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“I will go talk with your son later tonight. You will probably want to gather the entire family for this.”
When Batman scowled at him, Danny couldn’t do much more than give a tired smile. Unfortunately, that only made the Bat’s frown deepen. Not that Danny could hold it against him, really. ORF the question that they man all but growled out: “What do you want with him?”
What did Danny want? Well, Danny wanted to go home, eat ice cream, watch a movie and scroll on his phone. What he needed to do, however, was telling this young liminal that he would have to cease to exists. What he could do… Well. All he could do for his fellow survivor of death was to make an offer.
"Talk," he answered for now, trying not to let his grief show too much. "An unfortunate, heavy talk which he will want his family around for - and which you will want to be present for, too."
Batman opened his mouth to say something else, but Danny knew he couldn't allow that. He couldn't let Batman discourage him from going, no matter how much he wanted that to happen. So he closed his eyes, took a deep breath he didn't need and let himself fall back through the portal he had come through. When he opened his eyes back up, he could see the faces of the justice league whose meeting he had interrupted, right before the gate closed back up. He didn't like their expressions.
There was still a lot of time until he would have to go talk to the man, so for now Danny let himself float back into his castle, through walls right into the office.
All of this - the castle, the crown, the ring, the title, the responsibilities, the reverence - wasn't really his to begin with. Honestly, Danny had only just punched an asshole. How could he have known that it would be enough to steal everything from the other? Sometimes he wondered whether he would have fought the older ghost if he'd had known. Though what other choice could he possibly have had? Watch as everyone he cared for was trapped in death forever, as his town was thrown into chaos and destruction? Never.
However, Danny had made it his own in the time since the coronation. For example, Pariah hadn't had an office to begin with. That idiot of a tyrant hadn't really cared much for his responsibilities or the destruction that he caused by ignoring them, so why would he have had a space dedicated to work? War crazy maniac… He was even worse than Danny's usual fruit loops, which said a lot.
And being king did come with its perks. For example, it was nice that the ghosts had calmed down. It was nice to know that if he had to, he could stop them with a command. It was nice to have a castle. It was nice to be relied on. It was nice to keep the balance between life and death, especially as a halfa.
Well, mostly. Days like today were incredibly bad. He felt horrible, like a monster that had to rip a family apart. Which he did, but he hoped at least the first part wasn't true. And besides, as long as he still cared, at least he knew a certain time line wasn't coming true right now. Bright sides, bright sides…
With a heavy sigh, he curled up on the floor.
He still had time. He should prepare, make sure everything was in order, check what he wanted to do would succeed at all, plan out what to say, stuff like that. He should be using his time. He wasn't like clockwork, he couldn't just stop everything for him to have some peace and quiet. That just wasn't how this worked.
What he did instead was cry.
It was selfish, crying for a life he didn't know, crying for a family he didn't know, crying because he had to be the one to hurt them, crying because he was just a child and it was so incredibly unfair that he had to be the one to do this. Crying because he couldn't help imagining Jazz and Sam and Tuck instead of the family of vigilantes with furry tendencies. He still did, though.
He hadn't stopped crying by the time he felt the other man enter his study, it was just that his tears had ceased by then. His commander of arms, as his core kindly informed him. The fright knight, as the dread building around where his heart should be not-so-kindly let him know. The creepy-drama fruit loop, as his thoughts supplied not quite helpfully.
"My liege…"
Danny didn't turn around or make a move to acknowledge the other. Instead, he asked in a shaky and raspy voice he barely recognised as his own: "Do you think I'm being cruel?"
"How could you claim as such when you efforts are so much? The faits might be cruel, but your highness, you are kind to this ghoul."
Scoffing, Danny shook his head. "No rhymes, Frighty. Not right now."
There was a beat of silence, before he could hear the clanking of armour as the knight settled down on the floor next to him. "Very well. I shall concede and indulge in this request for now." He could feel the green eyes bore into him, thanking the ancients that he had grown used to the nightmare inducing presence by now. "Why does this matter weigh you down so, my liege? What can I do to help you?"
"I don't want to." Danny admitted it quietly, as though saying it too loud would break something. What a dumb thought. "I'm basically killing him. Again. He just managed to get back into his family and now I… I don't want to."
"You intend to propose an offer to the young one, do you not? For him to join us?"
Danny looked up at his commander of arms, the second in command to the last king. They'd gotten closer, but Frighty was just something he'd inherited from the last king as well. Like all the other contracts and deals that idiot had mindlessly formed. Danny himself had never actually added to the ranks of the fight knights. Even though it was his right as a king, he'd never appointed anyone a new position. Ever. Not even thought about it, not until now.
"Do you think he'd hate me for it?" Danny watched as his knight cocked his head to the side as though confused. "Separating him from his family, killing him. I'm scared he wouldn't forgive me for it…"
"You intend to keep him from visiting? I was under the impression you meant for Gotham to be his new haunt." Danny nodded, not sure how that made it any better. "How then is that separation, my king? Though I can see how the death might sting…"
Danny winced at the rhyme. It hadn't been a very good one. The point still stood, though. It made him feel a little better. It didn't help a lot, the whole situation still sucked immensely, but at least he felt a little better.
He also didn't feel like talking about it more, though. Instead, he finally sat up, drying his tears with the cloth of the regal cloak draped over his left shoulder. "…What'd you come in here for anyways, Frighty? Something happen?"
The knight stood as well, and Danny felt like there might be a slight smile beneath the shadows of his helm for a few seconds. Immediately back to his overdramatic antics, he then feel to his knees in front of Danny. From… somewhere, he pulled out a black box and held it out for Danny to take. "The weapon your highness had requested, completed and thoroughly tested."
Oh. Was it done already? That was a bit… soon. He glanced at the clock he kept in the room, just in case he might get a note from a certain ghost, and startled as he realised the time was nearing midnight already. Geez… He should be going, huh?
Pressing his lips together into a thin line, Danny nodded and took the box. He made sure the contract was securely placed in his pocket, too, before nodding at the knight who was standing again. "Thanks, Frighty. I appreciate it." His only answer was a tilt of the head that might have imitated a bow. With the knight it was answer enough, though.
After sending one last, fake smile at his almost-friend Danny ripped himself a portal into the living room of the Gotham socialite he could feel the undead next to. When he stepped though, he noticed that Batman seemed to have listened to his request at least: Eight people, all in their whole vigilante get-up, stood around him. Batman was sitting right in front of him, Robin and Orphan clung to the shadows in the corners of the room. Signal was sitting on the windowsill with his arms crossed, Spoiler was perched on the backrest of a love seat. Nightwing was standing right next to Danny.
And Red Hood, the one who Danny had to come for, was leaning against the doorframe. His posture was relaxed, but Danny could tell by the way he tensed every so slightly for just a second when their gazes met - Red Hood was nervous.
Oh, how he wished he could just reassure him that he didn't need to be.
But since he couldn't, Danny looked back at Batman. "I thought I said the entire family? The man that raised you isn't present. He will be upset if you keep this from him… So will the red haired girl."
"He's watching. But he won't meet you in person, Agent A is not participating in fights." Robin's response was clearly insinuating that they would fight him if need be. As if the costumes hadn't been enough to give it away. "And Oracle remains safe behind her screen as well."
Danny nodded, before sitting down on thin air. The perks of not being affected by gravity. He also made a gesture for the others to sit, but that went ignored. So he sighed and folded his hands. Right. Best get to it, then.
"First, let me start by introducing myself." Danny looked at Red Hood as he said this. Of course he did, after all the others in the room were mainly moral support and a curtsy. Jason over there was the real subject of this whole thing, the one he was actually talking to. "I am Danny Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms. Which means I am the sovereign of all things related to dead - and the existence thereafter."
"Red Hood." The reply was curt, and cold. But Danny smiled at him, nodding in acknowledgement.
This wasn't about him as a vigilante, though. Besides, everyone here already knew just who this was behind his mask. So he only acknowledged the introduction itself, not the code name he had given. "Yes, it's nice to meet you, Jason."
The tension his statement brought was immediate, but none of them said anything. So Danny thought it best to continue. He tried not to show how nervous he was, but he did have to take a deep breath to steady himself. Was the trembling in his hands visible. The sting in his eyes? He hoped not. At least his voice sounded stronger than he felt. "Well, then. I have come to talk to you about something important. And I want you to listen to everything before you react. The whole story is needed to understand what I am about to say. Can you promise that?"
He was meat with nods all around. Signal didn't agree, he noted, and neither did Robin. But even so, Duke and Damian would have to listen or go away. When the most important person, Jason, had reluctantly agreed as well, Danny nodded again.
"There is no nice way to say this," he warned slowly, digging his claws into the palm of his hand in attempt to ground himself, "which is why I will just come out and say it. So, Jason. I took a look at your file and… I really think you should be dead."
Yeah, there was definitely a better way to start this. Danny didn't even need the dagger at his throat or the sight of the other weapons drawn to notice. Placatingly he raised his hands, even let the dagger draw a drop of his blood. "Let me explain!"
Danny waited until the dagger was lowered, not bothering with the other weapons. Not like they could hurt him anyways. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, so… I really think you should sit down? Bad news are always better received when you don't have to keep your legs steady."
"That wasn't the bad news?" The incredulous voice was thin, and Danny could only offer a sad smile. His tears wanted to return, but he had to keep his eyes dry. He could cry once this talk was over.
"That's the good news, I'm afraid." There was a scoff, a chocked sound and a whine as reply to his words, but none of them said anything. Jason finally sat down, though, and with him the rest of the bat clan did as well.
"So. As I said, I am the High King of the Infinite Realms. One of the jobs I have to take care of is keeping the spilled ectoenergy contained in the Living Realms. But my predecessor was somewhat… negligent with that. So now there are entire lakes of contaminated ectoplasm here. Necrotic energy, a strong poison to the soul that rejuvenates the body."
"The Lazarus pits."
It wasn't a question, but Danny still shot a smile towards the young vigilante as he nodded. "The son of the world's greatest detective indeed. Yes, Damian, the Lazarus pits. The ones which have brought back" He looked back to Jason again. "the long lost son. Or, well, his soul at least. Your body was still alive, after all. Alive again? I'm sorry, you're a bit of a special case. I don't have all the right terms savvy."
There was a long pause, and Danny tried to ignore how defensive the way Jason had crossed his arms looked.
"So, when you say you have to take care of them, you mean… What exactly? It's a bit vague." Nightwing tried for a smile, but it looked more like a worried grimace.
"I am currently exterminating them. Get the rot away, clean them, take all the living energy out until we're left with pure necromantic energy of ectoplasm, the way it should be. And then, take it back into my realm where it belongs. But that takes time. Much time. Years and years. It might be centuries until this realm is stable again. Decades, if we're lucky."
"And now you want to kill Hood? Because he was brought back by the pits?"
Danny shook his head, letting out another sigh. It didn't come out blue, but it did come out foggy. "No, Stephanie. The problem is that the existence of Jason had already been cleared from reality. Him being alive, a living being full of ectoenergy, and twisted one at that…" Green eyes seared the red helmet, wondering whether the eyes beneath would have the same colour. "Your very existence is corroding the threads of reality. As harsh as it might sound, the bond that keeps your soul tied to your body, your lifeline is like rust on this world. And soon enough, it'll break. You are a ticking time bomb, and nothing will remain once you go off. We're talking total annihilation, this universe would slowly crumble until it's a lifeless shell without any chance to recover. I cannot allow that to happen."
"So I have to die."
Again, not a question. But Danny shook his head, his breath uneven. "No. You don't have to. I will have to separate the line, but you wouldn't have to die. It's just that… Jason, your soul would vanish. After being poisoned this long, it would just cease to exists. You would still be alive, but you'd be back to that state you had before. Memories and body in tact, but no thoughts or feelings. Just sheer, raw instincts. You would have to keep on going as an empty husk. If you're lucky, you might slip into a coma and not have to experience that consciously. If not… I'm sure you remember what it was like."
The shudder confirmed that, yes, Jason really did remember. Within seconds, he was engulfed by multiple hugs. Whether they were for his family or for Jason, Danny didn't know. He thought it might be both.
"…You said it would be better to die. So you can save him if he dies?"
Huh. So Barbara wasn't just watching. Her voice was trembling. Danny couldn't tell where the speaker she had connected to was located but he was sure that the speaker was high enough quality not to be blamed.
Danny nodded, carefully keeping his face blank. This was it. "Usually," he began, "your soul would be too destroyed to form a core by now. So there wouldn't be a way for you to become a ghost either."
"Usually? He could do it?"
"No." Danny made sure that was clear as he looked right into Orphan's eyes. "It's impossible."
"What? You said there was a way to save him!"
"Why'd you phrase it like it's possible, then?!"
"There has to be a way to do it. Something…"
"Just because you're too incompetent to do it doesn't mean Todd can't-"
"There is a way." Taking another breath, Danny took out the contract and carefully placed it onto the couch table in front of him. "We can make a deal. With this, I'll be able to form an artificial core with my energy and Jason will be able to… well, not live on exactly but… keep on existing?"
"What's the price?" Batman finally spoke, huh? Danny tried not to show how nervous the man made him. Wouldn't really fit his image.
Clearing his throat, Danny nodded again. "Right. So, I can't just give a part of my self away. It wouldn't work, even if I wanted to do it. But there is this position. My right hand man, commander of my armies, call it what you will. The official title is fright knight. I… I never declared one."
"You want me to become your soldier? Your… servant?"
Danny shook his head, but nodded once he thought better of it. "Well, I mean… It's complicated. It's… It's more like an advisor? Or a protector? Trusted ally? Something like that."
"Why is such an important official position vacant, then?"
"It's not," Danny immediately replied. When he got a series of incredulous looks, he shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I mean… The last high king elected one. And we had a rough start but we do get along now, so I haven't exactly destroyed the oath part of his core. Felt a bit mean and… Well, cruel. But I haven't chosen anyone to be mine yet."
"To be yours?" Dick scoffed, though Danny could taste his nervousness in the air. "That makes it sound like he'd be your property. Like some sort of slave or something."
Making sure not to wince at the comment, Danny offered another smile. He hoped it was an amicable one. "Technically speaking, all the residents of the Infinite Realms are under my command. Me being the High King and all that…"
"You are not talking about making my son your property. Right?"
Okay, so now Batman was really scary. Danny wished his own parents would get as angry for his sake, instead of at his existence.
"…That is just a technicality. I mean, sure it's like super hard for him to disobey something I tell him to do then, but he's still able to chose what he does. I mean, the fright knight I already have went full on traitor on the last king and is still around to tell the tale. It just… It might get a bit difficult to directly disobey? But the interpretation of my words is totally up to you! Loopholes and stuff. It's like every other magic contract, really. So you'll be fine. Totally. Besides, it's not like I actually plan to order you around! It's just that you have to sell me your soul a teeny tiny bit for this to work - but other than that you're staying a free man."
"Tt. No wonder the position is empty."
Shaking his head vehemently, Danny raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Oh, no, no, no! No, it's… Heh. It's not like that. I just… I never found someone I could trust, but it's not that people didn't want to. I swear it's not as bad as it sounds!"
There was distrust all but radiating from every singe member of the family, but especially from Jason himself. "So you have a full realm under your command, and you decided not to trust any of them. But you're now saying you trust… me? When we've never even met? You do know I'm a criminal, right? A crime lord? Well, reformed crime lord, but my point still stands."
"Of course! You're a legendary hero, after all." Danny hadn't intended for it to come out like that, but it had. And it wasn't as though it was wrong. Just embarrassing to say with such conviction and obvious adoration. Still, he thought, that might be exactly what they needed to hear to trust Danny.
"Yeah, uhm, no. I think you might have the wrong guy."
…Or not.
Scowling, Danny crossed his arms. "I don't. Jason Peter Todd, born on the 16th of August 1990, raised in Park Row. Adopted by Bruce Wayne 2002, as Jason Peter Todd Wayne. Kidnapped, tortured and killed by Jeremiah Valeska, better known as the Joker, on April 27th 2006 at age 15. Resurrected when Kal-El, or Superboy prime, punched a hole into reality, about one year later. Crawled out of the grave with bare hands, returned without soul. Thrown into the Lazarus pits by Talia al Ghul and regained his soul. Trained there until returning to Gotham and taking on the persona of Red Hood 2009." Danny made sure to look at where Jason't eyes must be as he ended decisively: "And has been a hero since."
"I… Hero? Why?"
Scoffing Danny shrugged. "That much should be pretty obvious, shouldn't it? Come on, what have you been doing since your return?"
"…Killing people and selling drugs?"
"Okay, yes. But, be a bit more precise. What did you make your mission?"
There was a long pause. It wasn't even Jason who answered Danny this time, instead Damian whispered the answer almost as though he understood what Danny was trying to say. "Killing criminals and controlling crime so that Gotham becomes safer."
"Yes." Danny gave a soft smile, floating over in front of Jason so he could put his hands on the older man's shoulders. "You bring peace, Jason. The opportunity to move on for so many who have died at the hands of those scum. That is precious. You have brought them the security that the people who hurt them will be unable to hurt their families. Their friends. The people they care about. You have kept children from dying." Remembering the concept of personal space, Danny drifted back again.
No one said anything, though, seemingly content to elaborate. So Danny did exactly that. "There have been many, many souls that have asked me, begged me to do what you did. And I had to turn them down, couldn't accept to do that since this wasn't my haunt, since I couldn't meddle in this realm too much. Only those who had terrible, vicious, brutal deaths join our realm. Only those with grudges and worries and regrets so strong they can't possibly let go. And yet they couldn't do a single thing. I couldn't do a single thing. They're resting now. They can rest in peace. No one else could help them get there, no one else would."
There was some unease in the room now, but Danny just focused on the shocked, awed, barely remembering how to breath Jason in front of him. "…There was a friend of mine. She and her boyfriend, both of them were burned to death alive. They weren't able to let go of the memory, not until you made sure that their murderer wouldn't do that to anyone else. Not until they could make sure he was burning in purgatory for it. I have entrusted his soul to a certain demon I know, actually.
"And I remember a little girl, who was terrified out of her mind. She just wanted her mom and her dad back, the poor thing. She must have been in grade school. You couldn't rescue her, but when she found out that you rescued all of her friends? She doesn't need to search for safety, restless for eternity. Not anymore. That is salvation as well. Not her body, but her soul was saved.
"I know of a woman that died from sickness. Her… Her oldest son was addicted to drugs. She blamed herself for not being able to help him while alive. And in death, she could only think about how her little girl might go down the same path. She almost did. But that woman told me, right before she passed on, that in the last moment her little girl was saved. By your rules. The dealer she'd found was too scared of you, and by the time she had found a new way she'd gotten a new chance at life. She's happy now, or so I hear. Straight B's. Her mum would be proud.
"Those are just some examples. But, yes, Jason. You are a hero. You get hurt in a fight no one asked you to fight, and you do it to help - in your own, bloody way - and it works. You do good. I'm not saying that you're a saint. You know you're far from it. But you are a hero to my people. And to me, too."
Danny let that sink in, bobbing up and down in place and tasting for the emotions in Jason. When the first onslaught of chaos inside the vigilante subsided and no one had said anything still, he spoke up again. "It's your choice, in the end. I am not going to take that from you, and I won't let well meaning patronization take it from you, either. You are the only one whose opinion matters at the end of the day."
"If - and I mean if - I agree. Let's pretend that I say yes, and I become your little… bodyguard-slash-venting-companion." Jason made a broad gesture at Danny, and Danny inclined his head to tell him to go on. "What exactly would that mean? I mean, what would I have to do? And what would that make me?"
"Oof. That's… There's a lot to it. But I can give you a quick rundown?" Jason nodded, so Danny nodded back and straightened up. "Alright. So, first of all, you'd be a commander of my army. That part of the job includes training new recruits, protecting me, defending the ghost realm in case there is a interdimensional war… and, well, of course also to lock me away with the others should I ever become a tyrant. Stuff like that."
"Wait! Lock you… Lock you away? His… job would include him turning on you?"
"If necessary, yes." Danny nodded at Dick, then made a so-so motion with his hand. "Well, not really. But I put it into the contract, so it'd be in his case. I… If I'm being honest, I know that I do have the potential to become a tyrant. I've… I've been there. There's… more timelines where it happens that those where it doesn't. That version of me managed to eliminate the entire Justice League and everyone associated within a month. Because he dragged it out. And, even if there'd been parts of me that have been ripped out and replaced in that timeline, it still happened - and before the entire power boost the crown gave me…" Danny shuddered at the memory. Dan was… Not his favorite topic.
Shaking himself out of it, Danny smiled again, forced the expression on his face. "But, yeah. That's what they did when the last king went crazy, so I'd really like the security net. You can think of that clause as… Uhm… It's… Oh! A contingency! It's like your father's contingency plans. But against myself!" At that thought, Danny could feel his smile turning a bit realer. "And if anyone's going to be a fair judge and actually go through with it both, I trust that you could do it. Also, if your core is formed through me, that means you'd actually be able to do it. With a bit of help."
He could taste shock in the air. Pity. Understanding. He chose not to think about what he tasted before he came aware of the rest.
"I see." Batman nodded, and Danny felt that he really did understand. He'd like to think the man approved of it as well. "What else?"
"Right! Right… So that's what you'd be doing as the commander. Then, as an advisor you'd have to help me in law suits or with deciding on punishments. Accompany me to the council meetings, let me hear your thoughts… It's really just you giving me your two cents. To make sure I don't do anything too stupid. Look at what I'm doing, and judge me for it." Danny thought for a bit, then he giggled. "Really, your wording fits it pretty well. My venting buddy."
His gaze lowered as he took a deep breath for the next part. Solemnly, he continued. "And then there's the less nice part… As my fright knight you'd also have to help me by collecting lost souls. Ghosts that didn't make it to the Infinite Realms. Or who got lost visiting their family and friends. And… And wraiths… Those are the ones that had a death so cruel it broke them. They're scared and hurt and… And they don't mean to, but they can be dangerous to the living realm. We try to placate them, but it doesn't always work. It mostly doesn't work, actually. So then we have to…" Danny closed his eyes and steeled himself before looking right at Jason. "There are ways to kill ghosts, destroy them eternally. But it is cruel and painful and an absolute last resort. It's the worst thing you can do to anyone. I mean it, there's nothing worst then this. That's why only me and my fright knights can do it."
Danny took a look around to make sure everyone here had thoroughly understood him. He didn't think they actually got just how serious of an issue this was, but he could tell they understood that they couldn't tell anyone or use this. So that was good enough.
Danny nodded, then focused back on Jason. "And apart from the duties, a fright knight is also the embodiment of something. Of, a, well… A concept? There's a special weapon related to that concept that you'd get and… Uhm… It's a bit hard to explain. But, eh… Take my existing knight, for example! He's the embodiment of halloween. His concept is fear, and nightmares. Sounds awful, but he's really not too bad when you're on his good side. He forgot who he was before his death, so he doesn't have a name apart from his title. I just call him Frighty. And his weapon is a sword. Really nice, very menacing, super special. He loves his sword.
"Now, the thing with his sword is this: If he manages to wound you, you get teleported into a different dimension. Not a different timeline or anything like that. Not like other dimensions normally are, either. It's his own, personal dimension. One where you are trapped in your own worst nightmare. Traumatising shit…" Danny shuddered at the memory. "But it's not really real per se. So a… a made-up dimension based on your own psyche. Ask one of your magic family friends for more information, cause it's too complicated and too scary for me, so I refused to learn more than that about it. The sad, burned-out man in a trench coat would probably know."
"You know Constantine?" It was Red Robin who latched on to that, and Danny didn't know why he did but he nodded anyways.
"Oh, yes. We've met in court a couple of times. He's basically committing tax fraud with his soul. Very good at it, too. It's hilarious. I love when there's a hearing with him. He doesn't. Then again, when it's your soul on the line that's pretty relatable."
"Tax fraud…?" Danny didn't think he was supposed to hear the confused mumble, but he still smiled at Cass nonetheless.
"Yup! We've all got bets going on who's going to get it in the end. Of course I know the answer to that already, but it's still fun to see…" He giggled a bit. "I don't think even Johnny himself knows that it's already decided, honestly…"
He could tell that Batman wanted to ask about that, and Danny supposed that it made sense. From what he'd heard, John was the one Bruce went to whenever shit got weird, and his soul already being a done deal would compromise the safety of that. But Batman, too preoccupied by the mortal danger his son was in, wasn't asking and Danny wasn't planing on offering more information than that. The mage could probably figure it out with this much. Maybe. Perhaps. There was a chance. And if not, well, he could always pull out a little summons and ask him himself.
"Anyways…" Danny mused, clapping his hands. "As I was saying, that's how it works with Frighty. But since you, Jason, would not be fear your dimension would work a little differently. Actually, I decided to prepare a little something, just in case you agree. If not, it'll dissolve from reality together with the contract I prepared."
Carefully pulling out the box Frighty had given him earlier, Danny presented it to Jason. The other man hesitated noticeably, but accepted it in the end and opened the lid. Bating his breath, Danny watched as the vigilante carefully set the lid aside to take out the weapon. A beautiful, shiny, black gun with blood red lines of crystals running along its sides. There was a faint glow emoting from it, but not enough to compromise the man's stealth. Just enough to be the slightest bit more eerie.
As Jason touched the weapon, it pulsed in recognition to his ecto-signature, immediately changing its grip to fight perfectly into Jason's hands. He thought it was beautiful, Danny could tell by the taste of his emotions. Good. A knight should love their weapons.
"It's designed to be yours only. No one else can fire it, and you won't ever run out of bullets. It doesn't kill, and if someone gets hit with one of its bullets they'll be transported right to your dimension. Well, at least those who have done bad things will. A dimension where they'll have to pay for all the people they've hurt. Every single time that they have hurt someone intentionally without the goal of helping will come back to haunt them until you decide to release them. If they're innocent, or if they have had no other intention in their actions than to save and help, all those bullets will do is just hurt them. Like the rubber bullets you carry on you right now." Danny smiled, looking at Jason softly. "That's the thing I chose for you to represent: Justified Retribution."
Jason carefully cradled the gun in his hands, like the precious thing that it was. The very precious thing that his soul must have recognised as such by now. Danny smiled at the image. He hadn't expected to smile so much when he came here. Not honest smiles, at least. A relic crafted for your own soul was special, he knew that. It was like a part of yourself, like an irreplaceable treasure, like a trusted and loyal friend.
"It's a beautiful weapon. And the offer… sounds good enough. It's a decent deal."
Danny's face fell at Jason's careful tone of voice. He could feel his tears before he saw his world blur. They were cold like ice, not hot like they were supposed to be. "There's a but, isn't there?" His voice sounded broken, defeated. He felt the same. "You're still not going to do it. Are you?"
There was a long pause. Danny thought he could hear Jason putting down the weapon and the box again. "I… They're terrible, and annoying and a bunch of hypocrites, but… They're my family. Gotham is my home. I don't… I can't take an eternity. Not like that."
"We could make Gotham your haunt. It'd be under your protection, and you could move around freely. You could still see them." Danny's voice sounded weak and small, and they all knew it was because it was already obvious that that wouldn't change anything.
"It's not the same. I don't… It's not the same."
Danny sighed, failing at keeping the sound from dropping the room by a few degrees. He saw Spoiler shiver in the corner of his eye. "There's nothing I can do to change your mind. Is there?" Silence. His throat was still all clogged up and his eyes were still full of tears. But he didn't let them spill. Instead he looked up, watching the blurry silhouette of red hood move to lean back a bit.
"I don't like this," he admitted in a whisper. "I don't want to have to… to have to do that to you. I don't… I tried! It's not fair." A tear actually did come loose then. "Why can't you accept it? You already cheated death, so why can't you just… I don't want to!"
"You sound like a child throwing a tantrum."
Even though Damian scoffed, there was no heat in the words. Danny still glared at the younger boy through his tears, though. "Well, I am a child, so I can sound like one all I want, thank you very much."
Danny didn't notice the silence until Dick's carefully neutral voice asked: "…What do you mean, you're a child. Aren't you… The High King?"
"Hm?" Why'd he ask? Oh. Were they worried he didn't have the authority to even make all of this? Like his title was just some official thing as someone else ruled, something like that? "Oh. Yeah. Technically. I'm, uh, I'm fifteen. Kinda-died a year ago. Got coronated half a year later. Not old enough to drive, but old enough to be responsible for an entire people without prior training, apparently, or have to hide your death from crazy, ghost-hunting parents. But, it's not like that matters right now. Age doesn't count in the Realms, so… yeah. Still full authority and stuff." Danny vaguely gestured to where he thinks he placed the contract down.
"You died at… at fourteen? You're just fifteen now?"
Danny tried and mostly failed to blink the tears away. "Age doesn't have anything to do with power. You should know that," he sniffed.
When he managed to get the tears away, he didn't like the looks he saw in their faces. He didn't like the feelings he could taste thick in the air beyond his own misery now, either. So he cleared his throat and straightened up again.
"Well, anyways. Sorry about that. I, uh… I'll leave the contract here anyways. You can have Constantine look it over, if you want to, have him play lawyer. And I'll have to cleanse Gotham at midnight tomorrow at the latest, if we don't want reality to go boom. So, yeah. Take your time and say your goodbyes until then, I guess. And, hey, if you do change your mind, you can just dribble a bit of blood on the line. I'll come, even if it's the last millisecond. Got a friend who can stop time, he agreed to help out. So… Yeah. Good talk. Or not. Anyways, I'll get out of your hair now."
Danny, embarrassed by his weird sudden display of emotion and the gazes it got him, turned around and ripped reality open, if only just to run and hide. He might be able to cry some more over in the castle before mum and dad got home tomorrow morning and noticed that he-
"Wait!"
Flinching, Danny turned around to look at Jason. Why'd he yell all of a sudden?
"If I signed it I would have to guard you, right? But you don't live here…"
Danny nodded at Jasons words.
"And… And John mentioned that you are only half ghost? That you can… revive whenever you want to?"
Oh. So the news had even spread to the Mortal Realm, huh? He hadn't been aware of that. He should keep an eye on it, probably, but it was fine as long as neither the GIW nor his parents or the other ghost hunters found out, he supposed. Though his parents had already found out and reacted… badly to it. And he'd had a hard time convincing them not to- So he nodded again.
"So, if I haunt Wayne manor, and am your bodyguard… Would you move in with B so I can spend much time here?"
Danny blinked. What? That sounded ridiculous. And he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being lured into a trap of some sort.
"I am… not sure that's the best solution?"
"Why not? Is there any reason you can't?" That was Bruce Wayne himself speaking right now. Danny blinked confused. Why'd Batman want him to move in, too?
"Uhm… Not… Not directly, but… That's kinda a leap, isn't it?"
"But what if people start to consider Todd incompetent if something were to happen while he was spending time at his… haunt? I cannot condone that kind of image to be reflected upon my family. Everything less than absolute safety for his king would be inadequate." Damian, too?!
"But! But Frighty is there, too! He can take over when you're here!"
"He's… not loyal. Not to you. That's bad." Even Cassandra? What the fuck?
"He… Okay, maybe he's not loyal. But he's a really nice dude! He's been doing a good job so far!"
Tim hummed, making Danny float back a bit. That guy could get really dangerous when he was thinking too much. A scary mind, with too many possibilities. Danny really wasn't jealous of that one. "But you mentioned other duties, right? Training, collecting souls… What do we do when 'Frighty' is busy with them? Seams only fair your own Fright Knight would be allowed to take care of you and your safety among all those duties…"
Okay, that… Danny had to admit that actually made sense.
"Besides, what if Jay doesn't adjust to being a ghost well? We'd really need your help figuring everything out…" Dick really sounded like Jazz right there. That wasn't fair, no way he could disagree if he sounded like her! Not when he understood just how much Dick worried must have been.
"There's way too many rooms here, honestly. Alfred would be so happy to have the house a bit fuller…" Stephanie sighed, and, yeah, okay, that wistful expression was definitely meant to manipulate him.
Narrowing his eyes, Danny looked around. "I feel like this is some sort of trap…" He was met with the most innocent looks he'd ever seen in his entire life or afterlife. "Yeah. Definitely a trap."
"See? With that paranoia of yours" Duke smiled too brightly not to be suspicious "you'll fit right in."
"And Jason said he'd agree if you moved in. You did ask if there was something you could do to convince him, right?" Danny sighed at Barbara's voice through the speakers. She was right, after all.
"Fine," he groaned, "Sure. As long as that means I don't have to…" He vaguely gestured at Jason. "I'll do it. It's just moving somewhere new."
Jason nodded, immediately taking the contract and a knife from Damian to cut his finger with. Bruce, on the other hand, smiled at Danny. "Great! I'll have the adoption papers ready by tomorrow."
Danny sputtered, doing a double take. The what now? When'd he agree to that?! But the next second he could feel Jason's soul nestling next to his core, the contract done already. And Danny couldn't help but feel like the trap he'd sensed had snapped in that very moment as well.