Work Text:
Danny’s ribs throbbed in his chest as he ran down the sidewalk, twisting between people and lamp posts. He ducked into a side alley when he heard shouts close in behind him, phasing through the side of a dark building. His chest heaved with labored breathing he technically didn’t need but his mind insisted on him taking anyhow.
He glanced around the dark room, taking in the spiderwebs, mice and smell of must. Abandoned by the looks of it. Danny moved forward silently, looking for anything he could use to alter his appearance or clothing. In the front corner of the room, near the entrance, a coat rack caught his eye. Scanning through the options, he frowned. None of them would last him long but they were better than nothing.
A loud clatter sounded somewhere further into the building and he could hear the familiar voices growing closer.
His time was up.
Danny yanked the oversized off-brown coat off the hook and shoved his arms through the sleeves, snagging a gray beanie that looked two seconds from completely unraveling. His head whipped up and he lunged to the side just in time to dodge a tranquilizer dart. The GIW agent kept shooting darts into the room, yelling. He didn’t stay long enough to hear what the man said, instead phasing back through the back wall.
He ran directly into a woman, apologizing before he ducked under her punch. The woman was dressed in all white, a messed up looking taser in hand. Danny ran, letting the woman yell behind him. GIW agent or not, he didn’t want to get tased again.
He skidded out of the alley on the other side and booked it across the street, weaving through honking cars as they whipped down the road. He glanced behind him but he couldn’t see any more of the agents. Danny’s hands shook as he focused back in front of him and spotting a massive crowd outside the front of what looked to be a subway entrance, he changed his trajectory and ran toward the stairs.
He brushed off nasty looks and swears that were thrown at him and focused on getting out of sight of the street as he pushed through the bodies surrounding him, ignoring the heavy feeling in his chest. He just had to put one foot in front of the other.
He was just lucky he managed to get into a city. The Guys in White really hated being in the public eye and that fact had saved him at least four times in the last two hours as Danny ran through the entire city. It wasn’t the most reliable plan, but for one reason or another, the GIW wanted to keep things very hush hush. It wasn’t like people didn’t know about ghosts anyhow. Not that ghosts were often friendly upon first contact, but for the most part, they just acted like cranky toddlers that hadn’t gotten their afternoon nap.
Regardless, Danny could use that to his advantage. They wouldn’t take him down in a place with so many eyes.
His next exhale came out in a chilly blue mist and swearing under his breath, Danny looked around. Very inconvenient timing. Then he spotted the trigger for his ghost sense. A man with black hair and a large stature, looking angry as he muttered into a phone held to his ear. Danny didn’t hesitate to run at him and the closer he got, the stronger the smell of rancid ectoplasm wafted off the man.
A halfa? How unusual.
But when he caught sight of a pure white uniform behind him, he decided to throw caution to the wind. If the ghost decided to give him grief, once Danny could summon a portal, he’d give him something to complain about. Ghost King or not, Danny’s tolerance for people’s bull was thinner than a piece of paper at the moment.
“Dad!” Danny shouted, slamming into the man’s side.
The man twitched violently, stilling the hand that was holding onto his phone in an aborted punch while he swore.
Danny blinked innocently while he hissed in the man’s ear, “Don’t even think about it, halfa. The GIW is this close to getting the both of us and I’m not going back.” The man’s face contorted in a mix of emotions, but Danny continued in a louder voice before the ghost could ruin anything, “I’m so glad I found you! I got lost and my phone died, so I couldn’t call you.”
“Uh-yeah. Glad you found me,” the man said, glancing around the platform as people rushed around. He awkwardly patted Danny’s head, “We need to get going, alright? You made us late.”
Danny tensed when he caught sight of the agent approaching quietly from the corner of his eye. He let his gaze on the woman stay for a moment before looking up at the taller ghost, praying the halfa would catch on and not do anything dumb.
“Uh, sorry! I really didn’t mean to, Dad,” Danny said, hoping he acted normal enough to pass as a normal kid. He was really banking on the fact that he looked young and the fact that this man looked to be in his mid to late twenties.
“Just don’t let it happen again, okay?” the man asked, eyes flicking to the GIW agent too. “You could get hurt.”
Danny nodded enthusiastically, hoping the halfa wouldn’t punch him as soon as they were out of sight of the agent. His face had just finished healing and he didn’t want to be beat up again. “Yes, sir! I promise!”
The halfa was stiff in his hold, so Danny backed up a little to let go of his arm when suddenly, he was pulled into the man’s side, tucked under a heavy arm. Now in a side hug, the halfa tugged him closer to the approaching subway car and away from the GIW agent.
“Shoot, sorry, I was on the phone with your uncle trying to find you. Give me a moment,” the halfa said, bringing the phone back up to his ear.
Danny took the opportunity to duck his head under the man’s chin and grabbed onto the arm resting on his shoulders. He glanced around, eyeing the agent but was pleased to see the man stop several feet behind them. The agent was speaking quietly into an earpiece and staring at them.
“Hey! Goldie, I’m gonna need to run,” the halfa said into the phone, walking them into the sub car when it came to a stop. “I found our little nightjar. I’ll call again later today, alright?” He paused, nodding before he said, “Yeah, no worries. Don’t die.”
The man hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket before ushering Danny into the back corner of the car. Danny allowed himself to be moved as they stood out of the way, standing along the wall. The seats were all full, so the ghost settled for gripping onto the bars overhead while Danny cursed his death for his still way too short stature. He clung to the back of the closest chair, still huddled under the larger man’s arm.
The man’s warmth was actually quite welcome and a little startling. Danny hadn’t expected him to be so warm as he himself ran cold since his death. Perhaps it was a matter of the kind of core the man had. Either way, Danny was rather pleased with how this had played out so far. Other than the absolutely rank ecto the man was full of, he seemed rather chill.
Danny ducked his head when the man caught his eye, free hand tugging on the edge of the gross coat he was wearing. It would be okay. He just needed to figure out how to ditch the halfa now. Which, really, should be a lot easier than dodging the GIW as they had ghost detectors and the ghost next to him didn’t. Probably.
The man was silent throughout the ride, swaying with the movement of the subway car but his grip on Danny tightened slightly when he made an attempt to step out from under the man’s arm. With the other halfa's hand so close to his throat, Danny resigned himself to following wherever the man decided to take him. Hopefully out of the public eye so they could speak plainly.
At the next stop, the older man nudged him forward and out of the car, leading him up into the stairwell, “Come on, we’re close to the apartment.”
Danny nodded and walked along, taking in a deep breath. If he had a working heart, he was sure it would be beating itself out of his chest. Ancients, if he hadn’t found the other halfa, he was sure he’d be back in a white room being strapped down for his next round of experiments.
Unfortunately, he was more human than ghost at the moment even with how very dead he was. But his body was still reeling from his last visit to the white lab. He felt winded from the little phasing he had done, however he supposed it didn’t really help that he’d been running on empty while leading himself on a self-led tour around the city.
Danny eyed the building the man led them to. It looked like it was only a couple shoves away from completely collapsing but supposed it wouldn’t really affect either of them too much anyhow. The dead didn’t tend to be picky about how structurally sound their homes were whenever they snuck into this dimension.
The building looked only slightly better inside than it did outside, but he dutifully followed the man past the elevator and through a doorway that led to stairs. The man gestured him forward as he removed his arm from its place around Danny. Taking the hint, the young ghost moved up the stairs, muscles tight. If the man tried to throw punches, Danny was ready to give the man a warning about just what he was capable of.
When Danny paused at the second floor landing, the man behind him said, “We’re going up to the third floor.”
Staying quiet, Danny nodded again and kept walking. When they reached the third floor landing, he opened the door and walked through into the deserted hallway that smelled stale. Gosh, this place felt more dead than he did.
The man stepped in front of him and led them to the end of the hall to one of the corner apartments. He unlocked the door and waved Danny through. Once inside, the young ghost took note of the sparse furnishings. The door locked behind him but he elected to ignore it to take in more of the apartment.
“Nice place,” Danny commented, walking in further. “Love the view.” Each of the windows he could see pointed straight at the walls of the building next to them.
Scoffing, the man said, “Yeah, real pretty. Who are you and who’s chasing you?”
Danny raised an unimpressed eyebrow while he leaned back onto the edge of the kitchen counter, “Nice try. I’m not that dumb. You know as well as I do who they are. My question is who are you and how did I not know about you before?”
“Excuse me?” the man asked, almost looking offended. “Kid, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But the name’s Jason. I don’t see how I ever would’ve met you before today though.”
“Seriously? From halfa to halfa, pretending to be clueless doesn’t stop me from feeling your ecto,” Danny said. “Also, I have no clue what in the realms you did to reek like that, but ancients. Go to the Far Frozen and get it cleared out.”
Jason stared at him blankly, “What.”
“Hey, I didn’t say you have to take my advice. You’d be a lot happier if you did, but I’m not here to step on your toes,” Danny waved a hand around before walking over to the kitchen window. “I won’t mess with your haunt, I feel it loud and clear. Thanks for the save though. I owe you one.”
With that, Danny slid the window open and in a smooth move, leapt through the opening, floating down to slow his dissent. A strangled yell sounded from above and Danny grinned. He landed silently and ran.
----------
Danny had so many regrets but right now, he was more angry with himself that he had slipped up so soundly.
He pumped his arms back and forth while he ran, the puddles on the pavement splashing in his wake. He couldn't see very well at the moment but he was certain the agents that caught sight of him weren’t too far behind.
The shoes he had finally found were lost somewhere behind him now. They had been a little big on him, but it had meant he was no longer barefoot. Unfortunately for him, when he had been shoved in front of a moving bus and they flew off, he had more pressing things to worry about. So now he was running barefoot through the dirty streets, hoping his death cured him of things like tetanus or whatever else was waiting for victims like him to pick up.
Granted, he definitely had more pressing matters on his hands but gosh dang, it took him almost three weeks to find shoes and he was upset about losing them. It was starting to get colder and it would look suspicious if he was chilling on the streets without at least attempting to look like he was trying to stay warm.
He flew around another corner and kept running, eyes darting around. Now would be a great time for any one of his ghost friends to decide to seek him out. He had no clue how they always managed to find him, but he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth should the occasion occur. He didn’t know what was wrong with his portals, but he couldn’t get any of them to stabilize long enough to slip through to the Infinity Realms, even with some of his regained strength.
He skidded to the side when an agent popped up in front of him. Letting out a yelp, he ran into the street, ignoring the honks it earned him from the angry drivers and ran faster. He jolted forward when something sharp nailed him in the back of his shoulder. Glancing back, he saw a little dart sticking out the back of his coat. He yanked it out, muttering under his breath. Some sort of sedative he guessed. He needed a new plan, pronto. His mind raced while he could feel his limbs start to grow fuzzy.
When Danny’s exhaled breaths turned a misty blue, his eyes lit up when he caught sight of a familiar figure not too far ahead with a shorter gentleman next to him. Jason better work with him or else Danny would torment for the rest of their infinite afterlives.
Mustering up the loudest shout he could, he yelled out, “Dad!”
Jason’s head jerked to face him, startled while the GIW agents swore behind him.
“I got stung by a bee!” Danny yelled, grinning inside at the nasty looks sent his way by the other pedestrians. “Dad! Look!”
Danny slowed, making a show of panting as he caught up to the other halfa. The man next to Jason looked like a normal human, but definitely liminal. The man had the same black hair, though his eyes were blue instead of the ghostly green he and Jason sported. Well, normally sported. Danny was pretty sure his eyes were currently blue.
He grabbed onto Jason’s arm in the same manner he had the last time they had met. He pressed more of his weight into the man, muttering quietly, “I give it about thirty seconds before I’m quite literally dead weight. Get me out of here.”
The man across from him made a cut off sound of some sort before leaning down to look Danny in the face, “What happened?”
Danny made one last attempt cementing the show for anyone looking, “Dad! I wanna go home! I don’t like bees anymore!”
Jason steadied him when he stumbled forward, legs finally losing feeling.
“Here, evidence or whatever,” Danny choked out, shoving the tranquilizer dart into Jason’s hand before his vision swam and black crowded the edges of his vision.
“Dick, take him,” Jason demanded.
Suddenly, Danny was shoved to the side and he felt himself being lifted up. His last thought before everything turned black was that he really hoped it was one of the two men carrying him.
Sunlight burned his eyes as Danny sat up. Phantom nausea sat heavy in the back of his throat but he ignored it in favor of taking in his surroundings. He didn’t recognize anything in the bedroom or any of the blankets that seemed to be piled high around him. Attempting to escape the nest, he tried wiggling out to the side but overestimated the distance and fell, taking out the lamp and bedside table with him in a loud crash.
He cursed quietly but didn’t move from his place trapped under the side table and lamp while the blankets held his legs hostage on the bed. He hated now more than ever before his inability to just phase through things but after he tried phasing through a trash can and turned corporeal halfway through, he decided to save his reserves for when it was needed.
Voices approached the door to the room and when it finally opened, Jason poked his head in, knife in hand.
Danny waved pathetically from the floor, “Hey, nice floor you got here. Sorry about your lamp.”
Jason stared at him for a moment before he cracked a grin, “Not so tough there, Nightjar, now are you?”
“What on earth is a nightjar?” Danny asked, eyebrows furrowed.
The man from before peaked into the room from behind Jason with a look of concern.
“Oh-um, hey,” Danny stuttered, awkwardly greeting. He shot Jason a questioning look.
Jason raised a brow, “Don’t give me that look. Out of the two of us, I think I’m the one with more questions.”
The man behind Jason smacked his shoulder, “Jason, manners!” He turned back to Danny and approached with a friendly smile, “Hey, I’m Dick. Can I help you out with that?”
“What?” Danny asked before he realized, “Oh, the furniture. Sure! Sorry again for knocking everything around.”
Dick helped move the bedside table off of his torso and the lamp away from his head while Danny kicked his legs to free himself from the blankets.
“Hey, no worries!” Dick said cheerfully.
Jason muttered from behind them, “All the worries. This is my apartment, Dickhead.”
Ignoring him, Dick continued, “We should get you back into some of these blankets, your temperature is worryingly low.”
Danny looked around the man at Jason and gave him a pointed look but all he got in return was a look of offended confusion. He grumbled a bit at the betrayal. So much for that.
“Nah, I’m good, really,” Danny assured. “I run on the cold side, so it’s all chill.”
“Yeah,” Jason said hotly, “It’s all chill because you’re fu-er freaking cold.”
Danny glared at him pointedly. He may not be able to use his powers right now, but he was still capable of kicking his butt. He wanted to keep as much dignity as he could. He was fairly certain that Dick didn’t know about ghosts or else he wouldn’t be so concerned with his temperature. That meant Dick most likely thought Danny was twelve or something, but Jason good and well knew that their physical ages meant next to nothing about their actual ages.
He might be stuck in the body of his fourteen year old self, but he was solidly in his twenties, thank you very much.
“Hey,” Dick held out a hand in Jason’s direction. “No need to be aggressive. The kid’s just been drugged. He doesn’t need someone attacking him with words too.” With Dick turned around, facing the other man, Danny stuck his tongue out at Jason, grinning when the man’s head jerked back like he’d been slapped.
Jason pointed aggressively at Danny, “That motherfu-”
“Jason,” Dick admonished. “He’s like ten, you’re more than twice his age. What’s your problem?”
Danny’s mouth dropped open in shock, offence dripping from his tone as he asked, “Ten? Excuse you!”
Dick turned to give him a frown but Jason spoke before the other man could even open his mouth, “Yeah, you little twerp. You’re basically a kindergartener.”
“That’s it,” Danny muttered, “I’m never coming back here again.”
It was one thing for humans to get his age wrong, but another halfa? Jason is definitely being tormented for the rest of his half-life.
“Hey now!” Dick stood between them looking exasperated. “Let’s calm down. Jason?” Dick gave the ghost a sharp look, “Can you not for like, five minutes?” Jason crossed his arms and Danny couldn’t help but think the halfa looked like a disgruntled quokka.
Shaking his head, Dick turned to Danny and asked, “Is it alright if we ask you a couple questions?”
“I believe you just did,” Danny said. “But you know what? Go for it. I retain the right to be silent if I don’t want to answer though.”
Jason cut in, “What’s your name?”
“Danny,” Danny said, giving the man a side-eye.
“Nice to meet you, Danny,” Dick encouraged. “The people who were chasing you, were they the same people from last time?”
Danny eyed him thoughtfully, “Last time?”
Dick smiled, “I was on the phone with Jay when you two met.”
“Oh ancients, that’s embarrassing,” Danny said with a wince.
Jason snorted, “That’s what you decide to be embarrassed about? You were literally yelling dramatically about being stung by a bee not too long ago.”
“Okay, it’s one thing to be dramatic on purpose while face to face and you actually have context. It’s an entirely different thing to have a phone call interrupted and hearing all of that through the phone,” Danny complained, hiding his face in his hands. “Wait, how long was I out for?”
“I dunno. About seven hours?” Jason shrugged.
Danny grimaced. That wasn’t great, but it seemed he was either starting to build up an immunity to the tranquilizer they gave him or it was a different sedative. “Do you happen to know where the dart they shot me with went?”
Dick raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, why?”
“Can I see it?” Danny asked. “I just need to check it.”
Jason shrugged before he left the room, leaving Danny alone with the other man.
“Uh, sorry for interrupting your outing,” Danny apologized. “I don’t really know what you guys were doing, but I’m sure I wasn’t on today’s schedule.”
“Don’t apologize,” Dick said, disbelief coloring his voice. “Someone tried to drug you so they could take you somewhere. I know Gotham has a bad reputation, but we’re not all bad. If we can help someone, even when we don’t know them, we’re going to step in.”
Danny nodded before pausing, “Gotham? Where’s that?”
Dick’s look of disbelief etches deeper into the lines of his face, “Jersey?”
“Good grief, okay. Cool,” Danny sighed in acceptance.
“Have you ever heard about Gotham before?” Dick asked.
Danny shook his head, “Nah, but I’ve never really been good at learning the different states and their main cities.”
“But you’ve heard of Batman though, right?” the man asked.
“What’s a Batman?” Danny questioned, face scrunching in curiosity.
Danny startled when a loud laugh sounded from the doorway. Jason stood leaning against the doorframe, dart in hand while his shoulders shook with mirth. Ignoring whatever it was that the man found funny, he walked over and plucked the syringe out of his hand. He brought it close to his eyes, reading the ecto signature and scanning for any labels. The liquid drug chamber was completely empty which meant he got the full dose. It looked to be the same tranquilizer they’ve used in the past which meant that they’ve used it on him often enough that he was in fact building up a resistance to it.
Yay him.
“What are you checking for?” Jason asked, startling him out of his examination.
“Oh,” Danny said. “Just looking at the signature. They’ve used this particular sedative on me before but I wanted to double check since I didn’t stay sedated as long as I have in the past.”
Dick made a choking sound from beside him and Danny winced. He forgot the human was there.
“Sorry!” Danny laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “That sounded a lot worse than I meant it to. What I meant was that I just needed to confirm the substances they’re using because if they’re changing their formulas, we’ve got different problems on our hands.”
“You know that didn’t sound any better, right?” Jason asked, looking disturbed.
Traitor. Ghosts are supposed to stick together. Well, that’s what Danny’s been telling every ghost he’s come across. He hoped it would catch on eventually. But with Dick looking at him, he couldn’t stick his tongue out at the halfa, so he settled for scrunching his nose at the man as aggressively as he could.
“Oh, very mature, Danimal,” Jason snarked.
Danny’s lip curled in disgust, “Daimal?”
“Okay!” Dick interrupted. “Let’s move this to the kitchen. We got a kid made of sticks and bones and I didn’t get breakfast or lunch!”
Danny frowned, but let Dick lead the way out of the room. He caught Jason’s arm and leaned in, “I can’t eat anything right now. I don’t have a stomach.”
He should be fine to start eating in a week or two, but his gut was taking a bit longer to grow back than everything else. His heart was fully reformed and his lungs were close to being done. The itch inside his torso was deep and persistent which meant the only thing he could do was to give it time.
Danny was yanked back suddenly and came face to face with Jason. His face had gone pale and his grip was firm, eyes flashing a brighter green.
The man’s voice came out hoarse, “What?”
“Woah, dude. Chill out,” Danny leaned back as far as he could. “Just help me out a little bit, would ya?”
Jason’s eyes bored into his, “What the fork.”
“What?” the young man asked, Danny’s free hand raised between them.
Dicks voice cut through the tension as he called through the apartment, “You guys coming?”
“Dick, get over here now,” Jason demanded.
The other man popped around the corner looking startled, “What’s going on?”
Jason switched his hold on Danny, snagging his wrist as he marched them into the entryway, “Grab your keys. You’re driving.”
“Oh,” Dick raised his brows, running into the living room. “I’m right behind you!”
Jason opened the door aggressively and continued his march down the hall and into the stairwell. He ignored Danny’s protests and continued onward. He looked back at Dick but only got a shrug and a look of concern in return. They burst into the lobby with Jason’s boots thudding heavily on the tiled floor while Dick made apologies to the people glaring at them from the leasing office.
They walked down the street a ways before Jason pulled him to a halt next to an inconspicuous looking car as they waited for Dick to unlock it. Danny was manhandled into the passenger seat and the door was closed behind him before he could even protest. Dick got in on the drivers side and Jason climbed into the back.
“Where am I going?” Dick asked as he buckled.
Jason jammed his buckle across his body before pulling out his phone and muttered, “I’m contacting Bruce.”
Dick froze for a moment before nodding, “Alrighty.”
Danny glared through the windshield while Dick pulled out onto the road. He didn’t know what Jason was playing at but he was more than capable of making his life inconvenient. He flicked his hand and had to bite his lip to keep himself smiling when he heard a ‘What the fork’ come from behind his seat.
Dick quickly glanced back at the man, “What? What’s wrong?”
“What the fork?” Jason whispered to himself again.
“Jason,” Dick said sharply. “What’s happening?”
Danny raised a brow at the look Jason was sending through the rearview mirror.
“Mr. Freeze is still in Arkham, right?” Jason asked.
Dick furrowed his brow, merging into the lane over, “Yeah, why?”
“Nothing,” Jason said, voice sounding off.
Dick frowned, glancing back briefly before setting his eyes back on the road. He stayed quiet though, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Danny turned his head to look out his own window to hide the grin that split across his face. In the back, he could hear Jason shuffling around a bit, trying to wiggle his feet out of the ice that stuck his boots to the ground.
As the buildings flew by, they slowly entered better neighborhoods and wealthier streets. Unease crept over his shoulders. He was going to riot if Jason was actually working for Vlad.
After another ten minutes of driving in silence, they pulled up into a large curved driveway that led to an even larger house. Mansion really. Another indication that Vlad might be involved, though Danny couldn’t be certain as this monstrosity was a completely different style that Vlad had ever gone for before. Dick parked in front of the large double doors and unbuckled, shooting him a reassuring smile.
“Come on,” Dick said with a wave, “You’ve got to meet Alfred. He’s got cookies to die for.”
Danny obediently followed him out of the car while he contemplated that. Maybe he did know about him being a ghost. Torture by cookie wasn’t one he’d tried thus far but that didn’t mean he necessarily wanted to try. Especially with his lack of stomach. His esophagus was mostly formed but it dropped off into nothing at the moment and he couldn’t really clean out his insides with the resources he had.
Jason came up behind him and grabbed his arm again, although this time, his grip was gentler. He was still forced up the front steps however, so he settled to take victory in the fact that Jason’s boots were still covered in a thick layer of ice.
Dick knocked on the door solidly before opening the door, calling out, “Alfred? Bruce? We’re home!”
Danny mouthed ‘Home?’ at Jason but got ignored. Rude.
“Master Richard, welcome home! Master Jason,” an older gentleman entered the massive entry hall, nodding at them in greeting. “And who is our guest?”
The man himself didn’t seem to be liminal but his aura screamed that he was surrounded by near constant run-ins with death. It clung to his skin in a way that Danny had never seen before. He really hoped that the butler wasn’t a killer. Probably not. The death that surrounded the man was soft and tender, like surrounded with a soft sort of mourning. The kind with loved ones near.
“Oh, um. Hey! I’m Danny. Sorry to intrude!” Danny said with an awkward wave.
“No need to apologize, Mr. Danny,” the man waved away his concern, “I’m Alfred Pennyworth at your service. Now, why don’t you all follow me? Right this way.”
Danny glanced around skeptically, still unsure if this was a trap or not. With Vlad or the GIW, he’d be tortured for certain, but at least Vlad spoke to him so he supposed it couldn’t be that bad.
The further into the manor they walked, the more ectoplasm he saw lining the walls. They passed a library which was also filled with ambient ecto although it seemed to reek the same way Jason did. One chair in the back corner was practically glowing while drowning in the stuff so Danny looked beside him at Jason before pointing the chair out with a teasing glance.
“Nerd,” Danny whispered under his breath.
They passed the doorway and continued down the hall but Jason looked disturbed. Danny knew this wasn’t part of the man’s haunt but he could feel his presence around the space, so he definitely frequented here. Instead of grumbling like Danny expected, Jason tensed up, acting spooked, shoulders tight, jaw clenched and eyes fixed on the young ghost.
Danny elected to ignore him because out of the two of them, Danny definitely had more to be cranky about here. He didn’t know what was going on or what the halfa was plotting, but he would be sure to make Jason’s life difficult. He wasn’t about to go down without dragging the man with him.
Alfred let them into what looked to be a parlor room. The room was well lit, the seating plush, but the lack of ecto around the room told Danny these people rarely used this particular room. The walls were filled with older paintings and dark wooden cabinets, a stark contrast to the far wall covered in large windows that let in bright sunlight. Which was actually rather impressive as Gotham seemed to be rather gloomy from what Danny had experienced so far.
“Master Bruce,” Alfred said, looking at the man standing by the window, “Your guests have arrived.”
The man turned to face them, a practiced smile on his face but Danny frowned and looked at Jason questioningly, “Are all of you people liminal?” he hissed.
Jason’s face twisted but before he had a chance to respond, Bruce stepped forward with his hand stretched out to Danny, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Bruce.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too, sir,” Danny said nervously, tentatively shaking the proffered hand.
Jason cut in without preamble, “Danny doesn’t have a stomach.”
Dick and Bruce froze while Danny whipped around, slapping Jason’s shoulder and whispered sharply, “Dude! Not cool!”
The other halfa shrugged unapologetically, ”Well you don’t.”
Danny flicked his fingers down as ice crept up from the floor and around Jason’s shoes once more. At this point, he was fairly certain the whole family knew about ghosts and though he wasn’t certain what sort of deal Jason had with Dick and Bruce but he wasn’t about to stick around. They all looked to be related, so the chance of Vlad was involved was slim, for that he was grateful.
“Watch your back, halfa,” Danny said, staring Jason down. “Karma’s gonna kick you in the butt very soon.”
With that, Danny turned and ran back through the doorway. He almost ran into Alfred but he twisted to the side at the last moment, ignoring the startled man. He kept running at the sound of shouts behind him and grumbled to himself.
Stupid liminals and halfas.
He flew though the entry hall and yanked the door open, slipping through the door. He felt a hand on his wrist, but phased through it and turned invisible with more effort than he was hoping to use, running on silent feet away from the manor.
Glancing behind him, he saw the four men scanning the front lawn and driveway, looking around frantically.
Not today. They’d have to settle for finding a different ghost to torture. Danny already had Vlad and the GIW out for him, he didn’t want another group of people breathing down his neck. This was why staying in the Realms was simpler.
----------
Danny would be the first to admit that he was at fault here.
He’d slept in the wrong alley one too many times and was now being escorted by human police into the back of a police car to be taken to who knows where. Fortunately for him, they think he’s a kid. But also unfortunately for him, they think he’s a kid. Both his saving grace and the thorn in his side.
The two police officers were angry looking and the blond guy manhandling him was giving off extra sketchy vibes. Neither were particularly rude, but they weren’t listening to him.
“Please! My dad’s nearby, I promise!” Danny said again. “I snuck off, so he’s probably looking for me now. I’ll leave!”
The cop dragging him along scoffed, “Sure, kid. Look. Just get in the dang car and you can call him from the station.”
Danny pushed against the man, “No! He’s here, I swear.”
“Kid, this is neglect,” the other officer said from his other side.
“It isn’t!” Danny insisted. He wanted to bang his head on a wall. “I ran off! I thought I saw a friend but got lost.”
“Street kids don’t ‘get lost’,” the blond man said, nudging him forward.
Danny had just started planning out how he was going to escape the police station when they got there when he spotted a familiar head of hair not too far down the street at the same time his breath turned to mist in front of him. He groaned internally at what he was about to do.
“DAD!” he yelled.
Jason froze and turned toward him, revealing a shorter teen next to him with the same coloring. Black hair and blue eyes. Then Jason was moving, jogging over, “Danny! Oh, my little nightjar! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
The two cops paused, looking at each other as the man approached them.
“Dad!” Danny twisted out of the blond officers grip and threw himself at the halfa in a dramatic hug. Jason ran his hands over his hair and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, causing Danny to hide his face in the man’s chest to grin.
“This is your kid?” the other officer asked.
Jason said, “He is. I’m so sorry officers. I’m a single dad, you see. We were walking down the road and the next thing I know, he’s gone! I’ve been looking everywhere for him!” He wrapped his arms around Danny and swayed them side to side as if to comfort him.
“That’s okay, sir. He just can’t be left alone unattended. He was caught trespassing, but we’ll let him off with a warning,” the cop said.
“Understood. Thank you officers!” Jason said sweetly. “Come on, Danaroo. Your uncle and I have been so worried about you!” Jason turned them around, leading him away from the police car and back toward the teen he’d been walking with.
Danny clung to the man, praying the cops would leave soon. He muttered quietly, “Thanks for the save.” The grin Jason sent down at him was unsettling.
“Timmers! I found him!” Jason called out. “The police were so nice to keep him safe for us, isn’t that right, Dan-O-Mite?”
Danny smiled up at the halfa with derision, “Yeah! But, Uncle Tim, look! Paĉjo found me!” With the police still close behind them, he needed to make sure they didn’t change their minds about letting him go.
The teen raised a brow at the pair before smiling and played along, “I’m so glad!” He held out a hand to Danny and whispered conspiratorially, “Come on. Let’s see if we can get to the diner before your old man.” Danny grabbed the boy's hand and they ran, leaving Jason laughing behind them. He didn’t know exactly who this ‘Timmers’ was, but he had just worked his way into Danny’s good graces.
Autumn was fully in swing by now, the chill settling into cold and each morning greeted with a thin layer of frost on everything. He was just grateful he had managed to find a new pair of shoes the week before. They had holes through the soles of them, but most people wouldn’t be able to tell just by looking at them. The hat and coat he had grabbed forever ago were still holding up and he was finally able to switch out his GIW issued jumpsuit for some ratty jeans and a worn t-shirt.
The chill of the air cut through his clothes as they ran but he just smiled. The perks of being half-dead with an ice core was that cold weather didn’t bother him at all anymore.
They almost made it to the front of Batburger when Jason leapt past them and slapped a hand against the door, letting out a triumphal ‘Ha!’ as he turned toward them. Danny grinned when he caught the halfa’s eye. Then he let out a pathetic sounding whimper and pouted as dramatically as he could manage without sending himself into laughter. He let his bottom lip quiver and sniffed.
Tim turned to Danny, frowning, “Oh, it’s okay buddy! We were so close!”
“But,” he rubbed at his eyes, letting them tear up, “we didn’t get there in time!”
Jason let his mouth drop open at the stink eye Tim gave him, “You still beat me though! Plus! Jason’s gonna get us whatever we want from the menu.”
“Like heck I’m gonna-” Jason protested.
“Really?!” Danny played up his excitement, pressing his hands together in front of his chest and bounced on the balls of his feet.
“Yep!” Tim glared at Jason. “Your dad said it’s his treat, right Jason?”
At the looks he got from the pedestrians around the front of the diner, Jason clenched his jaw in a forced smile, “Yeah, sure did, Danbo.”
Danny clapped and cheekily grabbed one of Jason’s hands and one of Tim’s, pulling them toward the door. Once inside, Danny took a moment to breathe in the scent of burgers and fries. It smelled heavenly.
His stomach finally finished growing about a week ago but between not requiring food and not having money, he hadn’t bothered with it. But as he stood in the diner, waiting to be seated, his mouth watered. Ancients he missed food.
After the hostess seated them in a booth, Tim and Danny on one side and Jason on the other, they were left to look over the menu.
Jason whispered across the table, “I thought you didn’t have a stomach.”
Danny raised an eyebrow at the pointed look and said, “Yeah, well I have one now, so chill.”
“What?” Tim asked, looking between them.
“Don’t worry about it,” Danny dismissed, flipping his menu over. “How old do I look? Do you think I look young enough to order off of the kids menu?”
Danny scanned through the options as he thought it over. He missed food, yes, but having a ton of food after not having eaten anything in probably months, maybe even a year, wasn’t the best idea. He wasn’t ready to get sick just because he overestimated what he could stomach. A kid’s portion size would be better for everyone involved.
At the continued silence, Danny looked up to see both the men staring at him, “What?”
“Nightjar, you look young enough to be in kindergarten. Yes, you can order off of the kid’s menu,” Jason said.
“Rude,” Danny threw a salt packet at the man. “I take offence at that.”
Tim cleared his throat to speak but was interrupted before he could begin when their server came up to the table. After placing their orders, Danny studied the man next to him. Now that he had the chance to just look at him, he looked to be on the cusp of adulthood, maybe 19 or twenty. He actually looked older once he was no longer standing directly next to Jason’s broad figure. He had bags beneath his eyes but seemed to be alert regardless.
Looking across the table at Jason, Danny studied the man. He muttered under his breath while tapping at his phone. When he wasn’t glaring or frowning, Danny decided he also looked rather young, not that much older than Tim seemed to be. There was even a chance that Jason was actually younger than himself. He couldn’t be completely but his ecto signature seemed young, as rancid as it might have been. Settled sometime in the last several years.
Tim cleared his throat again and said, “So, you’re the kid Jason met two months ago?”
Danny shrugged, “I don’t know when we met, but that sounds about right. It’s November now, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Tim confirmed. “How long have you been in the city?”
“I dunno,” Danny fiddled with his sleeves. “It was warmer when I got here, but I don’t know how long ago that was.”
“That’s okay,” Tim said with a smile. “Are you staying warm enough with the weather? You have a place to stay?”
Danny thought about the shelters and alleys he’d been staying in recently. “Yeah, I’m all good. Thanks for the food though,” he said, looking at Jason.
The halfa grumbled, “Whatever.”
“Don’t mind him,” Tim whispered loudly, “He’s always like this.”
Their server came back and set all of their food down in front of them before leaving quietly. Jason picked up his burger and said, “He’s a liar. Don’t believe anything he tells you. He’s also basically a kindergartener.”
“Excuse you! I’m 21, thank you very much!” Tim said indignantly, shoving a fry in his mouth.
“But I’m older, so you have to listen to me anyway,” Jason dismissed.
Tim stole Jason’s drink and pouted, “Only by two years.”
“Ha!” Danny said smugly, “I’m older than both of you.” Both men stared at him skeptically and he stuck his tongue out at Jason before taking a huge bite of his own burger. Goodness, the food tasted amazing.
Jason studied him for a moment, “Does anyone actually believe you when you tell them you’re over the age of 23?”
Danny glared and said, “You don’t see me going around questioning your age.”
“Because I actually look my age, Danilo,” Jason chidded as he stole his drink back from Tim.
“Screw that,” Danny scoffed. “Not everyone’s death-day happened at convenient ages, Paĉjo.” Jason froze and Tim slowly turned to look at him.
“Death-day?” Tim asked tentatively.
Danny looked at Jason, “I thought he knew.”
“Knew what?” Jason asked.
Rolling his eyes, Danny took the last bite of his fries and said, “I’m not letting you get out of the explanation. Not my job. But I’ll take that as my cue to take my leave,” He stood up, drink in hand, “See you around. Thanks for the food.”
He ducked out the side door and grinned. They couldn’t follow as they’d have to leave without paying the tab.
----------
He tripped, slipping on a slick patch of ice on the sidewalk and nearly faceplanted into a large planter outside a store front. He swore as he scrambled to right himself.
When he did, Danny came face to face with a GIW uniform. The man’s hand wrapped around his bicep and squeezed tightly, “Don’t make a scene.”
Danny went to make a move but froze when he felt the barrel of an ectoplasm syphon nudged sharply into his ribs. He winced as he was manhandled upright and nudged forward in the direction of a van. Glancing around frantically, his mind raced. He couldn’t go back, not again. He just needed a little more time.
He was shoved into the back of the car and his shoulder jammed into the wall where more guards grabbed at his wrists. He swayed back when the van lurched forward and his momentary distraction gave them enough time to secure handcuffs that glowed green around his wrists, securing him to the bench they shoved him onto. He couldn’t fight them off as they grabbed at the collar of his coat and shirt, yanking it away from his back. The coat fell around his elbows easily, but the front of his shirt cut into his neck. One of the guards ripped the back of the shirt open while another approached with what looked like a gun with a thick needle on the end of it.
Danny thrashed harder against the guards pinning him in place while the woman with the gun carefully angled the needle and pierced the skin directly between his shoulder blades. He shouted in pain as a distinct ripping sensation crossed the injection point. When the woman removed the needle, it felt like there was still something lodged beneath his skin.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to dwell on it before a feeling of intense heat and then searing pain burned through the same spot the incision had been moments before. His back arched with a strangled shout as Danny fought to rip himself away from the pain.
With the cuffs around his wrists, he couldn’t even attempt to use his powers but he had enough experience with these particular ones to know they would break if he could generate enough force. With that thought in mind, he threw his head back into the guard behind him, hearing a loud crunch before swinging his head forward to headbutt the guard yanking on his shoulders. Danny didn’t pause long enough to see what the man did before he tossed his weight to his left at the same time the van took a turn. The force of it all flung him into the wall of the car, his arms jerking forward as the cuffs tried to hold onto him. The right side broke and he used the hand to punch the third guard but cried out when it met a blistering heat.
The remaining guard had found the metal rod they had used to cauterize his incision and met his punch with it. The force in which he jerked back broke what was left of the handcuff that held him and he fell back into the rear door. Before he could blink, his back slammed into concrete and he rolled, back screaming.
When he finally rolled to a stop, he laid stunned, mind whirling as he tried to piece together what had happened. Car horns blared nearby and Danny groaned when he attempted to sit up. His breath came out as frost.
“Danny?!” a voice shouted from nearby.
Danny jerked his head to the side but it took him a moment to register the figure running at him. By the time the other halfa was by his side, he finally realized he was laying in the side gutter of a really gross street. Cars were honking at him to get out of the road.
“Danny!” Jason called again, hands hovering around Danny’s upper torso.
Danny ignored him in favor of pushing himself up, “Help me up.”
“Hey, no,” Jason tried to still his efforts. “You could have broken bones and could puncture important vital organs.”
Danny slapped the hands away and said, “What are a couple broken bones here and there? Enough of that though. I seriously need your help to get up. We can’t stay here.”
“Who was that?” Jason asked as he finally started helping him up.
“The same people from before?” Danny said incredulously as he swayed, vision swimming suddenly. “Woah, might black out.” Jason slung his arm across his back and Danny jolted forward, crying out.
“Sorry! What-?” Jason asked, worry bleeding into his voice as he moved to pull away.
“Don’t,” Danny gritted out. “You’re gonna make more of a scene. You startled me, that’s all. Just get me out of here.”
Jason’s silence was telling as he shouldered more of Danny’s weight. They took several steps forward before Danny’s knees buckled and he swung in a downward arch. His vision blacked out before he could hit the ground.
Danny’s head jerked up in a sudden alertness that startled both him and Jason, who was attempting to maneuver him into a familiar car. Jason swore as he attempted to keep Danny upright.
“Hey,” another familiar voice called from inside the car. “Danny, it’s okay. We’re just trying to get you somewhere safe but we need you to work with us, alright?”
Danny didn’t respond right away but allowed Jason to help him into the back of the car. The other halfa quickly entered the older side of the car, joining Danny in the back seat as the car spurred into motion.
“Wait,” Danny said, reaching out a hand toward the man in the driver’s seat. “Dick, don’ take me to your pl’ce. You hafta keep drivin’ ‘til I say so.” His head felt light and his thoughts hard to force through his throat.
“Okay, I’ll keep driving, promise,” Dick said. “What’s going on?”
Danny distantly heard the question but he was too busy trying to twist around to respond. Jason grabbed at his hand but pulled away when Danny let out a cry of pain. The burn across his knuckles screamed, burning hot.
“Sorry!” Jason apologized quickly. “What are you doing? Do you need help with something?”
Choking out a cut off cry, Danny gasped and muttered, “They put s’methin’ in my back. I dunno what it is, but it could be a tracker. I need it out, like yes’erday.”
A sharp sound came from the front of the car but all of Danny’s muddled focus was on Jason’s hands as they twisted him to the side. Gentle hands shifted his coat and what remained of the ripped shirt to get a better view of his back. His ears were ringing. Then his vision darkened.
“Gonna pass out ‘gain, but ’m serious. Ge’ it out. Cut it out or s’meth’ng,” Danny said, tongue heavy. “M’kay? Need you to pr’mise me.”
“Cut it-Danny,” Dick said, “Wh-”
“Promise me,” Danny repeated.
Jason put a firm hand on his shoulder, “Promise, just try to stay awake, okay?”
Danny slumped forward, adrenaline fading as he mumbled, “Tha’ ship sailed.” Then everything went dark.
When Danny opened his eyes again, he took in an unfamiliar room. He was carefully propped up on his side, pillow between his knees and his burned laying on a pillow in front of him. His hand was wrapped neatly in white bandages that went down his wrists and his back ached fiercely. He shifted a little and was startled to suddenly see Jason hovering directly in front of him.
“Danny!” the halfa exclaimed. “How are you feeling?”
Blinking, Danny stared at him for a moment before he said, “Like crap.”
Jason gave him a wry grin, “You’re alive, though.”
Danny let out a laugh but winced when his chest throbbed “Ow, don’t make me laugh.”
“Here, wait just a moment,” Jason said, moving away from the bed and to a door off to the side. “I’m gonna grab Alfred for you.”
By the time Danny registered the halfa’s words, Jason was already gone. Danny groaned and attempted to sit up but nearly yelled when he caught sight of another boy in the corner of the room by the door. He’d been so silent that Danny hadn’t even realized he’d been there.
“Uh, hi,” Danny said belatedly.
The teen stared at him. He looked the same as the rest of them. All blue eyes and black hair. Also liminal.
With no response, Danny elected to not worry about it. He sat up, shoving and kicking the pillows and blankets away from his person. Once upright, he shifted to the side of the big mattress, swinging his legs over the edge. His back stung fiercely as his movement tugged at the skin but he no longer felt anything beneath it, so he filed that away to think about later. Standing on unsteady feet, he jerked back when he looked up and the young teen was standing two paces from him.
“Pennyworth will not be pleased with you for getting up,” the teen stated with an unimpressed uptick of his chin.
“Pennyworth?” Danny asked.
“Yes,” a voice come from the doorway, “That would be me, Mr. Danny.”
Danny looked over at the door and took in the sight of the butler giving him a friendly look of disappointment, Jason and Dick hovering behind him. “Oh,” Danny said, shuffling away from the young teen, “Hello. Sorry to keep dropping in unannounced.”
Alfred walked into the room, gently placing a hand on his shoulder to direct him back to the bed, “No need to be sorry, lad. But it’s too soon for you to be walking around.”
“I’m fine, really,” Danny protested. He really did feel fine, just a little sore. “Plus, I should get going anyway. Have a mom and dad waiting for me, you know?”
Jason scoffed, “Hate to break it to you, Danster but I don’t believe that for a second. You’ve been calling me dad for the last couple months, so I highly doubt you’re staying with anyone.”
Danny glared at him. Thin freaking ice, Jason. Thin ice.
“Hey, we’re not here to fight you, Danny,” Dick stepped in between the two. “We’re just trying to figure out what’s going on so we can help.”
Bruce and Tim arrived but paused in the doorway when Jason locked eyes with Danny, daring him to say something. The room felt charged in a physical way, more ambient ecto crammed in one room than Danny had felt in a while.
“Fine. You want me to say something?,” Danny spat. “Since Jason is a wuss and won’t just explain it to you, I guess that leaves me to be the responsible adult. Jason and I are halfa’s and right now, the GIW is running around the city trying to track me down in compliance with the Anti-Ecto Acts. I’d just leave Gotham but I can’t access the Realms at the moment, so I’m stuck until I can stabilize a portal or find a natural occurring one. There’s a lot of ambient ectoplasm here in the city, so I’m just staying long enough to gain my strength back and then I’ll be out of your guys’ hair, promise.”
No one said anything for a long moment.
Finally Dick broke the silence as he asked, “Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I only caught like, ten percent of that. But I recognized some of those words. You called Jason a ‘halfa’ before. What does that mean?”
“Someone who’s half-human, half-ghost. They’re people who’ve died but aren’t completely dead. Pretty much regular humans with ectoplasm in their DNA.” Danny said uncomfortably.
“You’re a ghost?” Tim asked curiously.
Danny shrugged, “Half-ghost, but yeah. It’s why we’re called halfa’s. We’re part of both living among the living and living with the dead.”
“I’m not a ‘halfa’,” Jason said, staring more intently at the young ghost.
Raising a brow, Danny said, “Um, I’m pretty sure you are. If you’re not, then I’m hallucinating your core.”
Jason frowned, “My what?”
“Your core,” Danny repeated. “You know, your ghost heart or whatever. All ghosts have them.”
The young teen cut in, “Yes, yes. That’s fascinating. But the real question lies in who’s hunting you down. The GIW you said? Who are they and what are the Anti-Ecto Acts?”
“Okay, sorry. Time out,” Danny said, gesturing with his hands. “I have to ask. Who are all of you? I swear, every time I turn around, there are more of you. Are you working with Vlad?”
Everyone turned to look at Bruce and Danny followed their gazes to the man.
“We’re not working for or with anyone, promise,” Bruce said, walking further into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “We’re the Waynes.” He paused as if expecting something.
Danny nodded, “Is that supposed to mean something to me? I’ve been dead for over a decade and have spent very little time in this dimension until recently.”
“Is that what you mentioned earlier?” the young teen asked, leaning forward in interest. “The ‘Realms’ you called it. That’s where ghosts live?”
“Damian,” Bruce warned.
Waving the man’s concern away, Danny said, “Yeah. It’s called the Infinity Realms but back when I first became a ghost, my town called it the Ghost Zone.” He turned back to Bruce and asked again, “So…you’re not working with Vlad?”
Bruce shook his head, “We don’t know who that is. Should we?”
Danny shrugged, “He’s also a halfa, which is extremely rare. But he’s also my mom’s ex who’s kinda obsessive. Just a bit. I only ask because he’s kidnapped me a couple times, so I just needed to cover all of my bases.”
“He’s kidnapped you multiple times?” Dick questioned, looking alarmed.
“Not so much anymore, but I prefer him over the GIW,” Danny said.
Bruce studied him, “And who are they?”
“The government?” Danny said. “I thought everyone knew who they were. It stands for Ghost Investigation Ward but I just call them the Guys in White.”
“And they’re the people I keep seeing following you?” Jason asked.
Danny nodded, “Yeah. I escaped their facility a couple months back and made it here to Gotham, but they’ve been extra cranky because I was their main guy.”
“What is it that they do, exactly?” Jason asked, folding his arms in front of him. “Becuase I’m fairly certain that what they’re doing is illegal. I saw the…” Jason gestured at his chest.
Danny furrowed his brow before his hand jumped to his own chest, clutching his shirt. He paused and looked down taking in the baggy shirt and sweats he was wearing. “What? Who..?”
“Tt,” Damian tutted. “The clothes you were wearing before were horrid. Those are my clothes as they were the closest we had to your size.”
Dick added, “No one else was in the room when Jason dressed you, so if you’re uncomfortable talking about whatever it is you two are referring to, we can step out or change topics.”
He shook his head and said, “No, it’s fine. I just hadn’t realized…but it doesn’t matter. That wasn’t from the GIW. But under the Ecto Acts, they have the legal right to experimentation, extermination, stuff like that.”
“What the fork, Casper?” Jason exclaimed.
“Wow, you are creative with your nicknames. I don’t think I’ve yet to hear you repeat a single one,” Danny commented, deflecting to a more comfortable topic.
Bruce wasn’t deterred though. “I work with the government. There’s no department like the one you’re describing. They’re not-,” Bruce shook his head, dragging a hand down his face. Without another word, he stood and left the room.
“Um,” Danny started, “Is he okay?”
Damian raised a brow at him, “Father is working on it.”
Danny waited another moment but when the teen didn’t continue, he let it go. He didn’t understand what it was that set the older man off. “Right…cool. So, any other questions?”
“Well, if you’re serious, I have some,” Tim said, walking over to the bed. “What-”
Alfred gently cut him off, “Master Tim, if you’re going to question the boy, let him sit first.” With a firm look, Danny finally conceded and got back onto the bed, crossing his legs beneath him. He pressed his shoulders back a little uncomfortably. The butler grabbed a glass of water and two pills off of the bedside table, handing them to Danny. “Take these, they should help with the pain. I’ll be back soon to check on you, but if you need me, I’ll just be down the hall.”
Danny nodded and took the proffered items, murmuring, “Yes, sir.” The man dipped his head and left, silently walking down the hall.
“So,” Tim started again, “You said you’re stuck here. What does that exactly mean?”
----------
Danny entered the dining room running, ignored the yelling coming from the hall behind him and ran directly though the man standing in the way.
“Ah!” Jason yelped, shuddering violently with a hand pressed to his chest and other hand in a white knuckled grip around a plate piled high with his breakfast. “Don’t do that!”
Damian flew into the room a moment later, glaring fiercely, “Take that back, you human equivalent of a participation trophy!”
“No!” Danny called, ducking under the dining table.
Jason grabbed hold of the back of Damian’s hoodie, yanking him back from his lunge toward the table, “Someone explain before I get Alfred.” Danny poked his head out from beneath the table while Damian stilled in the man’s grasp.
Raising a brow, Jason said, “I’m waiting.”
Neither said a word as Danny picked himself up to stand next to the two. He reached a hand out and into Jason’s torso, pulling out neon green goop. Jason gagged but Damian just wrinkled his nose. “Sorry,” Danny said, not looking apologetic at all. “Running through you left a gross taste in my mouth and I really can’t leave it alone any longer. Look at how rancid your ectoplasm is, Paĉjo!”
Jason cringed back, “Please never do that again.”
“I will be doing no such thing,” Danny said. Then he shoved the ecto into his own sternum, coming back out with the glob looking significantly less radioactive. “This is what normal, healthy ecto is supposed to look like.” Then he shoved his hand back into Jason’s chest, ignoring the look of unease on Jason’s face and the look of fascination on Damian’s.
Jason squirmed a bit, “Oh, that feels really weird.”
Danny beamed, “I know.”
“Grin while you can, Fenton,” Damian threatened, “You better watch your back.”
“What are you gonna do?” Danny mocked, placing his hands on his hips. “Kill me? I’m already dead!”
“Cut it out, you two,” Jason warned.
Danny pouted, “He started it.”
“And I’ll finish it too!” Damian shouted, jumping at him.
Jason yanked back on the teen’s hoodie, “Seriously! What are you two going on about?”
Pointing an accusatory finger at Danny, Damian said, “He called me cute!”
“Only, technically,” Danny defended. At a flat stare from Jason, he explained, “I found out what a Batman is and told Damian that I didn’t know he could look cute!”
‘What,” Jason blinked at them.
“You know…because he’s Robin?” Danny added. “And Bruce is a Batman. You know you have a massive cave beneath the manor filled with actual bats and bat themed equipment, right?”