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It had been a long, long time since last a mortal stepped into the circle of carefully placed stones. All of them were nice stones, too. Dark like the night sky, and perfectly sanded down into round shapes. He was growing flowers in between them, too, all of them night bloomers. It was pretty. He'd taken great care in arranging it.
And yet some mortal human had decided to step into the circle. Had entered. And after so long, too.
Danny barely remembered to take a shape more suitable for human eyes again as he appeared in his dwelling within the mortal plane. The longer he spent in the Far Frozen regions of the Faewild, the more his true nature reflected in his appearance. The less the appearance he grew up with as a young changeling remained with him, too.
But he did remember not to be too much fae for a human brain as he formed, a glittering for stardust falling and then freezing solid into his form. So he would take that as a win, simply because he had just decided it was one.
Smiling with his slightly pointy teeth on display, Danny's too blue eyes too in the mortal who stood within his circle. It was a man that had entered, Danny noticed. A young one, with black hair and blue eyes like Danny's changeling appearance had held as well. But was sporting dark circles underneath his bloodshot eyes, much deeper than anything Danny had seen on any fae. There was stubble on his chin and a distinct frown on his face.
Understandable. He was standing in a fae circle, after all.
"Hello," Danny greeted with a smile, running a hand through his silver hair to absentmindedly make sure it was hair right now and not a never ending waterfall of falling stars. His main focus, however, was on why the man in front of him looked so oddly familiar. Had he seen that man before? Hm…
The man's lips tightened by the same fraction that his shoulders stiffened. But there was determination sparkling in the man's eyes, interestingly enough, right alongside of bravery that must've been feigned yet did not feel like it was.
"Hm," he answered with a soft noise of greeting, then straightened himself. "You are a fae."
Raising a surprised eyebrow, Danny nodded. "I am. And you are a human, who has stepped into my circle."
"I am," the human confirmed to Danny's surprise. Huh. How odd. Why was he so eager to address that? Why was he not trying to bargain to be released yet? It must've been a while for him before Danny had appeared, and yet he still seemed perfectly and completely comfortable. Which was good, of course, but also very, very odd.
"You act as though this was on purpose. Was it?" Danny tilted his head, and the man nodded. Humming out a laugh, Danny smiled at the human. "Well, that would make you an incredibly rude human, then."
Even being called rude by a fae to his face, the man still remained composed. The only sign showing that he knew this wasn't a good thing was the deep breath he took. "I assure you, I had a good reason for it."
Curios and curiouser. What a weird human. And how oddly familiar this entire interaction felt… "And what, then, would be that good reason that compelled you to trespass my dwelling on purpose?"
"That I needed to talk to you," the human answered, looking at Danny's eyes for a moment but then quickly turning his gaze away once he noticed how easy it was to get lost in the starry void in there. "To propose an exchange of favours."
"What?" It was honest surprise that moved Danny's long ears now, but he doubted the human could read that emotion from him. "Not only have you trespassed but now you also demand that I strike a deal with you? What for? What do you have that you're so sure I'd trade for?"
"It's not about what I have, but about what you can do. I need a favour from you, and I'm willing to bargain for it." When Danny only gave a hum again, the human continued. "You see, my son has disappeared…"
"He was taken?" Now Danny was getting concerned.
"No…"
Ah. Right, then. "He ran. And you wish to find him."
"He is in danger," the man defended himself immediately. Then he cleared his throat. "And I hear that fae are exceptionally good at finding what was lost."
It was true. Fae were good at finding lost things. But not many humans knew that this extended to people and more abstract concepts as well. He seemed to weigh his words consciously as well. Didn't apologise or thank Danny for anything, made a point to mention how being rude was not his intention here…
It was a long shot. But those eyes, though. It was possible, wasn't it?
So Danny hummed again, smiling at the human. "Now, now. Let's not be hasty here. Come on, sit. Can I offer you anything? Coffee, Tea?"
When with the wave of a hand roots grew into chairs and a table, the man sat down without complaint. But to Danny's offer he only shook his head. "That is a very kind offer, but I would not want to be an inconvenience."
A clever answer. Technically polite and still not accepting anything. But that still wasn't enough proof. So when Danny sat opposite of the man he asked: "Alright. Oh, but I don't even know what to call you! May I have your name, please?"
"You may call me Bruce, of the kingdom Gotham" the man answered only the first half. A good choice of words. Too good for a human uneducated in the way of the fae by now.
Blue eyes, black hair, a familiar air about him and well-versed in how to talk to a fae. And, of course, that name. Bruce. It must've been him, then. Right? This was Bruce Wayne, surely. Who else could he be?
"Then you may call me Phantom, of the stars," Danny introduced himself in turn. "And the child you search for, that is the one his human mother called Jason isn't it? I heard you took him in, long before the forest could do it…"
Bruce nodded, lips tight. "He has left to search for his mother."
"His mother is a fae," Danny observed, concern coming back stronger than ever before.
"One indebted to the Joker, yes."
Oh no. That was bad if it was true. "Indebted to the Prince of Rouge Court?" A nod "And he seeks to find her now?" Another nod. "But he is only a half-blooded fae. He is not as powerful as Sheila and especially not as powerful as the Joker."
"That's the reason I said he was in danger, and the reason I am here. I need to find my son," Bruce leaned onto the table, his hands folded on top of it, "before they do."
A difficult situation. And, sure, usually Danny would both agree that finding the halfling child was of the utmost importance and extend a helping hand. Even a couple of years ago - Or was it decades by now? Time moved so strangely in the realms of fae… - Danny would've offered a deal on his own should he have come to know about any of this.
However, things weren't as simple as they used to be when he'd first found out he was a changeling himself. He was the sovereign of his own court now, the Prince of the Court of Stars. He… He couldn't just act against one of the other courts, especially not against one of the other Princes. After all, he was not only responsible for himself anymore. Acting on his own like this, it would have much greater implications. Make much larger waves. Too lagre, maybe, to keep the shore where his friends resided safe from the tides.
And the Court of Rouges was dangerous. Danny had heard the stories. It was much more powerful, much more viscous and much larger than Danny's own, small court.
And yet…
Looking into those blue eyes, Danny found himself speaking before he knew what course of action would even be the best: "I will find your son, I will bring you to him and you will be responsible for the rest of it. And in turn, when I find I need the help of you, King of Gotham, to protect what I value, then I will come and you will help me however I need it. You will not know when nor how I will seek your help now, but once the time arrives you will not be allowed to turn me away, for the price of it will already have been payed by me today. A favour to protect in exchange for another favour to protect." Danny smiled, knowing full well that both his eyes and his freckles started to glow with the same magic as the air around them. "Do you agree, Bruce of the kingdom Gotham?"
Nodding, the man took the leisurely extended hand Danny had offered. "I consent to that."
In a flash as bright as the sun, both of them were swallowed by the earth. Danny easily flew just above the ground, while the human fell in a heap in the dark tunnel of even, black marble they now found themselves in. "Come," Danny said, gracefully ignoring the human's graceless fall as he stood, "and let Polaris guide our way."
"Wha-" The human's confused frown lightened into a look of understanding when his blue eyes followed where Danny's hand was pointing. A bright pinprick of light, just like the north star, hovered on one side of the tunnel. It and Danny were the only sources of light now, but with how bright Danny's form shone it shouldn't be a problem. Especially not for someone used to as dreary a place as Gotham.
And, really, the king easily stepped forward and towards where their Polaris hovered. Danny hung back just behind the man, allowing him to take the lead in following where Danny's magic guided them.
Both of them followed the star through the winding tunnels, ignoring where it split off into darkness whenever the star didn't move to guide them there. In fact, the king was so skilled in following only the star and not getting lost like many a human was prone to do in these situations, that Danny wondered whether there had even been any need for him to hang back. Then again, now he was already doing it and it would only make things awkward if their positions changed. So he remained floating just behind the human, acting as both a source of light and a reminder not to stray from their shown path.
It took a while but not too long until the star guided them to a dead end. When Bruce, as the king had introduced himself, stopped Danny didn't waste any time in putting one of his clawed hands on the human's shoulder. "Go ahead," he advised softly into the man's ear, "Reach for the stars."
After only a moment of hesitation, the man reached up towards the star - and with another flash of light, like the moon this time, they found themselves in another, much darker forest. Instead of the pines, hemlocks and cedars of Danny's home, they now found themselves surrounded by quaking aspens, doll's eyes and strangle tare. In a lake next to them, there was even red tide and it must've been in large quantities judging by the depth of the colour.
And in front of them, sitting on his bum where he must've fallen when he had noticed them rising out of the ground on a tide of magic like an omen, was a certain black-haired, blue-eyed, half-fae child, starring at them with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
"Close your mouth, young one. You might catch something in it," Danny advised, remembering distinctly how much insects had liked to fly into his own mouth when he'd first grown into his fae magic. It was uncanny. Once the child did, Danny nodded. "I bright to you your father-" he gestured to the now nervous looking king "-who, in his fear for your safety, sought a favour from me."
"He's not my-" the child started with a vehement shake of his head, before seemingly freezing as he realised something else. Impossibly even wider blue eyes all but starred at Bruce. "You went to a fae and asked for a favour?! What were you- What did you give?"
"Nothing, yet," Danny answered for the human with a shrug, "Once the time comes? A favour of equal value."
Seemingly in shook, the boy shook his head. "No. No, no, no, no, no! You can't just- Why would you even- Take it back!" Oh. The child was standing again. And was all up in Danny's face now. "Take it back, he didn't mean it."
"It appeared to me as though he was fully conscious of his decision when he choose to trespass into my dwelling in Gotham's forests. It appeared he was even more aware yet as he consented verbally to this exchange of favours." Danny shrugged another time. "It is not for you to decide what we do or do not trade, young fae."
A stormy expression suddenly took over the young one's face. "I am not a fae."
Ah. Danny remembered this. The fear. The denial. The desperate wish to be different than the rest of their ilk. And yet, it wasn't healthy for the young child to keep thinking like this. So Danny only smiled. "And yet you wield fae magic, and yet silver burns you, and yet you can taste the power of names on your tongue, and yet a lie won't make it past your lips. The blood in your veins is awake and strong, that cannot be changed. So perhaps not quite a fae, perhaps something more human thanks to the man who sired you - but you are fae-folk, child."
There was pain in those blue eyes now, even as they flashed green in his sudden emotion. The child looked lost now. "But I don't… want to be."
"It is not for you to decide, child. Nor is it for me to do so. Only the flow of magic can - and chosen it has." Sad that he couldn't help the child, Danny felt his ears shift down. "But you will have your father at your side, now. He will help you adjust, as well as any human will be able to."
Bruce nodded, stepping forward. He raised his hands, almost as though he wanted to put them on the child's shoulders. But in the end he only lowered them again. "Chum…"
"No!" Suddenly, the child backed off again. "No, you don't want me anymore!"
Judging by the flinch that followed, the accusation might as well have been a physical blow. "Why would you even think that, Jay? You- You're my son."
"But-" For the first time since they arrived here, the child actually faltered. Insecurities showed in the way his just slightly too long ears titled up. His face mirrored the same, human expressions coming through even more clearly than the fae ones he only just started to grow into. "You heard him! I… have magic, now. And you're a hunter, so…"
"Oh, Jay…"
The softness in the human's gaze was almost painful to look at, especially since Danny was forever cursed with the memories of how his own human parents had looked when he had grown into his fae blood back then. It felt like an intimate moment that Danny was intruding on. And, well, he had done what he'd promised. So he should probably leave now.
Unfortunately, as soon as Danny moved to leave he gained the attention of both of them. So, ground beneath him already parted right into his own little corner of the Realms, he smiled. Urgh, awkward… "My part here is done, so I will take my leave," he explained to their questioning gazes, "Once the time arrives, I will come to you to collect what you owe me."
"Wait!" The boy stepped forward, grabbing Danny's sleeve with a desperation not dissimilar to how Bruce had looked at Danny earlier that day. "You can't leave yet. He's not… He didn't know what he was asking for. You have to cancel the deal, you have to!"
Oh, that poor child. He would never believe his father, would he? But it wasn't his place to meddle, he was already overstepping. Honestly, Danny was just glad that the boy didn't know or he actually would be able to request Danny undo all his hard work, being another fae and all. So-
Well. It was a long shot, but it was an idea.
Danny raised an eyebrow as he freed his sleeve from the child's grasp. "Here is your child, unharmed by the forces you feared would find him before you, and right within your reach. Is this not what you wanted? Or do you regret the exchange of favours we agreed on?"
The king of Gotham immediately shook his head, and Danny waved his hand in the slightest motion. "I don't. That's my son, and I love him dearly, fae or not. I will never regret gaining even a slight chance to protect him from the world, no matter what it costs me. I couldn't, even if you ask for my name or my life in return. There is nothing as precious or as important to me as my children and… and why am I saying all of that?"
"A truth spell," Danny answered with a shrug and a grin. Turning to the child, he winked. "Consider it my apology for meddling in the affairs of a fellow fae when you did not ask me to, young one."
With that and before anyone else could say anything, he allowed himself to fall into the starry void beneath his feet. The rest was the human's responsibility now.
Bruce had tried to forget what had happened with the fae lord back then. Other times he actively made sure he remembered, did his best to be prepared when the time came. But in the end, he knew he would never be able to forget what had happened. The fear he'd felt. The desperation. How close he'd come to loosing his second child. What he had agreed on.
He could only hope the favour owed would not cost him everything, but yet he found that not once did he ever feel regret that he struck that deal. After all, if he hadn't done that he would have been too late. Joker would have found Jason before him and Bruce would have never forgiven himself. He wouldn't have been able to tell Jason how loved he was, how much he meant to Bruce, and how little he cared about the fae blood showing.
He'd do anything, if it meant he wouldn't have to loose one of his children.
So when he felt the air grow thicker, a feeling he was well used to by now, he knew what was coming. And he was ready to do what he had to.
Eyes not moving from where his children were arguing with each other, he didn't acknowledge the creature next to him before it spoke. Jason, however, had gone so still it looked almost painful. So he, too, must have realised what time it was.
"Have you considered," that same velvety-sweet voice from back then chimed in next to Bruce, echoes of burning stars and creaking snow as present in them as it had been all those years ago, "that this man might be a changeling? He could have not known about his powers until this accident happened. It happens a lot more often than one would think. After all they would need an encounter of some sort for their blood to awaken. It might have happened late?"
The silence that followed the fae's words were deafening. In it, Bruce finally turned to look at the otherworldly being.
They looked the same as Bruce remembered, but also they looked different. The hair was the same, at least. A soft, silky curtain of white, pulled up into a high ponytail and trailing over his shoulder like a beam of moon light. Their eyes, too. No white or iris, just a black void filled with nebulae and stars and broken apart by a black hole. When they opened their mouth, the same starry void greeted Bruce behind those too sharp teeth. Lips as dark a blue as the night sky stretched into a smile, the unmarred, moon-kissed skin of their face looking even paler in contrast.
Huh. All those years, and Bruce had yet to find a better word for that skin tone.
Time had not affected the fae, even as it had turned the first of Bruce's hairs grey and placed a pain in his body that he knew came from too many too reckless battles in his youth. But the fae had also changed. The claws were longer, Bruce thought, and the glittering frost on their skin was new. The hair was a little longer and something about their feel was different.
Maybe, Bruce mused, that had to do with the black crown now gently placed on the fae's head.
"Who are you?!" Bruce felt his heart leap into his throat when Steph spoke up, shattering the silence that he only now noticed had still been lingering.
But the fae only laughed, a sound like children playing in the snow. "Give me your name first, and perhaps I will tell you."
"This is a fae I met some years ago," Bruce cut in before any of his children - and they were all here, gods - could loose their names or otherwise end entrapped by a fae the way he was, "They helped me find your brother, when his powers first came in."
"Indeed I did," the fae nodded still smirking. Yet another thing that had not changed. "I did you a favour, then. And I was promised something in return."
"But you shouldn't have meddled," Jason spoke up. His son's eyes lit up with his magic, pointed ears tilting down dangerously. "I am fae folk, you acknowledged as much. You were rude to meddle."
"Hm." The creature tilted their head, and Bruce entirely loathed the attention they placed on his son now. "And I made up for that by providing your doubting heart with the proof that you are still loved." The creature chuckled. "You have grown a lot, young one, but you also still have much to learn."
"I did not accept that your debt was payed," Jason insisted.
"I did not apologise," the fae shrugged, "I never said I owed you making up."
"Well, that was rude of you."
"Hm… Your questioning of me after all this time is much ruder." The fae didn't blink, didn't look away. And after a moment, Jason couldn't hold the voided stare anymore. He looked away with a shiver.
It was much longer than Bruce had ever managed, he noted.
"Now that that is cleared up," the fae said, clapping their hands together joyfully, "Let me introduce myself. They call me Phantom, Prince of Stars and King of Fae." They threw a glance at Bruce over their shoulder. "The latter one is a new addition, King of Gotham."
"Wow, wow, wow! You made a deal with the fae king?!" Tim's incredulous voice reminded them of the other people in the room. "You hypocrite."
"Your business is with me," Bruce reminded the fae, trying to keep their attention as far away from his children as possible, "I assume you've come to collect your debt?"
"Ah, right. I have." They nodded and turned around to look at Bruce all the way. "When I need help to protect what I value I will come and you will help me however I need it. That is what we agreed upon, do you remember?"
Bruce grit his teeth. "How could I forget? So? What is the favour you want from me?"
The fae lord turned King of Fae nodded and reached out into thin air to retrieve… a child? A baby, that looked human at least, wrapped in what looked like the fabric of the universe. Black hair and blue eyes, Bruce noticed. It would fit right into his family. A changeling, maybe?
"This," Danny said, looking at the child with such adoration it felt almost painful, "is my daughter. And with me, she won't be safe. So you will take her in, and you will love and raise her as your own." Two eyes made of voids pinned Bruce in place. "And you will see to it that no harm will ever befall her. You will protect her with your life. I will come and visit her each winter, and she will know where she comes from and learn about what she is. But she will know both you and me as her father, and you will never give her reason to question either of our love."
Something powerful that had nudged itself into Bruce's chest when he'd first agreed on the deal moved inside of Bruce. He knew he didn't have a choice. But even if that wasn't the case, Bruce knew he wouldn't have refused. Not if this child needed a home she could trust.
"You want me to co-parent your child with you?" Bruce asked, just to make sure he understood that right. Danny smiled sadly as they gently, carefully placed her in his arms. They reached out to run their claws through her hair, leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"I do not have another choice, I fear. If she is unhappy or hurt," they rightened themself and glared at Bruce, "you will pay dearly."
If the threat in their voice wasn't enough to strike immeasurable fear inside of Bruce, the way their gaze shifted to linger on his children in a clear threat sure was.
"… Did you give her a name?" Bruce asked through numb lips.
The smile was back, and with another kiss to the girl's forehead they waved a portal in existence. "You may call her Dani," they said as they walked through, "Dani with an i. It is short for Danielle."
And that was that. The price for reaching Jason in time was finally there, and it was… gaining another family member?
"You have so much explaining to do, you asshole!"
Ah. And the scorn and judgement of the family he'd already had, apparently.