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Jason is pulling on his signature red helmet when he gets the call. It’s nothing new, but one of the many things that sets the lazarus water in his blood on a frenzy. It feels like buzzing beneath his skin, and he can’t wait to beat someone’s face in.
“Cherry’s okay,”Jason’s goon reassures. “We got her to the clinic and she don’t even need stitches, boss.”
That was good, Jason thinks, but the john who did it to her would still get worse. He had a reputation in the Alley, one he was glad to uphold. No one touched his girls. Cherry was on the younger side, which just boiled his blood further.
There’d been a time he’d talked to the younger girls, asked what they needed to get off the street. He’d helped a lot of them to different jobs, some he’d helped get them into college, or took care of childcare. Cherry had been one of the girls to decline, but she knew to come to him for help. They all did, since Jason had put in so much work to make Crime Alley a community.
Riding his motorcycle through the streets, he can’t help but picture all the things he could do to the unlucky guy. It’s then that he’s broken out of his thoughts when the white van in front of him swerves dangerously. Jason curses, slowing down to less- dangerous speeds. The green in his eyes retreats slightly as the van comes into focus.
He’s about to investigate when the back doors open, and a small body comes tumbling out. Jason’s eyes widen in panic, and its him swerving this time to keep from hitting whoever rolled out the back of a van at forty miles per hour.
“Jesus,”Jason curses as he skids to a halt. He pulls his bike to a stop just as the van screeches to a halt, and places himself in between the van and the body. Any cars behind him wisely make a wide loop or turn around entirely. A closer look has Jason biting back rage all over again when he see’s the body’s a teenager. He must have smacked his head on the pavement on his way out- an escape by the looks of things. He can hear the van’s occupant’s shouting, but Jason’s too busy searching for a pulse.
It’s slow, and the muzzle on the kid makes it difficult, but the kid’s alive. The kid is in threadbare clothes, jeans with scrapes and holes and stains that could be blood and a shirt that used to be white. No shoes, just socks. Behind him, Jason hears the subtle charging up of something not good, and makes a decision.
Jason manages to get the kid on his bike, noticing the restraints on both hands and feet that make escape nearly impossible. He has a feeling the kid saw a chance and took it- and Jason was too. Van guys start shooting lasers of all things, but Jason’s already booking it out of there with the kid.
Reminding himself to call his goons- that john will get a rain check on his beat down- he heads back to his apartment. Nevermind having left there not even an hour ago, it’s the safest place he can take the boy. Technically a safe house, but his most lived-in.
Gently, he gets the kid up to his place and gets him situated on the bed. Jason leans in close, taking his helmet off to inspect the kids wounds…and restraints. He lightly touches the kid’s jaw, moving it to the side to examine the muzzle.
It looked like metal, and with no lock or seam to be found, Jason isn’t so sure he can crack it. A quick look to the ones on his hands and feet show the same. Still, he presses on. Jason finds the head wound, bleeding sluggishly but not so bad, and part of his arm, back, and leg has some road rash. He’s so focused on tending to the wounds that he startles when he finally looks over and sees a pair or bright blue eyes watching him warily.
“Ah- You’re okay, I’m not going to hurt you,”Jason says, though he’s sure the teen saw him patching him up. He finds confusion on the kid’s face and relays how he got there. “You fell out of a van in front of me and I grabbed you before they could start shooting,”Jason says wryly. The kid blinks, coming back online from the concussion. “Everyone in the Alley knows not to mess with kids.”
From the confusion on the kids face, Jason thinks the kid didn’t know. “Not from Gotham?” Jason asks, and gets a shake of the head. “Makes sense. Got a name?”
He gets an eyeroll and a nod, and cracks a grin. “I’m not that great of a guesser, but I can try. Just sit still a bit longer while I wrap your arm.”
Jason goes through the alphabet painstakingly slow, but it works better than pulling up a book of baby names. “Danny, huh?” Jason says, and tries to stay positive when he delivers the bad news. “Well, nice to meet you.”
Danny shrugs. “Fair enough,”Jason says aloud. He looks down to the restraints on Danny’s hands with a grimace. “I’d love to get those restraints off, but I don’t have any of the equipment we’d need.”
Danny slumps, but he seems resigned. Jason frowns, adding,”Just let me make some calls. I got a buddy that knows more about tech than I do. We can leave to get to him soon.”
That gets Danny’s attention. He perks up, watching Jason with more interest. He moves both hands to more or less point at Jason. “Me?” Jason asks. Danny nods. “Oh- I’m the Red Hood. Guess you can just call me Jason, not that you’d be able to tell anyone.”
Jason gets a big eyeroll at that, and Jason cracks a smile. He’s glad, at least, that the kid wasn’t freaking out. He must be used to the restraints by now. Jason freezes at the thought.
“How long’s it been since you’ve eaten?” Jason asks, serious enough that Danny’s eyes go a bit wide with surprise. “Blink for how many hours.”
He gets a lot of blinks in response. About 30 of them. It moves up their timetable, and Jason’s list of things to do to the guys who did this to a teenager. It doesn’t even matter why at this point.
“How old are you kid, 14?” Jason asks, and gets a head shake. “Fifteen?”
A nod. Someone muzzled a fifteen year old. It stirs the pits, and Jason can’t help but compare to how he’d died at around the same age. He wasn’t going to let the same happen to Danny.
“Do you know the group that took you?” Jason asks, and Danny nods. He holds out his hands, both encased in metal, but twists so Jason can get a good look at the logo. FentonWorks.
“Right, well, you should be safe from them here,”Jason says, pulling out his phone to call Roy when Danny shakes his head in a panic. “No, you’re not safe?”
Danny nods, eyes wide and emploring. Jason grits his teeth,”They have a way to track you?”
Danny nods again, and Jason could feel the beginnings of the green cover his eyes when suddenly it retreats. Jason pauses, looking to Danny, but shakes his head. He needs to call Roy, pronto, then get the hell out of Gotham.
Jason starts packing as the phone rings, and Roy answers with a cocky, “Arsenal.”
“It’s Jason, I got a kid here with a muzzle I can’t get off,”Jason says, concise and to the point. “It’s nearing two days without food so we’re heading to you.”
“I’ll send you the address. Anything else I need to know?” Roy says, skipping any pleasantries. They both had a soft spot for kids, and when one was in danger they dropped everything if they could.
“Logo on it says Fentonworks. He’s got restraints on his hands and feet too, I’ll send you pictures,”Jason reports, shoving another gun in his duffle. “Might be tracking him, so you’re on a time limit.”
“Got it, see you soon then,”Roy huffs, and Jason feels bad throwing this his way if not for the severity of the situation.
“Thanks, owe you one,”Jason says, a small smile on his face.
“You don’t even know if I can get it off yet,”Roy scoffs.
“I know you will,”Jason replies easily, and hangs up on his friend. He gets a text a moment later calling him an asshole, but the next one is an address in Central City. He looks back to see Danny half asleep, laying on the bed.
As much as he hates to think of it, Jason texts Roy about finding out why the restraints were put on him in the first place, and if Danny had something going on that made him a danger. It was unlikely, given that Jason could get a good picture of Danny’s character already- a scared teenager. But it was always good to double check.
“Danny,”Jason says, and the boy sits up the best he can to look at Jason with a questioning look. “Can I take a couple pictures of the restraints to send to Roy? He’s gonna try to get them off.”
Danny nods, sitting up fully with effort, and allows Jason to tilt his head and hands where he needs them. It almost looks worse in the photos, but Jason sends them anyway. He gets a variety of emojis in response conveying Roy’s outrage and determination to fix it.
Jason’s phone beeps as he pulls the duffle bag over his shoulder, letting him know the building security had been breached. “Alright kiddo, time to go.”
“Mmn-,”Danny gets out in surprise when Jason hoists him over his shoulder. With his feet encased in the metal, there wasn’t an easy way to transport him. Jason pauses, and Danny goes near limp in his arms as if resigned to the situation.
Jason blows out a breath. They’ll figure out how to help, Jason thinks, and heads for the window. It takes some finagling but he and Danny make it up to the roof, and from there he can see the white van from earlier parked on the other side. Some guys dressed in white have a few gadgets pointed at the building and one’s on a radio.
Too far to hear anything, Jason hops the roof to get to where he keeps his car. He’s hoping the long drive will throw the knockoff wardens off course and give Danny time to rest in the backseat. The kid doesn’t have much of a choice, but Jason won’t let him down either way. Without him, Danny’s a sitting duck.
He feels Danny tense before he hears the footsteps landing on the roof. Jason tries to project an air of calm, but he’s not on the Bat’s friend list right now after the last few dead pedophiles. Taking a breath, he turns to find Nightwing and thanks his lucky starts it isn’t Batman.
“Let him go, Hood,”Nightwing starts off, and Jason nearly balks.
“I didn’t do this to him!” Hood barks. “He’s a fucking kid!”
“No-”Nightwing interrupts,”Jason, that kid’s dangerous. Literally a terrorist.”
The words stop Jason in his tracks. The fact that his so called older brother would take one look at this child and think terrorist was beyond him. He wonders whatever happened to fact checking.
“You’re serious?” Jason says flatly. He can feel the tension building in the kid and wants more than anything to reassure him but can’t. Not yet.
Nightwing’s shoulders seem to slacken with relief. “Massacred a whole town, and before they could take him in I hear you helped him escape?”
“What town?” Jason asks, and Danny takes in a shaky breath.
“Small town in Illinois,”Nightwing says, taking a step forward. “Just- give him back to the proper authorities, Red. He’s got dangerous powers.”
“What kind of powers warrant this?” Jason retorts. He gestures to the restraints. “Kid hadn’t eaten in nearly two days since that muzzle was put on him-”
“He doesn’t even need to eat!”Nightwing exclaims, throwing up his hands. “He’s a lot more than a meta, J.”
“Right,”Jason says flatly, done with the conversation. “Why don’t you look a little deeper into this before coming to find me again.”
“Wait- Jas-”Dick starts, but is stopped in his tracks with a bullet to the shoulder. Jason takes the distraction and hops to the next roof.
Opening the garage to his car, he can feel Danny working himself into a panic, and is glad to finally put him down in the backseat so they can look face to face. The kid is looking at Jason with wide, panicked eyes, and he can’t even tell him exactly what he’s afraid of.
“If you’re worried about Nightwing, don’t be. He’s got armor and they’re rubber bullets,”Jason says, taking the time to crouch down in front of him. “Take some deep breaths, kiddo, I’m still taking you to Roy.”
Danny pulls in a couple shaky breaths, and Jason wishes he could give the kid some water. “Now, I don’t believe everything he told me, but maybe you can clarify,”Jason hedges,”Do you need to eat?”
Danny nods frantically, and Jason puts a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, I believe you. I’m not going to let you starve, kiddo,”Jason says, and Danny slumps with relief. He wonders what his powers are that make even Nightwing think he doesn’t need food.
“We’ll get that off soon, promise,”Jason says, and hopes he can keep it. “And I bet you didn’t massacre a whole town, huh?” Jason adds and Danny shakes his head. “Can you tell me the name of the town, though?”
Danny nods, and Jason figures that’s as far as they’re going to get. “Great. Just hang back for now, it’s gonna be a long drive to Central City,”Jason says, and Danny nods, scooching over to sit in the seat properly. Jason pauses for a second before buckling him in. Can't be too careful with the goons in white after them.
Jason isn’t even an hour into the drive when he looks back to see Danny asleep in the backseat. While he’s glad the kid finally gets some rest, his stomach churns. He texts Roy an update on the situation, receiving a thumbs up emoji.
The long drive gives Jason time to think over the situation, and nothing about Danny came close to what Nightwing had said. Someone had to be lying, and Jason had a feeling it wasn’t the sleeping kid in the backseat of his car.
He’s not far from Roy’s place when it happens.
Jason is driving off the highway down to get gas when suddenly the car is airborne. Cursing, Jason hangs on tight, grateful he had the foresight to strap the kid in. The car lands, and Jason crawls to the back to get the kid.
Danny’s awake, a new wound on his forehead that bleeds steadily, but otherwise isn’t harmed. He looks to Jason with wide eyes, but they don’t have time for him to explain. The guys in white must have caught up to them, and Jason should have been paying more attention.
Gently, he gets Danny closer to the door and Jason tries to bust it open. It’s stuck. He curses, trying to shove it with his shoulder when Danny makes a noise. Jason takes a breath and sits back, looking to Danny whos got his feet raised, ready to kick the door.
It falls back with a bang, and Jason doesn’t have the time to be awed. “Smart thinking,”Jason says, grabbing Danny and vacating the car. It’s a lost cause at this point, same with his bag.
With the buildings close by, Jason manages to carry Danny to a fast food restaurant. They head for the bathroom, and Jason props Danny up to sit on the sink’s counter while he calls Roy.
“Gonna need a signal jammer and a new ride, can you meet me?”Jason pants, all the running and driving catching up to him.
“I can meet you there, but I’ve got Lian,”Roy says, and Jason winces. “The signal jammer should work well enough, but you’ll have to dodge them til we get there.”
“You’re a life saver, Roy,"Jason breathes, and Danny looks a little more relieved at the news. As much as he didn’t want to put Lian in danger, he knew they’d be fine as long as the signal jammer worked.
Jason turns to Danny, about ready to run again. “You got any ideas before we start a game of hide and seek?”
Danny blinks, then looks to the side, thinking. Jason isn’t really expecting an answer, but can admit that the charades was worth it. The two of them end up laying a trap for the goons, considering there’s more of them than there is Jason and Danny.
It’s a lot more fun than it should be, especially when Jason realizes just how dumb these guys are. The alphabet code names are just icing on the idiot cake. Danny starts to flag once they’ve knocked out three of the goons and Jason gets worried. Kid isn’t doing well, especially having to rely on Jason for any kind of movement besides flopping like a fish.
Jason heaves a breath of relief when his phone beeps the familiar ringtone for Roy, and he slings Danny back over his shoulder. They end up meeting Roy in his mom-van, and Jason climbs in without hesitation.
“Uncle stinky!” Lian chimes, and Jason looks up with a tired grin. Roy gives him a nod from where he’s working on a device- probably the signal jammer.
“Heya kiddo,”Jason greets. She’s wearing the princess shirt he saw her in last- something Roy bemoans having to wash every night for her to keep wearing every day. Jason thinks it’s adorable though.
“Who’s that? Your brother?” Lian asks, and reaches over to take a sip of a juice box. Jason huffs, lifting Danny to a seat before finding one himself.
“Nah, this is Danny,”Jason introduces. Danny greets her with a wave of his metal handcuffs. “He needs your Dad’s help to get these things off.”
Lian nods, looking serious. “Dad can do it, don’t worry Danny.”
Danny squints his eyes like a smile, and Jason thinks it’s close enough. Roy sets down the signal jammer and looks back at them. “Wow, you both need a nap, huh?” Roy jokes, but Jason can see his eyes are locking on to every detail. “Like Lian said, I’ll try my best to get those off of you, Danny.”
They don’t mention the tears in the teenager’s eyes, and the rest of the ride to Roy’s place is filled with catching up. Jason talks with Lian, but the girl’s interest is on Danny, who does his best to answer her questions with nods and head shakes. He finds Roy’s first aid kit and patches up the gash in Danny’s forehead from the crash, and pulls a bit of glass out of his own forearm.
If Jason’s honest, he doesn’t think a terrorist would humor a little girl’s invasive questions for as long as Danny had. It was when Jason had started to get a little headache that Roy suggested they listen to music instead- Lian’s playlist- and thinks Danny needed a break. They’d switched seats after twenty minutes so Roy could get a better look at Danny’s restraints. He looked pretty bad, if Jason’s being honest. The kid’s black hair was greasy and definitely had some blood crusted in it, his clothes were bloody and torn, and some of the bandages had come off, revealing some of the road rash on his arm.
Not to mention Danny was exhausted, and probably more than a little thirsty. He was putting up with Lian and Roy, both peppering him with questions or having him hold his arms out for Roy to inspect. Jason looks through the mirror and sees Danny taking long blinks.
“How’s it going back there?” Jason asks. “We’ve got about five minutes til we’re home.”
“Good!”Lian chirps, and turns to Danny. “Then I can show you all my barbies, and my room.”
“I’m sure Danny would love that,”Roy answers for Danny, who nods solemnly. “The restraints have more code to it than mechanics. I’ve got to break the code to turn it off and undo the latch- problem is they’re working with three different systems rather than one.”
“If you have to choose which one, take the muzzle off first,”Jason suggests, and Roy nods.
“My thoughts exactly,”Roy says,”We’d love to have you for dinner, Danny.”
“Dad’s cooking is really good!”Lian hypes up, and Danny nearly tears up again at how sincere they are.
Danny doesn’t get to eat dinner.
Roy has the programs running until nearly one am, and after a power nap for both men, and an awkward bathroom break for Danny, they awaken to the program beeping at 2am. Jason yawns, getting to Danny’s spot on the couch and blinks.
“And this one’s the Ringo,”Lian is saying, perched next to the couch Danny’s laying on with packets of stickers on the floor and on Danny’s chest. She peels a dog driving a car sticker to stick on the metal on his face. The poor teen nods dutifully to the girls ramblings, accepting more stickers to his restraints. It’s sweet, in a messed up kind of way that nearly has Jason snapping a picture of the cute moment.
Roy appears behind him with a ‘huh’ before breaking the good news. He presses a series of buttons and they all hold their breath when the mechanisms in the muzzle make a clicking noise. It startles Danny, who shuts his eyes tight as it moves, and suddenly falls to his lap.
Jason heaves a sigh of relief, and Danny seems to freeze in disbelief. Lian smacks a sticker on his cheek and Danny laughs. “Thank you,”Danny sniffles, unable to wipe his tears due to his hands still bound. “Just- Thank you.”
“Oh kiddo,”Roy says, and pulls him into a hug. Jason ruffles Danny’s hair, feeling a knot in his chest loosen.
“How’s a snack sound?” Jason cuts in, and Danny seems to realize how hungry he is in that moment.
“Can I- water? Please?” Danny croaks, and Lian perks up.
“I got it!” She exclaims, and rushes to get it while Jason helps Danny sit up.
“I do- I do need to eat,”Danny feels the need to clarify, and Jason nods, already believing him.”They- the Ghost Investigation Ward are the guys in white you saw. They-”Danny coughs, and Jason pats his back gently.
“You have time, kiddo,”Jason says, though the name is helpful. He looks over to see Roy already working on the next set of restraints, and Jason is grateful. “Just take it easy. We can talk in the morning, even.”
Danny nods, and Lian comes in with a glass filled to the brim. It’s trickier without hands, but Jason insists that he can help, so Lian doesn’t need to help him drink it. Lian insists she help him eat then, to which Roy points out that it’s way past her bedtime, so Jason tucks her in before making Danny some mac and cheese.
It’s easy, warm, comfort food that if Jason wasn’t spoon-feeding him he would have scarfed it all down. It hurts Jason’s heart to hear the rest of his story, but makes sense why they thought he didn’t need to eat.
“I’m a halfa.. half-ghost,”Danny explains in between bites. “Unlike a full ghost, who doesn’t need to eat, I have to if I want to keep my human half alive.”
“What about the town?” Jason asks, and Danny snorts.
“Amity Park is fine. It’s just on a lockdown,”Danny says, “The GIW won’t let anyone enter or leave, but it’s still there.”
“Sounds like they’re the terrorists,”Roy mutters, and Jason can’t help but agree.
“I mean, they work for the government, I think,”Danny frowns. “They kept mentioning these laws called Anti-Ecto-Acts. Said having ectoplasm illegal.”
“That’s bullshit,”Jason adds. Another way for people to hate on metas, more like, Jason thinks with ire. Danny nods, tired. “But we’ll look into it.”
“Already on it,”Roy adds. Danny and Jason look over to him with surprise. “The ghost investigation ward is a subdivision of the government, in the loosest of terms. No surprise it’s funded by Waller, but the law they mentioned doesn’t exist officially.”
Danny breathes out a sigh, practically deflating. “Their security is pretty crap, compared to their gadgets,”Roy says, frowning at the muzzle on the counter. “But I got info on Amity Park. They’ve got a step by step plan to occupy it and…study the citizens.”
“I can’t let them,”Danny sits up,”There’s so many people that aren’t half ghost but like, are contaminated. Liminals, is what we call them, and it’s most of the kids at my school.”
“Slow down, Danny,”Jason says, holding up a hand. “First of all, we won’t let that happen. Second of all, you’re not going anywhere, not until we get those restraints off and definitely not back to where you got captured.”
“I’ll be fine once these are off,’Danny nearly growls, shaking the restricting metal on his hands. “The only reason they got me on the first place was cuz my parents handed me over. I’ll be prepared this time.”
“Your what?” Roy asks, voice sharp. “Your parents-”
“Fentons,”Danny says in lieu of explaining. Jason recalls the logo on the restraints and he sags with dismay. Fentonworks. His parents made that, Jason thinks, and feels a little sick. Looking to Roy, the man seems to feel the same.
“I guess it was the better option,”Danny snorts, leaning back in his chair. “I always thought they’d try to dissect me.”
“Kid-”Roy starts, but there’s no good way to respond.
“Danny… how did you get your powers?” Jason asks, and Danny’s gaze finds the floor.
“I…was messing around in my parents invention and… died,”Danny admits quietly. “But I… came back. Over and over again until the portal spat me out. I just… looked different.”
Jason exchanges a look with Roy, and both of them can hear the child hero origin story. He was too young to go through something like that, especially with the threat of his own parents looming over him.
“I just.. I tried to keep the ghosts away from the ghost hunters, and keep the people away from the ghosts, but.. It just kept getting worse,”Danny says, and Jason can’t help but think he looks incredibly young, and incredibly tired.
“Well now you got us,”Jason says, plopping down on the couch next to him. “Trust us, we’ve got a lot of experience taking down shady secret organizations.”
“Plus, I’ve got all the proof we need, taken from their own servers,”Roy grins. “Just need to pick who to send it to.”
“Send it to Nightwing first, then Superman,”Jason says, getting an idea. “He’ll make sure to get it to Lois Lane, and there won’t be anywhere they can hide if she writes an article about it.”
“Gotcha,”Roy says, and starts typing. They’ll let the heroes handle it. In the meantime, they had their hands full with Danny. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Danny? Jason can grab you some more blankets.”
Jason leaves to get them before Danny can protest, but the kid is out almost as soon as he tucks him in despite the uncomfortable angle the metal on his feet and hands leave him. Jason sighs. At least Jason was a hero when he’d died. Danny had just been a regular kid, having to learn to be a hero after such a horrifying experience must have been hell.
A beep sounds, and Jason pulls out his phone to see a message from Nightwing.
Sorry 🙁
Jason rolls his eyes and sends the middle finger emoji. He almost puts away his phone when the phone beeps again.
How is he?
Sighing, Jason types out sleeping. Got the muzzle off a few hours ago so he could eat but tbd on the others.
There’s a pause where Dick must be typing, and then a response.
You did the right thing, little Wing.
Jason huffs, but he’s glad Dick finally came to his senses, even if it did take Roy sending all the evidence. He’s validated on his initial instincts to protect the kid, and knows, deep down, that Dick would have done the same if their positions were reversed. Dick hadn’t gotten to meet the kid, but Jason’s sure he’d have seen the ‘tiny dog left in the rain’ look Jason had.
Not apologizing for shooting you, Jason sends back.
Ouch!
Jason rolls his eyes, sending a sleeping Danny picture before putting his phone away. He’s sure Dick will get a kick over the stickers Lian put all over the metal cuffs. He’s proved right when the next few texts are heart emojis.
Clark and I are handling the GIW. You keep Danny safe in the meantime.
Planning on it, Jason sends back. It’s a weight off his shoulders, to not have to spring back into another mission. He does have things to do back in Gotham, and he’s sure Roy does too. Sides, Lian and Danny get along great.
Jason continues to get updates from Dick while he and Roy eventually get the last of the restraints off. It takes most of the day, and Danny is free just after dinner. It’s about six pm, and the whole day Danny had been chatty. He talked with Lian, regailed some of his battles with ghosts, avoided topics like his parents, and cursed out some guy named Vlad. Jason was glad he felt comfortable with them, but supposed he’d grown to trust them with how he’s had to rely on Jason so much the past few days.
When they get the last one off, Danny’s eyes turn a startling green that instantly has Jason on edge despite the fact that his own body relaxes. Danny is enveloped in a bright flash of white. Jason blinks and in Danny’s place theres a glowing white haired kid in a super suit.
“Oh man, that felt weird,”Danny ways, and Jason relaxes. Still the same old kid.
“You’re like a fairy!” Lian gasps, and Roy chuckles.
“Kind of!”Danny acquiesces, and floats over to her. “I’m a ghost. People usually call me Phantom.”
The name rings a bell, and Jason recalls the list of missing ghosts Dick sent him from Amity. He pulls out his phone to let Dick know. While it was new, and the way Danny looked now was mildly unsettling, Jason had seen weirder.
“Have you ever flown before?”
Lian shakes her head but bounces enthusiastically. To Roy’s relief, Danny doesn’t fly more than two feet off the ground, and slowly zooms her around the living room and back, letting her point out directions.
At some point the kid’s legs turned into a tail, and he didn’t seem to get tired carrying Lian around even after half an hour when Roy put a stop to it. Danny was left hovering around Jason, looking timid.
“What is it kid?” Jason asks, looking to Danny. His green eyes bore into Jason, and some part of him feels what the kid must be feeling.
“I just.. Wanted to say thank you,”Danny says, rubbing the back of his neck. “You didn’t have to do any of that, but you did, and it.. Means a lot. You really saved my afterlife.”
“Don’t worry about it Danny,”Jason says, patting him on the shoulder. “You’re a good kid, and I’m happy to help a hero in need.”
Danny’s face blushes green at the praise. “Still, um. Thank you.”
“I know you probably want to get going back to Amity as soon as possible,”Jason adds, and Danny’s shoulders sag with relief. He nods sheepishly. “But, Superman and Nightwing have it handled for now. Take some time to rest, first, before you go back.”
Danny seems more hesitant, but nods. “You got someone to stay with?” Jason asks. “Cause you always have a place here with me an’ Roy.”
“I-I’ve got someone,”Danny says, mildly shocked Jason would offer for Danny to come back. “My sister, and some friends.”
“Good,”Jason nods.
“And also, you know,”Danny shrugs, “I’m the ghost King, so I could always just live in the Realms with the ghosts.”
Jason blinks.
“You’re the what??”