#going to the zoo

[mtnikolle]

Clearing my first roadblock for @kakairu-rocks 2024 Maze Challenge: Single Parents AU

A seal appeared after Kakashi tried to skip roadblocks and teleported him back to the start. Bad Kakashi!

Making New Connections

Summary: Kakashi volunteered to chaperone for Naruto's field trip. That... may have been a mistake. But Naruto was pretty cute like this. And he got to meet Iruka, who understands the trials and tribulations of single parenthood. So, really, it was good.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

Kakashi almost couldn't believe that he'd volunteered to supervise Naruto's field trip to the local zoo. What did he know about either animals or 7 year olds? Then he looked down at Naruto, sitting, calmly for once (or so he assumed, based on what his teacher, Ms. Mitarashi was always telling him), and knew he'd do just about anything for the little brat (affectionate).

“As I call your names, go line up with your parent-chaperone.”

Kakashi could see most of the kids were paying attention, but at least three girls were “whispering” together at something under one of their desks, one boy was playing with cars on his desk, and another two? three? boys were passing a paper back and forth.

“Mr. Hatake?”

Kakashi waved at the kids.

“Naruto, Kiba, Amir, Zion, and John are with you.”

Ah, one of the boys no longer paying attention was Naruto. At least he knew who that one was. Another of the boys poked him on his way up the aisle toward Kakashi. When Naruto looked up to… say something, Kakashi made eye contact and raised his eyebrows. Naruto got with the program and grabbed his backpack to join them. Ms. Mitarashi was already calling the next group of students as Kakashi led his group out of the classroom.

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The bus ride to the Konoha Zoo was… something. Loud was probably the best descriptor. Despite the kids having been told to sit with their groups, Kakashi noticed that his was scattered all over. He could only assume the same was true of the other groups. He sat in one of the seats, debating standing to yell at the kids, when another body landed beside him.

“Don't bother.”

“Excuse me?”

“I recognize the look on your face from my own mirror— or would, if I brought a mirror on these trips.” The man held out his hand. “Iruka Umino.”

Kakashi took it. “Kakashi Hatake. What do you mean?”

“They won't listen. Best to save your voice for later.” The man, Iruka, explained.

“Oh.” That made a lot of sense, though Kakashi internally shuddered to think of the implications.

Ms. Mitarashi climbed onto the bus after the last of the students and took a final headcount. With a jolt, the bus started toward the zoo. Kakashi didn't know buses were so loud. The public buses he sometimes took certainly aren't.

Once the ride was somewhat smoother and the sound didn't feel as bone-rattling, Kakashi asked, “You chaperone a lot of these trips?”

Iruka nodded, then looked over his shoulder at a quiet boy who looked nothing like him. “Ever since I took in Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi.” Iruka was quiet for a while. Kakashi supposed he's a quiet guy, despite being the first of them to speak. Kakashi was about to turn his attention to the window when life came back to Iruka's face and he asked, “Which is your gremlin?”

Kakashi gave a mental snort. ‘Gremlin,’ indeed. “Naruto. Do you know him?”

“Ah, yes, the active blonde?”

“‘Active’ is a kind description. Gremlin is closer to right.”

Iruka laughed. “He does seem pretty adventurous when I come visit the class.”

They chatted the rest of the way to the zoo. Kakashi was sure he would find Iruka's insights and advice useful.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

They'd barely made it through the entrance before Naruto bolted for the Reptile House.

“Naruto!” Naruto slowed, but didn't stop. “Wait for the group!” He didn't— kinda— he was waiting by the entrance. Probably because there was a small, fenced pond just outside with a couple of… frogs? sunning and swimming.

Naruto grabbed his sleeve. “Dad! Look at them! They're so tiny!”

The other boys gathered around to look, too. The frogs were smaller than even Naruto's small hand. Kakashi wondered how Naruto had even seen them, quick as he'd been running.

“They sure are. Do you know what kind they are?”

Naruto shrugged, like it didn't even matter. To him, it probably didn't. Kakashi still looked around for some kind of placard. Nothing out here, so maybe inside. Not that it mattered—all five boys were enthralled now with watching the two tiny frogs hop in and around their little pond. Naruto, completely focused like this, was completely adorable, and reminded Kakashi a lot of both Minato and Kushina when they had focused in on their individual fixations.

With the boys occupied, Kakashi took a moment to look around. The boys had blasted straight passed the confectionary stand—just as well, Kakashi didn't think any of them needed extra fuel. Beyond the Reptile House (which Kakashi thought likely housed more than reptiles, given the frogs outside) was a path with a sign that read ‘Northern Mammals.’ He figured that was likely both Alaskan and northern Canadian. Then he wondered if there might be penguins… Or polar bears! How would any if those cold weather creatures do living down here…?

Unfortunately, Kakashi's mind went for a wander. Fortunately, it came back in time to see the last of the boys slipping into the Reptile House. Kakashi lunged to follow after them. It was going to be a long day.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

It was a long morning. The boys ran from one exhibit to the next. Kakashi's only consolation was that they were content to remain in a group, even if they each had their turn being impatient with someone else's preoccupation. As Naruto had been enthralled by many of the reptiles and amphibians, Kiba was with many of the canine species, Amir with the great cats, Zion with the butterflies and other insects, and John with the monkeys.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kakashi couldn't wait to regroup with the rest of the class. Then the children could entertain themselves and enjoy more communal supervision.

Once they were within sight of the park where the class would have lunch, Kakashi let the kids sprint the rest of the way. He made his own beeline for the adult table where a number of parents were already sitting. Actually, it looked like all the other parents had arrived before his group. (Was he doomed to always be the last to arrive? He could swear his life hadn't been like that before Naruto…) He was in luck, too, the four moms had taken over one end of the picnic table for themselves, which left him a spot opposite Iruka.

Iruka looked up from his sandwich and waved as Kakashi sat down.

“Hey, how'd your group do this morning?”

Kakashi drooped dramatically. “It started with my kid taking off for the reptiles, and I'm not sure it stopped.”

Iruka laughed at him and winked. “Just wait until they refuel!”

Kakashi shuddered and pulled out his own lunch. He'd made onigiri for himself and Naruto last night—stuffed with supper's leftovers. He looked at what the other parents were eating and was surprised by the variety. Curried chickpeas over rice, pizza, pita wraps. It all looked so good.

“And your group? Were they as enthusiastic?” He took a bite of his onigiri after asking.

Iruka smiled. “My groups tend to be pretty calm. Ms. Mitarashi likes to put kids of similar energy levels together. It usually works out so each kid is in a group with a friend. Sasuke is pretty quiet, so he ends up with other kids who are pretty calm.”

Kakashi banged his head on the table. “That means I'm doomed whenever I can come again!”

His dramatics attracted the attention of the moms, and the one sitting next to him patted his shoulder consolingly. “I feel you.” She pointed at one of the boys trying to eat while hanging upside down from the monkey bars. “That one's mine, so my group is always high energy, too.”

All the adults at the table spent time trading stories about their kids and groups. The other parents also shared stories about other field trips that year or the year previous. Some were nightmare inducing, some were hilarious. Overall, Kakashi decided he wanted to make time to chaperone more of these trips.

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The bus ride back to the school seemed unnaturally quiet. No one was yelling, no one was trying to move from one seat to another, no one was standing. Not even Naruto. The kids must have been as wrung out as Kakashi felt—and his energy reserves were significantly lower than theirs. He hoped this quiet would carry over to the house.

“Bet your wife will be happy that Naruto ran himself out today.”

Kakashi turned toward Iruka with a wry grin. “No wife.” And before Iruka could express any condolences, he continued, “Naruto's adopted.”

“Ah, similar to my situation with Sasuke and Itachi, then.”

Kakashi nodded. He'd picked up on that implication to Iruka's earlier statement.

“There's a single parents group that meets once a month.” Kakashi perked up at the information. “We informally call it Coffee and Commiseration.” Iruka's smile twitched into an almost smirk when he said it. Kakashi could completely understand how the name came to be. “It's mostly just a chance to spend time with other adults who understand. We rotate houses, so the kids play together and the rest of us can visit. Are you interested?”

“Hell, yes!” Talking with his other friends was good, but they were either married with their own kids, or had none at all.

Iruka flashed him a wide smile. “The meeting is at my house this month. This Saturday, actually.” He held out his phone to Kakashi. “If you give me your contact information, I can text you the details.”

The bus pulled up to the school, so Kakashi quickly typed in the information and passed the phone back. He looked forward to getting to know Iruka better.

[fizzyghosts]

Polar bear

[rosesakuras]

I hate the zoo

[uncanny-tranny]

Learning to internalize the message above, but art is in all of our bones. If you feel afraid to create art because it won't be "good enough," it's worth it to explore why you feel that fear. Creating art is one of the basic impulses of people, and if you want to create art, then you absolutely must.

[finehs]

Tortoises have terrible hearing. The music [Enya] is for you. You said you used to listen to spa music when you operated on patients. I thought it might reduce your agita during this bothersome task.

[bigfatbreak]

In the changeling au, what does “keeping” mean? I know there’s the whole thing about faeries tricking people into “giving” them their names, but what actually happens in this au? Like what would the actual consequences be in a practical sense?

(And I assume nothing happens if Adrien just learns the names through other means bc they have to “give” it to him?)

it means that people who's names he has are susceptible to his illusions and persuasions, even if neither party knows it

they can't perceive what he doesn't want them to, and they're more likely to agree with what he asks, even if its wildly out of character for them. he doesn't know he has this power, he just thinks his friends are really nice to him

and yeah, if he learns someone's name secondhand, it doesn't count. it has to be a direct interaction, and it has to be comprehensible

[some-stars]

i suddenly became curious and then remembered i had a way to sate that curiosity (assuming people oblige me by reblogging this)

as usual, please vote and reblog! also feel free to tag your response and general geographic area!

[horsefigureoftheday]

Hung out with this weird horse today

[fishfingersandscarves]

I FINALLY HAVE A WHEELCHAIR BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!! my friend didn't need hers anymore and gave it to me for free!!! WAHHH I CAN GO TO CONVENTIONS AGAIN!!!!

[spinus-pinus]

White-bellied Go-away-bird Crinifer leucogaster

5/28/2023 San Diego Zoo, California

[feyburner]

Damian can of course draw very well, but he’d rather die than let Tim think he put any effort in

Final panel text:

Tim: Got a little sidetracked at the end there huh

Damian: What do you mean?

[justshipsandstuff]

Letting Knives meet Laios can either save humanity or speed up its destruction. I do not know which

[iniro]

do people remember this game....

[patreon]

[varpusvaras]

Jason leaves for Gotham with his big plan and Damian hides in his suitcase. Jason opens it expecting to find his pyjamas and socks but instead there is his little brother who is insulted and enraged over the fact that Jason planned to leave without him and also for not opening up the suitcase sooner, the air was stuffy in there, this is absolutely unacceptable, Todd, do you understand-

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 158

Klarion is on a mission. A very important mission of the utmost importance! 

He, as the oldest of the family (at least sibling-wise) has been given the sacred task of bringing his baby siblings to find their own familiars! And nothing is going to stop him from seeing this task through! He’s not going to get distracted playing with the Justice League’s Baby Team, nor is he going to try and kick Stupid-Helmet-Head-The-Despised. 

He’s going to help Jordan and Ellie find their own familiars, and Phantom-Dad will be so proud of him! Tucker-Dad will be proud too, and his Moms would as well! He’s going to absolutely rock this older-sibling thing! 

[escelia]

DP x DC PROMPT/FIC

Gotham Portal

(If you get the notif for this post like 2 days ago, no you didn't! I wasn't done yet! You were imagining things!)

Where the story takes place in Gotham instead of Amity Park, the Fentons having moved before the construction and testing of the Ghost portal due to the high saturation of ectoplasm in Gotham. So, Danny's accident ALSO happens in Gotham, except he has no support system at all.

Enter the Bats stage left!

Danny couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. His parents had uprooted their whole life to move to Gotham. They said they'd need all the ambient ectoplasm there for when they built their portal. Jazz had been thrilled! After all, Arkham was a shining beacon of mentally ill people, and Jazz was like a psychology moth to a flame; it would be the perfect place for her internship after college.

His parents had wasted no time assembling the portal from their blueprints in the basement of the run-down apartment building they'd bought outright just on the edge of Crime Alley, complete with the Ops Center parked right on top. They'd gutted the place and completely redone it before they moved in. (Danny had no idea when they accomplished that. Maybe they'd been planning it for a while and only thought to tell their children two weeks before moving day.) He was genuinely surprised the local vigilantes hadn't stopped by yet to ask questions.

But anyway, back to how he was royally screwed! He'd just wanted a cool picture for Sam and Tucker now that he'd moved away. His parents weren't home (they'd gone back to the hardware store after their last test), Jazz had stayed after school to try and butter up her new teachers by running a study group, and he'd been alone. He'd even followed all the safety precautions his parents had told him about! He'd put on the hazmat suit and tried not to touch anything. But he'd tripped.

Through the whirling of green and the static buzzing in his ears, he remembered screaming, though he hadn't recognized it as his own. Every nerve in his body was on fire, and he just wanted it to stop. Stop, please stop, why won't someone save me, please!

He woke up to the smell of burning flesh, but he woke up. He was okay! Disoriented, a little disgusted by the smell and throat a little raw, but okay!

At least he'd thought so at first.

He'd begun to... change colors? And float, he floated sometimes, too. But the most irritating of all was that he would go through things. Forks and glasses slipping, quite literally, right through his fingers.

He hadn't told his parents. He'd been fine, after all. A little shaken up, but they'd been so excited he'd gotten the portal to work, who was he to put a damper on the mood when he was fine?

That brought him to now, staring at the mirror in the school bathroom in horror. He'd fought his first real ghost that morning around breakfast. He'd kept it together fairly well, in his opinion. Got through three whole classes before making an excuse to the teacher, slipping off into the blessedly empty restroom.

He'd been getting better and better at controlling his form, and he transformed in front of the mirror, taking stock of his appearance.

Odd colored hair: check.

Bright glowing eyes: check.

Floaty hair: check.

Could walk through walls, disappear, and fly: check.

He raised his finger to his pulse point and felt... nothing.

"I died," he whispered to himself in shock. "I... died," he repeated, this time in despair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian Wayne was not usually one to keep tabs on his classmates. They weren't his friends, therefore he saw no point. However, the new kid, Daniel Fenton, had begun to act strange.

When Daniel Fenton enrolled in Gotham Academy it hadn't been anything special. He'd started the year a little last due to his family moving, but families moved for all sorts of reasons. He hadn't tried to immediately make friends with Damian like so many others had, much to his relief. But he hadn't tried to make friends with anyone else, either. Maybe he liked to be alone? It really wasn't his business.

But then the boy started getting skittish and clumsy. Clumsier than he had been when he started school. He'd developed a miniscule tremor in his left hand, so he'd probably sustained an injury. He began dropping things in Chemistry. So often, in fact, that he'd been banned from doing practical labs and was instead assigned extra book work.

If Damian had been anyone else, if he hadn't been raised by assassins or had his night work as Robin, he wouldn't have noticed. He wouldn't have followed Fenton to the bathroom under the guise of needing to see the school nurse for a headache. Perhaps if he were anyone else, Fenton might have noticed him following.

There was an alarming flash of light as Damian peered carefully around the corner. Fenton had changed forms. Something had happened to him.

"I died," he heard him say. Damian thought he was being dramatic until he watched him raise his fingers to his pulse point. His glowing eyes dilated in panic, and he repeated himself. He watched as his classmate, looking fragile and lost, curled in on himself floating in the air, and sobbed.

Damian didn't confront him that day. He watched, waited, and researched. He found the research of Dr's Fenton on ghosts and ectoplasm, most of which he was skeptical of up until actual ghosts started to torment them during patrols.

Ghosts were real, it appeared.

He also concluded that their findings on ectoplasmic entities being non-sentient and inherently malevolent was incorrect, having met the ghost of a little girl caught up in a rouge attack that killed her and her family.

Damian watched Daniel Fenton for about a week while he ditched class in a poorly hidden effort to fight and contain the ghosts that he and his family were having such a hard time dealing with. His father was even nearly considering contacting John Constantine, which was never his ideal solution. Damian had been rolling an idea around in his head for a while and he decided now would be the time to bring it up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner at the manor was more of a full table than Damian had expected. Not everyone was there, Jason's relationship with them was still a bit strained, so he was not in attendance, and neither was Stephanie. But Duke was home, and Dick was actually there early for patrol later. Tim was there, and so was Cass, so almost everyone.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat politely. "Father, I wish to recruit a new member."

The chatter around the room came to a halt, the clatter of silverware ceasing.

"What exactly do you mean, chum?" Bruce asked carefully.

"I have a classmate I believe would be a valuable asset in light of our trouble with ghosts recently. However, he has no training or support, so I'm asking for your assistance."

"Did... demon brat make a friend?" Tim asked bewildered and a little bit terrified.

"Tt. No, I've never even spoken to him." Damian rolled his eyes. "My classmate, Daniel Fenton, transferred to Gotham Academy about a month ago and started acting strange soon after. He came to school with a tremor and a Lichtenberg figure you can just barely see starting on his left hand and traveling up his arm. I believed he'd been in an accident, and my suspicions were proven when I saw him use meta abilities to ditch class and fight a ghost in the courtyard of the school. From my observations, they are newly acquired, but he has decent instincts and an inclination toward heroism. I believe it would be safer for everyone involved if we approached him first."

"What?" Tim muttered. Dick was smiling gently at him, though, as if he were doing something he was proud of.

"Do his parents know?" Duke asked. Damian scoffed.

"I highly doubt it."

"Wait, Fenton as in the ectobiologists?" Bruce asked. The ex-assassin nodded.

"And considering their research is not reflected in our own interactions with ghosts thus far, I do not believe we should tell them."

"Not safe?" Cass signed. Her brother shook his head.

"The abilities I've observed resemble that of a ghost. He even has an alternate ghostly form."

The implication that they'd be endangering him hung heavy in the air. They'd all seen the Fentons' research. It mostly consisted of theoretical analysis and blatant biases with a long list of proposed experiments they'd run if they ever caught one. They'd all agreed that the Fenton ghost hunters were not a viable option for their ghost problem, especially after seeing how they drove, which in itself nearly put them on the Bat's rogue list.

"We've been meaning to investigate the Fentons properly anyways," Dick pointed out.

Bruce attempted to massage a headache out of his temples. The stuff his kids stumbled into, really. But Damian was right. If his classmate was a new meta with no support, it was only a matter of time before the rogues zeroed in on him, and since his family lived there, he couldn't tell the kid to leave.

"I'm not saying yes just yet, but talk to him. Find out any more that you can."

"Of course, Father."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny finally felt like he was getting the hang of his ghost powers. He was pleasantly surprised, and also mildly horrified, that his parents' inventions actually worked on the ghosts he was now beginning to fight regularly. His favorite was by far the thermos, which did no ghost mutilating whatsoever.

He discovered he had a ghost sense and enhanced hearing and vision, which was cool and all, but now he could hear all the shitty things his classmates said about him behind his back. Which, rude! He didn't even talk to them, what did they have to be shitty about?

He also noticed that one of them, Damian Wayne, had been watching him. From what Danny had heard, Damian was the richest kid in school, a Wayne. Son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, to be exact. And his attitude reflected that. His standoffish, holier than thou rich guy attitude made Dash and Paulina look like they lived below the poverty line. Apparently, he generally didn't talk to anyone at school unless it pertained to class, so Danny saw no point in introducing himself.

That made it extra weird that Damian was following him.

It was right after lunch when a hiccup had a cold breath tumbling from his lips. He raised his hand and asked his teacher if he could use the restroom. He made his way to the bathroom on the other side of the building this time, hoping it would be too out of the way for Damian to follow. But soft rustling of his classmate's school uniform gave him away, no matter how imperceptible his footsteps were.

When he entered the restroom, he made his way to the sink instead, splashing some cold water on his face as Damian walked in behind him loudly as if announcing his presence.

"I know what you've been doing," he said confidently, crossing his arms and standing in front of the door so Danny couldn't leave.

"Oh, hey! Damian, right? I'm in most of your classes, but I don't think I've ever introduced myself. I'm-"

"Daniel Fenton, I know. You've been fighting ghosts." Damian had to give him at least a little credit; he'd become a great actor over the last week. Though, that probably had a lot to do with the fact that he probably didn't feel safe at home anymore.

"My parents are ghost hunters, but I don't think shooting a ghost in the face with a lipstick laser then running for my life counts as 'fighting ghosts'."

"Tt. You are lying."

"Dude, what are-?" Danny cut himself off when his words came with another misty breath. Crap! He'd taken too long!

The ghost of the day, an ugly, mutated, bird looking thing with claws at the ends of its wings and a full set of dangerous, pointed teeth, phased through the door behind Damian, poised to strike.

Without warning, Danny grabbed Damian's wrist and whipped him out of the way, throwing himself between the two. A green shield formed in front of him just as the bird slashed at them with one of its wings.

"Well, that's new," he said startled as the bird geared up for another attack.

Danny groaned at his miserable luck before throwing caution to the wind and transforming. He'd just have to force friendship upon one Damian Wayne in an attempt to keep him from telling anyone about his whole magical girl transformation. He tried to activate his shield again, but when nothing happened, he was flung across the room into the wall. God, this was embarrassing.

The next time the ghost tried to attack him, Damian yanked him aside in a dodge and bolted out of the bathroom with Danny in tow. He was dragged through the winding halls to one of the side exits of the school. In costume or not, Damian's priority was luring the ghost away from the other students.

"Hey, so uh, you won't say anything about this," he gestured wildly to himself, "will you?"

"Tt. Of course not, but I believe you have more important concerns at the moment."

“Right!” Danny patted at the sides of his hazmat suit. “Crap, I left my thermos in my locker!” He dodged another attack and retaliated with an ectoblast, trying to keep the ghost's attention off of Damian as much as possible.

"Your lunch? Really?" Damian shouted. Dang, Danny must have been doing a decent job if Damian had the spare time and attention to be exasperated with him.

"No! It's a containment device! Besides, ghosts are basically soup anyway!"

"Distract it," Damian instructed, "I'll retrieve the device." The boy took off. Danny had to wonder how he even knew where his locker was. The ghost tried to follow him, but Danny shot another blast at it.

"Hey ugly, auditioning to be one of Gotham's Birds? Sorry, but you don't really look the part." He had no idea if the creature could even understand him, but the way it turned to him and lunged again suggested it had done the trick. This time, his shield did work!

Danny could have cried tears of joy at finally having some consistency with it. The next few minutes of the fight felt like an eternity while he dodged and shot ectoblasts at it. The creature wasn't really that strong, and it didn't seem to have super dangerous abilities like some of the other ghosts he'd fought like Skulker or Technus. It ended up being a great opportunity to practice his new shield ability, actually. But he knew the longer he took, the more danger his classmates would be in.

The bird ghost slammed into his shield with a particularly vicious strike, slamming him into the ground and creating a small crater.

"Note to self, remember intangibility," Danny groaned.

In that moment he noticed a door opening on the school building. It was Damian! He was finally back with thermos in hand! Unfortunately, the other ghost noticed too.

"Oh no you don't!" Danny yelled, latching onto one of its feet as it tried to fly toward his classmate. He dug his fingers in hard and sunk into the ground partway to anchor himself.

"Big green button by the lid then the button immediately below it!"

Damian wasted no time popping the lid open and sucking the ghost into the device, the lid closing with a quiet pop. He had to admit, though the design was questionable, it was sturdy, light, and very clearly effective. He wondered if he could get away with sneaking off with this one to have drake examine later.

"That was some incredible timing, thanks." The ghostly form of his classmate floated over to him, taking the thermos from his hand. Damian did not pout.

"We should probably get out of here before the Fenton's show up." He could already hear the screech of tires and his dad's voice over the megaphone tearing through the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't worry honey, we'll catch that nasty ghost boy next time," Jack Fenton comforted his wife. True to form, the Fenton's had arrived to the scene late, and most of the damage to the school yard had been from their vehicle crashing into things upon their arrival. Parents had been called and classes ended for the day, which was how one Bruce Wayne found himself at Gotham Academy trying to help the teachers talk the two down from storming and searching the school.

His son was standing off to the side with one of his classmates. Dark hair, bright blue eyes, lanky frame; Bruce could have mistaken the child for one of his own, but looking between the hulking man in front of him and the kid standing next to Damian, the resemblance was obvious. That had to be Daniel Fenton, the meta his son had told him about. Which meant he'd been the one to deal with the ghost before anyone else had gotten there. The classmate Damian had suggested they recruit for his safety.

"Danno, did you see where that spook went? When I get my hands on him, I'll rip him apart molecule by molecule for even thinking of attacking your school!" Bruce saw Daniel's breath hitch with fear.

"Sorry, no. I was coming back from the bathroom when I saw him fighting another ghost through the window. I was scared so I hid," he lied, gripping his left wrist while he spoke.

Bruce was impressed. The boy's fear was real, and he used that to his advantage to really sell the lie to his parents. His heart ached for him. He couldn't imagine seeing any of his boys looking at him like that, with such fear and distrust.

"That's okay sweetie, we'll get him next time. We're just happy you're alright. Let's get you home," his mother comforted, though Bruce knew it wasn't very comforting at all.

"Yeah, we'll teach you to use the Fenton Bazooka," well that was horrifying, "that way next time you can just blast him!" Danny wanted literally anything else.

"Actually," Damian interrupted politely. "We were assigned a project in class earlier on the history of Gotham. As Daniel is relatively new to town, I offered to assist him with the assignment. Father, would it be acceptable for him to join us for dinner?"

Bruce would have been incredibly surprised his son was inviting someone over for dinner if he didn't see exactly what he was doing. Daniel wasn't safe at home. And he clearly wasn't comfortable with the way his parents spoke of the 'ghost boy'. If his defeated expression was anything to go by, it hadn't been the first time they'd said something like that, nor would it be the last.

"What do you think, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? We'd love if Daniel could join us for dinner."

"Please, call us Maddie and Jack. That sounds wonderful Mr..."

"Wayne. Bruce Wayne, I'm Damian's father," he introduced. If the two recognized the name, they didn't show it. It worked out rather well in his favor.

"Mr. Wayne. If its not too much trouble, that would be wonderful. It's about time he made a new friend, he's been sulking since the move. Now, we have a ghost to catch!" Maddie planted a kiss on Danny's forehead, leaning her blaster on her shoulder as her and her husband made their way back to the homemade assault vehicle parked haphazardly on the lawn of the school.

"Be sure to call us if you plan on staying the night! We'll let Jazz know she doesn't have to worry about dinner for you! We love you, have fun sweetie!"

"Are they always like that?" Damian asked after the two had pulled away. How had those two even gotten their driver's license? It was truly abysmal, he dreaded the thought of anyone getting into a vehicle with them. And then there was the speed in which they'd dumped their son into their laps, even suggesting they'd be okay with him not coming home that night.

"They mean well, but yeah," Danny replied, heaving a sad and defeated sigh. "Thank you, by the way. For inviting me over, even if you didn't mean it. They can be a bit much."

"Clearly," Damian mused back.

Bruce watched the two interact and felt pride well up in his chest. Meeting the Fenton parents just once was enough to convince him that their son needed help, maybe even their daughter too. That Damian had taken the initiative to bring this to his attention, that he had stood up for Danny and offered his home as a sanctuary for him, made him so incredibly proud as a father. He wasn't as prickly with Danny the way he was with other people, even his own siblings. That was a very good thing indeed, considering it was looking more and more likely this would end with another adoption.

Maybe Clark was right, he did have an adoption problem.