Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

So far Danny counted two times in his live that he had died or at least sort of remembered dying.

The first time he died, he had been eight and in an horrible turn of events was forced into a fight to death with his twin. All because Danny couldn't be like his brother. He couldn't kill, he continuously nearly failed his missions, if it weren't for his twin finishing of targets that were supposed to be his. His skills were on par with his brother but when it came to actually use what he learned he failed. His brother liked to say that between the two he was the gentle soul, the one that would keep them in balance. The rest of the league had seen him as the black sheep of the family. He was no assassin material yet his twin brother still protected and adored him, despite all his faults. 

No matter what anyone in the league said, his twin stuck with him. Reassuring him of his value and his skills. He wasn't lacking behind. An assassin that couldn't kill but his brother kept telling that it was fine, that for what Danny couldn't do he would be there to fill the gap. They were the Demon Twins for a reason.

But then came the day that changed everything. Their grandfather saw how he became a weakness for the true heir. All because Danny couldn't get his shit together during one mission they had been sent to together like always. He had their target at blade point. All he had needed to do was just push it a couple more inches forward but Danny hesitated. And that hesitation cost them. Resulting in his twin sustaining an injury. 

His brother had assured him that it was merely a scratch and not a big wound. Their grandfather saw it as Danny's greatest failure. 

So in the least subtitled way he was sentenced to death. It was obvious as the chosen method was a fight to death the entire league knew he couldn't nore would ever want to win. Their grandfather knew Danny would never be able to purposely harm his brother. The fight had drawn out. His twin at least attempted to get him to fight back to show their family that he was worth keeping by showing off Danny's skills, even if Danny couldn't kill, he could still fight excellently. Their skills were on par. The league must have known this with how many times they had watched the two spar. But Danny didn't play along, instead he let his brother kill him with the final blow. He didn't even bother attempting to dodge. 

His first death had probably been very cruel towards his brother. He still remembered the desperation on the other's face. But at least it meant that his twin, Damien would live on. 

Though he didn't expect that right before his body could grow cold forever, that their mother still had somewhat of a heart and dunked him into the pits and revived Danny the first time. Danny knew she sort of loved them but had always shown it more towards Damian because he was the heir grandfather had decided on. It had taken him a while but he had come to be thankful for that show of love, even if it was displayed by dunking his dead body into the Lazarus Pits. 

[Only later through Clockwork did Danny learn that he had been dropped in a pit of contaminated ectoplasm which probably was also the reason he even survived - well sort of survived - his second death.]

He did come out as a feral kid though he barely remembered his time at the Chicago Orphanage they had apparently dropped him off to. His former parents the Fantons had told him that he had been a feral kid for at least the first year they had him. Apparently for the longest time Jazz had been the only one that could touch let alone get in hugging distance of Danny without getting bitten. Jack had liked to show off the bite marks as lovely memories his sweet little Danno gave him the first time he hugged eight years old Danny. Danny was also pretty sure his first time they attempted to socialize their feral child had been a disaster. Jazz still hadn't told him anything about the attempts. 

Either way the second time he died, he had been 14 and to this day he still thinks that a dare was one of the dumbest ways one could die. Of course his adopted parents couldn't be normal. He had spent eight years of his life getting raised as an assassin, the following years just could be normal either. Because Jack and Maddie were ecto-scientists, studying ghosts or rather ecto-entities. And of course they were treading the line of mad-scientists with an entire lap in the basement and ecto-weaponry laying out and about throughout the entire house. 

So when his parents build a portal to punch their way into another dimension that at first didn't work, his friends just had to dare him to get in there to take a photo - or had it been a video - of it. He put on a biohazard suit with a distorted memory he sort of remembered Sam slapping a logo on it and went into the tunnel. 

Who would have guests that the on-button was inside the damn thing instead of outside? You would think the ones who built it would know… either way his assassin skills did not save him from stumbling over cables and catching himself on the damned button that would just so happen to punch open that portal with him in the middle of it all. 

Let him tell you, getting electrocuted was not a fun way to die, nor is getting revived yet again by ectoplasm that was spewing out of the portal and mixing with his DNA. At least he got some cool powers out of that accident and did not go feral like he did the first round he came back via ectoplasm. Thinking about it now, maybe that should have clued him in that corrupted ectoplasm could and would mess with your brain.  

Danny shuddered, if he had gone feral back then with Phantom's powers... Good he truly would have been the menace Amity still couldn't decide if he was now or not. He probably would also have landed on the table way sooner than he had. 

Either way these were the two times he actively counted into his death tolls so far. Of course there were a couple of other times and close calls. Like that one time Sam made a wish. But he didn't really count them since well they didn't have any sort of big near life altering change that followed them. 

First time his life as assassin was ended and he had to adjust to a normal civilian live after spending a year feral. 

Second time he became a halfa. Normal was no longer in the books with that then. 

But right now. He was probably close to his third accounted death. Strapped to the table. His chest pretty much sliced open and he was pretty sure that one of the tubes on the table across the room still contained his liver his Mo- Maddie had taken out and the other his arm that had been cut off by Agent K to test his healing factor.

Well he should have known better than to let his sister convince him that his adoptive parents wouldn't turn on him. Ancients, had he wanted to believe in them. He knew they had accepted him once, before he had chosen to erase their memories. But they were scientists after all and apparently the temptation just had to be too great to resist. 

And it looks like that with their contracts and work with the GIW that continued even after h told them. And now him, on the table they had finally broken the last bits of trust both Jazz and Danny had in them. 

Danny had long lost the energy to plead with them, that it was still him. That he was alive and not possessed. That he was still human next to being an ecto-entity. He was willing to explain the whole halfa deal to them but not like this. At least he would become a full ghost once the blood loss caused by the missing limbs did him in. It should have been obvious to them by now, his human body wasn't as resistant and self healing as his ghost body. It was a human body, sure he could use some of his ghost abilities but not all of them. Regeneration was not one of them, even if he had slightly accelerated healing. But at least staying in human form would protect his core as it would not be reachable in this form. 

So really the worst that could happen was his human side dying right now. 

Letting out a mute sigh, Danny closed his eyes letting exhaustion take his mind into oblivion. He wasn't worried about his friends or Jazz, they could take care of themselves but… the only sad thing he regretted at this moment was that he never got to find out how his twin, Damien, was doing and if he was still with the league or had gotten out…

TIME OUT

When Clockwork first had set the path for this timeline, he did not realize how damaging his king's parents' reaction could have been. There had been so many different outcomes and most of them were with his king living happily with the parents that had taken him in when his path as future ruler of the Infinite Realms had been set. He had hoped that this timeline was one of them, but it appeared he had made an error. 

As he looked at his king strapped to the table, cut open and even missing limbs, he for a brief moment regretted that he only ever watched over the timelines. Only ever sending others to intervene should things not go the way they were supposed to or to prevent greater tragedy from happening. 

Rarely did he himself interfere.

But this time he had to. Otherwise his king would lose the part that made him the kindest among all the ghosts in the Infinite Realms. The king that was supposed to help them all and become the Ancient of Balance even later in tine. 

Carefully he removed his king from the chains holding him down. Cradling the teenager in his arms he took the boy with him. Away from the horrors he was facing and away from the Family that was supposed to preserve his king's kindness and humanity but failed to do so. 

It looked like he had made a grave mistake, something that if left alone could lead to utter destruction. Yet it was something that was still possible to fix. The timeline had yet to turn into a doomed one. So Clockwork decided, this was his time to directly interfere. He would take his king away and bring him to a place that would have as close to an amount of ectoplasm as Amity Park had. A place that also had one of the strongest Spirits in existence to protect him until the day he was ready.

Looking down at the teen in his arms, Clockwork also decided that his king did not need the painful memories nore the wounds left by his supposed family. A blue light engulfed his kind as Clockwork let his powers work. It washed over the boy in his arms, turning the clock back only for his king. The missing limbs returned, his complexion became healthier and his open wounds closed as the body in his arms shrunk. 

In mere seconds the Master of time was holding his king at the age of his first death in his arms, yet the state was not the same. The scars of his second death were still present, telling that his powers as halfa were still present in his king's small bodies. It wasn't exactly the version of his kind that had died at a young age but a version that had his king's future implemented in him. 

Clockwork was sure that his king would be able to handle it, after all even at this he had already been one of the strongest contestants for the position of future ruler of the Infinite Realms. His king would now be ready to be dropped off to his next family. Hopefully Clockwork wasn't making a mistake again but keeping his king truly safe this time. 

TIME IN

Lady Gotham was not impressed with the Master of Time as that old being dropped off the body of their king with little to no explanation. Last she had heard that her king was supposed to be a teenager, a halfa chosen to be so powerful that the Infinite Realms were to become a much safer place for spirits, ghosts and any other ecto-entity than they ever had been under any of the previous kings. 

All the Master of Time had offered her was a cryptic - and honestly when was that old cogwheel not - message of protecting their king and returning him to his rightful family. Really the next time she they meet she would not miss the chance to lecture Cronus. He may have been the Ancient of Time and a being far older than her, but that old cogwheel needed to learn some proper manners. 

Really what was he thinking just dropping off a half human half ghost child with her and leaving with barely any information in regards to what she, an old spirit, was supposed to do. She studied the young sleeping king in her arms, the boy whined slightly and she carefully stroked his head. Smoothing whatever bad dreams were plaguing the child. Looking at the boy's hair, the nose, the form of his closed eyes, she noted the similarities he held to the youngest of her knights. Especially when he had first joined their ranks.

Ah, so that was the family the old cogwheel meant. Well it looked that her knights were not only hers alone now but that was a given. Her king looked so innocent and helpless this young that even she would too, protect her king until he could do so himself. No even then she would protect him, just like she protected her knights. 

But who to bring him too, she mused. Surely her dearest among them would have no qualms taking the child. He had proven several times in the past how he would take in children in need. But he was currently not in their home. The little knights of other haunts have requested his help and called him away to what they called the watchtower. 

Mentally the city's spirit went through all her knights until her thoughts stopped by one in particular. The knight she was going to request help with from her king anyway. What better way was there than taking care of two problems with one action. Surely her kings instincts would know what to do and at the same time her knight would surely take that child to the others as well as receive her king's help with his little contamination problem. 

With her decision made, Lady Gothom made her move. 

Chapter Text

"Fuck!" 

"Red Hood are you okay?

Jason let out a grunt as answer before a muttered "I am fucking fine." followed and he attempted to shut off the coms on his helmet again. This was the third time in a row Oracle had decided to reactivate his coms and fuck did he not want to deal with his siblings in his ears right now. 

"You little shit, why do you have such sharp teeth?!" So far no blood had been drawn by these sharp chompers. But he would probably have bite mark shaped bruises. Some of the marks were already turning blue and damnit how were they so agile? 

"Oracle put his video feed on the Batcomputer!" He heard one of his siblings over the coms. He had a couple of precious seconds to get rid of his helmet to prevent any of them seeing this but knowing O it was most likely even less time. The last thing he needed right now was them seeing any of this. 

Swiftly he turned off the coms once again to buy more time even if he knew that it was useless but he didn't get the chance to remove his helmet to chuck it into one of the dark corners of his apartment as sharp teeth lunged for his arm. 

He pulled it back so that the gun he was holding would become the target instead. The razor-like teeth chomped down around the barrel causing clang-like sound. He let out a fleeting chuckle as he spied the grimace on his small attacker's face. "Ha, not so fun chewing on metal is it now?" 

"HOOD WHY THE FUCK IS THERE ARE CHILD CHEWING THE BARREL OF YOUR GUN?!" 

Wow actual cursing from Dick this image must look really bad to them. Then again it was a child that had its teeth clenched around his gun's barrel. 

"A CHILD IS DOING WHAT NOW?!" Huh so Timmy wasn't back at the cave yet or had only returned now and hadn't seen the screens of the bat computer yet. Either way, them screaming in his ear was not helpful, so he did the only sensible thing. 

He yelled back at them. 

"SHUT THE FUCK UP. The magazine is empty and there is no bullet left in the barrel plus the fucking safety is on dipshits." He dropped the gun once he was done yelling back. With it the child also dropped onto the floor. That boy had some impressive jaw strength judging by the way he had hung off the gun with his teeth. Perplexed eyes blinked up at Jasons for some precious second. Seconds Jason used to finally take off his helmet to throw it into the kitchen. His siblings in the Bat Cave can have some fun staring at his tile flooring there. 

Meanwhile he stared down at the kid that was staring back at him with glowing green eyes, the gun discarded and no longer between the kid's teeth. The stare was the same he had received when the boy had been crouching on his living room table like a cat ready to pounce on their prey or to attack an intruder. 

This was his apartment, damnit. He was no intruder!

When he had first entered the apartment, he had noted that it was way colder than it should have been. The first thought that crossed his mind was that his heater might have broken but then two Lazarus Pit green orbs stared back from the darkness. 

It was Lazarus Green. So of course the first instinct was to pull out guns and aim it at the glowing orbs. A warning ready on the tip of his tongue to whoever or whatever dared to enter his home, post patrol adrenaline coursing through his body as he tensed.  

Then his brain kicked in with reasoning and logic that instantly followed by him starting to cuss out Nightwing over the coms. Accusations of Dick attempting to prank him and other profanities. It made sense in his mind, because that menace was the only one coming close enough to his apartment on today's patrol to pull off a prank without triggering all the alarms that were set up. If that ass wanted to start another prank war then he should be ready for the retaliations Jason was willing to return, glitter bombs would be the least of his brothers worries. . 

He will never admit to the little scream that came through the coms before shutting them off the first time as he flicked his lights on and found a literal kid wearing an oversized Nasa shirt perched on his living room table. The kid was staring at him like he was the intruder to his own apartment and was entirely not what he had expected to find when he flicked the light switch. 

Again this was his fucking apartment! 

Before he could even ask a question or get a better look at the kid, that feral brat pounced with his mouth wide open, sharp teeth glinting in the bad lighting and ready to chomp down on any of his limbs. The little shit was agile and slippery. He had gotten a hold of the kid a couple of times but every time the kid somehow managed to slip out of his hold. He had been pretty sure that he had gripped stronger than he needed to be but light enough to ensure he wasn't hurting the boy, but they still somehow freed themselves before attempting to gnaw on his arm or leg once more. 

Of course his grunts, yelps and heavy cursing had alerted his siblings every fucking time Oracle had to turn on his coms when he switched them off. On. Fucking. Purpose. Seriously he did not need for his siblings to hear or see him struggling agains a fucking child of all things. In his defence the little shit was fucking feral and obviously wanted to make him the new chewtoy of the year.

"Okay kid, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." He lifted both his hands letting his palms face the kid who of all things started hissing at him. What kind of child fucking hisses like animals?!  Oh let him answer for you, a fucking little shit that pounces and attacks like a feral cat!

Well there went his throw blanket as he swiftly ripped it apart and made the kid bite on that instead of his arm. The gun was still discarded somewhere on the floor, pretty sure he had accidentally kicked it earlier too. Uncaring he tied the ripped off strip around the kids head when the teeth got tangled in it. Once the kid was properly gagged with no choking danger, he wrapped the rest of the blanket around the kid. Essentially the brat ended up warped like a burrito, so the boy wouldn't start thinking about using his hands and feet to fight instead of just weaponizing his teeth. 

"Don't glare at me like that. I gave you a choice." He grunted as he dropped the kid like a sack of potatoes. He probably only imagined hearing something like a whine because the brat was glaring daggers at him and he could only smugly smile down at them before he frowned.

Now that he finally got a better look at his small attacker, he noticed some things. For one there was the glaring fact that the kid looked way too much like the demon brat when he had been younger, like close to a carbon copy. His first thought was that the kid was a fucking clone but so far any clone they came across was at least same age as the demon brat, that feral kid didn't look any older than seven or eight. Also the clones had been mindless puppets… he glanced down at the glaring gagged and hissing kid. Does feral behavior count as mindless or not? For now he would count it as not mindless the kid's attacks while feral in nature were clearly somewhat calculated or at least he hoped they were.

Second thing he noticed was that the kids' eyes flickered between the Lazarus green and a sky blue, both colours were glowing though. So was this a meta kid? Or considering the clone theory, a failed experiment the bitch Talia had dropped in a Lazarus Pit? Then the feralness might be explained with the kid having a similar problem with Pid Rage like he had. 

Then there was the fact that the Pit in his mind was strangely quiet and not the least bit aggressive or angry by the feral biters presence. No, in fact the Pit felt the calmest it ever had in a long time. If he tried to focus on it he even could feel some sort of strange little protectiveness if he interpreted part of the silence correctly. 

But that made him question even more who the fuck that little shit was?

The sound of snapping teeth ripped Jason out of his thoughts and he looked down at the kid just in time to pull his leg away from sharp chompers. Somehow that feral brat had wiggled his way over to Jason's legs and had also chewed his way through the makeshift gag that lay discarded at the kids former placement. 

"The fuck is wrong with you little shit?!"

Good he probably should take that brat to the Cave now. His siblings were most likely going nuts already. 

By the time Jason rolled with his bike into the Bat Cave, his siblings, just like he had suspected,  had fallen into a state of absolute chaos. Arguing back and forth, the footage from his helmet still played on a part of the Batcomputer's screens while a screenshot from the time the kid used his gun as chewtoy zoomed in to get a close up of the kid's face. 

Not that it helped considering the image was a tad bit blurry but had enough quality that his siblings could see the key features including the similarities to the demon brat. Which probably was the reasons for them arguing back and forth right now about if that kid was a clone or some sort of experiment considering the age the boy appeared to be. Though Jason did take briefly note of how Demon Brat appeared to stare at the image a little too long in between telling Dick and Replacement that it was a clone. 

"Jason?! What happened to the child?!" Of course it had to be Dick that noticed him first before he could really announce his arrival. Not like they couldn't have heard his bike when he arrived though, they were probably too engrossed in arguing. 

"Dropped him off the Wayne tower, what do you think?" He snarked back as he lifted the burrito child that was aggressively gnawing on a gag made from bat wire. Jason rolled with his eyes at his siblings' gasps, Dick and Timmy only really, the moment they saw the kid. Look they didn't have to deal with the brat biting or attempting to bite them when they drove a fucking motorcycle. The wire was reassurance. The kid had managed to chew through at least three ropes, and two cloth made gags halfway to the Cave, the bat wire was his last resort, it couldn't easily be cut unless you know how. Besides the boy had razors as teeth and Jason had not been in the mood to risk crashing on his way to the Cave, okay?!

"Damn he does look like Damien but in small size." Tim mentioned as he got a little closer his eyes clearly analysed the brat as curiosity was getting the best of him before turning to the teenager in question. "Think it's a clone, too?" 

"<tt> I said it before Drake and I will say it again. Of course it's a clone. Most likely a failed one, Mother didn't dispose of for some reason." Dick arched an eyebrow as Jason just studied the youngest among them. The way the demon brat had said that felt wrong. Was it the pitch of his voice or how he avoided directly looking at the kid he was holding up? He looked over to the eldest and by the way Dickie was looking at the brat, Jason wasn't the only one that noticed. 

"The fuck you want me to do with that little shit then?" He was getting tired of holding up the feral biter like the boy was some prize fish he caught. Then again he did catch that feral shit so maybe he was his prize to keep?

Tim let out a shriek and jumped back from Jason and the kid, a syringe in his hand with a little blood drawn from the boy. The older could only raise an eyebrow as the younger gave the biter a wary look and shuffled back to create more distance. The kid still bound by blanket burrito on the other hand had managed to chew through fucking bat wire and was snapping and hissing in Tims direction eyes brightly growing green.  

How the fuck did the little shit do that? That was fucking bat wire! He stomped down his internal shock to not lose his cool before his siblings at how much the kid kept surprising him. 

"Carefully he bites." 

"His eyes they…" 

"Glow Lazarus green, yes." 

Really did he need to state all the obvious things to his siblings, they had eyes and the glowing was not subtle at all.  

"We should just get rid of that thing." Oh gee demon brats, solution to everything. Just stab and get rid of it. Even if it was a clone, he was holding up a fucking child here. He may kill but even he wouldn't step so low as to kill a fucking child just cause it would be convenient. If need be he would kidnap the kid and start a shot bats on sight rule for Crime Alley, he was sure that the street kids could probably help the feral shit if it came to that.  

"Now, now let's just figure out if the kid is really a clone or maybe a Meta first." And of course, ever the peacemaker Dickie tried to smooth it over as Jason and Demon Brat glared at each other. Timmy meanwhile made his way to the Batcomputer to analyse the little bit of green flaked blood he had been able to withdraw before the kid started snapping at him. 

Suddenly the blanket in his grip felt lighter than it had before. Staring at the empty but still burrito folded blanket, a curse escaped the Crime Lord alerting his two siblings and drawing their attention towards the empty blanket. 

"Where did the child go?" Dick asked carefully but clearly panicked. A second later the eldest  let out a yelp as something rushed past his feet deeper into the Bat Cave. 

"You imbecile can't you even keep a child contained?" 

"Shut the fuck up, the blanket burrito was secure enough to at least get here with that feral biter. I wanna see you try to not get fucking biten by the kid when driving a bike!" 

"<tt>"

Chapter Text

When Damien first saw the video from Todd's helmet, he only thought of his older brother as an imbecile that apparently couldn't handle children. That was until Drake paused the video on the child's face before the video cut off and only showed Todd's kitchen flooring. 

Richard pointed out the similarities to Damian and of course his first thought was that his mother had made another clone again. Something they would have to dispose of as quickly as possible. And that were his thoughts until he took a closer look at the image when Drake zoomed in. It was still blurry but Damian would recognise that face anywhere in any state.

Despite having faded memories, it was the face of someone he never truly wanted to forget. A face he even would let freely hunt his dreams. Was it to recall the good times or the bad times through nightmares? After many years he still didn't know. All he knew was that he feared forgetting. Freckles that mirrored constellations, eyes a little rounder than his but still as sharp, hair longer and untameable so unlike his own. And finally a barely noticeable scar on the left ear from a training session when the others' dodging ability had not yet been up to par when they were five.

Danyal Al Ghul. 

Though the image was blurry and the most telling parts, like scars, were not recognizable with it, Damian's brain was instantly able to fill them in. No matter how faded one of his memories about the other boy would be. His twin's look was forever burned into his mind. 

After all, his twin had died at the age of eight by his own hands. Killed when their grandfather forced them into a fight to death. This was not a simple clone of Damian himself and the teen was pretty sure that his mother must have lost it. Because what else then a clone of his own brother could this be? She probably must have preserved some of Danyal's DNA if not his entire body for this in what was most likely a form of misguided show of affection. She loved them but her way of showing that was rather… extreme and misguided because of their grandfather at times. But he also must applaud her cruelty, for the clone was at the exact age his brother had died at.

He does not know why nor how his mother had managed to cause glowing Lazarus green eyes. Nor did he want to know. None of his clones had ever shown these before and it made him sick to imagine what she must have done to it. Not like he wasn't already sick enough with the knowledge that his mother would go so far as to clone Danyal after so many years. 

All he wanted was to get rid of this cruel clone that wore his long-dead brother's face. A mockery that should never have come into existence. The knowledge of his brother was something Damian held dear. Something that belonged to him only. In the league, they only had each other to lean on, to confine in. Danyal was someone Damian held dear and the burden of his death was not something he ever wanted to share either. Besides what use would it be to his family to mourn a member they never would have gotten to meet?  

Danyal was his memory to keep and no one else's. 

Even as he glared at Todd, who had let loose that feral clone. He could not bring himself to tell them that this was most likely not just a simple clone of himself. He would keep that knowledge to himself a while longer.  

"Come on guys, a child is running around the Bat Cave. You can fight later about how to safely keep the boy in check." 

Clicking his tongue he turned away from his older siblings and drew out his katana. "<tt> I will get rid of that thing myself." 

A thing, that was what it was. Damian didn't need his personal feelings or his memories of a twin who used to smile brighter than the strongest desert sun despite their pain, impact his rationality. The clone was a mockery of his twin brother and he would not permit it to live on. 

Instinctively he went for the darker areas of the Cave, knowing the league-trained mind and he was in luck as he was the first to find the feral thing. They have hidden themselves away in the area that led to the med bay. Seeking out spots that would guarantee that no one could attack them from behind while also keeping all sides, they could get approached from, in sight. By now the thing was even armed. Damian recognized the dagger as one of his training once. He probably had left it accidentally out of its casing after training before patrol started. 

The ex-league prodigy did not give the clone time to react as he attacked without warning. Chasing it through the Bat Cave as it avoided his attacks, yet made no move to attack him the way it had Todd. At times the way it dodged made Damian stutter in his own movements slightly, something that rarely happened before. He slashed at it, ignoring his siblings' shouts for him to stop from the sidelines while also ignoring the flashes in his mind of a fight years ago. So similar yet so different. 

"I will not let this mockery run free." He muttered pointing his blade at his target as it in return hissed at him. What a feral thing it was, he thought, waiting for that thing to make the first move this time. Clones were not perfect, their forms were lacking, They might retain skills of their original through implanted memories but they rarely were the same let alone capable of thinking outside of what their creator, his mother, wanted. They had no cognitive capabilities. 

He pointedly ignored anything he knew about other certain clones. They weren't created by his mother, therefore did not count regarding his conclusion. Still, it was painful seeing this mockery of his dead brother appearing like a perfect copy. 

The stance it held with the dagger, despite the feral hissing and movements, it was the exact same his brother had. Sword stances, like martial arts stances had a basic form, every wielder learned and then developed further into their own personal and unique one with time. Danyal had one where he tended to hold one handed swords upside down in his left hand while his right arm covered his empty side with a slight tilt to the back, always ready to reach for any weapon he would carry in hidden pockets on his back. If he wasn't holding a sword but a dagger or short knife the stance wouldn't change much but compared to a sword he would hold the dagger correctly while also retaining a different habit. 

It was painful to see this clone, this thing mimicking his brother's stand perfectly. Damian could only narrow his eyes in determination, or was it desperation by now? This was just one more reason to get rid of it. It just hurt even more when with a quick gaze towards the hand that held the dagger Damian also noticed just how perfect that clones copying was. A bad habit his brother had always retained and the league had also never been able to train out of him was showing itself. It was a small habit, unnoticeable if you wouldn't look for it, yet dangerous to the dagger wielder if they were inexperienced.

Danyal tended to let his thumb rest against the guard if the blade had one, or against the blade itself if it didn't have a guard. He knows that his twin used to have scarring on his thumb from this habit, especially from their early training years. Green eyes narrowed. 

This thing was even imitating his brother's habit. 

The need to have it gone rose. He wanted to rip it apart and present it to his mother with all the anger and grief it brought to him. 

"Guys stop Damian now! That is not a clone!" He heard Drake yell from where the Batcomputer was but he didn't care. This was a clone, there was no other option. So he lunged at it again. Ignoring how the clone had studied him like he had it. Ignoring how he had briefly seen something no clone could replicate. Ignoring how his personal feelings were trying to influence his rational mind. And ignoring how its stance had changed the longer they had watched each other and how that thing let its guard down all of a sudden. 

"Damian! Stop!" 

The sound of a dagger cluttering to the floor echoed loudly in Damian's ears. 

It had dropped all defenses and Damian had only seen that as his chance to deal the final blow to get rid of it once and for all. But what he didn't expect despite the dropped defenses was for the clone to not only let go of its weapon but to also close its eyes and smile. 

The same smile that still hunted his nightmares. A smile he knew better than anyone else. His mind flashed back to eight years ago.

"Demon brat! Calm the fuck down!"

The blade had stopped inches from the same fatal placement that had killed his brother so many years before. Drake and Richard were right behind him, Richard's hands gripping his shoulders while Todd was by the clone's side clutching the blade with his bare hand, most likely bleeding already. 

"Why?" Damian uttered quietly, his eyes trained on the thing. Richard must have thought that his question had been directed towards them stopping him but that wasn't the case. 

"Look Dami, how about listening to what Tim found out first before we decide what to do with that child?"

"Not you." He couldn't help but snap back at them as he withdrew his katana, flicking it slightly because of the blood on it while he heard Todd mutter something about too sharp blades and bandaids as well as several curses the older hissed out under breath. His eyes stayed on the thing. "Why would you let me kill you? Why drop your defense? Your weapon? Why not just dodge?" 

The thing titled its head, its glowing green eyes were trained on Damian and he noticed how they flickered into a blue that was so familiar yet so different with the way they still glowed. The thing's expression caused a nostalgic feeling to stir in him, something he had thought had been buried deep inside of him. It made chirping noises looking confused, there was a small moment of silence before it whispered something more understandable. 

"Ahbak, Dami" 

Damian froze at the quiet words the thing had whispered. How was he supposed to react now? Was this really a clone? No, he knew this was a clone, it had to be. There was no way Danyal was alive let alone still eight years old. He had killed his own brother, he had held him in his own arms as Danyal took his final breath, smiling at him and uttering the same words he had just heard again after so many years. Words he truly thought he would never hear again from the other. 

Even if Danyal had survived somehow, he should be the same age as him. Not the age he had died at. Besides, their grandfather would have never allowed them to use the pits to revive his twin. Damian was sure of that, especially when he had learned the truth of what purpose their fight truly had in his grandfather's eyes.

Damian's eyes locked onto the scar the clone had by its left ear. His stomach slowly sank as his mind still denied betraying thoughts. 

"FUCK!"

Todd's outcry and rather pathetic yowl of pain unintentionally ripped him out of his thoughts. It was like a switch had been flipped in the clone's mind as his brother had reached out to probably detain it again. The moment Todd had touched him, the other had bitten into the second eldest hand before letting go just as quickly as they jumped back to put distance between him and his brothers. The clone hissed before turning on its heel and running away from them once more. 

But instead of running after him, Damian stood frozen in place. His mind racing with conflicted thoughts. He could feel Richard's hands on his shoulders, grounding the teenager with the warmth they provided. "You okay there Baby Bat? You seem rather out of it." 

"<tt> I am fine." Clicking his tongue and turning his face away from them, he didn't offer any more words. Ignoring the worried looks he was getting as he moved to wipe the rest Todd's blood off his blade. A distraction was needed before his mind became any more chaotic and unreasonable. "What did Drake find out?" 

"Right… are you sure you want to hear that right now?" Giving Richard an unimpressed stare, the oldest sighed looking over towards Drake. 

"Well I got good news and probably bad news." Side eyeing his brother Damian kept silent waiting for him to continue and trying not to mull over his thoughts. 

"I can safely say that the child is not a clone. His DNA does not 100% match yours. It differs too much but - and this is where it's probably bad news - it matches with you to 45%, with a matching to Bruce to about 50%, same with Talia. If I run a paternity test I am sure it would be a hit for Bruce and Talia." 

Damian swallowed taking in that information, knowing what it meant. Was he horrified? Yes. Did it awaken a strange sort of hope? Also, yes. The sinking feeling in his stomach was getting stronger and he thought back to the scar he had seen. No matter how he denied it, clones did not retain the original scars. 

"But there was a third compartment of the child's DNA structure which was impossible to test. It even corrupted DNA samples. I barely got the DNA test result, if I hadn't taken it apart from the rest. It probably has something to do with the green specs in his blood too. So I ran a substance analysis and - you probably won't like this - but it got a hit from a substance we have recorded in our database." 

"What substance?" Damian knew, he just knew he wouldn't like the next words Drake would say. There was the feeling that he could guess what substance it was but once again he wanted to deny it as long as possible. Because that meant his mother stooped to a new low.  He could feel Richard squeezing his shoulder as if to help him keep his mind stable. 

"Lazarus Water. It matched with what we have recorded from the Lazarus Pits." 

Damian closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out through his nose. "Drake, are you telling me that after eight years, my mother who had preserved my dead twin brother's body, dropped the said body into the Lazarus Pits to revive him and then drop him off with Todd of all people?" 

"Yes, wait… dead twin brother's body?" 

Chapter Text

Richard 'Dick' Greyson had a problem. It wasn't a nuclear-level problem and it also wasn't a paper-cut level of problem either. Because apparently he had a baby brother no one in their family but Damian knew about. Granted Damian had confessed that said baby brother was dead and had supposedly died eight years ago.

Which was not making the situation any better, honestly. 

The explanation that Talia had apparently pulled another Jason was not helpful at all. No in fact that made the situation even worse. According to Damian, in response to Tim's findings, there was no other way for that child to be alive other than Talia having preserved his body and then deciding after eight years to drop it into the pits. Well, let's just say his opinion on that woman, if it wasn't already down in the depth before it certainly was now. 

Considering the glowing Lazarus green eyes, it could very much mean that there was now an eight years old child running loose in the Bat Cave heavily affected by Pit Madness. The feralness the child displayed could also be a sign of it, a more childish version of the Rage Jason had displayed. The kid did appear to snap between calm and aggressiveness at times. Dick had seen the kid appear to calm down or maybe be just a bit more rational when the boy was focused on Damian but the moment one of them got too close that rationality snapped. 

This was not just a simple feral eight years old that looked like perfect B adoption material and so happened to be blood-related and wasn't that an entirely different can of worms to open? How were they going to explain any of this to Bruce?

Shaking his head slightly dick focused back on the problem at hand. "Guys we need a plan. We can't just let our little teethling run loose." 

"Richard, do not refer to my brother as little teethling." Dick grinned well wasn't that an interesting reaction from their youngest, well formally youngest considering the revived twin appeared to be around eight. "Well the little biter needs a nickname and until I find something more fitting it's teethling. Or do you have a better suggestion?" 

Sweet little Baby Bat was now glowering at him full scale, the type he usually reserved for Tim when he was especially fessed up. Though that kind of protectiveness was new, his little brothers were the cutest. He was going to tease sweet little Dami about this later once the first phase of the new little brother crisis was over. Right now though? They had to find the little guy first. The Cave wasn't exactly childproof, not like that ever had bothered any of them before and it probably won't so much in the future. 

"Let's use Jason as bait." Tim suddenly suggested causing the second oldest to grimace. "The little guy likes biting him. We could use that as an advantage and lure them out like that." 

"Absolutely fucking not." Little Wing disagreed and Dick chuckled in good humor. His brother might come out of this slightly traumatized by their probably newest sibling. Not that any of them needed anything more added to what trauma they all had already accumulated.

"Aw come on Little Wing, this is your chance to make a bond with our new baby before any of us can." It was best to keep the mood light-hearted and cheerful, from experience Dick knew there would be a lot of heavy air sticking around once they dig deeper into the whole Damian's dead twin revival deal. Acquiring new siblings always appeared to have some sort of tail attached that needed to be solved. 

"For once I agree with Todd. Absolutely not, who knows where he has been? I will not have my brother become sick from biting him." He would have cooed at this if Jason's face change from surprise from Damian's agreement to a purely offended scowl wasn't so funny. A chuckle escaped him and his little brother turned his offended scowl to glaring at him fiercely as if it had been Dick that insulted him. The eldest in turn only lifted his hands palms up to calm the second eldest. 

"Okay, no biting bait. But we gotta draw out the little guy and calm his Pit Rage." Again that would only work if his suspicion of the kid displaying Pit Rage with his feralness was true. But considering the glowing eyes, Tim's findings, and that quick behavior change they had seen so far, he would think so. Dick eyed Jason for a moment with worry clear in his eyes. Little Wing didn't seem to be affected nor had he said anything about the Pit being upset or feeling anything strange. By now and with how long Jason had been in the Cave with them or the fact that he was the first to encounter the kids Lazarus green eyes, he would have expected his brother to mention the Pit he felt in his mind at least once by now. So maybe the little guy wasn't suffering to this extent from it? Or at least not to the point that it would have an effect on his brother? But considering what they knew so far, the child had been brought back by a Lazarus Pit, so the likelihood with the evidence they had and their experiences so far was slim. 

"Well we will have to find a way to secure the little guy before B comes back or Alfie finds out." Jason mentioned, still scowling at Damian again as he crossed his arms. He was still not over the youngest comment. But Dick also saw that there was something else on his brother's mind and his next words confirmed it for the eldest. "By the way, I want to be here when you guys tell B about this. I wanna see his face and make fucking sure the little biter won't be turned into another kid soldier." 

"Jason." He scowled lightly, knowing how bad of a topic that was for the other. This was not the right time or situation for that sort of discussion but Jason had a point. A plan on how to best break the news to Bruce was needed, Alfred would never be the problem, but Bruce's reaction certainly would be. But before any of that they needed to find little… what had Damian said his name was? Wait did Damian even tell them the little guy's name? They all had just been using various nicknames or simply called the kid kid so far. 

"Dami, what's the little teethling's name again?" 

"Stop using such a degrading name for my twin and I haven't told you yet." So at least he was not developing memory holes through the new sibling panic. Damian just hasn't mentioned the little guy's name. Though Dick still grinned and a scowl appeared on his little brother's face, he knew the eldest wouldn't stop calling the kid a teething now. "It's Danyal, but when we were younger he didn't like the way grandfather and our teachers called his name and insisted on being called informally as Danny. Since then I was the only one he had no complaints about using his original name." 

Dick would for now ignore the cuteness that was there between the twins, he would however address it later again. "Okay right, so we better find little Danny and get everyone together to introduce-" 

"Might I ask who this 'little Danny' is, Master Richard?" 

He did not scream, no he did. But he can admit to the fact that his heart rate shot up with Alfred just appearing right behind him like that. Glancing at his siblings he thankfully noted that he wasn't the only one. Really sometimes Alfred could be as bad as Cass in the ways of sneaking up on people and giving them a scare. 

"Alfred, hey, hi, what are you doing down here?" He was not nervous, no he wasn't, his voice was even there was no nervous quiver. The way the butler narrowed his eyes at him did definitely not scare him at all, nope. 

"I was informed that all of you returned uninjured." Right, Babs had been on the coms with them before, of course, she would notify Alfred. She had been strangely quiet since Jason came to the Cave after all. He carefully glanced into one of the directions Dick knew Bruce had installed a security camera. She was watching them, wasn't she? 

His focus turned back to Alfred and he swallowed as he noticed the man's eyes narrow at Jason's hand that got cut earlier. Little Wing instantly tried to hide it behind his back when he noticed Alfred's eyes on him trying, but in Dick's eyes failing, to not appear like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar under the butler's gaze. "But the four of you, despite having returned to the Cave, have not come up yet. So I was merely checking on you, to make sure nothing was wrong after all. As it appears all of you also have not changed yet either." 

He gulped again. Really there was no way of ever hiding anything from Alfred. He exchanged glances with his siblings and opened his mouth when Tim beat him to it. 

"Jason brought a child to the Cave that we found out is Damien's twin that had died eight years ago but was brought back to life and is now feral and hiding somewhere in the cave." 

At least it was Timber that blurred out everything they knew so far. 

"His name is Danyal." Baby Bat added and the four of them waited for Alfred's reaction. Dick couldn't help it as he held his breath in anticipation.

"I see. I will go prepare one of the rooms then." Alfred glanced at Damian and the eldest Wayne child couldn't help and admired how sharp the butler was. "I assume the room next to Master Damian's would be preferred. I will also inform Master Bruce to return sooner from his meeting with the Justice League. He is not aware of Master Danyal's existence, yes? A family dinner appears to be in order to be prepared as soon as possible, I assume. Will my help be needed in finding young Master Danyal?" 

"No worries Alfie, I think I have an idea on how to draw out the little shiiii-biter. You made cookies, right?" Jason at the last minute corrected his words because of the look Alfred was giving his brother and Dick couldn't help but snicker. His little brother was the one who ended up tipping the swear jar the most. 

"I indeed did. May I ask for what purpose you ask?" 

Little Wing grinned. "Oh, nothing big really, just giving the little biter a taste of the best cookies in existence." 

"Flattery won't get you out of tipping the swear Jar, Master Jason. Now, if my help is not required then I will be on my way." 

Giving them all one last once over, the Butler smiled before he turned to leave, Jason following behind him most likely to get the cookies and arguing a little about having to tip the swear jar again. Dick and Tim let out a sigh of relief once Alfred had left again to which Damian only eyed them strangely. 

They discussed a little more about the best way to approach the child. Damian gave them a bit of an inside on what to look out for when it came to his twin until a little while later Jason came back with the plate of cookies and stared at a green post-it note. "Since when does Alfie stick green Post-it notes with cryptic shit on plates?" 

"What?" His brother only shrugged offering the note to him. He took it and arched an eyebrow, Tim was looking over his shoulder at it and the two stared at the strange squiggles that looked like they were supposed to be normal writing. 

"I think Cass or Stetph might be pulling a prank on us. These look just like random squiggles." He offered an answer, though he knew both of them were out on an interplanetary mission. They must have done some thorough prank planning to pull that off. 

"Let's leave this for later and look for the little teethling first and foremost." He casually passed the note to Tim, noticing the others' curiosity and a certain glint in his eyes. Oh boy, he probably should make sure his little brother gets some sleep instead of trying to encrypt whatever was written on that little note all night. If there was anything written on it that was supposed to make sense. 

"Now everyone let's take a cookie, resist eating it and go hunt down our little teethling." 

Damien narrowed his eyes on him. "I told you to stop calling Danyal that." The little Baby Bat still took a cookie though and marched away into the Bat Cave. Just like they had planned, they separately wandered through the Bat Cave trying to cover as much ground as possible. They checked every hidden space or most ideal vantage point they came across. But nothing so far and by this point Dick was ready to call for backup to join them, maybe Babs had seen something on cams or maybe he could even wake up Duke just so they would finally find the little kid. 

Dick was contemplating all his opening of additional help until a familiar yowl of pain resounded in the Cave. The direction the sound came from made Dicks stomach sink once he remembered just what was in the Cave in this direction and only one thought raced across his mind. "Jason!" 

His steps echoed in the Cave as he rushed to join his siblings, he feared for the worst. Jason avoided this area in particular because B had placed their Lazarus Pit there and his brother had often said that it was one of the reasons he didn't like coming to the Cave that much anymore let alone into this area of the Cave. To hear his brother's shout of pain from that area couldn't mean anything good and his mind was playing all kinds of scenarios in his head.

Well, that was until he arrived at the scene. Dick didn't know how long he stood there frozen but at some point, he knew he started moving again to get his phone out. All for the singular purpose of taking some photos of what was happening, maybe even a video but that's what they had the security cameras for. Tim was already laughing and wheezing for air and Dick was pretty sure that Babs was most likely creating a backup of all the different angles of this with the many cameras B had in the Cave. He would need to see if she was willing to share that file, in case Little Wing would attempt to erase all of the security footage later. 

For now, he would take as much evidence as he could of the current situation. 

Jason lay with his back on the ground, with one hand his brother was still holding onto the cookie. Desperately he was waving it before Danny's face trying to get the boy's attention but the kid was not even glancing at the cookie. No, the little teethling was too focused on biting down on Little Wing's other arm while sitting on the downed vigilante's chest. Little hands gripping the arm in an attempt to make sure no one was taking his chew toy away from him while small hisses resounded every time an attempt of getting the arm away from the boy resounded. Damian was trying to lift the little biter off Jason. His hands were holding the boy under the armpits. But whenever Damian so much as attempted to move the little guy would then attempt to anchor himself by warping his little legs around the chest he was sitting on as best as he could. 

What a cute little bitey game of tug-and-war.

"You little shit! FUCK! Come on, here is the cookie! Take the fucking cookie! OUCH FUCKING HELL! How is he resisting Alfie's cookies!" 

"Danyal, No! You do not know where Todd was or how dirty he is. Let go of his arm this instant. We do not want you to get sick!" 

"Hey!" 

This was gold, Dick decided and would go straight to the blackmail as well as family memories folder. He couldn't wait to share this with the others, the little guy's biteyness sure was a change to his twins' stabbiness. 

Chapter Text

Tim sipped on his nth cup of specially made Tim-brand-not-Alfred-approved coffee as he shuffled into the dining room and sat down on the breakfast table. Not a second later he opened the laptop he had carried with him and stared at its screen for a couple of seconds. The screen displayed the scan of the post-it note that had still gotten nothing. None of the squiggles were recognized in any of the so-far known languages. Even running it through the database of languages recorded of interdimensional and interplanetary, used by the Justice League, resulted in nothing. Was this an entirely new language not discovered yet? But why would they find that on a post-it note placed on Alfred's cookies? 

Right now he was running a picture recognition program, trying to see if any of these squiggles had appeared at least before in some other form. The program was on 90% with nothing found so far, which did not leave much hope.

If nothing came from it, he would need to accept that it must be a prank. A part of him hoped this was really just a prank from Cass and Steph. Yet he knew it wasn't and he also knew, the moment Bruce learned an unknown post-it note appeared in the mansion, the man would go nuts and overly paranoid again. The entire Manor's security system would get updated or maybe even remade a third time this month. 

Despite his hope, Tim knew that it wasn't a prank. There were too many coincidences for it to not add up in some strange form or way. Besides, he had a gut feeling and if there was something he had learned in his years of vigilantism, it was to trust that gut feeling. It was better to be prepared, even if you didn't know what for. 

A cough resounded behind him and Tim blinked exactly two times before letting out a sigh, closing the laptop and pushing it only a couple of inches away, far enough to make room for a plate but close enough to open it again should he need to. Giving Alfred a tired smile he let the man place the plate with his breakfast before him. He reached for his coffee cup to take another sip only for it to be gone. He suppressed a whine, knowing Alfred's rules about work at the table he would better not touch it again for now. 

"Replacement, you look like the dead walking. Did you even sleep last night?" He glared at his brother before he blinked, taking in his surroundings for the first time before his eyes rested on little Danny. 

Tim could see that all of them, despite barely knowing the kid for a couple of hours, had already become attached to Danny. It didn't help that they had discovered Lichtenberg scarring running up Danny's left arm all the way to where his heart was after the child had finally let Damian take care of him. The sight had been adorable at first like a switch had been flipped in the little guy's head. That was until Damian lifted Danny's shirt to get him dressed in something more appropriate to sleep than the oversized NASA shirt the kid was wearing before. 

It wasn't planned for him, Dick, or Jason to see the scars. But they did. Dick was around because as the worried older brother he was, stuck around to help Damian just in case Danny made another break for it. Jason stuck around cause Alfred was tenting to the bite marks and Tim? He had just followed them because he still had questions. Hell, he still had them even now. But Tim wanted to focus more on knowing who would give a child, a once dead then revived one at that, scares like that. Even Damian had been shocked, muttering something about scars he didn't know about. 

If Talia had let the kid, one of her own, go through some sort of experimentation…. Well Tim knew where the explosives were stored and by the looks his siblings had sported the night before, he could count on Jason's as well as Dick's help to blow up a league facility or two. 

Either way, Damian had become very protective of the child, in a way Tim hadn't seen before. The scarring didn't help calm that protectiveness either. In fact, he was pretty sure it had steered it more in all of them. Only a couple hours in and Danny had already become the baby brother they all felt needed protection. In addition, there was also the fact that Danny spat out a glowing goop of Lazarus Water once they managed to wrangle the kid off Jason last night. 

He wasn't sure if his siblings had forgotten that in the face of the discovered scaring but that fact wasn't calming down a different kind of worry anytime soon either. No, it was another factor next to the scarring that spoke for the League having experimented on the poor child. There weren't many that had access to Lazarus Water let alone dared to experiment with it. So there was a high chance that his assumption of the League of Assassins doing child experimentation on a dead-revived body… he probably should start investing more time into what sort of facilities the League had built in the last years or was using more actively lately. 

On a good note, thankfully Danny had let up on Jason after he spat out the green goop, and thanks to the fact that he apparently recognized Damian now, let said teenager manhandle the little biter into being taken care of for the rest of the night. It also seemed like the little guy's biting obsession with Jason had calmed down somewhat. Tim didn't trust that at all, it felt like the calm before a storm, especially with the way Danny was still focused on his second-oldest brother. If stares could burn holes, his brother would be Swiss cheese already. 

But then again everyone except for the demon brat was still getting the same hissing treatment. Considering his theory that the League probably used the revived child to experiment with Lazarus Water, it wasn't that much of a surprise. If that truly was the case then it was well within Danny's right to hiss at anyone that got too close for his comfort. Anyone would be feral after being subjected to experiments.

Thankfully it looked like whatever Pit Madness had overcome the child last night was not reacting towards them as strongly or at all right now. But as he watched Dick trying hard not to pout at Damian who had Danny in his lap in a protective hold, he wondered how long that sense of peace would hold. Jason sat as far away from Danny and Damian as he could. It was likely a tactic to be at least a little out of the way of the child watching him with glowing blue eyes while munching on whatever food Damian gave to the little biter. 

He could also see the reason for Dick's pouting as the elder reached out to attempt to ruffle Danny's hair but the child instantly snapped his head in their eldest brother's direction, hissing, bearing his teeth and even snapping at the air until Dick withdrew said hand again with a slightly nervous look before a pout very evidently replaced it on his face. Like a switch flipped the child's focus would then redirect to watching Jason like a hawk again and munching on the food the Demon brat gave him. The kid was acting like he did have a semi-feral episode just now just because someone wanted to pet his head.

Well, at least Danny was the bitey type that would hiss as a warning and not the stabby kind without warning like Damian. Biting seems less deadly than stabbing. So he was saved from an attempted murder via a new younger brother at least for now, right? 

"Yo, anyone at home up there?" Jason would have tapped his forehead if he had sat close enough instead he was just tapping his plate with his knife to get Tim's attention. Turning his focus back to this annoyance of an older brother Tim glared once more. "If you have to know. Yes, I did sleep last night." 

"More than one hour?" Dick instantly piped up next and Tim refused to look at the eldest. He was not going to answer that. Couldn't they at least once believe he slept more than one hour without Alfred forcing it or passing out prior? Besides there was coffee, who needed sleep when you have brown bean juice to keep you active. All his mental vital signs proved that he was a perfectly functioning human being, even with minimal amounts of sleep. He had not face-planted his breakfast for three days now, if that happened again then maybe he would admit that coffee was no sleep replacement but only then. 

"What got you so obsessed that you didn't sleep, Drake? Another case? Or did you try to find out more from the League in regards to Danyal's scars?" Seriously, even the Demon brat? Tim wanted to groan but refused to give his siblings the satisfaction.  

"That too. There is still this drug dealer case with unknown substances that recently took a stance in Gotham but mostly locating the league facilities with recent activities and the analysis of the post-it note." He finally answered after stewing a little longer under the burning stares of his siblings. "Neither our nor the Justice League's language recognition programs got a hit and right now I am running a picture recognition to see if there ever was any kind of writing like that found before but it ran up to 90% before I came down and hadn't found anything like that before. So the chances of it being-" 

"Slow down there Timber. I thought that was just a prank from Cass and Steph?" Dick interrupted him holding a hand up with confused eyes and Tim suppressed another groan.

"It couldn't be. I wish it was but aside from the circumstances of it appearing, both of them weren't in the Manor last night and I don't think Duke would do something like this so-" 

"Hold up." Jason cut in and Tim glowered at them for getting interrupted again. He was trying to explain something to them, it would be nice if they would let him finish before deciding to add their own two cents.  

"What do you mean no language recognition program got a hit?" 

"It means that there are no languages to translate-" Okay now Jason was just doing it on purpose to piss him off, wasn't he?

"Why would you need that? Yea, it's cryptic as fuck but it's clearly written out!" Well, that made any retort Tim had ready, die in his throat. He blinked once before agitation took over and he pushed his breakfast plate to the side. 

"Jason, what are you talking about?" Opening the laptop, he turned the screen so it was facing Jason and pointed at the image of the note that took over the entire left side of the screen. "These are squiggles! How is any of that readable?!" 

"The fuck you talking about?! Don't tell me your sleep-deprived mind doesn't know how to read anymore?" Was it normal to have the urge to hit your brother over the head with something? Cause Tim wanted to do that right now.

"Jason, what does it say in your eyes?" Dick carefully cut in before Tim could act on his urge or question the other anymore.

"'The daylight knight will tell the truth with eyes that see the light'. See cryptic as fuck." The older gesticulated towards Tim's laptop screen while Damian raised an eyebrow at him. At least Tim wasn't the only one thinking something was wrong here.  

"The what now, will tell what?" Dick repeated confused. Tim on the other hand hurriedly turned the laptop back towards him noting down what Jason just said. Even if he partially thought some insanity might have taken over his brother it was something he could work with still. He was just confused as to why Jason was able to read the squiggles but hey he had less to work with before. This gave him at least a hint about the post-it. Aside from adding more questions to the already growing pile. 

But that was a bottle to open at a later point.

Suddenly a thrilling noise echoed in the room and the four looked at Danny whose focus rested now on Tim. No, it did not make him swallow but it sure did steal some nervousness, that was until blue-green flickering eyes turned away from him and landed on Jason now definitely colored green. Tim could see Damian's hold tightening and Dick tensing when they noticed the color change. Danny repeated the same nose he made earlier, intensely staring at Jason. 

As if the child could make his brother understand if he just stared long enough at him.

"Who the fuck is clockwork?" Okay, so the staring worked. If that was all it took to make his brothers understand Tim was going to have to take some staring lessons from Danny, once the kid was less likely to bite him though. 

The green fated and Danny made a similar noise to chirping instead of the thrilling noise he made earlier, his head tilting in confusion. "The fuck you mean you don't know? You just said that Clockwork wrote the note?!" 

"Todd. Did you just understand the noise Danyal was making?" Side-eying their formerly youngest Tim was pretty sure that the Demon brat sounded miffed and Tim didn't even need to use three guesses to figure out why. His lips twitched upwards just a little at that realization.

The three of them stared at Jason for a good moment, who in return gave them a confused narrowed-eyed stare back. "You didn't?" 

In unison, the three shook their heads and the second oldest let out a frustrated groan as he sat back down his head in his hands. "What did you assholes hear just now?" 

"Danyal made some kind of thrilling, then chirping noise." Damian answered without missing a beat. 

"Well I heard him say Clockwork the first time and then that this Clockwork wrote the note. After that, the kid got all confused telling me that he doesn't know who this Clockwork is." He looked at them with frustration reflected, eyes narrowed at Damian. "Why do I hear the kid speak and you guys don't? You're his fucking twin, right? Shouldn't you know what the brat is saying?" 

Damian glowered offended but didn't verbally lash out. Tim did see a hint of frustration with him too and thought about his earlier guess again. Damian was bothered about the fact that Jason understood his twin's noises and he didn't. The only thing stopping him from possibly hurling the breakfast knife at Jason, was most likely his hold on the child in question.

Tim also thought about the fact for a while, there had to be an explanation for this phenomenon. Until it suddenly hit him. Making eye contact with Dick they shared a curt nod, they came to the same conclusion. Their attention turned back towards their siblings. 

"The Lazarus Water." Saying it out loud was different than thinking about that theory, yet Tim had attempted to bring it up carefully but both Jason and Damian tensed slightly. 

"What about it?" The second oldest scoffed, turning his body slightly towards them but his crossed arms indicated that he wasn't happy that they were bringing it up. 

"That's what you two have in common." Dick continued grimly. "Both of you got revived and came back through a Lazarus Pit. You still have the Pit in your mind right? And Danny most likely also has a lot of it in his system. It even mixed with his DNA."

"It's a point of similarity and could explain why you understand him." Tim held up his hand before Damian could cut in. "Growing up next to it doesn't mean you have it permanently in your body system, like the way Jason and Danny have."  

A beat of silence, broken by Jason letting out a hearty groan. "Fuck. So because of the Pit, I understand thrill and chirps now? Just fucking great!" 

"Probably can speak it too if you try. That would be pretty cute. Come on, say something in a chirp!" Leave it to Dick to try to lighten the mood, though the glare Jason sent the eldest did make Tim hide a chuckle. He had to admit imaging Jason talking in chirps was a funny image. Should his brother ever do that he would need to make sure to take a video for his blackmail folder. 

"I will fucking not!" 

"Come on, don't you want to communicate properly with our little teethling here?" 

"Fuck off Dick!" 

"You have to try it Jaybird! For little teethling!" 

"Richard" Damian warned but Tim could only snicker as he watched Dick reach out to pat the kid's head carelessly, apparently not hearing the warning nor hissing as the elder was too engrossed in convincing Jason to talk in a chirp. 

Dick let out a shriek of pain at the same time Tim noticed his Laptops screen flashing for a second. 

"Ha! Not so fun getting bitten is it now?" Jason laughed gloating with the fact that for once he was not the biting target. 

Tim had winched the moment Danny chomped down with his sharp teeth on Dick's hand and locked his jaw. Damian was instantly on both their cases scowling them both but the little biter refused to let go anyway. He saw Alfred approaching the three and instantly stood up from his chair with a warning on the tip of his tongue as the butler reached out towards Danny. 

"Master Danyal." Stunned and frozen, the four brothers watched how the butler fearlessly patted the child's head who only let out a small hiss in acknowledgment, teeth still digging into their eldest brother's hand. "I request you let go of Master Richard's hand. I fear it will not taste as well as this snack I have prepared for you."

Blinking in disbelief Tim watched how blue eyes side-eyed the pastry and fruits Alfred had prepared. In an instant Danny let go and chirped, turning his attention towards Alfred who was still patting the child's head without getting hissed at or being at risk of getting bitten. Damian even let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Pennyworth." 

Dick was now cradling his hand, pouting and mumbling something about unfairness at the three as Jason laughed. Tim too couldn't help but chuckle as he settled back into his seat turning his attention to the image of a book, of course, Alfred somehow became an exception to Danny's biteyness. 

It was at that moment that Duke entered the room, took one look at them, blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then turned back around and left again muttering something about the dining room being too bright and that it was too early for any of this.

Chapter Text

When Bruce returned home he did not know what he should have expected. Alfred had contacted him a day earlier with a very explicit request - not an order, Alfred would not do that. The old man had been very insistent that he needed to finish up the case with the Justice League when Bruce had told him that he still needed to work on it before returning home. The Butlers' response was to give him a rather strange warning, which in the end stuck to his mind and caused him to finish up the case as quickly as possible. 

Apparently, there was a new family member Damian had failed to tell them about. The butler did not leave a lot of room for discussion or any questions from Bruce's side before the man simply hung up on him. And he knew Alfred would deny it in his polite way of ever having done that if Bruce asked him later.  Which left him to brood over who or what Damian failed to tell them about. 

Bruce did all he could and made it back before lunch. 

He had assumed at first that his youngest had once again smuggled in an animal that was there to stay but that did not explain the butler's insistence on him coming home as soon as possible. His mind had gone through any possible scenario he could think of yet, color him surprised when he stood in the doorframe of the sitting room that became the main hang-out room for the family, basically their living room and two of his children were currently holding an argument that bordered on screaming match about whether or not the older of the two was part of a cult. 

Tim was even threatening Jason with some sort of book he had gotten via express mail looking ready to hit his second oldest across the face with it. To Jason's credit his second oldest didn't appear violently annoyed but rather in a frustrated annoyance, he wasn't throwing a fist yet in response to Tim's pestering. 

"Just admit that you are or were a part of a ghost cult!"

"The fuck you talking about replacement?! I have never been in a ghost cult!" 

"Bullshit! The sigels in this book say otherwise!" 

"What fucking sigels you asshole!"

"The ones in this book!"

"Wave that any close to my face and I will punch you!" 

Or maybe it was just a matter of time before the first punch was getting thrown… 

Looking toward the couch he found his oldest sitting next to his youngest holding out sweets and treats to a child Damian was keeping in his lap in a rather protective hold. The child, a little boy who didn't look older than seven or eight, was wearing an oversized hoodie he recognized as one of Damians. The boy did not appear happy with his situation as the child kept hissing at his oldest and snapping his teeth. Damian scowled at Dick, clearly also not happy with what he assumed were his elder son's attempts at getting the child to not hiss at him. 

"Richard, I am warning you."

"Come on little teethling! How about this chocolate? Or do you like baked goods better?" 

"Richard." 

"Just one pat without biting Dami, please! It's so unfair that you and Alfred are the only ones! He is not hissing as much as he did earlier! Should I juggle the cakes?"

"Danyal, how about we leave? There are surely better things for us to do than stay here with them." The child didn't even look up at his youngest but kept hissing at Dick who kept offering small cakes to the child.

Deciding that the unknown child was the more pressing matter compared to his other two boys getting into another fight, he turned towards Damian's direction slightly before he cleared his throat, gaining the attention of his children. Damian had been about to get up and leave with the boy, his youngest looked up at him before sinking back into his seat, the child still in his lap. It was interesting seeing all of them blink at him this owlishly whenever he joined them when they least expected his appearance. It was also an additional plus point that the fight between Tim and Jason seemed to end there too. "Would one of you explain to me why Damian has a child attached to him?" 

"This child is Danyal." Damian stated and Bruce noted how when Damian looked down at the boy his eyes softened slightly. While the boy in his arms had his eyes now focused on Bruce. They were a glowing sky blue and Bruce couldn't help but think that his son might have picked up a little Meta child he wanted to take care of.

He hm-ed, stepping into the room and closer to his children. Noting how the child in his son's arms tensed, pupils blown wide. The kid was on high alert and getting defensive. Now that he also took a closer look at the small boy he noticed that he had similarities to Damian, was that the reason the kid seemed to have latched onto his youngest? Or was it an effect of the possible Meta powers the child had?

"A Meta?" He questioned aloud after a couple of seconds of no one else speaking up. Slowly he moved towards the clearly tense child but stopped at a distance he deemed safe to not overwhelm the young boy. Considering nearly all his sons were around, the child might be a rescue. Maybe a trafficked meta? With the way the little one watched his every move as the new element in the room, it was also possible that the boy had gotten abused too. He would need the report from his sons to get a better understanding of the boy's circumstances. A part of him wondered why Duke wasn't here if this child was really a trafficked Meta rescue but he reasoned it with the other possible dealing with some form of aftermath or calming other rescues. 

"Not exactly…" Tim started and he looked over at his third eldest son. He was hesitating with his explanation, why? Was there something else amiss with the child? His eyes went back to the young boy who was still watching him and he wondered if Tim might hesitate because of the child's presence. He was about to suggest going to his office when Dick spoke up. 

"B maybe you should wait and sit down over there. This will be a lot to take in." Dick suggested his eyes worriedly going to the child that had become strangely quiet and back to him. Bruce only hm-ed again, Dick was good with children but from what he had seen this child wasn't trusting his eldest. The child was tense, taking a seat now would not help the situation in his opinion. 

Maybe he should give it a try. For the child to untense he would make sure that the boy knew he was in no danger with him and that his presence meant no harm. Not reacting to the child and simply taking a seat close by without ensuring that first would most likely only worsen the situation. 

So he took a couple of steps closer and crouched before Damian and the boy putting on the friendliest face he could muster while also making sure not to get too close. If this child was an abused meta case then the boy was surely scared, he could see it now in the boy's eyes. The likelihood that he had probably latched onto his youngest because of their similarities for safety was now even more apparent. 

"Hel-" He couldn't even finish his greeting before the child's eyes took on a glowing green color. Everything else happened faster than Bruce could realize at first, he barely had any time to react. 

"Danyal!"

The boy slipped out of Damian's hold effortlessly and with seemingly no struggle. In what looked close to flying the child then flipped over the couch onto his second oldest shoulders, using them as springboard to get onto one of the high shelves of the sitting room. He drew back into the ceiling corner and made himself as small as possible. A clear flight reaction Bruce noted to his dismay, whatever the boy had gone through it was definitely on the worst side.

But what worried the man more was that the entire time the child's glowing green eyes had been on Bruce. That realization had made his stomach sink at the familiarity of that green color. His eyes, only for a split second, went over to Jason who glared at him and placed himself between Bruce and the shelve the boy jumped on with crossed arms, in the time that it took Bruce to stand back up and look towards the ceiling corner the child had retreated to. 

"Father! What did you do?" An accusation was clear in the tone his youngest was using, now also standing with a protective look in his eyes. 

"I was only attempting to greet that child on eye level so as not to further scare him." He tried to calm the situation but it appeared to not work. Tim now also moved to stand next to Jason, also apparently blocking him from getting any closer to that corner. 

"Yeah, sure." His second oldest scoffed, his head only slightly moving so that he could look over his shoulder towards the child. "You didn't want to judge if the kid was a dangerous unknown?" 

"Jason." There was an unspoken argument in the air at Dicks call that Bruce knew all too well. 

"No Dick. The kid is fine with us, though still hissing and bitey but that was not a normal reaction. If I had to guess, the kid's Pit must have reacted to something with Bruce. The Biter stopped hissing the moment he noticed him. Look at the kids' eyes and tell me that's not true."  

His eldest did look conflicted as his eyes went over to the kid on the high shelf silently staring down at them before looking back at him standing by the couch where he had only attempted to greet the small child that had been in Damian's arms and then to his younger brothers that were standing before the shelve now. 

But Bruce had heard it in his second oldest argument and tensed the moment the words had left Jason. He looked straight at his second oldest while still keeping the boy in his field of vision, a part of him hoping he had somehow misheard despite knowing he most likely hadn't. There were too many implications that a bit of information could bring with it. "The child's Pit?"

Dick sighed covering his eyes with his right hand for a moment before looking back up at him again with determination. "That's why I wanted you to sit down and listen to us first. Danny is showing symptoms of being influenced by Lazarus Water. In addition, Tim found that he not only has it in his system and blood but also influencing his DNA." 

Bruce couldn't help it as his eyes narrowed at what his eldest son was saying. "The child, Danny, you said, is like Jason then?" 

"Possibly worse." Tim replied this time and Bruce took note of the hand clenching the book in his hands just a little harder. "The way the Lazarus water influenced his DNA had nearly made it impossible to test it when we tried to see if Danny was a clone. All tests returned corrupted until I split and isolated the Lazarus Water from his DNA. Only then was I able to get clear results." 

"A clone?" 

Tim arched his eyebrow at Bruce judgingly. "You must have noticed how much he looks like Damian. We first thought the child was a Clone but turns out that's not the case. He-" 

"Congratulations you have another supposedly dead son Talia revived via Lazarus Pit." Jason cut in rudely not once looking away from Bruce as he waited for the man's reaction. 

"JASON!" Was that Tim or Dick? Bruce wasn't sure as his second oldest's words played on repeat in his mind. 

"Just rip the bandaid off. Better to get his negative reaction out of the way now than later." 

"That's not what I mean and you know it!"

"What…?" He barely said it loud enough for his children to hear but they instantly quieted whatever argument was about to start between Jason and Dick as their attention went to him. To say Bruce's brain short circuit was an understatement as the words supposedly dead son slowly sunk deeper into his mind. 

Dick sighted and Bruce felt his eldest son placing his hand on his shoulder but all Bruce could do was turn to look at where the child was still high up on the shelf staring at him and looking like he wanted to merge into the shadows of the ceiling corner while Damian tried to coax the child down again. The child was scared and avoided him even at the cost of leaving the one that must have brought the boy comfort before, Damian.

"Damian told us that Danny is his twin that had died eight years ago. We don't know yet why he is here nor how but Dami, who was the most convinced that Danny was a clone at first, is now insisting that this child is his revived brother. As absurd as it sounds, with the way Damian has been since Danny's appearance, we believe him. Everything we found so far points to that conclusion too, the Lazarus Water in his system and DNA, the matching of the DNA and…" Dick paused for a moment, his hold on Bruce's shoulder tightening. "..the scars." 

Bruce barely heard Dicks explanation over his heartbeat as he watched Damian and Danny. All he could think about was that he had failed another child. The child who was supposed to be Damian's age had died too young and only to get revived eight years later. Why hadn't Damian told him anything about his brother? Why did the revived child need to appear for him to learn about his existence? Why hadn't Talia said anything about a second child?

All but one of his sons' attention turned to the child on the shelf as now three of them tried to get the chil- No. Danyal who everyone but Damian appears to call Danny, Damian's twin who had died at the age of eight and had now been revived and had been kept a secret from him by his own son too. They were working on trying to get Danny down from the shelves and out of that ceiling corner.  

"Danyal come down, please. Father does not mean any harm." 

"Great Bruce scared the little biter so much that he acts like a scared cat again." 

"Acting like a scared cat is better than like a feral one." 

"I would have preferred the feral one." 

"Just be happy he didn't instantly go to bite Bruce." 

"That's why I would have preferred the feral one. I would have loved to see that happening." 

"Would you imbeciles shut up. Danyal, would a snack from Pennyworth help calm you down?"

"If Dickie didn't get him to stop hissing with treats why would he come down from up there for a snack?" 

"Hey Jason, hold your arm up please?" 

"The fuck you want replacement?" 

"We are not using Todd as bait." 

"Worth a shot."

"Fuck off, how about you hold your arm up." 

"You're taller than me and have more reach." 

"Oh, now you're fine admitting you're short?"

"Shut up. Neither of you will be used as bait. Who knows what diseases either of you carry." 

""HEY""

Turning around and wordlessly leaving the room Bruce decided he needed to find a way to contact Talia. He needed answers and that as soon as possible. He could not face Danny like this and his children seemed to have the situation handled for now. 

As the man stormed out of the room, he did not notice the worried or judging side eyes of his children. Nor the green eyes that had never once stopped watching him as they turned blue appearing more confused than when they had been green. Jason on the other hand had noticed the change and couldn't help but wonder why the little biters Pit reacted this strongly towards Bruce when his own had been surprisingly quiet for the last couple of hours.  

Meanwhile Illinois, in a small hidden town…

Jazz was pacing while Tucker and Sam tried to explain the current situation to an agitated Ellie. She was barely holding it together herself but she needed to focus. 

"What do you mean template isn't here anymore?!" The little girl nearly screamed and Jazz couldn't help but flinch just slightly. 

"He disappeared. They say he died but I can't believe it. I don't believe it." She told the small girl opening her arms to the trembling girl who instantly flew over to her for the hug, the same way Danny used to do when he had been younger. 

"You better! If he died the entire ghost zone would have rioted!" She wasn't sure if the girl in her arms was trembling because of fear or out of anger, but that didn't matter to Jazz right now as she had heard the little sniffle in the younger girl's voice. 

"What?" Sam cut in, her focus being on the meaning behind Ellie's words. 

Ellie only leaned slightly out of Jazz's arms so that the girl could look over her shoulder at Danny's best friends. "Hello? Ghost King?" 

Tucker sighed as he sat down on a crate, they really needed to get some chairs into this little hideout room. "Right… But how do we find him?" 

"Maybe we can track his echo-signature?" Jazz suggested, she still had the booomerang that was tuned into Danny's signature. She hadn't tried to throw it yet in case it would alert her parents or the GIW. She didn't want to risk her little brother's safety any more than it already was but with the worsening of this situation and her parents of all people being among the ones to declare him dead, she knew they needed to find him. "We have to give it a shot. We need to find him." 

Chapter Text

Things were different. Something had changed and Danyal didn't know what it was. Something was happening but he couldn't tell what. He knew he was not acting in the way he had been raised. That he was letting something, (Emotions? Instinct?) control his actions. His grandfather and mother wouldn't be happy if they knew this but did he care what they would think? There was a part of him that said it didn't but also one that did or at least it did when it came to his mother. 

His mind was getting more and more foggy and he couldn't find a clear thought. He was crouching on a hard surface and high up. A shelf, his mind supplied. Distantly through the fog of his mind, he could hear voices he had gotten familiar with. He knew one of them belonged to his twin brother or at least who he believed his brother was. Because who else but Dami could that one have been? Sure he hadn't recognized his brother at first but after a long hard stare, Danyal had seen his twin in that older boy. It was confusing and his memories were mismatched but Danyal was sure that this older boy was his twin brother Damian.  

A pounding in his head forced Danyal to close his eyes for a brief moment. He drew further back from the edge with that action. Making sure to be as close to the wall as he could. No one could reach him from behind this way and all other directions someone could attack him from were in his view. His muddy mind was making it hard to focus though as all his instincts went haywire, screaming at him from all sides. 

Something was telling him that he could go through the wall as a worst-case measure, as well as disappear from sight but that something must be false. Danyal couldn't do things like that. His eyes opened and refocused and tried to focus on the one he jumped away from. His body was tense and ready to defend himself. With his instincts still screaming at him, he crouched there watching the new arrival, trying to judge and figure out why his instincts were screaming while his mind was making it hard to reason. 

Whatever had happened, before this man stepped closer, no, even before Danyal had met the older version of his twin, he knew it had changed something in him. There was more to his instincts than he was used to, just the day before he learned the hard way that he could sense more than he knew should. His body remembered something new but his mind made it hard to focus on that, especially with the fact that he had no recollection of how he could have gained that new. 

No wait that wasn't true, Danyal thought clearly for a brief moment, I remember green, like the pits and the fight. 

He couldn't hold that thought for long though as his senses continued to torment him. His instinctual focus turned back to that different energy around the man. It was familiar. With his muddled mind, it took him a while but he recognised it. It was the same he had sensed when he had woken up in an unknown place and got confronted by the icky one before he blacked out and later met that older version of his twin. 

In that place, there had been the same energy he was now sensing from that man. The owner of it had been long gone and only left the trace there for Danny. It had unsettled him deeply and he, despite his hazy mind, had blacked out, acting completely on instinct alone. Even now he could sense the energy around his brother but not as strongly. His twin wasn't the only one though, that energy was around all of the ones he had seen so far. It was there, like that presence had left an imprint on them, claiming them. And it set him on edge. 

It was the energy of something strong and protective. It was familiar but not. It could be dangerous but it felt more protective. Something in Danny's muddled thoughts tried to tell him more about it like there was knowledge Danyal should have but couldn't access. 

Maybe that was what set Danyal on edge so much the moment that man had started to get closer. He had watched the man, sensing the same energy until his mixed instincts kicked in. Telling him he had to get away from the danger and prepare. His eyes never once left the man. Danyal hat to figure it out, was he prey or the predator? Was this man a danger? The knowledge honed through his training clashed with his instincts, so he chose to put distance between them, so he could prepare. 

Unlike his brother, the presence of that other being was strong on the man. It didn't feel like a simple imprint. No, that man was the haunts' protector. Predator, Danyal's hazy memories told him. A danger, Danny's instinct added. Someone not to mess with and to be cautious of. The other being, the haunt's owner, had claimed that man as the protector. 

His muddled mind couldn't understand what that meant but he still let his instincts take over.

Everything was unfamiliar and he wasn't sure how much he could trust his memories and teachings. Danny had already been on edge waking up in someone's haunt and then getting faced with someone that gave him a very icky feeling. His memories, which only made him feel conflicted about many things, only made it worse. So trusting his instincts felt like the right choice. 

Considering he only felt the haunt's owner's traces and not their presence Danny knew that they were allowing his stay but something felt off and Danyal didn't know what. The last he remembered was facing his twin on his grandfather's command in a fight and then there was green and his memory was jumpy and his head was starting to hurt again. Like it did every time he tried to remember more. 

The man left, taking the overwhelming traces of the haunt's owner with him. 

"Danyal, please come down already." 

Danny blinked, his mind became hazy, and….

…why was he so high up? Confusion filled him, letting out a whine, Danyal turned his gaze to the one that felt like his brother Dami. 

"I still say we try using Jason as bait."

"I swear if you suggest that one more time…" 

"Danyal?" 

Gripping the edge of the shelf, he was on, Danyal rolled forward, flipping and landing on his feet, crouching on all fours and tilting his head as he let out an amused chirp. This older version of his brother looked funny with his arms stretched out as if he wanted to catch him. The other two were making some funny faces too. Silly Dami, he thought, he should know that Danyal was able to jump off of higher places. 

"Danyal, do not do that again." His brother frowned at him displeased and he couldn't help the whine-like chirp that left his throat, reiminciminding about the past. The taller of the other two, the one that had made Danny's instincts go haywire before and he liked to call it icky because of that, apparently found it funny and chuckled. 

"Little shit says that wasn't even as high as the walls you used to jump off." 

His brother scowled more but there was a softness to his eyes. Danyal's eyes light up, was Dami also remembering that time their teacher kicked them off a 30-meter wall when they hesitated to jump? Danyal remembered that time well. They were supposed to slide it down and then kick off at the last 5 meters and roll off the ground and end in a crouch ready to sprint off like they had practiced. 

Dami had messed up the first time and landed face-first in the sand. Danyal had too though he had just been a little bit more graceful with his landing, not by much considering instead of a crouch he ended up continuously rolling and ending flat on his back with a lot of sand in his gear. 

"Well, at least the little guy got down. Now…" The shorter of the other two suddenly pulled out the book again, he had seen him holding earlier and turned back to the taller one. What had Dami called him again? "...I still need to know since when you were in a ghost cult." 

"For fucks sake! I never was in a ghost cult!" 

"Imbeciles." His brother muttered as he neared Danyal and picked him up from his crouched position and carried him out of the room as he heard the other two starting up arguing again. That reminded Danny where had the other one gone to? The one that kept trying to get past Danny's warnings? 

"Let's go and look for Alfred, Danyal." He let out a chirp, forgetting his previous train of thought, recognizing the name! It belonged to the nice old man, the owner of this small haunt protected by the strong presence's big haunt. "I believe he must have returned now with some clothing more fitting for you." 

Danyal let out another whiney chirp. He liked his brother's hoodie even if it was too big for him, it was nice and comfy way better than anything they had in the league. They never exchanged clothing before. So he didn't want to give up the hoodie. It seemed like this time this older version of his brother understood him and let out an amused huff. 

"Danyal you can not keep wearing my clothes. That is unbecoming for someone of our status." 

Well, he didn't care he liked that hoodie besides Dami was the heir, not him, grandfather had said so himself. He let out a questioning chirp, his memories were still muddled and jumpy. His instincts were screaming with an unfamiliarity he wasn't used to nor had been trained in. 

His mind started to make it hard to focus and Danny lay his head down on Dami's shoulder, like he used to when they sat on roofs after a particularly hard training session. Allowing his conciseness to drive in and out.

Only later did he realize that he must have dozed off as he came into awareness again. There was a softness around him and Danyal blinked sleepily a couple of times. He didn't panic, the room he was in was unfamiliar but he had seen it before. It was Damian's, Danyal remembered having stayed in this room the night before. Turning his head slightly he saw his twin sitting by a desk, working on something.

For a moment his mind felt someone clearer than it had before. 

"Dami?" Danyal watched how the teen by the desk reacted calmly to his call. Turning to look towards him for a moment before getting up and moving to sit by the edge of the bed he was huddled up in. 

"You fell asleep earlier, Danyal. If this continues you will end up messing up your sleep schedule and be unable to sleep tonight." His brother reprimanded him and Danyal couldn't help the grin. He opened his mouth to tell this older version of his brother that it wouldn't be a problem but only a chirp left his throat. Damian frowned which caused Danyal to frown too. 

Burying himself in the soft blankets around him he peeked at this older version of his twin from below them. Watching how Dami sighed in frustration. A question he had ever since he met them came to his mind and once more he voiced his question, but all that came out was a questioning chirp his brother wouldn't understand. 

But maybe that was okay, Danyal thought. He had a lot of questions but maybe it wasn't Dami that was supposed to answer them. But that only made Danyal wonder more. Where was Grandfather? And what about mother? Why was this Dami older than the one in his hazy memories? Why did he feel like he had a whole new set of instincts that liked to go haywire and scream at him? And why did he feel like he was constantly forgetting something?

Danyal felt Dami's hand stroke over his hair and he was saying something but he hadn't paid enough attention to understand what his twin was saying. Instead, he ended up blankly staring at one of the many decorative swords on this room's wall. His most recent memory played through his mind and unconsciously one of his hands clutched at the bedding while his other one moved to touch a spot on his chest. 

He let out a chirp once more. Danyal had so many questions he wanted answers to but the most important one of them was, how was he alive when he was sure that he had died for Dami?  

Chapter Text

Duke had avoided the family drama that was brewing in the manor all day. He felt a little guilty for doing so but could you blame him? This family tented to get into the strangest things. And a morning where he had been too tired to deal with any of the family's usual drama was not a good start to the day. Let alone when he had walked in on Dick having gotten bitten by a child that Damian appeared to take care of and shined way too bright that it nearly resembled having looked into a flashbang. For him who had just gotten out of a sleepy daze that had been much, so while Tim and Jason were laughing at the eldest expense he had turned around and decided to nope out for now. 

At Lunch time he had the excuse of being in the library studying, though Alfred had still questioned what he had eaten, but now that it was dinner time he knew he couldn't avoid it any longer. There was no excuse, he wasn't on patrol, the library was closing and Barbara would rat him out if he tried to avoid it any longer. It partially felt like she was forcing him to go home. There was not a single acceptable excuse he could give Alfred to avoid whatever was going on. It was time to see and face whatever craziness this family has gotten themselves into. He knew Bruce was home at least but according to a group chat message from Dick, the man had locked himself into his office and was brooding again. 

Not a good sign if you asked Duke. 

The eldest made sure to tell them not to worry and that the reason would be explained in detail by the family dinner Alfred was organizing and had invited everyone to. It hadn't done a lot to calm down any of their siblings not in Gotham right now. Stephanie especially felt the need to bombard the siblings' group chat to entice at least some sort of reaction out of one of them. Still, the dinner was a must-attend event and probably one of the reasons why Dick was going to stay longer in Gotham than he had originally planned. He had planned to return to Bludhaven yesterday but he was still here and considering the ominous chat messages, it looked like the eldest bat kid was going to stick around for a while longer.

Well, that dinner was going to be a whole other event to go through. For now, he was hopeful that the one ahead of him was going to be nice and calm. 

Sitting down at the table Duke was sort of surprised to find that he was the only one there yet. Usually, by now at least two or one other sibling that was in the manor was already at the table. And considering that his last information status was that Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian were here, made it rather surprising to him that he was the first at the table. Not that the fact that Jason stuck around at the same time Bruce was home without a special occasion as a prelude wasn't already surprising enough.  

"Alfred?" He asked cautiously as the butler placed down plates for the others, Duke counted one additional one, definitely for the kid in Damian's care. "Where are the others?" 

"Master Jason is hiding from Master Timothy who is very insistent in finding out Master Jason's connection to an occult. Master Damian is currently showing Master Danyal the barn and Master Richard is still talking to Master Bruce." 

Duke nodded, trying to hide how stunned about all the information he truly felt. Okay, that's fine, occults were nothing new. They had dealt with that kind of stuff before. Wait… Danyal? Was that the kid he had gotten a bright glimpse of this morning? And Alfred was already calling the kid Master. How fast was Bruce when it came to adopting kids? 

"Who is Danayal?" He questioned instead of voicing any of the other apparent questions in the forefront of his mind. 

Alfred only smiled softly and Duke couldn't help but wonder more, not realizing that Alfred didn't answer his question at all. Then his attention got diverted as Jason made his entrance and unceremoniously plopped down in a chair by the end of the table looking like a mix between annoyed, tired, and flat-out exhausted. Duke was about to ask what was wrong, but before he could even ask the question was answered by the next arrival. 

"Jason! You did not just walk out on me like that! I need to know why you can read these occult sigils!"  Tim stormed in right after aggressively pointing at an open page in the book he was holding. So that was the occult thing Alfred mentioned.

"Walking out on you only works if it would get you to drop that fucking topic." He heard Jason mutter as he glared at the other. Looked like Tim had been pestering Jason all day about that considering how obsessed he could become with cases or whatever Tim was researching. 

"For the last time I have never been in a ghost cult, nor do I know anything about a ghost cult or why the fuck you think that writing looks like cryptic sigils or doddles." For a brief moment, Duke wondered how many times 'last time' had been said considering the tired and frustrated glare Jason was giving Tim. It was strange anyway to see Jason still in the manor if he was this frustrated with the other and Bruce was home too, let alone the fact that Jason had apparently not once lashed out at Tim yet or tried to punch the younger's lights out. 

Their arguing was sort of amusing so Duke, even if it probably shouldn't. So he kept quiet and listened to them, wondering how long it would take for them to notice him. Would this give him an advantage with the next situational awareness test from Cass and Bruce? Considering, Tim even took the seat right next to him without seemingly even realizing that Duke was right there, he kind of hoped so. At least this way he could get a sneak peek of the book Tim was referencing here. 

[...ruler of the realm connecting the universe together, supported by the ghosts of time. The sigils covering the artifacts are what keep their presence in our dimension. A circle created from chalk with the writing spelling in our known language 'Oh Ruler of the other side, Soul of the old, Ancient of War, King of the Realms. I plead to you to hear my calling' will have a summoning success of 40% and sacrifices no longer… ]

Yeah no, Duke was not going to continue reading whatever that was about. He knew better than to mess with anything occult-y or magic. Yet he side-eyed Tim and decided Steph was never to find out about this book in particular. It was bad enough that whatever the other was working on had him reading a book like that in the first place. Duke didn't need Steph to read it too and to decide that they all try one of the summoning methods the book listed. Worst case Tim would go fully along with this in support of whatever he was working on, too worked up and sleep-deprived to realize what Steph was going to pull him into. What did get him this obsessed with…. Duke eyed the book title… 'Ghost Cult 101 How to properly communicate with the other side'. 

Yeah, he did not want to get involved with that but knowing his luck he would anyway. Just as Duke looked away ready to focus his attention on something else, since the two arguing still hadn't noticed his presence, he had to cover his eyes as a freaking brightness entered his vision of the dining room that had him groaning. That had to have been a flash bang, if not then the kid from this morning most likely just walked into the room and temporarily blinded him with whatever was going on with the child. 

At least his siblings were now aware of his presence as he heard a couple of worried calls for his name. Keeping his eyes closed while rubbing his temples with his hands to relieve the pressure and sort of painful sting on his eyes, he didn't answer their calls instantly. 

"I need sunglasses." He muttered after a moment, apparently loud enough for everyone to notice as he covered his eyes with his hands now and desperately blinked at the darkness they provided. Slowly he felt the sting receding but he didn't dare remove his hands yet. He certainly didn't want to go through this a third time. 

"Dude you okay?" 

"No." He wanted to add to that but before he could, Duke heard Damian first. 

"Danyal, wait!" 

His ears picked up someone chirping. It wasn't exactly a quiet sound but it wasn't as thrilled or loud as the kind of chirps one would hear from birds. It sounded strangely soft and for a second he wondered if the others were pulling a prank on him or making fun of him until he felt a small hand pulling on his arm accompanied by what sounded like a questioning chirp. Carefully he peeked through his fingers and blinked. 

The brightness was reduced and not as strong as it had been earlier. He looked at where a small hand was clutching the fabric of his shirt on his arm and came face to face with a mini version of Damian with glowing green eyes and also noting the dimmed glow around the kid. He looked towards his siblings, mouth opened to ask something. But before he could even voice his first questions, he noticed the light forming a silhouette behind the kid. 

His eyes were instantly drawn back to that. Duke blinked a couple of times and even rubbed at his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing something like a light illusion as an after-effect of getting blinded.

"What?" Unconsciously he patted the kid's head as he stared at the light silhouette that definitely looked like the Damian he knew and did not disappear even after he had rubbed at his eyes. The Silhouette sort of looked sheepish and seemed apologetic to him. They were rubbing the back of their neck. 

"Thomas?" / "Duke?" He ignored Tim and Damian too focused on the figure, he could explain it later anyway. He wasn't even noticing how Damian was next to him looking every bit ready to pull the kid away. The kid he was still patting unconsciously and who was eyeing him carefully. 

Tim was closely observing them. 

"How the hell is that kid not hissy with him? Or even attempting to bite him?!" Jason on the other hand complained loudly standing and leaning with his hands on the table. Duke could see from the corner of his eyes that Jason too, was watching him with narrowed eyes.

"Duke, what do you see?" Tim's voice resounded. Duke knew that tone, but he couldn't focus too much on it.

Before he could even answer, the silhouette made a shushing sign and grinned sort of feral before disappearing. The silhouette of light formed into a ball and in the best SyFy movie manner circled the child before it returned into the child's chest, who now blinked at him with blue eyes. 

Duke blinked back at the kid stunned, his mind still catching up with what he just saw. 

"Uhm, who is that kid?" He very smartly asked after a moment of silence. Very confused by what he just saw, Duke turned to look at the others for answers. Ignoring that he did not answer Tim's question earlier. Whatever that was, it wanted him to stay quiet about it by the looks of it. The light silhouette did not appear to be harmful to the child, plus they looked like Damian. And as much as a stabby little shit his little brother was, he would never harm a child now. 

He would trust in that for now. Duke would wait for an explanation of who that Damian look-a-like child was, before deciding if he should tell the others or not about that little light show. 

Suddenly he felt a sting on his fingers and he yelped. Attention returned to the child, he had been patting the whole time and found the kid nibbling on his finger with sharp teeth giving him an annoyed look. Once more Duke could do nothing more than blink stunned down at the child. 

"Danyal! No, what did I tell you about biting others?" Damian was instantly by the kids' side, taking the boy away from him and seating him on the other side of the table. 

"What the fuck?! That wasn't even a full bite? Where is the hissing and biteyness?!" 

"What?" Rubbing the finger that got nibbled he stared at others. "He bites?"

"Normally yes. Maybe he just finds Jason to be the tastier chew toy. We should test it out if he will bite you again." Tim seemed interested and amused at the same time as he studied the kid that now sat quietly on the opposite of Duke. The kid's sole focus was now on Jason with a strange glint again, was the boy even blinking? 

"Drake, stop wanting Danyal to bite others or suggest them as bait for my brother." 

"Wait, Brother?" 

All three turned to him and Damian opened his mouth to say something as Dick entered the room looking exhausted but smiled when he saw them. Wasn't he supposed to just have a talk with Bruce? Did that art out into one of their famous fights?

"Oh hey, Duke. Looks like you met our youngest brother teethling Danny already!" The eldest walked over to them and reached out a hand to pat the kid sitting next to Damian. Duke watched with a sweat drop how the boy's head instantly turned to Dick hissing, bearing his teeth and snapping them in his direction. The oldest only pouted as a reaction to that. 

"I guess I have." He slowly hummed, still very much confused, knowing that he needed a little bit more of an explanation from them. There had to be more to it. Bruce wasn't even home when the child first appeared in the Manor. Plus the kid, Danny, must have gotten some serious bonus points if their Demon Brat saw the kid as a brother already. At least Danny would fit right in with his looks already. 

He heard a sigh next to him and turned to Tim. "You were asleep by then. But Jason got attacked by a child-" 

"I did not." 

"-last night and that child turned out to be Damian's brother." Duke arched an eyebrow. 

"So Bruce has another blood child with Talia or someone else?" Well, that explained why the kid looked so much like Damian and most likely also why Bruce wasn't here but according to Alfred brooding in his office. Looked like something was happening behind their backs again. 

"Talia, but well…" The glances they shared were telling. Oh boy, there was more to the story and Duke was not sure if he wanted to know just yet or wait for Cass and Steph to be around so he had some freak-out buddies for when they learned the full truth of the situation.  

"So is the kid a meta?" Duke decided on the freak-out-buddy option, so he tried to redirect the topic and ask carefully about what he had just seen. But that was not very easy and considering the light show he had gotten earlier it was either that or the boy harbored some other big secret. Because as far as he was aware neither Bruce nor Talia had the Meta-Gene. 

"Why do you ask?"  His eyes went to the boy that was still hissing at Dick sitting at the edge of his chair closest to Damian not paying any of them any attention at all it seemed. He then glances back to Tim who was studying him with curious eyes. In his mind, he was weighing the pros and cons of telling them right now or waiting on that longer, until he had more information. 

"The kid glows or it had a pretty bright glow earlier now it's more dimmed. Easier on my eyes too." That was probably the safest to say, they know about his ability and that some people have a certain glow to them. Duke had tried to explain that to them before. But he still wasn't sure if he should tell them more, like the Damian look-a-like light silhouette. 

"Well…" Tim started carefully, clearly looking for the right words.

"Danyal died when he was eight and apparently got revived and severely contaminated by Lazarus Water." Damian stared at him intensely and Duke couldn't help but straighten under the stare and gulped. "Thomas, what did you see earlier?" 

There was no hiding anything from this family, well he didn't put that much effort into it either. He mentally apologized to the light silhouette as he glanced at the still-hissing child once more before turning his attention to the others. Not noticing the small flicker of green as Danny's eyes looked at him just as quickly before turning back to Dick and his offending hand that still tried to pat him. 

"There was a light figure right behind the little guy. It looked exactly like Damian, though thinking about it now its hair had a different cut and they looked like they were wearing a hazmat suit with a logo on the front."

"Just to clarify. The spirit looked the same age as Damian?" Tim further questioned and Duke nodded unsure if he should add something to explain better what he saw or leave it at that. 

"Do you think that could be a manifestation of Danny's actual age?" Dick asked, withdrawing his hand from the boy who in turn finally stopped hissing, turning his attention to the food that Alfred placed down before the child in perfect timing so that Danny didn't get the time to put his focus on something or someone else. 

"His actual age?" Duke repeated questioning, his head slightly tilted as, once again, his eyes were drawn to the child now happily munching on some food. 

"As I said before, Thomas. Danyal died at the age of eight. That was eight years ago. If he had lived he would be the same age as me right now." The former youngest explained, his attention split between watching the child next to him and their discussion. 

Duke gapped, screw having freak-out-buddies. He needed an explanation for that tidbit of information the demon brat just dropped. Seriously things never get boring with this family, because he either needed to clean his ears or Damian just seriously dropped some secret twin vibe information on him. He was ready to ask more but  Alfred placed a plate before him and smiled at them all, the kind of smile that had all of them stiffening. 

"I believe further discussion in regards to Master Danyal's situation can wait until after dinner, yes?" 

No one had the heart, or rather the bravery to say no to Alfred. So they all sat down quietly with their dinners. Keeping the most burning questions to themselves as they all mulled over the newly gained information. They all silently agreed and focused on the meal that had been prepared for them. Well, Duke guessed any further questions he had, could wait until after dinner. 

That was until Tim's chair suddenly screeched against the flooring as the other stood up and pointed right at Duke who was in midbite. Duke swore he heard an amused thrill or chirp right before Tim opened his mouth to shout.  

"YOU'RE THE DAYLIGHT KNIGHT!" 

"What nonsense is it now Drake?" 

"I am telling you, Timmers lost it with all the ghost cult BS."

"I DID NOT! IT'S THE NOTE!" 

"I kind of forgot about that." 

"Inside voice, Master Timothy." 

"Sorry, Alfred." 

Chapter Text

Jason sighed as he pulled into the bat cave with his bike. This was the third day in a row now that he was coming back into the Manor and most likely staying over again. Steph and Cass were due back from their mission today and Jason knew Alfred was preparing for the Family dinner that was going to happen either today or tomorrow. 

Depending if Dick could finally get Bruce out of his office. 

It didn't matter to Jason though. He was just here to… well he didn't know either but he knew that he was trying to keep an eye out for the little biter. Even if he had to deal with Timber being frustratingly annoying with the whole ghost cult thing. 

So what if he could read what they claim to be squiggles? Not that he could prove otherwise, because all he saw were perfectly readable letters. Thankfully he had gotten Tim off his back for some time as he went to deal with something in Crime Alley. 

Though a part of him, felt like he could guess why he was able to read these letters and they couldn't. No guess was the wrong word, he likely knew why, but he pushed that thought away, it was easier to stay ignorant of that truth for a while longer. He knew what kind of looks he would get from the others if he voiced his thought, like hell he was going to endure any pitying looks or that damned guilty look Dick sometimes adopted when that certain topic was brought up.

Shaking his head, he checked the group chat and scowled. 

Apparently, the entire Manor was in a state of chaos. The reason was easy to guess and Demon Brat was dragging Duke around the entire manor. Making use of the other's meta powers and having Duke use his ghost vision to find the little shit. Not that it was helping since if he scrolled up and checked for the last situational update that was useful, which was from 15 minutes ago, the light path Duke had followed ran into a wall.

A literal freaking wall, as if the kid just walked through it. This should not be possible since the kid was a solid being and as far as they were concerned and Damian could claim, had no meta powers. But then again, Duke did claim the kid had a certain glow. So maybe the kid did have meta powers, and they just didn't know yet.

He looked over to the Batcomputer to find Tim going through the security footage. The other hadn't even so much spared Jason a glance, since his arrival at the cave so far too. His entire focus was solemnly on trying to find how the kid could have disappeared from Damian's room without any of them noticing. 

In all honesty, Jason wasn't that surprised. Hell, the kid was raised with the Demon Brat. Sure he was kind of a feral little shit right now but that kid still had the same training Damian had. At least up to the age at which he had died. Which considering the League is plenty of training. 

So now when Alfred and Demon Brat had put down the kid for a nap in Damian's room, even though they had a room prepared for the little biter, the kid had managed to disappear. It only got noticed when Damian checked on the kid after doing his schoolwork and found the kid gone. 

And of course, as it was with a newly returned brother that was believed dead, disappearing… the Demon Brat made it everyone's problem and started the search.

"Still nothing on the kid?" Jason broke the silence of the cave, stepping up next to the chair Tim was in. His eyes scanned the video footage Tim was looking through for a brief moment. 

"Nothing, it's like the kid vanished into thin air. Not even the sensors in Damian's room picked anything strange up that could hint at his disappearance." 

Jason arched an eyebrow at that answer. Even though Tim wasn't paying him attention he dramatically checked his arm, peeking under the bandage there. "Yep, I still have bite marks. The kid was not a mass hallucination." 

That got a reaction from the other, as Tim turned to glare at Jason. The elder only returned a shrug with a crooked smile. It was probably a bit too soon for that kind of joke. But his brothers weren't the only ones worried. Besides he wouldn't be the first one trying to mask worry or other feelings with ill-timed jokes. 

He wasn't even sure if Bruce was even aware of what was going on. Considering the last he heard was Dick and the old man having a 'talk' again. And from his experiences before and after his death. Bruce and Dick having a 'talk' could mean many things but not a civil normal talk. At least in most cases. This was likely why Dick was probably leaving the search to them for the moment to deal with whatever problem B was having right now. 

The lot of the eldest, Jason thought for a brief moment before glancing back at the video footage running across the monitor. How Tim was able to analyze three different videos at the same time was beyond Jason, but he had long stopped questioning Tim's as well as Barbara's abilities to analyze these things. 

"Think someone kidnapped the kid?" He piped up noticing how one of the videos was of the garden and front yard of the Manor. 

"No. Aside from us, and probably the LoA, no one should know about Danny, let alone that he is… was in Wayne Manor. The League taking him back wouldn't make sense, not like them placing him in your place of all places made any sense before." Tim let out a soft groan rubbing his forehead before he continued speaking. It caused a brief feeling of pity in Jason, they all had gotten attached to the little biter. "Besides, why would anyone attempt to kidnap him from Wayne Manor of all places? Gotham's Kidnappers might be dumb but not that dumb."  

Jason sagely nodded in agreement with a small chuckle, remembering some of the moments kidnappers thought it smart to try and kidnap 'Tim Drake'. But something was tugging at the back of his mind. He couldn't explain what it was exactly yet it had a strange familiarity. It was like on the first day he had brought the little biter back to the Batcave. 

Over his shoulder, he glanced in the direction, his mind -no, the pit was urging him to go. 

It was strange, the pit had been quiet and subdued ever since he met the kid. To be more precise ever since that little shit bit him and spit out a glob of green goop. His mind had been calmer, almost protective of the biter at times. Despite the way Timber had annoyed and pestered him previously, he had not felt his annoyance swing over into that uncontrollable rage. He knew usually by now he would have at least started a brawl or lashed out at one of them. 

But he hadn't done so yet. 

There was a suspicion, a working theory. Something he wasn't yet willing to share with the rest of the family. Something he had a feeling that also related to why he could read the squiggles while they couldn't. But yet again, just for a little while longer he wanted to stay blissfully ignorant. Even though he was sure that the family had likely also noticed. It was a glaring fact that he was staying with them in the Manor despite Bruce being there too. 

But until there was more confirmation or Jason was willing to stop being ignorant about something that was likely deeply connected with him, he wasn't going to mention any of his suspicions, not if they could endanger a little kid any more than he already was.

Because if he was right then the little biter was brought back way different than him. Brought back with meta powers. Powers that weren't simply like other meta powers, but something that could have control over the Pit. And his indication for that? It was the way his own mental Pit reacted to the boy. It was likely proof but also what the other had found out before of Lazarus Water, that was fucking affecting the kid's DNA itself. 

Not even Jason was that messed up, or at least he hoped so, but then again. He was pretty sure with all the wounds he had had over the years since his return. Leslie must have done at least one blood test on him. So at least he was clean on that, unlike Danny.

It didn't help that Replacement had mentioned a suspicion that the League had most likely experimented with the kid and the Lazarus water judging by the scars they had discovered. That theory alone had sent a shiver down his spine. Jason knew that he had always had a weak spot for kids. He hoped that that hadn't been the case, but they all knew what kind of nut case Ra's was. 

So there could have been a possibility that someone might have deemed the kid a failure at first and tried to get rid of the kid a second time. Or the kid had escaped and somehow found his way to Jason's apartment with him probably being the closest thing to what the kid was. Maybe the kid could sense him the way he could with his Pit. Like a homing skill, considering the little shit bit him at the same space every time it would make somewhat sense. 

Shaking his head out of these thoughts Jason focused back on the problem at hand. 

"I will check with Alfie, and see if he knows any more hiding spaces kids would love to use. All of us had been little shit at some point and hid all around the Manor." He patted his younger brother's shoulder only getting a grumble as an answer that sounded suspiciously like 'you maybe, I always behaved well' before turning and going towards the elevators. 

He managed to get halfway to the elevator that would bring him up to the Manor before he stopped once more. Once more he glanced at the direction the pit was urging him to go. Normally he would ignore it with a hissed grumble and some choice words used in his mind but right now. Jason was hesitating.

He looked back towards Tim and then the elevator. 

"Fuck it." He muttered. "Stupid fucking pit…." He added, deciding to trust that stupid pit instinct or whatever that was bugging his mind. Though with a thread in his stomach that once more, just like the first time when they had searched through the cave to find the kid. The pit was leading him toward the Lazarus Pit. He hated it, cursing it several times in his mind as the sound of his boots against the cave flooring echoed in his ears louder than it was.

It took a while but once he realized where he was going he stopped. His eyes narrowed as he stared up ahead. "I should just fucking get Replacement or Demon Brat to check there." It was a low mutter to himself, his head slightly turned to stare back from where he had come from before he glanced back at the direction he was heading towards. He felt like he had swallowed stones. 

He remembered the last time he had gone there. The first day, when Danny had run loose in the cave. He found the little shit there and then got jumped by the kid, the little shits sharp teeth chomping down on his arms. 

The kid had only led go of him after he spat out green fucking goop that was likely Lazarus Water. Like what the actual fuck? Jason had pushed that experience as far out of his mind as he could but he was still remembering it and the feeling that followed. It had been worrisome and strange but they had chalked that up to the kids' contamination, for the moment. 

But now? Now that the pit in his mind was urging him to go there again? He couldn't help but think that there was more to it. Scratch that he had already acknowledged that there was more to it. But he wanted to stay ignorant for now, yet his mind wandered. Maybe his dip in the pit had something to do with the little shit's obsession with him? 

Letting out a sigh he was ready to turn on his heel and get one of the others to check this area when he suddenly heard childlike laughter. "You gotta be shitting me…" 

With a scowl, he marched towards the Lazarus Pit only to stop in his tracks the moment it came into view. His boots stomped onto the ground echoing around him. A strange canopy of sounds combine with the echoing childlike laughter. He paused once more as he got a clearer view. 

The little biter was sitting on the ground by the Pit as green glowing blobby orbs floated around the boy. Danny was poking them saying something, he couldn't really hear from this distance, and then laughed. There was a light in his blue eyes that Jason hadn't seen before, a happiness even. Childish and more suited to the kid's age. It would be a really cute image of the kid playing with some green blobby orbs if these things weren't probably some sort of dangerous Pit Demons. 

Of course, it had to be possible fucking dangerous Pit Demons.

Fuck what was he going to do now? If they were dangerous and he startled them the little shit could end up in real danger. That wouldn't be got for the Demon Brat's twin, him or anyone else for that matter. How the hell did these things get into the bat cave anyway?

Jason needed a plan and so far they hadn't noticed him, which was probably good.

Grumbling while keeping an eye on the laughing boy, he sent a quick message into the chat telling the others little biter was in the Batcave by the Lazarus Pit. He knew the moment Tim saw the message he would come running, same with Demon Brat. It was honestly just a matter of time until he would hear their footsteps coming his way. 

Despite knowing that was not a cute moment but a dangerous one, he snapped a picture anyway. Just for the record and to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or something. Or because this was the first time Danny looked like a kid his age. Nope, none of these reasons. Definitely not because the kid was actually laughing, not hissing, not blankly staring, glaring, or watching one of them but actually laughing like a kid his age with a shine in his eyes he hadn't seen before. It was just to keep proof, that was it. 

Demon Brat can thank him later for that picture if Jason decides to share it with the others, that was. Maybe he could use it later on to cash in a favor with the Demon Brat. 

Soon enough echoing steps could be heard behind him and just like he predicted his brothers came running. The kid's laughter instantly stopped when he heard it too and his head snapped toward Jason, eyeing him warily. One of his hands was still stretched out towards one of the blobs, probably to pet it, but had stopped midway.

It was a wary stare, not a blank one. Improvement, Jason thought.  

Still, it was weird how the blobs were also now turning towards him and sort of looked displeased. Were these demons upset that they made the kid stop showering them in affection? Did they even have faces to look displeased? Jason blinked and simply stared back for the moment, like a stalemate situation.  

"Danyal!" Well, his siblings could be fast if they wanted to. Rushing past him their formerly youngest kneeled by his younger twin's side patting the kid down and checking them over. Completely unbothered by the floating blobs of green that got pushed around through Damian's movements. Jason narrowed his eyes. Did Damian not notice the green glowing orbs that were all around the kid? 

"So he was here the entire time?!" Timber asked the moment he caught up, baffled. Jason glanced over at the younger teen next to him. "How did we miss that?" 

"Hey Replacement?" He had to ask, ignoring the questions which got him a glare. But something was a bit more important here, like come on, he couldn't be the only one seeing these green blobby orbs floating around the little biter and now the Demon Brat. He swore if he and the Demon Brat's twin were the only ones who could see them…

"Do you see-" He started but got cut off by a new voice joining them. 

"What are these green blobs?" Duke appeared next to them, clearly worried. Well, that at least spared him having to ask that himself. And it also gave him half the answer he needed.

He wasn't going slowly insane from the Pit, at least he could believe so. From the corner of Jason's eyes, he watched how Tim blinked confused then rubbed his eyes like he was noticing them for the first time. He wouldn't be that surprised if Replacement only noticed them now, the other sometimes could have tunnel vision. 

"Are those?" 

"Small Pit Demons." Demon Brat answered them casually, waving one of them away when it got too close to his face. "They used to be around Grandfather's Lazarus Pit all the time. They seem to appear where Pits are and are harmless if you leave them be." 

"Wait, you know about them?" Tim asked further, while Jason muttered a low. "Harmless?" 

"Of course. They usually stay out of sight but it was not unusual to get a glimpse of them now and then, or from the corner of your eyes. Danyal used to point them out when we were younger. I am surprised that none of you ever noticed them before." 

Jason's eye twitched at that. There it was that damned condescending tone. 

"Demon Brat, are you fucking kidding me? We got literally Pit Demons in the Batcave?!" They had fucking Pit Demons in the Batcave because of the Lazarus Pit and the damned brat didn't bother to tell them? What the fuck?

"I believed that there was no need for it. Since Father was the one that managed to get a Lazarus Pit here, I assumed he was also aware of them." Yes, Jason did not need the Pit of his mind to know that he right now felt like strangling the Demon Brat. 

"Blob Ghosts! Not Demons!" The little biter piped up, his voice cutting through whatever Jason was going to retort. Causing him to turn and stare at the kid not quite in disbelief but really? That was what the kid cared about, what they called these things?

"I don't fucking care what they are called. They still come for the fucking pit" He snapped at the little shit. Good, he was not suited to take the role of the responsible eldest. Where the hell was Dick when you needed him? 

"Uhm…" Right, he forgot, all they hear from the kid is chirping or thrilling noises. He rubbed his hand over his face. Jason just wanted to be done with all of this. 

"What did Danyal call them?" Damian spoke up calmly, not noticing or not caring for the frustration Jason was experiencing as the current eldest present. 

"Blob Ghosts." He muttered out low. 

"Blob Ghosts…" Before he knew it Tim was gone, nose-deep in the weird ghost cult book muttering something about a connection between the Pits and that cult once more. Was he seriously carrying that book around everywhere now?

"Dami, can we keep-" 

"No." Really, where were Dick and Bruce or maybe even Alfred? He did not want to act as the responsible eldest here. Helping Demon Brat sneaking various animals into the Manor to annoy Bruce was one thing but keeping fucking Pit Demons as pets? Hard nope. Hell, normally he would be all for it just to fuck with Bruce but right now? He did not want to deal with anything that came for the fucking Pits. Nope, this was not his kind of deal.  

The little biter didn't like his instant refusal as all he heard next was a hiss in warning, followed by the simple command of "Smother him!"

When he heard the hiss at first he began bracing himself, for the little shit trying to bite him once again. 

However…

His vision was swarmed with green and not the kind of green that happened when Pit Rage took over. No, it was the kind where a lot of green glowing blobby orbs decide to swarm you and block your vision. He swatted at them like they were flies, sometimes it worked, and sometimes he noticed how his hand would go right through them without effect.  

"Get the fuck away from me!" He yelped out stumbling as he tried to dodge them. Years of training couldn't have prepared him for this kind of insanity.  

"Danyal!" He could hear Demon Brat's scowling tone but he didn't know what it was about until a second later he felt a weight hitting his chest knocking him over, as he finally lost his balance after all. 

"WHAT THE FUCK?! GET FUCKING OFF ME!" 

There was another hiss and pain, he was getting familiar with, blossoming in his right forearm, and in between the green blobs, he got a glimpse of the little shit biting down on his arm a-fucking-gain. Though the kid's eyes were blue he could still see a green flickering in them.

What followed was, in Jason's memory at least, just chaos.  

"Oh for the love of… Danyal! I told you to stop biting them!" Only Damian could manage to sound annoyed, tired and so done at the same time. 

"Shouldn't we be more concerned about the Pit Demons attacking Jason?" Bless Duke, Jason thought for a moment, at least someone cared about that. 

"It's Jason, he will be fine." Jason will remember that. Replacement was going to get that back.

"Todd will be fine as I said they are harmless." Damian once again waved these worries off his attention more on his twin who once again refused to let go of Jason. "Danyal, I said get off him this instant or I will tell Pennyworth to withhold your snacks." 

"I feel like priorities aren't set right here…" Despite his doubts, Duke still took several pictures of the chaos to share with the others later. Dick surely would get a good laugh out of whatever this was. When Jason noticed that, he revoked the blessing he had thought of for Duke a moment earlier.