Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything around him was shifting, changing- screaming…

One Daniel Fenton couldn’t breathe, everything around him seemed to pull the air from his lungs making every minute he was stuck there excruciatingly painful. 

‘What's a little more’ he halfheartedly joked to himself. He didn’t have anything else to keep him company, just torture, pain and mind numbing abuse from his tormentors. ‘I can keep going’

That phrase became a mantra over the course of the next year and half, it played in his mind even when his mouth couldn’t voice the words.

After each vivisection, organ removal, vocal cords damaged or cut, after bone broken, cracked, and splintered- he went through everything imaginable. 

That was until something snapped, a sharp inhale of wind and it felt like everything was getting compressed, squished all up into nothingness. His knees pressed to his chest, his arms curled in on itself, stale blank airy blackness- the familiarity of it all smacked him in the face. 

Thermos.

A small spark of curiosity peaked the half’s interest. Who the hell would put him in the Fenton thermos? Neither Jack or Maddie would put him there or the GIW, they already had him weak and its not like he’d put up much of a fight.

A small voice in his head wanted to think maybe this was a weird attempt at a rescue, but he was sure that wasn’t coming, it hadn’t in the year and a half he’s been in this specific lab facility. They tended to keep him moving, jumping around from lab to lab.

Never in one place, never long enough to establish patterns, never long enough to plan.

The thermos shook in a rocking motion, the movement jostling Danny a little due as GIW screams could be heard all over as well as regular gun shots and ecto weapons firing rapidly until everything calmly went silent. Danny didn’t know what to think; the only thought that managed to pop through the ever growing constant white noise in his head, ‘who in the hell has me in the Fenton thermos?’

The constant shuffling and movement eventually cause the exhausted Ghost King to sleep, maybe he’d actually be able to close his eyes for a little bit.

[] [] [] [] [] 

Danny didn’t know how long he was out but he definitely knew he heard chanting. It was muffled by the thermos but he could feel the call deep into his bones. The rhythmic pulling sensation he only felt when the Ghost King was needing to be summoned.

It took all the strength he had left to resist the summoning but something felt off, felt different with this pull. It was as if…

Danny’s face visibly dropped.

He didn’t like what this meant… He really didn’t like what this had meant…

In a bright flash of light, his body was forced from the thermos and into the candle light that seemed to flicker a ghostly green, painting the room in an eerie glow. Danny’s form faltered a little as his feet hit the floor, he was surprised he was still in his ghost form. 

Taking in his surroundings he found himself standing in the middle of ritualistic drawings meant for a tyrant king hellbent on destruction. He didn’t want to be tied to that image, that’s not who he was. Looking to his right he found a dismembered body,  a small pool of blood was near what was left of the body, they used someone to make the ritual stronger. 

Green eyes flicker to the person who was standing, everyone else found themselves on their knees bowing. Danny felt a small surge of power in his core as the member spoke, “Ah high king of the Infinite Realms we beseech thy holiness and ask that thee spare us your faithful servants from your wrath before laying waste to the earth.”

Danny looked at the member speaking with profound amusement. The member looked up from their book to glance at Danny before looking back to his book with a slightly scared expression on his face. “We-…”

“SILENCE…” Danny musters a booming voice which he immediately regrets as he has to steady himself by slowly sinking to his knees to try and regain a little bit of control, his core was cracked and he already knew his king form was pushing his limits but he couldn’t expose himself. 

The loudness of his voice made the main follower drop to his knees in a bowing position spouting sorrys as he went. Danny pushes himself to stand on his feet and glances around the room before turning his attention his ‘cult’, “I will deal with you later.”

Using what little energy he could muster up he sinks through the floor reverting to his normal ghost form before reemerging in the alley way next to the cult's base of operations, ignoring the different exclamations from the people inside ranging from shock, terror, or pure happiness. 

Floating down the alleyway, he finds himself digging through the dumpster looking for anything sharp to remove the inhibitor under his skin. After what felt like hours of searching (which only was a total of 15 minutes) he decided to use the jagged edge that was sticking out of the dumpster and uses it to slice open the skin, green with specs of red splattered to the ground like an artist throwing paint. He couldn’t even feel the sharp sting of the mental but knew he got where needed to be once he found the small pill-like object planted deep with his forearm. 

This wasn’t something he could phase out of his system, he had to physically cut it out due to the tech. 

Once the pill was out he quickly stepped on it before falling to the ground, rolling on to his back finally taking in a fresh breath of free air. The GIW couldn’t track him anymore, could control what form he was in. 

His ghost form slowly slipped away, black hair replacing ghostly white, green eyes fading to a normal blue, jeans and a normal t-shirt taking the place of his jumpsuit. He could slowly feel himself stitching itself back together, at this rate, everything should be back to normal in about a week or so.  Hell he didn’t even know what day it was or what year it was or even where he was.

With every breath his chest ached as he could hear the blood or some type of fluid in them as he coughed a little now and then, his eyes never leaving the smokey sky. The blood that flowed from his open cuts and wounds slowly started to lessen as the skin stitched together, the coming back into full force as the shock and adrenaline wore off. 

He knew he wouldn’t die here but for a brief moment in his 17 years on this bright green plant he wanted to. 

Danny Fenton…no- Ghost King- that didn’t fit either.

Just Danny…

Just Danny wanted to close his eyes and never wake.

Chapter Text

Jason was on edge.

Everyone who was in the cave felt it.

Bruce had banned a few of them from patrolling due to the shift in Gotham. It was a change they all felt and it had been slowly eating away at Jason. The pits grew restless.

Brace yourself.

One punch, two punch, fists cracking as they smashed against the leather. No matter how hard Jason hit the punching bag the pit was never satisfied. It seemed to echo more and more with each hit that landed.

Answer him.

The feeling seemed to only intensify until he finally just screamed out in frustration, falling to his knees as lazarus green filled his eyes.

Do not be afraid.

Jason looked down at his hands as the pit seemed to echo and echo and echo, leaving no room for his thoughts. No room for him, just echos of something resonating inside him. Something deep, something powerful, something- ancient.

“Jaylad…”

“Little wing?”

“Jay?”

The words were all jumbled together, he could hear the voice and the concern that came with it but he couldn’t hear. He didn’t know what freaked him out more, the voices or the fact the pits were roaring loud- so loud.

Find Him

What? Find…Find who?

Jason wanted to scream. The pounding echo got louder and he could feel his family all gathering around. Putting his hands up he manages to mutter, “Stay back, I don’t know…”

His breathing got shallow, green seeped the rest of the way into his vision, he could feel the sweat beads forming all around his face.

Your King

[][][][][][][]

Danny awoke with a start.

His eyes frantically darted from place to place until his mind caught up with the information and he finally was able to calm down. ‘I’m not there, I’m not there, I’m not there’ played on repeat

He was free.

He had to keep reminding himself that with each passing second, he was fine, he was fine, he was safe (well safe adjacent).

Once his panic attack subsided and his breathing steady he finally pulled himself together enough to get to a sitting position. Taking in his surroundings, he recognized the same alley from last night but he wasn’t in the middle where he left himself, he was moved over to a pile of cardboard.

Someone must have moved him from out of the middle of the street.

Glancing from his position near the dumpster he finds himself wincing slowly as he pulls himself up from the ground. He needed to find a place to clean himself up, maybe find some new clothes and find a temporary shelter. The infinite realms were out of the question, he wasn’t strong enough to get back there and he had some unfinished business here he needed to take care of when he finally was back to full strength.

Everyone had been captured and taken to that lab, well other labs, Danny was always separated from his subjects so even if he had gotten to the realms there would be no one left, even the ancients were gone.

Not everyone is gone, my king.

He had sensed her presence the moment he was freed from the thermos but he didn’t know if she was sentient enough to speak.

I am thankful to still have you mother Gotham.

Danny manages to push himself to get out of the alleyway and into the bustling city of Gotham. He needed a plan but more importantly he needed a shower and the slight rumbling of his stomach told him he needed to eat something. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a cheese burger.

It took danny hours, aimlessly walking around until he finally found a shelter, he went through the motions and was glad they didn’t ask questions when he came in covered in dark stained clothing, once he reassured them it wasn’t hit (which was a total lie) he was glad they bought it. He was given a towel, toiletries and some new clothes. He went to the first open shower room and closed the door.

He slowly started to peel himself out of his clothes and threw them directly into the trash before doing the one thing he knew he probably shouldn’t have- he looked in the mirror.

His jet black hair had different strands of ghostly white while his face looked a little sunken in from the malnutrition and years without any type of food. The eyes staring back at him looked dull and lifeless. His skin had went pale due to the lack of sunlight and scars littered his body; the Y shaped scar staring back at him, a reminder of what they had done.

Shaking his head he steps into the shower and allows the warm water to rinse off the grime before he starts to scrub at dried blood that littered most of his body. Lathering the shampoo into his hair he scrubs the caked blood and dirt away, letting it circle the drain once the water washes it clean.

Danny didn’t know how much time had passed in the shower but the attending volunteers didn’t say anything to him when he finally emerged from the shower room. They simply handed him a premade warm plate and let him aimlessly chose a place to sit and eat in the corner, watching everyone around him like they were going to attack him.

He ate slowly and steadily, not to overwhelm his system and have it coming back up. In between bites of macaroni salad and the hotdog, he took small frequent sips from the water bottle they had given him with the food, the water making his aching throat feel ten times better.

When he finished he threw away his trash and his eyes landed on the calendar sitting on the main volunteer desk as he approached cautiously to ask for more water. He blinked a few times before rubbing his tired eyes, the date he was seeing couldn’t be right. Maybe he was seeing things.

“Is…that- is that the date…” Danny’s voice came out horse and scratchy, his voice left aching from the night before.

“Yes, that is today's date.” The woman working stood as Danny’s face got even visibly more pale. “Are you alright??”

Danny’s face looked more pale and his demeanor changed with in an instant, his body started to visibly shake. The woman working the desked moved out from behind it and proceeded to ask as she slowly inched closer, “Sir are you alright? Is there anyone I can call for you?”

“Five…”

“Five- five what, sir?”

“Five years, I was there for five years…”

Chapter Text

The worker eventually led Danny to what they had dubbed the quiet room, it was warmer than the main room and it had different types of old furniture that had seen better days and Danny found himself subconsciously picking the blue ratty old bean bag chair. His body melting into the old leather like it belonged there, his eye remaining lifeless, motionless,he stared blankly into the space in front of him. 

He couldn’t bring himself to speak anymore.

Five years, he’d been in that hell hole for five years. 

But you are free now my king.

Danny blinked a few times before answering her, Free for what, everything is gone?

He hurried his hands in his face and for the first time in a few years he started to cry. 

He cried for himself, he cried for the loss of his people and his friends. 

He cried until he had nothing left to cry, until the tears ran dry and his eyes felt tired and drooped. At least here in Gotham he’d be safe. The GIW had no legal standing.

Danny could feel Mother Gotham envelop him in a safe aurora, helping ease the tension in his shoulders and helped calm his mind enough to lull him into a peaceful sleep, her king needed his rest. 

Rest, you are safe here, my knights will make sure of that.

[][][][][][][][]

Jason awoke with a start, ripping off the monitoring wires as he went; his feet fumbling forwards as he fell forward, face smacking the cold cave floor. Scrambling, he gets the rest of the wires off and then proceeds to get the rest of the medical equipment off. 

Pushing himself to his feet, he’s instantly met with Bruce’s hands on his shoulder, “Jason, you need to rest-.”

”No, I’m fine.” Jason exclaims as he tries to push past Bruce, “ I just need to…”

Jason trailed off, the eerie feeling he had felt the night before was gone, the pulling he’d felt had slowly dwindled to a soft tug. The pits were still there but they had died down back to their normal level of rage. The level that was manageable. 

“Everything that I was feeling was gone. I’m fine, really, I just want to get out of the cave.” Jason explains, his eyes pleading with Bruce.

Bruce nods and states, “Alfred still has some breakfast left if you’re hungry.”

”God I’m starving.”

Five minutes into scarfing down a plate of pancakes the same voice he had heard the night before, Please do not be alarmed, my young knight.

Jason freezes at the words, his fork clattering as he drops it, his eyes flashing lazarus green. Clearing his throat he picks up his fork and continues to eat his pancakes. Doing his best to ignore the voice. He was just hearing things, going crazy from the pits. That had to be it.

I can very well assure you that you are not going crazy.

Jason coughed at the voice, the piece of pancake he was working on almost getting caught when he went to swallow, What the hell…

The occupants in the kitchen could tell something was happening with the young lad but could only watch as the scene unfolded. You need to find him, his core has called out to you and only you alone can find him.

None of this is making any sense. Jason's eyebrows furrow as his eyes stay green. He didn’t want these half-assed nonsense of something or someone telling him what to do. 

More will be explained in due time, my young knight.

And with that the voice in his head disappeared and so did the glowing green eyes. “Jay…buddy…what’s going on??”

Looking up from his pancake plate he sees his family's worried expression, “I don’t know… it was the same voice from last night but there wasn’t the intense emotions and feelings that came with it.”

”What was the voice saying?” Bruce asks, trying his best to control his facial expression. 

A few years ago Jason had started to be more open about the pits and the intense emotions that came with it. The entire family had been more open, it made them closer and made their bond stronger.

”It wasn’t bad, it felt almost motherly, the “vibe” it gave made me feel calm. It told me I needed to find someone. There’s something at play here and we don’t have all the pieces. She mentioned a ‘king’ last night.”

His next words made Bruce’s blood run cold, “I think you need to call JL Dark, I think this is connected to the Lazarus pits somehow.”

[][][][][][][]

When Danny awoke he found that he had only been asleep for a few hours but the few hours made him feel a bit better. A little more refreshed, gave him a clear head. He knew where he needed to go next, he needed to find a library or a computer to see how much damage his parents did to his name and see if he needed to go to his back up plan. 

Making his hand intangible he reaches inside his body and proceeds to pull out the emergency wallet Sam had given him, there was money, debit card that had a good majority of Sam’s ‘allowance’ stored away in a clean bank account specifically made for him when and if things ever hit the fan and his parents tried to ‘rip him apart molecule by molecule’. He hated the fact Sam had given him the card and the money in the first place but Sam never wanted her parents money and it showed.

He leaves the room, opening the wallet as he walks and then proceeds to take out five bills and put them in the donation jar, unbeknownst to him he had just donated $500. The same woman from before looked at him in complete shock as he slipped the wallet into his back pocket and walked out the door, ignoring the looks he got from everyone around him. 

He decided instead of wandering around he’d ask someone for directions to the library, walking aimlessly around wasn’t going to get him anywhere, he needed a map. Libraries had maps and information. 

The walk there only took him about seventeen minutes and thirty-nine second, he wasn’t exactly trying to time himself but the counting kept him from thinking about every aspect of his situation. Entering through the beautiful double doors, Danny finds himself looking for the information desk, “Um— can - do you have- a-a map?”

Danny’s voice came out more strained then it did before, he really hated that this was what his voice was becoming. The woman sitting at the desk in a wheel chair could see how hard it was to talk, so she gave him a note pad and a pen after giving him the standard city map they gave out to most tourists. She waits and watches and he scribbles on to the pad, his eyes furrowing a bit as decides what to write.

Computer?

She hands him a piece of paper as she explains, “Use this to log into the computers, there isn’t a time limit but just log out of that username when you are done with the computer. If you need anything else don’t hesitate to ask.”

Danny nods and mouths a thank you, his hands fumbling a little as he tries to hand her back to the pen and note pad. She stops him, explaining, “We have so many, how about you keep it until you feel comfortable with talking.”

Danny smiles at her and she watches as he writes, Name?

“My name is Barbara. I’m one of the local volunteers.” She smiles back, warmth filling his bones a little. ”What is your name?”

Danny

”Well Danny if you need help, you know where to find me.”

Danny nods and proceeds to walk towards the computer, Barbara could only watch with a small hint of sadness covering her face as she notices the small limp he has. 

Once at the computers, Danny sits down and sets the paper down next to him as well as the map, hands shakily typing in the generic username and password to access the computer. He gets the web browser open and the first thing he does is type in ‘Daniel Fenton’ into the search bar. It takes a few moments before the words ‘Amity Park Obituary’ pops up under the search engine. 

The lights flickered around him and he couldn’t help but frantically watch as the computers around him flickered before shutting off. He quickly stood, the chair tumbling back as he quickly grabbed his map, notepad, and pen before turning and running as fast as he could out the door. 

Daniel Fenton was is dead.

Chapter Text

The sun was finally starting to set and Danny found himself curled up, back pressed against the dead end wall. He didn’t know when it started raining but he knew he had sat there while. Letting the rain turn to ice when it hit his skin, leaving a small pile of broken icicles on each side of him. He was angry and sad all at once. His parents truly believed he was dead, a ghost possessing their beloved son’s body.

He knew he needed to rest but he didn’t care what happened to him at this point, he wished the GIW just finished the job. There was nothing. He felt hollowed and empty. 

Mother Gotham could feel the despair coming from her king, it poured out of him coming out in waves. 

Jason, patrolling his side of Gotham instantly felt it when the air shifted. Deciding to stop fighting the pulling tug, he swiftly gets to the streets below and proceeds to let it guide him. 

Still sitting against the wall he didn’t even look up when two people entered the dead end alleyway. Danny could tell by their aurora their intentions were good but he didn’t care. He just stopped caring. 

“Well, what do we have here?” One of them stated, “Looks like Gotham has a meta on its hands.”

Meta? Danny thought, Oh right, that’s what they call people with powers.

Danny didn’t speak, couldn’t if he wanted to really. His voice was still on the fritz. He knew this bout of depression would pass, it always does, eventually but for right now he really wanted to be alone. 

He decided to acknowledge the people standing in front of them when one of them kicked his injured leg, “It’s rude to ignore people.”

Danny hissed, his fangs and tongue slipping out as his eyes glow phantom green; his core crying out at the use of his powers. He knew if he kept it up he’d fracture his core the rest of the way. 

That all it really took for the two boys that cornered him to take off running. Once they were a safe distance away from him he let his ghostly feature fall away, the coldness overtaking him, making the rain turn to ice, his core taking protective measures to keep him safe. His eyes were a safe blue, his core continued to reach out.

Help

Jason ran faster at the words. Pushing himself farther and farther in Gotham's lonely crime filled streets before he finally reached his destination, the feeling in his chest getting heavier until it finally disappeared and smoke filled his throat, escaping his lips in a wisp.

Danny wanted to cry in relief when the familiar blue cold wisp escaped his lips. He wasn’t alone anymore. His core was frantic, chirping and screeching. 

Not Alone Not Alone Not Alone

Danny’s core screamed in realization.

Jason slowly made his way forward, it was like a part of him recognized the person sitting at the end of the alleyway. Something inside him snapped when he got close enough to see all the scars littered all over Danny’s skin. Jason’s eyes flashed green in a haze of anger, flashing through the helmet. Danny, a king in standard, still flinched at Jason’s eyes flashing in anger, he knew that emotion all too well.

”I’m sorry…” Jason mumbles as he gets down on Danny’s level the ice slowly starts to melt. Jason subconsciously melts away the ice, showing the other half that he was safe that his core could rest, and get out of survival mode. “Come on, let's get you out of the rain.”

Jason stands and offers his hand to Danny who takes it as quickly as he can. Letting Jason pull him closer, the act in itself caused Danny to lean more on Jason, his icy skin causing Jason’s to sizzle a little until it faded back to a normal temp. Danny wobbled a little as the two moved towards the entrance of the alley before he completely lost his balance, his eyes drooping heavily. Acting quickly he grabs Danny and scoops him into his arms, “Hey…hey don’t pass out on me. Come on, stay with me.”

Danny could only smile at Jason’s words, he almost sounded concerned. Danny could faintly hear a hissing sound before blue eyes starred back into his own, black hair with a small fluff of white at the front of his head started to get matted down to his head by the rain. Jason's hand cupped Danny’s in an effort to get him to keep his eyes open, “Come on keep those eyes open.”

The man in his arms continued to smile, his voice silent but his core spoke loud and clear. Beautiful

And with that Danny’s eyes fluttered one last time before his body gave out, falling limp in the man’s arms. What..just happened…

Keep him safe, my knight. 

Jason hoists Danny’s limp form into a more comfortable hold in his arms after putting his helmet back on and proceeds to say over the comms, “B I need an extraction, we're gonna need more than Agent A’s medical help on this one.”

“I found him.”

[][][][][][][][][][][][]

Jason was glad for autopilot.

He needed to watch Danny, make sure he was still breathing. To watch his chest move up and down. It was pathological, he was driven to make sure he was okay. Like every fiber of his being demanded he be within a few feet of Danny. 

There was something that drew him to Danny.

Was this what the voice meant when he had to find him and that his core called out to him. What the hell even was a core?

Once back at the cave, Jason didn’t let anyone else touch Danny when he got him out of the passenger side of the Batmobile. He didn’t want to let go. Dick was the first to speak, “Come on little wing, you gotta hand him over.”

Jason’s eyes flashed in warning as smoke exited his nose, “Try it Dickhead.”

“Master Jason, I understand the worry for your friend but we must examine him to make sure he is not injured. We mean him no harm, I suggest you place him on the cot so Leslie and I may examine him.” Alfred’s clear words seem to snap Jason out of his protective spiral. 

He mumbles a quick apology before he gently sets Danny down on the medical cot, allowing Leslie and Alfred to silently move around him documenting different patterns of scars that littered his body. Taking X-rays and a quick blood sample before hooking him up to an IV to get him hydrated. 

Once the X-rays appeared on the screen, Leslie looked at it and proceeded to tap Alfred on the shoulder. Danny’s X-rays were wonky, almost nonexistent. Leslie turned back to the scars and proceeded to see that all the pictures she took were blurry, unclear. Danny was unphotographable. 

Jason didn’t move an inch from his spot next to Danny. His eyes were glued to him. Danny was something that Jason couldn’t place, he could read him better than anyone and that scared him a little, Danny was an open book.

Nobody was that open. 

No one. 

“Is he gonna be okay?” Damian of all people asks as he takes a seat on the other side of Danny.

Dick ends up sitting next to Jason while Tim sits next to Damian. Hesitantly Leslie says, “As far as I can tell he just seems to be physically exhausted and extremely malnourished as well as dehydrated. Judging by most of the scars it looks like he was severely tortured, the only thing that looks like the only thing keeping alive through all of that was his meta abilities.”

Leslie takes a breath and states, “When he’s awake and up to it I want to check him out and do an initial physical exam to see where he’s at in terms of overall health. Make sure you send me a copy of his blood results. I want to see what all he’s low on vitamin wise so he can get started on supplements.”

She goes to walk up the stairs and gets to the first step she stops and turns to face the boys, Alfred, and Bruce, “Be gentle. He’s been through a lot.”

Minutes later Barbara appears on the batcomputer screen, her brows furrowing a little until she realizes who is on the cot in their med bay. 

“Oh my god, Danny!”

Chapter Text

After giving Barbara the low down on what little they knew about Danny, she quickly got off the call and proceeded to go as fast as she could to get to the manor.

Danny was enveloped with warmth and safety and he didn’t want to open his eyes but no matter how hard he tried to go back to sleep he found himself slowly opening his eyes; blinking away the blurry visions and wiping away the crustiest that had found their way in the nooks of his eyes. Danny took in his surroundings and froze when the white came into view but a calming safe overtook his fear and he found himself inadvertently locking eyes with Jason. 

Safe?

Jason nods.

A small blue wisp escapes Danny’s lips a total of nine times, one for each of Mother Gothams’ knights until it got to Jason, a bigger wisp escaped his lips and Jason smokey wisp followed suit. Safe

Danny's eyes still locked onto Jason proceeded to ask in tongue, Why here?

“Well I brought you here to keep you safe. I needed to get you out of the rain.” Jason answers aloud, his family looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

Name?

”Well sitting next to me is Dick,” An airy snicker escaped Danny’s lips as Jason continued, “That’s Bruce, Alfred, Tim, Damian, Cass, Steph,-.”

Barbara!

”Yes, that's Barbie.” Jason smiles, “and over there hiding behind Alfred is Duke.”

”Hey I’m not hiding.”

”Whatever you say, Thomas.”

Danny squinted at Jason. Sick

”No you’re not sick, you just need more fluids and food to get you back to normal.” Jason tries his best way to explain.

Danny shakes his head and moves closer to Jason, his eyes never leaving the man' s in front of him, his hand finds his way to Jasons’ chest a soft green glow emanating from it. Sick

Jasons’ eyebrows furrow in confusion, he felt fine, as long as he was with Danny he felt fine. 

Danny smiles. Fix?

”Uhhh fix what?” The longer Danny's hand is there the more the pits start to recede almost into nothingness. Then it finally clicked into place, Danny was talking about the pits. “I think I understand. Why fix it?”

Help. Stronger. Duty. Clean. Pain.

He turns to his family and states, “Whatever happens, do not hurt him. He’s trying to help.”

”How can you help?” Jason asks in utter confusion as he turns to face Danny. 

Danny's smile never fading from his face gets off the cot, phasing through the wire so they fall to the ground, his hand instinctively reaching for Jasons; pulling him up to his feet he drags him over to an empty space. 

Trust?

Jason could only stop and stare at Danny in front of him. Danny felt safe, he felt cool and comfortable. A part of him knew he could trust him and he’d be fine. Taking a leap of faith for the first time in so many years, Jason nodded.

Danny places both of his hands on Jason's chest and closes his eyes to concentrate. A green hughe envelops Jason as it looks like a sickly green sticky substance is pulled from inside his body. Once it's fully out Jason sways a little looking dazed. Danny in one swift motion eats the corrupted ectoplasm before the crazy juice has enough time to go sentient and then proceeds to give Jason back a portion of his own ectoplasm in return to jumpstart his system.

Danny helps Jason to his knees as his eyes flash green for a brief second. Jason’s head was quiet for the first time since he died. He didn’t feel rage or anger, he felt calm, felt normal. He looked at Danny who now sat across from him in surprise and in shock. “Jaylad? Are you alright?”

”It's gone…he got rid of the pits.” Jason says breathlessly, his eyes never leaving Danny’s. 

See Help

”Yeah, you did Danny.”

“Well,” Alfred says breaking the newfound silence, “I believe a small celebration is an order how about we get young master Daniel-.”

Alfred trailed off when everyone saw how Danny seemed to disappear at his words, “Where has he gone?”

Everyone frantically started to search except for Jason and Duke. Duke, using his sight could see that Danny was still where he was sitting moments before, curled in on himself, trying to appear smaller, his body racked with silent sobs. Jason could still feel him in front of him, their core connection leading him to the conclusion that Danny was still there just invisible. 

Danny instinctively put his hands over his ears he didn’t want to hear what came next, Vlad's laughter still echoed in his ears. His voice forces a whisper, “Danny just Danny. Danny, Danny, Danny. Just-Danny.”

“Guys you can stop your frantic searching, he's just invisible. He-He doesn’t want to be called Daniel, just Danny.” Duke explains as he moves a little closer to Danny.

He gently places a hand on Danny’s shaking shoulder, “Danny it's okay, you’re safe here. We will only call you Danny. Just Danny.”

Once the bustling stopped and everything quieted down Danny slowly became visible to everyone else in the room. Alfred calmly walks over to Danny and explains, “I did not mean to frighten you in any way. I will only call you Danny from now on. Is there any particular meal you would like to eat?”

Danny looked from Alfred to Jason back to Alfred before finally landing on Jason. He goes to open his mouth and tries to speak before closing his mouth. Not yet. Too soon.

Cheese Burger

Danny looks to Jason to translate and repeats Danny’s words to Alfred. The group gathered up to head upstairs to show Danny around as Alfred started on the food But stop when the the air changes in a flash of dark light Constintine appears in his normal flashy disheveled appearance. 

It took him less than five seconds to feel the aurora of what was currently hiding behind Jason and proceeded to say, “What in the bloody hell is the Ghost King doing here bats?!”

Chapter Text

Once Danny saw who came into view he shakingly stood his ground his eyes flashing green, anger electrified the air. His fangs extending, his body covered itself in an eerie glow. The temperature dropped a few degrees as he attempted to move closer, Jason could only watch in wonder as Dannys’ freckles seemed to glow like stars. Everyone felt the power shift and quickly backed away giving both Danny and Constintine some room.

Jason could feel the anger coming off of Danny, Your fault.

Danny’s ghost speak was filled with anguish, Jason and even people who couldn’t hear what he was saying could feel it, their faces falling. Danny stumbled a little as he went to take another step, Jason was going to lurch forward to grab him when he was easily stopped by Danny. No Mine

Jason instinctively put his hands up. And Constintine, well he looked like he was about shit himself when the crown of fire took its place on Danny’s head. “What have I done to disgrace you?”

You sold them out. Your Fault!

”My king, I did no such thing, I may be a stupid bloke but I never ever would have done anything to cause you or your kind any harm. The entire infinite realm has been out of whack since you’ve been gone.” Constintine explains in a pleading tone. “I swear.”

Keeping this half form was getting harder and harder.

Constantine moved to help the king to his feet but stopped when everyone in the batclan glared daggers at him. Danny’s form started to falter and by the time he finally got to Constantine, his form had switched to his normal human self, the only ghostly appearance he could manage to keep hold was the teeth and the eyes which to most were very scary in its own.

“I swear I didn’t sell anyone out, I tried to warn as many as I could when it all went down but they started taking everyone.” Constantine states as Danny grabs ahold of his crumpled white shirt.

Tears were streaming down his face, every emotion flashes through his glowing green eyes. His body shuttering as his grip loosened, Lost everything. Gone. Gone. Gone.

Everything weighed on Danny’s shoulders, he failed as a king, a son, a friend, a father… He failed. Constantine was a living reminder that he failed, he was captured and tortured and lost everything. But he couldn’t bring himself to hurt him even when he wanted to.

That wasn’t who he was.

He wasn’t them.

“My King…” Danny instinctively flinches at his words as the green fades from his eyes. Constantine rests a hand on his shoulder and whispers, “We can free them. When you are back to your full strength we can get them all out.”

Danny looks back into his eyes and states his eyes flashing green to emphasize his point, When that day comes, you help in every way imaginable and your debts will be repaid.

The determined look in his eyes made Constantine want to run for the hills, the being standing before him scared him more than Pariah Dark had before Danny had defeated him.

“Yes my King.”

Danny turns back to the batclan and proceeds to tell Constantine, You come when called. They are mine. You will serve them as you would me until your debt is paid.

A growl made its way to Dannys’ lips and Constantine knew the meaning behind it and he quickly disappeared into the shadows behind him. The bats all stared and looked at Danny as limped a little back over to where Jason was standing. Jason was the only person in the room that his own ecto pull and after that small display of power left him feeling like crap. He instinctively put his head over Jason’s healed core and just closed his eyes, damning all normal human interactions to hell because right now what he was doing was what he needed.

Recharging not sorry.

Jason puts a hand on Danny’s back and states, “You’re alright Danny.”

He easily picks up Danny and says to the group, “Why don’t we move this upstairs so we can all get out of the cave? Alfred?”

“Yes, why don’t we move to a more comfortable room upstairs while I make us dinner.” Alfred starts to usher everyone upstairs.

Everyone nestles into the parlor room, their eyes on Danny wanting to know more about the person sitting next to Jason on the floor. Barbara shuffles around in her bag before handing Danny a piece of paper and a pen, Danny couldn’t speak fully yet and they couldn’t understand the weird chirping that he’d say to Jason so this would have to suffice.

Danny smiles at her as he grabs the note pad. He begins to write out, thank you for helping me.

“Danny, that is what we do.” Dick states, “You don’t need to thank us.”

I can tell that you all have questions. I will answer them to the best of my abilities. Danny flips the page around and watches their face change instantly.

The room erupted into questions, Bruce stated his voice raised a little, getting everyone else to quiet down, “Calm down guys, we don’t want to overwhelm him with all of our questions. Danny, why don’t you start wherever you want to start and we can go from there.”

Nodding Danny flips the paper over and begins to write but stops when his hands start to cramp up. He hadn’t really used his hands much in the past five years. He stops, puts the note pad down and looks down in frustration. He knew it was going to take time for his body to get back to normal but not being able to do the things he used to do so easily was a beast entirely different than what he thought.

“Take your time Danny.”

Danny smiles at the softness in Bruce’s tone and looks up to Jason and chips out, Can you translate?

Nodding, Jason explains to his family, "I'm gonna translate what he says, it's easier than writing for him.”

Danny goes into his friendly cliff notes version of everything, keeping a few things back, he didn’t want to scare his new found friends. He started off with the portal, his parents obsessed with ghosts, the accident, dying and getting ghost powers, hiding it from his family. His eyes light up when he talks about fighting other ghosts and keeping Amity Safe from them. He tells them about how the Ghost Investigation Ward slowly started to gain traction with Vlad Masters giving them intel. How he told his parents and they sided with the GIW, how they called him a monster, how he wasn’t their son.

He stopped for a moment, letting his shoulders relax a little, feeling the weight on his shoulders start to fall a little. Taking a deep breath before he continued, the room stayed silent as Jason continued.

He explained how the GIW tortured him for experimentation purposes and how every chance at a rescue left all of his subjects even his Fright Knight and Nightmare had been taken. How he was forced to stay in his ghost half, how he was cut open, vivisected, pulled apart so they could see how he was put back together. How even his friends and his clone/kid were captured and hearing their screams. After a year he was completely removed from the equation. He was moved from a separate facility and his throat was cut in an attempt to silence his wail. How this cult managed to break in and kidnap and rescue him and all the events leading up to Jason finding him.

Danny left out most of the gruesome details, he wasn’t ready to rehash that out and relive it.

Danny closed his eyes and waited to hear their reaction, waiting to hear them call him a freak or a monster. But when arms wrapped around him and comforting words. Words of ‘I’m sorrys’ and they had even asked if he was alright and if they could do anything to help him. They were all trying to comfort him either by their words or by physically hugging him. Danny had almost forgotten what this felt like.

They stayed there for a little while until Alfreds’ voice called out alerting them that dinner was ready for them in the dining room.