Chapter Text
When Jason first died and went to the Infinite Realms he was only there for a few months.
He died a traumatic and violent death but he was also a protector in his life and the older, stronger, ghosts of the realm felt the pain of a child dying and being reborn in the zone, much like many of them had when the portal had opened.
Danny, despite only being dead for a few months at that stage, had also felt Jason's forming in the zone. Some of the older ghosts, mainly Clockwork, had been planning on welcoming the new ghost, making sure his forming wasn’t too traumatic and maybe checking his timeline at the same time. But Danny beat them to it.
So when Jason dies and he wakes up in his Robin suit, with vague memories of a red smile and cold metal and burning heat, to a boy younger than him in a poorly made hazmat suit that looked like it had seen better days smiling at him he of course immediately pulled a Bruce and adopted the fuck out of him.
Not that Jason would tell Danny that. Or himself. They were only a year apart, he couldn’t really adopt him of course. But that didn’t stop him from slowly becoming the boy's brother.
He met other ghosts of course, went through the realms both with and without Danny. Exploring for the sake of exploring. And learning.
In the months after Jason’s death he learned a lot.
He learnt about the Infinite Realms. They had a ruler but he was asleep, something that was for the best from what he had heard. His castle was big and imposing, floating above one of the many populated areas of the realm ominously. It seemed to chill the air around it, even though everyone was already dead and something like that shouldn’t have affected them at all.
He learnt about death and magic and ghosts. How to treat the dead, what questions would get him quickly punched (thanks for that lesson Jonny), and how different beings in the realm formed (because not everyone was a ghost as much as a being). Magic was real, could be used to summon them (though usually only strong ghosts were worth the trouble), and they had powers of their own.
That led to learning about cores and ectoplasm and ghostly medicine (which wasn’t that different from what Bruce and Alfred had already taught him, but it was different enough that he was grateful to learn anyway). Cores formed the ‘soul’ of a ghost. Without them a ghost would cease to exist. He thought it felt warm, buzzing with energy when he focused on it. But using his powers took practice and he wasn’t sure what his core was. Ectoplasm was all around them, bright green and soft and bubbly. It felt comforting. They could manipulate it. They also seemed to bleed it, which led to the medicine. Danny told him that his blood burned off bandages and most stitches before they could actually help. Jason had to figure out how to stitch up a ghost. He taught Danny what he could about what the other ghosts had told him but it never felt like enough.
Lastly, he learnt about halfas. And most importantly, to Jason at least, about Danny. Danny told Jason a lot, even when he didn’t mean to or realise what he was doing.
---
Like when Jason first realised that Danny wasn’t in the zone all the time and he casually mentioned that he was a halfa.
“You know, half dead, half alive? That’s what the full ghosts call me.”
“So you still have a body? Why do you spend so much time here then? How do you even get here?”
“Well my parents made a portal to the zone in our basement! They’re scientists, the portal is their life's work.” Danny smiled but it didn’t look entirely happy. “I like being here more, you know? You’re here and I can be in my ghost form all the time! My parents have ghost traps around the house and they sometimes go off on me even when I’m in my human form. Plus being human is itchy sometimes, being a ghost is way better!”
Jason wasn’t sure what he meant by being ‘itchy’ when human but he could guess about some of the other stuff he said.
---
When Jason asked about school and got, “Well I mean the ghost attacks kinda get in the way of classes but I think I’m still passing! I asked mum for help with an assignment the other day but she was too busy and didn’t hear me. Jazz was too busy too which sucked. It’s okay though Clockwork helped me.”
That just reminded him of Bruce and Dick before he died. Both too busy for him. Alfred was the only one who helped him, sitting at the kitchen table with cookies before patrol, working on his homework with him. Somehow Jason didn’t think Clockwork was giving Danny any cookies in their study sessions.
---
Or when they were talking about their favourite foods and Danny started talking about ectoplasm infested food that came to life like it was a normal thing that happened everyday (because it was). He talked about going to ‘Nasty Burger’ (which… ew that just sounded all kinds of wrong) with some friends of his. He seemed so happy when he talked about them. Jason was glad to know Danny had some friends out there. Tucker sounded smart and caring, and Sam sounded like she would kick ass.
Jason wanted to meet them but Danny wasn’t sure about them coming to the zone just yet. He had promised as soon as he was sure Jason would get to meet them. Until then he got to hear stories about all the stuff they got up to in and out of school when Danny came to hang out with him.
He knew none of them had any actual training, he was slowly helping Danny learn some basic hand to hand moves so he could protect himself more, but they seemed like they really cared for Danny and were reliable backup for the kid. But they couldn’t always be there to help him.
---
When he showed up with bruises and bloody clothes and still healing scraps from Amity but Jason knew for a fact that none of the realm ghosts had left that day (he kept a close eye on the portal to Danny's basement even if he never went through himself). Jason also learnt about Danny’s parents. A lot about them.
---
Family was a weird topic for Jason. He could remember his death, knew what caused it and how it happened. He knew he was angry at Bruce. Or maybe he was sad that he hadn’t saved him and he wouldn’t know what happened unless someone made it to the realm (he hoped no one would for a very long time).
But he also knew he was angry with Danny’s family more. Bruce, Dick, and Jason may not have had the best relationship but they still tried. Dick had been trying so much to be a brother to him in the months before his death, and even if Bruce was an ass he still cared. Maybe.
But the Fentons? They were horrible. And the worst part was Danny couldn't seem to see just how bad they were for him. Jason was trying to make a safe space for Danny in the zone so he could live here if (when) something happened with them. He knew Danny thought his sister would fix things when she turned 18 but Jason thought she was almost as bad as his parents just in a different way.
Sure Jazz wasn’t chasing him with guns designed to maim him or threatening to disembowel him like their parents were (which… Jason had practically forced that information out of Danny in the midst of a panic attack when one shot got just a little too close to hitting something vital… when the fighting had dragged on a little too long one day and he hadn’t been able to slip away as quickly… Jason had taught him some breathing exercises that day so he could soothe himself if needed). But she also wasn’t helping. Hadn’t even noticed her brother had died in the same house as her, was failing school (or soon to be), and was getting beat up every other day. Hadn’t realised that the weapons their parents kept in the house kept targeting her younger brother.
---
They exchanged death stories after a few months. Sitting close to each other while they shared. Jason told Danny about Batman and how he had tried stealing the tires from the Batmobile (Danny had laughed so hard at that) before being adopted by Bruce. How they had been good for a while until Bruce decided he didn’t deserve to be Robin, had tried to take it away from him. So he had left to find his birth mum.
Was led into a trap, captured in a country far from home and beaten down by a maniac in clown makeup. Broken bones and bloody skin left to try and crawl away from the bombs. Only to reach a locked door, wishing someone had protected him even as bombs went off and he was killed by the heat and smoke and injuries he already had.
Danny told him about the portal that took up his parents' whole lives. How they finally finished it, only for it not to work. The way his parents became actual parents for a few days after that, with no work to pull them away or obsess over. Until his friends asked to see it.
Danny whispered how he had put on his hazmat suit (not nearly enough protection for a lab environment, what were they thinking?) and posed in the portal for a photo.
“There was something in the back of the portal, so I went to pick it up. Figured dad would be happy I had helped clean up. Turns out they put the ‘on’ button on the inside of the machine,” He laughed wetly as Jason wrapped his arms around the shaking boy. “I tripped on it. I tell Sam and Tucker I don’t remember what happened but I do. It hurt so bad Jason, I think the electricity killed me but the ectoplasm brought me back.”
He pulled the arms of his suit up to show glowing scars, lighting travelling across his skin in deep painful looking tracks. Jason gently held him while they both cried, trying his best to soothe the younger boy but knowing he couldn’t really do anything about his pain.
---
So Jason was preparing a place for them in the zone… just in case.
It wasn’t much yet, one of many empty spaces in the realm that he had claimed and was slowly filling by scavenging and exchanging stuff with the other ghosts of the zone. Most were happy to help him out if he asked (something to do with him still being a child, not that he would ever grow up here anyway). One older couple reminded him of the people who used to run the only decent shelter in the alley when he lived there. They helped him set up the space for Danny and himself the most.
It wasn’t much but it was going to be theirs. It had a bunk bed for them to share, a kitchen with plenty of space and an oven Alfred would be proud of. It had a gaming room for Danny and a library for Jason. There was a spare room with another bunk for Danny’s friends if they were able to come to the zone eventually. A training room and a big lounge/movie room filled with soft blankets. He just needed a few more things before he thought it would be ready to show Danny.
He wanted a telescope so that they could watch the stars. He knew Danny loved them, had been taken to the starry parts of the zone, filled with dead solar systems and stars long gone from earth's view, often when Danny was having a bad day. Danny talked about obsessions and how each ghost had one, that his was protecting the town. But when they were in the star field, floating softly on their backs, the way Danny’s eyes lit up made Jason think that they were his true obsession.
---
He had only been in the zone for 6 months when he was pulled away. Yanked violently from his and Danny’s hideout that he hadn’t even shown the kid yet without the chance to say goodbye.