DPxDC #3 A Tale of Two Jacks.
What if Jack Fenton and Jack Drake were alternate universe versions of each other?
Things diverged a few generations back when the nightingales stayed true to their Monster hunter roots in the DP universe, but in the DC universe took the treasure from monsters lairs to build the family fortune and branch out into other businesses. And the last name changed to Drake a few generations before the other universe changed to Fenton. Also all the really powerful magical artifacts and weapons were hidden away in a secret basement Jack didn’t get around to showing Tim before he died.
Oh and I guess this sort of makes Tim and Danny counterparts. Though not quite as the Jacks each married a different woman. So half brothers, if you squint? Eh whatever.
Anyway this was inspired by @dcxdpdabbles prompt. https://www.tumblr.com/gaddaboutgriffon/756909205456388096/wait-isnt-tims-dad-also-named-jack-of-we-could
Wait. Isn’t Tim’s dad also named Jack? Of we could shift this a bit to the left and have Danny be like a half brother to Tim. Jack and Jack
Where a Deaged to about 5ish years old Danny gets sent to Tim drake to take care of until it is safe for him to return to his home universe. This leads to a misunderstanding that Danny is Tim’s baby half brother. The DNA test would support it if Danny’s dna wasn’t all scrambled by the ghost zone portal.
So how do you guys think this all plays out?
Ok time to tag. @arzuera @azulhood @bianca-hooks123 @bloggerspam @chaos-bringer-13 @confusedshades @clockwayswrites @dragonsrequiem @evilminji @flamingpudding @fightmebissh @ghostbsuter @hypewinter @help-itrappedmyself @hdgnj @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 @jedipirateking @kizzer55555 @mynameisjag @myreputatioooon @menolly5600 @phantom-0-writer @puppetmaster13u @radiance1 @raynewolferune @starlightcat04 @sistertotheknowitall @starwrighter @stormikitty @virgamsysxvolumes @woodland-gremlin @zylev-blog @zeestarfishalien
Somehow, Tim had always thought the whole "drop a kid off with a note" thing was just a Hollywood trope. Like, he knew it happened, but it also just really didn't? But that was definitely a whole ass child standing in his office and the note in his hand was absolutely mind boggling.
"So, uh, Danny, right?" Tim's voice cracked on the last word and he cleared his throat twice before downing his entire freshly brewed cup of coffee to clear it.
"Yah!" Danny cheered at him. Oh God, Tim forgot kids tended to have more energy than chronic insomniac business men.was his life flashing before his eyes yet? He cleared his throat again.
"How old are you, little guy?" He forced himself to ask. The note had been woefully lacking in important personal information for the kid.
"I'm almost five!" The kid said with an insistent emphasis llthat told Tim he absolutely would have a tantrum if anyone said he was just four years old.
I need an adult, Tim realized. I am definitely in shock. I need an adult.
"TAM!!!" Tim hollered as he straightened up so he wasn't screaming in the poor kids ear. The door burst open as his PA tore into the room. Tim wasn't usually one to shout for her unless it was an actual emergency. The last time he did he'd been actively bleeding out after tearing his stitches.
Oh, that was another weird thing wasn't it? How had the kid - Danny, his name is Danny, the note was very clear it was Danny not Danielle or Daniel regardless of his legal name and biological sex; his name is Danny and he is a boy - even gotten in to behind with?
Tim pointed at the kid.
"Danny, Tam. Tam, Danny. Apparently his my kid half-brother? Need a test. Imma faint now." He rushed out in a single breath. Then everything went black.
~*~*~
Danny watched his older "half-brother" pass out with wide eyes before turning his head to exchange a bewildered look with 'Tam.' She recovered quickly.
"So, your name is Danny?" She asked, crouching down a bit closer to his level as she spoke. Danny as impressed.
"Yeah," He answered. Danny found himself staring at his feet and twisting his fingers together nervously. Ugh. Ever since he got deaged he'd instinctively acted more and more like a little kid.
"It's nice to meet you, Danny. My name is Tam." She said smiling gently. He knew that, Tim had just said that.
"Is he okay?" Danny asked, looking at Tim's unconscious body on the carpet next to Tam.
"He's fine, sweetie." Tam told him. "Tim's just too stubborn to take his naps so sometimes they catch him instead."
Holy shit, that was hilarious. Danny giggled at the image of a light yellow lion with a sleep cap prowling through the corporate offices to find Tim, pounce on him, and then pin him under itself until he got enough sleep. Danny would totally name that lion "Mr. Naps".
Tam smiled at him.
"Come on, sweetie," she said holding out her hand for Danny to take. "Let's go meet your grampa. I think he's in the building today." She said. Danny took her hand and followed her to go find him. Tim still 'napping' on the carpet behind them.
Danny hadn't been surprised to learn that an alternate universe version of the Fenton-Nightingales had changed their names to Drake to distance themselves from the Nightgale name instead of just shortening it to Fenton like his universe's family had. The Nightingale name was still infamous in the supernatural community and famous among supernatural hunters after all despite having last been recorded in 1882; just two years after the Industrial Revolution started in the USA. The newly renamed Fenton family had gone into manufacturing weapons to fight supernatural enemies whereas the alternate universe's newly renamed Drake family had invested in medical innovation and research instead. The Drakes had used their ill-gotten gains and left behind hunting altogether whereas the Fentons had honed their hunting techniques.
Danny and Jazz hadn't been surprised to learn any of this.
They had been surprised that Ghost Writer was the one to tell them.
"Given your own reputation and that of your family," Ghost Writer concluded, closing the massive tome of Hunters to Beware that he'd been consulting. "I would recommend leaving your dimension in favor of the Drakes' until you return to you age back up to normal."
"Are you suggesting that there are entities still seeking revenge against the Fenton-Nightingales after all this time?" Jazz asked incredulously. "It's the 21st Century!"
Ghost Writer gave her a deadpan look.
"Not here it isn't." He said with a voice as dry as the Gobi Desert. "Any entities that call the Realms home see no difference between the 21st Century and the 19th. Many more wouldn't even consider then far apart from one another even if they did notice the living worlds' passage of time."
Jazz sputtered in offense. Danny barely managed to hold back from pointing out that the only reason Ghost Writer was even tolerating them this much right now was because the ghost deemed Jazz a kindred spirit. ...and because his half-brother Randy was responsible for this mess.
Who knew Randy could make someone regress back to the age when they had last completely embraced their 'inner child'? Frankly Danny was more shocked that Jazz's tantrum that let her see Young Blood just a month ago had been enough to keep her from regressing as much as Danny had himself.
There was a shift of fabric behind him and Danny turned to look at Sam, Tucker, and Dan. Danny startled when he saw Dan again. Oh, he'd forgotten Clockwork gad sent Dan to stand in for him with his parents. ...why did he keep forgetting that?
"But Danny'll be safe there?" Tucker asked. "You're certain?"
Ghost Writer shrugged.
"Safer than here at least." He said looking bored with the conversation. "If he stays here who knows what Plasmius would do to him?" Ghost Writer set the tome back down on the shelf. "That man will find out the child's been replaced one way or another but it's best he doesn't know exactly what's going on, don't you think so?"
Sam took a menacing step towards Ghost Writer.
"If anything happens to Danny in the world, I will personally flay you with Fenton Tech until you stop regenerating. Got that?" She snarled, jabbing at him with a sharp, black nail.
Ghost Writer rolled his eyes.
Danny really wanted to point out that threat would never work. Ghost Writer, as Danny had somehow instinctively come to understand over the years, was something similar to Pandora. He was an entity that had created and come to embody it's own concept overtime. Pandora had created and come to embody the idea of subduing evil. Ghost Writer had created and come to embody the written word. Their concepts might be easier to destroy than Time or Cold but it certain couldn't be done in any one lifetime.
He accidentally met Dan's gaze while avoiding Sam's.
"What do you think, twerp?" His alternate future self asked. "You up for living in a different dimension?"
Danny considered the question, twisting his fingers in his shirt as he looked down at the floor chewing on his lower lip.
"Would I be alone?" He heard himself ask quietly. There was a long pause.
"Well?" Dan demanded finally. "Would he be?"
Ghost Writer hummed and Danny heard pages turning as he stared down at his tiny light up sneakers. Oh my god, I am so freaking small. He realized again. It kept hitting him in waves that this was really happening, he really had deaged.
"Aha," a soft exclamation came from slightly further away. Ghost Writer must have wondered further into his library in search of the answer. "It looks like the universe in question has only one Drake left living." The man sounded amused as he spoke. Jazz gently squeezed Danny's shoulder in reassurance and he raised his head to peer curiously at Ghost Writer from under his bangs.
"Who?" Jazz asked for him.
"Timothy Drake-Wayne," Ghost Writer answered. "He was adopted into the Wayne family just a bit prior to when you'll be arriving," Danny knew 'a bit' literally meant nothing coming from Ghost Writer since the man thought the Salem Witch Trials only happened 'a bit' ago too. "And he just so happens to be Danny's alternate self!" Ghost Writer said cheerfully. "You've different mothers but Jack was father to both of you. That will work out quite well." He finished with a vicious grin.
Of course, all grins looked kind of vicious on him. Danny noted. It was the sharp teeth that made him look mean. Like a shark.
"What do you mean by that?" Sam snapped out, hands curling into fists at her side.
"He's talking about setting Danny up with an identity in that world." Tucker answered her already tapping away at his PDA as h spoke. "What do their official documents looks like? I can leave the dad blank on the birth certificate but we'll need to back file everything and think of how to make Tim draw the obvious conclusion that Danny's his half-brother."
"I am always so happy to see young ones embrace common sense." Ghost Writer said snapping his fingers. Several dozen holograms appears around Tucker with examples of what the documents would need to look like, basic information about the timeline, and an obituary for Madeline Walker. "Thankfully, your mother's alternate only died a year and a half ago in that world and her records are quite spotty before that. Criminal ties perhaps? Or government espionage? Well, it's all the same for our end. A toddler would hardly know anything about what their mother did more than a year ago." He said dismissively.
Dan leveled a glare at Ghost Writer but stayed silent. Danny looked between them with open curiousity and wondered if there was some kind of history there. Jazz nudged him gently with her knee and he turned his attention back to the conversation.
"I suppose I should back file the paperwork for you," Ghost Writer sighed like it was a monumental favor on his part. "It is Randy's fault to begin with after all."
That also sounded like a lot of history to be honest. Danny had ALWAYS been curious about what Ghost Writer's deal with Randy was. He opened his mouth to ask and got nudged again. This was starting to seem familiar.
It took a while longer to hash out the details and documents. Then another bit to back file them. (Danny really, really wanted to know how Ghost Writer was able to open portals to any time and place of his choosing but Jazz nudged him everytime he started to ask so he couldn't.) Then finally Ghost Writer wrote the finished letter for Timothy Drake-Wayne that read:
"Dear Drake Family,
In the event of my untimely death, I, Madeline Walker, bequeath my son, Daniel Jack Walker, to your care. It seems only fitting that in the absence of his mother her be raised by his father, Jack Drake.
Please be aware, our child is a meta. Should you prove a threat to his health and safety, he has my eternal permission to end you.
To Jack, I apologize for never telling you about our child but I do not regret my decision given our individual circumstances at the time. Please take good care of Danny - he prefers Danny do not call him Daniel or Danielle - for me. I expect you to take better care with him than you have your other child thus far or I will haunt you myself. Dead or not.
A Loving Mother,
Madeline Walker"
"That is such a messed up letter." Tucker muttered under his breath.
"Yes, well," Ghost Writer began. "We don't know much about her personality or if the Drakes would have encountered her at any point to be aware of it. However, as a last request of a meta toddler's parent it should be fine. Gotham is a rough city as the records indicate. This level of viciousness should be practically pedestrian."
"Okay," Sam agreed carefully. "But how is Danny going to explain the year and a half delay in coming to the Drake family?" She asked.
Ghost Writer scoffed.
"He is four!" The older ghost exclaimed throwing up his hands in exasperation. "Four year olds don't explain anything!"
Jazz, Tucker, and Dan all nodded in agreement. Which...Dan was familiar with four year olds? How did that happen? Wait, no, focus Danny. Jazz nudged him again.
"Are you ready, little brother?" She asked crouching in front of him. Danny looked down, fingers twisting his shirt again.
"I guess." He said. Jazz wrapped him carefully in a hug.
"Be safe, baby brother. I love you so much."
Sam and Tucker hugged him next, both sniffling and promising to see him again as soon as he got back. Dan watched silently blank faced as Ghost Writer waited only somewhat patiently. Finally they pulled apart and Ghost Writer offered Danny his hand guiding him deeper into the library to a well concealed Diaz with an attached console.
"I will place you in the men's bathroom of Wayne Enterprise." Ghost Writer told him. "That way you'll be through security already." He tapped away at different keys and turned two dials to adjust setting that Danny was sure he wouldn't understand even if he could see them clearly. "You must go left when you leave the bathroom, follow the signs to the elevator, and get off at the 60th floor. Hold the close door button until you arrive so that you don't get caught." Ghost Writer punctuated that statement with a sharp glare at Danny over his the top of his glasses. "Timothy Drake-Wayne is the CEO. Go straight once you leave the elevator and open the door at the end of the hall without knocking. If you knock, you'll get caught by his PA. Once in his office, hand him the letter immediately and it will all work out."
"How do you know that?" Danny asked, stepping onto the Diaz when Ghost Writer gestured for him to. Ghost Writer gave him a wicked grin.
"Because that's what make a good story, kid." He pressed a button and world burned with blue light. Once it faded, Danny found himself in a bathroom. Time to get to work.
When Tam knocked on the closed door of just the next room over, Danny rolled his eyes. He could've walked that far without having to hold her hand! He wasn't that small!
Oh.
Yes, he is.
Tim woke and bolted upright immediately.
"Oh my god. I left an unknown with Tam."
"Indeed." Came a cool, amused reply.
