A Daydreamer's Paradise

Fandom, vet med, writing, and random cool stuff for seasoning

[a-book-of-creatures]

Cicada sketches by Vincent van Gogh.

Found in Vincent van Gogh, Letters from Provence (French edition).

[dragon-in-a-fez]

one of the funniest conversations I ever had with my ex was when they were still getting used to Celsius and asked me "what's 20 degrees?" and instead of converting it, I said "it's the highest your dad will ever let you set the thermostat and when you say you're cold he tells you to put on another sweater, we're not made of money" and they went "oh, 68"

the fact that this reference was that fucking precise was something they went on to tell people about for years.

[trapped--under--rice]

please behold the 24 Hours of Lemons race, in which you can only spend $500 total on a car to cross country race for 24 hours

named after the legendary 24 hour Le Mans race, Lemons rallies barely legal cars in an endurance race across America. had the privilege of sharing the freeway with this race and seeing the absolute art od this event

[friendly-neighborhood-patriarch]

This is so American I could CRY

[hogmilked]

oh this is nothing. some of my favorite lemons entries are:

an airplane stuck on a toyota minivan

this miata built by rocket scientists

the mr2 boat

the nyan cat bmw that i think actually played the song at all times

the homer simpson car built by uranium workers

this limo whose brakes caught on fire

the dumbest corolla and supra wearing funny hats

and so much more. 24 hours of lemons my beloved

[transarsonist]

The absolute metaphorical snarl that is a Limo modeled after the titanic called "unstoppable", whose breaks caught fire, is just, absolutely sending me

[skyporf]

@miata-detector

[miata-detector]

ohhh ive been! my favorite was a car that wasn't properly cooled so they installed a barbecue in the engine to slow cook ribs while they race!

[michaelnordeman]

Moose/älg. Vedungsfjällen nature reserve in Dalarna, Sweden (8 June 2021).

[bluerosefox]

Hmmm

I'm on a Danny is Dick's child kick rn so I'm making more.

But lets add in some Ghost King Danny!, Dad to a deaged Ellie and Dan! And toddler Mar'i Grayson.

Danny was conceived during Dick's amnesia year when he was Ric and the woman couldn't find him to tell him (or maybe the Owls caught wind of the pregnancy and took her) and he ended up somehow (hmmm maybe a meddling time keeper?) with the Fentons.

Danny grows as a Fenton, he knows he was adopted btw, then becomes Phantom, protects Amity, becomes the Ghost King and things seem to be going okay between Amity Parkers and the Infinite Realms since they took care of the GIW problem, AND has been a good doting teen dad to his deaged 'cousins/clones' turned kids.

Danny was going to go pick his kids up from daycare one day when CHAOS happens. Just as he wrangles Ellie onto his shoulders, cause she wants to be tall today, and about to take Dan's hand cause he's and I quote "A big boy and not a baby like Ellie, Dad!" he suddenly feels the tug of his family being in danger.

Thing is, its a blood related danger. Meaning someone blood related to him was in grave danger, and by the emotions he can feel, its someone young, way younger than him.

Problem.

The only people Danny knows with his blood in their veins and are young enough for the feeling are with him.

So who?

But due to Danny being a protector spirit AND knowing the feeling is from someone as young as his own kids, Danny decides to use his Ghost King Powers to summon said person from the danger to him.

Danny opens his free arms out just as a tiny toddler with black hair like his own but with bright green eyes, even the sclera were green, in a ruined party dress drops from the sky from the summoning circle that had opened above him.

Danny stares at the terrified child, whose hands are tied by rope and was crying, and takes notes of certain traits she had that he saw every time in the mirror or on his own kids, same eye shape and cheekbones. He can tell his ghost core has claimed her as family but not as his kid though.

No the connection that formed was almost like his connection with Jazz but a bit stronger.

This kid, was his sister. His blood related one.

-Meanwhile-

Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, and his family were freaking the fuck out.

Dick was already panicked when his daughter Mar'i had gotten kidnapped just a few hours ago by the Joker.

Now he was feeling pure dread when his daughter, who was about to be killed, was suddenly pulled into a strange glowing circle at the last minute and disappeared into thin air.

[boopjuice]

She's not a ghost.

It's the first thing Danny knows about her. Before he realizes her hair is black like his or that her eyes are green or just barely older than Ellie, he knows that the girl falling through the portal he made is not a ghost.

But she's certainly not completely human, either.

Teary green eyes look up at him, confused and afraid, and he finally sees the ropes around her wrists and ankles. He kneels down in the parking lot, letting Ellie slide off his shoulders as he sets the girl down, leaving his hands free to begin working on the ropes.

"Hi, sweetie," he starts, keeping his eyes on the girls crying face. Her eyes are fully green, behind her tears, sclera and all, just a shade or two too yellow to be ectoplasm. Besides that, she really could have been an older Ellie.

"My name's Danny. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, glancing down at the ropes. They were tight, far tighter than necessary to have restrained a little girl. "Do you mind telling me your name?"

"Mar'i," she was struggling to speak through her sobs, her breathing ragged and short and Danny was sure she wasn't supposed to be breathing so fast.

"Alright, Mar'i. Can you take a breath for me?" The girl let out a short but purposeful gasp as Danny finally got a good handle on the knots. "That's good. Can you do another? Dan, Ellie, can you help her?"

The three children all breathed together, Dan doing his best to keep a steady pace and Dani offering Mar'i words of comfort. Danny, meanwhile, focused on figuring out why his core reacted the way it did.

It wasn't uncommon for him to feel the familiar tug of a family member, especially if they were in danger. What was uncommon, however, was to feel that bond with a child he'd never met. To complicate things, it felt different to his other familial relationships. Tighter, somehow.

As he moved on to the ropes around Mar'i's ankles, careful to warn her that he was going to move her to his knee before starting, he tried to examine the bond closer.

It was certainly familial, that much was certain. It just felt... To the left of the type of familial bond he was used to. Additionally, it wasn't a parent-child bond, like he had with Ellie and Dan. It was closest to a sibling bond, like he had with Jazz, though again it was slightly off.

A tug at his sleeve broke his train of thought and he looked down to see Dan.

"She's calmed down, Dad."

"Thanks, buddy." He turned to Mar'i, still sitting on his knee in the parking lot, rubbing at her wrists. They were a raw, angry shade of red from the ropes, and one wrist had a black and blue bracelet with a little bat pendant.

"Mar'i, do you think you can tell me what happened?" She sniffled and nodded, looking at the asphalt.

"I was at my party and th-the Joker showed up." Joker? It wasn't a name Danny recognized, but he'd follow up later. "H-he took me somewhere with a lot of green stuff and he tied me up above it and he... He said that-"

It didn't take a genius to see that she was about to devolve back into tears, and Danny kicked himself. Whatever had happened was still fresh in her head, still terrifying. He didn't need to know what happened, that wasn't what mattered most.

What mattered was getting his sister this girl home.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me. Do you know your parent's phone number?" She shook her head.

"Alright... Do you know their names?" This time he got a nod. "Can you tell me?"

"M-my daddy's name is Richard, and my mommy's name is Kori."

"Do you know your last name?"

"Grayson."

"Mar'i Grayson," he said, trying the name out. His core hummed, the way it has when he'd first called himself a Fenton, the first time he'd been surrounded by family.

"That's a very pretty name. Like I said earlier, I'm Danny, and these two are my... Well, kids is the best term, I guess. But this is Ellie, and this is Dan." The two waved from there they stood next to him.

The ropes fell off the girl's ankles, revealing them to be just as raw as her wrists. He wasn't about to let her walk with injuries like that.

And it was probably best he didn't take her anywhere near the Fenton household right now. Mom and Dad were home, and they might overwhelm her. Plus, the security system had been pretty consistently targeting him recently.

"Mar'i, can I take you to a friend's house? I need to find your parents, and I won't be able to without their help. Plus, they have some stuff you help your wrists and ankles feel better."

Mar'i thought about it, really and truly. She put her finger to her chin and everything, getting the cutest little frown. Finally she looked at him and nodded. He stood, hoisting her into his arms.

"Dan, Dani, can I trust you to be good walking next to me? Our friend shouldn't be walking, and I need to call Mama and Papa."

"I can, Dad! I don't know if Dan could, though."

"Shut up, Ellie! You're the one always getting lost!"

"Kids," he said a little firmer. "Can I trust you?" The two looked at each other, sighed, and nodded. "Thank you. Hold hands and stay close."

The walk to Sam's wasn't long, but he supposed after an eventful day anyone would pass out at the first opportunity. That's how he arrived, Mar'i sleeping on his shoulder while the other two ran to hug Tuck's legs as he opened the door.

"Papa! Dad caught a girl out of a portal!" Dan said as Danny walked in after them.

"Not just any girl, she's our auntie!"

Dammit, Ellie.

~~~

"So you're saying you felt like your family was in danger, opened a portal to them, and this kid just fell out?" Sam said from the opposite couch. She'd brought back Nasty Burger for the kids, with chicken nuggets for the sleeping one. Dan and Ellie we're currently in the kitchen, eating their burgers and fries quietly so they could get their toys.

"Yep, that's basically what I just said."

"Yu no wh ths mns, rit?" Tucker said through his burger. Sam just raised a brow at him, and he was quick to swallow and repeat himself. "You know what this means, right?"

"Uh... No?"

"It means, you have another family!" Tucker said. "Your bio mom got to a better place and decided to have kids!"

"There's no way. She didn't want kids at all, not just because things weren't the best. From what she said, she was terrified the whole time."

"Hey, people change. Maybe she changed her mind. You should call her and ask if there's any more. I'd love to have more siblings-in-law," Sam chimed in before taking a bite of her veggie burger.

"I'm pretty sure she didn't. And hang on, what's this about about 'in-laws'? We aren't even out of high school, and you're already gonna wife me up?"

"First chance I get," Tucker said with the cheesiest smile, leaning forward on one hand and wiggling his eyebrows like it would somehow make what he said any less corny. Danny leaned across the table as carefully as he could while still holding Mar'i and shoved his boyfriend's face.

"As if. If anyone's going to wife anybody else up, it's Sam."

"You're darn right I will."

There was a grumble from Danny's shoulder, and he looked down to see Mar'i rubbing her eyes and looking around dazedly.

"Where...?"

"Hey, Mar'i," he said, turning her so she could see the rest of the room, and the two other teens in front of her. "We're at my friend's house. This is Sam, and that's Tucker."

"Hi, sweetheart," Sam said, putting her burger down while Tucker froze mid-bite and waved. "I hear you've had a bit of a long day. Am I alright to take you upstairs, or would you rather I bring the first aid kit down here?"

Again, the girl thought long and hard about going with Sam. Whoever the Grayson's were, Danny had to give them props for drilling "stranger danger" into their daughter's head.

"Okay, Miss Sam."

"Oh, please, just call me Sam," she said, scooping the girl up and heading towards the stairs.

"Y'know," Tucker said around his burger, "She's right. You should reach out to your bio mom, see if she's missing a kid."

"Like I said, I don't think it's her. First off, I haven't heard from her since she put me in the system even after she said she'd keep in contact. Second, the name's don't match. Mar'i said her mom's name was Kori."

"So, maybe it's your bio dad's side. You didn't know him anyway, he might have got his life together and stopped being a deadbeat. You did say you needed help finder her parents, plural, so I'd assume he's in the picture.

"Besides, you know it has to be family or Dani wouldn't feel the same way. You know she doesn't think of your parents as grandparents, so the only reason she'd feel the same family pull you did-"

"Was if we're actually related," Danny finished with a huff. "I'd really rather not think about that at this very moment. But you're right. Speaking of... Ellie, can you come here for a minute?"

Ellie raced in, a ketchup covered fry still in her hand.

"Yes, Dad?"

"This is very important, okay? I know Mar'i is your aunt, but she doesn't know that. She doesn't know any of us, so you can't call her your aunt, alright?"

"But she is my aunt."

"I know, but she's had a really long day and I don't think she knows she's your aunt. So for now, don't call her your auntie like you would for Jazz, alright?"

"Hmmm. Okay. Should I tell Dan too?"

"I already heard!" he yelled from the kitchen.

"Don't yell inside!" Ellie shouted as she ran back to the kitchen and her after school snack.

"Those two are going to be the death of us," Danny breathed out, Tucker giving a hum of agreement from behind the last bite of his burger.

~~~

Mar'i was down with Sam a couple minutes later, floating down the stairs and chattering with Sam about what her party has been like. The girl had bandages around her wrists and ankles, clearly tied on with far more care than the ropes had been. She flew over to Danny once she saw him, finishing up his own burger and fries.

"Mister Danny! Mi- Sam told me you're half Tamaranian too!"

"I, uh, what?"

"Tamaranian, like my mommy! She has green eyes like me, and really pink hair, and she shoots green light out of her hands! It's all like 'woosh!' and 'kapow!'"

Tamaranian... That sounded familiar somehow. Another item to look up.

"That's wonderful, but Danny here isn't actually half Tamaranian."

"Wait, she's a halfa too?!" Dan said, flying through a wall and into the living room.

"A what?" Mar'i said, glancing up at Dan as if she saw flying, intangible people every day

"A half ghost," Ellie said, popping up through the floor. "Also, Papa, Dan and I were quiet while we ate. Can we have our toys now?"

"I'm not half ghost. I'm half Tamaranian," Mar'i said.

"What's a Tamarian?" Dan asked, floating down to be eye level with the other girl.

"It's Tamaranian, and we're aliens!" Mar'i said, floating a little higher. "It's not as cool as being half ghost, though."

"Are you kidding?!" Ellie said, floating all the way through the floor and getting right in Mar'i's face. "Being half an alien sounds way cooler! We have to keep the fact that we're ghosts secret." Ellie froze and looked at Danny.

"Oops."

"It's okay, I'm good at keeping secrets! I won't tell anybody about you being ghosts, promise."

Danny just sighed and stood from the couch. Mar'i floated up with him, watching him curiously.

"Alright, calm down. Mar'i, there's some chicken nuggets in the kitchen for you. I'll show you the way." Mar'i floated next to him, his own kids trailing behind her.

"Say, Mar'i, where are you from? It might be easier to find your parents if we know where you live."

"Oh, we live in Bludhaven, but Daddy goes to Gotham a lot for his work." Danny nodded opening the Nasty Burger bag on the kitchen counter and pulling out the chicken nuggets and three kid's meal toys.

"What?! How come she gets her toy before she's finished?" Dan said. If his lower half hadn't been a shadowy tail, Danny was certain the six year old would have stomped his little foot.

"Because she's our guest. Now, once she's done, you all can play down here or in the basement. Remember, what's the first rule?"

"No ectoblasts in the house," Ellie and Dan intoned together, rolling their eyes in sync. Sometimes, it was a little too obvious that they were clones.

"Good. I trust you can teach Mar'i the rest while Mama, Papa and I look for her parents?" The two nodded, and Danny smiled before walking back to the next room.

Tuck was already looking at a possible list of people on his computer, a program running next to the window full of names.

"Her dad's a cop," Sam said without ceremony, scanning over the list of names. "Unfortunately, there's quite a few with that last name in the States, and Richard isn't an uncommon name. It's going to take a while."

"Try results in Bludhaven," Danny said, plopping down on Tucker's other side. "Or Gotham. She said she lives in Bludhaven but her dad works in Gotham, I think."

Tucker shrugged and added another couple lines to the program. The list repopulated with only ten Richard Grayson's and one Richard Grayson-Wayne.

"Well, that makes this a lot easier," Tucker said. "Now to check the police website and start calling."

Tucker pulled up three different websites, each for a different precinct in Bludhaven or Gotham. Slipping through their security was easy, and before they knew it, ten different faces stared back, each with a full name and contact information attached.

The eleventh couldn't be called different.

The trio stared in silence, staring at a picture of a person who could have been Danny, if he was a few years older. Too much matched for it to be a coincidence, especially with the way his core thrummed the way it did around Danny's dad.

"I think," Sam said, as slowly as she could, "that we should call him, first."

~~~

Dick was panicking. Not even panicking for a Bat, just full on panicking. His daughter had been seconds away from death, and then some portal had opened underneath her and sent her off to God knew where.

Normally that would be fine. She had a tracking bracelet, he should have been able to find her anywhere in the world. But it had shorted out the second she went through that portal.

She could have been anywhere in the world, hurt or scared or dying, and he had no idea.

It was driving him insane.

He was in the Batcave, everyone bustling around him while he sat still. He didn't want to be sitting still. But Alfred had made him sit down. The old butler was sitting next to him, holding his hand to keep him grounded.

There was a hot meal in his lap that he hadn't touched. He couldn't even think of eating right now. Oracle mentioned that Kori was on her way there, but it was all background noise.

His daughter was missing, and he couldn't do anything.

Kori arrived a few minutes ago later, demanding answers. Bruce gave them quickly and concisely, and Dick absentmindedly recognized the subtle difference in his voice. He was speaking to her like she was a distraught civilian, not a League member in her own right.

Alfred took the food from him as Kori approached. Dick didn't move. He couldn't. Not when he looked in her eyes and saw Mar'i's, wide and full of tears as she fell.

"We'll find her," was all he remembered Kori saying. It was all he could make out as he finally broke down, holding her close and letting his tears fall. He felt hers on his own shoulder, absently. It made it all the worse.

~~~

Two agonizing hours went by. Everyone was in the Cave by then, even Jason, all searching for any sign of his daughter. Camera feeds, reports of a young girl with completely green eyes, new hostage demands, anything.

Dick's phone rang, echoing through the Cave. He was quick to snatch it, praying it was an update on Mar'i. He didn't even check the number before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking with Richard Grayson-Wayne?" That was a strange way to open up a phone call, he thought.

"Please, call me Dick." The response was automatic, barely thought out. It earned a snort on the other end of the line.

"Okay," whoever was on the other line said, still laughing a little as Dick changed to speakerphone.

"We have your daughter." His blood ran cold. Possibly the four worst words he could have heard. What did they want with her? Were they going to hurt her? Had they done so already?

"Ancients, Tucker!" A girls voice shouted in the background of the call. "That is not how you- You know what? No. Gimme the phone, you suck at this."

There was a shuffling sound and a new voice came on the line.

"Mr. Grayson-Wayne?"

"I swear to God, if you lay a finger on my daughter I will hunt you down and make you regret ever being born." He hadn't meant to slip into his Intimidating Vigilante voice. He supposed it got the point across better though.

"... You know what, I'm not equipped to deal with this either. Danny!"

A muffled "What?" followed by a suspicious crashing sound came through the speaker. He hardly noticed as Tim led him to Bruce, who hooked his phone into the Batcomputer. He was too busy seeing red.

These assholes having an argument over who was going to talk to him had his daughter. Kori placed a hand on his shoulder, but he could feel the way it was tensed, like she was putting effort into holding back her strength.

Finally the argument ended and a third voice, less sure than the two previous, came through the speakers.

"Um... Hi?"

"Where is my daughter?" Dick growled out. It didn't matter what they said. The Batcomputer was already tracing the call. They could say whatever they wanted, in a few seconds he'd know exactly where his daughter's kidnappers were.

"Oh, she's in Amity Park, Illinois." The computer finished tracing the call, a little red dot popping up in Illinois reading Amity Park.

"We're at my girlfriend's house with- Ellie, don't bite your- Dan! You either!- with my other kids." Other kids? How many has they kidnapped?

"What do you want?"

"To... To let you know your kid's alright? You know what, hang on. Dan, can you go get Mar'i?"

A shout of "Ri-ri!" echoed through the Cave. The voice that called it couldn't have come from someone older than his daughter.

"Hey, I've got your dad on the phone. I think he'd appreciate getting to talk to you." There was another shuffle as the phone was handed off, and then a familiar young voice came though the speakers.

"Daddy? Are you there?"

"Mar'i!" He and Kori shouted at the same time.

"Mar'i, are you alright? Are you hurt? They did not hurt you, did they? I swear, if they did, I will-"

"Oh, hi Mommy! I'm okay. Mr. Danny and his kids are really nice. His friend Sam gave me some stuff for my rope burns and she said I could fly around if I wanted to!"

His relief was tempered with worry. Sure, maybe they were just a random group who'd managed to find his daughter and kept her safe. Or maybe they were trafficking and keeping an eye out for metahumans.

"Mr. Danny's kids can fly to, but it's a secret why, kind of like Daddy's!"

"You're not supposed to talk about that, remember?" he said as gently as he could. Sure, she was smart enough to not go spilling about his identity and double life, but if she let it slip he was Nightwing then everyone in the Cave right then was at risk, not to mention his civilian friends and coworkers.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell them. Oh, Mr. Danny wants the phone back. Bye, Mommy, bye Daddy. I'll see you soon!" And with the the phone shuffled into someone else's hands.

"Sorry to cut the conversation short, but we need to work out the logistics of getting her back home," Danny said.

"I think that's appropriate."

"Great. Um, none of us are going to be able to drive her anywhere. I mean, we could probably take a bus with her, but only so far. I'm not about to let m- a child ride around in a cross country public transport system."

"Work schedules? I see, those can be very difficult to work around. If it would be easier, I can come and get her. She gets her flight from my side, I can be in this Amity Park in a few hours," Kori said.

"Actually, it's school schedules I'm worried sbout. Anyway, that's fine, but... Ancients I can't believe I'm doing this." Danny took a breath on the other end of the line.

"I really need to talk to your... Wait, Tuck, did we check if they were married or just partners?"

"Kori's my wife. Is there an issue with that?" He ground out.

"No, it's just... I need to talk to you, Dick Grayson-Wayne, specifically." That was never a good sign.

"Why?"

"It's kind of hard to explain over the phone. I just really need to speak with you when you come get her-"

"Wait, Aunty Ri-ri's leaving already? But she just got here! She hasn't even gotten to meet Aunty Jazz yet!"

"Aunty?" Several voices chorused.

"Dan! I told you not to say anything!"

"Actually, you told Ellie not to say anything." Dick could hear the stern look over the phone. "Okay. I'm sorry."

There was a long suffering sigh on the other side of the line. The same kind Bruce made when one of the Birds was being difficult. The same one he made when he knew he couldn't let Mar'i have him wrapped around her finger.

"Why don't you go show Mar'i the basement?" A few small cheers came through the speakers, followed by the whooshing sound of someone flying past the phone.

"Like, I said, it's hard to explain over the phone. But I think we really need to talk."

[boopjuice]

@bluerosefox you have twisted my arm by giving me motivation to follow through on some ideas. Hope you enjoy this part

The logistics talk had to wait. Danny got a call from his parents, and it seemed to panic him because he immediately handed the phone back to the first person who'd had it. Dick thought his name was Tucker, is the second voice was to be believed.

"Sorry about that," the young voice said into the phone. "It's better for Danny to answer that, the last thing we want is for the Fenton's to not be able to get a hold of him and end up creating another world ending- I mean, they'll, uh, break down Sam's door! Yeah, because they're looking for him. Because he wasn't home at a normal time."

Well, if the others were as terrible liars as Tucker was, then there wouldn't be much of a problem figuring out who these people were. Not that there was going to be much of one anyway, considering how bored Tim looked typing away on his laptop.

"Sure. I get it. Overbearing parents can be a nightmare," Dick responded, ignoring the small look B sent his way. "I take it he still lives at home?"

"I mean, I guess we all do? We don't really have much of another choice."

"Danny mentioned school schedules. Are you all students?" Kori asked. Her grip on his shoulder had relaxed significantly since hearing their daughter's voice, and it showed in her speech too.

"Well, yeah."

"I see. What college do you go to?"

"College? I mean, I really want to get into MIT, but I'd settle for-" Tucker let out a pained huff on the other end, like someone had just hit him. There was a furious whisper session, possibly muffed behind a hand, before Tucker came back on the line.

"So, uh, Mar'i said you were a cop?"

Dick had the advantage of being a Bat almost his whole life, or he would have missed how the whole family perked up at the mention of wanting to go to college. Paired with the young voices and living at home, these kids couldn't have been out of high school yet.

"Yeah, a detective. But you managed to get a hold of my personal phone number less than three hours after my daughter went missing, so I assume you know at least that much."

"Oh, uh, well I- we! We have a, um... a really good... social media stalking method!" Dick heard Steph and Tim stifle laughs. He thought he heard a "Seriously, Tuck?" come through the line, too.

"I was better at deception by the time I was six," Damian whispered with a scowl that mirrored Bruce's. He'd bet money that the scowl was mostly genetic. It was kind of cute, how the two looked so much alike.

Aunty Ri-ri. Why had that kid, Dan, said that? There was no way Mar'i had any relation to him, and he'd be willing to bet that she definitely looked different enough that mistaking her as a relative wouldn't be an option.

There was your amnesia year, he thinks, and it twists his stomach into knots. Who knows what happened? Certainly not you.

"Perhaps we could begin to discuss how we could pick our daughter up? It sounds as though my husband needs to speak to your friend. When is a good time to meet?" Kori spoke up.

"Well, that's sort of... we'd have to do some coordinating with a few people. You know, because of club meetings and stuff! Danny's really involved in local clubs."

There was more scuffling over the phone, and Time tapped Dick's shoulder as the group waited for the two teens on the other side to stop fighting.

"The call's coming from the house of the Manson family. New socialites, so they don't have a lot of connections yet. They definitely try, though. They have a child, one Samantha Manson. I'm working on finding her connection to Danny and Tucker."

Dick nodded, turning back toward the phone as the female voice from earlier, Sam, began speaking.

"Danny's going to need too do the talking about logistics. He'd have to get away from his parents and clubs, but it might help when he gets back if he knows when some good times to meet you and your husband are."

"Of course. Richard, when do you think you can get time off so we can get Mar'i?"

"I can cover his patrol for a night if it runs long," Jason volunteered, and Dick really hoped that wouldn't be necessary. Jason pretending to be him would no doubt be the best time for his younger brother to set up some pranks that he'd rather avoid right after getting his daughter.

"No," B shut down. "Nightwing can ask one of the Titans to cover for him. If they all turn him down then you'll cover for him."

"I can call the captain. I might be able to get tomorrow off, but the day after's more likely. How long do you think the conversation's going to take? It'll be easier to set up a time if I know how long to expect to be gone."

"I can't give you a good estimate. But I would plan for a minimum of two hours."

"Alright. I'll ask the chief as soon as this call is done."

"Sounds good. The sooner we can get her home the better."

"You said it," Danny said. His voice was distant, and tired. "They still on the phone?"

"Yep," Sam said. There was a whooshing sound, and then a thunk. Sam had tossed Danny the phone, as evidenced by his now much clearer voice.

"Sorry about that. My parents wanted me to stop by for dinner with the frui- my godfather. They can be hard to get off my back about stuff to do with him. Anyway, we were about to discuss picking up Mar'i?"

Dick, Kori, and Danny ironed out details as best they could, agreeing to call each other in an hour with answers about getting out of their responsibilities elsewhere. Danny had sounded caught off guard when Dick brought up getting out of clubs, just solidifying that Tucker was lying on the spot.

Once he ended the call and texted his captain to ask for the following day off to get Mar'i he finally took in his family again. Bruce was busy supervising Damian digging through school files to look up Samantha Manson, but Tim was staring at his laptop in shock. As if that wasn't bad enough, Jason was standing behind Tim, also staring in shock.

"What? What did you find? Is she in danger?"

"No," Tim said. "But... Well, I think I know why Danny wanted to talk to you."

"Why?"

"You're going to wanna see for yourself, Dickwing," Jason said, plucking the laptop off Tim's lap, much to his displeasure, and handing it to Dick.

Tim had successfully found Samantha Manson's social media accounts, as well as those of the two people on the phone. Tucker Foley and Daniel Fenton were the two most tagged people in Manson's posts, and featured in several photos.

Quick scans showed that the three appeared to be romantically involved, having been close friends since early middle school. In the past several years there were few photos of Danny, and photos with him in them often had him blurred, even if the rest of the image was clear.

Thankfully, Tim already had a picture of the boy from what must have been their freshman year pulled up. The three were posed in front of Casper high, which must be their high school. Tucker, to the far left, was smiling wide, an arm wrapped around Samantha, who stood in the middle. She would have looked bored, save for the small smile on her face and the way her arms wrapped around Tucker and Danny's shoulders.

And Danny...

Dick understood why Tim and Jason were so shocked. He doubted anything could have prepared him to seeing his own face staring back at him through the screen.

He heard Kori gasp as she looked over his shoulder, and it was everything he could do to not drop the computer. Danny Fenton had his dark hair, his eyes, his cheeks, and the start of his build. At least, he had in early high school.

"That was the most recent clear photo I've managed to find of him," Time said. "I tried using the image sharpening software, but it never turned out anything recognizable."

"Bruce..."

His father was behind him in a moment. He could feel the man's hesitation as he saw the photo, before he took the laptop and set it down.

"I... I have..."

"We don't know for certain," he said, turning Dick so they were facing one another. "We need to get more information. DNA, school records, birth certificates. But, if it turns out he is, how do you want to handle it?"

How did he want to handle it? He might have a son that he'd never gotten to even meet. That he was planning to go meet in the next few days. He had no idea how he wanted to handle it.

"We should finish deciding how we will be getting Mar'i home first," Kori said, slipping her hand into his own and giving it a squeeze.

"Yeah. The kid, Dan... He called Mar'i Aunty, and Danny didn't correct him. Which means they either strongly suspect a relation, or they know for certain. If I had to guess, that's why they want to talk.

"Don't think that just because Fenton may have some kind of blood relation to you that he can be brought into the fold immediately, Richard," Damian said. "I am more than capable of besting him should he try to take the mantle of Robin."

"I'm not going to tell him, Dami," he reassured his youngest brother. "Besides, I doubt he'd want to get wrapped up with our nightlife. He's clearly got his own normal life, I don't want to take that away from him."

~~~

Danny was going to kill Tucker. Since when had Danny ever been in any clubs? Now he'd have to come up with clubs to talk about if his maybe bio-dad asked about them. Sure, it'd be a little difficult since both of his partners were as liminal as Jazz, if not more by now, but he'd find a way.

After he contacted the Observants and made sure his usual band of rogues and friends left him alone for a week. Just in case his maybe dad (he had to come up with a better title) couldn't make it tomorrow or the day after.

Ancients, this was going to be such a hassle.

He'd probably meet outside of city limits anyway, just for an extra layer of security. If any ghosts decided to attack against his orders while his... while Dick was here, he wanted him as far away from the fight as possible. No point endangering him and Mar'i any more than necessary. Plus, they weren't Amity natives, ghosts wouldn't probably freak him and Mar'i out, not to mention Dick's wife.

Who was, apparently, an alien.

He hadn't thought about that really until just now. He could already feel the questions starting to bubble up, but he pushed the curiosity down. Schedule a week of with the Observants first, meet Dick second, ask the cool alien lady every question in the universe third.

"I'm going to go talk to the Council," Danny said, tossing the phone back to Tuck. "Am I okay to leave the kids here for a while?"

"Of course. You know they listen to us more than you anyway," Sam said, walking over to give him a quick goodbye hug.

"Yeah, and I'm eternally jealous. But at least they listen to someone," he said, walking over and kissing Tucker bye before walking into the kitchen and opening a portal to the Infinite Realms.

Every time he did that, he found himself grateful that Wulf had taught him how to get back and forth without the Fenton Portal. He'd destroyed midway through his sophomore year, and they'd been trying to rebuild it ever since.

He shuddered as he thought about it, shifting into his ghost form and feeling gravity revoke its hold on him before slipping through the portal. They'd called him earlier to ask if he'd seen where they left the blueprints they'd made from memory.

He did remember, he wasn't as stupid as his report card made him look. Which was why he wasn't stupid enough not to burn the blueprints when he'd found them.

~~~

He only barely got back in time to call Dick back. He hadn't gotten a week off, like he'd hoped. But they agreed to at least restrict access to the living world for a couple days. Not ideal, but at least it was better than nothing.

"How'd it go?" Tucker asked from the kitchen. He was setting out three plates of tacos for the kids, his own and Sam's sitting near the stove.

"Not ideal. But I got the eyeballs to at least lower the chances of any attacks for a few days, so at least it's not a sharp stick in the eye."

"Ouch, only reduced? Did you bring up her being... you know," his boyfriend said, stepping over to give him a hug. Danny felt like he could melt into his arms. It was unfair how good Tuck's hugs were when he was stressed.

"Yeah. That was why they decided to restrict everything. I probably should have talked to Clockwork first, gotten some advice, but you know how time works with him. I might've come back yesterday or two weeks from now."

"I hear ya. Come on, there's time for you to enjoy a taco before we call your maybe-bio-dad back. Sam's getting the kids together, so they'll be distracted during the call."

"Thanks, Tuck. You two are the best."

"Of course we are. Now, food. You know Sam won't let you get away with not taking care of yourself."

The taco was great, and Danny had vacuumed up half of it by the time the kids flew downstairs, chattering away between the three of them as they came to the kitchen table. Dan and Ellie were in their ghost forms as they sat, and Danny had to remind them that ghost powers weren't allowed at the table to get them to return to their human forms.

The dinner was uneventful, thankfully. Dan and Ellie had been busy showing Mar'i around the house, eventually turning it into a game of hide and seek tag. Ellie had gotten into a small fight with Dan when he'd used invisibility to cheat, but nothing to large thankfully. Mar'i, thankfully, seemed to be settling in well, and the other two weren't calling her Aunty, so small mercies.

"Alright. I'm gonna go call Ri-ri's dad back. Dan, Ellie, once dinner's done get ready for bed. See if you can find anything that would fit Mar'i to sleep in."

Danny stepped into the backyard, going ghost just long enough to fly up to the roof before changing back and dialing Dick's number.

"Hello, Dick Grayson-Wayne speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hey, it's Danny."

"Oh! Hi, Danny. Um... I guess the first thing to ask is if you managed to get out of your clubs?"

"Mostly, yeah. I might get called away last minute, but hopefully that won't be happening. School's a little harder."

"Yeah, I get that. I managed to get the next two days off, so Kori and i can be there by tomorrow. I assume after school works better for you?"

"Please. Mr. Lancer's going to have my head if I miss another class this week." Shulker had decided to attack right in the middle of English. It had been halfway across the city, though, so Danny'd had to make an hour long bathroom trip. lancer had been... less than impressed with him.

"You're missing class?" Shit.

"It's not important. I just... um... We should meet outside the city!" Danny prayed Dick would just drop the skipping school angle.

"... I was going to suggest the same thing. I'd rather not risk running into paparazzi. We've managed to keep them away from Mar'i so far, and I'd like to continue that if at all possible." Thank the Ancients.

"Yeah, totally. I get that. Is your wife coming with?"

"Yes. I figured she can take Mar'i and then we can talk like you wanted to." Danny sat, leaning against one of the chimney's on the house and looking up. It was a clear night, and even if the sun hadn't set all the way yet he could see the stars.

"That sounds good. There's a small mom and pop shop right outside the city. It's got indoor and outdoor seating, whichever you prefer. I know I'd rather keep the conversation private, for both our sakes, so if we could sit there there's fewer people that would be appreciated."

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow. Before you go, though, could I talk to Mar'i?"

"Yeah. It might take a minute to get down- to get the kids downstairs. They tend to be a bit hard to wrangle, especially when they have a friend over. I'll put you on hold."

Danny didn't wait for a response before hitting the hold button, going ghost to float to the ground before becoming human again. He strode inside, taking a deep breath before shouting for Mar'i, only to be met with three small voices, plus Sam's, yelling at him for yelling inside.

Shortly after, a stampede of two sets of feet came barreling down the stairs towards him. Mar'i was still flying, but Danny could tell that the bandages under her robot pajamas were fresh. hopefully, she would be able to walk with only minimal discomfort tomorrow.

"Woah, woah!" he said, holding the phone up. he felt the haptics that told him he'd hit a button on accident, he just had to hope that it wasn't the button to hang up.

"Dan, Ellie, it's bedtime for you two. Did you remember to brush your teeth?"

"Yes, Daddy," Ellie said, "but we wanna say hi to Au- to Ri-ri's mommy and daddy too!"

"How did you know that's- doesn't matter. It's bedtime."

"Aw, pleeeaaaassse, Daddy?" Dan said, teaming up with Ellie to give him puppy eyes.

"No. You heard your dad, it's bedtime."

"But Mama," Ellie whined, only to be met with Sam's hard stare.

"Bedtime. Mar'i Will be going to bed after she getes to talk with her parents, and I'll send Papa and Daddy up with her to tuck you in. Now, move your butts upstairs."

Dan and Ellie sulked their way upstairs, followed by Sam. She'd be back down in a few minutes after reading the four and six year olds a story and tucking them in. Which meant Mar'i would have some privacy to talk with her parents.

"Here you go Ri-ri," he said, double checking that he hadn't accidentally hung up. He hadn't, but Dick was very definitely not on hold like Danny remembered. Well, it wasn't like they'd said anything about ghosts, so it was fine.

"Stay in the living room, and then bring the phone back to me when you're done. I'm going to be in the kitchen." Mar'i was quick to snatch the phone from his hand, flying over to sit on the couch.

"Hi daddy!" he heard her say as he stepped into the kitchen to make another taco. Say what you would about Tuck, he could make a mean taco, even if they were vegetarian for Sam.

He intentionally tuned out Mar'i's voice. She, like Dan and Ellie, didn't have the best grip on volume control, especially on the phone. The conversation had nothing to do with him, so he instead busied himself looking up what he remembered from early.

Tamaranian was fairly easy, since Ri-ri had already mentioned they were a kind of alien. He found a few things about their home planet of Tamaran, power sets, and the like. Nothing struck him as too alarming or dangerous.

Which left the Joker. A quick search brought up two dozen articles, all from news sites located in Gotham. From what he could gather, the guy was a grade A wackjob. He'd killed dozens, caused significant damage to the city he lived in. He seemed to enjoy playing with lives like some kind of game.

The only reason he hadn't done more damage and hurt more people was because of someone called Batman, apparently a vigilante local to the city. Some research into him showed that he'd started as a solo hero, but had built a team that people called "The Birds" over the years. He also was apparently a part of a group called the Justice League.

He was about to do some digging into them when Mar'i ran in with the phone.

"Here you go, Mr. Danny! I'm going to go to bed now. See you tomorrow!"

"Night, Mar'i," he called after the girl rushing upstairs. he brought the phone back to his ear.

"So, I guess We'll talk tomorrow?"

"You're in high school, right?"

"Um... yeah?" Dick was quiet for a minute, enough that Danny wondered if he'd hung up.

"Ri-ri was telling me about your kids. I take it they're Miss Manson's?"

"W-what?!" he sputtered. "What makes you think that?"

"I'm a detective, Danny," Dick said. it sounded a lot like Jazz when she was explaining why it was important for him to get enough sleep. "It wasn't hard to find out that you two and Mr. Foley are involved together."

"Well, yeah, but we're not- they aren't- look, it's a long story that involves a fruitloop who was obsessed with me being his son, and I'd rather not try and explain over the phone."

"Right. Sorry, just... Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Talk to you then. Night."

"Night, Danny."

Danny hung up, staring down at the phone. He'd have to see if Sam or Tucker could pick up the kids tomorrow. Oh god, how was he going to take care of Mar'i tomorrow? Well, the daycare attendant had said a while ago that she'd owe Phantom a favor for saving the daycare. Maybe he could show up early as Phantom and ask that she take care of an extra kid?

He groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. The phone smacked uncomfortably against his forehead, but he paid it no mind. He already agreed to help his parents look for those blueprints, which meant he was going to have to spend the night at home, which meant he wasn't going to sleep, which meant-

He shook himself out of his spiral. One step at a time, that's what Jazz always said. One step. Right now, the next step was to tuck in his kids and kid sister.

Right. That was a task he could manage.

[boopjuice]

@bluerosefox so... it's been six months... sorry about that. But on the bright side, I have one part after this and an epilogue planned out now! Hope you enjoy.

Everything went a little too well. True to his predictions Danny didn't sleep a wink, which meant that he was able to get some pancake mix prepped and get out the door before his parents came up from the lab. Dan and Ellie were just waking up when he got to Sam's, coming downstairs right as Danny was phasing through the door.

"Morning, Dad," Dan mumbled, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, Stardust. You sleep okay?" Dan made a grumble of affirmation, walking over and burying his face into Danny's leg. Danny gently ruffled his son's hair while Ellie made her way over to the breakfast counter, climbing into her seat and splaying her top half over the counter in an attempt to get a little more sleep. It was amazing to think that, between his two children, both had at one point not only tried to kill him but that his future self, who had well and truly hated him, was the one who clung to him more.

He chuckled, picking up his son who proceeded to bury his face into Danny's neck, and walking into the kitchen. He used one hand to grab a pan and some cooking spray before setting his son down in his own seat. The six year old whined at the loss of contact, and Danny chuckled.

"I know, Dan, but I need both hands to make pancakes."

"Y're makin' pancakes?" Ellie slurred, lifting her head from the cool counter. Her hair was sticking up every which way, probably from the way she tossed and turned last night.

"Yep. But you two need to be dressed and ready for school if you want to have some." His kids, still half asleep, groaned at that, but dutifully hopped off the chairs to drag themselves upstairs and get dressed for the day. "Remember to wake up Mar'i," he called gently after them.

The pancakes went well. He didn't even burn the first one, which should have tipped him off. The kids came down, Mar'i in tow and dressed in some of Dan's clothes, and they all appeared much more awake than when the first two had come down. Sam followed down soon after, wrapping Danny in a hug and giving him a good morning kiss that the kids all fake gagged at. Even ghostlings and aliens, it seemed, thought shows of affection between parents were odd.

"Tuck had to go home for the night, but he'll take Dan to school," Sam said, picking up a few pancakes for herself.

"Alright. I'll be dropping off Ellie and Mar'i separately at the daycare. Ellie, think you can keep your invisibility up for a bit when we go?"

"I can!" she said through a mouthful of pancake.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Sam chided, sitting at the breakfast counter next to Mar'i, who was the picture of well behaved. The kind of well behaved that meant she was planning mischief.

"Mar'i, I'm going to be dropping you off at the daycare with Ellie."

"What? But I'm seven! I don't need to go to daycare!"

"I know, Riri. But my friends and I need to go to school, and we can't bring you with us. We can't take you to school with Dan, because you aren't enrolled. And before you try to say you can stay alone, you are seven. I'm not about to leave a seven year old alone no matter how capable they might be. So, unfortunately, you'll be at the daycare."

Mar'i huffed a bit, crossing her arms and pouting. "Hey, that means we can play together! Together, we can lead the daycare to rebellion! Freedom for Kids!!!" Ellie said, promptly floating up and brandishing her fork in the air.

"Ellie, if you start another revolution at the daycare, you'll be staying with Grandpa Clockwork while we're gone," Sam said.

"What?! But he's sooooo booooooring!"

"Then no revolutions," Danny said, turning to level his best "parenting look" at his youngest. "And no ghost powers while you're eating."

Dan snickered as Ellie floated back to her seat, sticking his tongue out to tease her. Mar'i, thankfully, was a little less pouty than before.

The flight to the daycare was uneventful. Ellie stayed invisible the whole time while Danny told Mar'i that she couldn't use any powers she had at the daycare. She likely already knew, but it was good to remind her.

The attendant was a little skeptical about taking on a seven year old for the day, even with the favor she owed Phantom, but with the explanation that it was for one day and a little extra cash she let Riri stay. He told her that Riri would be getting picked up with Ellie, then went around the block, shifted back to his human form with Ellie, and walked them both to the door to drop her off too.

He got to school the same time as Sam and Tuck did, greeting them both with a hug and a quick kiss before they headed off to class. He texted Tuck the plan for the day, slipping his phone into his pocket right as the bell rang for first period.

As the day went on, things kept going well. He didn't cross paths with Dash. Lancer didn't have a pop quiz. There was even pizza for lunch.

All of those things should have tipped Danny off that something was going to go wrong.

When the last bell rang, he walked out of school with his partners. They chatted along the way, trying to get his story straight about which clubs he was in, since someone had told his maybe-bio-dad that he was in several. By the time they got to the elementary school to pick up Dan they'd agreed on Danny being in the Robotics and Astronomy clubs, since Danny had at least some idea of what each of them did.

The walk to the daycare was filled with chatter from Dan as he talked about what he'd done that day, the things he'd learned and what activities were most important to him. Apparently they were going to start music lessons soon, and he'd get to bring home a recorder to practice. In his excitement, he didn't notice how his parents all looked at each other in resignation for the terrible screeching that would be Dan practicing for the next few months.

Picking up Ellie and Mar'i went smoothly as well. Fortunately, Ellie had not tried to start a revolution. Unfortunately, Mar'i had somehow found her way into the air ducts and had spent an hour playing a one-sided game of hide and seek with the attendants.

The six of them walked towards the bus stop, Danny checking his phone to see a text from Dick. He was almost to town, and would probably get to the meeting spot before him. It would be another five minutes before the bus got there, so Danny texted back to let him know.

"Hey, good luck with your-" Tuck glanced at Mar'i, happily chatting with Dan and comparing notes about their days as Ellie chimed in with important details. "With your dad."

"Thanks. I'll be home as soon as I can."

"We know, Spooky. We'll all be waiting to hear how it went." Sam wrapped him in a tight hug, Tucker joining not long after, and Danny squeezed them back. He didn't know what he'd done to get lucky enough to have these two in his life and afterlife, but he wasn't about to question it now.

"Right. Kids, say by to Riri," Tuck said once they all pulled away.

"Aw, can't she stay a little longer?" Ellie begged, giving her best puppy eyes.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaase?" Dan joined in with the puppy eyes.

"I know you guys had fun, but Mar'i needs to go back to her parents," Danny chided. "But I can talk to them and see if there's a way that you three can get together and play again. Sound good?"

"Fine," Dan huffed, before enveloping Mar'i in a hug. "Bye Riri."

"Yeah, bye. Don't let ghosts get you." Ellie said, also joining the hug.

"I won't. And if they try, my Mommy and Daddy will be there to keep me safe!" They all pulled away. "I'll see you later!" Mar'i said, taking Danny's hand as Sam and Tuck picked up a child each and started walking to Sam's house.

"Alright, Riri. Ready to see your parents?" Danny asked.

"Mhm!" She nodded with her whole body, and Danny couldn't help but smile.

~~~

Dick was bouncing his knee as he waited in the Waffle House next to Kori. He needed to make sure his little girl was alright. He needed to ask Danny how sure he was about the whole "being Dick's kid" thing. He needed to check on his maybe-son's partners and kids and wasn't that a thing to think about? That he might have grandkids? That would make Bruce a great grandfather, and Alfred a great great grandfather. If he hadn't been so stressed about this meeting going well, he would have laughed.

Kori's hand rested on his shoulder. "Richard, you will break the chair at this rate. It will be fine."

"But what if it isn't? What if he isn't my son? Kori, what if he is? What do i do?"

"I do not know. But panicking will not make this easier, you know this." He sighed, reaching up to grab his wife's hand.

"Yeah. Yeah I do."

The next twenty minutes of waiting was agonizing. He did everything he could to relax, but he still felt anxiety eating away at him. The chatter on the TV in the corner didn't help. What was he supposed to say? He knew he needed a DNA test, but did he just come out and say that? What if the partners were there, what then? What did he say to them? What if Danny brought his kids?

All his worried thoughts were cut off when the door jingled and a familiar shout of "Mommy! Daddy!" rang through the dining area. He was on his feet in a moment, falling to his knees to cradle his daughter in a tight hug.

"Thank god you're safe," he whispered into her hair as Kori collapsed next to him, cradling them both in arms he knew were carefully gentle to not hurt them. Dick pulled back from his daughter slightly, checking her without letting her go.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He didn't really expect an answer, and his mind went blank for a moment when he saw the bandages on her wrists and ankles.

"I'm fine. Mr. Danny and his friends were really nice, but i did have to go to daycare." She huffed out the last word like it was some prison chamber instead of... well, a daycare.

"And I'd have you go again, Riri. I wasn't about to leave you alone." Dick finally took his eyes off his daughter, looking towards the voice he'd only heard over the phone before.

Danny was the spitting image of him when he'd been in the Titans. Same lean build, same black hair, same eyes. There were a few bits that didn't quite look right. Danny was a bit paler than he'd ever been, enough that people would have likely just dismissed it as a tan in a place like Illinois. His cheekbones were a little off, and his chin was a tad more pointed than his own. But Dick could have slapped a domino and some multicolor spandex on the kid and mistaken him as a younger version of himself.

"You must be Danny," he said when he found his voice."

"Yep. That's me. You must be-" the kid snorted a little. "You must be Dick." Dick smiled a little at that, standing and holding out a hand.

"That's me. Thank you for taking care of my daughter." Danny took his hand, keeping the shake short. It didn't keep Dick from noticing that the kid's hands were cold. They would have been clammy, if there'd been any perspiration.

"It's nothing, really. Ancients know I wasn't about to just not help." Danny's eyes drifted to where Kori was still fussing over her daughter, asking about the bandages. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. "Oh..."

"Apologies, I'm a little frazzled. This is my wife, Kori." She looked up at her name, standing and holding her own hand out to Danny as Mar'i grabbed her other.

"Hello. Thank you for keeping our daughter safe. I do not know what we would do if she were hurt."

"Think nothing of it," Danny said, looking at Kori in awe. "Uh... Mar'i said you were a Tamaranian?"

"Yes. I am. Is there an issue?" Kori had noticed the way the kid was staring, and was doing her best to remain polite.

"What's space like?" And just like that, Danny started spitting questions non-stop. "What's Tamaran like? I found a few articles, but I imagine they only cover the broad strokes of culture. Oh! When was your people's first interstellar mission? When did you discover there was other life in the universe? What galaxy is Tamaran in? What planets can you see from it? Wait, no, which stars? Do you-"

Danny seemed to catch the overwhelmed look on his wife's face and snapped back to himself. "Oh, um... That was probably a lot. Sorry. Space is just... I guess you could call it an Obsession of mine," he said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to word-vomit like that."

"It is quite alright," Kori said, smile returning. "I did not expect those kinds of questions. I must admit, I am uncertain how long ago we reached space, but it was quite a long time ago."

Danny nodded, the stars not quite gone from his eyes, and the room warmed back up. When had the temperature dropped?

"Anyway, Mar'i, would you like to go and get some ice cream?" Kori said, looking to the young girl.

"Yes please!" Riri turned her green eyes on Danny, and Dick waited to see how he reacted. While most people were generally very accepting of his daughter, it was still common for people to squirm a little under her full gaze and inhuman eyes. Danny did no such thing, just smiled back, eyes almost reflecting hers for the briefest of moments. "Bye Mr. Danny."

"Bye, Riri. Stay safe."

"I will! Come on, Mommy, let's go!" Mar'i tugged her mother towards the door, and Kori said a quick goodbye before letting herself be dragged away. Dick had already given her the replacement tracking bracelet for Riri, since her last one had malfunctioned. He turned to Danny, the both of them still standing awkwardly in the middle of a Waffle House.

"You said you wanted to talk," Dick started. Danny nodded, looking as tense as Dick felt.

"Yeah." They both sat at the table he and Kori had occupied. Dick had to right his chair, he'd accidentally tipped it over in his haste earlier. With the both of them seated, Dick started questioning.

"First off, how did you end up finding Mar'i? She was... being held hostage, and then she just fell into a green portal. Was that you?" Danny looked at the table, chewing the inside of his cheek like Dick used to do.

"... yeah. I... I'm a meta." Years of experience had taught him when someone was lying. This kid was. "It's sort of an empath ability? With a little bit of other stuff mixed in. I don't really understand all of it." All a lie.

"What I know is... It felt like my sister- My other sister, the one I grew up with- it felt like she was in danger, but also not? So I just... I made sure whoever it was was safe. It just ended up being Mar'i." Danny locked eyes with Dick then. Nothing about that last bit was a lie. "I know it probably scared you really, really bad. Ancients only know what I would do if Dan or Ellie went missing like that."

"Your kids?" Danny nodded. "Your son's name is Dan?" A fond smile overtook Danny's face.

"Short for Dante, but yeah. It's... a bit of a story."

"How old are they, if I may?"

"Dan's six, and Ellie's four." Danny was 17. That meant he'd had Dan when he was 11. 13 when he had Ellie. Dick felt a pit start to open in his gut.

"And they're yours?" Another nod.

"Yep. I know I'm young, but I've got Sam and Tuck with me. We've been making it work."

"You mentioned they weren't Miss Manson's. Who's are they, if I may ask?" Danny froze, then chuckled and looked away. He rubbed the back of his neck, slouching into the chair.

"That's another long story. But I don't know if I'd really change it." The pit that had started to open in his gut widened to a gaping chasm. Had someone-

"Anyway, you're a detective. What's that like?" Danny said, and Dick filed away the subject for later.

"It is what it is. I'm not in a great spot, lots of the people I go to work with are bought out by some crime lord or another. I try to do what I can from the inside, but there's only so much one person can do. It's why I work with Nightwing on a lot of cases."

"He's the vigilante in Bludhaven, right?"

"Mhm. Used to be a Robin before going there. He's a lot of help with the local crime." It was exceedingly strange to talk about his vigilante life like this with someone who didn't have more than passing knowledge of him. "But what about you? I hear there's a vigilante in your town too."

"Yeah, we've got one. Phantom. He's a ghost, so opinion on him is pretty mixed." And there was something he'd been meaning to ask about.

"Hang on, ghost? You mean those touristy sites talking about "The Most Haunted City in America" weren't bullshitting?"

"Nope," Danny said, shaking his head with a tired smile. "Ghosts are very real, and we have the property damage bills and insurance plans to prove it."

"Is that why opinion on Phantom's mixed?"

"Yeah. There's a pretty big camp that isn't happy with the damage his fights cause, or just straight up think ghosts aren't sentient. But there's also a lot of people that he's saved, or that just think he's cool."

"What about you?" Dick asked.

"I mean..." Danny was very hesitant, looking at his hands as he spoke. "I... Ghosts are sentient, to get that out of the way. And yeah, he's caused a lot of damage over the years, but the ghost hunters would have caused a lot more. He's saved ghost hunters from ghosts before, and he pretty regularly has to save ghosts and regular people from ghost hunters so... I think he's just trying his best to protect everyone. Plus... i mean, it's kinda my fault he's here in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... my parents have a... a lab? In the basement. They're ectobiologists, and they spent most of their lives trying to build a portal to what they call the Ghost Zone. And they did, but it didn't really work at first. So I took a look at it, and... well, there was an accident. The portal turned on with me inside, and it's how I got my meta powers. But it also let Phantom and all the other ghosts through. So it feels kinda wrong to hate the guy when I'm the reason he's here in the first place."

Dick had a hard time parsing out that last part. On the one hand, there was a lot of truth to what Danny was saying. But he was still lying. There was something he was hiding.

"But to actually answer your question, I'm sort of on the fence about him." Danny was pretty clearly uncomfortable, and the Bat in Dick wanted to press for more information, find out all the pieces. The part of Dick that knew this could be his kid decided that a subject change was much needed.

"That's fair. Your boyfriend mentioned you were in a couple clubs. What are they?"

~~~

Danny and Dick chatted for another hour before Dick brought up DNA testing. It was a bit of an awkward moment, but it needed to be done.

"It's just a precaution. It wouldn't be the first time someone did something like this for less than genuine reasons."

"No I totally get it. it was the first thing I did when I found Ellie."

"I thought you said she was yours? Did you not know the mother?"

"Ah-" and Danny was shrinking in on himself again. "Well... she doesn't exactly have a mother? Dan either. Like I said, it's a long story involving my fruitloop of a godfather and-" Danny took a deep breath, and Dick did the same, trying to make the blood rushing in his ears quiet.

"Danny... what happened?" Danny took another breath.

"Ellie and Dan are both clones. There's... I know you're worried, but I'd rather not talk about it." Dick was certain Danny could hear the way his heart was thundering, demanding retribution for something the kid so clearly had found violating. Hell, the guy at the register twenty feet away could probably hear it.

"Of course. I'm sorry to have pried." Danny nodded.

"Anyway, yeah. I get the need for a DNA test. No worries."

"Okay. And... if it comes back positive, what would-"

"Breaking News! There's a ghost attack on 50th Street and Olsen Boo-levard. It appears Plasmius is set on destroying an ice cream parlor. Please, steer clear of the area. I repeat, steer clear of the area. Ghost hunters are on the way, so civilians are encouraged to stay off the streets. We will update as-"

"I have to go," Danny said, standing abruptly. "Do you have a way to call your wife? Make sure she's okay?"

Dick was already pulling out his phone, rushing outside. Kori had a panic button, as did Mar'i. Both were inactive as he looked, and he wanted to sigh in relief. Then both went active, almost in unison, at the intersection of 50th and Olsen.

"Danny, wait!" Dick said, striding to catch up with the boy. "Please, please tell me you drove here."

"No? I took the bus, and then we walked." Dick cursed.

"Okay. Okay, this is fine."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Kori and Mar'i are there," Dick said, heart squeezing. Danny went pale as... well, pale as a ghost. it almost looked like he wasn't breathing.

"Don't arrest me." Danny walked out the door, Dick following close behind. He watched Danny break the window of a nearby car, slipping in and hotwiring it in seconds.

"Do you know how to drive?" he asked, face an echo of what Dick's used to be when he was Robin.

"Yeah, I know-"

"Good, because I drive like my dad, and he believes in road safety as much as he does lab safety. get in, I'll nav." Dick didn't need to be told twice, though he did want to ask what exactly Danny meant by that.

Dick peeled the car out of the parking lot like a Bat out of Hell. Which, he reflected, might have been something that actually happened and no one mentioned to him.

Danny guided them through the city, having them stop in sight of the destruction. Kori was fighting off several green glowing vultures, the blasts she fired from her hands barely singeing the things. There was distant cackling, and Kori tried to dart further in, away from where Dick and Danny were exiting the car. The vultures knocked her off course, harrying her and preventing her from getting to where she was going.

Dick checked the locations of the panic buttons. Kori was right in front of him, but Mar'i...

"She's still in there," he breathed out. Danny turned to him.

"What?"

"Mar'i's still in there. I-"

"I'm going to find her." The kid wasted no time, running towards the conflict.

"Danny, wait!" Kori was a member of the Justice League, and she couldn't do anything to the creatures that were clearly just stalling her. Danny was a civilian, he was going to get hurt.

But he ran on, dodging the lone vulture that dove at him with what looked like practiced ease, continuing his sprint until he was out of sight. Dick cursed, following what might have been his son.

He saw Danny duck into an alley, just before a bright flash of light poured into the street. He turned the corner and...

There was Danny. But he was... wrong. Black hair had turned white. Casual clothes had been swapped for a black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots. He couldn't see the boy's face, his back turned, but he watched the boy take off out of the alley, phasing through buildings as he gained height and flew towards what was likely the epicenter of the destruction.

Dick shoved his confusion and dawning realization down, continuing in the direction Danny, no, Phantom had flown.

~~~

Danny should have known better. Today was going too well, so of course, of course, everything had to go wrong. He flew towards where his core tugged, where Mar'i was.

He found her, cowering against a destroyed wall as Vlad towered over her. "You know, I didn't think my little badger could have a heart for anything not his own flesh and blood. Perhaps, however, he could be persuaded to change his mind with a little... incentive."

He leaned closer, and Danny felt a flash of pride as Mar'i fired a small green bolt at his mortal enemy. Vlad, for his part, did nothing more than hiss. "You little brat!" He snatched Mar'i by one wrist before Danny could intervene, flying up, no doubt to try and find him.

"Ah, Daniel. What a lovely surprise." Vlad said, dangling Mar'i by a still injured wrist. "I was wondering when you'd show up. I must admit, I have a few questions for you."

"Sure, Vladdy," Danny said, savoring how the man snarled a little at the nickname Danny's dad had given him long ago. "Just set her down first and then we can talk all you want."

"Somehow, I doubt your sincerity," Vlad said, squeezing Mar'i's wrist until she whimpered. Danny's core ached at the sound, but he stayed where he was.

"What do you want?" he ground out.

"The answer to a simple question."

"And that is?"

"Why her?" Vlad spit, shaking Mar'i a little. "Why spend your time caring for some random girl you've never met? What is so special about her that you would let someone who shares no similarities to you whatsoever into your core, but you won't even consider letting me, your same species, mentor you?"

"Maybe because she isn't trying to kill my dad and fu- marry my mom, fruitloop!"

"I simply don't understand it, Daniel." Vlad said, the hand not holding Mar'i lighting up in fire. "But, that does not mean I am foolish enough not to take advantage of a situation such as this.

"You may either come with me, bring my children with you, and accept me as your mentor and rightful father, or-" he held the flame up by Mar'i face, her green eyes reflecting the pink flames. "She dies."

Danny froze. Everything around him froze too. The air dropped until frost formed on the rooftops above him, cement creaking at the sudden and drastic change. Mar'i's breaths came out in clouds of white as her breath condensed in the chill and she started to shiver.

"Honestly, little badger, enough of the temper tantru-"

Danny crashed into Vlad, pulling his flaming hand from Mar'i fast enough he thought he heard something in Vlad's arm pop. He let his legs dissolve into a shadowy tail that curled around her waist as his other hand began to squeeze down on the wrist Vlad was using to hold Mar'i.

"Get your filthy hands off my sister." There was a snap and Vlad cried out in pain. Danny knew from experience that the break would heal in moments, thanks to the ectoplasm, but it was enough time to grab Mar'i and bolt.

He searched for Dick with his core, startling when he found the man nearly directly beneath Vlad. She whipped down, depositing Mar'i in his arms with a quick "Get her to safety," before taking back off, intercepting Vlad halfway.

It had been a long time since Danny had felt the need to truly go all out against Vlad. The last time he had, it had been all he could do to keep the upper hand in the fight. This time, it was clear just how outmatched Vlad had become.

Danny did what he could to keep the fight in the air, but collateral damage was inevitable when Vlad used every chance he got to try and take pot-shots at Dick and Mar'i. It was his only bet if he wanted to get Danny to do what he wanted, since overpowering him was so clearly out of the question.

He even called his vultures in to try and help, though Danny made short work of them, souping them quickly and going back to Vlad before he had been able to get out of Danny's range.

When Danny could finally think straight again, he was standing over an unconscious Plasmius, thermos gripped tightly in his hand. He let out a breath, pointing the thermos at Vlad and letting the device pull him in. With the threat gone, he phased the thermos into his chest.

That had been... intense. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so furious without wearing the Ring of Rage. Then again, he was a protector spirit, and Vlad had been directly threatening his sister. It only made sense he'd-

Something hit him, burning into his back, and he cried out in pain, collapsing where Vlad had just been a moment prior. "Yes! Finally, we've got you, Spook!" Danny heard the voice of his Dad, turning to see both his parents, fully suited up, standing over him. Before he had the presence of mind to try and move, His mother held out another thermos with a sickeningly sweet smile and sucked him inside of it.

~~~

There were a lot of things going through Dick's mind as the fight wound down. First, the kid who may or may not have been his son was a vigilante. Which brought up all kinds of questions about whether or not the kid was alive or not, since the town vigilante was commonly considered a ghost.

Second, the person- ghost? Whatever. The entity that had cloned his maybe-son without his consent was not only the kid's godfather, but also likely did so in an attempt to convince Danny to be his son. Which was creepy, even by bat standards. Like, Ra's al Ghul trying to convince Tim to become his protégé, creepy.

Third, Danny's parents didn't know. At the very least, they didn't know about their son being maybe a ghost, since they'd pretty blatantly shot him in the back right after he'd captured the actual threat.

Which Dick had seen because he was coming back after leaving Mar'i with Kori to see if he could try and help, or maybe get some clarification from Danny about what the hell had just happened. He'd seen the confusion on the boy's face, followed by terror, and then he'd been sucked into some weird looking thermos thing.

"We did it, Maddikins!" Mr. Fenton said, whirling to look at his wife as she removed the hood and goggles of her hazmat suit.

"That we did, Jack! Oh, I can't wait to see what's inside of it! Just think of all the tissue samples we'll be able to collect! We can finally see what really makes a ghost tick!" The two turned back towards the amalgamation of parts and tech that could only loosely be called a car.

"I know! I'm just so excited! Last time the blasted thing got away, but not this time! We've beefed up our security, so there's no way it'll be able to get out! Oh! We'll need to remember the muzzle, so there's absolutely no risk of it manipulating us to let it go."

"Of course, dear. I've had it ready and waiting on the table since the last time it escaped."

Dick was almost glad the two piled into the car when they did. The doors slammed shut, cutting off his ability to hear their conversation and what a relief that was. Danny had mentioned some people thought ghosts weren't sentient. He had failed to mention that those people included his parents.

Dick pulled out his phone, calling a private number that only the rest of the family had. When the line clicked on, he didn't wait for the voice on the other side to speak.

"Tim, I need you to find out everything about the Drs. Fenton," he growled into the receiver, striding towards where he'd left Mar'i and Kori. "I'm opening a case."

He hung up without letting his brother speak a word. Right now, he needed answers and a safe place for his daughter. Lucky for him, the Manson household had both.

[boopjuice]

@bluerosefox, @leilakeila, @no-named-ghost The time has come. Sorry for the incredibly long wait. Hopefully, it's been worth it.

The Manson house was not what Dick would have expected. Considering how... extroverted Sam Manson's parents were at gala's, he would have expected something as close to a mansion as they could get. Instead, the address he'd memorized before arriving put him, Kori, and Mar'i in front of a very modest two story home with a large backyard.

Mar'i in his arms, he walked up the front steps to knock on the door. "Come back with a warrant!" someone shouted from inside. Sam, probably, given the voice.

"I would, but I'm on a bit of a time crunch. Can you please open the door?"

"She was pretty clear, man. Go away!" He sighed. Of all the times to not be in costume, this had to take the cake.

"It's Richard Grayson. I've got Mar'i and my wife with me. Can we please come in? I need to speak with you two. It's about Danny."

The silence stretched for several seconds. Then the door swung open, Sam Manson glaring daggers at him. She looked him up and down, like she expected more, but her eyes softened when they landed on Mar'i.

"We weren't expecting you back so soon, Riri. Come on, I'm sure Dan and Ellie would be happy to see you're still in town." She stepped aside, letting Dick and his family walk inside. She shut the door behind them, locking it, then walked past them to the living room.

The house was modest inside, too. At least, compared to what Dick expected from new money trying to secure their position. The entryway opened into an open floorplan with a kitchen on the right and a living room on the left. Directly opposite the front door was a door that cracked open to reveal a set of stairs leading down to a basement. On the far wall of the living room was a glass sliding door that opened onto a small deck, steps leading down into the backyard. A small backyard playground was set up, and it looked like it saw regular use.

The living room had a long couch and a low coffee table. A TV stand sat opposite to them, perpendicular to the sliding door. The kitchen was nice, lots of counter space and natural lighting from the windows to the right, catty-corner to the pantry. A breakfast bar separated the main cooking space from the rest, sleek black marble matching the countertops.

Plants decorated the corners, some on hanging shelves, and all over the walls were photos. Of Sam, and Tucker, and Danny, and sometimes all three. There were other photos of the group with two small children, spitting images of Danny. Dan and Ellie.

Tucker was nowhere to be seen, despite Dick swearing he'd heard a second voice earlier. But a laptop sitting open on the coffee table spoke to him having been there just recently.

"Tuck'll be down in a minute, he's getting the kids," Sam said in a clipped tone.

"You must be Samantha," Kori said. "I am Koriand'r. I believe you have spoken to my husband, Richard."

"Yeah, mister-" Sam's eyes flitted to Mar'i, and she bit back whatever remark she was about to make. "Please just call me Sam. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Thank you for helping take care of Mar'i," Dick said, releasing his daughter so she could float away if she wanted. "She mentioned that you're the one who helped treat her rope burns, and that you told her she could fly around if she wanted. Thank you for that."

"Of course, Mr. Grayson-Wayne. You have nothing to thank me for."

"Are Dan and Ellie around?" Mar'i asked. Sam softened again, actually smiling at her as she floated a little closer.

"They're upstairs. Tuck's just making sure they know we have guests. You can go let them know you're here, I'm sure they'll be happy you're still in town."

"Okay! Bye Sam!" Mar'i zipped off, ducking around the wall behind the couch to fly up what must have been a hidden staircase. As soon as Mar'i was out of sight Sam's face hardened again.

"What do you want?"

"Answers, to start." She crossed her arms, brow raised.

"That'll depend entirely on what questions you ask. Also, I can and will invoke my right to remove you from my home at any time, got it?" If Dick had been anyone else, he wouldn't have noticed the way some of the plants seemed to curl in the corner of his vision.

"Fine. I just want to know what the hell happened out there."

"You, me, and the devil make three." Tucker turned the corner than Mar'i had darted up, looking exhausted. Sam shot him a look, and he just nodded.

"You know, you could really stop making the demon goth jokes anytime, Tuck."

"As if you wouldn't gladly steal the devil's throne from under him and turn hell into something ethical." Sam just sighed and shook her head.

"They want answers."

"That depends-"

"Entirely on what questions we ask, we heard."

"Richard, calm down." Kori rested a hand on his shoulder and he closed his eyes and took a breath. These were teens. Teens that, given Sam's clear distrust, had something to hide. That something likely being his potential son's secret identity. He got where they were coming from, he really did. It was just a hindrance right now.

"Please, allow me to explain while my husband composes himself," Kori said. "Mar'i and I were at the parlor for ice cream when it was attacked. Mar'i was taken by whoever it was that orchestrated the attack, while I attempted to fight off the green birds he had under his control.

"Richard and Danny arrived later, and though I did not see this, my husband claims to have seen Danny change somehow. After, he claims to have seen Danny rescue Mar'i from her assailant. He had to take our daughter to safety, but returned to see if he could be of some help. He arrived in time to see two people shoot Danny in the back and capture him. They spoke of... I forget the precise wording."

"They couldn't wait to see what was inside of it." Dick ground out. Sam and Tuck straightened, glancing at one another. "Danny... He's Phantom, isn't he? I saw him run into an alley, there was a flash of light, and then Phantom was standing where my- where Danny was supposed to be."

His possible son's partners looked at him long and hard. Green flashed in their eyes as they scrutinized him and Kori, and he tensed. had they been in contact with the Lazarus Pits? He didn't think there were any nearby, but the League of Assassins were good at keeping them squirreled away.

"He is," Tucker finally said. "What else do you think you know?"

"He said he's a meta. That he got his powers from a lab accident. That some people don't think ghosts are sentient. I watched two ghost hunters in bright hazmat suits shoot him in the back. Most of the websites about this place indicate that those are Danny's parents, the Dr.s Fenton."

"The Fentons have him?!" Sam shouted. "Why didn't you say that earlier?!" She whipped around towards the basement, through the door and out of sight before Dick could get a word in.

"I do not understand. What-"

"The Fenton's are his parents," Tuck said, cutting Kori off as he slid onto the couch and booted up the laptop. "They're the crazy scientists that caused all this mess with ghosts in the first place."

"How?" Dick demanded.

"By opening a portal to the Infinite Realms."

"That does not sound ideal," Kori said, earning a harsh chuckle from Tucker. "What does that mean for Danny?"

"What it means is that his mad scientist parents just got their hands on the first known ghost through the portal, and they've been dying to get their hands on him since they first started showing up."

"What, Danny's a ghost?" His son was dead?

"You can ask him to explain once we get him back. For now, just tell us what you saw," Sam said, emerging from the basement carrying two large duffle bags that thunked heavily when she dropped them on the breakfast bar. She hadn't even broken a sweat hauling them up the stairs.

"They mentioned something about tissue samples, and about him getting away before. The one in orange said they're security was stronger than last time. There was something else about seeing how ghosts tick and... and they mentioned something about a muzzle."

To keep him from manipulating them. Their own son. They wanted to muzzle him so he couldn't talk them out of whatever procedure they'd go through with to "see how he ticked."

"That tracks. Tuck, how's their firewall looking?"

"Not great. They must've gotten something out of Technus last time after all, it's nearly alive." Sam hissed something out in a language Dick didn't recognize, which was a feat in and of itself. There weren't many languages he had the privilege of not recognizing.

"Okay, Plan B, then. We'll have to-"

"Papa?" A little girl was peeking around the corner. She was a dead ringer for Danny, which of course meant a dead ringer for himself, too. Her skin was even lighter than Danny's, but other than that and the longer hair she might have been him. Same eyes, same cheeks, same nose, same unruly hair, though hers curled more than her father's.

"Yeah, little Bit?"

"Where's Daddy? Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He's just at the Fenton's for now. Mama's gonna go and get him after dark. Go play with Mar'i and Dan, okay?" She nodded, shifting to return the way she came before her eyes locked onto Dick's.

"You didn't tell me Grandpa was here." Dick's heart froze in his chest

"Ellie! Papa said not to say anything!" A little boy popped around the corner to glare at his sister.

"He didn't say anything about not mentioning Grandpa!"

"It's the same as not mentioning Aunty!"

"How was I supposed to know?!"

"Both of you!" Tuck snapped. Two sets of vibrantly green eyes- hadn't they been blue a minute ago?- snapped to him. He took a breath, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Bit, Byte, upstairs. Go play with Mar'i. No ectoblasts in the house, and no breaking any walls."

"Okay, Papa," the boy, Dan, said.

"Sorry for fighting," Ellie said. Then, as if the two hadn't even been there, they disappeared. Literally. They both blinked out of sight. Tucker sighed again.

"Thanks, Tuck. I know you hate putting your foot down," Sam said, slipping onto the couch to hug her boyfriend. Dick was left standing there awkwardly, Kori's hand still on his shoulder, as the two comforted each other in a language he couldn't even begin to parse out. He hated to break up the moment, but there were pressing matters.

"Let me help." That drew the attention of the teens. They studied him, less harshly this time.

"And what exactly could you do?" Sam said, slipping off the couch with a last squeeze to Tucker's hand. She went to the duffle bags on the kitchen counter, pulling out various gadgets and... were those weapons?

"We have connections in the Justice League," Kori started. "We could have heroes here to aide you in retrieving Danny." Sam scoffed.

"As if. Even if you did, the Fenton's have top notch security. They're up against ghosts, I'm willing to bet they've got measures for kryptonians and maritans alike."

"What about humans?" Dick said. "You're planning on going in, aren't you? I have direct contact with Nightwing, who's basically Batman's second in command." Depending on the day. And if he and Bruce got in a fight. And if Bruce and Jay had got in a fight.

"They're on the other side of the country. Besides, I don't need Mr. "No Meta's In Gotham" fucking around with ghosts when the only literature on them so far is posted by the whackjobs about to vivisect their own son." Sam slammed a gun particularly hard onto the counter, the metal creaking slightly in protest.

"Sam," Tuck said, walking into the kitchen. "Go outside. Make sure the plants aren't wilting, okay?" One beat. Two.

"Okay. But you make sure nothing's glitching, alright? We don't need to replace the TV again."

Sam walked outside, plopping down cross-legged in the grass. The blades, instead of being displaced, seemed to gravitate towards her. Tucker took over unloading the gadgets, inspecting each one closely. Some of them seemed to turn on without any input, then turn back off.

"Go home, Mr. Grayson. We'll take care of Danny. This isn't our first scare, and it won't be the last while we're in Amity."

"I've still got questions." Some of the gadgets beeped, screens turning on and flashing.

"You get one."

"How did the kids know? About Mar'i possibly being his sister? About me? I didn't even know he existed until yesterday, so how?" Tucker took a breath, refusing to look at Dick.

"Danny might have mentioned that he has empathic abilities. Those abilities got passed down to the kids. One of the things they allow him to sense are family ties. That's how. Now get your daughter and get out. If you need to see that Danny's okay, just book a hotel for the night. We'll have him back home before school starts, but for now leave. You're stressing out my girlfriend."

"We understand. Thank you for answering our questions. Richard, I will meet you outside with Mar'i." Dick nodded, letting Kori get their daughter and walking out the front door. The effects of whatever meta ability Sam had were even more pronounced. Every blade of grass was tilted towards the Manson household's backyard. Plants that had lost their blooms with the late summer heat were in full flower, and tree branches swayed towards the yard.

Kori was out shortly after him, Mar'i quiet and somber. The downsides of having an empathy based power set, he supposed. They walked out of the neighborhood, out otwards the more urban areas of the city, before Kori spoke.

"Are we staying?"

"Of course. I'm not just going to let them do that to Danny."

"And Nightwing?"

"Will be making an appearance. I don't have the jurisdiction to get the evidence we'll need to bury them, but he does."

"I will take Mar'i home, then. It has been a long few days for her. I will see you soon." She leaned in to kiss him, and Mar'i made a little face.

"What, am I too grown up to get kisses?"

"They're gross when it's you and Mommy."

"Oh? Then is it gross if I..." Snatching his daughter up, he planted kisses all over her face. She squealed, laughing as he dug his fingers into her sides.

"Stop it! Stop!" she cried through giggles. He relented, with one last kiss to her forehead.

"Alright. Be good, munchkin. I'll see you soon."

"I will. Bye, Daddy." Kori took her hand, and the two of them flew off with a wave. He waved back, letting out a breath once they were finally out of sight. Time to go get that bag he'd stashed away.

~~~

Sam was kicking herself as she snuck towards the Fenton house, duffle bag brushing against her leg. Sure, Dick had absolutely no clue what he was going up against, had no idea how many times they'd tried to call the Justice League only to get no response. He'd only been trying to help someone he believed could be his son.

She and Tuck had perhaps been a bit too harsh with him. After all, he'd come to them first, instead of going straight to the GIW.

That didn't mean he wouldn't go straight to them now.

He had that kind of vibe to him. Like he was hiding something, always ready to lie to cover his back. Most people would have missed it. Most people weren't as liminal as the people of Amity Park, and even your average citizen wasn't toeing the line between life and death like her and Tucker did. Perks of being partners with the King of the Infinite Realms.

The Fenton house loomed over the other suburban buildings, visible several blocks away. She sent a quick text to Tuck. Now would be the right time for him to cause some kind of distraction.

She got a thumbs up in the chat, tucking the phone back away and continuing towards the engineering miracle that was the Fenton house. About a block out she saw a green shape beginning to circle around the satellite dish the Fentons had repurposed for their ghost detection system. Small lights began to blink on the roof as the system went off, and whichever ghost Tucker had managed to convince to play wild goose flew off.

Sam made it to some bushes across the street in time to see the Dr.'s Fenton peeling out of the garage in the GAV. Sirens began to sound in the town proper, warning everyone to get off the streets for their own safety.

She waited a minute or two, just to be safe. Jazz knew she was coming, knew to unlock the door once she gave the signal so they could get Danny out. The thermos full of ectoplasm weighed heavy in her pocket as she waited and watched to be sure that the Fentons were far enough away. It would probably be fine, but Danny had probably been fine until his parents shot him in the back.

A shadow moved in a yard just next to the Fenton house. Crouched low, it blended well with the shadows. There was hardly any ectoplasm to it, so definitely not a ghost. Plus, most of the ghosts wouldn't come topside with Danny out of commission.

The shadow stopped in front of the Fenton's front door, crouched low and-

Were they trying to pick the lock?

Okay. Not a ghost, and definitely not a local. Maybe some really, really weird and desperate tourist?

Either way, Jazz was still inside. Whoever this was could pose a threat to her, and Sam was not about to let her future sister-in-ghost-law deal with a weirdo like this. She was perfectly capable, but it was the principle of the thing!

Sam crept out of her hiding spot, the bush parting for her so there wasn't so much as a rustle. She slipped across the street, pulling one of the small caliber ectoguns from the bag as she did. They didn't really carry much in their weapons stores for humans, but the gun should work just fine to smack whoever was trying to break in over the head and with her strength it should hopefully knock them out.

She could start to make out more details as she approached. Whoever it was looked like they'd dressed for the occasion, wearing a black body suit with blue and silver accents. Nothing covering their head though, which meant that she had a clear shot.

The lock clicked as Sam raised her arm, and in the breath before she could swing down whoever was breaking in grabbed her other arm. She had enough time to gasp before she was flipped onto her front, her arm twisted behind her, face pressed to the concrete, and ectogun confiscated.

"You know, it's kind of rude to- Oh." Whoever was holding her down released their grip, just as the tree in the front yard tried to grab them. The weirdo dodged, landing in the grass before leaping onto the sidewalk. He wouldn't be safe there, but it was at least far enough away that the plants calmed down.

She could see him better now, the blue outline of a bird on his chest, melding into the same blue and silver accents she'd seen from behind. A domino mask covered his face, and he stood crouched and ready to dodge should the plants decide that she was in dnager again.

"You must be Miss Manson. Detective Grayson told me I should keep an eye out for you."

That. Dick.

"Didn't he tell you that we also don't need your help?"

"He may have mentioned that you had the matter well in hand, but I wanted to swing by myself. Human experimentation isn't really something that sits well with me. Or most people in the caped community. Too many of us have to worry about it, so we keep close eyes on possible cases."

"And you care so much now because...?" The hero, probably Nightwing if she had to guess based on Dick's earlier comments, tilted his head. He was definitely aiming for the lost puppy look, but Sam knew better. It took a long time for people in Amity to become as liminal as they were, and one of the first thing locals had to learn was how to keep their feelings secret. Nightwing was no local, though there was a strange familiarity to him.

She could practically feel the anger roiling through him, tempered by confusion but not curiosity. It swirled, the very beginnings of a proto-core forming at the center of the mass. He hadn't been in Amity nearly long enough for that, had he?

"What do you mean? We've never gotten a single call from Amity Park. Even during-"

"What do you mean, you never got a single call?! We were always calling! Especially after Pariah Dark when everyone got ecto-contaminated and the GIW started trying to grab people off the street!" More confusion from the hero, ignorant of the grass starting to grow through the cracks in the sidewalk. He held up his hands in placation, like it would somehow stem her frustration.

"The Justice League keeps track of every call we receive, courtesy of Batman. We haven't had a call from Amity Park ever. I know, I checked every log we have for the surrounding area before I flew out here."

Sam studied him, trying to find so much as a hint of dishonesty. There wasn't one. He'd gotten more angry, though. It was well tempered, and if she was anyone else in Amity Park she wouldn't have noticed it.

Maybe... maybe he was telling the truth? About being here because of human experimentation? But then why had his detective friend's call gotten through and no one else's? They'd had ecto-infused tech since a few months after the portal incident when it became clear that Danny's ghostliness was the reason their phones kept crapping out. They should have been able to reach out to the Justice League for help well before this. So why here? Why now? Why, why why, why?

She shoved those questions aside. She could figure them out later. Tucker's distraction wouldn't last forever, and they needed to be long gone when the Fenton's showed back up.

"Fine. Get your evidence, but don't touch anything unless me or Jazz give you the go-ahead. The Fenton's have random equipment laying around all the time, and some of it is liable to explode. Oh, and leave the fridge alone. We don't need the leftovers attacking us while we try to get Danny out." Sam willed the tree nearest Jazz's window to reach out and knock on the glass three times, their standard signal. She heard shuffling inside as Nightwing took a few quiet steps closer.

"What's that supposed to mean? The leftovers?"

"Ectoplasm is prone to reanimating anything once alive. One time they didn't close the lid on a container of mashed potatoes all the way, and a week later it tried to eat my sociology homework. Leave the fridges alone."

"Noted."

The front door swung open, and Jazz blocked their way inside. "Who's the cosplayer?" Ancients, she loved Jazz. She and Danny were the exact same kind of sassy, even if she didn't indulge herself as much as her younger brother.

"Nightwing. Detective Grayson asked me to look into a human experimentation case. I'm here to help get Danny out." The redhead scrutinized Nightwing up and down, no doubt sensing the same things Sam was. She gave Sam a questioning look.

"Who's Detective Grayson?" Oh no. Danny forgot to tell her.

"Long story that Danny will tell you once we get him out. But this guy," she hooked a thumb at Nightwing, "Is with the Justice League." That earned another scrutinizing look. But all she did was nod, eventually. The door swung open a little wider and Jazz motioned them inside.

"Come on. He's in the basement. They drugged him to get him properly on the table, so he'll be a bit loopy. Try not to take anything he says to personally." The last comment was aimed at Nightwing, who was too busy looking around the living room to really register what she said. That wasn't Sam's problem, though. Right now, she had a boyfriend to save.

~~~

Dick was not a carefree person by nature. He'd worked long and hard to keep his anger from getting the best of him, like it often had in his Robin days. Sure, there were time it still boiled over, when he and Bruce really tore into each other, or nearly anytime the Joker was involved in something. This was the first time in a long time that it had threatened to truly explode.

The living room was littered in glowing, Lazarus green projects. Some were tech, pieces of stainless steel littered near half-assembled weapons and torn apart household appliances. Others were blueprints, splattered with something that could have been Lazarus water, detailing containment devices, surgical equipment, and what he could only describe as torture devices.

Vials of Lazarus water were haphazardly scattered around the space. The coffee table had a stand full of vials at various levels of fullness, all open to the air, easily spilled on anything. Faint growls from the kitchen reminded him of Sam's warning about reanimated food. He'd half hoped she'd been joking.

Has his son Danny grown up like this?

He couldn't think about that right now. Everything he saw counted as evidence. He needed photographic proof so he could work with Bruce to get a case opened.

"What are you doing?" The redhead, who reminded him a lot of Barbara before the Joker had got his hands on her, was staring at him from a metal door, stairs leading down into the basement.

"Collecting evidence. I was told not to touch anything, so pictures are what I can work with." She stared at him a moment longer, then sighed.

"Your camera's not going to work. Wait here." She ran to another set of stairs, leading up this time, her footsteps thumping on the wood. No more than a minute later she was back down, holding a camera and a USB stick.

"These are ecto-infused, so nothing should get corrupted. Don't touch the projects, and l-"

"Leave the fridge alone, Ms. Manson mentioned. Thank you for your help."

"I should be thanking you," The redhead, probably the Fenton's child, said. "This is the first time someone's actually shown up. I hope you find what you need to keep them away from Danny." He hoped he found enough to do more than that.

"I will. I'll be down in a moment to help get him out." She nodded, disappearing down into the basement.

The first thing he did was take pictures of everything. Every project and blueprint he could find on the main floor. Then, perhaps against better judgment, he took a small sample from each open vial of Lazarus water and tucked them into the lead-lined pouch usually reserved for kryptonite. Should protect him from any potential radiation poisoning.

Was it breaking the "no touch" rule? Most definitely, he wasn't about to lie to himself. But it was in the name of being thorough, and Bats were nothing if not thorough. Satisfied with his evidence he moved to to basement.

He tried to prepare himself for the sight of Danny strapped to a table. He really did. But there was nothing he could have done to prepare himself for the distinct Y-cut that marred his skin.

It was clearly only the beginning, open jars lined up along one side of the table, mechanical arms poised over the metal slab with its cuffs that Sam and the Fenton's daughter were working to open. A muzzle lay on the ground a few feet away. Something green leaked from the incision, skin curling away a little where the three cuts met. Underneath the cuts were the vaguest hints of glowing green bones and muscle.

Danny was, as promised, out of it. His head was lolled to one side, eyes open but unfocused, doing their best to track Sam's movements. Dick had to hope that whatever they gave him to keep him from fighting helped ease the pain. He didn't want to think about anyone having to live through that kind of pain. Let alone...

He shook his head. He had a job to do.

"Step back," he muttered to Sam. She glared, until he produced a laser cutter from one of the pouches on his belt.

"Be careful," she muttered, a warning more than anything else. He nodded, positioning the small device so it wouldn't touch Danny's skin. It was slow for his tastes, but it got through the metal well enough. Danny's arm slipped down the table, pulling a little at the cuts, and his son whimpered.

He didn't think he'd hated anyone this much since he learned the name Tony Zucco.

"Can you get the rest?" Sam didn't even nod, just snatched the device from his hand and moved to where the Fenton's daughter was working on his other wrist.

He moved to the computer, hacking in as quickly as he could. He wasn't Tim, and he probably never would be no matter how hard he tried, but he was no slouch at some of the more basic ways to hack a computer, especially if he had the actual thing right in front of him. In no time, he was downloading every file the Fentons had. Every schematic, every test, every paper, all of it.

He starts taking photos as the files are moved. First and foremost of the incisions on Danny's chest, despite Sam's protests. It's vital evidence of experimentation, and he's careful to avoid Danny's face. He of all people knows the value of a secret identity.

There were many more pictures to take down here than upstairs. Half-finished projects, hazardous materials improperly stored, and a giant, two-piece blast door built into one wall, a faint green glow seeping through the cracks between the metal doors.

"That's the portal," Ms. Fenton said from his left. He decidedly did not flinch at her sudden appearance, but she still smiled apologetically while she stared at the steel lesion in the wall.. "It opens into the Infinite Realms, which is where the ghosts come through. Most of them slip in through here, since it's the only stable portal in the area, hence the doors." Dick nodded.

"Thank you. That give me a place to start." She nodded.

"I'm Jazz, by the way. Danny's sister. I don't think I introduced myself earlier." She sounded a little sheepish, but she didn't take her eyes off the closed doors.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. "Sorry it's in such poor circumstances." Jazz just shrugged. Right. This wasn't the first time he'd been caught like this.

"Hey, I could use a hand here," Sam called, propping a trembling, sweating Danny up in a sitting position. His eyes were squeezed shut, and his teeth clenched around a whimper. Dick moved to help support the teen, hopefully alleviating some of the pain, while Jazz moved to take the thermos Sam handed her.

She uncapped it, carefully opening her brother's mouth and tipping the bright, glowing contents into his mouth. He seemed to swallow it gratefully, or maybe it was reflex to keep him from drowning.

"What is that stuff?"

"Ectoplasm," Jazz said.

"Helps him to heal quicker. Once we get him back, we should be able to stitch him up without having to worry about needing to stitch muscle back together, too," Sam explained.

The computer beeped, indicating the file transfer had finished. Sam took the rest of Danny's weight, nodding towards the computer. He took the hint, moving to grab the USB when something stopped him.

The last file to download was just named "Danny Info." Sitting right where he could open the original and see what it held. He opened the file, expecting maybe a birth certificate or adoption papers.

Instead he found a DNA test. One that held several key markers for artificial aging, not that the Fentons probably realized it. Telomeric regions on DNA aren't usually looked at during a test like this, even if the information shows that they're too long to belong to someone more than a year old. The file listed Danny as eight years old at the time of the test.

He'd been artificially aged seven years. Which meant he'd been born around 11 years ago. Right after his amnesia year.

That left very few options for what had happened to him.

He closed the file before he got too in his head. They'd been here for too long already, he didn't want the Fenton's coming back to them here. Who knew what they'd do.

"Alright, everyone ready to-" He'd turned around just in time to watch Danny get sucked into the thermos. The thermos that had previously held ectoplasm.

"He's not hurt," Jazz said when she noticed the dumbfounded expression on his face. "Well, he is, just not from this. It's a safe way to transport him past the ghost shields our parents have, and it won't set off any alarms."

"Right. Sure. Why not." He slipped the USB and the camera's SD card into another pouch on his belt. "Let's get him somewhere safe. I've got experience in stitching people up, if you've got supplies." Sam nodded, grabbing the thermos from Jazz and slipping back upstairs.

~~~

It had been a while since he'd been caught. Last time Sam and Tuck had gotten him out before the scalpels came out, and while he'd really appreciated it then, Danny really, really appreciated it now.

His whole torso had been on fire. Every breath had agitated his incisions so he'd just stopped breathing. They'd started peeling back skin when something started blaring, some alarm for something, he couldn't tell right now, and they'd left.

Sam had come in sometime after that with Jazz and someone that he swore he should recognize. It wasn't long after that, he didn't think, that he got souped.

It was kind of weird, being souped while injured. On the one hand, he couldn't really feel much of anything. No physical form meant no physical pain. But since ghosts weren't really physical unless they wanted to be, he still felt the pain of his injuries. Kind of. It was hard to explain.

The next thing he knew, he was on the kitchen counter. Not at the Fenton house, but at Sam's. The ceiling was a dead giveaway, devoid of any stains from reanimated food fights. Man, he did not miss those.

Pricks of a needle and the feeling of something being pulled through his skin brought him back to himself through the haze of whatever drug the Fentons had given him. Sam was holding his hand, and he did his best to relax his hold. He didn't want to hurt her, even if she would heal quickly. Tucker was by his head, holding a vial of ectoplasm, and...

Huh. Dick was leaned over his chest doing his stitches.

He had on this stupid looking mask and spandex suit, not that Danny himself really had any room to talk. It might have been enough if Danny hadn't been looking Dick Grayson dead in the face for a couple hours today. And the beginnings of an ectosignature clinging to him that Danny had sensed before fighting Vlad did nothing to help.

"Hey, Danny," Tucker said, brushing his hair out of his face. "Good to see you in one piece." He wanted to make a joke, but the words floated away in his head. Stupid drugs.

"Here, got some more ecto for you, hopefully it'll help." His boyfriend propped his head up and helped him drink the vial. It was the good stuff, the kind he'd concentrated himself in the basement. Which meant that it absolutely did help with the pain. Not so much with the mind fog.

"Try not to jostle him too much, it might make the skin shift and that'll make stitching him up harder," Dick said, not looking up from his work. Which really did beg the question...

"Why's my dad stitching me up?"

Everyone froze. Dick most notably, about to make another stitch on his chest. Sam and Tuck just stared at him. The kitchen was a mix of confusion, fear, disbelief, and... embarassment?

"I can't believe I didn't catch that," Sam said, a hand on her face. "I knew there was someone else around, I just thought it was the kids rubbing off on Mar'i."

"That explains how you got here so fast," Tuck chimed, before seeming to remember something. "Hang on, you showed up anyway? We told you to leave it to us, what the hell?" Dick raised his hands placatingly, needle still in one hand. He held it with just his pinky raised, like he was holding a teacup. It would have made Danny chuckle, if breathing hadn't hurt.

"Look, even if I didn't have every reason to go after him myself, I was kind of obligated to get evidence so we can have a head start on the case."

"Case?" Danny asked, ignoring the burning in his chest for a second. Dick's eyes... mask? whatever... softened when he met his eyes.

"Yeah. Case. This is pretty obviously a human experimentation."

"But I'm not human." Wait, had he told Dick that? He couldn't really remember. He had to have addressed it somehow, though, right?

"Then it's experimentation on a sapient species, and we don't really take kindly to that either. Plus, there's some pretty real ground to get the Fentons classified as supervillains. I want to do some poking around whoever the GIW is before I go, but I get the feeling I'm going to find a lot of similar things there. But that's a tomorrow problem."

Danny nods. "Tomorrow. That sounds good." Dick smiles, reaching slowly back for Danny's chest. He pauses when Danny flinches, at least until he's given a nod to keep going. Danny passes out before he finishes, a mix of drugs, the safety of his home, and the hope that he might finally have some help finally doing him in for the night.

[fatchance]

Found on the ground at the side of the trail.

The nest is lined with spider web silk and willow fluff, the softest imaginable cradle for a hummingbird chick.

[animentality]

[arrowandaxe]

[bee-in-your-binnet]

Coyotes trying their damndest to get domesticated

[gallusrostromegalus]

Thoughts, in approximate order:

You know, given how C. lupus, C. lupus familiaris, and C. latrans can all create perfectly viable hybrids, and that the proto-dogs that domestic dogs descended from much more resembled coyotes than wolves, it's not really a surprise that some yotes are experimenting with domestication.

Goddamn that lady must be fucking shredded to be able to chase down a coyote through a swamp.

"Don't let wild animals into your house, you are not going to make Dogs 2.0, you're going to get injured and the animal killed." is probably obvious enough advice that I don't need to put it in the tags as a reminder.

...I know more than four people on this site that have poisoned themselves trying out 'foraging guides' they found online, two people IRL who tried to keep raccoons at pets, and have a family member who got hospitalized for Cat Scratch Fever after grabbing a feral cat bare-handed. This is apparently, not obvious enough.

Do Not Attempt To Domesticate Coyotes

[roman-royy]

the always sunny podcast nº31

[beastsposting]

yes... yes! the condor is out!

condor 1215 (tag yellow 15) being released back into pinnacles national from (as far as i can tell) a checkup. she is 3 years old and was wild born to 589 & 569 ("phoebe the forager"). [1]

[src]

[barnlarn]

I know round umreon is canon, but long-boy angular umbreon lives rent-free in my head forever

[simplykaren]

Made some stuffed cabbage leaves with my mom today courtesy of the massive Middle Eastern cookbook I found at an estate sale 2 weeks ago.

[shamebats]

"it's just stress" oh thank god, it's just the silent killer that slowly kills you, perfectly harmless, no need to worry

[swagophile]

me if i was a lizard: I need to warm myself in the sun for multiple hours NOW

[tigerleopardlion]

Chinese Mountain Cat | Martin Andersen

[doberbutts]

Doctors at my job euthanized a chicken for a client.

Client loved chicken very much and had it sent off for cremation.

We get ashes back and notify client to come pick up.

Client comes to front desk and states they are here for their rotisserie chicken.

I go back to the doctor office and tell the doctor that euthanized the chicken because I think it'll make her laugh. Rotisserie chicken becomes new office meme.

[unintentionalpenis]

[twinkee]

Delivered in discreet packaging my ass.

[wizardshark]

hey whats with that sign

[evilwizard]

i heard they’re adding a new creature to the nighttime

[thebloodthirstyavatar]

Owl 2

[evilwizard]

yeah it’s owl 2