Chapter Text
Bruce was pissed. Constantine tricked his son into a deal and was now keeping Danny away from him. His son who could turn into a cat and was dead and who was Damian's twin brother. A twin brother Bruce was never told about.
"Damian, why did you never mention you had a twin brother?" Bruce asked Damian skeptically.
"Because he was dead!" Damian shouted tearing up.
"We could have revived him." Bruce said and Damian glared at him.
"You don't understand! Daniel's body was electrocuted then vaporized! They couldn't bring him back! Every part of him was obliterated!" Damian shouted angrily.
"And now I know he's dead and a ghost and he didn't even haunt me! Why wouldn't he tell me when we first met?" Damian started to cry and Bruce hugged him.
"Maybe he was scared you would reject him." Bruce said thinking to back when Daniel almost told him the truth.
"He's my brother, why would I do that?" Damian asked tearfully.
"He is a ghost maybe he didn't want to scare you." Bruce said gently.
"Scare me, like my twin brother could ever scare me. Tt. He was always weaker than me." Damian said and Bruce frowned at him.
"When we fought I always won and I always ended up... Grandfather said we had to fight to the death. He always revived Daniel but when Daniel ran away he got into trouble and I saw the footage of a lab... I don't know why he stepped inside but that was the last I saw of him. Grandfather explained that Daniel was beyond saving and I... I wasn't allowed to mourn him." Damian explained crying quietly.
"He seemed to finally decide to come back and haunt you." Bruce pointed out.
"That jerk. Waited four years to haunt me!" Damian yelled out angrily still crying. Bruce hugged him close and Damian cried into Bruce's chest.
"I don't know a lot about ghosts but is it possible when he died he may have forgotten you?" Bruce asked and Damian shook his head.
"He wouldn't have forgotten me. Everytime Daniel died he would always forget little things but he always remembered me." Damian said sounding very sure of himself.
Bruce suposses that could be possible. When they found Daniel he was celebrating his birthday along with Damian's.
"Are you mad at him?" Bruce asked.
"Yes. He was supposed to come and haunt me once he learned he was a ghost! Instead he waited four years and when I met him he didn't even tell me it was him!" Damian shouted, upset.
"Why didn't he tell me? We're brothers. He promised to have my back no matter what. Even when he ran he promised to haunt me if he died." Damian cried into Bruce's shoulder. Bruce just held him giving him all the comfort he could.
"He was supposed to haunt me. Why didn't he find me sooner?" Damian asked sadly.
"I don't know but maybe you could ask him when Constantine gives him back." Bruce tried comforting him.
"Gives him back? What do you mean?" Damian asked in confusion.
"Constantine is keeping Daniel for two weeks and forbade us from visiting." Bruce explained sheepishly.
"What?! He can't do that!" Damian yelled angrily.
"I have agreed to give him shared custody, he can do that. I already tried bringing Phantom back secretly but he said he would rather stay with Constantine for two weeks." Bruce informed him.
"He doesn't want to come home?" Damian asked, heartbroken.
"I don't know, he said he made a deal with Constantine and if he lost and he did then he would agree to stay with Constantine for two weeks." Bruce explained to him.
"Tt! Daniel and his stupid deals! He always held up his end of the deal. Never once has he backed out of deal. Even if it included fighting me." Damian said pouting.
"How many times did you guys fight?" Bruce asked curiously.
"246. He never won. I was too cowardly to die and save him the pain of dying again." Damian said with a sad far away look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." Bruce apologized, hugging Damian close again.
"Tt. For what?" Damian asked tearfully.
"I'm sorry you had to to through that. You do know you're allowed to mourn now, right?" Bruce asked him and Damian nodded sobbing into Bruce's shoulder. Bruce held Damian until he passed out. Bruce then carried Damian to bed and tucked him in. Bruce watched over Damian feeling immensely guilty for not being able to save Daniel.
Bruce can't imagine what it was like to be forced to kill a brother over and over again only for that brother to come back a little less like himself each time. Daniel finally dying sounded like a mercy. Bruce wonders if his final death let him regain control of his mind and recover from all the pit madness he no doubt went through.
Daniel seemed a bit damaged but he did seem sound of mind. If not just a bit sporadic. He was dead after all.
A dead son, a ghost. He wonders if Daniel will ever go into the afterlife. Move on from being a ghost. That's how it worked, right?
Bruce had to admit he didn't know anything about ghosts. Constantine explained some things but not a lot. Is his son cursed to stay a ghost forever?
Will Bruce become a ghost when he dies? Will Damian or any of his other kids? What about Alfred?
Does anyone even know? Can he even get the answers to the questions he's asking? Does he even want to know the answers? Will his mind explode if he tries to comprehend something so incomprehensible as the afterlife? Was the afterlife incomprehensible or was it something he could get answers to?
His head was spinning. Maybe he shouldn't think too hard about the afterlife.
Bruce took a deep breath and listened to Damian sleep for a short while more then headed to bed to let his mind wander about the afterlife and the existence of ghosts.
Constantine once described the afterlife as infinite. Infinity, a concept that wasn't meant to be comprehended. Constantine also said it also came down to how you died and what you believed in.
What did he believe in? He didn't know anymore. Death didn't even seem as permanent as it should have been. What counted as being dead and what counted as being alive? Did it matter?
Ghosts were dead but could still get hurt. Could ghosts die? If they could die where would they go? Would they just be erased from existence forever?
Would a ghost dying feel like a dreamless sleep, never able to wake up again? Would they be at peace or in eternal agony? Would they even know?
Bruce's thoughts lured him into a fitful sleep and when he woke up again all those questions seemed less significant because they were replaced with worries over his family, his sons, his company, and the criminals of Gotham. Bruce had no time to simply contemplate existence and the afterlife.
Bruce had a life to live and that's what mattered. A life he intended to use to make Gotham better and bring his family back together.
It was just then he realized that he needed to tell his other kids that Phantom was really Daniel, Damian's dead twin brother. Bruce drank a large cup of coffee and decided to call a family meeting and tell them all at once. Once everyone was gathered, minus Damian who refused to leave his room, he told them.
"What?! Phantom is actually Damian's dead twin brother!?" Dick yelled out in surprise.
"Yes." Bruce nodded.
"Does this mean we have a new brother and not a pet cat?" Tim asked.
"Yes." Bruce said simply.
"Question, where is Phantom? Why isn't he here?" Stephanie asked.
"Danile is staying with Constantine these next two weeks." Bruce stated.
"Why?!" Dick shouted sadly.
"He lost a bet and Constantine has joint custody." Bruce explained shortly.
"If he is your blood son why does Constantine get joint custody?" Duke asked.
"Constantine knows more about ghosts than me and knows how to care for him better." Bruce admitted sourly.
"So you finally admit someone is better than you at something and it's taking care of your own son." Jason taunted him.
"I'm sorry Jason." Bruce apologized once again feeling guilty for not being able to save him.
"We are way past apologizing Bruce." Jason said and Bruce sighed.
"I'm glad you're here." Bruce said sincerely.
"Don't get all sappy on me." Jason snapped then left.
"Is there any more questions or concerns?" Bruce asked sighing. No one spoke up.
"Meeting adjourned." Bruce said and everyone left the table to talk about this new development. Bruce headed to Damian's room and knocked on the door.
"Leave me alone!" Damian shouted and Bruce sighed.
"I'm here if you feel like talking." Bruce offered.
"I said leave me alone, Father." Damian snapped at him opening his door to glare daggers at him.
"Okay." Bruce said and left Damian alone. Damian slammed his door close and Bruce didn't know how to make things better. Bruce instead threw himself into his work trying not to fall into another existential crisis.