a week I can survive away from it all.”

“Okay. Sure. Pack up what you're bringing home,” Jason had so many questions… it was then that his phone buzzed. The girls had won the bet according to the results of a DNA test Timbit ran without Danny's consent. Of course he did.

  Danny had put a few things into his mostly empty backpack. He just stuffed everything else he was bringing into his pocket dimension. Danny was probably going to have to explain the phone at some point… Or build a second one and lie some more.

“I'm bringing a project to work on,” Danny had a feeling it would be a few days before Jason went out as Red Hood again. Deal or no deal, Danny was well aware he was a flight risk to them since they knew his base powerset.

“Do you ever run out of space?” Jason watched as Danny shoved three discarded phones with broken screens into his chest.

“Hm?” Danny paused to think of everything in his pocket dimension. He had gotten lucky and snagged a car engine last month. He was planning on building a larger specter speeder to serve as a kind of mobile home, “I don't think so…? I've got some cool stuff though.”

“Huh…” Jason watched as Danny tore out some wires from a box and grabbed a laptop in a condition that would have Tim in mourning.

They left after Jason okayed Danny taking a smaller portion of ectoplasm for his project. As uncomfortable as Jason was, Danny needed it. They arrived at a two bedroom safe house and Jason gave Danny the master bedroom since he'd be here full time and had more stuff he needed access to. 

“You're allowed to decorate,” Jason spoke up as Danny sat in the mostly empty room. He'd already put away the things he'd brought with him.

“... Sure…” Danny glanced at him, “... You're really not going to ask?”

“I want to. I have a lot of questions, but I'm not going to ask,” Jason answered, “You seemed okay when I asked about the pocket power you have.”

“...You already knew about it. And I'd never considered having limited space before,” Danny answered.

“Hey, you always have the option to pass when someone asks and you don't want to answer yet,” Jason placed his hand on Danny's shoulder, “But there are some questions I want to know just to be sure I'm taking care of you right. You need ectoplasm, you said you had to visit your workshop a few times a week. How often?”

“It fluctuates sometimes, but I estimate two to three times for the next week before it balances out. Then I'll just have to go once a week,” the halfa sighed, he'd spent a week and a half using his powers without replenishing with ectoplasm. His core was hungry to replenish his energy. Not to mention, until last night he'd felt like he hadn't slept in a week. Did mind control sleep count as sleep? It didn't feel like it.

“Okay, sounds like a plan. It's because of that condenser right? Maybe we could eventually move it here,” Jason suggested.

“That would expose you to more radiation than you should be exposed to but…” Danny squinted, sensing the sickly feeling of Jason's revenant ectoplasm, “Maybe that'd be good for you…”

“It can't collect from inside a lead box,” Jason had to line that whole wearhouse for Danny with lead.

“No, but so long as we put a lead casing around the collection bottles there shouldn't be a problem. Can't risk exposing humans carelessly if we move the machine,” Danny had already found a solution. It was a simple fix honestly. Not all the Bats were liminal enough to carelessly be around ectoplasm.

“So long as it works, I'll get you a lead case,” Jason sent a message to one of his contacts for the case, large enough to fit 4 bottles, 2 liters each, “Come on, it's dinner time, you're learning to cook.”

“Fine,” Danny got up to follow. He'd actually been looking forward to cooking lessons. Jazz's food was edible, but he wanted to enjoy food that wasn't just burgers, milkshakes, and the Casper High cafeteria food, “I kinda need that life skill. And you're the best cook I know.”

  Jason learned a few things while they made dinner. Danny was mostly wary of chicken, not as afraid of beef, and had no problem with vegetables, fruits, and carbs. Dairy seemed to make him a little anxious. Still, nothing like his reaction to sausages at breakfast. He'd have to keep his shopping mostly vegetarian for Danny. Sausages and hot dogs were banned from the safe house. Danny was as good with a knife as he was the sword. And his aim had incredible accuracy when he tossed vegetable scraps into the stock pot. Danny was kind, genuinely kind. He was still cautious around Jason, But it was to be expected. When the cooking was done and Danny saw his work, Jason saw him smile for the first time. It was small, and melancholy, but he was happy. Sure, some things were a little burnt and it wasn't meticulously arranged like Alfred would do, but it was great for his first time.

“Good job,” Jason patted his shoulder, “Don't let your hard work go to waste, dig in.”

“I'm not wasting a bite,” Danny had a wider smile now, a bit mischievous. He quickly shoved a large bite into his mouth. His canines were more like fangs. And one of them had punctured the metal spoon in his hand. He was testing Jason's reaction, the revenant noted.

“If you're gonna eat my spoons I'm reducing you to wooden ones,” Jason sat down to eat his own portion.

“I'll try not too,” Danny continued eating, proud his own cooking could taste so good. Jazz was gonna be so proud.

“Sure kid,” Jason made a mental note to buy a box of silverware on his next shopping trip, just in case.

—

  Danny didn't sleep that night. He didn't want to have a nightmare. Last night was lucky. Still, it was nice laying on a mattress that didn't reek of mold and dust. It wasn't comfortable without the green glow of his machines. He took out one of his lucky treasures from dumpster diving. A small lamp. He'd used a thumb tack and sharpie to draw the constatations and allow light to make the stars shine. He infused the bulb with ectoplasm so it wouldn't burn out. Then connected it to an ecto battery in the base of the lamp where the wires used to be. A green night light. A portable map of the stars. He kept it on as he started separating the components of the phones. Setting them up in piles to choose from later.

He'd finally caught up Team Phantom on what happened. Jazz was happy he finally found someone to stay with. Of course everyone was wary about trusting someone. Sam and Tucker were less prickly about it than Valarie since They were more familiar with ghost empathy from Danny. Though, Danny didn't tell them Red Hood had revealed his identity. It wasn't his secret to share.

  Sighing, Danny looked out his window to see a patch of smog had cleared… the moon and tiniest hit of stars peaking through. Danny’s eyes and freckles lit up, chasing the first glimpse of starlight in months. He was stuck in that basement for one.

  As the gap shrunk to only show the moon, a figure appeared. Familiar brimmed hat, and elegant gown of shadows. Jason was asleep on the couch out in the livingroom. Danny had already checked before tinkering. He transformed into Phantom and left the room silently and unseen.

“Ḧ̷͕é̶̩l̶͖̀l̶͖̅o̷̠͑ ̴͍̿l̴͓̄i̸̟͛t̸̙̓t̶̜̂l̸̡͂e̷̛̜ ̸̨̂K̵͈̓i̸̩͗ņ̷́g̴̑͜,̶͍̉ ̵̭̎I̶̡̋ ̴̧̂s̵̢̈́ḛ̶̑e̶̲͠ ̴͍̂ô̵̝n̶͎͊e̸̜͝ ̸̏ͅo̶̹͗f̷̢͐ ̵̪̔m̵̨̕y̶̪̔ ̴̫̓K̶͖̐n̸̫̾i̵͎̎g̶͉͑h̸̳̽t̵̰̿s̷̫͌ ̵̳̐h̸̘̽a̴̹̅s̷̖̍ ̶͓̄ẗ̸͚a̴͍͛k̴̐ͅe̶͖͠ň̵̪ ̵̲͘ỹ̸͚ò̷͉u̴̹͝ ̸͙̾h̸̻͝o̵̹̍m̸̫̊e̸̡̋.̸̼̈́ (Hello little King, I see one of my Knights has taken you home.)” Lady Gotham smiled as Danny arrived in the only moonlit space around them. Danny and Gotham bowed to each other, the image of a small boy and massive entity together would have baffled the bats on patrol of they could see them.

“I'm not sure how much I want to tell him. But I'm willing to accept him giving me a place to stay and teaching me to cook. I can't rely on someone forever. Especially when everyone I rely on will eventually grow old and I'll still be here, like this,” Danny sighed, feeling sorrow- safe- trust- from Gotham.

“Y̷̧͈̪̬͗͠o̷̲̩͍̾̃̃̔͗͆͝ŭ̸̫͙̈́̆͂̿̄͋r̷̛̟̗̯͒̀̑͂̚ ̸͙̘̺̖̩̌H̷̤̼̾͑i̷͎̘̞̜̜̱͙̒̓g̵̞̈́͂̑h̵̛͖̲̰̉̊̃̈́̍ǹ̶̪e̴̛̠̗͍̻̭̓̊̈́̐̚͘s̸̡̹̯͖̰̦͗͜s̸̏͂͋̆̽͜ (Your Highness),” Gotham spoke sternly before speaking the clearest Danny had heard from her, “M̵y̴ ̴k̸n̵i̸g̴h̵t̴s̸ ̸c̴a̶n̶ ̸h̵a̸n̵d̷l̴e̵ ̸t̴h̶e̷ ̴G̶I̴W̵.̵ ̵I̸ ̸u̴n̴d̶e̷r̶s̶t̶a̷n̶d̸ ̴y̷o̶u̸ ̶n̷e̸e̶d̷ ̷t̴i̵m̷e̴ ̴t̷o̷ ̷t̵r̶u̶s̷t̴ ̴t̸h̷e̷m̷.̷ ̸B̵u̷t̶ ̶l̴e̸t̴ ̷t̴h̷i̴s̶ ̶b̶e̵ ̸a̷ ̸s̶i̴g̴n̴ ̵t̷h̷a̷t̴ ̴y̴o̸u̷ ̴c̵a̸n̴.̵ ̶C̴l̵o̵c̷k̶w̴o̶r̶k̸ ̶a̵n̷d̷ ̶N̶o̴c̵t̴u̷r̷n̴e̵ ̶m̴a̷d̷e̷ ̶t̶h̷i̶s̷ ̵j̸u̴s̸t̴ ̸f̶o̸r̷ ̴y̶o̵u̴.̴ (My knights can handle the GIW. I understand you need time to trust them. But let this be a sign that you can. Clockwork and Nocturne made this just for you.)”

“For me?” Danny took note of the box in her hand. He hesitated, Clockwork was his mentor but Danny also knew that man wouldn't hesitate to laugh at his pain. Nocturne, he was a little less certain of. He hadn't caused trouble since he put Amity Park to sleep. Every once in a while Danny would feel his energy pull him to sleep when he'd been up for three days straight. Suddenly becoming King apparently made Nocturne the manager of Danny's sleep schedule. And last night he'd even had a nice dream of hanging out in Tucker's attic with Team Phantom, and Wolf.

“T̵h̸e̴y̵ ̵c̴r̴e̴a̵t̴e̴d̷ ̶i̵t̴ ̸s̴o̸ ̸y̸o̷u̵ ̷c̴o̴u̵l̵d̸ ̸s̶l̵e̸e̵p̷ ̷p̵e̴a̸c̴e̴f̷u̸l̴l̸y̶ ̵f̴r̷o̷m̶ ̶n̴o̸w̷ ̵o̵n̸.̷ ̴N̷o̶c̵t̸u̷r̷n̴e̵ ̶c̷a̵n̷n̷o̸t̴ ̸r̸e̵a̷c̸h̶ ̵y̶o̵u̶ ̴s̷o̶ ̶e̶a̵s̵i̴l̸y̷ ̶s̷o̶ ̸f̶a̷r̶ ̷f̷r̸o̶m̷ ̶a̴ ̶p̴o̷r̶t̶a̷l̷.̴ ̴H̷e̵ ̵w̸o̶r̷r̷i̸e̶s̵,̸ (They created it so you could sleep peacefully from now on. Nocturne cannot reach you so easily so far from a portal. He worries,)” Gotham chuckled, amusement- emanating from her as she pushed a shadow into the box before handing it to Danny, “C̸o̶n̶s̶i̵d̴e̴r̶ ̴i̵t̵ ̴a̷ ̴t̷o̶u̴c̷h̶ ̷f̴r̶o̴m̶ ̴m̵e̴ ̷a̸s̶ ̷w̴e̸l̴l̴.̴ ̴S̸l̴e̸e̸p̴ ̴w̷e̴l̸l̶ ̴f̷r̶o̷m̴ ̷n̷o̴w̶ ̸o̶n̸,̴ ̵L̷i̷t̵t̷l̷e̵ ̴K̴i̸n̸g̴.̴ (Consider it a touch from me as well. Sleep well from now on, Little King.)”

  Danny was alone under the moonlight now. He opened the navy colored box and found a pendant. It was made from a silver metal, with a 2 inch stone. Deep blue, almost black, with white glimmering speckles, it was like looking at the stars. The stone was called blue gold stone, but this wasn't a normal stone. Over the stone on the bottom left side there was a cog like Clockwork's symbol and silver strands in a web pattern. A dream catcher. Danny could feel both their ecto signatures and Lady Gothams as well. He clipped on the pendant and it glowed. Dark shadows pouring from it before a cloak formed around him. A black exterior with the inside a green void like that of the ghost zone.

“Cool, a costume change where Sam didn't have to kill me,” Danny smiled, then grimaced as he realized he'd technically died the same way twice.

  He returned to his room, Jason was still asleep and hadn't moved from his spot on the couch. Danny changed back to human form, the cloak returning to the pendant with his transformation. Danny smiled before tucking it into his shirt. The sun would be rising in two hours. The pendant was supposed to help with his nightmares, then he may as well see if it works.

If it didn't, at least he got a cool cloak out of it.

  And well… of 3 ancient beings of immeasurable power were insisting Danny could trust Jason, then he could live with the revenant for a while.

~~~

Master List

Part 3

Red Knight - Prologue

DP x DC | Dead on Main

Jason Todd encounters one Danny Fenton in the streets of Gotham and suddenly he's thrown into a world of ghosts and monsters. Will he embrace this life? Or will it just end up with him dead again?

Read on AO3 | Next >

---

“Why are you following me?” Jason pressed his arm against the stranger’s throat, pinning him to the alley wall.

Under the sodium glow of the streetlight Jason got his first good look at the guy. Tall, dark hair, maybe his age or a little younger. Not the type he typically saw in the Narrows- he lacked that certain air of despair. The stranger had been following Jason since he’d left his safe house. Maybe the guy thought Jason would be an easy mugging target. Wasn’t he in for a surprise.

The stranger lifted his face and smiled. His blue eyes glowed with a green ethereal light. “How long have you been dead?”

He said it with the casual nonchalance of talking about the weather. Jason tensed, pressing harder on his arm. How the hell did this guy know?

The guy didn’t flinch. He didn’t seem bothered at all. That could only mean one thing.

Jason steadied his breath. “Metas aren’t welcome in Gotham.”

“I’m not a meta. And neither are you. But that doesn’t mean we’re totally human either.”

The stranger tilted his chin up, his smile broadened. Behind his lips he revealed a pair of fangs glinting, taunting.

From nowhere Memories of the pit stirred under Jason’s heart— rage and pain and fear. His pulse raced faster. His arm pressed harder.

As if responding to the pressure the guy’s face softened. “Oh. It’s worse than I thought.” He sounded genuinely concerned. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Shut up!” Somehow the pity stung worse than the taunts.

Jason pulled his fist back to punch the look off the guy’s face, but he didn’t get the chance to. The guy went translucent. He moved through Jason’s arm like a ghost but then suddenly his hands were solid against his chest, pushing with surprising force, sending him stumbling backward to the slimy concrete.

He fell prone and then the stranger was on top of him. Adrenaline flashed through him- too late. His breath clogged in his throat as cold clutch of power hit him. The strangers face twisted in concentration as he put a hand to and then through Jason’s chest.

The fury of the pit raged and roared, nearly as loud as it had when Jason had taken those first screaming breaths back alive. Jason fought, punching and clawing but the guy held form, unshakable. His ears rang and pain sang through his whole body and it felt like he was turning inside out and then—

Quiet.

Quiet, empty relief.

He breathed out. A cool weight sat heavy under his heart where previously there had been a nest of scorpions.

Jason’s mouth fell open. The guy pulled his hand back with a sigh and stood up.

“That should help I think.”

Jason looked down at his chest- unscathed. A thousand questions scrolled through his head. The one that made it out of his lips: “What the fuck?”

The guy shrugged as he stepped back. “Gotta look out for you. You’re one of mine.”

One of mine. Those words sent a shiver through Jason. This guy was obviously a dangerous meta. Jason had been embarrassingly helpless to stop him doing whatever it was he just did. Time for some answers.

Jason rolled up to a fighting crouch and pulled a handgun from his belt. He leveled its comforting weight at the not-meta meta. “I don’t belong to anybody.”

The stranger’s smile came back, and so did his fangs. Jason bit his tongue.

The guy pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket and scrawled for a moment, completely nonplussed by the gun pointed at him. “Call me if it gets bad again?”

Jason didn’t move. He gripped the gun tighter. “Who are you?”

Still that smile. “I’m Danny.”

And then he vanished. Not a Batman fade-into-the-shadows type of vanish. One second he was there and the next- nothing but air. The paper he’d written on fluttered down to the ground in the place where he’d stood.

Jason lowered the gun. He got up to walk away, ready to chalk up the whole experience to some meta bullshit he didn’t want to think about again.

But a new weight sat heavy in his chest. The quiet lingered in his head. Whatever that guy did, it made him feel more calm, more in control of himself than he had in a long time. Halfway through that thought the wind picked up and threatened to blow the paper away. Jason’s stomach dropped as he scrambled to catch it. He closed his fist around it just as it reached the street.

He uncrumpled it between his fingers. A phone number, nothing else. On the other side— a receipt for bat burger. What the fuck.

Next >

I had a fic idea but don't know where to go with it, so if you want to expand on anything feel free.

So, Danny's finally an adult who's off to college at Gotham (the STEM there is crazy for how many supervillains have doctorates). Since Vlad actually took the time to heal and grow past his issues and turned into the crazy Bi uncle he was supposed to be, Danny's got his college paid for.

In the form of $50,000 and an kinda ok motel near the upper west side.

He tried asking his former nemesis why he's done this but Vlad just told him it's so he has some "pocket change and experience".

Danny's been spending the past few weeks aceing his his STEM middling at literature and upgrading the motel into something actually decent.

His business seem to be attracting the strangest living too. That's saying something since he's got ghostly and living guests. Danny knew this place was cursed but still feels surprised every time they show up.

1st: A nice lesbian couple came on the first night cause one with green-ish skin named Pam according to the pale lady named Harley felt the vegetation get really excited when he came. He had about an hour of questioning on Ectology and who Undergrowth was.

2nd: A 10ft tall crocodile man named Waylon came in cause of Harley's recommendation, he looked like he'd run any moment. That night he made sure his staff wouldn't mistreat people like him and by the time croc left there was a glowing sign by the door about how different guests are to be treated with respect no matter how they look.

3rd: THE Red hood showed up asking about a kid who worked there. Her name's Zoe and when her parents reaction to their kid being trans was to kick her out of the house at 17. She biked to the motel to get some rest before catching the bus out of Gotham, got a job checking people in instead and has since found an actual family with the help of Amorpho a social worker Danny met a few years ago.

4th: the most recent event was when Gotham's play boy prince and his cousin Kate Kane stumbled in during his shift at the front desk. Mr. Wayne was pretending extremely well to be drunk while his cousin was wrangling him awkwardly. If Danny didn't have super senses he wouldn't have noticed he was acting, or the tracker added to his cuff when he was semi-forced to shake "Bruce, just Bruce. Everyone's always so stiff." Hand. The tracker had little legs and crawled under his shirt, creepy and fascinating.

First Visit

OG

In a series of unknown events Jason woke up to something warm and vibrating on his chest, as well as what he belatedly recognized as purring near his face.

Opening his eyes he found a fluffy black cat on his chest, doing what Damian had called a "perfect cat loaf" once when showing him a picture of Alfred the cat. Rubbing his eyes he stared at the cat, he didn't have a cat.

Bedroom door? Closed.

Window? Closed.

How did a cat get in here? Did Damian need to hide a cat and forget to tell him? He shuddered as he was reminded of that one time out of many in the league where he woke up with some kind of lizard or snake suddenly in his room.

Well, the purring was nice, and Jason knew as well as anybody that you didn't disturb a napping kitty. Reaching over to his nightstand he looked at his phone, no new messages from his family, a pic from Roy with Lian did make him smile at least. Opening the chat with Damian he took a photo of the cat and sent it with the caption " This yours?"

He saw that the message got read, then nothing, okay then.

"Yip!" Suppressing a flinch and clutching his phone, so he didn't throw it, he snapped his head to the side and saw a small, green puppy leaning its head on his mattress while staring up at him.

Slowly Jason turned his phone to snap another picture, this time of the dog, before sending it to Damian with a "What the fuck?" - read again, then nothing. The puppy whimpered. Jason glanced at it again. The puppy seemed to stand on its hind legs while his front legs were now clawing at his mattress so he could get up on the bed.

"The brat owes me so much, up you go, be nice to the cat." Helping the dog up with one hand while trying not to jostle the cat was a bit of a struggle with the pup squirming so much. But as soon as the puppy was up he walked over to the cat, laid his head down on his front paws and gave small licks to the cats' side.

The cat opened its eyes, an intense green, nearly glowing, turned to the dog, gave him a lick over his nosebridge and then went back to napping.

The puppy jumped up, proceeded to hit Jason square in the face with his fast wagging tail and then gave playful growls to the cat, obsiously wanting to play.

The cat ignored it.

The puppy suddenly pounced, making the cat roll off Jasons chest with a squaking meow before it landed on its legs and proceeded to jump off the bed towards Jasons legs and then to the ground. The puppy followed, happily yipping at the cat. White botted paws now visible as Jason feared the worst, but before he could do anything the cat suddenly stilled, ears flickering.

The puppy tilted its head, gave the cat a lick before the cat swished its tail into the puppies face and bolted through the wall out of the bedroom.

Well... that explained how it entered, and the puppy followed, also through the wall, and Jason decided he needed breakfast before he tried to make sense of what just happened.

He stopped when he saw Damian break in through the window just as he entered his living room. The two brothers stared at each other.

"Tt. Where is the cat Todd?" Damian closed the window behind himself, looking around.

"It ran outside through the wall." 'Cause why not? Why should Jason be the only one baffled on this fine morning?