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faeriekit · 11 months

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Quiet Respite 🕸️❤️🦇

find the whole thing on Ao3 or read the previous updates here on tumblr

A DC x MCU fic inspired by Dark Matter, Cassandra Cain meets Peter Parker in an exploratory romance slash “mystery” fic. (If you’ve read a lot of these before, you pretty much can tell what’s going on in the background.) Features: Cass’s turn as POV character, use of sign language, the flimsiest timeline you’ve ever seen, teen romance, hurt/comfort, implied homelessness, fight scenes, Cass’s teen rebellion arc, Spider-Man villain arc?? (whoopsie), and a good deal of sneaking around. Updates on tumblr before ao3.

Previous updates are listed above, so if you don’t want to start off with ch 15 below, click on those. This is just to consolidate a big post into something slightly smaller. Anyway, enjoy the continuation of Peter’s trauma-induced depression arc.

🕸🕷🕸❤

The next day is dance class.

Baby Bat’s school will be waiting for him tomorrow, which means Peter will either go, or not go.

That’s a tomorrow problem. Today, Cass has dance.

She hovers her hand over Peter’s stomach. “Can I…touch?” She uses her voice to ask.

He lets her touch. She gently prods his ribs.

“They don’t hurt anymore,” Peter whispers as he signs, exhausted, but awake. “I ate. I slept. I healed.”

He heals quickly, then. Some creatures do. Cass nods.

“Okay.” Cass can sign that one without even looking at him. She rolls off of her bed. “We are going.”

Peter frowns. He’s confused. “We…?” he starts, but his hands fall before finishes his thought. He’s too tired.

Cass hums a doing chores song that Alfred likes. “Mmhmm,” she vocalizes in her throat, more thought than sound. She reaches underneath her Peter, and he barely even flails. So gentle with her.

“Wait, where are we—?” He squawks. If he’s signing, it’s at the wrong angle for Cass to see. “What?? Cass— Wait—“

Having his bare skin against her arms is kind of nice. He’s kind of squishy. Cass is hopeful that with more food, he might be even squishier. His body is a little too cold. He needs clothing.

Cass makes it over to the door. An almost-free hand wiggles enough to get Cass’s fluffy purple robe from the hook on back of it, and positioning Peter beneath it makes it fall neatly onto his face.

Peter makes a wounded noise. But he’s not hurt. Cass whistles Alfred’s cleaning tune and opens the door with a careful stretch and her toes.

Cass pokes her head through the door.

Cass looks left. Cass looks right.

“I don’t think anyone is here,” Peter murmurs, close to her ear. He’s looking where she’s looking but— right. Peter and the spider are the same. He can hear things Cass can only feel whispers of. She nods. She carries him down to Bigger Bird’s room.

Bigger Bird’s not here, but his pants are. Cass pulls open a drawer with her toes (new skill!), sticks Peter closer, and let him choose.

…And prods him to choose, when he doesn’t.

“Are we stealing?” Peter mumbles, upset. But he picks a pair of shiny, dark blue shorts. “Because I stopped that now.”

“No. Giving back. Later.”

“Oh. Well, then.”

Baby Bat’s shirts fit better. Cass walks them across the hall to Baby Bat’s room, stepping over the clutter and noise to get to his closet.

“It is a little weird how comfortable you are with going into other people’s closets,” Peter says under an exhausted sigh. Cass understands most of the sentence: the part that says This is weird. The rest is probably about the clothing.

“One child,” she accuses of him easily. “Normal.”

Peter barely looks at the shirts. He picks one off the closet without examining it. “Only child?”

“Mmhmm.” What’s the difference?

The door cracks open. Cass knows it’s going to be Baby Bat, so she doesn’t worry. Baby Bat likes Peter. He appears in the doorway, head-speakers half on and half off, computer under his arm. “Ca— Peter?!”

Peter’s head lolls in Baby Bat’s direction. Cass shifts to accommodate him. “…Hi,” says Peter.

“You’re in my house?” Baby Bat asks, confused. His eyebrows are pushed together. He doesn’t understand why they’re in his room, or in his room, together.

“…I have been? For a few days?” Peter asks, more confused than Baby Bat is. Cass hasn’t told him they were hiding him.

(To be fair, she thought it was obvious.)

“Shirt, please,” Cass rasps, and gestures to Peter, clad in only her purple robe and with his stuck-up hair.

Thankfully, signing: “Okay??” only takes one hand and a strong expression. Cass loves Baby Bat. She might kiss his hair on the way out.

Cass wheels them out into the hallway, almost backs into a fancy art thing on a tiny table, and ferries Peter back into her room.

His dirty clothes and his metal skin are still on her floor. They’ll have to stay there until Alfred cleans her room tomorrow and the laundry goes away.

Peter. Stands. He holds the clothes. He doesn’t change.

That’s okay. Cass takes his choices from his hands and carefully guides him through the process. Sometimes just touching the body is enough to bring someone back to it. His arms go up. The shirt goes over his head. Cass touches each foot to guide his legs into the shorts.

His body is dressed, although he is without shoes. Cass fetches skinny little socks from her drawer, because his body is always too cold to her touch and loving people means giving heat and warmth.

Hm. Maybe he should have her jacket too.

Bigger Bat is fending for himself in doing job things. Bigger Bird is doing day work in his very far, very smelly city. Baby Bat already likes lying to Bigger Bat for fun.

All Cass has to do is take Peter into the car with her.

…With Alfred.

Cass is very gentle with Peter. He’s strong and he’s healed and she doesn’t have to be gentle, but Bigger Bat is always gentle with Cass even though he doesn’t have to be too. She takes Peter’s hand to walk him downstairs for fear that he won’t come after her if she doesn’t. They slip through the long halls and heavy doors of Cass’s new nest on socked feet.

Alfred is already at the door when Cass and Peter get there. When Cass puts herself between Alfred and Peter, it’s almost unconscious.

Alfred looks up.

Alfred looks down.

He does not look…surprised.

“I had thought Cass was hiding a cat,” Alfred signs, slowly and precisely, as he always does.

“P-e-t-e-r,” Cass fingerspells instead. She tries not to look sheepish. She is doing a good thing. She doesn’t have to be shy about it.

“Indeed. To the car?” Alfred signs, and speaks, in case Peter doesn’t understand ASL.

Peter doesn’t sign back; but still, he’s pliable. Cass guides him into the car, and he buckles himself in.

They go to dance.

Peter doesn’t dance, but that’s okay; Alfred is clear with his words and tone that say Leave him alone and Be nice at the same time, and all the same ballerinas who had watched Cass be tossed with envy are careful and quiet with him.

The music plays. A dozen feet fall on the same beat, and Cass dances.

Arms. Legs. Bend. Twirl. Dip, and bend. Turn. Angle her head, just so, so that Cass can watch Peter without breaking the line of perfectly organized dancers.

Peter watches, legs crossed, knees up to his chin.

The lessons end, and the ballerinas leave— kindly waving to Cass, to Peter, with shy shoulders and soft-spoken concern. They’re nice. Cass loves dance-partners. They mean as much to her as fight-partners ever could.

The ballerinas leave. The teacher, in her black leotard and taut leggings, leaves.

Cass doesn’t leave. The floors smell like wood and wax. There’s the smell of sweat and emotion in the air. The mirror is the only cool part of the humid, sweaty room. Cass, not Batgirl and yet in a black bodysuit, sits beside Peter.

Peter says nothing.

Cass says nothing.

…Cass holds out a hand.

Peter. Looks at it. He isn’t sure he wants to take it, she can tell— knows what it’s for, but doesn’t have the energy to do anything about the gesture.

“Please,” Cass asks. Animals that do not move are doomed to die.

Her spider sees the expression on her face. His own falters because of it.

His grip is hesitant, but Cass is certain. She hauls him to his feet and puts them in pose: their fingers entwined, his palms to her, her body to his, her cheek to his collarbone.

For a moment, they just breathe, in silent embrace.

And then Cass moves, and Peter moves with her, two minds and one body.

Peter only follows old memories at first; muscle memory works to keep his body upright, to bend and to hold her, to keep Cass steady and sure.

But Cass knows what’s going to happen before it happens; her spider is a creature of movement, just like her.

Slowly, as she spins, as he follows, his eyes soften. His practiced care becomes intentional. Then it becomes artistic, and Peter joins her in the music.

The girl who wears Batgirl’s skin and a spider boy dance in an empty studio, arm in arm, dancing to music she has heard in her dreams. Their footsteps are a whisper of an echo against the plaster walls and glass mirror around them. Cass can see their reflections when she’s angled to— in the sunset angling through the windows, they are little more than the shadows they pretend to be.

She isn’t surprised when Peter lifts her— she knows he knows she likes it— but the relief that Peter feels safe enough to play a little makes her laugh. Openly. Loudly.

Peter’s eyes go wide with awe.

Cass can’t help but adore him for it.

He slowly lets her down. He doesn’t let go of her.

It’s good that he doesn’t. She wants to (and she does) angle Peter’s head down, until she can press a kiss to his curls. She pulls him in close and he comes to her.

Tears find Cass’s shirt. She welcomes them as long as Peter needs to cry them.

“T-they’re,” Peter hiccups, too close to her to sign. “They’re gone. Everyone’s gone. My aunt, my friends, my…my team, my uncle.”

Cass knew some of that. Not the details. Her arms circle around him so she can pull him tighter. “I’m here,” Cass whispers.

There’s a sob against her chest. “What do I do? Where do I go from here? Everyone’s…”

“I’m here,” Cass whispers again, because it’s the truth. “Let me…help. Brothers help. Dad helps.”

“They’re not…” Peter grips her back— careful not to crush her, not like Cass had hurt him days before. “They’re your family. Not mine.”

Cass clicks her tongue. That can easily change. Once upon a time, the Bat hadn’t been her parent either. Now she has two-and-more brothers and parent and a purple friend and an Alfred. “Can share.” And then, because she means it: “Stupid.” She bonks her head down onto his. Peter’s laugh is watery, but it’s bright.

Cass carries Peter to the car this time. He almost smiles.

(Alfred does.)

“I hope you understand that this does require you to be at dinner, young Masters,” Alfred says, signing the gist to Cass as they go. Cass catches most of it, though his white gloves make it hard to tell where Alfred’s fingers are.

Cass sticks out her tongue. Peter splutters, wide-eyed.

(They trade the sight of pink tongues all the ride home.)

(Alfred pretends not to see them, but Cass catches his smile in the mirror at odd glances.)

#dc x marvel #quiet respite #faer fic #NO Marvel ONLY Spider-man #dcu crossover #mcu #but only mcu in the ways I personally think are cool and interesting #if they are NANOBOTS why can they not change COLOR #spider #?#spider gif #arachnophobia warning

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luvly-writer · 1 year

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“But oh..Cara mia”

Ch. 3: I want context

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Dick Grayson x Latina! Readers

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: none

Author’s note: Ages of the group in the present:

Barbara - 28

Dick - 27

Yn - 25

Jason - 23

Tim - 19

Steph - 19

Duke - 18

Cass - 17

Damian - 11

Dick is two years older than Yn.

Enjoy the story!

Taglist: @lorosette @nanas-teatime @prettyacademia00

Series Masterlist:

———————————————————

Yn stiffened at the question, she felt as if the air had been punched out of her lungs. Damian noticed the girl pale a little. She lets out an uneasy laugh and looks down at her notes, where she fiddles with her pen. “Nothing has happened between Richard and me, Damian, what makes you say that?” she mutters and Damian deadpans, he clears his throat making her look at him and answers, “You have an inconsistent relationship in comparison to the rest. It’s...” he trails off, looking for the right word, “concerning, Grayson is awfully bright and annoyingly charismatic. You are very kind and overall tolerable to be around. The problem is both of you get along like oil and water when one would assume the opposite based on your personalities. Why is that?”. The young woman was stunned, to say the least. She didn’t know how to answer. She bit her lip unsure of what to say.

Thankfully, the engine of a car and various motorcycles were heard in the cave. Everyone had arrived; Yn had never been more relieved of seeing everyone. Giving Damian a tight smile, she told him, “That’s a discussion for another day” and she stood up, walking towards the rest. Once again, Damian noticed her eyes find Grayson in relief that he was alive. What the hell had gone down between them?

During the week, Damian tried chasing Yn down, wanting an explanation, and seeing as the girl was successful in avoiding it he decided to track down the next suspect on his list. Grayson. This one had been easier to identify seeing as Grayson liked any excuse to spend time with his siblings, yet, when asked the very same question, Grayson had avoided it completely, much like YN. He had tried a few times until he realized he wasn’t getting any help from either of them. Why were they avoiding it so much? It frustrated Damian to no end having absolutely no progress in his investigation. Bruce was out of the equation knowing that he would not offer any amount of clarity and he couldn’t ask Alfred because he would get berated for intruding on other people’s business. His next target was Gordon. From what he had observed, Barbara and you seemed to be best friends. You were constantly together. Although you spent time with all of them, having movie nights with Cain and Thomas, playing video games with Drake and Brown, and going to the library with Todd, the person who you seemed to be closest to was Gordon. It would make sense the most seeing as Gordon, Grayson and you were the eldest, with you being the youngest of the three. He sought her out during the day and found her and Drake discussing something in the Batcave. The only other people in the cave were Jason, Duke, Cassandra, and Stephanie. Bruce was at work, Alfred was running errands, Yn was in New York visiting Diana, and Grayson was God knows where. He thought for a second if he should question in front of everyone but he figured that they could also help to provide information since they had been around much longer than he had. He went down the stairs and called her out, making everyone look at him. “Gordon, I have a question that I believe you would be the best for assistance,” he said. Cass and Steph were sparring, Jason and Duke were working out, and Tim and Barbara just looked at him curiously. “What is the relationship between Ln and Grayson?” he asked and everyone stopped what they were doing. They all looked at each other, then at Barbara, who was staring at Damian with wide eyes. “What do you mean, Damian?” she asks nervously. Cass, Steph, Jason, and Duke neared, intrigued by what was going to happen. “You are the one that has spent the most time with them, what happened between them? Every time they interact, something is off. Sometimes they bicker lightheartedly and other times there’s this coldness from both of them. As a matter of fact, Grayson is known to not behave that way with any of us, why are they so hostile with each other one second, and the other they share looks of fondness. It is infuriating and confusing” answered Damian, and everyone stayed silent for a moment. Then, Stephanie spoke up, “You know, I’ve always wanted to know myself what went down between those two. I guess over time, I got used to the lack of context and just dealt with their weird-ass relationship.”, Tim nodded in agreeance. For all he had investigated about them before he was Robin and everything he had come to know after he became Robin, the mystery of the hostility between them two was something he never figured out? He just had gone with it because of the lack of answers. Then Duke spoke up, “Honestly, thank everything that Damian brought it up. Seeing as I got here last aside from Damian, their relationship is super fucking weird.” Cass nodded in agreement. Both Jason and Barbara looked at each other. Both of them had witnessed a good amount of that hostility and were wondering who was going to speak up first. Another silence engulfed them and, Jason was the one to break it. “Their relationship is rocky at best. To be fair, you guys haven’t witnessed the messiest fights between them” at that Tim spoke up, “OH! I have seen a few, even Bruce knew not to get in between them” and everyone else’s eyes widened. Finally, Barbara stood up, and spoke “Fine. I will tell you all that I know, but not here. We need a more secluded place.” and all of them agreed.

They had settled for the library, where they would hear if someone would enter and could talk lowly just in case. They had all settled on the couches and thus, Barbara began her story. The rest were so ready to hear everything and didn’t even try to hide their curiosity. Finally, the context of the real mystery would be revealed and maybe, together, they would figure out what really happened between Yn and Dick.

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havendance · 8 months

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Hot Girl Shit (The Feminine Urge to Die Young)

(a.k.a Live Fast Die Young Redux)

AO3

Fandom: Batman

Featured Characters/relationships: Cassandra Cain & Claire Clover (Gotham Girl)

Wordcount: 6100

Summary:

Cassandra and Claire are both living lives with an expiration date when they meet. Claire has powers that burn time off her life with every use. Cassandra has a death match with Lady Shiva scheduled, one that she knows she will not win. In the brief period their time overlaps, a friendship blooms.

I am back on my niche-fic posting shtick! I am getting so much writing done while procrastinating on Batman for Dummies Ch 3. I have inserted Claire Clover and the "I am Gotham" arc from Batman (2016) into the post-crisis continuity roughly post-Officer Down for purposes of throwing these girls together. Enjoy.

(Thank you to @creetchure for betaing this for me!)

Excerpt:

Gotham is sluggish in the late summer heat. Warm, even at night. Humid from the bay. It doesn’t bother Cass, though she misses the breeze on her face. She wears the mask; it clings to her face like a second skin: warm, soft, already slightly damp from sweat. A second skin, a better face.

The last time she went out, Cass didn’t wear a mask. A mistake, Batman said. She could have hurt Barbara. Might still hurt Barbara, if the people who saw her make the right connections. Cass doesn’t want to hurt Barbara. She has her own cave to go back to now. Far away. Alone. It’s safer that way.

She is out now, in Gotham, an itch under her skin. She trained earlier, but it didn’t help. She needs to be out, needs to help. Gotham is slow tonight. Quiet. Too quiet. It itches.

Batgirl runs from rooftop to rooftop, searching, but still: Gotham is too quiet. Too still. There’s no one out, no one to fight. Maybe it’s the heat.

She stops on a rooftop, listens to the city around her. Gotham is never completely quiet; something is always moving. It is the same tonight, but calm. Maybe she should go back, train some more. Maybe this will be a wasted night.

But no. Sirens wail past. She sees flickering light on the horizon, smells smoke. A fire.

Batgirl runs.

The firemen beat her there. It’s an apartment building, burning quickly. Too quickly, the water not doing much to slow its devouring progress. All around are people: watchers and residents gathered around in their pajamas, smelling of smoke, some more than others. There are fire trucks, ambulances. Some people shout orders. Babies cry. Everyone is talking.

It’s too much. Dozens of voices blend together into one single mass of unknowable language. It reminds her of before, when everything was that unknowable mass.

The burning building gives an ominous creak. The shouting intensifies as firefighters begin to pull back.

A single voice, screaming and crying rises over the cacophony. Cass listens.

“—my daughter!” the woman is saying. “My daughter, she’s still in there. Please, someone! She needs help!”

There. There’s the woman. “Where?” Cass asks.

For a moment the woman is shocked. She looks at the bat emblazoned on Cass’s chest. Recognition sparks in her eyes. “The third floor,” she says. “Will you—”

Batgirl is already gone, running towards the fire. Everyone else is running away. They shout at her. She doesn’t listen.

She can feel the heat through her suit: burning fire. She is close, almost in and then—

A rush of air. She is… in the air. Someone is holding her. She strikes on instinct. She wants them off her. She wants them to let her go.

“Hey!” the person says. The voice is young, a girl. “I don’t want to drop you.”

Cass looks. They are high up. Flying. The drop is survivable, probably. She has her grapple, but: the girl didn’t drop her. She couldn’t break her grip. Cass stills.

“Good,” the girl says. “I’ll set you down in a second.”

They land on a rooftop. It’s away from the fire. Too far.

“I know you’re—” the girl starts to say.

“Bring me back,” Cass says.

“The building’s about to collapse! It’s dangerous.”

“No,” she says. “Inside, there’s a girl. I need to—”

The girl inhales, nervous. “Where?” she says, turning back to look. Then, before Cass can answer. “I see, I’ll get them, wait here.”

“Wait—” Cass starts to say, but the girl is gone, flown off. She’s not human— metahuman. Batman warned her about metahumans. The girl is wearing a blue and grey costume, a cape. Cass is curious. She waits.

The building collapses in a fiery blaze. A minute later, the girl returns.

“I got them both out in time,” she says. “They’re okay.”

Both. That means there were two. Cass only knew about one. “How?”

“Ultra vision to see them and then speed and flight to get them out.”

“You stopped me,” Cass accuses.

The girl looks apologetic. “I’m invulnerable. You would’ve died. You’re Batgirl, right?”

Cass nods.

“I’m Gotham Girl. At least, I was. I don’t know if I’m going to keep being her. I mean— I don’t know.”

She’s fidgeting: nervous, uncertain. Cass could surprise her; she sees the weakness in her form. It would be easy to exploit, except… speed, flight, maybe strength. Part of her still itches to try. Instead, Cass asks “You know… Batman?”

She nods. “He’s helping me out.”

An ally then.

“Can… can I ask you something?” Gotham girl asks.

Cass shrugs. She waits.

“Were you scared— running into the fire?”

“No.”

“You could’ve died.”

Cass shrugs. “There was… someone to save. Nobody dies.”

“Oh,” Gotham Girls says. She looks like she has more questions. Cass doesn’t want to answer them. She turns to leave.

“Wait.”

Cass pauses on the edge of the roof.

“Can I— I mean, see you around?”

Cass shrugs and jumps off the roof.

Continue reading on AO3!

#cassandra cain #claire clover #batgirl #gotham girl #live fast die young #my fic #havendance writes #carthago delenda est #dc #bats + birds + affiliated

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ayamari-no-goshi · 2 years

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Chasing Shadows (4)

AO3 -> ch. 1, last, next

Fandoms: Danny Phantom (DP) / DC universe

Summary: THIS IS A CROSSOVER. As Bruce Wayne begins to slowly recover from the loss of his son, two separate mysteries open up old wounds. Who is the unknown leaving clues hinting at a return to Gotham, and who is the phantom pretending to be his lost son? Is it just a coincidence they’re active in Gotham at the same time? Or are they connected?

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, and questionable mental health

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr

What was the point in having a rich civilian persona when it held no power outside of Gotham? He had tried so hard to get the help Gotham needed from the federal government as Bruce Wayne, but it was not good enough. Those who listened to him believed he was just an airhead who didn’t know right from left. He had failed, and the city was shut off from the outside world.

When he returned to his city, he found nothing but anarchy. His associates where helping the best they could, but they were stretched too thin.

Barbara was doing the best she could to help them gather the needed information, but most of the technology she previously used was down, forcing her to use older and slower methods. While still effective, it slowed how effectively they could act in the city. She also lost her mother to Joker but continued to soldier on. She even weathered the two attacks on the Clock Tower. Bruce secretly thanked the security measures he put in place and Barbara enhanced for such events.

Then there was Huntress. Helena Bettinelli, a child born into the Bertinelli crime family, had entered the scene not long before the destruction of Gotham. There were already tense relations between them due to her willingness to kill, but during Bruce’s absence, she donned the identity of Batgirl and even moonlighted as Batman a few times to keep the illusion he was still in the city. However, she had taken a territory in Gotham, and potentially made the situation worse as other rogues and criminals followed suit.

At one point, she even allied herself with William Pettit in his attempt to do whatever it took to survive the chaos and trapped Dick and Barbara. While she thankfully came to her senses before harm to come to either of them, it proved to Bruce that Helena was too much of a wild card to trust. Allowing her to stay in the city was a difficult decision to make, but they needed the help. He would evaluate her actions again when things began to settle.

He was also introduced to Cassandra Cain, who had become Barbara’s trusted eyes on the street while he was away. At first, he didn’t know what to make of the young woman. She had been trained as an assassin and was unable to speak or read, but her ability to read body language and intention bordered on superhuman. Barbara trusted her and even gifted her the mantle of Batgirl, and that hadn’t been done lightly. So, Bruce decided to give her a chance, and he found himself growing fond of her.

Then there was Phantom. Dick had given a hesitant recap of the conversation he had with the meta as well as his known sightings in the city. How had Phantom known? There had been no known leak of their information, but that didn’t account for information the rogues might have, especially the Joker. There were hints over the years that some of them possibly knew Bruce’s identity, so it was possible with the right incentive one of them shared what they knew.

Bruce wasn’t certain which rouge could have provided that information. Phantom’s information was too specific. Was it possible he’d been around far longer than anyone of them suspected? His skill set could have allowed him to come into the cave without detection. He would have to investigate further, but luckily, the meta continued to be a helpful figure.

Outside the turmoil of the vigilantes of Gotham, the rogues made life a living hell for the citizens who were trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. The territorial wars took their toll on everyone involved and even tore the police force in half. So many more were killed in the crosshairs.

The “famous nobody” was silent through this time. They found no evidence of his brand of clues or manipulation, but there were occasional whispers of a man in a red helmet moving in and around Crime Alley. While the criminals seemed scared of him, the few reports that came from civilians reported him as protecting women and children. It was a strange contrast from his last known sighting.

Eventually, it was not the terf wars or Batman’s help that finally brought Gotham back from the brink. No, it was Lex Luthor who pulled the strings to rebuild and reopen the city. The price? His tendrils gripped more of the city than Bruce ever thought possible.

…

Yet, in the wake of Gotham emerging from the ashes, Bruce found contentment he hadn’t known in a long time. While there was still a long way to go in returning his city to how it was prior to the earthquake, he found himself at the head of a growing family. Sure Tim, Cass, and now Stephanie weren’t officially his, they were a welcome addition. And because Dick believed it was his duty to check in and mentor the younger ones, he was coming around more.

There was life surrounding him again, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it. Jason’s death nearly destroyed him and what was left of his family, but these children had slowly put back together the broken pieces of his life without him realizing it.

Strangely, Phantom wasn’t appearing as often as he once had. His appearances and quips had become a part of his life as much as any of the children. The others had been briefed to keep an eye out for him, but the few times he’d been spotted since Gotham reopened had only been when Bruce was alone in the field.

Stephanie complained about never getting a chance to meet him. That was until Phantom appeared behind her during a particularly tense recon mission. It had taken Tim putting a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Although the meta couldn’t hide his smile at her reaction, he had shown himself to warn them about the trap Firefly was about to spring on them. He had been hired by the Falcones to stop them.

“Phantom! Wait, where have you been?” Tim questioned as the meta’s form flickered strangely as he glanced around. It was the first time Bruce had seen him so unsure of his surroundings. “Are you in danger?”

The teen shook his head, “You haven’t needed me as much as before.” He opened his mouth to say more but stopped mid-word and as his form flickered more intensely. It was an unusual reaction from him as he rarely allowed himself to appear nervous in their presence. “I’ve… I’ve been hearing rumors. B, someone is planning to dismantle you and everything you stand for from the ground up. Be careful.”

“Do you know who it is?” Bruce agreed with Tim’s assessment. The meta’s behavior suggested he came to warn that at great risk to himself.

“No.” He wouldn’t meet Bruce’s gaze and fidgeted as he spoke. There was something about this man that the Phantom knew and was afraid to say. Was it possible this was the person he was working for?

“What about the rumors?”

This time Phantom looked at him. “They call him Hush. I don’t know anything about him other than he’s setting up what he calls a game. A lot of people are interested in getting involved.”

“What about you?” When Phantom stared at Stephanie, she shifted uncomfortably. “I mean, if you’re in trouble, we can help you.”

A bitter chuckle escaped the meta as he began to fade. “Don’t worry about me. If you forgot,” as he appeared to take a step forward, his form vanished entirely, “I’m already dead.”

Bruce was ready to track him this time. Switching to his thermal view before Phantom completely vanished, he caught the meta’s heat signature slide through the walkway they were on before vanishing somewhere below them. That helped explain how he could disappear so thoroughly. They knew he could phase through objects, but this confirmed he used that ability to quickly get away from them.

They still needed to find a way to track him as they had no idea where he hid from them. It was also the first time he’d openly suggested any connections. Was Hush the person he was working for? That didn’t seem right. Phantom hadn’t seemed worried about naming him, so perhaps it was someone else who was in direct contact with this Hush.

It was rare to get such a good tip before a criminal made a move. Once he handled the current situation, he would return to the Cave and begin his research. If he was lucky, he might be able to halt whatever was being planned before anyone got hurt.

…

Tim had gotten careless, and as a result, it let him get captured. The man had wrapped his arm around his throat and was squeezing just enough to make it difficult to breathe and even more difficult to escape. He wanted him docile for some reason.

Was this Hush? Bruce had tried and failed to use the tip Phantom gave him to attempt to find and stop the criminal before anything happened. Now, they were racing against the clock to find the man. Phantom was correct that a lot of people had gotten involved with Hush, and there had been so many false leads.

He needed to pay attention to his surroundings. The man who had him spoke with a gruff voice, but his words were mostly muffled by the bandages on his face. However, he could catch hints of a Gotham accent.

“Stay still, Replacement,” the man hissed as he pulled him towards a certain part of the graveyard where Bruce had just stopped Scarecrow. Tim could see the glint of a blade in his hand. “We wouldn’t want you to get unnecessarily hurt. I just need to talk to the Bat.”

A couple agonizingly slow minutes later, Tim heard the slight sound of Bruce’s boots. He’d arrived.

Although his captor kept an arm around his neck, Tim could feel the man shift. “You care about this imposter… pretender…” the man’s voice was further damped by the rain which started sometime during the altercation with Scarecrow.

“Let the boy go.” There was no room for negotiation in that voice. Bruce wouldn’t take lightly to having another one of his Robins be injured.

“Why?” The man almost sounded amused. Weird. It was like the concept of Batman caring for someone was strange to him. “Why should I give him the chance you never gave me?”

There was a pause before Bruce spoke again. “Who are you?”

“The World’s Greatest Detective and you still haven’t figured it out?” Tim had just enough time to glance up to see the man use his knife to cut the bandages off of his face. Dark hair with a white streak was all he could make out before the man adjusted his grip on him and put the knife to his neck. “Life’s just a game, Batman… and this time, you lose.”

Bruce didn’t move immediately. Although there wasn’t an obvious expression on the man’s face, there were slight tells in how his jaw and shoulders tensed that suggested he was shaken. He recognized this man.

“I know what you’re doing. You’re thinking about when I died.” The man stated as an irritated growl crept into his voice. “How there’s blood on your hands because you couldn’t get there in time to stop the Joker from killing me.”

What did the man say? The Joker killed him? Who…? He couldn’t think about that with the knife putting pressure on his throat.

“Keeping silent. Gathering your thoughts. Hoping to rattle your opponent.” The man almost sounded bored. “I’ll make it simple for you. You’ve got to get to me before I slit this pretender’s throat. Tell me, Batman. You let one Robin die. Want to go for two?”

“I’ve got you.” Tim barely had time to register the echoing whisper before an icy chill washed over him. Moments later, he found himself wheezing on the ground with Phantom protectively standing between him and his previous captor. He could feel the sensation of blood running down his skin. The knife had cut him.

An amused chuckle escaped the man, who Tim could finally get a better look at him. While his eyes were covered with a domino mask, his features seemed unsettlingly familiar. Not sure why, he glanced at the disturbed grave he stood over. “Here lies Jason Todd.”

Icy chills crawled down his back. It… it couldn’t be. Jason was dead. He’d been killed by the Joker years ago. No one had disturbed the grave until now. Bruce would have known. He couldn’t be standing there, years older. Tim heard or maybe sensed his heartbeat when he was trapped. Whoever that was, he was alive.

Jason had been Robin. His Robin. He was a hero. He wouldn’t have tried to hurt him. He wouldn’t try to hurt Bruce.

Phantom shifted uncomfortably in front of him. Was he uncomfortable in the presence of the double? They still hadn’t determined whether or not the meta was Jason’s ghost or not, but compared to the man in front of him, Phantom lined up more with who he knew Jason to be.

“Ah, the little ghost. I’ve heard about you,” the double sneered. “Go ahead, take the replacement bird.” He made a shoeing motion with his hand as his attention returned to Bruce. “You know, I’m almost impressed. You managed to get a dead child to join your crusade. Did you decide that was a better option than letting another one die?”

“W-wait…!” Tim tried to move as Bruce lunged at the man and their battle began.

“Don’t try to move,” Catwoman warned as she approached from his side and placed a compress on his neck. He nearly forgot she was also in the area because she and Bruce were giving a relationship a go. Her presence had been a major distraction recently. “That’s a nasty cut.”

“Didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t, but he’d be even more difficult to deal with then he is now if something happened to you.” She wasn’t wrong.

After taking the compress from her, Tim turned his attention to the battle raging in front of them. Whoever the man who looked like Jason was well trained, and his movements were a strange conglomeration of Dick’s, Bruce’s, and others he couldn’t quite place. Bruce must have sensed the similarities too as he fought as he was more on the defensive compared to most of his fights.

As the man lured Bruce towards the church, he noticed Selena was about to follow them. That wasn’t a good thing. “You have to let him do this alone,” he warned as he grabbed her arm.

“I don’t ‘have’ to do anything. Particularly when it comes from you.” Yeah, she wasn’t happy with him. Good, the feeling was mutual.

“Just listen to me, please. The entire time I’ve been Robin, every lesson, every move that Batman has taught me, is intended to keep what happened to Jason from happening to me.” When she didn’t try pulling way, he continued. “No matter what he says, Jason’s death still haunts him. Why else would he keep Jason’s costume so prominently in the cave?”

Selena pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Then you should know better than anyone, kid, what he’s like when he’s angry. And what about you,” her attention turned to Phantom, who seemed focused on the church, “do you plan on interfering even more than you have? Your presence is tearing him apart!”

He turned slightly and studied her for a moment before speaking. “I came because he,” Phantom gestured towards him, “was in danger.” His form began to intensely flicker as his gaze moved to the disturbed grave.

Crap. He was going to disappear again. If there was any chance at tracking him, he needed to attempt to put a tracker on him now. “Phantom, wait!” he took a chance and reached in an attempt to grab his cape. Instead of passing through it, his hand found solid material similar to his own cape.

Both he and Phantom momentarily shared a look of shock as his form seemed to solidify before Phantom’s gaze turned back to the grave. “No one's in it.”

“Empty? What… what do you mean?” He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted. He needed to get this tracker on the cape. Seconds. That’s all he had to do this, but he still momentarily froze in place as dread creeped into the pit of his stomach.

The meta’s cape slipped, not out of his hand, but through it, as he turned to look him in the eyes. His form began to fade. “The grave. The body's gone.”

“And just what would you know about that?” Selena hissed as she rushed forward to take a swipe at him. Instead of making contact, she harmless passed through him right before he faded entirely. Shivering, she turned back to where the meta had stood. “I feel like I was doused in a bucket of ice water. What is that thing?”

“You mean Phantom?” Tim moved passed her to stand in front of the grave. He hadn’t known this was here. Jason’s official grave was in a different cemetery. Was this the correct one? Bruce was paranoid enough to move a grave to a secret location. “We don’t know.”

The grave had been disturbed, that much was obvious. However, with the rain, any physical trace evidence would have long since been washed away. Not wanting to risk disturbing it any longer, he followed Bruce to the top of the church while Selena checked the area for anyone else.

…

The mystery of Hush was finally resolved. Phantom had been correct in that many people had both willingly and unwillingly helped Hush and by proxy, the Riddler, attempt to take him down. While he had his troubles with Thomas Elliot when they were growing up, Bruce never suspected that he’d end up being one of Batman’s many enemies. He had questions for the man, but none of them could be answered. Harvey Dent had shot him when he attempted to kill James Gordon. During the altercation, Elliot fell into the bay, and, as of now, they hadn’t found his body.

On top of losing a childhood friend, Selena decided to end their relationship. He couldn’t blame her. Until Gotham didn’t need him anymore, he would never be able to put her first. Even though he understood, he still mourned her loss.

Then there Clayface who attempted to take on the appearance of an adult version of his son. He hated the reminder of the pain that his son never would be an adult, but Hush and, the true mastermind, the Riddler tried to make it seem like Jason had risen from the grave. They even managed to get a hold of Lazarus Pit ash to strengthen the idea, but while that stunt was unforgivable, they did something worse. They took Jason’s body.

His son was no longer resting peacefully. He was gone, and he had no idea where he could be. And to make things worse, the various sensors were never triggered making it difficult to determine when they made off with him. Strangely, Nygma acted as if he had no idea anyone had touched that grave, even after being threatened. Why would he continue to deny it? Who was he protecting? Or was it possible he hadn’t known? More trips were needed to be able to confirm the truth of the situation.

In the meantime, he was reeling from the press conference that afternoon. Somehow the tabloids got wind the grave was disturbed which set off a police investigation. Bruce had to act as if the call he received from the GCPD was how he found out and answer the questions those vultures posed to him about what happened. He hated dealing with them, but it was necessary to keep up his civilian persona.

But he knew there was more to it. There was a man who asked if he just moved the grave to forget about Jason, and then referred to Tim as a replacement. The wording was too specific. When it got a rise out of Bruce, the man removed his hat to reveal someone who looked exactly the same as Clayface had when he was impersonating Jason. And the smile he gave told Bruce he was well aware of the similarity.

Due to the crowd, Bruce couldn’t risk going after him, and he managed to vanish from sight sometime during the conference. He asked Barbra to check the security footage of the surrounding area for the man. While they weren’t able to find when he entered the area, she was able to find one camera who caught him as he walked away from the conference. It was clear from two fingered salute he gave the camera, he allowed himself to be caught on film. Whoever he was, he knew Bruce would check the camera and had knowledge on how to avoid the others in the area.

He needed to talk to Phantom as it was likely whomever he worked for is how he found out about Hush. However, they still didn’t know where he went. Tim’s attempt to place a tracker on Phantom failed. It never left the area around Jason’s grave, putting them back at square one. Since he was going to check the area for any clue as to where his son might have gone before he returned to Arkham to question the Riddler, he was going to check for it. He didn’t particularly like Bat-tech being in an area where people would be snooping around.

…

Shortly after nightfall, Bruce entered the cemetery as it began raining again. He needed to get in search for what he needed and leave, but as soon as he reached his son’s grave, he paused in his steps. The gnawing pain of regret and the hollow ache of grief rooted him in place as he stared at the still exposed lid of the casket. At least that hadn’t been damaged. There was no sign of sun bleaching either meaning it had only been uncovered recently.

After reminding himself why he was there, he went to work. While it had been raining the previous night, the rain had continued on and off throughout the day which prevented him from gaining any information from footprints which had been left. So, he turned his attention to anything that might have been left behind, including marks on the sides of the casket. Either the rain washed everything away, or nothing had ever been there. He didn’t know which was more frustrating.

“Don’t worry, Jason,” he said softly as he touched the tombstone after placing the clue in his belt. “I’ll get you back.”

“Are you sure returning him will make him or you happy?”

If it hadn’t been for his training, Bruce would have jumped at the echoed voice. Instead, he spun around to find Phantom sitting on a nearby headstone apparently unaffected by the rain. His head was tilted in curiosity, but his tense shoulders suggested unease.

“And what would you know of it?” Bruce snapped as he took a step towards the meta. He tried to stay civil with the boy and owed him for helping Tim, but he was not going to tolerate this brand of taunting, not right now.

The teen didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, his gaze wandered over the graveyard. “There are a lot of restless souls here. The constant fights keep disturbing them.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“In the past, people used to do a lot of elaborate things to try to keep the dead, either in body or soul, from returning,” he explained as he brought his left knee up and rested his chin on it. “That was especially true for people who died unexpectedly, especially murder victims. And sometimes, even those weren’t enough. Is that better?”

His voice was almost expectant. Was he trying to imply that Jason’s spirit hadn’t been at rest since… since before all of this started? No, he refused to allow himself to consider that. The spiritual world was something he had no part in. He was grounded in the material world and what could be properly measured and recorded. Phantom could interact with them, and unless magic was involved, other ghosts like Deadman couldn’t without possession. Therefore, he couldn't be a ghost.

“Enough stalling,” he warned as he took a step towards the meta. “Do you know where my son, where Jason, is?”

The meta straightened as he let his leg drop. “I don’t.” His voice was even, and he seemed sure of his answer.

“Do you know who took him?” He moved closer.

“No.” There was no wavering in his tone, and he didn’t look away.

Bruce stopped moving when he was a couple yards away from the meta. “Do you know how long ago it happened?”

There was a slight hum as he glanced skyward for a moment before returning his attention to Bruce. “Exactly? No, but it has been at least two years.”

“Two years?” That was impossible. His son couldn’t have been missing for that long without him knowing. Whomever took him would have sent him some sort of evidence. Unless… unless that’s why the “famous nobody” was sending him clues. He took Jason and had been displeased at how long it took him to find out. But why? Was he someone who knew Jason personally and knew what happened?

While it wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility, part of the theory rested on whether Phantom told him the truth. He hadn’t given any tells suggesting a lie, but they were certain Phantom was working for this individual. As a result, it was likely information he received from him was either misleading or completely incorrect.

There were too many factors at play, and Phantom’s presence in this entire thing muddled things further. Why did he continue to both help and taunt them?

“What do you want from us, from me?” The anger that was steadily building gave way into what suspiciously sounded like desperation as Phantom’s form began to flicker. “If I can find my son and lay him to rest, will you finally stop haunting me?”

“It’ll depend on what you do when you find him.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering him, the teen tossed a small object at him. Instinctively catching it, Bruce realized it was the tracker. “Thought you wanted that back.” A small, pitying smile appeared as he glanced towards Jason’s grave. His form vanished.

As Bruce switched to his thermal imaging, Phantom’s voice seemed to come right next to his left ear. “I’ll give you a hint.” He spun around and caught sight of the meta pulling back. Smart. He knew he’d gotten too close. “You should check the inside of the coffin.” The teen then, for lack of a better word, dove into the ground.

Bruce tapped the ground gently. Solid with no signs of a concealed door. He wouldn’t be able to follow the teen. Should the try the tracker again later? Or would they need to get more creative? Trapping him would probably be the best option, but he was becoming more and more reluctant to try it again.

Deciding to follow the lead for now, Bruce made the painful decision to open the casket. Radioing Alfred to silence the alarms when the sounded, he lifted the lid to find a wax-coated pomegranate. What in the world was it doing there?

Examining it again, he nearly dropped it as realization hit him. It was another clue. Pomegranates were considered one of the foods of the dead, and the next stop in "The Odyssey" was a place where men were lured to their deaths by songs promising to fulfill their greatest desires. The only way to safely bypass the island of the Sirens was to place wax or another similar substance in the ears to block out the sound.

What was Bruce’s greatest want right now? It was to get his son back. He had heard the Siren’s call.

===========

Notes:

Tim and Selena are extremely antagonistic towards each other in Hush (comic version). Tim doesn't trust her, and she doesn't seem to like his presence. I almost forgot about that until I re-read it for this fic. It could be possessiveness. I don't think Tim and Selena knew each other well at that time, but I could be wrong. That's a rabbit hole I don't want to go down right now. I've already spent too much time trying to figure out DC's timeline.

I just have this idea that Jason could have antagonized Bruce more in Hush by calling in a tip that someone took his body and that causes police investigation plus press conference. Then, if he wants to be extra spiteful, pretend to be a reporter to ask Bruce uncomfortable questions. It is also accompanied by Jason wearing the traditional reporter jacket and fedora. You don't understand how badly I need this in my life.

So, the next stop, the island of the Sirens. Wax is the most obvious part of the clue, but there's a little more to it. That'll be explained next chapter. This one started getting too long

#Danny Phantom #dp #dp x dc #danny phantom crossover #Chasing Shadows #DP au #Odyssey AU

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