Chapter Text
Danny had assumed that he didn’t have a soulmate. It had been years since his 18th birthday and there hadn’t been a single sign of a soulmate. Every time he asked Clockwork about it, he would give the young king a knowing smile but would say nothing. So pardon him if it was just a bit startling when he blinks a little too long and suddenly he’s at a lavish birthday. A two tiered cake sat in front of him with only half of the candles blown out. And not his throne room with two increasingly angry spirits shouting at each other.
Danny looks around confusedly. He’s a bit befuddled from the sudden switch. Someone is asking if he’s alright. Another placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Their words are muffled and muted. Then it all crashes down.
He had switched places with his soulmate, who had just turned 18. Danny had been in the middle of figuring out a territory dispute between two very angry denizens of the Realms. Now he was here. And his soulmate was in his courts. Dealing with very angry ghosts that they probably didn’t have any clue as to how to deal with.
“Oh fuck,” Danny says lowly before repeating in a much louder tone. “FUCK! Why today? Fuck! Fuck, fuck, FUCK! ”
So Danny bolts up out of the chair and tries to find a large clear space for an emergency summoning circle. Voices are shouting from behind him but he doesn’t have the luxury of stopping and explaining everything right at that moment. He does little more than shout curses in several languages including dead ones. The foyer has enough space for the circle. He whirls around to see just who had followed him from wherever the hell he had been.
Pointing at a man with black hair and another that couldn’t have been much older than Danny’s original body, “You and you. I need this entire space cleared. Anything and everything that can be moved needs to be moved. That means furniture, decorations, paintings, rugs, hell even light fixtures, if they can be moved then they need to be moved. Now where is the kitchen?” Danny demands. No one answers. “ Where is the kitchen? ” He says again but with more force.
An elderly gentleman answered saying that he would lead him.
“Great. I need something precious to this person.” Danny places a hand on his chest. “The more emotionally valuable the better. That way the connection will be strong enough to pull them to this plane of existence.”
He pats down his pockets and finds a cracked smartphone in his front jeans pocket. Luckily there wasn’t a passcode on it so he punched in a number he had been saving since he had turned 18 and nothing happened. A sleep rough voice answered after three missed calls.
“What do you want?” The British man sleepily slurs from the other end.
“Constantine, I need you and Zatanna to converge on my coordinates. My soulmate turned 18 today while I was in the middle of settling some territory issues.” There’s a soft Fuck that comes in response. Danny is sifting through various spices and pulling out what he needs. He glances over at the gentleman while still carding through the spice cupboard. “Do you have a spice grinder? Preferably a manual one. The one that looks like a stick that has a bowl. What is it called?”
“A mortar and pestle. Yes we do have one. It may take a moment to locate seeing as it has been a while since it has been used.” A pantry on the other side of the kitchen opens and the sound of someone carefully looking through the contents can be heard.
“Fuck kid. I’m far too sober to deal with this right now.” Constantine grumbles yet the sound of rustling fabrics tells Danny that at least he’s getting up to get ready and come anyway.
“I’ll get you another bottle of that booze you like. Just get here and get here fast. I’ll call Zatanna, she shouldn’t be off planet right now.” Danny hangs up before the Brit could respond. He dials another number.
She answers on the second ring. “Hey Danny, I haven’t heard from you in a while. What’s up?”
“Soulmate turned 18, they’re now stuck in the Infinite Realms, and I was in the middle of solving a territory dispute.” Short, sweet, and to the point. Danny knew that Zatanna could put the pieces together much faster and with less to go off of than Constantine. Which was why he called her second and not first.
“Alright. I’ll be there in no more than five minutes.” Zatanna says, a serious and rushed tone coloring her voice before she hangs up.
He stuffs the phone back into his soulmate’s pocket, gathers up the bottles of spices he needs, then makes his way back to the foyer with the older man following after him. Once they arrive, Danny sees that the foyer has indeed been cleaned and cleared of anything and everything. He plunks down in the middle of the room, surrounded by the spices he had gathered, and motions for the mortar and pestle. Once it’s been handed to him, Danny goes about ignoring everyone and starts measuring out his spices. A quarter of the way done with the mix, a well worn book was placed near him. He glances over at it and can immediately tell that it has a strong enough emotional connection to make this work. Two thirds of the way done and two separate portals open up to spit out two very different magic users.
Danny glances up at them before pointing to the cleared area of the foyer with the dusty pestle in his hand. “Start setting up the circle. I’m almost finished.” He receives two nods of understanding before going back to pounding and mixing and measuring what he needed for the summoning.
Not five minutes later everything was in place and accounted for. The book was in the center of the chalk circle drawn on the ground with herbs and spices dusted over the cover. Constantine and Zatanna were in their places as well as Danny. There was only one thing left that they needed to complete the summoning.
Danny looks over to the group of onlookers from where they stood at the base of the grand staircase. “I need a name, and don’t pull any kind of crap with a fake name. Because if you give me anything other than the true name of this person,” Danny places a hand on his chest and gives it a pat for good measure. “then their soul will be forcefully separated from my body and lost for all eternity. Now, I would like to avoid that so that I can actually meet my soulmate and not just their lifeless husk of a body.” There was a moment of silence and contemplation. “C’mon guys, we’re working on borrowed time. Tell me now or possibly lose your person to the Infinite Realms.”
“Jason.” It was the oldest of the younger part of the group. “His name is Jason Peter Todd.”
Danny nods and the summoning starts. It doesn’t even take a minute before something happens. The inside of the circle falls away to form a gateway to the Infinite Realms. A neon green glow lights the room as the outline of a person suddenly burns into the air above the new portal. The chanting from the mages grows louder as the ‘person’ clarifies before solidifying. Danny lurches forward to scoop his soulmate out of the air.
The chanting stops and the portal closes, taking the neon green glow with it. In Danny’s arms is a slender man with white hair that floats in an invisible breeze. He has a crown made of burning ice serenely floating above his head and a nearly matching ring perched on his right hand. His outfit is monochrome, all blacks and whites with only the crown and ring as pops of color. A heavy looking white fur cape was draped around his shoulders. It looked as if the lining had been cut from the night sky, pitch black with pinpricks of light mirroring the stars.
Everyone stared, breath bated, as they waited for some kind of sign of life. The man’s eyes were closed in a mockery of sleep. Danny knew that he wasn’t sleeping, the other’s soul was just a bit repressed from the sudden switch and summoning. Soon toxic green eyes fluttered open as Danny started to feel faint.
The last thing he remembers saying before collapsing was, “Oh good, I didn’t kill you.”