Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"So tell me again why we have to do this?" Nightwing asked exasperatedly.

Constantine tapped his foot in impatience, "Those wannabe cultists didn't want to lose their progress in case they got disturbed so they used magic to prevent anyone from taking apart their summoning circle. Spell can't be undone so we either have to complete the summoning and deal with this now or leave this open and wait for this to become an issue."

It made perfect sense why Constantine was so eager to get this over with. There had been a recent massive gas attack orchestrated by Scarecrow that left most of the city abandoned. John and the Justice League Dark had been investigating the suspicious purchases by the group and stumbled across the summoning circle weeks ago. Constantine had taken point on researching how to dismantle the damn thing and securing the very accessible location. After weeks of investigation the spell was still unbroken. Spell work was a bit like coding. There were many ways to go about it and many languages to use but sometimes beginners slopped together something too horrendous and ugly that it was impossible to know how it worked, just that it did. Constantine was sure given infinite time and resources that he could squash the spell and untangle this whole mess but he was a betting man and he was willing to bet that someone would catch wind of this ticking time bomb and blow the whole thing before he could diffuse it. It was safer to set off the controlled explosion now while the city was evacuated and there were a few of the Bats available as backup. Batman agreed, which was evident by his presence. Or maybe he just didn't trust Constantine. It was a non issue either way. He needed the man as reinforcement and here he was.

"Do we even know who this is trying to summon?" Jason asked from the corner of the tiny warehouse he decided to occupy with crossed arms.

"Nope," Constantine said popping the last syllable, "That's the beauty of it. These were a bunch of amateurs who thought it would be fun to play cult and mess with the afterlife without doing any real research. So they cobbled together whatever garbage they could find on the internet and managed to make a functioning summoning circle but all their runes are gibberish. So I have no idea what they are summoning. Some kind of king. Could be the ghost of a king, could be the ghost of Elvis, could be some poor sap named King. Who bloody knows? Might not even summon a ghost even though that was clearly the goal."

"So do you need us to help complete the summoning or are we solely backup?" Nightwing asked trying to wrap this up. He had spent all day fighting and was a bit battered and more than a little hungover off of fear toxin exposure. Batman and the Justice League already signed off on this so it was happening no matter what. 

"It's not like the goddamn movies where we hold hands," Constantine sighed, scrubbing his hands through his blond hair, "just stand there and look pretty, yeah?"

"Works for me," Jason said leaning further into the pallet stack without looking any more relaxed.

Red Hood seemed seemed impervious to Batman's glare from beneath his impassive helmet. Maybe it was just years of practice.

Constantine had no idea how Batman dealt with all these kids. He slapped the leatherbound notebook in his hands. Time to get started.

Jason watched the douchey trench coat chant for a few minutes before his mind started to wonder. He didn't know that Latin could sound so British. The only reason he was getting involved in League business today was that it was in his slice of Gotham. He had known about Constantine, Zatanna and Deadman's investigations for weeks but stayed out of it. Last time he got too involved with magic, it had burdened him with a life long condition. Although it also gave him life which was then burdened. So maybe it was a wash. It didn't particularly feel that way today, he would rather be helping clean up Scarecrow's mess to be honest. 

"Bats!" Constantine chastised Batman unnecessarily, Nightwing and Red Hood on the other hand had been lulled into daydreaming by the droning spell work, "This is it, get ready."

Sure enough the florescent lights in the small warehouse they occupied started flickering. Shadows started to elongate and sharpen as if someone were playing with a flash light. Jason could swear he heard knocking from behind him and whispering in his ear. Even Bruce seemed to sense something in the far corner of the room. The air felt heavy and alive like the moment before an electrical storm. Their resident occult detective however seemed unaffected and held a hand up to light a cigarette sheltered from the wind that had blown in from nowhere  and tugged on the salt circle in the center of the room. The candles remained untouched by the gusts because Constantine refused to light them saying that they were for show only.

The humming of the lights cutting off and plunging them into darkness was deafening. When they clicked back on, a white haired figure was contorted in a kneeling position. Nightwing flinched. Jason couldn't quite wrap his mind around which limb was which because none were bent in an expected way and the body was so dark it looked like a void with no dimension.

No features could be seen just the back of a white head. In an instant, the head spun 180 degrees revealing an upside down face. It became obvious that they were looking at the creatures back and until a moment ago his head had been bent so far back that it laid flat against his back and twisted as if the cervicale vertebrae were internally decapitated, leaving the head hanging limp. The face was surprisingly young given the intense color of the hair. Although given that this was a magical or ghostly creature Batman wasn't sure that age was even a real consideration in his assessment.

Green eyes that glowed similarly to a cat's reflecting light in the dark, blinked a few times as if clearing their vision. Soon the black tangled mass was unfolding itself, head and appendages snapping into place with visceral cracks, rising to an unnatural height boasted by the fact that it's feet hovered over the floor.

"Jesus," Constantine said, accidentally drawing the attention of the morphing creature.

It's focus snapped to Batman and suddenly, "Wait, was I summoned by the Justice League?"

Bruce thought the voice sounded rather humanoid despite the fact it sounded like multiple voices were talking over one another and left his ears ringing as if someone was sounding a dog whistle.

"No. Sorry about that, mate, we tried to stop your summoning," John said, he would play nice as long as the creature would too.

Batman wasn't sure if he agreed with the approach. Perhaps the creature wanted to be summoned and they just pissed it off.

"Oh," The creature said again sounding fractionally more human.

Its stature began diminishing and collapsing in on itself. The flickering lights calmed and the air stilled, "Guess I can stop with the dramatics then."

The once spindly and inhuman creature now stood before them looking like an average teenage boy, besides the white hair, radioactive green eyes and the way the overhead lights didn't seem to interact with him at all. 

"Sorry for scaring you, I take it you took care of the cultists?" The boy asked pacing the salt circle, studying the runes that outlined it.

Batman spoke up, "They are in custody, yes."

"I was hoping to give them a bit of a scare," The boy said with a wolfish grin, "But based on the shitty quality of the work here" was said gesturing at the chalk the ringed the inner circle, "These were idiots, it wouldn't take much"

Jason snorted at that. So Constantine wasn't just talking out of his ass. Sometimes it was hard to tell... That had been a mistake. Now the unsettling teen's attention was on him.

"Wait, when did Redhood die?!" the creature gasped.

Jason sputtered, "What the fu-"

"-How did you know?" Nightnwing demanded at the same time.

"Sorry that was rude," The creature said rubbing at it's neck weirdly human all the sudden. He still looked just as he had moments before but the unsettling aura that oozed out of him was missing. It almost felt like a talking to a normal teen.

"It takes one to know one, you know." He said.

"So you are a ghost?" Batman asked, "We weren't sure what they were trying to summon."

"That's a complicated question."

"How so?" Constantine said taking a drag from his lit cigarette, unbothered.

"I am not what you would probably consider to be a ghost but I am a ghost." Constantine nodded. He was familiar with the infinite realms and the different tiers of entities that filled their dimensions. 

"So you died?" Jason demanded somewhat confused.

Bruce held his hand out in warning. A warning that Jason ignored staring or at least pointing his head steadily at the 'ghost'. This ghost seemed very cooperative, Constantine didn't look concerned either. Though that was probably a front, trying to prevent the creature from freaking out.

"I did," The ghost said agreeably staring at Jason, "Sorry if I upset you."

"You seem young," Dick blurted out and based on his thick hazmat suit that became visible as the kid demystified himself, he died recently, at least recently for a ghost.

"Ghosts are usually born from violent deaths" Constantine said off handedly sensing where the line of questioning was headed and somewhat callus to the situation, "Maybe best we don't ask about it."

The ghost laughed, "I understand the curiosity. I don't mind questions, especially not from the Justice League."

Batman was the first to jump on the question "Were you murdered?" Given the kid's recent and early death it seemed likely that he had not died naturally as Constantine said. He had also understood that the usually the more traumatic the death the more powerful the ghost usually was. Given the research he had done on the way over, this kid seemed more powerful than most. He wanted to offer his help if it would help the kid be at peace or prevented him from destroying Gotham. Now wasn't the best timing but he couldn't ignore the murder of a child. Certainly not after Jason.

"No I wasn't mur" the ghost cut off suddenly looking deep in thought for a second, "well a case could be made for involuntary manslaughter, or maybe criminal negligence. Not sure, honestly."

"Wait, what?" Jason said.

"Is there anyone that should be held responsible for your death that you would like us to look into?" Batman asked.

"You would do that?" The kid asked eyes wide.

"Of course, kid," Constantine said, "It's kind of my and the Bats' thing here. Maybe you could tell us your name first. I'm Constantine and it seems like you already know about the Bats, Batman, Redh Hood and Nightwing"

Dick waved awkwardly not sure how to greet such an entity, Red Hood dipped his head when introduced and Batman did nothing. Despite being a part of the Justice League, which the ghost recognized, Constantine was still widely unknown. Hard to be a detective using his own face if it is plastered all over the news. He was a discreet member, it better that way even if it had its disadvantages.

"I'm Phantom" The kid said, then paused for a moment before saying, "but you can call me Danny."

"It's nice to meet you Danny." Batman said, "Can you tell us more about your situation so we can help."

Phantom bit his lip, "Well, I'm a bit like Red Hood over there."

"What does that me-" Jason was cut off by a ring of blinding light that formed around the kid, scanning upwards.

A human with black hair and blue eyes was left in place of the ghost and dropped to the ground landing on his feet.

"Death didn't really stick for me either." was explained with a wry smile.

"What in the bloody hell!" Constantine had never seen anything like it.

The kid then proceeded to step out of the summoning circle. The summoning circle that was meant to contain him. The summoning circle Constantine had ensured them no ghost could pass. Everyone took a weary, simultaneous step backwards, away from the now very powerful and free ghost?, human?, entity. 

Danny ignored at the discomfort and fear he caused and said, "We need the Justice League's help in Amity Park."

Chapter Text

"Constantine!" Batman yelled.

John was not sure what the order was supposed to mean but he had an idea. He quickly muttered a few spells to himself. When nothing happened, he switched to Plan B, talking. He had a Plan C in mind which was ironically the same plan that he used when the Plan B didn't work.

"We can chat all you want, mate but you are scaring the Bats here a bit so would you mind answering some questions and stepping back into the circle while you're at it, yeah?" Constantine asked full of false smiles.

"Oh," The kid said looking a bit disappointed, shoving his hands into jean pockets under the hem of his baggy hoodie.

Nightwing wondered if the other getup disappeared or if this new set of clothes materialized on top.

"Sure," The kid said taking a backwards step over the messy salt line, "I understand."

"First, how in the hell did you make it out of the summoning circle?" The brit demanded.

"You summoned a ghost. Summoning circles contain ghosts. I'm not a ghost right now" Was explained

carefully.

"Neat fucking trick," the trench coated blond said stomping out the cigarette he hadn't realized he dropped earlier until the Bat glared at him, "but how?"

The teen smirked. Despite looking fully human he had an uncanny valley air to him. "I told you, death didn't stick." He was still dangerous.

"So you didn't actually die" Jason demanded, still managing to sound somewhat offended through the monotone voice changer in his helmet.

"Oh, I died alright," Danny snorted, "The real problem is I can't stay dead."

"How long have you been like this? Does that make you immortal?" Nightwing asked intrigued. He was wondering if this was another Lazurus water situation. Maybe this kid was the key to helping Jason.

"That's another part of the problem. Don't know. Could be. Not sure if I wanna be." He said shrugging with what was supposed to be nonchalance, but it didn't quite hit the mark.

"Were you ever human or something else?" Constantine asked circling the useless salt perimeter. Maybe if the unnatural winds broke the circle, this wasn't a hybrid but a illusionist. His inspection did not uncover any information to substantiate that theory.

"Fully human," It provided helpfully, unconcerned about the interrogation, watching lazily as the detective studied him and the salt barrier from all angles.

"How did you end up like this?" the brit decided to ask. Might as well, it seemed chatty and candid.

"I was being honest when I said that I would answer your questions but I can't just tell you" the kid-like being said.

"Why not?" Red Hood asked finally stepping out of his corner to stand in line with the other Leaguers.

Bruce shot Jason a look that said, 'calm down' before explaining, "We can't help you if you don't answer our questions."

"No, no" The teen sounding flustered, if only somewhat, for the first time since the summoning started, "I mean I will tell you, but I'm trying to do this the right way."

"Amity Park needs the Justice League's help, but so do I" he continued, "I'm in over my head and I'm not supposed to… I need you to promise that you will help me before I can tell you any more information."

The "kid" was looking and sounding more human by the minute which Nightwing knew was scoring points with Bruce who was secretly a softy.

"I can't promise to help you with just anything, we have no idea what your intentions are" Batman explained.

Richard smirked, Batman was cracking.

"Can you at least promise to help Amity Park?" Danny asked

Batman took a moment before answering, 'help' was subjective and vague enough that he normally would have no trouble agreeing to those terms, however he was weary of making deals with demons or ghosts in this case. It was not something he wanted to get in the habit of. He looked to Constantine, who was standing behind the kid and nodded in approval.

"We can do that."

"OK" The kid said nodding.

"Why does Amity Park need our help?" Batman said trying to steer the conversation back into productive territory.

"Two humans managed to punch a hole into the infinite realms and it has been releasing all kinds of ghosts, not all of whom are as friendly as me."

"Bloody Hell, How?" Constantine asked completing his circuit to stand in front with the rest of the interrogators.

Danny shrugged, "No idea, I'm not an engineer or a physicist."

"So it is a machine, not magic?" Bruce surmised.

The teen nodded, "Yeah"

"Why can't they just turn it off?" Jason asked, seemed like a simple solution.

"This is where the criminal negligence comes in…" The kid said rubbing his face, "The OFF/ON button placement was not well thought out and currently no longer exists in this reality or any reality that I can find."

Red Hood didn't fully understand how that was possible but he still felt there was some merit to his earlier question, "Why not unplug it?"

"That would be monumentally stupid, even for me. The machine not only holds the portal open but also contains it. Pulling the plug could either close the portal or allow it to grow infinitely. I'm not willing to chance that."

"How do you know all this?" Dick asked.

"My parents built the damned thing in our basement."

"Your parents!?"

"They are responsible for your death?" Batman asked gently, quickly putting together the earlier comments.

"Shit" Jason muttered putting it together as the same time as Bruce… and Dick by the looks of it.

"I am equally to blame but yeah" the kid admitted as if that was no weight to his words at all.

"So you want us to hold your parents responsible for your death?" Nightwing asked trying to get the conversation back on course.

"No, but you should. I love them, they are my parents but they are a danger and I can't ignore that their disregard for safety has caused multiple ah injuries and they are fully responsible for the state of Amity Park. I don't want... I don't want things to change but I also know that they should."

"How did you die?" Bruce asked gently.

"I turned on the portal from the inside" was said with shrugged shoulders as if saying or at least trying to say, 'what can you do? It is what it is?'

"So you are stuck in between both realms? Jesus Christ, kid, how does that work? Is that why you can switch between forms?" Constantine asked.

"I have no idea how it works just that it does," he said extracting his hands from his pockets.

"Do your parents know about this?" Batman questioned.

"No, and I would prefer to keep it that way," Danny said stiffly before gesturing to the salt barrier, "Can I?"

Batman nodded. It was not as if there was anything about the circle actually containing him except his willingness to cooperate.

The teen wasted no time in crouching to examine one of the unlit candles and looked it over for a moment before sniffing it with a bit of a smirk, "Bed Bath and Body Works. I wonder why those idiots needed French vanilla and how much money they wasted."

"Ok," Nightwing said accommodating the teen's sudden topic change. He understood a touchy subject when he heard one, "we can talk a bit more about that later."

Danny dumped the candle as he stood up, "No, we need to talk about it now."

"Why" Batman pressed for the kid to continue.

"I'm not the only one like this. We were created in the similar ways so if any humans figure out what I am, they will surely figure out what they are too. They are influential, powerful, in both realms. Their anonymity keeps them contained as much as it lets them go without consequences."

It was not missed by Jason that the kid referred to humans as he wasn't one… after saying he was similar to Red Hood. That was a problem for later.

"More powerful than you" the annoying brit was quick to ask.

"Yeah," Danny admitted, "the only reason they haven't killed me, is because they need me for something."

Constantine nodded, that checked out, "Sounds charming."

"You have no idea."

"Did you parents kill this guy too?" Jason demanded beating his brother to the point.

Danny sighed, "yeah."

"Why haven't you contacted us sooner?" Bruce wanted to know.

"Like I said, very powerful. I have been threatened into keeping their identity a secret, which means no Justice League. They have ways of watching me, knowing what I'm planning so I couldn't do much more than think about asking for help without assuring my destruction. This summoning is my only chance."

It gave Jason the creeps to hear this young kid, or at least entity wearing the face of a young kid, talk about being constantly surveilled and controlled. Looking through his helmet at the others he could see it didn't sit well with them either.

"I've already told you more than I should but you promised to help Amity-"

"-If your story checks out," Batman cut the kid off, unable to listen to him plead for help again, "We will help Amity Park… and you"

The hybrid smiled its first genuine smile of the night, "Thank you" and extended its hand to shake on it.

"But we can't stay here," Batman deflected, "This warehouse still needs decontaminated and the air quality is hazardous if exposed for too long."

The kid dropped his hand and smile as the gesture was not matched. Bruce had to remind himself why it wasn't a good idea to shake hands or make formal, binding deals with supernatural entities without doing his due diligence.

Danny recovered quickly, "This Gotham?"

Constantine laughed, "Got the official mascot and welcome committee right here, where else could you be?"

Chapter Text

"We can't take him to the cave" Batman said scoffing at Constantine's suggestion.

They had stepped aside to 'communicate with the league and organize a transport' to where hadn't been said. The kids could handle everything for now. They remained in the unused warehouse, just in the small office that overlooked what had once been the open workroom floor.

"Well we can't keep him here either. Do you have a safe house with ventilation anywhere?" John said barely looking up from the journal page he was skimming.

Batman stared because obviously.

"Dumb question" Constantine dropped his book to rub his forehead. 'And people called him the asshole.'

 "How long are you going to keep him in custody?" he was hating this conversation as much as the Bat was apparently.

"How long can we keep him contained?" Batman retaliated, he would adjust his plans to whatever the Justice League Dark could provide.

"Right now? As long as he cooperates? Never seen anything like him before. It's possible that the tradeoff of being in this form is that he is immune to supernatural containment but vulnerable to human containment. It's also possible that he is immune to both, so who bloody knows." Constantine sighed, "How long do we need to keep him contained? I can contain most ghosts for a few hours but I think we will need something stronger to be more long term. If you can keep him busy for a day, I can go get something together that should be able to hold him."

"If what he says is true, we should only need to contain him for a few hours but I would think it would be wise to have the means to do so for longer. He's working with us now but that might change." Batman said.

"I hear ya mate, I'll wait outside for the transport and make sure it's been secured" Constantine waited for a response but Batman just walked away with a nod. What a fucking tool.

"Sorry kid, but we gotta cuff you during transportation" Red Hood said, It's protocol"

Nightwing shot him a look that said, 'since when do you care about protocol' which was ignored. Dick was right, he usually didn't care for protocol but he was getting the heebie-jeebies from the kid, despite being a total sweetheart so far. There must have been something to what he said, it takes one to know one.

Danny complied holding his hands out, seemingly unafraid, "I understand"

"Where are we headed?" Danny asked inspecting the cuffs. Electronic locks, nice.

"Safe house, somewhere with air filtration and quiet so we can get the rest of the story from you." Nightwing explained, stepping forward, "you have any electronics on you? Cell phones?"

Danny sighed, "No"

"Really? Kid your age, no phone?" Red Hood asked incredulously.

The teen chose not to respond and simply shook his messy hair.

"Nightwing" Red Hood nodded.

"Ok, sorry but I'm gonna pat you down, for weapons" he said gently almost as if asking for consent to proceed.

"I don't need any weapons," while gesturing a go ahead.

Nightwing paused for a moment. It's not as if he needed the reminder, the hairs on the back of his neck had been standing up for since the summoning. He started the pat down and tried to make it quick, they tended to scare kids… if this was one.

"I thought you didn’t have a phone?" Nightwing said after removing a battered cellphone and a chipped electric thermos from various pockets.

Danny shrugged, "can't fault a guy for trying."

"Is there anyone that you need to keep in contact with?" Jason asked.

Danny thought for a moment before saying, "Not right now"

Jason shrugged it was good enough for him, "Let's go"

The van was almost comically boring. It was an empty city works van and spilling over with tools. The inside however was completely renovated to hold criminals. The trenchcoated brit was already waiting inside and greeted them with a, "Hello again, mate"

In the corners of the van were fresh runes made in charcoal. A small cloth bag was directly under the spot on the bench seating he was directed to sit in and the floor was outlined in what looked like spray adhesive with generous amounts of salt sprinkled on.

Of course the less supernatural means of confinement were there too. Reinforced walls with padding, no access to the driver and thick metal hooks welded to the floor. Which he was promptly chained to, not allowing his cuffed hands to raise above his navel. Batman and Constantine sat on either side of him and Red Hood and Nightwing sat on the bench across. Danny wondered who was driving. The whole situation was absurd.

The chains were protocol, their presence was not. Bruce thought it was important that the kid feel safe and not think that they were taking him to prison or worse. It was also important that they were here as backup in case the kid decided he no longer wanted to be chained in a van going to an unknown location with people he had just met. However the kid looked unbothered by the situation. Which was concerning for multiple reasons.

The ride was quiet. Nightwing was too drained to start conversation, Bruce and Jason were too inept and Constantine was too busy mouthing spells.

"So, you're not a ghost," Danny said unable to cope with the awkward tension, "Do you mind if I ask?"

Jason sputtered a bit. His first instinct was to tell this kid to fuck off, however he realized that the kid might actually have some valid info.

"Resurrected" was all he could bring himself to mutter.

The teen seemed to sense that he was pushing his limits and dropped it, Bruce however did not.

"How were you able to know that Red Hood died?" Batman demanded again.

The hybrid shrugged, "it's obvious to those who have experienced death, I could explain but it won't make sense."

"What do you know about resurrection" Constantine was suddenly available to talk it seemed.

"not a whole lot…" was said trailing off.

Constantine went back to his leather notebook, Dick readjusted to relieve pressure on a bruise, Jason remained staring silently at the kid and Batman went back to messing with his wrist communicator.

The ride continued in silence.

Chapter Text

Danny felt horribly underdressed. He was the only one in casual wear, except the British dude, but he was in a collar and necktie under the coat, which wasn't a costume but it was certainly anything but casual.

The departure from the van had been just as quiet and awkward as the entrance had been. Constantine and Red Hood got out first and Batman and Nightwing followed behind. There was an odd moment of tension when he reached the edge of the makeshift salt barrier. Danny pretended he didn't notice the trench coat staring as he stepped over.

The windowless van had been parked in a windowless garage, leaving no possibility of knowing their location. The space was cluttered with the mundane things found in any garage, hoses, shelves, tools and whatnot. Signs of regular habitation of city workers like jackets and coffee mugs left out at the end of the workday really sold the illusion. From there he was led into the little breakroom covered in greasy handprints and a dumpy couch.

"Nice place," Danny said.

This was weird but he guess it did the job, while being inconspicuous.

Batman then walked ahead into the smelly, humid bathroom, reached under the sink and the whole sink, cabinet, pipes and all lifted to about eye level with a smooth hydraulic hiss, revealing a narrow doorway to some stairs.

"Ah," Danny said, "That makes much more sense." and calmly moved to follow Batman who had already fled down the stairs without a word and his cape billowing behind him.

Red Hood shared a look with his brother, that was not how they reacted to seeing any secret entrances for the first time.

There was a second set of doors at the bottom of the stairs and inside was much more of what Danny expected. Stainless steel walls and floor. Industrial kitchen that could feed an army of bats if need be and a living space of practical leather furniture cluttered around a TV.

Red Hood watched Batman seal the doors then nod at Constantine who took his cue to start smudging it with more soot or whatever it was in squiggles that he had been assured earlier meant something. The rat bastard then scurried into the kitchen, opening cabinets open without closing them.

Danny was lead into a conference room of sorts before Constantine found what he was looking for. The room clearly meant to be multifunctional depending on need.

Jason watched Danny study the room for a moment before offering to remove his handcuffs now that they were sealed in.

The kid held his hands out in calm acceptance.

"Any chance any of that holds you?" Jason asked, he saw both Dick and Bruce pretend not to be listening as they continued whatever cryptic side conversation they were engaged in.

"Probably not" Danny shrugged, "but I figured even if it did, you would call my bluff and try it anyway."

Red Hood nodded, that is exactly what would have happened, "Alright before we get into it, do you need anything, food, water, bathroom?"

"Nope" the kid said.

"Do you still need any of that stuff?" Red Hood asked trying to gauge what the kid would need and definitely not trying to figure out how similar/dissimilar they were.

"not right now."

"Is holding this form hard for you?" Batman asked stoically as ever, "if so you don't have to appear human to make us comfortable."

Danny smiled, as if touched by the sentiment, "Thanks but I am perfectly comfortable right now"

"Does that mean that you have to switch forms periodically?" Batman asked.

"I…" Danny seemed surprised at the question, "don't know. I have never had a reason not to switch between them for any length of time. Never tried."

Constantine unlocked the thick metal door, "Don't mind me, just gotta" and began the routine again of lining the walls with symbols and throwing table salt around that must have been taken from the kitchen.

Danny didn't seem interested in the temporary chaos before Constantine declared himself done and sat in an open chair across from the kid.

"So Danny, what can you tell me about this portal?" Constantine said, getting this going.

"So now what?" Red Hood demanded as soon as the door to the impromptu interrogation room closed behind them, leaving just Danny and Nightwing inside. Constantine had already disappeared after strict instructions to "keep him busy, that'll only hold him for a bit" while ignoring the very important follow up question of "what's a bit?"

The kid's story checked out. As they asked questions Oracle listened in and confirmed enough details that he gave to prove he was at least telling some truths. Constantine would verify what he could on the more mystical end of the spectrum but as of right now, the league would be operating as if it were all true. There was a lot they didn't know, only so much can be said in one conversation. One thing was clear, the kid was in trouble. He couldn't go to his parents and given the situation with his godfather; he clearly wouldn’t be safe there either.

"I've already instructed the local authorities to pick up the Fentons"

Jason pulled up the usually muted notifications in his helmet screen and quickly skimmed the channel.

"No league?"

"Not yet. Given the situation with Masters, I would prefer he doesn’t know we are investigating him. If the situation were any different, I would wait until we had a way to keep Masters in custody but given what Danny has told us, I don't think it in the interest of public safety." Batman explained.

"Where is the kid gonna go?" Red Hood demanded.

Bruce didn't answer right away, Jason knew that look.

"You can't send him back!" Red Hood shouted. It could take days or even weeks for the Fentons to be detained long term. They were only going to be held for questioning, mostly to get them off the streets as soon as possible being that their disregard for public safety has already resulted in the deaths of two people and to build the case against them. Despite coming from Batman, the order had to go through local legal channels to be legitimate and appear unaffiliated with the league. A trusted contact in the FBI would get the order from the league, then work towards making a case and getting a warrant. Ideally the warrant would be issued while the Fentons were still in custody answering questions but there was no guarantee that they would be easy to find or apprehend.

"It's a temporary option but not my preference." Batman said simply.

"The kid isn't safe there," Red Hood pushed back.

"No, but it's not safe for him to disappear either, Masters will look for him. We currently have no method of stopping or containing Masters" Or Danny was left unsaid.

"Constantine is working on it" Jason argued, "I'm sure he'll be ok for a few days, we can figure something out"

"Nothing has been decided yet" Batman said in a way that was meant to be calming but has never served to do anything but annoy Jason, "and Danny is old enough and capable enough to be included in the decision, don't you think"

"I think that when you grow up in a bad situation, you don't realize how bad it was until you're out of it, I don't trust him to know what is safe when it comes to his parents or that creep"

Batman hmphed in approval, "I will take that into consideration"

Batman almost never conceded points. It shouldn't have pissed Red Hood off.

"So, am I staying here?" Danny asked to Nightwing, gesturing around the empty conference room with chairs all askew.

"Do you want to?" Nightwing asked. If the kid did not want to go home, he wasn't going to let him go. No matter how uncanny valley and creepy this kid was, he was still a kid.

"No," Danny said, "Not really but I want your help and I guess that means putting my trust in you."

Nightwing felt uneasy at the thought. He would do his best to do right by this kid but the trust made him nervous for some reason.

"Whatever the outcome is, I'm betting you're here for the night" Dick said having read Bruce's notification and knowing that they would try to hold onto Danny until his parents were found and arrested, just in case he has a change of heart, "It's getting late and it's really not a good idea to be outside right now"

"Yeah, what was that? The air tasted" he inhaled deeply, trying to catch any lingering flavor in the stale, sanitized basement air, "radioactive spicy."

"ahhh, yeah" Nightwing was a bit dumbfounded a, "There is a slight radioactivity detectable in fear toxin, but nothing extreme. Kind of like Brazil nuts."

The non reaction to being right creeped him out a bit.

"Alright well, I know you said you weren't hungry but Red Hood is getting something for us to eat and I can give you the official tour"

Chapter Text

Nightwing showed Danny around the living space they skated through earlier and pointed out a few things he might use, like the gaming system. He was then lead to the only open door of the numbered ones that lined the entire space.

"Come one" Nightwing said, waving Danny to follow him inside.

The room was just large enough for a neatly made twin bed, desk and enough floor space to change. Just as spartan and utilitarian as the rest of the safehouse. A small, attached bathroom was a welcome sight. Although the most intriguing part was the large black duffel on the bed. A closer inspection revealed a tag that said, "Male, Medium".

"May I?" Nightwing asked pointing to the bag. Danny stepped aside easily.

Nightwing fished his hand in the small side pocket and pulled out a black strip of plastic and started typing away at his wrist computer, "Everything you might need for the night will be in there, change of clothes, toothbrush, soap and stuff."

Despite getting Danny's backstory he still wasn't sure how ghost/human his needs were. There was still a lot to go over but they had focused on Amity and Danny's safety first. His biology was something that would be addressed but not right now.

"Here" Nightwing said finally looking up from his wrist and handing the strip of plastic to Danny, "It's a security thing, no cameras in the cave. This gives you the permission to unlock this door and only this door but only if it's within 6 inches of the handle, so I suggest you wear it. Your door locks from the inside for privacy but just know that we all have the ability to override your lock in case of emergency"

The thing fastened like an apple watch and was comfortable enough Although Danny wasn't sure what constituted an emergency, he was sure they had different definitions.

"Great, now that that's taken care of, let's go get pizza."

"Pizza?" the kid perked up.

'So he does eat' Dick smirked, it was such a weird juxtaposing phenomenon. This supernatural being just radiated unsettling ancient energy and the whimsy of a regular teen at the mention of pizza.

"Don't get your hopes up, it's from the freezer"

Nightwing watched Danny's shoulders visibly droop.

"So ghosts eat?" Jason asked having forgone his own slice to keep the helmet on. He'd eat later. It was one of the downsides to the rebrand. Instead he just salivated at the stainless steel table in the middle of the spacious kitchen.

Danny was expecting the carboard freezer pizza, this was the high quality rising crust kind. He shouldn't have expected anything less.

"I'm not a ghost right now but yes, ghosts can eat"

"Is there anything different you might need because you're a ghost?" Dick asked

The kid took a minute to finish chewing before saying, "When can I have my phone back?"

That was not the type answer he was expecting.

"Because of what you told us about Masters, we will not be giving you your phone back until it is checked for monitoring software and bugs, the GPS will also need to be removed before we can give you access while here in the safehouse." Nightwing said apologetically.

"What's the plan though? People will notice I'm gone. I can stay here tonight and if I'm missing from school tomorrow people will notice but it wouldn’t be that odd, but if I miss two days in a row? People will definitely ask questions. How long am I staying here for?"

Dick noticed that Danny hadn't seemed to consider that his parents might notice or that he had a choice in staying here.

Jason jumped in, "we are still working out a plan but if it would make you feel better we can get your school shut down for a few days so no one notices you are missing"

"Really? You can do that?"

"Water main break, health code violations, power outages,"  Dick said with a conspiratorial smirk, "We have our ways."

"That's really cool" Danny admitted, finally starting to act like the kid he said he was, "So was this the only pizza?"

Jason smirked, active teens ate a lot, powered teens, even more so, "Nah there's another one in the oven to keep warm, hope you like pepperoni."

Nightwing stood up suddenly, "I'm going to make some calls, put a slice in the fridge for me alright?"

"Off course, thanks" Danny said while pulling the new pizza out of  the oven and cutting himself a generous slice.

"You want one?" Danny asked Hood.

"Nah, it's all you" Jason knew that the voice changer hid all the disappointment in his voice. He would get some pizza eventually just not while the kid was around.

"Hmm," he said around a mouthful, "so that makes you my babysitter now?"

"What makes you say that?" Jason asked crossing his arms.

"Where you really going to just leave me to roam around by myself?" he asked skeptically, "I've always heard that Batman is thorough, you guys haven't had a chance to look into me yet"

"We verified a lot of the information you gave us already."

"Already?!" was said sputtering.

"Yeah, and I'm not going to lie to ya kid, I am your babysitter right now. We believe you, but you're still an unknown and-"

"-Oh, I get it, you don't trust me?"

"No, it's not like that." It was, they trusted Danny enough to believe the history he gave them, they didn’t him much beyond that yet and certainly not enough to not put himself or others into danger by ignoring house rules, they had no idea how he operated.

It wasn’t the only reason however. "You are in an incredible amount of danger right now by an enemy who, by your account, can appear out of thin air. We think it's best to keep tabs on you."

Danny sighed, that was a valid point. He didn't necessarily think that Vlad was an immediate concern. He hadn't been missing for that long, he has disappeared into the zone for longer, it would probably take a couple days for Vlad to realize that something was going on, not that the Gotham crew would know that. Besides, he remembered how scary it all was when it was new to the supernatural, he understood the concern.

"Besides, us undead've got to stick together" Jason said trying to cheer the kid up.

Danny sighed, "I guess so."

"Where's Danny?" Dick demanded swiveling his chair away from his monitor to stare at his brother as he barged into the room he claimed for himself in the safehouse. There were three types of rooms in the safehouse, rooms for the bats, rooms for league members and rooms for nonleague members, beyond those parameters it was a first come first serve basis.

Jason closed the door and took off his helmet to scratch his head, "Relax the kid went to bed, it's like 3 AM on a school night. Replacement is on big brother duty and will let me know if the kid leaves the room. You look like shit by the way"

Dick immediately turned off his monitor, "He's a literal ghost, unless you have eyes on him, we have no idea where he is."

"Shit" Jason said, shoving the helmet back on his head before freezing, "Wait, Constantine warded all level 2 and 3 rooms against him, didn't he?" Not that Jason had a lot of faith in that.

"Yes," Dick said standing up, "And you would know that if you monitored the family group chat"

"I've been watching the kid, I haven't had time to monitor all the usual channels" Jason argued.

Dick pushed past him grabbing supplies out of his own duffel to take a decontamination shower, "Alright so you have an excuse this time"

Jason wasn't in the mood to argue, he just knew that his temper would slip away from him, "Just go to bed, I'll take first shift" Batman had left almost immediately after their interrogation of the kid. Of course he left a plan and several contingencies in place but not much could be done for Danny today. Nothing could be decided until Constantine came back with his research and the Fentons were apprehended. It was a waiting game for now, Batman's time was best spent elsewhere. Red Hood was happy to be out of the drama involved in cleaning up after these events and Nightwing was due a break. He'd been up and at 'em for almost 30 hours now. Jason was comparatively fairly fresh.

The tension oozed out of Dick's shoulders, "Thanks, now get out of my room"

Jason threw his hands up in a "whatever" gesture and backed out of the room.