I had an idea that I worked out recently but couldn't fit into Phantom Bat
I thought about incorporating this idea into my Phantom Bat lore, and while it would've fit in the timeline, I decided it felt tacked on for no reason. Batman already has an excuse to take in Danny (and Jazz) in Phantom Bat, so I didn't really need another connection between them; it just would've been too much, a twist just for the sake of having a twist. I didn't want it to go to waste, though, and since I have no intentions of using it for anything yet, I figured I'd set it free for anyone to use as inspiration.
Jack Fenton is a clone of Thomas Wayne.
Thomas Wayne was forced to join the Court of Owls, to take the place of his late father. Thomas hated it but thought maybe he could work at reforming it from the inside, and was eventually horrified when he discovered a cloning operation, intending the clones to be trained as an elite group of assassins called “Talons”. The clones were not all from the same source, but most of the DNA was taken from members of the Court or their family members. The program started after Thomas joined and he didn’t know they had even taken his DNA in the first place.
Thomas managed to expose the group and was killed for it shortly after, along with his wife and traumatizing an 8-year-old Bruce, but the damage to the Court of Owls was done; most of the clones didn’t make it, as the equipment keeping them alive was damaged, and the few that had been “born” already were either too far gone from brainwashing to be saved (I’ll let you imagine what happened to those ones) or were young enough to be quietly put into the adoption system with no memories of their origin.
Such was the fate of Jack Fenton, cloned from Thomas himself and adopted by a family of ghost hunters. Due to exposure to dark magic, ectoplasm, and other unsavory magic stuff, the pair couldn’t have kids of their own and retired when one of them (not sure who) was disabled due to an injury and they opened Fenton Works to sell the occult items they found and some things they made themselves, from weapons, to protective charms, to herbs and medicines, etc. They adopted Jack when they retired and they gave him as normal of a childhood as could be expected of occultists and former ghost hunters/paranormal investigators. They were always open about Jack’s adoption so he was never ashamed of it, never felt the need to find his “real” parents, but none of them ever knew that he was a clone, either.
After Jack graduated college, he inherited Fenton Works, married Maddie, and had Jazz around the time both of his parents died due to complications stemming from their former life-style. Danny never met them, and Jazz was too young to remember, but Jack told plenty of stories. (This is just to explain their absence in the show, you can keep them alive if you want)
If DNA tested, Danny and Jazz would register as Bruce’s half-siblings. Jack would probably be somewhere between 6 and 8 years younger than Bruce, depending on what ages you feel like using for everyone. Jack being less than 2 years old when Bruce was 8 makes the most sense to me, but your mileage may vary.
Edit to add more random thoughts :D
The Court of Owls was getting a little too big for it's britches, expanding farther and faster than it could maintain, until Thomas gave it a push that knocked over the jenga stack. It was bound to happen eventually. After the implosion, the Court returned to it's roots in the shadows and was just starting to gain traction again when Batman encounters them. One of the surviving Clone Talons may or may not have survived to become influential in the Court by then, writer's choice.
The Court wanted to use clones for the Talons so they could manipulate the DNA and conditions in the fake womb for best results (whatever "best" means to them). After the incident, they went back to stealing orphans and other street kids no one would miss, like they did before they got the cloning tech.
I can imagine Jack being thrilled at the idea of having Bruce as his nephew, despite Bruce being older, and treating all of the batkids as niblings, which would lead to some very interesting interactions. I can't stop laughing at the image of Jack treating Bruce like a kid and Bruce acting sulky but secretly enjoying it lol...
With such as theyre already prone to falling cause well what do you expect when gravity has it out for you in particular
they've learned to make any type of sound in order to listen to sound bounce so they can twist in the safest direction so they dont get hurt
Did they get the idea from a late night animal documentary run with rain... absolutely.
switching from each others subject to another taking turns, phantom watched one of bats and than rain watched one on beluga whales and phantom was sold that this was a perfect idea to fix getting hurt all the time
Theyre convinced its working some of the time but the bruises say otherwise
Its okay though swiss takes care of the bruises and puts arnica cream on em telling phantom "its okay youll get the hang of it youre just a baby bat after all "
Chapter 1 of "Building Ballasts" has finally gotten to the point that I'm ok sharing it. It's the part of the story where Danny and Jazz get Adopted and move to Gotham, but I still want to write the Battle with Pariah and Danny's First Deathday, too, I'll just label them as prequals.
Anyways, here's the link to Ao3 as well as the full chapter under the Read More!
Link to Ao3
Batman had met Danny Phantom on the first day of summer vacation. Phantom seemed young and inexperienced but the group of powerful ghosts had looked to him for guidance, for protection. Batman had watched the ghost hero stand against the self-proclaimed Ghost King Pariah alone...
And win.
That was weeks ago.
Batman knew that Phantom was too powerful to be left to his own devices. He would be a difficult, if not impossible, enemy to defeat if he ever went rogue. But, how do you eliminate such a threat?
You become their mentor. Their safety. The person they turn to when they’re at their breaking point.
And you make sure they don’t break.
~@~
Phantom smiled as he flew through the cooling, almost-autumn air, the sky still painted in a purple indigo ombre from the setting sun. He only had a week and a half before school started again, so he wanted to enjoy what time he had left of summer vacation; and what better way to relax than patrolling his haunt, making sure it, and all of its inhabitants, were safe? Phantom was so glad he finally had an explanation for that deep itch that protecting others scratched. Sure, it was because of his ghostliness, the implications of which were still a little uncomfortable to think about sometimes, but at least he knew there was an explanation for it, that he wasn’t just crazy.
A shadow shifted in his peripherals and Phantom immediately braced himself for an incoming attack. His ghost sense hadn’t gone off but ghosts weren't the only ones attacking him regularly, and they were being nicer to him lately anyways. Besides, a quick reaction time had saved his half-life more often than he’d care to think about.
What he didn’t expect was to see Batman on a random rooftop a ways off.
Phantom had felt like he was being watched for most of the summer, so Batman had probably been in Amity for about as long. Since Phantom hadn’t actually seen him earlier, Batman must have kept himself hidden the whole time he'd been here, so Phantom only saw him now because Batman wanted to be seen. Which means he probably wanted to talk, since the alternative is a fight and it would probably be more obvious if that was his goal.
Phantom hesitated. He was supposed to meet up with the rest of Team Phantom for patrol, and they’d be suspicious if he was too late, would probably go looking for him, and if Batman had wanted to talk to all of them, he would’ve shown himself to all of them. Nodding to himself, Phantom turned to face Batman and held up his hands, both index fingers pointing up, extended his left hand at arm’s length, held his right hand to his chest, then moved his right hand towards his left hand. Finally, he pointed towards the center of town. It was sign language, loosely meaning “I’ll meet you” and a general direction for where. While he didn’t use them often himself, since he was usually the one fighting, they had all learned some hand signs in case they couldn’t talk for one reason or another, and Phantom recognized them well enough even if he didn’t practice them much.
Batman nodded sharply and Phantom smiled, giving a playful salute before taking off again. He’d just have to convince the Team to patrol separately tonight so he could talk to Batman alone without raising suspicion.
-
Thankfully, it hadn’t been all that hard to convince them to split up and Phantom headed into town, quickly found Batman again, and floated at eye level a careful distance away. Sure, they’d been on the same side against Pariah earlier that summer, but that was an apocalyptic emergency so there was still a non-zero chance Batman agreed with the Anti-Ecto Acts. It had been a month and a half, there was no doubt he knew about them by now.
“Hello again, Batman,” Phantom greeted. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“You didn’t seem surprised to see me,” Batman stated in lieu of his own greeting.
“I had a feeling you were here but couldn’t really confirm it,” Phantom shrugged, playing it cool but not taking his eyes off Batman. “So, do you need something or is this more of a personal visit?”
“A bit of both,” Batman admitted. “Is there somewhere more secure we can talk?”
Suspicion rising along with one eyebrow, Phantom hesitated.
“... Sure, follow me.”
Confidant Batman would keep up (and wouldn’t shoot him in the back), Phantom flew off to the Library, the tallest building in the area he was supposed to be patrolling. On the Library’s roof, Phantom “sat” cross legged in midair a few feet from a small table with four chairs and a patio umbrella, letting Batman decide if he wanted to sit or stand. Batman looked around suspiciously.
“It’s already closed for the night and the janitors don’t come around until later. Plus, the cameras are just for show, they’re not even plugged in,” Phantom explained his choice. “I have to at least pretend I’m patrolling my section. So. Why are you in my territory? Illinois is pretty far from New Jersey.”
“You and your team have been doing well, considering what you have to work with,” Batman started without preamble, apparently electing to stand. Phantom sat up a little straighter at the praise. “However, you are all young and untrained. I have reason to believe the situation here is going to shift soon and I don’t want you four to deal with it alone. I have Oracle looking into the GIW but communication is difficult with the media blackout they’ve established-”
“Media blackout! Tucker totally called it.”
“- But what little I’ve managed to discover on my own is troubling, to say the least,” Batman continued as if Phantom hadn’t said anything. “That will take time and legal action to take care of, but it will be taken care of. Unfortunately, there is a more time sensitive issue that concerns me. The Doctors Fenton meet the criteria of supervillainy and I intend to arrest them for it.”
“WHAT!?” Phantom cried in shock. “No no no, there must be a mistake! My- the Fentons aren’t villains! They’re just eccentric and misguided!”
“They regularly shoot to kill at the town’s local hero,” Batman stated flatly.
“Like I said, misguided,” Phantom argued with a helpless shrug. “They think they’re doing the right thing, and it’s not like they’re the only ones.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time a genius turned into a supervillain because they thought the ends justified the means,” Batman barreled forwards, ignoring the bait to distract him. “They are a danger to those around them, regularly causing far more property damage than you or your rogues, their ideology is at risk of classifying more than just ghosts as non-sentient, which is concerning enough on its own, and they are, at best, neglectful of their children’s safety.” Batman narrowed his eyes. “And that’s not even counting their interdimensional crimes.”
Phantom froze, eyes wide.
“... interdimensional...?” he choked.
“They punched a hole into another dimension and began hunting and experimenting on the native residents of said dimension,” Batman spelled it out and Phantom cringed as he realized Batman wasn’t wrong.
“It sounds really bad when you say it like that,” he shrank away, hands fidgeting nervously. Batman narrowed his eyes.
“Regardless of their beliefs, Phantom, such acts are grounds for war,” Batman emphasized and Phantom stiffened. “If we don’t take care of this problem ourselves, someone else will, and the rest of the planet may get caught in the crossfire. As a hero yourself, I’m sure you understand that I cannot let that happen.”
Phantom looked away, eyes wide and unseeing as the implications set in. He felt a thousand miles away from his body, thoughts buzzing as he couldn’t breathe. Thank his ghostly biology that he didn’t need the oxygen in this form.
“You’ve done well keeping the peace so far,” Batman said, a little softer. “And I know it’s hard to betray loved ones-” Phantom’s head snapped up. “- But you must recognize that they will inevitably do something that cannot be undone. Yes, it might be done to you, and you will forgive them because they’re your parents, but it might be to Ember, or the Box Ghost, or any number of the peaceful ghosts that inhabit this town. I’ve seen you release the ghosts they do catch, but what happens if you’re too late? You can’t be everywhere, Phantom. You’re already running yourself ragged trying to plug leaks, and that's without school taking up more of your time and attention. As heroes, we have a responsibility to anticipate problems and solve them before they happen if we can, not just clean up the aftermath.”
Batman paused to let Phantom process this, his face saying everything Batman needed to hear of his racing thoughts, before he finally settled into somber acceptance as he floated limply a foot lower than he started. He gave a hollow chuckle, with a smile to match.
“Shoulda known you’d figure me out,” Phantom murmured, focusing on the revelation that was easier to swallow. “Can’t hide anything from the World’s Greatest Detective.” His fake smile fell as he curled in on himself. “I know they’re not the best parents, but they’re still mine...”
“I know,” Batman said in an empathetic rumble, accepting the implied surrender before he straightened. “Once they’re arrested, they’ll have a choice. They can go to court and face trial, or they can take the plea deal they’ll be offered.”
Phantom looked up, a fragile hope in his eyes.
“They would still, technically, be serving a prison sentence, but they would be able to work at the Justice Foundation as reforming villains as a form of community service, directly supervised by Justice League heroes and trusted affiliates. Despite their beliefs, they are still brilliant scientists, and humanity can still benefit from their work, but they will lose custody of you and your sister, as is standard procedure for any dependent of a reforming villain.”
Phantom’s face fell at the thought but he didn’t interrupt.
“You won’t be cut off from them, though,” Batman continued. “There would be generous visitation available, but it would be entirely on your terms. They could request to see you, and you would be informed of the request, but they couldn’t demand it; you would never be forced to see them if you didn’t want to, though you could visit them as often as you’d like.”
There was a beat of silence before Batman looked away.
“Honestly, I would’ve wanted to get you two out of there anyways,” his tone was suddenly more disdainful than clinical. “Not only is that entire house a deathtrap, to say nothing about their lax lab safety, but it’s only a matter of time before they find out about your condition, or your sister’s contamination reaches a threshold where they no longer see her as their daughter. You’re a smart kid, Danny, I know you can see it. Denial is only going to get someone hurt.”
Phantom’s eyes widened in shock, then horror as reality sank in.
“I hadn’t... thought about Jazz being in danger...” Phantom trailed off, barely audible as his hands covered his mouth. “We have some contingencies for me, but...”
“I would prefer to have your cooperation with this,” Batman continued, back to distant but determined. “But I will be arresting them in the next few days, with or without your help.”
Phantom flinched but didn’t object.
“Since they will be arrested as interdimensional supervillains, the Justice League will be in charge of placing you and your sister with a foster family. We will ensure you two stay together, at least, with either a League hero or a trusted associate. However... I would like to take you in myself.”
Phantom’s jaw dropped, slowly turning to face Batman.
“You have a lot of potential as a hero, as do the rest of Team Phantom,” Batman continued, with the ghost of a smile. “However, since only you and your sister are being displaced right now, I would like to train you two personally if you’d like to continue on this path. I will accept if you decide you want to be placed with someone else, and I won’t force either of you to join Gotham’s nightlife if you decide to focus on your civilian lives instead, but know that the offer stands. I want you to have as much say in your future as I can reasonably give you, considering the circumstances. Take some time to think, but your sister also needs to know. I had planned to tell her tonight as well, unless you’d prefer to tell her yourself.”
“This is... a lot,” Phantom said slowly. “As much as I’d like to be there when you talk to Jazz, I’m going to need time to process all of this and I don’t think I can finish that before Jazz would need to know.” He took a deep breath he technically didn’t need. “I’m gonna go ahead and patrol while you go talk to Jazz. Oh right! What about Sam and Tucker? They’re part of Team Phantom, too, and you said we all have potential, so...”
“I did,” Batman nodded. “However, they still have families to return to, while you and your sister are being displaced immediately. The Justice League will be keeping an eye on them, though. They are capable individuals, despite their age, but more than that, they have proven to be highly motivated to change the world for the better. That drive is hard to come by and is far more important than any superpower. They’d likely become heroes even without our intervention.”
“Yeah,” Phantom said quietly, smiling slightly despite himself, full of pride for his two best friends. “Yeah, ok. I think I can live with that.”
“Have a good patrol, Phantom,” Batman nodded as he turned towards Jazz’s section, obviously knowing where to find her already. Just how much did he know, anyways?
“Yeah, you too,” Phantom replied reflexively before screwing up his face, Batman already long gone. “Or something. Close enough,” he sighed and flew off.
He had a lot to think about.
-
Team Phantom reconvened around midnight.
The Box Ghost was the only troublemaker tonight and Sam had proudly announced that she’d handled him all by herself; they were all supposed to call Phantom for backup if they had to fight a ghost, but Sam always liked to push her limits. While praising her, Jazz and Phantom had shared a look, a silent acknowledgement that Batman had, indeed, spoken to them both.
Neither said anything to Sam or Tucker.
The siblings managed to act relatively normal, at least nothing that couldn’t be explained away easily enough, and said their good nights as they all headed home, Sam and Tucker on their scooters while Phantom transformed so Danny could ride back with Jazz in her car, citing that he was just a little tired tonight, nothing to worry about. They trusted Sam and Tucker, of course they did, but this was a little too personal to share just yet, even with them. At least, not before they could talk to each other first.
Finally alone, the car was quiet and tense as Jazz drove even slower than usual, neither knowing where to start.
“Guess you were right,” Danny’s whisper was deafening in the silence. “You and all your psychobabble. Even Batman thinks we’re in danger with mom and dad, and he lives in Gotham.”
“I’m sorry, little brother,” Jazz breathed, eyes locked on the road.
“’s hardly your fault,” Danny shook his head. “You took care of me more than they ever did.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
“It wasn’t your job.”
They lapsed into silence again. Neither really wanted to rehash the old, tired argument; there was too much going on right now.
“I feel awful admitting it,” the steering wheel creaked in Jazz’s grip. “But I’m... relieved that they’re being arrested.”
Danny bristled, biting back the compulsion to defend their parents, before slumping into his seat with a defeated sigh. Jazz would’ve known the words were empty anyways.
“He asked for our help,” Danny said, looking out the window without really seeing anything. “I won’t stop him, but I don’t think I can help him, either. Even though I realize now that you’re in danger, too, I-I don’t know if I can betray them like that. It goes against everything in my core...”
Danny’s voice cracked at the end, tears pricking at his eyes. Jazz bit her lip hard to keep herself from breaking down, too; she had to keep it together, keep her eyes on the road ahead. For Danny. She swallowed hard.
“You won’t have to,” she finally said as she pulled into the driveway, turning to him. “I’ll take care of that part. I’ve been compiling evidence for years, planning to take custody of you as soon as I legally could.”
Danny stared at his sister in shock.
“You were gonna...” he trailed off. Ruin your life for me, was left unsaid. He huffed as the tears escaped, roughly wiping them off his cheeks with the heel of his palm. “Honestly, I really shouldn’t be surprised. You’ve always put me first,” Danny’s voice was scratchy with barely contain emotion. He gave her a grim, joyless smile. “I guess, if it means you can finally take care of yourself instead of trying to raise me, I can’t be too mad about all this.”
“Not to mention you can finally get a mentor out of it,” Jazz suggested hopefully. “One that’s human, and isn’t a crazy fruitloop!”
They both laughed so they wouldn’t cry, exiting the car. Before Danny opened the front door, though, Jazz pulled him into a tight hug, which he returned immediately, despite his surprise. Neither commented on the other’s trembling.
“Whatever happens,” Jazz took a shaky breath. “Just know that I love you, ok?”
“I love you too, Jazz,” Danny squeezed tighter. “More than all the stars in the sky.”
Jarvis Pennyworth, former Wayne Buttler, died when Bruce Wayne was 4, giving the title to his 25 year old son, Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred had done a number of things before taking the job, including but not limited to: fathering a child, whom he immediately abandoned (Julia may or may not become important later, I haven’t decided); joining the British Army at 18, where he excelled as a field medic (apparently contracts are 4 years); joined a secret organization, before killing the crazed leader; became an accomplished actor at the Globe Theatre; and probably more. These may or may not be listed in chronological order.
He was 29 when Martha and Thomas Wayne were killed and he became Bruce’s guardian. 8 year old Bruce was not coping well and was expelled from several private schools before Alfred decided to homeschool him by age 10. When this also seemed to be failing, Alfred made a deal with Bruce; as soon as he graduated high school, even if it was early, Alfred would arrange a globetrotting trip to learn about the world firsthand. Bruce didn’t seem to care until Alfred hinted that Bruce could learn from the best how to fight, and more importantly, how to fight crime; to make sure no other child had to lose their parents like he did. Alfred was well aware that Bruce had become obsessed with his parents’ deaths and decided that the only thing they hadn’t tried yet was leaning into it, so Alfred taught Bruce what he’d learned from his time in the Army to keep the boy motivated until he graduated at 15 and Alfred kept his promise.
From martial arts to military strategies to detective work and beyond, Alfred would either drop Bruce off with his teachers and pick him up a few months later, or Alfred would stay and learn what he could as well. Whenever he couldn’t stay, Alfred would make connections with locals as a traveling healer, or learn the newest schemes criminals were using, or network with both legal and illegal organizations, or any other way he could think of that could potentially be useful to whatever path Bruce decided was best.
Initially, Bruce thought to become a politician and/or a Crime Lord, and try to take out the “competition” as a way to rid Gotham of crime; if he could wrestle control of the bigger criminal organizations, or muscle them out of the city, then he could dismantle them from the inside. He didn’t like the idea, it was risky and chafed at his morals, but it was a potential solution. Then Superman debuted when Bruce was 17 and he realized that, while his original plan might have worked, being a hero aligned with him better in every way; sure, it wasn’t a perfect solution, but neither was the Crime Lord route, and at least this way he’d be able to look himself in the mirror and not want to vomit, which had started to happen as he tried to prepare himself for the role of Crime Lord.
Bruce was 20 years old when he returned to Gotham, though he wanted to save his debut until after he had started rumors of Batman, the Dark Knight that fights crime from the shadows. Alfred is 41 and helps Bruce from the background in any way he can.
As Red Hood, Jason unknowingly took the Crime Lord route Bruce had abandoned; he has no idea and Bruce has no intention of letting him find out.
Sorry it took so long, my brain finally released it's stranglehold on this story and I've been catching up on other things. I honestly don't know when the next chapter will be posted but I wouldn't recommend holding your breath lol...
They left Steph’s car in the nearby parking garage, in one of several spots labeled “Wayne” near the entrance. It was pretty late, so it’s not like anyone would care that they used the spot even if they weren’t counted among Bruce’s kids. Which now included Jazz and Danny. It was still a wild thought for the siblings to be considered “Waynes”. The three entered the lobby, which was empty except for the lone receptionist who greeted them with a practiced, customer service smile.
Forgot to link to AO3 lol
-
“Hello, Miss Stephanie Brown,” he said. “Two guests?”
“Yup!” Steph chirped. “Sorry I didn’t schedule them ahead of time, Carl, this was kinda last minute.”
“That’s alright,” the receptionist, Carl, shrugged, letting the customer service mask fall as he turned to the computer. “I’ll fit you into my busy schedule somehow. Minors?”
“Yup.”
“Names?”
“Jazz Fenton and Danny Fenton.”
“And should I use Mr. Wayne’s info for the rest?” he glanced up with a knowing smile.
“Eheh, yeah,” Steph chuckled nervously. “Nobody knows yet, though, so I’d appreciate if you could keep this under your hat for now.”
“My lips are sealed,” he smirked, then chuckled. “Dude seriously has a type.”
“Type?” Jazz asked.
“I’ll explain on the way up,” Steph grinned almost apologetically. “It’ll be a long elevator ride.”
“Alright, here are their Visitor Badges,” Carl handed two badges to Steph before winking at the siblings. “If you plan on sticking around, you’ll probably get official badges at some point; all of Mr. Wayne’s kids do, even if they don’t work here.”
After some “thank you”s and “fare wells”s, Steph led the siblings back to an area with half a dozen elevators.
“So, type?” Jazz asked as soon as the doors closed.
“Right, so,” Steph typed 89 on a keypad, since having individual buttons for at least 90 floors would be ridiculous, and scanned her own badge when prompted by a flashing yellow light, which turned green as they started moving. “Just like Bruce himself, the first three kids B adopted, Dick, Jason, and Tim, are all boys with black hair and blue eyes,” Steph pointed at Danny. “And the rest of us have either black hair or blue eyes,” she pointed to her own blue eyes. “And all of us have some kind of tragic backstory, a surprising amount of which is actually public knowledge, so most of Gotham likes to tease that someone with those qualities is ‘adoption-bait’ for ol’ Brucie Wayne. Throwing Batman into the mix, we added being, or wanting to be, a teen vigilante to the list, so you two definitely fit the profile. Honestly, you two look like mini-mes of Dick and Babs!”
Steph laughed with a shrug while Jazz and Danny shared alarmed looks. Could something so shallow have influenced Bruce’s decision to take them in? Were Jazz’s turquoise eyes considered close enough to blue or was she just here because of her connection to Danny? Would he have sent them away if they’d merely looked different? Was their position so tenuous?
“Hey, don’t think about it too much,” Steph backtracked, realizing how uncomfortable they both suddenly were. “It’s just a coincidence, not any kind of rule, ya know? B doesn’t attach to people lightly, so once he claims someone as ‘his’ there’s no going back.”
“That is a pretty weird coincidence, though,” Danny said, trying to ignore his discomfort. “Anyways, we’re picking up Tim, right?”
“Yup,” Steph chirped, hoping the subject change would ease the sudden tension in the elevator. “His office is on the 89th floor, just under B’s on the 90th. On paper, it takes up the entire floor, but~,” she winked as she held up her hand, whispering conspiratorially. “There’s a hidden lab behind it!” Steph giggled as the siblings smiled, Jazz’s slightly more forced than Danny’s. “We all try to sneak up on each other whenever we can, so stay quiet and follow my lead, ‘kay?”
“Quiet as a ghost,” Danny smirked and Jazz rolled her eyes. She knew stealth wasn’t her strong suit, almost as bad as her aim was at first, but if she wanted to be a hero in Gotham she’d have to learn fast. She looked up in surprise when a hand was offered to her; Danny was still smirking but with a softness that made her smile back. “Don’t worry, Jazz, I got you.”
Jazz took the offered hand and Steph cocked her head in clear curiosity.
“It takes more energy to hold someone else, especially in human form, but I can reduce our noise by flying and being intangible,” Danny shrugged at her unasked question.
“Oh yeah, those powers would make sense for a ghost, wouldn’t they?” Steph nodded as the elevator slowed to a stop. “We’ll have to talk about it later, though, we’re here.”
The elevator doors opened with a quiet chime sound and Steph’s entire energy shifted; still playful, but with an edge to it. Focused. Precise. Despite the lack of costume, Batgirl took in the reception area at a glance, smirked that it was empty, and held a finger to her lips for silence before moving as quiet as any ghost. Danny glanced at Jazz, confirming she was ready before extending his weightlessness to her, his own legs dissolving into a ghostly tail as they followed Batgirl into the lobby.
Instead of taking the obvious route past the secretary desk to the office doors, Batgirl veered left, past a small waiting area, and opened a mostly disguised door to what looked like a janitor’s closet, climbed the side of a deceptively sturdy storage rack, and scanned her badge again next to the air vent. Neither sibling had even seen the scanner. The grate slid aside and Batgirl nimbly pulled herself up into a sort of crawlspace while Danny followed by pulling Jazz up through the ceiling floor? And they both had to stifle gasps as soft light illuminated the neatly organized treasure trove of crime-fighting equipment, from Batarangs to smoke pellets to spare domino masks and so much more.
The space was just tall enough that Batman might be able to sit up straight on the floor without hitting his head, and not quite wide enough for Danny to spread his arms out fully; just enough room for a bat to arm themself in an emergency. Steph couldn’t quite suppress a snicker at their expressions, but inspecting the stockpile would have to wait as Batgirl put a finger to her lips again, reminding them to be quiet before heading off in a crouch. She somehow made the awkward movement look graceful and was only slightly less silent now, though that was probably due to the enclosed space, and Danny pulled Jazz behind her, both siblings careful to keep all of their still-intangible limbs inside the small, corridor-like saferoom, trying to not be distracted by the very cool, tightly packed gadgets that lined one wall. They both had a million questions but the mission came first, even if it was as simple as scaring a teammate.
The thought continued to be wild that the Bats were now considered teammates, even if they hadn’t met them all yet.
Shaking his head to return to the task at hand, Danny stopped behind Batgirl as she climbed back down another fake air vent and into another closet, though this one had more lab-type equipment rather than cleaning supplies. They floated down through the floor ceiling? to hoover behind Batgirl as she very carefully opened the door a crack, peaking out into the room, and Steph’s playful glee flared before being squashed by Batgirl’s training. With one last glance at her two shadows, Batgirl opened the door quietly, still crouched, and entered the room to hide behind a chair. Danny turned himself and Jazz invisible as well as intangible, pulling his sister through the wall and up to the ceiling to have a good vantage point.
Instead of pristine white walls, like they’d seen in movies and on TV, the “lab” looked more like a mechanic’s garage, with grey, concrete walls barely visible behind the plethora of mounted power tools, and two sturdy, but messy, work benches in the middle of the room with plenty of walking space all around. A young man with black hair, presumably Tim, was typing away at a computer on the far wall before walking between the two work benches to examine some kind of gadget and Batgirl took her opportunity. Springing over the work bench Tim had his back to, Batgirl attempted to tackle him, only for Tim to whip around and jab the gadget at her, making her yelp in surprise and pain. Stumbling to the floor but managing to stay on her feet, Steph burst out laughing.
“Jeeze, Tim, what is that?!” she grinned. “It packed a punch for a joy buzzer!”
“Technically, it’s a taser,” Tim shrugged, holding up a metal cylinder, about as long and thick as a marker, with two little prongs on one end.
“But it’s so small!”
“Yeah, I’ve been trying to get it small enough to fit in a gauntlet,” Tim said, opening a side panel on the taser. “But this is as small as I’ve gotten it so far without compromising the battery capacity so it’ll have enough charge for more than just one strike at full power. I hit you with about half. But seriously, Steph, did you really think I wouldn’t put sensors everywhere after last time? I knew you were here the second you stepped off the elevator! I don’t see the new kids, though,” Tim glanced around. “You didn’t just leave them in the lobby, did you?”
“No, they’re here,” Steph glanced around, too. “They were right behind me.”
“So-”
“JESUS!” Tim cried at the whisper far too close to his ear, whipping around with the tiny taser and Danny giggled from somewhere above the two bats.
“- does this mean I win?” Danny finished his question, grinning as he let the invisibility drop, “laying” in midair with his chin propped on his hands, floating down to eye level. He’d even managed to get his legs to reform so they could be casually kicking behind him; the classic pose of a giggly schoolgirl on her bed. He’d been careful to keep out of the likely strike zone of the taser, knowing how badly electricity affected him, but he couldn’t help his ghostly need to spook.
Steph doubled over with laughter, leaning heavily on the workbench, as Jazz stood up from the corner Danny had dropped her off in and couldn’t help but smile at her brother’s antics. Even Tim chuckled as he recovered from the sudden adrenaline rush.
“Yeah, ok, you win this round, newbie,” Tim conceded with a grin of his own. “But it won’t be happening again! So, I take it you two are Jazz and Danny, huh?”
“And you’re Tim, right?” Danny nodded as he returned to the floor and held out his hand.
“That’s me,” Tim confirmed, taking Danny’s hand as Jazz came up behind him. He held out his hand to her, too. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“Likewise,” Jazz said, giving Tim’s hand a firm shake. “So, are you the brains behind a lot of Batman’s gadgets?”
“Some,” Tim chuckled. “A lot of what I do is just proof of concept, though. Lucious makes it all come to life.”
“Head of R n D, right?” Jazz confirmed. “Bruce mentioned him as someone we could trust.”
“The man’s a genius,” Tim nodded sagely, before he grinned at them. “As for you two, you get to help me beta test my brand new WE phones! If they can survive everything the Waynes put tech through, not to mention the bats, then it’s good enough for general consumption!” Tim explained as he headed back to the computer. “I was putting the finishing touches on the programming when you all showed up, but they should be good to go.”
“You have been going on about this project for months,” Steph said. “Finally got some working models?”
“I still need to think of a name,” Tim confirmed with a gleeful grin as he held out two phones like nothing the siblings had seen before. “The whole front is a touch screen and it’s just as powerful as a laptop, but small enough to fit in your pocket! Obviously, I’m going to integrate it into our tech, but there’s still some bugs to work out. Which is where you two come in!”
Jazz and Danny gingerly took the devices while Tim continued to gush excitedly about it, and Steph started herding them all to a door.
“The button on the right side turns it on,” Tim continued as they entered a fairly normal, if spacious and fancy, office. “And there’s a bunch of programs I can show you later, but the most important ones are the normal phone functions, like calls, text messages, and contact info; it wouldn’t be much of a phone without them! I’ve already entered a lot of important information in them, like all of the Gotham Vigilantes’ civilian phone numbers and emails; I was in the middle of entering addresses when you all got here, though I guess it might be better to let them trust you with that themselves anyways. There’s also a few ‘emergency contacts’ the average civilian wouldn’t have access to, and a built in panic button that won’t be in the base model, at least. A lot of the data I’m looking for is figuring out what shortcuts I can get away with for the public version before they start breaking too often, so don’t worry about being gentle with them since stress testing is the whole point, to see what fails first and most often.”
“You promised I’d get to help beta test them,” Steph pouted dramatically, then cried, “I thought what we had was special!” as she held the back of her hand to her forehead. Then she grinned and shrugged. “But I guess I can’t be too mad,” she returned to normal as she ruffled Danny’s hair and put a hand on Jazz’s shoulder. “We needed to get these little fledglings connected and these happened to be available. You are gonna have to make this up to me though, Timmy~”
“Sorry, Steph,” Tim shrugged, not sounding very sorry. “But I have already started putting together the next upgrade, so once I get some data from these two, it’ll be all yours, I promise.”
“Good!” Steph chirped, all smiles again. “So, you goin’ to the Cave or the Nest?”
“May as well go to the Cave, since you have to go there anyways,” Tim said. “More efficient. You two haven’t seen it yet, right?”
“Not yet, we haven’t had time,” Jazz confirmed. Danny lit up at the idea of seeing the infamous hideout, but Jazz would never admit just how excited she was, too.
“Even if you have field experience, there’s no way B will let you on the streets of Gotham until he’s trained you a bit himself,” Tim smiled, amused. “But somehow I doubt we’d be able to keep you two out of the Cave if we tried.”
“So~,” Danny sang as soon as the elevator doors closed. “Which hero are you~?”
“Until recently,” Tim spat bitterly. “I was Robin, the third to hold the title. Now Damian’s decided it’s his birthright, and as soon as B was gone getting you two, Damian made a power play and Dick didn’t back me up at all while he was subbing as Batman. Kid’s not even supposed to be on the street yet, he hasn’t been cleared for active duty. For now, I’m going by Owl Light,” Tim smirked wickedly. “Just ‘cause Dick hates the old Court of Owls so much.”
“Wow,” Steph grinned. “You’re still super salty over that, huh?”
“Can you blame me?!” Tim asked, indignant. “I worked hard for that title! Then Dick just gives it to that brat to shut him up! Fuck both of them,” Tim pouted, arms crossed. “And B, too, for not being more firm about it.”
Jazz frowned at the swear word but didn’t bother correcting Tim. Now was not the time; she’d rather not get her head bitten off, thank you very much. Danny glanced at her when she said nothing and barely contained his snicker at her sour disapproval, earning him a glare in return. Danny covered his mouth to muffle the escaping laugh.
“And if all of that happened while Bruce was in Amity, he probably only just heard about it,” Jazz subtly led the conversation in a different direction. “That explains his slip-up earlier. He said you and Oracle would have to set up a secure communication between us and the rest of Team Phantom before we can really talk to them again. Has he said anything to you about it yet?”
“No, but he’d probably ask Oracle first anyways,” Tim shrugged, letting the topic go for now. “Communication is definitely her forte and she’ll ask for help if she needs it.”
Danny suddenly snickered again.
“Bruce mentioned the possibility of taking a trip back there if you need to set up something physical,” he grinned widely. “I have to introduce you to Tucker, he will freak out! He’s Team Phantom’s tech whiz, and not only are Oracle and the third Robin his favorite heroes ever, but Tim Drake is his techie idol.” Danny turned to Jazz. “Can you imagine his face when he finds out that two of his favorite famous people the same person?!”
“Not that you have to tell him right away or anything!” Jazz was quick to assure. “Bruce said he wanted to keep identities separate for now, but yes, Danny, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to meet Tim,” she smiled warmly at the thought. “As a hero or a civilian doing Gotham’s heroes a favor, whichever story would make more sense.”
The elevator doors opened and hero talk was put on hold as they wished Carl a good night and returned the visitor badges. Back in Steph’s car, Tim had claimed shotgun and the siblings took the back seat.
“By the way, what do I win for scaring you?” Danny asked, smirking at the memory.
“Bragging rights, mostly,” Steph shrugged as she pulled out onto the street.
“It started off as just pranks but B actually encourages it, to a degree,” Tim said. “He knew we weren’t going to stop, so he turned it into a training game instead. It works as both stealth training and situational awareness, not to mention practice prepping for both scarer and victim, with low stakes besides teasing from the winners and embarrassment for failure.”
“And honestly? Embarrassment is a surprisingly good motivator,” Steph chuckled, then grinned. “Remember that time Dick actually managed to sneak up on B? He jumped through the roof!”
“Yeah,” Tim snickered and turned back to the siblings to elaborate. “That is the only time any of us have managed to sneak up on him. He’d been up for almost a week straight on a case and none of us could convince him to rest, but the fact someone actually got him finally made him realize how bad it was. He was out for almost 24 hours after that.”
“You’re hardly one to talk, though,” Steph teased. “Mister I’ll-Sleep-On-The-Weekends!”
“I said that one time!”
Steph just laughed, turning her attention back to the road.
“Anyways, B’s been a lot better about remembering his limits since then,” Tim continued. “He’d always gotten on us kids about work-life-balance stuff, going on and on about how ‘fatigue will wreck your reaction time’, or we ‘might miss something if we’re too tired’, or whatever, but he’d never really taken his own advice before that. At least now he’s less of a hypocrite when he lectures us.”
“It sounds like he has his own, unique way of showing he cares,” Jazz said with a bittersweet smile, turning to Danny who had one to match. It had been a long time since their parents had cared about how much sleep they got.
Then Danny smirked, leaned over the middle seat, hooked his arm around Jazz’s, and pulled her close so they were leaning against each other.
“And we wouldn’t know anything about odd ways to show we care, now would we, Jazz!” Danny fluttered his eyes at his sister, who barked a laugh before covering her mouth and laughing more normally.
“Nope, wouldn’t know a thing, little brother,” she smirked, twisting to plant a kiss on Danny’s head. He beamed for a second before pushing her away with a dramatically affronted look.
