Liminal Lives and Surprise Siblings

by GroundedGryphon, Writing_Wraith

Summary:

Who's he gonna call? Teen Titans!

----
Dick is ghostly
Jazz is overwhelmed
Danny is tired
Sam is pissed
Dani wants to know where her brother is, damn it.

Chapter 1

Jazz Fenton

Jazz felt the shiver of Dick’s brand new ghost-speak as it sparkled like a firework in deep night. /eager/ Jason’s shock drifted up the stairs like a crack opening in the earth. /wtf-Dick!/ “Ancients... Dick. You’re Liminal.” Jazz didn’t know what else to say. What to do. What to think. How the hell had this happened? Dick stared at her, then shifted suddenly as Jason barreled up the stairs three at a time.

Of course Jason was panicking. Not that Jazz wasn’t, but she knew better than to show most of it right now. Jason reached the top of the stairs, checking him up and down to make sure he was okay. “Dick?”

“Yeah? Someone want to tell me what’s going on?” /angry-worried/ Jazz pinched the bridge of her nose, “Hey, Jason.” Danny let them know he was headed back across the way while she and Jason dealt with this. She took a deep breath and addressed Dick. “You remember what Danny said about the process of being Liminal?” “Yeah,” Dick was wary, uncertain, and the bright sparkle of his ghost-speak dimmed with that.

“Well...you just used ghost-speak.” No point in beating around the bush about it.

Dick licked his lips. “That’s what you call your telepathy.” His voice was taut as a high-wire about to snap. /-hear me?-/

Jazz nodded. She did not want to deal with this right now. Didn’t want to think about the implications, the ramifications, the potential consequences. Thankfully none of that came through, since her core was too exhausted to project it. “Hear you clearly. I just shouldn’t right now.”

Jason grimaced, lips pressed into a thin line. /we hear you/ Dick cursed in three or four languages. Under other circumstances, she might have asked him to translate. Right now, he just needed the space to vent, and she knew it.

Jazz rubbed her temples. Her core and head ached with the desire to help him, to wrap him up in her empathic flames til he felt safe again. She didn’t. Jason would catch it if she did. “I have no idea what triggered it.”

“Okay.” Dick took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. I need to talk with Danny.” Jason scowled. “Dick…”

Talk with Danny? He was in no shape to. Jazz raised an eyebrow. “Not the reaction I expected.” “Priorities.” Dick said, taking a step toward the stairs. Okay, fuck him. Just…was he that fucking unaware of his own emotional state? Jason blocked, thank fuck. “Damn it Dick, don’t DO this.” “Don’t do what, Little Wing?” /angry-scared/

Ancients, Jazz wanted so badly to wrap him in that warm comfort she knew she could provide. She frowned. Maybe she could at least get him to realize taking half a second wouldn’t break the planet. “Yes. Priorities. You just had an emotional ballistic missile dropped on you. Take a goddamn minute to breathe.”

Dick smiled at Jazz. Just as he tried to speak and she registered something not right about that smile, Jason stepped in. “Nope.” And he punched Dick right in the solar plexus.

Jazz groaned and backed the fuck away. She couldn’t stop a faint, smoky murmur of /really? God/ from escaping.

Dick stepped back, easing the punch, and retaliated with a leg sweep. Jason tackled him. They landed hard, trading blows and trying to pin each other viciously.

Jazz had to stamp down her libido at the display. They were both hot when they were mad. She grabbed the chair Jason had dragged into her room and sat down in her doorway, wishing she had popcorn. Obviously they were both pissed, but they needed to get it out of their systems, and somehow she doubted their father figure was a stellar example of emotional competence. Jazz was fully prepared to wait them out.

Within a minute, Jason managed to break free of Dick’s hold and they both jumped to their feet. “What the fuck, Jason?! You’re not thirteen anymore.”

“And you aren’t at a fucking gala right now,” Jason spat as he came in again. /rage-FAMILY-hurt-worried/

“What is that supposed to mean?” Dick growled as he dodged the headlock and threw at short jab at Jason’s kidney.

Okay. That was enough. Jazz stood, straight, tall, and ready to get between them if needed. “Enough! Both of you.” A streak of reddish magenta surge through the fires on her skin and she knew her eyes burned aqua.

They both glanced at her, then cautiously stepped back from each other. /beautiful/ slipped out of Jason. Timing, god.

---

Dick Grayson

Dick could not lose it. He could not fall apart. They thought he was liminal, which meant he was fucking dying and he couldn’t begin to wrap his head around it and he wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. He had to keep it together. So he only sighed and rubbed his face while he tried to get some control over himself. “What the HELL is your problem?!” he asked Jason. Okay, not as in control as he thought. Keep breathing…

Jason rolled his eyes at him, which – not helping Jason! “Maybe I don’t like my fucking boyfriend lying to me.”

“I’m not lying to you!” Seriously, Dick did not need this right now.

“Maybe not. Maybe you’re lying to yourself – which is just as bad.” Jason said. /support-here for you-its okay/

Dick shook his head. He heard Jason’s voice twice. But the second voice was… not quite right. It was Jason but… underlain with something that reminded him of the earth rumbling during a small quake. It was that telepathy – that ghost speak – that he’d been aware of since he met the fraid, but never heard, never caught even a hint of. And now he heard it plainly, clearly, more clear than regular speech almost…

Jazz was rubbing her temples, and muttered under her breath “Now I see why ‘emotionally competent conversation’ was such a surprise.”

Jason snorted. Dick chuckled in spite of himself.

“Jason, I’m… “ Dick trailed off not sure what to say.

“You’re allowed to be upset, Dickhead. You don’t have to paste your Richie Wayne gala smile on and try to gone on as if nothing has happened.”

And somehow, with that odd /support/ underlying it all, it got under Dick’s guard in a way nothing else would have…

“I forgot people know you by that name,” Jazz said, “God, it’s awful. No offense. But yes, you’re allowed to be thoroughly fucked up over this and call whoever you need to and run away for a bit before you talk to Danny. We’ll still be here in three hours.”

Dick rubbed his face. /I can’t-sorry-hurting/ This time he faintly heard his own voice and cursed inwardly as he realized he’d probably been yelling everything he’d been thinking at Jason and Jazz for the past few minutes.

He got confirmation of that when Jason (of all people) pulled Dick into a hug. “Damn it, Golden Boy…”

Jazz rested a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “This whole mess is a lot.” Dick sighed and just let himself melt into the hug. If a few tears got lost in Jason’s t-shirt, no one else needed to know.

“Alright, I… I get why you’re upset,” Dick said after a minute. “I can’t… I was performing before I could WALK and sometimes the world literally does depend on my being about to keep going no matter what.”

“But not with us,” Jason said quietly.

Dick nodded and reached out for Jazz.

She joined the hug.

“Fair. I can’t promise it won’t happen again. But I promise I’ll try. And I won’t complain if you bitch me out when it does happen.”

“Glad we have an understanding.” She returned the hug. “After all, I didn’t agree to date you without your mess.” She smiled. “And I think that goes both ways.”

Well, he couldn’t argue with that. “Good.”

Jason asked, “So how are you feeling right now?”

Jazz took a step back, and Dick wanted to pull her back close, but instead he let go of Jason and stood up.

“I... don’t actually know.” Dick sighed. He wasn’t hearing any of the ghost speak right now, and could only hope he wasn’t projecting at the moment either.

“That’s fine. You don’t have to know right now.”

“And I really do need to talk with Danny.”

“Yes, but first, I think we all need food, if you’re still up for making pancakes, Jason?” “Yeah,” Jason rubbed his face, “Yeah, I can do that.” He hesitated a moment, then pulled Dick into a quick hug. “Love you, you asshole.” Then he headed downstairs to start cooking.

“I can listen if you need to verbalize right now,” Jazz said, “Otherwise, I’m hungry.” Dick opened his mouth, then shook his head. “Food sounds good.”

---

Sam Manson

/eager/ Sam didn’t recognize that ghost-speak. Danny’s eyes went wide and he swore quietly, tugging on her and Tucker’s shoulders. She got up, eyeing him, confused, but followed him back across the way. What the hell? Why was he denying—”But… pancakes…” Tucker stared forlornly at the wall splitting the brownstones. Apparently she wasn’t the only one confused and disappointed.

“Later, Tucker.” Danny rubbed his temples, muttering under his breath in Yeti. She caught the word he usually used for Nightwing when he was frustrated.

Come to think of it, that ghost-speak did sound like Dick. If that was true… She dropped onto the first available furniture she found. “So… that’s a fucking thing.”

Tucker shrugged. “It isn’t that big a deal.” /one of us now-right?/ Danny just sighed. Fate really needed to stop fucking with her favorite halfa. “Yes, Tucker, it is a big deal. I know you’re excited for the transition, but not everyone shares that opinion.” At least Danny understood. Sam rubbed her forehead, suddenly remembering the accident… that maybe was kinda sorta her fault. “What if… is it because he’s your liaison? Spending time with us?” “I really, really fucking hope not, but it’s not impossible.” “God that would complicate things with the Justice League.” Sam let herself sink more deeply into the chair. They would be less than pleased if they thought Danny was trying to manipulate the circumstances into something more favorable for himself and detrimental to the liaison they’d ‘graciously’ provided.

Danny just groaned, dropped to a seat on the couch with his head between his knees. He folded his arms around himself. An inhuman and long-suffering groan escaped his throat and core. “I know.”

Tucker shook his head. “Well, it’s not like we did it on purpose.” “They don’t know that.” Danny huffed/growled.

Well, there was only one thing to do, then. “We can’t do anything about it now, and we still need breakfast.” Sam got out of the chair and stomped back to the kitchen.

Tucker followed her. “We’ve still got cereal, and some other stuff.” He rummaged in the cupboards, glanced back toward the living room. “You think Danny’s okay?”

Sam sighed. Danny’s core was always far more sensitive than theirs. He could hear ghosts just showing up about a block away. “God only knows what he’s picking up from them right now. But that trip to Frostbite really did help. I think he’ll be alright as long as this doesn’t blow up in our faces too bad.” Not that she could say it wouldn’t blow up in their faces like every other goddamned thing since they left Amity Park. She pulled down a couple boxes of cereal.

“Fair. I’ll bring him a bowl.”

Time to change the subject. “I was planning on going job hunting today,” Sam sighed. “I’m so tired of being stuck here all day.”

“What kind of job you going to try for?”

“I don’t know. Just… something fun?” she sighed again, “I should probably stay close to home, so I don’t know how many options I’ll find.”

“Try by the gardens and plant shops. You might find a good one, or at least one you can fix.” Wait, what?

“Plant shops? In Crime Alley?”

“Not IN Crime Alley, but there’s a few just outside the borders.” “Huh. Might be worth checking out.” She poured oat milk into her cereal and nodded to Danny where he was still curled up by the wall, no longer growling at least.

Tucker took a bowl to Danny, who sat up, and took it. “Thanks. Ugh.” He shudders. “Anyway, we might be having company soon.”

“Company?”

“Our liaison is probably going to step down. Not sure what to do about it, but...yeah...” “Is he that upset?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn it.” Sam flopped back on the couch, nearly spilling her cereal. Note to self, do not flop when holding a full cereal bowl.

“I know. I can handle that meeting though, if you’ve got other stuff you want to do.” Tucker shook his head, “Nuh-uh. We’re your consorts. I’m pretty sure that means we’re supposed to be support you with this kind of thing.” Thank you Tucker. “Weird word, but yeah, I guess. So I’m gonna eat before I deal with this bullshit.” At least Danny didn’t argue.

---

Jason Todd

Jason took the few minutes alone in the kitchen to catch his breath and calm down. The /green/ had been starting to creep in there and he didn’t think it got strong enough for Jazz or Dick to notice, he wanted to get it under control before it got bad again.

Just… Dick! Dick was supposed to be safe from all this ghost bullshit! And what if it was Jason’s fault? What if he was becoming liminal because of being around Jason and… Fucking breathe, that wasn’t helping anyone.

By the time Dick and Jazz came down stairs, he had his head on mostly straight and a couple of pancakes on the griddle.

He’d made sure to set out marshmallows and whipped cream and chocolate chips so Dick could make his pancakes a sugary monstrosity.

They ate quietly, Jason and Jazz following Dick’s lead and Dick not wanting to say anything he didn’t have to right now. That didn’t stop his ghost speak from flaring every few bites and telling the world he was in a bit of an emotional tailspin. Jason could sympathize. He remembered what it was like before he could any control of his ghost speak and kept telling the Fraid things he didn’t want anyone to know.

Thankfully, Jazz wasn’t projecting. The last thing Jason wanted to do was shut her down right now, and he knew how much good her help would do Dick. But she couldn’t afford it, she’d already hurt herself too much helping all of them…

From what Dick’s ghost speak was saying, Dick was conflicted, his instinct was to put on a show of how normal and okay everything was, but he didn’t want to upset Jazz and Jason again. He wasn’t comfortable with the silence but doesn’t know what to say.

Which Jason could completely sympathize with. He didn’t know what to say either. He tried projecting the kind of /support/ and /here for you/ Jazz usually did, but had no idea how good a job he did of it.

When Dick finished eating he pushed his plate back and just said “Thank you.” “Glad to be here for you. I… I get wanting to make everything seem okay.” Jazz left it there, open for Dick to respond or not.

Dick sighed. “I really will try not to hide how I’m feeling from you.” /really need to talk with Danny-angry-uncomfortable/

“I can call him.”

Dick was /confused/ “Call who?”

“Danny.”

Dick banged his head on the table. “This is going to take some getting used to.” Jason snorted. “Tell me about it.” /here for you/

Jazz winced. “Sorry.”

Still face down on the table, Dick waved his hand. “Not your fault. Yeah, go ahead and call him.” Jazz called Danny’s phone and let him know Dick needed to talk. “He’ll be over in ten minutes. They’re finishing up breakfast.” “That’s fine.” Dick got up and took his dishes to the sink, started cleaning.

Jason was tempted to tell him to sit down, he didn’t need to do cleaning after the shock he’d just had. But he was pretty sure Dick would feel better having something to do.

Jazz glanced at Jason, clearly worried, but didn’t seem to know what to do.

Jason shrugged and started clearing the table. Following Dick’s lead really did seem to be the best option right now.

Once everything was cleared, Jazz wiped down the table with a spare rag.

About ten minutes later there was a knock at the door.

Jason went to get the door, Dick finished the last of the dishes and sat back down at the table. /determined-nervous-angry/

---

Danny Fenton

Danny took a breath as Sam and Tucker followed him back from Jason’s front door to the small kitchen table Dick sat at. Shit, was he okay to bring Sam and Tucker? “I forgot to ask, you want it to just be us or no?”

Dick flashed a smile /amused-angry/ “You’re fine to bring your ‘advisors’, Danny.” “Consorts, but sure.” Danny shrugged and dropped to a seat. “So, what’s up?” Tucker’s static tesla coil sparked to his left and Sam’s spring chill to his right. The halfa, however, kept his own ghost-speak locked under several metric tons of his willpower and core.

Jason pressed a hand over Dick’s shoulder briefly before he took over cleaning the dishes. /everything’ll be okay/

With a deep breath, Dick Grayson, Nightwing, Liaison to the Justice League, spoke, “If I understand right, liminals are considered… part of the infinite realms.”

Fuck. He wasn’t wrong, but none of Danny’s predecessors had dealt with Liminality that he was aware of. Danny nodded.

“I was afraid of that,” Dick’s ghost-speak practically tripped over itself with /sorry-sorry-sorry/ “I’m afraid you are going to need a new liaison.”

/surprise/ slipped from Danny’s core. Apologizing? “It’s not because you’re pissed?” Wait, shit, he was trying not to listen to what Dick was broadcasting. “Sorry. Not trying to pry.”

Dick blinked and rubbed his face. “No Danny. It’s going to take me a while to… be okay with this. But I don’t blame you.

“And most of the anger I feel isn’t about this.” He pursed his lips and looked at Jason. /help-how much to say-angry/ Danny couldn’t blame him, even if he were angry about all this. Hell, the halfa was still angry at his own botched death some days.

/much as you want-safe here/ Danny ducked slightly as Jason’s hand approached, but Jason ruffled his hair anyway. “Even if Dicky was pissed at you, he wouldn’t walk away. Fucker takes duty and responsibility too strongly for that.” /conflict of interest, right?/

Oh. Okay, Danny could work with that, especially since Dick nodded a confirmation.

“That makes sense. And, honestly, is probably for the best.” Danny’s mouth quirked up in a bit of a smirk. “You are attempting to date my ambassador and another member of my Fraid, after all. So, what happens now? I still need contact with the JL.”

Sam snorted. /now he figures it out-space case/

Danny threw her a look, then turned back to his now former liaison and maybe, just maybe, new friend.

“I get to do more paperwork – file a report and put in a request for a new liaison. You can make a request if there’s someone you’d prefer to work with, but I can’t make any promises.”

Sitting straight up, Danny’s eyes went wide. Maybe. It was a possibility. /excited-hopeful-maybe/ “Then my request is Martian Manhunter.”

Tucker laughed. Of course he knew that would be Danny’s request. Jazz also chuckled.

Dick’s eyebrows rose. “You would trust him?”

“More than anyone else that’s an option.”

“Well you’re right to, but a lot of folks don’t.” He rubs his face. “Yeah, I can put in that request.” “My second choice would probably be Wonder Woman. I know she’s likely not an option at all, though.” “Normally, no, but this is important enough that it might be possible.” /tired-angry-regretful/ “Once a new liaison gets assigned, I’ll set up a meeting to introduce you.” He smiled. “I’ll be sorry to turn it over, I’ve enjoyed working with you.” Opportunity acquired. Danny grinned. “I’m gonna enjoy being friends more. If that’s still an option.” Dick grinned back. “It is, absolutely, an option.”

Chapter 2

Summary:

Jazz needs some rest
Dick has a surprise for the Titans
The Titans have a surprise for Jason

Dick Grayson

Dick watched Danny go with /relief/ at how well that went. One major problem dealt with, on to the next. He went to get up from the table, but stopped himself and looked at Jazz and Jason. “I need to make a couple phone calls but…” he took a deep breath /honesty-anger-fuck it/ “I’d rather not be alone right now.”

It was a really odd and disturbing feeling, knowing that they could pick up on what ever he was feeling and a lot of what he was thinking. He was trying to think ‘quietly’ the way he did when he didn’t one of the telepaths on his teams to pick up anything, but he couldn’t do anything about his feelings.

Jazz nodded. “Whatever you need. We’re here for you.” Jason nodded as he dried his hands, still wet from washing the dishes. “You calling the Titans?” /surprise/ “How’d you know?”

“Who else?” /here for you/ Jason snorted, “You aren’t calling B yet, I damn well know that.” Dick shrugged and pulled out his league communicator. Unsurprisingly, Cyborg answered. /relief-safe/ “Yo.”

“Hey.” Dick said, “Was hoping to catch you. I got official, and then I need you to call me back on a personal line for the unofficial.”

“Sounds good. What’s the official?”

Dick took a deep breath. “I need to step down as liaison for the ghost king. Something came up that’s a major conflict of interest. I’ll file the full report with all details later today.”

Jazz and Jason kept quiet, even in ghost speak, but he was very aware of their presence. It was… comforting.

“Ghost King has requested Martian Manhunter as the new liaison, if possible.” “I can put in the request, but that’s the best I can do,” Cyborg replied, “I’ll put a priority on the request and the incoming report.” /good-best-angry/ “What I figured. But if we can get a liaison the kid will trust, we’re ahead of the game.” “Agreed. Request submitted. Anything else on the official channel?” “Not at the moment. There’ll be details in the full report.” /fuck-need to ask Jazz--/ “I’ll keep an eye out for it.” Cyborg cut the comm.

Dick took a moment to breathe – a moment the other two thankfully gave him.

Then Jazz gently asked, “So, I imagine there’s stuff we need to talk about for that report?” “Yeah. Mainly if there is anything you don’t want going in it.” /tired/ “Like? What, us?”

Jason stretched out /tired-fuck this shit-support/

Dick sighed. “Jazz, the deal last night was that I was only allowed here personally, professional stuff was supposed to stay outside. Then… this happened.”

/frustrated/ “I learned a LOT about liminals the past 12 hours, and I’m not sure how much of that you want the Justice League knowing.”

“Well, the official wasn’t anyone’s intention. As far as what you’ve learned, probably best to keep it to being part of the Infinite Realms and not totally sure how they come about.” She pursed her lips, thinking. “Look, I’m going to trust your judgment on this one. I’m convinced at this point they really do intend to help.”

Jason gave her shoulders a rub. “He’s gonna need to tell them about it being a… transition, babe.” Which… true.

Jazz winced. “If that’s what needs to happen, then that’s what needs to happen.” She leaned against the wall and rubbed her hands over her face.

Reluctantly, Dick nodded. “I… yeah, Jason’s right. At least, I’m not going to keep it a secret from my friends or B, and it’ll eventually get back to the league any-” He cut himself as his phone rang.

He answered immediately and was relieved to hear Victor’s voice on the other end. “Okay, man, spill. What’s going on?”

Dick grinned to hear his friend’s voice. “Oh man, Cy, so damn much. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Imma go with the bad news, and good for desert.”

Dick’s smile slipped. “So, um… Not entirely sure how to say this, or why it’s happening,” Dick took a breath and leaned into the hand Jason placed on his shoulder, “but… I learned this morning that I’m… ah… turning into a ghost.” /awkward-angry/

“Fuck, man, what?? You seem pretty damn alive to me! You asked Rae about it yet?” “Not yet,” Dick sighed, “she’s next on my call list. It’s called being liminal and it’s apparently something that can happen for reasons even the Ghost King doesn’t really understand. Time unknown, but I’ve already picked up the ability to understand their ‘ghost speak’.” Victor groaned. “Man… The sonic boom ain’t supposed to be aimed MY way. “ Dick forced a chuckle. It wasn’t as believable as his usual, but Jazz smiled encouragingly at him. “Tell me about it.” “And you don’t know how long?”

“No. Apparently for some people it’s a really slow process and for some people it happens quickly.” “Fuck it. Don’t tell me the good news yet. I’ll round up the crew and we’re getting for pizza. Where should I pick you up?” Dick hesitated a moment. Seeing the old team sounded… good. Really good. But… He muted the phone. “Cy wants to round up the team and grab pizza together.” Jazz frowned. “I don’t want to leave you alone right now, but I don’t know who ‘the team’ is.” “My old team, the original Teen Titans. Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy.” “Oh.”

“Do you want to see them?” Jason asked

“Yeah of course!” Dick said. He was just… /overwhelmed/ Jazz put a hand on his shoulder. Dick let himself lean into it. He understood why Jazz was hesitant, he had literally just asked them to stick with him while he dealt with shit. But time with the team sounded really damn good right then.

“Maybe… you could come with me?” Dick suggested.

“I-” Jazz is still looking pale and a little shaky. Dick winced. No, that was a bad idea… “Beautiful, you need rest.” /worried/ Jason said, “Not to meet a whole bunch of hooligans.” Which… fair… “Do they know about me?” Jason asked.

She glared at him but didn’t argue.

Dick shook his head. “I haven’t told them yet.”

Jason grinned. /fuck with ‘em/ “Tell them to meet us at the deli. With both of us out, Jazz can actually rest and won’t need to worry about you being alone right now.”

Jazz huffed, crossed her arms. “I hate that you’re right.” But she didn’t argue.

/what are you…/ Dick knew that a Robin (or former Robin) up to shit was a dangerous thing. But he liked the idea of having Jason with him, of introducing him again to the Titans – god knew the Titans would love to see him, to get a second chance.

In his ear, Cyborg started humming the Jeopardy tune.

Dick laughed and unmuted the phone

“There’s an abandoned deli,” he gave the address. “I’ll meet you there, and bring my good news with me.”

“But that’s in-”

“See you soon!” Dick hung up cackling. Of Cyborg had been keeping up and knew about the new crime lord in Crime Alley.

Jazz sighed. “I guess I’ll head to bed, then.”

 

----

Jason Todd

Luckily, Dick had brought his suit, just in case. So the two of them got suited up and headed. On the way, he explained his plan – not much of a plan, just enough to fuck with the Titans a bit. So when they arrived at the deli, Nightwing headed straight upstairs and out of sight, while Hood stayed in the deli to answer the door.

They were just in time.

There was a knock at the door just as Dick reached the stairs.

/shit-hurry-giddy/ Hood waited a moment to open the door, giving Nightwing time to run upstairs. Just as Hood was reaching for the doorknob, Nightwing sent back /clear/. It was the first intentional ghost speak Hood had heard from Nightwing and he couldn’t help the /pride/ that filled the air as he opened the door.

A familiar orange face stared at him. Her expression went guarded, but she didn’t move to take up a fighting stance or anything like like. She raised an eyebrow. “I was asked to meet a friend here.”

Hood grinned under the helmet. Starfire had been decent to him, unlike some of the others, so he wasn’t going to give her any extra trouble. Besides, she was being polite. He stepped back to let her in. “Stairs are to your left.”

He closed the door behind her and watched her drift upstairs. Unsurprisingly, she kept an eye on him the whole way up, but seemed surprisingly calm for someone unexpectedly walking into a crime lord’s territory.

Starfire had barely been upstairs a minute when there were three sharp raps on the door. A quick look told Hood it was Raven and Beast Boy.

This was going to be fun. /assholes/

Faintly from upstairs he felt Dick’s /concern-safe-please/ With a sigh, Jason reminded himself he couldn’t have too much fun – today was supposed to be about helping Dick.

So Hood sent back /reassurance/ and opened the door, he but didn’t get a chance to say anything. Beast Boy took one look at Hood and turned into a giant green bear. Which… not the brightest move. The narrow doorway would give Hood at least a temporary advantage in a fight.

But once Beast Boy turned bear, he got distracted. He was tall enough on his hind legs to see into the window upstairs, and apparently something he saw confused him. As Hood and Raven Raven watched, he dropped down to all fours and took a big sniff.

Under the helmet, Hood rolled his eyes. “I see someone’s still a temperamental brat,” Hood snarked. He stepped back from the door. “You ain’t gonna fit through the door like that, shithead.”

After another hearty sniff, Beast Boy reverted to human form. “Holy shit...” He was sounded shaken, like he might actually be sick or something. Hood nearly asked if he was okay, but Beast Boy just said, “Come on, Raven,” and headed upstairs. His voice shook but Raven nodded and followed him inside. Whatever Beast Boy knew, she trusted, and followed him inside.

Hood cocked his head at Beast Boy, a little surprised the other man didn’t give him more trouble, but pointed the two of them to the stairs without saying anything else.

A moment later, he heard Dick /what happened?/

Hood frowned. /nothing much-why/ He hadn’t even really yanked the brat’s chain any.

/relief-everything’s okay/

Well that was confusing… but if Nightwing said it was okay, he was going to trust that. (It felt absolutely amazing being about to trust his /FAMILY/.

He had a few minutes to get his obsession under control before the next (and final) knock came.

Hood opened the door for Cyborg and allowed himself to loom over the hero for a minute. “Yeah?” Cyborg glared. “Pretty sure I’m at the right place. Where’s Nightwing?” “Upstairs, with the rest of your crew.” Hood said, voice even flatter than usual.

“Huh. They better be okay.”

“You’re in my territory now. I’d be careful with the threats if I were you.” But Hood stepped back to let him in. /someones got his panties in a twist-humor/

“Not a threat.” Cyborg stepped over the threshold and didn’t bother waiting for Hood’s directions before heading up the stairs.

Hood locked the door and followed Cyborg upstairs.

----

Dick Grayson

Before he’d even gotten upstairs, Nightwing could feel Starfire’s empathic presence. A few years ago, the Titans had helped Raven defeat Trigon for…well, maybe not for good, but for at least several centuries. They’d all had a sort of bond since then, though it was usually only within the same building.

He’d been tempted to stay downstairs and greet her himself, but he knew Hood needed a bit of fun after the last couple days. So he hurried upstairs instead, and tried to send /clear/ when he was settled on the couch.

Hood must not have given Star too much trouble, because a bare minute later she had floated up the stairs and was pouncing on Nightwing, pulling him into a tight hug. Dick returned the hug, burying his face in her shoulder. He didn’t even try to keep up a facade of everything being alright – with the Titans, he knew better.

She held him close. “I don’t know what’s wrong, friend, but we will wait for the others to hear the whole story.”

“That would be best, yeah.” Nightwing felt safe with her, able to relax in a way he couldn’t yet with Jazz and Jason (though he hoped that would change in time). He could feel how that safety was reflected in his ghostspeak…

Downstairs there was another knock at the door. Three sharp raps. Nightwing knew it was Raven and Beast Boy.

/assholes/

Nightwing grimaced at Jason’s ghostspeak. /concern-safe-please/ He didn’t blame Jay for still carrying a grudge about how the Titan’s had treated him, but there was only so much he could handle right now.

Hood sent back reassurance and Nightwing had to trust that he wouldn’t take it too far.

A moment later, he saw a giant green bear peaking in the window… yeah that maybe wasn’t going so well. Nightwing waved at the bear, who snorted and immediately dropped out of sight.

But there were no sounds of fighting from downstairs, and before Nightwing could get really worried, Raven came up the stairs followed by Beast Boy.

Raven simply took a seat on the couch and simply said, “Cyborg is bringing the pizzas.” Nightwing knew there’d be six. One for Jason as there always had been since Ethiopia. Of course, he hadn’t warned Hood about that – Jason wasn’t the only one who could have some fun.

“What I figured. He’s the one that called this little meeting,” Nightwing replied.

Beast Boy, though, stood in the doorway. When Nightwing looked over, he was clearly shaken and muttering, “It can’t be. It can’t be.”

Nightwing was immediately on his feet. “Gar? You okay?” /what happened?/ Beast Boy swallowed. “Did you know polar bears can scent prey from over 20 miles away?” /nothing much-why/ floated up from Hood.

“Ah... no. That’s pretty awesome.” Wait… did that mean…? Beast Boy shrugged. “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s… haunting.” Haunting. “Oh.” Nightwing settled back down on the couch with a laugh. “Should have guessed you’d pick up on it.” /relief-everything’s okay/

The shapeshifter was clearly torn between laughing and calling him a goddamned asshole.

Nightwing just grinned and shrugged. Starfire looked back and forth between them, clearly wanting to ask, but knowing Nightwing wouldn’t say anything before he was ready.

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at Nightwing just as one last heavy knock came from the door downstairs.

A minute later, they all heard Cyborg thumping up the stairs. Hood followed close behind.

Cyborg paused only a moment to look over the room, making sure everyone was okay Nightwing knew. Then he headed for the counters in the small kitchen area. Beast Boy joined him, setting out the pizzas.

Hood stepped into the room behind Cyborg, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. /you good?/ he asked, looking at Nightwing.

/as I can be/ Nightwing sent back, and this time he picked up the flavor of /anger/ he suspected might be in all his ghostspeak. The old anger he had carried – and added to – since his parents’ deaths, shared for anyone to hear.

Great. Just great.

----

Jason Todd

Hood was worried about Nightwing, but was distracted by Beast Boy walking up to him holding a pizza box.

“Sorry, dude,” Beast Boy said.

Hood cocked his head. /surprise-confused/ “Yeah? About what?” Nightwing was /surprise!-happy/

Which made Hood all kinds of suspicious, but while he tried to figure out the play, Cyborg said slowly, “That pizza ain’t for eatin’, BB.”

Beast Boy turned and frowned at Cyborg. “Jason gets his pizza.” He tried to offer it to Jason again, but before Hood could make sense of that, Cyborg was across the room and trying to grab it from him.

Hood was still trying to process Beast Boy’s words. The brat had figured him out already. That was unexpected but not too surprising. But his pizza?

“What the fuck do you mean, Jason gets his pizza?” Cyborg demanded – saving Hood the trouble of asking.

Beast Boy flipped through like half a dozen shapes in 5 seconds to keep the pizza away from Cyborg and undamaged. “Dude, polar bear nose doesn’t lie.”

Nightwing burst out laughing. “Told you I was bringing my good news, Vic.” /amused/ /guess we’re doing this now/ Hood smirked and pulled off his helmet.

Cyborg stopped short. Stared at Hood a few moments. And sat down heavily. “Fuck, dude...” Starfire opened her eyes wide, squealed, clapped a hand over her mouth. “Jayjay!” Hood gave her a grin for the old nickname.

Raven smirked quietly and waved.

And Beast Boy once again offered the pizza to Jason.

Still confused, Hood looked at Beast Boy with /suspicion/ “So what’s this?” “Your pizza, dude.”

Which did not answer anything.

“Gar, it might help if you explained the tradition.” Raven chuckled a bit.

“Oh, uh, right, sorry. So… we fucked up. Pretty bad. And there wasn’t really time to make up for it. So… we always got your pizza and gave it to someone in need after the party.”

“My pizza?” Jason asked, carefully opening the box. /confused/ Nightwing was sending some shakey /reassurance/, pretty good job for a guy who’d never heard ghost speak yesterday.

Inside the box was his old favorite pie, chicken with banana peppers. It was what he’d ordered the rare times he was included when the Titans got pizza.

Jason smiled crookedly. “That actually means a lot.” Across the room, Star said. “Families do not always… get along, I think is the phrase, but we realized you had become a part of ours. And it seems offerings are a human custom of some importance.” Oh fuck. /FAMILY-mine?-FAMILY?/ Hood blinked as his obsession went haywire at that simple way she included him. She probably didn’t really mean it. Like, it was just a phrase. But still, his obsession hit him like a gut punch and he slid down the wall he crouched on the floor, nearly dropping the pizza. He needed to get control. Sure it was cool that they had kept up this little mourning tradition for him, but that didn’t really make him one of them.

/worried-scared-what was that/ Nightwing’s ghost speak finally filtered through the obsession, and Hood saw that Dick was on his feet and halfway across the room. Fuck. Dickhead had never head an obsession before. Especially not one as messed up as Hood’s. “Jay?”

Starfire was only a step behind him, fuck. “Are you well, Jason? Have I said something to upset you?” “’m okay Dickhead. Just took me by surprise.” /its fine/ Movement out of the corner of his eye, and he saw Raven leaning forward watching them, like she knew something was going on. Well, there was, but it was none of her business.

Hood took a breath, and then Nightwing was on him, pulling him back to his feet and into a hug. Starfire grabbed the pizza out of Hood’s hands before he could drop it. “You’re going to explain that later,” Dick said.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Chapter 3

Summary:

Sam goes job hunting
Raven is a little freaked
Jason gets more family

Sam Manson

Once the trio returned from talking with Grayson, which really hadn’t gone as badly as she thought it might, Sam went upstairs to put on something vaguely resembling job hunt attire. Black button up, deep purple straight leg pants that looked black in some lights, her usual boots, tucked under the pants, and more tame makeup. It wasn’t a great look, but it might get her a job. Picking up the folder Hood handed her their second morning in the brownstone, she read through her new identity as Samantha Miller. The file had been updated at some point, so she took her new ID and headed out.

First stop, Reader’s Paradise, a second-hand bookshop that claimed to specialize in the arcane and obscure. Their idea of obscure was second edition Wheel of Time books and collector fantasy prints. Nothing useful for their situation. So she moved on.

Next on the list Tucker had put together for her was a new-agey sort of shop that didn’t know the first thing about actual magic. Disappointing. She moved on, heading for a third when she noticed a small shop specializing in fresh fruit and flowers with a ‘help wanted’ sign in the window. Well, that was promising, and she did know plants. It was close enough to Crime Alley she was comfortable walking in to check out the job posting.

The bell over the door rang as she stepped inside and a clear voice almost as sharp as her own ghost-speak called ‘Give me a minute,” from the back of the store.

“Of course.” Sam called back as she browsed through the racks of surprisingly well-kept and organized plants. Most of them were in soils and pots specialized to the plant. Sam took in a deep breath. These plants were happy.

A minute later, a tall woman with bright red hair, brilliant green eyes, and skin a soft green, came to meet her, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt. “Can I help you?”

“I saw your help wanted sign. Is that a wood lily?” Sam had seen that flower on a few different reports about New Jersey’s wild flora and it was unique enough to stand out.

“It is. Grown from seed in my greenhouse. I’m impressed you recognize it.”

Sam shrugged. Impressing was the goal, but not the intention with that particular statement. “The most I know it it’s getting close to being on the endangered list in New Jersey. I wouldn’t really know how to raise one. My specialty is less flowers and more edible herbs, greens, and fruits.”

“I see,” The woman tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Do you have experience with greenhouse and hydroponics?”

“Greenhouse, yes. Never really used hydroponics, but I do understand the theory.”

“Come on back,” she waved for Sam to follow her. “I’ve got some mountain mint I’m repotting. Let’s see if you know what to do.”

Sam nodded and followed her, eyes bouncing around the place. In the workroom, Sam took a look at the potted mint. She’d have to take her cues from the plant and maybe risk using a bit of the ghostly abilities she’d picked up over the years. She reached out cautiously with the curled vines of her core and gave the mint an invitation to speak to her. Cramped. Thirsty. Hungry. Yeah, definitely time for a new pot.

The shop proprietor handed her a pair of gardening gloves and gestured to the tools and new pot laid out on the table. Sam put them on and got started. Once she had a feel for the mint’s needs, it didn’t take long to get the beautiful one settled in its new home. She cooed to the mint. “That’s better now, isn’t it?”

The woman pursed her lips and nodded. “You do seem to know what you are doing. And my plants like you.”

“I’m honored. I’ve rarely ever seen shop plants as happy as yours.”

“We’re friends, my plants and I. You can start working down here helping customers and taking care of the plants for sale, three mornings a week. If you do well, I’ll introduce you to my greenhouse and hydroponics garden.” She sighed and strode back out to the front of the store, carrying the mountain mint with her. “I suppose we’ll need to do all the tedious paperwork, no need for more trouble from the government.”

Sam made a face at the paperwork comment, but nodded. Definitely didn’t need more trouble from them, though a meta like the owner shouldn’t have much trouble like that. “Makes sense.”

“Does Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday work for you?”

“Sounds perfect. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good. Then I’ll see you Tuesday, 8am sharp.” She held out her hand to shake. “I’m Pamela Isley.”

“Samantha Miller. Most people call me Sam.” She barely tripped over the new last name. Hopefully, her new boss didn’t notice as they shook hands.

“Alright, Sam. See you Tuesday.”

---

Dick Grayson

Dick released Jason and stepped back to see Raven looking at both of them with narrowed eyes. From Raven that was practically a scowl.

“Dick, this has been a wonderful surprise, but I know Victor didn’t call this little meeting for us to see Jason again.” Raven hummed faintly. “I’m glad you’re back, Jason, but whatever is going on between you two, I can’t get a handle on it, and it’s worrying.”

Dick looked at Raven, concerned. “Worrying how?”

“I can sense something vaguely like empathic communication between you two, but despite my best efforts, all I can sense is...a mountain and a small star of some kind. I can’t even tell who’s which image.”

The other Titans looked at Raven in confusion, but Jason laughed. “A star, huh?” he rumpled Dick’s hair. “Golden Boy.” His ghost speak was still shakey with /family-family-family/

Dick sighed but leaned into Jason’s touch. “That’s... part of the news I need to share.” /worried/

Jason’s laughter faded at that, but he didn’t say anything. Only took his pizza back from Starfire with a quiet thanks.

Raven hmmed again. Gar snuggled into her side as a bobcat.“I’m guessing that means you’re the mountain, Jason?” and she inclined her head to indicate that she was listening. Cyborg let out a heavy breath and moved to the couch.

“It would make sense,” Jason said, grabbing a slice of the pizza. /I’m okay-just...fucking ghost stuff/ “You want to explain Dickiebird, or should I?”

Dick leaned on Jason’s shoulder for a moment. “I should, but you understand all this better.”

Raven looked to Jason. Starfire’s brow was furrowed in confusion as she listened intently.

Cyborg shook his head. “Ya already told me, but I ain’t sure what any of it means, really.”

Jason sighed and gave Dick a quick hug. “Get yourself some pizza then, I’ll do the talking.” /it’s okay/ “Yous want the long version, or should I start with the short version and yous can ask questions?”

“Let us start with the short version, please. We do not even have that much, JayJay.”

Dick groaned. Jason’s idea of the ‘short version’ was going to be to dump all the most shocking info out there at once. But he didn’t say anything, just got some pizza.

“Short version,” Jason said, ghost speak saying that he was enjoying this way too much, “is that I’m still half dead, Nightwing is turning into a ghost, and what Raven is picking up on is a telepathy unique to ghosts known as ghostspeak.”

Yup. That was Jason. The whole room was silent for a moment, even Raven needing a moment to collect herself after those bombshells.

Raven pressed her palms together, took a long slow breath in through the nose out through the mouth. “When you say ‘ghost’ I’m assuming you are not referring to a conscious construct like Deadman. I’ve never picked up on anything like this from him.”

“Hold up,” Cyborg said slowly, “Dick, in uniform you were acting as the Justice League liaison for some sort of Ghost King, right?”

Raven looked up sharply at Cyborg, Starfire’s eyebrows went up, and Gar mrowled, mirroring the question all three of them had.

“Yeah,” Dick said, trying to answer without getting too into the weeds, “He’s why we know as much as we do, actually.”

Raven looked suddenly very wary, and Dick could tell her nerves were a bit frayed with suspicion. “Ghost King. Which one?” For Raven, that voice was a scream of tension and nerves.

Cyborg shrugged. “As far as we know, his official title is the High King of the Infinite Realms.”

Raven choked on the bite of pizza she tried to take.

“Is this of concern, Raven?” Starfire asked, looking at her with concerned.

“Yup,” Jason said, either oblivious to how stressed everyone was, or (more likely) not caring, “that’s him. He doesn’t like titles much though.”

Gar shifted human and patted Raven’s back until she swallowed hard. “That is somewhat reverse of the information I have on anything regarding the Infinite Realms,” she said very very carefully, “Especially the High King.”

Dick was surprised. It explained her reactions a bit, but of all of them he’d expected Raven to know about Phantom. He looked to Jason, but Jason shook his head, ghostspeak all /confused/. Then, suddenly, /oooh!/ “Nah, we’re not talking about Pariah. Phantom kicked his ass off the throne a few years ago.”

Raven jumped to her feet, eyes wide. “He...What? Last I heard, Pariah was trapped in the Coffin of Eternal Sleep, undisturbed for untold millennia.”

Starfire wrapped an arm around Raven.

“He was. I got the full story from Jazz last week,” Dick said soothingly, “An asshole with delusions of grandeur let him out and nearly destroyed the world with none of knowing about it. It’s pretty scary stuff,” he admits, “but it turned out okay.

Gar whistled. “So what you’re saying is you two are in contact with...what exactly? Cause he sounds pretty damn dangerous.”

“He could be if he wanted to,” Jason admitted, “But he’s a good kid.” Dick nodded agreement.

Star frowns. “What do you mean, kid?”

“Don’t know how much I should say about his personal business, but he ain’t old enough to drink yet,” Jason said, conveniently ignoring the fact that he wasn’t old enough to drink legally either.

Raven shook her head slowly. “And this...kid...just casually won against PARIAH in a trial by combat?”

Dick sighed. He understood Raven’s concerns. He did. But he’d also met Phantom – both as Phantom and as Danny. “What do you want us to say, Raven?” Dick asked. /amused-affectionate/ “Is he powerful enough to destroy the world? Probably. So are you. So is Superman.”

“I’m not certain what I want you to say. I know Pariah was a reality-ending threat...so...” She shook her head, sighed, and sat back down, leaning into Starfire.

Dick plopped down across the laps and pulled them both into a hug. “Hey, I get it. I was pretty shocked when I learned some of this too. But trust us, Danny’s one of the good guys.”

Raven sighed “I trust you. Both of you. You’re family.”

Cyborg was saying something about Jason meeting them at the door, but Dick barely heard them because Jason’s ghostspeak was practically screaming, /FAMILY-FAMILY-FAMILY/

Dick whipped around to see Jason bracing himself against the wall. He immediately got up and grabbed Jason. “Okay, what the hell is that?” /worried-you okay-what’s going on/

A moment later, a chair of magic formed under him so Dick could guide him to sit down. He gave Raven a nod of thanks.

Cyborg huffed. “So...nobody? Nobody remembers we were greeted by the Actual Red Hood?”

“Dude, shut it,” Gar said, and Dick could practically hear the glare in his voice, “he’s not okay right now. I’m more worried about that.”

Starfire said. “I remember. I also know he was not acting threatening. We do not have the whole story. Let us withhold judgment until JayJay has recovered.”

“I’m fine,” Jason grated out, which was patently untrue. “Just... what the fuck do you want to know Cy?”

/we’re coming back to this/ Dick sent, glaring at Jason. This was the second time Jason had collapsed, and always with the same weird ghostspeak. Family. What the hell was that about.

Of course, Cyborg couldn’t hear any of it. “Mostly was your fucking takeover stunt compromised judgment or somethin’ else?” Cy asked.

Jason laughed bitterly. “That would be ‘D’, all of the above.”

“Long as compromised judgment was part of it, we good man. Otherwise, seriously, you okay?”

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Looked at Raven. “Family, huh?”

“I see that’s some manner of trigger for you. I can refrain from that term if you like. However, yes. You were a Titan, if only for a short time and under imperfect circumstances. You have my apology for my untoward reactions to you in that time.”

Star squeezed Ravens shoulder and smiled encouragingly. Dick wanted to go to her as well, but he wasn’t leaving Jason until he was sure this wasn’t going to happen again.

“Nah, Rae, it’s good. Really good. Just... shock to the system.” Dick takes Jason’s face between his hands. “Jaybird. I love you. But if you don’t explain what is going on right now, I will tell Jazz how much you are stressing me out on a day she trusted you to take care of me.” /serious-angry-worried/

Gar perks up. “Who’s Jazz?”

“Later, Gar,” Dick said quickly, before Jason could take the chance for another deflection.

Jason rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to pull out the big guns. Damn, Dickhead.” he sighed, planted a quick kiss on Dick’s wrist and started talking. “It’s a ghost thing. It’s called an obsession,” /obsession/ “but that’s a shit word for it.”

Dick nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.” /whoa-that’s.../

“Care to fill in the rest of us?” Cyborg drawled.

“It’s... Danny and Jazz compare it to food, it’s something a ghost needs to be healthy and shit. It’s different for everyone.”

“Something a ghost needs.” Raven’s eyes widen. “Something you need. Jason...” Starfire frowned.

Gar blinked. “Rae...are you saying what I think you’re say-GAH!”

Jason smirked and suddenly bright lights appeared, sweeping over him and transforming him in their wake. His skin was green, his eyes glowing, his hair inverted… and he was wearing one of the oddest getups Dick had ever seen – and that was saying something! Sort of like a knight’s armor made out of gemstones.

“Boo.”

“That the Jason returned to us is very different from the one that left.” She says it with a tone of childlike wonder, staring in awe. “You’re...not just a ghost...”

Another time, Dick knew he’d have been floored by the transformation. But his mind was kind of stuck on something else. Dick barely blinked at the transformation. “Family. Jay... if you need family... what did it do to you when you were fighting us?” /shock-worried-angry/

Jason shrugged, looked away. “It... wasn’t good.”

That had to be an understatement. Understatement of the year if Dick was any judge. But he didn’t push it.

Starfire stood and came to hug Jason. “No. It could not have been. But you have each other now. And us.”

Jason returned the hug, both of them floating slightly off of the floor.

Star pulled Dick into the hug and a moment later Gar joined them.

Raven kept her distance, but Dick could feel the support and presence she offered.

Cyborg grumbled. “Y’all gone and made this super fuckin’ sappy now.” But he got up and joined the hug too.

Jason laughed. /FAMILY/

Chapter 4

Summary:

The Titans learn about liminals
Danny and Tucker take a trip
Lady Gotham answers some questions
They're doing what?!

Jason Todd

Eventually the hug broke apart, and Hood transformed back to human. The ghost form deal still felt vaguely unnatural in spite of feeling completely right, and he was happy to ditch it for now.

Raven still sitting on the couch, stared at him shaking her head. “Unless I’m guessing wrong, you...should be a myth. A halfa, right?”

“Yeah,” Hood nodded. “Not a myth, though. Just really fucking rare.”

“I see,” she said, in her overly-calm way, “And, finally circling back to the reason we all met here in the first place, Dick, you quite possibly have something similar to a ghost core, correct?”

Nightwing nodded. “We just found out this morning, when I started to hear ghostspeak.” /tired-hurting-worried/

“It’s called being liminal,” Hood put in.

“Not something I’m familiar with, but I have some resources concerning the Infinite Realms that I can look into. Is there anything specific you want to know about the condition?”

“Timeline,” Nightwing said immediately. “How long this has been developing, and how long I have.” /trust-grateful/

Beast Boy frowned and transformed into a dog, rubbing against Nightwing’s legs.

“I have no way of knowing the second without research, but I could likely tell you how long this has been going on.”

“Sure.”

Raven got up from the couch and came to stand before him. Closing her eyes, she murmured a spell and pressed a black-glowing hand to his chest. After a few long moments, she pulled away. “No more than three years. Be aware, I’m not an expert, but that’s the closest starting point I can give you.

“Three years?” Hood asked. /relief-thank fuck-not our fault/

Raven nodded. “Give or take six months or so.”

Nightwing spun, grabbed Hood’s shoulders and gave him a small shake. “Hey. Hey.” /no ones fault-never blamed you/

Raven looked to Hood. “What do you know about what you called Liminality?”

“We don’t know that much,” Hood said, pushing Nightwing aside so he could see her clearly, “even Phantom because he’s a pretty young ghost and still learning shit.” /worried about him/ As he spoke, he moved to lean against the wall facing the sofa. He took a couple bites of pizza and continued.

“We know that a liminal will have a core of sorts, that at a certain point they develop ghost speak and ghost vision. We know that becoming liminal has something to do with exposure to ectoplasm and/or ghosts.

“The main thing about liminals is the body gets weaker as the core gets stronger, until the body just... fades out is how she said it.

“Some people it apparently goes fast, other liminals actually lived longer than they should have.” Raven frowned. “Exposure to ectoplasm or ghosts? Are we at risk right now?”

Oh. Oops. Should have realized they’d worry about that. Hood quickly shook his head, “Don’t think so. liminals are rare, everyone we know of had long term exposure, and usually in close quarters.” /thank fuck/

“Then what the hell was Nightwing exposed to three years ago?!” Cyborg demanded. Well he was worried about Nightwing, so Hood would let him get away with being an asshole this once.

“Excellent question.” Raven agreed, looking between Cyborg and Hood and Nightwing.

Nightwing and Hood look at each other. /thought B told the Justice league/

/shrug/

“So,” Nightwing said with a sly grin that Hood knew was a sign to duck and cover. “It turns out, B’s also a halfa.”

Raven, once again, choked on her pizza. “He’s? What??”

Beast Boy snorted. “So. Wait. The big bad Bat’s a ghost?”

Raven shakes her head. “Halfa. From what little I know it’s some sort of...balance, I guess?”

Hood nodded. “Yeah, caught between alive and dead. And there’s actually four of us running around right now.”

Raven froze. Forced herself to swallow slowly. Grabbed a drink. “Four?”

Beast Boy frowned. “Rae? You okay?”

Starfire chuckled. “It seems you two are full of the surprises today.”

“Yous are getting a condensed and abbreviated version of the our last two weeks.”

Cyborg shook his head. “So… wait… caught between alive and dead? So like… Schrodinger's ghost?”

Nightwing grinned. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“But you,” Cyborg pointed at Nightwing, “Are headed for all ghost?”

Nightwing smiled grimly, “Yeah.”

“Fuuucck.”

Beast Boy shook his head. “Whatever happens dude, we’re here for you. You know that.”

“Yeah, Gar,” /always/

Hood had been quiet for a while, his ghost speak /thinking-worried-missing something/

Raven frowned at him. “You seem worried, Jason.”

“Something’s nagging at me, something about B and... FUCK” /baby bird/ “If you got your exposure through B, what about Robin?”

“If Robin isn’t in continuous contact, like living there, I doubt it would be an issue.” Raven didn’t look to sure of that, though.

And of course, Robin was living with B these days…

“He… wasn’t until recently,” Nightwing said.

“Then someone more experienced than me would need to check for any signs.”

Starfire frowned. “You are saying the small Robin may be at risk as well?”

Hood sighed and rubbed his eyes. Time for another talk with Gotham… “We got someone we can ask. But… kid doesn’t exactly have anywhere else to go.” /damn it-staying with me would be worse/

“Yeah Kori, it means he may be at risk,” Nightwing said. /we’ll figure it out/

“Fuck, man, what do we do?” Beast Boy was shaking his head slowly.

“The first thing we do,” Nightwing said, “is find out if we have any reason to be worried. He only moved in with B a couple weeks ago. Jason, how long will it take you to get a hold of your friend?”

Cyborg nodded. “Good plan.”

Hood took a breath, “I can call her now if yous don’t mind things getting a bit freaky.”

Beast Boy huffed. “A bit freaky? Dude, like your lightshow?”

“Something like that maybe.” Jason chuckled – with Gotham you never knew. “Depends on her mood.”

“I think we can handle it.” Raven said flatly.

And sure, she could. Hood was a bit worried about how many more shocks Cyborg’s circuits could take. Still, it was a good idea. So he called out in ghostspeak for the lady, knowing she could hear him anywhere in the city and would come if she could.

A moment later, Hood noticed the shadows in the corners of the room growing darker. They rippled and ran together, forming a dark spot in the center of the room. The spot rose, forming first a column, then a humanoid shape with only the faintest suggestion of a face, and the gleam of street light on glass where her eyes should be.

/my knight/

“Lady.” /mine/

Cyborg was curled up on the couch stuttering a bit. “Wh-wha?” But as expected Raven had her shit together and just said, “Hello.” Starfire hovered in a circle around the lady, but at a distance, so Hood figured she was probably okay. Curious but smart.

Lady Gotham looked around the room. /these are your allies?/ Her gaze locked in on Nightwing. Her shadowy form drifted to stand in front of him, and her hand reached out, stopping just short of his cheek. /my lost one-it is good-to see you well/ /you are of the infinite now-I welcome you/

----

Tucker Foley

As soon as the door closed behind Sam, Danny swept Tucker up in his arms and dropped them both on the couch, snuggling close. As always, Danny’s skin was cold but not clammy, though it had changed a bit in the last few weeks. Tucker didn’t care. He was happy to snuggle his best friend turned boyfriend.

“I dunno about you, but I’m glad for a bit of quiet,” Danny hummed as he rubbed a hand along Tucker’s back.

“Yeah,” Tucker sighed and snuggled closer. “Quiet is good.” Danny shifted so he could curl up a bit like a very oversized cat, arms wrapped around Tucker’s waist. “Find anything good on League Watch lately?” “Well... Not much more than the usual. It’s been quiet. Most of our stuff hasn’t made the news yet, which I guess is a good thing.” “Not looking forward to that. Might go hide in the castle.” Had he just said? “Wow, wow, wait. Castle!?”

With a yawn, Danny shrugged. “Turns out I kinda... claimed Pariah’s Keep. It’s now Phantom’s Keep.”

Tucker could feel the gears turning in his brain. If Danny had a castle, he probably had other resources they didn’t even know about. Like a king’s fortune. Damn it, Foley, you couldn’t have thought of that before? Would’ve made the whole not getting stuck in Hood’s territory easier. Still, he barely got out the words, “You... you fucking what now?!”

“I know. It’s kinda insane.” /so weird-it looks fucking awesome/ and /wanna see?/

/duh!/ “Uh... okay?”

Danny sent a quick text, probably to Jason or Jazz, and summoned Fright Knight, which, terrifying, but Fright Knight just bowed. /How may I be of service, My Liege?/

So the terrifying tin can of Halloween escorted them to the keep, and wow, that was something to see. It looked like a retro version of the Watchtower, with windows made of perma-ice, galaxies swirling lazily around it, and structures of ice that would ordinarily be metal and it still, somehow, looked like a castle.

Tucker took off at speed, still human enough to seem like a ghost in the Infinite Realms, and started scouring the details of the castle. Training grounds. Cafeterias for days. Servants quarters filled with skeletons. Yuck, but also cool. A treasury. He knew it. A whole ass fucking treasury. Maybe they’d be able to get a handle on finances without relying so heavily on Jason.

Danny found him like that, calculating, thinking, and taking stock of all the artifacts in the keep. “Uh... Tuck?”

“Danny. You are about to make Sam so fucking jealous.”

“Why?”

“Two words. Magical. Artifacts.”

“Oh… Come on. We should probably be back before Sam gets home.”

Trust Danny to be practical at the worst possible time. But Tucker knew they had this, and he’d be a terrible friend if he didn’t encourage Danny to use it.

 

----

Dick Grayson

Dick put his game face on. He didn’t have to let his /intrigue-curiosity-spiraling/ show on his face, even if this strange ghost probably heard it anyway. “It’s nice to meet you, lady.”

Jason nodded to her question about the Titans being allies, “I guess you could say that. They aren’t assholes anyway. These days.”

The tension in the air was thick as smoking demon breath. The lady spoke again, but only Dick and Jason could hear her, and Dick wasn’t about to touch that fact with a ten foot balance pole. /would you introduce us-my knight/

“Sure. Lady Gotham, these are Nightwing, of course,” Dick gave a sharp, two finger salute as Jason continued, “Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg; the old Teen Titans. Titans, this is Lady Gotham, the ghost of Gotham City.” /can you speak so they can hear-lady?/ Oh, thank fuck, Jason had actually noticed that.

/of course-my knight/ “My apologies, Titans. I do not often speak with those who are not of the Infinite.” Which, odd. She was on this plane of existence most of the time, if what little info B had given him previously was accurate.

“Pleased to meet you, Lady.” Raven stood and offered a polite, small bow.

Kori landed next to Dick. Her hand on his shoulder again kept him grounded, at least for now. “It’s good to meet you.”

Cyborg just took a breath. He looked about to circuit overload. “Yo.”

Gar nodded sharply. “Hey.” All of them were alert and not about to underestimate this new presence. Dick could relax a bit. As always, the Titans had his back.

“What need have you, my knight, that you call me here?” /always pleased to see you/ Which meant Jason had met her repeatedly. Mental note to ask about that later.

“We only learned this morning that Nightwing is liminal, and we’re guessing he got exposed through B.” Jason said, “We’re wondering if Robin has been exposed enough to be liminal as well.” /worried/

Raven nodded. “I’m skeptical of the possibility but my experience with the Infinite Realms is quite limited.”

“The young squire? I have seen him recently,” Lady Gotham said, “And he has no core, nor any sign of developing one. It may happen with time, but for now he is only mortal.”

“Thank god,” slipped out of Nightwing as a whispered prayer to some forgotten deity. /for now.../ Raven put a hand over his gently as Kori sighed in relief. Gar flopped onto the floor near Dick’s feet as a cheetah, still listening.

“Did you need aught else, my knight? You or your allies?” /proud of you/

“If I may,” Raven looked to her, “I would appreciate some direction on where to turn for the research Nightwing has asked me to do on liminals.”

Made sense. None of them really knew where to look. “It does not need to be now.”

“What do you wish to know, daughter of the devourer?”

Raven frowned. Dick winced. Big mistake Lady. But Rae took it in stride. “I am no longer of such, but that is not the issue at hand. I have several tomes, but many are mortals trying to understand the Infinite. I didn’t know if you might have other suggestions.”

Lady Gotham cocked her head, “What title do you prefer?”

So the Lady would accept Raven’s choice of title. Good.

“Child of Azarath would be an acceptable title.”

“Child of Azarath then. Liminals are rare among us. Usually they only form with significant and prolonged exposure to ectoplasm, ectoplasmic beings, or sometimes presence of portals. I would give you any answers I can, but know of no written records which would aid you.”

“Then perhaps you would be willing to meet elsewhere? Now may not be the time for a deep dive.”

“Perhaps. Bespeak one of my knights when you are ready.”

“My gratitude for the concession.”

Dick tried to force himself to relax as Raven turned her attention back to him. She was the most attuned with the bond, and he knew she could see him spiraling into a full-on freak out. Damn it, he had to keep it together. So he turned his attention to Cyborg’s move to clean up. At some point, Gar had gone tiger and wrapped himself around the whole couch, for which Dick was supremely grateful. Kori fidgeted quietly nearby, watching, out of her depth but also worried.

Lady Gotham turned to Dick. Fuck. He did not need her attention right now. /my lost squire/

/shock/ sparkled from whatever source his ghost-speak emanated from.

“I know the fear of the journey you face, and have seen others walk it. This promise I make you. As you were one of mine so Gotham will always be yours. No matter what comes, you will have a home here – and way to be with those you love.”

That was… something. What the hell was he supposed to do with that? Bludhaven was his city now, not Gotham. While he’d never forget the experiences he had on these streets, they weren’t his anymore. So why was she saying it was? “I- thank you, Lady,” he was /confused/ but /hopeful/. Maybe he didn’t have to lose everything when he died.

Raven gripped his hand tightly. “There’s a binding to that promise, Nightwing. I don’t recognize how or what, but I know a binding promise when I see one.”

 

----

Jason Todd

Hood felt Gotham’s pain as the promise she made to Nightwing anchored in her being. “Lady…” Jason said. /thank you-don’t hurt yourself/

Dick looked sharply at Jason. “Jay? What…” /worried-overwhelmed-angry/

Gotham smiled. /I am well enough for this-my knight/

Raven watched the exchange, a bit pale. Hood wondered just how much she was picking up on. But he only nodded and smiled at Nightwing. “It’s okay, Dickiebird. You can trust the Lady.”

“She’s… hurting,” Nightwing said cautiously.

Starfire looked between Raven, Nightwing, and Hood while Cyborg continued cleaning up. Beast Boy was still tiger. “Is everything alright?”

Raven inclined her head slightly.

“I carry old injuries, your highness,” Gotham answered Starfire. “I trust you with this knowledge, as allies to my knight. But my injuries will not interfere with the pledge I made my lost squire.”

Starfire nodded. “I understand this is not shared lightly. I thank you.”

“We all understand,” Nightwing said. “And I am… very grateful.”

Gotham blinked and leaned in, examining the Titans. /ah/ “And I am pleased to know you have Fraid to support you.” /hesitation-concern/ “I shall take my leave, but have my knights call again should you have need.”

Jason jumped /fraid?-how is that possible?/ As far as he could tell the Titans – the other Titans – were all mortal.

Raven frowned. “Forgive me Lady, I’m not familiar with that term.”

/the bonds are there-my knight-faint but clear to me/ and /I am sorry-my lost one-thought you knew/ Lady Gotham said. “A fraid is a ghost’s family, chosen and bound together. It is... unusual for a ghost or liminal to form fraid bonds with those who do not have cores, but it is not unheard of.” /remembered pain-loss/ and again /hesitation-are these safe-my knight?/

Hood hesitated. He wanted to say yes, but he really didn’t know the other Titans, never had a chance to. /Dick trusts them-I trust his judgment/

Nightwing looked between Hood and Lady Gotham. /trust them with my life---/ his ghost speak stuttered /with my EXISTENCE-they will be true/

“Having mortal fraidmates is rare, and some would say dangerous,” Lady Gotham finally said.

Beast Boy scowled. “Dangerous how?”

“Because…” Raven nodded slowly “we are mortal.”

Starfire frowned, concerned.

Cyborg rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fuck. Like… there’s more to Fraid than just the regular familial emotion stuff, right?”

Hood looked over them, thinking about what mortal fraidmates might mean… mortal. He nodded in answer to Cyborg’s question, rubbing his chest. “Fraid bonds are… some kinda psychic shit. I can feel my bonds, and the idea of losing them…” he shuddered. And one day, Nightwing was going to lose all of his.

The rest of the Titans were quiet, thinking, and Starfire moved to hug Nightwing.

Nightwing’s face crumples. “Oh.” /grief-pain-not yet please not yet/ Hood strode over and grabbed Nightwing’s shoulder /not yet/ “Not anytime soon, Dickhead. And no matter what happens you are never going to be alone.”

Beast Boy shrugged. “Sounds like an easy fix to me. We just drink the same ecto-whatever he did.”

Starfire smiled. “Yes.”

Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and huffs, but didn’t argue, and Cyborg just rolled his eyes.

Hood took in all their reactions and nodded. True /FAMILY/

“You… you would do that?” Nightwing asked. /stunned-thank you-mine/

“Not like it’s really a choice, man.” Cyborg shrugged. “After all, I got the sonic...”

Nightwing smiled crookedly, “I got the boom.” /always/

Raven actually snorted. “You were the one who led us to the victory against Trigon. I may have been the power, but you were the reason. No way in all the hells am I abandoning you to such a fate.”

/true fraid/ “I am pleased for you, my lost one.”

Beast Boy frowned. “Why do you call him ‘lost one?’ He’s never lost.”

Lady Gotham smiled sadly. “He was lost to me when his father drove him from my streets. I love my knights dearly but I will always regret that loss.” /proud of you/

“Oh…” Nightwing’s ghostspeak echoed with /stunned-sorry-firm/ “I didn’t know... but Gotham isn’t my home anymore.”

/comfort-understanding/ “You have made a life for yourself in my sister. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Starfire squeezed his shoulders. “See? There is no blame for you doing what you needed to.”

Hood nodded agreement. ‘Drove him from Gotham’s streets’ was a damn good description of what B had done to Dick, and he felt Lady Gotham’s pride in her ‘lost one’ in spite of that loss.

“Thank you for understanding lady.”

Lady Gotham nodded. “I will take my leave now, unless you have other need of me?”

Raven shook her head. “I will speak with Jason when I have better formulated questions on the process of liminality. Especially now that we know we will be following that path as well.”

“For now, good day, Lady.”

Starfire nodded. “Our gratitude for your patience and explanations.” Beast Boy smiled. “See ya.”

Cyborg just waved.

Lady Gotham faded out. /be well-my lost one/ /call me at need-my knight/

Beast Boy clapped his hands together after she’s gone and grins. “Okay, spill. Who’s Jazz, and why is Jason kissing your wrists, Dick?”

Chapter 5

Summary:

Jazz and Jason get to relax for once.
Dick makes a phone call.
Danny hits the streets and makes some "friends".

Jazz Fenton

When Dick and Jason left, Jazz was true to her word and tried to get some sleep. With no one around projecting ghost-speak, she crashed hard for a solid hour. By then, her nervous energy built back up enough to get her out of bed and pacing the living room. There was a small pile of books by the big chair Jason had brought down, and while she didn’t really want to invade like that, she was desperate for something to do.

Scanning the titles, she saw one called Just In Case: What to do When the Villains Might Win. She snorted, amused, and picked it up. Most of it was solid survival tactics and the presentation had her sleeping again after a half hour. She didn’t know how long later, her phone alerted. A Fraid group text from Jason. -Dick is doing better, gonna take the rest of the day to deal with his shit. I’m headed home.-

Jazz was just so /worried-tired-need to figure this out/ she set the book on the arm of the chair without thinking, and sent an acknowledgment in the group chat, then a private message. -What do you need when you get home?-

-Dont know.-

-Okay.- She went upstairs to make herself presentable, staring too long at the mirror to figure out how she can see what humanity she had left right now. She got downstairs just as Jason came in and saw the book. He crossed the room to give her a hug. “Doing some light reading?”

She hugged him tight, shrugging in his arms. “Light reading. Sure.” His ghost-speak was… settled. In a way it hadn’t been since they met.

He kissed her gently as /FAMILY/ rumbled about the room in a satisfied way.

Well, she wasn’t about to refuse a kiss. “It went well, then?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, genuine and bright. Jazz immediately decided he needed to smile like that more. “Surprisingly. Come up to the roof with me and I’ll fill you in.”

She smiled back. “Sure.”

Jazz kept a damper on her ghost-speak as much as she could, but was pretty sure there was worry, annoyance, hope, and some cursed combination of crush and concern drifting from her. When they reached the roof, Jason laid down and watch the sky as the clouds passed slowly. He smiled again and told her about the little fun he’d had with the Titans, surprising them by greeting them. More important by far, she learned they’d had his pizza. Seemed the Titans had missed him. Good. He also told her about Lady Gotham showing up, and the revelation that the Titan were Dick’s fraid. And their decision to become liminal themselves. That was… not so good. But it also wasn’t an immediate problem, and she made a conscious decision to worry about it later.

Instead, she joined Jason, laid down on the rooftop, and let her head rest on his arm as he wrapped it around her shoulders. For a while after he finished his story, they just watched the clouds quietly. When he spoke next, his voice was soft, sad. “Learning the clouds are just water droplets was such a disappointment when I was a kid.”

“Yeah?”

“They were always above it all, you know? I could dream of being able to go up there and live in the clouds and not need to deal with any of the shit my life was.”

“Hm.” Fuck did she feel that. Everything the last three years… there was good, but there was also a lot of bad. She continued to stare at the shapes, the movements. Now that she had a moment to really be in her body, she could feel flames flickering across her skin in odd colors and combinations.

“You doing okay?”

What a question, and coming from him. Still, Jazz sighed and said, “Will I still be...me?”

Jason shrugged. “I’m the wrong one to ask about that, beautiful. Between the green fucking up my head and the brainwashing Talia put me through, I’m sure as hell not who I was before. But was it just that or was it more?”

She huffed. Fair but unhelpful. Her next words crackled like embers in a burned down campfire. “It was one thing to be almost sure I’d end up a ghost if you shot me. But for it to be a process? Inevitable? That’s something else entirely.”

Jason shuddered at the mention of him shooting her, but shifted to hold her close anyway.

“Sorry. I just…it’s brought the last few weeks into a different kind of perspective. I don’t know if I’ll be me… but whatever I will be… it won’t be human.” Suddenly, she wondered if Danny had ever had a crisis like this, ever thought of it.

“Nothing to apologize for.”

A barely forced laugh, and Jazz frowned. “You’ll still be here? Even...when I’m completely inhuman?”

“Of course.” He rolled onto his side, looking at her, and traced a line of flames dancing over her skin. “And you’re gonna be a gorgeous ghost, beautiful. I can tell that already.”

She blushed and looked at the clouds again. “I’m terrifying. At least from the little I’ve seen in the mirror.” Jason chuckled a bit. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She blinked, utterly confused. “Isn’t it?”

“You remember the day we met? You stood face-to-face with one of the scariest people in Gotham and dared me to do my worst. You were brave, and stubborn, and compassionate, and terrifying in your determination.” Terrifying? He said that like it had genuinely grabbed his attention. “And I knew then I wanted you to be mine. Seeing those fires on the outside? It’s kind of bad ass.”

Jazz studied him for a long moment, then laughed a bit. “Kinda badass, huh?” In the span of two and a half weeks, she’d kidnapped her Fraid, fallen in with a crime lord, and become an inter-dimensional ambassador. When she thought of it like that, maybe there was something impressive there after all.

“Just a little.” He leaned and kissed her gently, wiping all her previous thoughts away. “And before you go there, I’m pretty damn sure Dick will feel the same.” Damn it. Asshole. He grinned like he knew that’s what she was thinking. “God knows he has a thing for women who can kick his ass.”

On the one hand, awesome, though she really doubted her ability to kick Nightwing’s ass. Nope. Nope. Then she remembered, “He only just found out...” A faint whisper of /worry/ wafted from her exhausted proto-core.

Jason sighed and lay back down on the roof. “I know. He’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll see how he’s doing. Right now he needs some time. And to talk with B, god help him.”

Maybe if they’d known about the Bats before they ran here. Maybe if they could’ve actually contacted Batman under better circumstances… Did she regret what happened? No. Not at all. She’d do it all over again to keep Danny safe. Jazz shook her head. “No way we could have known any of this would happen after coming here.”

“None at all.” Jason rubbed his face with his free hand. “And as much as I hate that Dick is hurting, as much as I’m worried about him, I’m so, so glad you came.”

 

---

Dick Grayson

Dick’s hands slapped around the suede as he grabbed hold of the first trapeze bar and swung outward, ending the swing in a double flip that brought him to the second bar at just the right point to grab it and start a new swing.

At the top of the swing, Dick let go quickly, spinning in midair to grab the bar again and swing down with it, back the way he’d come.

Flying was an art and a joy. Flying was a focus and a meditation. Flying was, in the end Dick Grayson’s life. The one thing that he had held onto from beginning to, apparently, end.

Dick Grayson was too good a trapeze artist to let his thoughts wander as he flew, even doing such a relatively easy routine.

So he let the focus, and the feel, and the joy of flying envelope him until he was a single point, a diamond star shining in the dark room.

When he was ready – when he was too focused for panic and too tired for anger, when he was covered with sweat and not filled with emotion, he dropped lightly to the ground and dug a phone out of his gym bag.

“Bruce, I got some news to share. I’m gonna swing by the manor this evening.”

----

Danny Fenton

When he and Tucker got back from the impromptu Keep inspection it was nearly dark. Danny sat down only briefly. He really needed to get back out on the patrol beat. It sucked that he had to hold back so much, but the gratitude from people like Cullen more than made up for it. So he put on the ectoplasmic construct glasses that hid half his face, donned his gray tank top and jeans, and headed out. A few people waved or said hi as he passed, and he would offer a polite greeting in return. Some were obviously Hood’s gang, others just residents trying to survive.

Danny nodded to Fox as he passed the usual stakeout, and the other man waved him over, “Little D!” “Hey, Fox, what’s up?”

“Seen a couple folks who worked for Black Mask, remember ‘em from back when.” Well, shit. He almost hoped they would cause trouble. Almost. His core itched for the opportunity to /PROTECT/ something, someone, anyone. Especially after Jazz’s collapse. He turned his attention back to Fox, who said, “They’re not causing trouble, but they’ve been hanging around, you know?”

“Want me to look into it?” Probably not a good idea. Hood hadn’t given him any permission other than protecting the locals.

Fox shrugged. “Just giving you a heads up, you know? I figure the boss’ll be by to run ‘em out sooner or later.” Fair.

“Sounds good. Any actual trouble going on right now?”

“Nope, quiet day.”

Do not sound disappointed. “Damn.” Or do. Whatever. It’s not like Fox didn’t know he enjoyed a good scrap once in a while. “Ah, well, guess I’ll see you around, then.”

Fox waved as he started walking again.

Danny took the opposite direction, shoved his thumbs in his pockets, and whistled a tune quietly. It was one his Mom used to sing him when they went star-gazing together. He cursed under his breath when he nearly walked into a massive, burly man wearing Black Mask’s mark. Fuck. No one in the alley, but they all had guns. Auto by the look of it.

“Hey kid,” the one looming behind him spoke, breath clouded with tobacco, “Black Mask wants to talk with yah.”

Well, shit. Danny scowled at the one in front of him. “Not in the mood for a chat, sorry.”

“That’s not a request, brat.” Tobacco breath growled. “Now come along nicely or things are going to get nasty.”

It was probably supposed to be intimidating, it just sounded like some kid play-acting. Danny’s mind whirled. His reflexes were good, but five people with guns trained on him was a recipe for disaster in a brownstone alley. Go intangible? No, too many wild bullets. No guarantee they’d hit the people surrounding him, especially since he had no idea how good their marksmanship was. Ectoshield, same problem. Also he didn’t want to give up an advantage if they dog-piled him. These guys were technically in a whole different weight class than he was. And there was possibly a chance to fuck with Black Mask… He crossed his arms, kept the scowl in place, and made a show of eyeing the guns. “Rude.”

“Sure kid, now start walking, and don’t give us any trouble,” Oh, he wanted to snark so bad at the guy’s arrogant surety. Bad idea.

Danny settled for an unearthly growl as he headed toward the car the man gestured to. Hood was out of immediate range for ghost-speak, and if he sounded the alert, there was a strong possibility that these assholes didn’t care about collateral damage. So he walked.

Leaning against the hood of the car, which had been hidden by the alley, was Sammy. Danny liked Sammy. He could sass off to Hood and get away with it. It was kind of adorable. Sammy flipped a huge knife up and down, and everyone could see the massive gashes in the tires. “Hey D, how you doing?”

“Not too bad. Just an invitation for a chat that they wanted to insist I take them up on. Not sure how they plan on explaining that to Hood, but you know how it goes.”

With a sigh, the leader of the goon squad raised his hands and stepped away from Danny. “Just a friendly a chat, nothing to explain. But it looks like our car had an /accident/ so our chat’ll need to wait for another day.” he kept his gun pulled but but signaled his guys and they all stepped away. “We’ll be seeing you around, D.”

Don’t snark, Fenton. Don’t do it. Sammy might pay for it. The group sidled around the car and started heading for the border of the Alley, keeping an eye on Danny and Sammy as they left. The halfa managed to keep his mouth shut. He headed towards the car. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Red put the alert out after he got word of these assholes, so I’ve been keeping an eye out. What’d they want, anyway?”

“Apparently Black Mask wants a conversation with me. I might take him up on it, on my terms this time. I’ll talk to Hood before I do anything, though.”

“Huh. Red’s not gonna like that, but we’ve been waiting for the creep to make a move. You want to talk to him, I guess that’s your business but dude, I want nothing to do with the fucker.”

Danny shrugged. “Fair enough. He’s not exactly on my protected list.” A foggy breath told him Hood was approaching rapidly. The heavy thump of boots on pavement followed the ghost sense. “Hey, what’s up?”

Notes:

Hey all.
This is the last finished chapter. The rest of the story is drafted, but still needs edits and such. We're going to try to stick to a once-a-week posting schedule, but with High Holidays coming up, we may hit some delays.
Thanks for sticking with us,
Gryphon

Chapter 6

Summary:

Jason has news for Danny
Dick has news for Bruce
Everyone is getting a healthy lunch, damnit!

Notes:

Thanks for your patience! This one is a bit longer than our usual chapters.

Jason Todd

Hood felt the rumble of his ghost sense as he approached the reported location of some of Black Mask’s goons. So he wasn’t surprised to see Danny on the street chatting with Sammy. He dropped to the street behind Danny.

“Hey, what’s up?” Danny said without turning around, breath a bit foggy for a brief second.

Hood grunted. “Heard some of Black Mask’s goons where lurking. Came to, ah, /escort/ them out.”

“Sammy made sure they saw themselves out. They’ll likely be back though.”

“Always are,” Sammy muttered.

“Good work Sammy,” Hood said with a nod. Not that he expected anything else from Sammy, he was one of Hood’s best. “This their car? Call Raoul and get it towed to the shop. We’ll see if there’s anything interesting there before we part it out.”

Danny stretched, turned to Hood. “Apparently their boss wanted a chat with me, so that’s fun.”

For the first time since seeing Frostbite, Hood felt a strong flash of /green/ but he was able to push it aside easily, his ghost speak /rage-FAMILY-never-green-FAMILY/

Danny sent /support/ and after a moment, Hood said, “Oh? I’ll need to think of a way to thank him for the ‘invitation.’ “

Danny’s grin was surprisingly vicious for everything Hood had seen from him. “I’d love to help.” /get him-asshole-hurt the fucker/

“Sure D, let’s talk about that,” Hood said, “Keep up the good work, Sammy.”

Sammy saluted and faded back into the alley.

Hood pulled a grapple and zipped up to the nearest rooftop, trusting Danny to keep up.

Away from Sammy he’s less casual about it Sionis’ threat. “Need to send him a message,” Hood said before taking a running leap to the next roof. “But I’m worried about how much harder I can push him before he tries to break Joker out. And we both know you could have taken those assholes when you were ready.”

“Yeah, but I know how you are about collateral damage, and the asshole’s a /trafficker/.” Danny practically spat the word. /no one hurts kids/ and /disgusting/ and /need to get back at him/

Hood radiated /agreement/ and /wasn’t thinking-fucking fool/ as he led Danny across several more rooftops. “We’re gonna take him down,” he finally said, “We’re taking Sionis down hard and do it in a way that makes sure /no one/ steps into his place. But we gotta do it smart. Now that I’m thinking clearly the last thing I want is the Joker back on the streets.”

Danny nodded. “That’s something I don’t think anyone wants.” /never taken down a crime lord before/ and /open to suggestions/ and /still want to screw with the fucker/

“We’ll figure out a way.” Hood said, landing on the roof of Danny’s brownstone.

Danny snorted, realizing they’ were at home, raised an eyebrow at Hood. “Kicking me off patrol already?” /joking/

Hood huffed a laugh. “Figured you’d want to be filled in a few things that happened today.”

“I swear to everything I still believe in and everything I don’t, if this is more bad news, I’m taking Fright Knight up on his offer of a spar.” Danny was clearly beyond done, and Hood didn’t blame him.

“Not bad news, I don’t think. But something the Ghost King should know about.”

“Ugh. Fine. Lemme have it.”

Hood opened the door to the brownstone and led the way downstairs

Danny followed, stopping at the landing.

Hood stopped as well, took his helmet off and shook his hair out.

“Dick and I ended up hanging out with his- our old team, the Titans.” /FAMILY/ It still felt weird to count himself as one of them, but he knew in his core it was true.

Danny blinked, eyes widening at that manifestation of Jason’s obsession. “Okay. Seems like that was probably a good thing. I-hold up, Titans? Like...Teen Titans? Them?”

“Them,” Jason nodded. “And yeah, it was a good thing – for both of us, surprisingly. We told them about Dick being liminal and what it means, and while we were talking it occurred to me that if Robin is living with B now, he’s at risk too.”

“So it’s not all good news. Okay… On a scale of ‘shit’ to ‘fuck me in the ass sideways with a spork’, how much is what you say next gonna make me wanna tear my hair out?”

“You’ll get through the night with a full head of hair, but it’s gonna be a close thing.”

“Greeaat.” Danny flopped down on the landing and Jason squatted down next to him.

“I ended up calling Lady Gotham and asking her about Robin – good news, he’s fine for now,” Jason said, “And I get the impression the lady will be keeping an eye on him. But while she was there, the lady picked up Dick having fraid bonds with the rest of the Titans – who are all mortal.”

“Hang on. Hold up. Fraid bonds? And they’re mortal??” /is that even possible?/

“Yup. According to Lady Gotham it’s happened before, just really rarely. And it can be dangerous.”

Danny rubbed his brows with his palms. “Dangerous. Like… how…? And why doesn’t that seem to worry you at the moment?” /please please please tell me this isn’t going where I think it’s going/

“Dangerous because when the mortal fraidmates die, the fraid bond breaks,” Jason winced just talking about it. “I wasn’t worried initially because I figured it was something we had time to deal with. Maybe find a safe way to sever the bonds before they died or something.” Jason paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “But I didn’t get a chance to suggest that, because they all decided they want to become liminal too, for Dick’s sake.”

Danny threw up his hands and cursed in what Jason recognized at Yeti. And something that sounds like Greek, but not modern Greek. “That’s...I’m not really sure what to do with that.”

“Danny?” Sam calls from downstairs. “Are you okay?” /worried/

“I’m fine, Sam, just...business called and I stupidly picked up the phone.” /it’s… well… it’s not fine, but I’m not in danger/

Jason shrugged. “Sorry. Figured you’d want to know sooner rather than later.”

“You’re not wrong, but… fuck, now what?” /breathe-in four-out six/

“Nothing immediately. Raven’s doing research and said she’d like to ask Lady Gotham some questions in the future. None of them are going to do anything until Raven’s got her answers. Figure I’ll be hearing from her before movie night.”

“Then we wait for that. Thanks for the heads up, anyway. I should let you get back to… work.” He stood up and started down the stairs. “Let me know when that meeting will be? I’m curious about what she finds out.”

“I’ll do that.” /get some rest/

Danny snorted, but headed downstairs to go see Sam and Tucker.

---

Tucker Foley

 

Sam greeted Danny as Tucker put the finishing touches on the upgraded Thermos. “Danny, how’d-” She stopped /worried/. “You look annoyed.”

Danny’s low growl shook Tucker’s bones, and the techno-geek looked up from putting the last plate on the exterior of the Thermos. Maybe he should rename it the Foley Thermos. “Dude, what now?”

“Nothing big. Almost got a crack at Sionis today, and Jason and I just talked. Apparently...Dick already has Fraid.”

Tucker snorted. “Those both sound big.” Danny would fill them in, though. He could go back to putting plating on the Thermos.

“Dick has a WHAT?” Sam, apparently, did not think Danny was filling them in fast enough.

“Yup.” /I was shocked too/ and /worried/ and /the Titans have no idea what they’re in for/

Tucker stopped turning the screwdriver and just stared.

Sam, though. She had opinions. “Titans? As in the super hero team? His fraid is more heroes?!” /wtf-wtf-don’t like this/

Tucker shrugged. “At least two of them retired after their time with the Titans. Only Cyborg has any relation to the Justice League.” He tried to reassure Sam this wouldn’t be a problem, but /dude, this is awesome/ slipped out as well.

Danny cursed in Yeti. “Yes, Sam.”

“How did they even end up liminal enough to form fraid bonds?” Good question, Sam.

Tucker did not like Danny’s frown as he answered, “Well...Dick’s Liminal enough to hear ghost-speak...”

Sam scoffed. “Sure, now. Not when he was with the Titans, though.”

Tucker knew that look. The way Danny’s shoulders slumped and tensed, the way his lips pressed into a thin line. His boyfriend wasn’t saying everything. “Just spit it out, dude.”

Danny sighed, caught. “Dick’s Liminal...but they’re not. Yet.”

“Yet.” /oh my god/ Sam shook her head slowly, as if she couldn’t believe what the halfa had just said.

Danny continued, “That is, apparently, their plan, though.”

Tucker laughed. /sweet!/

Danny rolled his eyes. “I love you, but sometimes you’re the clueless one in this relationship.” Tucker stuck his tongue out at them both. Sam flopped back on the bed and pulled a pillow over her face. Then screamed with her whole body.

“Exactly,” Danny nodded sagely.

The pillow muffled Sam’s next words, but not so much they couldn’t understand her. “So what are we going to do?” /can we do anything?/

“No idea. Apparently Raven’s ‘doing research’ which, how, I don’t know.” Fair point. None of them had figured out where to go for help. “And I’m going to the meeting when she meets with Lady Gotham. Other than that?” /don’t really wanna deal with it til I have to/

Sam pushed the pillow aside and sat up. “Yeah. That’s fair.”

Danny flopped down on the bed and rolled into a ball nestled in Sam’s side. Tucker set the finished thermos on the dresser and draped himself across them. /why aren’t you two excited about this?/

Danny scoffed, /I’ll be excited later-worried right now/ and /PROTECT/ Apparently he was done with everything and everything else. Tucker couldn’t really blame him after the past few weeks.

Sam, on the other hand, snarked back, “Why would we be excited?”

Before Tucker could snark back, Danny let out a tiny little annoyed growl. “Can you two please not fight over the hero thing right now? I just wanna cuddle and get some fucking sleep.”

/sorry/ Sam pulled him into a hug.

Danny snuggled into her, pulled Tucker closer, and soon enough, was out.

-----

Dick Grayson

Dick rode up to the manor with dread sitting in his stomach like a ball of lead. Jason and his fraid probably had no idea how badly Bruce had taken the news of his and Jason’s halfa status. He was handling it better how, but that first week or two had been bad. Now Dick was showing up with more bad news – worse news, in some ways.

As usual, Alfred met Dick at the door of Wayne Manor. “Welcome, Master Dick, it is good to see you.”

“Hey Alfred.” Dick said. He reached out and gave the butler a hug. /scared-home-angry/ slipped out and he was glad no one was around to hear him.

Alfred hugged him tightly. “I hope you don’t mind my taking the liberty to make one of your preferred meals for tonight.” /welcome-comfort-care-love/ Alfred returned and Dick felt the floor drop out from under his feet.

“Alfred?” Dick asked, voice a bit wobbly, “You’re...” /liminal/

Alfred nodded. “It did come as something of a shock when we were informed of that.” /breathe-dear boy-there is much to discuss/

And how the fuck was Alfred that good at ghost speak? Dick was jealous and didn’t bother lying to himself about it.

Dick snorted, “Once again, Bruce can’t bother to make a damned phone call.”

“Indeed. Come. Master Bruce and Master Tim are waiting in the dining room.”

Dick followed Alfred into to the dining room, where Bruce waited with a pained look on his face. “Dick,” he said standing up. /my son/

Dick paused in surprise, then continued on to give Bruce a hug. “Bruce. I guess you already know my news.”

Tim looked between Bruce and Dick, but didn’t say anything. Dick was grateful he wasn’t asking questions.

“Hn.” /worried for you/ Bruce returned the hug.

 

Tim and Alfred exchanged a look. Alfred nodded. “Please, sit down. Enjoy yourselves. And we will have this /discussion/” he emphasized the word to heavily imply verbal speech “during after dinner tea.”

Tim mouthed a quiet “Thank you.” to Alfred.

----

Jason Todd

Jason got up the next morning in a weirdly good mood. After everything that had happened, he would have expected to be kind of messed up, but his core was doing this weird thing where it was practically buzzing with happiness. He felt… good. Really good. Needing some outlet, he slipped downstairs without waking Jazz up and starting making bread.

He had everything mixed together and was starting to knead the dough when he saw Danny walk through the living room wall, pace around the room and walk back through the wall into his own brownstone. The third time Danny repeated the circuit, Jason decided it was time to interrupt him.

"Danny? Everything alright?"

Danny looked up. "Huh?" /shit, sorry, didn't realize/

"You're good, kid. Jazz and I keep the private stuff upstairs." And he wiggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated fashion. /playful-tired-stressed/

"I do NOT wanna know. And really, I should be asking you that."

"Nuh-uh. I asked first." God, what was he, five? He really was in a weird fucking mood.

Danny shrugged. /angry/ and /hurt/ and /exhausted/ and a feeling like /unsure footing in this chaos/ came through clearly "I mean… define alright."

"In other words, no." /serious-concerned-support/ Jason had only used his powers to manipulate physical rock and earth, but he knew from the way Jazz used her empathy that it should be possible to apply those powers in a metaphorical way too. So he reached inside and focused on giving Danny a solid place to stand.

He knew it worked when Danny dropped into a chair, the feeling of free-fall replaced by /stillness/ He sighed, closed his eyes, and rested his head on the back of the chair. "Fine. You got me there." /not sure either of us is okay right now/

Jason laughed, it's a high almost giddy sound nothing like Jason’s usual laugh.

Danny snorted. "I'm taking that as agreement."

"Danny, I ain't been okay one day since long before you met me. But I'm feeling good enough right now it kinda scares me."

/show me?/ Danny asked.

Jason doesn’t even hesitate. He opens up his ghost speak in a way he almost never does, letting Danny see everything. /excited-happy-exhausted-energetic/ /gonna get Sionis-gonna fucking get 'im/ /Jazz-clouds-happy-peaceful/ /Titans are FAMILY-called me one of them/ /Dick's gonna be alright-it's gonna be fine/

Danny lets the mess wash over him and nods, humming slightly. /you're high on your obsession/ and /given the last few days, not surprised/ and /don't worry, it'll even out/

Jason sighed, but grinned. "That's probably a good thing. This feels... way too good for me to trust."

"I get it. But it's always been temporary for me. Took me a few days to come down from some of the more extreme ones." Danny snickered at a memory. /almost punched Dash once during one/

"Dash?"

"Fuckin' asshole. Still has no idea I could end him in one hit." /bitter-irritated-had to hide/

"That sounds bad. But he just a normal asshole? Or someone we still need to worry about?"

"Average high school jock. Thinks he knows more than he does, and determined to eek out every single detention loophole from his football years." Danny frowned. /sad/

"So I don't need to hunt him down and take his kneecaps, then?" /here for you/

Danny actually laughed at that. "Nah." A quiet bit of ghost-speak slipped out, more thought than directed /just wanted a normal life-somewhere to hide/

Jason sighed again, his grin fading this time. "I'm sorry, D." /nothing normal around here/

Danny snorted. "I blame Jazz." /joking-seriously, something was bound to happen/ and /can't escape my dad's luck forever/ and /it's probably for the best/ and /still don't have to like it/

"I'd offer you a hug but," Jason held up his dough-covered hands. /so what's got you not alright/

Danny waved him off. "Enjoy your doughy mess." /just finally had time to sit down and review/ and /everything just...broke coming here/ and /I couldn't not help/ and /PROTECT/ and /first time I've ever-didn't realize.../ his ghost-speak trails off in a mess of /confusion/ and /regret/ and /frustration/ and /guilt/

Jason decided the dough was kneaded enough and turned to the sink, to wash his hands. /support-not alone-breathe/ "Not your fault. You did the best you could."

Danny snorted. "I could've just fucking phased into the Watchtower and confronted the damned JL two years ago." /logically though-no idea they wouldn't side with the GIW/

"Coulda-woulda-shoulda, kid." Jason dried his hands and covered the dough, setting it aside to rise.

Danny sighed. "You're talking to Jazz too much." But he's smiling a bit. /thanks-for suggesting an ambassador/ and /needed that/ and /trust you/ and /no idea how to do this whole High King thing/

"No such thing." He moved into the living room and sat down. "Danny, if I've got my facts in order, the Infinite Realms been functioning without a king for at least a couple millennia, yeah?"

Danny nodded, eyebrow raised. /point being?/

"So I figure it'll continue trundling along just fine until you're ready to start dealing with it." /why rush yourself?/ /got enough problems already/

Eyes flashing green, Danny scowled. /PROTECT/ He shook his head clear, sighed. "Mostly that. I just..." He sighed again. /not trying to rush myself, just… not sure what else to fucking do/ and /pressured-Justice League and GIW and all that shit/ and /never spoken up for myself, much less an entire fucking dimension/

"You are protecting them, by dealing with the fucking GIW and going through the JL to get legal protections set up here." Jason paused. "Would it help to have, like, a mentor?"

----

Danny Fenton

Jason’s sturdy mountain outcropping under him, Danny was able to actually process that question, but he still didn’t understand it. "A mentor?" /what do you mean?/

"Well..." /thinking-good idea?-maybe/ Apparently, Jason wasn’t entirely sure of his idea. "It's not like there aren't a shit ton of royalty running around. I know there'd be a problem of who you trust and all, but... Wonder Woman and Starfire are both princesses, Aquaman's a king, I know there are other's in the JL..."

Danny frowned. A mentor. Honestly, Wonder Woman didn’t sound like a bad idea. Neither did Starfire. /could talk to Starfire...maybe/ and /Wonder Woman probably figured out who I am anyway/

"Something to think about, anyway."

"Thanks, Jason." Damn it. The other halfa might be high on obsession right now, but Danny still didn’t need to bother him. "Didn't really wanna dump on anyone about this, but...thanks."

"Kid..." Jason sighed. "You gotta stop that."

Staring at Jason in confusion, Danny asked, "Stop what?"

"Taking it all on yourself. Thinking you need to do everything alone." /FAMILY-rejection-hurt/ Oof, yeah, should’ve seen that coming.

Danny sighed, /guilty-not what I meant-I just/ and /apology-family-Fraid/ and /unfamiliar feeling, having supports outside Sam, Tucker, and Jazz/

"I know, D," Jason says, rubbing at his chest. /just the damn obsession acting up/ "But I'm serious here. You keep thinking you need to take everything on and like it's some kind of imposition to be... well... human."

Danny snorted. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had experience doing almost everything himself. Still, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to start actually relying on others. It still terrified him. /not really human anymore, but point taken/

"You know what I mean." Without warning, Danny found himself in a headlock, Jason’s knuckles in his hair, giving him a noogie.

"Ack! Hey! Jerkface!" He flipped Jason to the ground, grinning.

Not letting go, Jason brought him to the floor as well. /gotcha-laughter-stop worrying/

/no you don't/ Danny transformed without thinking, and slipped out of Jason’s grasp with an instantaneous shape change. He laughed.

Jason flipped to his feet, still chuckling. "I figure Dick'll be showing up soon. Want to help me put lunch together?"

"Sure, why not?" Danny looked to the stairs as Jazz stepped off them.

"Danny?"

"Hey, sis. Your boyfriend's an asshole." Danny grins impertinently at Jason.

Jason flipped him off with a grin. Within a few minutes, the whole Fraid was gathered in the kitchen. Everything was set out for sandwiches. "Dickiebird incoming."

Dick must’ve crossed into the haunt. Danny reached out with his ghost sense and when Dick’s core signature was almost at the door, he grinned impishly and headed for the door, opening it just as the newest Liminal in this mess was about to knock. “Hey, dude.”

“Whoa. Hey Danny.” The young halfa couldn’t help his proud smirk at surprising the Dick Grayson. Dick’s ghost-speak was /nervous-hopeful/

Danny laughed. “Come on in. Jason’s making sandwiches.” /welcome-friend-good to see you/

Dick slipped inside, and Danny shut the door behind him as he said, “I see I timed it just right.” /friend?-friend/

/friend-reassurance/ Danny couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face. “Something like that.”

Dick bounced a bit /embarrassed/ “So... there is a way to control this ghost speak, right?”

Ah, that. Yeah, if only it were that easy. He waggled a hand side to side. “Ish? Ghosts will basically always be able to hear something from you. You don’t have an obsession yet, so that’s not really gonna be a problem. But as far as controlling it, Jazz is picking it up the quickest, so maybe ask her what she’s learned? It’s different for Liminals.”

“I’ll do that, thanks.”

“Yo, Dickhead!” Jason calls from the kitchen, “I got bad news for you.” /humor/ Danny could still feel the kiss of the obsession high in that.

“Really? That’s the greeting I get?” Dick walked right up to Jason behind Jason and hugged him, kissing the side of his neck. /good to see you/

Tucker’s disgusted face almost made Danny laugh again as his ghost-speak sparked /get a room-humor/

/this is my kitchen brat/ Jason leaned into the hug. “I don’t have any of that marshmallow fluff stuff, so you’ll need to eat real food today.”

Sam cackled, shoving Tucker lightly.

Dick pouted. “Jason! You’re really going to make me eat lettuce?!” Apparently they had another Tucker on their hands when it came to food. Releasing the hug, Dick gave Jason a quick shove, then turned to Tucker and Sam, “Hey, good to see you two. How you doing?”

Jazz went over and hugged her boyfriends. “Do I want to know what marshmallow fluff has to do with sandwiches?”

Sam muttered something about heroes, and Tucker rolled his eyes, giving her a playful nudge. “Don’t be a sourface.” /excited/

Danny huffed.

“Is... something wrong?” Dick asked, /worried-uncomfortable/

Danny shrugged. “They’re just having the usual heroes should never," he points at Sam. "Always," he points at Tucker, "Be trusted fight that hasn’t stopped for the last few weeks.” /nothing bad-just being themselves/

Tucker sticks his tongue out at the group. Danny rolls his eyes as Jazz comes over to hug Dick. There are faint whispers of /love-good to see you/ coming from her.

“Oh-kay...” Dick shrugged and returned Jazz’s hug. /love you/ Replying to Jazz’s question Dick says,”Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff makes the best sandwiches.”

Jazz has just kissed him on the cheek and pulled away sharply, eyes wide. “Okay...what??” /not sure if that’s better or worse than killer hotdogs/

Danny just laughed. “If it’s not biting back, I’m willing to at least try it.”

“Well no one’s eating that shit today,” Jason says, putting a plate of sandwiches on the table. His core is vibrating with /FAMILY/. That high would probably last at least a day.

Tucker made a victorious sound, then scowls. “Is that lettuce on all the sandwiches?” /not again-nausea/

“Yeah, Tuck, you gotta eat at least a bit of rabbit food to stay healthy.” /humor/

“I am perfectly healthy without your rabbit food, thank you very much.” Tucker puffs up his chest. /fuck vegetables-sigh/

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of Trials and Trios