Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny stared down at the glimmer of red in his hand. The light glinted enticingly. Even this tiny, broken shard, seemed to call to him. He watched it for as long as he could before the voices in his head grew too loud. In a sudden movement, he closed his fist tight, cutting the voices off abruptly.

He hadn’t expected this. It was almost funny. Ever since the accident, he had planned and stressed about every possible scenario. He had backup plans for his parents, Vlad, the government, even the Justice League, but he hadn’t been prepared for this.

Magic. He’d known it was real, in an abstract sense. Several of the Justice League, and their villains, were magic users. But it had always seemed so distant from him. So removed from his many, many problems. 

He cautiously opened up his hand, looking at the shard once more. He had destroyed all the other pieces but some part of him had kept him from destroying this one, final shard. As he stared at it, feeling the pull on his mind, an even larger part of him begged him to get rid of it. To fill his hand up with blazing ectoplasm and finally be done with it. 

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t. Because he hadn’t seen this coming. And Sam had almost died.

Danny hunched over, almost choking on the reminder. Sam had almost died. No, that wasn’t strong enough. He had almost killed her. Danny had almost killed one of his best friends. It had been far too close. And that thought strengthened his resolve.

Ever since the accident, he had been focused on the threat of technology, of his parents' inventions, of Vlad’s cruel machines. He knew that threat, he understood it.

He didn’t understand magic. 

Danny sat in his room, staring down at the red shard until there was a knock at the door. He closed his hand instinctively, looking up. He relaxed when he saw who it was.

“Sam.”

“Hey Danny,” she said cautiously, stepping into his room. There were still bruises on her arms from where he had caught her at the last second. Despite this, she looked more concerned for him. “How are you doing?”

Danny looked back at his hand.

“Sam, I need you to do me a favour.”

“Of course!” She hurried to his side, sitting down next to him. “Whatever you need, just say the word.”

Danny took a deep breath, summoning the last of his courage before offering the shard to Sam.

She recoiled instantly, a horrified look on her face.

“Why are you giving me that? No, why do you have it? I thought you destroyed the staff.

Danny didn’t back down, continuing to hold out the shard.

“I did,” he said quietly. “Most of it anyway. This is the last piece.”

Sam inched further away.

“Well, destroy that part too. I don’t want to see it.”

“I can’t,” Danny said, suddenly desperate. “Sam, don’t you see? We weren’t prepared for this. We need to know, we need to understand. But I can’t do it. I just… I can’t.”

Danny’s voice broke, cut off by a sob. He stared at his friend, begging her with his eyes.

“Please Sam. Please.”

Sam took a deep breath. She scooted back over, carefully taking the shard away from Danny. He couldn’t help but relax once it was out of his grasp. He collapsed forward, his forehead hitting Sam’s shoulder.

“It isn’t enough,” he whispered. “Just understanding Freakshow’s staff isn’t enough. We need to understand anything that could be a threat. We need to understand magic.”

Sam ran her hand down Danny’s back. He couldn’t see her face but he could hear the determination in her voice.

“Don’t worry Danny. We will.”

10 years later…

Constantine huffed, lighting a cigarette. He honestly hadn’t wanted to take this job, but for once he was actually free and hey. Money was money. So why not. 

He glanced at the house as he smoked. It didn’t look very haunted to him, but he was still outside the property line. He wouldn’t know for sure until he actually took a look around inside. Still, his bullshit meter was going off. The old lady who owned the house said that a group of college kids had approached her, claiming the place was haunted and that they could drive the ghost away for a small fee. The lady had rejected them, but over time she had begun to suspect that maybe they were right. This had led to her seeking him out as somehow ‘more trustworthy.’

Constantine couldn’t help but snort at that. Him, trustworthy. Perish the thought. Still, at least he wouldn’t rip the old broad off. He’d do a quick look at the house and assure her it was fine, and that would be the end of it. A quick, easy job. He missed those.

The reminder of how often things went wrong in his life caused him to second guess things. He gave the house another glance before sighing. He fished a talisman out of his pocket and used the last of his cigarette to light it on fire. The paper smoldered gently, slowly burning up. Not his most powerful protective charm, but as long as the paper remained lit, it should divert any attention, both normal and supernatural, away from him.

Just in case. 

That taken care of, he dropped the stub of his cigarette and entered the house. The second he set foot inside, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Okay, so maybe the place was haunted after all. There was definitely something unnatural going on. 

The second thing that caught his attention were voices. Young voices. Interesting. Hadn’t the old lady mentioned some college kids harassing her?

Constantine mourned the loss of his easy job and continued further into the house, following the voices. 

He found the source of the voices in the kitchen. It was a group of college kids, three of them to be exact. There was a girl and two boys. The girl seemed to be a typical goth, with dark clothes and makeup, but the outfit was first and foremost practical, with thick boots and worn black jeans. One of the boys was African American, with glasses and an extremely worn beanie on his head. He looked tired, his clothes just as worn as the girl’s, colors that may have once been bright now faded. The last boy was hard to see, back in the corner of the kitchen. From what little Constantine could see, he was incredibly pale, with dark hair. This final boy was standing still as the other two set up a strange collection of equipment around the kitchen. Constantine watched, curious to see how this was going to play out.

A quick look at their equipment showed typical ghost hunting fare. Constantine would have rolled his eyes at that if it weren’t for the slightly unorthodox design of the equipment and the slight feeling of magic coming off of it. That sharpened his attention. Whoever these kids were, they were mucking about with magic, and that never ended well. 

Constantine resisted the urge to groan. This was going to be a bloody headache wasn’t it?

He turned his attention back to their conversation, which mostly seemed to be the girl and boy who were setting up the equipment complaining. 

“Why are we even doing this?” The girl spat, setting up a sensor. “That old coot didn’t even believe us. We should just move on, try to find an actually paying job.”

“Hey now, don’t blame me, blame the boss man,” the African American boy responded. He was sat in front of a laptop connected to all the various devices set up in the room. He adjusted something on the screen before turning back to the girl. “I’m all for leaving, but Mr. Bleeding Heart over there says this thing could hurt her.”

The girl rolled her eyes, turning the sensor on with a sharp smack.

“Yeah, in ten years. She’ll be dead by then.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that.” The other boy finally spoke from where he had been lurking in the corner, inspecting a picture on the wall. He turned towards his companions, a smile on his face. “I’d say she has at least twenty five years left in her.”

As the final boy stepped closer, Constantine couldn’t help but stiffen. There was something wrong with him. The boy absolutely reeked of death magic, in a way that shouldn’t be survivable. Constantine almost would have thought the kid was dead if he couldn’t see him breathing. 

Ok, so these kids weren’t just messing with magic. They’d already messed with it, to such an extent that something permanent had happened to one of them. Whatever it was, it hadn’t seemed to scare them off. In fact, they seemed incredibly casual about their friend's condition. This was further proved when laptop boy snorted.

“Yeah well, I guess you'd know,” he muttered, typing away on his computer. He straightened after a moment, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. “Right well, everything is set up. Before we start, Danny could you do an initial sweep? I wanna make sure our filters are working properly.”

“Sure,” the other boy, Danny apparently, said easily. Constantine realized the danger a second too late as Danny's eyes lit up green. A powerful wave of…something swept over him. His talisman instantly burnt to ash, unable to stand against such a powerful force and Constantine was left with nothing as three sharp gazes immediately locked onto him.

Shit, Constantine thought emphatically. This was bad. Still, he didn't let any distress show on his face, raising one hand in greeting.

“Hello. Fancy meeting you lot here.”

The unnamed kids glared at him suspiciously, but Danny just smiled back. 

“Hey man. Cool trick. Sorry for breaking it.”

Constantine shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. It was a casual gesture, but it allowed him easy access to his more powerful talismans. 

Just in case.

“Hey, no harm done. It was mostly just a precaution. The old lady said this place was haunted. Am I right in thinking you are the ones who told her that?”

Constantine was a bit worried that mentioning the old woman was a mistake, but luckily Danny’s face lit up.

“She told you about us? How sweet! Oh, by the way, was that good Tucker or do you need me to do another one?”

Tucker stopped glaring at Constantine to check the laptop. He clicked around a bit before nodding.

“Yeah, that was good. Filters are working. Should I start the search?”

“Wait, hold on,” the girl interrupted. She pointed at Constantine, eyes narrowed. “The old lady mentioned us? Did she… hire you?”

Constantine had to admit, he hadn’t expected that question. Still it was harmless enough. He nodded, opening his mouth to speak only to be cut off  when the girl exploded into swears.

“God damn it! All that work, all that effort to find someone with both a real problem and a high probability of believing us, only for her to hire someone else! I swear to god, I am going to break all of her stupid porcelain dolls, they’re creepy as hell anyway.”

Tucker broke into laughter, still focused on his laptop.

“Awww, poor baby. Is princess still not used to living paycheck to paycheck? Do you miss daddy’s money after all?”

The girl turned her glare on Tucker.

“Need I remind you that my family's money is the only thing keeping this operation afloat. Once it’s gone, we’re screwed. You two should be taking this more seriously.”

Tucker waved a dismissive hand at her, still paying more attention to his laptop. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Should I start the search or not?”

“Why should you?” The girl grumbled, crossing her arms. “I say we cut our losses and let Mr. Mystery deal with it.”

Normally, Constantine would have agreed. It was better to let the more experienced person deal with the issue. But something about this group gave him pause. Despite their bickering and their age, he couldn’t help but feel like there was something here. He considered for a split second longer before making a decision.

“How about this,” he said, interjecting into the conversation. “I’ll give you the payment the old lady gave me as long as you let me watch your process.”

Three gazes locked back onto him. Suspicion crept back into Tucker and the girl’s faces, though Danny seemed as unbothered as ever. 

“Dude, no offense, but why would you do that?” Tucker asked, actually looking up from his laptop. Constantine shrugged again.

“I don’t really need the money, but having more occultists who actually know what they’re doing is always a good thing these days.”

It was true. Living in the House of Mysteries, he didn’t have to deal with anything like rent or a mortgage. He mostly spent his money on cigarettes and alcohol, and he had enough lying around to tide him over for now. Making sure these kids weren’t going to accidentally get themselves killed by messing around with the dead was a lot more important to him than a few hundred bucks. 

Danny took a step forward, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“It’s fine Sam. Let’s just start the search. We already set everything up, we might as well finish the job.”

Sam. Now he had names for all three of them. They seemed awfully trusting. Or no. Danny seemed trusting and the other two followed his lead.

Interesting.

Given the go ahead, Tucker did something on his computer that caused all of the devices around the room to light up. Constantine could only assume they were searching for the ghost.

“Why not use a spell?” He asked, genuinely curious. “You three are obviously familiar with magic. Wouldn’t that be simpler?”

Tucker snorted dismissively.

“Please. My babies are far superior to any old spell.”

“Hey,” Sam said sharply. “Your ‘babies’ would be useless if it weren’t for my hard work pounding the essentials of magic into your thick skull while you were still an idiot teenager failing every class in school. Show some respect.”

Tucker ignored her, continuing to tap away at his laptop.

“You see, technology offers something that spells do not: modification. A spell will only do the exact thing it is designed to do, while I can change the parameters on my babies to ignore certain frequencies, only look for a specific frequency, change the range they’re searching, all kinds of things. Extremely useful, especially with Danny on the team. Any spell you used in here would just pick up on him. With the filters built into my devices, we can ignore Danny and search for any other supernatural forces here.”

Ah, so they were acknowledging Danny’s… weirdness. Constantine would have to tread carefully here. 

Actually, screw that. Constantine did not do caution or subtly. His brand of problem solving was to create a bigger problem to cancel out the first one. The kids seemed easy going enough, it would be fine.

“So we’re talking about the elephant in the room then?” He asked, leaning against the wall. “I have to admit, you seem a tad too trusting of some random man you just met.”

Sam scoffed.

“Please. You were using a spell powerful enough that not even Danny noticed you til he went looking. Any magician capable of that would clock Danny a mile away. We’re not stupid.”

“Got me there, love.” Constantine said with a rueful grin. He tensed at a sudden spike of energy in the room. Sam glowered at him, eyes and a tattoo on one arm beginning to light up purple.

“Do not call me that.”

Constantine held up his hands, taking a step away.

“Didn’t mean anything by it.” Luckily, the magic in the room began to subside. Constantine made note of how… uncontrolled it felt. That would have to be dealt with.

Before anything else could be said, Tucker’s laptop began to beep.

“Gottem!” He crowed, his tapping increasing in speed. “Trapping them now. What do you think Danny?”

Danny stepped forward, tilting his head as he took in a seemingly empty space. He held out a hand, some sort of energy coalescing in it. Constantine watched warily as some sort of amorphous blob took shape in the air. Danny grinned, his face eerie in the light.

“Hello there. What are you doing here?”

A strange static screech filled the room. Constantine gripped his talismans, uneasy. Sam and Tucker looked more calm, but even they couldn’t help but wince. Only Danny looked entirely unaffected, still smiling. That smile looked far less welcoming now.

The screeching stopped and Danny hummed consideringly. He shook his head, turning to Sam.

“She’s too angry. I don’t think I can convince her to move on. We’ll have to do it the old fashioned way.”

Sam nodded sharply. She knelt down by a duffle bag, pulling out a handful of candles. She set them up around the shape, lighting each of them. A quiet whisper and magic flickered through the candles, setting up a barrier. At the same time, Tucker was reorganizing a set of devices that Constantine didn’t recognize. As they lit up and began to hum, he realized that it was another set of shielding, only technology based instead of magic based.

“Don’t worry,” Danny said to Constantine. “There’s no danger, but we like to set up failsafes, just in case. You can never be too careful with these kinds of things.”

God, if that wasn’t the truth. Constantine’s respect for the ragtag group went up. Not many magicians were humble enough to admit that things could go wrong with their spells.

Soon, it was Danny and the shape alone in the circle of protections. Sam’s eyes were glinting purple while Tucker was back at his laptop.

“Ok, ok, Danny probe our defenses, make sure there are no holes.”

Danny’s eyes lit up again, but this time Constantine didn’t feel anything. The candles in the circle flickered slightly, but held firm. Constantine, very begrudgingly, felt his respect raise even more. They knew how to make some good protective spells. 

Whatever Tucker was seeing on his laptop seemed to be good news. He leaned back, giving Danny a thumbs up. 

“Alright we’re good. Go ahead Danny.”

Danny nodded, held out a hand, and then ripped open a portal to the fucking Infinite Realms.

“What the fuck?” Constantine couldn’t help but yell, scrambling away. Sam and Tucker, the little bastards, had the audacity to laugh at him. Danny gave a mischievous glance before gently ushering the blob through the portal before closing it. With that done, Sam made a slight hand gesture, causing her candles to go out. Tucker tapped a few more things on his laptop before closing it. 

“Alright, good job team. Let’s pack things up before getting our money from Mr. Mystery.” Tucker said cheerfully. Constantine looked between the kids, putting a hand over his racing heart.

“No, no, what the fuck was that. How did you do that? That was.. That was so fucking dangerous, how on earth did you do that without causing permanent damage to the fabric of our bloody reality?”

Danny just shrugged. Shrugged. Constantine felt slightly hysterical. 

“What can I say? There are some benefits to my… situation. I promise, it is perfectly safe. You could consider us experts when it comes to the Infinite Realms.”

Constantine looked around, feeling things out. Somehow, Danny was right. Everything was fine. Even with all the protective spells dismantled, he never would have guessed what had happened here. He relaxed slightly as he realized the world wasn’t about to fall apart.

Still. That had been a nightmare.

He fished his cigarettes out of his pocket, shakily lighting one.

“You couldn’t have warned me?” He grumbled as he lifted it to his lips. Sam gave him a disapproving look.

“You shouldn’t smoke in here.” Constantine just gave her a dirty look. Maybe if the three of them hadn’t scared the piss out of him, he wouldn’t be smoking right now. 

Danny laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry, but I didn’t really think you would believe me.”

Fair enough. The group fell silent as the kids packed up their equipment and Constantine smoked. His thoughts raced as he worked through his cigarette.

The Infinite Realms was one of the most dangerous and least understood things in the magical community. Most people ran in the opposite direction when they heard anything about it, Constantine included. And yet these three college kids somehow had not only information about it, but direct access to it.

This was dangerous. If it was some other magician that found this out, these kids could be in real danger. There were people out there who would do anything to get solid, reliable information about the Infinite Realms. He needed some excuse to keep in contact with Danny and his gang, some way to keep them safe. But what…

He remembered Sam’s uncontrollable burst of magic earlier. It made him wonder…

“So, you lot obviously know a lot about the Infinite Realms,” he said as they finished packing up. “Death magic seems to be a specialty of yours. But how are you with with the other branches of magic?”

Danny grimaced.

“Not great… We focused our efforts on death magic for obvious reasons, but there have definitely been times when we’ve run into problems that weren’t ghost related and had to just leave."

Constantine considered being delicate before throwing the idea out the window.

“I’m surprised you stuck with it, considering.”

Danny looked confused for a second before his face cleared.

“Oh. I see. Don’t worry, it wasn’t magic that did this to me. We learned magic after to help… deal with it.”

Constantine frowned. That didn’t sound good. He gave the group a good, long group. They looked… tired. Their clothes were old, their faces thin. Their tech was haphazard and thrown together, their magic just enough to hold back disaster. They were all sharp edges and endless potential.

He held back a groan. This was going to be a bloody pain. 

Mind made up, he held out his hand to Danny.

“My name is John Constantine. I’d like to propose a deal. I’ll teach you all about different types of magic and in return, you help me if I ever run into anything Infinite Realms related. Sound fair?”

Danny didn’t even hesitate. He reached out and took Constantine’s hand, a large smile on his face. 

“Deal.”

Chapter Text

Constantine did not want to be here. He longed to pull out a cigarette, but it wasn’t worth the glare he would get from Batman. Maybe. It depended on what the bastard wanted. 

“Please tell me you haven’t done anything stupid,” he moaned, following the dark knight down the halls of the Watchtower. “You only ever call me when you’ve done something stupid.”

Batman stopped in front of a door, turning to look at Constantine.

“The Justice League recovered an unknown artifact on a recent mission. We were quickly able to deduce that the item was magical in nature and reached out to the JLD. Zatanna and Dr. Fate have both examined the item.”

“Ok, so then why do you need me?” Constantine muttered. Batman turned back to the door, unlocking it.

“They seemed unsure of how to proceed. Zatanna suggested your particular skills may be useful.”

“Bloody fantastic. That bodes well.” 

Batman didn’t say anything, but Constantine could tell he agreed. Still, if Zatanna was the one asking, he guessed it wouldn’t hurt to at least take a look.

The second the door opened, Constantine couldn’t help but relax. So that was the problem. Turns out he actually had the solution this time. And it didn’t even involve any massive risks.

He walked into the room, gaze zeroing in on the artifact. It was set on a table in the middle of the room, with several Justice League members watching it dubiously. He walked right up to it, ignoring the protests of several people. 

He circled the table once before nodding.

“Like I thought. It’s from the Infinite Realms.”

Zatanna sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“What are we supposed to do with it?” Captain Marvel asked nervously. “We don’t have the means to contain something from the Infinite Realms.”

“What are the Infinite Realms?” Batman asked sharply. Zatanna and Captain Marvel exchanged glances before Zatanna stepped forward.

Constantine tuned out her explanation as he searched through his many pockets. He was sure he had it on him somewhere. 

Zatanna had just finished her explanation when Constantine found what he had been looking for. He pulled it out of his pocket and tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Batman’s unamused words. 

“So you’re telling me there is an entire dimension of godly beings of unknown but presumably massive power that we have basically no real knowledge about.”

“Relax, the Infinite Realms have existed for all of time and they haven’t destroyed us yet,” Constantine said, searching through his pockets again, this time looking for his phone. “Besides, I actually have a plan to deal with that thing over there.”

No one in the room looked comforted by his words, which was rude, but fair. Before anyone could protest, he pulled out his phone and checked the business card he had found buried in one of his pockets. He tapped the number into his phone and held it up to his ear, cutting off any attempt to question him.

The phone only rang twice before a cheerful voice came on.

“Hello, this is Ghost Busting Pros, here with all your supernatural control needs. This is Danny speaking. How can I help you today?”

Constantine snorted. 

“Hey kid, it’s me.”

“Constantine!” Danny sounded even more cheerful at the realization. “Hey, how are you doing? Did we miss a meetup?”

“Nah, you’re fine.” Constantine could feel the looks the others in the room were giving him, but he ignored them. “Thing is, I need to cash in on my end of the bargain."

“Ah.” Danny’s voice sounded a bit mischievous. “Gotten in over your head again?”

Constantine scoffed.

“Please, I am never in over my head. I always have things completely under control.”

“If you say so.” The kid had no right to sound so amused. “By the way, do you have my business card on you?”

Constantine glanced at the card still in his hand.

“Yeah.”

“Great! Then we’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Constantine frowned.

“Kid, I don’t think-”

He was cut off by the dial tone. He stared down at his phone incredulously.

“He hung up on me. That little shit.”

“Constantine, who were you talking to?” Zatanna asked. Constantine slipped his phone back into his pocket, examining the business card more closely.

“The leader of a ghost hunting group I ran into about… six months ago? I’ve been keeping an eye on them, making sure they stay out of trouble.”

“Why would you call them for a matter as serious as this?” Dr. Fate asked, speaking for the first time. Constantine shrugged.

“Well, they happen to know more about the Infinite Realms than anyone I have ever met. If anyone knows how to deal with that thing, they will.”

He paused for a second before giving the other magic users in the room a hard stare.

“By the way, try not to freak out when you meet him. I know it looks bad, but I promise you, he’s been like that for ages and he’s fine.”

“I hope you know that isn’t comforting,” Zatanna said, exasperation filling her tone. Constantine just shrugged again, going back to examining the business card.

“Take it or leave it love.” He squinted at the card, muttering to himself. “What are you planning?”

“Constantine.” Batman’s voice was hard, demanding attention. Constantine gave him an exasperated look.

“What?” At Batman’s glare Constantine rolled his eyes. “Look, I don’t know how they do it! That isn’t the kind of thing you question, alright? Death magic… it’s personal. Even I know better than to step on that landmine.”

Constantine gave up on examining the business card, tucking it back into one of his pockets. He rolled his shoulders, looking up at the ceiling.

“He said they’d be here in ten minutes. I figure any second now he’ll realize he can’t actually get here and give me a call. Just, wait for a sec, alright?”

Before Batman could respond, there was a dip in pressure in the room. All of the magic users tensed as the energy built, culminating in a bright green glowing spot appearing in midair. It hung there for a moment before splitting in either direction, opening up a very familiar portal.

Constantine’s jaw dropped as a human sized portal to the Infinite Realms opened up in front of him. He’d seen Danny rip open holes between the world’s before, but never one this big.

Before he could fully comprehend what he was seeing, Danny stepped out of the portal looking completely casual.

“Fat chance!” He yelled over his shoulder, grinning at someone Constantine couldn’t see. He turned around, his ever present smile firmly in place. “Alright Constantine, what have you gotten yourself into now-”

His voice cut off abruptly as he noticed the other people in the room. His eyes widened, shock flitting across his face. It only lasted a second before his grin came back, a bit more mischievous this time.

“Oh man, Tucker is going to freak out.”

He stepped to the side, chuckling. A few seconds later, Sam walked out of the portal, looking annoyed.

“I swear to god, if he has pissed off some Ancient, I am going to lose my fu-”

She stopped short, just as surprised as Danny had been. She somehow recovered even faster, pulling out her phone with a snort.

“Oh I have got to record this,” she said with a smirk, aiming her phone at the portal. A moment later, the final member of their group stepped through, head down as he searched through his bag.

“Ok, I have all our apocalypse stuff ready to go. How bad is it?”

When there wasn’t a response Tucker looked up, annoyance crossing his face.

“Come on guys, how bad-”

Silence. He had noticed the others. Tucker froze, going pale. His mouth dropped open, a comical look on his face. The silence was broken by a shutter sound coming from Sam’s phone. 

That was all it took to shake Tucker out of his shock. He glared at Sam.

“Seriously? We meet the actual Justice League and your response is to take a picture of my reaction? Do you really think that’s giving them a good first impression?”

Sam seemed unbothered, tucking her phone away with a smug grin.

“Oh I don’t think I’m the one who needs to be concerned about first impressions.”

Tucker’s face flushed, and for a moment it looked like he was going to lunge at Sam, but Danny stepped in between them, effortlessly cutting the argument off.

“Well, now that we’re here, what did you need Constantine?”

Being addressed shook Constantine out of his own shock. He pointed a finger at the still open portal, giving Danny an accusing glare.

“Hold up, since when have you been able to make them that big? Since when have you actually gone into the fucking Infinite Realms?”

“You swear too much.” Danny said conversationally. “I think you’re a bad influence on Sam.” Constantine just narrowed his eyes.

“You’re dodging the question.”

Danny huffed, still looking completely unconcerned.

“I dunno. We’ve been exploring the Infinite Realms since before I even learned to make portals. Is this what you called me here for? To ask questions?”

Constantine rubbed his forehead, deciding to just drop it for now.

“No, no, you’re right. That isn’t what I called you here for.” But before Constantine could continue, he was cut off by Dr. Fate.

“I must insist that you answer the question. Ripping tears between realities is not something to be done lightly. There is always a cost, even if it may not be obvious at first. Your indifferent attitude toward the issue is highly concerning.”

Sam scowled, her magical energy spiking as she took a step forward.

“Don’t you dare imply we don’t know what we’re doing. You have no idea what we went through to get here.”

Danny held up a hand, giving Sam a stern look.

“Calm down. It’s good that they’re cautious about this kind of thing. We all know where recklessness leads.”

Sam still looked angry, but she stepped back, her magic settling as well. Danny turned to Dr. Fate, a strange look in his eyes.

“And as for the price, don’t worry. I’ve already paid it. Or can you not tell?”

Dr. Fate stared back for a moment before his eyes widened. To everyone’s shock, he bowed slightly. 

“I see. I did not realize you were one of the Lady’s. My apologies.” In another uncharacteristic move, Dr. Fate hesitated before adding, “And my condolences.”

Danny waved his apology away easily.

“It’s fine. I’ve made my peace with it.”

Danny was still smiling, but it was a bit tighter now, not as easygoing. Constantine gave him a grumpy look.

“The Lady huh? You never mentioned that.”

“It never came up.” Danny said with a shrug. Constantine gave him one more look before sighing. 

“Fair enough. Whatever, let’s just deal with this stupid amulet and we can all go home.”

“Amulet?” Danny perked up. “What amulet?”

Constantine just gestured towards the cursed thing, already fed up with the entire situation. The Lady. The god damned Lady. Of course she was involved in this.

Danny walked up to the amulet, glancing at it. Almost immediately, recognition lit up his gaze.

“Oh my god. Is this Aragon’s amulet?”

Sam zipped over, groaning when she saw it.

“It is. Man, I never thought this thing would pop back up in our lifetimes.”

“Look at the bright side,” Tucker said easily, starting to pull various items out of his bag. “At least now we can destroy it for good.”

Sam opened her mouth to argue before stopping. She scowled, but nodded, ceding the point. Tucker finally stopped fiddling with his bag, holding up some strange scanner. He held it over the amulet, looking at the screen as numbers rushed by. Danny rocked back on his heels, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully.

“Do we have everything we need for this?” he asked the ceiling. Tucker watched the screen for a second longer before shaking his head.

“Nah, this thing has too much energy for the batteries we brought. We’ll need at least level fours.”

Danny rocked back and forth a couple more times before nodding.

“Yeah alright. Four isn’t too bad. Sam, do you want your blood candles?”

Sam shook her head.

“My normal ones should work. They’ll probably burn to stubs, but that’s still better than using up a blood candle.”

“Alright,” Danny said easily. “I trust your judgement. Tucker, I’ll get your batteries and the secret sauce. Back in a sec.”

With one final movement, Danny fell backwards. A blip of green swallowed him before he hit the floor.

Tucker snorted, already setting up equipment in a circle. 

“He is so dramatic,” he muttered, most of his attention on what he was doing. Sam shrugged, setting up her candles.

“I’m pretty sure it takes less energy for him to slip through like that than it is for him to open a full portal.”

“Got me there,” Tucker sat back on his heels, looking satisfied. “Alright, I’m ready. I just need the bigger batteries and I’m good to go.”

“What exactly are you doing?” Batman asked, finally finding a moment to interject. Constantine almost felt bad for the man. He knew better than anyone how hard it was to interrupt the group once they really got going. It was pretty clear that the three of them had been on their own for a long time. They weren’t used to having other people around.

This was proven when both Sam and Tucker startled. They’d clearly forgotten the Justice League members who were in the room with them.

“Ah sorry. Most of the time we get clients to leave before we do our thing,” Tucker said sheepishly. “It’s safer that way.”

“That’s very responsible of you,” Zatanna said, stepping into the conversation gracefully. “But from one magician to another, I find myself very curious about what you’re doing.”

Sam and Tucker exchanged looks before Sam shrugged and started explaining.

“Well, basically we’re destroying the amulet. There’s no point in leaving it lying around. We could take it back to the Infinite Realms I guess, but the last thing we want is Aragon getting his hands on it again. That’s why we destroyed it last time.”

“Last time? You mean you’ve destroyed it before? Then how is it back?” Batman asked, brow furrowing slightly. Sam gave Tucker a meaningful look, but he had been absorbed into his laptop, tapping away at high speeds. She groaned, rolling her eyes.

“Ugh fine. I guess I’ll explain then. Basically, the Infinite Realms work off of feelings, memories, ideas. Here in the Material Realms, things are what they are, regardless of what people think about them. But in the Infinite Realms, it isn’t as simple as that.” 

Sam slipped a ring off of her finger, holding it up for the group to see. The faint green shimmer gave away its nature.

“In the Infinite Realms, intent and belief matter more than anything else. Ghosts look the way they do because that’s how they think they should look. If a ghost has a major change in self image, their physical appearance will change as well. That’s just how it works.”

Sam turned the ring slightly, letting them all get a good look. It was an ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail. The detail work was incredibly fine, Constantine could admit that, but he didn’t see what it had to do with the current topic of discussion. 

Sam smirked at him, almost as if she’d read his mind.

“Ya see, it’s a bit different when it comes to objects that don’t have a will of their own. Hey Tucker! Catch!”

Tucker’s hand shot out, catching the ring without looking up. He glanced at it before snorting.

“Oh, we’re giving a demonstration. Yeah alright. Take a look.”

Tucker held the ring up, just like Sam had. Only this time, when looking at the ring, it looked completely different. Instead of a snake, the ring depicted wires, twisting into each other. 

“Whoa!” Captain Marvel’s eyes light up. “That is so cool!”

Zatanna frowned, holding her hand over the ring but not touching it.

“An illusion? But neither of you cast any magic.”

“No magic, at least, not in the way you’re thinking.” Tucker said, slipping the ring on. “The ring itself changed based on who was holding it.”

Sam crossed her arms, nodding.

“Danny gave both of us different descriptions of the ring. Since we both believe our version to be true, the ring changes depending on who’s holding it.”

Constantine stared at them blankly.

“Why… would Danny do that?”

Sam shrugged, arms still crossed.

“Who knows. Danny does lots of weird things. But hey, it was useful right now.”

“Regardless, how does this relate to destroying the amulet?” Zatanna asked, desperately trying to keep them on track.

“That was a small-scale example of the larger issue.” Sam explained. “When dealing with items from the Infinite Realms, you aren’t just dealing with the items themselves. You are dealing with the idea of the item.”

Tucker nodded, done with his computer for the time being.

“Ya. Even if you destroy the physical object, if enough people remember it, it’ll come back eventually.”

“In fact, destroying the thing usually just ends up with you being stuck with a more powerful version.” Sam complained. “The stories get exaggerated during the time in which the object is missing, so by the time it comes back, the expectations for what it can do have grown.” 

“Leading to the new item being able to actually do those things,” Zatanna said, face pale. Sam and Tucker nodded.

“So you can see why you need to be careful when it comes to things like this.” Sam said, gesturing to the amulet. “You don’t want to accidentally make things worse.”

“Then why did you destroy the amulet last time, if you knew the consequences could be so severe?” Batman asked sharply. Sam scowled at him.

“Well obviously we didn’t know back then. We wouldn’t discover a way to permanently destroy Infinite Realm artifacts for another couple of years.”

“Wait, you’re saying you can actually destroy this thing?” Constantine cut in. “What was with the whole spiel about not being able to break Infinite Realms items then?”

Sam had the audacity to roll her eyes.

“The very first thing we said was that we were going to destroy it. Weren’t you listening?”

“We have a patent pending, one hundred percent foolproof method for erasing these things from existence!” Tucker said gleefully. “It shouldn’t even be that hard this time. Aragon’s amulet is barely even corporeal.”

“Honestly, I think Aragon is the only one fueling its return.” Danny said cheerfully, appearing abruptly in the room. “He’s delusional enough to believe so completely that it still exists to bring it back single handedly.”

“Holy shit Danny!” Constantine swore, jumping back. “How long have you been here?”

“I just got back!” Danny tossed a small canister to Sam before giving a large bag to Tucker. Tucker immediately began to pull out a series of strange batteries, hooking them up to his other devices.

Sam gave the device a once over before pulling off one of her necklaces and throwing it to Danny.

“I’m doing a check. Shield up.”

“Ok!” Danny snapped the twig on the necklace in half. Constantine felt a blaze of magic sweep out, settling over Danny. Danny’s eyes flared green, but no death magic seeped out.

“All good! Do the check.”

Sam cracked the canister open, looking inside. Whatever was in there, it made the hair on the back of Constantine’s neck stand up. Sam only had the canister open for a split second, just long enough to check, before she closed it again.

“All good.”

“Cool.” Danny’s eyes flared again, this time ripping through the shield, banishing it. He walked over to the strange circle, watching curiously as Tucker finished setting up.

“Everything ready?”

“Just about.” Tucker scrambled over to his laptop, pressing a few buttons. The devices around the room lit up, leaving only the actual shield turned off. “Danny, give us a push.”

Constantine was used to the wave of death magic by now, but he could tell his companions were not. Zatanna and Captain Marvel both shuddered, Captain Marvel taking an actual step back. Neither Batman nor Dr. Fate reacted as strongly, but Constantine could tell it had bothered them as well.

Tucker tapped away on his laptop, oblivious to the discomfort his request had caused.

“Ok we are all good. Sam, if you would.”

Sam nodded, grabbing the amulet off the table. She paused when everyone in the room protested. 

“Relax,” she said, tossing the amulet into the air and catching it. “This thing is completely safe as long as you don’t put it on. And even if you do put it on, you’re fine as long as you don’t get angry.”

“What happens if you do get angry?” Captain Marvel asked nervously. Sam gave him a sharp grin.

“You turn into an uncontrollable dragon.”

“Not that different from how you usually are Sam,” Tucker said with a grin. Danny laughed, slinging an arm around Sam’s shoulder. 

“Yeah Sam. All the screaming, fire, property damage. I thought it was just a normal Tuesday until I noticed you were flying.”

Sam shoved Danny away with a scowl.

“Real comedians you two. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Ignoring the confused and worried looks being sent their way, the trio moved into position. Tucker threw something at Danny’s head which he caught easily, tucking it into his pocket before following Sam into the ring. Sam tossed the amulet carelessly on the ground before gently setting the canister down.

Then, in a move which alarmed everyone in the room, she began to light her circle of candles from the inside.  

The trio once again ignored protests as Sam completed her work, trapping her and Danny inside her shield. That done, Sam stepped into the inner circle of technology, giving Tucker a thumbs up.

“Let’s go.”

Tucker returned her thumbs up with one of his own, powering on the devices. There were now three levels of protection in the room. Tucker and the Justice League members were on the outside with two shields between them and the amulet. Danny was in the middle ring, protected by Tucker’s devices. And Sam was in the middle, with no protection at all. 

“Shield check!” Tucker called. Both Danny and Sam lit up as they pushed against their respective shields. “All clear. Final check.”

Danny pulled the item out of his pocket, tossing it to Sam. Constantine realized it was the same ring from earlier, the one from the Infinite Realms. How had it gotten through the shield? Before he could raise any concerns, Sam tried to toss the ring back, only for it to hit an invisible wall and fall to the ground.

“We’ve got one way passage confirmed!” Tucker crowed, a slightly maniacal gleam in his eyes. “I’d like to see a spell do that!”

Sam rolled her eyes, fishing another necklace out from around her neck.

“Yeah yeah, you’re a genius, we know. Are we ready to go?”

“Uh…” Tucker spun to check a device behind him. Satisfied, he turned back around. “Yep we’re good. Shield up, let’s get going.”

Sam snapped a twig, much like Danny had earlier. Constantine couldn’t help but relax slightly, knowing Sam had at least some protection. With that final safety measure in place, Sam knelt down and picked up the canister, twisting it open.

“Ok Danny, let’s feed this monster.”

Danny nodded, expression unusually serious. He held up a hand, aiming at the amulet before letting out a concentrated blast of green energy. 

Constantine had seen Danny produce the stuff before, but never in such large quantities. He kept the stream steady, face taut with concentration. Tucker was watching his screen carefully.

“We’re about halfway there. Sam, get ready.”

Sam nodded, adjusting her grip on the canister. The candles were flickering rapidly as the energy inside the circle grew. Constantine eyed them warily, inching away slightly.

“Almost there,” Tucker said, eyes intense. “Three… two… now!”

Sam did something to the canister, causing a beam of light to shoot out and attach onto the amulet. There was a flash of light before the amulet was gone, presumably sucked into the canister.

Danny stepped back, stretching his arms behind his back.

“Good job team. Tucker, let Sam out. Sam, let me out.”

Tucker and Sam both rolled their eyes, but did as Danny said. The group began to clean up their supplies, acting as though nothing unusual at all had happened. 

“Hold it, come on, you lot know how this works, explain yourselves.” Constantine yelled. “You can’t just do insane things and expect people to not have questions!”

Dr. Fate stepped forward, tilting his head to the side.

“What was in that device? It felt… wrong.”

The trio actually looked uneasy at that question. After a second, Danny sighed.

“It had blood blossoms in it,” he admitted. Zatanna recoiled and Constantine couldn’t help but swear.

“Why the fuck would you even touch that stuff?” He asked, fishing a cigarette out of his pocket. Fuck Batman, he needed this. Danny grimaced.

“Trust me, the last thing we want to do is work with it. That stuff is literally fatal to me. But that’s the only reason it works. Blood blossoms feed off of ectoplasm. If we add enough to the equation, it will keep them active for months.”

He gestured towards the device Sam was still holding.

“It will eat away at the amulet for the entire time. Eventually, it will eat away the idea of it as well. People will still remember it, but the memory won’t have power any more.”

“We’ve tested it intensively.” Tucker cut in. “We tried everything. Blood blossoms are the only things that work. And this is the only thing we use them for. Promise.”

Constantine groaned, taking a deep drag on his cigarette. At Batman’s glare he snuffed it out, slipping it back into the pack.

“Fine, fine. Thanks for getting rid of the bloody thing. The last thing we needed was a rage dragon running around.”

“All in a day's work!” Danny said, cheerful attitude restored. He paused, looking a bit sheepish. “Uh… would it be ok if we talked about payment? Cause I know I said we would help you with Infinite Realms things, but Sam said we should-”

“The Justice League has a fucking space station, they can afford to pay us!” Sam interrupted, getting up in Constantine’s face. “Come on, cough up, this is our livelihood here.”

“Of course,” Batman said, thankfully pulling attention away from Constantine who definitely did not have any money to give them. “Just give me your banking details and I’ll make sure you are paid.” 

Constantine and Danny both relaxed as Batman and Sam talked money. Danny perked up after a second, pulling a card out of his pocket.

“Here!” He handed the card to Batman. “In case Constantine is ever busy and you need to get a hold of us. We mostly focus on death magic and ghosts, but we can help with most supernatural things.”

Batman took the card, slipping it away.

“Thank you. The money should have transferred,” he added, directing the second comment to Sam. 

Sam pulled out her phone, looking something up. She froze as something on the screen caught her eye. 

“What is it Sam?” Tucker asked. He looked over her shoulder, gasping when he saw her phone screen. 

“Holy shit. That is so much money.”

He grabbed Sam’s shoulders, shaking them slightly.

“Oh my god. We could get a hotel. We could sleep on real beds and not in the van. Oh my god, Sam, we could shower in a hotel, not in a gas station. Oh my god. Oh my god.”

“Shut up Tucker,” Sam said brusquely, shoving the phone back into her pocket. “We should save the money for the next dry spell. We can’t waste it on things like that.”

Tucker slumped dramatically.

 “Sam. Sam please. One night.”

Sam visibly wavered before sighing.

“Fine. One night.”

Tucker cheered, throwing his arms up in the air. Danny watched the pair with a sort of patient amusement.

“You know we could always stay in the Infinite Realms. Dora would be happy to have us.”

Sam and Tucker both shuddered dramatically.

“Yeah, no thanks, I’ll take the van seat,” Tucker said, rubbing his arms theatrically. “You may be comfortable in the Infinite Realms, but it’s a bit rougher on us mere mortals.”

“Fair enough,” Danny said easily. “Offer’s always open.”

“Put that offer away, we will never want it,” Sam said grouchily. “Come on, let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Before anyone could stop them, Danny ripped another portal open and the group walked through. A split second later, it was like they had never been there. 

Silence hung heavy in the room before Constantine cleared his throat.

“Well, since the problem has been solved, I guess I’ll be going.”

He made it two steps before Batman’s cold voice stopped him.

“Constantine.”

The man groaned, turning around. 

“What do you want from me? I didn’t know they were so bad off money wise! They’re basically impossible to keep track of. Though, if they’re moving through the Infinite Realms, I guess that makes sense.”

“I have many concerns,” Zatanna said, a frown marring her features. “The money is just one of them.”

“Well, why do you think I’m keeping a bloody eye on them?” Constantine ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “I’m doing my best, but if I spook them, they’re gone forever. And we can’t afford that. And neither can they.”

The room fell silent again as the group took that in. Finally, Batman sighed.

“Keep doing what you’re doing Constantine. You’ve clearly built some trust with them. Just keep us updated. If anything changes, let me know.”

“Cheers,” Constantine muttered, taking that as permission to finally leave. 

God he needed a drink.

Chapter Text

Bruce frowned, staring at the screen of the Bat computer. The picture displayed there stared back at him, seeming almost mocking to his sleep deprived mind.

Five days ago, Damien had found the image, burned into the wall of a random alleyway. It was a large circle, made up of dozens of interlocking symbols and sigils. It screamed occult, and initial scans of the area proved that it was doing something , but he had no idea what. Bruce had done his own research, trying to find out what kind of magic this might be, or if it was actually magic at all. He had busted a fair number of cults in his day, many of which had no real power at all, worshiping false gods. Others had used advanced technology to fool gullible followers. If he was lucky, this would be one of those scenarios. 

Instinct told him he was not lucky. There was something about the sigil which was incredibly off putting. Even just looking at a picture of it caused a chill to run down his spine, and it was even worse in person. No, there was something unnatural about this thing, and he wanted to know what.

Unfortunately, anyone who may be able to tell him was unavailable. Zatanna was off-world for another month, Dr. Fate had locked himself in his tower and refused to come out, and who the hell knew where Constantine was. All Bruce knew was that he wasn’t answering his phone. He’d tried other JLD members, but they were all either busy or didn’t recognize the sigil. 

Bruce scowled. He couldn’t afford to wait for Zatanna to come back, or for Constantine to wander out of whatever mess he managed to get himself into. Whatever this thing was, he didn’t want to give it time to accomplish its purpose. But with his own avenues of research having dried up, he wasn’t sure what to do.

A thought occurred to him. There was one other person he could ask. He got up from his chair, going over to one of his many storage units. He found what he was looking for immediately, pulling out an ordinary looking business card. 

Danny, Sam, and Tucker. Bruce had attempted to look into them after that meeting three months ago, but he had found nothing. It wasn’t very surprising. He’d had very little to go off of, and it appeared that the trio had been operating off the grid for a while now. Any attempts to get more information out of Constantine had been met with angry swearing, and no one else seemed to have ever heard of them. Eventually, Bruce had decided to let it go. Constantine swore up and down that the group wasn’t a threat, and while Bruce did not like Constantine, he knew the man wouldn’t lie about something like that. Until he found evidence to the contrary, Bruce would treat them as tenuous allies. 

Which led him to now. Danny had said they could help with most supernatural matters. It couldn’t hurt to have them take a look at the sigil. Best case scenario, they would recognize it. Worse case, he would at least know it had nothing to do with the Infinite Realms. It was his only option outside of waiting for one of his other contacts to get in touch with him. 

Mind made up, Bruce pulled up his cowl and headed to the Batmobile.

“Hello hello, spirits and men! How may I help you this lovely evening?”

Bruce sighed silently, taking a moment to mourn the quiet. One would think he would be used to this kind of thing after knowing Dick for so long.

“Hello Danny. This is Batman.”

Danny didn’t even pause at that revelation.

“Oh wow! Hey guys it’s Batman!” His voice became a little distant as he presumably turned away from the phone to talk to his friends. His voice came back to full volume as he continued. “What’s up man? Do you need something? I honestly thought you’d never call us.” 

Bruce paused for a moment to gather his strength before speaking.

“I wanted to ask your opinion about a sigil which has appeared in Gotham. I will of course pay you a consultation fee whether you are able to identify the sigil or not.”

“Really?” Danny’s voice went distant again. “Sam, he wants to pay us!”

Bruce could hear vague yelling in the background, not loud enough to understand. Danny hummed thoroughly before speaking.

“Sam says yes.”

Bruce highly doubted that was all she said, but decided not to bring that up, moving on to more practical matters.

“Very good. Do you need transportation to Gotham?”

“Nah,” Danny said easily. “You have my business card on you, right?”

“Yes,” Bruce confirmed, slightly confused.

“Cool! Are you at the sigil right now?”

“Yes.” He’d intended to send coordinates from the location to help Danny pinpoint his portal, but apparently that would not be necessary.

“Awesome!” There were some rattling noises as Danny seemed to start doing something. “Give us like… fifteen minutes, twenty tops. I gotta finish this project before Tucker cannibalizes it for parts.”

There was more yelling in response. Danny huffed a slight laugh before yelling back.

“Yes you would! Anyway, it shouldn’t take me long, I’m basically done. See ya soon!”

Danny hung up before Bruce could respond. That seemed to be a habit of his. 

Bruce put his phone away, examining the business card. There didn’t appear to be anything strange about it. He’d tested the card extensively before bringing it into the Batcave, but hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary. It looked like he’d missed something.

He slipped the card into a pouch on his belt, trying to smother his unease. It was difficult. Bruce hated magic. It made no logical sense, went against everything he had ever learned. No matter how much he studied, he would never be able to fully understand magic because magic actively fought against understanding. It was incredibly frustrating and was the reason he did his best to stay away from magic.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice this time. He glared at the sigil while he waited, cursing its existence. 

Seventeen minutes after the phone call ended, a familiar green portal opened. The color did nothing to ease Bruce’s anxieties. It was far too similar to the Lazarus Pit for comfort.

Luckily, he was quickly distracted by a pale face popping out of the portal.

“Hi! That was pretty punctual, right? I try to be punctual.”

“You’re fine,” Bruce said, watching for the other two members of the group. “How did you manage to open a portal on this exact spot?”

Danny stepped fully out of the portal, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“Ah, I guess you would want to know. Well, basically, I put a tag on the card. It lets me find it from the other side and know I’m in the right place.”

“You know where the card is at all times?” Bruce asked, a sharp feeling in his gut. He had been storing the card in the Batcave for months. He was so stressed that he barely noticed Sam and Tucker coming out of the portal, watching the exchange with nervous expressions.

Danny shook his head rapidly, waving his hands in front of him.

“No, no, it’s not like that. I can’t really tell where they are when I’m in the Material Plane. I mean, I know the general direction, but I’d have to get really close and kinda follow the feeling to figure out where they are. I don’t just, know, ya know?”

Bruce relaxed slightly. While that was still less than ideal, at least it meant the location of the Batcave was mostly likely safe. He was pretty sure he would have noticed if the trio had started sniffing around Gotham. But that still didn’t explain how Danny managed to pinpoint this exact spot for his portal.

“If that’s true, how did you get here?”

Danny rocked back on his heels, hands in his pockets.

“Well… I basically just, do that whole following thing, but in the Infinite Realms. See, the Infinite Realms and the Material Realms are linked. They are touching at every possible point. But they’re also moving. Or, at least the Infinite Realms are. They kinda, slide along the Material Realms. It’s hard to explain. But basically, if you’re able to see the speed and rotation of the Infinite Realms, you can use that to take short cuts across the Material Realms. Of course, doing that while also trying to keep track of where I’m going in the Material Realms is basically impossible. So I put tags on things in the Material Realms so I have a target to aim at. Business cards just happen to be an easy thing to tag and give out.”

That made sense. It also meant that as long as the card wasn’t in the Batcave, its location would be secure. Bruce made a mental note to store it in one of his safe houses in Gotham before moving on to his next question.  

“Keeping track of the movement of an entire dimension seems very difficult. Did someone in the Infinite Realms teach you how to do that?” He asked, slightly concerned about the possibility of otherworldly creatures being able to just show up wherever they liked. Danny’s smile faltered slightly.

“Uh… no. Even most native people of the Infinite Realms can’t see the motion the way I do. Some of them can create portals into the Material Realms, but their methods of navigation are different to mine.”

Bruce’s expression didn’t change, but he frowned on the inside. As far as he could tell, Danny was uniquely connected to the Infinite Realms in a way that even the spirits that resided there weren’t. But how could that be possible? Zatanna had actually come to him after that initial meeting, pale and worried. She’d confessed that she was positive Danny was dead at first. There was something incredibly wrong with the young adult, something that would not happen naturally. Zatanna had never seen anything like it and could not even begin to speculate on how it had happened. 

Constantine was predictably unhelpful when it came to answers. The man had glared at them when they cornered him, looking for answers.

“I expect this kinda shit from Batman, but I’d think you’d know better Zatanna. You don’t ask about death magic. You just don’t.”

Zatanna had actually seemed ashamed, and she’d refused to even speculate on the issue after that conversation. It left Bruce in a position of desperately wanting information while having no way of acquiring it. 

Part of him wanted to push, to ask why Danny could see the spin of the Infinite Realms when even its native inhabitants could not, but the tense look on Danny’s face and the glares being sent his way by Sam and Tucker convinced him to drop it. He had asked them here for help, not to interrogate them. Now wasn’t the time.

“I see.” Bruce turned away from the group, looking back at the sigil. “Regardless, this is what I wanted you to look at. No one I’ve asked has been able to identify it, and my own research has turned up nothing.”

Danny visibly relaxed, taking a step forward.

 “Well, I can’t promise anything, but we can definitely take a look

Sam took that as her cue to walk forward, squinting in the darkness as she tried to take in the details. It didn’t take long before she paled, taking a step back.

“Danny… am I seeing this right?”

Danny had an unusually grim look on his face as he studied the sigil. After a moment he slowly nodded.

“Yeah. I don’t recognize this exact symbol, but this is definitely life magic.”

Tucker swore, taking a large step back. He glanced around nervously, rubbing his arms as if to generate warmth.

“Shit, really? Man, I hate that stuff.”

Bruce frowned.

“Life magic? That doesn’t sound bad.”

Danny grimaced.

“Ah yeah, it’s kind of a misleading name. I’m pretty sure most people don’t actually call it that.”

“What is it?” Bruce asked, a feeling of foreboding coming over him.

“Life magic feeds off of, well life,” Sam explained, a dark look on her face. “Human sacrifice.”

The implications hit Bruce immediately.

“Are you saying someone died to create this?”

Danny nodded, eyes glowing slightly. 

“Yes. Life magic doesn’t always lead to the death of the sacrifice, sometimes just taking a few years, or even months off of a person's lifespan, but for a spell this powerful? Whoever did this killed someone, there’s no doubt.”

Bruce felt a flash of disgust. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised. He’d seen the darkest parts of humanity, yet it still stung to realize the lengths some people would go to for power. He felt cold resolve settle over him as he moved on to the problem of finding the responsible party. 

“Why? What does this spell do?”

Sam huffed, running a hand through her hair.

“I don’t know. We’ve never really studied life magic, ya know? Enough to recognize it, but not enough to read these symbols and figure out what they’re doing. Honestly, you should probably ask Constantine. That bastard knows all kinds of fucked up magic, he would absolutely be able to unravel whatever this thing is.”

So it was back to waiting for Constantine. Bruce shoved down his disappointment. At least now he knew what kind of magic this was. It gave him a more specific target for his research in the meantime. He was about to thank the group for the information when Tucker spoke.

“Danny? You good?”

Bruce turned back to Danny, brow furrowing when he saw him. Danny was standing directly in front of the sigil, a hand hovering over it. His eyes were completely green, no white showing at all. He was so still it almost looked like he wasn’t breathing. 

“They’re still here.”

Sam and Tucker exchanged glances, worry written across their features. Sam stepped forward, stopping just short of actually touching Danny.

“Danny? What’s wrong?”

The glow in Danny’s eyes increased before he took an abrupt step away from the sigil. There was a thunderous look on his face, an expression of anger that seemed entirely uncharacteristic for Danny.

“They’re still here. The person who died to power this spell. Their soul is here, trapped in the sigil. The spell is actively feeding off them.”

“What?” Sam stared at Danny with huge eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Dany stared at the sigil, eyes hard. Tucker fiddled with a small device nervously.

“What should we do?” He muttered, almost to himself. He kept opening and closing the back of his device. “Constantine’s stuck in Deep Bore. Could we go get him?”

“No.” Danny’s voice allowed no argument. “We’re breaking it. Right now.”

Sam’s mouth opened, clearly about to argue. But she paused, taking in Danny’s expression. After a second, her own features hardened, determination taking over. She nodded once sharply, turning to Tucker.

“Tucker, get out the big boys. This is going to be one hell of a fight.”

“Wait, what?” Tucker burst out, looking between Sam and Danny. “Are you two serious? I don’t even need to measure anything to know that the energy in that thing is massive. What makes you think we can safely disarm it?”

Neither Danny nor Sam responded, staring at Tucker stonily until he visibly deflated.

“Yeah yeah, alright, sure. Let's just get it going I guess.”

Bruce interjected, extremely concerned.

“Wait, what are you doing? How dangerous is it?”

“Relaaaax….” Tucker drawled, a complete switch in his tone. “It’ll be fine. Probably.”

“We are going to disarm the spell,” Sam explained, voice tight as she dug through a small pouch on her hip. It must have been magical in nature because she was pulling out far more than could reasonably fit in the space. “As for how dangerous it is, well…”

“That is directly proportional to how powerful the spell is and how much energy is still left in it!” Tucker said, a slightly deranged smile on his face. He held up a scanner to the sigil looking at the numbers on the screen. After a second he nodded, putting the device away. “So based on those readings… very dangerous!”

“What spell should I use, Tucker?” Danny asked, cutting off any chance for Bruce to object. Tucker hummed, opening a program on his laptop and swiping through it.

“This one. I’ll send it to your phone.”

Danny pulled his phone out, opening whatever Tucker had sent. He studied it for a moment before nodding.

In the next few seconds, something strange happened. The temperature plummeted and Danny’s eyes flashed again, but this time they glowed blue. Before Bruce could even begin to ask, the temperature stabilized and Danny was suddenly drawing on the wall with his bloody hand.

Bruce startled forward, emotion leaking into his voice.

“What are you doing?”

“Blood is a very good medium for magic.” Sam was setting out candles that were dull red. “Especially your own.”

Blood candles. Danny had mentioned something about that in the Watchtower. Bruce could only assume these were those blood candles.

Tucker had finished setting up his monitoring equipment and had moved on to his shield. Bruce felt his unease rise even more as he took in how massive the batteries Tucker was using were.

“Why do you have all these materials on you if you weren’t expecting to use them?” Bruce asked. Tucker just snorted.

“We always carry our apocalypse supplies on us. Just in case.”

“Apocalyspe- what do you mean-”

“Tucker, I’m going to do a test, let me know if we’re good.” Danny interrupted. He’d finished whatever he was drawing. Tucker nodded absentmindedly, powering up a few of his machines with the flip of a switch.

“Ok Danny, low power please. I do not want this thing blowing up in our face.”

Danny placed both hands on his bloody drawing, eyes lighting up again. Bruce took in the details. Danny had somehow managed to draw an entirely new circle around the original one, despite how large it was. The symbols in this new circle were completely different from the original one. As Bruce watched, the new circle began to glow softly, casting a ghostly light across the alleyway.

“What is he doing,” he asked, resigned to the fact that he couldn’t stop this from happening at this point. He had somehow forgotten the group’s ability to bulldoze through any attempts at interruption or objection. Sam shrugged from where she was setting up her candles.

“Just pushing his magic through, making sure there are no issues or snags. No intent, it won’t activate a spell or anything, but it will let us know if he made a mistake in the symbols. We… really can’t afford any mistakes when it comes to something like this.”

“All clear Danny!” Tucker called, cutting off any possible follow up questions. “Magic is flowing nicely, there shouldn’t be any issues when you kick it up.”

Danny stepped back, eyes dimming.

“Good. That’s… that’s good.”

Sam pulled out a lighter, flicking it on. She hesitated for a second, looking at Danny.

“Are you sure about this?"

Danny nodded without even pausing to think.

“We have to get them out.”

Sam nodded back.

“Alright.”

And with that, she began to light her candles.

Bruce could immediately tell that these were different from the ones she had used before. There was a solid feeling, the flames burning so clearly that they almost looked like light bulbs. Despite that, Bruce did not feel protected. There was a dark feeling creeping into the alleyway.

Tucker shuddered from his position behind his laptop.

“Blood magic creeps me out,” he muttered. Sam grimaced.

“There’s a reason I only use these if I absolutely have to.” She spat back. Despite her nerves, her hands were perfectly steady as she lit the candles. Soon they were all lit, only making the atmosphere more ominous. 

Danny stood in the middle of the ring, staring up at the sigil. He was backlit, appealing as little more than a shadow. Sam stuck a finger in her mouth, chewing her nail.

“Ok Tuck, your turn.”

“Yep yep, one sec…” There was sweat on Tucker’s face as he made a few final adjustments. The light from the candles made him look sick.

“Ok, ok, we are go.” 

The other shield flared into existence, surrounding the candles. Bruce could actually see this shield, glowing green. Tucker nodded to himself, mumbling incoherently.

“Right, it’s stable, we’re stable. According to the readings… uh it should be fine.”

“Should?” Sam said sharply. Tucker shrugged.

“I’ve never seen a spell like this, I can’t be sure. But yeah, it should be fine.”

Sam sighed, fidgeting with one of her bracelets.

“I guess that’s as good as we’re going to get. Danny, you ready?”

Danny didn’t say anything in response, just stepping forward. He held out his hands, placing them on bloody drawing. There was a second where the world seemed to stand still before he began to whisper.  

Trash scittered past the group as a breeze picked up. The whispers were too quiet to understand, but Bruce almost felt as though they were creeping into his mind. The temperature began to drop again, slower this time, but not stopping. Tucker kept his eyes glued to his laptop, watching the numbers nervously. Sam appeared more calm, but Bruce could see the tension in her form. Tension that grew the longer the whispering continued.

“Is this spell supposed to be this long?” She asked Tucker, tapping her fingers on her arm. Tucker took a second to respond, still focused almost entirely on the screen.

“Uh… no? I think. I can’t check, I need to make sure things are… fine… wait.”

The breeze picked up. Bruce couldn’t help but look around, swearing he could hear other voices whispering. Tucker was growing pale as he took in what his computer was telling him.

“This… this is wrong. Something is building, it shouldn’t…”

Tucker swore, beginning to desperately type at his computer. Whatever he was doing clearly wasn’t working as he looked up, shooting a desperate look at Sam.

“It’s about to spike! Sam, get in there!”

Sam swore as well, snagging one of her necklaces, this one having a crystal on the end. Without hesitation, she slashed the crystal against both thumbs, causing blood to well up. In one quick movement, she swept the blood along her fingertips, covering them all with blood. That done, she slammed her hands on the ground, spitting out a word. Purple light sprung up, joining the green shield.

She was barely in time. Seconds after, a wave of pressure slammed into Bruce. A wave swept over the candles, snuffing them all except for one which flickered wildly. At the same time, half of the devices powering Tucker’s shield shorted out in a blaze of sparks before going dark. 

“Shit!” Tucker flinched away from the sparks. Sam gave a full body flinch as the full force of whatever was happening in the circle hit her. “Shit! Sam, are you ok?”

“Do I look ok?” She yelled, arms shaking. “Danny! What the fuck are you doing?”

Danny didn’t respond. Bruce watched with something approaching horror as a change began to steal over the young man. Color seemed to bleach from his hair, turning it pure white. It floated up from his head, floating as if he were underwater. In fact, everything around him seemed to be floating, including Danny himself. The whispers were more like shouts now, still completely incomprehensible. The wind in the alleyway screamed, swirling around them as the spell continued to build.

“Ok, ok, we can do this, it’s fine,” Tucker mumbled, beginning to type again. “Reroute power, keep the functioning ones working, if they go down we’re dead, keep them up, keep them up.”

Sam groaned, her head hanging. Bruce saw blood dripping from her nose, hitting the ground beneath her. Sam glared at the blood, shaking her head sharply.

“Danny, hurry up!” She yelled. “Tucker, I can’t keep this up.”

Tucker didn’t pause in what he was doing, snatching a necklace from his own neck and tossing it to Sam. Bruce was just able to see another crystal on this one before Sam caught it, slamming her hand back down. Orange light appeared in the shield, weaving into the other lights to create a shaky barrier. 

“You better have a plan Tucker, cause your pathetic magic stores are not going to last long.”

“I’m working on it.” Tucker growled. “It’s peaking, it’s peaking, just keep it up for a bit longer, we are almost there, just keep it up.”

“Easy for you to say!” Sam coughed, the sound wet and hacking. Bruce took a step forward, not sure how to help but needing to do something. A sharp look from Sam stopped him in his tracks. 

Another device failed in a shower of sparks. Tucker didn’t flinch this time despite some of the sparks landing on him. He just kept working, eyes flickering around the screen.

“Almost, almost. Sam, brace in three, two, now!”

Bruce covered his eyes as there was a final surge in pressure. He could do nothing but brace himself as a crushing sensation passed over him. As soon as it had begun, it ended, the wind in the alleyway finally settling. 

The silence felt oppressive after the cacophony from before. Bruce lowered his arm carefully, looking around. He wanted to make sure Sam was alright. But before he could find her, he was distracted by a glowing figure.

A small glowing figure.

The girl couldn’t be older than six. She was pale, partially translucent. Behind her, there was a jagged crack through the center of the sigil. 

Danny, hair black once again, knelt down in front of her, giving her a soft smile. 

“Hey. My name’s Danny. What’s your name?

The girl blinked up at him.

“I’m Amy.”

Her voice was quiet, like it was coming from a great distance. Bruce suddenly realized that this girl was the sacrifice. This child was the one who had died to fuel the sigil.

Amy looked around, slightly dazed. She turned back to Danny, frowning.

“Am I dead?”

Danny reached out, putting a hand on her head. 

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Amy didn’t seem that upset. She nodded, looking down slightly. Danny allowed her a moment before speaking again.

“Do you remember what happened?”

Amy tilted her head to the side, thinking.

“Yeah… There was a man. He said he could help me. He said he would make sure I was never hungry again.”

Amy paused, looking slightly ashamed. 

“I knew it was bad… that I shouldn’t follow him. But I was so hungry. I thought… it didn’t matter if he killed me. At least then I wouldn’t be hungry.”

Danny nodded solemnly. 

“It’s alright Amy. It wasn’t your fault. Do you remember what he looked like?”

“No.” Amy looked upset. “I’m sorry. He had a hood. I never saw.”

“That’s ok.” Danny patted her head again. “What happened when you followed him?”

Amy frowned.

“I don’t know. I followed him here and he told me to stand still. I think he said something, and then I was here.”

She stared up at Danny with wide eyes.

“Is that good?”

“Yeah. That was really good Amy.” Danny slipped a small container off his belt. “I’m going to take you somewhere safe, alright? You’ll be in a dark place for a while, but then you’ll be with someone really nice. She’ll take care of you.”

“Ok.” Amy didn’t protest as Danny did something to his device, causing a flash of light. When the light faded, Amy was gone.

Danny stayed on the ground, his expression unreadable. Sam approached softly, dried blood on her face.

“Danny-”

“Whoever did this is an incredibly strong magician.” Danny said, standing up. He turned to Bruce, all emotion wiped from his face. “He converted Amy’s entire being into that spell, body and soul. No normal magician can do that.”

Bruce nodded, shifting into case mode. 

“Why Amy? Based on what she said, she was most likely homeless or at least had a bad home life. Do you think the culprit is targeting victims that won’t be missed?”

Danny shook his head.

“I’m sure that’s part of it, but the fact that Amy was so young is not a coincidence.”

Bruce scowled. “What do you mean?”

Danny fell silent. After a long moment, Tucker spoke.

“Children are the best for life magic. The spells feed off people’s unlived years. Children… they have the most life to burn.”

“Whoever this is, they are powerful, knowledgeable, and have no qualms about killing children to get what they want.” Sam said quietly. Her voice was slightly raspy, but still strong. “We need to find them quickly. Once they realize we’ve deactivated their spell, they’re probably going to try again. And that means more dead kids.”

Bruce felt the pressure settle. It was a familiar feeling, racing against the clock to save lives. This time felt worse. They had no idea who their enemy was, or what they’re motive was. He turned to Danny, asking one final time.

“Did you gain any more insight into what the spell was doing while you were dismantling it?”

His hopes were dashed when Danny shook his head. 

“I was focused on making sure I didn’t hurt Amy. But even if I hadn’t had to worry about that, I doubt I could have figured it out. That spell… it felt wrong. I couldn’t stand looking at it. Sorry.”

Bruce just nodded again.

“I’ll do my best to get in contact with Constantine. If you could pass on the urgency of the situation, I would be grateful. I’ll be sure to transfer money to your account. I hope you’ll be willing to consult on this case more in the future.”

“Of course.” Danny said instantly. “I have to take Amy to Dora, but after that we’ll start asking around. This spell went against the nature of the Infinite Realms. Someone will have noticed. You won’t be able to contact us while we’re in there, but we’ll make sure to pop out at least once a day to see if there are any messages on my phone.”

Sam cracked her neck, the paleness of her face making the blood look even more vivid.

“Nice. Been a while since we visited everyone. This should be fun.”

Danny looked at Sam for the first time since the spell had broken, blanching when he saw the blood.

“Sam… oh my god, I am so sorry, are you ok?”

Sam waved a hand dismissively. 

“I’m fine Danny. I just need sleep. And to recover my stores. I burned through a lot of my supplies doing this.”

“Tell me about it…” Tucker groaned, picking up his burned out machines forlornly. “It’s gonna take me ages to fix all these. Not to mention recharging the batteries!”

“I’m sure Technus will be happy to help,” Sam said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go. I want to sleep in a hotel tonight if we’re going to be slumming in the Infinite Realms for a while.”

The group was trying to act as normal, but it was obvious they were all shaken. Tucker and Sam both looked exhausted, and Danny had yet to start smiling again. Bruce was reluctant to let them leave in this state, but he knew they would not be persuaded. 

“I will be in contact as soon as I have more information,” he said, pulling the group’s attention. He hesitated before adding, “Please. Take this time to recover.”

Danny looked surprised for a second before his features softened, a smile finally gracing his face again.

“Thanks, but we’ll be fine. We’re used to things like this. See you soon!”

With those final words, Danny tore open a portal, the group disappearing through it. Soon, Bruce was alone again.

He looked up at the sigil, frowning at the gash. He took a new picture to show the change before leaving, heading towards the nearest safe house to store the business card. In his head, he planned his next steps.

This would be a long night. 

Chapter Text

Constantine stared up at the sigil for a long time. Bruce resisted the urge to fidget or do anything else that could reveal his impatience. After nearly fifteen minutes Constantine let out a long sigh.

“You’re telling me Danny broke this thing all on his own?” He asked, fishing a cigarette out of his pocket. Bruce nodded, eyeing the cigarette with distaste but not saying anything.

Constantine took a deep drag on the cigarette, looking up at the sigil.

“And he didn’t blow up half of Gotham? Or disintegrate anyone, or summon some horrible monster?”

“No.” Bruce grit out. “Obviously.”

“Well damn.” Constantine sounded impressed. “I guess I underestimated him. You’d think I’d stop doing that after the first impossible thing he’d done, but here we are.”

“Now is not the time for jokes, Constantine.” Bruce growled. Constantine just gave him a tired glare.

“I’m not joking.”

Bruce felt a thrill of delayed fear shoot down his spine.

“Were those options really that likely?”

“Let me put it this way,” Constantine said, “It’s what would have happened if I had tried it. There is not a single person I know who I would trust to dismantle this thing at full power. So the fact that Danny managed it with minimal damage to the surroundings? It’s… notable.” 

Constantine stared at the sigil some more before turning his attention to the scorch marks on the ground.

“Though you can’t neglect Sam and Tucker’s role in this. Those kids may have had a shaky education in magic, but they know how to make some damn good shields.”

Constantine crouched next to one of the scorch marks, running a finger through the ash. He sniffed the residue, making an approving sound.

“Blood candles. Carefully prepared. Good call on her part. As for Tucker’s devices, I can’t speak for how they work, but I can tell they helped. Even the strongest blood candles around wouldn’t have held a spell of this power back by themselves.”

Bruce scowled at Constantine. 

“I am well aware of what they did. I called you here to see if you could piece together what the spell was actually doing.”

Constantine had the audacity to wave Bruce off, still examining the scorch marks on the ground.

“Calm your tits, I’m doing that. Seeing how the spell reacted against other magic can tell you a lot.”

Apparently he was telling the truth about that because after a moment he sat back on his knees, nodding.

“Yup. Like I thought.”

With that, he proceeded to take another drag on his cigarette, not bothering to explain anything.

Bruce waited thirty seconds before breaking.

“Well?”

Constantine huffed, stubbing his cigarette out on the ground, adding yet another scorch mark to the alleyway, albeit a much smaller one.

“It’s a silo, collecting magical energy.”

Bruce frowned slightly.

“That’s it?”

Constantine snorted, a harsh ugly sound.

“That’s it, he says,” Constantine grumbled to himself as he stood up. “Oi mate, there’s a time bomb slowly building in intensity in your city I say, oh is that all he says. Why do I even bother, idiots the lot of them.”

Bruce finally allowed himself to sigh, posture slumping slightly.

“You didn’t say that.” He said, exasperation leaking into his voice. Constantine just glared at him mulishly.

“It was implied.”

Bruce took a moment to collect himself. He hated this. He hated magic, and he hated working with John Constantine.

“What was the energy doing?” he asked after a moment, trying to keep them on track. 

Constantine gave an ugly laugh.

“I think you still aren’t quite understanding the situation, Bats. Allow me to properly explain it then.”

Constantine made a vague gesture with his right hand.

“Ever notice how magic users stay the hell out of Gotham? Well, there’s a reason for that, and it’s not cause they’re scared of you.”

Bruce bristled at that, but Constantine kept going before he could interject.

“See, Gotham is cursed to hell and back. And I’m not talking about your average everyday hex here, Gotham is seriously cursed. Layers of it sitting on top of each other and bleeding into each other until it became this horrible ball of dark energy so potent any magician with a lick of skill can sense it from miles away.”

Constantine pointed at the sigil on the wall.

“This? This is bloody suicide. Gotham’s energy cannot be controlled. Attempting to wrangle it is just asking to die in a particularly horrible way. Which means whoever did this? They’re either deluded enough to think they can actually use Gotham’s curse, or they have absolutely no sense of self preservation. Either way, they’re fucking crazy.”

Bruce felt the pressure increase. He knew better than anyone what an unhinged enemy was capable of. He frowned, something suddenly occurring to him.

“If this was collecting Gotham’s energy… where did that energy go when Danny broke the sigil?”

Constantine went still. He crossed his arms, looking at the ground. 

“I told you,” he finally muttered. “The kid is always pulling off the impossible.”

Constantine went silent again before adding almost as an after thought, “Probably because he’s blessed by the Lady.”

Bruce perked up at that. The Lady was the only thing Bruce had seen truly rattle Danny, outside of what had been done to Amy. She had to be important, whoever she was. Bruce had tried to research her, but like everything else to do with Danny, he had found nothing.

“Who is the Lady?” He asked. Constantine gave him a startled look.

“You heard that? Shit.” Constantine took another cigarette out but didn’t light it. “I really shouldn’t tell you.”

“If it’s relevant to this case-” Bruce began, but Constantine cut him off.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Constantine stared at his cigarette before slipping it back into the pack. “But still. I shouldn’t. Guess we’re past that at this point.”

Constantine leaned against the wall, now fiddling with his lighter. He flicked it on and off in a rhythmic pattern. He refused to look at Bruce as he explained, keeping his gaze fixed on the opposite wall of the alleyway.

“The Lady isn’t really a ‘who.’ She’s more of a what. There is sentience there, don’t get me wrong, but it is so different from how we perceive and understand the world as to make it almost completely incomprehensible. The Lady has reasons for doing what she does, but god help you if you want to understand what those reasons are.”

“So then what is she?” Bruce asked, slightly impatient. That impatience grew when Constantine shrugged.

“Not entirely sure to tell ya the truth. You’ve met gods, right? Well the Lady stands above them. Trying to describe her is almost an insult to her. But if you wanted to, you could describe her as the will of the Infinite Realms themselves.”

“The Infinite Realms are sentient?” Bruce asked incredulously. Constantine just shrugged again.

“It’s not that simple. But sure, kind of. The Material Realms are too. The Lady has a sister, the Madam. They are both ruler and subject, body and soul when it comes to their respective realms. That’s what makes them so powerful. Almost everything in existence resides in one of their domains.”

Bruce’s mind raced with the implications. Constantine scowled at him.

“Cut it out. See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d take it the wrong way.”

“These entities are threats unlike anything we have ever encountered.” Bruce argued. “If they were to turn on us-”

“Oh what, are you going to start worrying about the sun turning on us next?” Constantine cut in, voice sharp. “Afraid the ground you're standing on is going to decide it’s had enough and try to take over the world? That is what you sound like right now.”

Bruce frowned, caught off guard by the comparison. Constantine sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Honestly, your paranoia is going to kill you some day. The only reason I told you is because this thing, this spell?” Constantine flung one arm lazily in the direction of the sigil. “It goes directly against the order represented by the Sisters. Souls go to the Infinite Realms after they die. For a soul to linger and fade in the Material Realms spits in the face of the Lady.”

“So they aren’t all powerful.” Bruce noted. Constantine groaned, banging his head against the wall.

“Of course they aren’t bloody all powerful, nothing is. Things go against the natural order all the fucking time! Reality is messy, it happens. But things always even out in the end, and this spell? It was pushing the balance in favor of the Madam. Nothing world ending on its own, but the fact that our mystery magician was able to pull it off is notable.”

Constantine paused, voice softening slightly. 

“Look, I know your job is to know everything or whatever, but the Sisters are one thing you don’t need to worry about. They’re forces of nature more than they are people. They’re only relevance to this case is to show how strong whoever did this is. The Sisters themselves don’t interfere, at least, not on a scale we would notice. We are frankly beneath their notice.”

“But Danny isn’t.”

Constantine’s jaw tightened, all the tension rocketing back into his body. He stared straight ahead, refusing to respond. Bruce stepped forward, continuing his train of thought.

“Danny was able to break that sigil, which you said would be impossible for anyone else. He has direct access to the Infinite Realms, something no one else has. You claim he’s harmless, but the evidence shows that he is an incredibly powerful and dangerous magic user. If we knew how he managed to acquire the Lady’s blessing, we would be able to start building contingency-”

“Stop.”

Bruce stopped, for once not annoyed at being interrupted. Constantine’s voice was ice cold. He finally turned to Bruce, expression deadly serious.

“If you try to find out how Danny obtained the Lady’s blessing, I will cut you off and never work with you again.”

Bruce couldn’t help but let a shocked expression flit across his face. Constantine had never threatened that, not in all the years they had worked together. No matter how angry Constantine was, no matter how much he complained, he had never threatened to withhold his assistance. 

Constantine continued, not giving Bruce time to recover.

“Look into his past, his magic, his friends, whatever. But do not research how he got the blessing and do not ask him about it.”

Bruce hesitated for a second before asking, “Why?”

Constantine gave him a mean smile.

“I just told you that the sisters do not pay attention to us. They have more important things to worry about than individual lives.”

Constantine pushed off the alley wall, approaching Bruce.

“So imagine how catastrophically wrong things need to go for them to even notice you.”

Constantine got right up in Bruce’s personal space, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

“Imagine how bad things need to go from them to actually intervene on your behalf.”

Bruce sucked in a sharp breath. Constantine laughed, leaning back with a smirk.

“Exactly. We call them blessed because, well, it would feel mean to kick them while they were down. No one acquires one of the Sister’s blessings on purpose, and no one is happy to get one.”

Constantine spun on his heel, briskly walking back across the alleyway. He gave the sigil one last glare before pulling out a cigarette, lighting it this time.

“I’ll start looking around for a life magic user causing trouble. Someone of this skill has definitely caused problems before, there will be traces left behind. I’ll give you a call if I find anything.”

Bruce paused, adjusting to the abrupt change in tone. He recovered quickly, nodding at Constantine.

“Understood. We will keep our eyes peeled on the ground. If we can catch them in the act, we could put an end to this quickly.”

Constantine snorted, tapping ash from the end of his cigarette. 

“Bit of advice? Maybe don’t try to fight the magician capable of completely transforming a person’s body into a spell. Might be a bit more than you can handle.”

Bruce scowled, but acknowledged the point.

“Recon only. Any information on this person is better than none.”

“Cheers,” Constantine said a bit vaguely. His brow was furrowed as if in deep thought. Before Bruce could even begin to question him, he walked out of the alleyway, disappearing into the dark.

Bruce left quickly as well. He did not want to spend any more time than he had to by the sigil. Even with the spell no longer functioning, it was still unnerving. 

His mind raced as he grappled back to the Bat Cave. He had learned so much tonight, but it was hard to know which pieces of information were actually useful. 

The knowledge of the Sisters was… discomforting. No matter what Constantine said, he would never be happy about greater powers having influence over mankind. Still, it seemed there was very little he could do about them, so he decided to table the issue for now.

Danny was another story. The young man was a mess of contradictions and secrets. He wanted to trust him. He wanted to believe that Constantine was telling the truth when he said Danny wasn’t a threat. But he couldn’t. There was too much danger in leaving things as they were.

A flash of memory hit him. Him, eight years old, on his knees, screaming. The smell of blood so strong he could almost taste it. He shook his head sharply, trying to discard the memory, but it clung. It had been one of the worst nights of his life, beaten only by finding Jason’s dead body. 

Both of those events had been traumatizing, and neither of them had been enough to deign even a glance from the Sisters. Bruce tried to imagine something worse, but his mind shied away from the thought. He tried to imagine someone digging into those events, using them against him.

He didn’t have to imagine it.

By the time he had made it back to the Bat Cave, he had made up his mind. Danny had to be researched. That was nonnegotiable. The effects of the Lady’s blessing also had to be understood.

But the inciting incident? That was an avenue of research he did not intend to follow.

That was a secret Danny could keep. 

A kindness, to the child sobbing in an alleyway, and a uniform preserved in a case.

Just this once. He didn’t have to know.