#‘I’m Robin’s ghost? I thought we went over this?’

[ri-afan]

Danny talking to ghosts that can’t be seen well outside of Amity Park mixed with the idea that after Jason died there then started forming the beginning of the Ghost of Robin that gains strength and different form through more renditions of Robin.

Danny makes friends with this ghost, but due to the semi-cryptid nature of the Bats in Gotham, Danny just thinks this Ghost is actually Robin and chats with them when he thinks they have downtime on patrol. He’s thrilled about another ghostly hero but he’s not planning on infringing on his territory. (And he’s finally doing well and school and has an internship lined up! Why screw that up with vigilante hours again?)

They’ve been meeting on the roof of his building almost every week. Occasionally they’ll see the other vigilantes go by, waving if they look like they’re looking at them talking on the roof. Eventually Nightwing gets close though to notice that Danny appears to talking to someone and as a curious bird he goes to do some light investigating.

Only to find that Danny thinks he’s talking to Robin

[redflagshipwriter]

Ghost Driver 4

masterpost

Danny was starting to suspect he had kidnapped a child. He rapped his fingers against the steering wheel nervously. Jeeze. That was bad. Was Danny the stranger danger? He hit the brakes hard and turned the wheel hard to pull off a parking trick. He didn’t intend to be the stranger danger!

‘I think that is a human child. Wow, I hate myself.’ Danny turned off the car and resisted the urge to beat himself into unconsciousness against the steering wheel. ‘But he’s been helpful. Maybe it’s fine?’

He put that anxiety away to deal with later. 

“Here we are.” Robin unbuckled gingerly, another nail in the coffin he definitely didn’t have. What kind of ghost would use a seatbelt? Danny wanted to slap himself in the face. Maybe Robin didn’t know what Danny had thought. He hadn’t called him a ghost, right? Not directly. Maybe there was a way out of this social situation that wouldn’t be really awkward.

‘He appeared out of like, nowhere,’ Danny defended himself miserably. ‘In a graveyard! He moves weird- he’s just a spooky little guy.’

It was probably the kind of mistake that anyone could make. 

Whatever. 

He let Robin take the lead, mind and stomach churning. This had been such a weird day. First off, Victor had turned out to be not Victor, and also to be a total knockout babe. Then, Jay did like, a big hero thing promising to keep Danny safe and kissed his hand and—

His face burnt at the memory. Anyway, of course he was trying to find the guy. Anyone would want to secure a date. 

‘I am starting to wonder if he’s dead, though, and I just didn’t notice. The news articles about his death and also the headstone are pretty compelling evidence. Did I fail to notice he was dead?’

In past he would have said “fat fucking chance, I am an expert.” But, uh.

‘It’s not like I’ve never been fooled before. I thought Spectra was alive at first. And...’

He cut a look at Robin. Christ, his chest was expanding. Yeah, he was breathing. Danny wound fingers through his hair and pulled. Real. Human. Child. He grimaced.

 He was going to jail for like, ever. 

“I’m a disgrace to ectology and the afterlife,” he said mournfully.

Robin cut him a surprised look, movement sharp and aptly birdlike. “What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Danny dismissed. “Get the door open, it’s fine.”

“Like it’s that easy,” Robin muttered, but he went back to whatever arcane stuff he was doing. Because he was not a ghost, and couldn’t just phase through. Danny stuck his hands in his pockets, resigned to seeing how this played out.

It took Robin nearly ten minutes to disarm the security system, but he opened the door to the safe house gingerly. Nothing shot them. 

“Lemme go first,” Danny said, because he sort of still hoped that Batman wouldn’t break his fingers with a novelty bat-shaped hammer for this offense. He edged past Robin and into the apartment. He flicked on a light. “Oh, there he is,” Danny said, relieved.

Robin ducked in under his shoulder shockingly fast. “Jason?” He pulled up short. 

“Yeah, he’s out of it,” Danny agreed. Jason was slouched on the sofa, hand hanging over the side. He had some kind of road rash up the side of his face, scabbing up to his left ear. He had bandages around a hand and his neck. He had stripped down to the sleeveless undershirt and sports leggings. Unf. 

“Nice,” Danny said appreciatively.

“Is he dead?” Robin asked, sotto voice. 

Danny shrugged. “Not more dead than he was before?” He hedged. 

“….Are there quantifiable variations of being dead?” Robin asked. 

Shit. Danny went stiff. “No, finish your milk,” he snapped. 

“I’m… not drinking any milk.” 

Danny frowned, thrown off his groove.

Right. This wasn’t the neighbor’s kid he occasionally babysat. That tactic wouldn’t work to shut down unwanted questions. Or would it?

“Go get some, the kitchen is over there.” 

Robin stood still and looked very offended. That was good enough. Danny pushed past him to check Jason over a little more closely. He noticed a cheap flip phone on the floor near where his hand was dangling. He picked it up to see a message on the screen that said “serry I canf come but I call latert”. It was unsent. He checked. It was almost directed to his phone: Jason had gotten the last digit wrong.

“Aww,” Danny said, charmed. “He tried.” He snapped the phone shut and made sure the guy was breathing and not bleeding through his bandages or anything. Danny checked the color of his fingernails for oxygen discoloration, his heart rate, his pallor. He finished and stood back with his hands on his hips. 

“Well?” Robin snapped. 

Danny shrugged. “His blood is inside? I’m not a doctor yet and it’s not like there’s any equipment here. His pulse is fine, color looks good…” He scratched the back of his head. “I think he’s just sleeping off a concussion.” 

“A concussion?” Robin’s voice went high. 

Jason groaned, head lolling.

“He’s up!” Danny hovered off the ground. “Hey, you undead?” He poked at Jay’s chest gently. 

Jay batted at his hand, poorly. It didn’t connect. “Mm not dead anymore,” he complained, face scrunched up. “Joker’s not dead either. Leave me to suffer.” 

“…Do you want Joker dead?” Danny asked. He cocked his head to the side. “I think we can hide that.” There was nothing saying that a prisoner transferred to the Infinite Realms had to be kept there alive. In fact, it might be more convenient for Walker if the guy fit his usual prisoners’ general description. 

“We can not hide that,” Robin interrupted. Party pooper.

He cut a sideways glance at the child. Hmm. “Isn’t it your bedtime?” Danny asked casually. They needed to ditch him to get anything done. 

“It’s time for breakfast,” Robin snarked. “Look outside.” 

“…Do I have to feed you?” Danny asked, alarmed by the expanding nature of responsibility. He didn’t wait for a response, because it was obvious. When you cart around a child, you have to feed them at mealtimes. What did Jay even have in this kitchen? Danny wasn’t a particularly accomplished cook. He crossed the apartment in a panic to peer around the fridge. 

12 eggs, still within date. Uh… there was some butter in the fridge as well, and milk with two days left. He shook the carton. Basically full. Um…. He opened cupboards in search of carbs. Nothing. 

“Freezer,” Robin suggested. 

Danny checked. “I didn’t know you could freeze bread.” He turned it over in his hands dubiously. “Okay… toast and eggs.” 

Thank god he didn’t have any classes today. He was going to crash so hard once he’d finished everything important.

Jason didn’t react to anything they had said or done. Danny stuck his head out of the kitchenette to squint at him. The guy was still immobile on the sofa.

“Maybe breakfast is what he needs,” Danny decided, dubious. But that was a real thing! People need food to recover. Calories might help him.

Robin perched on the counter and watched Danny with a weird intensity. “I’m just melting butter in a warm pan,” Danny told him. Maybe the kid didn’t know how to cook. “Wanna help? Put the bread in the toaster.” 

Robin didn’t move. “You’d better do it.” 

…weird. 

Danny took out two slices of frozen bread and stuck them in the toaster. “It’s easy, bro,” he said, nonplussed. “Insert, and pull this lever down.” He demonstrated. “Check the time— I’ve got it for two minutes, it probably won’t be enough but we can check on it.” 

He turned back to the fry pan. The butter was bubbling now. He cracked two eggs in. It sizzled pleasantly. 

The sound helped him think things through. How was he going to do this? Skulker might fight to keep his new guest. And Walker- Danny grimaced. Walker had never really forgiven him for that prison break thing. 

‘I might need to lean on someone else’s authority,’ Danny mused. ‘Walker respects other cops. So I should, like, get that police guy to come and ask for the paperwork directly.’

It felt like no time at all until he scraped an egg off onto a piece of toast and handed it to Robin. He put the other on a plate and made one more toast and egg for Jay. 

Robin followed him to the living room,  toast in hand. 

“Go on, eat up.” Danny shoved his own toast into his mouth in one ghastly crunch. His cheeks stuck out as he began chewing on it. Then he plopped down on the floor next to Jay and started prodding his face again. “Hey. Hey.” Poke. “Breakfast.” 

Jay groaned. He unsuccessfully tried several times to bat Danny’s hand away, but eventually gave up and clutched the open-faced sandwich. 

“Gucky,” Danny said, observing the very odd way Jason was gripping the egg directly. Yolk leaked out under his middle finger. But he ate it, though, so it was fine. 

He turned on Robin when he remembered he was there. “Can you get home by yourself?” He asked. 

Robin looked at him with his creepy white eyes. “…No.” His wrist was flashing red. Was that like, a bird message system? Was it some kind of alarm going off because he had gone out of the acceptable Robin roaming range? Robin was pretending not to notice it.

Danny groaned and let his head rest against Jason’s leg. “Fine,” he complained. “Uh. I’ll take you home, then go move the Joker, get paperwork from Walker, and come back to give it to- what’s up?” He looked up through his bangs. Jason had grabbed onto his hair. 

“Joker?” He peeled an eye open. “No…” 

“You heard the man,” chirped Robin. “He doesn’t want you to interfere with the course of justice.”

Jason, Danny discovered, still had the egg yolk in his hand. He discovered this because Jason flung it dead center on Robin’s face. 

“Ha,” Danny said. The child was a downer, what could he say? “I think he wants me to interfere with the course of justice,” he parroted snootily. Even though that wasn’t at all what was going on. 

“Dangerous,” Jason said. He peeled one bloodshot eye open. He looked terrible.

“You look awful,” said Danny. “Lie down- no, don’t get up, what are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you,” Jason grunted. He waved a hand at Robin. “And this hallucination of my childhood innocence.”

“Actually-“

“Sh.” Robin rushed to get the door open. “Support his arm, will you?” 

“You still have an egg face,” Danny told him sulkily. He picked Jason up effortlessly. He ignored the muttered:

“I can fly?” 

from his passenger. “Come in, bird, we gotta get you home before someone murders me.” Danny jangled the keys and sunk down through the floor to make a point. Robin’s shouted “hey!” was muffled through the floor. Danny snickered and settled Jason in the passenger seat.

[diamond-rozie]

Tim stepped cleanly inside the room, and carefully shut the door behind him after checking if anyone was in the hallway. “What are you-” Danny started confused. Tim was acting very unusually right now. 

“I’m Red Robin.” He said.

Danny stared at him for a few seconds. Tim had expected him to be more shocked, Danny wasn’t like Damian and Bruce in the aspect of holding back his reactions. He watched Danny carefully and noticed that he wasn’t even surprised at all. 

His shoulder shifted a little, and a look passed in his eyes. He was relieved. That didn’t make any sense unless, “You knew.”

It made an irrevocable amount of sense. The stupid excuses he didn’t question, the easy slide bys on things that didn’t add up. Tim had wondered why Danny never brought it up with any of them. He was always quick to call bullshit on things but conveniently never on their mission cover ups. 

“Yeah.” He admitted quietly, findling with the small screwdriver in his hand.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” Tim asked. He felt a little ridiculous about it all now, “How long have you known?” Tim’s mind went back to the dining room argument from last night and he rolled through it in his head. “Wait, Jason knows you know, doesn’t he?” Tim blurted, “That why he- why didn’t I realize this sooner?” 

“I mean I know you guys can’t just tell whoever you want. It’s a secret identity for a reason. You guys didn’t want me to know. So I acted like I didn’t.” Danny shrugged. “I figured it out when Dick and Bruce were in Amity, and yeah, Jason knows. He also knows I’m Phantom. Cass knows too- not the Phantom thing. Or maybe she does, I don't know.”

“You knew the whole time?” Tim balked. All the effort they put in to hide the proof before he came, and he knew the whole time. Wait, did he say- “You’re Phantom?” Tim practically yelled. 

Danny blinked at him, “I thought you knew that.” He pointed the end of the screw driver at him, “Why were you guys so okay with him being in the cave then?” 

“We thought he was Thomas Jr.” Tim threw his hands up, rethinking his entire career choice. “I mean, yeah he was in Amity with you, but we figured it was like a guardian ghost thing since the time Dick met him that one time when you got lost or something he was the one- holy shit, you were following them the whole time weren’t you.” 

“You thought Thomas was Phantom?” Danny laughed, finding this ridiculous. 

“Isn’t that how supernatural stuff works or something. Like, you guys are linked because you were switched with each other and because you were with the family he was supposed to be with so he turned into a protective spirit to, like, watch over you or something.” 

Danny's look of appalment only deepened as Tim continued explaining. “Who told you that?” 

“I mean we just kinda figured it out ourselves based on past experiences.” 

“Past experience?” 

“With supernatural stuff the right conclusion is always the most unexpected and slightly irrational one.”

Danny snorted at that. “That is a really bad rule of thumb.” 

“Right, then explain how you’re the ghost Phantom when you’re also human and alive Danny.” Tim crossed his arms. He was trying really hard not to over analyze that right. Did that mean Danny was dead or that Phantom was alive? How could he be both? Well according to Schrödinger's theory- not now Tim. He should make a new file for this later and then he’d think about it. Alone. In his room where he could properly freak out over this. 

“Touche.” Danny clearly thought this was funny so no need to put a damper on the mood. Especially after everything that already happened. 

This information changed a lot of things. Tim would have to refer this back to the Fenton-Masters case. What about Damian? Did he know Danny was Phantom? Probably not, considering none of them had, apparently aside from Jason. It would be almost impossible for Tim to not tell him that since they were supposed to be working it together. Tim wasn’t sure how he would take the information. Not only that, but gave a new scope to the vultures that had attacked and the monster that had showed up from the pits. 

Later. File. Many lists. 

“Do you want to come to Mt. Justice?” Tim asked him. 

“Like the museum?”

“Yes and no. It’s also the Young Justice base. It’s top secret and no ones supposed to know about it.” 

“What! Then why are you telling me?” 

“Do you wanna go or not?” 

“Is that even allowed?”

“Definitely not.”

Danny raised a brow. “Then we can’t go?”

“It’s far but we can just take the jet. It’s like 30 minutes tops. We could take the zeta-tubes but then Bruce would find out you took the zeta-tubes and then we’d be fucked. Well, mostly me. But still.” 

“Wouldn’t he find out we took the jet then?”

“He wouldn’t know you were on the jet. It’s not weird for me to be going there since it is my team.”

“What if we get in trouble?”

“We’ll only get in trouble if we get found out.” Tim shrugged, “Do you want to go or not?”

Danny considered it for a moment before a grin tipped his face. “Yeah.”

“Sweet.” Tim reached for his phone only not realizing he didn’t have it. “I’ll let them know we’ll be coming around. They’re all already there. Tell Alfred you’ll be going out with some friends and then come meet me at Drake Manor.”

Danny seemed to embrace the situation now, forgoing his earlier hesitance. “I’ll wrap up some stuff. I should do breakfast too so Alfred doesn’t think anything is up. I’ll give you a heads up before I’m out the door. I’ll take my bike.” 

“Take the long way round since the Manor’s in the opposite direction of the city.” 

Danny nodded. “What about you?” he asked. 

“No one’s gonna ask if I go in costume.” Tim shrugged, “Speaking of costume…” Tim turned to where he knew the wardrobe to be, “Let me see your clothes.” He opened the double doors in the bathroom where the closest would be and blinked at the largely empty room. “Where are the rest of your clothes?” He asked. Danny looked confused by that, “Oh,” Tim realized, “You used a second closet. Smart. Is it in the lab?” 

 “No, Tim.” He said, pacing his words, “These are all my clothes.” 

“Oh. Why?”

“This is a normal amount of clothes to own.” 

“But it’s like barely covering a fourth of your closet. And that’s only because everything is so spread apart.” 

“That's because the closest is the size of a literal barn. Why on Earth would I need that many clothes?”

“I thought Bruce gave you an allowance?” 

“He did.” 

“Is it not enough?” 

Danny balked at him. “Did you ask to see my closet just to make fun of me?” He huffed. 

“I’m not making fun, I’m concerned.” Tim said genuinely. Did Danny not feel comfortable asking for things? It must be because they were keeping so many secrets and he thought they didn’t trust him. This clearly ran deeper than Tim originally thought. 

Danny shoved his hand in Tim’s face, pushing him back. “Can we get back to the point?”

“Right.”

--- later ---

“Give it back!” 

“No, I had it first!

“Nu-uh. I just put it down for like two seconds when you grabbed it.” 

“You were gone for the whole round.” 

“Where’s the controller you had before?” 

“It died.” 

“There's a bunch of other ones in the drawer.” 

“You can have one from there, then.” 

“No! I want the one I had back.” Tim insisted. 

“No.” Danny moved so he couldn’t reach it. 

“That controller is player 1, so give it back.” 

“Exactly why I’m not giving it back.” 

“Why would you be player 1?”

Danny looked so smug at that, “If you recall, I’m actually older than you which gives me sovereign right over player 1.” He said pushing Tim away. 

“That doesn’t even mean anything!” 

“Ah, to be young and naive.” 

“Fuck you.” Tim said, tackling him off the sofa. 

“What on God’s green Earth is going on here?” Cass asked, returning from their small intermission for snacks. 

Bart rushed up to join her. “Is Danny winning?” 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No you're not! Give it back.” 

“Get off me.”

Kon was the last to come onto the site. “Guys.” He said seriously, “Superman’s coming. And there’s someone with him.”

Tim stopped trying to strangle Danny, sharing a look of panic with his team. 

“So?” Danny asked, confused.

“Danny, you're not supposed to be here.” Tim hissed at him. “Shit. How do we hide you from Superman?” 

“It was nice knowing you.” Kon said with a sarcastic smile. 

“How far is he?” Cassie asked. 

“He’ll be here in like two minutes.” 

“I’ll hide under the couch, he probably won’t look under there.” Danny offered. 

“He can hear your heartbeat.” 

Danny smiled widely. “I got it covered.” He said, pulling himself into the small space.

Bart giggled in excitement. 

“How-”

Kon gave a silent sign that Superman was here, sending a confused look towards the couch Danny had slid under. Tim’s phone buzzed with a notification. 

Just then, “Konner?” Clark called from the Mission Room. 

The team shared a silent look. They’d just have to trust Danny had this covered. 

“We’re in here.” Bart called even though Clark would already know that.

Tim put up two fingers to silently ask Kon if there was someone else with him. He received an affirmative. This was a horrible day for prospective teammate introductions. 

“Hey guys.” Clark smiled, then confused “Why are you sitting on the floor Red Robin?” He asked.

“I was checking something.” Tim said, picking up the controller Danny had been forced to abandon. 

“Oh, okay.” He nodded, not questioning it further. “I’m glad all of you are already here.”

“Are we getting a mission?” Cassie asked. 

“Sort of.” Clark said, excited. Then in Kryptonian, “ Come .” He said to someone behind him they couldn’t see. Tim couldn’t hear any footsteps. And he found out it was because the person Clark was introducing them to could fly. And Tim also found out that Clark had spoken in kryptonian because this new person was a kryptonian. One that Tim had never met before. “This is Kara. She’s my cousin. The entire situation isn’t all clear yet but as it stands we understand that her pod, while launched at the same time as mine, was caught in an asteroid belt and was only left free recently, when it landed near the Fortress of Solitude.” Clark turned to Kara and introduced them to her in Kryptonian and then added, “ Tim and Kon-el speak Kryptonian which is why I thought you would be more comfortable here instead of the Watch Tower. Though, Kon’s could use some work. ” He teased. 

“Hey, my Kryptonian is fine.” 

“Why don’t you try saying that in Kryptonian?” 

“ My fine is Kryptonian .” Kon said confidently. 

Clark laughed and Kara looked at Kon like he grew a second head. 

“I don’t even speak Kryptonian and I could tell that didn’t sound right.” Cassie laughed. 

Tim took his turn to introduce himself to the nervous and quite blonde. “ I’m Red Robin. ” He pointed to the symbol on his chest. “ It’s nice to meet you. ” He put out a hand for her to shake but Kara just stared at it. Maybe they don’t have hand shakes on Krypton. Since Clark had grown up on Earth he didn’t really know much about the customs of his home planet for them to have learned it beforehand. 

“ Nice to meet you. I am Kara Zor-el, daughter of Captain Zor-El and the Lady Alura. ” Then she stuck out her hand like Tim had. When Tim took it to shake Kara seemed surprised by it. 

“ You’ll be in good hands here, Kara. I’ll be back to check on you later but if you need anything Kon or any of the others can get a hold of me for you, okay ?” Clark said softly trying to gauge if she’d actually be okay here without him. 

Kara started at Clark for a moment like she was processing what he’d said, “ Why will anyone need to hold you? ” 

“Oh.” Clark pondered it, “ It’s an Earth phrase. It just means that they’ll send me a message or contact me if you feel like you want me to come back. ” 

Kara took another pause to process and then, “ I see. ” And does a hand gesture that Tim didn’t understand. And neither did Clark. No one commented on it. 

After Clark left the atmosphere of the room went stale. Danny was still under the couch and they weren’t sure how willing Kara would be to not tell Clark about it. But they couldn’t leave Kara. And Tim’s phone was buzzing with notifications that he did not want to check because he recognized the haptics of the health app he had. The one that had everyone, including Danny’s, vitals. Danny, who Tim was pretty sure had just stopped his heart for the entire duration of Clark being here. Which had been a very long duration.

Kara looked between them, confused. “ Is there something meant to be done? ” 

“ How’s your english, Kara?” Tim asked.

“ Only a little . Kal-El said it will take time .” 

“ Langage harding learn. ” Kon nodded. Kara lipped his words back to herself trying to make sense of it. 

“What do we do about our stowaway?” Cass whispered to Tim. She didn’t speak Kryptnoian, but she understood enough to know what Tim had asked. 

“I could dash him out. Maybe we could spend the day together at the mall and then we’ll be best friends and then he won’t want to hang with Tim anymore because he’d rather hang out with me because I’m so much more fun.” Bart said all in one breath, his words afterwards speeding up too fast for Tim to make any sense of. 

“She’ll know something’s up. We need to test her loyalty.” Tim strategized while Kon attempted to keep Kara in conversation. 

“How? And why haven't any of the supes been able to hear him yet?” Cassie asked. 

Bart took a pause on his earlier ramblings to make Tim’s life more difficult. “Oh it’s because he’s not breathing. Isn’t that so cool.” 

Cassie shot Tim an alarmed look. “He’s a meta.” Tim said off handedly, “Can we focus?” 

“Are you aware that your brother might be suffocating to death? In fact, we may need to hide a corpse and I sure as hell would love to hear how you're going to explain that away at family dinner.” 

“Oh, don’t worry Danny’s fine.” Bart said flippantly. “Danny, if you can hear us, make the room one degree colder.” 

Tim couldn’t feel anything but Kon and Kara did. Kara eyed the room confused about the change but fortunately she didn’t comment on it. 

“So cool.” Bart whistled, lapping the room. 

“Convinced yet?” Tim asked Cassie.

“He’s an ice meta how- you know what, I don’t want to know. So how are we going to test our warden?” 

The lounge room was decorated to look like a regular living room, including hanging “family pictures” on the wall. Everyone on the wall was in costume, for security reasons, but they were actual nice pictures of the team and their mentors. Tim pulled out a batarang from his pocket, and played around with it for a while, talking aloud about random things. It only needed to sound like a real sentence since Kara couldn’t understand what he was saying anyway. Then the batarang “slipped” out of his hand landing right in one of the larger framed pictures. The impact was loud and the glass of the frame shattered and spilled on the floor. 

Cassie didn’t have to fake her flinch in surprise at that, turning to Tim alarmed. Tim adding to the performance acted shocked. Kara and Kon obviously hadn’t missed the commotion and their conversation stopped. Kara looked at the destruction of the frame, analyzing Tim and Cassie’s reaction.  

“Dude.” Bart turned to him wide-eyed, stopping in his tracks, “We’re so dead.” Kara didn’t speak english, sure, but the dread in Bart’s voice was obvious enough. 

“Why did you do that?” Cassie scolded, “That was Red Tornado's favorite.” 

Tim held his head in his hands dramatically, then he let realization dawn on his features. Slowly he turned to face Kara. “ I’ll get in really big trouble if Kal-El or anyone finds out. I can hide it, but you won’t tell will you? ” He made himself sound really worried. 

“ Won’t it be noticed? The image is large .” Kara asked. She was beginning to share their concern on her face, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she would keep her mouth shut about it.

“ Clean up can. ” Kon said in a reassuring tone. Kara looked at him sideways, clearly confused. 

“ They don’t really come in here often so we can pass it off. But you can’t tell. ” Tim told her. 

Kara looked like she was having a hard time understanding him as well. An easier time than with Kon for obvious reasons but still not an easy time. Tim couldn’t understand why since he had made sure their Kryptonian was in perfect condition. “ Pass it off? ” She echoed, confused. 

Kara must not have understood the phrase.“ Pretend like it didn’t happen .” Tim explained. 

She thought about it and nodded. “ An Earth phrase? ” 

“ Yes. ” 

Kara didn’t answer right away and Tim wasn’t sure if it was because she was still deciphering what he’d said or if she was thinking about telling. “ I will not tell Kal-El or his associates since no one was hurt and it was only a minor incident .” Cassie and Bart had already cleaned up most of the mess why Tim talked to Kara. Tim had made sure to hit the frame so only the glass would be shattered and the actual picture was mostly unharmed except for the small tear in the corner. That would be easy enough to cover up. 

Kara's body language was stiff and she was watching everything very carefully. It wasn’t strange since she had been left with a group of strangers in a new environment and she didn’t speak the local language. She seemed around Tim’s age or maybe a little older. Kara was meant to land on Earth with a mission to watch and protect Clark. This implied that she was of a status and position to receive missions. This meant she would work by a set of rules and report to a supervisor. The supervisor was likely Clark who was most likely to take responsibility for her for a variety of reasons. 

Cassie gave Tim a raised eyebrow to ask how it was going as she walked away to dispose of the glass shards. 

It would be a gamble. A deadly one. But if Tim made it look like Danny being here wasn’t that big of a breach of the rules he could convince her to keep it to herself. He shared a look with Kon. 

“ I’m really thankful, Kara. ” Tim says, smiling. He pulls out his phone and texts Cassie and Bart their half of the plan. “ We can show you around the rest of the base. Would you like to do that? ”

“ Okay .” 

“ Room fun lounge after work. Play TV on games .” Kon said. 

Kara stared at him.

“How about I do the talking?” Tim put a hand on Kon’s shoulder. 

“Why? I’m doing so good.” Kon said genuinely. Tim doesn’t respond to that. 

The tour lasted minutes and Tim made sure to bide their time well so Cassie, Bart and Danny could be fully settled in before they returned. It would take a while for Danny’s heart rate to return to normal, and it would be better that he was all there before they tried to pull this off. 

Tim checked his phone when they were nearing the end of the tour. Cassie had texted him they were good on their end. 

“ Let’s go back to meet the others. They don’t speak Kryptonian but we can translate for you so don’t worry. ” Tim said. Kara seemed nice, it was the circumstances that were a bit stressful. But that didn’t mean they should let her feel left out.

“ This is your team ?” Kara asked, following Tim back to the lounge room.

“ Yes we do missions together sometimes. When we’re not working we spend time at the base because we’re friends. ” 

“ It is nice to have friends. ” Kara nodded. 

“ Did you do missions with your friends on Krypton? ” Tim asked. Maybe he could gauge what her position had been to see how she would react. 

“ Only practice. We did not graduate from training yet. ” 

“ Going what’s there ?” Kon asked. Tim had no idea what he was saying. 

“ What dialect does he speak? ” Kara asked Tim. “ I cannot understand it. ” 

 “ We learned the same Kryptonian, Kon just doesn’t practice. ” Tim laughed. Kon understood enough that he elbowed him. “ Are there dialects in Kryptonian? ” 

“ Many. You and Kal-El speak very… proper. ” She said sheepishly. “ No one speaks that way where I am from. Only in important meetings with outsiders .” Then she paused sadly, “ Mother always said it was important to learn but I did not listen. ” Tim had figured Kara spoke so rigidly because she was nervous or shy. This explained why she was having such a hard time understanding them. 

They reached the lounge to Cassie and Danny locked deeply in a game of rock, paper, scissors. Danny had pulled his hood back up and was wearing his cowl from earlier. He had picked one of the older models that covered most of his face until the end of his nose and past his cheekbones. Danny shot scissors at Cassie, beating her paper. Bart cheered loudly, throwing his hands in the air and Cassie groaned in defeat. Danny cackled as he took the last cookie. 

“Hey, D. When’d you get here?” Tim asked for the sole purpose of silently telling the others to not call Danny by his real name.

With a mouth full of cookie, “A while ago. Who’s this?” He asked, gesturing his head to Kara. 

Tim made wide gestures and spoke clearly in english so Kara could pick up what he was saying. It would be important for her to learn. “This is Kara, she’s Superboy’s cousin.”

“I thought she was his aunt?” Cassie asked. 

Danny didn’t look nervous, fortunately, and smiled easily at Kara. Then to Tim’s surprise, “ Nice to meet you. ” he said in perfect kryptonian. 

“ He speaks as well. ” Kara commented. 

“You can speak Kryptonian, too?” Kon asked. 

“Duh.” Bart answered. 

“Dead languages are my speciality.” Danny said pointedly. Bart giggled at that. 

“ Should we build a hole by playing a game? ” Danny asked, moving on the couch to give everyone else more room. 

“ Build a hole? ” Tim laughed, “What?”

Kara looked at Danny surprised, “ You know of that? ” She asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up. 

“It’s a phrase, basically like “break the ice’.” Danny answered, then for Bart and Cassie, “Do you guys know any games we can play?” 

“ You speak very well .” Kara complimented excitedly, leaving Tim’s side to talk to Danny. “ Did you also learn? ” Meaning is he a native speaker. 

“ Kind of? ” He laughed, “ You can speak more comfortably if you’d like. ” He gestures for her to sit.

Kara seems hesitant at first, but then she says something. It sounded Kryptonian but the accent was different to what Tim was used to and he could only make out some of it. To Kara’s delight and Tim’s further surprise Danny not only understood exactly what she’d said but even responded in the same way. 

It takes a while for them to settle on a game to play given all the language barriers. Kara spoke in what Tim learned was Standard Kryptonian but would often switch to her local dialect when she didn’t know how to say things. Kon and Tim could only understand Standard, and in all honesty, between them Tim was the only one who could speak it. Bart and Cassie couldn’t speak at all. 

They decided to play charades. It was awkward and hard at first, but they all got really into it by the third round. They kept the categories simple since Kara wouldn’t know any movies. Fortunately, she seemed to feel a lot more comfortable and talked a lot more, even if it was mostly just to Danny. There were times she would make an effort to say things in english. It was really broken but they all made sure to appreciate it and tried her best to understand. 

“I’m hungry guys.” Cassie said after her turn to act out her word, plopping herself in her spot between Bart and Kon. 

“Me too.” Bart agreed mournfully. 

“You’re always hungry.” 

“Should we order Pizza?” Tim asked, pulling out his phone. 

“I want pineapples on mine!” Bart said.

“Ew. No.” Cass kicked him. “I’ll have my usual.” She told Tim.

“Like mushrooms and olives are any better.” Kon snickered. 

“It’s better than pineapples.” 

Kara looked between them curiously. 

“Danny, ask Kara what she wants.” Tim instructed. 

After hearing them talk for the last hour Tim had finally been able to pick on some of the words but the grammar of it still eluded him. 

“ Everyone, something, something, food. ” Danny said.

Kara looked intrigued, “ What, something, eating, something. ” 

“ Something, something, like, something. ” He paused thoughtfully, making a circle in the air presumably to explain what a pizza was. “Something… ” Then, he pulled Tim’s phone to face them and pointed to the picture of a pizza on the website. “ This .”

Kara looked hesitant, “ ...Some…thing? ” 

Danny nodded encouragingly, “Something. Something, good.” He said. 

Glancing back at the picture, Tim could see on her face that she’d made a decision but she didn’t say anything. “Okay.” She said in english with a nod. “Have.”

“Great!” Finishing it up, “Kon, Bart.” Tim signaled. 

“Ugh. Why do we have to get it every time?” Kon complained, throwing a pillow at Tim. 

“I’m not going because I was the one that paid for it.” 

“I’m not going ‘casue I don’t want to.” Cassie said, kicking her foot onto the coffee table. 

“But you were the one who said you wanted food.” Kon complained, already standing up. 

“I could go.” Danny offered.

“You're funny. Absolutely not.” Tim shut down. 

Kara looked at Danny curious, “ Saying, something, what? ” 

“ Something, food, something, go. ” 

In english, “...Kitch...en?” She pointed in the direction of it and spoke in Standard Kryptonian, “ Is it not there? ” 

“ No. ” Tim shook his head, “ The store cooks it and we just have to give them money and take it from them .” He was careful not to throw in phrases she didn’t know.

Kara looked confused by the concept but accepted it. 

“Wait until she finds out about Drive-Thrus.” Danny joked to Tim. 

“I’m going to go check on the left-overs.” Cassie said heading to the kitchen.

Tim checked everyone's location on his phone. Danny’s was offline for obvious reasons, fortunately no one had freaked out about it yet. But he couldn’t be too sure. “I’m going to check on our smoke screen in the mission room.” Tim told Danny, “You’ll be okay here with her?” 

“What if we get abducted by non-friendly aliens in the five minutes you’ll be gone?” Danny’s tone was serious but his face was mischief. 

“I hope you do.” Tim scoffed, walking out.

---

“It’s just one slice, Red.” Danny tried to reach over his shoulder 

“No.” Tim blocked his food with his body, “You have your own.” 

“I just want to try!” 

“No! Eat yours.” 

“You let Kara have some!”

“That’s because I like Kara and I don’t like you.” 

“But yours looks so much more better than mine.” Danny whined, still reaching. 

“Lesson for next time then.” 

“C’mon, you’re not even going to finish it.”

Everyone watched them like a sitcom while they got to enjoy their food without meddling siblings. “I will. Just so you can’t have any.” Tim shoved as much of the slice in his mouth as he physically could. He was actually already full. 

“You're the worst.” Danny said, shoving Tim. 

“And you're worse.” Tim countered, pushing him back. 

Tim hadn’t pushed Danny very hard. Danny probably took harder hits during hockey practice. Tim had pushed him just hard enough that it forced Danny to take a step back to balance himself. Which was when he’d stepped on a wrapper Bart had left on the floor. Danny lost his balance and fell. But not before hitting his head hard on the metal fridge door behind him. 

Cassie gasped in shock. Kon and Bart rushed over to check on him. Kara watched wide-eyed, not sure what to do. 

Tim quickly stepped forward, “Hey, are you-” Next thing he knows there's a whole tube of ranch being squirted on his costume. His freshly washed costume. 

Danny watches Tim’s face morph from concern to absolute disgust with a deep satisfaction and cackles like the villain he is.

“You are such an asshole.” 

“Takes one to know one.” Danny’s on his feet and Tim chased him with a packet of garlic sauce that came with the pizza. 

Apparently feeling left out, Bart decided to dump his glass of juice all over Kon’s head. 

“Dude.” Kon shouts, but he’s quick to retaliate.

“Missed me.” Bart teases using the speed force to dodge. 

Cassie and Kara, the only civilized people here, sit and eat their pizzas at the island watching them. 

“They’re so dumb.” Cassie says to Kara, exasperated. 

Kara smiles following the action with her eyes. “ How fun .” She replies and they share a laugh even without understanding each other. 

snipbit from this fic

[robinofgothamcity]

“I can show you that not all men are like that.”

Character: Damian Wayne/Robin

Authors note: most likely not reviewed for spelling errors or mistakes lmfao, this is more of a blurb tbh. In the middle of writing this, I caused a gigantic spill all over my side table and onto my carpet so I was over it lmfao. I’m sorry that it isn’t longer :( I hope all of you have a safe and exciting new years! Let’s hope 2025 treats everyone with happiness and respect <3

Being Jon’s best friend and longtime partner, it was easy to tell when Jon was distracted and other times, it was very easy to get distracted with him. Today was one of those days where you and Jon were just being menaces to everyone that was around the two of you. You had known Jon since you entered the league under Dinah’s wing. From that point, you and him stuck to each other which made it seem like the two of you were more of siblings than friends and when Damian walked into the picture, you knew that you hit a certain nerve every time you were being particularly loud and obnoxious.

You walked into the lair hoping that Jon would be there, under the guise of seeing if he had down some of the work done that the two of you shared for a college class. The two of you went to a local college in Smallville and even though you were both getting different degrees, required classes had the two of you stuck in general English class together.

“Damian!” You said as you noticed his boots at the door, “my lovely friend who admits to hating me but secretly doesn’t!” You sang as you walked into the common area. You saw that him looking through his computer, half annoyed and angry.

“Where’s Jon, I need him,” you finally said. Damian pointed at the computer that showed that Jon was out on a mission to which he didn’t tell either of you, “that little fucking rat, are you kidding me?” You said rhetorically, “he didn’t tell he was out on a mission for an entire week! We were assigned as partners this week,” you added on.

Damian scoffed, “who do you think got assigned to Gotham until he returns?” You pushed him out of the way as you read that you were assigned to do patrols with Damian until Jon came back to help you patrol Smallville. You stomped on the ground like an angry toddler realizing you’d be out of your house all week, “I could cry, who assigned me here and why didn’t they think to tell me?” You asked. Damian giggled as you realized that Jon must’ve put you in his place until he came back.

“Well, I guess I have to hang around here all week,” you said in a huff, “gut I guess there’s one good thing about this, you’ll be stuck with me!” You added as you turned around to Damian and started giggling.

By that point, Bart and Cassie walked in as she ran over to you, “did you go on the date with that guy from your accounting class?” She asked as she practically dragged you to the couch, “yeah but it was a blow. The typical college guy as you can expect except this time, the moron decided it’d be a good idea to leave me the bill from dinner and not come back.”

Damian, Bart, and Jaime who had walked down the stairs a few moments before stared at you in shock.

“What? I never said that my love life was skyrocketing in success,” you said in annoyance. Damian put his hand up to pause you, “you’re meaning to tell me the guy left you with the bill and left without a goodbye?” You nodded in agreement, still confused as to what he was trying to insinuate, “and this normal?”

You thought for a moment, “well, the last two guys, one stood me up before I could go on the date and the other guy ghosted me at the restaurant so technically this is a first for me,” you recalled. The boys, who were now hanging their heads in disappointment couldn’t help but sigh, “listen, this conversation was between Cas and I. Why are all of you so interested now?” You asked, popping in a piece of candy Bart had left on the table.

Cassie rolled her eyes as she looked back at you, “Well, what about Jon’s friend? Weren’t the two of you just texting?” You rolled your eyes, “he’s a nice guy but definitely just a friend. I think I’m doomed and there’s no love in my future.”

Before anyone else could say anything, your communicators had went off indicating that you and Damian were now scheduled to patrol. You went over to Damian and jumped on his back, instantly getting a shout from the boy, “do you ever think she’ll realize that Damian likes her?” Bart asked Cassie. Cassie laughed dramatically, “not in a million years unless something or someone makes it click in her head.”

-

It wasn’t often that you and Damian patrolled together and the times that you did, Jon was usually came along. You didn’t hate Damian but you could tell that he wasn’t exactly your biggest fan. You wondered if this was because of your relationship with Jon or if you were just too loud and obnoxious for his liking. You knew Damian barely tolerated Jon at first but the two of you had known each other for years now and it definitely seemed like there was a dislike from Damian to you.

“So, you go any other unfortunate dates to share to the class?” Damian mocked. You rolled your eyes, not in the mood to deal with his obnoxious attitude, “well, not that I’d ever share that with you but yes I do. I have a case of bad luck in the romance department,” you admitted hoping that he’d get off your case.

Damian didn’t say a thing for a moment.

“Well, what’s the worse?” He asked. You thought a few minutes until you started laughing in embarrassment and slight annoyance, “well, I can see why you’d make fun of me for this but I think the worst date I ever went on was last year. I matched with a guy on this app and we went out to dinner only for the idiot to not realize that his girlfriend’s best friend worked at the restaurant. In my defense, I clearly didn’t realize that he was cheating on her with me so you can imagine the look I had on my face when the girl smacked him and proceeded to berate him in front of the entire restaurant.”

Damian stared at you in shock, not really knowing what to say.

“I thankfully got off lucky when I told her that I didn’t know he was cheating but it was still embarrassing nonetheless,” you continued. Damian looked into the alley, hoping that no one heard what he was about to say. Damian sighed knowing what he was about to say was coming out like word vomit, “well, I can show you that not all men are like that.”

You gave him a look of confusion.

“Listen, I know I haven’t been the nicest to you and you’re not that stupid to not realize it,” you flicked him in the forehead as he continued, “but I figured I’d rather be the one to show you that some men are actually good out there.”

“Wait, this isn’t you pitying me, is it? Because if it is, I’m going to kick you ass,” you said taking out your baton and swinging it in the air. Damian lowered the baton and gave you a sincere look, “I’m not kidding. Tomorrow after patrol, we can switch shift with Tim and Steph and I’ll take you out.”

You couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

“If you end up backing out last minute, Batman is going to be down a son.”

Damian flicked you on the forehead as he assured you that this time, maybe you weren’t going to be so unlucky.

[luxaofhesperides]

Childhood friends to lovers ; requested by @starlightcat04!

Duke’s grandmother lived in Illinois when he was a kid, years before he and his parents were captured by the Joker and the news of it sent her to a hospital that she didn’t leave until Death arrived for her. But before all that, before his life upended and tore itself to shreds in front of him, Duke used to visit her in the summers.

His parents didn’t want to leave Gotham, but they also didn’t want him to grow up there amid all the crime and rogue attacks. The solution was to drive down to his grandmother’s house, suitcase in the trunk, and stay with him there for a few days before they returned to make sure no one broke into their house. 

She lived in the outskirts of Amity Park, a town smaller than Gotham and much, much quieter. The change in scenery always blew his mind, and he spent most of his childhood summers running around the woods, accidentally scaring hikers. 

There were other kids in Amity, further in towards the suburbs, but he never got along with most of them, too strange, only here for a month or so, and carrying an awareness and sense of danger that all Gothamites had. 

He didn’t really have friends in Amity Park, except for one: Danny Fenton, local outcast due to his scientist parents'… everything. His only friend, a boy named Tucker, would always be gone in the summers as well, visiting family in Chicago and Pennsylvania. 

They gravitated towards each other, as lonely kids tend to do.

Danny helped make those summers fun, full of laughter and skinned knees and smuggled tech from the Fenton household to mess around with. They shared stories of their lives, comparing Amity Park to Gotham, arguing over superheroes and getting distracted each time by how cool heroes were. 

The last summer he ever went to Amity Park, Danny had gotten his first cell phone and eagerly gave Duke his number. Any time they weren’t together, they were texting until they fell asleep, phone still in hand.

The time they spent together was always limited, but Duke could swear that no one in the world knew him as well as Danny did.

He still misses him. 

They still text and call when they can, but it’s gotten hard over the past few years. Duke was caught up in foster care and searching for his parents and being part of the We Are Robin gang and then becoming the Signal. Danny, from what he’s shared with Duke, went through similar things of recovering from a lab accident and then having his town be overrun with ghosts, of all things, which had the government get involved and cause problems.

The few times they were able to find a quiet night where they could just talk and be Duke and Danny again were nights he always treasured, though they left an ache in his chest when it was over. 

It’s just been so long since they’ve seen each other in person. He doesn’t even know what Danny looks like anymore! And, sure, he could always ask for a picture, but it feels awkward. They know what they looked like before. And they’ve heard each other’s voices, know the basics of what’s going on in each other’s lives…

They still know each other, but Duke is all too aware of the distance that’s grown between them.

“Duke, seriously, what’s got you spacing out so much?” Steph asks, pulling him from his thoughts. 

He shrugs, smiling sheepishly. “Just thinking. Sorry about that. What were you saying?”

“I was saying,” she says, “That you should do a road trip. Or just like, travel around. Check out college campuses. Enjoy your last summer vacation of high school! Trust me, you’ll want the break before going into senior year.”

“Just because you’re two years older than me—”

“Excuse me for trying to impart my wisdom! See if I help you again when I’m older and wiser.”

“Sure, Steph,” he says, “Whatever you say.”

She squints at him. “What’s with that tone? I’m being helpful right now!”

“Mhm.”

“Geez. I should have let Dick talk to you. Anyways, I already told Bruce that you wanted to do this, so he’s agreed to fund it.”

Duke jerks upright in his seat, nearly falling out of it. “You did WHAT?!”

“You’re welcome,” Steph grins, unrepentant. 

“Steph, come on. This is unnecessary. Isn’t it better for me to help out more in the summer? Train more, work with the team on stuff, you know, important things?”

“Duke.” Steph’s voice suddenly turns serious and he can’t help but give her all his attention. “Listen to me. Your life is more important. If Gotham survived when Bruce was the only cape around, then it’ll survive while you prioritize your life. And that means touring colleges to figure out where you want to go.”

“I could just stay here and go to GCU.”

Steph just stares at him, unimpressed, and he has to admit, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not gonna do that.”

“Just enjoy traveling around, okay? And if you want someone to go with you…” she nudges him with her shoulder, repeatedly, very clearly hinting at something.

“I’ll be sure to ask Cass,” Duke says, and Steph rolls her eyes, but doesn’t deny that Cass would be a great travel partner. 

Their conversation comes to a halt when an alarm on her phone goes off and she drops her head with a groan. She grabs her bag and takes off with a quick explanation that she has to get to class, one she hates but is determined to ace just to spite the professor, and in no time at all, Duke is alone again. 

Without Steph providing him a distraction, Duke has nothing to do but read through his texts with Danny. It hasn’t been that long since they last talked; four days ago is nothing compared to the months of silence that went between them a few years ago. They’ve gotten better since staying in contact since then, and make sure to text at least once a week. 

It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.

He considers asking Danny where he’s planning to go. Maybe they could go to the same place together, live in the same apartment, be able to finally stick together. Not that it’ll ever happen; the more likely outcome is that they’ll be accepted into different universities, chose places closer to their respective homes, and still be far apart.

An idea begins to form in his mind.

They’ve had summers together before. Maybe they could have one more.

First, he needs to talk to Bruce.

He’s working from home, thankfully, typing away at a laptop in his office when Duke knocks on the door and pokes his head in.

“Duke,” Bruce smiles, pushes his laptop away. “Come in.”

“Hey. Steph said she talked to you about me traveling this summer?”

“Yes. She was very insistent that you go visit any universities that pique your interest. I’ve already agreed to fund everything, and I can take care of plane tickets and hotels as well.” 

Duke nods, trying not to look too nervous. “Yeah, so about that. Could I travel with someone? Would that be cool? Or is this a thing for me only?”

Bruce blinks. “I promise cost is not an issue. Adding another person won’t be a problem. Who is it?”

“Ah, no one you know. He’s a childhood friend of mine who lives in Illinois, and I’d like to spend a summer with him again.”

“Who is it?”

Oh boy. Bruce is definitely going to find everything he can about Danny and his family and start interrogating Duke about him. But if that’s going to let him travel the country with Danny, then he’s more than willing to deal with it.

“Danny Fenton, from Amity Park. The town with the ghost problem.”

Bruce leans back in his chair. “I’ve heard of them. The League discussed investigating it when the news first got out, but Constantine warned us to stay away due to risk of possession. It seems that the local hero, Phantom, has it all in hand.” Bruce nods, already thinking deeply about his next steps. “Alright, I’ll need to do some research. And send me a list of the universities you’d like to visit so I can plan your itinerary.”

“Cool. Thanks, B.”

Duke leaves as quickly as he can after that, letting out a relieved breath  once he’s sure no one is around to hear it. 

Step one is done. 

Now for step two: communication.

duke: hey, are you free for a call anytime soon? danny: yeah! we can call now if u want :)

Well! That was way faster than he was expecting. 

He all but sprints through the halls to get to his room and locks the door behind himself. It won’t do much to stop anyone from actually coming in, but it is a sign that he wants privacy. Once he’s sure no one is going to be listening in and interrupting, Duke pulls up Danny’s contact and hits the call button.

It rings twice before Danny’s picking up, greeting him with a cheerful, “Hey Duke! What’s up?”

“Hey Danny,” he replies, unable to help the way his voice softens with affection. “So, this is totally out of the blue, but if you could spend this summer going around the country with me, would you?”

“I mean, yeah, obviously. You know I’d do anything to spend more time with you! Why?”

Duke grins. While he was sure about what Danny’s answer would be, that didn’t stop him from worrying about a rejection. “Well. Bruce has offered to fund the entire trip and bring someone along.”

“Wait, seriously? You want me to go with you?”

“Who else? Dude, you know I love spending time with you, and I’ve missed you like crazy.”

“Oh my God, you’re serious. Duke! Yes, I want to be your travel buddy! Are you kidding me? In what world would I say no?”

“Hey, man, you can’t blame me for making sure. Are your parents going to be fine with that?”

Danny goes quiet, and Duke feels his heart drop. “Danny? Is something wrong?”

“No,” Danny says, followed by a bitter laugh. “They won’t care. I’ll just tell them I’m going traveling with a friend and that’ll be enough. They’re too busy to care much about what I do, these days. They probably won’t even notice that I’m gone, now that Jazz isn’t here to remind them that I exist.”

“How is Jazz, by the way? We could visit her.”

“She’s doing fine. Really loving Harvard. And I’d love that Duke. You’re the best.”

The mood of the conversation eases and they fall into the usual rhythm of catching each other up, chatting about their lives and any other thought that crosses their minds. It’s easy for the hours to slip away with Danny, and before he knows it, there’s a knock on his door as Alfred calls him for dinner.

He hangs up with a quick goodbye to Danny, along with a promise to send him the itinerary once it’s made. 

Somehow, news of his summer plans get out by the end of the day. Which means Steph blabbed and feels no remorse about it. The next week of Duke’s life is overtaken by nearly every trying to help him plan and prepare for his trip, while lightly interrogating him about Danny. By the time he was heading off to the airport, agreeing to take one of Bruce’s smaller private planes which was piloted by a man who definitely wasn’t Jason going by the name 'Todd Jameson'. Of course not, that would be silly.

(Duke sighed very, very loudly when he saw Jason waving at him from outside the plane. He should have expected the guy to take advantage of Bruce needing a pilot and teasing him about Danny.)

He can’t bring himself to be too bother by it, though, when it means he’ll get to be with Danny again soon. Duke would pay any price to be with him again, so this is hardly anything.

They set off with a wave from Duke and Jason flipping the bird to the rest of the family. And then Jason is up in the cockpit, blasting his playlist of songs from musicals, and Duke is left to wait impatient for the next few hours until they reach Illinois. 

The hours pass far too slow but also much too fast. Duke feels like he barely has time to prepare himself before they’re landing smoothly and Danny texts him to let him know he’s at the airport.

Jason sees him off before heading out to take a call from Roy, telling him to find his own way to his hotel. Duke barely pays him enough mind to say goodbye, grabbing his suitcase and hurrying into the airport, searching for the terminal Danny’s at. 

He doesn’t find Danny first. Danny finds him and slams into him like a freight train. It’s only his training that keeps Duke from toppling over, dropping his suitcase to hold Danny. They cling to each other tightly, as if they might never see each other again. Danny’s got his legs wrapped around Duke’s waist like a koala, and Duke would be happy to carry him forever. 

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Danny murmurs into his ear. Duke shivers, holding him tighter, and smiles.

“Yeah. I know. Man, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I can take a pretty good guess.”

Danny pulls away, dropping his feet back to the ground. 

Duke is finally able to see Danny for the first time in years, and he’s pretty sure he stops breathing for a solid minute. Danny grew up fine. He’s got the bluest eyes he’s ever seen, and soft black hair that’s a little windswept and messy, and his grin is as bright and beautiful as always. For a moment, Duke wants nothing more than to kiss him.

Then Danny steps back and the thought fades. 

“Ready to go? We’re going to UChicago first, yeah?”

“That’s the plan,” Duke says, falling into step with Danny as they make their way out of the airport. “Then a day just to hang out in Chicago before we head to Harvard.”

“Cool,” Danny grins. “Hotel first, though, right?”

“Yeah, man, catch up time is essential.”

Danny glances over at him, something unreadable in his eyes, but he smiles when he sees that Duke is already looking at him. “Let’s get going, then.”

Danny drives them in a car he apparently made himself, which explains why it’s a model Duke’s never seen before. It drives like a dream and Duke is very tempted to get Danny to make one for the Signal, maybe even wrangle up a contract to have him work with Batman Inc. 

They spend the two hour drive chatting and laughing as if no time has passed at all since they last saw each other in person. All the years seem to fade away and they’re just Duke and Danny again, spending another summer together. 

Check in goes smoothly, and the room Bruce has booked them is large, with two beds, a seating area, and a dining area. A glass door leads to a small balcony with two chairs and a fantastic view of the lake behind the hotel. They set both their suitcases on the luggage rack, and Duke only has time to turn to Danny to ask which bed he wants before he finds himself pressed up against the wall, Danny’s hands on his cheeks.

“Tell me if you don’t want this,” he whispers against Duke’s lips.

Duke doesn’t bother replying. He just leans in, closes the minuscule distance between them, and kisses Danny. It’s soft and sweet and everything he’s ever wanted.

Then Danny makes a small noise in the back of his throat and deepens the kiss. It goes from soft to heated and desperate and all consuming instantly. Duke slides his hands around Danny’s waist, pulling him impossibly closer, and thinks I never want to leave you again.

He’s completely lost track of time when Danny pulls back with gasp. They both take a few seconds to catch their breath, and Duke realizes his cheeks feel cold.

“Sorry,” Danny whispers, pulling his hands away. Duke catches them before they can go too far and holds them together.

“Sorry for what?”

“The frost,” he says, wiggling his fingers lightly. Duke glances down and sees that his fingertips are lightly coated in frost, spilling down his fingers.

“You have powers?”

“Came with the lab accident.”

“Man,” Duke says, “We have got to catch up properly. There’s a ton I haven’t told you.”

Danny laughs lightly, breathlessly. “Oh, for sure. But later. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for years.”

“Danny, baby, you can kiss me all night if you want.”

“I intend to,” he says with a bright grin.

What else could Duke do but lean in and kiss him again?

Nothing else exists in that moment except them. Duke is so, so glad he’s got the rest of summer to spend with Danny. He’s going to take him on dates in every city they visit. 

They’ve gone years without seeing each other. Duke refuses to let it happen again. Whatever future awaits them, he’ll do all he can to keep Danny in it. 

But for now, he’s got his cute childhood friend to kiss and all the privacy a hotel room can offer. He fully intends to make the most of it.

. . .

[send me a ghostlights prompt!]

[disillusioneddanny]

It’s me, hi I’m the problem is me (dead tired)

The world was ending.

That was the thing Tim had come to accept. Somehow, all of the big bads had made friends and decided to work together to take over the universe and split it amongst themselves. Darkseid, Trigun, Barbatos, they had all gotten together to conquer the universe. Raven was completely drained, The supers three were in the infirmary, and the Lanterns Corp were barely holding them back, losing every second. Hell, even the Justice League Dark were down for the count.

“What are we doing to do?” Nightwing murmured, watching as the Lanterns slowly lost momentum.

“I-I don’t know,” Bruce whispered. Tim’s adoptive father had ripped of his cowl, his hair stood mussed from continuously running his fingers through his hair in stress. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman stood over all of the contingencies Bruce had ever collected on the three big bads.

Robin stared at the screen that showed the devastation, a frown prominent on his face. “So this is it? We just give up?”

“No,” Red Hood said walking into the room with Arsenal and Starfire in tow. Behind the three stood a young man. He had Lazarus green eyes, snow white hair, slightly blue skin, and pointed ears. His body adorned in black armor, a blue crown floated above his head and a large cape hung from his body with galaxies swirling around. He looked to be Tim’s age, maybe just a little older than him, somewhere between his and Jason’s age.

“Who’s this?”

The being stepped forward, jewelry that hung from his ears tinkled slightly when he did and jeez, he was beautiful.

“My name is Phantom,” the being said with a serene smile. He was otherworldly, unlike anything Tim had ever seen in his life. “I am High King of the Infinite Realms. Jason asked me to come and assist with an issue you are dealing with,” he said, his eyes flicked to the large monitor curiously, tilting his head to the side, the silver that hng from his ears clangled once more. “Ah, those three, how fun.”

“How do you uh, how do you know Jason?” Tim asked, stepping towards the king.

At this, Phantom had an amused smile on his face as he looked back at Jason. “You never told them?”

Jason let out a groan of annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did. “When I died, Phantom found me in the ghost zone, I never actually moved one when I died. For those six months I just hung out in the ghost zone and became friends with Phantom. Before I came back, he declared me as one of his Fright Knights. And last years he ran into me during one of my missions and brought back my memories from when I died and fixed the pit rage.”

Phantom nodded, a wide grin on his face. “Jason made a lousy ghost. Now, how about I go fix this issue for you all real quick?” He said before he disappeared. Tim went to ask Jason about Phantom only for his father to beat him to the punch.

“Is this why we haven’t been able to get in contact with you?” Bruce asked, furrowing his brow. Jason shrugged.

“Couldn’t find the sword he left me that lets me summon him. Turns out I left it on Kori’s ship so she had to travel to come get me. From there it took a bit for me to remember how to summon him, I’ve never actually done it before so it took a few tries to get it right. And of course Phantom thought it was a social call and he loves to talk so it took a little bit to explain. And on top of that, time works different in the Realms. And Klarion was there so it just took a little longet than I wanted it to but he’s here and he’ll take care of the issue super quick.”

“Klarion?”

“Yeah he’s dating Phantom’s clone, he hates their relationship like a lot but it’s like two little chaos gremlins,” Jason said with a chuckle.

“How old is Phantom?” Tim blurted out.

Jason gave the nineteen year old a confused look but chuckled nonetheless. “He’s twenty.”

“Twenty and he is already a king?” Aquaman said, looking more and more interested in Phantom.

“Been king since he was fourteen,” Jason said, sucking at his teeth before he looked at the monitor and started snickering. Tim followed his gaze and smiled when he saw Phantom grow a third arm and grabbed all three beings by their ears, shrinking them down to his size before he dragged them away from the Lanterns before they disappeared.

Soon after the four reappeared in front of Bruce, Diana and Arthur who all looked on curiously.

“Kneel,” Phantom ordered. The three beings fell harshly to their knees. “I am beyond disappointed in the three of you. Are your realms not enough? What makes you think that you have the right to take over dimensions that do not belong to you?”

“But-” Trigon started.

“No buts from you, Trigon. The only reason you’re even still the ruler of your world is because none of your children want the position,” Phantom said. “Due to your crimes against this realm I hearby sentence you all to a millenia in the Fright Zone. Jason,” he instructed.

Jason grinned and pulled his sword from its sheath and stepped forward. With a quick swipe, all three disappeared from view.

Phantom stepped towards the three heroes and dipped his head in a polite bow. “They should not cause anymore issues. I apologize that I could not get here sooner. While I may be ll power, I am not all seeing and Kronos does not always deem it fit to tell me when my underlings are causing issues,” he said with a polite smile. “Does anyone have any paper or something to write on?”

“I uh, I have a tablet, I can just pull up something,” Tim stammered, stepping forward. Phantom smiled in thanks, taking the tablet from Tim. He drew out a complicated sigil and set it on the large table.

“This is my official line. Next time you are in a situation such as this, please do not hesitate to summon me,” he said before he looked at Tim and looked him up and down, a single fang peeked from under his lip. “As for you, Handsome, feel free to get my personal sigil from your brother and call me anytime.”

Before Tim could say another word, the High King disappeared and Tim immediately turned towards his brother with wide eyes. “ Jason ,” he hissed.

“He’s my fucking friend! I don’t want you dating him,” Jason shouted, running out of the room with Tim following close behind.

[hbyrde36]

Steddie | R: Explicit (for eventual smut) | WC:4541 | Ch 1/8 | AO3

Chapter 1: Ghost of Yesterday

Two days after they failed to defeat Vecna, after Max died and came back, after Eddie died—and didn’t. Two days after they were forced to leave his body behind in the Upside Down because everything had gone to shit, a bright yellow pizza delivery van that looked like it’d been through its own apocalypse pulled into the Wheeler's driveway.

Jonathan, Mike, Will, and El finally made it home to Hawkins with the help of a friend.

On day three, Max woke up. 

She’d have a long road to recovery, but the doctors seemed fairly confident she’d walk again. Though, no one could be sure how much of her eyesight would return, if any. The same day, in a twist no one saw coming, Joyce showed up, fresh off a plane from Alaska after escaping Russia—yes, Russia—with a miraculously alive and mostly well Jim Hopper. 

And four days after the world both did and then didn’t end, the ghost of Eddie Munson appeared in Steve’s living room.

The kids and older teens, including the newest member of the doomsday squad, Argyle, were having an off-the-books meeting. After everything they’d done and been through, the so-called ‘adults’ were attempting to pull their same old shit, trying to sideline the younger set for their own, supposed, safety. 

Steve sort-of agreed about Dustin and the others, they were still too young and had already lost so much, but if Hopper, Joyce, and whoever the hell else thought they were going to bench him? They had another think coming, and he was pretty sure Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan felt the same way too.

But, whether he agreed or not, what he wouldn’t do was stop the kids from helping to come up with a plan. Because damned if he knew what the hell they should do next. 

Dustin leaned forward from his spot on the couch wedged between Erica and Will, steepling his fingers together in front of him. “So let me test my understanding. You set him on fire, and shot him—multiple times. He fell out of a third story window, and he just went… poof? Vanished without a trace?”

There was a collective groan from the room, everyone except for Lucas and El who were at the hospital sitting with Max, and of course Dustin himself. 

Robin rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, yes, Dustin. How many times do we have to go over this?”

 “I’m just laying out the facts!” Dustin snapped back. “Clearly we got something wrong here. We underestimated Vecna, and by a lot.”

 “And how is repeating our obvious failure helpful?” Nancy asked, a little defensively. 

Steve understood the attitude, he'd also been wresting with his guilt since that fateful night.

“The scientific method!” Dustin answered with a bit of the same slightly forced cheerfulness he'd been displaying ever since Max woke up. He held up a hand, ticking each step off on his fingers as he spoke. “Question, research, hypothesis, experiment, data analysis, conclusion.” 

“I got a question—“ Erica pursed her lips, giving Dustin such intense side-eye Steve wondered if it was actually painful. “Why are you such a nerd?”

Dustin sighed, as though it were everyone else annoying him instead of the other way around. “The question is—if Vecna is just a guy with powers like El, how could he have survived this long in the Upside Down? What’s keeping him alive?”

Okay, fine. Attitude or not, Steve hadn’t really thought about it but maybe the kid had a point. 

“The hive mind!” Robin offered up.

“Possibly.” Dustin nodded to her. ”Probably. So, what does that tell us?”

Erica crossed her arms, leaning back heavily into the couch. “I don’t know Mr. Clarke, you wanna share your thoughts with the class?”

“I didn’t say I had all the answers.”

“That’s a first,” Robin mumbled. 

“I’m just trying to get us brainstorming here!”

A flutter of movement pulled Steve’s admittedly already drifting attention away from discussion at hand. Something in the corner, the air there shifting and bending strangely, a little like the way heat shimmers off a sun drenched black top. He watched through his periphery, not daring to actually turn his head to look as a familiar figure materialized there. 

Fuck.

Though he looked confused and disoriented at first, it wasn’t long before the long-haired apparition tried approaching one of them.

Steve swallowed hard, his throat growing painfully tight. He fought to keep his face neutral as the ghost raised a hand in front of Dustin's face, calling the boy's name loudly before moving on to Erica, then Nancy—and Steve panicked, knowing he had to do something before the figure tried the same with him. 

“Water,” he muttered, mainly to Robin as he rose and bumped her shoulder. She was the only one really paying attention to him anyway, while the others still argued the physics and limitations of the alternate dimension. 

Steve fled for the relative quiet and safety of his kitchen. He just needed a minute alone to get his shit together, but he should have expected the phantom footfalls that followed him across the tile floor to the cabinet. 

As he took out a tall glass with shaking hands, the ghost hopped up to sit on the counter just beside him and started talking to himself.

“What the hell does a guy gotta do to get a little attention, huh?” The figure held up his slightly transparent hands in front of his own face, turning them over and back again. “I-I’m kinda freaking out here.”

Under the show of irritation he sounded sad, and a little terrified.

“They can’t see you,” Steve muttered softly, regretting it the second the words passed his lips. 

He knew better than to engage with ghosts. 

Since the moment he’d first shown signs of the gift, he’d been taught by his late grandfather to leave the spirit world be, and mind his own goddamn business.

He’d only broken the rules one other time, about a month or so after they learned the full truth of what happened to Barb and he’d seen her essence lurking around his pool at night. That experience had only served to further prove the old man’s point. 

Nothing good ever came from acknowledging the dead. 

But this was Eddie. 

They’d fought together, bled together. Eddie was his–his ally, his compatriot, his friend. 

And towards the end there Steve was even starting to think that maybe… maybe one day they could be more, if he ever got up the courage to flirt back.

Not that it mattered now.

“No shit, Harrington!” Eddie spat. “I’ve been waving my hands in front of their faces, screaming Dustin's name at the top of my lungs and getting jack squat back in return. I mean what the fu—”

With a sad little smile Steve turned, finally looking straight at the other boy just in time to see his eyes go impossibly wide. 

“Wait—holy shit! Harrington, does this mean you can see me?!”

Steve winced, grimacing at the sheer volume of Eddie's voice. “And hear you, unfortunately.”

Who knew the loudest guy he’d ever met would be even louder in death. 

Actually, that tracked. 

“Steve?” Robin’s voice filtered in as she called out to him from the other room.

Steve took a deep breath, locking eyes with the adorably confused looking ghost haunting his kitchen as he shouted back to her. “Yeah?” He raised a hand to his head, rubbing at the bridge of his nose just as Robin appeared in the doorway. 

“What are you up to in here?” She asked.

“Oh, just…” Steve trailed off, trying and failing not to track Eddie’s movements as he hopped down off the counter and began to stalk towards Robin, a determined, mischievous glint in his eye. 

“ …talking to myself.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “You okay?”

“Are you okay she asks,” Eddie grumbled, tipping his head mockingly from side to side. “Pfft—I’m the one who’s invisible. Why isn’t anyone asking if I’m okay?”

“Um,” Steve fought to keep a level expression and not laugh, even as Eddie blew wet raspberries and made increasingly silly faces inches from an oblivious Robin’s nose. “No, actually. I think I might have a migraine coming on,” he lied.

“You want me to get everyone to leave?” She asked.

Yes, good plan! 

In fairness he wasn’t exactly feeling his best. He was exhausted. It had been a long few days.

A long… week and a half? 

Years. 

It had been a long few years.

And he needed some time alone with Eddie, to talk.

“That'd be great, yeah. Thanks, Rob.”

“Sure thing. Why don't you go get in bed with your eye mask on, and I'll bring water and painkillers up?”

“Oooh,” Eddie crooned. “His majesty sleeps with an eye mask? Fancy.”

Ugh, why were all of Steve’s favorite people such fucking smartasses? He glared at Eddie before he could stop himself. Which meant he was staring daggers at a blank wall right now, right in front of Robin, leaving her looking more concerned than ever. 

Shit. 

He should have known she’d wanna stay behind and take care of him. 

“I—um, t-that’s okay,” Steve stuttered out. “M-maybe you should just go on home too.”

Her face fell.

Hacking and wheezing, he forced a fake coughing fit in her direction, only barely covering his mouth with his hand.

“Very convincing,” Eddie commented with clear sarcasm.

Robin wrinkled her nose, recoiling like the germaphobe Steve knew and loved.

“Sorry, I think I'm coming down with a cold or something actually. You should get out while you still can.”

Robin bit at her lip, looking mildly dubious, but eventually she nodded. “Fine. Just promise you’ll call me if it gets any worse, or if you need anything?”

“I promise.”

While everyone cleared out, Steve hid in the kitchen, finally getting that drink of water he so desperately needed—his throat was on fire now that he thought about it—and splashed some more cold water from the sink on his face for good measure.

“You sure you’re not actually coming down with something?” Eddie asked, sitting back up on his perch on the counter. “You don’t look so hot.”

“I’m fine,” Steve said with practiced ease, though his head was beginning to throb a bit. Maybe that migraine thing wasn’t as much of a lie as he’d thought.

With the house now safely empty of prying eyes and ears, he ventured back out into the living room, with Eddie hovering along behind, and locked the deadbolt on the front door before plopping down hard on the couch, letting his head rest against the back of it.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Eddie asked, pacing back and forth along the floor in front of him.

Steve let his head loll to one side. “Plan?”

Eddie groaned, stopping in his tracks to throw his head up to the ceiling. “Why couldn’t it be Henderson who can see me.”

Okay, rude.

“A plan, y'know?” Eddie went on. “To get me back? To get me out of the Upside Down or whatever purgatory I'm currently languishing in?”

Steve could only stare at him blankly for a moment as the words sank in. “Eddie—” he began hesitantly, sitting up straight.

“What? Don't tell me you’ve all given up on me already?”

Oh.

Oh, no.

Steve had heard about this, how sometimes spirits don’t realize they’ve passed on, but surely Eddie had to know. What other possible explanation could he have for suddenly becoming invisible and incorporeal? 

“Eddie, what is it you think is happening here, exactly?” He asked, praying he was wrong but bracing himself for the worst. How on earth do you go about telling someone you care about that they’re dead?

“Well, clearly I–I'm…” Eddie sputtered haughtily for a moment before looking away. “I'm not sure. I’ve been separated from my body somehow, obviously. S-so It’s gotta be some weird Vecna shit, right? And uh, you can hear me and see me b-because… because we both got bit by the bats and it gave us, like, our own little freaky hive-mind type… thing?” 

He sounded less and less sure as he went on, and Steve’s heart ached for him. He remembered the bats attacking him part, but not the dying part. That just seemed cruel.

“Eddie, um,” Steve cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together nervously. “I don’t know how to tell you this but you… you died.”

“Bullshit,” Eddie snorted.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. We came back from the Creel house and you…” Steve paused, struggling for a second to force his words past the sudden lump in his throat. “Dustin was sitting there with your—”.

“No.” Eddie shook his head roughly. “No–no, because, if I'm dead… then how is it you can see me? Huh?! Explain that!” 

“It runs in my family. My dad doesn't have the gift but my grandfather was able to see ghosts, and his father before that.”

“Suuure, Harrington,” Eddie’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “So—not only am I supposed to believe that I'm dead, but also that you’re descended from some long line of ghost whisperers? Is this a joke to you?! I’m in dire need of–of fucking rescue, and you’re over here trying to fuck with me? Not cool, man. Not cool.”

Steve stood, almost reaching out as he itched to comfort the other boy in some way, but he knew well that it was pointless. “I’m not, I swear I'm not messing with you. I know it’s not what you want to hear, and I'm so sorry but I'm telling you the truth. Dustin, he—” Steve’s voice cracked. “You didn’t have a pulse, Eddie.”

“Stop it!” Eddie snapped.

“I’m sorry, really. I–”

“I said stop!” 

With a choked off sob Eddie moved to shove him away, only to stumble when his hands found nothing solid, or rather, as Eddie’s ghostly and very not solid form passed right through Steve’s body.

Steve held his breath as he waited for it, the sensation of being doused in a bucket of ice water, the spine tingling, creepy crawly thing he’d felt the only other time he’d let a ghost near enough to touch.

But this was nothing like that. 

Eddie felt… warm. And while Steve still shivered it wasn’t because the failed touch had been bad or painful. Quite the opposite, actually. He was left with a pleasant buzzing in his core, the initial warmth lingering, wrapping around him like an embrace before fading slowly.

Maybe all spirits were different. Maybe Barb had felt cold because she’d hated him, because it was his pool she died in—his fault she was out there in the first place.

But Eddie was…

Oh shit—Eddie. 

Steve spun to find him on the floor with his knees pulled up, hugging them to his chest, his huge brown eyes shining with unshed tears. 

Could ghosts cry?

Steve knelt down next to him, biting back a wince as the movement pulled at the bandages hiding beneath his shirt. He’d need to change those again tonight, they felt tacky with dried blood.

Eddie's voice shook when he finally spoke again. “I’m—dead?’

Steve bowed his head in a solemn nod. He would have given anything in that moment to be able to wrap his arms around Eddie.

“T-the bats?”

“There were just too many of them,” Steve explained. “It looked like you put up a hell of a fight, but I think you bled out.”

“My uncle, Wayne, do you know if he—” Eddie trailed off, worrying his bottom lip.

“Dustin talked to him. He couldn't risk telling him everything, but he gave him your guitar pick, and told him you were a hero. That you died a hero.”

Eddie barked a wet laugh, shaking his head.

“It’s the truth," Steve said, hoping his tone left no room for doubt. "If you hadn't distracted them we never would have made it into that attic. And If you hadn’t led them away when you did…” He didn’t need to say it, they both knew Dustin could—and likely would—have been hurt or worse, and those things would have gone through the gate and into the right side up.

It was exactly what Steve would have done too, had their roles been reversed.

“How long has it been?” Eddie asked, quietly.

“Three? No–no, four days.”

“And Vecna?”

“Down, but not out. We wounded him for sure but he got away. That's why everyone was here tonight.”

“Okay,” Eddie blew out a long breath, rubbing hard at his eyes. “What happens now? Do you like, help me find the light or something?” His eyes darted around as though some doorway or portal might appear right there in the living room. “Or maybe I'm going the other way. I can think of a few reasons the big guy might not let me upstairs, but what do I know, maybe self-sacrifice gets you a free pass?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Isn’t this your legacy or whatever?”

“I’ve never done,” Steve waved a hand, gesturing between the two of them. “This before. I was taught to ignore the dead. Pretend I can't see them just like everyone else and let them go about their business.”

“How come?”

“Grandfather said if you get too involved, if the dead find out you can see them they’ll never leave you alone. That it’s dangerous. The dead linger for a lot of reasons, but the most common are unfinished business and revenge. Lots of angry spirits out there according to the Harrington journals.”

Eddie tilted his head thoughtfully. “Am I really the first ghost you’ve ever talked to?”

Steve thought of Barb again, the way her face had morphed into a rage-filled mask when he revealed he’d been able to see her all along, but he pushed it forcefully out of his mind.

And lied.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I just told you, my grandfather—”

“No,” Eddie cut in. “I mean why, after a lifetime of ignoring ghosts, did you choose to acknowledge me?”

“B-because, you’re—“ Steve faltered, not knowing quite how to put it into words. He wasn’t sure even he totally understood. Yes he’d started developing a crush on the guy, but it was more than that. They had a connection, Steve felt it, even if Eddie didn’t. And maybe it was normal—inevitable even, when you get thrown into this shit together. But whether it was all just trauma bonding or something more, Steve couldn’t deny the pull.

“You’re—” he tried to say again as he pushed himself to his feet, only to double over, sucking air through his teeth as the dull pain in his sides turned searing and sharp.

“Steve?” Eddie shot up as he spoke, sounding worried.

“‘M fine,” Steve grit out, managing to straighten his posture without another outburst. “Jus' tired.”

Eddie raised a single eyebrow, but thankfully didn’t argue, silently following Steve as he headed for the staircase and began to climb.

Of course, this was Eddie, so he was only capable of being silent for so long.

“Hey, how come I can’t touch you, but I can walk up the stairs?” 

“I don’t know,” Steve huffed out, breath stuttering as he neared the top landing. 

Just a few more steps.

“Do you think I could, like, sit on a couch, or—or lay in a bed?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know,” Steve repeated, trying not to sound as annoyed and in pain as he felt. He just had to make it to his room, get these stupid wounds cleaned and then he could pass out for a few hours. Maybe then he’d be able to answer questions and figure out what to do about all this. 

“What if I—”

“Eddie!” Steve barked from the top step, whirling to face him. He nearly lost his balance before catching himself with a hand on the wall. His sides were screaming at him and the throbbing in his head was getting worse too. “I really don’t know any more than you do. I don’t know all the ins and outs, or why things work the way they work.  Can you please just give it a rest for a minute?”

Eddie wilted, dropping his gaze to his feet. “Sorry.”

Fuck.

“No,” Steve sighed. ”No, I'm sorry, I shouldn’t be… y’know, when you’re—”

“Dead?!” Eddie snapped, raising his head again. He looked hurt.

“Sorry.” Steve sucked his lip between his teeth.

“Whatever.”

“Eddie—”

Eddie stomped past him and into the upstairs hallway. “Spare me the pity party. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m telling you, if I was dead, I'd know it.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut again without another word. He didn’t have the energy, and If that was what Eddie needed to believe for now to get through this, then who was he to tell him what to think? It wouldn’t change the facts but if it made him feel better, what was the harm?

Somehow Eddie had guessed the right door. He waited, leaning up against the opposite wall and very deliberately didn’t look at Steve as he walked over, and pushed into his bedroom. 

Steve went right through to the bathroom to get this over with, not bothering to close the door behind him, assuming Eddie would be able to walk right through anyway if he wanted to.

Eddie did follow, still silently brooding as he found another piece of wall to hold up.

Steve ignored him for now, he felt awful but he’d try to apologize again later once the other boy had calmed down, and carefully peeled his shirt off as he stood in front of the mirror. 

The bandages at his sides looked gnarly and gross. He’d bled again, and it looked like there was something yellow seeping into the huge squares of gauze too. He turned his body to the side, looking over his shoulder to see how the road rash on his back was doing. It looked better than the front, but that wasn’t saying much. The skin around the wide scrapes was red and inflamed. He couldn’t cover those on his own and could really only clean them in the shower, but they were shallow at least and would eventually heal on their own, he figured. 

A quiet gasp reminded him of his audience, and a quick glance over through the mirror showed Eddie staring at his torso with wide eyes.

“It looks worse than it is,” Steve said quietly, quickly looking away. Which wasn’t exactly true but the last thing he needed right now was another person trying to force him to go to the hospital. 

He knew some first aid. 

It was fine.

Turning back to face the sink, Steve ran water over a washcloth and held it to each of his dressings to soak them off. The air stung when it finally hit the wounds, as though they'd been freshly opened, and, sure enough, there was definitely some pus seeping from the edges.

No problem. He’d just have to clean them extra thoroughly.

Gritting his teeth, Steve poured a hefty amount of peroxide on a new clean washcloth and began to gently pat his right side. 

The pain was instant and excruciating. 

Bile rose in his throat, a cold sweat breaking out across his body as the world around him swam. Steve swayed on his feet, dropping the cloth to the ground as he himself began to fall. 

A sudden warmth at his back, and strong hands wrapping around his chest were the only thing that kept him on his feet. Carefully avoiding the worst of his wounds, Eddie had caught him, holding the bulk of his weight until the spinning in his head stopped.

The moment Steve could stand on his own again Eddie jumped back as though he’d been burned.

Steve’s eyes snapped up, locking with Eddie’s in their reflections as he realized with a start what had just happened.

“How?” He whispered. He could still feel the imprint of Eddie’s hands where they had cradled him to his chest. He’d felt so… real, so solid, so—alive for that handful of seconds. 

“I-I don't know!” Eddie said, a little too loud in the small space. “I didn’t even think, or-or like, I forgot that I couldn't. I saw you about to go down and I didn't want you to hurt yourself.”

“I didn’t think it was possible." Steve took a step towards him. "You should try to do that again.”

Eddie tucked his hands behind his back, moving as far away as he could without actually leaving the room. “Don't we have more important things to worry about? Like maybe getting you to a hospital?”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I told you, it looks worse than it is.”

It was abundantly clear that Eddie didn’t believe him, but something about the accidental touch had freaked him out enough that he let it go.

As quickly as he could, Steve finished cleaning the ruined expanse of his stomach and got both sides wrapped in fresh bandages, managing to do so without nearly fainting this time, and threw a clean t-shirt on to hide the evidence. Hopefully that would stop Eddie looking at him with those big brown fucking sad worried eyes of his. 

Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. 

As much as he liked Eddie’s attention on him, these weren’t exactly the circumstances he would have hoped for.

Steve shut the lights off, and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.

“We should try it again,” Steve mumbled through a long drawn-out yawn.

Eddie laughed softly from his corner hiding spot. “What was that, big boy?”

Steve wished he’d try to join him on the bed, but didn’t know how to ask. He untangled one of his arms from the sheets, reaching a hand out in Eddie’s direction. “Touch me?” 

The room was dark, and it could have been that Steve was a little delirious but he was pretty sure a light blush crept over Eddie's cheeks as he took a step closer, his own ringed hand outstretched.

The sight set off butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

Steve waited to feel the tips of their fingers brush, was desperate to feel Eddie’s touch again if he was honest, but it was no use, Eddie’s long digits passed right through.

“Maybe we have to–” Steve interrupted himself with another deep yawn. His body still ached but now that he was tucked in and warm in his bed, it was getting hard to fight the inevitable. 

“Just go to sleep, man,” Eddie said, his lips quirking into a small crooked smile. “It's not like I'm going anywhere.”

It should have been awkward, or weird to know someone would be there all night, lurking around while he slept, but as Steve drifted off he felt safer than he had in a long time, oddly comforted by the fact that Eddie would be there watching over him, even if he was just a ghost.

Thanks as always to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta and an absolutely amazing cheerleader!

Permanent taglist(open): @penny00dreadful @pearynice @hitlikehammers @bookworm0690 @wonderland-girl143-blog 

@goodolefashionedloverboi @themagicalari @awkwardgravity1 @rocknrollsalad

Fic taglist (open): @sidekick-hero

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home: Silver and Gold Edits

It's actually a Wednesday and I've finally been getting somewhere with the Silver and Gold edits! Can't believe I got stuck for so long.

So, here's a little teaser for anyone who is still following me.

I've revamped the radio interview Young Justice has in Amity to try and improve Phantom's reputation. So I'm going to share that.

Word count: 3k (They definitely went over time)

Summary: Young Justice (Tim, Kon, Cassie, and Bart) get stranded in Amity just before Walker's invasion. They stick around to help out and in the process decide to try and help Danny improve his reputation in the town. One of the ways they do that is by going on for a radio interview.

-----

The room fell into silence for a few long moments until the “on air” light lit up. Steve started speaking immediately.

“Good morning, Amity Park! This is Steve Boyce here to help you bring in the day. How are you early birds doing? Have I got a treat for you today! I’m here with the largest cup of coffee I could find because I got absolutely no sleep last night. And you’ll all understand why when I tell you who our guests today are!

“Yesterday afternoon, the studio got a very surprising email. We honestly thought it was a prank. But this morning, our guests actually turned up! Everyone, give a warm Amity welcome to the Teen Titans. We’re honored you would want to come on my little show, especially after the service you did for our town just the other night. Why don’t you introduce yourselves for our listeners?”

Each of them did as asked. Then Tim added, “We were just glad we happened to be in the right place at the right time, Steve.”

Cassie met his eyes and Tim nodded. “Robin’s right. Though I have one small correction to make. The former Teen Titans have kept the name Titans, even if they are no longer teens. So we’ve decided to re-brand and establish ourselves as our own team.”

Bart nodded. “Yep! We go by Young Justice now.”

Steve laughed. “Looks like I’ve already put my foot in it. Let me correct myself: Amity, let’s give the Young Justice a warm welcome!”

Tim put on the happy gala voice his parents had drilled into him. “Not at all! It’s a new change and we’ve never really operated out here before. Even back home in San Francisco we get called the Teen Titans more often than not. Hell, half our mentors still call us that. We’re just on a crusade to get the name change to stick.”

“Well I’m sure all of my listeners will be sure to get it right going forward. Now, let’s get down to business. We’re all thrilled that you were around to help us out the other night, but what brought you to Amity to begin with? Mayor Montez has publicly stated he never even had a chance to reach out for help before you were on the scene.”

“Pure luck, I’m afraid,” said Tim.

Kon took over the story, “We were on our way home from a mission when our transport crashed and stranded us here.”

Bart made a noise of agreement. “Luckily my old friend Phantom was here to help us out!”

“That’s right. You were telling me before the broadcast started that you’ve had some dealings with Phantom before. Impulse is a speedster like the Flash. And apparently that means he’s used to interdimensional beings like the ghosts that have been plaguing our town.”

“Yep! And Phantom and I in particular go way back. So when I realized he was here, I insisted we stick around for an extra day to hang out.”

“And imagine our surprise,” said Tim, “when our very first night here, we experienced a ghost invasion!”

Cassie laughed. “Oh, come on, Robin. With our lives, it really wasn’t that surprising.”

“Yeah,” said Kon. “We’ve totally had weirder things happen to us.”

Steve pitched his town lower as if conspiring with them. “Well, I’ll definitely be asking for some of the details on what those might’ve been later.” Then, in his normal broadcast voice, said, “But first, I have to ask. Impulse, how did you meet Phantom? He’s that ghost in the black-and-white jumpsuit sometimes called Inviso-Bill, right? As far as I know, he’s only ever been seen in Amity. And you’ve certainly never been here before.”

Bart met Tim’s eyes and Tim nodded, letting him know to go ahead with the story. With Tim’s story, to be exact. “Yep, that’s him,” said Bart. “And, well, it may be strange, but I knew him before he was Phantom.”

“Before he was Phantom? Do you mean…” Steve let his voice trail off.

Bart nodded and Tim took over. “Yeah, Steve. He knew Phantom before he died. They were close friends and when Phantom died, it hit him hard. We’re so glad they managed to find each other again.”

When Bart spoke, it really did sound like he was upset. “Yeah. I didn’t expect it, you know? He wasn’t in the hero business before he died. And regular kids don’t just come back.”

Cassie sighed and clasped his shoulder. “Oh, Impulse.”

Steve made a sound of sympathy. “I’m sure I speak for everyone in Amity when I express my sympathies on your loss and how happy I am that the two of you found each other again. Will you tell us what that reunion was like?”

Tim was impressed. If Bart had been a grieving teenager, Steve successfully pivoted the topic to a more happy discussion. One that would keep his audience engaged without dragging the mood down.

He and Bart exchanged a look. They’d practiced this one, too. “As you mentioned, Speedsters tend to get involved in interdimensional situations. It has to do with how the speedforce—the thing we get our powers from—works.”

“Mind telling us about that?”

“It’s too complicated, I’m afraid,” said Bart.

“And he’s not lying, either,” added Tim. “He’s tried to explain it to me, and I’m no slouch when it comes to complicated science, but it’s just one of those things that I think is impossible to explain if you haven’t experienced it.”

“Fair enough,” laughed Steve. “Can’t blame me for being curious! But continue, please, Impulse.”

“So I was running one day, when suddenly I was somewhere else. Somewhere with a swirling green sky and no solid ground. Around me were all the islands and doors just floating in nothing. Well, it wasn’t the first time I’d ended up in an alternate dimension, so I went looking for a local to see if they’d know how to help me get back.”

“And you found Phantom?” guessed Steve.

Bart laughed. “Not first! Went to the nearest island I could see. It was this rocky canyon type place. All steep cliffs and narrow ledges. Well, the ghost who owned the island didn’t like me trespassing and we got in a bit of a fight that attracted some attention. Didn’t stop until Phantom physically separated us. Well, we recognized each other instantly. He asked if I’d died and I told him I didn’t think so.

“Took us the better part of a week for me to find my way back to Earth, but that was fine because we had a lot to catch up on. And I was lucky! Only a few hours had passed on Earth by the time I’d returned. We’ve been able to keep much better contact now that he’s in Amity. At least we experience the passage of time the same!”

“And the rest of you, this is your first time meeting Phantom?”

“Yep,” Tim said. “But we’re all getting along really well.”

Steve glanced to the sound set up. “Ope, looks like I’m being told it’s time for our commercial break. Well, I for one am certainly looking forward to continuing this show after. We’ll be back very soon.”

The “on air” light turned off as soon as Steve stopped speaking. “You’re all doing very well!” he told them as soon as it did. “I have a feeling this will be my most popular show.”

“Sorry if we ran a little long,” said Tim with a disarming smile.

Steve waved him off. “Oh trust me, the studio does not care. Will you lot be okay if we’re here a few minutes late?”

“Sure,” said Kon. “We’re not on a strict schedule now. For once.” He gave Tim a pointed look.

Tim laughed. “Oh, shut up. My schedules are important.”

“Excessive is what they are,” retorted Cassie.

Steve laughed at them. “Well, it’s great to see you acting casual. Thanks again for stopping by. Breaks almost over. I’ll reintroduce you for any latecomers.”

They all sat in silence watching the “on air” light.

The moment it turned on, Steve was going again. “For those who joined us late, let me reintroduce today’s surprise guests! We have the Young Justice team on here today! Consisting of Robin, Impulse, Wonder Girl, and Super Boy. Welcome back to the air. Before the break, Impulse, you were telling us about how you were friends with Phantom and reconnected in the Ghost Zone. Well, now I’d like to jump a bit ahead to the present.”

“Of course, Steve,” said Tim.

“Well. You all affirmed that you like Phantom, right?” Steve waited a moment for them all to voice their agreement. “Well, whenever he shows up, things get broken and we have to spend days or weeks and tens of thousands on repairs. People have been hurt. What are we missing?”

Tim spoke again, “You see, Steve, the thing that allowed Phantom to come back to Earth also allows other ghosts. And Phantom isn’t in control of it.”

Kon took over for him. “Phantom came through to reconnect with his living family and friends. But some of the other ghosts coming through don’t care about the living and just want to do what they want. Or actively want to hurt people.”

“And Phantom does his best to stop them,” finished Cassie. “The other ghosts are the aggressors causing the problems.”

“Actually,” added Bart. “You should keep an eye on the Amity Times! Phantom has written a series of Op-Eds explaining his side of some of the incidents that have affected the broader public. They’ll be published over the next few days.”

“Oh, well now you’ve definitely got me intrigued!” exclaimed Steve. “I will absolutely be looking out for those. But tell me, there’s got to be something you can share now? Give our listeners a teaser of what they can expect?”

“Do you remember how a month or two ago, a giant robot was seen in Amity?” asked Tim.

“Not something I’m likely to forget!”

Tim laughed. “I’m sure! Well, what you don’t know is that he crossed over to Earth from the Ghost Zone about three or four days before you ever saw him. Phantom kept him from gaining a physical body for days before Technus was able to get past him.”

“Really? So you’re saying that without Phantom, we would’ve been dealing with that robot for a lot longer?”

“Yep.”

Steve let out a low whistle. “Well, that will certainly give me something to think on.”

“We’re also working with Phantom to come up with techniques that’ll decrease the amount of property damage with each attack,” said Tim. “He’s new to this, though, and learning on the fly. And sometimes there really isn’t much you can do. Even our mentors don’t get out of fights without something getting damaged in most cases.”

“Food for thought for sure. Now, I also have to ask. The Fentons are the world leading scientists on ghosts. And according to their research, ghosts are all malevolent spirits hell bent on wrecking destruction on Earth. You’re claiming something different. Why should we believe you over them?”

“Well, Steve, I want to start by saying I respect the Fentons as inventors.” Tim ignored the way his teammates’ eyes bored into him. “Their weapons and inventions are nothing short of marvelous which is why we used their products the other night during the invasion.”

“We did notice! So the Fentons gave you those weapons?”

“By the time we got to their place, they’d already left. But their children were able to help us.” Tim saw Kon open his mouth and he glared and gave him a hand signal to shut up. Kon glared right back so before he could say anything, Tim kept going. “Despite their quite astounding inventions, however, the rest of their science and research is…rather lacking I’m afraid.”

“In what way?”

“So. Did you know the Fentons have never actually talked to a ghost?”

“They haven’t?”

“Nope.” Tim popped the P. “The majority of their research was published before the portal between Earth and the Ghost Zone was established so it was based on whatever happened to get trapped Earth-side. Which seem to mostly be shades and animal ghosts. Non-sapient ghosts. Sapient ghosts are quite common, however. It’d be like if someone made judgments about all Earth lifeforms after seeing bacteria, insects, and bugs. There’s so much more out there.”

“Have they published anything since the portal was made?”

“Only papers on how effective their weapons are against actual ghosts. Nothing about ghost behaviors, sapience, or biology.”

“In other words, they’re bigots,” said Kon, no longer able to hold back. Tim glared at him, but Kon just stared back, undeterred.

“Well, it does certainly seem like there might be some gaps in their research!” agreed Steve without agreeing. “We might look into that claim and report on tomorrow’s broadcast.” The technician made another gesture through the window. “How fast the time goes! Time for our second commercial break, listeners! Stay tuned, though. Because we’ve got our guest for just a little bit longer.”

The “on air” sign flashed off and Kon couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

“How could you say anything good about those psychopaths?”

Tim sighed. “You forget. I’m from Gotham. I deal with Mad Scientists all the time. Right now, they’re cautiously allies. By talking up the stuff they do well, I’m trying to not alienate them so we can continue to use their inventions. If we come across too strong, they’ll bar us from using their stuff and we won’t be able to help if more ghosts invade.”

“But they talk about tearing Phantom apart molecule-by-molecule!”

“And that’s why we’re trying to keep Phantom and the Fentons away from each other.”

“Unsuccessfully,” muttered Cassie.

Tim met each of his teammate’s eyes. “Yes, well. We can’t force him to do anything.”

Kon grit his teeth but looked away. Bart crossed his arms and stared unhappily at the table. Cassie ran a hand through her hair.

Steve just watched them all. After a moment of silence, he said, “The broadcast will be resuming. I’ll try and keep this one more light hearted.”

“Ask if he’s a dog person,” suggested Tim.

Steve grinned at him and the “on air” light came back on. Steve did another brief reintroduction, then said, “Now, I’ve been told to ask if Phantom is a dog person which makes me think there’s a story there.”

Tim gestured to Bart. Sam and Tucker had gleefully told the story last night leaving them all in stitches. “A few weeks ago, you remember how Axiom labs was having those issues?”

“I think all of us here in Amity remember that.”

“Well, it’s because this ghost puppy was acting like a puppy. Have you ever had a puppy before?”

“When I was a kid we had one. My wife now is allergic, though.”

“Remember how hard it was to train them when they were still really young?”

Steve winced. “My dad was near about ready to drive him back to the pound. Took my brother and I crying to change his mind.”

Bart laughed. “Well, imagine that but with ghost powers and super strength. That’s what this puppy was like. And Phantom never had a dog. It took him a while to figure out how to train him. But once he did, the dog stopped causing problems.”

“And really,” said Cassie, “It was only a few days by his account. So I don’t even know if ‘a while’ is the right phrase there.”

Tim made a noise of agreement. “But with the property damage, we can admit the situation was a little more urgent than normal puppy training.”

“But now Phantom has a dog and he’s thrilled,” finished Bart.

“Well that is a story! Will there be more details in one of those Op-Eds you hinted will be published in the Amity Times?”

“Sure is,” said Cassie. “And Phantom tells the story so much better than we do.”

“Well, we’ve talked a lot about Phantom this interview. But what about you four? What does Young Justice hope for their future?”

“It’s in the name, isn’t it?” said Cassie. “We want Justice. For everyone, not just the powerful.”

“A lofty goal, and one I think we can all get behind. Well, I’ve had the chance to spend a little bit of time with you four now and you’re clearly very good friends. Has it always been that way?”

Tim couldn’t help but crack up, followed by the others. “Not at all,” he said through his laughter. “Super Boy and I hated each other at first.”

“Yeah, Robin can be a real stick in the mud.”

“And Super Boy pretends he doesn’t take anything seriously.”

Bart sighed loudly. “And they’re so slow. My normal is speedster fast, so I hated having to slow everything for them.”

“And we hated how he always rushed ahead,” said Cassie.

Tim grinned at his teammates. “But we figured it out. And now we’re stuck with each other for life.”

“Damn right,” said Cassie.

“They’re crash,” added Bart.

“We’ve got each other’s backs,” finished Kon.

“It’s obvious just talking to you. How long did it take to build up your rapport?”

Tim exchanged a glance with his friends and hummed. “I think three life-threatening events.”

Steve burst out in surprised laughter. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting that, but clearly I should have been. Of course superheroes would measure time in life-threatening events.” He glanced at the window where the sound technician was making another gesture. “But the rest of us mere mortals have to use clocks. And my managers are telling me we’ve already gone over time. So I guess we’ll have to wrap this up here.”

“Thanks for having us on,” said Tim.

“I should honestly be thanking you four. I’ve had a great time. And to our listeners, we’ll be preparing a recording of this interview and posting it on our website at some point today. So if you only caught part of it, don’t worry. You’ll be able to go back and listen to the whole thing shortly. Be sure and share it with your friends who aren’t morning people. This is Steve and the Young Justice wishing you a very pleasant Amity day.”

-----

I'm sure you can see how much this has changed from the original (if anyone even remembers the original. It's been how long?)

Hope you enjoy!

My rewrites are progressing quite nicely for now so I hope to get back to updating soon. I won't start updating until it's fully finished, though. Don't want to leave something half finished for almost a year again.

[rebouks]

Previous // Next

Robin: I had an idea at dinner-.. stand there. Clementine: I’ve never been good in front of a camera… Robin: It’s just an experiment. Clementine: Oh? Robin: You’d think there’d be more proof of ghosts existing if people could take pictures of ‘em, right? Clementine: Then perhaps we already know the outcome of this experiment? [Robin hummed, staring at the screen of his camera with a mixture of resignation and disappointment] Clementine: Well? Robin: You’re not there. Clementine: You don’t sound too surprised. Robin: I s’pose I’m not-.. do you even exist, Clem? Clementine: Ohh, that’s a loaded question, isn’t it? [Robin threw himself onto the couch, letting out a sigh far too wearisome for someone his age] Robin: No one else can see or hear you, and you’re technically not tangibly here either… What if you’re just in my head? What if there’s something like, majorly wrong with me? Clementine: I think you’re just special, darlin’. Robin: Weird, you mean. [Robin flexed his fingers against his chest, wondering what on earth had made him so different from everyone else] Robin: Did I tell you I made a friend on holiday? Clementine: How lovely! Robin: I guess-.. ‘cept I couldn’t even talk to her. Clementine: Oh. Robin: I always thought it was a choice n’ stuff-.. I’m starting to think I might just be broken though, like someone didn’t put me together right, or forgot to turn off creative mode before saving my character. [Robin’s comparison to a video game went straight over Clementine’s head, but it seemed more like he was thinking aloud than expecting a reply, so she didn’t interrupt him] Robin: I bet Alex would believe me-.. I got the feeling she was different too, maybe… Clementine: What makes you think that? Robin: I don’t know, vibes-.. wishful thinking? [Robin could have gone on, but someone had finally discovered that he wasn’t in bed…] Oscar: It’s way past midnight, what’re you doing up here? [Robin shrugged despondently; talking to himself, imaginary friends, ghosts? Each excuse more insane than the last] Oscar: C’mon, we’re not on holiday anymore… … Oscar: It’s only been a few days bud-.. she’ll write soon enough. Robin: How’d you know what I was thinking? Oscar: I’m a super good guesser. [Robin would’ve liked to believe that his father possessed the same abilities as him, but he’d be much more perturbed by his son’s presence if that were the case. He closed his eyes with a morose sigh, deciding that sleep was about the best escape he could hope for]

[lavenderstobins]

[Robin, Dustin and Max are shopping for Halloween decorations for Dustin’s ‘Halloween Bash’, based on this tiktok]

Robin: [gasps] Oh my god, you guys. [she grabs Max’s arm, pointing at an obnoxiously huge headstone decoration on the shelf]  Steve’s had that headstone for fourteen years, I think it’s time for a new one. Look at this.

Dustin, already cracking up: Can you imagine if we brought—

Robin, interrupting: It’s only $39! Oh my god, it’s only $39! I think we should bring it in.

Max: [spluttering]

—

[Dustin, Robin and Max walking through the cemetery. Dustin is carrying the fake headstone, Max is holding a bag of McDonald’s food]

Dustin: You realise we’re bringing a headstone to a graveyard?

Robin: We had to get Steve a better headstone!

Dustin: It lights up!

Robin: I know, he’s gonna love it.

Max: You can write messages on it with chalk!

Robin: Let’s write the message to him— What are we gonna say? ‘Fourteen years and we still miss you’? ‘Fourteen years, guess what, Dustin has a rat-tail now’?

Dustin, offended: Leave my hair out of this!

Max: No, no, Steve has to know about the rat-tail

Robin, already distracted: Ugh, look at that big fancy one right there. That doesn’t make me happy

Max: No. No, we’ve gotta outdo it

Robin: [nodding] We’ve gotta outdo it

—

[Robin struggling to write on the headstone with chalk at Steve’s grave]

Max: I thought you said you had good handwriting!

Robin: I did it, you can read it! [gestures at a wobbly hi Steve on it] You can read it!

—

Dustin, reaching over for the fries: Can I just get a fry though—

Robin, jumping backwards: STAY BACK! These are Steve’s fries, okay. He’s been gone fourteen years, he deserves the fries, not you, Dustin

—

Dustin: Dude, Marshall’s just hooked us up

Robin: Oh, I’m so glad we went to Marshall’s

Dustin: One minute you’re just going to Marshall’s, the next minute—

Robin: I told you there was a lot of stuff there! I just wanted a ghost cup and then we get this. Who knew Steve was going to get this big gift today?

—

[As Max is writing on Steve’s headstone, Robin notices Dustin is eating the fries]

Robin: Hey!

Dustin: I just wanted a couple!

Robin, snatching the bag back: That’s more than a couple! 

Dustin: It’s three!

Robin: That’s three, that’s a few!

Max: Yeah, Dustin, there won't be any left for Steve!

[apomaro-mellow]

Part 5

Jonathan and Steve returned to the others and Robin immediately came up to them, eyes wide.

“What were you guys doing?”

“Nothing! What? Nothing!”, Steve said.

“Eddie just ran out like he saw a ghost”, Nancy said. “Or worse.”

“And none of you stopped him?”, Jonathan asked.

“We called his name and he kept going. He took off in his van”, Argyle said.

Steve and Jonathan shared a look. Neither of them wanted to believe Eddie ran out because he saw them kissing, but what other reason was there? It had all happened so fast. When Eddie had left the bathroom, that had left the two of them alone. It was the first time they’d been alone since that moment in the kitchen and well…

A dam broke.

Steve had felt a rush. It was never him being pushed up against a wall. He was usually the one pinning girls to something. Even now, as they were figuring out what to do about Eddie running off, he thought about Jonathan’s big hands on him.

Very quickly it was decided that wherever Eddie went, he shouldn’t be alone. They couldn’t let him just disappear into the night. Jonathan would take his car and look for him in one direction, Nancy would drive around with Robin in another. Steve and Argyle would stay in the house in case he came back.

The three of them left on their search and Steve was pacing around while Argyle sat on the couch.

“Any idea why he bolted?”, Argyle questioned while dipping a pretzel into the salsa.

“I don’t know”, Steve said, pausing for a moment as he looked out the window, then came over to the couch.

“You sure you don’t know?”

Steve rubbed his face and then sat next to Argyle. “I don’t know why…but I think…I think it has something to do with me and Jon kissing.”

“Why would Eddie high-tail it out of here just ‘cause you guys were kissing? That makes no sense, he’s one of us.”

“I don’t know”, Steve both shrugged and shook his head. He felt useless just sitting around here but he was really hoping Eddie turned right around and drove back here.

Argyle turned a little to angle his body more towards Steve. “Are you sure you don’t know?”

“Yes?” Steve wasn’t sure what he was implying.

“Why do you think Eddie might have a problem with you guys?”

“I don’t…I don’t know what you-”

“Oh I think you do, man”, Argyle cut him off. “But let’s table that for now and talk about you. I’m pretty good at reading folks. And you looked kinda guilty earlier. Now why would you feel guilty about kissing your boyfriend?”

Steve’s leg bounced. Argyle had been right but maybe he didn’t know quite how right he was. Steve had loved kissing Jonathan, had wanted more of it in fact. But when Eddie walked up on them he had felt…ashamed. And that feeling wasn’t because he was with a boy instead of a girl, it wasn’t even because he and Jonathan were lying to everyone. 

It had just felt, well, it almost felt like he was cheating on Eddie. That line of thinking sounded crazy, so Steve shoved off the couch to start pacing again.

“If I feel guilty about anything it’s not being able to stop him before he ran off into the night. There could be anything out there!”

Jonathan kept his eyes peeled as he drove around. He ran a hand through his hair, worried about Eddie but also very much distracted at the lingering feel of Steve’s lips on his own. His little daydream stopped when he saw the van parked on the side of the road, lights off.

He parked behind it and checked the driver’s seat. No Eddie. Jonathan banged on the side of it, calling out to him. He heard movement inside as someone moved from the back to the front.

“Eddie!”, Jonathan shouted as he got back to the driver’s side window, seeing him right in the middle of starting the van.

“Leave me be, Byers.”

“Eddie, why did you run?”

Eddie leaned forward onto the wheel, hair draping over and covering his entire face. He was a little frustrated that he’d been found. But a greater, more traitorous side was actually happy that someone found him important enough to chase after. For good reasons, of course.

“Eddie…”, Jonathan looked off into the distance and saw a payphone. “Wait here.”

He went over to the booth and dialed Steve’s home. It got picked up immediately and Jonathan reported that he found Eddie and that he was safe. On the other end, Steve let out a sigh of relief. 

“I’ll try and get him back to your place but”, Jonathan looked to the van. Eddie still hadn’t picked his head up from the wheel. “I think Eddie might need some space.”

“Don’t leave him alone, okay? If you go back to his place, stay with him. Or make sure Wayne is there”, Steve urged.

“Got it.”

They both hung up and Jonathan returned to the van, knocking on the passenger side this time. Eddie unlocked the door and let him in.

“I know you have this whole reputation for being weird”, Jonathan started. “But even this is out of the ordinary. Did you…did you see something?” He thought about his brother being possessed by the Mind Flayer, of Vecna’s visions, of Max being trapped in her own mind.

Eddie finally lifted his head but then he covered his face with his hands. “I saw something, sure. Wasn’t a monster or anything you’re probably imagining.” He let out a heavy sigh. “It’s late. Go back to Steve. I’m good to drive home.”

“Then why didn’t you?”, Jonathan asked. He knew that sometimes home wasn’t a place you wanted to go to. That sometimes the solitude of darkness was more comforting than a place with lights and four walls.

“Jonathan, you’re not a therapist, okay? Whatever problems I’ve got-”

“So you do have a problem?”

“Just drop it.”

“If it’s got you running away from your friends, I can’t. Now you can either get it out now or you can get interrogated by Nancy.” It was a bluff. Jonathan had no way of ensuring Nancy would talk to Eddie or even want to. But he figured the threat would be enough to get Eddie to spill something.

And it worked.

“You’re not gonna wanna hear it”, Eddie said. “I’m typically not in the business of ruining people’s happiness.”

Jonathan put on his seatbelt. They could get his car in the morning. But he wasn’t leaving him alone right now. The nights could be long. But whether they spent it in this car or went back to Steve’s, the morning would always come.

Part 7

Tag Team

@freddykicksasses

[rubydubydoo122]

Jason gets de-aged because I've seen fics of Tim or Dick being de-aged, and Bruce losing his memory, but no one has realized the potential for angst if you de-age Jason.

Bruce couldn’t do this. Sure he fights criminals on a daily basis, he’s fought aliens, hell, he’s been to space, for crying out loud. But he could not look at his dead- undead son. He could barely look at Jason as a 21 year old, much less looking how he had weeks before he died. 

“Bruce, I know this is hard, but–”

“No, Dick, you don’t, because you were off planet to even know what was happening.” It was a low blow. Bruce knew that. He knew he was burning bridges, but he wanted to be alone. He didn’t want his kids to see him break down. He could fix those bridges later. 

For a moment, Bruce could see the fiery 20 year old Dick desperately trying to be let loose, but then Dick glanced at his siblings, “Why don’t you guys go upstairs, while Bruce and I talk things through.” Dick wasn’t asking though, and they knew.

So the four of them headed up the stairs, leaving Bruce with Dick and Alfred.

“Are you going to slap me halfway across the cave again? Are you going to take away my keys again? We’ve been down this road before, Bruce. It wasn’t fun for either of us.” Dick leaned against the table and crossed his arms, “The only reason I’m not screaming at you right now is because I know that I have to be here for those kids. Cass, Tim, Steph, Duke, Damian . They need me here, but Jason? Jason doesn’t need me , he needs you . He wants you.”

Bruce thought about all the things that had driven a wall between him and his second son. “No he–”

Dick groaned, “B, when he saw me come out of the Batmobile instead of you, I could see his expression crumble.”

“When he realized you were in the cave, he was so eager to see you, Master Bruce. He was hurt when you barely acknowledged him.” Alfred placed a hand on Bruce’s shoulder, “The boy upstairs is not the broody Red Hood nor the Robin who died in that warehouse yet. He’s the child you brought into this manor to make sure he was loved. The boy, who despite all the darkness around him, still managed to shine brighter than the sun. We’re not saying this situation will be easy, Lad, but you have to try. For Jason.”

“I don't know if I can .”

“Jesus Christ. I forgot you don’t speak Emotions . Fine. I’ll give you a language you understand.” Dick went over to the computer and opened a new Mission planner “Mission: Fun Sized Jason. Rule number 1, Don’t make him upset. Rule number 2, don’t brood more than usual. Rule number 3, Don’t let Jason know something’s up between your relationship with him because that will probably break Rule number 1. Mission Objective, keep Jason happy until we can get him back to full size. Alfred is allowed to add rules and Objectives. Understood?”

And suddenly, Bruce had a little empathy for Damian’s Robin under Dick’s Batman. “Got it.” Bruce gave his oldest son a slight smile. “Honestly, this might be my hardest mission yet.”

Dick and Alfred shared a look, “You’ll do fine, Master Bruce.”

“I’m gonna check up on everyone, I can come back down once I’m done, if you want.”

“I’ll be fine, Chum, I’m just going to call Zatanna and finish putting a bit of info in.”

Dick nodded, “Alright.” He made his way to the stairs, “Goodnight Alfred, Goodnight Bruce, tell Z I said hi.”

Dick’s first destination was the kitchen. It was usually the first place Cass and Steph went after patrol. Because Steph grabs a midnight waffle for her ride home. 

Though when he got to the kitchen, it was just Cass sitting on  the counter with a mug of tea in her hands. She tilted her head, the question of are you ok clear as day. 

If Dick tried to lie, Cass would just see through him. He sat down next to her, “Everything went well with Bruce, it’s just that…”

“It’s strange, conflicting. Seeing Jason.”

“Yeah.”

“He is a cute child.” Cass rested her head on Dicks shoulder. And Dick rested his hand on hers. “Tiny.”

“Yeah,” Dick chuckled, “Like no one would’ve expected Jason to be as tall as Bruce.”

They sat together in silence until Duke came into the kitchen, and Dick patted the space next to him as an invitation. 

“I’ve been thinking, if you, or Bruce, or even Alred, need me to keep Jason company while you take a moment to work through… memories, I’d be happy to do it. I don’t have any history with him, we’re close enough to the same age.”

Dick patted Duke’s shoulder, “You’re a good brother. Just don’t let Bruce throw him on you too much because I’m trying to get him to try .”

“Maybe it’ll be easier for Bruce after he gets over the initial shock. Even Damian was shocked. He didn't even try to stab Jason. He was wearing Jason’s jacket.”

Right! Damian! And it was strange. He was having a very different reaction than Dick had expected. Dick had to talk to him, but first “Did you get a picture?”

A grin spread across Duke’s face. “I already sent it in the groupchat.”

Dick hopped off the counter, “Lovely. I’m gonna go check on him. And then I’ll check on Jason.”

“Anything you need us to do?”

“Um.. yes, there is one thing.” Dick paused for effect, “Go to bed.”

Damian was leaning on Titus in the corner of his room, with Alfred the cat in his lap. It was a strange revelation that his Akhi was his wayward brother all along. Yet, it also made perfect sense. They both were in the League, and Todd had said something about mother taking him in.  He just did not expect Todd to be Akhi . He didn’t even think that Akhi was still alive. One day Damian had been drawing next to him and the next he was gone. Akhi had two modes; Stay still, or protect. He would immediately fight whoever Damian was supposed to spar and pull him out of reach of any attackers. Akhi would hold Damian while mother was busy, or sit next to him, or follow him if Damian started to wander too far. Yet he rarely ever spoke. Maybe that’s why he never drew the connection between Todd and Akhi. Because even though Todd could be silent if he wanted to, he spouted out the signature Robin quips like second nature. Or yelled at father, taking shot after shot, barely giving father a chance to speak. And above all else, behind Todd’s eyes you could see the calculations, you could see him taking in his surroundings or contemplating risks he was willing to take in the moment, you could see him playing out plans in his head to see every possible outcome. Whereas Akhi had alway had a far off look. Like his mind was never really there. 

There was a knock at the open door, Dick leaning on the door frame, “Are you ok, Damian?”

“Tt.” He started drawing swirls into Alfreds fur, and then smoothed them out.

Dick moved to sit next to Damian. They sat in silence, though it felt like Damian could hear Dick staring with concern.

Damian spared a glance at Dick, “Todd spent time in the League. At Nanda Parbat. Under my mother’s care. With me.” Alfred’s fur was suddenly a lot more interesting than it had been minutes ago, “I didn’t even know it was him, not until a couple of hours ago. I’m the son of the greatest detective, and I didn’t even realize that my Akhi was my brother.” It was making him feel young, seeing Todd like this again, “I thought they killed him, but I- I guess they put him in the Lazerus pit after that, and then he couldn’t come back, because he had to come here, but I wish mother had– Todd, He protected me, Baba . It was only for a little while, but he protected me. He showed me kindness.” Damian met Dick’s eyes which were slightly glossy.

“Well, that does sound like Jason. He’s always had a soft spot for kids.” Dick let out a wet laugh, “He was like… your Guardian Angel.”

“That was horrible Richard. Not funny at all.” Yet Damian could feel a soft smile pulling at his lips, “But yes. He was.” 

“It’s his Bruncle instincts.”

Damian frowned, “Bruncle?”

Dick grinned “Brother-uncle. Since you see me as your Baba .”

he groaned and shoved Dick out of his pet cuddling area, “Nope. That’s it. You do not get any more speaking privileges for the rest of the day.” though he could feel a warmth spreading across his chest. 

“Come on-”

“Nope. Bye! Bye!”

“But–”

“Goodnight, Baba .”

And Damian could see Dick completely melt, “Goodnight, Bibic.”

The first thing Jason did after he stormed upstairs was grab his journal from the hidden drawer in his dresser. Screw Bruce, he was going to figure out what happened to him. 

The only problem was the dates only went to April 25, 2018. He didn’t even finish the notebook. The entries didn’t seem like something was wrong–

Sheila Haywood .

There was a gun pointed at his back as betrayal and shock sunk into his stomach. “I lied.”

A blonde woman turned away from him while lighting a cigarette.

He read through the page. Sheila Haywood was…his mom? But what about his Mami? The one who raised him? Does that make her his step-mom? 

Jason scrambled back to the drawer to take out a pen and flipped to the next page. He was going to figure this out. 

First off, Bruce was a lot colder. Like close to Kelvin cold. 

Second, all the scars. There’s a certain amount of scars that made sense for whole vigilante gig, but the amount he had was closer to the amount torture victims had. 

Third, If Ms. Haywood was his mom, is Jason in her custody now? Well, he’s 20, so probably not currently, but did he have to leave Bruce? Is that why his room is pretty much the same? 

Fourth, Why was he at the League of Assassins? If he asked Damian would he give him a straight answer?

He heard footsteps coming down the hall, and almost immediately jumped up. And then relaxed when he realized they were Dicks, and they were stopping at the room before his.

He crept closer to the wall to try to catch the words.

“...But I- I guess they put him in the Lazarus Pit…”

Oh.

Guess he had his answer to number four. Though why would he need one? Did it have to do with number two? Maybe number two should be number one, but he’d already written in pen. 

That also probably answered why his eyes were more green than blue. And the white streak. It did feel a bit too emo for him.

He heard a laugh come from the other side of the wall and felt a twinge of jealousy flare in the pit of his stomach. Sure, he and Dick had their good moments, but it wasn’t usually that easy. There was still tension that loomed over any attempts of brotherly bonding. Sometimes Jason wishes Bruce actually introduced him to Dick before he took up the mantle of Robin, because maybe then they’d be closer brothers.

“Goodnight, Baba.” And just like that a wave of guilt washed over him because he had thoroughly misinterpreted their relationship. Jason honestly thought Damian was Bruce’s. They had very similar facial structures. 

And then there was a knock at the door, before it slowly opened, “Hey, Jason–”

“I didn’t realize you were Damian’s dad.”

Dick just gaped like a fish, “I– what?”

“I was under the impression Bruce was the kid’s dad, baba.” Jason swatted Dick with the back of his hand.

“Oh.” Dick laughed, “No. He’s Bruce’s. He’s also twelve.”

“So?” Jason shrugged, “You’re like, 30. It’s possible. And why else would he call you Baba?”

“Stop calling me old! I’m 27! Also, your math makes that barely legal.”

“‘Barely legal’ does not stop Talia Al-Ghul.”  Jason frowned. He thinks he was 18 when that happened. “Hold up, I’m not 18 yet.”

Dick was suddenly standing ramrod straight, “Excuse me, what?” 

That was his scary voice. Abort, abort, abort , “Why was I in the Lazarus Pit?”

“How much of our conversation did you catch?”

“I zoned out after Lazarus.”

Dick crossed his arms and huffed, “No, we’re going back to Talia–”

“Is Bruce depressed because he lost custody of me to Sheila Haywood?”

And that seemed to send a slap across Dick’s face, “How do you know about Sheila Haywood?”

Jason crossed his arms “I’m a detective, Dick.”

Except so was Dick, and he immediately spotted the journal on Jason’s bed. “It was in your journal?”

Jason nodded.

“What’s the last date in there?” Dick sat down on the edge of the bed.

Jason went to go sit next to him. “April 25, 2018”

Dick nodded, his normally clear blue eyes looked stormy.

“Something bad happened, didn’t it?” 

Dick looked like he was contemplating something, and then turned to face Jason, “I’m only going to tell you this because I know if your older version was here he would tell you.” Dick took a deep breath, “You would say, “I ain’t tellin’ you shit, you don’t need to know.” You would do that while leaning against a wall or something.”

Jason blinked at Dick, because that buildup was rude. “I wouldn’t say that! Also, it’s me . I would tell a younger version of me every moment of my life. I’m pretty sure an older version of myself would too.”

“Look, Jason, I was in space at the time. I don’t know all of the details, and Bruce never felt like filling me in on it.”

“What about the report?”

“Ok, yeah, I’ve seen it, but you know the reports are nothing like actually being there, or hearing the story. And it’s never something you or Bruce want to talk about. You’ll probably get the memory back once you’re back to full size.”

Jason huffed and pulled himself into his sheets. “You’re no longer my favorite sibling. You are dead last. Getting my hopes up that you would give me an answer. That was just cruel.”At least he knew there were reports on the bar computer about what happened. He could sneak down there and figure this out himself. 

“Eh, fifth place is not that bad.” Dick stood up, “or are we counting Stephanie?”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re still in last.” Jason turned over to face Dick as he was leaving, “Though, I do accept bribes.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight, Little Wing.”

“‘Night, Dickiebird.”

[scaryscarecrows]

It’s me, the Ghoul (I think it was mark both times lol), back with more angst.

So how would the squad react to finding Jason somewhere (maybe during Halloween post confrontation with Bruce), on his knees, hunched so low that his hair almost brushes the ground, crying. And when they go to help, he tells them to leave, that they can go bc the job’s over, etc. Either he’s panicking and not entirely aware, or he doesn’t want them to help him (doesn’t feel like he deserves it maybe?) , so when they go to him he’s trying to shove them away/is generally uncooperative. (Not fighting fighting, bc that would end poorly, but he’s trying to shove them away/discourage them.)

No thoughts bc brain is dead rn, but like. Maybe he has to be sedated (maybe because they need to move quickly and he’s stopping them from doing that, and they are not going to leave him behind). And he wakes up in a bed in a safehouse and they’re still there? They haven’t left him?

This is your own fault. Kitty got involved. Check back...probably on Jason's birthday, but who know, for the rest of 'Ghost Hunting'.

*********

“Anything in sector two?”

“Nothing,” Trent says grimly. “No one’s even seen him.”

“You ask around?”

“Somethin’ like that.”

Antoine lets that lie. He doesn’t really care, certainly doesn’t wanna know, and has bigger problems.

“Keep in touch if you find him.”

“Will do. Over and out.”

Dammit.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Assess. This whole operation went tits-up, the Arkham Knight is Robin is missing, Deathstroke got his ass handed to him in the middle of Grand Avenue, and the only reason Scarecrow failed at broadcasting Batman’s identity to the masses is because someone that was probably the Knight shot the camera and freed the Bat. That’s it. That’s what he’s got.

Antoine does not have high hopes, if he’s being honest, of tracking the boss down. They need to–he did not look good, at the mall–but if he doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.

…

Wait.

The Bat and Scarecrow were at Arkham. The Knight, according to Antoine’s very vague, clinging-to-consciousness-with-a-headache memories, had been kept there. He could still be there.

…

It’s the best lead he’s got right now.

He clicks his comms back on and says in a rush, “The asylum. He might be at the asylum.”

“Good a guess as any,” Jimmy says. “There’s no sign of him in the city other than a couple of…they look like our symbol, but…filled in. With wings.”

Huh.

“I’m in Drescher,” he says, “ETA to Arkham…thirty minutes, maybe, depending on the road. We wouldn’t have a chopper left, would we?”

“Nope. Last one took off about an hour ago.”

Ugh.

“Fine. See you there. Over and out.”

* * *

Arkham Asylum is a crumbling, ruined estate that radiates pain. It’s overgrown with vines as big around as he is, with withered pods littering the front drive. He’s not the first one here, either; another APC is tucked under a half-fallen tree.

Good. This place gives him the creeps.

The front doors are hanging off their hinges and the front hall is worse, even, than the outside. More plants, chipped tiles, bloodstains. But it’s quiet, save for the ambient noise of bugs and creaking buildings.

At least, it’s quiet until he gets up by the reception desk. There, he can hear faint but distinct screaming. Sounds like a kid.

What the hell?

That’s definitely a kid, and sure, he’s done some dickish things tonight, but he’s got standards. He shoots out what’s left of the safety glass and hops over the counter, boots crunching beetle husks and small bones. The screaming’s louder (and familiar…?) when he pries the elevator doors open, but then it cuts off, leaving the place in eerie silence.

This isn’t an elevator. It’s stairs. The elevator is, indeed, visible; shining his light upwards turns it up, but these are stairs, just within hopping range.

Arkham’s an old building. It had been in some briefing or other, he remembers that, but still…stairs in an elevator shaft?

Should’ve blown this city to Kingdom Come…

He eases himself into the shaft, knowing this is a piss-poor plan and also knowing he can’t leave the kid behind, not in this place.

The stairs are shallow, narrow and winding. One wrong step will end with broken bones. It’s still dead silent and he really, really hopes he’s not going to find some sicko’s next victim at the bottom.

How far down does this go? Feels like miles, but just as he’s about to start wondering if it ever ends, his boots hit tiles.

The room is small, dingy, and smells like death. Furry bones line the walls, a broken wheelchair sits in the corner next to a medical cart, and in the middle–

Shit.

That’s. That’s the boss, that’s the Knight, sprawled on his back with his legs half-curled under him.

“I found him,” he says, hand shaking against his ear. “I got him, we’re–hello?”

Static.

Okay. Okay, okay, bad reception. Who even knows how far down they are. He’ll get in touch later.

“Sir?” he tries. “Arkham Knight?” Nothing. “Jason?”

Nothing, but when he goes over, the Knight’s not dead. Unconscious, maybe, but he’s breathing. No blood. No visible injuries at all, he’s just…unresponsive.

“We gotta get outta here, sir,” he says, really, really not looking forward to trying to wake him up. “Come on.”

He gives him a rough shake, not thinking it’ll help. He’s proven wrong when the boss flinches, eyes flickering half-open, and murmurs, “Not ‘ere.”

Well, shit. He’s probably still reeling from Scarecrow’s bullshit.

“We’re leaving,” he says firmly. “Can you stand up?”

The answer is yes. Antoine’s just about to herd him upstairs when there’s a gunshot, deafening in the small space, and the Knight chokes. Raises one shaky hand to his chest. And drops.

[wildswrites]

seven snippets, seven people.

sorry for the triple tag today, taglist, but i thought it was a good day to show off some of the stuff i’ve been working on! thanks for the tag, @sleepyowlwrites! here we go:

one. [from chapter 06]

Robin will not sit still and quiet when he is being held, and so he is sitting between Moon-sik and I, my hand just behind his back to make sure that he doesn’t fall. His little hands scrub through the dirt, shrieks of delight loud and daunting, but not nearly as loud as his distress had been. There is blood all over me - my hands, my skin, my hair - but the baby does not seem to care.

“What are you doing out here, Moon-sik?”

continued beneath cut.

two. [from chapter 07]

She ghosts over the puffy red edge of one of the cuts, and it is like an electric shot. Once when I was a child, I went over to a friend’s house. They kept horses, and I loved them, and eventually she left me waiting at the fence because I could not bear to drag myself away just yet. When she was gone, I crept closer. When she was gone, I hooked my fingers over the edge of an electric fence. When she was gone, I was extremely lucky that the voltage was low enough that I could yank myself free.

This is like that, if the voltage had been turned up three or four times as high.

three. [from chapter 08]

“I was an idiot,” he says, just when I am thinking that he has passed out on my shoulder. His words are broken by pauses to breathe, heavy breaths racketing his body and mine. My own breath is bated, waiting to hear more details of the story, but he continues it in a way that I could not have guessed. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Shouldn’t have left you. You and…”

four. [from chapter 09]

Her voice hitches, and no one comments on it. After a few seconds, she continues.

“I was worried he would draw attention, so I kept stopping to try and make him feel better. I tried everything - gave him his last bottle, changed his diaper, anything I could think of. But he wanted you, and I couldn’t give him that.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath, and Sienna releases my collar to stroke her fingertips across my throat and chin. Soft, soothing motions. I do not open my eyes, scared of what I will find looking back at me.

“We had to hide out in someone’s house for a little while - left the door wide open, so we hid in the mud room. Looked like they were having some sort of party – cars everywhere, zombies everywhere. We couldn’t get out of there until something went by, distracting them. It gave Robin a chance for a nap, but otherwise it was just awful. Then when we got here… things were crazy, here.”

five. [from chapter 10]

Moon and I are sitting in the grass, warmed by the sun and trying to convince Robin that he’s big enough to toddle back and forth between us. We’ve managed to get a few steps out of him, but nothing more; the speed at which this child will drop to his hands and knees seems almost dangerous, but if nothing else the plush grass beneath us will protect his skin.

six. [from chapter 11]

The crowd is buzzing still, chatter amongst the people filling the air with noise, but that cacophony of sound comes to a stop the moment that my grandma raises her hand.

“Welcome,” she calls out, loud and clear. I can only hope that there are still people walking the edge of the fenced property, on watch for anything bumpy and sharp. The noise is sure to draw attention, but I endeavor to trust that it is handled. “It’s wonderful to see all of you here today. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised that we have gathered such a crowd. There’s more of you than there are of us, and with over twenty people in the family, that sure is saying something!”

seven. [from writing ahead]

“As a friend. You like me as a friend, and it’s fine. I’m satisfied being your friend - I love being your friend. It’s fucking fine.” He laughs, bitter and sardonic. “Why would you even want me, anyway?” he asks, finally meeting my gaze. His eyes are watery around the edges, making my chest burn. I’ve not only managed to piss him off. I’ve made him cry too, and that may be unforgivable. “We’ve not known each other long, and I know Sienna is meant to be yours. I am perfectly fine to squish down my feelings until they are gone, but here you are. Making it really fucking hard.”

tagging in my taglist on this one, so that’s: @tate-lin ; @faelanvance ; @arionawrites ; @sarah-sandwich-writes ; @thearchangelwrites ; @zoe-louvre ; @flowerprose​ ; @thatonedreamer​ ; @thesorcerersapprentice​. i’d love to see what y’all are working on!

[strangerwheelerthings]

A Nancy&Eddie focused continuation of a post I saw today. I didn’t save it, so I’m not sure how to find it again (feel free to link it if you know). Basically the post went like this: the boys get a little triggered by a demogorgon in Eddie’s campaign. Eddie is confused as they call for a check-in over the walkies, and they panic because Steve doesn’t answer. Steve picks them up and calms them down. 

-----

After the demogorgon D&D session, Eddie had mostly put it in the back of his mind. He made sure to rewrite everything to exclude the monsters, but there wasn’t much else he knew about the situation. He hadn’t even thought to consider who the girls were, the ones who had answered the walkie safety check. He didn’t know all their friends, and didn’t particularly care all that much who they hung out with outside of D&D. 

He should have connected Steve Harrington’s check-in to the presence of older teens. Honestly, he often forgot that newspaper queen Nancy Wheeler was Mike’s sister, and was likely the ‘Nancy’ from the call. He was fiercely reminded of this fact in the middle of school a week after the incident. He had only one class with the prissy-looking Smart Girl, chemistry, and he’d decided to ditch it that day. He was hanging out in one of his favorite secluded hiding spots of the building, when Nancy flew around the corner and collapsed into the corner farthest from the opening. 

She was pale as a ghost, and gasping for breath. Her trembling hands were clumsily trying to grab something from her bag, but it looked difficult. He could only gape in confusion, as she ended up dumping everything on the ground. Amidst the typical notebooks and pencils lay a walkie-talkie, a knife, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a lighter 

She snatched up the walkie in one hand, and the knife in the other, and called a quiet “Check-in. Please, Check-in.”

There was a pause before the first answers, which Eddie had to assume came from everyone being in the middle of class. Eddie had no idea how to calm this spiraling girl, as every second made her look more and more terrified. He had never witnessed panic as true and intense as this before. 

So he just stood there, in an anxious stupor. 

“Mike, Max, Dustin, Lucas, safe.” “Robin, safe.” “Steve, safe.”

Her head thunked against the wall in a relieved exhale. The panic ebbed slowly, until a door somewhere slammed open with a bang. Her breathing picked right back up. Her armed hand exploded outward, ready to fight off anything that got close to her. 

He jumped backwards. “Wheeler! Hey! Nancy! You’re ok! Please stop waving that thing around.”

Her gaze turned towards the sound, but her eyes were glassy and unfocused. 

“Wh-where did it go?”

“Where did what go?”

“The demogorgon, Jonathan!” She started trying to stumble to her feet, the knife finally pointed away from him. “We need- we - we need to trap. It. I don’t. have my gun. Fire. Need-”

what??

He snatched the knife from her, and she let him. For some reason her mind had decided he was Jonathan Byers, and he was going to take advantage of that. 

“Nancy, there is no demogorgon. You’re safe. Please calm down, you’re kind of FREAKING ME OUT.”

“No, nonono, it’s just hiding. We have to protect the kids.”

His mind raced. “You just checked in with them, remember? They’re all safe. We are at school. We are safe.”

“Oh. Right.” Her eyes focused a little, and while she kept strict watch of her surroundings, she slowly lowered herself back down to the floor.

With nothing to grasp, her hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. The color hadn’t returned to her cheeks yet. Eddie started singing quietly, hoping it would ground her without him having to go back into the ‘danger zone’. Little by little, her posture slumped, until she was left looking dead exhausted and no longer panicked. 

He saw the exact moment she registered where she was. Her eyes snapped to him, and she stiffened.

“Eddie. You’re Eddie.”

“Yeah, kinda barged in on my hiding spot here Wheeler.”

“I’m so sorry you have to see that! I could have sworn Jona- but that’s stupid. He’s in California,” she trailed off. 

“Right, you acted like I was him.”

She started collecting all her things. “Sorry, there was this fire explosion thing in chemistry and it just kind of triggered me. I’m glad I didn’t accidentally hurt you, please forget this ever happened. It’s for your own safety, bye!” She proceeded to stumble away, still looking shaky on her feet. 

What the f-?!

Eddie stared after her. That had been a ride and a half. Eddie had been confused when the boys were nervous about fighting demogorgons in the campaign, but he hadn’t thought it meant they’d had legitimate experience dealing with ACTUAL Effing MONSTERS. 

He wasn’t entirely dumb, he could put two and two together. He still didn’t really believe it, but he had two isolated incidents to back it up. He would have assumed he’d heard Nancy wrong, or that she was just insane if it weren’t for the other week. Steve had outright confirmed that all the boys were legitimately triggered by demogorgons somehow. 

Everyone involved seemed to carry around a walkie, to make sure they were all safe. That wasn’t normal behavior. That was paranoid or traumatized behavior. 

The fact that The Nancy Wheeler appeared to be part of this trauma group was making him lose his mind. She was the most well put together person he had ever seen. Everyone knew she was wicked smart and going to go far in life, even if they’d never talked to her. Sure, she'd always kept to herself outside of her boyfriends and the newspaper. She’d still seemed like a privileged middle-class girly-girl, who’d never broken a nail in her life.

That was not the girl he’d just witnessed have a war-time flashback in front of him. A veteran of something horrifying who’d somehow kept the kids alive through whatever it was. She would never be the same in his mind.

The implications would be enough to keep him up at night.

He was going to go home and get blitzed out of his mind, and attempt to forget this incident ever happened. He didn't know what else to do.

[op-sys-chaos]

The first time the two boys interacted, Danny snarled “Brother” and lunged at him. Damian had just landed in a roof with his grapple, and nearly fell off in shock, catching himself at the last second. But in the time he looked away to catch his balance, Danyal had vanished.

Had he imagined it?

No, Oracle confirmed it over the comms. That was real. But it had just vanished in front of him.

Danyal had looked different. Colors inverted, glowing slightly. But there was no doubt it was him.

The second time, Damian was heading home from patrol when he was tripped. He caught himself, of course, but he saw a flash of his brother’s face before it vanished again.

The third time, Damian had been standing in an alley. “Hello, murderer of mine,” Danyal said, imitating how he’d greeted Damian when they were children. He’d always said “hello, brother of mine” when they saw each other. Damian had always replied with a curt nod, but this time, he was frozen in place.

“Brother?” Damian whispered.

“You lost the right to call me that when you killed me. All that’s left is my ghost. It took a long time to be strong enough to be seen by you.”

[author’s note: Danny meant mentally strong enough to visit his brother, psychologically fuck with him, and then find out why Damian had killed him. There’s more left than Danny’s ghost, he’s a halfa, but he’s not telling Damian that yet]

“I’m so sorry, brother,” Damian whispered. “I-“

Before he could finish his sentence, Danyal had vanished.

“Are you still here?” Damian asked the empty space, but got no reply.

When he got back to the cave, everyone was waiting. Oracle had already shown them his mask footage, apparently. He knew they’d want an explanation. Without any ceremony, he began explaining.

“Danyal and I were born twins. Polar opposites but thick as thieves. When we were 7, Grandfather decided that I was to be heir. He gave me a hallucinogenic drug and placed Danyal in my path, testing if I would follow my assassin instincts and kill the threat while also disposing of the ‘useless spare child,’ as he called Danyal. Apparently, Danyal’s ghost is still around. I’m glad for that, though. It gives me the chance to apologize. I never wanted him dead. I will not answer any more questions tonight.”

Damian left the room, but he could still hear Father calling Talia to yell at her for hiding this big of a secret as he changed out of the Robin suit in the locker room.

When he went into his room, he was shocked to find Danyal waiting for him.

“You… really were given a hallucinogenic?”

“I saw the assassin who’d tried to kill your the week prior, bragging about your death and threatening to kill me too. I didn’t care about the latter, but I would not let the former slide. I was only told afterwards that Grandfather had been the one who’d sent the assassin. No one could match our skill but each other, so he made sure I’d kill you,” Damian admitted quietly.

Danyal nodded, his face thoughtful. He faded from view slowly this time, rather than vanishing in an instant.

The next time he saw Danyal, his brother was miraculously human again. Damian nearly cried, seeing him on a rooftop swinging his legs in the carefree manner he’d always had.

“Hello, brother of mine,” Danyal said. Damian automatically nodded back, which threatened to spill the tears once more. “Funny seeing you on this fine evening.”

“Danyal?” Damian whispered.

“Funny story. I’m not… fully dead. Mother revived me in secret after my death, and hid me with a pair of scientists. Those scientists eventually led to me getting halfway murdered, trapping me between life and death and leaving me with the ability to switch between the two states. I eventually gathered the courage to come and find you. I’d always wondered why you killed me. And now I know.”

“And now you know,” Damian echoed as he sat next to his brother.

“I missed you.”

“You as well, Danyal.”

“Danny. I go by Danny now. Danyal died on that rooftop and for his own safety he will never be seen again. I’m just Danny Fenton, a boy who looks so much like Bruce Wayne’s son that he couldn’t help but adopt the poor orphan. We’re definitely not biologically related.”

Damian chuckled. “A fine cover story indeed. You’ll be more than welcome in the manor.”

“I look forward to it.”

Demon's twin au, except....

A Demon's twin au where Danny and Damian are polar opposites of each other as usual. Damian is the serious and pokey one while Danny is the laid back, carefree twin. Except, Danny is 10x more psychotic than Dami, and his demeanor is somewhat a manipulation tactic. He's still loves Dami vv much and would gladly burn the world for him while Dami is....hm. He envies Danny but in the same time very intimidated by him (read: black cat & golden retriever situation)

One day he gets killed by Damian (may it be a duel that he didn't think seriously because he thought Dami would never kill him or Dami just flat out conspiring against him is your choice) and Danny was FURIOUS at him. Instead, he swore Damian would pay the price for betraying him.

Fast forward after he got resurrected and lived as Danny, he's soften up a bit; more talking and less stabbing, basically. One thing leads to another where he leaves and ends up in Gotham (preferably because of CW) and hey, what dya know. Dami's siblings aren't that bad...

Meanwhile Batfam™ are scrambling because there's a teenager that looks like Damian wandering over Gotham. Damian is perplexed because that could be his supposedly dead brother (eye color).

Everything went wrong when Danny straight up jumped at Damian in costume, trying to kill him.