#i miss steph so fucking much you guys

[roseworth]

Do you have a favourite Batgirl (2009) moment?💜

i have so many <3333333 hehe but here are my top 3 because i will not just choose one

every single steph & damian teamup in this book is the greatest thing ever btw! their dynamic is so fucking funny and i love it whenever they interact. i miss this so much

i LOOOOOOOOVE the girlhunt arc <3 there is not a single bad part of it and it was so hard to just pick out one part of it that i like fhajkdfhdjksf but THIS one is so funny bc steph's girlworstie organized a batgirl protest just for the hell of it and now steph has to deal with that <3 i love jordanna she is the embodiment of a female character in the late 00s written by a man

AND ONCE TOMORROW IS HERE THERES NOW MORE TODAY. SO WHY ARE YOU CRYING? BECAUSE TODAY IM HAPPY. fuck. i love the end of this book so fucking much. i started crying again just grabbing this screenshot. literally the perfect ending to the perfect book. this book could have 100000 issues and i would never get bored even one single time. it is a crime that she was erased from existence after this and i will never be the same.

HONORARY MENTIONS.

stephkara <3

and this teamup <3333 (someone told me once that stargirl was supposed to be mia here but they wouldnt let bqm put her in and that haunts me every day) (also as a certified bombshell hater. it should've been rose. but WHATEVER. IM NOT EVEN MAD.)

[blackbatcass]

me trying to comprehend the Late Stage Batman Pre-New 52 Saga (ressurection of ra’s al ghul black glove batman rip final crisis batman reborn red robin b&r 2009 batgirl 2009 return of bruce wayne)

[magics-neptunes-things]

You Belong With Me

Hi guys!

I'm finally working on my WIP's. This is a request I received a long time ago, I'm so sorry for the wait. You can find it here.

Please enjoy ♥

TW : Alcohol

When Alessia moved to Arsenal, you were happy because you always found her very talented. You saw her playing during the World Cup and with you already playing for Arsenal, you had to play against her several times.

You love her play, and she seems really sweet, which is not a bad thing. You remember being with Leah in the medical centre when Alessia came to sign her contract. The other blond introduced both of you and since then you are inseparable.

You do all your drills together, you sometimes come together for training, and you sit almost always next to each other on the coach when you are travelling in the country for games.

This summer you even went to Ibiza together, even if there were more pictures of Alessia and Toone, you were there too. And you really had a blast there, enjoying every single day. You come even closer to Alessia, and you have to control yourself to keep your gesture friendly.

You are separated during the national breaks though. For this one you go back to your country, or wherever the camp is, while Alessia stays in England with her national teammates.

This is during the last camp that you realize how much you were fucked up. You missed Alessia every single second of the camp, wanting to hear her voice and talk to her all day long. You missed her smile, you missed her touch, you missed her perfume and even the way her hair whips your face during some exercises in training.

You messaged each other from time to time, but not every day. Sometimes Alessia took a long time to answer your messages and you hated the way your stomach makes you feel sick during this time. You don’t want to be a burden for her obviously, she’s your friend and she doesn’t see you like that.

So, after your return to London, you decide to be more distant with Alessia, for your mental health. Plus, the blonde has a lot of other friends on the team, so she won’t have any problems finding someone else.

You are late the first time you have to take the coach to go to Manchester and play your first game back. So, it’s not a problem to sit in front of Katie and Caitlin while Alessia is next to Kyra, several rows behind.

And since that move, you become more and more distant with her. You take more time to answer her messages, you avoid going to the team bonding and you always have something to do when Alessia proposes to drive you to training.

You see Alessia frowning from time to time, but like you were thinking, some of your teammates seem eager to spend time with her. It’s more difficult for you to find someone to do your drills with. Sometimes it’s Laia, sometimes it’s Steph. You have a great time with them, but it has nothing to do with doing it with Alessia.

You were really thinking that those changes aren’t bothering Alessia. But to be honest, it’s not exactly working on stopping your crush on her.

You have to fight the need to look at you every time you can, your eyes are attracted to her like two magnets.

The fact that you find her more beautiful every day probably doesn’t help either. But now you aren’t even crossing her eyes. When she starts to turn her eyes to look in your direction, you are already doing something else.

From friends you are now strangers and even if it breaks your heart, you know it’s for the better. If you confessed your feelings to Alessia, you would have lost her anyway. Like this, at least she won’t feel strange because of you.

“What’s the matter between you and Lessi?” Leah asks you while you are doing some drills.

For once, Lia chooses to partner with Mariona, letting Leah make them with you. You wait to send her the ball back before answering.

“What do you mean?” you ask with a poker face.

Leah sends you the ball back, not looking at you in the process. You like it that way, it doesn’t give you the impression of being grilled by her. You wonder if Alessia sends her to you, or if this is just a Captain’s duty.

“You were both so close and now it looks like you don’t even talk. Did something happen between you?”

“No” you shake your head. “We just… grow apart, I don’t know. It happens to people sometimes, just like Katie and you. You aren’t as close as you were some years ago”

It’s a poker move that you are making, to be honest. Sure, Leah and Katie aren’t close like before, but they are still friends. They are still talking, joking around and laughing together. Which you aren’t doing anymore with Alessia.

This time Leah looks at you with scepticism. You can see in her eyes that she doesn’t believe you at all. Just like if she knows how you would have killed just to have a hug from Alessia.

“If you say so” she finally says.

She doesn’t believe you, but at least she doesn’t push the subject. You are glad for it. You haven’t talked to anyone about your feelings for Alessia and why you made the decision to avoid her suddenly.

You finish your drills in silence, probably both lost in your thoughts. It’s only when you are finished and going back to the group that Leah talks again.  

“You know that you can talk to me about anything, yeah?”

You raise your head in Leah’s direction, and you feel your face softening a little. She seems really concerned about you. It makes you warm inside.

“Thank you” you smile.

“Anytime”

She gives you a side hug which you answer, passing both of your arms around her waist. You appreciate the girl, not in the way you appreciate Alessia. But under her stern glare, Leah is really a big softie.

Leah passes her arm around your shoulders and drags you near the team who is having a drink pause. It’s at this moment that you cross Alessia’s blue eyes. She gives you a tentative smile, which you answer with an uneasy one before hurrying to take a bottle of water.

Later that day, you were getting out of the showers, sure that no one was still here. You went to the medical team for a little strange feeling in your tight. It was nothing but you still had a massage before going to the shower. Only Steph and Beth were still there, and they told you goodbye when you entered the shower.

You took a long and hot shower, waiting for every part of your body to be really relaxed. It took time but you finally managed it.

No one was waiting for you at home, so you take your time to get dressed and prepare yourself. You were grabbing your bag when the door opens, and you froze when you see who is entering the locker room.

Alessia.

She seems surprised to see you here too and stays still for some seconds before opening her mouth.

“Oh, I thought you were already home” she says softly.

“I’m going now” you answer, passing next to her to reach the exit.

“Wait”

Alessia grabs your arm, and you froze once again. Alessia releases you very quickly, taking your frozen state for discomfort. She doesn’t realise that your stillness is because of the warm feeling that this simple touch makes you feel.

“Sorry” she mumbles, looking at her feet. “I was wondering… Is everything fine? We don’t talk like we used to”

You bite your lips softly before answering. She seems really touched by the situation and you feel your heart break a little more. But you shake yourself mentally. It’s for the better like this.

“Yeah, everything is fine” you smile. “Look I have to go; I have a meeting with my agent. See you tomorrow?”

“Are you coming to Beth’s?”

Beth is organising a team bonding tomorrow night, and you said you were going before Alessia answered. A mistake you usually aren’t making but you were unfocused while answering the invitation.

“Yes”

“Cool” Alessia smiles awkwardly.

You smile back before going out of here. Your cheeks are so red that it could have been used as decoration for an Arsenal video.

Coming here was a bad idea, you knew it. You almost wrote to Beth ten times to say that you weren’t coming, but you are still here, sandwiched on a couch between Laia and Mariona. Both girls were yapping in Spanish, Mariona’s hand somewhere on Lia’s knee. You were happy to be seated here though, at least you don’t need to talk or anything.

You saw Alessia looking at you several times, but she looked away every time you were looking back. Maybe your plan is starting to work, you thought with relief. Alessia talked almost all night with Lotte and Emily, far away from you. You can’t help but feel a little jealous though, hearing her laugh resonate in the room from time to time. But you shouldn’t feel that way.

She wrote to you yesterday and you ignored her text once again. You feel bad about it, but you don’t have the choice.

You may have drunk a little too much cider that Lia brought back from her training camps in France. Your teammates swear that it wasn’t with alcohol, but when you look at the bottle it’s said it in fact does have alcohol. Only a little but for those like you who aren't drinking alcohol at all, you don’t need a lot of it to feel your head start spinning.

You were looking at Myle sleeping when you hear a part of the conversation between Alessia, Emily and Lotte. You wish you wouldn’t have.

“So, how was the date Emily arranged you?” Lotte asks Alessia.

You feel your jaw contracting, without being able to really control your muscles. You stand up, mumbling something about the bathroom to Laia who looks at you with concern before getting out of the living room. You actually go to the bathroom, locking the door behind you before splashing cold water on your face.

Who did you think you could convince? In all your stupidity, you didn’t think for one second that Alessia could look for someone else. Of course she will, and you know that she probably has thousands of people waiting for her. She’s perfect and you are lousy.

You jump when you hear someone knocking at the door.

“Y/N? Are you okay?”

You are relieved to hear Lia’s voice and not Alessia’s. You take a deep breath before answering, you want to be sure that your voice will be okay.

“I’m fine. Just freshening up a little”

You close the tap and take another big breath before going out. Thank god your eyes aren’t red, and your cheeks aren’t flushed. Otherwise, you would have been screwed.

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Lia asks after having looked at you with a perfect arched eyebrow.

“I think I’ve been sick of the cider. It’s maybe better if I go home. Can you tell Beth? I don’t want the others to make fun of me”

You see her hesitate some seconds before answering.

“Don’t you want someone to take you home?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine” you shrug.

“Y/N.”

Lia grabs your hand, and you look at her, like a child is looking at his mother before being scolded. Lia just used what Kyra calls her “Mom’s voice”, but you got the feeling perfectly well right now.

“Don’t you dare driving, am I clear?”

“I won’t Lia, I swear” you smile softly. “I’m just going to walk home, and I will come back to take my car tomorrow. Really, don’t worry I’ll be fine, okay?”

You don’t really know if you will be fine, but you find your tentative lie pretty good actually. Lia seems to believe it anyway, not suspecting for a second that you probably will go home to cry in your bed. And pretend a hangover to stay at home for the next 24 hours.

Lia finally nods and says goodbye, letting you go to grab your jacket and your shoes. It’s only when you close the door behind you that you realise that no one saw that it started to rain. Which isn’t surprising because you literally live in London. But you still don’t have an umbrella or anything to hide under.

You sigh and start to walk. You aren’t leaving far away from Beth’s house, it’s only a ten minutes’ walk. Hiding your hands in your pocket, you cross the road and hurry a little bit. The fresh air is great for you, even if it probably would have been better without the rain.

“Y/N!”

You would have recognized that voice between every voice in the world. Even if she’s running and your ears are full of the noise of the rain.

When you turn in her direction, Alessia is crossing the street too, without a coat or a jacket or anything else other than her jumper.

“What are you doing here? Do you want to die from pneumonia?” you ask, your concern making you forget that you are supposed to ignore her.

“I just… I need to understand”

Alessia is looking at you, her beautiful eyes scanning your face and your eyes. But you don’t hold her gaze, preferring to look somewhere behind the street.

“No! Stop not looking at me!”

That sentence has the good point of surprising you enough to make you look at her. The rain sticks her long blond hair to her face, and you must take it on yourself not to clear that said beautiful face.

“You need to tell me what the matter is! I can’t remember when you stopped hugging me to say hello and I don’t understand why you are suddenly ghosting me. What is happening? What did I do?”

There is no escape for you now. You still can pretend that she’s imagining things and answer her like you said to Leah some days before. People just grow apart at some point. It’s sad, but it’s life. But you know that Alessia won’t believe that.

“You did nothing, Lessi. It’s just complicated” you sigh, passing a hand on your face.

“Then talk to me! Together we can work on it!”

“It doesn’t matter” you try to avoid the subject, walking away from a few steps.

But Alessia doesn’t seem to hear like this. She hurries to close the distance between you again, grabbing your arm once again. Her fingers are cold like ice on your skin, making you shiver. She must be freezing.

“It does matter, Y/N, fuck!”

You look at her with wide eyes. It’s maybe the first time you hear Alessia swearing outside of a football pitch. She looks genuinely upset. Seeing her like this isn’t easy for you, you could give your life for her. You never wanted to see her sad.  

“We were closer than anyone and now you act as if it never mattered to you. You said I did nothing, so what is it? Are you in trouble? Did you meet someone who is too jealous for you to hang on with me?”

You roll your eyes, suddenly annoyed when you remember that she went on a date with someone else several days ago.

“I’m not the one trying to date someone else” you grumble.

It takes Alessia by surprise. The blonde doesn’t seem to know what to answer to that, before finally opening her mouth.

“How does it even have a point with any of this?”

“I…”

“Y/N please…”

You groan, passing both hands on your face. Everything is so complicated and Alessia will definitely catch at least a cold or something. But she keeps pressing you and between the cold, the cider and all the feelings you have for this girl, you can’t contain yourself anymore.

“I like you, okay?” you finally almost shout in the middle of the street. “And not like you like a friend likes you, I like you. I’m the girl who fell in love with her straight beautiful best friend. I tried to fight against it, but I can’t, Alessia.”

You take a big breath, looking at Alessia’s drenched face. How is she still so attractive under the rain? It’s unbelievable.  She’s silent for now, looking at you with wide eyes and her mouth a little agape.

“You’re just so perfect and I didn’t want you to hate me, so I thought that if I drift apart from you, it will be better. But it’s not working at all. I can’t forget you and now you’re here looking at me and all I want to do is kiss you.”

You finally remember to breathe again and it takes some time for Alessia to finally talk again.

“You… You like me?” she finally manages to say, stuttering a little.

“Yes, I do” you sigh.

You wanted to add that now you really need to go inside and ask Beth if they can borrow some clothes. Alessia would probably need the ones from Viv, because there is no way that she can fit in something belonging to Beth.

But suddenly Alessia is grabbing your face with both of her hands, tilting it just a little to be in the right direction and then… Then she kisses you. Her lips are on yours and your brain is short-circuiting. You need several seconds before answering her kiss, finally processing that it’s really happening.

When she feels you kissing her back, Alessia lets go of your face with one of her hands to grab your neck and deepen the kiss. During this time, your arms went around her neck, keeping her close.

You don’t know for now what is happening in her head, maybe it’s just a one-time thing. So, you better remember every single second of it.

Alessia’s body is cold against yours, but the taste and the softness of her lips are amazing. Even better than what you imagined.

When the kiss ends, she presses her forehead against yours and your eyes automatically go for her lips.

“Less, let’s go home. Your lips are blue” you whisper.

You take her hand and pull a little on it for her to follow you. Which she finally does, following you under the rain. Your house is closer than hers, so you don’t hesitate before taking her here.

You wipe the puddles of water on your wooden floors while Alessia takes a hot shower, and she makes tea while you take yours. The effect of the alcohol seems to have been forgotten thanks to your talk with Alessia. Or maybe it’s the kiss.

It is definitely the kiss.

When you come back in the living room, wearing your pyjamas short and an old jersey from your national country, Alessia smiles shyly at you. She was looking at the steam from the mugs on the coffee table in front of her.

“We probably need to talk” the blonde says softly, when you are seated next to her on the couch.

“Yeah” you breathe, looking at the mug between your hands. “Look, if you want to forget about that kiss…”

“No, I don’t want to! Y/N you need to… Give me that” she cuts herself.

She takes the mug from your hand to put it back on the table, next to hers. You turn a surprised gaze on her when she grabs your hands, taking them between hers. Her hands are way hotter than before, really pleasant on your skin.

“You need to stop pretending I don’t like you back. I do like you. Maybe I realised it very late, but I do.”

You blink your eyes as you look at her, shocked. You didn’t expect this to be quite honest. You had time to prepare yourself for many eventualities during your shower and the one where Alessia announces that she got carried away a little is the one you thought the most plausible. Alessia is romantic. Which romantic people would refuse a kiss in the rain?

“I thought we were just friends, but when you stopped talking to me, it made me realise that there was more. I missed you, every single second. It was hard but it made me realise that I never really had friendly feelings for you.”

You were looking at her intensively, not missing a single word or a single facial expression. It seems too good to be true.

“But… You are straight” you frown.

“Haven’t you seen the TikTok trend “Gay for her” ?” she rolls her eyes.

You roll your eyes too but look at her again when she squeezes your hands. You love the feeling of her skin against yours.

“What if we try and it doesn’t work? I don’t want to lose you” you whisper.

“What if it does work? We can go at the pace we want, how we want. We don’t owe anything to anyone.”

It seems so easy saying like that. You finally address her a small smile, which she returns without any hesitation.

“I never thought you would reciprocate my feelings” you admit. “I think I will need time to deal with that information.”

Alessia laughs and you can’t hide your smile. You love seeing her happy and the way her eyes are sparkling make you understand that she is right now.

“We have all the time” she promises.

You are always smiling when you raise your hand to slowly stroke her face with your fingertips. Her lips aren’t blue anymore and her cheeks are even a little pink. She’s so beautiful.

“Can I kiss you again?” you ask with a soft smile.

Alessia smirks.

“You don’t need to ask for that.”

[clockwayswrites]

City Pigeons Bleed Green Part 3

WC: 1861 Masterpost CW: mentions of blood, past experimentation, and torture

Duke tugged the sleeves of the hoodie he had thrown on as he rolled out of bed down over his hands. The Cave was freezing. Usually the temperature was nice. Dressing up in layers of body armor and fighting crime made a person hot and the cool air of the Cave was a relief. When pulled out of bed by an all-hands meeting it was another story and so Duke tucked himself further in the hoodie.

He was pretty sure it wasn’t even his hoodie. This family (and those let into the inner circle) were almost all clothing thieves. Duke had even caught Wally West with his missing Gotham Academy hoodie once. The weird lack of boundaries had taken some getting used to. Seeing various family members naked for decontamination showers or medical procedures helped hurry that along. It was hard to care about who’s hoddie it was was after washing off cuddle pollen together.

The roar of a bike filled the Cave and Duke didn’t even look up. He knew the sound of Red Hood’s bike.

Man, he really had been in this family too long now, he thought and buried his face in his arms. Would they notice if he just went back to sleep?

“Perhaps some tea, Master Duke?”

Guess so.

“Thanks, Alfred,” Duke said and dragged himself properly upright to accept the mug of tea. At least it was warm.

Duke sipped at the tea, his favorite blend of course, as Jason sped into the Cave like the badass bastard he was. He spun his bike to a stop in one of the open spots.

“Hood,” Bruce addressed the other, the Batman™ gravel seeped into his voice even though he was dressed down in sweats, a hoodie Duke was pretty sure was actually Jason’s, and a brace on his wrist.

They all knew what Bruce meant though: report why an all-hands was called, why Tim wasn’t there, did those of them not suited up need to, was anyone they cared about hurt?

“No, old man, you report,” Jason said as he stalked up the steps towards them. “Who the fuck were you fucking fifteen years ago?”

Duke pinched himself to make sure he was actually awake and not still in bed having the most awkward dream. Alright, well, that hurt. So much for being saved from this conversation by the T-rex suddenly coming to life and breathing fire and them having to take it down with squirt guns and pool noodles.

He’d had some weird dreams since coming to live in the manor, alright?

“Um, ask what now, little wing?” Dick asked, looking between Jason and Bruce.

“I asked what I asked,” Jason said. He’d made it to the computer and they all turned obediently to look at the screen. Jason tugged off his helmet and set it down as he leaned against the console. “Who the fuck were you sleeping with at that time, Bruce?”

Bruce stared at Jason for a long moment. “Selina, mostly. Some socialites and such maybe still. What’s going on, Jason?”

“Oracle,” Jason said, not taking his eyes Bruce. “Red should have sent you some media. You’ll get why. Throw something fitting up on the screen.”

Despite what the superhero community and Gotham thought, everyone in the Cave knew that Batman was far from unflappable. They had all pulled one over on him before. But Duke had never seen Bruce looking like that before. As that image went up on the screen, it looked like someone had just shattered his brittle heart into pieces.

Duke couldn’t blame him. The sickly looking guy on the screen made Duke want to go find someone to punch and it wasn’t his face the other was wearing.

“Holy shit,” Steph whispered.

“Father, what is the meaning of this?” Damian ordered.

“Jay?” Dick prompted when Bruce seemed unable to find the words.

Jason scowled down at the ground. “Red and I were on patrol. He noticed… blood.”

Babs brought another image up on the left monitor without prompting. It was a Gotham alley like any other except it was splattered with a green spray.

“That is Lazarus water, that is not blood,” Damian said. His words were as haughty as ever, but there was a wobble under them.

“It’s blood for him,” Jason said. “Trust me. I held the kid as Red stitched him up. Knife wound. It was the only… new wound. Oracle, did Red send you…”

A new image popped up on the left screen and Jason closed his eyes. Duke had to swallow heavily and look away himself. He got now why Jason came in demanding who Bruce had slept with. Bruce’s heart was going to break all over again.

“Who?” Cass signed. Her motion was sharp and aggressive as she pulled her thumb from her chin after the sign.

“We don’t know,” Jason said. “He was jumpy.”

The picture of the horrible injuries was replaced by a video, clearly from Red’s suit. The guy was pressed against the wall, one hand gripped tight over the wet, green stain on his hoodie. He looked dwarfed in it.

“Hey, looks like you could use some help with that wound before you bleed out,” Tim said in the video. Duke could hear how he was keeping his tone carefully light.

“…just who are you supposed to be?” The guy’s voice could barely be heard.

“You must not be from Gotham. I’m Red Robin, one of the heroes here.”

The guy snorted, curling further into himself rather than relaxing at that. “So you’re just going to hand me over to the government then?”

Everyone in the cave stiffened at that, including Jason, which was interesting.

“Why would I do that? I’m a vigilante. Do you know how illegal what I do is? I just don’t want to see you bleed out. Maybe I can even take you to a safe house where you can rest.”

“So that you can interrogate me? No thanks.”

“I mean, I’d like to know who tried to kill a kid, but that’s to make them pay, not you.”

As the guy gave a horrible laugh, Duke reached out and touched Cass’ elbow, reminding her they were all there. These sort of things always hit her hard. She sent him a grateful smile before focusing back on the screen. “Maybe I deserve it.”

The guy tensed suddenly, weight shifting like he was about to bolt as the video slumped slightly sideways.

Jason’s voice rumbled from close to the camera. “You’re what, sixteen?”

“…fifteen?”

“Uncertain,” Cass spoke. Duke had to agree, the guy didn’t know how old he was, not for sure.

“Yeah, no fifteen year old deserves to bleed out. You know who I am?”

Duke tracked the motion of the hood as it slipped. The white hair was curious, considering Bruce, but if the guy was a meta or had been in the Lazarus Pits long enough… or worse, both…

“I’m Red Hood. I protect part of this city called Crime Alley. I’m not afraid to kill a shithead, especially ones that hurt kids, but I never harm a kid,” the Jason of the video said, something they all knew was true. It was an argument still often enough on bad days. “I’ve got places to put you if you needed somewhere safe; places not in the system. Or we can get you somewhere. Do you have a place to go to?”

The guy laughed again. “That’s the thing. I do. I might, I guess. Just no one is going to believe me.”

It was Tim who asked, “Why won’t they believe you? Where do you need to get?”

After the photo earlier, they all knew what the guy would look like when he lifted his head, but it still made Duke glance over at Bruce.

“I need to get to Bruce Wayne.”

-

Jason motioned and the video stopped there and went away.

Bruce closed his eyes.

I need to get to Bruce Wayne.

Another son he didn’t know about. Another son he failed to save from a horrible childhood because he didn’t know they existed.

“He didn’t want to see you right away, but we think that Tim and I convinced him that we could arrange a meeting between you and him,” Jason said.

“Of course,” Bruce answered instantly.

Jason just gave a little nod and explained, “He doesn’t trust the offer, or us, completely. It was enough to get him to the safe house. Passed out on the way.”

“And still asleep,” Tim piped up from the computer. “I’ve been running analysis on the… collar he’s wearing. It’s definitely a one off, but very professionally made. There’s, well, there was a tracker in it that’s been crushed. It’s meant to deliver a shock if someone messes with it, but I can disable that long enough to remove it.”

“You should wait until one of is is there,” Duke spoke up. “Just… in case there’s a reaction when it’s removed.”

Duke ducked his head when all eyes turned to him, still bashful as the newest member of the family. Bruce had been trying to reassure the other, but he knew that was far from his own strength. Clearly he needed to try a different approach.

“Just, you know, he’s clearly a meta? Of some type? It’s probably a containment collar and it could release a, you know, backlog? Of power?”

“Good thinking,” Bruce assured Duke.

“Someone better get here quick then. I hate seeing this thing on him,” Tim grumbled. At least he agreed.

Bruce looked back at the photo still on the center screen to the pale, drawn face. Even in sleep his son’s face was etched with pain.

“Bruce?” Dick prompted.

Bruce took a breath and made himself focus, to be Batman, not a grieving father. How often had he had to make that choice? “Dick, you and Jason both should go. Tim, as soon as the collar is off I want you and Oracle working on it but stay mindful of traps.”

“Will do,” Tim replied.

“And what of the rest of us?” Damian asked.

His youngest had come so far, but Bruce knew this would be a big disruption for him. They would have to watch him. He caught Cass’ eyes and she gave the slightest nod.

“I want Robin, Batgirl, and Spoiler out on the streets. Don’t ask questions yet, we don’t want to lead anyone to him, but get a sense of the mood around the big players. If this is already on anyone’s radar, I want to know.”

“And you need to make a list,” Jason said. “Kid talked in his sleep, begged his mom to stop. Could just be nightmares…”

“I’ll make one,” Bruce said. His bedroom proclivities were hardly what the papers reported, but with how this new son wasn’t certain of his age, it could be pre-Dick, or even at the start of Dick joining the family. It certainly meant there would be more names then any of the years later on. Whoever it was though, Bruce would find them.

He had to try and do that much for his son.

--- AN: Not entirely sure about Bruce's part here, but he's always harder for me to write! I think goal is to get at least one POV with all of the kids, so I guess Dick's is next likely! I'm super fuzzy today (fatigue, day fuck it, seven? Eight? Of this headache), so I hope this is at least decent~

Stay delightful, darlings!

I no longer tag, but you can subscribe to the masterpost to be notified!

[dcxdpdabbles]

Cave boy Danny has way to much fun fucking with the bats after a while. Jason is too until Danny bites him after some unwanted human contact. Alfred gets a big wave of nostalgia when Danny does it too.

Danny can say that the Waynes have been ridiculously welcoming, all things considered. He still hasn't come clean about not being Bruce Wayne's alternative double, so to throw them off from finding out the truth and have a safe place to crash- he's missed plumbing- he has been invited to the Wayne Manor and has been lazing about when under their watch.

If there was one thing apparent, it was that Bruce Wayne did not laze about. It was mind-blowing to those who knew him to see Danny- a version of Bruce- act like walking across the room for a remote was too much work.

It drove them mad to see such a difference between them, and thus, none of the Waynes noticed Danny's side project to get home.

The Waynes gave him a giant room and helped set up a fake Identity for him while they worked on getting him home. To the public, he was Danny Kane, a long-lost relative recently coming to Bruce for help.

Thanks to the support of Jacob and Kate, they agree to make it seem that Jack Kane- Danny's made-up father- was the result of Bruce's material grandfather having a fling after his wife's death. Jake was hidden from the public eye but had his father's financial support until he was an adult.

Jack was never bitter and told Danny stories of his wayward father, filled with love to prove it. These stories inspired Danny to seek out the remaining Kanes after Jack's untimely death, which led him to Bruce as Martha Wayne nee Kane's son.

The day Danny would be sent home, the Waynes would fake his death, and no one would be the wiser that Danny Kane never existed.

Fine by Danny

. He only planned to stick around long enough to get his ship ready and pinpoint a location that had the vile between the living and dead thin enough to slice his way back to the Ghost Zone.

Unlike Wulf, who could open portals wherever he wanted, Danny had to find points weak enough to punch a hole through. He knows his parent's portal was way out of his set of skills, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give anyone the idea to build their own here. Two percent of portals were already two too many.

He mostly hung around the house- with someone always close by in a poor attempt to hide the fact they were watching him. Most of the time, Danny was either lazing around the house, eating and sleeping, and it felt like a costly vacation.

He refused to help on the coms when the Bats went out to kick ass, even after Dick offered to sit in front of monitors and relay information to the heroes like he was offering the chance of a lifetime.

This seems to disturb everyone else in the house except for Alfred.

If anything, the fact Danny straight-up refused to put on tights and rush into night to fight crime made Alfred adore him. The butler claimed he was worried everyone in the family would forget what everyday life was supposed to feel like.

A few Waynes couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the concept.

"You're not interested at all?" Tim asks, eyes narrowed. He was among the few who thought Danny was suspicious for not wanting to risk his life to fight the corrupted system.

"Nah, man, I'm good here. I got my nachos, I got a movie room and I got the softest bathrobe ever bathrobe." Danny snuggles more profoundly into the pink plush robe that Steph had lent him. "Why would I want to ruin any of these? Sides, I can't even throw a punch."

".....There has never been a single alternative Bruce Wayne that wasn't involved in this life in some way. If not as a hero then he was a villain. Bruce as a villain is one of the most dangerous things that can ever happen across the multiverse" Tim reveals grimly. "We've won every single encounter but only by the skin of our teeth."

"Damn. Let me guess. You guys beat the evil Bruces by sending his kids after him."

"Yes."

"Problem solve. You already know you can kick my ass, so if I try anything, you can take me out, right?" Danny doesn't wait for a answer. He turns away from the teenager to stare at the movie screen showing his picked movie. "I can do nothing but tremble before your bat might."

Tim steps into his line of sight. "I mean it. You do anything to harm this family and will regret it."

"Does that mean I can't bite Jason again? That sucks. It's the only way I can get him to stop trying to drag me to galas. He wants to scare the other rich people with my poor people's manners."

Tim's lip twitches and Danny knows he's fighting to keep his face under control. "You didn't have to lock your jaw in like that."

"I really did. Jason tested me."

Tim tilts his head. "You don't really feel like Bruce. You look just like him at fifteen. Alfred says you act just like him. But for the last three weeks, you've been trying really hard to make it seem like you're okay with doing nothing."

"I am comfortable doing nothing."

"I think you're lying," Tim says, moving closer to stare down into Danny's eyes with frankly a manic glare. Danny's core flares up with the sense of challenge he finds in that dark blue gaze.

Which is a first for a human, and frankly is terrifying. If Tim had been a ghost he would have easily been an Ancient assistant or a baby Ancient. He has to be able to match Danny's power like this. Holy shit.

"I think your parents didn't give you enough love as a child, and now you seek approval from everyone around you while trying to push everyone away because you are too scared to make yourself valuable. You find yourself in an endless loop of self-doubt and self-hate by doing both simultaneously." Danny blurts. He watches Tim freeze, then winces. "Shit, sorry, the psychoanalyze came out as a reflection. Forget that."

Tim is still frozen in a way Danny recognizes as someone hearing something challenging to come to terms with. This is why he needs to break the habit of using Jazz's psyche training as a weapon.

He forgets not everyone insults each other with their deepest insecurities. That's just how he and Jazz love.

"...Do you want to watch the Grey Ghost Marathon with me?" He asks after a long pause. Tim closes his eyes before plumping down next to him.

"I like that."

Neither mention Jason, who is gasping in the last row of seats and attempting to suppress muffled laughter behind the wrist cast that Danny lovingly gave him at the last gala.

On a side note, Danny Kane is called "Rabid Dog." by the elites of Gotham, who watched the boy make three grown men cry after two minutes of talking to him and also witness four Waynes attempt to pry his mouth open screaming, "No Danny drop it. drop it!" while the boy munched on Jason's wrist.

No one has noticed that half of the tech has disappeared.

[redflagshipwriter]

check yes to go on a date w a dead guy ch 4 progress

next chapter here

(masterpost with this story here)

It took a minute for Jason to recover from that realization. He kept the anger he felt off his face. Danny didn’t seem upset about dying young, but that didn’t mean much. It wasn’t an appropriate topic to prod about on a first meeting. He’d get there eventually.

Jason stilled. Ah, shit, he still didn’t have a plan. Just eating together was too short and too boring. He needed to have something better than that.

Fuck, what were they going to do next? 

Jason strained for ideas. What was a good date? Normally, he'd know more about a person before they hung out romantically. 

Well. Actually, normally he hung out platonically with someone a lot before he started to feel interest in them. This was all kinds of backwards: but he didn't want it to end yet. 

“So, uh, what do you like to do?” Jason asked. Masterful. So smooth.

Danny scrunched up his nose. “Lately my afterlife sucks,” he groused. “I am drowning in paperwork and busy stuff.” He slumped over. “I miss being in high school,” Danny sighed. He drew his knees in and rested his elbows on them, then squished his cheeks with his palms. “I guess I used to just hang out, you know?” He shrugged. “Played a lot of video games. I miss that.” 

“Of course,” Jason said, despite never having hung out and played video games in high school. He'd been an overscheduled nerd in junior high school and then been too dead for high school. “That sounds fun. Wanna go back to mine and play something later?”

Danny lit up, blue eyes sparkling in the fading light. “Yes! That would be great.” He straightened his legs and kicked his heels against the side of the building. “Wait, can we do the whole grungy high school hangout thing with pop and chips and dip and pizza and stuff?”

He almost said “we literally just ate”, but what the hell. “We'll hit the store next,” Jason said. He couldn't say no to that face. Look at ‘em. He was so excited.

'Ugh, god. Danny died in high school,’’ Jason realized. He'd already known Danny died young but it still stuck in his stomach like a rock. 'No wonder he misses what he did then. He's interacting with the physical world now but if he died, he probably went to like, dead land immediately.’

But, uh. Video games. He could do that. He kept up a conversation as his mind churned, asking Danny what kind of games he liked.

The thing was, Jason didn't really play video games. He had a console at his place and if he was hanging out with Roy or Dick there, they'd bring a game over. He owned like, two games. 

He considered popping by the store and just buying something. But that would be weird and intense. He'd probably freak Danny out if he went and dropped money on a game just to play with him. 

Ok. Well. He'd get someone to drop off games before he and Danny could get back to the apartment. Jason sneakily got out his phone and strategized. 

Steph? No. Terrible. He couldn't let that girl know he had a date until the poor bastard really liked him for sure. She'd either chase Danny off or somehow orchestrate the two of them getting engaged. 

Tim? God, no. He'd definitely own a lot of games but they'd all be for the PC, and he'd hang around and smirk about Jason meeting up with Danny.

Dick? Too far away, and way too smug. He'd take it as an opportunity to tease.

Oh, wait. He had it. Jason opened up a message to Duke and sent out a quick “I want to bribe you. Homemade pizza? Artichoke dip? Fried oysters???” 

“Did you take a life?????” Duke shot back. Then, “pizza! What do you need?” 

“Get to my place with a bunch of video games that'll work on my tv in less than an hour and I'll make whatever you want.” 

The three dots indicating typing popped up. They stayed there for a weirdly long time. Then, Duke said, “Can I stay and hang out? 🥺”

Adorable little bastard. Jason typed out NO and then hesitated, feeling kinda bad.

“Who's that?” Danny prompted. 

Ah, shit, he was being rude. Jason flushed. “Asking a little brother to bring over a game,” he admitted. “He wants to stay.” 

Danny laughed. “That's adorable,” he announced. “It's fine by me. Lots of games are better with more people, anyway.” 

Well. If that was the case, Jason was fine with it. He sent Duke an OK and then put his phone away before the inevitable “I AM THE FAVORITE SIBLING” fireworks started. 

[wondersinwaynemanor]

the Wayne kids would definitely wear something from their partners without them knowing. or they just forgot because they're so into it.

[a bit long as this is for each Wayne kid]

~

Dick, enters the movie room at the Manor, announcing himself quite loudly: Who missed me????

his siblings exchange looks as they judge the The Flash joggers their eldest brother is wearing.

Bruce eyes fall to the clothing, a light smile on his lips.

Dick, plops himself beside Damian, ruffling his hair: I hope I didn't miss too much. I got caught up with something.

Jason: Did that something have anything to do with a specific speedster, Dickface?

Damian, huffs as Dick gives him a side hug: You've been frolicking quite often with West these days, Richard.

Jason, attempts to whisper but he obviously wanted everyone to hear him: I'm sure it's more than frolic.

Tim and Duke snicker at that.

Dick, steals Jason's bowl of popcorn: What you guys talking about? He's my best friend. If he needs something, I'll be there-

Cass pokes at Dick's knees and gives a knowing look at the joggers.

Dick, goes red as he continues to eat more popcorn: Um... My pants got dirty. Had to borrow. No big deal. Now..... What we watching????

~

Dick, grins and bows down as he stands on the mat: Okay! Who's ready to spar with the Master?

Jason and Tim roll their eyes in sync as they do their own business at the Batcave.

Cass emerges outside the changing rooms, wearing her workout clothes with a purple headband that's totally not her brand, and waves a hand to Dick as if indicating "me".

from his place at the Batcomputer, Bruce smiles when he sees his daughter.

Dick, coos: Awww. That's a cute headband, Cass. Where'd you get it?

Damian, emerges from the changing rooms: It seems to be Brown's.

Cass pretends not to blush when she touches the headband on her head.

Dick: You look adorable, Cass.

Before Dick could tease her even more, Cass does a move that knocks Dick on the floor.

~

Jason enters the dining room. he's the last one to join the rest of the family on the table.

his siblings exchange looks when they see the Star City shirt he's wearing, a shirt that's clearly tight for him.

Jason is minding his own business, stacking pancakes on his plate when Bruce starts the conversation.

Bruce, hides his smile behind the newspaper: Morning, Jaylad. I thought you were arriving later tonight.

Jason, shrugs: Business was cut off short.

Dick, grins from across the table: Just admit it, Little Wing. You miss us.

Jason, groans: It's too early, Dick. Please.

Duke: But not too early to wear a shirt that's clearly not from Gotham, right?

Damian: Must be some lousy business Todd got into.

Tim, snickers: Or an interesting one for Jason as it's clearly a Roy-related business.

Jason: What the fuck are you guys on about?

Cass, who is sitting beside him, tugs at his shirt.

Jason, pretends not to blush and continues to eat: 'nd your o' ucking 'iness

Alfred: Language, Master Jason. And you must not talk with your mouth full.

~

Tim enters the dining room after a long day at work as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. he hopes he isn't too late for family dinner.

Tim, sits down: Sorry, I'm late. It's been a looong day.

his siblings exchange looks when they see Tim wearing a leather jacket, which clearly wasn't part of his suit and tie that he initially wore to the office.

Bruce has to bite his lower lip to refrain from smiling.

Steph, raises her brow: Was there a photoshoot or something?

Tim, who doesn't look up as he starts typing on his phone: Huh...

Damian: You just got here, Drake, but you're already distracted. How childish of you.

Duke, clears his throat beside Tim: Tim, sorry to break it to you, but you're wearing a leather jacket. It doesn't seem to be your style.

Tim, almost drops his phone: Sh- Oh, yes, it's Kon's. He dropped by to the office to report something. Some team stuffs that doesn't concern any of you. I was cold, so he let me borrow.

Steph: We already know Tim secretly wanted the jacket even though he wasn't cold.

Tim tries to aim a pea on Steph's face, but she just catches it with her mouth.

~

Duke, enters the Batcave after morning patrol: Seriously, these rogues are coming out at morning too often these days.

his siblings, who were present at the cave, exchange looks when they see the cap with the letter R on his head.

Bruce pretends to cough to cover his chuckle.

Dick, grins: New getup, Little D?

Tim, smiles from beside Bruce by the Batcomputer: It looks good on you, Duke!

Duke, blushes: Wait, huh- Oh. It's Izzy's. She was nice enough to let me borrow.

Jason, pats Duke's shoulder as he makes his way to his motorcycle: You're one of the people I can say looks good with a cap, D.

Dick, shouts: Wait. Who's the other one, Little Wing? I don't wear a cap!!!

~

Damian enters the vehicle.

the rest of his siblings exchange looks when they see the oversized hoodie their youngest brother is wearing.

Bruce, who is on the driver seat, doesn't even try to hide the smile he has on his face.

Jason: I didn't know that after a sleepover, you get to bring home your host's clothes.

Tim: Oh, shut up, Jay. As if you're any better.

Jason: No one asked you to open your mouth, Replacement.

Dick, cuts the conversation: Aww, you look really adorable with Jon's hoodie, Dami.

Cass, beside him, plants a soft kiss on Damian's cheek.

Damian, curses internally before pulling the sleeves of the hoodie to his wrists: Tt. How did you know this was Jon's?

Duke: Well, it couldn't be Clark's right? It would drown you.

Damian, huffs, definitely not blushing: Whatever. Let's just go.

and the Wayne kids would definitely not return the things they're wearing.

[spookysplatt]

Hatchetfield Tumblr omg

✝️ graciee777 Follow

Hello world! I'm Grace, I just got this app to keep up with my friend @s-lauter and post bible verses daily for a project my study group is doing! Can't wait to learn more about you all!

✝️ gracie777 Follow

All of you are going to Hell.

��� s-lauter Follow

we NEED to start talking about problematic morning cup'a news is. yeah it's """just a squirrel""" but if you're willing to misgender her it's a slippery slope

🔆 debs-bian Follow

#okay but I actually had no idea peanuts was a girl?? #I'll tell my dad lol I promise he and donna just didn't know #chronically online kinda take though steph I hate to say it

🍃 emmahikes Follow

Tell me why my boyfriend just called himself babygirl while hyping himself up for his big presentation at work today??

#what is wrong with him <3 #I think I have to marry him now

👾 peternotparker Follow

First day working at my local theme park! I'll update you guys with how it goes

👾 peternotparker Follow

hopital

🚬 califor-mia Follow

my sister is playing her little guitar at 3 am in our shared room and i can't even complain because i was already awake

🚗 carsnpunks Follow

Babe I think the little ones are violins not guitars

🌺 al-pal Follow

...ukulele. Guys. It's a ukulele.

#Lex you GOT IT FOR HER how do you not know what it is

🧑🏻‍🎤 attackonbi-tan Follow

My uncle Gary called me cringe???? He's an actual lawyer he doesn't know these words who told him to say this

🌌 leialove Follow

I mean he's got a point you do use an anime character's name on here

🧑🏻‍🎤 attackonbi-tan Follow

You.

#ruth you can't talk you have a star wars fandom blog #plus levi is a great name fuck you #stop teaching my uncle words

📼 missretro Follow

I miss this

📔 dukesthoughts Follow

Babe I love you so much but that picture says 2017

[rosemarydisaster]

Batkids but instead of being pigs they're first responders.

Obviously Dick should be a firefighter, I'm not the first to come up with this and it's so brilliant. Overworked, underappreciated, the backbone of society. I get that he was a cop so he could investigate the corruption at BHPD, but there are other ways. I just think that the self sacrificial part would call to him.

Barbara would obviously be a 911 operator. That one is self explanatory, it's half her job.

Cass could also be on the Firefighter team, probably in the maritime rescue unit. She's vibing in her little boat zooming around the toxic waste of Gotham Harbor. Unbothered queen.

Jason would be specialized in dealing with shock victims and handling the psychological part. I'm not sure who handles that in US, but some time of on site counselor/therapist. You know, the guy that talks to victims before the police starts questioning. He is the most emotional of the Batkids and I want to see him channel it towards compassion more often (kinda like how he's always kind to prostitutes, the homeless and children in canon).

Steph would be in CPS handling the victims that are minors, especially providing legal advice and helping to protect them from police bullshit. Either that or EMT with Tim.

Tim would be a very stressed EMT. I'm a sucker for Tim working in the medical field. Based on what? Vibes. Also he's been physically fucked up so much in canon I think he could get a degree from personal experience. That or 911 operator with Barbara

Duke would be Firefighter, but particularly the search and rescue expert. In hard cases with little to no evidence he uses his powers to find out where the missing person went. He has to be careful not to get caught tho.

I think Damian would want to be either a 911 coordinator (he is the natural choice of a leader of course TT) or an actual ER doctor because his father never finished school and Alfred (grandpa) already had a place saved for the degree so someone has to graduate. If he actually got it he would give so much shit to the others for dropping out.

[gilbirda]

Friendly neighborhood vigilante. Chapter 24

BatmanxDP crossover. JasonxJazz

Link to Jazz's armor design and ramble about ideas >>HERE<<

[Read on AO3] [Read on FF.net]

Based on this post

First chapter || << Previous chapter || Next chapter >>

---

Bruce sighed. Danny choked.

“You— You guys had bets going on?”

Dick stopped his celebratory dance to have the decency to look ashamed. “I mean… Maybe?”

Danny’s smirk replaced his worried face, and the mischievous little brother was back; wearing a heavy and clearly magical armor from another dimension, but still the same person.

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much was the bet?”

“There were a few,” Dick explained, ignoring Bruce’s tired sigh in the background, “But Stephanie thought Jazz was the King. She bet twenty bucks.”

Danny scoffed, crossing his arms. “I’m offended. I’m worth more than twenty.”

Jazz joined Bruce in the tired sigh department. She even placed her hand on her forehead.

“Wait,” Duke perked up, glancing at Jazz trying so hard to keep it together next to a smirking Jason, “if he’s the Ghost King…”

Jason was the first to catch on. “It means Jazz is—”

“The Crown Princess of the Infinite Realms, yeah!” Danny chuckled and pointed a finger at his sister.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Uh-huh!” He answered, the tip of his finger lighting in more green fire.

“Danny, I swear—!”

She couldn’t finish. Danny shot the fire at her, and immediately the flames spread across her body, revealing armor the same way it did for Danny. On her chest, her comfortable long sleeved blouse was replaced by a crimson red chest piece and dark metallic shoulder armor pieces. Her hands and forearms were covered by more red metal, dented and dull with use, up to her elbows.

On her legs, a pleated skirt made of the same dark gray armor reflected the sunlight when she quickly readjusted her legs to stand up, crimson red boots appearing down her legs from her mid thighs.

As the fire retreated over her face, Jazz was already baring her teeth at her brother.

“Danny!” She growled. “That was unnecessary!”

He chuckled again. “If I have to stand here wearing a stupid outfit then so do you.” He approached her and patted her on the back so hard she grunted and stumbled forwards. “What was the thing? ‘A true warrior shows their armor with pride’?”

She rolled her eyes and moved one hand to pull back some strands of hair that had gotten on her face. Jason followed the movement to the bright red headpiece framing her eyes, and extending into points on the sides of her head. They burned with green flames like Danny’s crown did, as if their transformation were condensed in the pieces of metal.

He also noticed the exposed skin of her arms, how his assessment of her turned out to be true, watching the muscles flex with the small movement — and the scary amount of scars she apparently hid under her clothes. He didn’t miss a big burn scar peeking from under one shoulder piece.

“Man, I wish Steph was here,” Dick took everyone’s attention away from the siblings, “because I was also right on the princess thing.”

“So… This is really nothing to you? Like, it does nothing?” Danny’s wide smile was more amused than it should be. “We are literally interdimensional royalty, here, standing in your fancy mansion,” he did a gesture encompassing the whole room, his sister, and himself, “and nothing?”

Jazz sighed again, the flames on the tips of her headpiece burning a little bit brighter. If one squinted, the vague shape of a circle was starting to form with the fire. Her crown?

“Danny,” Jazz made a gesture towards the not at all surprised Waynes sitting in front of them, “there is something you should know about them.”

“Aha?” He glanced at her, but kept his eyes on the others.

“The Waynes are also heroes. They are—”

“No fucking way.”

“Yep.”

“Jazz,” Danny crossed his arms again, but he was smiling, “you had one job. What was it?”

“To not be noticed by Batman.” She looked away, ashamed.

“And what happened?”

“It was— I was careless. I’m sorry, okay?” She closed her eyes and pinched her nose. “Can we drop it? Please?”

Danny was not going to drop it, but Jason got his attention and made a signal to cut it out. Fortunately, the young King made the decision to listen. The little frown told them it was only temporary.

“Okay.” Nobody missed Jazz’s shoulders immediately relax at the word. “So you guys are the bats and birds, and have known about us for a while—”

“Suspected.” Bruce spoke for the first time since reveals started happening. He cleared his throat. “Jasmine, she— She explained some things, but warned that there were things she couldn’t say due to safety reasons and needed to wait for you.”

Danny raised his eyebrows, looking back between Bruce and his sister. Did he know that there was more story behind those words? No doubt he would ask her more details about how they found out — that’s what he would do — so he wasn’t sure the siblings were going to be this amused and relaxed in their— in his presence anymore.

As much as it pained him, maybe this would be the last time they could get answers.

“She talked about the GIW,” Danny tensed, Jazz pursed her lips, “and warned us about Vlad Masters.”

Like the flip of a switch, any amusement left Danny and he donned a persona they haven’t seen yet: the King. It was subtle, but they were so used to reading body language that they could see the shift happen as clear as day.

“Is that so?” The flames of his crown flared for a second. He glanced at Jazz. “When you said the situation had changed…?”

“The GIW and potentially Vlad are… they know I’m here.” She winced. “They will, when they get here. And Jason—”

“I’ve noticed.”

All eyes went to the mentioned. Danny’s new attitude made his piercing green eyes drill holes on Jason’s skin. If he felt poked and prodded when Jazz watched him, it was nothing next to how he literally felt Danny’s consciousness somehow touch his.

He jumped. “What the fuck was that?”

“Interesting.”

“Don’t ‘interesting’ me! What—”

“Darling,” Jazz sat back down next to him, “it’s okay.”

She took his hand, which helped a lot, but still he glared at Danny as the presence came back. At least now that he expected it he didn’t feel so violated.

“What an interesting case.” He tilted his head. “You sure know how to find them, Jazzy.”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“What do you mean?” Jason tried to keep the conversation on track. “What’s interesting?”

Danny licked his lips and shifted his weight from one foot to another. The armor barely made a sound, even if it was expected from such heavy metal.

“You died.” It wasn’t a question. “And your resurrection was painful. What has been done to you was incomplete, tainted, and has left your ghost development stunted.”

That explained absolutely nothing.

“I gave him one of my vials.” Jazz interrupted before he could complain.

That didn’t please her sibling. “Jazz—”

“I know.” The hand that held Jason’s twitched for a second. “But it was an emergency. Would that affect him?”

Danny pondered the question, one hand on his chin. “Maybe. I don’t know. We should check with the yetis.”

“Thought so.” She glanced at her boyfriend. “Sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry. I told you if there’s no blood, there’s no need to say sorry.”

“As cute as this is, we need to focus on the important part here.” Danny got his sister’s attention. “Situation has changed.”

“Yes.” Jazz took a deep breath. “GIW is coming, Vlad may be as well, and I can’t just—” she rubbed her face, “We need to re-negotiate, re-strategize and move up The Plan.”

“The Plan?” Bruce leaned in, catching on the capital letters.

Danny looked at Jazz. Jazz looked at Jason before looking back at her brother.

“We… Okay. Okay.” She breathed in, breathed out. “We are at war. In the Infinite Realms.” She ignored Danny sitting down beside her and the fire when his armor was gone. “Danny is the King, yes, but he is not the only one who has a claim.”

“Vlad.”

Danny clicked his tongue at the name, but patted Jazz’s shoulder and now her armor disappeared in green flames. “He has been after power ever since he came back to life from his accident.”

“We’ve been fighting Vlad and his supporters, as well as trying to fix the mess left behind by the previous King, ever since Danny took the throne.”

“And this was…?”

The siblings shared a look before Danny answered Bruce: “A week after I graduated.”

He was just a kid.

That being said, Robins started fighting crime way younger than eighteen, Bruce considered. Not the same as becoming the ruler of a whole dimension, though.

“Something you guys need to understand about the previous king, Pariah Dark, is that he was such a tyrant he had to be put into the sarcophagus of Eternal Sleep. Everything has been a mess for millenia.”

Bruce pondered Danny’s words. An interdimensional tyrant they knew nothing about, a war they wouldn’t have learned about if it wasn’t for Jason’s neighbor. He got dizzy for a second.

“But that’s not all.” Bruce nodded along when the siblings did, clearly relieved he was catching on. “The GIW.”

“We have been trying our best. Those documents you found with our parents’ signature,” Danny’s head snapped towards Jazz so fast they confirmed he was not human, or he would have had some real damage, “they were the things we couldn’t stop in time. The research we couldn’t erase in time.” She continued, ignoring Danny’s wild eyes.

Bruce swallowed, trying to get rid of the knot in his throat.

“I have nothing to do with these!”

“Darling, listen to me. Jason, this is not true.”

“This is taken out of context.”

Her voice trembled as she tried to defend herself. How could she even sway him? He now understood there was so much at stake than mad scientists on the rise, but she couldn’t say the whole truth, and by principle he considered a half truth as a lie. Nothing she could have said could have convinced him she wasn’t a criminal he needed to stop.

He was ashamed now. How in his mind it made sense. How he was blinded by Jason’s hypothetical gratitude once he presented the report of Jasmine’s arrest. Maybe he could show him he still cared for him, that he still wished him the best even if it wasn’t with him.

It felt so stupid now. Meaningless. He glanced at his son, relaxed, one of his hands subtly on Jazz’s and tracing circles with his thumb without thinking. Jason, who never seeked physical contact, who didn’t like to be hugged even as a kid.

He would never have that, it would never be that easy for both of them to be comfortable together. He made sure of that.

“I— I understand.” He managed to say. He ignored Duke and Cass’ looks at his choked voice.

“That’s when The Plan comes in.” Danny leaned in. “We need help. With Vlad and the war and how much time it consumes running the show, we decided he had to suck it up and call the Justice League.”

Duke nodded. “Jazz mentioned that Amity Park folks don’t like the League?”

“Oh we hate them. With passion.” He leaned back with a grin stretching from ear to ear, apparently enjoying when Bruce tensed. “They abandoned us when we most needed it. They left a dead teenager in charge of protecting the city.” The grin grew bigger with each accusation. Jazz slapped him on the leg. “But we decided it was worth a shot to confront them and demand that help we were owed.”

Jazz sighed. “What Danny meant to say is, after I was done with my internship at Arkham the next steps were confronting the Justice League and negotiating help with taking down the Guys in White.”

“The Plan.”

She nodded at Duke. “We didn’t know what we would encounter but the situation keeps escalating and our parents… Maddie and Jack have to be stopped.”

Danny looked away, suddenly uncomfortable at the mention of his parents. Were they this bad? How much did Barbara’s research cover? How much were they missing?

“We thought— If it’s okay with you, Bruce — that those negotiations—”

“Of course.” He interrupted her. He straightened his back. “Of course we’ll help. I’m… I’m sorry we weren’t there before.”

Jazz nodded, satisfied. Bruce took it as he said the right thing and he was one step closer to properly apologizing.

“Just like that?” Danny didn’t seem that convinced.

“Yes. I’ll need to write a report and bring it up in an emergency meeting that can be as soon as…” he tried to remember everyone’s schedules, “next Tuesday? Could be earlier but I think the Lanterns were away on some Lantern business and this sounds like something they need to know. And they should be back on Tuesday morning.”

The siblings looked at each other and had another silent conversation with just face gestures and rapid fire microexpressions. After a moment Danny sighed and relaxed, letting his body flop back to the backrest of the couch.

“We’d be very grateful, Bruce. Thank you.” Her smile was genuine.

Bruce glanced at Jason, who was looking at Jazz. As if he knew he was being watched, he turned to look at him. He also was smiling a small smirk as he subtly nodded in approval.

“What a shame,” Danny’s tone was playful, “we had planned for the possibility of fighting the League.”

“Danny.” His sister slapped his shoulder.

“Who would have fought B?”

“Dickward.” Jason gave his brother a warning look.

Both ignored the warning and smiled at each other. “Valerie.” He seemed amused that the other bit the bait and asked. “She’s the best at adapting mid combat, has a hoverboard and a bunch of gadgets that neither of you can ever hack or disable.”

“Why?”

“Is ghost technology. Nothing in it, either the material or the code, is even close to anything you have encountered before. Batman thrives when having enough time to prepare, but believe me we wouldn’t give him enough time to figure out how anything works.”

“We have had access to alien tech before.” Bruce was curious now.

Danny was shaking his head. “Our weapons and technology may look like yours but in essence it isn’t. Since we are friends now I wouldn’t mind lending a few things to study. You know, as a token of my faith.”

Bruce glanced at Jazz. She nodded in confirmation. “Would be honored to.” He finally said.

Did he have to offer pleasantries? Danny was the ruler of a dimension, nonchalant about that fact as he was. Bruce chose not to since they weren’t in their armors anymore.

“And Jazz?” Jason asked Danny.

The mentioned hid her face behind her hands. Danny leaned in to look at Jason from Jazz’s other side. “Green Arrow. And of course, Wonder Woman.”

“I noticed the Amazonian armor.”

“I’m right here.” Jazz growled.

“She’s been trained by Pandora, back at the Greek side of the Realms. All the dead Amazons are over there and some were thrilled to participate in her training; so you could say she’s the closest of us all to her battle style. Also Jazz is the expert for close quarters combat and a wide variety of weapons.” Danny was obviously proud of his sister. And maybe loved embarrassing her too much. “Except guns.”

Dick’s eyebrows went to his hairline. Bruce hid his shock as best as he could, and tried hard not to look at Jason.

“Danny.” Jazz said through gritted teeth. “Stop.”

“What? It's the truth! You are the only one of us that doesn’t fight with ectoguns, but you make up for it really well.” He slapped her back so hard a bone should have cracked.

Jason cleared his throat. “No guns? For any particular reason?”

Duke choked. Would Jazz find Jason’s weapon of choice repulsive? It couldn’t be — she knew about Red Hood, she knew what he had done, how he had done it.

Danny’s smile was as bright as the Sun. “Because she sucks! I’ve never seen such a bad aim.”

“I’ve been getting better!” She groaned, her face crimson red. “I’ve practiced!”

“Oh yeah? I still have scars from the last time you ‘practiced’!” He lifted his shirt, showing his lower back and a very clear healed burn scar in there. “You definitely have dad’s aim!”

“Yeah? And you suck at sword fighting!” Danny flinched. “Do you think I don’t know how many training sessions you’ve missed?”

“Is not that bad…”

“Yes it is, Danny,” she crossed her arms, “since you rely so badly on your powers. What happens if you cannot use them?”

“That will never happen.” He crossed his arms too. “Most powerful being of the Realms here.” Danny shrugged, showing off his perfect rows of pointy white teeth, even in human form.

Jazz snorted and moved as fast as lightning, one hand going for her brother’s stomach to punch him square in the gut. She didn’t hit flesh, because at the last minute Danny’s chest went intangible and her whole arm went through like he was air.

“Ha!” He looked back up to laugh at her — finding her other hand waiting for him.

Jazz flicked his forehead so hard the others flinched at the noise it made, and Danny was sent back to the armrest of the sofa.

“Hey!” He rubbed his forehead. “That wasn’t fair!”

“This is what happens when you don’t pay attention, Danny!” She hissed, gesturing with her hands. “And when you rely way too much on your powers!”

“But—”

“But nothing! I bet since I’ve been gone you’ve skipped every damn sword fighting class. Ancients, I bet I could beat your ass even as rusty as I am now!”

Danny opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. He knew she was right.

The others watched amused as the young man rubbed his forehead again and glared at his sister.

“Not my fault you are a freak.”

“What did you just say?” Jazz tensed, her body ready to pounce.

Bruce cleared his throat, and like magic, the siblings jumped away from each other and sat straighter. Jazz nervously chuckled and fixed her hair again. Bruce smiled. King, princess and all, they were still around his childrens’ age.

Said children giggled, amused by the familiarity of their chaotic dynamic.

“So,” Dick redirected the conversation, “what’s next?”

Jazz tilted her head, thinking. “With my identity revealed, we need to renegotiate with Lady Gotham.”

Danny clicked his tongue. “She’s not going to like it.”

“Well, she will have to if she wants her people protected.”

“Jazz talked about this Spirit,” Bruce nodded. “So there was an agreement?”

“Yeah,” she answered, “as I said, we were not supposed to get closer to Batman or any of the vigilantes, and she wouldn’t be opposed to the Princess stomping on her haunt.” Her cheeks tinted a slight pink as she glanced at Jason. “Obviously that’s void now, and if I’m going to protect this city I need to be able to use my abilities, so we have to chat with her before strategizing.”

“When do you think you are talking to her?”

“Why? Wanna come?”

Bruce’s silence told her that yes, he very much wanted to. She made a weird face, between amused and concerned. “Is it not allowed?” He asked.

Jazz glanced at Danny, who shrugged and was very unhelpful. “I mean… It’s her beloved Knight. Maybe she won’t try to obliterate us on sight if we use him as a human shield.”

“Hey!”

“Actually, it’s not a bad idea.” Bruce conceded. Apologizing for what he had done could also mean mediating when they talked with the sentient city.

He was also curious.

Hm.

“Okay then we could do it sometime tomorrow? Before I have to go back to the Realms.” Danny stretched his back and yawned.

“Are you leaving so soon?”

Danny stopped mid yawn at his sister’s tone of voice. “Why? Did you miss me?”

She didn’t answer, but Jason’s amused nod where she couldn’t see it made Danny chuckle. Jazz would talk your ear out about reaching out and being in touch with your emotional needs; but she also had a hard time admitting that sometimes she also needed her little brother as well.

“You could stay the week? I have work, but apart from that…”

“And we also have to prepare the report with Batman.” He answered, nodding.

“Bruce is fine.”

Jazz nodded at the older man and smiled back at her brother. “What do you think?”

He made a show like he was pondering staying or not, humming and crossing arms, and making a big sigh like a heavy weight was on his chest.

“I guess I can make the time in my busy kingly schedule.” Danny’s smile showed his true age — not a front, not trying to appear mischievous, not wanting to be strong for appearance’s sake.

Just a little brother and his older sister.

---

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[fryingpan1234567]

DC high school au… mayhaps…..

I’m not sure if anyone’s done this before

But I’m doing it now

So the JL, right. These are famous alumni who made school history and now obvi they’re billionaires and reporters and museum owners but they’re not superheroes— just regular people

Liiike Clark Kent was the best quarterback the school has ever seen

Oliver Queen essentially revolutionized the archery team

Diana Prince convinced the school to start a fencing league

Barry Allen slayed both track and any and all chemistry competitions thrown his way

Arthur Curry… I shouldn’t have to say anything about his swim team career. That’s where he met his wife

Bruce Wayne was one of the smartest people probably ever, especially to grace that building

And so on and so forth

Anyways so these people are famous, and they’re up on the walls and display cases and shit

The staff!! Was so thrilled!! To be getting their children!!!!

(The principal counted down the days on his calendar after the news hit that Brucie adopted his first kid)

So.

Dick and Barbara are seniors. Dick is the cheer captain and Babs WAS on the team until a fun little accident that has her wheelchair-bound. (It’s fine, she discovered she actually likes computers better. She’d hacked the entire security system one day at lunch because she got bored)

Dick is kind of the queen bee of the school, which is hilarious, because he KNOWS but refuses to let it get to his head. This man will start water gun fights in the hallways for fun

Jason and Cass are juniors

Jason is one of the drama club’s absolute best (singing and acting). He played Billy Flynn in Chicago, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Aladdin in… yeah. He slays pretty hard

Cass is on the dance team and regularly misses class for some competition or another. Sometimes, when cheerleaders and the dance team collab on stuff (like assemblies), she actually likes the pompoms. She does not like the skirts.

Tim, Steph, and Duke are sophomores— people are s c a r e d of these three

Tim is known for constantly having a stockpile of energy drinks in his locker; sometimes a few of his friends get access to it. He’s also terrifyingly smart. And he’s got a bike. SOPHOMORE YEAR. TIM WHAT

Steph’s whole entire TikTok presence is lifting/ workout challenges against any poor scrub who tries to go up against her. She can lift the same amount as Jason Todd. That gives her a very confident “don’t fuck with me aura” around school, which is good, because she’s got zero interest in any guy there anyways (bi f pref queen)

And Duke… Duke is the golden boy, so the first time you see him in a sparring match with any of his siblings (they do that for fun at lunch), you’re very shocked to see him holding his own against Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. He also slays

Damian is the only freshman in his family. Jason and Tim make fun of him endlessly

It is pretty impressive that a freshie organized the biggest fundraiser the school has ever seen— and it was for local animal shelters. Nobody knows how he did it. Probably intimidation. You never know with that kid

Now the superfam. Ohoho, yes, these legends go to that school too

Kara is a junior, Kon is a sophomore, Jon is a freshman. They’re all on the football team (their dad comes to every game🥰)

Did anybody expect a woman or freshman to land on the varsity team the first year either of them tried out? No. But they made it anyways. Good for them

And football is just so different from their day-to-day personalities, sometimes it gives people whiplash

Kara pretty much runs the broadcast and yearbook teams, and she does it along with dominating the football field and gym

Conner looks like he’d deck you for looking at him wrong (I mean he might but like he won’t… probably), and he’s like. He makes good fashion choices. He’s the Bad Boy, which is funny considering his nerdy bf is the one with the motorcycle

Jon is fluffy?? So nice?? Sir who let an actual decent person on the varsity football team?? When someone spots Dami wearing his letterman at some point, they become the most popular couple at school. As freshmen. Slay for them tbh

Donna Troy is a senior. Fencing and beauty pageants is a weird combination. But she knows she’s pretty and she’s gonna make damn sure everybody else knows too

Cassie is a freshie, but she’s already on the fencing team as well and several people have seen her sparring with Damian (wHERE did he get KATANAS), and it looks like a couple of war gods who happen to be fifteen are fighting to the death for a few yards of shitty grass behind the school

Conner Hawke, Artemis Crock, Emiko Queen, Roy Harper, and Mia Dearden are the archery team captains. Yeah, there’s five of them, yeah, the coaches couldn’t pick because the kIDS ARE BETTER THAN THEM

(Ollie laughed so hard he fell out of his chair when they came home and told him that)

Roy is a junior and definitely brings his bow everywhere he shouldn’t. He also “accidentally” shot Jason once. Whenever someone asks about their meetcute they just laugh until the person gets scared and runs away

Conner is a sophomore but a bitter old man in his soul. What a king

Artemis is also a sophomore and everyone thinks she’s Ollie’s favorite because she’s like a mini-him, but Ollie doesn’t actually HAVE a favorite and she finds this claim hilarious

Mia, third sophomore, has a very strange attraction to the color yellow. She LOVES it. And she actually pulls it off, how awesome is she

Emi is a freshman but gets along with Dami pretty well, which isn’t surprising considering their matching deadpan humor and lowkey murderous rage constantly

Jackson Hyde broke Arthur’s record for fastest lap on his fourth try. He spends more time at the ocean than literally anywhere else

Wally West and Bart Allen are technically not related?? They’re like. Cousins. But Barry ended up officially adopting Wally (long story)

Anyways they’re actually cousins with Jesse Quick

The three of them DOMINATE track and field/ cross country/ physics club (yeah you read that last one right don’t even with me)

Wally is a senior and working towards becoming a forensic scientist for the cops. When someone asks why the fuck he wanted to do that to himself, he always jokes, “I’m not fast enough to be a serial killer so I guess I’ll help catch ‘em” and everyone is scared

Bart is a sophomore but should be a freshie, because he’s almost a full year younger, except that he skipped fifth grade and went straight to sixth. Tim and Kon pretend to be his adoptive parents and it’s like a soap opera watching these three act out a dramatic divorce arc

Jesse is a junior (alliteration go brr) but a younger one (summer birthday WOO) she definitely takes after Barry, especially in speed

SO people call their friend groups chaotic. What are you gonna do, go up and fuck with any of them? Bad idea

For fun, these assholes run a fight club after school with betting and rosters and everything, with anyone who signs up. FOR FUN. Once the batkids learned their dad has a black belt in like six different martial arts, it was all over

They say it’s a good workout

They’re probably not wrong, but still

Who the fuck wakes up and chooses violence on all their friends and family all in good fun to make MONEY OFF OF BEATING THEM UP

The most viral videos taken from their school is a push-up contest with all eight batkids, seven competing, Babs filming

Cass won.

LET me know if you want more for this. Because I’m gonna write more. But if you had specific suggestions or characters or scenarios or questions, I would love to write them

Good morning/ night/ 4am!! (PS BACK TO SCHOOL WOO)

[bow-of-aros]

What do you want, Pete?

I decided to just say fuck it and post this here in its entirety just for funsies :))

Summary:

What if the thing that Peter Spankoffski treasured most wasn't Stephanie Lauter, but instead his older brother who'd gone missing months ago?

Guys. I've gone literally insane over this series. Ted and Peter are so babygirl to me I love them so much. I just. ALDSJDKSJLDAJKSJK you know?? Anyway, enjoy this idea that took over my brain until I got it out!! <33

One of you must give up the thing you treasure above all else. 

Those words ring in Peter’s ears. Vaguely, he can hear Steph offer something with a very unpleased reception that makes him cringe out of some deep-seated survival instinct, and he feels fingers that are longer than they should be and uncannily boneless card through his hair.

“Steph?”

His voice reverberates through his head as though coming from underwater. His eyes land on the gun in her lap, and something in the back of his mind whispers danger!

It’s drowned out by the crash of memories that yell TED!

Ted Spankoffski, Pete’s older brother by over a decade and the only family member who’d ever bothered to give half a shit about him. Their parents had dropped Peter off at his doorstep at the ripe young age of six, right when they realized that a second child wasn’t going to be the thing that saved their failing marriage and fucked off to who knows where. The only contact he had with them was when they sent Ted money to put towards supporting a whole ass other person when he was just barely out of college.

Every time he met someone, they would raise their eyebrows and say, “Spankoffski? Like Ted Spankoffski?” and then pat him on the shoulder sympathetically when he said yes. Pete always had to push down the anger that threatened to bubble up because, yeah, Ted could be an asshole, but nobody even bothered to know him before making their fucking judgments.

Ted had had a shitty life, with the same shitty parents Peter had, and then had a child dumped on him before he’d even had the chance to properly figure out who he was.

By all accounts, Ted should’ve been an awful guardian, and it’s what everyone seemed to assume. But damn if he hadn’t done his best.

He’d driven Peter to school until he was old enough to take the bus on his own. He’d shown up to every science fair and asked a shitload of questions just to make Peter smile as he answered them. He dressed Peter up for every pointless graduation and cheered embarrassingly loudly when his little brother walked across the stage.

When Pete got older, Ted had been the person to cut his hair and take him shopping for new clothes when he first came out as trans. He’d sat the kid down and told him that he’d always have Ted, and always have a room in his apartment. Then, he’d added that if any of Peter’s dork-ass friends ever needed a place to crash, that the door was always open.

A few months ago, Ted had left mid-hookup with Charlotte Sweetly to pick up a bruised and bloodied Peter from school. He’d almost made it through the school day before bumping into Max Jägerman on the way out and Ted had made it across town in an amount of time that had to have been illegal. They’d spent the rest of the night after getting Pete patched up and sitting on the couch watching trashy TV, Ted muttering increasingly absurd threats of violence towards someone half his age the whole time until Peter finally cracked a smile.

The next morning, Peter Spankoffski had woken up, and his brother wasn’t there.

It wasn’t a big deal at first. Ted might’ve gone to work early (unlikely) or met up with a friend (what friend?). But, after hundreds of unread texts and unanswered calls, Peter asking anyone he could think of if they’d seen Ted to no avail, and waiting up every night until he passed out from sheer exhaustion, straining his ears for footsteps that never came, well…

It’s Hatchetfield. People go missing every day.

“Pete?” A hand on his shoulder ripped him back to the present, and Peter scrubbed away tears as he looked at Steph’s terrified face.

He turned his face away from her.

He blinked.

And he found himself looking into the glowing yellow eyes of the crazy-ass goat man who seemed to already know him. T’noy Karaxis, a voice whispered into his ear, a foreboding sense of familiarity washing over him, making his blood run cold.

The Lord in Black grinned impossibly wide at him, blue tongue lolling out and the stench of death radiating off of it.

“Hi Petey-pie!” It laughed, and the laugh grated against his hears for seconds and for eons, “I think that I know what you want~”

Its voice had a horrible sing-song quality to it, like someone who’s thrilled to know a secret that you don’t. The longer that Peter looked into its eyes, the harder his head pounded. Its rectangular pupils stretched far and wide, twisting into never-ending corridors that sent bursts of pain through him as his brain tried to wrap itself around the impossibilities.

“HEY!” The hand on his shoulder yanked him back, the paths of yellow fading as he saw Steph standing between him and that monster. “Leave him alone! What the fuck is your deal?!”

Its smile didn’t fade and Peter could feel its eyes burning into him even through the girl in front of him. The intensity only increased when he blinked to find Wiggly standing next to him, beaming with the sort of glee he would attribute to a kid on Christmas morning.

“Now, now,” He chided, “I’ve convinced my brother here to give up something very dear to him and it wouldn’t be nice if my little fwendy wend didn’t hear him out.”

Peter tried to smile reassuringly at Steph, but the It’s okay, I can do this that he’d wanted to convey had probably leaned more into Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. Either way, she seemed to understand what he was getting at and stepped out of the way.

The second she did, a bright yellow flash blinded him. He could feel reality warp around him as the chilling screams from across hundreds of thousands of universes converged in this one fragile moment. When Peter opened his eyes again, blinking away the dots seared into his vision, what he saw nearly brought him to his knees.

Ted looked exactly as he did the last night they saw each other save for the tear tracks that streamed down his cheeks, soaking his shirt.

His brother looked up and a small gasp escaped his lips.

“Petey?”

Suddenly, this ritual meant nothing. The Lords in Black and Max Jägerman and this whole fucking town could go fuck themselves because Peter wasn’t alone anymore.

“Ted! Holy shit!” Neither of them mentioned how Peter’s voice cracked as he launched himself into his brother’s arms, sobbing into his chest as familiar arms wrapped around him and held him so tight he felt like he might explode. Finally, finally, he was safe.

“How touching.”

Except he wasn’t.

Their arms tightened impossibly more around each other as they looked up at Wiggly through teary eyes, clinging onto the flimsy hope that they wouldn’t be separated again if they could only will it hard enough.

Surprisingly, it was Ted who spoke first, “What the fuck do you want with my brother you sick fucks?! AM I NOT FUCKING ENOUGH FOR YOU?!”

Wiggly didn’t bother to acknowledge the outburst, attention solely fixed on Peter, green light seeping out of him and into the teenager’s pores, filling every inch of him with a sense of wrong.

“This is the other option,” The Lord’s eyes shone as maliciousness seeped into its voice, “Tinky has enough Teds to last him a good, long while, but things will be a little empty without him there. So, if you want us to take Maxwell off your plate, you can trade him,” A crooked finger pointed at Steph, “for her.”

Immediately, Peter and Ted started talking over each other.

“What?! I don’t even know where he’s been—”

“She’s a fucking child you can’t put her in the Box—”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Wiggly silenced them both. His wrathful tone is in stark contrast to the rest of the Lords grinning and dancing behind him.

He stared down at them, “Alright, let’s make this a little more interesting. If you don’t want to trade him in, you have to send him back. You need to say the words I condemn my big brother to an eternity of torture to save a girl who talked to me for the first time a few weeks ago.”

Wiggly’s arms were spread wide, palms up like a benevolent god, “Your choice, Peter. Of course,” He said, walking back over to Steph, “You won’t have to give up your brother if she puts a bullet through your skull. Just think, you could set your brother free, and you have options!”

A cacophony of laughter echoed through the gym, rattling their bones and reverberating against the crash of thunder that sounded outside.

“We’ll leave you to decide. Hopefully, Maxy doesn’t get you first!”

And then they vanish, but not without Tinky leering at the still entangled brothers and whispering Tick-fucking-tock.

Silence rings through the space, the only thing keeping Pete grounded being the warmth of his brother at his side. Steph is looking down at the gun in her trembling hands, tears slowly starting to drip from her eyes as Grace just stares down at the Black Book, blood drained from her face and seemingly catatonic.

“Pete. Petey.” Ted turns to look him in the eye and there’s something achingly different. Aside from the sliver of yellow that rings his pupils, they look so old and so scared. Like he’s been away for decades instead of months, seeing things no one should ever have to see.

And from what he’s heard, that might not be too far off.

Still, Ted pressed his lips into a firm line to steady his voice before saying, “You have to send me back. The Box is no place for a kid and you will not fucking die, do you hear me?!”

No matter how tight Ted is holding on, Peter can still feel how he’s shaking, can still hear the slight break in his voice as Ted’s eyes dart frantically across his face, drinking in the sight of the brother he thought he’d never see again.

“I can’t. I can’t.” He’s crying again, but Peter can’t be bothered to give a damn right now, “I love you. You’ve been gone for months and it’s been horrible. I can’t do this without you Teddy.”

Ted flinched at that, squeezing his eyes shut and taking in a shaky breath as emotions flickered across his face too quickly for Peter to decipher.

“I love you too, Pete. That’s why I can’t let you be fucking stupid, okay?!” Ted ran a hand through his already disheveled hair, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but you have to let me protect you. Send me back and never even think about the Lords in Black again, graduate high school and live your life and date Stephanie fucking Lauter.”

At her name, Peter’s eyes flickered up.

He looked at her.

He looked at the gun in her hands.

He looked back at his brother.

“You’ve protected me my whole life. It’s my fucking turn.”

Peter disentangled himself from Ted despite his frantic protests and ran up to Steph, wrapping his hands around hers and, subsequently, curling her fingers around the gun.

“Steph—” He was cut off almost immediately.

“No. Nonononono Pete I won’t. I can’t.” She pleaded with him, “Trade me in, I don’t have anything left here anymore. My dad’s dead, I never really had any friends, and any potential I had went down the gutter years ago."

Her gaze flickered over to Ted who was not-so-subtly trying to inch closer to Grace and the Book, much to Grace’s growing annoyance. “But you can get your brother back! I know how much you’ve missed him, how much he means to you. You’re going to make a real difference, Pete. You have shit to live for and I don’t.”

Ted was walking up to them now, having given up on Grace, and seeing how determined he was to keep them safe only solidified the decision he’d already made.

“Look. I’m not sending either of you into whatever Hell dimension Ted literally just got out of.” Peter turned to face them both, speaking fast and leaving no room for interruption, “I’ll let Max kill me before I do that to either of you. I’m dying either way, let me at least do something good with it.”

Something shifted in Steph’s face, a realization that Peter wouldn’t be swayed, and she nodded shakily as she adjusted her grip on the gun.

“Do it, Steph. Please.”

He took a few steps back, ignoring Ted’s desperate Nononono Petey you can’t fucking do this! He tried to rush forward, but Steph raised the gun and aimed it right at Peter’s forehead.

BANG!

A force knocked Peter down, sending him to the ground as pain exploded through the back of his head.

Wait. The back?

Peter fought through the swimming in his head to pry his eyes open just to see that what was weighing him down actually wasn’t the darkness coming to claim him.

It was Ted.

“Ow! Ow ow ow fucking OW!” Ted rolled off from on top of his younger brother, clutching at his shoulder, “Your aim is fucking shit, Lauter! Jesus Christ.”

Peter quickly scrambled to his knees, hovering over his brother who had just taken a bullet for him, tears welling up again for the millionth time, because apparently today was the day for it.

“Shit Ted!” He wasted no time in ripping off his sweater, leaving him in his white collared shirt, and pressing it to the rapidly bleeding wound in his shoulder, “You dumbass! What the fuck were you thinking?!”

And Ted laughed at him, “What the fuck was I thinking? What the fuck were you thinking?! That bullet wasn’t even going to hit you in the head!” Peter pressed down a little harder and Ted hissed out a breath from between his teeth, “Holy shit being shot hurts more than I thought it was going to and I have had a lot of shit done to me.”

“What are you talking abou—”

“Well, well, well,” Thunder rumbled through the gym, seemingly disregarding trivial things like walls and ceilings in its volume, “Look at what we have here.”

“Oh God. He’s here.” Steph crowded up against Peter and Ted, shielding them with her body as Peter desperately tried to keep the pressure firm with his shaking hands.

“I didn’t know that there were two dork-ass Spankoffskis!” Max walked out from behind the bleachers, a mock pout sitting on his lips, “But I was really hoping that Steph was going to make my job a little easier and get rid of the little bitch. Too bad, now it looks like I get to kill two for the price of one!”

“But first,” His hand whipped out unnaturally fast, grabbing hold of Steph and throwing her off to the side, “I’m going to deal with you. You lured me to my death! You betrayed me, you fucking Judas!”

“Your brother’s going to be just fine, Peter.” The nurse looked down at him with sympathetic eyes as he hunched over Ted’s hospital bed in the uncomfortable plastic chair that seemed to be mandatory for some insane reason. “He got lucky and the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries. Maybe you should go home and get some rest. Take a shower, get a change of clothes, we’ll keep an eye on him until you get back.”

“So you do know the Bible!” Oh. So that’s where Grace went.

---------------------------------------------------

Even the thought of letting Ted out of his sight drenched him with fear, so he squeezed Ted’s hand tighter and said, “No, thank you. I think I’m going to stay here until he wakes up if that’s alright.”

For a brief second, Peter could’ve sworn that he saw a brief flash of annoyance accompanied by a yellow shine in his eyes before it was gone and an understanding grin took its place. It was so convincing that Peter almost started questioning whether he was losing it but, after everything he’d been through recently, he wasn’t going to be taking any chances.

The door swung open and in walked Steph wearing mismatched clothes from the lost and found and trying to dry off her damp hair.

“Hey, Pete.” She said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, “He wake up yet?”

His eyes fell back onto his brother. Even asleep he looked exhausted, deep lines worried into his skin that hadn’t been there before. When was the last time he’d gotten some rest?

Peter shook off the question, adding it to the pile of shit he was going to be asking Ted when he woke up.

“No. Not yet.”

She pulled back with a slight wrinkle of her nose, “Yeah, well, no offense Pete, but you fucking reek. I left a pile of clothes that I think might fit you on the chair, so please go take a quick shower. I don’t care if all you do is rinse yourself off, you have to do something.”

“But—” He didn’t get very far before Steph gathered his free hand in hers.

“I promise I won’t let anything happen to him, okay?” Steph looked him in the eye, “Pete. I won’t even blink until you get back, I promise.”

And, you know what? He believed her.

Peter gathered up the clothes with a grateful smile and a quick glance at Ted who was still lying there, “I swear to God, Ted, if you’re not still here when I come back I am going to climb into that Box and kill you myself.”

The hospital walls were bright and seemingly endless and too close to the labyrinth he’d seen in that thing's eyes, so it was a relief when he turned into the washroom and locked himself into a shower stall.

There was a mirror in there and wow he looked like shit, no wonder people kept telling him to take a shower. But something was off, and as he looked a little closer, Peter realized that his eyes weren’t the usual brown.

Instead, they were a bright yellow.

His reflection grinned at him, and that stink of death roiled over him as it spoke.

“Just you wait, Petey-Pie! Soon, I’ll have you and my precious Teddy Bear back in my collection.” His skin started peeling from his face as his jaw stretched until it dislocated and then kept going until a long blue tongue spilled out, “Oh boy! We’re going to have so much fun.”

And then Peter blinked, and his own pale, terrified expression stared back at him again. Brown eyes and all.

The worst part was that he could still smell it. He must’ve taken the fastest shower of his life, scrubbing himself until he was nearly raw before throwing the clothes onto his still-soaked body and rushing back to Ted’s hospital room.

He crashed through the door, heart pounding, just to see Ted and Steph exactly where he’d left them.

Except, Ted looked over at him with a weak smile and Peter nearly collapsed in relief.

His brother extended an arm in invitation and Peter basically dove into the bed beside him, holding on tight and telling his racing heart to calm the fuck down because Ted was here.

“Hey, Petey.”

Ah, shit. More tears. Because of fucking course there would be.

Peter managed a wobbly grin because everything was finally as it should be and said, “Hey, Ted.”

It was a nice moment until Steph cleared her throat a little pointedly, causing both Spankoffski’s to jolt guiltily.

“Jeez, Pete.” Ted jostled him a bit, mindful of his healing shoulder, “You’re a terrible fucking host. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”

Peter went to sit up, and Ted’s arm tightened instinctively before letting him go, even though they didn’t fully break contact. “Yeah. Yeah! Uh, Ted, this is Steph.” Steph waved with a fond smile on her face, “And Steph, this is my brother, Ted.”

Ted reached out with his good hand, “Nice to meet you. Kind of insane that my brother managed to pull someone so far out of his league, but you’ve got a good guy on your hands.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Steph had to raise her voice to be heard over Peter’s groan, “And I know, Mr. Spankoffski, I’m just happy that he decided to give me a chance.”

“Oh God, kid, don’t call me that. My name’s Ted.”

As Peter listened to them talk, he laid his head on his brother’s chest, revelling in them all being alive. As sleep overtook him, the melodic harmonies of Ted’s heartbeat and the clock on the wall settled within him. A promise that they would make it through.

Thump-thump.

Tick. Tock.

[boiledbirdy]

BRAD FUCKIN WAYNEEE

headcannons i have abt this sweet himbo fratboy

This man is the largest in the family, like 6’6 and built like a non-green hulk. He can easily pick up and fireman carry Bruce and Jason

Is the guy in a frat party to sit with girls and hear about them bitch about periods and now carries a little pack with him everywhere that has a few tampons, pads, hand-warmers (for on the go heating pads), and Tylenol and Advil

Where does he keep this stuff and the random assortment of weird things he has, you ask? He wears a fanny-pack

read it and weep y’all he wears fanny-packs, usually the cool way over his shoulder, but mostly around his waist since he carries a backpack almost 25/8

He drives a beater truck (just an old car whose been through like three accidents and is still going strong) specifically a 1991 dodge D250 truck with a scratched up white paint job where there are dents, scratches, and a few patches of off white paint on dents that was sorta DIY-ed

his keys 🔑 have a weird ass mesh of keychains on it like: Ally flag keychain and a flag keychain for every single label a person has come out to him with, also a keychain from every museum, tourist spot he’s ever been, also a beer and bottle opener he’s a frat boy duhhh, he has a little bracelet that is made of sparkles and purple beads that steph gave to him but it was too small so he put it on his keys, a collage logo keychain, a keychain from his local gym and one with rugby on it etc

the keychains and keys are never ending

HE PLAYS RUGBY, argue with the wall.

getting a bachelors and masters in sports medicine

he makes sure to give Duke, Damian, Cass, Steph, and Tim copies of his keys first (the rest of the fam too they just get priority)

A) because they are the kids, and he wants them to know that he has an open bed any time

B) cause he’s the sibling to not get mad if they are intoxicated in any form and will cover for them

This next one is so important to me

He takes Tim to his first midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, same with Damian

He pretty much eats at the Wayne mansion every night but sleeps at his apartment

Shows Damian some good rock’n roll ex Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, Ramones, The Clash, Oingo Boingo, Ghost, Blonde, Foo-Fighters (i can make a playlist if wanted)

Just will sit and have a beer with Jason and sit in silence or talk about weird things that happened today

Steph and him have study sessions together

He will watch any ballet practice Cass wants him to see and he never misses a competition or performance

he sends Tim stupid skateboard tricks and fails videos (tiktok or insta reels) daily and then once a month they take Brad’s truck to a park and Brad sits on a ramp and cheers Tim on like its the Super Bowl

Watches Dick’s dog when he’s away from home and they both watch Barbie movies together

He gardens at Alfred’s request, yes he sucks but this man cannot not say no to the tidbits of Alfred’s life story he learns

Can kick back like 4 kegs of beer with no fucking consequences, he has a liver of steel thanks to Brucie Wayne

He’a the high guy in the bathtub at frat-parties and will give shitty or good life advice its 50/50 honestly

Does stupid white people fraternity things that would kill a normal person but he just is quirkily busting it down and Death just cannot vibe with him

makes (and i cannot stress this enough) the best and i mean best, (Alfred and Ma Kent can’t win in this one) brownies. Whether they are edibles or not they are the best.

has done the Tide-Pod challenge and survived

He is the Frat God of Gotham

Him and Duke are like the best duo

They blast Rock and Rap so that all five cars in every direction can hear it

Duke has the habit of putting weird ass bumper stickers on Brad’s desk and bed frame (at his apartment, they Do Not fuck with Alfred) Brad smiles fondly every time he finds a new one

Brad = Mark, ya know the tiktok sound

Him and Harper simp over women 🙏 together

In his fanny-pack, truck, and various rooms he has stim toys/do-hickeys bins or sections

bc he has Nerodivergent siblings and he was just trying

he asked kinda rude blunt questions, he didn’t know anything and he kinda (really) sucks at subtlety and reading a room but he was just trying to understand

He will take Damian to amusement parks and zoos pretty much bi-weekly

The girls can put on a horrible outfit and makeup and he will think he looks fabulous and no one will ever tell him that he’s sporting fashion and makeup crimes

has a small hidden bookcase of Wings of Fire, Warrior cats, Land of Stories, etc.. cause Damian is embarrassed to admit he actually likes reading them

Watches the trashiest brain rotting tv shows like Dance moms or keeping up with the Kardashians

Goes to any march or parade his siblings or friends are going to so: A) he can be that decked out ally tank of a man passing out water bottles and granola bars B) so if the police are back on their BS he can protecc atacc and throw that tear gas bacc

*Sniff 🤧* I have something I need all of you to know, I say this with a heavy heart *holding back tears 😥* Brad is a former highlighter kid— *single tear falls*

This fucking himbo stud-muffin has slept with, kissed, crushed on, and went on dates with men, but still doesn’t realize that he’s Bisexual

his favorite flavor ice cream is pistachio and carmel

KNOWS NOTHING and i mean nothing about zodiac signs

Has been caught in the middle of Gotham Rouge and does not understand what the fuck is happening

He either Teddy Bear fratboy golden retriever energies them to friendship or friendly acquaintance or annoys them to the high hells of mosquito bites on your butt

^I can expand if wanted

His phone you ask?

Screen cracked like rice crispys

apps more disorganized than the random shit drawer in someone’s house

he has a model 6S and will not upgrade or replace it to save his life.

he has an otterbox case and we all know it, no more denial

Okay thats my time yall see ya

[msfcatlover]

I have been thinking so much about Jean-Paul Valley in my Reverse!Robins AU. Specifically, how he’d react to Steph’s return.

Because, listen: here is a man who had his autonomy stripped from him. Had his identity stripped from him. By the cult his father secretly raised him to serve, while letting Jean-Paul think he was having a normal childhood (and he did. That is one of the things I like about JPV as a character; in the original “Azrael: Fallen Angel” & “Knightfall” stories, he had a perfectly normal childhood… aside from the hypnotic brainwashing implanted while he slept.) This guy who was tricked into murdering several people, when he never, ever wanted that.

He gets saved by the Bats. And they help him. They really, genuinely help him, and sure, Duke & Damian are still teenagers (JPV’s like… 20-22 at this point in my mind,) but they’re also his anchors to reality. Damian, who also was raised to be a weapon by someone he should’ve been able to trust. Damian, who has experience with cults & rebuilding your identity after losing everything. Damian, who’s basically JPV’s “Brainwashed Cult Assassins Anonymous” sponsor. Duke, who also had a normal childhood. Duke, who knows Gotham like only a kid who was raised in its heart can. Duke, who agrees that this whole situation is certifiably fucked, but never hesitates to help Jean-Paul potentially recover a lost memory or find a new one, because it’s not just about who Jean-Paul was before the cult of St Dumas got their hands on him, it’s about remembering that he’s a living human being right now.

They take him in. They save him. They help him save himself. Bruce offers to pay for him to go back to college, for fuck’s sake!

They gave him his life back.

Jean-Paul can never, ever repay them. They tell him they don’t need it, but he wants to and he can’t. He feels so selfish to take & take without giving back, but how do you pay someone back for all that?

So his couch is always open to them, whenever they want. He’ll be their ally, their friend, their confessor, their confidant, their homework editor if need be. And when newer batkids join, well, Jean-Paul would’ve done his best anyway, but the fact he’s entrusted with Duke & Damian’s apprentices is just. It’s something else. And it’s hardly a hardship—the kids are a delight. Obnoxious, sure, and messy, and pushy, and constantly interrupting, and sometimes they break his stuff, and always they eat all his food, but Jean-Paul has more civilian friends now, and they tell him that’s just what kids are like.

What matters is that he loves them. He loves them because Duke & Damian love them, and then he loves them for being them.

And then. Stephanie. Dies. (Because Jean-Paul is broken, he’s a sinner, he can never make up for what he’s done, what he is, and he can never have nice things. Because Steph was sunshine & rage & stubbornness, because she joked that “We blondes have to stick together!” Because no one was there for her when it mattered most. This has to be punishment, right? He got too close, and Steph paid the price.) (His therapist says he’s being irrational again, but it doesn’t feel irrational. They say they need to adjust his medications. Jean-Paul knows better than to trust himself, but he can trust in Bruce to make sure the therapist is safe, so Jean-Paul doesn’t fight it. He’s not happy, but he doesn’t fight it. Because if he starts hallucinating again, he knows it won’t just be his father hovering over him, demanding to know why Azrael refused to avenge them. So yeah, sure, adjust the meds if you think it’s needed—he doesn’t miss Steph that badly. Yet.)

And then. Steph. Comes. Back.

She’s not dead. She’s not dead, but she’s different, she’s so very, very different. Damian says she fights like she spent time with the LoA, that same cult that raised Damian which he’s told Jean-Paul so much about over the years. Training like that takes time, but it’s been 6yrs, and she’s back, risen & gifted back to them! And she’s killing, but Jean-Paul’s killed before, and he’s been kidnapped by a cult before, and he thinks he knows how this goes. Death Mask isn’t Azrael, but he thinks it’s close enough.

And. And. And. He can save her. Because he knows what to do now, after nearly a decade in recovery. He can make up for his sins, he can bring her home again, and maybe, finally, he’ll have finally managed to pay them all back! He can give Steph her self back to make up for—(“You didn’t kill Stephanie,” his therapist reminds him, “you never laid a finger on her. Remember? You didn’t hurt her. It’s not your fault.” But it feels like it is, it feels like it, he can’t shake the idea that he did)—and he can give the Bats their sister back to make up for all that they’ve given him over all this time! A life for a life, and yes! This feels right!

He cooks up scenarios, imagines Steph reaching out in a moment of lucidity, or showing up injured on his doorstep guided by muscle memory, or running into her on the street or in a cafe and the look of alarm & recognition in her eyes as she—like he did, still does occasionally—knows that she knows him but can’t remember. He imagines the conversations they could have, all the different variations, and knows that it will take time, but patience is a virtue and Jean-Paul’s gotten rather good at it. He can be her anchor.

He just needs to figure out how to start.

(And meanwhile, Steph’s on the other side of Gotham like, “Why are my ears burning, and why do I feel like I’m staring down a tsunami-level wave of second-hand embarrassment right now?”)

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Five - Part 2

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Part One || Series Masterlist

🎲Word Count: 22,544 (In Total)

🎲Date: 7/31/24

🎲Warnings: Heavy Angst; Heavy Language & Dialogue; References To Broken Friendship; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Physical Fighting; Lying; "Death"; Funerals; Crying; Talks of Corpses; Being Drugged; Brief Alcohol Consumption; Unwanted Touching; Suggestive Dialogue; Suicidal Thoughts; Minor Blood; A Certain "Curse" Comes Into Play Early; The Byers Family's Mental Strain; Hopper Being a Great Cop & A Total Mess; Dustin Being a Gangster & A Overprotective Brother; The Harringtons' A+ Parenting; Steve's Emotional Damage & Signing Up To Be A Babysitter; Stephanie & Will Deserved All The Love, man. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Heads up, Readers! This document is split between two parts. For some reason Tumblr said I reach my 1,000 space limit, or something like that and wouldn't let me post it because it's so long. PLEASE read part one first or this won't make any sense :) Enjoy!

-Continuing...-

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Steph stares at her deadbeat Dad, scared, shocked, confused. Out of all the people her mind could conjure up for her to see today, it just had to be him, it just had to be the guy that ruined her and her family’s lives. As much as she wanted to look away, her gut was telling her not to (Just like the old days, huh?).

She swallows, trying not to get teary eyed in front of him. “This isn’t real. You’re not here.” She says, making him laugh, that same laugh that gave her chills. 

“Oh, but I am.”

“No you’re not. You’re a million fucking miles away.”

“So?” He shrugs, still smirking. “By all means, you still need me.”

Steph clenches her jaw and sends him the dirtiest look. “I don’t fucking need you. Neither does Dustin or my mother. I’m leaving.” But when she tried she couldn’t, her whole body was stuck to the chair, frozen. 

That seemed to fuel his ego a bit. “See? You still need me. Stay. Let’s talk. We haven’t done that in so long, munchkins.” He leans over to touch her forearm, sending another shiver down her body. “Talk.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Stephanie! What’s wrong with you?” Will starts shaking her shoulders, not really sure what else he could do. “Stephanie! Stephanie! Stephanie!!!”

He doesn’t know what’s happening! She seems like she’s in a trance, but what kind of trance? How did she get into it? Who put her into it? And more importantly, how does he get her the hell out of it? 

“Stephanie! Come on! What happened to you? How do I…” He grabs the sides of his head. “What do I do? What should I do? What can I do? I…” He gasps, eyes widening. “Music…”

His coco orbs landed on what he had brought back, and he wasted no time to take his coat off and to dump out his brother’s cassettes everywhere. He starts shuffling through the pile, trying to find something he knew she liked. She liked metal, but Jonathan wasn’t a fan of that, so that rules out bands like Metallica or Dio, but she was a big fan of rock too.

Come on, Jonathan. You have to have something. Seriously, there has to be something he can play! Eagles, Heart, The Police… 

His heart skips a beat. Got it!

He recalls another band that was in her top five, one of them being Journey, And Luckily, his brother had the ‘Frontiers’ Album that so happens to have a song that was always on her mind. He pulled the cassette from the case and placed it inside the walkman (thank heavens her favorite song was the first one on set). Will replaced her hat for the headphones, and as soon as they were secured…

.

.

.

He presses the play button and prays. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Jonathan had everything he needed for their little hunting mission. His dad had left behind a few of his guns when the marriage ended, and his mom always warned him and Will that those would be used in emergency situations only. And in Jonathan’s defense, he should count this as an emergency. This… faceless beast was somehow responsible for the disappearance of his little brother, Stephanie, and Barb – and he’s not even sure if there’s more or not, but he’s hoping it’s stopped at them – and he needs to know why and where this thing even came from, and where it took them. He’s just hoping he can get those answers before finally slaying the beast. 

Now, he was just confirming with Nancy over the phone. “I was thinking we can meet in the area about an hour before sundown? Maybe get some practice in shooting? Unless you’ve… shot before?”

[ ‘No, no. I have not. Have you met my parents?’ ]

That got him to chuckle a little. “So, no? What are you taking as a weapon then?”

[ ‘I mean, I’ve got my old bat when I’ve played softball. I could trying seeing if I could sneak out a kitchen knife but…’ ] 

“That might be a little hard, especially since your mom’s in the kitchen all the time.”

[ ‘Speaking of, are you sure your mom can’t hear us?’ ]

“Positive.” Jonathan said, sparing a glance over his shoulder to the sleeping figure on the couch. “She’s sound asleep. I’ll have enough time to make an excuse if she does wake beforehand.”

[ ‘If you say so. I’m just a little nervous. I’m a little afraid to see that thing for real this time.’ ]

“Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll try to get answers, and if not…” He takes a deep breath. “We kill the faceless thing. End of story. At least… I won’t have to worry about it terrorizing my mom anymore, or anyone for that matter.”

I have to kill this thing. I have to make it up to my Mom somehow. He didn’t realize how quiet he went, and wasn’t sure how long she was calling out his name for. “Uh, sorry. W-What did you say?”

[ ‘Hour before sundown, right?’ ]

“Yep. I’ll meet you there.” 

[ ‘Kay. I’ll see you there.’ ]

Jonathan hangs up the phone, sighing and heading back to his room to make sure he has everything – completely unaware that a certain someone was actually awake.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Later that day, both Powell and Callahan finally decided to check on their boss who had failed to come into the station this morning. They pulled their car in next to his, not really seeing much out of the ordinary so they went for the front door.

“Hey, Chief!” Callahan called out, before knocking. “Hello? Whoa!-”The door was practically pulled from him, and out came their Boss who looked a lot worse for wear.

“Jesus, Chief. You all right?” Powell asked, concerned.

“What are you doing here?” Hopper asked, pistol by his side with an itchy finger.

“We tried calling, but–”

“Yeah, the phone’s dead.” He snaps, missing the way his two pupils backed up a bit at the sight of his weapon and tone. 

Callahan tries to steer his trigger finger away with a conversation. “Hey, so Bev Mooney came in this morning all upset. Said that Dale and Henry went hunting yesterday… and they didn’t come back home.”

“She thought they were on another binger, but she’s not so sure now.” Powell adds. 

“I think this whole Will Byers, Stephanie Henderson thing has everybody on edge.”

Hopper’s heart sank a bit. “Where was this?”

“It was at the station.”

“No, no. Where did Henry and Dale go hunting?”

“Oh. Uh, out near Kerley.”

Hopper felt himself go paler. “Mirkwood.”

“What?”

“O-Okay. You go back to the station. I’ll take care of this, all right?” He explains, and tries to go back inside.

“Are you sure?” Callahan asked, worriedly.

Hopper nods and opens his door back up. “Yeah, leave it.”

“Oh, hey. Uh, they found Barbara’s car.”

“What?”

“Barbara Holland’s car.” Powell specifies. “Seems she ran away after all. Staties found it late last night at a bus station.”

“Funny, right?” Callahan jokes. “They keep doing our job for us.”

No, definitely not funny. Hopper’s jaw clenches and he nods. “Yeah. It’s funny.” He says, heading back inside and mentally cursing. 

“Is he off his meds again?” He asked in a low whisper. 

Powell shrugs. “He’s been spending too much time with Joyce Byers. That’s what I think.”

“Maybe he should stick with the Henderson woman. I heard they were friends through high school.”

“Yeah…” He scoffs. “Like she’s any better.”

Callahan gave him a look. “What do you mean?”

“Let me just say she was… quite the wild card back then.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When the doorbell rang at the Wheeler house, the family honesty wasn’t sure who to expect.

Except the three boys who had bolted out of the basement knew.

They had loosened their funeral clothes a bit since they arrived here, and were trying to act like everything was A-Okay! And totally not suspicious when the rest of the family sees who their mysterious guest is.

“We got it!” Dustin shouts, surprising and stopping Karen in the hallway.

Karen halts her son, confused. “What? Did you guys order pizza or something?”

“No! Uh, we, um…” Mike was fumbling his words a bit, fueling his mother’s suspicions more.

“We asked someone to come over. From the funeral. Uh… A teenager from high school.” Lucas explains.

“Yeah. W-We got to talking to him, and we really think he could help us with this history project that is due in a few weeks.”

“He’s actually a friend of Nancy.”

“Oh, really?” Karen asked, and spoke of the devil.

“A friend of mine?” Nancy said, halfway down the stairs, clothes changed into something more cozy and warm.

“Who’s the friend?”

And that’s when Dustin had opened the door, pretending to be overjoyed. “Steve!”

“Steve?” Nancy said, coming completely down the stairs now. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Uh, well, I had the chance to talk to them early, and sounded like your brother and his friends needed help with a school project.” Steve replies, hoping he sounded convincing. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t, I’m just… a bit surprised, I guess.”

Steve smiles, and holds his hand out for her mother. “Hello, Mrs. Wheeler. I’m Steve Harrington.”

“Steve Harrington?” Karen said, shaking it. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before.” Her eyes trail to Nancy who was looking away with a nervous laugh. 

And I just made it awkward. He brushes it off quickly. “Uh, I won’t be long, Mrs. Wheeler, I’ll just go over a couple things with the boys.”

“Oh, take your time. It’s nice that they actually asked for help once.”

“Thank you. Alright, kids–” He smacks his hands together. “Let’s go.” He makes a mental note to talk to his girlfriend later, but as right now he doesn’t want her to get involved with whatever this was. He follows the kids to the basement, but a few steps down, Mike stops him.

Mike makes sure his family wasn’t around to hear this, and starts talking in a low tone. “Before we go down, there is something we have to tell you.”

“Which is?” Steve said, raising an eyebrow.

“To make a long story short, the night after Will and Stephanie disappeared we decided to go looking in the area her car crashed, and we found someone.”

That’s not concerning at all, Wheeler. What was this kid getting at? It was making him a bit nervous. “Someone?”

“Yeah. She’s–” Mike sighs, and gives him a stern look. “You have to swear you won’t tell my parents, or Nancy, or… anyone for that matter. Do you understand?”

“I… understand.” He holds his hand up. “I swear.”

“Good.” The kid nods, satisfied. “Come on.”

Steve follows him down, and that’s when he notices the girl on the couch. A young girl, probably not much older than twelve was sitting there in a Mötley Crüe band shirt, jeans and a pair converse on the floor; Along with a plaid jacket too. That outfit looked… quite familiar.

“Is that…” He begins, gesturing to the redhead who was trying to figure him out too.

“This is Eleven, or we call El for short. She’s…” Mike trails off, thinking. “We don’t know where she’s from, all we know is that it’s from a bad place. And she has powers.”

Now that got his attention. “I’m sorry, powers?”

“Yeah. Like… Magneto.”

“Magneto?”

“Yeah. Like from the X-Men.”

“Uh…”

“Oh, my god.” Dustin says, throwing his head back to his obliviousness. “How were you and my sister friends?”

“Hey, we had other things in common.” Steve pushes back, hands on his hip like a stern mother.

“Oh, yeah?” Dustin squares up. “Like what?”

“You’re really going to quiz me right now?”

“Yes! I am!”

“Dustin, man, come on. We don’t have time for–” Lucas said, sitting up straighter from his spot on a chair. But of course, his friend wouldn’t listen (and they all accuse him of being the stubborn one).

“What is her favorite color?” Dustin starts, getting an eye roll and a sigh from his ‘opponent’. 

“Seafoam green.” Steve replies, going along with it.

“Favorite band?”

“It’s a tie between Journey and Metallica.”

“Favorite ice cream flavor?”

“Mint chocolate chip, however–”

“Ah, ha!” The youngest Henderson jerks his thumb at him, like he caught him in a lie. “Wrong! That’s not her–”

“But, but, but!” Steve cuts right back in, taking control. “I wasn’t finished. She says that’s her favorite, because she’s too embarrassed to tell everyone that her actual favorite is bubblegum, which no one, and I mean no I know besides her, likes that flavor. Correct?”

Dustin makes a face like he’s been kicked. “Damn it…” He mumbles, pacing off to find something to do.

“Ice cream?” El said, and it took Steve a second to realize she phrased it as a question.

“You never had ice cream?” He asked, and she shook her head. “Where the hell was she living before?” Then he stops himself. “D-Doesn’t matter! We’ll discuss that part later, maybe over some ice cream, but for right now, why am I here?” 

It took a bit to get him up to speed about the past few days, leaving him with a spinning head, and asking more questions that needed to be answered.

“Holy shit…” He mutters, rubbing his temple. “Holy shit. So… you guys are all convinced that Stephanie and Will are stuck in another dimension? All because El took you guys to his house and said they were there but couldn’t see them?”

“Correct.” Lucas said, with a nod.

“And it pretty confirmed it when you heard Will over the radio explaining that?”

“Correct.”

“That’s… insane, but… it makes sense.”

“So you’re saying you believe us?” Mike asked, genuinely surprised.

“Look, like I said earlier, when the evidence was laid out about what happened to them, It didn’t really sit right with me, you know? And–” Steve fiddles with his hands again. “And Stephanie, I mean she knew the Quarry pretty well, so I thought it would have been odd that she would have fallen in like that, even if she was being chased. And Will… he sounds like he’s a smart kid too.”

“He is.” Lucas said, a bit of sadness there.

“He’s really smart.” Mike adds.

“That’s my point.” Steve agrees. “So, if what you’re suggesting is true, and they really did end up in some dimension, whoever found or knows, or even is responsible for that to happen to them, they must have planted the fake bodies to take the heat off the case. I mean, let’s be real here. Kids get kidnapped to another dimension? Who’s going to believe that?”

“So someone had to open that gate to the Upside Down, realize what happened and wanted to cover their asses.” Mike turns towards Eleven who seemed like she wasn’t fully into their conversation. “Do you know where the gate is?”

She shakes her head. “No…” 

“Then how do you know about the Upside Down?” Lucas asked, as she looked away in shame.

“Hey, uh…” Steve leans in to whisper. “Not to budge into this spat, but uh, did I break Henderson?”

Now all eyes were on him, and he was pacing around in a small circle with something in his hand; He looked like he was in deep thought too.

“Dustin, what are you doing? Dustin?” Mike tries, and gets irritated. “Dustin!!”

That seemed to do the trick because he stopped. “I... I need to see your compasses.”

“What?”

“Your compasses. All of your compasses, right now!”

Of course Lucas and Mike decided to humor him a bit and start searching for what they had, while Steve locked eyes with El who looked just as confused as he was. She seemed painfully shy, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying to get on her goodside.

“Hey–” He whispers. “I think he’s the nutty one.” And he makes a goofy expression that got her to smile. Good enough for me.

And he stands up to join the boys around the table who had all the compasses laying out. 

“What’s exciting about this?” Mike asked, unamused. 

“Well, they’re all facing north, right?” Dustin points out.

“Yeah, so?” 

“Well, that’s not true north.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked, slightly intrigued. 

“I mean exactly what I just said. That’s not true north.” He looks between them like they’re crazy. “Are you both seriously this dense?” His friends shrug and he sighs. “Steve?” And all hopes go out too when he shrugged. “Wow. You’re useless.”

“Gee, thanks, Henderson.” Steve said, trying not to strangle him yet. 

“So, the sun rises in the east, and it sets in the west. Right?” Dustin points towards the left wall, east. “Which means that’s true north.”

“So what you’re saying is the compasses are broken.” Mike said, clarifying. 

He sighs again. “Do you even understand how a compass works? Do you see a battery pack in this?”

“No.”

“No, you don’t. Because it doesn’t need one. The needle’s naturally drawn to the Earth’s magnetic North Pole.”

“So what’s wrong with them?” Lucas questions.

“Well, that’s what I couldn’t figure out, but then I remembered.” He perks up with a grin. “You can change the direction of a compass with a magnet. If there’s the presence of a more powerful magnetic field, the needle deflects to that power. And then I remembered what Mr. Clarke said. The gate would have so much power–”

“It could disrupt the electromagnetic field.” Mike said, smiling.

“Exactly.”

“Meaning, if we follow the compasses’ north…”

“They should lead us to the gate.”

And the boys begin praising Dustin for figuring that out–

.

.

.

Why El was looking like she heard the worst news ever.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Jonathan fixes his jacket and slings a bag over his shoulder as he comes out of his room when he notices what time it was (He could even see that the sun was starting to change color). But as soon as he reaches where the hallway meets the kitchen, he sees his mother sitting at the table reading over some paperwork.

His heart skips a beat a bit, and as he calmly tells himself to stick to the script. “Y-You’re up.” he says, getting her attention. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake up tonight.”

“Yeah, I guess that service really took a lot out of me.” Joyce replies, setting what she was reading down to look at him. “Heading out?”

“Y-Yeah, um… a classmate who was at the wake wanted to cheer me up. I-I was going to turn it down, but I thought it could take my mind off a few things.”

“Oh, well that’s good.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I’m going to head out.” He says, turning to leave.

“Okay.” She said, crossing her arms. “Does your outing include guns?” That got him to stop. “I noticed you raided your father’s old gun safe.”

Jonathan bites his lip for a second, before turning around with a dry laugh. “It wasn’t like he was going to use them any time soon.”

She raised an eyebrow, stern. “I thought you didn’t like shooting?”

“I thought it would be nice to pick it back up. You know, just in case that thing comes back.”

“Well, that’s actually rather thoughtful of you, Jonathan.”

“Uh, thanks, mom.” He sends her a quick smile and starts leaving again. “I’ll be back.”

“Alrighty.” She says, standing up silently. “Is that before or after you kill the faceless thing?” This time her son couldn’t hide his shock when he turned around, and she couldn’t really hide her irritation either. “You really need to learn whether someone is fake sleeping or not.”

He swallows. “Mom–”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Mom, it’s not–”

“Jonathan, you will tell me who you’re going out with right now. I am not playing any games.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Despite their agreements to go out to look, Dustin was still salty enough to try to get Steve to leave. His first attempt was to try to go get him to see Nancy, but that backfired when she apparently had left for something. The second was when he pointed out to Steve that he still had his suit on, and tried to get him to go home and change – But the teenager proudly declined, and saw right through his crap, and said he can just take his jacket and tie off and he’ll be fine. His third attempt was a bit later on in their adventure, when the temperature started to drop and so did the sun in the sky, he tried again with the clothes, pointing out that dress shoes weren’t exactly made for hiking – this attempt was just flat out ignored.

“Dude, just let it go.” Lucas said, since he was partnered up with him (Now, he’s lucky that they lived close enough to actually change out of their funeral clothing. He can’t imagine how Steve’s doing it). “He’s going to be helpful whether you like it or not.”

“Yeah, sure.” Dustin said, sarcastically. “What? Because he’s carrying a bat around? Who carries a bat in their trunk?”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Dude, drop it. It’s actually kind of relieving that someone else brought a weapon too.” He waves around his slingshot furiously to make a point. 

“Whatever…”

He sighs, and takes a glance at his compass. “How much further?”

“I don’t know.” Dustin shrugs. “These only tell direction, not distance. You really need to learn more about compasses.”

“I’m just saying. How do we know when we get to the gate?”

“Uh, I think a portal to another dimension is gonna be pretty obvious.”

Lucas sighs again, this time glancing back at the others. Mike and Eleven were paired together, while Steve was a few steps behind them keeping guard out. But his focus was more on the girl that has been suspiciously wiping her nose every few minutes. 

“Do you think she’s acting weird?” He finally asked in a lower voice.

“You’re asking if the weirdo is acting weird?” Dustin said, confused.

“I mean, weirder than normal?”

“I don’t know. Who cares?”

Meanwhile, Eleven was remembering a few scary things from her past, and the guilt and fear was starting to eat away at her. With a shaky hand, she tugs on the boy’s sleeve. “Mike.”

“Yeah?”

“Turn back.”

Mike blinks, puzzled. “What? Why?”

“I’m tired.”

He sighs. “Look, I’m sure we’re almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?” He says, making her stop.

She worriedly looks at the way they came from, practically aching to start running away from all this. She knows once they find out the truth, they’re going to be mad.

“Hey.” Steve calls out softly, standing right in front of her. “You okay?”

Her eyes scan his face, seeing how genuinely worried he was for her, despite they met only hours ago (Why weren’t the people she grew up with this kind to her?). She nods subtly. “F-Fine.”

“Fine?” He asks, getting another nod. “Okay.” He wasn’t fully convinced, but he wasn’t going to push. “But your nose is bleeding.”

She perks up at the news, and quickly wipes it away. She just gives him a quick smile before jogging to catch up with the others, Steve’s concern only growing a bit stronger.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Stephanie felt like she couldn’t breath. She suddenly felt like she was a kid again, practically having to be on her toes whenever he was around. Right now, her father seemed pretty ticked off about something, something that she was going to have to continue to push back on and try to get away. 

“You ratted me out.” He hissed, arms crossed in disappointment. “You and that little rich friend of yours.” 

She tightens her jaw again, her hands managing to make a fist as she glares. “I never ratted you out.”

“Oh…” He whispers, realization creeping across his features for a few seconds. “So it was him, huh?”

Fucking prick. She bares her teeth at him, angry herself. “Steve did what any friend would have in a situation like that.” 

His eye twitched. “By selling me out!!”

“You got child endangerment and illegal gambling. You’re lucky that’s all you got.” She says, raising her tone. “He decided to be a good person and respect my wishes, respect my dignity, and save me from some humiliation from every fucking school kid – to save my mom the guilt, and Dustin some confusion.” Steph scoffs. “Selling you out? You got fucking lucky, Pal.”

“Pal? I ain’t your pal! I’m your fucking father!” He points at himself furiously. “I raised you!”

“Mom raised me! Not you!” Now she felt the tears start to sting, but not from sadness, no, these were angry tears. He opens his mouth to speak, and she cuts him off. “And don’t you dare say you raised Dustin! You were never there for him. Never there for any school events, or the time he tried to play hockey. For fuck’s sake, you were even there when he was born!!”

“I WAS BUSY!!”

“Busy fucking GAMBLING! You were always doing that!” She scoffs again. “You were never our father, you were never his father. When mom wasn’t there it was me. It was always me, it was never you.”

“I was always there for you.”

“Oh, please…”

“We hung out, you can’t deny that. We always did something every week.”

“Oh, yeah, take your child to a black jack table and let them watch as you bet money we don’t have. Yeah…” She rolls her eyes. “That was a wonderful father-daughter bonding moment.”

“Stephanie–”

“Don’t say my name.”

“Stephanie.” His face softens. “Munchkins, you have to understand, what I did, it was necessary. I was on my way of making the big bucks, and moving us to the hills with beautiful and big houses your mother and I always dreamed of.”

“That was a lie you just love feeding to mom.”

“Stephanie–”

“Stop.” She snaps, calming herself a little. “I don’t know what this is. I don’t know if I hit my head a little hard, or that weird monster that keeps following me is doing this but…” She shakes her head. “You’re not real. You’re in prison. And if this is just some sick joke to get me to forgive you, it ain’t going to work. I hate you, and I will always hate you. Period. Now–” She manages to push herself off the bar stool to stand. “I’m leaving.”

Stephanie doesn’t want to bid him another thought or word as she turns and starts heading for the exit as her father starts yapping away.

“You hate me, I get it.” He sighs. “I hate myself as well. But… I know you hate yourself too.”

That got her to stop. It got a nerve that she was trying to hide.

“Deep down, you hate yourself. A lot apparently.”

“I don’t hate myself.” She replies, turning around.

“Oh, yes, you do.” He said, standing up too, a gleeful look on his face. “You see, you’ve hated yourself for quite a while, and it didn’t start after the whole… broken friendship thing, no… it’s been happening for a while.”

“You’re…” She swallows, shaking slightly (She was unaware of the room growing darker and more suffocating). “You’re crazy.”

“This whole self hatred thing has been going on and off throughout your life. There were so many key moments that made you think that way.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re fucking crazy–”

“There were so many times that made you stop and think, ‘Hey. Why don’t Steve’s parents like me? What’s wrong with me? Why am I not good enough?’ Hmm…” He moves closer, the abyss growing around them both more. “Ring any bells? Remember when you thought that and tried to change?”

“That’s…” She touches the side of her head. “That’s ridiculous. I… I just thought maybe I should change a little, wh-what would it h-hurt? Right…? I…”

“See? It’s in there? It’ll always be there.” He taps his own chest twice. “There will always be that hatred in your heart that you can’t get rid of.”

“I… I c-can get rid of it.”

“You can bury it, but you can’t get rid of it. It’s your genes, it’s engraved in your bones, sewn into your heart.” He smiles. “Think about it, even after your friend ended everything, sure you were mad at him, but you were more mad at yourself than anything.”

Her eyes widened, shaking. “S-Stop…”

“You were so mad that you thought about…” The abyss grows more and pulls them closer together. “Ending it all for everyones’ sake.”

She felt like something was grabbing a hold of her now, pushing on her lungs and in her throat, suffocating her. She felt her eyes sting and burn, and her father’s started to change into something or some else. 

“And you…” He laughs, the pain in her body intensifying. “Probably should.”

He starts extending his arm out for her, bruised fingers coming over to ghost her face and–

It was like someone had opened the shades and let the sunlight in. Everything felt warmer and lighter, the pressure was suddenly taken off her body. She gasps with relief, her father’s hand pulling back as she hears a familiar song playing in the distance. 

.

[ ♪ Here we stand

Worlds apart, heart broken in two. Two. Two.

Sleepless nights

Losing ground, I'm reaching for you. You. You ♪ ]

.

|| STEPHANIE!! ||

Her eyes widened, turning around to see some kind of opening in the distance. “Will?” She croaks, and she swears she can see him too.

|| STEPHANIE! WAKE UP! PLEASE! || 

Wake up? I’m asleep? She couldn’t believe it. She really was stuck in her head.

|| STEPHANIE!! ||

“I–” She swallows and takes a step. “I’m coming.”

Her father frowns. “You can’t leave.” He says, snatching her by the arm. She shutters at the sudden voice change, scared again. “We haven’t finished talking.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“You told me you weren’t going to do anything stupid! You promised me, Jonathan!” Joyce yells, as her son shakes her head.

“W-We’re not going through this again!” He said, almost laughing.

“Not again? What do you mean?!”

“Mom, seriously!” He points at himself. “Let me do this! Let me find this thing!”

“You want me to allow you to go find some wild, dangerous beast that could possibly take you away or have you killed?” Joyce scoffs. “You’re out of your mind!”

“I’m not out of my mind! I am stopping–”

“You’re not going out there!”

“Yes, I am!”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am.” He says, as his expression was something that no one could pinpoint. “Let me prove this to you.”

“Prove what?” She asked, throwing her arms out. “What so desperately do you have to prove? Prove that this is the stupidest–”

“Let me prove to you that I AM SORRY!!”

Between that sentence and the front door being pounded on at the same time, Joyce was definitely lost for words. But she continues to stare at her son, trying to see if something would come out before another set of knocks came about.

As she makes her way to the door, Jonathan blurts out her name. Part of him was afraid what would happen if that was Nancy; If he thinks his mom is mad now, he could imagine when she puts two-and-two together. He calls her out again just as she opens it, both of them startled by who it was.

Hopper had his finger up in a ‘shushing’ motion, and was holding up a sign that the son couldn’t read until his mother moved out of the way. The sign read: DON’T SAY ANYTHING.

The Chief locks eyes with Jonathan, silently telling him to stay quiet too as he shuts the door. His blue orbs glanced around the room, mostly focusing on the many strings lights that were up.

Oh, Jesus. He thought, realizing this was going to take some time.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The sun was halfway set when the boys arrived at an old, abandoned scrap yard that was up in the hills. When they got about a quarter of the way inside the place, one of them noticed something terrible.

“Oh, no.” Dustin said, after triple checking his surroundings.

“‘Oh, no?’ What’s, ‘Oh, no?’, Henderson?” Steve asked in a teasing way, which will fade in a second when he realizes how serious this was.

“We’re headed back home.”

“What?” Mike perks up. 

“Are you sure?” Lucas asked, not buying it.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Dustin points to the sky. “Setting sun, right there. We looped right back around.”

“And you’re just realizing this now?”

“Why is this all on me?” 

“Because you’re the compass genius!”

Dustin sighs. “What do yours say?”

Both boys glanced down at theirs and replied, “North.”

“Makes no damn sense.”

“Maybe the gate moved.” Steve asked, trying to think what would be most logical.

The boy frowns. “No, I don’t think it’s the gate. I think it’s something else screwing with the compasses.”

“Maybe it’s something here.” Mike said, gesturing to their surroundings.

Dustin shakes his head. “No, it has to be like a super magnet.”

“It’s not a magnet.” Lucas hiss, bitterly, his eyes landing on the only girl with them. “She’s been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Steve said, half stepping between them, trying to cool him down. “Why would she do that? Isn’t she your friend?”

Lucas ignores him, and swats his arm away. “Because she’s trying to sabotage our mission.” He starts stalking towards her. “Because she’s a traitor!”

“Lucas, what are you doing?” Mike asks, fearfully.

Steve tries to deescalate him again. “Hey, Sinclair, maybe cool it before–”

“Can it, Steve!” He snaps, stopping right in front of El who’s guilt started sprouting full blown. “You did it, didn’t you? You don’t want us to reach the gate. You don’t want us to find them.”

“Lucas, come on, seriously–” Mike rushes up next to him. “Just leave her alone!”

“Admit it.”

“No.” El whispers.

“ADMIT IT!” He snaps, scaring her enough to grab her arm and show off her jacket sleeve that was stained bright red. “Fresh blood. I knew it.”

“Lucas, come on!” Mike says, smacking his hand away from her.

“I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!”

“Bullshit! That’s old blood. Right, El?” And Mike’s stomach sank when she didn’t say anything. “Right, El?

“It’s... not…” El chokes back on tears, her lip quivering in shame. “It’s not safe.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After unscrewing a hundred goddamn light bulbs later, Hopper was satisfied enough to realize that the Byers’ household was untouched by the unknown.  

“Okay.” He breathes, and collapses into a chair, the adrenaline he’s felt all day has finally given out. “Should be okay, I mean… I can’t guarantee it, but it should be okay.”

“What the hell is going on, Hopper?” Joyce finally asked, still keeping her voice a bit quiet. I mean, all she and her son could do was wait and let the Police Chief raid her house to get some kind of answer. 

“They bugged my place.”

“Bugged?” Jonathan asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“They put a microphone in the light.” Hopper sighs, the mental strain finally hitting him hard. “It’s because I’m on to them and they know it. I don’t know…”

“Who?”

“I thought they might be watching you, too.” He shakes his head, shutting his eyes for a second. “I don’t know, the CIA, the NSA, Department of Energy... I-I don’t know.”

“You gotta explain this to us.” Joyce said, getting an agreement from her eldest. “‘Cause we’re not–”

“I went to the morgue last night, Joyce.”

That got their complete attention now. “...What?” She muttered, feeling like she was losing her breath from his words.

“It wasn’t him.” Hopper replies, getting teary eyed.

Jonathan had to hold up his mother who looked like she was about to faint from the news. “W-What do you mean?” He asks, heart pounding in his ears.

“Will’s body, it was a fake. His and Stephanie’s. They’re both fakes.” He stands up to make sure he was looking her in the eye to tell her these words, “You were right. This whole time, you were right. I should have believed you. I am so sorry, Joyce.”

“Oh, my god…” Joyce sobbed into her hands, as her son took a step back to process. “Oh, my god. I mean… w-why though? Why the fakes? Who made the fakes?”

“I don’t know.” Hopper replies, upset himself. “Like I said, someone bugged my place, I don’t know who though. Although…”

“‘Although’… what?

“I saw…” He swallows. “I saw something really strange last night. At the lab.”

“The lab?” She tilts her head. “You went to the lab?”

“I snuck in. I ended up getting punctured with a needle that knocked me out. When I woke up in my trailer, I think the people at the lab were trying to make it seem like I went on binger. My whole table was trashed with beer cans and pills. Bastards.”

“Well what did you see?”

“It’s…” How does he explain this? “First, I ended up in a hospital setting, you know, white walls, beds, cold temperatures. But then I went down lower and… I saw it.”

“Saw what?” She asked, nervously.

“I don’t… I don’t know what it is. It look like a plant, it was on the wall, it was gross looking and sticky and–”

“Was it like a bubble? And it and like a red hue to it and it was pul–”

“Pulsating?” He asked, getting a nod. “You know what I’m talking about?” But before he could get an answer, the teenager had finally spoken. 

“So it really is that dangerous…” Jonathan whispers, eyes landing on him.

“What?” Joyce asked, her son started shaking his head.

“Fuck.” He mutters, and starts grabbing his hair. “Fuck…”

“What, Jonathan?! What?”

“Nancy and I both agreed to go look for that thing!” He spills, all distraughtly. 

“Wait.” Joyce blinks a few times, trying to wrap her head around what she just said. “Nancy? That’s who you were talking to?!”

“What is going on?” Hopper asked, looking between the two.

“We wanted to find out what happened to Barb.” Jonathan explains. “Nancy… she… she saw that thing when she went to Steve’s house, she–”

“What? What thing?”

“She saw it too?” Joyce cuts Hopper off, intrigued by this shocking news. “What… what were you guys going to do?”

“We were going to kill it!” Jonathan replies, truthfully. “W-We… we agreed to meet at the spot Stephanie’s car was found and… shit.”

“Jonathan–”

“I fucked up.”

“Jonathan.” She pressures, trying to calm him down a smidge. “Maybe she’s by the road. She wouldn’t go exploring on her own. Right?” But her son sends her an un-assuring look that deflates her confidence. “...Right?”

Jonathan frowns, trying to hide how scared he was now. “We need to find Nancy, now.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“What did I tell you?” Lucas explodes. “She’s been playing us from the beginning!”

“That’s not true.” Mike pushes back. “She helped us find Will and Stephanie!”

“Find Will and Stephanie?” He scoffs. “Find Will and Stephanie? Where are they, then?” He starts walking around the place to make a point. “Huh? I don’t see them.”

“Yeah, you know what I mean.”

“No, I actually don’t. Just think about it, Mike. She could’ve just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn’t. She just made us run around like headless chickens.”

“All right, calm down!” Dustin says, cutting between them.

“I’m siding with Henderson on this one.” Steve says, eyes batting back and forth between the two. “Let’s just take a moment to breathe, and figure this out.”

“No!” Lucas yells, not listening to this. “She used us, all of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She’s like a stray dog.”

“Screw you, Lucas!” Mike yells back. 

“No! Screw you, Mike. You’re blind… blind because you like that a girl’s not grossed out by you. But wake up, man! Wake the hell up! She knows where they are, and now she’s just letting them die in the Upside Down.

Mike balls his hand in a fist, trying to contain his own anger. “Shut up.”

“For all we know, it’s her fault.” Lucas says, jerking his thumb towards her.

“Shut up.”

“Sinclair–” Steve warns. 

“We’re looking for some stupid monster… but did you ever stop to think that maybe she’s the monster?”

“I said shut up!” Mike shouts, and tackles him to the ground. 

“Stop!” El yells, worriedly. 

“Knock it off, you idiots.” Dustin says, as he tries to get close.

“Stop it!”

“Oh, my– Wheeler, get off!” Steve says, and tries pulling the boys off one another. But for being only kids, they were putting up one hell of a fight to stay on top for dominance. 

The shouting between Steve and Dustin went back and forth, and all their efforts to stop it suddenly ended when the girl behind them screamed ear piercingly. All of them could only watch helplessly as Lucas was flung off, hitting the ground hard, and landing against one of the scrapped vehicles. 

“Jesus Christ!” Steve shouted, and raced over to the boy. 

“Lucas! Lucas!” Mike yells, shaking him on the shoulder. “Lucas, are you all right?

“Lucas.” Dustin says, doing the same. “Lucas, come on!”

“Hey, hey! Careful with his neck!” Steve urges, moving their hands away as carefully examines the boy. “Shit… come on, kid.”

“Why would you do that?” Mike snaps at Eleven, who was trembling again. “What’s wrong with you? Huh?!” He could believe she would do something like this. "What is wrong with you?!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“What’s wrong with you?” Stephanie croaked, trembling at the way his voice changed into something almost demonic. He know longer sounded like the man who was supposed to be her father. “Why do you sound like that?”

Along with the voice change, his whole demeanor seemed different too. The way he stood, the way he smiled and his eyes seemed dead, yet controlling. 

“Admit it…” He whispers with fire on his silver tongue. “You’re tired, you really don’t want to live anymore.”

Her throat started to feel tight again, her body was aching too. Whatever was holding her down earlier was trying to latch onto her again. “I-I…”

“You don’t want to live anymore because everything’s gone to shit.” He gestures around, still having that stupid smug on his face. “Your long friendship with Steve is over, crushed because you were an embarrassment to him.”

She shakes her head. “N-No.”

“Even after what happened at the dance, it meant nothing to him. That he didn’t love you like you thought he did.”

“St-Stop it.”

“You try to fill the gaping hole by hanging out with your brother, but he’s growing up, he’s got friends when you don’t have any. He’s already pushing you away to be with them. You’re an envious freak.”

“I’m not.” His jabs were like sticking an imaginary knife in her heart, and for some reason, deep down, she knows his jabs have some truth to them.

“Your own mother knows you’re in a rut, knows you’ve been lying to her, but you don’t want her help. You love the abyss.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about–”

“And you… are failing to keep your promise to the boy.” He says, making her gasp. “You told Will you were going to get him out, but you don’t even know how.” It was another stab to her heart. “You’re having doubts.” And another. “You’re having thoughts about how you’re never going to get out.”

“N-No…” She whispers, on the verge of tears once more, and he wasn’t done with his troubling words. 

“How you’re thinking in what way the No-Face beast will get you both. Do you let it take a bite out of you first, and let the boy be a desert? Or…” His expression grows sinisterly. “Do you let it take the boy first as a mercy kill?”

Stephanie sobs, tears rolling down her pale cheeks. “N-No… No…”

“I think… that’s what you think is best. Let the boy’s suffering end quickly.”

“N-No…” She shakes her head before grabbing the sides of it. “I… I…” She sobs again. “W-Will…”

|| STEPHANIE! || 

He calls out again, but it’s barely audible, and the music is starting to sound distant again.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t know…” Stephanie said, brain feeling like it was going to melt with everything going on. 

“Come.” Her father beckons. “Let it all go.” He opens his arms out wide, like he is asking for a hug as the abyss grows back around them, blocking some of the light. “You can rest, my dear daughter.”

Then the room sprinkled with a little red, and the sound of an old grandfather clock chimed around in an echo. The sound… seemed scary, but strangely welcoming. It was telling her to find it, and she almost wanted to.

“Let all go, Child.” He urges, his voice now echoing as well. “You know you want to.”

She wants to, she really wants to. But something was keeping her from doing that, something inside was telling her to stay away. 

“But–” She managed to say before ‘Separate Ways’ was turned up to max volume. She screams, her head pounding as the room gets brighter again, along with Will’s voice.

|| WAKE UP! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! || 

“Will…” She says, looking at the opening before her head was magically moved back in her father’s direction. 

“But don’t you want to leave it all behind?!” He screams. “The bad memories? The times you were called a freak? The times you were forgotten or ignored? Unloved? The times that people told you you weren’t good enough for him?”

That was another piercing to her aching heart. “B-But, Steve’s just–” 

|| STEPHANIE! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?! WAKE UP! || 

Will. She needed to get back to Will. She didn’t need all this crap to be happening!

She tries to stand her ground as firmly as she can. “What is going on?”

Of course, he ignores her question and presses on harder. “Don’t you want to be free?! Give in! Forget all the bad times you’ve had! Give in!” 

“But–”

And then she feels like she lost the opportunity to get the upper hand.

She gasps harshly as she feels something wrap around her throat, squeezing it tight. She feels her body freeze, and something grabbing onto her limbs to hold her place. Her father, or whoever he is now, looked even more deranged as he gave her look like he was trying to shatter her mind. And maybe he was, maybe he really was the one responsible for the tingling feeling inside, the feeling like her whole life force was being drained. She swears she can hear Will screaming her name again, but the hold on her was drowning out most of her senses. 

Her father, the being, grinned even wider as his hand reached out to hover over her face. “Now… Give in, dear child.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Stephanie!” Will cries out in desperation, giving her another shake. Why isn’t the music working?! It worked for me!

This can’t be happening. This can’t be how he loses Stephanie. What was he supposed to do if she ended up dead? And what would he tell her family? Tell his family? How will they even believe him?

“Stephanie, come on! Wake up! Please!” He felt his own set of tears start rolling down his delegate cheeks. “I don’t want to lose you!”

I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lo– His pleas were cut off when her body slipped away from his hands. In something he’s only seen in horror films, he watches the teenager start floating into the air. 

Way, way, way up into the air.

He couldn’t even jump up to touch her, grab her to pull her down as she was descending up into the night sky, limbs jittering like they were trying to spring free.

Will didn’t know what else to do but scream her name.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Lucas wakes up in a flash, his friends sighing with relief, and the teenager silently thanking the universe he was alright (He wasn’t sure how they were going to explain this to anyone if he didn’t wake up soon).

“Lucas.” Mike says, happily. “Lucas, you okay?”

“Lucas…” Dustin begins, watching him slowly prop himself up, mind wandering. “Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up?” He holds up three. “Lucas, how many fingers?”

“Hey…” Steve begins, reaching out. “Let me see your head–”

“Get off of me!” Lucas snaps, swatting everyone away.

“Lucas, just let us see–” Mike urges, which results in another slap.

“Get off of me!” He says again, standing up this time, and storming away. 

“Lucas, come on.”

“Let him go.” Dustin replies, stopping him by the arm.

“But what if he–”

“He needs to cool down.”

Steve frowns, still worried that the kid might have a concussion, but what could he do? The kid was irritated, probably still didn’t like him, so more likely he wouldn’t listen (and he wasn’t listening to his friends anyway, so…). 

He sighs, running a hand through his locks, thinking. “This is… insane. That little girl really does have powers.”

“Told you.” Mike said, head hung low in shame.

“Hey, relax. Your friend just needs to–” Steve frowns after counting who was present. “Where is she?”

Dustin and Mike’s eyes begin bolting around in the low light, searching for any signs of her. Them and Steve started shouting her name, concern was evident, and time was the essence. Did she really take off? Did she really feel that guilty about everything she just had to leave? 

“I…” Mike begins, getting mad at himself. “I knew I should have yelled at her like that!”

“Hey, you had every right to do so. She did fling Lucas.” Dustin points out.

“Yeah, but we need her! We need her to find that gate for us.”

“Yeah, but it sounds like she was never going to.”

Mike frowns, that sentence punching him right in the gut. Maybe Lucas was right. Maybe he really was being played for a fool this whole time. “Even if she wasn’t, we still got to find her.”

“We can try, but it’s getting dark.” Dustin says, gesturing to the fading sun. “We don’t even have flashlights.”

“Well, then we’ll go back to our houses to get some.”

“Mike–”

“We have to!”

“Mike, our parents are not going to let us out. Especially if Lucas tells his parents he got hurt hanging out with us today.”

“But–”

“Hey, listen to Henderson, alright?” Steve cuts in, his mind made up about something.

“But, we have to go look for her, Steve!” Mike pushes.

“I get that, but your parents are going to expect you home. And they probably are going to bug me on why we were out so late. So you’re going home.”

“But El–”

“I will look for her.”

Mike blinks. “What?”

“I will look for her, okay?” Steve repeats. “I will go back to my house to change and grab some supplies, and then I’ll come right back here and search around.”

Dustin looks surprised. “You’re actually willing to do that?”

“Yeah. I am.” He nods. “I’ll do my best to try to find her, and if I do, maybe I can convince her to actually help us. Or get her to at least explain why finding this isn’t safe.” He looks between them while finishing with, “But you two need to go home. Let’s not worry your parents. Especially you Henderson. Let’s not make your mom worry about another kid.”

Dustin averts his eyes away, feeling a bit ashamed at the thought of hurting his mother like that. He was so hung up on finding this gate that he didn’t wonder how she must be feeling right now. And she thinks she just buried her daughter today. I can only imagine how worried she is.

“So does that sound reasonable to you guys?” Steve asks, interrupting their thoughts.

“Yeah.” Mike says, nodding. “That sounds reasonable.”

“Good.” He looks at them worriedly before waving for them to start walking. “Let’s head back.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When they arrived they saw her car parked on the side of the road with no one inside. The three of them never got out and slammed their doors that quickly before, as they ran into the woods, flashlights and weapons in hand.

“NANCY!” Jonathan called out, his heart racing what he might find. She had to be okay. He wasn’t sure how he would live with himself if she wasn’t. So he screams out her name again, both his mother and Hopper joining in. 

“Nancy!” Joyce yells, running to look behind every nook and cranny amongst the trees and shrubs. “Nancy!”

“Nancy Wheeler!” Hopper shouts, eyes glue to the ground, looking for any signs of life. 

“Nancy! Where are you?!”

“Nancy!” Jonathan tries again, the guilt in his gut has started to take huge chunks of him now. “Fuck. Fuck…”

“Hey.” His mother says, getting his attention. “Don’t beat yourself up yet. We just started.”

“How can I not, mom?! For all I know is, she’s that thing’s dinner.”

“You don’t know that.” She shakes her head. “You don’t know that.”

“Mom, please, I–”

“Hey!” Hopper says while snapping his fingers. “We might have a problem.” He waited for them to get closer for him to shine his flashlight down by his feet, and there was a trail of blood that stretched further into the woods. “It’s fresh.” He frowns, nervously. “Come on.”

They start following the trail, their breaths caught in their throats. What if this was hers? What if that thing did show up and caught her? Was she still alive? Was she badly hurt? What would the outcome be?

“NANCY!” Jonathan calls out once more, half expecting no reply until–

“Jonathan!”

The three of them paused, startled to hear a girl’s voice. He says her name again, and gets the same reply.

“Shit–” Hopper curses and bolts off, the two of them hot on his tail.

“Nancy!” Jonathan shouts again, the blood path ends right at a tree trunk. But what was at the base of the tree is what made him gag, the sight of something so disgusting with veins oozing out of the bark like it was infected. 

Joyce gasps sharply. “T-That’s it! That was what was on my wall!” 

“And that’s what I saw in the lab.” Hopper replies, crouching down with the rest of them. He brushes away some of the sticky cobwebs, a red hue covering his hand. “What the hell is this th–”

“JONATHAN!!” 

The three of them flinched when they heard her voice again. 

Her voice that was…

Coming out of the tree.

“Nancy!” Jonathan’s eyes widened as slams his fist into the tree, trying to see if he got the bubble to pop. He wasn’t going to lose her like this. Not when she was literally at their fingertips. He tries again, and again, screaming her name.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Stephanie heard her name again in the far distance, and all she could do was move her crying eyes towards the opening. Even in this… whatever this place was, the light was trying to come in, trying to save her from giving in, but…

It was getting so hard to not give in. 

She felt his fingers start brushing the sides of her face, drowning out her favorite song that was likely the last time she’ll ever hear it. 

So this is it. She thought, depressingly. This is how she dies. Not by the cold, nor the starvation, and nor getting killed by the beast, no. She was going to die by an imagination of her father. She felt some more tears roll down her paralyzed body, and started accepting her fate.

If this is it, then I guess I’ve lived… a pretty decent life. She starts closing her eyes, her soul in this force’s grasp–

|| STEPHANIE! WAKE UP! ||

Will… I’m so sorry. Her heart clenches for him. I failed you… I am so–

|| PLEASE, WAKE UP! I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU! ||

She gasps quietly. Will…

|| I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU! NOT LIKE THIS! PLEASE! || 

He’s… he’s not mad at me? 

|| WE’RE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THIS TOGETHER! ||

But, I–

|| WE ARE GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS TOGETHER! SO FIGHT IT! ||

Fight it? Can she? Can she get out of this hold?

Her father must have realized she was thinking this and intervened. “You don’t want to fight it. You want to give in. Let it all go.” He says, making her start doubting again.

Maybe… I should.

|| WHATEVER HAS A HOLD ON YOU, YOU NEED TO FIGHT! FIGHT IT! COME BACK TO ME! ||

Another gasp.

Come back to me.

Come back to me.

He wants her to come back to him. He wants her too. He wants her to be with him.

He wants me to be with him. He actually does.

|| REMEMBER WHAT YOU’RE FIGHTING FOR! WE HAVE TO GO HOME! WE HAVE TO GET HOME TO OUR FAMILIES! REMEMBER WHAT WE HAVE WAITING FOR US WHEN WE GET HOME! ||

Remember.

Remember what she has waiting for her. 

Remember.

Remember everything that brings her joy.

.

// Dustin, meet your big sister // Her Mother said, placing the tiny baby in her arms. Stephanie remembers how happy she was to become a big sister. She remembers how much that title meant to her. 

.

.

She remembers the clown costume she wore for one Halloween. The first one she was hanging out with her brother and his friends. They all decided that year to dress as their D&D characters, and how happy they were when their costume were finally done being made – and how much candy they scored from the creativity of it all.

.

.

She remembers her mom teaching her to sew. She ripped a hole in her favorite shirt, and her mother was patient and kind enough to show how to do it the next time it happens.

// Thanks, mom //

// Anytime, sweetheart //

.

.

It rained halfway through the concert, that warm season rain. But the band kept playing, Munson even cracking a joke about it in the middle of their song. Stephanie laughed in excitement, slicking her locks back from her face as her and the crowd cheered them on.

// This is amazing // She said, looking at her friend. // Thank you //

// Even with the rain? // Steve asked, smiling fondly.

// Even with the rain // And she smiles back.

.

.

// This is the best gift ever! // The eight year old birthday boy, Dustin, shouts, and holds up a vintage X-Men comic. // Thank you, Phanie! //

He almost knocks her over, hugging her tightly and giving one of his rare kisses to her cheek.

.

.

// Hey… Hey… I wanna… I wanna tell you something // Steve slurs, leaning his upper body against the cafeteria table. The two of them had snuck away from the ‘Snow Ball’ and decided to be a little naughty. He somehow managed to sneak in some alcohol to celebrate them going into the Teen Years. 

Stephanie giggles, a bit of a ditzy drunk. // W-What? Spit it out, S-Stevie //

// Ooookay… // He leans forward more. // Fia… I… I l-love you //

She hums, smiling. // Well, I love you too, Steve. //

// Noooo, no. N-Not like that. // He says, partially laying half his body over the table now to grab her hand. // Like… I love you, love you //

.

.

She remembers the second day of being here in this strange place. And despite how scared she was for her and Will, she honestly enjoyed the boy’s company. He reminded her of so much like Dustin, just a bit quieter, unless you were talking about his favorite things.

Steph shakes her head with a sigh. // Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong when I play //

// So you are going to play with us! // Will said, joyfully, like you just told him Christmas was coming early.

// If that’s how I prove Lucas wrong, then so be it. So how does one newbie play D&D? // She asked, hopefully this will keep him occupied. 

.

.

The last thing she remembers is Steve pressing his lips into hers, proving his point that he loves her more than a friend. 

.

.

Stephanie doesn’t know what possessed her, but she snaps her eyes open and uses her new found strength to push her father away from her. Like she was being held by rope, the invisible hold snapped and she fell to her knees, gasping in air. 

Will. I got to get to Will. She tells herself, as she feels someone looming over her. She takes a look and screams. Whoever replaced the appearance of her father was someone who looked inhumane. Its whole body looked burned and bent, some hair stuck out from the top of its head, and it had an eye that looked like it had been blinded. Its pissed off expression was enough to make her scramble away and break for the opening at the end of the darkness. 

She took only a split second to look back as she felt like she broke through an invisible barrier, the gambling room was gone and replaced with an area that was covered in gross vines and scattered in a crimson color. A storm brewed above her, in its own version of thunder and lightning. The figure stayed in one place, watching her try to run away before deciding to create some obstacles.

Stephanie felt the ground shake beneath her, and watched as what looked like spikes shot up and out of the bloody ground. She shrieked and dodged the best she could, trying to stay more hopeful when she could hear ‘Separate Ways’ again, and Will’s cries for her not to give up. 

I can’t give up! I have to go home! She hears her inner thoughts echoed, along with somebody else’s. As she continues breaking into a sprint, something catches her eye. Alongside her she can see a few silhouettes that seemed to be running at the same pace as her. She blinks and turns to the otherside, seeing the same thing.

‘I can’t give up!’ They all shouted, but she couldn’t pinpoint the voices or who these people were supposed to be.

Is this another trick? Or were these other victims of this place? 

Her thoughts were cut off when something fell from the sky, knocking her over, dousing her red. She wastes not a second of hesitation to push herself back up and run, the silhouettes disappearing from her sight. Now, she has to put all her focus on the opening that was starting to grow smaller and smaller. 

She balls her hands into fists, pushing herself to the limit. She hears her name being screamed, and the room rattling more. And as she gets closer and closer to the light, she prays she’d make it through – taking the literal leap of faith, she jumps with all her might into glow…

.

.

.

.

.

.

She screams awake, and begins free falling to the ground. 

“Stephanie!” Will shouts, as the girl went splat across the ground. “Stephanie!”

Steph screams again, shooting up a sitting position as she claws the walkman off her head. She takes in a whole gulp of air that sounds like she’s choking, and panting at the same time. The thought of her almost dying was repeating over and over again on a loop in her mind.

“Stephanie!” He cries out, and tackles her for a hug. “Stephanie…” He squeezes her tight, the reality of it all settling in for the both of them. Tears were rolling down his face as he buried his head into her neck. “Steph… I-I thought I lost you. I r-really, really d-did.”

It took a split second before she broke down crying too, sobbing loudly as she wrapped her arms around him in the same vice grip. The thought of almost leaving him alone in this place scared her so much.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” She whispers, trying to comfort them both. “I’m okay… You saved me…” She hears him start bawling at her words making her break even more. “You saved me… you really did save me…”

And that was one hundred percent the truth. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve manages to get the kids home, bidding them goodbye and reassuring Mike that he was in fact going out to look for El. He just needs to go home first to change out of his suit and get the appropriate equipment. When he arrived home a little after nine, he noticed all the lights were off, and felt a bit of relief.

Good. I can get in and out. But his hopes were just burned at the stake, ‘cause as soon as he opens the door, the living room light turns on. He freezes and winces when he knows who it is.

“You went to her funeral?” His mother said, arms crossed as she was sitting in a chair. 

Jesus Christ, of course… He keeps a straight face to look at her. “My girlfriend asked me to come to Will Byers’ funeral. He was the best friend of her brother. The only reason I went to Stephanie’s is because it was a joint funeral.”

“Joint funeral?” Jessica asks, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. 

“Yeah.” He nods. “The families are close, and they both died together so…”

She hums, standing up, walking over to get right in his face. “You’re not lying to me, are you, Steven?”

“No, Mom. Why would I lie to you?”

“‘Cause you have before.”

“Well not this time. I went there to support Nancy and family through this hard time.”

She hums again, buying his lie this time. “Okay. Just checking.” Then she sighs. “It’s a shame though, the Wheelers are close to those Byers. Not exactly a classy family.” 

Steve felt his blood boil a bit, and had to hold his tongue. He should have foreseen her saying something like this. 

“But…” She continues. “You are dating a Wheeler, so I can let that slide.”

Oh, he really wants to say something to her now, but he doesn’t want to start a war. At least not yet. “Where’s dad?”

“Sleeping. Long day at the office for him.” 

“Sounds like it.” Steve shifts his stance. “Uh, listen, I’m going to uh, hit the hay myself.” He starts making his way towards the stairs. “Night, mom.”

“You going to shower first?” Jessica asks, stopping him again.

He quietly sighs, no point in pushing back. “Yeah, mom, I’ll shower first.”

“Good.” She smiles, and squeezes his shoulder as she passes by. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

He lets her go up the stairs first and up to her room before doing the same. Their interaction wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be, probably because he didn’t push back on her like he sometimes did. Steve snags some comfortable clothes in his room while stepping inside the bathroom, turning the shower on. Knowing his mother, she was probably staying up and waiting to see if he actually listened to her “suggestion”. 

Sicko. He thought, shedding off his funeral wear to change into the extras. He cleans his face off, thinking of his plan. El could have gone anywhere, and he wasn’t sure what a one man show like him can do about it. But he’s made a promise to the boys, one that he has to keep.

And for my sake, I have to find her. I need to know if she’s okay. 

He has to.

He needs to.

.

.

.

She might be the key to finding Stephanie.

(TBC)

-A/N: Fin! Thanks for sticking for the two parts :) -

~

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[britcision]

Guys I dunno how to tell you this this is my favourite fucking chapter so far and before this one the last one was

I know it looks like we’re getting distracted and side tracked off on tangents but I’m having the time of my fucking life and more than half of my favourite bits weren’t in the plan

(We’re still on track and makin’ our way but oh boy the funniest things are all accidents)

AO3 link is as ever still on the first couple of chapters!

First:

Previous:

———————

That’s Not A Twink That’s An Anime Girl

They did eventually have to let Dick out of his snow drifts.

As a former circus acrobat, Dick had the best excuse of all of them to use his vigilante training in public; he’d wormed out of Jason’s grasp, flipped over Duke and made a run for it.

Unfortunately for him, gravity was actually literally optional for Danny, and Danny didn’t even have a superhero identity to protect in Gotham.

He could turn a lot more easily on the slick ice and snow to give chase, a little flight added when friction failed him. On his own, Danny would have probably had to actually fly to take Dick down.

Of course, odds of eight-to-one would weigh on any man. Not a single member of the group wasn’t thoroughly soaked by the hour’s end, sweat under clothes and snow clinging over them.

The journey up to Wayne Manor ended up being done in chunks as the sun began to sink and the cold set in for their more human friends.

Jason, Danny, Duke, and Tim had to go back to the mall to retrieve motorbikes.

(Technically Danny didn’t actually need to, but what he did need was an excuse to get Jason alone for a minute, and he’d put up with snickering from Sam and Tuck to do it.)

Steph, Cass, Damian, Sam, and Tucker called for a cab rather than pack themselves into Dick’s now snow filled car, and their numbers were excuse enough for Danny to slip away.

Which is when Tucker realised he could have probably hitched a ride on Tim’s bike, and spent the whole journey hugging Tim Drake-Wayne.

Buuuuut it’d also mean riding a motorcycle through slushy snow. The dilemma on his face made Danny grin all the way back to the mall, despite the damp now clinging to his clothes.

Sure, the car might reach the manor first and they’d get warm and dry, but that just meant Tucker’d miss out on more Tim Time.

The snowball fight had clearly done Tim good too, he was much more energised as they walked back to the mall, complaining to Danny and the others about Amity Park’s underhanded tactics.

Danny sure as fuck wasn’t going to apologise, but he did have a much more important question: how the fuck did Jason do that landshark-disappearing-into-snow bullshit?

Which… well, was also a chance to fuck with Tim and Duke.

“Seriously Jay, I can go intangible but that snow trick was bullshit,” Danny complained with a wicked glee in his heart, reflected in Jason’s grin.

Tim nearly tripped over his own feet. Duke caught him, his own eyes wide.

“You can what?!” Tim asked in a slightly strangled voice, and Danny gave him his most innocent smile.

“Oh, has Dick not told you? Yeah, it’s one of my things, from the generic end of the list,” he explained casually, turning his arm intangible and phasing it through Jason.

Who made a face.

“Okay but why does it feel like that left a residue?” The larger man complained, scrubbing at his shirt.

Which. Danny paused, frowning down at his hand. Stuck it through his own chest experimentally.

“Y’know, I didn’t know it did that… not like I go through myself often, but I can definitely feel it,” he agreed, sticking his tongue out as he wiggled his hand around, then drew it back.

Duke and Tim looked fascinated and nauseated respectively. Danny gave them both a cheerful shrug and kept walking.

“It’s probably my pit water,” he theorised, and Jason groaned loudly.

“Danny, did you just fucking mix our forbidden smoothies?” He complained loudly, and Duke damn near choked himself on a strangled laugh.

Danny fully had to stop and turn to stare at Jason, delighted awe on his face.

“Oh, I’m calling it that forever. That’s my new favourite thing. Skulker is going to shit his entire liver when he hears “forbidden smoothie”,” he decided gleefully.

Jason smirked and bumped shoulders as he passed, forcing the others to keep moving to keep up. Duke almost jogged to lean around Jason and give Danny a curious look.

“Who’s Skulker?” He asked innocently and Danny grinned at him.

“Oh, one of my rogues. He likes to talk a big game but he’s pretty easy to deal with. All bark, no bite,” Danny explained cheerfully.

Honestly he was a little surprised Skulker hadn’t shown up in Gotham to bother him yet. He must have been having a hard time finding a portal, because it’s not like he’d stop.

Tim and Duke did seem a little reassured by his casual dismissal, but still concerned. Jason cut them off before they could ask anything that might be useful.

Yeah, Jason was kinda Danny’s favourite.

“So how the fuck do I get your smoothie out of my jug?” He asked with an overly disgusted face. Danny fought not to laugh.

“You are so asking the wrong person dude, I didn’t know it happened until just now,” he pointed out and Jason rolled his eyes.

“I’m taking at least six showers when we get to the manor,” Jason grumbled melodramatically, and Danny laughed aloud.

Then paused.

“Wait, how many bathrooms are there? Can we all shower?” He asked Tim and Duke.

Neither of whom looked ready to admit they didn’t know what was going on. Fuck Jason knew his family well.

Duke shrugged, the mall finally coming into sight, and diverted towards the underground parking.

“Well, there’s enough for one each. And Alfred could do laundry for you so you can change right after if you take a long one,” he offered, glancing down at his own now damp clothes.

Best part of a snowball fight: changing back into something warm and dry.

Danny snickered, plucking at Jason’s oversized sweater.

“The way you assume I’m wearing a single thing that I actually own is adorable,” he told the younger man sincerely, grinning as his cheeks heated.

Sure, it was more subtle on dark skin than Danny’s light tan, but he’d been friends with Tucker since he could walk. He knew exactly what to look for.

Was not quite ready for it to be combined with a sly grin right back.

“What, nothing of yours?” He asked suggestively and Tim laughed, quickly catching on.

“Did Jason give you everything?” He asked teasingly, both younger Wayne wards now grinning at their older brother.

Jason’s little pink blush was definitely still Danny’s favourite. He grinned right back, refusing to follow them to a place that didn’t exist.

“Some of it’s probably yours,” he told Tim blithely, tugging at his sweatpants. Which, as predicted, immediately changed Tim’s expression to annoyance.

“Why is everyone wearing my pants today?” Tim grumbled, and Danny’s grin widened.

“They looked a little tight on Tucker if you wanted to help him take them off,” Danny teased and Tim levelled a dry stare at him.

“I do have a boyfriend,” he pointed out coolly, like that was gonna stop turnabout from being fair play.

“Ask him to come help then,” Jason cut in, ruffling Tim’s hair, “you know Connor’s always welcome for dinner.”

For a long moment Tim’s expression froze, clearly actually considering the suggestion. Then he shook his head, sighing and calling the elevator.

“Probably not today. What floor do you guys need?” He asked as the doors slid open, stepping inside.

Quiet day at the mall. Probably the fucking cold, combined with hangovers from the new year.

And as much as Danny was thirsting to ask about that, he also very much needed Jason alone before they got on the road. Hopefully they weren’t on the same level.

“Two,” Jason said, and Tim nodded, hit two and then four. Looked to Duke. Who grinned.

“Three. Sorry Tim, you’re taking the scenic route.”

And for once the universe worked in Danny’s favour. Something fucked would probably happen soon to compensate.

He and Jason left the elevator together, waited til the doors slid back shut, and then headed off towards the bike. Danny didn’t make him ask.

“She’s definitely liminal. Not like, bad? Honestly she wouldn’t even register back in Amity Park. Damian’s is a bit worse, but he’s younger, it happens. Ecto energy likes kids,” he explained when Jason made an inquisitive noise.

He definitely wasn’t bitter or anything. He’d been just young enough to take it in like a magnet.

His parents probably wouldn’t have survived the same accident.

“It’s kinda the only thing horror movies get right. Ectoplasm can form from emotional energy, and little kids, they feel everything that much more. Tapers off when you get older, so Damian’s still a magnet. Cass is stable.”

He kinda wished he had better news, but honestly? After a dunk in the kind of rancid ectoplasm Jason described, Danny was taking it as a win that neither of the others were haunted.

Jason nodded gruffly, pausing beside his bike to pull his helmet back on. Not that it’d stop Danny from reading his mood; his aura pulsed stress-stress-stress-worry like a beacon.

Danny stepped closer, resting a hand on Jason’s shoulder, stilling the movement.

“They’ll both almost definitely become ghosts if they die again,” he explained softly, voice low enough to pass unheard in the echoing space, “but they’ll be fine. Think of it like insurance; you’re never going to lose them.”

Jason snorted, the sound distorting strangely through the helmet, but didn’t pull away.

“Is that what you tell yourself about Sam and Tucker?” He asked, trying to sound derisive but there was a tinge of hope there now.

Danny gave him a gentle wave of sorry-sorry-comfort back.

“Yeah.”

**

Back in the elevator, Tim looked at Duke expectantly. Who sighed.

“I am not a fuckin’ pokedex, Tim,” he reminded the older boy with a roll of his eyes. Which his brother totally ignored, still waiting.

Tim could fucking stare like nobody’s business.

The elevator chimed again and Duke stepped out, not the least surprised when Tim followed.

“I dunno. I thought I almost caught something in the park, but it was just a blur. Tucker and Sam both have more of an aura than Danny, but Danny’s clearly something. I just dunno if it’s a meta gene,” he explained reluctantly, and Tim nodded, already adding the information to his wrist computer.

Which he wasn’t supposed to wear out of costume.

Duke wasn’t gonna tell; he’d be a damn hypocrite if he did, he wore his Signal boots with the bike half the time. They were just much more responsive than normal boots.

“What makes you say that?” Tim asked, still typing away. It’d save Duke from having to add it all to his report, so it kinda counted as a favour.

Duke shrugged, still trying to narrow down the feeling.

“Honestly? Most people with the same meta gene fuck up a little the first time they show off around me. It’s the x-metals; I boost them, whatever they’re doing goes too hard.” Tim’d been the one to help him work that out, but it would all go in the report.

Tim nodded, gesturing for him to continue and Duke sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Danny… didn’t. Unless that’s the residue they were both talking about, and if the fucking Lazarus Pits can cause intangibility we have got to warn Bruce. But that’s not the only thing,” he added quickly, before Tim could speak.

The older boy quieted obediently, but Duke could see he had his thinking face on. Putting pieces together, all those wheels turning as one.

That was practically a fuckin’ meta ability, and it wasn’t like Tim got a boost from him either. Maybe Duke needed to do some more experimenting.

“Most metas, even the nonhuman ones, have at least some aura. Some of them can hide it, but I can get a feel for their powers from it. Danny… I dunno. I can almost feel something, but I can’t see it.”

That was the thing that unsettled Duke the most, honestly. Almost all of his powers were purely light based; seeing what other people couldn’t. Even his shadow manipulation still worked around light.

It was fucking weird for there to be anything he couldn’t see, and he could go way beyond the visible spectrum. Whatever Danny emitted, it went beyond even that.

For a guy who could even see a little into the future, it was weird.

And since Danny had showed off flight, super strength, and intangibility already? And called them the generic end of the list?

Duke was definitely leaning on the “extreme control of his aura” side of the equation.

Tim looked concerned too, which was kind of validating. It kinda sucked being the expert on things no one else could understand, because Duke always worried he was overreacting, but if Tim tagged it too? Well that was validation.

“The only bit of good news is that we can probably rule out the pits as the source of his abilities,” Tim muttered as he scanned back through his notes so far.

“They coulda been trauma activated by his death in the same way as a meta gene,” Duke pointed out thoughtfully, leaning back against the wall.

It wasn’t like they were racing home, and until someone else came down the elevator? No rush. Tim had another floor to descend anyway.

Tim himself shrugged, adding another couple of notes to his file.

“It’s definitely possible, but even if it was a million-to-one chance, I can’t imagine Ra’s keeping quiet about something this useful, or letting someone like Danny run around if he had any idea he existed,” Tim explained, making a face.

And… yeah, no point trying to argue with Tim about Ra’s al Ghul. Duke pulled a face too and sighed.

“Well, he still seems pretty sure we’ll know all about it if we can get into Amity Park. Or when Jason decides to fucking tell us,” he added with a roll of his eyes.

Tim glanced up at him, smirking.

“You noticed too?” He asked innocently, and Duke snorted. Reading Jason’s micro-expressions might not be a survival skill exactly, but it was still a bat family hobby.

“He definitely fucking knows!” He complained, the switch from Professional Hero to Baby Brother getting easier and easier as time passed.

He still had his own parents, he didn’t need Bruce to adopt him, but he’d been an only child for most of his life. Having a new army of big brothers and sisters? Kinda ruled.

And he knew most of the others felt the same. They’d all be alone in their own ways, and the stubborn independent streaks were still there, but…

It was good to know someone had your back. That no matter what happened, how the adults in your life fucked you over, you could always go to Dick’s in Bludhaven.

Could always call Jason to bitch about whatever you needed off your chest, and yeah, there was always the worry that he really meant it when he said he’d “take care” of your problem? But he also listened when they said no.

Hell, it’d been Jason’s couch that Duke had crashed out on about a year ago, back when Jason was still damn near on the Big Bat’s no fly list.

He’d been on his way to school for the start of his winter semester when an absolutely blinding migraine took him to his knees. For whatever reason, Jason had been close.

Duke hadn’t even been able to glance at his phone to call for help; even opening his eyes a crack felt like he was being blinded. He’d barely recognised Jason’s voice asking if he was alright.

Hell, back then he hadn’t known if Jason recognised him out of costume. They’d always had a more friendly relationship than Jay did with the other bats, but this had been just after Jason finally texted Dick back.

Back when Red Hood would take a casual shot at any mask crossing into his turf. Not to hit, but a definite reminder of the border.

And Jason had lifted him bodily and carried him into Crime Alley. Put him on his couch to sleep it off in pitch darkness, and made him some of the best home made soup Duke had ever had.

Duke got why the older teens were still a little wary. He’d seen the Pit Rage live and in person, and it was fucking terrifying. It just wasn’t all Jason was.

And yeah, the family also had a whole army of fellow teens who’d know exactly what you were talking about, between Steph, Tim, Cass, and Duke himself. Even Damian, as much as he pretended not to care.

Kate and Babs were always willing to spread their wings out and give them all a place to shelter. And hell, if adult supervision was needed, they even had Harley, Ivy, or Selina.

Duke may not want to be a Wayne, but he’d take everything the bat family offered with both hands.

Tim sure as hell had not adjusted from being the baby to being third oldest though. He gave a huge heaving groan to match Duke’s own, flopping back against the wall.

“I know, right! And he knows we don’t know shit. He’s just enjoying watching us scramble cuz he knows we can’t just tell Danny we don’t know,” he grumbled, scrubbing both hands through his hair.

Duke hesitated.

“We… probably could just tell Danny,” he said slowly, brows furrowing. “It’s not like he doesn’t want us to know.”

Tim gave him a sidelong look.

“Yeah, after we admit we didn’t even manage to google him. Y’know, the kid who clocked Dick’s identity from his ass,” he added dryly.

Duke hesitated again, brows furrowing.

He knew that shouldn’t matter. Knew the smart move really was to ask for help sometimes. Knew damn well that it was Tim’s stubborn streak that kept him in the cave all night, while Tuck, Steph, and Cass watched movies upstairs.

Finally he let his head drop, sighing.

“The longer we wait the dumber we look if we have to ask later,” he warned Tim but his heart wasn’t in it.

It didn’t matter that Jason was probably the only member of the family with all the pieces; whoever caved and asked for help first? Yeah, social suicide.

Tim shook his head, pushing off the wall and scowling out into the rest of the garage.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll talk to Tucker about the Amity Park problem tonight and we’ll know by morning.”

Which… Duke hid a smile.

Asking Danny? Definitely cheating, worthy of scorn and derision.

Asking Tucker? Apparently completely different. Although technically he wouldn’t be asking Tucker for the same information.

Just admitting the exact same fault.

Pulling his keys from his pocket, Duke turned and wiggled them at Tim as he headed for his bike.

“Hey, if you hurry you could try to beat Danny and Jason to the manor. Get to Tucker first,” he added, grinning as Tim hit the call for the elevator.

The shorter boy rolled his eyes, waving a hand in Duke’s general direction.

“I’ll get to him once everyone’s warmed up. He wanted a look at my set up last night anyway,” he said almost off handedly.

Duke’s grin spread.

“Oh hey, that’s perfect! Just take him to your bedroom after you’ve both just been wet and naked and show each other your most private parts!” He called loudly, wondering if any of the supers were listening.

They’d find out soon.

Tim choked, blushing cherry red and spun to yell something after Duke just as the elevator doors opened. Duke waved cheerily back, turning away to head for his motorcycle.

“See you at the manor Timmy!”

**

Reconvening at Wayne Manor was… well, chaotic. Even more so than the gala the night before, though that might have been because this time, none of them had a firm plan.

Jason and Danny arrived first, greeting Alfred on the way in. The butler was not hugely impressed by the “foresight” which had led to a snowball fight when Danny was wearing an oversized sweater, sweatpants, and little else.

Any protestations that Danny was fine and was normally this cold anyway quavered under an archly raised brow and Danny privately swore never to let Clockwork meet Alfred.

They would get along far too well.

And that’s how Danny ended up actually using one of the spare bathrooms while Jason, who had worn a proper coat and thus escaped Alfred’s wrath, grabbed him a change of clothes.

The fact that this once again included one of Jason’s shirts, when Tim, Dick, Duke, and Steph all existed and also had spare clothes here, felt a little targeted.

It hung from Danny’s shoulders like a kid in his dad’s clothes, but Jason was probably also the only one with a shirt that said “Soup Powered Fuck Machine”, and the bit was fucking worth it.

Danny tied off most of the excess fabric into something just a bit longer than a crop top and settled in to drink hot chocolate with Jason and Duke and wait for the others to come back down.

(Which, by the way? Best hot chocolate he’d ever tasted. He was stealing the recipe 1000%, it was so rich and creamy and thick and had grated curls of chocolate on top of the whipped cream.)

Any lingering questions Duke might have been hiding about the shirt? Answered themselves when Tucker walked into the room, saw Danny, and laughed so hard he wound up in the fetal position.

Yeah, Jason was never getting this shirt back.

This was Danny’s shirt now. He was gonna wear it for his next fight with his rogues.

Sam actually did have her own clothes, so she’d accepted the offer of laundry while she showered (though she was a little annoyed the laundry room was so far from any of the bathrooms that she couldn’t do it herself), so she’d rejoined them in a mix of Steph and Cass’s clothes while she waited.

She had also been unable to keep a straight face upon seeing Danny’s new country girl fashion statement, rolling her eyes and punching his shoulder as she dropped to sit next to him.

“We call the thermos Soup Time,” she explained when Cass cocked her head curiously… which probably actually confused the rest of the bats a little more.

“The thermos you threw at Killer Croc?” Dick asked, still towelling his hair dry.

Sam raised a very slow eyebrow at him, her smile toning down to a smug smirk.

“Yeah, sure, I definitely threw it at Croc,” she agreed dryly and Dick cackled, throwing his towel down on Tucker’s still curled body.

Without even seeming to open the door Alfred appeared with another tray of hot chocolates, handing them out to those who hadn’t yet gotten one and taking back empty mugs.

He even had a second hot chocolate for Danny, who was going to marry the man. Even if he was old enough to be his grandpa.

Maybe Tucker did have a point about trying to get into the Wayne family for the perks… which Danny was never going to stop teasing him about, now that he and Tim were getting on so well. Boy could make his own ins, he didn’t need Danny.

Even Tucker roused himself for a mug though, crawling out from under Dick’s towel, glancing at Danny, and bursting out laughing again. Still, this time he could keep himself steady enough to stand, take the mug, and join Tim on another couch.

Alfred gave a quick glance around the room, probably counting heads, and cleared his throat.

The assorted vigilantes quieted immediately, and Danny’s respect for the old man grew just a little. It was already pretty fucking high. Not much more room to rise.

And somehow that perfectly serene, composed face managed to convey a deep sense of satisfaction.

“I am afraid we are presently waiting only on Master Bruce to begin dinner. If you would all proceed to the dining room?” It was phrased as a polite request.

The Wayne brood leapt to like it was an order. Danny pressed his lips shut on a laugh as he followed, catching Sam’s eye to see her grinning.

Up in front, Dick hurried to walk alongside Alfred.

“Oh, is Brucie not home? Or do you want me to go dig him up?” He asked brightly, and Alfred gave him a tight smile, pushing open the door to the fucking plainest most normal dining room Danny’d ever seen in a mansion.

Sure, the table was huge, but rather than being ornate, heavy, or flashy, it looked to be hard wearing oak. Clean, well polished, and not even that polish could hide the dents.

The chairs too were comfortable, nice, and a lot more tasteful than the Manson’s or Vlad’s. Well padded, well used, but not… fancy. Even the walls were simple, the elaborately framed portraits and art pieces on the wall replaced with…

What looked like kid’s drawings. Framed, cherished, and it clicked.

No chance in hell that this was the manor’s formal dining room.

The table was huge, but not that big with the number of people in the room. More than half of it was filled with just the kids, and sure there was space for the Amity Parkers, but not a larger group.

This was the family dining room. And that was fucking adorable.

Steph’d definitely walk him through every picture on the walls to help him find Jason’s. Today was going to be great.

He almost completely missed Alfred’s reply to Dick.

“I’m afraid not, master Dick. He was expected back nearly two hours ago, and yet…”

Even deep within the manor no one could have missed the sound of the front door slamming open, and anyone who did would have been alerted by the bellowing yell that followed.

“OOOOOOOH BRUCIE! I TOLD YA WHAT’D HAPPEN IF WE HAD TO HAVE THE BOUNDARY TALK AGAIN!” An extremely loud, very chipper given… well, everything voice filled the room.

The Gothamites’ heads all snapped around with expressions ranging from delight to exasperation.

“How the fuck did she get here so fast,” Duke hissed, leaning in towards Tim, but not far enough that Danny couldn’t hear, “weren’t she and Ivy in Brazil?”

Tim, definitely the exasperated one, gave a helpless shrug. Whatever he replied with was lost under Dick, bellowing back with clear glee in his voice.

“FAMILY DINING ROOM, HARLS! FIRST HALL ON YOUR LEFT!”

So, they were all going to meet Harley Quinn today. That’d be fun. Danny had always wondered what she was like in person, and apparently she was a close enough friend of the Waynes to be welcomed in.

Sam and Tucker’s faces would be fun.

Alfred’s was a perfect mask of patience that even Clockwork would envy, and he had already pulled a new place setting from a chest of drawers.

It didn’t take Harley long to find them, striding down the hall wearing some fucking unseasonal shorts, a baggy long sleeved sweater, and her trademarked blonde pigtails with the pink and blue tips.

And a bedazzled baseball bat slung casually over her shoulder, just in case anyone missed the mark.

She greeted Dick with a kiss on the cheek, then chased down as many of the others that hadn’t immediately fled to the other side of the table. Barring Damian, none of them seemed to mind.

Jason had made an attempt to flee, but no. No, that wasn’t happening, and Danny “accidentally” got in his way. Boxed him in between chair and table, grinning all the while until Harley made her way to them.

“And there he is! My poor suffering boy!” Harley cooed, cupping both of Jason’s cheeks in her hands and yanking his head down with a lot more force than a woman her size should have been capable of, pressing a large smooch on each cheek.

For all the glares he shot Danny, he managed an almost sheepish smile for the woman herself.

“I’m fine, Harley. Really. You didn’t need to come,” he protested with absolutely none of his heart in it, a pink flush rising to complement the sparkly pink lipgloss smooch marks.

“Nonsense, baby boy, if Brucie needs his head pulled from his ass I’m always here,” Harley told him firmly, patting his cheeks and rounding on Danny.

It was kinda less funny now that she was bearing down on him, all of her airhead dramatics belied by the piercing, analytical stare she pinned him with.

“Huh, did Brucie pick up a new one while we were gone? It’s been like a week, we’ll talk about his adoption issues too,” Harley declared firmly, snagging Danny by his collar and yanking him in for a cheek smooch too.

And yeah, holy shit, she really was a lot stronger than she looked. Like, almost ghostly levels of super strength.

Batman’s “no metas in Gotham” rule was looking flimsier and flimsier, cuz while she’d been a rogue in the past, this? This was not a rogue’s welcome, and Danny actually did like most of his rogues.

Just not “kisses on the cheek”, although the grabbing and pulling was familiar.

Still, better not let Vlad know. Wouldn’t do for him to feel too welcome in Gotham.

Harley released him a moment later to give him a dazzling smile.

“Hi, you’re a little older than most of Brucie’s new kids but that’s fine, I’m your Aunt Harley now and if you ever need any help with anything, especially getting Brucie’s ass in line, you just call me, okay doll?” She told him firmly.

Jason was fucking grinning at him over her head, and it just plain wasn’t fair that he was a whole head taller than them. Danny flipped him off behind her back, and gave the woman herself a sheepish smile.

“Actually, I’m not one of Bruce’s, I’m just-“

“Jason’s-boyfriend,” Steph stage coughed behind him.

Harley’s eyes widened, Danny had a go at kicking blindly behind him and hurried to correct her.

“Just Jason’s friend,” he stressed the word and suddenly those almost frighteningly piercing eyes were roaming across his face again.

It was like if Jazz had been dunked in a vat of glitter but could still see right through him. Then Harley grinned again and patted his cheek.

“Sure thing, sugar. Still, if you stick around long enough Brucie’ll make a go of it, so be careful,” she warned him cheerfully, then lunged for Steph, got her in a headlock, and smooched pink lipgloss into freshly washed hair.

Danny couldn’t help chuckling softly as Harley scanned the room, clocked a bemused Tucker and wide eyed Sam, and her eyes narrowed for a moment.

Then she nodded, apparently deciding they probably also weren’t new niece and nephew, and skipped back over to Alfred.

“So! Not that this ain’t great, but ya clearly got some company over so if ya could just point me towards the B-man I’ll borrow him right quick?” She offered with a broad grin, not actually grabbing Alfred.

Up went the respect-o-meter again. Restraining Harley Quinn was hard for seasoned heroes, her restraining herself? None of the birds could claim that apparently.

Alfred gave her the same polite smile, setting her a place at the table.

“I’m afraid Master Bruce has not yet returned from his lunch appointment, Miss Quinzel. He should be returning shortly if you would care to join us for dinner?” It almost didn’t seem like a question, given what he was doing.

Harley waved a hand easily, making a face that was almost apologetic.

“Oh, nah, I’ll just go get ‘im for ya and send ‘im back over. Maybe with some new bruises,” she added almost as an after thought, then shrugged and grinned. “So! Where’d ya last see ‘im?”

It seemed like their missing Brucie problem was about to be solved, and the rest of the Gothamites were now taking their seats around the table.

Tucker, who’d cautiously followed Tim’s retreat around the table after Harley’s chaotic entrance, was now sat between Tim and Damian, and probably regretting his life choices.

Sam, whose parents hadn’t actually specifically forbidden her from speaking to Harley, seemed to be trying to make up her mind about something. Probably going to talk to Harley directly.

Steph and Jason had considerately left two spots in between them as they sat, and Danny let himself drop into the chair next to Jason as Alfred answered.

Well. Nearly into the chair.

“Master Bruce’s lunch appointment was approximately four hours ago in a private room at Chez Vous with one of our gala’s guests, a Vlad Masters.”

Yeah. Danny missed the chair, thunking all the way to the floor with a startled squawk.

“He fucking WHAT?!” He exclaimed, yanking himself back up, staring around the table at the equally startled Waynes.

Like they hadn’t spent the first part of the gala telling these people specifically that Vlad was a fucking mind controlling sociopath who was targeting their dad. What the hell.

Alfred raised an eyebrow very slowly at him, concern now creeping into his expression.

“He went to met Mr Masters in a private room for a late lunch, Mister Fenton. I am not aware of any other plans, but-”

And Danny was probably committing a cardinal fucking sin by interrupting him but he couldn’t hold in the groan, sinking down into the actual chair this time and thunking his head off the table.

Across the table, Tucker snickered at him.

“Let me guess. You forgot Vlad was still in town?” He asked, and Danny let out another utterly heartfelt groan.

“I forgot Vlad was still in town,” he whined as Jason stifled an entirely inappropriate bout of laughter.

There was one more important piece of business though, and Steph jumped straight to it.

“Wasn’t someone supposed to warn Bruce about Masters last night, so this couldn’t happen?” She asked in a low voice, leaning into the middle of the table.

Tim made a face, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I said I would, but… I got distracted…”

By beating his brains out against Amity Park’s ghostly firewalls apparently, and Danny did feel kinda bad for completely forgetting to mention that. In his defence, he hadn’t technically known that the Batcomputer was not ghost virus proof.

Should have guessed. Hadn’t known.

Tucker, who still had no idea about the vigilante thing, was quick to reassure Tim.

“You had a medical emergency, of course you were distracted,” he said quickly, patting the younger man carefully on the shoulder and glaring at the other assembled Wayne brood, “and any of them coulda mentioned it too!”

Dick raised a hand with a half smile that was mostly apology.

“Actually… Bruce went straight to Tim’s side after the gala. Think he stayed all night, but I never actually saw him. We coulda texted though,” he added sheepishly as the rest of the family made general noises of agreement.

Except Duke, who shrugged.

“I only learned about Masters when I met you guys this morning,” he pointed out, and Danny kinda doubted that but Duke had missed the original Masters debrief so he had the best excuse.

Alfred stepped closer to the table, and for the first time his presence actually registered as something other than the polite, nigh-unnoticeable model of efficiency.

Which probably meant he’d picked up on Danny’s super subtle hints that the situation was not fucking good. Good for him.

“And precisely what information was supposed to be shared with Master Bruce?” He asked, still politely, still calmly, but there’s a hint of warning that had most of the table stiffening up.

Tucker answered, giving Alfred an apologetic smile.

“Vlad Masters is a super creep and probably using his mind control powers to try and make Mr Wayne sign over everything he owns,” he explained easily, like it was nothing.

Harley’s eyes had widened, but she didn’t seem overly worried, just shouldered her bat again.

“So it’s also gonna be a rescue mission, huh? Vladdie a local boy or are they still gonna be in the same place?” She asked, the rest of the table tensing as one.

Because yeah. Next step was extract Bruce, and kick Vlad’s ass, and probably maybe try and get any contracts Bruce had signed in four hours? Which could now be anywhere.

Sighing heavily, Danny hauled himself to his feet. Feeling like a fucking idiot aside, he probably should have already left. He was pretty sure he knew where Chez Vous was?

“No, you guys stay put, I’ll go get him,” he said as cheerily as he could, cracking his neck.

Harley’s brows drew down in a frown and she prodded him with the bat.

“No offence kid, but ya look like a stiff breeze will flip ya over. You’re not going alone,” she told him firmly, and yeah, Danny could also feel Jason damn near vibrating from beside him.

Concern-worry-protect-coming too.

Putting a hand on the big guy’s shoulder before he could rise, Danny pushed just enough to keep him in his seat. Felt the moment of shock course through the much bigger man, and his grin became just a little more genuine.

“Sorry but if any of you come along, you’ll only make it harder for me to get Bruce back safely. Vlad’ll just take you guys over and make you fight me. I really wouldn’t worry too much though, he’s never actually beaten me,” he added with a reassuring smile.

Sam snorted a laugh, dropping into the empty seat beside Steph and crossing one leg over the other. Reassuring the Gothamites with her own complete lack of moving.

“Yeah, Danny’s been cleaning his clock since he was fourteen and it’s something like 700-5. You’d think he’d give up eventually,” she added, rolling her eyes.

Cuz yeah, Vlad might have gotten the upper hand through sneaky traps a bunch of times, but in a straight fight? Danny usually won, even before he had the power of the Infinite Realms at his back.

It wasn’t that all eyes turned to Harley. It was more that suddenly a bunch of them weren’t looking at her so pointedly they might as well have.

She regarded Danny and Sam a moment longer, then shrugged and dropped into the chair at the head of the table.

“Guess I’m stayin’ for dinner, or at least til Brucie’s back. And hey, it can be hard for folks ta come to terms with things like that. ‘Specially if they’re adults takin’ offence ta gettin’ their butt kicked by kids,” she added, a bright gleam in her eye.

Sam snickered, leaning back in her chair.

“Voice of experience?” She asked innocently and Harley tipped her a wink.

“Hell nah, you ever seen a Robin fight? ‘Sides, most of the folks who’ll shit a brick at bein’ beat by a kid get just as huffy at gettin’ beat by me,” Harley explained with a broad grin, flexing her own muscles.

It was just a little hilarious to see the differing reactions from the young vigilantes around the table.

Damian was still noticeably grumpy, though he almost felt more worried to Danny’s expert empathic eye. But then, his dad was in the lion’s den.

Dick and Tim looked like they were sharing an inside joke, and Danny had to figure they were the other Robins that went against Harley the most.

Steph, Cass, and Duke all looked decidedly self satisfied. Jason…

Jason was ignoring the rest of the table, still frowning up at Danny but not fighting his grip anymore.

“I should still come with you,” he argued like the rest of the conversation hadn’t happened, his voice low and urgent. And… yeah. Protection Obsession, 1000%.

And his Fright Knight now, fuck you very much Clockwork, but he was also not even fully formed. No way Danny was taking him to fight Vlad as his first ghost.

He gave Jason’s shoulder a quick squeeze, lowering his voice under the rest of the conversation.

“You’ll know if I need you, Jay, but Vlad used to be able to control me too. He’s not a great first run,” he explained softly.

Jason very clearly didn’t like it, brows drawing in even further, and Danny made his grin a little brighter by contrast. Brushed confidence-easy fight-be back soon across his aura.

“Besides, he’s more a sneaky fuck than an actual fighter. Not worth both of us heading out,” he tried, rolling his shoulders.

Jason raised an eyebrow, entirely unimpressed.

“By that logic it should be me going instead of you,” he pointed out, and Danny pouted. Fuck him for technical accuracy.

“Look, next time, okay?” He whispered, leaning in til his mouth was next to Jason’s ear. Tim was now watching them rather than Sam and Harley’s banter.

Perceptive little shit. But he wouldn’t catch shit if Danny covered his mouth to talk. For now, he had to persuade a cranky protective halfa not to go kick Vlad’s ass.

How the turntables and so on.

“Once you’ve got your powers in you can take him every time, alright?” He whispered, then leaned back and grinned at Jason. At least he wasn’t glaring anymore.

“I’ve got this. I’ll be fine,” he said as reassuringly as he could. And then. Pausing. “Uh… but I’ll probably… y’know. Do the thing to find him.”

Vlad couldn’t hide from Danny’s expanded aura, not without leaving this dimension. But that’d mean Jason also got another dose.

The understanding dawned across the big guy’s face, fell into a complicated expression. Finally he nodded stiffly.

“Fine. But leave it up so I know how it’s going?” He grumbled back, lips barely moving. Probably as a countermeasure for Nosy Little Brother.

Danny grinned and ruffled Jason’s hair, stepping away.

“Sure thing bud. I’ll be back with Bruce as soon as I can,” he said more loudly, more to the whole room, and let his aura flare out into the city until it touched Vlad’s.

Yeah, that beat trying to navigate the city from above for the second time ever.

A sudden absolutely awful impulse hit him, and his grin stretched just a little beyond what was humanly possible.

Why the fuck not? The reveal was gonna drop soon enough, Tuck and Sam already knew how much he wanted to show.

And most of the table were watching him.

Danny rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and had a brief moment of nostalgia. Because if he was being theatrical…

“I’m going ghost,” he called as loud as he could, letting the glowing rings of his transformation wash over him, changing him to Phantom in front of a table of gawking bats.

Then he jumped into the air and flew out of the manor through the wall, Sam and Tucker’s laughter ringing in his ears.

Now he just had to hope he could reach Bruce before Vlad did anything he couldn’t easily fix.

**

Tim was the first to speak. Other than the raucous laughter of the Amity Parkers the dining room had been dead silent since Danny’s… well, it was a transformation.

Reaching out blindly with his other hand, Tim caught Duke’s arm.

“You saw that, right?” He asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Duke nodded slowly, still staring at the wall Danny had just disappeared through.

“Not that I know what the fuck it was… but yeah…”

Because… yeah. They’d known Danny was some kind of meta at this point. Guy really wasn’t trying to hide it. But that was…

“What, you ain’t seen that before?” Harley asked from the head of the table, her voice filled with a sudden glee.

Across the table Jason snickered, and Tim’s attention zeroed back in on him.

He’d known. He’d stiffened up before Danny had transformed, still hadn’t fully relaxed and Tim could guess why. Whatever he’d told Danny to “leave up”.

It didn’t look like he was in pain, more like he’d braced himself for something that hadn’t fully happened yet. But since apparently all secrets were just on the table now…

Tim turned to Tucker.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked, and Tucker sighed happily, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“An overdramatic little fuck?” Sam offered from the other side of the table, also still grinning. Tucker wheezed loudly, slumping back in his chair.

Tim shifted his attention to Sam instead, giving up on Tucker for now. To be fair, he was kinda surprised Jason wasn’t also laughing at them.

It must have made a comical scene.

“Obviously. But that… going ghost? What did he mean?” He pressed, leaning in across the table but not lowering his voice.

Sam and Tucker exchanged thoughtful looks, Tucker’s laughter fading to giggles as they clearly weighed their answers. Then Sam leaned in too, folding her arms on the table and leaning over them.

“How much were you actually able to look up about Amity Park?” She asked, and the rest of the table leaned in to listen.

Even Harley, thoroughly devoid of context, kept quiet for a change. She could smell a good story when she heard one.

And as much as it pained him to admit…

“Nothing at all,” Tim confessed with a brief shake of his head, eyes narrowed. “I couldn’t even find the weather account you showed us.”

Beside him Tucker took another deep, fortifying breath and steadied himself in his seat.

“Yeah… warned you about that. Any tech not actually from Amity needs a baseline level of ecto before it can get through the firewalls,” he explained, and as glad as Tim was to have him back in the conversation…

“But that isn’t how firewalls work,” he protested, knowing full well the other boy knew, “Facebook doesn’t have a separate server or separate firewalls for some small town in Illinois versus the larger world, and even if it has something to do with the IP…”

Tucker raised both hands quickly and Tim subsided, a little relieved to have been cut off. The frustration from last night was building again, and he really didn’t want to deal with that right now.

“Okay, you’re definitely right almost all of the time, but Amity Park’s is… different,” Tucker explained quickly, glancing around the table and almost immediately focusing his full attention back on Tim.

Dismissing the others as below the level needed to understand the conversation, or assuming they’d keep up on their own? They all could, none of the bats were slouches on cyber security, and the distinction didn’t matter to Tim.

Yet.

They were also probably all a little below Tucker’s own technical proficiency, from everything Tim had seen (and Steph and Cass’s admitted failure to break his server encryption).

(Oracle still hadn’t broken the same server.)

Tim nodded anyway, not willing to talk and slow the explanation any further.

They could have been doing this more than twelve damn hours ago.

“Firewall isn’t exactly the right term for it either, but about five years ago… well, we decided the rest of the world couldn’t know about a lot of things that happen in Amity Park. It wouldn’t be safe,” Tucker added, watching Tim’s face carefully.

He looked almost guilty. Like he could guess how much frustration this had caused Tim. Hell, if Danny knew their identities then Tucker, his guy in the chair almost certainly did too.

And since they weren’t pretending to all be civilians anymore…

“The GIW were already censoring the hell out of us,” Tucker continued, rolling his eyes, “it was actually really annoying. They actually did the IP thing, but you could VPN around that. But we didn’t want the rest of the world, other governments to come to the same bullshit conclusions about ghosts and keep causing trouble.”

“Ghosts like Danny,” Duke cut in, not a trace of doubt in his voice.

Tucker glanced past Tim for a moment and nodded.

“Pretty much, but Danny’s a special case. Most ghosts can’t actually do the magical girl transformation,” he added with a snicker, and Sam rolled her eyes, tapping the table for attention.

“What Tucker’s dancing around telling you is that what we call the Amity Park firewall is basically alive. It has nothing to do with IP addresses or any regular tech shit because it runs on ectoplasm.”

“It’s not actually alive,” Tucker cut back in with an exasperated huff, “it’s just something I came up with with some help from Technus. He’s the spirit of technology so he can possess computers, not people, and together we made a safety net.”

“All of Amity Park is saturated in natural ectoplasm,” Sam explained, ignoring Tucker’s pointed glare, “so now whenever someone’s trying to connect online to anything based in an Amity Park server, our ecto looks for your ecto in whatever device you have. No ecto, no data.”

“It’s not that simple,” Tucker whined, like this wasn’t already a level of complexity that made Tim’s head spin.

But it was the spinning that triggered an almost ignored memory.

“Ecto… that’s what Danny nearly said last night, when he was talking about the Lazarus Pits,” he said with a sudden sharp frown, attention jumping between the Amity Parkers and onto Jason.

Who shrugged. Like this wasn’t news. How the fuck had he even met Danny in the first place?

“Show of hands, who here’s surprised that the pit waters actually come from the land of the dead?” Jason asked dryly, gaze sweeping along the table.

Tim’s attention flashed directly to Damian and then Cass, the two of them sat on a full diagonal from each other. They were the closest thing the family had to experts.

Neither looked surprised, although Damian’s eyes were narrowed. New information then, and likely something he’d be looking more into. Cass just looked thoughtful.

Harley’s hand was up though, and the table gradually turned to its gravity. She shrugged.

“Had a bet with Ives that it was super tainted kool-aid. Not that we know much about it,” she added with a shrug, and Jason snickered.

“You’re half right anyway,” he told her and the raised hand was replaced by a pair of fists pumping into the air, but silently for once.

Even Harley wasn’t gonna interrupt a lore dump.

Jason returned his attention to Tim.

“Apparently the pits are made of contaminated ectoplasm. Super tainted,” he nodded to Harley, “because the regular stuff? Doesn’t bubble, doesn’t burn, and doesn’t kill people who touch it.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed for a moment, looking Jason over, hunting any trace of a lie. He’d made himself an expert on Jason’s features, on what every micro-expression might possibly mean.

Jason was a damn good liar, but Tim knew every tell that meant he spoke the truth.

Still, he glanced from Jason to Cass, sat on Jason’s other side. The Asian girl raised an eyebrow at him, then nodded.

Human lie detector confirmed. Good to know. Even if she was rolling her eyes at him for checking.

Duke leaned in further, half his body now hovering above the table as he grinned at Jason.

“So does that mean you’ve got ectoplasm in you, if you still have the pit rage?” He asked, which didn’t really seem like something to smile about.

Although not exactly worse than the idea of Jason just still having the pit in his veins. At least Jason didn’t seem to be really bothered by it.

He just shrugged.

“I guess so?” He offered suspiciously, his face still carefully neutral as he watched Duke. Whose grin broadened.

“So does that mean if you look up stuff on Amity Park you’ll get through?” He asked innocently. Jason rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a phone, Duke,” he said dryly, and Tucker snickered.

“It’s actually kinda funny you say that, cuz Danny’s been sucked into video games before,” Tucker said innocently, giving Jason a sidelong look.

Which… raised a couple of questions, since Jason didn’t seem embarrassed by it. Tim’s eyes narrowed for a moment.

“Is that something that could happen to Jason?” He asked cautiously, and for some reason Tucker actually laughed.

“Oh, it’s something that could happen to anyone,” he said sounding very smug, and Tim tore his attention off Jason to stare at Tucker, wondering what the hell he was thinking.

Tucker just grinned back and Tim’s best guess… well, it couldn’t have been a bad experience. It had definitely afforded him the full attention of everyone at the table.

Harley stuck a hand in the air again.

“Okay, I know I ain’t one o’ the kids, but I’m gonna need to know a whole lot more about that,” she declared, and Tucker laughed, shaking his head.

“Another time? I gotta get back to get ready for school early tomorrow at the latest but if you wanted to hang out again…” he trailed off hopefully, his attention slipping from Harley back to Tim.

Tim was not going to blush. This was a chance to gather more intel in future. And just hang out with a friend! There was nothing more to it than that.

He chuckled softly and nodded, settling back into his seat.

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say we’ll see each other again,” he agreed, and definitely didn’t enjoy the way Tucker beamed at him.

Given their reactions, he probably did some kind of tech support while Danny… Danny was probably the ghost who’d protected Amity Park.

Had they always known who Jason and his family were? Tim knew he should reserve judgement until he could find an unbiased source and work out what had actually happened in Amity Park, but…

Well, it wasn’t like the Amity Parkers were hostile. There was always the chance it could be a long con, but Tim didn’t think so. They’d given too much away.

For now, it seemed safest to assume that they were fellow vigilantes, and were at least as aware of their identities as Danny. Tucker might even have been the one to work it out.

And if Tucker could solve their technical problems and give them open access to Amity Park, Tim could take that and confirm his theories.

If they had something to hide, Tim should be able to work out at least where to look based on what Tucker gave him.

“We’ve gotta wait for Danny to get back for him to infuse your tech, buuuut I can get you started on the data download if you can hook me into your set up,” Tucker said with an almost seductive smile.

Or maybe Tim thought it was seductive because it came with an offer of increased tech. And sure, he wasn’t hooking a stranger straight up to the Batcomputer, but…

Well, that’s what the fully isolated laptops were for. And Tim could bring one of those up from the cave, but… well, the Amity Parkers showed trust first. And they really had less reason to.

They’d been abandoned by the Justice League, and apparently personally picking up that slack. The least Tim wanted to do was promise them that it hadn’t been malicious; they really hadn’t known.

And to promise that he personally was going to find out how this had happened, and make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Last night wasn’t going to be in vain.

He’d ask the others about it, but as things stood right now, Tim would really like to see Tucker get a proper look at the Bat Cave.

**

Vlad was a little surprised to find he’d been having an absolutely charming afternoon with one Brucie Wayne.

He hadn’t expected to actually like the man, but one on one he had a kind of self effacing charm that Vlad rather appreciated. Far more tolerable than most of the arrogant rich bastards he had to deal with.

He had been so very interested in the running of Amity Park too, in the challenges of being a mayor and a business owner, and so few people really appreciated the struggle.

Of course, Vlad wasn’t going to out any of Daniel’s little secrets. It wouldn’t do to upset the boy more while he was trying to mend fences.

Even if he had left Vlad to the mercy of some hapless buffoons and the criminals they were chasing the night before.

So he kept it light, to issues like road maintenance, funding local fixtures like the library and the schools, things he thought Brucie had a chance of understanding.

Brucie had also noticed that their boys were becoming… close.

Well, it would be almost impossible for him not to have. And it was only natural that Brucie wanted to know more about the boy getting close to his son.

It was almost a little strange how easy it was to speak well of Daniel. For so long Vlad had been fixated on his inadequacies, on all the things he could fix if Daniel would just accept his help.

On wanting to mould Daniel into someone like himself. He hadn’t really considered that Daniel… might not want to be like him.

Vlad was rich, successful, on top of the world by every modern marker, but he was also alone. He had no one and nothing that he would call his own, that he could leave his fortune to.

Of course, as a half ghost it wasn’t like he was actually going to die, but not having a successor was part of what tugged at his core.

And Daniel… Daniel was much better at bringing people close than Vlad. He had dear friends, and easily found himself with new ones. Daniel was likeable, and Vlad had to admit that he himself… wasn’t.

People cozied up and tried to bribe Vlad, but perhaps it was the very things he’d seen as weaknesses in Daniel that made them actually like the boy.

So he focused on those instead, the qualities that had always baffled and confused him. The loyalty, the trust, everything he’d once tried to use to tear Daniel down.

And utterly failed at every turn. After so many years, yes, Vlad had detected the pattern. It was just so hard to keep from falling into it.

So when he felt Daniel’s aura wash out and across him, wary but amused on top of the aggression, he startled just a little. Made sure to obviously check his phone, and gasped when he saw the time.

It was obvious what must have happened.

“Oh my, Brucie, did you have another appointment today?” He asked in only mildly faked surprise, concealing his amusement expertly. “Dear Daniel has just contacted me, it seems you’ve been missed.”

Daniel likely thought Vlad was up to the kind of nefarious schemes that he… well, had come to Gotham to commit, in all honesty. But obviously those plans had changed with his little badger’s personal interest.

Perhaps he should have told Daniel that? Ah well, the boy would learn soon enough. He settled back in his seat, letting his aura broadcast his intent.

Calm-welcome-nothing to hide.

Felt Daniel’s disbelief, but that was fine. It was the truth.

Brucie visibly startled as well, taking his own phone out to check the time. Probably wondering why his own brood weren’t contacting him if he’d been missed so much.

“Oh… yes, I’m terribly sorry, I think Danny must have been invited to our family dinner, which I’m late to,” Brucie added with that lovely self effacing smile, shrugging. “I must have put my phone on vibrate. I’ll just tell them to start without me.”

Or his children didn’t expect him to check it, apparently with reason.

Vlad clapped his hands together and rubbed them a few times.

“Well, no matter. I do believe Danny is on his way to retrieve you, so we’d best wait where we are. I will pick up the bill, of course.”

They’d had the private room in the restaurant for around four hours now, which wouldn’t come cheap, but Vlad could be generous. Especially if Daniel expected him not to be.

Brucie made the usual noises of gratitude and appreciation, and mild confusion. Well, that would be answered by whether or not Daniel bothered to transform back before bursting in.

Either way, it wouldn’t be Vlad’s choice to reveal his little secret.

“I have my car with me, but if Danny’s on his way here…” Brucie trailed off, glancing to the window with a perplexed frown on that handsome face.

Whoever dealt with the man’s wrinkles for the cameras would be very upset, but Vlad got the feeling Brucie could afford the best. He had such an expressive face, and yet nothing was ever out of place.

Almost as good as ectoplasm for keeping one young.

He was probably wondering why Daniel was coming instead of one of his own children, and while Vlad could come up with an excuse about needing to see the boy anyway… well, he was bursting in on a very pleasant afternoon.

Vlad wanted to mend fences, not solve all the boy’s self inflicted problems.

Still, he gave Brucie a smile, touching the pad that would summon them a server again.

“Oh, you and Daniel can take the car I’m sure. He’ll just be here to make sure I’m behaving myself,” he added with a wry chuckle, settling back in his seat.

Something very much like alertness flicked across Brucie’s face, and Vlad could feel a flicker of suspicion for the first time from the other man.

Well, Vlad had baited him.

He certainly wasn’t as empathetic as Daniel, but he liked to keep an eye on his company, and this was the first trace of something more that he’d gotten from the man.

He waved a hand cheerfully, chuckling. The man likely had links to his city’s precious Bat and all his opinions on those more than just human. Best allay those concerns even if he was leaving.

“I have been known to talk peoples’ ears off if I get onto a subject like football, and four hours is surely long enough for him to suspect I’ve roped you into watching a game. Though if you did want to attend…” he let himself trail off, watched the man’s shoulders settle as he laughed.

“Oh, I’m not much of a sports fan myself, but I try to keep up with the Gotham teams when I can.”

The female teams at least, according to the tabloids, but Vlad wouldn’t judge. Much.

Brucie gave him that charming smile again, settling as well as the server came in and once again refilled their drinks.

“I didn’t realise Amity Park had their own teams in a league, though,” Brucie added with that softly furrowed brow. Like thought was such a strain for the man.

Vlad gave the server a quick smile and inclined his head.

“I will take the bill now, I believe we’re ready to go. And we don’t have our own teams in any of the major leagues,” he explained indulgently to Brucie, lips quirking up at the very thought.

Imagine trying to play a home game in Amity Park. It was hard enough getting the school teams out to their rivals.

And it gave him a chance to talk about his secondary Obsession.

“No, I have ownership of the Green Bay Packers, back home in Wisconsin. I really must warn you to stop there if you don’t want their full stats for the last four seasons or worse,” Vlad teased with a soft chuckle, taking a sip of his water.

Both of Brucie’s eyebrows rose and the man smiled back, settling into his seat.

“Well, Danny will be here soon to cut you off anyway,” he commented, that charming smile looking far too comfortable on him.

And he did have a point. Giving him a nod of acknowledgement, Vlad relaxed and let the gentle sea of Obsession take him, enthusiasm ramping up with every word he spoke.

It was nice to have permission for a change.

**

Despite his cheerful words, Danny couldn’t help but tense as he flew across the city. He’d make it within minutes, way faster than anyone trying to actually use Gotham’s streets, but…

Vlad had had Bruce for hours already. Danny was gonna hope that whatever he was doing, it was just more of his shady businessman bullshit.

He really, really, really didn’t want to fight overshadowed Batman.

Of course, remembering the looks on the flying furry brigade’s faces gave him a definite boost in mood. He didn’t actually wanna show up at Vlad’s giggling, buuut that was a problem for future Danny.

Present Danny was busy specifically not worrying so that he didn’t worry Jason into coming after him. Maybe telling the guy about Vlad’s lightning juice hadn’t been a great idea?

Of course, the good thing about the expanded aura was that he could still feel Jason’s like they were right next to each other.

And who’d have thought Jason was also a fucking mother hen? Poor guy was still tense, although at least Danny could still feel just a little amusement.

Yeah, Jason was getting to enjoy the full fruits of Danny’s theatrics. It wasn’t fair, but it made the whole thing better. Gave him something to keep his mind off Danny.

As if on cue, a strong spike of incredulous-funny-what the fuck came from his favourite non-clone halfa.

Danny was nearly at the restaurant now, and paused just above to send a questioning pulse back. Felt Jason startle, and could almost see him roll his eyes.

Later-come back-done?

The fuck were they talking about? Maybe the bats were right to always have their own little comms in. Danny sent a reassuring wave back.

Soon-anticipation-just arrived-curious.

And yes, Danny did expect the caution-stay safe-coming after you that he got back, but he wasn’t sure Jason would get the full effect of him actually rolling his eyes.

One last check for Vlad’s aura and Danny turned invisible, phasing through the roof and walls to have a look around.

Vlad was alone in a private room, with nothing but some glasses of water and a mostly empty bottle of wine. Alright, food was probably over a while ago, but the water might be a good sign.

Vlad wasn’t known to take care of the people he overshadowed.

Danny did a quick search of the rest of the building, stopping just shy of accidentally sticking his head through a bathroom wall when he felt a familiar presence.

Yup, Bruce was in the bathroom. Probably not overshadowed, which might just mean that Vlad was finished with him.

Not taking the risk, Danny made his way stealthily back to the private room, popping into visibility behind Vlad’s seat.

At least his aura being everywhere made it hard for Vlad to get a fix.

“What, did I not pay you enough attention last night, Vladdie?” He complained, draping an arm across the back of the man’s chair and noting the way he stiffened.

Also, these chairs? Much more pretentious. All carved and ornamental and bleh. Nowhere near as good as the ones at Wayne Manor.

Vlad didn’t actually turn to face him, reaching out and picking up his water glass instead. Filling his hands, so it’d be harder for him to take a shot at Danny?

Or just Vlad being Vlad and dismissing him.

Vlad took a long, slow sip before replying.

“While I would have preferred more of a chance to speak with you, Daniel, my presence here is solely to your benefit I assure you,” he said cool as a cucumber.

Danny narrowed his eyes, giving another poke of his aura. It didn’t feel like a lie.

“How so? Gonna rob Brucie blind and give it to the poor? I guess green also works for Robin Hood,” Danny mused, fingers drumming on the back of the chair.

Vlad actually looked at him then, a sharp sidelong glance before the man relaxed again, chuckling softly.

“Nothing of the sort. But if you and young Jason are going to be closely… connected, I will be seeing much more of Brucie, and I thought perhaps I could help lighten the… impression you left.”

Wait.

Was Vlad blushing?

Danny peered forward for a better look, utterly at a loss for what connection Vlad might be talking about. Cuz yeah, he and Jason were friends, but…

Oh.

Oh!

Vlad bought the closet scene.

Somehow that outcome had never even occurred to Danny and he felt himself flush, cheeks going green. Fuck, the goal had been to cause a scene, but Vlad actually thought…

Wait.

“So you’ve been here trying to convince Bruce I’m not an evil harlot corrupting his boy?” Danny asked, barely concealed glee rising with every word.

Because if this was funny, if this was fucking hilarious, he didn’t have to be embarrassed by it. Vlad didn’t need to know shit about his actual sex life, but if he’d actually called Bruce to try and polish up Danny’s new slutty reputation…

Vlad cleared his throat pointedly, still not looking directly at him.

“And luckily for you, he is somewhat willing to believe you have some good traits,” he said archly, and that fucking floored Danny.

“YOU think I have good traits?” He asked incredulously, cutting off whatever Vlad was about to say.

The man even took it pretty well, just one of those loud sighs like Danny was a particularly tiresome child, not a full grown adult man.

“I understand where you might have got the impression I don’t, Daniel, but if I thought you had none would I have pursued you so harshly?” He asked, finally turning in his chair to face Danny frankly.

Which meant he got both barrels of the sceptical face Danny was making.

“Dude, you say that like Obsessions are fucking logical,” Danny said dryly, and Vlad actually chuckled.

Not even condescendingly.

Like Danny made a point.

“Quite. Unfortunately for myself, the effects of my Obsession went into how I planned to achieve it, not in the goal itself. You have always been a remarkable young man, Daniel.”

And that was at least familiar ground.

Danny rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, and I’d be even more if I let you lure me off to your creepy castle in Wisconsin to become mini-Vlad. Brucie can’t ship me to Wisconsin,” he pointed out, just about resisting the urge to poke Vlad in the chest.

The old guy was being weirdly noncombative, but it had been a while since they saw each other. Actual years, which Danny couldn’t imagine would have been good for the other halfa.

Much as it sucked being someone else’s Obsession and he’d loved being free of the Fruitloop… he wouldn’t wish the ache of an unfulfilled Obsession on anyone.

Fuck did that mean Vlad had actually moved on? Was that something he could do? Please let it be something he could do.

The older halfa chuckled again and took another sip of his water.

“No, I’m well aware that he can’t. But our time apart gave me little to do but consider what I know of you. You have grown to a fine young man, Daniel, perhaps with all that I have ever lacked.”

He looked up again, their eyes meeting, and Danny very nearly recoiled. Almost stepped back and away from the other halfa’s aura so that he couldn’t feel Vlad’s pride seeping into his skin like grease.

“Okay, this is getting fucking weird. Do I have to kick your ass to get whatever contracts you made Bruce sign back?” He asked sharply, trying to get the conversation back to somewhere he understood it.

Vlad hesitated a moment, then settled back again, clearly reading Danny’s discomfort in his aura if not on his face because the pride settled away.

Back in Wayne Manor, Danny felt Jason keying up, the slow growing happiness cutting straight back to danger-warning-protect-need help?.

Danny forced himself to calm too, closing his eyes for a moment to focus on the feel of Jason, not Vlad.

He just.

He didn’t know what to do with Vlad being proud of him. That had only ever meant he’d fucked up somewhere horrible before.

Calm-safe-I’m safe-not hurt.

“Still in contact with young Jason?” Vlad asked, letting the subject change even if he didn’t answer Danny’s question.

Danny cracked an eye open to peer at him.

“Yeah, he wasn’t a fan of me coming to see you on my own. Not to pick up his dad,” he added before Vlad could get the wrong idea.

Actually. It was still kinda funnier if Vlad kept the wrong idea.

From what Danny could read of him, no worries about that. Vlad was amused, but not comfortable.

Yeah, well, he could join the club. Danny gave his shoulder a gentle poke.

“Anyway. What did you really want Bruce for?”

Vlad glanced at his watch, then at the door.

“Well he’ll be back any second to tell you himself, Daniel. I wasn’t sure if you’d shared this little secret yet so I didn’t mention any of our shared nature, but he was the one to invite me out.”

Which also felt like the truth. Both parts. Danny hesitated for a moment, not quite sure if he was ready for this particular secret to be out to the Batman.

It’d be out the second the man got home if no one had texted him yet, but that was a long car ride away unless Danny flew back, and he didn’t want to leave Bruce unsupervised again.

Just because Vlad was being weird didn’t mean he wasn’t being Vlad.

Still, he’d know if Bruce was overshadowed right away, and if he wasn’t he could ask the man himself what Vlad had been up to.

And Vlad was in human form. Not like he could transform any faster than Danny if shit was about to go down.

The decision pretty much took itself out of his hands when the door began to open and Danny jumped back out of grabbing reach (just in case) and changed back.

Which was when he remembered what he was wearing.

**

Lunch with Vlad Masters had been… informative, and Bruce was a little surprised just how much time had passed.

Masters might be an unscrupulous businessman but he was clearly devoted to the things he cared for; Daniel Fenton, Amity Park, and the Green Bay Packers.

He just couldn’t quite reconcile how those three pieces fit into the picture at hand. To hear Vlad tell it, nothing untoward had happened in Amity Park in his whole time as mayor. And yet… the calls were real.

Even if Masters hadn’t hit the button personally, someone in his office must have.

Was there a chance that Danny had some sort of mind control abilities? That he’d removed the memories of those in Amity Park who’d opposed him?

It would explain why Masters would so fervently champion a boy he’d had almost nothing to do with. Oh, Danny Fenton had been born to two of Masters’ college friends, but they hadn’t seen each other for years before Danny’s birth.

As far as Bruce could tell the two had never even met before Danny was at least fourteen; Vlad had lived in an actual castle in Wisconsin and been a regular on the gala circuit for his area.

Friend of the family or not, it was suspicious that the only adults he’d spoken to so far had such diametrically opposed views on Danny.

Vlad was obviously hiding something. About Amity Park, Bruce was completely certain. The man’s accounts simply did not add up with the evidence. About Danny��

Bruce had his suspicions, but there was very little clear evidence about the man himself. Danny was technically an unknown quantity. And the center of far too many mysteries for Bruce’s peace of mind.

Bruce slipped away to the bathroom to let his thoughts settle not too long into Vlad’s lecture on the history of the Packers.

If Danny was coming from the manor they had a while yet before he’d be there, so he could let Vlad ramble on for a while once he returned.

His cheeks hurt from keeping up Brucie’s smile, but that was nothing new. The gala last night was still weighing on him, but it made it easier to put the act back on.

If Danny was coming here, and would accompany Bruce back to the manor, they would have a while to talk in the traffic. Finally a chance to speak to the man himself and let Bruce get an unbiased read.

Something had happened before Vlad claimed to have received a message from Danny. Something that made him start, and while it could have been the man’s phone, Bruce doubted it.

Even silent vibrations actually made some sound, and Vlad had barely glanced at the device. Not long enough to read any kind of complicated message; he hadn’t even unlocked it.

Vlad must have thought he was hiding it, but he’d been amused by whatever happened. Amused, and known immediately it was Danny. That Danny was coming.

Whatever else he might be, Vlad was certainly not a particularly skilled liar. Not to Batman.

Washing his hands, Bruce wondered if he might not be able to get Vlad back onto the subject of how Danny would be coming.

On his own, or at least Vlad hadn’t mentioned anyone else. And using Bruce’s car to get back? There were hardly bus routes between the manor and the city.

Unless Danny had some kind of meta abilities. Damian’s report had included his suspicions, and Duke and Dick had both seen him fly away.

That would put him here sooner than expected, but Bruce was certain he’d have noticed a flying meta in his city. Unless Danny only flew for certain situations.

Bruce paused at the door to their private room for half a second, letting his Brucie mask settle comfortably into place. Letting the smile spread. And pushed the door open.

Something bright flashed inside and Bruce tensed, anticipating a trap. One he would have no choice but to fall into, as he was now. But as the door cleared, he saw…

Vlad at the table, just as Bruce had left him. And Danny Fenton settling like he’d just moved sharply, wide blue eyes and messy hair above a shirt that was far too large for him tied off at his waist, and.

And.

Impractical for the weather. The trousers were closer to the right size, but arms and feet were bare, along with a slice of midriff.

Completely dry. It was still snowing, and the streets were covered in snow and slush. There was a slim chance he’d left a coat somewhere, but even his hair was dry.

Windswept and dishevelled hair, suggesting flight. His boys were right, and Bruce made a note to check in with Oracle later. See if he had been detected in the air.

Startled by his presence. Likely not because he didn’t expect Bruce to be there, not if he’d come expressly to pick him up. More that he’d been distracted by whatever had him moving so sharply.

Staring at him.

And then there was nothing else to observe, except…

Wearing one of Jason’s shirts. One that Dick had given him as a joke. It hung off him, exacerbating their size difference.

Danny was small. Closer to Cass’s size, and this close up Bruce could see the lean muscle, but there wasn’t much of it.

In pure hand to hand Bruce could probably take him, but whatever abilities let him tank a fight with Killer Croc left the actual outcome an unknown.

Blinking hard to distract himself from just how and why Danny had managed to show up in Jason’s clothes, he pulled on his big happy Brucie smile for the room.

And suddenly Vlad was incensed.

Bruce would swear the man had been smiling when he opened the door, but at some point while Bruce gave Danny a quick once over his mood had turned to rage.

He smothered it down quickly, but his jaw was still tight when he spoke through gritted teeth.

“Daniel, I believe this is the first time you have met Brucie,” Vlad said, his tone so frosty Bruce nearly shivered.

Not controlled by Danny then. At least, not controlled in a way that made him deferential. Not unless this was a slip in Danny’s control.

The boy looked startled still, looking down at himself like he’d forgotten what he was wearing and giving Bruce a sheepish smile.

Honestly he could have been wearing the world’s finest suit and not allayed any of Bruce’s suspicions, but it wasn’t Brucie’s job to let that show.

Instead he cranked the smile up a couple more notches, stepping forward and holding out a hand to shake.

“Yes, Danny, my kids simply won’t stop talking about you! I was sorry I couldn’t say hello last night,” he added, wanting to see how Danny would react to a little dig.

Nothing he couldn’t deny as being purely sincere.

Danny made a face and then pulled a smile on over it, stepping forward quickly to shake Bruce’s hand.

Some people only needed touch to take control of another. Bruce felt nothing of the sort, but Danny’s hand was oddly cool. Not unaffected by his clothing then.

“Yeah… sorry about that. About… well, all of it,” Danny said with a sheepish smile and one shoulder shrug that nearly had the shirt’s overlarge neckline fall off his other shoulder.

He scrabbled to right it, and Bruce firmly stifled the impulse to relax.

It was familiar, something any of his kids might have done. It could easily be an act to lure him into a false calm.

Brucie laughed and clapped him on the other shoulder, keeping half an eye on Vlad, who was still stewing at the table.

“Oh, I certainly got up to much worse in my day. You’re only young once, right?” He offered jovially, tipping Danny a playboy wink.

The boy blushed to the roots of his hair.

Interesting.

As much as Bruce wanted to pull at Vlad a little more, try and work out his sudden change of mood, he would much rather begin his observations of Danny Fenton directly.

“Still, we should get going or we’ll miss all of dinner,” he said with a cheerful smile, nodding to Vlad. “Thanks for a lovely afternoon, Vlad! Maybe we’ll catch a football game before the season ends.”

The man’s disposition brightened like he’d flicked a switch, though he still shot Danny an almost smug dirty look.

“Oh, that would be charming, Brucie. I’ll get you tickets for the Packers’ next game, we’ll have a splendid time.”

Danny snickered beside him, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning back. Not afraid of Vlad either, for all that the other man was older, richer, and more influential.

“Yeah, Vladdie here knows aaaall about packers,” he said with a sly smirk, looking down on Vlad from his standing position.

Vlad responded with a look that Bruce had previously only seen on Clark’s face, around when Dick started teaching Kon sex jokes. And in the mirror.

Steph called it the “your puberty was my death sentence” look and insisted every one of the mentors used it. Bruce personally wasn’t convinced Oliver Queen knew what shame meant.

He’d abandoned his son. Bruce would never forgive that until Roy asked him to.

Perhaps he did have more in common with Vlad than he’d thought though. Watching the children get old enough for innuendo sucked.

Luckily Brucie could pretend not to get it.

“I know, he was telling me all about their recent games before you arrived,” he said cheerfully, oblivious as anything. And watched how both responded to innocence.

Vlad still looked pained, possibly by the pair of them now. Danny… Danny was smirking, clearly not convinced.

That was concerning. The boy knew who Nightwing and Signal were, there was a chance he knew Bruce’s identity too and this at least pointed in the same direction.

Still, no need to confirm anything for him. With another cheery wave to Vlad he held the door open for Danny.

“So, shall we? Would you like to take my car or do you have your own way back?” He asked, subtly prodding to see what Danny might say. And perhaps a hint how he’d gotten there.

Danny hesitated for a moment, glancing at Vlad. Like there was something between them, something to do with him.

Yes, Bruce would have to meet with Vlad Masters again in future. After he’d gotten to speak to Danny.

“I’ll come back with you,” Danny said with a shrug, nodding towards the door and then moving through it at Bruce’s wave.

He kept half an eye on the boy as they headed down to the restaurant’s garage and the sleek black car Bruce had driven over.

It’d be at least twenty minutes to drive back to the manor at this hour, maybe longer. Time enough for a short interrogation.

“I already messaged the others and told them to get started without us, I hope you don’t mind,” he said in his best charming Brucie voice, beeping the car to unlock it.

Danny shrugged, moving around to the passenger door, apparently entirely unbothered by bare feet on freezing concrete. Bruce almost wished he had some spare shoes for him.

“Yeah, it’s cool. I figured. So, any idea how long it’ll be to get back?” He asked, slipping into the car and sitting cross legged on the front seat.

Bruce followed suit, turning on the car and then the heat right away. Doing what he could.

“Probably not more than twenty minutes. Your seat is heated too by the way, here. You made it down very quickly, were you in the area?” Bruce asked, watching Danny from the corner of his eye as he strapped in.

Would Danny just tell him?

He’d not been hiding from the boys. If he really didn’t think this had to be a secret, he could just tell Bruce.

Danny shrugged again, opened his mouth, and Bruce’s phone rang, cutting him off.

His phone should be on silent. Bruce gave Danny an apologetic smile, pulling it out and planning to push the caller to voice mail. Wondering if he might have turned the ringer back on without meaning to. Or if Oracle had pushed through.

There was no one else he needed to talk to more than Danny right now.

Of course the universe would mock him for that thought.

The caller ID blinked accusingly up at him from the lock screen.

John fucking Constantine.

Bruce hesitated for a moment. Torn. The mystery or the responsibility?

Any other member of the Justice League would be ranked as a more reliable source of information than a possible suspect, but after the night Bruce had had? After what he’d learned?

The problems in Amity Park may have begun or ended with Danny Fenton, but the problems in the Justice League traced neatly back to John Constantine.

When it came down to it, Bruce knew he had a responsibility.

He gave Danny another, more apologetic smile.

“So sorry… do you mind if I take this quickly?” He asked, holding the phone carefully so Danny couldn’t see the screen.

The boy’s face cracked into a grin and he shrugged a third time, getting comfy in the expensive leather seat.

“Hey, if you keep one eye on the road you’ll be the safest driver I’ve ever ridden with. You don’t wanna be too late though, you’ve got another extra guest for dinner and she seemed real impatient,” he said with a slight smile, turning on his heated seat.

About to get out of the car, Bruce paused again.

“Oh? Who was that?” He asked half rhetorically, already listing the women in his life who could possibly make this situation worse.

Top of the list…

“Harley Quinn.”

Of course.

What did she want now?

Bruce forced himself not to think about it, swinging up and out of the car and holding the phone to his ear.

One disaster at a time. No matter how many the universe was piling in his lap after nearly a month of nothing. He’d known it was too good to be true.

At least the garage was empty, and the car soundproofed. Danny wouldn’t hear a thing.

“Constantine. How did you get this number?”

**

In a secluded corner of the House of Mystery everyone’s favourite magical scapegoat stubbed out a cigarette and reclined back in his seat.

“Oh, is this not fun when people do it to you? And here’s me thinkin’ barging into other peoples’ business was how you lot showed affection,” he said dryly, fingers tapping off the glowing purple ward scrawled on the phone case.

Phone numbers were for plebs.

He could fuckin’ hear Bats grinding his teeth through the phone. And yeah, maybe winding him up further wasn’t the best idea, but fuck it.

If John had good ideas, he’d never have given the fucking Justice League his contact info. Case in point.

Winding up the big Bat was the price they all had to pay for royally pissing him off all fuckin’ night and all fuckin’ day.

Kept an impressive handle on the growl though. Must have been somewhere semi-private.

“Constantine. You’ve been out of touch for more than eighteen hours and there is a serious-”

John cut him off, waving his cigarette around as if he could shush the man from here.

“Oh no no, big boy, you’re not fuckin’ blaming that on me. You’re the one fucking up all my communicators, and you’re going to fuckin’ stop. Now.”

And yeah, maybe he did enjoy the very tiniest inhale of surprise he could hear. Or was that Batsy counting to ten?

“What do you mean.” The trademarked growl was definitely creeping in, private place or not. Well, good. John being too annoying to kill was what kept him alive.

Better spell it out for the fucker though.

“I’m a fuckin’ magician, Batlad. On a couple of Hell’s most fuckin’ wanted lists. I can’t be fuckin’ found by people fuckin’ wishing me fuckin’ harm, and let me tell you how goddamn delighted I am to learn that that now includes you!”

All he’d wanted to do today was drop off some results for the junior spandex brigade about some of the glyphs and wards they’d found at a dig.

Just trying to stop them from blowing their fucking hands off. A humanitarian mission. John fuckin’ hated kids. Handless kids only slightly worse.

And he couldn’t contact a single member of the fuckin’ Justice League because some asshole was trying to use them to hunt him down.

Zatanna had needed to come to the House personally to circumvent the wards she’d helped him build.

(Good to know how well they worked though. Assuming they were working and he’d done something to piss off the big Bat enough that he was out for blood.

There was technically a chance they’d been calibrated wrong and Batsy wanted to bring him ham. Less likely than harm, in John’s humble opinion.)

Still, the only way to unfuck his communications was to find and defuse whatever had pissed the skulky bitch off, and while Zatanna had agreed to drop off his work for the kids, he needed to know what else they’d found.

He so was not going to fucking Alaska in January.

And with that as his alternative, John forced his most chipper smile onto his lips. Apparently people could sense that through phones. Who fuckin’ knew.

“So. You’ve fuckin’ got me. What the hell do you want?”

—————

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