Not a secret family, you're just oblivious. Part 0.5
Part 1
Essentially, how Tim and Danny met.
Tim didn’t know what to do anymore. All of his plans have fallen through and he still didn’t know how to get Bruce back. He might not be particularly close with the man but he wouldn’t abandon his colleague when he knew he could do something. Especially if he is the only one even willing to try. But he was to the point where he couldn’t do anything else.
He double checked all of the security in the safe house before settling in to try for some rest but when he got back to the bed there was a glowing green sticky note on his pillow that definitely wasn’t there two minutes ago. That shouldn’t be possible. He grabbed his staff and slowly approached.
“You will have a chance to free the bat from the tapestry of time of you put your expertise to good use. The café that watches you in Chicago will start you on the right path in one week. Fly quickly red bird"
-
Tim was clearly desperate. He had made it to Chicago in time but finding what he could only hope was the right café was difficult. The cafés logo was of an eye reflecting a red bird. He couldn’t find any other cafes that made sense. He sat on the roof across the street and watched for some sign that he was right. Then his eye caught sight of green.
In front of another teen about Tim’s age there was a green sticky note. Tim couldn’t read it from here but it was clear the other teen was sent by the same force. Tim watched the other, they looked like they hadn’t slept in weeks, not that he could talk. But in their face he could see the same desperation. He decided to approach.
-
Danny didn’t know what to do. He had moved out of Amity a year ago when his parents found out about Phantom. He could still hear his mom telling him that of she ever saw him again she would kill him. He hated it. So here he was with his fake identity Tucker set up living on his own at sixteen. But not really on his own anymore. Not with Dan and Ellie in the cloning pods to unstable to be released with bodies far to young for them. Danny didn’t know what to do, so he was grateful for the glowing note that just appeared in front of him.
“Wait where you are. The answer is coming to you.” So he sat until a teen his same age sat across from him and set his own note on the table.
“This said if I put my skills to work here it would save the person I’m searching for. I’m Alvin, what skills do you need.” He had medium length dark hair and tiered blue eyes. Danny could see himself in that exhaustion, the type of exhaustion that doesn’t fit on a face that young. He could tell Alvin could see it in him too.
“How much do you know about cloning.”
-
Tim stared at the tiny bodies in the glowing liquid. It looked so much like Lazarus Water but if felt nothing like it. The clones were just slightly to small to be a healthy new born size. “They were my clones.” Danny said from behind him. “Because of how damaged my DNA is they were never stable, they used to be around our age. This is the oldest I can keep them stable, that’s why I need your help.”
Tim glanced back at him. “And your help?” he couldn’t even pretend he wouldn’t help if Danny couldn’t save Bruce. He couldn’t abandon the tiny forms in the pods not without the ghost of eyes he would never see again on his back.
“The way your friend is stuck in time is difficult. He’s not stuck at a fixed point but drifting through it. We can’t just grab him and bring him here without causing several tears in the time stream. What we can do is make a pathway and have the exact time and place he will exit predetermined.” Danny explained.
Okay. That would work. Even if Tim couldn’t get to the time and place he could send other heroes. He just needed proof of the time stream being altered. “Is there a way to get proof that he is in there?” he asked.
“Hm, maybe if there is a magic user whoever you’re trying to convince will believe."
Tim can work with that.
-
“Damn it!” Danny screamed as the Dan and Ellie destabilized and got younger again. Alvin came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. Danny broke down sobbing. He couldn’t lose them he couldn’t.
Alvin pulled him into a hug. Running a hand through his hair. “It will be okay Danny we will figure this out” Danny calmed down taking deep breaths. “They are stable for now go get a shower and some food I’ll keep an eye on them.”
-
Tim was alone in the lab staring at the tiny hands of the male clone. Little finger nails. Tim had always both wanted and dreaded the idea of a family but children this young gave him so much anxiety. They were so fragile. So small and helpless. He was helpless enough at that age that his parents stayed. But he stared at the babies in the tubes and could only think ‘oh no. I got attached.’
Not just to the clones either. He and Danny. Neither of them had acknowledged the kiss. They were sat in Danny’s living room eating and talking and just being with each other. Tim honestly wasn’t even sure who initiated it. But Danny didn’t even know his name. It wasn’t fair to him. Tim was so lost.
-
Human DNA. It was so simple but not really. Dan and Ellie needed DNA from a person other than Danny who was slightly liminal. Just enough that they were compatible but not enough that their own genetic makeup was damaged. That excluded pretty much everyone from Amity. Who could possibly… “Test me.” Danny looked up sharply at Alvin. “Alvin wha-" “You said I’m liminal. Barely but still. I’m probably the best option.” Alvin looked so determined.
“Okay.”
-
He was a match. Tim was a viable donor, but Danny needed to know the truth before he agreed to this. Tim’s life his feelings. The twins wouldn’t be Danny’s siblings anymore they would be his kids. His and Tim’s.
-
“Tim they are so tiny.” Danny looked up at his boyfriend. Tim laughed as he took pictures of Dante in Danny’s arms. Jazz was off to the side with her nice. Tim laughed. He laughed in a way he couldn’t remember laughing in years before finding Danny. He was so happy.
-
“I’ve beefed up you and Jazz's identities. As well as Melisa’s” Melisa wa the name of the twins fake mother who died in childbirth. She and Danny hadn’t been together just a one night stand. Her plan had always been to step out of the twins lives once they were born.
They had moved to Gotham were identities mattered less to the average employer for extra protection. It was also Tim’s home. He couldn’t ask Tim to leave it.
-
The twins were at Jazz's for the night so that Tim and Danny could have a date for their anniversary. The soon to be two year olds loved their Aunt so much. And Danny didn’t know what he’d do without his sister.
Tim and Danny had just gotten back to the apartment and Tim went to the kitchen to make coffee and tea for the two of them. Danny sat on the couch to wait for his boyfriend.
-
Tim had never pictured his life this way. Freshly eighteen with two kids at the courthouse getting married. He wouldn’t change it for the world.
Does anyone have any fic recs where Bart recognizes Dan as the person who destroyed the world/Bart is from Dan's destroyed timeline? Deaged Dan or normal aged Dan is fine.
Not a secret family, you're just oblivious. Part 4
Part 1 <previous next>
Danny felt eyes on him as he parked in the campgrounds parking lot, just outside of the forest. He almost laughed at the amount of curious-new-strong he felt. Spirits in isolated places like forests were always interested in the halfa.
Typically they had heard rumors of his existence but had no details. Pariah’s awakening had scared everyone. He wasn’t concerned about a fight breaking out, the rumors had scared pretty much everyone that didn’t actively reside in the realms from fight him. Beyond that he had ghostlings with him and very few would brake the taboo of causing threat to them.
He glanced at his family and saw the kids coming to the same conclusions as him, but Tim looked a bit uneasy. Danny reach over for his hand, squeezing it to signaled it was okay. Tim had gradually become more liminal and thus sensitive to the energies around him as he spent more time around the three halfas, but he still had a hard time reading intent.
Tim relaxed and looked down at the kids. “Alright, who’s ready for our camping trip?” The kids shouted their agreement. “Okay what are the rules?”
“Always stay where you and Papa can see us. Never go off trail unless we are holding you or Papa’s hand. Never touch or eat any plants unless you say it’s okay. And always keep our whistles incase we get separated.” Dan said.
“Oh and no petting or feeding any animals and don’t leave any trash.” Ellie added.
“Good let me get your sunscreen and bug spray on you while your Papa unloads our stuff.” Tim knelt in front of the twins.
After a minute Danny was calling them to the back of the car and passing out backpacks. His and Tim’s had typical supplies and the twins each had their own water and a few snacks in theirs. They walked up to their campsite with the tent and sleeping bags for Danny to set up with the kids while Tim went back for their cooler.
-
After they had finished setting up they went on a shorter hike to a scenic outlook near their campsite. Tim had his camera and was taking pictures as they went. Ellie had her own camera. Anytime Tim paused she rushed over to his side to see what he was taking a picture of and decided if she wanted one too. She would also call Tim over if she saw something to take a picture of, though typically Tim would just take pictures of her excitedly trying to get just the right angle.
Dan kept stopping Danny and asking about plants along the trail in-between the two being commanded to pose for pictures. Danny had never thought he would be so grateful for all it the rants and info dumps from Sam until his son had developed such a love for plants. He was, to the amusement of both his fathers, rather insistent that Poison Ivy was his favorite hero and he would not accept criticism from anyone. His Aunt Sam loved to encourage it.
-
Tim sighed at the view from the outlook. He hadn’t really indulged in his love of photography much between becoming Robin and meeting Danny. Jazz was the one to push him to take it back up. Telling him and reminding Danny that engaging in healthy hobbies was good for everyone but especially necessary for liminals and ghosts. She finally convinced them by telling them that neglecting themselves could cause anomalies in their ectoplasm and effect the twins growth.
He couldn’t remember being this happy. Not as Tim. As Robin he had been when he was with his team but as Tim he never had anyone. And now he had a husband, two kids, an older sister, two honorary siblings, and several ghost calling themselves his in-laws. He felt stable and content. Like he would still matter if he stopped being Red Robin tomorrow.
-
Dan had insisted on sitting in Tim’s lap for dinner. He said that Ellie had been hogging him all day so he got him for dinner. Ellie huffed and said it was fine and she would just sit with Papa. Tim and Danny laughed at the kids antics. After smores the twins started drifting of so they were settled in their sleeping bags in the tent.
Danny moved his chair closer to his husband’s when they got back to the fire. They sat in comfortable silence for a bit before Danny asked, “Do you remember the first time we went camping?”
Tim looked over to him as he replied “Yeah, before the twins were born, when we weren’t sure they would make it. Jazz convinced me to take you to get your mind off of worrying. I remember thinking why me, why not Sam or Tuck. I guessed she saw before we did though. Why do you bring it up? Feeling nostalgic?”
“She sees everything before we do.” Danny laughed. “And, yeah honestly. It just makes me think of it every time we go camping. You know, I don’t know if I ever told you that was the first time I wanted to kiss you.”
“Really then?” Tim asked, slightly baffled thinking back to his own emotional state at the time and how close they had come to losing the twins before the trip.
“Well there was a reason I didn’t. I just think that was the moment I realized how much you meant to me.”
Tim thought. “I think for me it was when we found out I was a viable donor. To stabilized the twins. I think it was easier to admit I loved them than you to myself. I’m not sure why.”
“Well can you admit it now?” Danny asked with raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know. Can you kiss me?” Tim shot back. Danny was quick to obliged.
They kept talking for a bit longer while the fire died out before joining the kids in the tent for the night. They slept, unaware of the living eyes lost in the sea of the dead watching them.
