A Wisp of Who I Was

by Vyheris

Summary:

The Bat Family couldn’t stop a group of cultists from completing their ritual to summon the King of the Infinite Realms. However, to their surprise, only a tiny will-o’-the-wisp appears instead.

Or Danny is terribly hurt after getting captured by GIW. He escapes only to be summoned by cultists in Gotham. After going so long without proper rest, he is stuck in a tiny ghost form. He now finds himself in the care of a group of vigilantes.

Chapter 1

Danny had been pushing himself too hard, he knew, but his instincts screamed at him to keep moving even when his exhaustion had left him at a slow crawling pace. He could barely hover over the ground and his eyes couldn't even focus on what was in front of him.

He needed rest- No! He needed to keep moving. He can't stop. He can't.

His body fell limp to the floor. He laid there in a daze. Only for his mind to be overwhelmed with all alarm bells shooting off at once. The deep ache in his muscles, the mental exhaustion of going without sleep, and the wounds that had yet to heal. Danny curled in on himself, hugging his legs close to his chest in a fetal position. He felt so weak, everything hurt, and he could feel his physical form was destabilizing.

At least he wasn't in that lab anymore with its white walls that caged him, the cameras that reminded him that he was always being watched, and the glass window that man had used to show off what they had in store for him. He was finally away from the GIW facility, but at a heavy cost.

His ghostly physical was flickering before his eyes and progressively loosing its shape. His thoughts were beginning to slow and break apart. It was getting difficult for him to string sentences together. It hurt his head, and all he wanted to do was sleep. It had been so long since he had any proper rest. Even the dirt floor felt heavenly to his fleeting consciousness.

'Can't rest. Not Safe,' his mind reminded him, but his limbs didn't respond.

His arms lost their grip on his legs as they faded into a tail. His instincts screamed at him to retreat into his core, to rest, to recover, but it wasn't safe, not when the GIW could still be after him. He needed to do something or he'd be left completely vulnerable and at their mercy.

At times like this, he'd usually be forcefully reverted back into his human form due to exhaustion, but that was no longer possible. GIW made sure of that. There was a heavy feeling of dread that came with that thought, but now it only left Danny feeling confused. His mind was slipping along with his form.

What had they done to him?

He struggled to keep his eyes open. He was desperate to keep moving, but he knew his body had already given up the fight. He had escaped over 2 weeks ago, but he could never be safe knowing they were out there looking for him. Despite the fact that his ghost form didn't need as much rest as his human one did, his injuries couldn't recover properly without it. Not only that, but there was also a significant lack of ambient ectoplasm making his recovery almost nonexistent.

Danny knew he had no other choice now. He molded the last vestiges of ectoplasm in his system to wrap around his core. He created a form that was small enough to conserve his energy yet was still capable of protecting his core.

To his relief, he had shrunk down to a tiny fist sized spirit. A white and black cloak wrapped around him leaving only glowing green eyes in a black void. It wasn't much, but it would have to be enough. With no other choice, Danny allowed his consciousness to fade.

 

Awaken oh Great One.

Danny stirred as he felt a tug at his core.

Answer our call.

There was a strange energy that began to surround him, urging him to follow the tug.

'Can't. Hurt,' he mentally pleaded, hoping that whoever was calling for him would leave him to rest.

Take these sacrifices and grant us our wish.

Suddenly there was a tear in the fabric of reality. A toxic green portal opened above Danny's small form. He couldn't quite comprehend what was happening, but he knew it couldn't be good, not when he couldn't move, not when he was still being hunted. He can't let them catch him. He needs to run.

'Please, no,' he whimpered in despair.

We grant you access into our world, so that you may take your rightful place as our king.

He couldn't fight the unknown energy as it lifted his body up into the toxic green portal.

Appear before us now, Pariah Dark!

Notes:

I have not consumed a lick of any canon Batman content. I’ve only ever watched Young Justice and Danny Phantom YEARS ago, but DPXDC tumblr prompts got me in a chokehold and now I gotta.

Chapter 2

The voices of the cultist gained an eerie quality as the runes written in blood began to glow a sickly green. They kept their heads bowed in reverence as their leader stepped forward to call forth the calamity. A manic grin spread on his face as he stepped onto the magic circle which began to glow before the runes swirled together to form a portal. The color and ripples across its surface resembled a Lazarus Pit to a horrifying degree.

Red Robin felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck and started to quicken his discreet attempts at undoing his bindings. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other bats were doing the same, but they weren't quite as informed about the intricacies of the ritual before them and it showed. Red Robin knew the ins and outs of this case, so he was understandably panicking internally. It also didn't help that the lunatic had clearly decided to present them as sacrifices to whatever unholy entity they were trying to summon. With the portal fully formed, it was only a matter of time before a true monster stepped through to wreak havoc onto their plane of existence.

"Appear before us now, Pariah Dark!" The leader shouted as the green glow became almost blinding.

The light dimmed as the swirl slowed like ripples in a pond. Red Robin held his breath as a pulse of power washed over them, and a sphere broke through the surface of the portal. It floated up into the air as if to display itself above the mortals. The portal suddenly imploded before vanishing, leaving only the strange entity as evidence that it was ever there.

A snap of the restraints is what alerted him that Robin had finally broken out of his restraints. They each quickly followed one by one, but it was far too late for them to do anything now except brace themselves for whatever was to come.

"Behold, the glory that is Pariah Dark. Now, King of the Infinite Realms, destroy our enemies! Put an end to the Batman!" The leader laughed maniacally as the orb grew brighter.

The bats tensed in a ready position, fearing that the worst had yet to come. The orb cracked and shattered into flakes of light to reveal . . . A tiny bed sheet ghost?

There was a stunned silence in the room. The small creature hovered for a moment before gently floating down and laying motionless on the floor. There was another pause as if they were waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. All eyes fell onto the leader whose face had grown red with veins popping out of his forehead.

"Wh- What is the meaning of this?!" He cried in outrage.

"He really thought he did something there," Red Hood commented offhandedly earning a stifled snort from Nightwing.

"I should have expected as much from invalids," Robin scoffed.

Despite the lightening mood amoung the bats, Red Robin was left feeling confused. He had studied the cult's plan, researched everything available on the Infinite Realms(though there wasn't much), and even consulted the Justice League Dark members(Constantine refusing to take part in this other than simple consultation) on the ritual. From what he had gathered, it should've brought forth a powerful and destructive entity, yet there was only this small helpless looking creature. This didn't make any sense!

"Enough! Something must have gone wrong. We mustn't let the sacrifices escape until we complete the ritual again," the leader gave the order. With that, all of the cultist straightened up and started to rush them.

Without their initial element of surprise, the bats were swiftly able to take care of them, bonding their unconscious bodies together to be ready for transport to prison. It was a bit anti climactic if you asked him.

"From what you've been telling us, I thought we were in big trouble, baby bird. Did you really need to get all of us involved to take care of this?" Nightwing asked in good humor. Red Robin didn't quite process the question with the way he was observing the small creature along with Batman.

"Useless as expected," Robin huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Robin, we talked about this," Nightwing chided.

"Tt, your information appears . . . inaccurate," Robin frowned.

Red Robin made the decision to ignore the comment and began looking over the runes for any discrepancies in the information he had gathered.

"So what's with the blob, Red?" Red Hood asked as he stepped towards the small creature only to have his path blocked by Batman's outstretched arm. Despite the lack of facial expression due to Hood's helmet, it was still clear that he did not take kindly to Batman's interference.

"We still don't know what it is. It could be dangerous. No one is to approach it until we have it contained," Batman ordered before lowering his arm.

"That's supposed to hurt us," Red Hood pointed towards the small creature in disbelief.

"As if I'd be harmed by something so weak," Robin huffed in offense.

"I think you're overthinking this, B. A jar could probably take care of this," Nightwing gave him a pat on the back with a confident smile.

"We're missing something. There wasn't much on Pariah Dark, but everything described him as a powerful being with otherworldly abilities. He was known as a tyrannical king who was forced into an eternal sleep to prevent him from causing further damage to the Infinite Realms," Red Robin conveyed as he grabbed the archaic book that the leader had been in possession of. He couldn't quite read the runes, but it was clear that the ritual was indeed meant to summon the King of the Infinite Realms.

"So you're telling me they botched the ritual cause they're fucking stupid," Red Hood concluded.

"Language," Nightwing quickly blocked Robin's ears.

"I am not a child," Robin slapped his hands away.

"Red Robin, investigate this further once we get back to the cave. I want a report on everything you find. Nightwing, I'll leave their arrest to you. I'll see to the creature's containment," Batman swiftly gave out orders.

"Looks like I'm done here," Red Hood shrugged and made his way out of the warehouse.

Red Robin stood frowning for a moment until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Nightwing who gave him a comforting squeeze.

"Cheer up, it's not your fault the cultists got the ritual wrong," he gave him another pat on the shoulder before going to the bound cultists.

'That's the problem. They didn't get it wrong,' Red Robin's frown deepened.

Chapter 3

Digital images of the cult leader's grimoire covered the screen of the batcomputer in organized chaos. Notes marked in red marked points of importance, reminders of varying translations, and their connections to the Infinite Realms. Despite Red Tobin's lack of knowledge on the occult, he was still fairly confident in his research abilities. However, something unexpected happened that resulted in the new resident of the batcave. One could argue that this was a favorable result seeing as how the alternative was a world ending monstrosity, but you could never be sure when it comes to Gotham.

Red groaned in frustration as slammed his head onto the table. With such sparse information, he could hardly make any real progress. He may have no other choice than to wait for the JLD to show up and hope someone other than Constantine was available. Who was he kidding? Knowing their luck, he'd be their only option.

Well, even if there wasn't much for him to find on the ritual by himself, he still had other cases he needed to work on and he was probably already falling behind seeing as how he was supposed to be done with this one already. Ugh, he was gonna need a really good cup of coffee. He had a feeling he was going to pull another all nighter.

He pushed himself away, rolling the chair back, and stood up with a stretch of his limbs. If the yawn was any indication, he'd need that coffee sooner rather than later. Just as he was about to make his way up to the manor, he paused to take a look at the source of his confusion and frustration.

He walked over to the glass window to peer into the holding cell. On the bed that was too large for its current occupant, the small creature they had picked up was cradled in a nest of blankets that Nightwing had insisted on because it looked 'cute'. Red Robin had to agree looking at the chubby little thing, but he was still apprehensive about its existence in their realm.

With what little he scrapped up about the Infinite Realms, Red was sure that this thing was a ghost. Well, it was similar enough to what humans call ghosts. Either way, it was an entity with largely unknown abilities, and what they currently had may not be enough to keep it contained once it woke up. It may be small now, but that it was no indicator for threat level if his experience as a vigilante has taught him anything.

With all this in mind, Batman had given strict orders to keep their distance from the creature until the JLD came to secured the area. Honestly, Red Robin wasn't sure if their paranoia was warranted if the cultists' reaction was anything to go by, but one can never be too sure, regardless of how adorably small the creature in question was.

Taking another look at the creature, Red Robin couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the little guy. He had the distinct impression that the creature was severely injured and/or traumatized in some way. It would often stir and let out sounds akin to whimpers of pain despite it's unconscious state. It was hard to watch at times. However, without knowing what it was, there was little they could do to help it other than leave it some water and a bowl of porridge. As of right now, they were ill equipped to help without knowing its biology.

Batman had already taken the liberty of obtaining samples for testing, so now they were just waiting for the preliminary results. Regardless of his feelings about the creature, he had to be cautious unless he wanted to put his family at risk. In their line of work, they had to cover all their bases if they didn't want to face severe consequences.

As Red mulled over the facts, he noticed the creature begin to squirm. It twisted and turned in discomfort, reminiscent of what it would look like when someone was having a nightmare. Red Robin stepped closer to the glass with a worried crease of his brow. Suddenly, the creature shot up in a panic and floated above its nest of blankets. Its green eyes darted around until they spotted Red who was just as surprised. It moved back, away from Red Robin. In its terror, it frantically looked around the room until it spotted the nest of blankets on the bed. Then, it darted down and buried itself under the thick layers.

Red Robin stood in shock and wonder as he mentally noted that the creature could in fact fly. Its small form trembled under the blankets which would've been cute had it not been for the fact that it was terrified. Red felt a little guilty since the little guy probably thought they had kidnapped it from its home or something. The thought has him grimace. Yeah, that definitely would leave anyone traumatized. It also didn't help that its small size gave off the feeling that they were bullying a baby.

Red Robin shook his head. He should probably just leave it alone until they got the results from the tests. Batman had made it clear he wasn't supposed to approach it. Then again, he was already here, so maybe a quick word wouldn't hurt? Hopefully there wasn't a language barrier. Red took a deep breath to steel his nerves.

"Hey there, little guy. There's some food and water on the table if you want some. I don't know if you can understand me, but we don't want to hurt you or anything," he attempted reassuring the creature.

He stayed there for a moment waiting to see if he would get a reaction, but the creature continued to tremble quietly under the blankets. He sighed in disappointment, but he could understand why it wouldn't necessarily take him at his word.

"I'll just leave you alone for now. Get some rest and we'll figure out how to help you out soon," Red gave one last attempt to comfort the creature before turning around to make his way back to the batcomputer.

Outside of Red Robin's notice, the small creature poked his head out of the blanket pile to peer at his retreating form. It felt confused at the strangers behavior, but also felt a sense of relief. The creature tucked itself back into the warmth of the blankets as it let the anxiety subside for now.

Chapter 4

Danny contemplated the stranger's behavior. He had only spoken a few sentences before going back to whatever he'd been doing and just left Danny alone. Danny wasn't sure if he should allow himself to relax in this situation, but there weren't any restraints on him and the blankets were nice. He didn't feel like the room was suffocating him, so it probably wasn't made with phase proof technology to prevent him from escaping. If anything, it seemed like they didn't even know who or what he was, which would explain why they didn't prepare any anti ghost equipment.

Danny remembered that the stranger had motioned towards another corner of the room earlier, but their words had completely escaped Danny's understanding which was probably a bad sign. He was sure he knew the language the stranger had used, but his mind couldn't hold on to its meaning. It was cause for concern, but Danny had more pressing matters like figuring out where that delicious smell was coming from.

Danny carefully peeked out from his blanket fort and made sure the stranger was still preoccupied. He slowly maneuver himself to the edge of the bed, using the blanket as cover. He popped his head out again to get a good look at the source of the smell. That's when he spotted a bowl of warm porridge and water. Was Danny hallucinating? He couldn't even remember what he had last eaten and that had been well before the GIW had kidnapped him.

He glanced around the room making sure that the stranger outside was the only one in the general vicinity. His eyes zeroed in on the tasty looking treat. If Danny had his human body, not only would his stomach be growling, but he'd also be drooling all over himself. He quickly darted for the food and instantly absorbed it into his body before doing the same to the water. In one quick motion, he was once again within the safety of his blanket fort.

Danny couldn't be happier in this very moment. He was feeling pleasantly full while wrapped in warm the blankets. His core purred in delight. This was definitely an upgrade from the cold metal dissection table he was always strapped down on. Wait, did this mean he could actually explore this place? All he would need to do is be sneaky enough to not get caught, and he could even prepare a possible escape route. Ha, who said he was bad at making plans. Danny suddenly paused. Someone had said that to him before, right?

Danny shook his head, that wasn't important right now. He needed to figure out how he was going to move around undetected. He peeked out of the blankets to stare at the stranger who was still working on something just beyond the glass. Danny could wait until the stranger went to sleep and then he'd finally be alone. There were probably cameras around, but invisibility would easily take care of that. Nodding to himself, he settled to spy on the stranger.

Now that he's actually taking a good look at the stranger, he kind of reminded Danny of the superheroes he'd seen in comic books. Danny's core chirped with glee at the thought. He'd never met anyone else who was in the hero business. Sure, black and red weren't the most inviting of color schemes, but the guy had a cape and mask. Then again, this place kind of screamed evil lair, but the GIW facility was all white and that was definitely way scarier than this place. Plus they gave him tasty food and water, and villains don't typically feed their captives very well. Now that he thought about it, this technically was a cell. He hoped they weren't bad guys, but just in case, Danny would need to figure out where he was and how to escape before they figured out how to properly contain him.

Danny continued to let his mind wander as he waited for any signs of the stranger deciding to turn in for the night. Except it was like this guy doesn't sleep? Danny had been waiting for what felt like hours, but the stranger had only ever left to get coffee. Then again, they were in a cave, so there was nothing to really tell him what time it was.

Danny felt his eyes become heavier as he waited in the warm, comfortable blankets. He had been fighting against his tired body for days, and the fatigue had yet to subside. He was close to knocking out again even though ghosts didn't really need sleep. There was no way this guy was normal if he was outlasting Danny. Sure the guy had an unfair advantage, but human bodies still needed plenty of sleep to function properly.

'Tired. Sleep. Recover,' his mind supplied unhelpfully.

'No. Not safe. Not . . safe . . . safe . . .' he dosed off into a dreamless sleep despite his protests.

Danny was sure he only closed his eyes for a second, but something had him groggily stirring back awake.

"Aww, look B, it's awake," a new voice sounded awfully close.

Danny sprang up into the air in surprise. His eyes landed on the source of the voice. There was a different person standing right by the window of his room peering in. When did he get there? Who was he? There were more of these strangers? Were they hiding in another part of the lair? Many questions sprung up in his mind as he took in the appearance of this new stranger. He was in a black and blue skin tight bodysuit with a mask that was similar to what the first stranger wore. Ugh, Danny would need to come up with names for these guys that was better than stranger 1 and 2.

The initial surprise subsided only to be replaced with horror. Danny realized he was on full display in front of them and he was flying. How could he be so stupid? Now they know he has powers! What if they figure out he's a ghost and take him back to the GIW? What if they start planing to experiment on him themselves?! Danny quickly darted back into his hiding spot and trembled in fear. His mind kept supplying him with more dreadful thoughts and the worst part was that they were all possible.

"Aw don't hide little guy, I brought you more food and water," the man coaxed him, but Danny knew better than to come out for some flowery sounding words. He clearly wanted to lure Danny into a trap. Ha! Joke's on him, Danny doesn't understand a word of what he's saying.

Suddenly, the sound of machinery startled him enough to pop his head out of the blankets. It wasn't the familiar terrifying sounds he had heard in the lab, but he needed to know if it was time to bolt out of there. Surprisingly, all Danny saw was the movement of a conveyor belt that was taking his empty plates and replacing them with a fresh batch. So that's how they delivered his food without opening the door. Looks like they really thought this would be enough to keep him trapped. Danny gulped as the delectable smell of porridge filled the room.

"Good to know you have an appetite. I wonder if we should try a few solids next time?" the blue stranger mused as he picked up the empty dishes with a grin.

Danny hesitated despite his desire for the meal that was clearly meant for him. Would he be getting regular meals here? The porridge had been tasty, and he didn't think they had tampered with it. Maybe it would be okay to eat this time too. He flew over to the food and glanced back at the blue stranger who gave him a reassuring nod. Danny was almost in disbelief as he began to dig into the food. It was way tastier now that he took the time to eat it normally. He felt so warm and full. Did he really have to leave?

"Aw it's adorable," the man cooed.

"It could still be dangerous."

If Danny wasn't already a ghost, he probably would've died of a heart attack at the sound of that terrifyingly deep voice. His head snapped to look over to the source of the new voice and saw another larger figure in several shades of black. He blended with the shadows enough to appear like a demon especially with the pointed ear shaped pieces on the cowl that covered most of his face. It also didn't help that the white slits for eyes were narrowed at him.

That was definitely a villain if Danny had ever seen one. Yep, Danny was so dead. Well, deader.

"The results say its DNA is mixed with what could be Lazarus Water. There are some key differences, but it can't mean anything good," the cowled stranger warned.

Danny flinched at the dark and scary man's voice. That escape plan is looking much more appealing than it did 5 minutes ago. Now that Danny thought about it. Could this be his evil lair? Is that why it's so dark and gloomy? But the other two seemed so nice. No, Danny couldn't afford to risk it.

"Yeah, I know, B. It can't hurt to be nice to it," the blue stranger shrugged at the other.

Danny frowned as he listened to them talk. Not only was language a problem, but the fog in his mind was very severe from what he could tell. It would definitely make finding his way back home harder. . . Home? Where was that again?

Danny shook his head. He needed to focus. Escape should be his main priority right now. He couldn't be swayed by such a warm bed or the delicious food or the lack of painful experiments or their comforting smiles. . . Okay, maybe he can wait to escape when he felt better. They still didn't know how to contain him, so he could wait to escape at a later time. That didn't mean he would trust them. He was making a rational decision to prioritize his recovery. That meant staying here to sleep.

Danny tucked himself into the blankets with his core giving happy chirps as he lulled himself to sleep. He would just keep his distance from the angry demon looking guy.

Chapter 5

"So you're telling me, the little guy is made of rage juice?" despite Red Hood's helmet, Nightwing could just hear the grimace spreading across his little brother's face.

"Sort of," Nightwing gave him a so-so motion, "A lot of the data showed similarities, but it's combined with the little guy's DNA. We can't exactly rule it out, but we could also be dealing with something else entirely. There's still the whole ghost thing Red's dead set on." He was sure B would run more tests to narrow it down, but Nightwing had the feeling they'd have better luck just waiting for the JLD.

"Well I wouldn't trust anything related to that shit," Red Hood growled, and Nightwing tried not to stiffen, "Especially, when it probably involves the League." It was tense for a moment before Hood was able to real himself in. Nightwing knew this would stir up some bad memories, so he took it upon himself to talk to Hood alone. It wasn't that he didn't trust him. He just knew that the fewer triggers around, the less likely it was for Hood to get tipped over the edge.

Nightwing shrugged, keeping a nonchalant demeanor, "Nothing we found suggests that they were working with the cultists, but we're still looking into it."

Something must of caught Hood's attention because he turned his attention elsewhere. Nightwing turned to take a look and saw that the creature had pooped its head out from under the blanket nest. He could practically feel the tug at his heart strings.

"Aw, just look at it," Nightwing motioned at it exaggeratedly, "How am I supposed to believe that this little guy was meant to bring doom and destruction to our world?" Sure, he wasn't exactly against all of the contingencies B had in place, but he was allowed to think it was cute. In Nightwing's opinion, the creature was practically a baby.

Hood grumbled, "Still don't trust it." Honestly, Nightwing was a bit surprised by Hood's stance n the creature. Sure they all had an unhealthy dose of paranoia, but typically Hood was inclined to be a lot more lenient to children.

"Mind if I ask the reason," Nightwing decided to ask which earned him a pointed look(probably a glare). He raised his hands in surrender to appease his younger brother. They stayed like that for a minute before Hood and shrugged.

"I can't really explain it, but I'm getting a weird feeling from it. It's got me on edge," Hood crossed his arms over his chest as if preparing to go on the defensive.

"Is it a bad gut feeling?" Nightwing asked for clarification. He did think that Hood was just being a bit paranoid, but it was best to tread lightly. He wasn't trying to pick a fight when it was such challenge to get Hood into the batcave.

"Not exactly," Red Hood shrugged and relaxed minutely. He turned back towards the cell only to tense up immediately.

"What's got you all spooked?" Nightwing asked as he turned to take a look.

The little guy was now floating at eye level just beyond the glass. It was staring wide eyed at Hood as if in a trance. It was creepy for about two seconds before Nightwing felt like cooing at it again.

"Why's it looking at me like that?" Hood bristled defensively as he took a tentative step back.

Nightwing couldn't help but find it a little bit funny. "Maybe it likes you," he stifled a laugh, "Don't tell me you're scared Little Wing."

"Like I'd be scared of that," Red Hood scoffed and turned to leave.

"Aw you can tell me. I swear I'll take it to my grave," the man in blue grinned as he followed him out.

"Shut the fuck up, Dickface," Hood groaned in annoyance and practically stomped out of the cave. Nightwing grinned as he chased after him. It was moments like these that made him feel like there was still a chance he'd get his little brother back.

~

Danny had initially felt fearful hearing the voice of the blue stranger, that he had dubbed Blue Bird, talking with another new stranger who was wearing a red helmet. It seemed like every time he took a nap another one popped out of nowhere. Why were there so many of them? Luckily, they didn't seem to be working with the GIW, but was that really much better when this new helmet guy came in with guns?! Was this really some sort of evil secret organization?

However, before Danny could spiral, his fear turned into confusion and recognition. Something pinged in the back of his mind like a dim beacon. It was an odd yet familiar sensation, so Danny quickly scanned the area for the source. That's when he realized he had sensed it coming from the guy in the red helmet. In simple terms, the guy was projecting his being just like Danny was. It was coming from something similar to his own core, yet this guy was clearly alive. Then again, Danny used to be like that too. It was a comforting realization even though the man himself was scary looking.

Before Danny realized, he had made his way over to the glass window without meaning to. The Helmet Guy turned towards him and flinched back defensively. Danny would've felt sorry about startling him if he weren't so distracted by the dark sense of wrongness that lingered in the background of the man. Despite the initial fear, Danny felt like this was more cause for concern than a reason to be afraid of him.

Was there something wrong with Helmet Guy's core?

Danny wanted to get a better look, but Helmet Guy and Blue Bird quickly made their way out of what he now realized was a giant cave, leaving Danny all alone again. There was a pang of disappointment at their departure until he remembered his plan to escape. This was the perfect opportunity to test the defense system of this place.

Finally being able to fully take in his surroundings, Danny realized just how much he had missed. The cave was massive and he could sort of see the different sections of platforms though he couldn't quite make out what they each had from his cell. This place would obviously have cameras, but they were difficult to spot. No problem, all Danny had to do was turn invisible before escaping. Easy.

Danny floated back over to his blanket fort and tucked himself inside. He cleverly arranged it so it wouldn't collapse while he wasn't inside. He then turned invisible and intangible before floating out of the blankets and inspecting his work. Danny was definitely a genius. He couldn't help feeling a little smug at how easily he could outsmart an entire criminal organization. Sure, it was because they didn't know he was a ghost, but it still counts.

Now that he was free to explore, he could properly plan out his future escape. It's not like he needed to leave right away. There was still plenty of things he would need to prepare before making his getaway like food and supplies. Danny nodded to himself, feeling completely justified in his logic.

He floated over to the window and phased right through. There really wasn't any resistance. Perfect. Danny now had a full reign over the unprotected cave. They'll never suspect a thing. He explored to his heart's content. There were many cool looking vehicles, lots of high tech equipment, display cases, . . . a dinosaur? and a giant penny?? Danny tried not to question it. Besides, that was a really cool looking T-Rex.

No, Danny needed to focus. He was supposed to be looking for the exit. He just needed to take in a deep breath and clear his mind of distractions. Okay, so maybe the breathing part was useless, but it's the thought that counts. Danny took another look around before clocking in on a set of stair going up. He floated over to the top until he reached whatever was blocking his path. It was easy enough to phase through. and now that he could get a good look at it, he realized it was one of those old grandfather clocks.

Danny stared at it for a moment, feeling a prickle of a memory before it quickly fizzled out. It felt important, but whatever it was had already faded away. Danny scanned his surroundings and realized he was now in someone's study. Was this supposed to be a secret entrance? Was it really like those comic books where secret agents lived double lives that they hid from their families to keep them safe? That'd be really cool.

Danny excitedly looked around hoping to find something to corroborate his theory. It was a big room with lots of shelves full of all sorts of books. There was also a strangely luxurious desk with a really high tech looking laptop on it. What was this place? A study? Oh no, had Danny been trapped in some rich guy's basement lair again? . . . Wait, again? Had this happened before?

A strange feeling had him believing he had forgotten something. It probably wasn't important. He just needed to focus on what he came up here to do. He floated out of the study to a corridor that was lined with pictures and antiques. Oh no, it really was a rich person's house. No wonder they could afford all that stuff down there.

Danny was about to continue his search until a distinct smell caught his attention. He eagerly followed it until he ended up in a kitchen where an older man was busy cooking. He seemed to be putting in the final touches of the meal, and looking over to the counter, Danny spotted a familiar bowl of porridge and water with the addition of some cut fruit. Oh, this Mister was the one who had been preparing his meals. Danny was excited to discover where his delicious food had come from, and by the look of things, he should expect to get more soon. He should figure out how to properly thank him, given the opportunity. There was a sudden swell of emotion in Danny's core that involuntarily made him chirp in delight.

Mister paused his movements giving Danny a scare. Had he been found out already? Mister turned to grab a knife that had been laying on the cutting board causing Danny stiffened in fright. The knife probably wouldn't be able to hurt him, but he didn't want to put that to the test. The silence was suffocating as Mister reached over to a bowl of fruit. Danny then realized that he was just cutting up more fruit. If Danny needed to breathe, he would've been heaving a heavy sigh of relief.

Glancing over at the small bits of chopped fruit, Danny was tempted to eat some now even though it would be his later anyways. Ghosts didn't need to eat exactly, but it was good for replenishing energy. It also helped that it was so tasty, but that would definitely give him away. . . Well, a single bite won't hurt.

Danny carefully made his way to the bowl of fruit and quickly swiped a small cube of apple. 'Sweet!' Danny's core gave another involuntary chirp of delight.

Danny paused at the sound, but one glance at the old man showed he hadn't even registered it. He was incredibly relieved he hadn't been caught. This gave Danny the confidence to stick around Mister a bit longer and occasionally grab a piece of diced fruit. Little did he know, a steady stream of cut fruit was continuously placed just outside of Mister's sight.

Chapter 6

Batman and Robin had arrived at the batcave in a timely manner after another successful night of patrol. That much was basically guaranteed with their combined skill set, though Robin himself would’ve done a perfectly fine job on his own. However, regardless of the facts, Batman insists he continues to patrol under his supervision much to Robin’s annoyance. He was far too skilled to need a babysitter.

Robin was still trying to piece together what kind of test Batman had implemented to assess his capabilities. His efforts so far had only proven to increase Batman’s disapproval, but Robin couldn’t fathom what he could be doing wrong. Regardless, he was determined to prove himself for the sake of the mission.

While Batman had gone to the batcomputer for post patrol reporting, Robin made his way over to the glass case to remove his gear. However, his instincts alerted him to an anomaly with in the cave. He stopped to assess his current surroundings until his eyes landed on the cell meant to hold the strange creature they had recently captured. His gaze landed on the supposed 'blanket nest' Nightwing had insisted upon for the feeble creature’s comfort. For the short time they have had the creature, it rarely leaves the safety of the blankets, so it was no surprise that the rest or the cell was devoid of life. He narrowed his eyes noticing the strange stillness of the sheets.

At a glance, there was no indication that anything within the batcave had been disturbed nor had any of their traps been sprung. Additionally, they were aware that the creature doesn’t need to breathe, hence the lack of rhythmic movement. This would reasure most that nothing was amiss, but Robin was no fool. The recent reports had also stated that the creature was restless in its sleep with occasional noises of discomfort. They had only just arrived, but there has yet to be so much as a shift from the blankets.

"Father, the creature has escaped," Robin warned taking a defensive stance. He had yet to rule out the possibility that the creature was still in the batcave.

Batman's typing instantly came to a halt. "I'll check the cameras," Batman frowned as he pulled up the footage of the cell.

Robin took cautious steps towards the cell with a batarang at the ready. They were a few blind spots he needed to check as just to be sure, but he came to a halt at Batman’s order, "Report.”

Robin straightened his posture feeling confident in his assessment, "There has been no movement of any kind since we arrived. Previous reports indicate that the creature is often nervous as displayed by its constant fidgeting and stirring even in its sleep.”

Batman nodded in acknowledgement, his eyes still on the screen of the batcomputer. His frown deepened, "The cameras didn't catch any movement at all since Nightwing and Red Hood's departure. It likely made its escape as soon as it thought it was alone. It's smart which makes it dangerous. Proceed with caution-"

"That will be unnecessary, Master Bruce," they both turned to see Pennyworth making his way down with a tray of food. "It seems our guest was a bit impatient for their next meal. No need to be alarmed," he explained as he moved to pick up the empty dishes and setting a new bowl of porridge, water, and fruit on the conveyor belt. Had Pennyworth already apprehended the creature?

"It escaped. We need to know how and figure out ways to prevent it,” Batman argued, “We still don’t know what it is. It could be dangerous. Where is it now?" Batman narrowed his eyes.

"Where indeed," Pennyworth smiled cryptically as he pressed the button to have the food make its way into the cell.

As if on queue, the creature popped its head out of the blankets and flew over to scarf down the food. Sounds of chirping could clearly be heard from inside the cell.

"How? It clearly wasn't there a moment ago," Robin was taken aback. He was sure he wasn't mistaken in thinking the creature had escaped. Pennyworth had practically confirmed it and Batman had agreed with him. Had he underestimated this creature? How had it gotten back in without him noticing?

"It seems Young Master Tim was right in his assessment. Our guest is likely capable of invisibility and intangibility similar to that of ghosts," Pennyworth informed them with an amused smile towards the creature.

"A ghost is hardly a reasonable assessment much less the King of Ghosts," Robin scoffed and crossed his arms feeling skeptical.

Red Robin had continued to insist that his research hadn't been wrong, but the creature could hardly be considered a threat. It was weak enough that a strong wind could kill it. Robin had said as much, but Batman has always indulged in his paranoia and insisted they take all precautionary measures, regardless of how they were beyond capable of defeating such a feeble enemy.

"This could pose a problem. Constantine is being . . . difficult, and Zatanna is currently off world. Our only working theory is that it's a Lazarus pit entity, possibly hostile, with no confirmed method of containment. It's dangerous to just leave things like this," Batman's scowl deepened in thought.

Robin couldn't help but feel indignant at how he was being underestimated. As if the creature could possibly harm him with his skills. The creature had only escaped his senses once, and it wasn't a mistake he was planning to repeat. Robin glared at the small creature as it opened its green mouth to eat the fruit rather than absorbing it like the porridge and water. Was there a distinction between absorbing it and eating it? Was it simply a difference between solids and liquids? He will need to report this later.

"If I may, I'd like to point out that if they wished to escape, they would have. Our guest may not fully understand their situation. It’s also possible that they may not comprehend our language. It is my belief that we may not be dealing with a dangerous creature but rather a frightened child that has found themselves very far from home," Pennyworth explained.

"We can't just assume it's harmless without knowing all the facts," Batman argued, though he knew he could not win against Pennyworth.

"So how do you propose we go about their 'containment' when they can simply phase through solid objects," Pennyworth inquired. He had effectively rendered Batman speechless as expected.

"Then, I will be keeping it under close observation. I believe I am more than sufficient to keep it from becoming a problem," Robin volunteered. He was curious about it's abilities, and he was more than up for the task.

"No, we are dealing with an unknown. I can't allow you to engage unprepared," Batman firmly disagreed.

"I have proven myself far more capable than those beyond my years. Why do you insist I lack the skill for such a simple task?" Robin could feel his temper start to rise. Batman has always thought him incapable due to something as insignificant as age. He was not an invalid and he would prove it.

"That's not the issue here. Look we'll talk about this later, but right now I need to contact the Justice League Dark," Batman dismissed him.

Robin scoffed, "That's what you always say." He marched out of the batcave in fury. Why was he always being dismissed? Why was he the only one who was thought of as incapable? No matter. He will still do what needs to be done, with or without Batman's permission.

Notes:

Bruce: I don't know what you are and that bothers me.

Tim: I told you what it is. I'm not crazy!

Dick: Aww, look at the baby

Jason: Why the fuck is it looking at me like that?

Damian: I'll throw down with a baby, IDGF

Chapter 7

Red Hood couldn't shake off the strange feeling he'd had since meeting the small creature, and no, he wasn't scared of the damn thing regardless of what Dickface says. There was just something about it that threw him off. Anyone with eyes could tell the thing was scared when it looked at them, but Red Hood had felt the change from fear to confusion when it focused on him.

It was as if it was looking straight into him, and whatever it saw had it feeling worried. Why would it be worried about him? How had Red Hood known it was worried? It's not like there was much to go off of. That thing only had big green eyes on a black void for a face. Hood frowned at the reminder of that toxic green color. It always grated on his nerves threatening to fill his vision in that horribly familiar green haze. Hood had to take another deep breath to keep himself present.

He had a feeling that the creature was somehow related to the pits, and his bet was on it being a pit demon. If that was the case, he'd be prepared to deal with it. It would still be some time before they'd be getting any clear answers, but that last encounter had unsettled him. The feeling he got from the thing was completely different to anything he'd ever experienced, and it seemed like Nightwing hadn't sensed it at all. Was it because of Hood's dip in the pit?

There was a connection there, and it tugged at something within his very being. This wasn't something he could just ignore, and he had no intention of doing so anyways. That's how he found himself sneaking into the batcave early in the day when he knew everyone was supposed to be out of the manor.

Red Hood approached the glass window of the cell and peered inside at the sleeping form of the creature. He focused on the feeling he had previously experienced, but it seemed to be dull like a fog had obscured it's presence. Was it something the creature had to consciously do? Well, only one way to find out.

He lifted his hand to knock on the glass when he reflexively turned around with his gun raised. There stood Robin with his sword drawn. With matching expressions of surprise, they lowered their weapons.

"What are you doing here, Todd," Robin questioned, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms over his chest. Of course luck was never on Hood's side.

"I could ask you the same thing, Demon brat. Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Red Hood shot back and returned his gun to its holster.

"Irrelevant. We both know what should take priority. Now, why are you here?" Robin narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Best to just come clean. Besides, he's not the only one that's not supposed to be here, and it's not like it's the first time he's been caught breaking into the batcave.

"Not that it's any of your business, I was trying to check something without one of you sticking your noses into it, but looks like that's not happening," Red Hood admitted disgruntled. He could feel the familiar pricks of agitation needle at his skin, but it was still manageable.

"We aren't allowed to approach the creature," Robin recited, probably because B drilled it into his like a paranoid mother hen.

"Oh is that what the big bad bat said? Then what are you doing?" he growled with a flash of green that was concealed behind his helmet.

"I was observing it from a far until you showed up. I can't allow it to disappear again without figuring out how," Robin stated defensively, like he was any better about following Batman's rules.

"Ha, so the little guy gave you the slip? Is that what you're mad about?" he smirked with a snort. Of course the Demon brat would fixate on anything that hurt his pride.

"Shut up, Todd. It didn't 'give me the slip'. I was just unaware of its ability to turn invisible. It will not happen again," Robin snapped back. The brat was just itching for a fight that he was more than willing to give him.

"Whatever you say-" Red Hood cut himself off. He could suddenly feel something resonating with something within himself.

He turned towards the glass to see the small creature pop its head out of the blankets. Its large green eyes instinctively locked onto Hood as if he were a beacon. The pair of vigilantes stood frozen in place and watched it float up and stop just beyond the glass. It stared quizzically at him, making the green stir. Surprisingly, he didn't feel the need to lash out at it, but it also left him feeling unnerved. Additionally, he couldn't explain how, but he could tell that the creature was worried and confused. The emotions were practically radiating from it's small body.

"What is it doing?" Robin questioned with narrowed eyes.

Was he expecting an answer? His guess was about as good as Hood's. It paused to stare for a moment before phasing through the glass and went straight for Hood.

"Todd, move!" Robin reached out to him in a panic.

"What the fuck?" Red Hood stepped back in surprise, but the creature took the opportunity to enter his body. "Holy shit! What the fuck?!" Red Hood patted his chest frantically wondering what just happened.

He checked himself over, but he didn't exactly feel anything at first. The problem was that there was now an unknown creature in his chest and that probably was not a good thing. They both stood in shock and confusion, unsure of what to do. What were you supposed to do when a pit demon enters your body?

"Where did it go?" Robin asked with horrified confusion.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" Red Hood felt a rising panic, but then a sudden thrum of soothing reassurance washed over him. "Okay, that feels weird," he stumbled back and held his head giving it a light shake, but the feeling didn't lessen at all.

"We must inform father. We don't know what it's doing to you," Robin urged with his brows creasing together in worry. He stepped up to Hood and held his arm up to steady him.

"Yeah, right, sure. Just give me a second," Red Hood pulled off his helmet and rubbed at his face. There was an uncomfortable swirl of emotions flooding his senses, but he somehow knew that not all of them were his. He dropped to one knee feeling his limbs turn to led. Even with his attempts to even out his breaths was proving useless as nausea made his vision swim.

Robin eased him down to the floor before reaching up to his coms, "Robin to Batman, it's urgent. Red Hood has been compromised. We're in the batcave and it appears that the creature has entered Red Hood's body. Requesting immediate back up."

Red Hood most certainly didn't want Batman's help, but he was sorely lacking in energy to argue against it. It was as if everything was being redirected to the middle of his chest where the creature had disappeared to.

"I'll take you to the med bay, but I need you to stay awake until we figure out what's going on," Robin instructed as he slung Red Hood's arm over his shoulder and heaved him up to lean on his back.

"Got it, Demon brat. Fuck, this was a bad idea," Red Hood cursed his luck. Now he's gonna have this hanging over his head for weeks.

"Well at least it doesn't sounds like you're possessed. I'll start taking precautionary measures once you start sounding intelligent for once," Robin scoffed as he dragged him over to one of the beds in the med bay.

"Careful, I might start thinking you're worried about me," Red Hood struggled not to hurl. Sweat was forming on his brow, and he felt a headache coming on. The soothing waves of reassurance were doing little to ease his suffering.

"Hardly," Robin denied though his expression said otherwise.

This was turning out to be a long day.

Chapter 8

"Robin to Batman, it's urgent. Red Hood has been compromised. We're in the batcave and it appears that the creature has entered Red Hood's body. Requesting immediate back up."

The moment the message reached Bruce's ear, he felt his blood turn to ice. He cut himself off mid sentence and had to forcefully keep his face from showing his true emotions. He couldn't break character, not in front of all these board members. However, with the way they glanced at each other in mild confusion and relief, he may be able to use this to his advantage. Clearly they were already tired of his retellings of his most recent escapade.

"Sorry guys, I've just got to take this," Bruce reached up to what appeared to be a regular bluetooth earbud. "Amy is that you? I haven't hear from you since Cancun," Bruce chirped as he got up from his seat and casually walked out of the board meeting, "No, I'm definitely not busy." He relaxed his features back into the easy going Brucie Wayne façade despite the way his nerves had been set on edge.

"Mr. Wayne, we are having an important discussion," a brave secretary urged him.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure you all can go on ahead without me. I'll have Lucius fill me in later," he gave them his signature award winning smile and made his way out of the room, "Are you and the girls in town cause I now this great Greek restaurant we could go to. My treat."

He could hear their protests and cries of outrage following behind him despite how clear it was that they wouldn't be getting anything done today either. He would apologize to Lucius later, but right now his sons needed him. He pulled out his phone and dialed Tim who should be in his office at the moment. He brought kept up his dreamy smile as he passed by a few people on his way down to the parking lot.

"There's a situation. Meet me at the car, now. I'll explain on the way," his voice was grave, betraying the carefree facade he performed for the world to avoid prying ears and to deceive their eyes.

"I'll be there in 5," Tim ended the call and they both quickly made their way down to the parking lot. Once in the car, Bruce sped his way onto the road with a precise mixture of reckless and urgent. In the privacy of the dark tinted windows, his face distorted into a look of worry.

"What's going on?" Tim asked noting the serious atmosphere.

"I don't have the details, but Robinsent distress message. The creature has compromised Red Hood. With what little information we have, we'll need to go with your theory that it's a ghost. According to Robin, the creature has entered Red Hood's body. Did your research mention anything that can give us insight into this situation?" Bruce questioned and stepped on the gas feeling anxious as many possibilities raced through his mind.

There was no mention of the creature's intent which could mean a wide range of things, most being detrimental to his son. Bruce gritted his teeth in frustration. He was prepared for many different situations for a wide range of severity, but they were of no use to him right now. They were never of any use when it came to his son. He felt like he was grasping at straws.

"There was something called overshadowing. The way it was described made it sound like possession. I'll contact Robin to get the details and compare the symptoms," Tim placed a call on the car's digital screen. Soon enough, the image of Robin standing in the batcave flashed onto the screen. It was a mild relief to confirm Damian's safety, but it was almost completely overshadowed by a sense of urgency. "Robin, is Red Hood acting strangely like a shift in his personality or posture? Was there a change in eye color or anything that suggests he isn't himself?" he questioned.

"Drake, this is no time for one of your useless theories," Robin frowned in clear irritation and glanced towards the med bay. They didn't have time to debate this when it was their only lead.

"Robin Report," Bruce ordered, making it clear that they were not taking the situation lightly. Tim must have been adamant about this particular theory for a reason, so they needed to trust him if they wanted to help Jason.

"I can assure you, Hood is not possessed. His symptoms suggest a fever: nausea, sweat, muscle weakness, raised temperature. Had it not been for the fact that I witnessed it, I wouldn't think it was anything serious," Robin reported with a stained voice that was attempting to conceal his inner turmoil, "Have you not looked into other possibilities? Did the samples match with anything in the Justice League database?"

"Negative, it wasn't a match for any of the cataloged alien species," Bruce admitted feeling his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

"We'll need to run some tests, but I don't think we'll get anywhere without help from the JLD," Tim was clearly concerned and frustrated as he ran his hand through his hair. Bruce could help but feel particularly useless in this situation. There was almost no information on this creature and yet he had kept it so close to his family without properly containing it. If anything happens, it would his fault.

Bruce accelerated once again and he may have violated several traffic laws, but that wasn't important right now. He should've known better than to believe that his children would listen to him and stay away from the unknown creature. He had failed his son again. They quickly pulled up to the manor and found Damian and Alfred by Jason's side. The latter was wiping the sweat off Jason's brow with a worried frown.

"Status," Bruce hurried over carefully scanning his son and cataloging any observable symptoms.

Damian walked over to stand by his side. His body language was steady from his years training as an assassin, something Bruce will always regret being unable to prevent. "His symptoms haven't lessened, but they haven't gotten worse. He lost consciousness right before I received your call. I had Pennyworth monitor him and start him on an IV. I have taken a few samples to run them through the preliminary tests. All of them were useless," Damian sounded self deprecating at the end. He was running through the motions, clearly attempting to keep his concern from showing despite his ever present scowl.

Bruce crouched down in front of him placing a hand on his shoulder, "He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

Damian furrowed his brows but gave a hesitant nod. He turned and walked over to the batcomputer where Tim had begun to type away at the keys to study the test results and started to make plans on how to proceed. Bruce stood up and moved to sit beside Jason on the chair Alfred had silently set for him. Alfred had a look of concern and guilt, but this wasn't on him. Bruce should've done something, anything, to prevent this. Jason looked terribly sick and uncomfortable with his face scrunched up and his hand clutching the blankets.

There wasn't much else he could do. His children were already competent enough to have covered all of their bases, he had already convinced Constantine to stop by despite the man's protests, and he trusted that all of the tests were running smoothly. Without knowing what the creature was, there was no way for him to prepare the necessary contingencies. He hated not knowing. He hated being so unprepared. He hated feeling so useless when his son needed him, but this was nothing new. He had always failed his children when it mattered most. He could only hope he wasn't too late this time.

Notes:

Ngl me knowing next to nothing about how the bats operate in canon, kinda made me assume they always got coms on them for emergencies. Like maybe it's a piercing or a Bluetooth looking thing to blend into their civilian lives. You know what, this is a fanfic, so yes, that's how it works in this universe.

Chapter 9

Danny delved into Helmet Guy's being and carefully searched for the familiar feeling he had sensed ever since he met the man. The sense of wrongness was concerning. This man in red clearly needed his help. Danny could just sense it, and he was quickly proven right when he found what appeared to be a fragmented core.

It was a horrifying sight. The fragile core was littered with cracks and was surrounded by shards that were barely kept from dissipating by what looked like ectoplasm. That explained why he felt so familiar. The stranger was just like him, well, almost. He clearly wasn't a halfa, and he was closer to being alive than dead, but that was beside the point.

Danny hesitantly inspected the damage and found that something was strange about the ectoplasm. It bubbled and sizzled like toxic waste. Could that be the source of the wrongness? He was definitely no expert on core unlike Frost- . . . Who? No, Danny needed to focus. Helmet Guy was already getting uncomfortable his his presence. He should quickly do something about the problem rather than prolong the man's discomfort.

Danny couldn't just leave him with all that corrupted ectoplasm. That couldn't be healthy, physically or mentally. From his rudimentary understanding of cores, the corrupted ectoplasm had probably distorted the poor man's obsession. Danny couldn't leave him to such a cruel existence. He just had to help him.

Danny's core thrummed with instinctive protectiveness. It pushed Danny to protect his new found comrade. The problem was that if Danny didn't want to accidentally kill him all the way, he would have to replace the corrupted ectoplasm with new clean ectoplasm. However, without direct access to the Ghost Zone, Danny would have to use his own ectoplasm.

If Danny was being honest with himself, he didn't have any ectoplasm to spare. With his incredibly weak state, every bit of ectoplasm was being used to not only prepare his own core, but it was also keeping it from getting worse. Even though he now struggled to remember what had caused the damage, there were still echos of painful sorrow in the cracks on his core.

If Danny decided to help Helmet Guy, he'd be back tracking most of the progress he's made since escaping GIW. Despite knowing this, Danny still had to try. It was clear that Helmet Guy had been suffering for a long time. A fragmented core would have left anyone a shadow of themselves and the corrupt ectoplasm definitely wouldn't help with any negative memories and emotions. Regardless of the consequences, Danny was determined to mend this stranger's pain.

With this resolve, he began studying the damage to determine the best way to start the process. If Danny could only take out a bit at a time, he would need to start from the source, and work his way out to flush everything out and not just have it all mix together. It would be useless if his own ectoplasm got corrupted.

With a plan in mind, Danny began gathering a bit of corrupt ectoplasm and replacing it with the new cleaner version. He used his ghostly abilities to section off the different parts of the core and slowly expand to cover larger areas over time. It was a slow process where Danny had to take several breaks to not exhaust himself. After about an hour, he began disposing of all he had collected so far. It was relatively easy to just push the substance out of the man's chest. The man shifted in discomfort as the green clump of goo left his body and stained the blankets.

Ah, Danny kind of forgot about the clean up. Well, considering all the frantic shouting and shuffling happening around them, there was probably other people that showed up to take care of it. Danny resolutely decided it wasn't his problem and went back to focusing on the task at hand.

Time and time again, Danny removed the corruption, and Danny could feel himself weaken as he drained his own supply of ectoplasm. However, the pleased thrum of his core spurred him on. He was helping. He was sure of it. The man's breaths had finally evened out and his condition stabilized. Danny's core chirped with happiness knowing Helmet Guy would be okay.

All that was left for Danny to do was smooth out the core formation process. The ectoplasm was already working to glue the fragmented pieces together so it could reshape itself. Danny watched in fascination as it settled into a more rounded shape. The cracks glowed a bright green, but it no longer bubbled like acid. The sense of wrongness was gone and Danny could now feel the imprint of memories that reflected on the newly forming core.

There were echos of an excruciating death filled with a desperate hope that was left betrayed by cruel reality. It was to be expected. After all, those who died peacefully didn't tend to linger. Danny tore away from witnessing the details. He wouldn't pry into such a private topic especially when ghosts always responded violently to having their death brought up. Even Danny couldn't handle recalling his own accident. Instead, he focused on the brightest memories, the reason this man lingered in this world.

It gave the impression of a bright, young boy in flight with the cloudy night sky above. Helmet Guy's core felt immense joy in protecting the people below and fighting along side a larger, darker figure. Then, the core felt comfort and longing for a time when that same figure stayed by his side when he was sick. Oh, he was thinking of his father. The dark feelings of his death had been amplified by the corrupt ectoplasm and completely shrouded those happy memories. How sad it must of been for this man to be forced to constantly feel the pain of death.

Danny felt sad for him. He couldn't imagine being feeling nothing but anger when he had so much love for his parents. . . Huh? Did Danny have parents? Well, no matter. Danny's core purred in satisfaction, knowing that Helmet Guy finally had the chance to properly feed into his obsession. Despite the relief of a job well done, Danny now had to face the consequences of his decision. The cracks in his own core formed a new like a reopened wound.

Danny exited the man's body, feeling the weight of his actions press down on him until fell to the floor. The damage his core now sustained was now reflecting onto his small body. His wounds began to ooze green as his physical form destabilized. His consciousness was fading in and out along with his small form.

He curled into himself in a desperate attempt to ease the incoming pain. He knew he needed to retreat into his core to lessen his suffering, but it wasn't safe here. He would leave himself vulnerable to the GIW. They could easily capture him in such a defenseless state.

There was now a ringing in his ears and he was barely aware of the people begin to approach him. Oh no, Danny was too late to escape. They found him. He was in too much pain to run. He didn't want to suffer under their cruelty again. Please, not again. He whimpered in fear, hoping he could gather enough strength to at least hide.

Suddenly, he was scooped up into a set of strong and gentle arms. The steady protective thrum of a core resonated with his own. The fear and pain he was projecting was met with a strong and bright aura of reassurance. The familiar warm feeling was overwhelming. When was the last time he felt the presence of another of his kind? When was the last time he felt so at home? He missed his home. He missed it so much his core cried out for it even when he could no longer understand what home was.

He sank into the feeling, not wanting to let it go. Tears fell from his almost nonexistent eyes. He was safe. He was home. He could finally let himself retreat into his core.

Notes:

Fuck I made myself sad. I’m literally crying over the victim when I’m the murderer 😭

Chapter 10

Jason felt the moment all of the tension left his body. His breathing steadied as a sudden sense of peace washed over him. Everything was still hazy and uncomfortable, but the fever had finally subsided. Even though he could open his eyes, he wasn't able to properly take in his surroundings. The whispers that were constantly in the back of his mind were completely silent, leaving him feeling uneasy as to what that could mean.

He searched his mind for answers as to what had happened for him to wake up from an unconscious state. Instead, he found many feelings that he had held onto were all coming to the surface, but for once, the fear and anger were taking a back seat. Even the blinding rage that constantly threatened to take over was gone. In its place was sadness, regret and joy. What was happening to him? This new state of being made him anxious, but it was also such a relief.

He slowly sat up holding his head, trying to refocus his mind. His thoughts were a mess, but they were also surprisingly clear. He remembered sneaking into the batcave and running into Damian. The brat had skipped school. Now that was blackmail material if he'd ever seen it. He chuckled at the thought.

"Jason, Jason, can you hear me?"

A spark of familiarity rang in his ears. Memories long buried and tainted with darkness resurfaced in his mind. He remembered the comfort and pride that voice had offered him as a young boy, the sting of pain when it was all ripped away, and the uncontrollable anger that couldn't distinguish between friend and foe. All of it swirled together as a part of himself. He could feel it build in his chest like it was piecing itself together to form a whole.

"Jason, can you tell me what's wrong?"

He was reminded of why he had desperately wanted to live, to stay in this world. He wanted to rid the world of evil, at least that was his anger wanted, but he had forgotten that his joy said it was to preserve and protect what he loved, to keep it from being taken away again. He wanted to live in order to protect what he held dear. How had he forgotten that? Had his anger really blinded him all this time?

"Jaylad, please talk to me," the voice begged with desperation.

Jason's mind zeroed in on the old nickname. He slowly turned to look at the source of the voice. His sight cleared up to reveal an older man with black hair and blue eyes looking at him with so much worry and concern. The anger and frustration that usually came with the sight of this man was strangely absent.

"B?" he whispered with recognition. He felt something inside him flood with warmth as a single word popped into his head, Dad. When was the last time he called him that? Anger had long convinced him that it was no longer a title he could use.

Bruce remained silent, waiting for him to continue speaking. Jason stared for a moment reassessing the situation though that seemed to be a painfully slow process. It was as if everyone held their breath, waiting for something to give, but nothing came. Jason finally registered that they weren't alone. His gaze shifted to the different people in the room, and with each one, the hum in his chest grew louder filling him with the need to protect, to cherish, to love. How strange.

Jason suddenly tensed as he felt a thrum of pain that was not his own. The small creature suddenly left his body and shriveled up on the floor. Waves of pain and anguish now radiated from the being. He had forgotten all about them, but this did give him another piece of the puzzle that was his current situation. Jason was overwhelmed with a feeling of worry and protectiveness. Jason felt a bond with this creature, one he still couldn't properly place, but it was clear that they had helped him and now they were paying the price.

Jason noticed the others tense with weapons at the ready. They had assumed the creature was a threat without the context of the situation. Bruce was moving towards the creature when Jason jumped off the bed to stand between them. Bruce was surprised but quickly shifted to give him a stern and concerned look. It was a look he often gave Jason before, but had the concern always been there?

"Jason, get back. I'll handle-"

"No, don't," Jason cut him off before reaching down to cradle the poor little guy in his arms. "I've got no idea what just happened, but you're not gonna mess with the little guy. I don't know how to explain it, but I think they were just trying to help," he struggled to find the words to diffuse the situation, that had always been Dick's specialty. He took a step back to assess the damage on the poor creature.

They were covered in wounds that looked like cracks forming all over their body. Jason isn't sure how, but he instinctively sent waves of reassurance in response to the pain and fear that he felt from them. It seemed to work because the fear subsided to one of relief and sadness. Then the creature shifted to curl into him before shrinking into a blue sphere that glowed a weak blue color and was covered in similar cracks as if threatening to shatter.

"We'll need to discuss what just happened, but I'll run a few more tests first. You'll be needing another full body check up," Bruce heaved a sigh and sat back down. Usually, this routine of their's was followed by protests and arguments, but that was because Jason had always believed Bruce's words were filled with innate distrust towards him. Now he only heard worry and stress.

"Yeah, let's talk about why you were oozing Lazarus water for the past 3 hours," Tim chimed in adding to the disaster of a situation.

"I fucking what?" Jason gave him a disgusted look noticing the cleaning supplies and vials of green sludge on a few counters.

"Please do sit back down, Master Jason. This may take a while. In the meantime, I'll fetch us some refreshments and something comfortable for our guest to rest in," Alfred gave him a relieved smile before heading up to the manor.

“Seeing as how Todd was unconscious for most of it, I’ll explain things starting from when we first encountered each other,” Robin stepped up with all of his arrogant glory.

“Which reminds me, why are you here instead of school?” Bruce narrowed his eyes in suspicion at his youngest.

“Father, please, we are only discussing relevant information right now,” Robin brushed him off like he was the adult in this situation.

Notes:

Me *notices 1k+ Kudos and 10k+ readers within the first week of posting this story*: Where the fuck did y’all come from???

Thanks for reading 🥰

Chapter 11

Bruce could feel an incoming headache. Stress and concern over Jason's situation was getting worse by the minute as they each recounted their perspectives on the situation. Damian started with what he had seen happen to Jason while avoiding the topic as to why he was in the cave in the first place. This will definitely be a topic he will be revisiting later.

Then Tim explained the different tests he ran while Jason was unconscious and how they originally thought that Lazarus water was being expelled from his body. Now with further testing, it's more like it had been replaced with the similar substance that they had acquired from the creature. Bruce had no idea what this meant for his son.

"I guess now it's my turn," Jason frowned in thought, "but I don't really know how to describe it. One thing I know for sure is that the Pit is gone."

"Gone?" Bruce furrowed his eyes. As much as that sparked a bit of hope for his son's situation, it could also mean that it was replaced with something worse.

"Gone, vanished, it shut the fuck up. I don't know. I just can't feel it anymore. It's so fucking quiet up there that it's got me on edge," Jason shrugged. Alfred walked to his side with a basket in hand. Jason looked between the orb and the pillow inside the basket. Jason was clearly hesitant to part with the orb.

"Master Jason, I believe our guest will find it just as safe and comfortable in the basket. I will set them on the desk next to you if it will reassure you to have them near," Alfred persuaded.

"Yeah, you're right, Alfie. I'm just jumpy," Jason heaved a sigh and placed the creature inside. True to his word, Alfred cleared a space on the desk for Jason to keep a vigilant eye on the orb.

"As much as I want to believe that's good news, we're going to have to keep you monitored," Tim pointed out as he typed out the details into the bat computer for later reference.

"It'll be best if you stayed in the manor," Bruce stated carefully knowing this was a very sensitive topic. After all, Jason had made it a point to avoid staying by any means necessary. This was definitely a situation in which Bruce couldn't afford to back down, so he prepared to defend his stance despite the incoming argument.

"Yeah, I get it. Tim can go ahead and set up a schedule to monitor me and the little guy. I can tell that something fundamentally changed about me, but there's only so much we can do on our own. Ugh, I really hate this magic shit," Jason complained with a grumble. Bruce felt his mind blank as everyone froze to stare at Jason with the same look of disbelief. Jason raised an eyebrow in response, "What?"

"Drake, I believe we need to run more tests centered around mind control," Robin deadpanned.

"I'll set them up right now," Tim gave a nod in agreement.

"Oh fuck off. You checked that already," Jason said in indignation.

"Yeah, but that was before you started being 'understanding' and 'reasonable'," Tim pointed out with a grimace.

"We should also check to see if Todd has sustained brain damage. Seeing as he barely uses it, it would explain why we hadn't noticed until now," Damian added with all seriousness.

"Don't think I won't shoot both of you," Jason growled as the situation quickly devolved into a argument full of insults and threats.

Despite the harsh words being thrown around, Bruce could tell there was a soft air around his sons. There wasn't even a hint of venom that had always plagued their interactions. This was simply banter between brothers.

Alfred gave them a pleased smile. He had also felt the same watching the siblings yell at each other. Bruce silently watched with him feeling conflicted at the strange sense of peace. He couldn't allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of security. He still needed to drag Constantine down here to ensure the safety of his family, but at least for now, Jason had agreed to stay. He'd be able to keep a close eye on him and work on fail safes incase this was all due to mind alteration or possession.

Bruce steeled himself to get the conversation back on track, "Jason, do you have any idea why the creature changed physical form?"

"Huh? Oh, I can't really know for sure, but I think they're hurt?" Jason seemed to be struggling to put his thoughts into words, "I'm not just saying that because of the obvious cracks. I can sort of, feel it? Whatever the little guy did to me, it sort of, connected me to them? No, that's not really it. It's more like I can sense a vibe from them? I know they were terrified until I picked them up, and they trusted me enough to . . . do this?" He motioned towards the orb. Bruce glanced at the others and clearly, he wasn't the only one who felt like that made no sense.

"So we're going off vibes now?" Tim gave Jason a look.

"Give me a break, it's the only way I can explain whatever this shit is," Jason groaned in frustration.

"Then for now, we'll follow Tim's plan and monitor his condition. We'll leave the creature in it's cell though it has proven to be useless against it's intangibility. Until we can figure out if it has any influence on Jason, it'll be for the best to keep them apart," Bruce concluded after careful consideration, "Tim, set up an alarm system incase there are any changes within the cell."

"Already set up," he confirmed.

"As long as you lay off the little guy, I won't argue, but don't try anything. I still stand by the idea that they only wanted to help, but I know your paranoid ass needs confirmation," Jason grumbled in agreement, but it was still odd that there was a distinct lack of bite in his words.

"I will-"

"You are grounded," Bruce quickly cut Robin off.

"Father, I-"

"You skipped school, defied direct orders to stay away from an unknown threat, and put yourself in harms way. If you continue to argue with me, I will bench you for a week," Bruce crossed his arms giving Robin a pointed look.

"Yes, Father," Robin conceded but his deep frown clearly meant that he did not agree with Bruce's verdict. Bruce never quite knew how to get his son to understand he was just worried. He always chose the wrong words in these situations and any follow ups only served to make things worse.

"I will contact Constantine again. We can't wait much longer, not with all of these unknown variables that keep catching us by surprise. I expect you all to have learned to follow orders and stay clear of the creature. We can't afford anymore incidents," Bruce strained the issue waiting for confirmation.

"Yes, Father."

"Whatever you say, B."

"Copy."

"Good," Bruce gave a nod. He knew better than to take their word for it, but this was all he was going to get. Hopefully, tonight's patrol would give him an way to relieve some stress though he had a feeling his headache would only be getting worse.

Notes:

I'm so glad I got some help in getting out of my writer's block. Murr, if you're reading this, I appreciate you <3

Chapter 12

"Father is a cruel and unjust tyrant," Damian complained with a deep frown.

"What did you think would happen?" a teasing chuckled came from the phone. He had placed it on the desk and set it on speaker after calling his eldest brother.

"I was prioritizing the mission and he should be glad that I was there to aid Todd!" Damian protested as he sharpened his katana. Even if he was grounded for such a ridiculous reason, he still needed to prepare for patrol. Luckily, Father was still reasonable enough not to bench him as long as he followed the 'buddy system' as Grayson called it.

"And we do appreciate you for that, but even with how glad I am that it all worked out, I still wish you didn't put yourself in danger like that," Grayson admitted with clear concern. He always was the bleeding heart of the family.

"I had it handled. I had taken all of the necessary precautions before Todd showed up. He deliberately approached the creature and provoked it somehow. We're still not sure what it did to him exactly despite running so many tests. All we found was that the creature had removed the Lazarus water from his body and replaced it with a similar substance that we found is from the creature itself. Todd claims the creature has no ill intent, but Father has concluded that we need to keep Todd at the mansion while we wait for Constantine's arrival. The strangest part was that Todd had agreed to it and has even allowed us to monitor him," Damian frowned at the memory. Todd had been abnormally agreeable and lacking in any hostility towards Father.

"Wait, Jason is staying in the manor? Willingly?" Grayson asked in astonishment.

"Hn, I was nearly convinced of Drake's foolish possession theory if it wasn't for the fact that the creature had left Todd's body and turned into a sphere of some kind. He also agreed to part with it as long as no harm came to it while it 'rests'. Father is concerned about the new connection that Todd shares with the creature, hence why I am contacting you. Drake has set up a schedule in which we each take turns monitoring Todd and reporting anything we notice," Damian recalled, pausing his repeated movements to check his blade.

"Things just keep getting more complicated. I really wish Zatanna wasn't off world. All we've got from Constantine was a vague 'soon' as to when he'd actually show up. Aw, I really wanna believe the cute little guy isn't dangerous, but now I'm having second thoughts," Grayson complained with a childish whine.

"Grayson, all I need is confirmation that you will be making your way to the manor for monitor duty. Your complaints are of no importance to me," Damian clarified with mild annoyance.

"Aw, don't be like that Dami. Don't you want to spend more time with you big bro?" Grayson teased despite knowing how ineffective it was against him.

"Yes or no?" he reiterated.

"Yeah, obviously. I can't not show up when my little brothers need me. I'll clock out saying it's a family emergency and I'll head right over," Grayson confirmed. "Say, now that you're grounded, this'll be the perfect opportunity for a family movie night-"

Damian hung up, cutting him off mid sentence. With a glance at the clock, it was almost time for his scheduled monitor duty. Drake had insisted on taking the first shift stating he had follow up questions for Todd and would be making another report. Damian couldn't understand why Drake is still so insistent about his theories that had been proven wrong time and time again. As much as Damian loved the sudden increase in fuel for his insults, this was getting ridiculous.

He contemplated taking it upon himself to do the research on the creature, but despite knowing his superior detective skills, it was not his case. Besides, it's not like Damian wanted to help Drake. Damian was merely concerned that his reasoning skills would be compromised by the clear signs of stress and lack of rest. Not to mention that everyone, not just Damian, was clear on Drake's obsessive tendencies when there was a particularly difficult case.

Damian frowned at his train of thought and opted to look for Todd and Drake so he would be sufficiently prepared for monitor duty. As expected, Todd had gone to the library and Drake had sat across from him staring intently. Todd shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze when he spotted Damian in the door way.

"Would you look at that Timberly, you're free to go," Todd placed his book down and motioned towards the door.

"There's actually about 15 minutes-"

"Get out," Todd left no room for argument as Tim groaned in frustration and stormed out of the room. Clearly, he had made a fruitless endeavor, as expected.

Once the two of them were left alone, Jason narrowed his eyes at Damian with suspicion, "Are you also going to interrogate me or am I finally gonna get some peace and quiet?"

"I'm here to monitor you, not make conversation," Damian huffed. He wasn't childish enough to do something so unnecessary to the mission. Jason gave him an odd stare, like he saw something. Damian couldn't help but shift under his gaze like he was being read like a book. He wasn't necessarily hiding anything and even if he was, he was confident in his ability to stay composed under any circumstance. "Is there a reason you insist on staring at me like that?" Damian bristled defensively.

"Look, I know I freaked you out with what happened down in the cave, but -"

"I did not 'freak out', Todd. I just needed to figure out how your screw up would affect the mission," Damian cut him off giving another irritated huff. His frown deepened at the thought that it had all happened under his watch too. It was no wonder Bruce still had such little faith in him. They still couldn't even be sure it didn't have any permanent repercussions.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Jason brushed it off, "I just want you to know that there was nothing you could've done in that situation. The little guy's got intangibility, and none of us have any way to deal with that."

"I know, Todd, and you would have too had you bothered to read the report," Damian quipped.

"So you know it's not your fault?" Jason leaned into it like he needed confirmation for the obvious.

Damian frowned at his words, "I didn't say it was."

"Well it's not," Jason seemed adamant in pressing the nonissue.

Damian felt himself stiffen under his gaze. He didn't like the softness in Jason's words, the misplaced concern on his face, and his insistence on reassuring him of this. "Go back to you're book. I already said I'm not here for idle chatter," Damian snapped at him, feeling cornered.

"It's not your fault, Damian. I know you tried to save me back there. Just don't go blaming yourself for it," Jason gave a small sigh and picked up his book.

"Tt, just shut up," Damian muttered and looked down at the floor. They continued to sit there in silence, and if Damian let out a small sniffle, no he didn't.

Notes:

Jesus, I had 80% of the chapter done for a week now, but I couldn't find a way to end it properly. I even have most of the next 2 chapters planned out. Thank goodness I finally figured it out today and I'm pretty happy with it too. I'll be back soon with more ^^

Chapter 13

Tim leaned forward into his hands with with elbows propped up on the table in front of him. He stared intently at Jason who held up a book to block his face. They had been sitting there in the library for a while now and Jason was clearly getting irritated. After a long uncomfortable silence, Jason let out a frustrated groan and placed his book down on the table.

"Fine! Ask your fucking questions, so we can get this over with," Jason shouted with a deep frown.

Tim instantly perked up and prepared his notepad, readily accepting the opportunity, "You mentioned that you had felt some 'vibes' from the creature. Can you still feel it now or is there a limit to how far you can be?"

"Getting straight to it then. Okay, easy enough, I can't really feel them right now, but I'm not sure if its based on distance or because they're hibernating," Jason answered leaning back into the chair with an unimpressed look.

"Hibernating?" Tim inquired wanting to know if this was a new angle he could look into for his research later.

"It's what I'm calling his orb form," he shrugged without elaborating further. Of course he would. Tim should've known better than to expect more from that.

With a sigh, he opted to ask his next question, "Do you feel anything in particular towards it? Any suspiciously strong emotions?"

"Nothing really. Sure I'm worried about the little guy now that I know they're hurt and all, but I'm not taking any risks again. I'm not an idiot," Jason waved him off, probably knowing about Tim's possible follow up concerns about his statement.

"Alright, fine. Then, do you know if it can also feel your 'vibes' like some form of communication?" If this was the case, maybe they could get more information from the creature itself. They haven't really heard it speak, but if it really does communicate using 'vibes', then narrowing down what it is would be so much easier.

"I think so? Probably? I mean, I tried to reassure it when I realized it was freaking out, and I just did it on instinct. I can't really tell what I did exactly, but I know I did something," Jason shrugged.

"Thanks, really helpful," Tim muttered sarcastically. So much for that idea. Tim then moved on, "Is there anything else you can do now that you definitely couldn't before?"

"I haven't really tried anything else so far, but it feels like there's definitely a shift in my priorities. Well, it's more accurate to say that my old priorities are back. The ones from before the pit," Jason's voice softened to the point he almost sounded vulnerable.

"So the creature gave you a factory reset?" Tim was surprised. He could still vividly recall the young boy he had admired, his Robin. The Robin he had chased around with his camera when he was just 9 years old.

Jason snorted at his words, "That's one way to put it." There was a sense of ease around him that was previously nonexistent. He used to always have a tense, almost suffocating, atmosphere around him.

"Do you remember anything from after you lost consciousness?" Tim asked almost in awe at the unfamiliar sight.

"Not exactly? It kind of feels like I was in a dream. At first it was the usual nightmares with Joker, but then it changed to something further back when I was a walking traffic light," Jason chuckled at the memory.

Tim was surprised to see the smile on his face at the mention of his time as Robin. It wasn't often that he brought it up himself and if he did, it was in a self deprecating manner. Sometimes it felt like just the thought would send him into another fit of rage. There was a line Tim usually wouldn't dare to cross, but maybe now he could.

"Do you miss it?" Tim found himself asking. He knows he shouldn't ask. It was a stupid question, but he always had a sense of guilt knowing he had taken the title away from him. He originally didn't even want to, but Batman needed a Robin and Dick refused to come back. Tim had to take responsibility for what he knew was right, but would he have done it if he knew Jason would come back? Would he have still forcefully taken the mantel knowing how devastated Jason was? Now that he was forcefully stripped of it too, he could understand the bitterness and anger Jason must of felt when he found out he was replaced by someone like Tim. Someone who could never live up to the name.

"Don't ask the obvious, but we all have to grow up sometime. Even if I could take it back, I wouldn't," Jason crossed his arms in a huff. He stared at Tim for a moment as if trying to piece together a puzzle. "Hey, I can hear you overthinking from here, Boy Wonder," he frowned. "Look, I know I called you  replacement before, but it was misplaced anger. Yeah I was angry at B for getting a new Robin, but that's not what really pissed me off."

Jason paused shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He brought up a hand to run it through his hair. Despite how deep his frown became, it completely lacked the green hue that usually accompanied it. "I just hated how meaningless my death turned out to be. I died and nothing changed! Gotham was still a shit hole, the rouges were still fucking around, and the god damn Joker was still breathing! It pisses me the fuck off," he stood and slammed his hands onto the table.

Tim tensed as a familiar sense of fear pricked at his skin. The kind that always had him checking for all points of exit whenever Jason got particularly riled up. However, Jason suddenly sighed heavily and deflated back into his chair.

"God I'm a fucking mess," Jason rubbed his face looking more annoyed than angry, "No more fucking questions."

Tim immediately frowned in protest, "But I-"

"No. More. Fucking. Questions. We're gonna sit here, and I'm gonna read my god damn book," Jason gave Tim a pointed look before grabbing his book off the table and silently continuing to read.

Tim stared at Jason contemplating everything he had just witnessed. Something really had changed about Jason, and now he was being barred from properly looking into it. Tim felt more confused than before. He had more questions than what he started with, and now Jason refused to talk.

Then Damian showed up early which gave Jason an excuse to kick him out. Tim couldn't help but feel frustrated. Everything he had researched so far has been entirely wrong. They'd been lucky so far that nothing too bad has come from his mistakes, but he can't afford to let things continue like this. In their line of work, mistakes could mean death, theirs or someone else's.

Tim knew better than to make mistakes. He knew better than to allow himself any room to make them, yet how did this happen? He stormed into his room with the door slamming shut behind him. He sat at his desk and started up his computer. There was no time for him to rest when he had continuously failed to identify the creature. This didn't work as well as the batcomputer, but with Bruce banning them from getting anywhere near the creature, his options were limited. He'd have to make it work until they could get a hold of Constantine.

He didn't get anything useful from his follow up questions since Jason still couldn't make much sense of what had happened to him. However, he did get a few different options to toy around with. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

Tim began to search for any explanation for the creature's behavior and any possible links to similar descriptions listed for known cryptids. He tried to ignore the part of his brain that still insisted it was a ghost from the Infinite Realms. That had been shut down too many times for him to continue believing it.

It was absurd that he still wanted to entertain that stupid idea, and he was not stupid. He shook his head and focused on the screen in front of him. He couldn't allow himself to spiral. There's no time for that right now. Jason could be in serious trouble if he couldn't get his shit together. It was his responsibility to see this through.

This was his case.

Notes:

Why are the characters OOC? Cause I do whatever makes my brain go brrrr

Thanks for 20k+ hits 🥰

Chapter 14

Dick jogged up to the entrance and let himself into the manor. He still had a hard time believing that Jason was in there like it was no big deal, but he was still excited despite the worrisome explanation he got from Damian and the reports. He made a quick visit to the kitchen where he spotted Alfred preparing some food.

"Hey, Alfie," Dick gave him his signature grin with a wave.

"Good to see you back so soon, Master Dick, though it may not be under the best of circumstances," Alfred acknowledged him even as he continued with his duties in the kitchen.

"Who's that for?" Dick gave him a curious gaze.

"Though our guest is currently in a less than ideal state, I still need to prepare their meals incase they decide to come out," Alfred informed him.

"I don't know how I feel about you heading down there after what happened with Jason," he admitted and shifted his weight, pondering the situation. There wasn't anything suggesting someone was harmed, but that didn't mean Jason was completely in the clear.

"It is of no concern. I, for one, still don't get the impression that our guest meant any harm," Alfred reassured him as he placed the dish onto the tray, "I'm sure Master Jason feels much the same after waking up."

"I'll trust your judgement, but be careful, alright?" Dick gave Alfred a pat on the shoulder. He knew better than to argue with the older man once he made up his mind. It helped that Alfred tended to be right about these things. "Oh, and where is everyone? It's almost time for my shift on monitor duty," he changed topics with ease.

"Master Jason and Master Damian should still be in the library. Master Tim is in his room and Master Bruce is working in his study," Alfred recounted dutifully. You can always count on him to know everything going on in the manor.

"Alright, thanks. See you later," Dick gave him a nod and headed for the library. He was still worried about Alfred heading down to the cave, but if Bruce was okay with it, who was he to argue?

As soon as he stepped into the room, he spotted Jason and Damian sitting across from each other. Damian had his signature frown, and Jason was calmly reading. It would've been a peaceful sight if not for the fact that Damian seemed genuinely upset about something.

"Hey guys. What's wrong, Dami?" Dick greeted before going over to his youngest brother.

"Nothing is wrong. Don't be ridiculous," Damian's frown deepened as he got up from his seat. Dick felt his worry rise. If only Damian would open up a bit. "I'll be in the gym," Damian quickly made his way out of the room without sparing him a glance.

"Did something happen while you two were alone?" Dick directed his attention to Jason who simply shrugged and continued reading. Something definitely happened, but it seemed like getting answers won't be easy, as usual. No one in this family ever wanted to talk about 'feelings'.

Dick shook his head feeling exasperated. Then, he took a moment to look over Jason from head to toe. There didn't seem to be anything visibly wrong with him which would have been all well and good had it not been for the fact that they were dealing with the occult, magic, and possible mind control. Dick sighed, deciding to take what he could get.

"I'm glad you turned out okay. I read the report which was really concerning if I'm honest, but you seem really calm about it," Dick pointed out with contemplative smile.

"As far as I can tell, the little guy meant well, so I'm sticking to that until Constantine decides to show his face," Jason barely glanced up from his book. He was clearly relaxed despite being in the manor. Was it really true that he had willingly stayed? Dick felt a bubble of hope in his chest.

"Well, then it looks like we have some time to kill until then," Dick grinned and walked over to stand next to Jason. "How about we have a family game night? It's not often we have everyone in the manor like this."

"Aren't you supposed to monitor me?" Jason raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't play games or watch movies while we're at it," Dick grinned motioning over his shoulder.

"Should've known I wouldn't be getting much reading done in this house, but I doubt you'll convince the other two. You saw Damian. He's in one of his moods. Plus Tim isn't much better. He's probably brooding over his computer," Jason gave a sigh and put down his book.

"Well it sounds to me that they just need some cheering up. Come on," Dick insisted with a tug on Jason's arm.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," Jason gave in and stood up to follow behind Dick.

"If you're so sure, then why are you following me?" Dick liked to think that Jason missed hanging out as much as he did.

"Oh, I just want to watch the shit storm. Maybe I'll swing by the kitchen and grab some popcorn," Jason quipped because God forbid he'd admit he wanted some quality family time. Well, Dick can work with this and he wasn't about to let go of a golden opportunity.

"Well, first stop, the gym," Dick led the way and excitedly searched for his youngest brother. He already had a few ideas as to which games he'd introduce to Damian. Sure, his little brother would argue against playing at all since its 'childish', but Dick knew the poor kid needed more exposure to what a normal childhood looks like.

He quickly spots Damian on the training mat with his sword in hand. He stopped his swing as he spotted him. His eyes narrowed before continuing his swings. Looks like he really is in a touchy mood, but nothing Dick hadn't dealt with before. Damian was just the type to suppress his emotions and release them through aggression. As the older brother, Dick just needed to show him healthier coping mechanisms.

"Hey, little D. Me and Jason were thinking that we could have a family game night plus a movie later before patrol tonight. Care to join us?" Dick invited him.

"I'm training," Damian effectively ignored him.

"It's not a bad thing to relax every once in a while. It might even help to take the edge off," Dick insisted.

"I don't need to 'take the edge off', and I don't have time for your childish games, Grayson," Damian glared. "Maybe you would benefit from more training instead wasting time on your pointless activities, especially if it's distracting you from the mission."

Dick was taken aback by the bite behind his words. Sure Damian wasn't typically the agreeable type, but he only ever took such an approach when he had a particularly bad fight with Bruce. "Did something happen? You know you can talk to me, right?" Dick couldn't help but feel worried.

"Nothing happened, and if that is all, then leave," Damian turned away to continue his training.

Dick furrowed his eyebrows, but decided against arguing. He made his way back to the exit where Jason was leaning against the doorway, waiting for him.

Jason gave a long whistle, "Ouch."

"Do you know anything about this?" Dick couldn't figure anything out without context, but Jason just shrugged again before heading down the hall. Dick sighed and followed close behind, "Maybe I should try again later."

He was sure Damian just needed time to calm down. This wouldn't be so hard if Jason would just explain what happened, but Dick wasn't likely to get any straight answers. Does this mean that Tim was also in a really touchy mood? Is this why Jason was so confident that neither would join them? Dick couldn't help but feel nervous at the thought, but he was still going to try. He was the older brother, so he wasn't going to leave his brothers like this when he could do something to fix this.

Notes:

Dick out here with his eldest daughter syndrome

Chapter 15

Dick and Jason made their way over to the private rooms where they knew Tim would be. Dick went to the door while Jason stood back with a knowing look. It definitely wasn't a confidence booster, but Dick had come this far. No turning back now. How bad could it be? He took a deep breath and reached up to knock on the door. There was a long dragged out silence. Maybe he didn't hear him? Dick gave it another knock only to be met with silence again.

"Tim? You in there?" Dick called out.

The lack of response wasn't necessarily unusual, especially if Jason was right about Tim being on his computer. He opted to try the handle which opened easily enough. To no one's surprise, the room was a disaster. Tim never bothered to clean up claiming he doesn't need to when he knows where everything is, like there is a method to his madness.

"Tim, I wanted to ask you something," Dick poked his head in to locate his brother with another knock just incase.

He spotted Tim's hunched form over his computer, his hands gliding across the keyboard at impressive speeds. Tim stops as if suddenly brought out of his trance and looks back at Dick, "What is it? I'm kind of busy right now."

"Well I just thought that with how rare it is for everyone being here, we could have a family game night. You know, just hang out and destress from everything," Dick stepped inside feeling a little more optimistic about convincing Tim.

Tim shook his head, "Can't right now. I still haven't been able to figure out any information on the creature or what's going on with Jason. If it's a new species entirely, then I'll need to catalog all of the information we have on it so far and see if there are any known ways to counteract it's abilities. We still don't have any effective contingency plans for it and Jason might be the one to pay for such an oversight." Tim turned back to his computer to continue to type furiously.

"I'm fine," Jason chimed in, but was promptly ignored.

"B already contacted Constantine, so I'm sure he's on his way," Dick tried to assure Tim.

"And when will that be? We might not be able to afford to wait that long," Tim snapped at him. Tim shook his head and took in a deep breath, calming down, "Just let me do this. It's my case, and I need to keep busy somehow."

"Baby bird, I know this is a stressful case for you, for all of us, but don't you think you've been working yourself too hard?" Dick asked with concern. Tim had clearly not been taking good care of himself lately. Tim was showing signs of overwork and stress, and there have been times when his obsessive tendencies led him to forget his basic bodily needs.

"I'll take a break later. Sorry, Dick, but maybe we can hang out some other time," Tim dismissed him with a wave and refocused on the screen.

Dick felt like there was no room to argue, and that was more than a little discouraging. Feeling a bit dejected, Dick exited the room with the door closing behind him. He rejoined Jason in the hall way who had been waiting expectantly.

"And I thought I was a mess," Jason cringed with look at Tim's door.

"Why doesn't anyone in this family ever talk these things out?" Dick groaned into his hands. It's not like this was totally unexpected, but by god was Dick hoping for a better outcome.

"Learned from the big man himself," Jason pointed out. Of course they would adopt B's worst traits. Jason gave Dick a light pat on the back as he walked back down the hall, "Come on, Dickie bird. We'll go grab a snack from Alfred to cheer you up."

Dick knew he was making fun of him and his misery, but it was still nice to hear. He found it strange that while the other two stomped on his good intentions, it was Jason that was trying to comfort him in his own weird way. Everything about this day was throwing him off and he didn't know if he could take much more of all this psychological warfare. Dick resigned himself to follow Jason into the kitchen, but it was surprisingly empty.

"Alfie?" Jason called out as he glanced around and checked the time.

Dick would've thought that the older man would be back to preparing for dinner after going down to give the creature it's food. There was a sudden pang of worry in his chest. The food prep was done, but had been left untouched since the last time Dick had seen Alfred. That means, he never came back to the kitchen.

"Jason, Alfred's with the creature. We need to go. Now," Dick reached up to his coms, "Agent A may need immediate assistance in the cave. Hood and I are already making our way there."

They quickly hurried to the main study where the entrance to the cave was located. Bruce who had been in his own private study nearby had also arrived to enter the code into the grandfather clock. "Report," Bruce made his way inside in a hurried pace.

"Alfred went down to give the creature food around the time I got here. Jason and I went to the kitchen and there's no sign of him coming back up since then," Dick explained as he quickly followed him down.

"Don't go blaming the little guy before we get down there. There could be someone else," Jason defended from close behind the pair.

"Be ready for anything," Bruce warned as he grabbed his utility belt and a mask.

"Way ahead of you," Dick and Jason put their own masks on with their respective weapons at the ready and took position to sneak inside.

The three maneuvered with the shadows, inspecting the area for Alfred, the creature, and any possible intruders. The area appeared clear, and that's when Dick noticed the wide open door of the cell they had used to contain the creature, as ineffective as it was. Dick was sure Tim set up a security system based on the reposts, so this definitely should have set off the alarms. He motioned for the other two to check inside. They quietly moved to peer into the room and spotted Alfred sitting next to the bed with the tray of food close by. Once they made sure he was alone in there, they made their way inside.

"Alfie, what's going on? Why are you in here?" Dick asked worriedly as the older man turned to them.

"Master Dick?" Alfred gave them a confused look before looking down at his watch, "Ah, apologies. I didn't realize the time. It appears, I have caused quite a bit of concern," Alfred moved back to reveal the creature who had come out of his orb form. It appeared to be very weak as it laid among the blankets slowly gnawing on a cookie. "Our guest was having difficulty eating, so I came in to assist them."

"A heads up would've been nice," Dick gave the older man an exasperated smile as he felt the tension leave his body.

He put away his escrima sticks while Jason put his gun back into his holster and opted to lean back into the glass, giving them a smug look as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Apologies, as you can see, our guest is in no condition to move around on their own. It was also brought to my attention that they are no longer able to consume food as quickly as before though solids still aren't an issue," Alfred reported.

"I thought I gave you all explicit instructions to not approach the creature," Bruce frowned, clearly not expecting this from Alfred of all people.

"I believe you instructed the young masters. I, however, received no such order," Alfred smiled innocently.

Jason wheezed and even Dick had a hard time preventing a snort from escaping his lips. Bruce groaned with a hand rubbing at his temples. Probably another headache was coming in. The tension was practically gone when they heard a pair of hurried foot steps rushing down towards them.

"Where's the enemy?"

"What happened to the security system? Is Alfred okay?!"

Damian had his sword at the ready while Tim had a tight grip on his bow staff. They had also taken care to put on a mask and cover each other's blind spots. Dick couldn't help but coo at the sight of his brothers getting along. Sure it was a low bar, but he was still proud of them.

"False alarm, and it turns out, the little guy likes cookies," Dick grinned as the pair gave him confused looks.

Notes:

Sadly, I'm probably not gonna include the rest of the batfam. I just don't know enough about them to properly portray them in my story. Maybe they'll have a few cameos, but they probably won't get any significant screen time

Chapter 16

Red Robin walked into the cave wearing full gear. Everyone else had also suited up and were already down at the cave despite how it was technically still too early for patrol. This was because Batman had finally received a message from Constantine indicating his intention to arrive at the batcave to take a look at their 'predicament'. Red Robin was more than ready to get some answers from the flippant man.

Red Hood hadn't shown any signs of being controlled or changed other than the obvious absence of the pit which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Red Robin, for one, was relieved that it was gone. Maybe he could finally relax around his brother now that there wasn't a reason to fear for his life. Sure, Red Hood had previously made an effort to improve their relationship, and frankly, the pit was the only thing that really posed a problem, but the progress they had made seemed to pale in comparison to now.

Red Robin took a glance towards the cell and saw that the creature was once again back into its orb form, cradled in the basket of blankets Alfred had given it. Red Hood was leaning against the outside wall of the cell, close to the door. Nightwing stood next to him while Robin opted to crouch on top of a counter. Batman stood near the batcomputer closer tucked close to the shadows. They all waited in silence as it was almost the appointed time. With a nod of acknowledgement to the group, Red Robin went to sit by the batcomputer and readied the necessary files.

Suddenly, a bright light swirled in the middle of the cave and formed a circular portal. The familiar form of the blonde, unkept, warlock of the JLD, John Constantine, stepped through with a very unhappy look on his face.

"Can the lot of you stop fucking harassing me every few hours? What's so bloody important that you have to keep calling me?" Constantine frowned at Batman who narrowed his eyes in response. Constantine held his gaze until he caved and heaved a sigh, "Alright, I get it, so what seems to be the problem?"

Red Robin swiveled his chair to turn to the batcomputer. He pulled up the images they took of the cultists' lair, "Do you know anything about what this ritual was supposed to do. I tried looking into it, but so far I haven't been able to get any solid leads." He tried not to sound too exasperated. This entire case had been driving him up the wall and Constantine may really be their last hope.

"Of course, I'm here as a bloody consultant. Well, let's take a look," Constantine grumbled as he made his way to stand next to Red Robin. There was a long pause as he scanned through the images and his frown changed to show signs of surprise and concern. "Bullocks," he cursed under his breath.

"What can you tell us?" Batman creeped up behind him in his typical creepy fashion for intimidation value.

"Your bloody cultists are fucking mad, that's what. Ugh, I'm way too sober for this," Constantine groaned with a hand rubbing his temples. He turned to face the rest of the bats, "Count yourselves lucky that you stopped it in time."

"That's the thing, we didn't," Nightwing informed him with a worried frown.

"Ha! If that were true, we'd be in Armageddon right now," Constantine scoffed with an amused look. He only to receive blank stares from the bats in return. "You're joking," his face dropped, clearly taken aback.

"We weren't able to stop them from completing the ritual, and if you came to the same conclusion I did, the actual result is something completely unexpected," Red Robin explained with his gaze shifting to the cell.

"Take a look for yourself," Red Hood gave the glass window a knock with the back of his hand.

Constantine paused before carefully approaching the glass and peered inside. "Either I'm actually drunk, or you lot have a ghost core in a cell. A damaged one at that," he stared in disbelief. Red Robin couldn’t help but perk up at his words. "This should be impossible. It's a normal bloody cell. How you all pulled this off and lived, I have no idea."

"Ghost core?" Red Robin inquired, dragging out the words as he stared holes into the back of the other bats' heads. He had to stop a small smirk from forming at the corner of his lips. If he was right about this, well, you can be sure that no one will be living this down any time soon.

"Exactly what it sounds like, the core of a ghost. Ghost is a bit of a stretch really, but it's the closest thing we have to what beings of the Infinite Realms are," Constantine shrugged as he brought up a hand and muttered a few incantations.

"Oh really? Then, can you explain what the ritual was actually supposed to summon," Red Robin asked. Nightwing shifted uncomfortably in place, Robin huffed with his signature frown, and Red Hood looked off to the side. Red Robin couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.

"They were attempting to summon the King of the Infinite Realms, Pariah Dark," Constantine answered in a grave tone before dismissing the spell, "and that is decidedly not Pariah Dark. I don't understand. The ritual should've worked. I didn't see any issues with the runes though it could've been a problem with the incantations. How could this have happened?" He frowned at the orb with a hand on his chin.

Red Robin felt a sense of recognition at the name, "Pariah Dark, the cultist mentioned the name. I found it in a few different places, but there wasn't much on the guy other than rumors."

"Not surprised, he's been locked away in a coffin of eternal slumber for a long time now. Pariah Dark was the King of the Infinite Realms, a destructive tyrant known for his limitless powers while wielding two ancient relics, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. He commanded an army of the undead with a loyal knight known to send his victims into a dimension of their worst nightmares where they will reside in for the rest of eternity. A real piece of work, if you ask me," Constantine explained with a shudder.

"How can you be so sure that the 'ghost core' isn't Pariah Dark?" Nightwing inquired.

"Well for one, whoever that is, is the furthest thing from malevolent tyrant as one can get. Honestly, I am baffled by the level of dumb luck you bats have to have ended up with the least problematic ghost to ever exist. Beings of the Infinite Realms are made up of sheer emotion and obsession. Dealing with them is awful because of their one track minds to fulfil their respective obsessions. To make matters worse, even though not all of them used to be human, those who were likely faced awful deaths that put a dark spin on their obsessions. Like your murderous friend right there though I guess congrats is in order seeing as you’re somehow whole," Constantine motioned to Red Hood.

"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm not a ghost," Red Hood sounded like he raised an eyebrow at him though it was completely concealed by his helmet.

"Right, but you are a revenant. One with a stabilized core at that. Honestly, I wouldn't have noticed had I not needed to identify the ghost core in the cell," Constantine gave him a shrug.

"A what?"

"Yeah, we'll need to ask you more about that later," Red Robin cut in, making a mental note of that, "Right now we need to know what we have in the cell, whether or not it’s dangerous, and what we need to do to properly contain it."

"Without taking a proper look at they're physical form, there isn't much I can do in terms of identifying the ghost. As for if they pose a danger, probably not. The fact that they haven't killed, possessed, or maimed you is very telling. Not to mention that they trust you all enough to expose they're core, and as I said, they aren't evil. Now the containment part? Good luck with that, mate. Ghosts are basically incorporeal. The only way to contain a ghost is by using magic, and even then they can still break out eventually," Constantine scoffed giving the orb another look. "That's another reason I can't believe you got one to actually stay put. Then again, it looks pretty damaged. Something must of done a number on them to put them in this state. It could be that they just don't know how to get back to the Infinite Realms and decided this place was safe enough, or there's something here that feeds into their obsession."

"How do we figure that out?" Nightwing asked.

"Fuck if I know," Constantine shrugged. "Best bet is to ask. Did they say anything before retreating into their core?"

"No, but we're going to need to fill you in on everything that's happened so far," Tim contemplated if he should just make a slideshow with the amount of times they had to reexplain everything.

This was going to take a while.

Notes:

It took forever to figure out how I was going to portray Constantine. Hopefully I didn't butcher his character. I know next to nothing about him, but I know even less about Zatanna, so here yah go.

Chapter 17

Danny could hear a lot of talking from outside his room. He hasn't been here long, but he has grown used to the constant discussions they tended to have in the cave. Danny slowly reformed around his core, feeling the most well rested he has been in a long time. He wiggled his small body against the soft blankets the older stranger had arranged for him after feeding him in his exhausted state. Danny was looking forward to seeing him again. He was a lot friendlier than the others who seemed to much rather keep their distance, but that was fine. At least that meant there was still a tentative peace between them. Danny still hurt all over, but being able to safely retreat into his core had done wonders for his recovery.

He poked his head out of the blankets to see all of the strangers had gathered on the other side of the glass. There was even a new blonde stranger who looked quite disheveled. There were so many strangers now it was hard to keep track. He really needed to learn their names when he recovered enough to fully understand them.

"The tests didn't tell us much other than the new substance in his system is similar to Lazarus water but not exactly. There are no signs of after effects other than the lack of pit rage," the masked stranger recounted. Danny recognized him as the first of the strangers that he had met who had tried to reassure him with food and safety.

"Sounds like they were trying to fix up you up, mate," the blonde stranger chuckled lightly as he turned to the red helmeted stranger.

Danny tilted his head in slight confusion. He was still having a hard time processing their words. It might have even gotten worse because of the most recent stunt he pulled. Well, it's not like he regretted it. He just had to help- Danny jumped up in realization. He still hadn't given the helmeted stranger a proper check up since he helped him form his core! He wasn't bed ridden anymore, so he definitely had to do that now.

He darted up and through the glass to reach the red helmeted stranger- friend! He was a friend now. As soon as Danny stopped in front of his new friend, everyone stiffened in surprise. They all took a defensive stance and even brought out their weapons. However, Danny failed to notice this as he frantically looked over his friend in deep concern.

"Wow, okay, slow down there. I'm fine," his friend motioned with his hands to ease up as he projected a sense of reassurance.

"It appears to have a very advanced recovery time," the smallest of the strangers narrowed his eyes.

"We're gonna need some of those magic barriers you mentioned," the blue stranger remarked and eased his stance. The others followed suit, putting their weapons away, but not letting down their guard.

Danny stopped, not quite understanding his friend's words, but still receiving the message. Danny sent more waves of concern as if to ask if he was sure. His friend may look fine, but Danny needed to be sure. He was still very tired, but he was more than willing to spare more of his energy if his friend needed it.

"Everything's in working order. No need to panic," his red friend sent another wave of reassurance and safety.

"That's the bloody problem you wouldn't leave me alone for?" the blonde gapped in disbelief and indignation.

"It wasn't a problem until Red Hood failed to take proper precautions. This is just another example as to why I am clearly the superior Robin," the smallest of the strangers snarked from his perch of the counter. The masked stranger frowned with a roll of his eyes.

"It's nice to know that the 'superior Robin' would cry on my behalf," his friend smirked sending waves of teasing humor in response.

"I did not cry! Don't spew such nonsense," the youngest bristled towards his friend.

Danny looked at the small stranger and realized something. They must be brothers! Danny could feel the distinct undertone of familial love in his friend's teasing. Sure Danny couldn't really pinpoint any similar features because of their masks, but Danny was sure of his conclusion. He couldn't help but project his amusement.

"Oh you think this is funny too," his friend chuckled before seemingly realizing something, "Wait, can you understand us?"

Danny knew he was inquiring something, but the specifics escaped him. He could only respond with confusion.

"Guess not," his friend felt a bit disappointed, but only mildly so. Danny couldn't help but feel concerned. What if it was important.

"Well, now that you can see the creature, can you tell us anything more about what it is?" the masked red stranger asked.

The blonde looked over at Danny in contemplation, "They look sort of like a small ball of light. If I were to take a guess, I'd say they're probably a will o' the wisp or something a kin to that," the blonde mused with a hand on his chin.

"Explain," a deep voice rumbled. Danny jumped at the sound to realize that the scary cowled stranger had been standing in the shadows the entire time. How does he do that?

"I'm no bloody expert on beings of the Infinite Realms, but from what I've gathered they have a few similarities to ghosts. In this case, this one seems similar to a will o' the wisp. There a lot of different stories about them from around the world. Some say they're spirits that mislead travelers by mimicking flickering lamps in the distance. Others say that if a child follows them, they will be led to treasure. There are even stories where they seek out harmless vengeance in the form of pranks. What I'm getting at is that they regardless of who you ask, they don't cause any real harm as long as you aren't in the middle of nowhere, so you can leave me alone now. They'll leave once they recovered or have fulfilled their obsession," the blonde stranger gave a long explanation that was completely lost on Danny.

"You said naturally formed portals are rare, so can it really just go back home?" the blue stranger asked with a concerned look.

'Home?' Danny perked up at the word before suddenly feeling really sad. He missed home a lot, but he can't go back. Why can't he go back? His friend sent him a feeling of concern, but Danny didn't know how to respond.

"Beings of the Infinite Realms seem to have their ways. They don't typically stick around since it's harder to seek out their obsession safely in the mortal plane. I don't deal enough with the Infinite Realms to know for sure. I make deals with demons, not ghosts," the blonde gave a deep sigh with a slight frown of frustration.

"Great, just what we needed. More guess work," the masked red stranger groaned.

"At least we get bragging rights now that we know what the little guy is and how harmless they are," his red helmeted friend sent him a smirk.

"Right you are," the masked stranger perked up at that.

Notes:

I've had a busy 2 weeks, but now I can get back to writing. I've missed writing this fic ^^ Also thanks for the 40k+ hits and 3k+ kudos 🥰

Chapter 18

Red Hood felt concerned for the small creature who continued to fuss over him despite their own drop in mood. Despite knowing they feel down, there isn't much Red Hood can do without being able to properly communicate with them. They were so small and defenseless, and it didn't help that Constantine had confirmed that their 'ghost core' was damaged. He doubted that Constantine knew how to fix them up with how much guess work he'd been making this entire time.

"Alright, I've answered all of your questions, so can I leave now?" Constantine asked as if he didn't know the bats.

"We still need you to explain more about the possible barrier solution for the creature's containment and why you called Hood a 'revenant'," Nightwing pointed out. Red Hood couldn't help but frown at the mention of 'containment'.

"I'm never gonna bloody leave," Constantine grumbled with a twitch of his hand as if hoping he had forgotten about a bottle of booze that he could chug, "Like I said, unless there's someone regularly maintaining the barrier, it's practically useless."

"How often?" Batman narrowed his eyes. If Red Hood had to take a guess, Batman was more than likely unhappy with the lack of concrete answers and solutions.

"Often, and before you ask, no, I won't do it. I've got my own shit to take care of, mate," he frowned and crossed his arms.

"Is there really nothing we can do to contain it?" Red Robin asked with a pensive look.

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that he confirmed the little guy's harmless," Red Hood felt indignant on the creature's behalf.

"There are too many unknowns to be sure," Batman insisted. Red Hood knew he meant well, but it felt wrong to restrain them now after what they've done to help him.

"You’re just upset that you can't come up with a contingency plan. What the fuck do you even think the little guy's gonna do? Prank you to death? Lead you to the middle of nowhere?" Red Hood frowned knowing the man's paranoid nature. Surprisingly, there was still a distinct lack of venom. This definitely needed some getting used to.

"It's not the only one of it's kind. We have next to no information on them. We need to evaluate whether or not they pose any danger to our world and how we can minimize any future damage," Batman reasoned in his typical detached manner. Would it kill him to show a little empathy?

"You heard him, they don't even like coming over here," Red Hood groaned. Seriously, what did he have to say to get through to the stubborn old man?

"We can't be sure that won't change in the future," Batman argued.

"If anything, your poking around will be the reason!" frustration seeped into Red Hood's words.

"Are we ignoring the fact that Hood might also be one of them now with the whole 'revenant' thing?" Red Robin chimed in. This gave everyone pause as they all turned to Constantine for an answer.

"Not exactly. A revenant is, in plain terms, someone who came back after death. Typically they are either vengeful and murder-y, or nothing more than a mindless zombie. This is due to the forceful self resurrection despite being in the process of developing a core. The fact that he has a fully formed core is a miracle attributed to your small friend," Constantine explained as he motioned to the little guy.

"What does it mean for him to have a fully formed core?" Nightwing inquired.

"Well he isn't much different from a regular human if that's what you're asking. After all, he still retains his mortal body, but I guess he does get a few perks," Constantine shrugged, "Some he probably already had before. I think it’s the standard durability, slight healing factor, slightly stronger, and endurance. Plus he gets ghost speak and he'd be able to survive in the Infinite Realms for a while," Constantine listed.

"The first half sounds obvious, but the last two," Red Robin once again started taking notes on the batcomputer.

"Oh right, he probably also has an obsession though it's probably of the less murder-y variety now that he has a fully formed core," Constantine added.

"You mentioned this when talking about the being of the Infinite Realms, but what exactly is an obsession?" Nightwing frowned.

"Just that, you are obsessed with something. You are compelled to do something that feeds into that obsession like an uncontrollable impulse. I don't recommend denying yourself said impulse. I heard it isn't a pleasant experience. I can imagine yours had a large focus on your death up until they showed up," Constantine regarded the small creature, "I don't think it'll be a problem now that you're all fixed up though."

"Then, what's my obsession?" Red Hood asked. He couldn't help but remember the large chunk of his life that revolved around vengeance and anger towards Joker, his death, and Batman. He didn't like the implications as to what his obsession could be.

"I don't know, mate. You tell me. It's all instinct for you," Constantine provided unhelpfully.

"Great, I'll let you know the next time I feel like shooting up some rogues," Red Hood grumbled. It's hard to imagine what his obsession would look like without the anger and murder though he has had a handle on that for a while now.

"What about 'ghost speak'?" Nightwing asked steering the conversation back.

"Think of it like an innate language. You probably unconsciously used it with your friend though I can't say as to what it sounds like," Constantine was probably the wrong choice to ask about this if he was going to be this unhelpful from start to finish.

"Wait, 'the vibes'," Red Robin pointed out. Red Hood paused thinking about it for a moment. It did sort of fit.

"Are we really going to attribute Hood's nonsensical explanation as to how he understands the creature to 'ghost speak'? Sounds absurd," Robin scoffed.

"As lovely as this all was, I want to leave," Constantine deadpanned, "I have a date with a tall bottle of whisky and I'd hate to be late. I am going to pretend you don't have anymore questions and take my leave."

"You were useless," Robin huffed in disbelief.

"Robin," Nightwing scolded.

"You were less than helpful," Robin corrected.

"Great to hear, mate," Constantine waved him off and proceeded to form another portal. Just as he was about to step through he paused and ran a hand through his hair with a frown. "I'm not sure if I should mention this, but there is one thing I didn't say when I explained about will o' the wisps."

This was surprising, but his serious tone told them that this wasn't good news at all.

"Another common belief is that they are actually the souls of children. That's why despite the mischief they cause, no one can hold it against them. Do me a favor and cut the kid some slack," Constantine's frown deepened before leaving with the portal closing behind him.

To say this came as a shock to the bats was putting it lightly. Red Hood could feel his blood boil at the thought, and he was sure he wasn't the only one. Constantine had mentioned that those who become ghosts likely faced gruesome deaths, and the fact that the little guy appeared to be so hurt and weak, meant that someone or something had done this to them.

"B," Nightwing was the first to break the silence. His voice was tinged with uncertainty.

"We'll continue with patrol. For now, they’ll stay in the cave, and we’ll figure out a more permanent solution after," Batman stated.

"You want to lock up a kid?" Red Hood spat in anger. The thought of keeping a possible child in a cell was less than pleasant.

"That's not what I meant," Batman insisted, "The cave is better equipped to monitor their condition while we are out on patrol. They’re in no condition to move around when we don't know how to treat them."

"I don't like it either, but the little guy could barely move yesterday. They might be moving around now, but they could drop without a warning," Nightwing expressed his concern and placed a steady hand on his shoulder.

Red Hood hated to admit it, but they did have a point. He took a deep breath and calmed down though his frown remained behind his helmet. "Fine," he grumbled and crossed his arms. That's when he noticed the cautious looks from the other bats. Oh, he had forgotten just how explosive his anger used to be. Had Nightwing always acted as a buffer? "Still no pit, if that's what you're all worried about," he couldn't help but snort.

"That's not-" Nightwing quickly tried to defend himself.

"Calm down, I'm not upset, but damn, was I really that bad?" Red Hood tried to ease the tension with a joke.

"Considering the property damage, yes," Robin noted.

"That was rhetorical and you know it, demon brat," Red Hood huffed.

"You asked," Robin quipped.

"Listen here you little shit-"

Chapter 19

Danny had just been an observer since confirming his friend's condition. Language was still difficult for him to understand, but it was clear that the last thing the blond man had said before leaving had stirred the group quite a bit. His friend had seemed particularly upset though he quickly fell back to arguing with the smallest. They really did feel like brothers. If that was true, were all of these kind strangers part of the same family? The way they interacted definitely gave off that feeling especially with how they easily bantered with one another.

Then again, it was clear that they treated the scary stranger with more . . . reverence? Could he be their dad? Did this mean the kind older man was their grandfather? Danny had connected the dots and felt ecstatic at his discovery. His previous sad mood had been long forgotten. Why was he even sad in the first place?

"We'll need to inform Agent A of the change in circumstances," the large scary stranger had been discussing something with the rest of them even after the blond man had left. Danny still wasn't clear on what type of organization they were a part of. Hopefully it wasn't anything illegal.

"Something tells me he saw this coming from a mile away," the blue stranger chuckled to himself. He didn't look evil in the slightest, but Danny wasn't always the best judge of character.

"Pennyworth is quite astute. I would not be surprised," the smallest hummed in agreement. This one was incredibly young. Could he be a child soldier? The thought was definitely a point towards villains.

"He probably has a room ready and waiting," the masked red stranger added. They all seemed very amused for some reason. Danny cocked his head a bit and assumed it was more family banter. The light heartedness of the family didn't fit with the villain aesthetic if he was being honest.

"Well this wouldn't be the first time B adopts an alien," his red helmeted friend chimed in earning a small frown from the scary and the youngest stranger while the others chuckled. A villainous hierarchy didn't usually allow them for this much ease.

"I refuse to believe a telepathic starfish held the title of Robin," the smallest huffed, narrowing his gaze. Most of Danny's rogues worked solo, so he didn't have much to go on when it came to villains who made it int a family business. Wait, did Danny have rogues?

"Just because you haven't met Jarro, doesn't mean he doesn't exist. You'll just have to wait until he stops by for a visit," the blue stranger smirked earning a hum of agreement from the cowled, scary stranger.

"Back to the task at hand. Red Robin, adjust the monitoring equipment to gather more data on the creature. We need more information if we want to make proper adjustments for their care," the scary stranger looked over to the masked red stranger.

"No problem, I just need to set it up so it can check a ghost for vital signs, but no big deal," the masked stranger sounded sarcastic as he walked back towards the large computer and plopped down onto the seat.

"I'll let Agent A know what's up. You guys can go ahead with patrol," the blue stranger gave them a nod before turning to make his way towards the stairs.

"That's my queue to leave," Danny's friend started moving towards a parked motorcycle.

Danny followed him close behind. It was so cool to see a motorcycle up close, it was way more modern looking than the last one Danny saw. Danny suddenly felt extremely confused. Someone had almost come to mind, but the memory was too blurry to recall. Did he know someone who owned a motorcycle?

"H- He- HEY!"

Danny snapped out of his trance to see a hand being waved in front of his face. It was his friend and he was sending waves of concern and worry. Danny was confused, but he needed to reassure his friend. He couldn't really explain with how damaged he was, but he hoped he wasn't troubling his new friend with his problems.

"I seriously need to get this ghost speak down. I can't even ask what's up, but that's not the issue right now. You can't come with me," his friend seemed slightly frustrated yet worried. Sadly, knowing how his friend felt, didn't exactly help with trying to decipher what he said. Danny just sent more waves of reassurance hoping it would ease his worry.

"No, I can't take you with me. You have to stay here," Danny could only feel more confused at his words. It was clear Danny was missing something, but what could it be?

"I," his friend pointed to himself. "Go," he pointed at his motorcycle. "You," he pointed at Danny. "Stay," he pointed at the floor.

Danny paused, trying to process what his friend was saying. Was his friend leaving? He couldn't leave! It wasn't safe out there! Danny felt a deep panic. GIW was out there and his friend only just stabilized. What if he got caught and experimented on?

"What's wrong?"

Danny frantically overwhelmed his friend with warnings, worry, and panic. Without words, Danny found it difficult to properly explain anything as his friend only responded with worry and confusion. He couldn't let his friend leave. They needed to hide somewhere safe. Danny flew down and grabbed his hand and started dragging his friend towards the room he'd been staying in.

"What's got you so freaked out?"

Yes, it was much safer for them to stay in the room together. They could protect each other. They'd get food, blankets, and they were well hidden underground. Danny would be able to use his intangibility to help them both escape if they were ever found. He'll protect his new friend. He won't fail. Not again.

"I don't know. They just started freaking out."

At that thought, many images flashed across his mind. Familiar faces contorted in horror, people in white suits, and so many surgical instruments. He couldn't grasp what was happening, but all Danny could feel was pain. So much pain.

'Stop. Please stop! STOP!'

Danny didn't even realize when he let go of his friend, when he started screeching, nor when he curled up on the floor in pain.

'It hurts. It hurts so much.'

Danny suddenly felt something soft and warm wrap around him. It gave him pause as a voice full of warmth and reassurance penetrated through the haze of fear. Danny felt tears gather in his eyes. He was scared. He was so scared. Danny hid into the blankets and trembled. At least they kept all the bad things at bay. He could hide here. He was safe. At least for now.

Notes:

I swear this wasn't supposed to be angsty. It was supposed to be a funny moment of trying to prevent Danny from following them on patrol, but then Danny just had to remind me that he's not okay.

Chapter 20

Red Robin had knelt down to murmur words of assurance towards the creature. He heaved a sigh of relief as the screeching died down and settled to small whimpers as the creature trembled underneath the blanket. He quickly turned to Red Hood who sighed in relief. He removed his helmet to reveal his masked face and rubbed at his forehead like he had a terrible migraine.

"What the fuck was that?" Red Hood muttered as he tried to regain his composure. Clearly, he had been far more affected by the creature's sudden freak out than the rest of them. It likely had to do with his new 'ghost speak' ability. Red Robin will need to test the extent of the ability and how it will affect Red Hood from now on.

"It was probably a panic attack. I saw this happen when they first got here, but I'm pretty sure it was a night terror though it definitely wasn't this bad. Something must of really freaked them out," Red Robin frowned in concern. Despite the creature's distinct lack of features, he had recognized how the signs of worry and agitation quickly deteriorated to one of panic and fear.

"How can the creature experience a 'panic attack' when they are incorporeal. The physical symptoms are inapplicable in this case," Robin frown in confusion and skepticism.

"Fuck if I know, but how did you know the blanket would help?" Red Hood knelt down to scoop the creature into his arms, blanket and all. He then placed them inside their basket where they quickly shifted to better hide under the layers.

"They've been using it to hide since they got here. Having something safe and familiar on hand was the only viable option since coaching them through breathing exercises is off the table for obvious reasons," Red Robin explained as he stood up along with him.

He felt a pang of concern and guilt for how they've been treating the possible child up until now. They hadn't exactly mistreated them given the circumstances and Batman's typical paranoid contingencies, but caging a child was giving his conscience a hard tug. Try as he might to rationalize it to himself, it still felt wrong, and the fact that they still had to keep the child down in the cave for valid reasons didn't help.

There are clear signs of deep rooted trauma, but what could've happened to them? Was it before or after they died? How old were they when- Red Robin cut off that train of thought. There was no use contemplating it when there was currently no way for him to get the facts.

 

"Any theories as to what triggered them?" Batman inquired with a forced calm. Clearly the man had already mentally adopted them.

"Probably has something to do with me leaving the cave. It was all jumbled up, but I could make out warnings, fear, and worry," Red Hood explained with clear concern on his face.

"A warning of what's out there. An enemy?" Robin questioned.

"But why only warn Hood? Is it the new bond they formed?" Red Robin mused.

"Perhaps the enemy only targets those of it's kind. Someone or something with the capability to harm these incorporeal beings of the Infinite Realms," Robin suggested.

"Constantine said only magic can affect them though it could be a fight between another of it's kind," Red Hood pointed out.

"But they were summoned from the Infinite Realms. They should be able to understand that they are no longer on their home plane which would mean it is aware of an earthly threat," Robin shot the idea down.

"That would mean they've either been here before, or it's a well known threat in the Infinite Realms. Either way, it would explain why they had such an intense reaction," Red Robin frowned at the implications. Shouldn't Constantine been aware of such a threat to being of the Infinite Realms?

"And why they haven't tried to escape," Batman added with his own contemplative frown.

“Huh? You guys are still here? What happened to patrol?” Nightwing asked as he and Agent A descended into the batcave.

“We may have new problem,” Batman hummed in thought, “There is a possible threat to the creature we hadn’t known about.”

“Oh my, it appears our guest is quite troubled,” Agent A moved towards the basket that held the young creature. “I will take steps to prepare a proper residence for them.”

“Is it the same thing that hurt them before they were summoned?” Nightwing frowned.

“Possibly, we’ll need to investigate this further, but without establishing proper communication with them, there isn’t much to go on,” Batman narrowed his eyes, clearly frustrated.

“Red Hood might have ‘ghost speak’ now, but he’s still too new at it for it to be useful,” Red Robin added, earning an offended look from Hood.

“He could just practice. He’ll just need to stick around for a bit,” Nightwing pointed out with a grin.

“Then I shall prepare the closest room to Master Jason’s,” Alfred nodded in agreement.

“This better not be some convoluted plot to keep me in the mansion longer,” Red Hood frowned crossing his arms.

“Then will you be taking the creature out with you? They were adamant about keeping you here, so it isn’t a stretch to believe they will follow you despite their fears,” Robin scoffed in an almost scolding tone. Red Hood stiffened at his words.

“Or drop from another panic attack,” Red Robin chimed in. Hood grimaced.

“Abandoning the creature now would be ill advised,” even Batman joined in much to Red Hood’s dismay.

“I do believe it would benefit our guest to have a trust worthy and familiar companion by their side during their time of need,” Alfred gave with a calm smile.

Red Hood had been surrounded on all sides. He had been cornered with no escaped. He groaned in frustration as he rubbed at his face, “Fine, but only for tonight. I don’t want any of you sticking your nose into Crime Alley. It’s still my turf.”

“For tonight, might I suggest something that pertains to practicing your ‘ghost speak’,” Alfred asked giving the basket a thoughtful smile, “Why not ask for their name?”

Chapter 21

Jason was back in his civilian clothes despite it being too early to turn in. He was inside his old room in the manor and it all felt so bizarre. Sure he could've easily escaped his overbearing family and continued with his nightly activities, but the distinct lack of bitterness and ghastly whispers left him susceptible to their light jabs. Plus, he definitely would've felt guilty had he just left the small anxious ghost who was now exploring his room.

Getting the little guy out of the batcave was a challenge, but keeping him wrapped up in blankets inside the basket was one idea Tim had suggested that proved rather effective. Jason would still rather take a swan dive into a Crime Alley dumpster than thank the smug bastard. Was he feeling petty about the bats ganging up on him? Maybe. Well, he'd get his revenge later.

He looked up at the little guy who was so fascinated with everything it was hard for Jason to cut in on their fun. It definitely wasn't because he couldn't figure out how to even begin to experiment with 'ghost speak'. Could you blame him? It was all vibes with the little guy, so how the fuck was anyone supposed to form words. Jason sighed in frustration.

Suddenly the small ghost froze before turning to him with waves of confusion and concern. Shit, Jason didn't mean to project that. Well, he never really did it intentionally, but that wasn't the current problem. He'll need to figure out an off button later.

"I'm fine, just trying to figure out how to talk to you," Jason sent a feeling of reassurance, hoping it was enough to convey his intentions.

All he got in return was confusion and a slight head tilt. Figures that the little guy got none of that, but Jason still recalled how they were able to piece things together leading to their earlier freak out. Maybe he could use a similar method to kick start things. Alfred's suggestion actually gave him an idea.

He pointed at himself, "Jason." He paused before repeating himself two more times. The small ghost approached looking intently as if trying to come to an understanding. Jason then pointed at them and sent a wave of inquiry, "You are?"

Jason waited the little guy was mildly confused, but the feeling went away as they reached a conclusion. They chirped happily before pausing as if preparing themselves. Jason continued to wait hoping the chirp wasn't the answer.

All of a sudden he could hear what sounded like static and layered whispers. Despite the fact that there was no coherence in the things he was hearing it was as if he knew exactly what it meant.

"Danny."

Jason was taken aback by what felt like a small and cracked voice. Jason felt his heart clench as his mind drew a few conclusions from such a simple answer. They're name is Danny. A single word had cost them a lot of energy, probably because of how hurt they are. The voice definitely suggests they're young, but maybe not as young as Damian. Most importantly, this confirms that he can communicate with Danny.

If Jason really tries, he could finally get some answers, but should he really push the ghost when the little guy set back his own recovery time to help Jason? As a bat, he was itching for answers, especially when he can finally put a name to the bastards he needs to hunt down. Jason shook his head. He could get revenge for Danny later. Right now, his recovery was far more important.

He needs to ask how to help them recover. Easier said than done, Jason may now know what 'ghost speak' is supposed to sound like, but how the fuck was he supposed to make those type of sounds? He knew he'd just be making a fool of himself if he started making static sounds like he was pretending that the phone was breaking up.

While Jason sat there deep in thought, Danny had floated closer to place a tiny stubby hand on his chest. Jason jumped slightly thinking that Danny was about to do something reckless to set his healing back again, but instead he heard the staticky whispers again, or well, he felt the words.

"Jason," Danny's voice seemed to resonate with something inside his chest.

Jason was suddenly aware of something. Constantine had mentioned that he now had a fully formed core. He felt it every time he consciously projected a feeling to Danny, but if he really thinks about it, it may be the key to his current problem. Seems like the little guy was really insightful to figure out what Jason needed without being able to properly communicate with him.

Jason straightened himself and searched for the feeling in his chest. Projecting his feelings had mostly been an unconscious thing. Did that mean words needed more intent like the difference between thoughts and speaking? He focused on Danny's name. His core gave off a feeling of focus and determination. There was a sudden buzzing noise as something in his chest vibrated. It was difficult, but if he strained his ears, he could almost hear the static and whispers begin to creep in.

"Da- n- ny," it sounded broken and barely audible, but somehow, Jason had succeeded in forming the name.

Danny burst in chirps of excitement and happiness. He cuddled into Jason's chest giving off a feeling of pride and praise. It was a bit embarrassing if Jason was being honest. It felt like Danny was the adult giving a child praise for their hard work, and Jason didn't know how he should feel about that. The little guy was likely a kid when they died, but how long could they have been a ghost for? Did ghosts age and mature?

Those were all good questions, but Jason still needed a lot of practice with ghost speak. Plus, he couldn't let himself get side tracked from his original goal. The sooner they could patch up the little guy, the sooner he could get his sweet revenge and the fuckers who did this to them.

Chapter 22

Danny had been more than terrified to leave the safety of the cave, but luckily they only headed up to the mansion. He had gotten a look at it before when he first got there. What made it even better was that his new friend finally got to tell Danny his name, Jason. His new friend was starting to learn to use ghost speak and it was great. At this rate, they'd be able to communicate no problem. Plus, with a bit more time to recover, Danny should be able to communicate freely too.

With a bit of coaxing on his part, Jason had been able to convey a few words. Danny now knew that they were in his room which was honestly really nice. It was way better than what he had back home- Danny felt a small pang in his heart, stopping the thought from fully forming. Moments like these had been happening more frequently lately, but the thoughts and memories still slipped through his hands like sand in the wind.

It was odd. Danny was worried as to what it could mean, but it couldn't be more important than taking care of his current predicament . . . Right?

"How- d- w- he- al- yo-u?" Jason had been struggling to ask something for a while now.

He was clearly getting frustrated, but it didn't damper his determination at all. Danny was very proud of him. With Jason's most recent attempt, Danny could decipher 3 words: 'How', 'heal', and 'you'. Danny sort of understood what Jason was getting at, but he didn't want to disappoint his friend with the truth just yet. Danny wasn't fully aware of everything, but he instinctively knew that he didn't heal like humans did, not anymore. Without access to the Ghost Zone Danny's healing was much slower, but luckily, he was making a lot of progress.

"How- do- we- heal- you?" Jason repeated.

Danny chirped in contentment despite the underlining guilt at his prepared response. Danny shook his head sadly, "Can't heal me but resting is enough." Danny kept it as short and simple as possible.

It was clear on Jason's face that it wasn't the answer he was hoping for, but he didn't argue. There was an aura of concern and self deprecation that Danny just couldn't ignore. He never meant for his friend to concern himself with Danny's problems. He needed to show Jason that it really wasn't as bad as he thought it was. In fact, in a few days Danny would be strong enough to be able to take Jason outside without fear of being unable to escape GIW.

Danny knew he was keeping him new friend cooped up in this place, and if Danny was in his place, he'd be going stir crazy by now. Danny just needed enough time to gather his strength, so he could properly protect Jason against all danger. He would never let anything happen to him. GIW will never take anyone away from him again.

Never Again.

Danny could feel the blur of memories in the back of his mind again. He could tell that a lot of bad feelings came with those memories. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what that meant for him once he recovered. Danny suppressed the thought. It was a problem for future Danny. Right now Jason needed him. Danny flew up to Jason and grabbed his hands with his own stubby nubs. Danny gave him a light tug.

"Explore mansion," Danny suggested and chirped excitedly. Yes, this would serve as a great distraction.

"Right now?" Jason asked out loud in shock. Danny could feel his confusion, so he responded with curiosity and persuasion. "Fine, but I still can't use Ghost Speak," Jason relented and stood up. This was confirmation enough and Danny flipped in the air before phasing out the door. "Danny, wait!" Jason frantically called out.

Danny chirped again happily as he swayed and flipped in the air down the hall. Okay, so maybe Danny was the one feeling cooped up, but he definitely couldn't take any big risks when he had to protect Jason. Especially when his friend was still largely unaware of the true dangers of the world. Danny needed to be the responsible one and take care of Jason. Danny would need to properly explain things once he could freely speak, but would it be better to wait until Jason could get a word in? If Jason had questions, he'd be hard pressed to ask any of them. Well, that also sounded like a problem for future Danny.

Jason quickly exited his room and followed Danny down the hall. Danny took a look around at the many rows of doors. This was definitely the sleeping quarters, so he skipped right over them. He wasn't rude or bored enough to invade someone's personal space without their permission. He should try exploring downstairs first. This was a mansion so, there was bound to be a lot of stuff Danny had missed the first time he came up here.

"Shouldn't I be leading, seeing as how this is my house?" Jason quirked an eyebrow. Danny could tell that Jason felt very amused, so clearly Danny was doing something right. This was a great start to their little adventure.

Judging by the windows they passed, it was the middle of the night. Then why where the lights still on, and no one came up to the mansion with them. Did these people not sleep? Last time Danny saw them, they were all in masks. Did they always go out at night? Criminals tended to work at night didn't they? Danny never really noticed since time got really iffy being down in the cave for so long. Now that he thought about it, how long has he been here?

Danny found a pair of fancy looking doors and phased right in. It was a large game area. There was a pool table, tables and chairs next to shelves full of board games, a snack area, a huge TV with game consoles, bean bag chairs, and even a smaller table with a chess set up in the corner. Danny felt his eyes sparkle in admiration. Rich people really did have everything. If they really were criminals, then no wonder they could afford all of this. Not like super heroes ever got paid. Danny sure wasn't . . . Was- was Danny a super hero?

The doors opened behind him to reveal Jason, startling Danny out of his thoughts. He gave an amused huff, "Like what you see? Most of this was Steph's idea, but Dick was always the one to rope everyone into game nights. Can't say I joined very often, but looking at it know, it's a bit more tempting."

Danny watched his friend's face softened as he spoke. Danny knew that look. Jason was talking about his family. It didn't take a genius to see the love and fondness he held for them, but there was an undertone of guilt and regret. Danny could ask, but talking took a little too much energy. Besides, Danny was starting to understand more and more lately.

"Come on, I can show you one of my favorite games," Jason motioned for Danny to follow and he walked up to the game consoles.

Danny perked up again. Danny remembered having a lot of fun playing video games with his friends- Sa- Tuck- Danny jolted violently in surprise, but it went unnoticed by Jason who had his back to him.

Danny didn't like that feeling. He didn't like it at all, but Jason needs him right now. No time to regard whatever that was. Danny was here to cheer up his friend, Jason.

He simply added that problem to the list he would give future Danny.

Chapter 23

Danny laid face down on the floor in despair. Danny felt so saddened it was as if a storm cloud had formed above his head and darkened the world. The sound of Jason laughing only made it worse. His bully of a friend had fallen off his bean bag clutching his stomach at Danny's expense. How could he be so cruel when Danny had been so excited to try out the unfamiliar collection of video games only to discover he couldn't properly reach all of the buttons on the controller. Jason continued to laugh, and Danny swore to avenge himself for this humiliation.

"As glad as I am to see you enjoying yourself, Master Jason, I do believe our guest doesn't quite feel the same at the moment. Perhaps a small treat would change that," a calm voice caught Danny's attention.

Danny looked over to see the nice, older man, who Danny now knew to be Alfred, had entered the room with a tray of cookies, much to Danny's delight. Jason even calmed down instantly at the smell of the baked goods. Seeing the opportunity, Danny waited for a moment before snatching the cookie in Jason's hand and devoured it in an instant. This earned an amused chuckle from Jason who merely grabbed another cookie, but he soon found his hands to be emptied once again. If he thought Danny was beyond such petty revenge, he was in for a rude awakening.

"Oh come on, Danny. It was kind of funny," Jason defended and grabbed another cookie. Danny was sure by his friend's smug look that his words were far from an apology, so Danny took it as permission to continue stealing the man's cookies.

"Oh so that's how it's gonna be. You're taking more than your fair share. Alfie, tell 'im," Jason complained to the the older man only to receive an amused smile. Danny could tell he could find a ally in the older man seeing Jason's betrayed expression. "Wait, Danny, we can talk about this," Jason changed his tune to placate him. Danny swiped another and Jason had quickly noticed the dwindling number of cookies on the tray. "Hold on, wait, I'm sorry. ," Jason quickly apologized.

Danny felt a little smug as he friend fumbled about as Danny enjoyed the cookies. He'd allow the man one cookie this time, but maybe next time, Danny wouldn't be so forgiving. Alfred merely stood back to watch them. Danny wondered if he was also part of their criminal empire. Everyone older man looked so kind and made super tasty food. No one would suspect that his family were secretly super villains.

"Am I to assume Daniel is our guest's name?" Alfred chuckled as Jason wolfed down the final cookie.

"It's Danny, but I guess it could be a nickname. I can ask him, but I can barely form sentences right now. I need more practice," Jason admitted.

"That's good to hear, Master Jason. Master Tim has made a request for Daniel's full name as soon as possible to conduct more research on the possible origins of our guest," Alfred informed him.

"I can try," Jason shrugged and turned to Danny. "Yo-ur fu-ll na-me?" Jason asked.

Danny was surprised by the sudden question, but it was easy enough. Danny chirped and gave a quick answer, "Danny Fenton."

"How peculiar. It sounds a bit like static," Alfred commented looking between the two.

"That's what it sounds like to me too, but I can actually make out the words," Jason shrugged.

"Most intriguing," Alfred hummed in thought. "I will report this to Master Tim. I'll be back with refreshments at a later time."

"Thanks Alfie," Jason gave the older man a nod. Alfred left, taking the empty tray with him.

They were so kind to Danny, and he couldn't quite believe it. Danny wondered how they could welcome him into their home so easily, but then again, as far as they knew he couldn't speak so their secret crime life was safe for now. Danny didn't know how to feel about it, but it's not like he could do anything about it in his current condition. He just wanted his new friend safe and sound, but clearly he had no sense of danger. This was evident when his friend in fact did not wait for Danny to recover before leaving the mansion. The brat even left when Danny had retreated to his core for his recovery.

That's when Danny realized that no one in this family sleeps properly. Danny didn't need as much rest as in the beginning, and now that he's more aware of the passage of time, he started to notice that these people are still outlasting him. He checks the clock and in the past few days. They never seem to go to bed at a reasonable time. Danny never realized just how busy the criminal life style could be.

To make matters worse, Jason and the others often came back with more injuries and bruises than Danny could count. Danny knew the life of a rich criminal was dangerous, but why did they not have the sense to hire body guards or leave the more dangerous business to their goons like normal villains? These people were so nice, and yet they go off and risks their lives for what?

Danny has even given himself the self appointed task of being Alfred's assistant. He swears that if he were alive, he would've had several heart attacks from the sight of their injuries. Danny vowed to show them the error of their ways once he was fully recovered. Maybe they could just retire with all of the money they already seem to have. Hopefully they would be more receptive to talking unlike his ghostly rogues.

. . . Danny had rogues. This wasn't a question. Danny was actually capable of holding onto that revelation. Strange, what kind of life did he have before GIW- A jolt of pain almost sent him crashing to the floor.

"Danny!"

"Go and don't look back!"

"There's nothing left-"

"In another time, another place."

"They can protect you-"

"You alone must go. I cannot follow."

"I wish I could do more-"

Danny felt a flood on dread and sorrow. These voices, he knew them. The memories were coming back to him, but not completely. Was it really alright for Danny to remember. He only got a taste of what was instore for him and it was clear that only heart ache and misery awaited him. Even if he didn't want to remember, could he even stop it? Would they return to him as long as he recovered? He missed the people in his fragmented memories, but Danny was scared.

What happened to him?

Notes:

Jesus Christ, this chapter was so hard to write for no reason. I literally have so many plans that happen right after this, but I couldn't figure out how to naturally transition to it. Screw it, this is good enough. Now I can get into the real plot *evil laughter*

Chapter 24

Daniel Fenton

Status: Deceased

Tim sucked in a breath. He didn't know what to make of what he had found. It was so bizarre. Tim was given the name Danny Fenton from Alfred not long ago and all throughout his search, he had met walls and barriers that had been purposefully placed there by someone.

Originally, Tim had the idea that if Danny really was the ghost of a dead child, then maybe other ghost logic could apply. If Danny had really died tragically and had decided to linger due to unfinished business, then maybe they could help him pass on. If anything, it couldn't hurt to try even if it was a fruitless endeavor.

Tim wasn't sure he would find anything at all if he was being honest. After all, Danny could just so happen to be from another dimension and not have any records to find in their world, but it was worth looking into at least. At this point Tim was conducting his own research on the Infinite Realms by collecting data from Danny. Everything would have to stay theoretical seeing as how they couldn't account for variations with a single subject of study, but Tim had long since run into a dead end.

Imagine his surprise when he found his research into the name 'Daniel Fenton' purposefully obstructed. Everything was hidden behind firewalls and sealed files which was more than a little suspicious. Tim followed the lead and broke into what was apparently classified data. He was greeted by the file of a young 14 year old boy who died over 20 years ago, but that wasn't what caught his eye. It was the fact that he was apparently from a town called Amity Park.

A town that officially didn't exist.

Tim felt a shiver run down his spine as he typed away at the batcomputer. He soon revealed more and more sealed files. He discovered a complete media black out surrounding the town of Amity Park that persisted to this day. All records of the town and its inhabitants were heavily sealed as classified data. Technology had always been his area of expertise, and he was only ever second to Oracle in this respect. This shone true when he finally found the file he was looking for.

Daniel Fenton

Status: Deceased

Cause: Unknown

The young black haired boy was smiling awkwardly into the picture. He was on the lankier side, but there was a kindness in those blue eyes. God he looked like perfect adoption bait for Bruce. Should he hide the pictures? Tim looked over the file taking in the information. He had been a normal teenager until he died of 'unknown' causes. That alone set off alarm bells. It wasn't until he repeatedly found this exact statement on his parents files, his sister's file, his teacher's file, along with practically every other resident of Amity Park. All with the same recorded year of death.

This had Government cover up written all over it. Tim felt a pang of guilt and horror. How had he not known that an entire town was just erased? No, he shook his head. Logically speaking, it was completely understandable that he hadn't known. Hell, he hadn't even been born yet. Had Bruce even been Batman at the time? Even if he was, no one that wasn't specifically looking for them would've found such a remote town.

Tim gave his head another shake. He had to focus. He needed to catalog all of this information on a file and make note of any and all information he could salvage from this nightmare of a situation. He needed to evaluate the severity and just how deep the corruption in the government was. He pulled up a few news articles.

"Ghosts, Fake or Real?"

"Ghost Attack at Casper High!"

"Inviso-Bill, Hero or Menace?"

"Government Supplies Aid After An Increase In Ghost Attacks"

Tim furrowed his brows taking in the information. The pictures of the 'ghosts' depicted all manner of entities that didn't necessarily look human. From what he could gather they were extremely powerful beings capable of mass destruction and hysteria. Bruce was not gonna like this at all. Tim really didn't want to be the one to make him paranoid about the kid again. Especially when he had just confirmed that he was in fact a kid. Maybe he should reconsider showing Danny's picture to Bruce if that was the case.

Tim took his time to sort through the the facts and found more information on Danny's family. His parents had been scientists in the nonexistent field of Ecto-biology and self proclaimed ghost hunters. All of the earlier articles he found had depicted them as mad scientists with a large history of property damage. Tim would've also thought them mad if it wasn't for the fact that they were proven right about the existence of ghosts, or in this case beings of the Infinite Realms.

Apparently, they were inventors who's technology was later widely used by most of the residents of Amity as a form of defense against the invading ghosts. It was strange that the ghosts only ever stayed in the one town though it would explain why the government was easily able to cover up the knowledge of their existence from the rest of the world. It may be useful to pay their workshop a visit to see if anything could be salvaged just in case they had to deal with the ghost like entities.

Tim began to notice several mentions of an organization called GIW, the Ghost Investigation Ward, also locally dubbed as the Guys in White. Tim was surprised to realize he had never heard of this branch of government. He really had his work cut out for him. He couldn't find anything for days and even exhausted all other avenues of research only to accidentally fall down a rabbit hole and discover the mother load. A simple search for a child's origins led him to a full blow government conspiracy involving the cover up of an entire town's disappearance.

He'll need to involve the others. As much as he'd still like to claim this as his case, there was just too much to unwrap about this whole investigation. They'll need to plan a trip to Amity Park to confirm things after the research is done. They'll also need to handle the political side of things to root out this 'GIW' depending on the severity of their crimes. God, Tim already had a feeling he'll be spending a lot of sleepless nights during the incoming days.

He rubbed his temples trying to sooth an incoming headache. He sighed and looked up to stare at the picture of Danny. Tim steeled himself in determination. He was getting to the bottom of this. He'll find out what happened to the boy and his town. They'll get their due justice even if it is over 20 years too late.

Chapter 25

After Drake's discovery of the small being's origins, it was decided that they would be observing him in shifts. It was currently Damian's turn to keep watch over Fenton and report on his behavior. None of their attempts had served to aid the being's recovery, but he was clearly healing just fine on his own. Based on Damian's calculations, Fenton would soon be completely healed, seeing as the cracks along his body had mostly disappeared.

On another note, recently the being has been displaying more of his abilities. Based on the reports the others have submitted, they have made little to no progress in determining the extent of Fenton's abilities. If anything, they seem to have the misconception that Fenton is fragile. The being may not be up to par with them, but the ease in which he has displayed his abilities has led Damian to believe that Fenton may prove to be a formidable foe or a worthy ally. This made Damian believe that it was foolish of the others to entertain Fenton like he was a mere child. Clearly he was much older if Drake's discovery of Fenton's time of death reigns true.

It was up to Damian to properly determine Fenton's capabilities and provide proper stimuli for the healing process just as Damian had received when he was younger. However, Damian was aware that providing him with a training regiment would prove difficult with the language barrier and Todd's lack of proficiency in what was supposed to be an innate ability. Damian couldn't help but reprimand his elder brother for his slow progress. Not that this would pose Damian any problems. He was nothing if not adaptable. Damian would simply need to lead by example. Or at least, it should've been that simple had in not been for certain unforeseen circumstances.

"Alfred Pennyworth, cease this at once!" Damian demanded as he chased after the feline who ran out of the training room right behind a panicked Fenton.

When Damian had brought the small being into the training room, he had obviously noticed Alfred the cat had been resting inside. Not wanting to accidently trap the feline in a potentially dangerous area without means of retreat, he had taken to leave the door open. What he had failed to take into account was Alfred's natural predatory instincts. This had led to their current predicament where Alfred Pennyworth had determined Fenton's small flying form to be suitable prey.

Alfred sprinted down the hall before leaping onto a window ledge and using it as leverage to reach Fenton's flying form. Damian cursed not wanting the being to be inadvertently harmed by one of his beloved animals. Luckily, Fenton used intangibility to allow himself to phase right through Alfred. Damian's relief was short lived as Alfred prepared to continue the chase.

Fenton let out a horrified chirp before turning invisible. Damian gaped before his face contorted into a frown. This could definitely pose a problem. It was unlikely Fenton would leave the house, but it would still prove difficult to find the being without the aid of a member of the JLD-

Damian's thoughts were interrupted as Alfred the cat lunged at another corner of the room. Suddenly a green forcefield appeared with a no longer invisible Fenton inside who squeaked in fright and surprise. Damian was shocked to realize Alfred had indeed located the being despite the invisibility. He'd need to report this after resolving the situation. Fenton was knocked to the side by the force and rolled along the floor as if he was inside a hamster ball. Alfred stalked towards Fenton's prone form, but Damian took the opportunity to put himself between Fenton and Alfred.

"Stop, Fenton is not food," despite Damian's attempt to deter his feline friend, he was ignored. He turned around with a curse as Fenton flew away with Alfred in tow.

"What the fuck is- Shit!" Todd dodged Fenton's fleeing form. "Danny? What?" Todd turned look towards Fenton only for him to stumble as Alfred jumped onto him and flung himself in Fenton's direction.

"Out of my way, Todd!" Damian paid his frazzled brother little attention as he shoved him further to the side to continue in his pursuit.

"What was that for, Demon brat?!" Todd shouted angrily, as if Damian would actually stop to explain. He had more pressing matters right now. What he didn't expect was for Todd to join in the chase. Damian rounded the corner just in time to see Drake fall forward, spilling his newly coffee onto the floor, as Alfred dashed past is feet.

"My coffee!" Drake shouted indignantly and Damian merely leapt over his prone body.

Up ahead, Grayson opened the door to one of the living rooms with a look of confusion, "Why is everyone yelling?"

"Don't just stand there, Grayson! Catch Pennyworth!" Damian yelled in frustration. Weren't they supposed to be trained vigilantes? This was truly a testament to their lack of training.

"Wait, what? Oh-" Grayson dropped down to scoop up the cat only to receive a startled hiss and a scratch to the face.

With a yelp of pain, Grayson let go of Alfred who scrambled onto the table and knocked over its contents. Fenton panicked as he realized that the only other exits in the room were windows leading outside. Fenton with his fear of the outside merely led Alfred on a path of destruction throughout the room while Damian and the others struggled to contain the chaos.

Fenton frantically dashed for the door only to see Pennyworth standing there, not the cat but the older gentlemen with the same name. The being quickly went into Pennyworth's suit pocket to hide. Just as the feline prepared to pounce at Pennyworth, he pulled out a spray bottle and gave the cat a light spritz. Alfred reeled back with a hiss and scuttled back into the room to hide behind a toppled table before beginning to groom himself.

Damian let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his posture seeing as the issue had been masterfully resolved. Of course Pennyworth would be the only useful member of this family.

"Ahem," Pennyworth cleared his throat pointedly, gaining the attention of everyone inside the room. He raised an eyebrow as he scanned the room. Damian followed his gaze to take in the disastrous state they had left the room in. They all straightened with apologetic looks towards the older man. Pennyworth sighed deeply, "I'll get the broom."

Chapter 26

Bruce was more than a little frustrated with the current situation. He had delt with a lot of corruption and conspiracies throughout the years, so he had thought that he could fix things with all of the knowledge and resources he held within his power. After all, it was now his responsibility as a member of the Justice League.

What he had failed to consider, were the crimes of the past. People who never got the chance to seek out justice. Those who were buried under files and unmarked graves. Logically, it was understandable that nothing had been done about the Amity Park Incident, as they now referred to it. The presence of Heroes was still a fresh concept 20 years ago and wasn't exactly well received at the time. Bruce couldn't help but glance at the scattered pages of news articles that they had collected from the sealed files.

Many depicted pictures of a young and lively ghost boy who actively acted against those of it's species. The articles often painted the boy in a negative light, talking about the property damage or the danger he posed. Despite this, it seemed obvious to Bruce that the child was merely trying to help. He was young and inexperienced, but he clearly wanted to protect both humans and ghosts. Bruce couldn't help but frown at the idea that it was the adults that went out of their way to make things difficult for the young ghost. He clearly just needed proper training and guidance. Were they just too blind to see the child's efforts?

Bruce shook his head in an attempt to dissipate his anger. He had to focus on the mission. There were still several missing files that they would need in order to get the full picture of what happened to Amity Park. Everything they've found eventually lead them to dead ends with no real information on what happened to the town after it was taken off the grid. Bruce quickly concluded that all the records they needed were kept on cite in a secure facility.

They'll need to go to Amity Park themselves.

Bruce had already started to make preparations to head there along with Tim. The rest would stay in Gotham to continue their patrols while keeping an eye on Danny. Tim has found evidence to suggest that the GIW may still be active in the area though on a much smaller scale. He had also located an abandoned facility in the heart of the town. It took a lot of time to sort through everything and plan for what their mission in Amity Park, but now they were prepared.

"Ready to head out, B?" Bruce pried his eyes away from the table full of evidence to look at Tim who was already dressed in his Red Robin uniform.

Bruce reached his hands behind his neck to pull on the Batman cowl. "Hn," he affirmed with a small nod. He reigned in his emotions and felt his mind refocus on the mission. He couldn't allow anything to cloud his judgment. This was too important to allow for any mistakes.

"I'll take care of things on our end. Oracle should be able to let us know if you try to contact us for emergencies," Nightwing assured them with a confident smile.

"We'll check in once we're on sight," Red Robin gave acknowledged.

With that, the pair made their way towards the Batplane to begin their mission. However, Batman couldn't help but pause for a moment and glance back at Nightwing. This in turn earned a chuckle from his eldest son.

"Danny will be fine, B. He's upstairs, hanging out with Little D. I'll send you pictures later," Nightwing had his teasing tone.

Batman furrowed his eyebrows before giving him a nod. There was something in the back of his mind that was bothering him. Typically, he trusted his gut feeling about these sorts of things, but it wasn't a particularly terrible feeling and there wasn't much of an explanation for it. He could simply worry for the small ghost or what they would find in Amity Park, but none of those seemed quite right. Batman decided it was best to leave it for a later time. There was no use dwelling on something he couldn’t put together without all the pieces.

He entered the Batplane and took a seat while Red Robin entered the coordinates for their destination. Batman decided to go over the details in his mind as they soared through the sky in silence.

~~~

Amity Park.

Danny had froze in place the first time he heard them say these words. He knows those words. They were so familiar and left him with an intense feeling of longing and sadness. What was Amity Park? Why did he have such an intense reaction each time he heard those words? Was it a person? No, it wasn't a person. It was a place. His place. His home. Home.

Danny was overcome with dread at the realization. His home. There was something wrong with his home. He needed to go back. They need him. He needs to save them, but who is them? Who is he so desperate to save? He wasn't sure, but he needed to get to Amity Park.

Words have already started to become easier to understand, so he listened more intently whenever they mentioned Amity Park. Soon enough he realized that they were planning to go there to get something. They needed to get something from Amity Park. Danny didn't know how he felt about them going to his home seeing as they were a crime family, but they have been so kind to him all this time. Maybe, Danny could convince them to not cause any harm to his home.

Yeah, he could do that. He was already planning to convince them to stop being criminals, so this would just be a step in the right direction. Danny was confident that once he regained his ability to speak, he could properly reason with them. Initially Danny wanted to try to convince Jason first, but he had recognized that his friend was also being monitored. Recognizing the vigilance of the others was a bit confusing at first, Danny could also see the concern in their actions. Danny quickly determined that he'd need to properly gain their trust himself rather than rely on Jason.

Well, that was the plan until Danny realized that their trip to Amity Park was happening a lot sooner than he thought. There was no time for him to wait for his voice to come back, and there was no guarantee he'd get another chance if he didn't go with them now.

Once he determined when they would leave, he had already devised a plan. He was recovering very well, so despite the struggle he was able to split himself into 2 copies. Why did he struggle so hard with this ability? Well don't ask him, it was just one of the only abilities that didn't come naturally to him.

Anyways, with the copy keeping Jason and Damian busy, he was able to sneak down to their evil lair using invisibility and intangibility. Now, if he can just hitch a ride with them.

"Ready to head out, B?" Tim(that was Tim, right? Costumes are confusing) asked Bruce, who grunted his confirmation as he pulled up his hood to conceal his features.

Danny still had a hard time accepting that Bruce and the scary cowled man were one in the same. The shift was too drastic, okay? Danny shook his head and followed him as he confirmed a few more things with Dick(a tragic name really, but who was he to judge villain names?).

Soon enough, Tim made his way over to . . . Was that a plane in their evil lair? Wow, Danny really underestimated just how profitable villainy could be. No, bad Danny. Money wasn't worth turning to a life of crime. With another shake of his head, he refocused on the task at hand.

He hid himself in the back and was amazed as the plane steadily rose and took off. So far so good. He'll soon be home and he'd be able to see them again. He'll definitely protect them this time. He won't fail them ever again. If only he could remember who they were.

Chapter 27

Nightwing wanted to believe he had everything under control. After all, he was an adult with plenty of experience as a vigilante and an officer of the law. He was prepared for practically anything.

"There's something wrong with Fenton," Damian reported with distress seeping into his voice.

Except this, Nightwing was sorely unprepared this. No, he couldn't think like this when his little brother needed him. He settled his mind and focused on the task at hand.

"Okay, Little D, I'm on my way. Is Hood there with you? We'll need him to talk to the little guy and see if he can figure out what's wrong," Nightwing spoke to the young boy with a steady tone hoping it was reassuring to hear. He turned around to head back to the manor where he had left Damian to keep an eye on Danny.

"Hood hadn't left for patrol when Fenton became catatonic. I was able to request him for his assistance. However, his attempts to speak with Fenton have garnered no response," Damian explained clearly frustrated.

"Alright, how about giving me a run down of the situation" Nightwing felt on edge, but it wouldn't help to show his younger brother any weakness. What he needed to do now was understand exactly what to expect once he got there.

"I had everything under control. Fenton was accompanying me as I went through some basic sword forms before beginning our training exercises," Nightwing has tried not to question as to why Damian had decided training was a good bonding activity with a baby ghost, "However, at some point Fenton had become unresponsive. At first I believed it was one of his panic attacks that he has previously displayed, but it soon became clear that he wasn't reacting to any form of stimuli."

Nightwing wasn't sure what to make of it all. This was a new type of reaction coming from Danny. It didn't seem like Damian had done anything out of the ordinary to trigger an almost comatose response from the little guy. Was he freaked out by the sword? They haven't exactly displayed the full extent of their skills before, so maybe he has severe trauma towards swords?

"I have moved him to a more secure area in the cave and placed him back inside his basket of blankets, but his condition has worsened over time. He has become discolored and has lost most of the shape of his corporeal form. He shows no signs of returning to his spherical body despite our assumptions that it is the form he takes to progress in his recovery. I have taken a sample to run comparative tests against the data we have previously collected, but I am at a loss on how to aid him," Damian's voice wavered minutely. This was likely a very serious situation, and Nightwing needed to get there ASAP.

"ETA is 15 minutes. Everything is going to be alright. Can you let me know if his condition changes?" Nightwing requested in a comforting tone. He knew giving Damian something to do despite how simple it is would be better than letting him stew in anxiety.

There was a pause. "I can do that," Damian kept his voice firm.

"Great, I'll stay on the line for now," Nightwing informed him. He should keep Damian talking for now. "Does Agent A know what's going on?"

"Yes, he assisted me in retrieving the basket and has gone to prepare a light meal incase Fenton needs it," Damian reported sounding almost grateful for the distraction.

With a steady stream of questions, Nightwing had successfully kept his brother distracted as he made his way back to the manor. He rushed inside through the batcave and quickly located the others inside of the med bay. There on the bed lay a basket containing a deflated, discolored Danny, half melted into a puddle of green. He looked like he was barely hanging by a thread. If Nightwing wasn't informed of the situation, he'd think it was a poorly made pudding sculpture. No, he wasn't laughing. This was a serious situation, but seriously, why did this happened? Nightwing cleared his throat and turned to a frowning Jason who had most of his gear on.

"Still no response?" He inquired though he had a pretty good guess on what the answer was based on how Jason's frustration became palpable.

"Not a word," Jason was clearly getting agitated and impatient, but it was well contained. It was still surprising to see, and Nightwing felt grateful. He definitely won't let anything happen to the little guy.

"The results will be ready soon," Damian reported as he tapped the holographic computer on his forearm.

"It's probably for the best that I report this to B. Well need to contact Constantine again," Nightwing frowned. They were out of their depth and know his brother's he was probably the only one ready to admit it.

"I'd prefer to contact someone competent," Damian scoffed.

"Gonna agree with the demon brat on this one. If he had any idea of how to help Danny, he would've said so last time," Jason pointed out in worried anger.

They were out of viable options, and the silence that followed only fueled their collective distress. Nightwing had to keep it together. His little brothers had reached out to him and he wasn't about to let them down. Not this time.

"I'll see what we can do once I take a look at the results. Worst case scenario, we'll need to wait for B and Red to send any data that they can find in Amity. For now, Jay, you keep trying to talk to Danny. Robin, update Batman and Red Robin of the situation. I'll head over yo the Batcomputer to look over the test results," Nightwing made his decision and got nods of agreement from the other two.

Nightwing quickly left the med bay and took a seat in front of the large computer. The results were in, so he waisted no time in opening the file to asses Danny's condition. His eyes darted across the screen and widened in surprise and confusion. However, something clicked in his mind as he pulled up another recent file. Comparing the two, they were in fact identical.

The Danny in the med bay was pure Lazarus water?!

Notes:

OH MY FUCKING GOD FINALLY!!! UGH!!!

Jesus, writing this chapter was like trying to stick my hand into a fucking wood chipper!

Anyways, thanks for sticking around and leaving comments. I love going back and seeing the reactions to my story. It keeps me motivated to come back and write ❤️

Chapter 28

If you asked Red Robin if the sight of Amity Park was shocking, he'd say that was a gross understatement. Stepping out of the Batplane and finally taking in his surroundings was infuriating. Everything had been reduced to rubble and had long since been covered in greenery like a scene from a post apocalyptic movie. It was deathly silent except for the occasional sound of scavengers skittering about. To think that this town was wiped off the map without anyone ever knowing for the past 20 years.

That also means that whoever did this, had 20 years to cover their tracks. Finding anything useful in this place was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Lucky for them, Red Robin was all about the efficiency of automation.

He brought up his arm to type away at the holographic computer. He has long since hacked into the GIW's systems that put up the media black out, so pulling up schematics of the town's layout was no problem.

"Now I just need to factor in the residential areas, public facilities, and a few miscellaneous things. Bingo," Red Robin grinned. "I've got GPS coordinates for the GIW facility, but I can't say whether or not it'll be possible to find anything."

"We'll head there first before looking into alternative locations for their headquarters. It's unlikely that this was their only base of operations," Batman gave him a nod before following behind him through the rubble.

As they made their way through the town, Red Robin began to notice something strange. He stopped in his tracks and scanned the area looking form something. He frowned in confusion as his mind sifted through the information in search of a possible explanation.

"Batman," Red Robin stiffened as he glanced back at the man who was also scanning the area.

"Hm, I noticed too," Batman confirmed his suspicions.

"I haven't seen even a single skeletal remain this entire time. Do you think GIW collected their bodies?" There wasn't much information in any of their documents, definitely not enough to come up with any reason for them to take the bodies other than to cover their tracks.

"Possibly. We'll add it to our investigation," Batman dismissed the topic for now, but Red Robin could tell that he also didn't like the possible implications. They will need to consider this when evaluating the GIW's threat level and the charges they could hold against them. With that in mind they continued to make their way to the facility's location.

What greeted them was another leveled building which was unsurprising based on what they've seen so far. Their search soon proved futile when all of the scraps of books or documents they found were torn to shreds, illegible, or charred black. Red Robin was expecting this, but it was still disappointing to see that even left over bits of tech were completely useless. Whatever the GIW wanted to hide must have been really important if they went to such lengths to destroy all of the evidence.

Red Robin pulled up the building's blueprints, hoping to get a better idea of where they would keep any safes that may have survived. While analyzing the document, he noticed something strange. There was small closet sized area hidden in the building's first floor that was just pointlessly empty space.

"Gotcha," Red Robin smirked as he mentally oriented the map to his surroundings. "B, I think I found something." He called out to get the other's attention as he slowly made his way over.

Taking a look at the floor, it looked about the damage as everywhere else, but when he crouched down, he noticed something strange of the flooring could be peeled off. He pried some of it off just as Batman appeared behind him.

"Anything?" He inquired as he watched Red Robin reveal the damaged metal bellow.

"What's a sketchy government branch without a few underground labs?" Red quickly worked on getting the flooring off to reveal the mantel latch. There was an offline keypad, which suggests it was password locked. That makes this a lot trickier to bypass when this place probably hasn't had a power source in the past 20 years.

"Time to do this the old fashioned way," Red Robin nodded to himself before turning to Batman, "Got any explosives in that belt?"

"No," Batman narrowed his eyes incredulously like he doesn't carry around shark repellent in there.

"Fine I'll use my own," he sighed before pulling out a small device. Always come prepared. Batman grabbed his wrist with scowl.

"No bombs," Batman reprimanded.

"Then, how do you suggest we get in?" Red Robin pulled his arm back to tuck away the bomb. He crossed his arms and frowned back in disappointment. He'd like to see Batman try to get it open. Sure, Batman carries around all sorts of lock picks, but this wasn't your standard run of a mill lock and key situation. He watched in disbelief as Batman reached down and lifted the latch, opening the way down via ladder.

"Wait, what? How did you know it was open?" Red Robin sputtered in confusion.

"I didn't," he could just feel the smirk in Batman's tone as he jumped down into the area bellow.

Red Robin frowned in annoyance and was about to follow him when he noticed something about the inner side of the latch. It looked like the lock was destroyed. Like someone destroyed it when trying to get out. It was old markings, so whoever did this was long gone. He had a bad feeling about what those marks could mean, and it seemed like a warning of what they would see inside.

Cautiously, Red Robin moved to follow Batman inside who was waiting down there with a flash light on. He quickly took out his own to illuminate more of the hallway. Straight in from of them, another heavily enforced door was completely blown off its hinges.

"Something definitely did not like being down here," Red Robin commented as they both made their way further inside.

Just as they suspected, it was a large underground laboratory that showed clear signs of struggle and destruction. Large machines were torn apart, metal tables were crushed, and glass was scattered all over the floor. Not to mention the large amounts of green goop that clung to almost everything. It was strange that even after all these years there was still a faint glow coming from the substance.

"It kind of looks like the stuff Danny took out of Jason. Could it be related to Lazarus Water?" Red Robin mused. The longer they were here, the more questions they had and they still haven't answered any of their initial ones.

"I'll collect samples to verify. Keep looking for anything that could have the documents we're looking for," Batman designated as he moved closer to a clump of green goop.

"Got it," he complied and walked towards one of the closest rooms. Luckily, this one contained a few computers, but they were clearly very old models based on their box like shape. Red Robin couldn't help but grimace at the idea of having to deal with those fossils. Good lord, did these things even have a USB port? At least they seemed mostly intact.

He groaned as he got to work. Hopefully he didn't need to haul the entire thing back to the batcave.

Chapter 29

Danny was confused to say the least. He remembered them saying that they were heading for Amity Park, but instead they landed in the middle of nowhere. This place reminded him of on of those ancient dig sights that were buried under plants. Tim and Bruce started walking further into the ruins, so maybe they hadn't arrived in Amity yet.

Danny made sure to stick himself close to Bruce's shoulder while staying intangible and invisible. He couldn't let them know he had tagged along, but he also didn't want to get lost by himself. As they went further in, Danny glanced around to see if anything would ring any bells, but the most he got was a stay thought that maybe this was Undergrowth's haunt. It did seem like the kind of place he'd like.

Danny paused for a moment. It soon became clear that it wasn't dissipating like all the others. If anything, he was beginning to feel the barest of impression on who Undergrowth was. He didn't think he was well enough to recall his memories, but somehow he had made some unexpected progress. It was an exciting yet nerve wracking realization. Maybe he'd be able to remember whoever he was supposed to save in Amity. Hopefully he wasn't too late.

However, instead of moving on towards Amity, Bruce and Tim lingered among the ruins as if they were looking for something. Had Danny really misheard them? Well he was still struggling to follow along with their conversation, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Well that sucks, but hopefully they will head back before his clone starts to melt. He'd be hard pressed to answer if Jason starts questioning him.

Danny's thoughts came to an abrupt stop as Bruce joined Tim who found a broken latch. An intense sense of dread flooded Danny for an inexplicable reason. Everything in his being was screaming at him to run away, but he was completely frozen in place. He could only watch in horror as the pair descended into the darkness without him.

No, Danny had to follow them. It was too dangerous for them to go in alone. Danny had to protect them! Suddenly, his head began to throb in pain. He flinched back and backed away from the entrance of the lab. How did he know it was a lab?

He winced in pain as the sounds of screams echoed within his memories, but he recognized those screams. Those were his screams. The memory was fuzzy, but he recalls pain, lots of it. It was the GIW. They hurt him, tortured him. He could feel the could metallic table pressed against his back as he struggled against the phase proof straps.

Its too much. Danny was scared. He had to get away before he gets caught again. He didn't want to go back there, but they still needed him. He needs to save them. They're still waiting for him. He has to go back. Memories sporadically gain clarity.

"Danny!" there was a familiar girl screaming out for him. He knows her. She was wearing a dirtied version of her iconic black and purple, gothic clothes. There was blood on her forehead and her face was contorted in fear and horror. Holding on to her was an equally distraught dark skinned boy wearing an orange beany. He also looked worse for wear, and his glasses did little to conceal the pained tears in his eyes. Danny wanted nothing more than to go to them and tend to their wounds, but Danny was being dragged away.

The next memory took over, Danny was kneeling on the floor. He felt so weak and disoriented. a pair of hands were tightly holding onto his shoulders and keeping him up right. "Go and don't look back!" he frowned at the words. He looked up at who was talking and came face to face with a red headed girl with an angered look in her blue eyes. Danny had a feeling she was about to boil over, but he was much too relieved to see her to even begin to worry about whoever would be on the receiving end of her furry.

A new memory took it's place. All Danny could feel was grief as his hands pressed against his face. It was so hard to breath past his chocked sobs. "There's nothing left," he whimpered in the smallest of voices. He could feel his core cracking as he crumbled to the floor. A pained ghostly wail of pure agony escaped his lips. Cracks formed on the floor bellow and spread with him at the epicenter. He could here things crumbling around him until nothing.

The memory shifted again. This time he stood before and old man with a saddened expression. He placed a steady hand on his shoulder as if to ground him to the present. He sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders, "In another time, another place."

Danny was suddenly floating in a green expanse. A child in a purple cloak had his back to him. He was leading him somewhere, and they were in a hurry. Danny was worried about the child, but he was also confused as to what he was about to do. "They can protect you-" the child was explaining something, but the memory abruptly changed before Danny could hear the rest.

Danny stood before a green swirling portal. He was hesitating to go through it. He was terrified of leaving the safety on the Infinite Realms. He was hurt and tired and grieving. Danny turned to face a man who had a prominent scar that cut across his left eye. "You alone must go," the man looked worried, "I cannot follow."

He flew forward and placed a firm hand on Danny's head. He gently caressed the top of his head with so much care and love. "I wish I could do more," he said regretfully. Danny could feel tears spill from his eyes because he knew the man had already done too much. The price he would pay would be much too great, and there was nothing Danny could do.

Danny gasped as his sense returned to the present. He blinked and looked around him. He was surrounded by rubble , but clearly a lot of time had passed. His core ached and the deep impression of sadness lingered. The memories were still jumbled, but it had confirmed his worst fears. Was there really nothing left? What about the people waiting for him to save them? Was he already too late? He needed to get to Amity. There was still a chance that they were still there.

He needed to believe that. His core thrummed and wavered. Danny paused and assessed the condition of his core. It had been steadily repairing itself, but the pain was starting to return. Why did it break in the first place? If he find out, will it truly shatter?

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of gravel being crunched underfoot. Danny hastily turned invisible and intangible. He listened carefully and realized that whoever it was, was alone and heading this way. Danny carefully floated above the rubble to take a look at who it could be. Had Bruce or Tim finally come out of the lab?

Danny felt his heart sink. He froze in absolute fear. All he could see was white, White, WHITE.

Chapter 30

Batman surveyed the area as he approached the strange green substance that coated the broken glass container. He knelt down to the floor and collected the sample into a small test tube from his utility belt. Then, he slotted the sample into a small compartment that was attached to his wrist computer for analysis.

Taking another look around, there were many glass containers throughout the lab. They were relatively small, so it gave Batman the impression that these were samples that were collected, but collected from what? He didn't like how Red Robin had pointed out the similarities between this substance and what they had collected from Danny and Jason. His logical side warned him to not make assumptions that could leave him emotionally compromised, so he stood back up and began taking pictures for later review.

He continued further into the lab until he made his way into the hallway. He was careful to check for any hidden dangers, but nothing caught his eye until he reached the next room. He gritted his teeth at the sight on broken cages and containment cells. The same green substance was coated everywhere, especially within the containment units. Batman had the feeling that this substance was akin to the blood of whatever was trapped here. He had to forcefully steady his breath before continuing into the room to take pictures and catalog the new information.

Luckily, it looked like they had escaped if all of the damage was anything to go by, but something or someone had broken them out from the outside. Looking up, he could spot what may have once been a couple of cameras. Some looked to have been caught in the crossfire while other look deliberately destroyed. Was this an organized escape?

He made a mental note to consider the implications later before moving on. From what he'd seen so far, it seemed this organization was careful to keep any physical records separate from the labs and subjects. The next room was much larger with several strange devices scattered everywhere. Many were broken beyond recognition, but Batman had a feeling he would be hard pressed to understand their use even if they were in intact.

He crouched down to pick up a particular piece that had caught his attention. There was a symbol on it, an 'F' shaped logo. He couldn't recognize it, so he took a picture of it for later analysis using the batcomputer's image recognition software. It was frustrating to think that he was only coming up with more questions than answers. Hopefully things were better on Red Robin's end.

He tried not to sigh in frustration as he stood back up and made his way out of the room. He paused on his way out and noticed a sudden discrepancy in the spacing between the doors. The next room must be larger to accommodate something. Batman made his way down and discovered that this room was divided into two halves.

The front of the room was covered in large monitors and equipment meant to record data. It'd be tricky to collect the data without power, but that just means he needs to locate the hard drive and hand it off to Red Robin. However, that wasn't what had taken up Batman's attention. It was what was beyond the large shattered window that divided the room into two parts. There was a broken medical table with scorched straps hanging off it's remains. Large pieces of equipment were also deliberately broken all around it. Clearly someone had broken the test subject out.

Large amounts of the green substance was gathered under the medical table. Batman could just imagine it being replaced with blood and it left him feeling further disgusted with whoever had done this. Had Danny been here before? Was he able to escape? What if he had been trapped by these people for the past 20 years? No, he couldn't spiral down that particular hole. For the sake of his own sanity, he had to believe that the child wasn't forced to endure such torture for so long. God, how could he let this go on for so long? How had he not noticed?

"Focus," Batman growled to himself. He forcefully set his mind back to the task at hand. Evidence was what would bring whoever did this to justice.

Batman reassessed the room with a cold and calculating gaze. Just as he was about to go collect the data, he paused and looked around the room again. It was surely bigger than the other rooms, but something gnawed at the back of his mind. There was something there. That's when he remembered how the entrance had been hidden within space that was unaccounted for. Could there be more hidden areas?

Without blueprints of the facility, Batman had to fall back onto the classic method of knocking on the wall while listening for discrepancies. Carefully making his way down through the room there was a sudden shift in the sound. This clearly indicated a hollow space just beyond the wall. Reaching into his belt, he pulled out a small laser and steadily dragged it along the wall. He just needed to make a hole big enough to see what's beyond and determine what was being hidden. As we worked, a familiar voice connected to his com.

"B, this is Nightwing. We have a situation. I think Danny's gone," Dick reported with an edge of worry.

Batman instantly froze. Gone can mean several things. Danny could've left the mansion. He could've been kidnapped. He could be dead. Batman quickly cut off his train of thought. He needed the details of the situation.

"Report."

"Originally we thought Danny's condition had suddenly worsened when he started to melt, but I ran the tests, and whatever that was, was just a lump of the substance similar to Lazurus Water. It didn't contain Danny's DNA, so I'm thinking it's another of the little guy's abilities which is just overkill if you ask me," with Dick's explanation, Batman had calmed significantly, but the question remained. Where did Danny go? "That better be the last one or I'll start to believe Red's Ghost King conspiracy theory. Anyways, we're still looking but he couldn't have gone far, the little guy is deathly scared of going outside," Dick joked in an attempt to lighten the mood, "I'll keep you posted if anything comes up. How are things going on your end?"

Just as he asked, Batman had finished making a large enough whole to get a proper look inside, "About to find out." He then removed it to reveal a dark interior with only the same faint green glow he had seen all throughout the facility except in was much larger in quantity. Based on the general shape, it was a large dome filled with the green substance along with smaller containers just next to it. Batman raised the light to get a better look at what was inside.

"What'd you find?" Dick asked after a period of silence.

Batman narrowed his eyes, "Change of plans, I'll need you to contact the Justice League."

Just as Batman was about to explain, there was a loud explosion coming from the entrance. Batman darted out of the room to see the door that was barely hanging on was ripped off and thrown aside. Standing there was someone in a large, white, metal suit raising it arm to point at him. There was a steady movement of metal around the arm to form a large laser that was quickly glowing a bright green color.

"Now would be good."

Notes:

Did I disappear for months without an excuse? Yes. Will I do it again? Most likely.