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Over the past ten years, Danny Fenton’s life has been a whirlwind, and that’s an understatement. Nonetheless, Danny's life is ordinary despite being the Ghost King and a consultant for the JLD as Phantom. Or as ordinary as a halfa could manage.Danny remembers being 17 and feeling so helpless and overwhelmed, especially when Jazz moved away for college. He didn’t expect that to be the end of his struggles. His sister coming back for Christmas break with the Justice League in tow was not on his bingo card, nor were his parents and Vlad being tried for supervillainy or the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW being a hoax. However, according to Tucker, the most surprising part of their senior year was their trio graduating with near-perfect attendance and good grades.Nowadays, life is good for Danny. While his responsibilities as the High King of the Infinite Realms and his attachment to his haunt keep him from leaving Amity Park, he has found balance. After his identity as Phantom was revealed to the town, the community rallied in support of the half-dead teenager who saw his parents go to jail. Following Jazz’s insistence, he has enrolled in an online Astronomy and Engineering degree, which he finds much easier than high school. He doesn’t even have to worry about money, being the new owner of FentonWorks and DalvCo.All in all, life is, finally, cutting the halfa some slack, which is why he now has more free time to fill, ergo his current situation. Sam, Tucker and Jazz are debating on his computer screen about what hobby he should try.“After the ecto-contamination of everyone in Amity, you’ll probably find a lot of people willing to join an environmentalist group. You know my activism rubbed off on you.” Sam’s voice is almost covered by the deep sigh that escapes Tucker and Danny can’t help but smile at his best friends’ antics.“Danny, dude, I’m telling you, you should take programming classes. We could make our own video game and—“Tucker’s excited rant cuts off as Jazz mutes the both of them.“You guys, we’re trying to figure out something Danny would like. Baby brother, what is something you’d like to do ?” Danny can’t help but miss his sister when he sees her exasperated smile at his friends’ insistence that he tries something they like.Leaning against his desk, his face in his hand, he shrugs, a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I did have an idea but I’m not sure.” On his screen, his sister’s face is open and supportive, meanwhile, Sam and Tucker don’t seem to have noticed they were inaudible. “I, maybe, wanted to try streaming ? You guys obviously don’t have as much time to play video games with me and it’s really not the same on my own… I like the idea of finding a community of people who enjoy listening to my weird space and ghost rants without having to leave Amity. Not that the Parkers aren’t my friends but—” He pushes his hair out of his face with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. “I guess I want to meet new people ? But I don’t actually want to meet them.”“That sounds great, Danny.” Jazz, supportive as always, finally unmutes the two.“Yeah dude, I’m down to help you set it all up. You’re gonna need equipment—““And you’re gonna need to ectoproof it too. Are you going to hide your identity ? Acting like ghosts and your powers are the norm would be so funny.”“Right, you could ask a ghost artist to make your channel art. You clearly already have a niche thing going, you know ?” His Fraid’s excitement makes Danny feel more confident in his idea.“What do you guys think of the name CosmicSpecter ?” Jason Todd has been back in Gotham for about two years. His relationship with his family is still strained but it is improving. He has a good thing going with Red Hood and his gang. However, he is still plagued by the Pit Madness, despite his best efforts he still doesn’t feel like himself. Meanwhile, everyone around him has accepted, however reluctantly, that this is who he is now, but Jason refuses to. He knows this isn’t him, but he is resigned that the foreign rage trying to control him will torment him until his (next) dying breath.Maybe it’s fate, maybe it’s boredom, maybe it’s the scary TubeYou algorithm that has him clicking on the livestream thumbnail while tittering close to a Pit Rage episode. The guy has 463 subscribers and 6 current viewers and he’s halfway through a burrito when Jason joins. The light is dim, and his eyes seem to be reflecting the light. A meta, maybe ?“Hiya ‘botched-resurrection’, nice to see a fellow undead here.” He takes a swig of a too green liquid from a soda bottle and flashes the camera with a wide smile. “We’ll go back to playing once I’m done eating. This new joint opened a few years ago, since our town isn’t under a fake government lockdown anymore, and honestly, I’m pleasantly surprised. My sister is probably relieved I’m eating something other than a burger.” The guy’s eyes widen slightly when a $20 donation comes through from one ‘jazz_hands’. “Really Jazz ? ‘Twenty whole American dollars in hopes you’ll eat healthier food one day’. There are real vegetables in here you know ? You’re being too harsh. Also stop sending me money as an excuse to embarrass me on stream.”Jason is shocked out of his trance by his own chuckle. He remembers being on the edge of a Pit-induced blackout just a moment ago. Yet, this random guy talking about random stuff seems to have calmed the Pit in a way that Jason didn’t think possible. He can’t help but wonder what it is about this ‘CosmicSpecter’ that makes his habitual struggle effortless.He takes a second to take in the man and his setup. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, you decide) the man would have been prime Wayne Adoption Bait if he was younger. His black hair is on the longer side and tied in a half ponytail and his eyes seem to be blue but they seem to glow green sometimes, a trick of the light because of the neon sign, surely. He has a screen in the background, covering half the wall onto which constellations are projected. The other half of the wall is filled with shelves and trinkets Jason can’t quite make out. There’s a big neon sign, it’s lit up neon green and seems to be a stylized D or P. There’s only one wall in view of the camera and no door, he supposes the desk is in the middle of the room.Jason is willing to admit the guy is cute and has a nice voice, not that that explains anything. It certainly doesn’t explain why the Red Hood finds himself in bed, long after the stream has ended, watching a stranger’s VOD playlist, falling asleep without struggle for the first time since his death. He knows there has to be an explanation why this random dude from the Midwest has this effect on him but he doesn’t dwell on it. Because now, he has a seemingly foolproof way to resist the Pit and his insomnia. For the first time since he swam out of the Lazarus Pits, Jason lets himself hope.The next morning, he wakes up so refreshed he has to laugh. Has he ever had such a peaceful night ? He already had frequent nightmares when he was still living with Catherine, which isn’t that strange for an Alley kid. His nights only got harder after he became Robin and he’d rather not mention his sleep schedule since his coming back from the dead.Jason sits up in bed and he is downright dumbfounded, his head in his hands with chuckles that might be sobs. This is how Dick finds him when he comes through the window of his safehouse (so that’s what woke him up).“Little Wing ? What’s wrong, Jaybird ?” His brother is sitting on the edge of his bed, bending down to see his face. “You seemed out of it before you got off patrol last night and then you went radio silent, we were worried.” Somehow, when Dick notices the watery smile under Jason’s hands, he seems even more concerned. “Talk to me, little bro ?”“Chill out, Dick. Give me a second, yeah ?” Jason claps his brother’s shoulder with a slight smile as he goes through his morning routine, his big brother trailing after him like a lost puppy. He makes two servings of breakfast and sets them down on his kitchen island before taking a deep breath. “I found something that brought me back from a Pit episode and then I had the most peaceful night of my life.” He ignores Dick’s sad frown as he digs into his scrambled eggs. “I haven’t felt this much like myself since I was Robin.” The admission is barely audible but it’s painful for both brothers.“That’s…That’s such a relief, Little Wing. What is it ?” Jason can tell his explanation hasn’t completely reassured his brother, who’s probably imagining that he’s started taking some kind of new Lazarus drugs.“If you promise to keep your mouth shut about this, I’ll tell you. I don’t want B or Timmy digging into it or trying to take it away.” He levels Dick with a glare and continues once he gives a firm nod. “This is going to sound weird, but it’s a random no-name streamer. I was scrolling through TubeYou last night trying to ignore the Pit episode coming on. I clicked on his stream, and I didn’t realize I felt better until I was actually laughing 5 minutes later.” Jason can feel the blush on his cheeks but decides to ignore it, there are less healthy and more embarrassing ways to cope than a streamer. Meeting Dick’s eyes after his recounting has him groan.“So big bad Red Hood has a little crush, huh ? Who would have known the Pit Rage could be cured with the power of love~” Dick’s sing-song teasing is cut off by Jason pushing him off his chair.“Okay, get the fuck out, Dickface. I should have known not to tell you.” He stands and pushes his brother, who’s still laughing, towards the front door, unlocking it and shoving his sibling out. A foot keeps the door from closing behind him.“Come on, Jay, I’m kidding.” The Dick in question, giggling and peaking through the gap, squeezes an arm through to place a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “I’m happy for you~. Haveanicedaybye.” All his limbs have escaped into the hallway before Jason slams his front door shut, unwilling to hear his brother’s guffaws anymore. “Then, obviously, I realized I didn’t have my thermos, so I was left with tying Fen— uhm ghostproof rope around him and dragging him back to the portal. He was laughing and digging his feet into the ground the whole way there. We’re not even affected by gravity, so he was making a conscious effort to make it hard for me. People in town love Youngblood too so everyone we came across was laughing along at my expense. You’d think after 10 years of fighting ghosts I would know better than to forget my thermos, right ?” Danny puts his head in his hands and groans before looking back up at the camera. “Though knowing me, it’s a miracle it doesn’t happen more often.” Opening the drawer of his desk, he pulls out an incomplete blueprint and quickly shows the camera. “To be fair, the reason it wasn’t on me is because I’m trying to make a more compact version to carry around. It’s not going as well as I’d like. I don’t think I’ve managed to make something that’s not a torture device.” Glancing at chat with a smile. “Should I be worried that you want to be here when I test it on myself, Sam ? The way you said that makes me think you want to see me suffer.”Danny makes himself more comfortable on his desk chair with a laugh. His smile brightens when he sees a familiar name in chat. “Hi again, botched-resurrection, glad to see you back. To be fair, I would rather not have to test these things on myself but it’s not like I can pay another ghost to test it for me. Mostly because they have no use for Living money, but also because, obviously they won’t want to help me make stuff that works against them. Plus, if anything goes wrong with the prototype, I’m sturdier than most ghosts and what hurts me, could End them. Though, I tend to do the first tests on the blob ghosts 'cause they just think we’re playing.”A donation sound plays and a message from Sam pops up on screen.
$1 from chaosvine
: SHOW BLOBS ! NOW.
“Wow, $1 to order me to show the blobs on stream. It’s true that I’ve been the only ghost on camera so far. I need to fetch some food anyway, so I’ll pause the stream and be back in 10 minutes, more or less, we all know I’m less than punctual.”The stream paused, Danny stretches in his chair and exhales a laugh. His only recurring viewers in the 6 months since he started streaming were his Fraidmates and a couple of subscribers who watched a stream occasionally. The fact that ‘botched-resurrection’ watched two streams in a row makes him feel a bit proud.He hurries to heat his dinner (yes Jazz, he really is eating a homecooked meal, courtesy of Tucker’s parents) while chirping, in hopes of attracting some blob ghosts. 11 minutes later, he’s rushing back to his desk chair, a blob on each shoulder and one on his head, his plate and a mug of coffee in his hands.“Sorry I’m late, these little guys were a pain to wrangle while balancing my dinner. Viewers meet blob ghosts. They’re a mix of cats and those fish that clean aquariums. You can find them pretty much everywhere but they’re not usually visible. They eat and purify ambient ectoplasm and just hang out. They like playing and cuddling and they’re really cute. They feel like stress balls too, I kept one in my hoodie pocket during finals.” Danny chuckles a little watching the blobs explore his desk and room while he focuses on eating his meal.“Blobs have zero survival instinct when they’re in a group but if the blob’s alone it tends to be skittish.” Taking a sip of his coffee, he turns his attention back to his screens. “Yes, Sam, I have actual food. Tuck’s parents brought me food today and it’s to die for.” His chat shows Sam spamming in exasperation at the death jokes which makes him giggle.
botched-resurrection
: seems the death jokes are a universal undead experience
botched-resurrection
: as is people around us hating them
“Oh absolutely. My Living friends always groan and tell me to shut up but it’s a part of dead and undead culture, y’know ? Sam shouldn’t have killed me twice if she didn’t want the dead jokes.” Danny has tears in his eyes from laughing at Sam’s threats in chat. “At least my new best friend botched-resurrection gets me. Guess you’ve been replaced, Samantha.”chaosvine : don’t forget I’m in Am. next week, better stay hidden D. J. F. 🔪“Oh boy, I’m dead.” No one can deny that most of Danny’s jokes are, in fact, to make himself laugh. “Funny how you wanted to full name me but didn’t wanna dox.” He’s laughing so hard at this point that he doesn’t notice the blob ghost sitting on his mug and almost drinks it with his coffee. “Oh fu…dge, be careful little buddy, you know I don’t like eating you guys unless I need to.” He gently moves the blob to the armrest of his desk chair.jazz_hands : You finally have real food, little brother 🤗👏“Hi Jazz. I don’t always eat fast food, you know. It’s just more practical for stream, is all.” The blob ghost jumps off the chair and joins the other two in exploring the room.jazz_hands : 😒chaosvine : 🙄botched-resurrection : 🤨“Wow. I thought you would be on my side botched-resurrection. Where’s the undead support, my man ?” Danny raises his hand above his head and drops them down with a dramatic sigh. The three blobs seem to be climbing the constellation screen.
botched-resurrection
: sry not sry, lie better ig
botched-resurrection
: call me jay btw
“Damn, you’re killing me here bro…” He drops his head down on the desk with a fake sob before straightening up and laughing. “I’ve never been a good liar. I guess it’s a good thing our parents were negligent, right Jazz ?” He sticks his tongue out at the camera before giggling. A blob ghost tower can be seen in the background, on a shelf.jazz_hands : 🙄🤦🏻♀️so extra
chaosvine
: DP, forever trauma dumping
botched-resurrection
: hum, that seems kinda dangerous in the background…
“What do you—“ As Danny turns around, he notices the three blob ghosts on top of each other on his shelf. He’s interrupted by the clatter of the tower collapsing and knocking down the objects that were there. “As he would say: butter biscuits !”Danny stands and collects his fallen items, leveling a glare and sending a chirped warning to /behave/ to the blobs. “Ugh… This was possibly the worst shelf they could have done this on.” He sets the items on the desk and sits back down. The blobs are seen sulking on a bean bag in the background. “I guess this is now a Lego building stream.” Danny angles the camera down slightly to show the desk, the empty plate and mug and the keyboard are pushed aside. He sighs as he starts to sift through the scattered Lego pieces, moving the other items that fell off the shelf, a handmade Red Hood plushie and a snow globe that magically didn’t break.“This used to be a recreation of the ‘Spirit’ Mars Exploration Rover. It landed on Mars in 2004. It operated for more than 6 years, which is like, more than 20 times its supposed lifetime. It was sent to Mars with its twin, ‘Opportunity’ to study the possibility of the planet having had water.” He pulls up a photo on his screen and shares it with the stream. Huffing, he offers a sheepish smile to the camera. “This is going to take a while.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jason hates to admit it, but Dick might have been right, he might have developed a crush on his favorite streamer. He learned his name is Danny when the man ran into his old high school teacher during his first ghost-hunting stream on Halloween. He also discovered that Danny can transform but hasn’t done so on camera.The Batkids’ rule of thumb is to hide anything good that happens to you until you’re ready (if you’re lucky) or until your secret is discovered. Jason’s been following Danny’s stream religiously for a month and a half and he has managed to distract his family with his improved mood enough that they’re not wondering how it happened for fear of setting him back. For the first time, he’s grateful for how they walk on eggshells around him.He was worried about Dick telling the others but the privilege of being the only one in the know, and the only one who can tease him about it has made him hold his tongue. Now, Jason is realizing he is his own biggest enemy. Having a crush seems to mean everything reminds him of Danny and his family has started questioning his near-constant blush and Dick’s knowing smirks.As one does when trying to hide something from his family of detectives, Jason has decided to let Babs into the fold so she may help protect his electronics from their snooping. This finds Jason and Dick (who refused to be left out) sitting in Gotham’s library’s break room with coffees and donuts with Barbara looking at them expectantly.“Alright, spill. What’s up with you both seeking me out at work ?” She leans her elbows on the table and looks at them from above her joined hands. Dick turns to Jason with a smirk and nudges him to start explaining.With a sigh, Jason can already feel the blush making his way up his neck and he looks up at the ceiling, trying not to fidget. “So, you know how I’ve been feeling better lately ?” He looks down at Babs who’s rolling her eyes as if to say, ‘Everyone and their mother noticed’. “Well, uh, I started watching this guy’s TubeYou streams because he…calms the Pit like nothing else.”“And now, he’s got a big fat crush on the guy~” Dick gets a punch in the shoulder in return.“That’s great, Jay. I assume you told me so I can make sure no one snoops ?” Babs gets a nod in return. “I can definitely do it, but you know it won’t work forever. They’re going to find out at some point or stalk you until they do since they’re already suspicious.” She gets her laptop out of her bag with a smirk, “What’s mystery guy’s username ?”Dick explodes in a fit of giggles, bouncing on his chair and clapping quietly. “It’s CosmicSpecter.” Jason can’t fight his blush but tries to hide his smile by pushing Dick off his chair which has them wrestling.“What are these things ?” They both look up to see Babs looking at her screen with clear confusion. They join her and Jason chuckles.“Those are actual, in the flesh, or goo I guess, ghosts. I thought it was a well-planned hoax at first, but it seems to be the norm where he lives. He’s half-ghost apparently, whatever that means.” The three of them spent the rest of Barbara’s break sifting through VODs and Jason felt more comfortable than he thought possible sharing with his older ‘siblings’. They teased him relentlessly, of course, but he found it less annoying than he usually would.Getting back to his safe house, he ignores the positively giddy feeling as he clicks on the notification of Danny’s newest livestream. The channel’s schedule isn’t fixed but he usually streams twice a week. He can’t help but relax a bit on his couch as Danny’s greeting starts.“Hey guys, it’s good to be here, thanks for joining. I had a stupidly fun idea today so I had to stream right away.” Danny’s smile is bright and excited and he looks like he’s trying not to bounce too hard in his seat to keep his mug from spilling. OnlinePharaoh : a stupidly fun idea from you usually results in something catastrophic “Not this time Tuck, I’m pretty sure. I just wanted to share my Biscord and start having actual conversations with chat for a change of pace on stream.” A few clicks come from Danny’s mouse and suddenly a code is added to the overlay with a little blue icon. “Though, I guess since you three don’t want to be on stream except in chat, I have to hope Jay or whoever else is watching is feeling chatty.” He chuckles and seems a bit embarrassed but quickly hides it. “Anyway, while you guys think about that, I wanted to show you my shelves, since we never know when my decorations will be destroyed apparently.”A few clicks later and another camera feed is added to the screen, seemingly a portable one because Danny picks it up and scans over the back wall. “This screen is my favorite part, it has Orion’s Belt right now but if you pay attention it cycles through all of my favorite pictures of the stars.”The camera pans to the left and settles over the top shelf. “As you can see, my rover is back in its spot next to my rocket snow globe and this Red Hood plushie. As I said last stream, I made the rover myself, I got the globe at the observatory after graduation. The plushie was made by Sam for my birthday because you can’t find Red Hood merch anywhere and he’s my favorite.”Jason finds himself hiding his face in his hands to contain his blush even if no one can see him right now. He tries to dissuade himself from adding Danny on Biscord. Participating in a livestream is not a bat-sanctioned activity. He looks up to see Danny give a quick hug to a plushie of him and all caution goes out the window.“I chose to have things hanging from the bottom of the lowest shelf instead of on top of it, mostly because I wanted the Creep Stick in my background and it was too large. That’s the Creep Stick.” He muses, pointing at a neon green bat. “For when you want to play ghost baseball, or most likely, beat the shit out of a ghost with a bat.“That looks like a dream catcher but it’s a smaller version of the Ghost Catcher I made for fun. The last item is the Specter Deflector. I think it’s punny because of my username.” Going back to his desk and turning off the second camera, Danny’s eyes widen at something on his screen and he smiles. Jason refuses to admit that he started sweating. He clears his throat.“OMG, Jay, you added me on Biscord. I’m nervous now.” Danny giggles and Jason can’t help but laugh when he receives a private message. Phantom_Menace : I asked for this but I’m chickening out I think Phantom_Menace : maybe we could try chatting off-stream first ? Phantom_Menace : sry Notstilldead : Dw, I wasn’t sure either, we can have a trial call whenever you pause stream Notstilldead : And then decide ? Phantom_Menace : YES, I’d like that, thx Looking back at the stream, Jason sees Danny smiling at his phone before he seems to remember he should be talking to the camera and blushes, which makes him blush too because he was talking to him.“Sorry, I got distracted. I wanted to show this video I took of my dog Cujo. Well, he’s my ghost dog but we’ve been practicing tricks lately and he’s been so good.” Danny shares a series of pictures and a video of a glowing green dog playing with him and for once, Jason is eager for Danny to take a break. “I’m starting to get hungry. I might take a longer break than usual, I didn’t think I would be streaming today so I don’t have dinner ready. I guess, I’ll be back when I’m back.” Danny sheepishly rubs the back of his neck and pauses the stream. He takes a deep breath and shakes out his limbs. “Why am I so nervous ? This is dumb.” In a stroke of courage, he picks up his phone and calls Jay.The call rings for only a few seconds but it’s enough for Danny to second-guess himself. Before he can think otherwise though, his call is picked up and he hears someone clearing their throat before speaking.“Uh, hi ?” Danny feels himself blush immediately because that’s a hot voice. Can a voice even be hot ? This one certainly is and Danny has to remind himself to breathe and answer the man.“Hey Jay, nice to finally…put a voice to the name, I guess ?” He can’t help the embarrassed chuckle that escapes him and he closes his eyes and tries not to groan at his own awkwardness. He decides to finally leave his stream room and get started on dinner. “I assume we’re both feeling a bit awkward, because I refuse to think about the fact you’re probably much cooler than me.“I’m going to find something to eat, I hope you don’t mind.” He rubs his face and is thankful no one is there to see how socially awkward he is.In response to his rambling, he hears a deep chuckle that makes him blush even harder. “I don’t know about how cool I am but I’m also feeling awkward. I feel like we’ve talked before but it’s also the first time we’re talking. Does that make sense ?” He hears a groan and the fact that Jay is feeling awkward too makes him feel more comfortable. “What, uh, what are you having for dinner ?”“That’s the question, isn’t it ? I’m not actually sure. I don’t even know if I’m going to cook or if I’m going to order or pick up something. I don’t have anything ready but since I’m streaming I don’t want to show up with a plate of pasta with just ketchup, y’know ? Because I’d feel embarrassed and my sister would have me killed, again. Not that she’s killed me before, but I’ve died before and please, Ancients, make me stop talking.” Danny, finally, stops his rambling and has to lean against his kitchen island for emotional support. He does feel a bit better when Jay starts laughing.“Fuck, you are a breath of fresh air.” Danny freezes and looks at his phone with what he assumes is a full-body blush. Jay groans “Please, forget I said that. I guess we’re both having a hard time communicating.” The man on the other end takes a deep breath and Danny decides that’s a good idea. When Jay speaks again, he sounds a bit hesitant, “Do you cook at all ? I could give you some tips, if you’d like.”“Sure, I’d like that, thanks. My sister says I’m good at following instructions in the kitchen but if I’m left to my own devices I make what she calls ‘a crime against food and humanity at large’. Though, since my food doesn’t walk off the plate, I think she’s exaggerating.” As he sifts through his cupboards, Danny can’t help the smug smile on his face as he hears what is clearly a giggle quickly covered by a cough.“Hmm, I guess this has to do with the ‘hotdog uprisings of 2012’ you mentioned the other day ?” Now it’s Danny’s turn to try to stifle the giggle that escapes him as he washes his hands.“Yeah, turns out having magical radioactive waste in the fridge has some less-than-ideal consequences, who would have thought ? Certainly not my parents.” He puts more humor into his bitter laugh and thankfully Jay doesn’t say more on the subject.“What are you working with ? I can probably talk you through a simple pasta dish with whatever you have on hand.”Danny lets out an indignant sound. “Man, I know like three recipes that I cook interchangeably. With how confident you sound, I know I’m going to add this dish to the rotation and you’ll end up seeing it over and over again on stream.”Jay laughs and Danny can hear the smirk when he speaks. “I suppose I’ll have to teach you new recipes every time then. You’ll just have to call me again when you go grocery shopping.”“Man, I might hold you to that, if this meal turns out nicely, I mean. Should I just tell you all I have in my kitchen ? Or… I guess I could turn on the camera and just show you.”Without waiting for a response, Danny turns his camera on, flashing a quick smile before switching to the back camera and scanning over his cupboard and the contents of his fridge. He fiddles with his phone awkwardly, wondering if he should turn the camera off now.“Alright, I got ya. Is there anything in there you had plans for ? If you leave the camera on I can help you step by step.”“Not really ? And even if I did, it’s just a quick trip to the grocery store to buy more. Thanks for indulging me.” He gives a little embarrassed chuckle but is relieved when he can hear the smile in Jay’s voice.“No worries, this is fun. Nearly everyone I know is absolutely hopeless in the kitchen and the one person who isn’t is the man who taught me how to cook. Anyway, how do you feel about a creamy garlic sauce ?”“That sounds good and thankfully, garlic breath won’t translate on stream and there’s no one to complain here.” Danny leans his phone against his kitchen wall and prepares a pot of salted water to boil.“Good, you’re going to need, like, two cloves of garlic, butter, pepper, some chicken stock, cream, and some flour.” Danny sets the ingredients on the counter in front of the camera as they’re listed. “We should wait for the water to boil so you don’t burn the sauce while waiting for the pasta.”“Smart thinking.” Danny leans on the counter, trying very hard not to blush or act nervous because the man can see him now. He reminds himself this shouldn’t be that different from streaming but it doesn’t work. He clears his throat. “So…what can you tell me about you ?”“Well, I’m 24, I do odd jobs here and there. I live in Gotham, not much more to say about that. I have like a million siblings, most of them adopted.” He pauses and sounds a bit sheepish when he speaks again. “I like reading…and good food.”“How fun, we’re the same age, did you die at fourteen too ?” Danny immediately regrets his question and goes to backtrack but Jay answers anyway.“…Fifteen, actually.” Danny looks at his phone and gives a small smile, sensing a mutual understanding before he looks away and takes a deep breath, changing the subject.“What do you usually read ? I’ve always struggled with books, unless they’re like, science mags and astronomy textbooks.” He shrugs.“I’m the opposite, I can’t get through a textbook or even a science article, but I love fiction. Don’t tell my brothers I finally admitted it but my favorite is Pride and Prejudice.”“Wow, different brains, huh ? I’m sure you’d love my old high school teacher. Every time we made him want to swear he would use book titles instead of curses.” That tidbit earns Danny a laugh and he preens slightly before turning to the boiling water. “Should I put the pasta in now ? It says 12 minutes Al dente.”“Hm, that sounds good, then, let’s get this sauce started. Peel and dice the garlic and put in with some butter in a pan on low to mid heat, I like it with a shitload of pepper but add however much you prefer.” Danny telegraphs his movements for the camera and Jay chuckles. “Ya doing great, Spooks.” Jason can see Danny blush and raise a questioning brow at the nickname, he clears his throat. “Can you show me the pan ?...Okay, you can add some flour and mix, a bit more. Keep mixing for a minute and then we can add some chicken stock. Does that look nice to you ?”Danny shoves his face in front of the camera, above the pan, and winks “Sure does Chef, what’s next ?” Jason tries not to sound flustered.“Uh, the cream is next, with some parmesan. Is the pasta ready ?” Jason watches as Danny dips his full hand into the pot of boiling water and pulls out one (1) pasta like nothing happened and his voice rises in pitch. “What the actual fuck ? How are you not burned ?!”“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you, I’m pretty much resistant to heat and cold. I’ve been living alone for the past 5 years so I’ve gotten used to using my powers for anything and everything.” He aborts rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment and eats the pasta instead. “It’s ready.”“Okay, you’re gonna strain most of the pasta water, and then pour the pasta and the water into the sauce. Then serve it as you’d like and it’s ready.” Jason watches as his instructions are executed and Danny mimes jazz hands with a proud smile from above his plate.“You’re the best, this tastes really good. Not that I don’t like you watching me eat but we gotta go back up there.” Danny picks up the phone and turns off his camera. Jason can hear him climb up the stairs. “We can just keep chatting off-stream, no pressure.”“What did you want to talk about on stream ?” Jason finds himself putting his head in his hands, B will be mad when he finds out.“I didn’t really have many ideas. I just thought whoever wanted to chat, though I was hoping it would be you, would maybe have questions about ghosts that I didn’t think to explain before ? Except for the disclaimers about what not to say to ghosts that are in every video description, I only really explained the blob ghosts. But you can talk about whatever you want, or not talk at all.”Jason groans, running a hand through his hair. “I do want to keep talking to you, but I really shouldn’t be in a livestre—” He is cut off by someone breaking in through his window, and of course it’s Batman.“Red Hood, we’ve been trying to reach you on comms.” He grunts out while Jason rushes to cut off the call. He starts putting his suit and helmet on and picking up his weapons.“What’s so urgent, B ? You could have just called my phone instead of invading my safehouse. Isn’t it a bit early for patrol ?” The Red Hood moves quickly to ensure no trace of his crush is in sight of his father. He does not need Batman’s particular brand of suspicion.“Arkham breakout, Scarecrow and Riddler seem to be working together and moving towards Crime Alley, we need all hands on deck.” The big bat climbs back out the window without waiting for a response. With a deep sigh, Jason finishes his preparations and climbs up to the roof, clicking on his comms.“O, where do you need me ?" He can see multiple bats making their way through the shadows on rooftops from where he is.“Spoiler is en route to your location, ETA 2 minutes, then make your way towards the docks, we’re hoping to lure them away from people.” Babs voice rings clearly through the device and before long, he and Spoiler are coordinating with the others. Red Robin’s voice sounds rushed.“Robin and I have defused three bombs, all in areas that were densely populated before the evacuation order and all rigged with fear gas.”“Hn, gas masks on, everyone.” Red Hood’s helmet is properly equipped but he makes sure Spoiler is protected before they move on.“I’ve got a location for Riddler and Scarecrow is making his way there. B and Nightwing are closest.” Nodding towards Stephanie, they make their way to the marked location, landing on the same roof as BlackBat, opposite Batman and Nightwing. At Oracle’s go-ahead, they each launch themselves into the building.BlackBat seems to disappear into the shadows, reappearing at times to take out a goon sneaking up on someone and silently dispatching them. Meanwhile, Spoiler and Nightwing are being boisterous, keeping the attention on themselves. Red Hood is picking off a few goons and keeping an eye on the exits as the two rogues are currently in a stare-down with Batman.“RR and Robin are en route, all bombs have been defused.” Oracle’s voice brings the fight to a close, all criminals being tied up as they wait for police to arrive.“Everyone, report to the cave after patrol.” Batman dismisses the group who splits towards their respective patrol routes. Jason waves to his siblings before grappling through Crime Alley.“Hood, this is a private line. You might want to call your boyfriend; he ended his livestream in a hurry, and I saw you were on a call when B arrived.” The vigilante swears as he trips a mugger and ties him to a lamppost.“Shit, thanks for the info, O. Can you patch me through to him ?” Barbara hums before signing out and Jason holds his breath as the call rings. He stops on a nearby roof to pace and freezes when the call is picked up. “Danny ? Uhm, can we talk…about what you heard earlier ?” He tries to run his hand through his hair, but the helmet is in the way.“Jay ?… You’re Red Hood ?” Danny sounds a bit breathless, and Jason gulps and turns off his voice modulator, sitting on a ledge, his legs dangling off the roof.“…Yes. I’m sorry you had to find out like this and that I hung up. And—” A gunshot rings out and Jason groans. “Fuck, hold on a minute, I’m still on patrol.” He swings across the street, quickly finding the convenience store being robbed. He turns the modulator back on and drops down to the ground. Three armed men are holding staff and customers at gunpoint, the cashier trembling as they scramble to put cash in a bag. Jason figures out the safest course of action, he shoots the furthest two in the wrists to make them drop their weapons as he jumps on the third’s back and disarms him too, looking at the victims. “There are children in here, I shouldn’t have gone non-lethal.”He hurries to tie up the three and knocks them unconscious for good measure. He stays behind with the victims until the police and ambulance are there before he grapples away. Jason is relieved to hear humor in Danny’s voice. “Did you call to threaten me into silence ?” He chuckles.“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. Do I have to ?”“Ancients, no. I know exactly how important secret identities are, I know you’ll be worried, but I hope you realize you can trust me. I feel sorry you were outed without your consent, I know how terrifying that is.” Danny's voice softens at the end and Jason knows he should be more suspicious, but he feels he can trust this man.“You were a vigilante too, weren’t you ?”“Yep. I was pretty much only active in my small town. There was also a lot of bad press at first, so I was so scared when my identity got out. Turns out my neighbors are a lot more accepting than my parents and they’ve been amazing ever since. Once they realized the ghost boy was, in fact, a half-dead teenager they all knew very well, they made sure I ate even while on patrol and asked if I’d done my homework.“I’ve completely given up on maintaining a separate hero identity, at least within the town borders. Plus, masks don’t mean much to ghosts, all my rogues knew who and what I was before I did, and they kept my secret for me. My separate identity was to protect myself from humans only. I go by Phantom when in the suit.” Danny’s laugh almost sounds embarrassed, and Jason can’t help but smile.“Listen, thanks for being understanding, and sharing so much. I have to go report but, hopefully, we can talk again soon ?” Not that Jason would have stopped watching the streams but the identity reveal might have changed something for Danny.“Dude, you were my favorite viewer already and now you’re also my favorite vigilante ? You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon. Also, ignore the fact that I have a plushie of you, please.”“You wish, Spooks, I’ll just have to get a Phantom plushie to even things out.” They share a laugh before hanging up as Jason nears the Batcave, trying to act like he’s not crushing so hard.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Danny is still reeling from what he learned this evening (the Red Hood watches his streams ??) when his phone rings. He doesn’t get time to speak before Tucker shrieks from the other end.“DANNY ! Why is Oracle looking into you and Amity Park ?! Did you know Oracle was real ?!” He can tell his best friend is stuck between being worried and fanboying that his hero is hacking him.“Chill out, Tuck, let them look. You can give them access to whatever they need. You don’t need to worry, nothing is wrong, and while I can’t tell you why, I’m not on the Bats’ radar for dangerous reasons.” Danny tries to sound as reassuring as he can but from the sounds of the keyboard he can hear through the phone, he can tell his best friend is still frazzled. “I’m truly not in trouble, Tucker.”“Then…Oh my Ancients, Danny, ORACLE IS IN MY SYSTEM.” Danny chuckles as he pulls his phone away from his ear to protect it from the volume. “Dannyyyy, they’re complimenting me, I have to go.” His best friend hangs up and Danny laughs. He decides to send Jay a message to let him know about the situation.Phantom_Menace: Tuck called, he is fanboying so hard cause Oracle is hacking him
Notstilldead
: I didn’t ask her to look into you
Notstilldead
: I can get her to stop if it’s an issue
Phantom_Menace
: Dw, Tuck was over the moon once I said I wasn’t in danger
Phantom_Menace
: didn’t tell him anything about you but he might still ask
Notstilldead
: since my family is known to snoop, it’s only fair you tell your friends why
Notstilldead: O having a file on you is the best way for the rest to leave you alone
Notstilldead
: I’ll do my best to make sure the bats stay out of your way, especially the Big Bat, he’ll be the hardest to convince you’re not a danger to us
Notstilldead
: I’m really sorry to bring you into this mess, they have no concept of boundaries
Phantom_Menace
: It’s alright, really
Phantom_Menace
: I’ll prepare a speech to convince any bat that makes their way to Amity
Notstilldead
: Good luck with that lol, ttyl
Danny lets himself fall into his bed with a sigh. He’s ready to call it a night after such unexpected revelations. Except the Universe seems to have other plans because Danny’s ghost sense goes off. He sits up, groaning, and transforms before flying through the wall and toward the source of the problem.After being a ghost for 10 years, Danny’s ghost sense is now capable of sensing any ghost entering his Haunt. He can feel exactly where in Amity Park the intruder is, and he stops in Casper High’s parking lot, shooting Johnny and Kitty an unimpressed look. They just wave at him excitedly, and he rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless as he floats towards them.“No camera this time, Punk ? My girl even made herself all pretty like for it.” Johnny looks Kitty over appreciatively, with an arm around her waist. Danny doesn’t think she looks any different from usual but doesn’t mention it.“Not this time, something came up and I had to end it early. Was that why you guys came here ?”“Nah Kid, we just haven’t seen you on the other side in a while. Skulker let us know you had a camera gig going on and we just had to see what was keeping you so busy.” Kitty drawls draping herself over her boyfriend lazily.“I found out this guy who always watches my content is a hero too, my favorite vigilante too. I don’t know what to do with that information…” He looks up to see Kitty looking suspiciously excited.“Oh my, Ancients ! Sounds like fate if you’re both a fan of the other’s work, right ? You’ll be like Johnny and me before you know it.” Her boyfriend just laughs before inching toward Danny.“You know, best way to work through shit is a good ol’ ghost fight.” He smirks before leading his bike upwards, leaving Kitty and his shadow behind. Danny looks over the scene before thinking ‘fuck it’ and leaping to follow and wrestle with the ghost.After an hour or two of dodging ecto-blasts and trying to ram each other into the ground and through buildings, they find themselves in the park, being joined by Kitty. Danny lets his transformation wash over him and lays on his back to stargaze.“I already felt awkward talking to the guy, how am I supposed to pretend to be cool now when I’m starstruck ?! He’s the goddamn Red Hood ? You guys know how many souls sing his praises and the guy is just… a fan ? Of me ? I can’t wrap my head around any of this…” He runs his hands down his face with a groan and looks towards his friends only to find them driving away, laughing when they look back towards his crestfallen expression. “Whatever, I’ll just go to sleep, then.”People say to sleep on it when you’re struggling with your thoughts. Somehow, Danny wakes up feeling worse. Why his brain conjured that up to make him process is diabolical. He hopes Nocturn didn’t have anything to do with this because it would be embarrassing, to say the least. Groaning and refusing to see himself in the mirror, he heads to the shower. How am I supposed to talk to the guy again ? He decides that he can’t process this on his own and sends a message on the ‘OGTeamPhantom’ group chat while picking at his breakfast.
Phantom_Menace
: Last night, I learned Jay is actually the Red Hood
Phantom_Menace
Phantom_Menace
: currently mortified ; how will I ever talk to the guy again ?
Phantom_Menace
: Is ghosting him too on the nose ?! Help…
TooFine
: dude
TooFine
: my guy
#1IvyStan
: ouch, group call, rn
“What do I do, guys ? I was already having a hard time not acting like a fool when I thought he was just Jay, a fan of mine. Now, the Red Hood religiously watches my stream, how am I even supposed to act ?”“Danny, you’re spiraling. Take a breath. Also, it was always the Red Hood watching your stream, you just didn’t know. Nothing has changed.”“Oh my Ancients, guys !!! THE RED HOOD WATCHES MY STREAM.” Cue fanboying and shrieks that make his best friends groan.“It’s too early for this…” Sam sounds so done and Danny tries to feel guilty, but he is, unfortunately, too freaked out.“That explains the Oracle thing.” Tucker muses thoughtfully.“What Oracle thing ?” Both men sigh, overwhelmed by their heroes paying attention to them. Danny takes a deep breath and starts recounting his evening. In Gotham, one Jason Todd wakes up feeling like a hormonal teenager and is similarly mortified.Somewhere in the Infinite Realms, Nocturn chuckles, feeling satisfied with their meddling. “Jaybird~~” Dick Grayson dodges a pillow as he opens the front door to his brother’s safehouse. “Damn, you look like shit. What happened ?” He ignores Jason’s grumbling and perches on his couch.Jason slams his head against his kitchen counter twice before leaning his cheek against the cold surface and glaring at the wall. “Danny knows I’m Red Hood.”“What the hell ? I know there’s no way you told him, so how did that happen ?” Dick makes his way to the kitchen and serves himself a cup of coffee.“Once I’m no longer freaking out, I know this will be hilarious…but would you believe it was B’s fault ?” His bitter chuckle turns more humorous when his brother chokes on his sip of coffee. “We were on a call when B broke through my window and goes” Jason clears his throat and sits up a bit to access his Batman voice “Red Hood, we’ve been trying to reach you. I was definitely in civvies.”Dick, not being sympathetic to Jason, has to put his mug down and crouch on the floor as he laughs. “I demand to be here when you tell him, he’s gonna be so mad. Oh my God, this is hilarious.”“He has a Red Hood plushie, Dickie, a handmade one. He says I’m his favorite, and he’s a vigilante too.” Jason doesn’t recognize his own voice, and he knows he’s blushing furiously. “He texted me after I left the cave last night, to ask why Oracle was hacking him. I was so embarrassed.”“Was he mad ?” Dick leans onto the counter, studying his younger brother.“No, he was understanding as shit, excited even, said his tech guy was hardcore fanboying. Says he’s preparing a speech for whenever the Bats track him down to threaten him into silence.” Jason groans and downs his coffee before standing up to do the dishes.“You mean, when we track him down to give him a shovel talk ?” Dick teases, getting his face splashed with soapy water when he adds his own mug to the sink.“Not a shovel talk, we’re not dating…” He ignores when the man adds ‘yet’. “I don’t even know how effective a shovel talk would be on a guy who’s already half dead.”“Well, I’ll leave you to your brooding, I wanna see what Babs found about your Loverboy.” Jason locks the door behind his brother, too tired to argue. His breath catches in his throat when Danny’s username lights up his phone screen.
Phantom_Menace
: Last night, that was Batman, right ?
Phantom_Menace
: How mad is he gonna be that it was his fault I know your ids ?
Notstilldead
: This does make this whole thing so much funnier
Notstilldead
: I can’t wait to rub it in his face
He wonders if it’s normal to feel so awkward over a simple conversation with his…crush.
Phantom_Menace
: I gotta admit, I’m not quite sure how to talk to you anymore…
Notstilldead
: Thank fuck it’s not just me
Phantom_Menace
: My friends convinced me that ghosting you would be mean and too ironic
Notstilldead
: Ha, I’m glad you didn’t, I would have thought you were disappointed
Notstilldead
: ‘never meet your heroes’ and all that, not that I’m much of a hero
Phantom_Menace
: Of course not ! If anything, I’m too starstruck to know what to say to you
Phantom_Menace
: Don’t ever say you’re not a hero, you’d make a lot of ghosts sad
Jason freezes. What does that mean ? He wonders why ghosts would be talking about him. He tries to find a way to word his question. After a minute of his hands hovering over the keyboard, he loses his fight against his self-control and presses the call button instead. It rings twice and he forgoes the greeting entirely.“What does that mean ?” As seems to be the case when Danny is involved, his voice sounds unfamiliar to his ears. It’s softer, and it’s more vulnerable than he would care to be in front of others. Thankfully, the man on the other hand just chuckles, like Jason doesn’t feel like he’s baring his soul every time he speaks to this not-quite-stranger.“Dude, you’re like, a celebrity in the Realms.” Now Jason is even more confused.“The fuck are the Realms ?” He cringes at how harsh his words sound but Danny just sounds amused.“The Infinite Realms, other names are the Ghost Zone, Limbo, Purgatory… Imagine every afterlife in the same dimension with doors popping up all over and linking to every multiverse.” He feels like his head is spinning and he ignores how he shrieks his next sentence.“And I’m a celebrity there ?!”“Oh yeah, big time. You have no idea how many ghosts you’ve avenged and helped since putting on the helmet. They call you Gotham’s Avenger. You’ll have a lot of thank you letters waiting in your afterlife, and a lot of friends. Don’t know if that’s weird to say, kinda desensitized to death here, but there will be hundreds of souls fighting to give you your afterlife orientation once you’ve finished your lifetime.”Jason lets himself fall onto his couch. He draws a deep breath. “Somehow, that information is as disturbing as it is reassuring. It’s also a lot to process, fuck…” Leaning on his knees, he whispers into the phone, “So, I do good ?” Danny’s voice is so earnest when he speaks that Jason’s breath catches in his throat.“You’ve done so so good Jay. The Living might argue your choices, but to the Dead, you’re a savior, I hope you believe that.”“…Thank you, Danny. And…my name’s Jason, Jason Todd.” He can hear Danny pause before he speaks again.“Danny Fenton, it’s an honor to meet you. No need to thank me by the way, as the Living representative of the Dead, it is sort of my job to share messages from ‘beyond’, y’know ? Many ghosts wanted me to find you in Gotham to let you know but I’m not allowed.” Once Jason wraps his head around what was said, he is confused.“Wait, what do you mean ‘not allowed’ ?”Danny chuckles. “I must warn you; I’ve been told that every time I explain something about my trainwreck of a life, it brings more questions than answers. Or at least, no satisfying answers.”Jason thinks about it for a second and chuckles. “Honestly, you’re probably right, I think that’s enough information to wrap my head around for today. Though, I might come back to it if I’m still curious.”“That’s fair, honestly.” He hears rustling on the other hand. “Did you, uh, have plans for the day ?”“Not much except Red Hood shit, really. I woke up earlier than I usually would so I’m just, hanging out ? You ?”“Oof, same, I’m not usually up before 10 A.M. I might go grocery shopping, though.”(Only we know that they’re both blushing remembering why they woke up early.)They both clear their throats at the same time, and it eases the awkwardness. “If you’re going grocery shopping, we can brainstorm some recipes for you to buy the ingredients for.”“I’m not gonna question how my life brought me to this moment where Red Hood is offering to teach me how to cook, I’m afraid to ruin it. I wanna learn how to make lasagna. And what are the best vegetables to buy for a stir fry? And homemade pizza ?” Jason grins and chuckles, finding this man increasingly endearing and thinking of asking Alfred for more recipes so he doesn’t run out of excuses to talk to Danny anytime soon. Danny had a feeling he had forgotten something but considering how his brain is still trying to make sense of his current situation, he didn’t think much of it. He should have, because now, his phone is ringing, and Jazz’s name flashing makes him swallow his guilt and pick up the phone sheepishly.“Heyyyy, Jazz. Sorry I forgot to tell you why I cut the stream short last night. Nothing bad or dangerous happened but I was, still am, a bit overwhelmed.” He can feel Jazz’s initial worry dying on her tongue and she lets out a deep sigh, making Danny squirm in guilt.“So, what’s going on, baby brother ?”“I accidentally learned that Jason, Jay my favorite viewer, is the Red Hood. And for some reason, he’s teaching me how to cook and he likes my streams and I don’t how to react to this information.”“I mean this in the nicest way possible, Danny, but how do you find yourself in these situations ?”“Clockwork probably.”“Hmmm, do you think you could get me Nightwing’s autograph ?”“Tucker got to talk to Oracle and Sam wants to know if he has Ivy’s number so I guess I can ask for Nightwing’s autograph too… I didn’t even ask him for his autograph. Jazz, he saw me hug a Red Hood plushie on stream, what do I do ?”“What did he have to say about that ?” Jazz sounds amused but he ignores it and groans through his blush.“He said he would get a Phantom plushie to even things out…”“Danny…is Red Hood flirting with you ? Are you flirting with Red Hood ?”“No !...I don’t know…” He responds too fast and he might be trying to reassure himself.“Danny…” Jazz is obviously not convinced and he sighs.“…He sounds hot.” He finally admits, Jazz chuckles. “Plus, he’s funny, and he’s nice and he’s the fucking Red Hood, Jazz.”“Ancients, Danny.” She’s laughing now and Danny is sure his skin hasn’t had that much color in it since he died. “How is a big sister supposed to give a crime lord a shovel talk ?” She keeps teasing him until the call ends and Danny decides to go on with his day as usual, ignoring his inner turmoil.When he decides to stream again a few days later, he has to do breathing exercises to calm his anxiety. He hopes the dim lighting hides enough that whenever he starts blushing again it won’t be noticeable.“Hiya, I’m back. Sorry I cut the last stream short, something came up, but all is well now. Hi guys, hi Jay, welcome to the new viewers.”Bluebird: I heard a lot about you from Jay so had to check out the live 😉botched-resurrection: you have got to be kidding me 😑
botched-resurrection
: don’t make me come find you
ClockLady
: boys, stop fighting in the poor guy’s chat
botched-resurrection: you too ? I trusted you 💔Danny can’t help but laugh at the interaction. “I guess I should thank you, Jay, it’s always nice to have more people here. I hope you guys enjoy the stream on top of teasing him.”
OnlinePharaoh
: so nice of your bf to bring in more viewers
“Tucker, don’t make me fly to Central City and fry all your electronics.”
OnlinePharaoh
: You wouldn’t !
“Try me, bitch. I’ll steal your parents too, they always seem happy when I stop by.” Danny ignores the fact that he’s blushing and tries to act nonchalantly.
chaosvine
: those threats won’t work on me tho…
jazz_hands: or me, baby brother😇“I will make all your afterlives hell. Could speed up the process too, if you’re not careful.” Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he smiles. “Alright, I’m just gonna ignore you, this is not worth my energy, I’ve decided.”
botched-resurrection
: agreed, vengeance will be sweeter later anyway
“Good call, Jay. Anyway, there’s a party or a function, unsure, in the Zone tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect. It’s the first thing since the coronation and that was more posturing than anything. I don’t know whether I should be prepared to schmooze and eat til I burst or if I’m gonna be thrust into the arena and be forced to fight everyone I meet. Honestly don’t know what I’d prefer, probably if I didn’t have to go but that’s out of the question.”
Bluebird
: Zone ?
ClockLady
: coronation ?
botched-resurrection
: if it’s fighting, can I join ?
“The Ghost Zone is one of the names for the dimension where ghosts live, not that they live but you get it. It’s a monarchy. And while that sounds nice, the Living aren’t invited sadly, though they might make an exception for you if I asked… It’s a bad idea though and how would you even get there.”
botched-resurrection
: don’t care, it’s a date, pick me up at 7, bye
Bluebird
: So proud of my baby bird for shooting his shot
jazz_hands
: Danny, you better let him know exactly what he’s walking into, I do mean EVERYTHING
chaosvine
: that man has no idea what he just did, huh
OnlinePharaoh
: I think he broke DP
Danny is gaping at his screen, opening and closing his mouth like a stupid fish. “The fuck ?” He takes a deep breath and shakes his head while looking at the ceiling. “Clockwork give me strength. I have never known a less adequate first date location. It’s like asking me out for a tour of Arkham.”
ClockLady
: that sounds really bad
Bluebird
: it can’t actually be that bad, right ?
“You have no idea… Tuck, will you send me the files ?”
chaosvine:
wow
jazz_hands:
oh you’re serious
OnlinePharaoh
: sent, but, you want to show him the files already ?
Bluebird
: confused and scared
ClockLady
: so confused
“I know, but isn’t this fun ?” Danny smiles a mischievous thing, too wide and with too sharp teeth and he can already imagine his friends groaning. “I can promise to maintain his physical safety and I will do my utmost to protect his sanity. So, don’t worry too much about him ?” Danny leans his head on the table for a few seconds before looking up, blushing furiously. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. I can’t believe he asked me on a date on stream and then just left.“I’ll cut stream here so I can freak out off camera. Ancients, I thought life had thrown me all the curveballs it could but somehow, it just keeps going, huh ? Signing out, bye.” As soon as he ends his livestream and faceplants into his beanbag he screams. His dramatics are interrupted by his group chat blowing up and he sends a single message before muting them.
Phantom_Menace
: Yes, that was probably Nightwing and Oracle, no I don’t think I’ll reconsider, I live for chaos, if he runs away then it’s my own fault and I’ll cry ig, logging off, need a break, xx
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jason is relieved seeing Danny’s face on his screen after the identity reveal. However, he is not excited to see Dick and Babs interacting with him. As he’s trying to wrap his head around Danny’s friend referring to him as his boyfriend, he receives a notification.
You have been added to ‘CosmicSpecter #1 Fan Club’
Discowing: I understand the appeal Jaybird
😏
Barbie: Agreed, very handsome
J: Fuck off, actually
J: Get off his stream
Barbie: I thought he wasn’t your boyfriend ?
Discowing: True, it’s fair game at this point, really !
Discowing: You should hurry up if you don’t want to share
The messages keep coming, with Dick and Barbara gushing about Danny and Jason has to take a deep breath to stop from throwing his phone across the room. He knows they’re playing with him and yet, before his brain catches up to what he’s doing, he’s hit ‘send’.
botched-resurrection
: don’t care, it’s a date, pick me up at 7, bye
In a belated panic, he closes the app and screws his eyes shut. He stands up, groaning, and decides to go out on patrol early. As soon as he turns his comms on and starts grappling through the Gotham skyline, Oracle’s amused voice greets him.“Aren’t you curious about his reaction ? You really dropped a bomb and left, you know ?” He nearly misses his landing and decides to stop on a roof for this conversation.“The both of you were egging me on…All I remember is reading the message I had already sent and just…”“Running away ? Rage quitting ? Digging yourself a hole to hide in ?”“Literally, I hate you both, I’m going to block your ass.” Babs knows that Jason is more embarrassed than he is angry so she laughs. She can barely hear when he speaks next. “What did he say ?”“I would tell you, but a silent alarm just turned on two blocks away from your location and you’re the only one out right now.”The remainder of patrol helps Red Hood work out his nerves while dodging Dick and Babs’ teasing and the rest of the family’s suspicions. He even allowed Oracle to share a blackmail video of him tripping over his own feet to distract them from the real object of their mockery.Jason heads to bed as soon as he’s out of the shower, deciding that he can take responsibility for his words in the morning. He does dream of a swirling green sky that was calming in a way it shouldn’t have been after his experience with the Lazarus Pits. He wakes up tired and grumpy and he regrets not playing one of Danny’s VOD before bed. As he makes breakfast, he responds to Dick and Barbara’s messages saying they’ll cover for him tonight as long as he finds a good excuse for going out of town. He almost drops the pancake he’s flipping when Danny texts him.
Phantom_Menace
: Heyy, sooo, there’s a LOT you need to know, if you were serious about our…date…?
Phantom_Menace
: I’ll just drop this here and if you change your mind, we can take a raincheck, maybe ?
Phantom_Menace
sent an attachment: Realms101.zip
Jason chooses to watch the rest of last night’s stream first and he doesn’t know whether he should be scared or if he feels vindicated that Barbara and Dick were as confused as he feels. He does read through the files, which are, extensive to say the least. It takes him 20 minutes to skim through them and then an hour and a half to make sure he gets all the information. Taking a deep breath, he concludes that this explanation requires at least a video call, if not an in-person conversation. He refuses to admit how long he spent checking himself in the mirror before he contacts Danny. The man picks up after three rings and Jason forgoes the greeting entirely, plastering an easy-going smile to hide his nerves.“Should I be calling you your Majesty from now on ?” He feels proud when Danny releases a breath of relief and laughs.“Please don’t. There are already too many people who refuse to call me anything other than my proper titles and I find it embarrassing.” He watches as his date rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I assume you have questions…”“First of all, how is your life as batshit crazy as the founding JL members ?” Danny just shrugs. “Second of all, yeti doctors ?!” This earns a laugh and Jason chuckles. “I mean, this is definitely a lot to process, and I have a lot I’m wondering about, but that’s par for the course when learning about another dimension. I assume the files had everything I needed to know ?”“Pretty much, as long as you don’t ask anyone how they died and you understand that an attack is a greeting most of the time, you’ll get along fine. But, since I’ll be with you, I’m more likely to fight than you are. Are you sure you want to come with ?” Danny actually looks concerned and Jason is the one shrugging now.“I’m willing to admit I didn’t think things through when I asked, but it sounds fun ? We’re both vigilantes, I’m a crime lord and you’re a king, I don’t think we could get a normal first date, and it would be a little boring, right ?” They both blush and laugh a little before Danny sighs.“I suppose you’re right, but, maybe we could get lunch together, ease you into this whole thing. I’d also like to fit you for the Ghost Peeler and maybe spend a bit of time in the Realms before the party so you can get used to…the physics.”“Sure, I’d be happy to get more time with you.” Jason’s grin widens at Danny’s blush. “I’ll prepare lunch, any allergies or foods you don’t like ?”“No allergies but I hate toast. I’ll portal just outside Gotham once you’re ready and then we can go to Amity ?”“Got ya, no toast and I’ll text you when I’m ready to go, okay ?”“Okay. Great, yeah, I’ll see you then.” Danny hangs up with a wave and Jason gets started on making their lunch, an assortment of dishes he’s confident in and an apple pie. He prepares a bag with a more formal outfit and his Red Hood suit, just in case. He finds himself texting Roy to help pick his outfit and is teased relentlessly for it.Around noon, he texts Danny his location in a diner parking lot outside city limits. Barely a minute later, a whirling sound makes him lift his head to see a green portal opening off the side of a building. Danny steps out wearing dark jeans and a button-up shirt, his hair framing his face. He scans the area in a way Jason is all too familiar with, looking around for threats and exit strategies. When his eyes land on him, he blushes and rubs the back of his neck, waving him over.Jason takes the few steps towards Danny, using the few seconds to check the man out appreciatively. He stands a head taller than the other man who looks up at him with a smile which turns into a concerned frown as Jason reaches him. “It’s great to finally see you in person Jason… But, hm, I mean no offense, but are you aware you’re sick ?” He watches Danny quizzically as he tilts his head and steps slightly closer to Jason, hand hovering near the taller man’s chest. When their eyes meet again, he gives a tight smile and offers his hand to Jason, pointing at the portal. “I’m sorry, I know I’m being so weird, right now, but I’d rather sit down somewhere else to explain this…”The man trails off and while Jason does find this odd, Danny’s concern is obvious, and he decides to let him lead him through the portal. It feels cool and almost, goopy ? The feeling is hard to describe, and it doesn’t feel like any portal he’s gone through before, like it has a physical form. Jason looks around the living room they walk into and when Danny leads him to the couch, he takes a seat and clears his throat. “Well, this is definitely an unexpected first meeting, Danny. Care to explain ?” Danny groans as he sits down on an armchair across from Jason after serving them both a glass of water. He hadn’t expected the man to be more attractive in real life than on the video call earlier that day. That had been a pleasant surprise that had him nearly squealing on a phone call with Sam and Tucker this morning. He certainly hadn’t expected to be hit with a wave of /hurt-green-rage/ when the man approached. He had known the man died and came back, and maybe the username ‘botched-resurrection’ should have clued him into something being wrong.He meets the man’s eyes and takes a sip of water to collect himself. “I’m going to ramble, and you might not like what I have to say. It might even be…triggering. However, I want you to know, right now, I am talking to you as High King Phantom and I want to help you.” He waits for Jason to process and when he nods he continues. “I know you died and I know you came back. I do not know how, but clearly it had, lasting side effects, harmful ones.” Jason takes a deep breath and Danny sends a wave of /safe-calm/ when the man’s eyes flash green.He can tell the man couldn’t perceive the Ghostspeak and how he is surprised by his aborted episode. “Ghosts are made of ectoplasm, and ectoplasm is made of emotions, I’ve explained this on stream before and it was mentioned in the files I sent you, right ?” When Jason nods, he keeps going. “Clearly, sometime between your death and now, you came into contact with a lot of corrupted ecto which would cause outbursts of rage, blackouts, maybe a tendency towards excessive violence.” The man’s eyes widen slightly and he takes a deep breath. “Clearly, you know what I’m talking about, and we’ll talk about that at a later date because that stuff should not be in the Living world in such a quantity.“I’m skipping a lot of information and we can expand later, but to make a long story short, you died, you started forming a ghost core and before it was stable, you were resurrected and the core was contaminated. What I’m saying is, I want to help. Well, it’s my responsibility to help, actually. Would you accept my help ?” Danny is sure he sounds slightly desperate but he can’t help but feel how Jason’s core screams and it’s making him want to cry.Jason takes a minute to process everything, sipping on his glass of water with a faraway look in his eyes before he meets Danny’s gaze and relaxes slightly. “What…would help entail ? How would you help me ?” He can tell the man is trying not to hope and it breaks his heart.“Well, first step would be to take you to Frostbite, who’s my yeti doctor.” Danny adds with a slight smile. “You wouldn’t be in danger ever, and I won’t let you get hurt, I can promise you that. If you feel ready to tell me what caused this infection, I could prepare you more for what is to come. Though, most core illnesses require a bath in a healing pool, which is, a green glowing pool and I have a feeling that might be triggering ?” Jason takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He leans back on the couch and clasps his hands together when they start shaking. He doesn’t look at Danny as he speaks. “When I…came back, I wasn’t exactly conscious for a long time. A cult of assassins found me and dumped me into the Lazarus Pits, a pool of boiling green liquid that heals the sick and kills the healthy.” The Ghost King gasps causing the man to look back at him.“I’m sorry, I knew those existed, they’re, for lack of a better term, sewer drainage from the Realms, but I didn’t think they were…accessible to humans…” He waits in case Jason has more to say but he just looks at him. “I can assure you, the pools in the Realm are nothing like what you’ve been exposed to, but we’ll make sure they’re our last resort. I would have to ask Frostbite but there might be other avenues we can explore. However, I can tell you, using the pool would be the safest and fastest way to get you healthy again.”“What would healthy mean to me now ?” Danny can tell Jason is unsure and trying to hide his fear.“You have a ghost core in a Living body. Usually, that means you would be a revenant. But I have to be honest, you told me you died as a teen, that means this ectoplasm has been in your body for years and I can’t say how that would affect your human body…maybe you could be like me ? I’m sorry I can’t answer all your questions; this is Frostbite’s expertise…”He groans because he feels useless right now, and he feels sorry that he has let one of his people suffer alone, without guidance, for so long. “All I can tell you is that whatever your new healthy is, you will have access to any and all resources I, as King, can offer, and my support, as Danny, if you want it. I can give you time to think about this, or if you want someone to be with you when we meet Frostbite.”After a beat, Jason exhales a humorless laugh. “Man, this is not how I expected our first date to go.” Danny chuckles bitterly and offers a gentle smile to try and comfort the other man. “I didn’t tell the Bats where I was going but I’m going to have to call them for this if I don’t want to get in serious trouble when I’m back in Gotham…” He sends a quick text on his phone before smiling at Danny and reaching for the bag he brought. “I just told Oracle to share the files and the fact that I’m meeting you with the rest of the Bats, let’s have lunch together, like we’re supposed to be, and then I’ll face the storm of explaining this clusterfuck to my family.”“Works for me. No work talk at the table, yeah ?” Danny asks as he fetches plates and cutlery from the kitchen and it elicits a big laugh from Jason.“God, you sound like Alfred. That’s my dad’s butler, but really he’s our grandfather. He’s the one I told you about who taught me how to cook.” Jason explains as he serves their food, lasagna and a salad.“He sounds great, and impressive if he can survive being a grandfather for the Bats.” This makes Jason laugh again while they dig into their food.“Definitely. He’s the man who orders Batman around and scares him into obedience after all, he’s terrifying.” They laugh, eating as they ignore Jason’s phone blowing up.“Honestly, that’s probably how the ghosts feel about Jazz. She’s the fragile human girl who can make their all-powerful King grovel with a single look of disappointment. Not that they would ever say that out loud because, well, she’s one of the Princesses of the Realms. Even if she’s human they’re probably more scared of her than they are of me.”Jason looks up with a smirk. “Maybe we should sic Alfred on our rogues, show them that there’s someone out there that all the Bats, even Batman are scared of.”“While I can’t judge his ability to scare Gotham rogues into submission, he surely did a fantastic job teaching you how to cook, this is delicious.” The man, honest to Ancients, preens and grins a glowing smile that makes Danny’s heart skip a beat. He decides it should be illegal for this huge hot guy to be that cute (or for anyone but Danny to see him acting that cute). It seems Jason can’t ignore his phone anymore as he serves slices of his apple pie because he nods towards Danny and answers the latest call, putting it on speaker. “I assume everyone’s here, you’re on speaker, say hi to Danny.” There’s a cacophony of responses that progressively get further from the phone as someone chooses to speak more directly.“Hi Danny, I’m Dick, I watched your stream yesterday, it was really fun.”“Hi, you must be Nightwing then, it’s nice to meet you.” Further chaos ensues across the phone as Jason snickers.“Jason, care to explain why the King of another dimension knows all our identities ?” A gruff voice rings through, sounding entirely displeased.“That would be your fault Big Bats, you broke into his place and called him Red Hood while we were on the phone. I didn’t even know his name was Jason then.” Gasps and bouts of uncontrollable laughter come through the other end and Jason sends Danny a pleased smile.“I think we should be more worried about why Jason willingly shared all of this and answered our call during his date than whether or not his boyfriend knows our secret identities.” Dick provides, effectively quieting the group.“Long story short, Danny says the Lazarus Pits are sewer waste from the Infinite Realms and he can cure me of the Pit’s effects.” There’s a long beat of heavy silence on the other end and Jason hurries to lower the volume on his phone. Danny is thankful because the barrage of questions and exclamations that follows makes him wince.A man voice cuts through, clearing their throats. “I’m sure Master Jason shared this information because he wants to share and I’m sure he would be happy to answer all your questions if you asked them one at a time, at a respectable volume, and leaving him and Mister Danny ample time to answer.” Danny raises an eyebrow at Jason who mouths ‘Alfred’ with a fond smile.“Thanks, Alfie, you’re the best. B, I’m sure you have many things to say, go ahead.”“What are you hoping to accomplish here, your Majesty ?” Jason looks up at Danny, seeing his stare harden.“I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish by antagonizing me right off the bat, /Gotham’s First Knight/, and whether you like it or not, I will help him.” Danny takes a breath. “But I’ll answer anyway. Firstly, I happen to quite like Jason, I saw him suffer and wanted to help. Secondly, having died and being infected with ectoplasm makes him one of my subjects, therefore, it is my job to make sure he isn’t suffering anymore.“ Lastly, as a ghost, and, even more so, as the King of Ghosts, being in close contact with such a pained ghost core is physically painful and that doesn’t bode well for future dates.” Jason catches Danny’s eye and receives a gentle smile.“Ghost core ?” Bruce sounds resigned and Jason is relieved that Danny seems to have convinced him. Danny must sense it too because he relaxes.“When someone becomes a ghost, which usually happens if they pass…painfully or with ‘unfinished business’ you could say, they are formed from ambient ectoplasm imbued with their intense emotions. That pure ectoplasm congregates into a core, it becomes the ghost’s brain, organs and more importantly, their soul, the form of their self.“Once fully formed, the core absorbs and purifies ambient ectoplasm to feed the ghost and keep them, well, not alive, but existing. If a being is resurrected, their core either dissolves or continues to absorb ectoplasm to solidify in their living form. The problem here is that before Jason’s core was fully formed, he was dunked in what you call the Lazarus Pits. That corrupted ectoplasm seeped into his being and his core absorbed it, but it stunted its growth instead and made him sick.” Danny looks up at him expectantly, Jason nods with a tight smile before adding.“By sick, he means the Pit Madness, from what I understand, it’s the reason why it didn’t fade for me.”Dick’s voice cuts through the silence on the other end, sounding soft and painfully hopeful. “So, you can cure him ?”“There are ways to purify the ectoplasm, but you all, Jason included, need to understand that he hasn’t been fully human since he came back, and he will never be again. I can’t tell what changes might occur once his core can form healthily, but I can promise he will have my full support, as High King Phantom and as Danny. I know better than anyone that it’s hard to suddenly realize you’re a ghost even when your heart is still beating.”Jason feels like he should be panicking, and he probably would be in any other situation, but the way Danny looks at him with such understanding makes him feel warm and safe, just like the first time he came upon his stream.“Is Jason in danger ?” Bruce asks again, this time softly, no sign of his Batman voice remaining.“Not with me, and not in the Realms. But you have to understand, it’s his strong will that’s kept him sane and alive all these years. From my understanding of ghost biology, it’s a miracle he hasn’t Faded…” The silence hangs heavy over the living room, and he expects the situation in the Batcave is similar. “I would have to get permission to enter Gotham to be certain, but I expect Gotham’s ectoplasm is plentiful enough and close enough to whatever the Pits are made of that his system found some sort of balance. And maybe Lady Gotham had a hand in both his revival and his remaining in stasis without getting worse.”“Lady Gotham ?” This question comes from multiple people at once, including Jason and Danny giggles.“Your city spirit. Most old cities have one, it forms from the shared consciousness of its people and their lives and deaths, hopes and fears. Lady Gotham is peculiar. She’s deeply territorial, as most city spirits are, but she is also deeply cursed. She refuses my help in that matter. She has also elected you all as her Knights. She hides you in her shadows, helps you in small ways. Jason is her favorite so I don’t know how she will react to me being with him but I’ll deal with that when it comes to it.” He looks up at Jason. “She’s the reason I can’t enter Gotham. I could force my way in but entering a ghost’s Haunt without their permission is considered the deepest form of disrespect.”Danny stands, giving them space to process and when he comes back with two cups of coffee a few minutes later, none of them have spoken yet. Jason mutters a small thank you and sips the warm liquid slowly. He could, and should, have died again. He would have, and would have stayed dead in the first place had it not been for Gotham itself, herself.“Well, fuck.” Jason laughs bitterly, because, what else is there to say ?“How can we help you help him, Danny ?” Dick finally asks cutting through the heaviness.Danny smiles and tilts his head towards Jason who shrugs. “Well, like anyone else recovering from an illness, he will need his support system close by. If he wants any of you to be here during or after treatment in the Realms, I can make that happen. Also, since I’m quite sure Gotham’s ectoplasm is unhealthy for a forming core, he will either need to stay in the Realms, in Amity Park, or have access to a steady dose of pure ectoplasm while he heals, which will be very difficult in Gotham. We can discuss aftercare once we know more about his situation. But, yeah, mostly emotional support depending on what Jason wants and needs.“I’ll let you discuss for a bit while I discuss this with my ghost doctor and see if he’ll come see you here, though, we might need to head outside since he’s a 9 ft tall yeti.” Without waiting for a response, he tears at the air and steps through the portal that disappears behind him. If Jason ever brings him to Gotham, he’ll have to lecture him about leaving a relative stranger alone in his home.“I hope I get a redo of our first date.” His attempt as a joke falls on deaf ears as his family starts speaking over each other once again. He decides to check his phone, seeing he’s been here for 2 hours and realizing the irony of telling Danny it would be difficult for them to have a ‘normal’ first date. “Calling my entire family to update my medical history on a date was so not on my bingo card.”“Are you alright, Jaybird ?” Jason imagines Dick has walked away from the rest of the group with the phone because he can hear him clearly despite how quiet his voice is.“I want it to be real so bad, Big Bird. I want to feel in control of myself again…” His big brother sucks in a deep breath, and he can imagine him running a hand through his hair.“I’m getting on the jet with B and we’re joining you in Illinois, okay ? The others will have to stay to keep down the fort while we’re there, but I’ll stay as long as you need. I don’t think I can keep B from coming though.”Jason can’t help but chuckle as he imagines Bruce’s current state. “It’s fine, I imagine even if you sedated him, he’d sleepwalk all the way here. I’ll see you both in a bit.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Danny’s plan to go to the Realms to pick up Frostbite and come right back is derailed by Clockwork finding him to say he wouldn’t be able to attend the party tonight and that he needed to let at least his council know. Which, Danny doesn’t need to be told, he had already decided to skip after seeing Jason. After a longer-than-necessary pit stop, and the time it took to explain the situation to his doctor and prepare the necessary equipment to take back to the Living realm, he is only half surprised to step out of the portal to find Batman and Nightwing in his backyard talking to Jason. The three stop in their tracks and turn towards the ghost pair. While the two costumed bats are staring at Frostbite in bewilderment, Jason’s eyes are wide and glued to Danny. Looking down, he notices that this must be the first time Jason sees his ghost form and shrugs before sinking back to the floor and transforming back.“Batman, Nightwing, welcome, make yourselves at home. This is Frostbite, my ghost doctor, Frostbite, I’m sure you’ve heard of Lady Gotham’s Knights.” The three give a nod with varying degrees of hesitance.“It’s an honor to meet you all. The Great One has told me what he’s understood of your case, Gotham’s Avenger but I would like to examine you myself, if you don’t mind.” Frostbite gives the group space as he sets up his medical equipment on Danny’s patio.The halfa gives a reassuring smile to the trio. “I know he looks intimidating but I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my health concerns. He’s doing this as a favor for me because as the Chief of the Far Frozen, he doesn’t leave his post often.” Nodding his head towards Jason, he points to the newly set-up cot. “This shouldn’t take too long and then we’ll know how to help you.”The three share a silent conversation before nodding and walking over to the yeti. Jason sits down and lets Frostbite explain what he’s doing and what the various machines are used for. Batman and Nightwing hover around the area nervously, glancing between the medical examination and Danny. When Jason’s core appears on the screen of the x-ray-like machine, he struggles to hold in the gasp and the wave of nausea that hits him.“Great One, I believe you need to have a conversation with Lady Gotham. We’ve left her to handle her city as she wished, but if she left this young man in this state without seeking our help, perhaps her state of mind is more precarious than we had hoped.” He jots down a few things on his notepad before looking back at Jason. “You are not in any immediate danger, but you will need at least a month in the Realms, with use of the healing pool. Though you are no longer a revenant, that much is clear, it is hard to say how powerful of a halfa you might be once your core is healed.”“But you’re sure he’s a halfa ?” Danny finds himself asking, he feels sorry for Jason but is trying to remain neutral and supportive.“I am, Great One. However, we will need to keep a close eye on how this corrupted ectoplasm could have affected his form and abilities.” Frostbite gives a reassuring smile, but Danny isn’t sure it has the desired effect on the other humans. “I can assure all of you that young Jason will be very well taken care of. With our King and his Mirrorborne being the first halfas in millennia, we have compiled extensive research and ample resources which will be available to use for his care.”“Thank you, Frostbite.” Danny gives a relieved smile and opens a portal for the yeti to ready Jason’s treatment in the Realms. He then leads the three to his living room as they process the information. He hears hushed tones from his kitchen as he makes a new pot of coffee to serve his guests.As he walks back into the room with the mugs, his phone rings with a call from Jazz which he answers with an apologetic smile.“Hey Jazz, I’m a bit busy here, what’s up ?”“Would you care to explain why I have to spend my evening acting as the Royal representative in the Realms ? What happened to your date ?” He cringes and meets Jason’s eyes who nods with a shrug making Danny walk back into the kitchen.“Right… Sorry about that, I should have figured the Council let me go too easily. You know how Jason’s username is ‘botched-resurrection’ ? Turns out, that was so accurate I had to call Frostbite and now Batman and Nightwing are in the living room.” Danny gives an unamused chuckle and Jazz sighs.“That doesn’t really explain anything but sure. I’ll come over as soon as I can get away from the party and no, you don’t get a say.” She hangs up and Danny leans against the wall with a huff. He collects himself and joins his guests.“My sister has to cover for me at the party tonight, so she was worried, she’s stopping by later. She’s human and a psychologist so I’m sure she has a new perspective to offer that might help…process this situation.” He cringes before sitting in the window seat. “I can give you space or I can answer any questions you may have.”Nightwing, Dick, basically rips his mask off before taking a big gulp of his coffee and taking a deep breath. “The doctor said something about a form and abilities ?”“I’d like to know too, am I going to get a cool glowing form like you earlier ?” Jason asks disbelievingly making Danny chuckle, he motions for them to close their eyes before letting his transformation wash over him.“Okay, you may look now.” The three open their eyes and take a minute to study his ghost form. His suit still bears the DP logo but he has changed it to something more armor-like over the years, keeping with the black-and-white theme. He doesn’t let his Royal regalia appear though he has added a short cape that looks like it contains a galaxy on the inside. Over the years, his freckles have shaped themselves like constellations, his ears and teeth have become more pointed and the white of his eyes is turning darker, becoming a void when he’s angry.“This is my ghost form. It used to be the clothes I died in with the colors inverted but I learned how to control it. Like this, my body is made up of ectoplasm, which means I can change shape at will, and separate limbs…though I’ll spare you the visual. I also can’t be hurt with regular weapons though ghost tech hurts more than it does in human form, and it could theoretically kill me. Basic ghost abilities are flight, invisibility, intangibility, and ectoplasm manipulation.“There are also more specific abilities that can come from how the ghost died, their Obsession, which I’ll explain later, or their core. My core is a True Ice type, and I almost froze myself to death when it manifested but you won’t be alone when yours does so no worries.” Danny pauses, thoughtfully, before fetching his computer. He hooks it up to the TV and pulling up their file on ghost abilities, a table with ghost abilities and their many uses. “Sit tight, this is a lot.”“Flight is more accurately weightlessness; gravity just doesn’t have a hold on the Dead.” To back up his statement, he sits cross-legged in the air, spins until he’s upside down and waves before he rights himself. “Invisibility is just…” he turns his arm invisible, then his whole body before only letting his face appear for a second. He smiles sheepishly as he returns to the visible spectrum. “Pretty self-explanatory.“Now intangibility has a lot more applications. It was also the ability I had the hardest time getting a hold of, I was always dropping things through my hands, I lost my pants in class once. My parents thought I was the clumsiest teen. On top of being able to walk through anything, this ability enables stuff like overshadowing and technopathy, in layman’s terms, it’s essentially ghost possession.“Ectoplasm manipulation is very diverse, basically, if you can imagine it, you can do it with enough power. That means, telekinesis, shields, ecto-blasts, and constructs. I died…electrocuted, so I could use electrokinesis but, well, it’s triggering.” He rubs his neck. “And since I died screaming, I also have a banshee scream which I call Ghostly Wail…”Danny switches to a PowerPoint presentation about ghost Obsessions. “As I’ve said before, ghosts are made from strong emotions and a strong will. An Obsession is something the person feels so strongly about that, as a ghost, they become unable to survive without it. There’s a ghost obsessed with boxes, another with making sure children eat healthy meals…It can be anything. Not being able to fulfill said Obsession can be deadly, indulging one is like eating for the Living. Some ghosts gain abilities related to their Obsession.“A ghost can have more than one. I became a protective spirit because one of my Obsessions is protecting others.” Running a hand over his cape. “I’m also Obsessed with space. We’ll figure out yours once your core is healed though, it might be safe to say you are an avenger spirit.” Danny gives Jason a supportive smile, ignoring Batman’s frown.“I’m not sure how ghost cores form their elements. Sometimes it has to do with how they died, mine doesn’t, you won’t know until it manifests. Last but not least, halfas can use a lot of their abilities in human form but they are weaker and it’s more tiring. My human body is also enhanced, super strength, speed, stamina, flexibility, reflexes, hearing, sight, and healing, the works…” He looks at the three and their dumbfounded expressions and offers a bashful smile. “Questions ?” Jason had a feeling Danny was powerful but hearing him talk about his extensive list of abilities so nonchalantly puts things into perspective. However, he can’t wrap his head around the idea of actually developing these abilities himself. Considering Bruce and Dick are suspiciously silent, he suspects they’re similarly overwhelmed. He sneaks a glance at Danny and sees him fidgeting nervously.“I’m aware that this is a lot. It took a long time for me to accept the fact that I’m both fully alive and fully dead. I’m very relieved you don’t have to do this alone.” The underlying ‘like I did’ is clear and fills Jason with gratitude and grief. He knows how much he struggled with the fact that he ‘came back wrong’ and he didn’t have powers or ghost politics to worry about, and he was much older than Danny was.Jason takes a deep breath to collect himself and straightens in his seat. “What’s the plan now, Spooks ?" He ignores the worried looks from the vigilantes next to him and focuses on Danny who sat back down after turning off the TV.“It’s your choice, really. We can go to the Zone and start your treatment as soon as you’re ready. I can give you all some space to talk about this and process. Jazz texted me to come pick her up so I need to make a pit-stop either way.” Jason exchanges a look with his family and Bruce speaks.“Go ahead and pick up your sister, we have things to discuss.” Danny nods and sends a smile Jason’s way before he rips open a portal and disappears through it. “How are you holding up, chum ?” Bruce’s awkwardness has Dick and Jason chuckling and relaxing.“It’s a lot, for sure. But I’d do about anything to get rid of the Pit Madness at this point.” He shrugs but he knows his effort to appear easygoing isn’t fooling anyone, though they don’t call him out on it.“Well, you’ll get cool powers out of it, too.” Dick tries to joke which earns him a disapproving Batman-GruntTM. “Don’t you need to get some things in order if Red Hood isn’t going to be seen for a while ?”“We’ll work Crime Alley into our regular patrols for a while, just focus on getting better.” Batman adds, stopping Jason from taking out his phone.“But—” He was about to retort but Danny jumping through a portal with a redhead in tow cuts him off.“Fucking hell.” He exclaims, running a hand through white flowing hair.“Danny, language !” The woman, Jazz supposedly, shakes her head at the halfa.“No but, who does she think she is ?! Screw me being a merciful king I guess, see where that leads us ? Jason shouldn’t have to suffer because she refuses to admit she’s not of sound mind.” He groans and Jason can see his arm is wounded but already healing.“You know that’s not how it works. Sure, we should have kept a closer eye on her when we learned she wasn’t well, but she’s never let us close enough to see just how bad she was doing. She’s ill and refusing help and you couldn’t have known otherwise. Now that we do know, we can force Lady Gotham to get help and you can be more careful next time so nothing like this happens again.” Jazz puts her hands on her brother’s shoulders and his tail morphs into legs as he sets down on the floor, turning back into a human. The pair finally turn their attention to the Gothamites.“Sorry about that, Lady Gotham attacked me for stealing her knights away from her.” He winces as he lifts his sleeve, revealing a nasty burn.“Hi, it’s nice meeting you, though I wish it were under better circumstances, I’m Jasmine Fenton, call me Jazz. Danny, go get the first aid kit, you should still bandage your shoulder even if you heal quickly.” She rolls her eyes as her brother walks away grumbling. Jason sends her a polite nod.“Nice to meet you too, Jazz.” Dick looks her way with a charming smile as Bruce nods and Jason rolls his eyes, of course, he would flirt with the redhead. Even Batman scoffs at his son. She nods towards Nightwing with a slight blush.“I assume Danny has done a very extensive infodump without much sugarcoating and you’re all extremely overwhelmed by all you’ve learned today ?” She gets three quick nods and she giggles when Danny comes back and scoffs as he hands her the first aid kit.“The Bats don’t seem like the types to want sugarcoating, Jazz.” He counters as he squirms when she pokes his wound gently.“Maybe, but they still might have liked to be eased into all this information, don’t you think ? Especially since they’ll have time to learn about all this extensively while Jason is in treatment. You could have given a watered-down summary to start with. Is this too tight ?” Danny is frowning as his sister lectures him but he shakes his head and thanks her for the care. Jason hears Dick laugh and he refuses to think that he can imagine them both in this exact situation.“It is a lot of information, but Danny is right, we would have asked for as much detail as possible.” Bruce adds, not admitting that he is probably as overwhelmed as his sons.“What happened with Lady Gotham ?” Jason finally asks not tearing his eyes from Danny’s bandaged arm.“She showed up at the party when I arrived to pick Jazz up. She was invited but she never really shows up. She asked why I’ve stolen her Knights when they’re all she has and then she shot at me before being restrained by the Council and Fright Knight. Now she has to get help from us, whether she likes it or not, if she doesn’t want to be punished for attacking the King.“I’m not even angry but Frighty and the Council might want to make an example of her. All I feel is pity really, she’s been in such pain for so long, she’s convinced the only one she can count on is herself so she just keeps suffering alone. Maybe I should get back in contact with JLD and ask for help.” He wonders aloud and Jazz nods while Bruce perks up.“You’ve been in contact with Justice League Dark ?”Jazz is the one who answers the question. “I was the first one of Team Phantom to move out of Amity for college. I learned the fake government agency that was tormenting us had managed to instill a media blackout and the JL just never received our calls for help. Once we got the ball rolling, the JLD was more than happy to help free Amity and secure the High King of the Infinite Realms as an ally.”“The files I showed you were prepared for the JLD at first. You should actually have had access to them for a while.” Danny adds downing his cup of coffee before frowning at the cold liquid making Jason chuckle. Bruce pulls out his phone to search and his eyes widen slightly before he looks back at the siblings.“The Fenton and Masters arrests…” He trails off and the siblings share a look before Jazz shrugs. Danny gives a bitter smile.“Our parents and godfather were turned over to OA for interdimensional war crimes, as were the GIW agents. My senior year was a fun time, though I am disappointed they got to go to space before I did. They’ll be turned to me for the rest of their sentence after they die.” Jason meets Dick’s eyes and takes a steadying breath.“Danny is very good at joking about things that hurt him, sorry about that. We’re doing much better now so no need to worry.” She sends a glare towards Danny who shrugs with a sly smile.“I think I’ll get back to Gotham, Dick you can stay with Jason and keep us updated. Do phones work in the Infinite Realms ?” Bruce stands up and Danny groans at the question.“I knew I had forgotten something. Ghosts and technology don’t mix well. I’ll have Tucker teach Oracle the workarounds, but I’ll have to give you all Fenton Phones for now.” The three men freeze as Danny disappears through the floor. Jazz waves them over to a staircase leading to the basement.“He does that often, the rest of us have to take the stairs though.” They enter through blast-proof doors and find Danny rummaging through a cupboard. The lab is well-equipped and well-organized. Half of the room is separated by a thick glass wall with a decontamination chamber, radioactive warnings stuck on the side. Jason is glad the siblings seem to take lab safety seriously.The halfa hands each of them a chunky phone but Jason recognizes the base as a WE phone, and he smiles. He knows how excited Tim will be to figure out how they modified it. Turning it on shows a green screen with a little floating ghost which reminds Jason, once again, that teenagers had to figure this mess out on their own, he doesn’t know whether to be impressed or sad. Danny shows Bruce how to use it to contact them before he leaves, and Jazz shows him out. Danny hands Dick what looks like a blaster to the untrained eye. “Alright, if you’re both ready to go, leave any electronics you don’t want ruined in here. They wouldn’t work in the Realms anyway. This is the Ghost Peeler, we’ve modified it, so it properly protects the Living from the ecto-contamination in the Zone. You wouldn’t need it for a quick trip, but I’d rather not risk it if you’re going to stay a while. Jason won’t need it though.” The vigilante activates it and is quickly enveloped in a metal armor.“Doesn’t Jazz need one ?” The man asks while checking the mobility of the armor. The woman in question comes back down the stairs and laughs.“I am far too ecto-contaminated for it to be useful. It would only serve to defend myself from ghost attacks but no ghost in their right mind would attack a Princess of the Realms.” She shrugs and makes her eyes shine green with a sly smile. “Are we taking the Fenton portal and the Speeder for the full experience or are you taking us to the Far Frozen directly, Danny ?”“Oh right, Far Frozen ! You’re all gonna need more clothes so we’ll take the Speeder and stop by the Keep.” The brothers share a look of confusion and Jason shrugs. Danny unlocks the chamber and opens a panel on the wall from which a vehicle pops out. “Gotham Knights, meet the Specter Speeder, it’s the easiest way to get through the Realms before you learn to fly.” Danny hopes he doesn’t have to wrangle the brothers into it but he knows it might not seem like the most reassuring mode of transportation. Thankfully, they just nod hesitantly.“Right, the files said the Living aren’t affected by the physics of the Infinite Realms in the same way ghosts aren’t in the Living world. Does that mean anyone can fly there ?” Jazz smiles as she leads the two into the vehicle.“You’ll have to get used to it, but you’ll also be able to walk through walls. Danny will lead the way to the Keep since the Realms are everchanging.” Once everyone is safely inside, Danny punches in his security codes and a large metal door slides open, revealing the portal. He shakes his head before turning to the Speeder with a smile and motioning for them to follow.Danny keeps an eye on the Specter Speeder as he weaves through the air of the Zone. The trip to the Keep is quite short and he knows the Realms always move in a way that makes his travel convenient, the perks of being Ghost King. He is thankful they don’t meet anyone on the way, he has given too many explanations for one day.“I’ll give you a tour of my Keep some other time, but I’d rather not run into any of the Council, they always try to rope me into doing paperwork.” They make a beeline for a sitting room Danny set up for his Living friends to visit. He hands each of them some heavy-duty snow gear from a closet and they’re quickly on their way again.The way to the Far Frozen is much longer but the Realms tend to make life easier for Danny so he leads them through a series of naturally occurring portals and soon enough, they’re flying over a snowy landscape and he motions for his sister to land the Speeder near the front gates of the ice city.The newcomers barely have time to gawk at the scene before Frostbite invites them in, ushering them towards a warmer room. “Welcome to the Far Frozen Gotham’s Knights. It is always a pleasure to have you here as well, Princess.” Danny has grown convinced, over the years, that Frostbite uses their proper titles to tease them.“I haven’t been here in a long time, though I suppose that’s for the best since I tend to come here only when Danny is hurt.” Jazz and Nightwing are seated near the entrance of the room while Danny brings Jason over to the medical cot.“The Great One told me you might prefer not to use the healing pool, however, I am afraid this is the best option. In order to purify your core, you would need to gradually increase your consumption of ectoplasm over the course of months, if not years, and come back here every week for a check-up. Your only other choice would be to link you to another ghost’s core and have it cleanse the corrupted ectoplasm for you, but that is a very intimate and permanent bond.” Frostbite must notice the confusion because he sighs before adding “I believe the closest human equivalent would be marriage.”Jason meets Danny’s eye and he has to remind himself to take a deep breath. He knows his eyes are wide and that he’s blushing a bright indigo, he shouldn’t have to tell Frostbite not to mention marriage. He forces the blush down and plasters on an apologetic smile. “Should we give you some space to process everything ? Give you some time to decide what you’d prefer ? We can call your brother in…” Danny knows he should be making eye contact and stop fidgeting, that would be more reassuring for Jason but he can’t help rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but his face.A hand in front of his face stops his rambling. Jason looks amused but exhausted and Danny can’t help but regret all the number of things he could have done better. He nods at the halfa with a gentle smile nonetheless. “A break sounds nice. I’m going to take a breather, tell Dick to join me in five minutes.” Danny gives him a thumbs up before he follows Frostbite out of the room, throwing himself to lounge lazily above his sister and Nightwing.“Everything okay up there ?” The concern in the brother’s voice is palpable and Danny tries his best to sound reassuring without letting on that he’s disappointed in himself.“Jason is just taking a bit to process and decide. He said you can join him in five minutes…” He rubs at his face and groans. “I feel bad about how overwhelming all of this was. Poor guy came on a date and got his whole worldview turned upside down and more. Even you and Batman must be sporting a migraine at this point.” He looks up as his sister pats his leg and Dick gives him an understanding smile.“I know I came halfway through, but I know you very well Danny. You’re terrible at explaining things and remembering crucial information. The fact that they barely had to ask questions to understand means you did your best to share all the knowledge they needed. It’s not really your fault it’s a lot of info to get through in a day.” Jazz adds with a reassuring smile and Danny sighs as he wraps himself like a boa over her shoulder. He smiles at Nightwing when he pats his shoulder.“Honestly, it was overwhelming and it would have been worse if you hadn’t trusted us with the files you prepared. It’s not your fault Jason’s situation required a crash course.” He shrugs but Danny can feel the exhaustion and worry wafting off the older vigilante.“I’m just relieved he now has options to cure the Lazarus Pit’s effects. I can’t imagine how hard it was dealing with it without knowing anything about all of this and thinking it would last forever. And as an added bonus, he’s the fifth member of a whole species.” Danny adds with jazz hands and a sheepish smile and Nightwing shakes his head with a laugh as he relaxes before joining his brother.