Teen Villain Alliance
Chapter 1 - Damian
Despite his proficiency in the skill, Damian hated spying on the Teen Villain Alliance.
Having appeared two years ago in alliance with Klarion Bleak, the Teen Villain Alliance, or TVA, quickly made themselves known as little more than pests, often rushing in to assist other young adult criminals or harass Justice League officials. Father wanted to investigate when they first appeared, but with Todd’s reveal and Damian himself coming to take his place as Robin, he’d been… busy.
Which allowed the TVA to flourish into a respected criminal enterprise. No vault was safe, no hero strong enough. A group had even banded together to take down Superman! And while there was no lasting damage other than some bizarre markings on the Kryptoian’s face, it was enough to prove these teenagers as a threat.
Damian, as much as it galled him, was not the first chosen to infiltrate. Martian Manhunter, shapeshifted into a meta fourteen-year-old girl, tried and was identified as a hero on sight. The Teen Titans and Young Justice got closer, actually able to talk to the villains about joining, but “it was like they could smell the hero on us,” Beast Boy had explained. “I don't know how else to explain it.”
Most likely, the TVA kept tabs on the Justice League and affiliated organizations. They needed someone fresh, someone who wasn’t a hero.
Damian had been more than willing to volunteer.
Introducing himself as Damian Al Ghul, the recently escaped Heir to the Demon Head, he’d been accepted immediately despite having approached the group mid-heist. All he had to do was extrapolate about how Grandfather’s assassins were chasing him, and the Wolf—a designation given to the members of the TVA’s inner circle—allowed him to join, but he was forced to stay with the hacker of the group while the heist commenced with no interference from a hero.
Damian had been confident. He’d gotten so far in mere minutes when a member of the Justice League, and even Drake, couldn’t get past the first few questions. He’d have the Teen Villain Alliance dismantled within the week.
Then Manson, as the Wolf had introduced herself, took out a device that transported them all to another dimension. Which was where the main base of the Alliance was. And none of his communication devices or trackers worked there.
Damian had only been able to update the Justice League a few times since his tenure as a spy began. Superman had reassured him it was fine, that there had been plenty of missions were communication was infrequent, but after a month of living in the TVA Base in the Infinite Realms, Damian hated not being able to contact his father easily. And in return, Father and Drake had taken to interrogating him for as long as possible the couple of times he was outside Headquarters.
(Phantom’s Haunt is what the TVA members called it. It was Phantom Dark’s home that he opened up to them all. Damian didn’t know how to feel about that.)
Damian had only been able to contact Father three times in his four weeks undercover, each time on a supply run… which was essentially just a grocery trip for the Haunt. The first time Damian had slipped away to the bathroom and called, Father had been… furious. He’d thought Damian’s lack of updates was on purpose. It had been five minutes before Damian could correct him.
He wished Grayson had answered during any of his updates, but he was on a mission in space and wouldn’t be back for another two weeks.
In those four months, Damian was still the newest member, and had yet to be involved in the truly illegal aspects of the organization. All the information he’d gathered purely administrative, like how Duulaman, a reincarnated pharaoh turned hacker, stole money from various billionaires and government organizations to fund their plans. He’d yet to be involved with anything serious.
He wasn’t allowed on serious missions either. He only had the supply runs to look forward to, and those only occurred once a month.
His other objective, to undermine the Teen Villain Alliance and spur a mutiny, was also going poorly. The children he surrounded himself with were fanatically loyal to the Alliance, citing Phantom and his harem as the reason they were alive today. Even those who weren’t directly rescued were loyal. One such child, a boy named Kyd Wyckyd, had confessed to turning to a life of crime due to his terrifying meta abilities and their effects on his appearance.
But the TVA took him in after the collapse of HIVE Academy. He hadn’t participated in a crime since, preferring to work with the Wolf named Jasmine who led individual and group therapy sessions for the villains. Jasmine had tried multiple times to convince her therapy sessions—more like brainwashing sessions—but Damian had stayed strong in the face of adversary.
Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much more Damian could do. He tried to push, to get involved with the criminal aspect of the organization, but the Wolves blocked him at every turn, saying he was “too young.” That he needed “stability” and to “rely on them to keep him safe.”
Perhaps Damian oversold the danger of the League of Assassins.
For now, Damian hid in his room in Phantom’s Haunt. His castle. Even the magnificence of the compound he grew up in couldn’t compare to the headquarters. There were an infinite number of rooms—”as many as we need,” Phantom had told him—that changed based on the user’s preferences. Right now, Damian’s room looked like a cave. The Batcave, to be precise, though he didn’t allow references to his Father and legacy.
He was hiding because Manson had suggested he attend some of the classes held in the libraries—there were four libraries at the moment. Classes were taught by ghosts under Phantom’s control and weren’t mandatory, but “everyone’s worried about the lack of structure in your life.”
He tried to tell himself it was because he didn’t want to be brainwashed by Phantom’s lackeys, and that he already knew everything they were going to teach. But in truth… Damian was anxious. Attending school at the Haunt felt too permanent, too much like he was planning to stay. He hadn’t gotten the choice to attend school back in Gotham, with Father acting like he would compromise their identities around children. He wasn’t that petty.
Someone knocked on his door. “Damian? Are you inside?”
Sighing, Damian stood up and opened the door. “Dr. Fenton. Am I needed for anything?”
Dr. Daniel Fenton was another Wolf, another member of the harem Phantom had built around him, twenty years old and not an actual doctor but everyone called him that anyway. While Damian had yet to see Fenton and Phantom in the same place, Damian was keeping a detailed record of how the Wolves’ polyamourous relationship worked. Phantom and Fenton both dated Manson and Duualman, though they didn’t seem to be dating each other or Jasmine. Klarion often inserted himself into those relationships for hugs and hand-holding, but only seemed to kiss Jasmine.
“Actually, yes.” Damian’s lips parted in surprise. “I wanted to talk to you about something down in my lab. Would you join me?”
Fenton’s lab was off-limits to low level members of the TVA. He was the engineer, the creator of all their weapons of destruction. Fenton had no minions, while Manson had her thieves, Duualman had his hackers, Jasmine had her helpers, Klarion had his witches, and Phantom had his fighters.
Fenton was alone.
Isolated.
Damian agreed.
Fenton led him to the depths below the castle, past the never-used dungeon and through a secret door into a surprisingly bright and airy lab. He caught Damian looking through a window that displayed one of the Haunt’s many gardens, an impossible feat for being so far underground. “Magic castle, remember,” Fenton chided him. “Those work as portals that lead to the garden too, so it’s an easy one-way exit.”
Damian scoffed, abashed that he’d been caught so easily. From a glance, the lab was perfectly maintained, with every piece of equipment assigned to an outline meant to indicate where it belonged. As he walked further into the room, Fenton made slight adjustments to his tools, meticulously shifting them back into place. It looked more like a set than a laboratory.
But then, Damian observed Fenton. The twenty-year-old relaxed as he put his space back into order, nudging the screwdrivers and beakers back into their designated outlines. As he worked, the sleeve of his lab coat road up, revealing a glimpse of lichtenberg scars before it was hidden again.
Finally done, Fenton turned back to Damian. “My sister, Jazz, has told me that you’re not attending individual or group therapy sessions, is that correct?”
Well, that revealed a lot of information. Ignoring the fact that Fenton and Jasmine were apparently siblings, Damian replied, “I do not see a reason to attend. If this meeting is an attempt to force me–”
Fenton held his hands up in surrender. “No, I would never. Therapy doesn’t work if the person receiving it doesn’t want it. But you haven’t been attending any of your classes either, and Phantom has mentioned that you don’t hang out with the other kids. Are you settling in alright? I know the others are a few years older than you, so it might be harder for you to connect with them.”
Damian chewed on the question. While part of him was furious that someone, especially a villain like Fenton, was concerned about him and discussed him with his fellows, the other part… wasn’t. It was true; he was having difficulty connecting with the villains. Damian didn’t particularly want to, but it would make his mission easier.
He chose a neutral answer. “In the League of Assassins… I was the only child in the entire compound. Other children weren’t allowed inside, not unless their parents did something wrong. And those children…”
“Were used against their parents?” Fenton offered when he struggled to find the words.
“Precisely. It’s not in my nature to associate with children.”
Fenton nodded in understanding, stroking his chin in thought. “That does present a conundrum alright. How unfortunate; the task I needed your help with requires you to interact with at least some of the others, but if you’re that uncomfortable with the idea, then I could find someone else.”
Damian stared at the man in suspicion. “What task?” he demanded to know. If this was a way to get more information for father, he needed to know. But if this was another trap to get him into therapy…
“You’ve probably noticed by now, but I’m the only Wolf without someone working under me. Sam has her Bats, Tucker has his Flies, Jazz has her Rats, Klarion has his Strays, and Phantom has the TVA as a whole. The others have been pressuring me to create my own group, but babysitting a group of teens in a lab where anything could explode is just asking for trouble.”
Damian stepped away from the nearest device. Fenton continued, “However, I think a group dedicated to investigation would work much better. Here in the Infinite Realms, we’re very isolated from the human world, so my research on competing inventors is always lacking. Tuck and Sam help, but Tucker has his own hacking projects, and Sam targets financially viable targets instead of labs.”
“You want me to be a member of your new… group?” Damian read in between the lines of what Fenton was saying. Surely Father would be proud of him for gaining information about Fenton’s inventions and targets—
“I want you to lead the group.”
His glare dropped right off his face in shock. “Lead?” he whispered.
“That’s right,” Daniel agreed. “It’s not conventional and I barely got the others to agree, but Damian, you’re one of the best trained villains to ever join the TVA. Yeah, you’re really young, but you are serious and professional. To be honest, most of the kids we take in don’t take our work seriously. It’s not a bad thing, but I need a leader who is willing to keep their group in line. Infiltration and information gathering can be very dangerous, and I need someone who can keep the team safe.”
Daniel trusted him enough for that? Father didn’t trust him enough to be his partner; honestly, Father didn’t even trust him enough to introduce Damian to the world as his son! Perhaps he was aggressive towards the interlopers in his home, but he wasn’t going to stab a civilian!
And while Damian didn’t understand why Daniel was so cautious around what amounted to breaking and entering, he wanted Damian to lead. He trusted Damian for that.
And Damian was going to take back whatever information Fenton revealed back to his father, like a hunting dog to its master.
Daniel continued, “Of course, this is still a few months off from being necessary. But that should give you plenty of time to attend some classes to prepare you more! One on leadership skills, one on modern technology, one on basic magic and wards, maybe a refresher on hacking… Knowing you, you’ll test out of them in a few weeks, but the main point is to find other people to join our team. I’m looking for four other team members, and while I am looking for certain traits and skills, it's up to you to decide who you want on the team.” Daniel placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder. “So, what do you think?”
He’d betray Daniel by saying yes. He’d betray Father by saying no.
He made his choice.
Damian looked up at Daniel, determination set into his face. “I won’t let you down.”
Daniel smiled. “I know you won’t. You couldn’t if you tried.”
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Bring Me Home, Chapter 2 Part 1
First, Previous
Story Summary: Tim Drake and Danny Fenton meet online as precocious preteens with far too much internet freedom due to parents who are far too interested in their work to monitor what their kids are getting up to. They bond and don't bother keeping secrets from each other about their vigilante lives.
This chapter wasn't supposed to exist. I was supposed to end the first chapter with the last segment I shared then jump ahead to the point where Tim helps Danny escape. But I couldn't get the idea of Tim and the Young Justice team ending up in Amity. I mentioned the idea to @britcision who asked if I really couldn't find a way to fit it in. And that was followed up by a night of insomnia due to bad life decisions regarding caffeine. And thus I figured out how to make it work.
This is going to be a longer segment! I've been wanting to share something a bit longer for a week or two and then I hit the 250 follower mark, so now I have an excuse to do so! (I totally would've shared regardless of a notable follower milestone.)
Word Count: 4.8k
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Tim was in the pilot seat of the plane, but had it set with autopilot and was facing the back where Conner and Bart were arguing over what to have for dinner. He and Cassie exchanged grins and he pulled out his phone to text her and ask if she was up for sushi just to throw a third option out there and make the argument worse when the computers all started beeping as the plane wobbled.
Dropping his phone, he turned back to the controls. The computers had failed and the plane was losing altitude fast. Tim pulled up on the steering, trying to keep the plane from nosediving into the ground.
“What’s going on?” shouted Conner.
“I don’t know!” Tim grit his teeth. “Plane failure, we’re going down!” he warned. Examining the landscape before them—mostly open plains thankfully—he held the steering steady as he aimed for land empty of buildings and roads.
“I’ll break the door,” called Conner.
“Superboy, lock the steering in this position!” ordered Tim.
“Done!”
Tim abandoned his seat and ran to the door, reaching it just as Conner tore it open. Without hesitation, Tim jumped out, Conner’s arms around him a moment later holding him in the air.
Next to them, Cassie had hold of Bart who was grinning as he showed off the bags he’d rescued before their escape.
From their place in the air, they watched as the plane crashed in a fiery disaster.
“Do we check it out or do we run in the opposite direction?” asked Cassie.
Tim wanted to run without leaving any trace of who’d been flying the plane. But… “We have to make sure the fire doesn’t spread. And make sure there’s nothing incriminating in the crash. But I want you or Wonder Girl on recon and we’re out of there as soon as first responders get close.”
“You’ve got it,” said Conner in his ear.
And a few moments later, they were on the ground facing the wreckage that was their plane.
“You know,” said Bart, “We probably didn’t have to steal the plane when we left. Had anyone tried to use it to escape, they wouldn’t have gotten very far.” He tossed one of the bags their way and Conner caught it. “But look at what I saved!”
Tim leaned over to see as Conner opened the bag. Right on top was the cellphone he’d dropped when the plane started to fail. He laughed and grabbed it. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t turn on for some reason. Deciding to deal with it later, he looked at what else was in the bag: his and Conner’s civvies. “You’re the best, Impulse!”
Bart held out a second bag to him. “And this is as much of the evidence I could get to. The last bag has mine and Wonder Girl’s belongings.”
Tim pulled him into a hug. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.” Letting him go, he turned to the burning plane. “Now, let’s take care of this.”
Over the next hour, they managed to contain the wreckage and put out any fires. No local authorities ever came out to investigate the site.
“Where the hell even are we if there’s no one around?” asked Conner. “Even back at Ma and Pa’s someone would’ve been here in, like, ten minutes.”
Tim just shrugged. “I’ve no idea. Somewhere in Illinois. But I don’t like this. Let’s see if we can find the nearest town. Make sure everything’s okay. Wasn’t there a highway just south of here? Impulse, mind checking it out and seeing if you can see any signs pointing us to a local town or city?”
“You’ve got it, Rob!” said Bart with a salute before disappearing.
Tim had barely opened the last bag to see what else Bart had saved before he was back.
“You’re right about Illinois! Saw a sign. A town called Elmerton is east of us and a town called Amity Park west.”
Tim froze. “Amity?” he asked. His mind already spinning away. Danny had mentioned tech sometimes went wonky near Amity due to the interference of ectoplasm. Could that be what had happened to the plane? And Danny had mentioned their town was so small they didn’t have much of a police force. A large explosion would probably be assumed to be a ghost and be left to Phantom or the Fentons…
“Yeah. Do you know it?”
Tim laughed. “Yep! I’m friends with the local hero. He knows both of my identities. Let’s go pay him a visit. Civvies will be best. I’ve told him more about you as my friends than my teammates.”
The others exchanged hesitant glances. Cassie was the one to speak. “You talk about us to him? Why haven’t you mentioned him?”
Tim shrugged. “He and I don’t really keep secrets from each other. And I’m sure I’ve mentioned him. Remember when we were trying to settle on a movie last week? I suggested the reboot Star Trek movies because Danny had been going on about them for ages and I wanted to see what had him so worked up.”
“Okay, what the fuck, Rob,” said Conner. “You need to be more obvious with these things. We thought you meant someone from your school or something. Not a fellow hero!”
Bart nodded his agreement. “Also, won’t he be mad you’re just telling us his identity?”
“Danny’s an idiot,” Tim stated. “He’s worse at keeping a secret identity than Kon.”
“Hey!” protested Conner.
“Rob’s got a point,” said Cassie as she elbowed Conner with a grin. “But, Robin, if we’re going as civilians, how will we explain the lack of transportation?”
“Easy. According to Danny, tech acts weird around Amity. Probably why the plane went down and our phones don’t work. So we’ll just say our car broke down and ask if Danny can fix it. He’s good with machinery.”
“Why haven’t you brought him into the League if the two of you are such good friends?” asked Conner, arms crossed.
Tim just shrugged. “He doesn’t want to join. The local threats he takes care of are constant enough that he can’t leave for more than a day or two. Besides, his parents don’t know and he can’t explain absences that are longer than a single night where he pretends to be at one of his friends’ places.”
“His parents don’t know?” Cassie shook her head. “I couldn’t imagine doing this without Mom’s support.”
Tim nodded. “Yeah. I’m honestly kinda worried about his living situation. So the chance to go check on him in person is something I can’t bring myself to give up. You guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but Danny and I’ve known each other for four years and things have been rough for him this past year since he’s gotten his powers. I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“Wait, four years?” asked Conner.
“He predates Robin?” Bart’s mouth was all but hanging open.
“I did exist before the suit, you know.” Tim stood a little taller. Usually he liked being Robin more than Tim, but he did have a life outside of the suit.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “That’s not what he meant and you know it. It’s just… You don’t talk about your pre-Robin life very often.” She grinned and Tim suddenly felt uneasy. “We are so asking him all sorts of questions about what you were like.”
“I mean… I wasn’t all that different to the current me.”
“Oh, we’ll be the judge of that,” she promised with a wicked gleam in her eye. This was going to be a disaster, wasn’t it?
“So what’s got you so worried about Danny?” asked Bart.
Tim sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “So, the deal with Amity Park is that his parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone in his basement. In the process of getting it to work, there was a lab accident and Danny got ghost powers. Don’t ask him or his friends about it. Now ghosts come through and try to attack the town and Danny stops them. Bad enough, right? But the reason his parents were building the portal is because they’re ghost hunters. They see a ghost, they pull a weapon on it and try to, and I quote, ‘tear it apart molecule by molecule.’ I don’t like the idea of Danny living there when he has ghost powers but he’s refusing to leave and I don’t have any way of kidnapping him and keeping him away.”
“You know that’s a spot on your ‘how close is Robin to going supervillain on us’ bingo card, right?” asked Cassie.
Conner elbowed her. “Not the point right now, Wonder Girl.” Then, in a whisper just loud enough for Tim to hear, he added, “Though this gets me close!” Back in his normal voice, he said, “Robin we’ll absolutely go check on your friend with you. Is there anything else we need to know?”
Tim tilted his head but decided not to address the teasing. “Don’t eat any food cooked in his house or stored in the main fridge. And try to avoid mentioning the word ‘ghost’ around his parents. They apparently will take that as an excuse to literally talk for multiple hours on the topic. It should go without saying, but his hero identity must be kept secret from his parents at all costs. His best friends and sister are the only humans who know. Though all the other ghosts know.”
“So…” start Bart, “You’re telling us that his rogues all know his identity but his parents don’t. That’s a bit of a role reversal.”
Tim laughed. “Yeah. Weirded me out when he told me, too. But he’s not concerned about the ghosts knowing. Just human ghost hunters.”
“Like his parents,” Cassie said.
“Like his parents,” Tim confirmed.
“Well fuck.” As always, Conner knew how to sum up everyone’s thoughts.
“So, do you know his address?” asked Bart.
“Nope,” Tim said, popping the P. “But we won’t need it. His house is obvious from a mile away based on what Danny’s said.”
Cassie shook her head. “Every word out of your mouth makes me more concerned and more curious.”
Tim laughed. “That about sums him up. He’s got some stories that could rival ours for ridiculous and crazy. Now, Wonder Girl, Superboy, what do you say about flying us closer to town? Then we can change and walk the rest of the way in.”
“You’ve got it Boss-man!” Conner shouldered the bag of their belongings and hugged Tim close before launching them in the air.
Cassie did the same with Bart who pointed in the direction of Amity. It wasn’t long before they could see the town.
The group landed in a small grove of trees to change out of uniform before walking along the side of the highway towards Amity.
As they were walking, Bart asked, “So why shouldn’t we eat any of the food at Danny’s? I’m hungry.”
“We’ll go and get far too many burgers and snacks on B’s dime. The food at Danny’s house isn’t safe to eat or even be around, just trust me.”
“Hey, Tim,” said Conner, “What the fuck does that mean?”
Tim just shrugged. “Look, his parents would fit in at Arkham. The rest… well, we’ll see when we get there. I only have second hand information myself and I don’t know if I fully believe what Danny says.”
“You didn’t crash the plane on purpose, did you?” asked Bart who was now walking backwards in front of him.
“Yeah, Tim,” agreed Cassie, “Sounds like you’ve been wanting to come here for a while. Convenient, isn’t it? You could’ve just asked us if we were interested in a road trip!”
Tim flushed. “Are you guys seriously accusing me of deliberately destroying evidence in a plane crash? Me?”
“Don’t worry, Tim!” Conner slung an arm around his shoulders and leaned into him. “I believe you. If you wanted to concoct an excuse to get us here, it’d be much more subtle.”
Cassie and Bart laughed as Tim grumbled about traitorous friends. Louder, he said, “Oi, watch what you say. We’re in everyday clothes.”
“Of course. And you’re not just saying that because we’re right.” Bart stuck his tongue out at him.
Tim ducked under Conner’s arm and threw a punch which Bart easily dodged. “Remember I know where you sleep!” he called out.
“Right back atcha!” replied Bart. Cassie and Conner laughed at them.
It only took them about twenty minutes to come to the outermost buildings of the town and within forty, they were in the town proper.
“Now, seriously, Tim, where’re we going?” asked Cassie looking around.
The people who were around kept giving them odd looks and Tim had no idea what they were doing to stick out so obviously.
As if echoing his thoughts, Cassie muttered under her breath, “Is it just me or are we being stared at?”
Conner replied just as quietly. “I can hear them whisper; they know we’re outsiders. What sort of town is this, Tim?”
“Amity’s been through a lot the past few months. It might be a more active hot spot than Gotham, actually. I don’t think they trust strangers right now.”
“Worse than Gotham?” asked Cassie. “Timmy, bestie, you are totally keeping secrets from us again! Not cool.”
“I’m not!” Tim protested. “Look, we just need to find Danny’s house and hope there isn’t a ghost attack before we do.”
“How often do these ghost attacks happen?” asked Bart.
“From what Danny says, something usually happens most days. But they’re generally small. Big attacks… maybe once a week? But those can take a few days to fully resolve.”
“Dude, that is worse than Gotham,” said Bart, awe in his voice. “And the local hero just takes care of it all himself?”
“Yeah. Danny Phantom seems to be pretty competent. At least against ghosts.”
Cassie let out a low whistle but decided to change the subject. “So, if your friend’s house is so distinct, what are we looking for?”
Before Tim could reply, the roar of an engine drowned him out and a giant silver-and-green monstrosity turned the corner so fast only two wheels remained on the ground. A woman in a blue jumpsuit leaned out the window holding a gun bigger than herself as she screamed about ghosts.
Around them, people took one look and ran into any door they could, slamming them shut. Conner, Cassie, and Bart fell into defensive stances.
Tim just grinned and relaxed as he watched to see what street the GAV turned down. It really was as ridiculous as Danny had said.
As soon as the noise of the Fenton’s illegal tank died down, Tim answered Cassie’s question. “We go down the same street as that vehicle. Those were Danny’s parents.”
“Are we going to the lair of super villains?” asked Conner.
“Nah, just mad scientists.”
“Tim, is this really the best idea?” Cassie had pulled out her phone and was uselessly trying to turn it on.
“We’ll need to if you want your phone fixed.”
Around them, people were starting to cautiously open doors and look out to make sure it was safe. Tim pretended not to notice the looks his friends were exchanging.
“Come on, what happened to grilling Danny about what I was like before Bruce took me in?” He really hoped the potential for embarrassing stories, of which there obviously weren’t any, would get them to stop second guessing him.
Cassie did hum consideringly. “Well, it’s not like we haven’t faced weirder. And we can hold our own against mad scientists if needed. Even without any form of communication device. Which… Tim, on a scale of an elephant noticing an ant to about to start world war three, how likely is it that your family has noticed something happened and how totally normal will their reaction be?”
Tim groaned. “Look, I’ll see if Danny can fix my phone first before we get dinner. If it doesn’t take too long, it won’t be an issue. We probably have a few hours before B does anything irreversible.”
“I have no idea how you put up with someone always in your business like that,” commented Conner.
Tim shrugged as he finally got the others to start moving in the direction the tank took. “I mean, I keep track of you guys about as closely as Bruce follows me.”
Bart laughed. “Whelp, that’s another box checked on the ‘Tim is going to grow up to be a supervillain’ bingo card!
Tim stuck his tongue out at his friends and sped up so he was walking a few feet ahead of them. Around them, pedestrian traffic started picking up again as people decided it was safe to come out again.
Bart ran up until he was walking backwards in front of Tim. “Do you really think you can outrun me?”
“I’m not trying to out run you. Just walk ahead of you. I’m the one who knows what I’m looking for.” They reached the turn and Bart kept walking straight so Tim grabbed his arm. “Like, for example, the fact that we need to turn down this road.”
A quick glance down the street proved this had to be the right place. The giant Fenton Works sign hung off one of the buildings and the monstrosity Danny referred to as the Ops Center sat precariously on the roof.
“In fact, that building that’s probably breaking every building code ever imagined is our destination. Come on! The sooner we get there, the sooner Danny can fix my phone, and the sooner we can eat.”
“He’s totally taking us to the lair of some evil mad scientists, isn’t he?” Cassie muttered.
Tim pretended he couldn’t hear her. Or Conner’s reply of “Oh, definitely. One more square and I’ve got bingo.”
“I think we need to change the rules of the game. We have winners too often. First person to a full card wins, not the first person to connect a line.”
“I hate you guys. You’re fired as my best friends. It’ll just be me and Danny from now on. I’ll run away and move here and hide in his attic and never talk to any of you ever again.”
Bart hooked their arms together. “Then we’ll just come and drag you back. Evil scientists and ghosts and creepy town or not.”
Conner walked up until he could bump his shoulder against Tim’s and Cassie ruffled his hair.
“Yep. You’re stuck with us for life at this point. No firing allowed,” she said.
Tim hid a smile as they walked the last half block to Danny’s house. And then the group just stared at the building for a minute.
“You know, after seeing this place, I don’t think I needed the warning about the food,” commented Cassie. “I’m not going to trust a single thing they try to give us.”
“If it comes from Danny or his sister, it’ll be fine. From their parents? Decline.” Tim took a breath and walked up the steps and rang the doorbell.
Voices could be heard from inside and a moment later, the door opened to reveal the largest human Tim had ever seen. And the orange jumpsuit he was wearing was so bright even Tim, used as he was to Robin colors, had to hold back a wince. Jack Fenton was smiling broadly at them.
“Welcome to Fenton Works! Who might you lot be? Would you like some fudge?” And even though his hands had been empty a moment before, he managed to pull a tray of fudge from…somewhere.
Before Tim could reply, Maddie Fenton was there, too. “Jack, let the kids speak! Welcome. Are you here for Jazz or Danny?”
Tim put on his gala-smile. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. I’m Tim, Danny’s penpal from Gotham and these are some of my friends. We are on a road trip and were passing by and I decided I wanted to stop by to see Danny. Is he home?”
The words were barely out of Tim’s mouth before Jack was shouting with a voice loud enough to shake the windows. “Dan-o! Your friends are here!”
Maddie’s reaction was more interesting. Her brow furrowed and she seemed to mumble to herself, “Penpal? Has Danny mentioned a penpal before?” Louder, she said, “Please come on in. Danny will be right down.”
As his friends shuffled past him, they each poked or prodded Tim in some way to let him know how crazy they found the situation. Maddie shut the door behind them and the click of the door had no right to sound as ominous as a lock turning in a cell in a supervillain’s lair.
True to Maddie’s predictions, footsteps echoed on the floor above them and then down the stairs. Danny froze on the steps, though, as soon as he saw exactly who was in his living room.
Tim raised a hand and grinned. “Hey, Danny! Surprise?”
“Tim? What the—” Danny cut off the phrase with a glance at his parents. “Secrets! We’ve talked about surprises like this! What are you doing here?” And then he was running the rest of the way down the stairs and hugging Tim tightly.
Tim’s surprise lasted just a moment before he was hugging Danny back. “I don’t actually think we have had a conversation about the proper way for me to show up at your place when I ended up stranded in the area by accident with a non-working phone. I blame you, by the way.”
They pulled apart, but Danny stayed close enough that their arms brushed against each other at the slighted movement. “I can fix that for you. It’ll take about twenty minutes.” He glanced at Tim’s friends. “Each, I’m afraid.”
Cassie waved off his apology. “Fix Tim’s first. His family is the one that’ll freak out if he’s out of communication too long. It’s nice to meet you Danny, I’m—“
But Danny cut her off. “Cassie, right? Tim’s told me a lot about you. It’s great to finally meetcha! And you two must be Conner and Bart!” As he said their names, he correctly pointed at each boy.
“You’ve got it in one,” agreed Conner. “Though I’d like to open by saying anything Tim said is probably a lie.”
Danny laughed. “Even the part where he called you the coolest person he knows after Dick? Because I got that message just—”
Tim slammed his hand over Danny’s mouth. “No need to go into that right now.” He ignored the way he felt his face heating.
To his relief, Danny’s dad butted into the conversation. “Well we’re thrilled to have you kids here! Will you stay for dinner? My snoockums will be making the best chicken you’ve ever had!”
“Actually, Mr. Fenton,” said Tim before anyone else could, “Danny and I have this ongoing debate over which is better: Batburger or Nasty Burger. It’s been going on for years and I need to try Nasty Burger so he can’t use the excuse that I don’t know what I’m talking about when I insist Batburger is better.”
“Oh you are so going to eat your words,” Danny said shrugging out from under Tim’s arm. Looking to his friends, Danny asked, “Have all of you had batburger?”
Bart grinned. “Sure have! We’ll be sure to give our unbiased opinions!”
Danny laughed. “Great, because Tim sure won’t. He’ll refuse to admit how he’s completely wrong and Nasty Burger is the absolute best ever.”
Cassie shook her head. “Is it really called Nasty Burger? Why would they do that?”
“Oh someone vandalized the sign years ago and the restaurant decided to lean into it. Now, come on, I’ll fix Tim’s phone and then we can get dinner.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat here?” asked Maddie again.
“Yeah, mom, we’re sure.”
“How long’ll you kids be in town for?” asked Jack. “Do you have a place to stay?”
Tim shrugged. “My foster dad gave me a credit card for us to use for lodgings, food, and gas on the trip. We were just gonna find a hotel or something in town.”
“Now that just won’t do!” Maddie even covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide in disbelief. “Neither the hotel nor the motel has any ghost shields to speak of. What if there’s an attack? No. You must stay here. Our house is the safest place in town, dontcha know.”
“Exactly!” boomed Jack. “In fact, let me show you!” He reached over and flipped what looked like a light switch, but instead of a light turning on, a siren sounded and glowing-green metal slammed over the windows. At least five hidden compartments on every wall opened revealing lasers and guns. Each of which made their own noises.
Danny tensed next to him as about a third of the weapons pointed to him and a robotic voice said, “Ghost threat detected.”
Then a girl appeared on the stairs shouting at the adults. “I’m trying to study!” It was amazing how she was able to shout over the noise of the alarm systems. “Who activated the home defense system?” And that’s when she noticed Tim and his friends.
As soon as her daughter appeared, Maddie flipped the switch back off and the weapons disappeared back into the walls, the metal retreated from the windows, and the alarms fell quiet leaving behind a normal-looking living room once again.
Behind him, Tim heard Cassie mutter, “What the fuck?”
“Who are you?” Jazz asked as soon as it was quiet.
Jack answered for everyone. “These are Danny’s friends! Tim and… sorry, I don’t think I caught the rest of your names.”
“Dad!” Danny shook his head. “Come on down, Jazz. I’ve mentioned Tim a ton. He’s my online penpal Secrets. And these are his friends: Cassie, Bart, and Conner.”
“Oh! Secrets!” She ran the rest of the way down the stairs. “It’s so great to meet you. Danny didn’t mention you coming to visit.” She shook Tim’s hand with a friendly smile.
Tim couldn’t help but smile back. “Glad to meet you, too. Danny talks about you all the time.”
And his friends were done being quiet because Bart decided to take over explanations. “Our visit was unscheduled. We were in the area and our transport and phones stopped working. Saw the sign for Amity and Tim brought us here.”
Jazz nodded in understanding. “Yeah, that happens around here. But Danny can fix your phones and car so you won’t be stranded long.”
“Yep! That’s just what I was about to do. Fix Tim’s phone then take them to Nasty Burger. I’ll take care of everyone else’s after we eat.”
Jazz nodded. “Bring me back a milkshake? I have a bit more studying to do. But, Tim! I want to get to know you better. After all, you’ve been such a large part of Danny’s life these past few years. So I’ll pull out some board and card games and we can just hang out for a bit while Danny fixes your phones.”
Tim felt his face flush again. Did Danny really talk about him that much? “Uh, yeah. Sure. That sounds great.”
“Oh. My. God. Jazz! You’re not allowed to interrogate my friends.” Danny took Tim’s hand and dragged him towards the stairs. “Come on, let’s go up to my room where I can work on your phones.”
Tim heard snickering from at least one of his friends as they followed them. But really, most of his focus was on how Danny’s hand felt cool but solid in his own.
Jazz just rolled her eyes. “It’s not interrogating, Danny. It’s getting to know someone. That involves questions!”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Conner. “No one is worse at interrogation than Tim’s dad.”
“Not my dad!” protested Tim automatically.
“Foster Dad, whatever! You know who I mean.”
Danny didn’t let go of his hand until they were in his bedroom. And once everyone, except Jazz, was in the room, he shut the door.
“Great, now that we have some privacy, let’s have proper introductions! Glad to meet you all. Do you want anything? Jazz and I have water bottles and pop cans hidden up here that are safe. And I’ve got, like, seven flavors of pringles.”
“What flavors of pop?” asked Conner.
“Coke, ginger ale, sprite, and fanta,” replied Danny.
“Can I have a sprite?”
“I’ll take a coke if it’s okay,” said Cassie.
“Fanta for me!” called Bart.
“You guys got it. Tim?”
“I’ll just have water for now.”
Danny nodded. “Give me just a sec. The fridge is hidden in Jazz’s room.”
And then the Young Justice team was left alone.
Cassie hissed, “What the fuck, Tim!”
----------
Next
And there you have it! Tim and Danny's first in-person meeting. And the Young Justice's introduction to Amity and the Fentons.
If anyone has any fics, meta analyses, or whatever that focuses on the Young Justice characters, I'd love some recommendations! I've read less on them than the bats and they're shaping up to have a big part in this fic.
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