Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was cold. He liked the cold. It was nice, comforting. It reminded him of someone. Who was that again? He didn’t know. It didn’t really matter. He liked it here, in the cold. Had he thought that already? He probably had. Sleep. Sleep was nice. That’s what he’d been doing, right? Sleep. He’d dreamt of a green world, and a man with a clock in his chest. How did he know what the color green was? Or a clock, for that matter. 

It was getting warmer. Why did the cold have to go away? He liked it. He liked the snow. He liked Frostbite. Why did he like frostbite? Didn’t it cause people to lose their hands and feet? And noses? 

He sighed, shifting to lay on his side. 

Wait. He could move? He couldn’t remember doing that before. What else could he do? 

Groaning, he opened his eyes.

Before him was a floor to ceiling window, looking out into the inky blackness of space, peppered with brilliant stars that were millions of light years away. It was mesmerizing. He could look at it forever. His hand reached out, or at least he tried to reach out. His arm moved, but not enough. He could hear something, something in his peripherals. 

He ignored it. 

His limbs didn’t work like he wanted them too, but that was okay. He could float. Wobbly, but it worked. He felt things pulling away from his arms and legs. He didn’t care. The noise behind him got louder. 

He’d made it to the window. He let himself land on the floor, legs splayed beside him. He pressed his hand to the cool glass, starting out into the void. At least his arms were working now.

He felt content. This was better than the cold. Than sleeping. 

A moment later, something touched his arm. He turned to look at it, or rather, who it was. It was a man with a blue mask over his eyes. A domino? The man had black hair which framed his angular face. He was wearing a black suit with a blue bird? Eagle? On his chest. The wings extended up to his shoulders before going down the arms to cover the three middle fingers in blue. The masked man was crouched on the floor next to him. 

“Hey buddy. Can you understand me?” the man asked gently. He nodded. 

“Do you - do you know who you are?” What a weird question. But no, he didn’t, so he shook his head. 

“Okay. Do you wanna go back to bed? You have to be tired, right? You can barely move.”

“No.” He’d meant for it to be louder, but his voice was quiet. So quiet. He squinted in confusion, looking down, his arm coming up to touch his throat. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. 

“Well, you’re cold aren’t you? Let’s get you a blanket.” There was movement off to the side again. Legs of another person, they’d brought the first man a thick and fuzzy blanket.

“Here.” The blanket was soon wrapped around him, heavy yet comforting. He pulled it around him, it was like a little cloak. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m Nightwing.” He nodded. That made sense. Night for the black outfit and wing for the bird on his chest. Would his name be related to what he was wearing? SpaceCape, maybe? BlandCape? 

“You’re in space. We’re on the Watchtower, the Justice League’s secret base! Aren’t you a lucky bird?” He knew he was in space. That’s why he went towards the window. But. He wasn’t a bird. He was human. 

“Not a bird.”

“No? What are you then?”

“A human.”

“Yeah. Yeah you are.” 

The man fell silent after that. That was fine, that just meant he could look outside uninterrupted. Other people were in the room, behind him somewhere. They were talking, in hushed whispers. The man beside him didn’t move. Time passed, the intensity of light changing as the space station, which he now knew was called the Watchtower, orbited around something. Probably a planet? That’s where life existed, right? On planets. 

If he didn’t exist before, how did he know things? He didn’t think he was a baby. He was too big. Did - Did he lose his memories? Was that why he didn’t have a name? He had one, but he couldn’t remember it. Reluctantly, he pulled his eyes away from the window. 

“Am I someone?” 

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t remember anything. But I know things I shouldn’t. I’m not a baby. I’m older than that.” he paused, keeping his eyes on the man’s face. “I was someone, right? I just lost my memories?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.” whispered the man sadly. 

“Will you tell me?” 

“Sure. But not right now, okay? You need to eat and now that you’re awake, we need to do a wellness check. Can you stand?” 

He looked down at his legs. He should be able to. Theoretically. His limbs hadn’t exactly been working like he’d expected them. 

“Can you help me? They don’t move right.” The man frowned. He stood up, then offered his hand. 

“Sure. We’ll need to scan them, see what’s wrong with them.” Nightwing remarked. He reached out, grabbing the offered hand. His legs protested, but he was standing. They wobbled dangerously. Nightwing wrapped his arms around him, helping him stand. His legs got steadier as they made their way back to the bed. Nightwing lifted him back up onto it, once they were close enough. He hadn’t realized he was so small. He felt like he should be bigger. 

“What’s my name?” Nightwing winced. 

“You don’t have one. Yet.” Yet? 

“But. Doesn’t everyone have a name?” 

Nightwing looked really uncomfortable at this point. A throat cleared from the end of the bed. His head to acknowledge the others. There was a man with a black cowl with two pointed ears. He had a bat outlined on his chest. Like Nightwing, his entire outfit was black. The only part that was not was the yellow tool belt around his waist. There was a man with a shiny red helmet on it. He had a brown jacket and holsters on his thighs. The third man had black hair, a domino on his face. His outfit was red with yellow strap things criss crossing his chest. There was a bird symbol on his chest. The final person was also a man, his outfit a mix of reds, greens, and muted yellows. An R was on his chest. 

He looked down at himself. He was the only one not in a tight outfit, and he was pretty sure he didn’t have something on his face or head to cover his eyes. His outfit was light beige compared to their darker ones. 

“How are you feeling?” asked the man with the bat.

“Okay, I think. I don’t know any different.” The bat man didn’t seem satisfied with his answer. He didn’t have any other though. 

“Let’s get those health scans started.” 

“B!” scolded Nightwing. “At least introduce yourself first!”

“I’m Batman.” 

“Red Hood.”

“Red Robin.” 

“Robin.”

The pattern of names matching outfits had continued. Once they got to Robin. That one didn’t make any sense. 

“Hi” he stated, giving a little wave. “I’m… someone.”  Batman’s lips twitched, but Red Hood and Red Robin laughed. Robin remained stoic, wary even. 

“Well, someone, why don’t we start?” 

The next hour? Couple hours? Were filled with all sorts of tests and machines. A green skinned woman with short red hair had floated in and examined his mind. She’d found a block of some sort, but it was not something done by ‘CADMUS’. He’d done it to himself apparently. It would break with time, probably. 

They’d fed him after that. Spaghetti with meatballs. To his mortification, he’d spilled a lot, his coordination still not what it should be. He had an answer now. His muscles and nerves had never been used before. The neural pathways hadn’t developed yet in his brain. Miss Martian (the green lady) and Batman were confident it would only take a few days before those would develop. Until then, he had the coordination of a toddler. The warm food had been nice though.

Everything that had happened during the day (?) made him sleepy. He drifted off not long after finishing his food. Then. He began to dream.

***

“Bored, Danny?” asked Clockwork.

He rolled his eyes. Of course he was bored. He’d been bored for the last three thousand years. If he’d known that he’d become immortal when he’d walked into that portal, he never would have done it. Surviving long after everyone he knew and loved was long gone. After the wars had started. After all the humans were long gone and dead. 

“Of course I am.” he snapped. “How do you stand it? Everyday is the same. It’s monotonous. I hate it.”

“Hmmm. I stand it because I not only watched the time stream of your dimension, but the time streams of all the others.”

“Is that why everything went to shit? You stopped watching the time stream of my dimension?”

“No. There wasn’t much I could do. I watch. Observe. Correct course when one person makes a drastic mistake. I am powerless when hundreds, if not thousands all make the same mistake.” 

“You’re the Master of Time! I don’t believe your excuse!” Danny raged. 

“Believe it or not. I merely want to offer you some entertainment. Something to soothe your aching and lonely heart.”

Danny remained silent, intrigued. 

“Well. Are you going to offer it to me?”

“Watch the other dimensions with me. Then, pick one you like, and visit it. Live amongst humans once more.”

Ancients, that was tempting. He missed the living. He was the only one left, and he was only half alive. 

“I accept.” 

The dream changed, rippling until it showed Clockwork in front of a screen. 

“Are you sure this is the one you want to visit?” 

“Yes. I’m sure. I was a hero, back in the day. I want - I want to be around actual heroes. Batman. Superman. Wonder Woman. Captain Marvel - what?” 

“There is a price, a price that must be paid if you wish to live among them. Is that what you truly want?” 

“Yes. More than anything.” he replied. 

“The world will shift to integrate you, placing you where your powers and abilities will make the most sense.” 

“Okay?”

“Your memories of the past will be locked away. You can access them, eventually. Should you desire.” 

“That’s it? That’s all I have to pay?”

“That’s it.”

“When can I leave?”

“NOW”

At that, Clockwork pushed him into the screen. He fell through it, light flashing all around him, then everything went black. 

***

Danny woke up, panting. Sweat dripped down his face. Danny. That was his name. He looked around, once again. He’d… He’d traveled here, from a different dimension. Those people, they were heroes. Some of the heroes he’d wanted to meet. 

“Little bird?” 

He turned and looked at the door; Nightwing stood in the threshold. 

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“Yes. I think I did.” he answered. 

Chapter Text

Time didn’t really mean anything to Danny. He knew how to read a clock, but he didn’t really know what day it was, so what did that matter? Also, since they were in space, there wasn’t really a 24 hour day. He knew that the International Space Station experienced sixteen sunrises and sunsets a day due to the speed they were traveling around the Earth. But that had been the old dimension. His old home. Who knew how fast the Watchtower was going? Maybe it experienced more? Or less? 

Nightwing would know. He felt a sort of familial bond with the man, coming from his chest. Perhaps he recognized him somehow? Even though Danny didn’t have any memories? Nightwing had been spending a lot of time with him, helping him strengthen the muscles throughout his body. Due to his help, Danny was able to walk on his own now and eat without spilling everywhere. It felt great to be more independent. The people on the Watchtower were incredibly kind to him, generally always willing to answer his questions. There was always someone around him, watching him though. 

Danny. Didn’t really know about that. He also hadn’t really told anyone that he was called Danny. He wasn’t sure if that was what he wanted to be called in this new life. That was the whole point, right? The whole reason his other self had crossed dimensions? To let himself be someone new, someone else? But he kinda liked the name. It felt right. 

It was hilarious to hear all the nicknames that the assorted heroes came up with. Bud, buddy, and kiddo were the most common ones used. A tall, strong looking lady in some super cool armor with a glowing, golden rope at her hip who had introduced herself as Diana liked to call him little one. She was really fun, but probably pretty important, since she had only visited once, even though he could tell she liked him. 

Batman visited often and would call him chum. Which was really weird. He was pretty sure chum was a fish? Or the bait used to attract fish? He wasn’t really sure why Batman called him that. Though he had heard Batman call both Nightwing and Robin chum, so maybe that was Batman’s thing? He didn’t know, but it was kinda weird. It brought the word ‘Fruitloop’ to mind, but he also felt that Batman had done nothing to deserve that severe of an insult. Yet at the same time, it was a cereal, and not an insult? 

His memory was still a bit wonky. He remembered nothing before the time he woke up on the Watchtower. At least, he didn’t think he did. Danny also hadn’t really tried to recall anything from before he’s woken up here. From what he could hear from the other’s whispers of CADMUS, it wasn't a great place. It was probably a good thing he couldn’t remember it. He only recalled his other life through dreams. And not much of it. It had only been repeats of what he had seen before, if he even dreamed of his previous life. Honestly? Danny was kinda okay with that too. Without those memories, he was free to just be himself. Whoever that was.

And Danny? Danny wanted to explore. He wanted to play. And he wanted to get off of the Watchtower. Yes, he loved space. But he was starting to feel really cooped up. He hadn’t been let out of the room he’d woken up in. He really hated it. 

He glanced at his current babysitter, the green skinned lady, Ms. Martian. She wasn’t paying that much attention to him, reading through something on one of those tablets. She’d given him some paper and crayons and told him to draw. Danny had for a while, but he was bored now. He wanted to see Nightwing. He always felt happier, safer, when the man was around. The heroes all seemed to live here, on the Watchtower, so he just had to sneak out and find him. Then they could play and hang out. Watch more of those Disney movies. Tell Nightwing that he had a name now. Well, he’d had one, just hadn’t been sure he’d wanted to keep it yet. He was sure now. 

So like. He was pretty sure what his powers were. He’d known as soon as he’d woken up that he could fly. He also just knew that he could turn invisible and go through walls. Shoot these green blasty things from his hands and create shields with the same green stuff. Could also make this green scream thing, although he just instinctively knew it would make him really tired. Oh, and he could make ice! He was pretty sure there were others, but those were the ones he could remember.

Turning invisible, he made his way away from the table in his room towards a wall, before going intangible. Outside was a pretty plain hallway. Boring. But he was sure he’d find people if he kept going. From his exploring, Danny learned that his room was in the hospital section of the space station. But man. This place was huge! There was a massive kitchen, which Danny may have taken a few chocolate bars from. He just knew that Kit Kats and Twixs were his favorites, despite the fact that he couldn’t remember having them before. Danny was pretty sure no one would mind, that no one would miss them. Probably. 

It seemed that one side of the space station was a massive atrium with a bunch of these metal like caves on the bottom floor. There were people here, arriving in flashes of yellow light from the metal caves. He wandered some more, finding lots and lots of meeting rooms and rooms with computers. Boring! Some of the rooms did have people in them, but he didn’t really recognize any of them. So he didn't say hi. Stranger danger and all that. 

There was a gym too. He hadn’t known there was so much stuff that could be used to work out! Danny may have spent a couple minutes playing with the yoga balls. Sitting on them, putting them under his stomach and just rolling along the floor, giggling while doing so. His muscles were getting tired. Danny hadn’t really walked around this much since he’d woken up. He decided to rest, sitting against the wall and happily eating some of the Kit Kat bars he’d pilfered. 

As he sat there, an announcement came over speakers in the ceiling. He had no idea this place had an intercom! 

“Attention all Leaguers. We have a missing child who was liberated from a mission last week. If you spot him, please contact the monitor room.” He recognized the voice. Was that Ms. Martian? 

Uh oh. 

That was probably for him. 

He needed to find Nightwing fast. Heck, he would even take Red Hood or Red Robin. They were nice to him. Batman and Diana were tied for fourth. He really didn’t want to go back to his room. It was kinda starting to feel like a cell. 

Exploring had been so much more interesting than being cooped up there. Even if a lot of the rooms were boring. 

Huffing, he stood up, double checking that he was still invisible. His legs hurt, but hopefully he shouldn’t have to go too much further. Nightwing and his room couldn’t be that far away. 

Danny began to search even more rooms, getting more and more disappointed at each one. He’d found the bedrooms, but they were empty, and he couldn’t tell who any of these belonged to! They all looked so bare and dull. Why hadn’t anyone painted their room? Or put little stars on the ceiling? 

Danny could feel himself getting annoyed and frustrated. Why was this so hard?!? He sniffed, feeling tears of frustration start to form. He was really tired, and he’d been searching for what felt like a long time. Was it really that much to ask to find Nightwing?

“Bud? You there?” called a man dressed in all blue with red underwear and a red cape. He also had a giant S on his chest. Superman. Superman reached a hand up and pressed it near his ear.

“I don’t see anything here, but I can hear the boy’s heartbeat. He’s nearby. Yes, it’s him. He has a pretty distinct heartbeat,” Superman said wryly. 

Superman could hear his heartbeat? That was pretty cool. What else could he do? Danny sniffed again, and wiped at his eyes. 

“Hey buddy, what are you doing out here?” Superman asked, crouching down. Danny couldn’t help but giggle, since Superman was staring at his invisible chest, and not his face. Probably looking where he heard Danny’s heart.

“‘M exploring. Looking for Nightwing,” Danny said, letting his invisibility drop. 

“I’m sorry buddy, but he’s not on the Watchtower right now. I can ask when he’ll be back. Why don’t we go back to your room and wait for him, okay?” Danny frowned. No wonder he couldn’t find Nightwing. He wasn’t even here. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“No.” 

“No?” Superman asked, surprised. 

“No,” Danny repeated grumpily. He didn’t want to go back to that dumb room. He was bored there.

“Uh, well, you can’t wander the hallways, kiddo. So we have to go somewhere else, ‘kay?” Danny eyed the adult. 

“You can’t make me.” 

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I -” Superman cut off as his hands slid right through Danny. Danny didn’t even bother to hide his pleased smile. 

“No you can’t!” he said in a sing-song voice, thrilled by Superman’s shocked expression. A mischievous idea popped in his head. 

“Come find me!” he yelled before turning on his heel and running off, phasing through a few walls. 

Superman would probably keep looking for him, making it a perpetual game of hide and seek, where the adult was always seeking and he was always hiding. Perfect! He didn’t really want to be the seeker. Danny made his way back to the kitchen and hid under one of the tables, making sure he was invisible once again. He was not going to make it easy for Superman! He was going to have to find Danny the hard way, by listening to his heartbeat! 

There were two people standing at the kitchen counter, one in red with yellow lightning bolts on his head and a man in green who kinda looked like Robin Hood? They hadn’t noticed Danny, as he’d come through the wall and been invisible at the time. Danny didn’t have to wait long before Superman came through the door. 

“Hey Supes! What’s up? Don’t you have monitor duty?” the man in red and yellow asked. 

“Did you hear the announcement? M’gann lost the CADMUS kid.” 

“He’s not lost, he just wandered off,” Superman responded. 

His eyes were looking at the table Danny was hiding under. Danny held his breath. Superman’s eyes moved over to a different table. Danny breathed a small sigh of relief. Superman then crouched down and looked under it. 

“Nope, not here.” Danny giggled, before slapping his hand over his mouth. 

It was really funny that Superman hadn’t found him yet, but he didn’t want to give himself away. A smile spread across Superman’s face before he made his way to the next couple tables, searching under them, opening up some of the cabinets and the pantry, searching for Danny. Danny kept his hand over his mouth, but that couldn’t really hide the giggles and the laughter that was coming from him. He knew that Superman was doing this on purpose, but it was still really hilarious! The red and yellow bolt man and the knock off Robin Hood had a pretty good idea of where he was, based on how they were staring at the table Danny was hiding invisibly. 

“Hmmm. Must not be here. Let me know if you see him, bye guys!” Superman said with a wink at the two men before he walked out the door. 

That… was not how this was supposed to go. 

Superman was supposed to keep searching for him, till he found Danny. Then Danny would hide again, and Superman would look for him. So on so forth. Superman wasn’t supposed to just leave! 

Letting his invisibility drop, he crawled out from under the table, keeping an eye on the other two people in the room. The bolt man had his mouth hanging open, the green hoodie guy looked both annoyed and surprised. Whatever. Not important. He had to follow Superman.

He approached the door, letting it slide open, before he peeked his head out into the hallway. He spotted the blue and red clad man looking into the different rooms, unaware of Danny. He huffed before following. Really, he thought Superman had been smart. Had the hero really not known he was there under the table with his giggles and his heartbeat? 

Danny followed the adult hero down different hallways, half curious and half annoyed. They made their way to the main atrium place, not too far from where all those meeting rooms and the medical section was. Danny was a bit more cautious entering the large open space. There were less places for him to hide here. 

Hesitantly, cautiously, he creeped into the open hallway that looked out into the atrium. Where was Superman? He’d just seen him! Where had he gone? 

“Gotcha!” exclaimed Superman’s voice as two large hands grabbed him from under his armpits and lifted him high in the air, placing him on top of Superman’s shoulders. Danny squeaked in surprise, looking down at the person he was now sitting on top of. He… hadn’t been expecting that, but it felt nice to sit down? 

“I thought we were playing Hide and Seek?” he asked. 

“Oh, I’m not so sure about that. Besides, you were cheating!” Superman teased. Danny huffed, crossing his arms. 

“You were too! Listening to people’s heartbeats is totally cheating!” 

“Then we both were cheating,” Superman said. Danny grumbled, putting his crossed arms on top of the hero’s head, then resting his own on his arms. 

“I guess. But you totally tricked me! You knew where I was the entire time!” he accused. 

“I did,” the man admitted, floating out into the open space of the atrium. “But you had fun, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

They were both silent as Superman floated them down to the bottom of the atrium where all the metal caves were. Ms. Martian floated in a moment later. 

“Superman! You found him!” she said with relief. Danny squirmed, feeling a bit guilty. He hadn’t meant to make her worry that much, honest! He just wanted to get out of that room! 

“I’m surprised he was able to slip away without you noticing,” Superman remarked. She grimaced. 

“His mental presence can be hard to detect at times. He seems to be adept at hiding his presence.” 

“No kidding, he can turn invisible and density shift no problem! I’d guess he has some Martian in him!”

“I can hear you, you know,” Danny reminded them grumpily, pouting from his tall perch. Floating up till she was eye level with him, Mr. Martian opened her arms to grab him. 

“Why don’t we go back to your room, okay kiddo?” Danny eyed her warily. 

He didn’t want to go back. But he was tired. His exploration mission had wiped him out. Sighing, he let Ms. Martian pick him up. 

“When is Nightwing going to be here?” he asked moodily. 

He wanted Nightwing to be the first person he told his name to! And he wanted to ask when he was getting out of here! He’d been patient. But he was tired of being cooped up. It wasn’t fair. 

“He’s not scheduled to arrive for another six hours,” she told him placatingly. 

Danny frowned. Six hours! That was a long time. But maybe if he napped, then he wouldn’t be so tired when Nightwing came. Ancients, he hated that his body was so weak and got tired so easily. He felt like he used to be able to stay up much longer. Not only that, but he hadn’t even walked that far, and his legs were tired. 

“Bye Superman, and thank you again for finding him,” Ms. Martian said with a grateful smile as she began to drift away, Danny in her arms. Looking back at the large and beefy man, Danny called. 

“Bye Mr. Superman! We should play Hide and Seek again sometime!” 

“Looking forward to it!” The hero said with a grin and a wave. 

They made it back to the room in the medical wing far too quickly. As soon as he was released, Danny made his way to the bed, hopping up on it. Looking at the female hero, he pondered for a moment then asked. 

“You’ll wake me up when Nightwing gets here, right?”

“Of course.” 

He didn’t know if he trusted her. She was a hero. But they were keeping all sorts of things from him, which wasn’t cool at all. Danny deserved to know it, didn’t he? It was about him in the first place! Knowing now that they couldn’t really keep him locked up here helped. He could theoretically escape at any time. Except for the fact that he was pretty sure he couldn’t survive in the vacuum of space. So he had no way off the Watchtower. Those metal caves though, that people used to teleport in and out, that seemed to be his way out. 

He’d have to ask Nightwing. Although, Nightwing was a hero too. He was part of the reason Danny was confined here, in this room. His innermost self, his very core trusted the man. Said that Nightwing was family, and wouldn’t hurt him. It vaguely recognized Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, Signal, and Robin as family too. But it was the strongest for Nightwing. Danny wasn’t sure why. 

Maybe it had to do with his powers? Or maybe the previous him, the previous Danny had watched Nightwing in particular and decided that is who he should hang out with once he crossed dimensions. There were too many questions, and no answers. Grumbling, Danny snuggled into his scratchy pillow and let himself drift to sleep. Hopefully Ms. Martian would wake him up, as she’d said. 

***

Danny awoke sometime later to whispering. That hadn’t been what woke him up though. It had been his inner self, his heart saying that Nightwing was here and was upset. So Danny should do something about that. Blinking his eyes, he stayed still, eavesdropping on the conversation happening just feet away. 

“... telling me he can just density shift?!? Like it’s nothing?! I remember that it took you years to learn and perfect. He’s tiny! How could he have learned that already?!” Came a harsh, frantic whisper. 

Oh, that was Nightwing. Why was he upset that Danny could phase through stuff? And why were they calling it density shifting? ‘Cause that was not what Danny was doing. Right? 

“I have no idea. He shouldn’t be able to do that. But you know we’ve had trouble figuring out… well, what different species he’s made up of and from who specifically. Although the density shifting along with the invisibility, the floating, and the ability to hide from mine and Uncle J’onn’s mind makes me think he’d definitely part Martian,” Ms. Martian whispered softly. 

“I just - This sucks. We find him in a CADMUS lab. Our preliminary scan of him and the files we were able to salvage told us he’s made from some of my DNA, but we can’t figure out who the other ‘donors’ are,” Nightwing sighed deeply. 

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Danny sat up. Nightwing was sitting on one of the hard plastic chairs, his head buried in his hands. So. He was made from Nightwing? Like, a kid? Or a clone his mind whispered. Danny frowned. Why did he feel like he knew a lot about clones? They tended to not be as stable, and didn’t always end up looking like who they were cloned from. Especially if the original had powers. 

Danny looked down at his hands. Why did he know this? Was that because… he was a clone? Is that why he was so weak all the time? He wasn’t stable? That did explain why he felt such a pull towards Nightwing though, if Nightwing was his original. But Nightwing had mentioned other donors? Did that mean he was made up of other people too? 

Ugh, even more mysteries with no answers. There was so much he had to figure out. But first things first. Nightwing was upset, and he didn’t like that. Not only that, but Ms. Martian had totally lied, she hadn’t woken him when Nightwing had arrived. 

Sliding down from the bed, Danny walked over to the two adults. Their heads snapped over to look at him. He hadn’t exactly been quiet when he’d gotten off the bed. At least his legs and feet no longer ached. Naps always made all his pain go away. It was like a reset button! Stopping just in front of the man sitting in the chair, he turned to look up at the Martian woman. 

“You said you’d wake me when Nightwing got here. You lied,” he accused. Not even bothering to see her reaction, he turned to the man in front of him. 

“Why… Why are you upset? Is it because I’m a clone of sorts?” Danny asked, fear and dread gripping his heart. He didn’t know what he’d do if the answer was yes. 

Chapter Text

Even with the domino mask on Nightwing’s face, Danny could see the heartbreak and devastation. 

“No, little bird. No. I’m worried about you. You have all these abilities that we didn’t know about, and we don’t know who your other… parents are.” 

“You don’t know my powers, but I do,” Danny muttered. The whites of Nightwing’s mask widened. 

“You - You know what your abilities are?” the masked hero asked, shocked. 

“Yeah? I forget I have them a lot. And I don’t always remember what they are. There are a ton of them.” 

Nightwing pulled Danny into a hug and onto his lap. Danny looped his arms around the man’s neck, pleased that he was able to cuddle up with his original. Template? Either way, his center felt warm and happy being in Nightwing’s arms. There was a safety and security here that he didn’t feel elsewhere. 

“We’ll need to test some of those, if you don’t mind kiddo,” Ms. Martian said somewhere behind him. 

“Okay. But only if I get to play Hide and Seek some more. It was fun with Superman, but it’s not as fun with just two people. And we should play other games. I’m tired of coloring. And reading books. I want to play,” Danny demanded, twisting to look at Ms. Martian. 

“We’ll come up with something little bird, don’t you worry,” Nightwing said, pressing a kiss on top of Danny’s head. Looking up at his green skinned companion, the man continued, “It might be a good idea to get the team involved. They could probably use something fun, and Hide and Seek with mini me here could double up as both stealth training, fun, and working on their ability to handle kids.” 

“He’s not exactly a normal child.” 

“No, but neither are a lot of the kids we rescue,” Nightwing countered. Worry shot thought Danny. 

“Do you rescue a lot of kids?” he asked hesitantly. 

He wanted to be special to Nightwing. Was this stuff he did for a lot of kids? Did they find a lot of clones of the man or other heroes? 

“Yeah, we do. We do our best to get them back to their parents.” 

“Are you going to send me to my parents?” he asked uncertainly. 

He hoped that was a yes, because Nightwing was his parent, right? Or at least one of them. So he could be sent to live with Nightwing? Nightwing could be his dad? Nightwing and Ms. Martian shared panicked looks. 

“Um, you’re a clone, buddy, so you have a lot of different… parents. The current plan is to have you live with your main donor.” 

“Oh. Will that be soon?” his voice wobbled. He didn’t want to go with anyone else, he wanted to stay with Nightwing.

“We’re still getting everything ready, but hopefully you’ll be able to go with them in the next couple days,” Nightwing explained with a smile. 

Dread filled Danny. He turned his head and buried it in the Kevlar on Nightwing’s chest. He hadn’t been awake for long, but he was scared. What if he never saw Nightwing again? And even though he hated being cooped up, being in space and being around heroes was really cool. What if he didn’t like the new place? What if he was left all alone all the time? What if his ‘main donor’ wasn’t nice? What if they didn’t like him?

“What if they’re not nice? What if I don’t like them? What if I never see you again?” he mumbled into Nightwing’s chest. Nightwing held him close, carding his hand through Danny’s hair. 

“Awww, buddy. Don’t worry. I promise you, they already love you. And don’t worry, I’ll visit you, and so will Ms. Martian. We’ll check up on you, see how you’re doing. Besides, you still have to play Hide and Seek with us, and we need to do some tests on our powers. Plus I’m pretty sure Black Canary wants to do a couple therapy sessions with you,” Nightwing reassured. 

That helped, but Danny still felt his lip wobbling. This sucked. He wanted to have fun when Nightwing was around. But he wasn’t happy right now. Nightwing sighed. 

“A long time ago, I was just like you,” the man said. Curious, Danny looked up at him. Nightwing had been just like him? 

“I was a lonely boy who’d just lost his parents. A grieving, angry child. But… a man took me in. I was angry, upset. I said a lot of mean things. He still loved me, though. He helped me heal. I - I’m happy to say I call him Dad now,” Nightwing told him gently. 

Danny blinked, pondering. Danny thought through all of the people he felt a familial bond towards. The only one he could think of who was old enough to be Nightwing’s dad was Batman. The others all seemed the same age, or younger than Nightwing. 

“I can’t promise that it will be easy, but you have a family out there that’s excited to meet you and take you home. Can you at least give them a chance? For me?” Danny sighed. 

“I can try.” 

“That’s all I ask, little bird,” Nightwing said, pressing another kiss to his head. 

Swinging his legs back and forth from his spot in Nightwing’s lap, Danny looked around. Ms. Martian had left at some point. He hadn’t noticed. It was just him and Nightwing. Maybe he could tell him his name now.

“Hey. Nightwing? Guess what?” he asked excitedly. The man smiled. 

“What?”

“I have a name now!” Danny said with a grin. 

“Oh, you do?” Danny tilted his head, was Nightwing disappointed? 

“Who named you?” Oh, that was… a little angry. Why would Nightwing be angry he got a name? 

“Um. I did? Is - Is that okay?” Nightwing relaxed. 

“Of course it is, bud. What did you name yourself?” 

“Daniel. But my nickname is Danny,” he said proudly. 

“Danny, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Danny looked at his toes, worried, then looked back up at the whites of Nightwing’s domino mask. “Do you like it?”

“I love it, Danny,” the man said, pulling him back into a hug. “It’s a great name. Here.” Nightwing pulled out a cell phone. Danny looked at it curiously. 

“Let’s take a picture together, Danny.” This seemed random. 

“Why are we taking a picture?” he asked.

“We’re making memories, little bird. We have to capture and take pictures of all your firsts! And I think you naming yourself counts as a memorable moment. Can you smile for the camera?” Oh. That was kinda nice. 

“Okay,” he said, looking at the phone Nightwing was holding above them, their faces close together. 

The hero took a couple pictures with both of them smiling, before Nightwing gave him a kiss on the cheek. Danny scrunched his face, giggling, his core warming. He loved how his dad hero friend was so affectionate and cuddly with him, it made him all warm and fuzzy. Nightwing was the best! After the pictures, Nightwing sent it to someone on his phone. 

“Alright! I brought a couple games with me, that we can play, and that you can play with other people, kay? Why don’t we start with Jenga?” 

***

Danny was going home with his family tomorrow. He was excited and nervous. He’d been having a lot of fun playing the different games that Nightwing had brought. Guess Who was really fun, so was Battleship. Nightwing had brought mostly two player games, which made sense since it was usually just Danny and whoever his babysitter was. He hated that he needed a babysitter. He was able to stay awake longer and longer now, and he wasn’t as tired as he used to be. His muscles had atrophied while he was at CADMUS, but since he was using them, they were getting stronger! 

Kaldur was watching him today, and they were playing Go Fish. Nightwing had laughed when Danny had suggested the card game with Kaldur before leaving. 

“Why did Nightwing laugh when I asked to play Go Fish?” he asked, biting his lip. 

“My current designation as a hero is Aquaman, and when I first met Nightwing, it was Aqualad. He thinks it’s funny that you picked a fish named game and I am an… aquatic hero and an Atleantean.” 

“Oh.” Danny thought for a moment. “Do you have any fives?”

“No, I do not. Go Fish.” Danny grumbled and took a card from the pile. It was an eight. Hadn’t Kaldur asked if he had an eight earlier?

“So… what are the names of the heroes on the Watchtower right now?” 

“Well, Superman and Batman are on the tower. As is one of the Green Lanterns, Blue Beetle, and a few others. Do you have any threes?” 

“No. Go Fish. Can we meet some of them after this game?” Danny asked excitedly. They were running out of games to play. Not only that, but it was super cool to meet the different heroes! And see what their powers were!

“Oh! Uh, do you have any nines?” Kaldur handed Danny a card. Grinning, he placed his pair down on the table. 

“I do not see why we cannot, as long as they are not busy.” 

“Yes!” Danny cheered, shooting up in the air in excitement. Floating back down, he continued the game, pleased that he only had two cards left. 

“Do you have any eights?” he asked with a mischievous grin. Kaldur smiled, handing him another card. Danny hummed. He just had one left. 

“Ummmm. Do you have any… ones?” Danny asked hesitantly. If he got this right, then he won the game and they could go talk to other heroes! 

“It seems, you have won.” Kaldur said, sliding the card across. 

“Sweet! Uh, good game. Can we go now?” 

“We must clean up, then yes, we can go.” 

Danny rushed to pick up all the cards and put them back in their box, practically bouncing in excitement by the door when he was done. Kaldur looked amused. 

“Now, Danny, you must stay within my sight at all times. And you have to listen.” 

“I know, I know.” 

“Follow me,” the Atlantean said, leading the way. 

Kaldur didn’t walk too fast, which let Danny explore a bit. Look out the windows (space was still pretty, even if his room had a window too), peeking into all the different doors along the hallways using his intangibility. Kaldur wasn’t saying he couldn’t, so it must be fine? Plus, the bedrooms were on the other side of the space station. 

“Through here Danny” Kaldur said, holding open a door. 

Inside was a large room with a massive monitor up against the outer facing wall. Smaller monitors surrounded the larger screen, each of them showing what looked like cities around the world. One of them was definitely Paris, based on the Eiffel tower. It was still weird sometimes how Danny just knew things, even though he couldn’t remember learning them. 

Relaxing and leaning back in two chairs were Batman and Superman, who looked over as Kaldur and Danny entered. Superman grinned happily and Danny thought he caught a hint of a smile on Batman’s face. 

“Kaldur, Danny! What brings you two here?” 

“Danny was getting rather bored of playing Go Fish.” 

“It’s not as fun with only two people! Plus, you weren’t even really trying! I won almost every round,” he complained. Flying up, he hovered in front of the massive screen, awed by how massive it was.

“Whoa! This is bigger than I am! How did you get it up here in space?” 

All items in space generally had to be brought up somehow. How big did the rocket ship have to be to bring up this huge TV?!? And the screen had to be super sturdy too, to make that flight. 

“Items were mainly brought up to the Watchtower using the Zeta tubes. Larger items, like the screen, were brought up by the Green Lanterns,” Batman explained.  The Green Lanterns again. Danny floating back down so he was cross legged, his legs at about hip height for the adults.

“How do they work, exactly? Are they just green colored flying lanterns? That are sentient?” Both Kaldur and Superman began laughing, Batman chuckling slightly. Danny frowned. 

“What? What’s so funny?” he asked petulantly. He didn’t like how out of the loop he was sometimes. Why did his random, downloaded knowledge have to be so spotty? 

“The Lanterns are a group of people who use rings that are fueled by emotion. They are not physical lanterns. There are many, many colors. There are three green lantern members in the Justice League,” Kaldur explained kindly once he’d finished laughing.

“Oh. So then. Blue Beetle isn’t an actual beetle?” 

“No, no he’s not,” Superman chimed in with a grin, “his armor resembles a beetle, and his abilities come from a blue scarab.” 

Danny hummed, thinking, putting his chin in his hands. Did everyone have names that matched their hero powers? What was Nightwing’s power, then? Did he get wings at night? Would Danny get wings? That’d be pretty cool. He did already have a lot of powers though. Danny felt himself settle on the floor. 

“Danny.” Kaldur’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“I have something I need to discuss with Superman real quick, can you stay here with Batman?” 

He nodded. Sure, why not? It was better than being stuck in that room. Not only that, but the monitors were interesting. Plus… he could maybe talk to Batman. He was Nightwing’s dad, right? He would know more about who was taking him tomorrow. If he took Nightwing in, when Nightwing was little, maybe… he could help Danny’s fears. He looked up at the man, only to find Batman glaring (?) at the two retreating figures. It was hard to tell what the hero was thinking with the mask thing that covered his head. 

Batman looked down at Danny. Was it just him, or did Batman relax slightly when looking at him? Maybe? Looking away, Batman sat down in one of the chairs, typing away at the computer. He couldn’t… remember a time being alone with the man. Usually Nightwing was also there, or one of the other people he felt a bond with. There was definitely a bond between them. Batman had always been nice though. 

As silently as he could, Danny crawled over until he was right next to the chair. He watched the man for another moment before gently tugging on Batman’s cape. The typing stopped, and once again, he was the focus of those lens covered eyes. Danny gulped. 

“Are you - are you Nightwing’s dad?” he whispered, biting his lip.

“I raised him after his parents passed,” Batman responded after a moment. 

Huh. So he was Nightwing’s dad. 

“When you took Nightwing in, how old was he?” Danny asked, feeling a bit more confident since Batman had answered his first question.

“He was just a year or two older than you are now.” 

“Hmm. How long did it take for you to love him?”

“I loved him from the moment I took him home.” Oh. That was - that was surprising. 

“Do you think they’ll like me?” Danny asked worriedly. Batman turned in his chair, his cape slipping out of Danny’s fingers. The man leaned down in the chair, his torso nearly on top of his thighs. 

“Oh chum. They already love you,” Batman said gently, his gloved hand ruffling Danny’s hair. 

“They do?” he asked, surprised. 

“Yes, they do.” 

Warmth spread through his core at that. He wanted to be picked up. He wanted to hug his grandpa this man, press his core as close to Batman’s core as he could. Danny reached his arms up. Understanding, Batman grasped him under his armpits, lifting him up a little awkwardly, as Batman was still sitting, into his lap. Danny’s heart thrummed in warmth and happiness. While he sat in Nightwing’s lap a lot, this was the first time he’d been in Batman’s.

Being held by Batman felt different than being held by Nightwing. Nightwing made Danny feel safe, secure, and loved. That was all still there with Batman, but there was also this… fierce protection? Danny wasn’t fully sure. Maybe he was getting better at reading these bond things? When was someone going to actually teach him how to read them? Or why some were stronger than others? He was mainly just guessing at this point.

No matter. 

He really wanted to check out Batman’s head cover thing. 

Reaching up, he gently poked the cover on Batman’s check, not too far from his ear. 

“Oh! It’s kinda squishy.” 

“It’s designed to protect my head and absorb blows,” Batman said, lowering his head to give Danny access to the little ear pointy things.

“They’re squishy too! I thought they’d be pointy.”

“They just look pointy.” Batman often didn’t say much. That was okay. Danny was pretty sure he liked him. 

“So. What are your powers?” 

“My powers?”

“Yeah. Do you turn into a bat?”

“No, I do not,” Batman said, Danny catching just a hint of amusement. “I don’t have any powers. Nor does Nightwing, a few of my associates, and others in the League.”

“Oh,” Danny swung his legs a bit, “Is it scary to fight people without powers?” 

“It can be.”

Their conversation continued for a while, Batman answering all of Danny’s questions. Mostly. Batman refused to give too much information about the family Danny would be going with. Although apparently he was going to be moving to a city called Gotham? And no, everyone wasn’t Goth there. Danny thought it was a reasonable question. Danny had confided in Batman that he was scared for tomorrow. Even with all of Nightwing’s, Batman’s, and other people’s reassurances. He was also scared since Nightwing wouldn’t be there. When he left with his new family. 

Kaldur and Superman came back eventually, knowing smiles on their faces. Just. Danny didn’t seem to be in the know. Batman squeezing him a bit closer. Not that Danny minded. Hugs and cuddles were great! Superman said he had monitor duty, but that Bats (Batman?) could go back with Kaldur and Danny. Which, cool! More people to play cards with! They played for a while, all three of them playing Go Fish, Crazy Eights, and Old Maid. The day was ending though, and Danny was getting sleepy. 

He didn’t want to go to bed! 

That meant it would be tomorrow soon! 

Danny tried really hard to stay awake. But his eyelids were dropping, his head nodding forward, when he was picked up once more, by Batman. 

“Time for bed, chum,” he said, carrying Danny over to the medical bed.

“Nooooo, don’t wanna,” Danny protested.

Batman ignored him, placing him down. Danny pouted, grumpy. Batman reached for his shoes. Danny flopped down on the bed. He wasn’t going to help at all, he didn’t want to go to sleep. It was calling him though, exhaustion rushing through him. Danny grumbled, tossing and turning a few times, once Batman had removed his shoes and socks. He gave the man a half hearted glare as his eyes began to droop once more, and he drifted off. 

***

It was morning, Danny was sitting at the table, eating cereal and trying to read the chapter that had been assigned in English class. He really should have done it last night, but he’d been busy. Ghost stuff and all. 

His sister made an appearance, her orange/red hair flowing behind her signature teal headband. 

“Hurry up Danny, or we’re going to be late for school!” she said, before grabbing her bag and heading towards the front door. 

Shoveling the remaining cereal in his mouth as quickly as he could, Danny finished his breakfast before putting his bowl in the sink. He’d get to it when he got back from school. Grabbing his book and his backpack, he followed his sister out of the house. 

***

It was here. Today was the day. 

He would be going down to Earth, to Gotham, to meet his new family. 

He’d been too nervous to eat, despite the coaxing from both Red Robin and Red Hood. Time was moving by so slowly. It sucked. 

Finally, it was time. Danny walked along with Red Robin and Red Hood. He was between them, one of his hands in one of theirs, gripping both tightly. He needed support. They made their way to the big atrium. Two men and a woman were waiting by the metal caves. They were dressed in normal clothes, not hero costumes. 

The woman had a few scars on her face, but kind eyes. She had a slim, but lean build, and was far shorter than the two men waiting with her. She was dressed in a bright blue dress with black leggings and comfortable looking black loafers. She was of asian descent, and smiled upon seeing him. One of the men was tall and broad, with black hair with hints of silver in it. He had bright blue eyes that were warm, and a gentle, soft smile on his face. He was dressed in well fitting slacks and a dark sweater. The final man was tall and lean, dressed comfortably in a T-shirt and jeans. There was a nervousness about him, despite the happy grin on his face. He had familial bonds with all of them, the strongest with the man in the T-shirt and jeans. 

Okay, he knew he had a lot of familial bonds, but this was getting a little ridiculous. 

Danny squeezed Red Hood’s and Red Robin’s hands even more as they approached the three people. The man dressed in comfortable clothes crouched down, till he was more on Danny’s level. 

“Hi Danny,” he said softly. “I’m Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick. Pretty much everyone does.” 

“Um. Hi,” Danny said, tilting his head. There was something really familiar about the man in front of him. He couldn’t quite place it. 

“Behind me is my dad, Bruce, and my sister, Cass. We’re going to take you with us, when you’re ready.” 

“When I’m ready?”

“Yes, when you’re ready,” Dick reassured, “we do have to leave today, but if you want to spend some time getting to know us before we head to Gotham, we can do that.” 

Hesitantly, Danny let go of both the hands he was holding. He stared at the man in front of him. He knew that they were family. All of the family he’d met so far had been nice. Danny should be able to trust them. And he didn’t think that the heroes would give him to people who would hurt him. Shyly, he stepped forward, biting his lip, grasping the loose hand that was resting on Dick’s knee. 

“I’m ready,” he said, trying to be brave. All nerves disappeared from the man in front of him, a blinding grin stretching across his face as he stood back up.  

They made their way to the metal caves. They made… Danny really nervous for some reason. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing between the man named Bruce and the woman named Cass. Red Robin went to a terminal near the entrance to the cave and typed, the cave lighting up. Danny jerked in surprise, fear rising within him. 

This…

He didn’t like this.

“It’s okay. There’s going to be a voice, it’s going to say some things, the lights are going to get brighter, and then we’re going to be teleported away, okay?” Dick said, crouching down once more, the hand holding Danny’s squeezing gently and the other rising to rest on Danny’s shoulder. 

The reassurance helped, especially since Dick had told him what was going to happen, but Danny couldn’t help the tears that pricked at the corners of his eyes. This was absolutely terrifying, and he didn’t know why. His inner self, his core, freaking out. He barely registered the robotic voice before the lights brightened and they zapped away. 

Chapter Text

They arrived in… a phone booth? Danny’s breathing was coming fast, as he tried to push his panic down. Tried. It was easier now that they were out of those metal tubes. Leaving the phone booth, Danny looked around. There was a weird, funky smell in the air. It was kinda bad smelling. The sky was dark and oppressive. There were towering skyscrapers in the distance, and Danny could just make out gargoyles on them. The buildings around them in the tiny alley they’d come out through were made of red brick. 

“There are no stars,” he whispered to himself, staring at the sky. 

“No, the smog is too thick. But if you go outside the city a bit, you can start to see them again,” Dick said, leading Danny down the alley towards a waiting car. 

Bruce and Cass were just behind them. As they approached the car, an elderly balding man with silvery gray hair wearing a suit exited the vehicle. He opened the passenger car door motioning for them to get inside. 

“Welcome back Master Bruce, Master Dick, and Miss Cassandra,” he said warmly. “That did not take as long as expected.” 

“Danny, this is Alfred. He says he’s just a butler, but he’s mine and my sibling’s grandfather,” Dick explained conspiratorially.

Danny… wasn’t really sure what to do with this information. He just nodded, then shyly said hello to Alfred. He climbed into the back seat of the car, Dick and Cass on either side. The car ride was mostly silent, with Dick and Bruce talking a bit, not that Danny was paying attention. He was far more focused on looking out the windows, taking in all of Gotham. He would interject every once in a while with a question. (“What’s the clocktower called?” “It’s just called the clocktower.” “But… the one in London has a name, Big Ben. Why doesn’t this one?” “Uh, I don’t know, Danny, but you’re welcome to name it if you want?” “It’s not the same, if I’m the only one calling it that…”)

Eventually the city began to fall away, and there was more greenery until the car began driving up towards a massive manor. Danny’s eyes widened. Would he - would he really be living here?!? In this massive house?!? He glanced around at the other passengers in the car. They didn’t look like they were rich?!? But Dick has said that Alfred was a butler… which was something only rich families had, right???

“Are you rich?” he whisper asked Dick as they got out of the car. Dick laughed. 

“No, I’m not, but Bruce is.” 

Dick grabbed his hand once more, leading him up the steps and inside the manor. Danny didn’t mind it. Was Dick going to become his person? Like how Nightwing had been on the Watchtower? That wouldn’t be bad at all. Dick did seem to like holding Danny’s hand. He probably wouldn’t mind hugging Danny or picking him up either. Danny just… really liked to be held. 

Inside the manor was a massive foyer, with circular wooden staircases on either side that met each other in the middle, right where they reached the second floor. There were a few oil paintings of landscapes hung on the walls. The large windows had thick drapes with the tassels. Overall, the house mansion thing was very… opulent. Was that the right word? 

Those shiny banisters though. They were calling his name. He really wanted to slide down one. It looked like it would be fun. He looked at them longingly as he was led further into the manor till they reached a kitchen and its attached breakfast nook. All of them sat down except for Alfred, who busied himself in the kitchen, starting what looked like coffee. 

“Anything you would like, Master Danny?” 

“Uh, chocolate?” Danny asked hopefully. 

“We can compromise with hot chocolate, Master Danny. Anything to eat?” 

What did he want to eat? He’d eaten a lot of different stuff at the Watchtower, but it’d all been pretty bland. Wait. What about his dream the other night? He’d been eating cereal. 

“Can I have cereal?” He heard Cass huff out a soft laugh across the table, and next to him, Dick stiffened slightly, before relaxing, slinging his arm over Danny’s shoulders and pulling him into Dick’s side. 

“What?” he asked, a little annoyed. What was so weird about him asking for cereal? It was a pretty common breakfast food, wasn’t it?” 

“I - We’re just surprised since I really like cereal too,” Dick explained, “that’s all.”  

“Oh,” Danny pondered for a moment. “Do you dream about cereal too?” 

“I - Did you dream about cereal?” Dick asked incredulously. Danny huffed. It wasn’t weird. People dreamed about weird stuff all the time. 

“Yeah. I dreamt about it last night,” Danny stated matter of factly. 

Bruce was smiling now, Cass as well, looking down at her phone and texting. He was distracted when Alfred placed two bowls of cereal on the table, one for him and one for Dick. Beaming, Danny looked up at the butler and thanked him before digging in. 

“Boys, look here,” Bruce said. 

Danny looked over, mouth full. Bruce had his phone out, ready to take a picture. Danny swallowed, but didn’t really smile. He glanced at Dick out of the corner of his eye, who was flushing slightly. Honestly people. What was so weird about cereal and eating it? After the pictures, Bruce and Cass suddenly got up, requesting their coffee to go, leaving just Dick and Danny at the table. Alfred placed a mug in front of Danny, little marshmallows floating in the rich brown liquid. Another was placed in front of Dick before he left too, carrying additional mugs of coffee. 

Danny had almost finished his cereal at this point. He grabbed the mug. It was warm. He blew on it softly before taking a sip. He put it back down almost immediately as it burned his tongue. 

“So. Danny. I - uh - I wanted to talk to you about a few things real quick,” Dick said nervously. Uh oh. Now Danny was nervous. He stayed silent, watching Dick carefully. 

“You’re made up of half my DNA. Biologically… you’re my kid. My son. But that - that doesn’t mean you have to call me dad, if you don’t want to. You’re welcome to just call me Dick, like everyone else. I will still be your legal guardian though. I will still take care of you, no matter what you decide to call me,” Dick said in a rush. 

Huh. 

Was it bad that he was a tiny bit disappointed that Nightwing wasn’t his dad?

“So… who are Bruce and Cass?” Danny asked curiously. He didn’t really want to touch the whole parent thing yet. Even if Dick has been really nice so far. And his inner self was demanding he hug and snuggle with the man. 

“Bruce is… well, he’s my dad, in every sense of the word. I - my parents died when I was young, and he took me in. I never really got into calling him dad, but that’s what he is. I’m sure he’d be absolutely thrilled to be your grandpa, if you let him.” 

Danny hummed thoughtfully. Grandpas and Grandmas spoiled their grandkids, right? That might be fun. And nice. Also, if he had a nickel for everytime someone told him their parents died and told him they’d been taken in by a nice man, he’d have two nickels. It wasn’t a lot, but it was weird it had happened twice, and with not a lot of time between the two! 

“As for Cass, well, she’s my sister. I have a lot of siblings, pretty much all adopted. They’re great though. They all want to meet you, badly, but we figured… well, it’d be best if we didn’t overwhelm you at first. Give you some time to adjust before you get swarmed by a bunch of well meaning aunts and uncles.” 

“You said that Alfred is the butler, but also your grandpa?” Danny grabbed the coco again, trying to see if it had cooled down enough. It had. 

“Alfred,” Dick said with a warm grin, “Bruce’s parents also died when he was young. Alfred… was his butler, but he helped raise Bruce. So, he is basically my grandpa. Your great grandpa. He’s basically the patriarch of this family, no matter what Bruce says,” Dick laughed softly. 

“Just a fair warning, there’s no point in hiding anything from Alfred, he’ll figure it out. He always does.” 

“He’s like omnipi - omnipet,” Danny tried, frowning. He knew the word, but sometimes, these longer ones tripped him up, his mouth not forming the word right. 

“Omnipotent, yes,” Dick responded. 

Danny finished his drink, putting the mug down. He licked his lips, smiling. That was delicious! Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dick lick his thumb (ew!) and bring it closer to him. What? What was he -? 

“Come here, you have -” Dick said, trying to rub off the chocolate and marshmallows stuck to his face. 

Danny squirmed, trying to get out of Dick’s reach, but he was unable to. Once he finished removing the smudge’s from Danny’s face, Dick seemed to realize what he’d done, pulling away sharply, a faint blush on his face. Rubbing his hand awkwardly behind his neck, Dick changed the subject. 

“So! How about I give you a tour of the place! And we can check out your room!” 

“Okay,” Danny agreed, embarrassed as well by how Dick had cleaned him. It was a nice gesture? But kinda weird? He wasn’t really sure what to make of it.

***

Wayne Manor was massive. Danny expressed multiple times throughout the tour that he was pretty sure he was going to get lost. Dick had laughed, saying that for now, there would generally always be someone pretty close by, and that he’d be getting his own phone so they could keep in contact with him, and so he could call for help should he get lost, or need anything at all. 

Danny’s room at the manor was really nice, a large, comfy bed in it. There weren’t a ton of decorations, but Dick, and Alfred, who had arrived later, told him they could paint it, change the flooring, add a window; pretty much whatever Danny wanted, they could do. The amount of options was a bit… overwhelming. He kinda wanted to paint it blue. And have glow in the dark stars added to the ceiling. But the hard wood flooring was fine, and there were two windows already that face the backyard. 

Dick had apparently gotten him some clothes so he didn’t have to be in these tan drawstring pants and shit all the time. They were apparently going to go shopping with Stephanie, one of Dick’s sisters, later in the week so he could pick out his own clothes. 

It was a lot at once. 

Dinner was a calm affair. He’d never had butternut squash soup before. It was actually pretty good! He’d met another one of Dick’s brothers, Damian. Damian… resembled Bruce a lot. They had a very similar build, jaw and cheekbones. Damian had olive toned skin and emerald green eyes that watched Danny with interest. It was a bit unnerving. The man also didn’t really talk much. Cass didn’t either, but that was because she spoke with a combination of sign language and spoken words. 

The conversation never focused too much on Danny, which he appreciated. It had been a long day, and he couldn’t wait to go to bed. He actually wanted to sleep, for once! It was also the first time he’d stayed awake pretty much the entire day, which made Danny rather pleased with himself. It had taken a bit over a week, but he was now strong enough to do lots of things he hadn’t been able to when he’d first woken up! 

Dessert had been ice cream, which Danny had eaten with gusto. Unlike Dick, he didn’t get brain freezes! Thank you ice powers! Not that Dick knew he had ice powers. He really wasn’t very sure if this ‘new family’ of his knew about his powers. He’d have to ask Nightwing next time he saw him. Danny’s shoulders dropped a little. He had no idea the next time he’d get to see the hero. Hopefully it would be soon. Nightwing had said that he’d check up on Danny.

“All done Master Danny?” Alfred asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, thanks,” he said, handing Alfred the bowl and spoon. 

“Do you want to watch some TV? Or a movie?” Dick asked, giving Alfred his own bowl. 

“Um, maybe. I don’t - I don’t know any movies. Or any TV shows..” Danny trailed off awkwardly. He felt a little bad, as Dick visibly dropped slightly. 

“Oh, right,” the man perked up again, “Well, we’ll just have to introduce you to them! I’m sure Bruce would love to watch Grey Ghost with you! And you’ve never watched any Disney movies!”

“I don’t know if he’s really old enough to watch some of those episodes, Dick.” Interjected Bruce. Danny yawned. 

“What? I watched them with you when I was a kid,” Dick responded. 

“You were nine, almost ten. He’s approximately seven. You were a bit older,” Bruce reminded his son. Danny’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two, watching them discuss, hoping it wouldn’t turn into an argument. He tried and failed to suppress another yawn. 

“If I may,” Alfred cut in, “Perhaps it’s best if young Master Danny goes to bed? He has been yawning.” 

Both heads turned to look at Danny who was mid yawn. Well. He’d been caught. Not that he really wanted to stay up much later. 

“Right. Time for bed, bud.” Dick agreed, getting up from his chair. 

Danny grumbled, but didn’t really protest. He let Dick lead him back to his room. Dick showed him where he could find pajamas and other necessary toiletries. Dick ruffled his hair, said good night, and then left Danny alone. Looking around, Danny decided to take a shower. It felt amazing. It was much better than the ones on the Watchtower. Once he’d finished, he made his way back into his room, ready to crawl into bed when he heard a knock on one of the windows. 

He stopped. Who would be at the window? At this hour? This far out of the city? He approached the window, gasping when he saw who was outside. It was Nightwing! He raced over, opening the window. 

“Nightwing! You’re here!” he exclaimed excitedly, a big grin on his face, his core warm and thrumming in happiness.  

“Hi little bird!” Nightwind said, entering Danny’s bedroom and closing the window behind him. 

Once the window was closed, he grasped Danny under the armpits, swinging him around. Danny laughed joyfully, arms out, enjoying the feeling of flying, despite the fact that he could fly himself. After spinning Danny around for a bit, Nightwing eventually stopped, but he didn’t put Danny down. Danny looped his arms around Nightwing’s neck, resting his head in the crook of the man’s neck. Okay, now he didn’t want to sleep, Nightwing was here! 

“How was your day Danny? Are you doing okay?” Nightwing asked, running his free hand through Danny’s hair. Danny hummed, rubbing his face tiredly into Nightwing. 

“It was okay. I hated those metal cave things. They scared me really, really bad Nightwing. Do you use those all the time?” Danny asked, worry in his voice. 

“The Zeta tubes? I’m sorry they scared you,” Nightwing pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s damp hair. “I take them all the time, a couple times a day, usually.” 

“How was your family? Did you like them? Do you think you’ll be okay with them?” Nightwing asked. This time, it was Nightwing who had worry in his voice.

“They’re okay. It’s only been one day. And apparently I have a lot of other family members who I haven’t even met yet.”

“You liked me after one day,” Nightwing countered gently. Danny hummed, nuzzling his face into Nightwing’s neck. 

“Yeah,” he yawned. “But you were the first person I met after I woke up. I don’t really remember anything before that. Oh. Nightwing, does my family know about my powers?” Danny was struggling to keep his eyes open.

“They do,” the man confirmed. 

“Cool,” Danny sighed. Nightwing chuckled. 

“You falling asleep on me, little bird?” 

“Nooo” 

“Hmmm, I don’t know, I think you are,” laughed Nightwing. 

Danny felt his back be placed on the bed. Portesting, he tightened his grip around the hero’s neck. 

“Danny, you need to sleep. Let go little bird,” came Nightwing’s mirthful voice. 

Relenting, Danny let go, seeing the smile on Nightwing’s face as he finished settling Danny onto the bed. Once he was tucked in, Nightwing gave him a kiss on the forehead. 

“Sleep well, my little bird. I’ll see you soon, okay?” the man whispered before stepping away, heading towards the window. 

Warm, and happy that he’d seen Nightwing, Danny fell asleep. 

***

He was walking into the portal, the silver metal tubes all along the tube that pushed into the wall. It was dark, but he could still see a little bit from the light at the entrance to the portal. He stumbled slightly, his hand brushing against the wall. The entire inside of the portal lit up with white light, Danny had a brief moment of fear, before his entire world changed. 

PAIN

AGONY

HE SCREAMED

***

Danny woke up, panic in his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks, and hyperventilating. He sat up, wrapping his arms around himself, gripping hard enough to draw blood. The door slammed open, Bruce in the doorway, with Dick and Damian not far behind. 

Chapter Text

Oh no. He hadn’t meant to wake them up. 

He sniffed, wiping at his eyes, desperately trying to get rid of the evidence. His breathing was still coming too fast though, his heart hammering in his chest. Danny put his head between his knees, moving his hands from around his chest to wrap around his knees. He heard two of them come closer, feeling that Dick had taken the lead, Bruce just behind him. Damian must still be in the doorway. The bed dipped slightly to his right, and he felt a hand begin to touch his shoulder. 

As soon as it did, he turned intangible. 

He didn’t - He didn’t want anyone to touch him right now. 

“Danny,” Dick whispered, his voice tight.

Turning his head to the right, so he could see over his arms, Danny caught sight of Dick’s face. Dick looked… so sad. Heartbroken. Devastated. Though once he caught Danny peeking, it shifted to one of more gentle concern. Why was Dick hiding how he truly felt? He also didn’t want Dick to feel bad. 

Part of him really wanted a hug. To be comforted. The other part of him rebelled against such an idea. Compromising, he reached out with his right hand, letting just that part of him be tangible. Dick grasped it, squeezing hard. It seemed that Dick expected the rest of him to be tangible too, his other hand reaching out to touch his shoulder, but sliding through him. Undeterred, Dick still held his hand tightly as he fully got on the bed. Bruce was still there, on the side of the bed. Damian, still in the doorway. 

It took him a minute or two to calm down, but once he had his breathing mostly under control, Danny dropped his intangibility, letting Dick pull him into his arms. Danny felt a little bad about getting his snot and tears on Dick’s shirt. Dick didn’t seem to care, holding Danny tight, rubbing soothing circles in his back. Danny vaguely heard Dick say something to Bruce, but he wasn’t paying attention. Bruce left the side of the bed, walking out of the room, Damian right after him. 

Danny closed his eyes, letting Dick’s core soothe him through their bond. Calm, love, protection came through the bond. Danny sighed softly. It was nice that Dick had only known him one day and already loved him. Batman had been right. Danny wouldn’t have believed it, if he couldn’t feel Dick’s love and care for him at that very moment. 

“Oh, little bird. It’ll be okay. You’re safe, it was just a dream,” Dick said soothingly. 

Danny’s brows furrowed slightly. That was Nightwing’s nickname for him. Sniffling, he looked up at the man, their eyes meeting. A smile spread across Dick’s face. 

“There you are,” he whispered, wiping away the last of Danny’s tears. “Do you want to tell me about the nightmare?” Danny shook his head vigorously. Nope. He did not want to talk about that at all. 

Footsteps. Danny turned his head. There was Bruce, holding two stuffed animals. One was brand new, and had a bright blue bow on it. The other was older, raggedy, and well loved. They were both gray elephants. Danny sniffed, looking at the older man in confusion. 

“Here, turn around,” Dick instructed, assisting Danny in flipping around, so his back was to Dick’s chest, his smaller body bracketed by Dick’s bent legs. Dick pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head before reaching to take the two items Bruce brought. 

“Thanks,” Dick smiled gratefully at Bruce before turning his attention back to Danny. “I was going to give this to you tomorrow, but well, it kinda already is tomorrow.” 

“It is?” Danny asked, his voice still a little scratchy from crying. 

“It’s after midnight, chum,” Bruce responded softly. 

“This,” Dick said, placing the brand new elephant with the blue bow in Danny’s hands, “is for you. It’s to match mine.” Dick explained, indicating to the older, well loved elephant. 

“My elephant is named Zitka. I grew up in a circus. My parents were trapeze artists, and I became good friends with an elephant named Zitka. After…. After my parents were killed, I had to leave Zitka behind. But Bruce, your grandpa, got me this stuffed elephant to remind me of home, of where I came from.” 

“Now,” Dick took a deep breath, “it’s time for me to continue the tradition. You now have your own elephant. It’s yours to name. You can take it wherever you want. You can cuddle up with it at night. I hope,” here, Dick became a little choked up, “it can provide you with as much comfort as mine did.” 

Dick pressed his face into Danny’s hair, giving him another kiss on the head. Danny looked up at Bruce, who was sitting on the side of the bed, a small smile on his face, his eyes a little watery. He couldn’t really turn back to look at Dick, with his head buried in Danny’s hair, but guessing by how he’d sounded, he was probably close to crying. 

Danny looked at the elephant in front of him. The inside of its ears and the bottom of its feet were light pink. The rest of it was a soft gray. It had nice, floppy legs and its trunk was curled to the side. It was really cute. Danny had to pick a name for it, huh? Something that reminded him of home? Something that made him feel safe? 

“Jasmine.” The name had just come to him. It felt right. “Jazz for short.” 

“That’s a wonderful name Danny,” Dick said, his voice normal now. “Do you want to stay up a bit longer, or do you want to try to go back to sleep?” 

Danny hesitated. He knew he needed to go back to sleep. 

But. 

He also didn’t want Dick to leave. Dick made him feel better. Safer. He didn’t want to have another nightmare. 

“Sleep, but,” Danny twisting his torso to look at Dick, “can you stay?”

“Of course. Anytime.” 

Letting Danny get out of his embrace, the two got under the covers, after saying good night to Bruce. Dick fell asleep quickly. That was okay. Danny hugged Jazz the elephant to his chest. It’d be okay, it had to be. 

***

Danny was tired. Which was a problem, since it was breakfast time. 

Danny may have unintentionally woken both himself and Dick up twice more that night. He hadn’t woken anyone else in the house up. Hopefully. Dick had roused him from his nightmares, before he woke up screaming. Needless to say, neither were very cheery or peppy eating their cereal. Danny had brought Jasmine with him. She was sitting on the chair next to him, on top of a few pillows so she could be present at the table along with everyone else. 

There were two more of Dick’s siblings at the table this morning, joining Cass and Damian. Tim and Jason. There was something there, between Bruce and Jason, but to be honest, Danny was too tired to care. He was too tired to really say hi and greet the two. He just wanted his cereal. Then play. He wanted to sleep. He didn’t want to sleep. 

Rough night, Dick had explained. Nightmares.

No kidding. 

Danny could feel their eyes on him. It made him irritated. Well. If they wanted to stare, then he wouldn’t give them something to stare at, he thought to himself before turning invisible. There was a faint exclamation at the other end of the table where Bruce, Tim, Cass and Jason were. Dick’s eyes widened upon his disappearance. It was easy to see since Dick was sitting across from him. Damian, who was across from Jazz, didn't react at all to his disappearance. 

There. Now he could finish his cereal in peace. 

It probably looked kinda interesting, now that he thought about it. His spoon dipping into the bowl, then disappearing when he put it in his mouth. He should eat invisible in front of a mirror some time, to see what it looked like. That’d be pretty cool. He finished breakfast, grabbing Jazz from her spot next to him. He just held her in his lap, resting his head on top of hers, being careful not to squish her ears. Danny never wanted to hurt Jazz. 

“Danny? Are you done with breakfast?” Dick asked cautiously. Danny nodded. Oh. Right. He was invisible. 

“Yeah.”

“I was going to introduce you to the rest of the family today, and some family friends. Are you feeling up for that, Danny? Or would you rather not do that today?” 

“No, I wanna meet them,” Danny protested. He liked meeting new people. Usually. Plus. They were family, right? So he should meet everyone in the family. What was their last name again? Was it Wayne or Grayson? 

“Okay, that won’t be for a couple of hours. Is there anything you want to do? We could read in the library? Or watch a movie?” Dick offered. Danny hummed. He wanted to explore more. 

“Can we play hide and seek?” 

“Sure! But no turning invisible, that’s cheating.”

“Fine,” Danny huffed. 

It probably would be too difficult to play invisibly with people who didn’t have powers. He wasn’t that mad about not being allowed to use his powers. But he really wanted to play hide and seek some time with his invisibility! Nightwing and Ms. Martian had promised him that he could play sometime with the Team, whoever that was. 

“You’ll have to have someone with you, you still don’t know the manor yet.” 

“Okay, but I don’t wanna hide with the same person every time. That’s boring.”

“Well, you have a couple uncles and an aunt who I’m sure wouldn’t mind hiding with you,” Dick looked down the table at the others. 

“I’m game,” said the one with the white part in the front of his black hair. Danny was pretty sure that was Jason?

“As long as I can take a thermos of coffee, I’m good,” said the other one, Tim?

“I’ll pass for now,” Bruce replied. 

Cass smiled, and nodded happily. 

Eyes then turned to Damian. 

“I am willing to participate,” Damian stated after taking a sip of his tea. 

“Great! Once everyone is finished, we can head back to the foyer and go over some rules.” 

Danny was finished. He could get up and go, right? He slid off the chair, keeping his grip on his stuffed elephant. 

“Danny. Where are you going?” Dick asked. Danny was surprised by the harder edge to Dick’s tone. Uh oh. 

“To the foyer.” 

“Do you know where that is?” Dick questioned him, setting down his own utensils and getting up. 

“No,” Danny admitted glumly, pouting. 

“Don’t you also need to get dressed?” Dick asked, making his way around the table to where Danny was standing. 

“No.” 

“I’m pretty sure you do, if you want to play hide and seek,” Dick admonished, hands on his hips. 

“Well damn, Dickie can be a strict parent,” came a whisper from the other end of the room.

“I don’t have any other clothes,” Danny protested, letting his invisibility drop.

“What, did you think he was going to let Danny get away with anything and everything?”

“You do. I can show you where they are,” Dick countered.  

“Well, yeah. Look at Demon Brat.”  

“But pajamas are comfy. I don’t wanna get dressed.” 

“Damian and Danny are very different.” That voice Danny kinda recognized. Cass.

“No Danny. You have to get dressed and brush your teeth if you want to play,” Dick said sternly. 

Anger surged through Danny and he stomped his foot. That wasn’t fair! At the Watchtower, his pajamas and his normal clothes had been the same tan shorts and shirt, he only changed once a day before bed. Why did he have to change clothes in the morning too? And why was Dick being so mean?!? He’d been so nice last night, giving Danny his elephant and staying when Danny asked! Why was he being - being - 

“You’re being mean! It’s not fair! You - You fruitloop!” Danny yelled angrily, arms at his sides, glaring up at Dick, a frown on his face. 

There was a pause before laughter broke out behind them. Danny spun around. Who was laughing at him?!? It seemed that the main source of laughter was the man with the black and white hair, the others doing a much better job at concealing their mirth. 

“Why are you laughing? It’s not funny! You’re a fruitloop too!” Danny screamed, chest heaving and tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. 

“Master Danny, no yelling in the house,” Alfred admonished after he entered from the kitchen. Danny turned towards him, ready to yell some more, when he was picked up right under his armpits and lifted into the air. 

“Okay! Someone is very tired and very cranky. I’m just gonna… take him back to his room.”

With that, Dick carried Danny out of the room like he was a live bomb. And he kinda was. He was not going to change out of pajamas without a fight! He was kicking, squirming, and trying to hit with the arm that wasn’t holding Jazz to his chest. Danny could hear the others talking as they left the dining room. 

“I can’t believe it. Dickiebird’s mini me curses using cereal brands.”

As they approached Danny’s bedroom door, the fight drained out of him, going limp in Dick’s arms. He sniffed. Danny didn’t know why he’d gotten so upset. Why he’d lashed out so much. He shouldn’t have called Dick a Fruitloop. That hadn’t been nice of Danny. He’d been really mean to Dick, and he’d been so nice to Danny. He’d given Danny Jazz the elephant. He’d comforted Danny after his nightmares. Dick set him down on his feet, opening the door and ushering him inside. 

Danny didn’t resist, clutching his stuffie to his chest. Dick pointed to the bed. 

“Sit down,” he ordered, before heading to the drawers, pulling out a graphic T-shirt, a pair of drawstring pants, underwear, and socks. 

“You have some clothes here, in this drawer. We’re going to get you more tomorrow, that way you can pick some out. Your laundry basket is there, put your dirty clothes in there. Keep your pajamas on your bed, you’ll keep them for around a week before it’s time to switch them out for a fresh pair.”

“Now, get changed and brush your teeth,” Dick ordered, handing Danny the clothes. “And leave Jazz out here. Do not take her into the bathroom.” Looking down at Jasmine, and then looking back up at Dick. 

“Can you take care of her while I’m in the bathroom?” he asked, worried that Dick would say no. He was pretty angry at Danny. Dick looked at him, then sighed. 

“Of course,” Dick said, taking the elephant from Danny gently. 

With Jazz gone and clothes available, Danny went to the bathroom, changing and brushing his teeth as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to make Dick angrier. He needed to tell him that he was sorry. He didn’t mean to get so mad, to hit Dick. He exited the bathroom, seeing Dick leaning against the bed, looking at Jazz, who he held in both of his hands. Hearing Danny exit, he looked up. 

“All done?” 

“Yeah,” he said, closing the bathroom door behind him. He walked up and took his elephant back, hugging her to his chest. “Thanks. For watching Jasmine.” 

“Of course Danny.” Dick turned, heading towards the door. 

Dick was already dressed, as had everyone besides Danny had been during breakfast. Dick had left while Danny was getting Alfred’s help setting up Jazz’s chair, and had come back dressed. Danny grabbed the edge of Dick’s shirt. Dick stopped, looking back at him. 

“I’m sorry,” Danny mumbled, looking down at the ground. “Didn’t mean to get so mad. ‘M sorry for hitting and kicking you.” He heard Dick sigh deeply, before he was pulled into a hug, Danny’s face pressing against Dick’s stomach.

“Thank you for apologizing. I know you’re tired, I am too. I know… emotions are hard. Especially when you’re little and you’ve only been dealing with them for a little over a week. You’ve done a good job so far, but we all have our bad days,” Dick said, running his hand through Danny’s hair. 

“You ready to go back? To play hide and seek?” Danny nodded.

***

Danny was surprised by how hard hide and seek was. It was hard to hide when he had to have a partner, and they were all so… big. Cass and Tim were the easiest to hide with, as they were smaller. Danny was currently paired with Jason, who was the tallest and broadest of Dick’s siblings. 

“Where’s a good place to hide?” Danny asked Jason, fiddling with Jazz’s ears as they walked down one of the hallways. Danny was starting to develop a mental map of the manor due to the multiple different games of hide and seek. 

“There’s a couple of good places. How about the pool room? We can fit behind the pool equip - no that’s probably too dangerous for a kid.We could try the attic?” Danny wrinkled his nose. 

“Aren’t attics dusty and gross?”

“Do you have any ideas then, kiddo?” Jason asked, amused. Danny pondered. 

“Where’s Bruce? Can we hide with him?”

“The old man? He’s in his study, probably.” 

“Do you think he’ll let us hide with him?” 

“Me, no. You? Yeah,” Jason said bitterly. 

“Well, let’s try. It can’t hurt, right?” Danny encouraged. 

“Fine. Come on,” Jason said shortly, stalking down the hall, not even waiting to see if Danny was following. 

“Here. Here’s his study,” Jason said once they’d reached an elaborately carved wooden door, crossing his arms. 

Slightly nervous now, Danny knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened, Bruce standing in the doorway. 

“Hi. Can we hide in there?” Bruce stepped away, making room for them to enter. Danny started to go in, but stopped when he realized Jason wasn’t following. 

“Aren’t you coming?” 

“Nah. I told you kid, I ain’t going in there.” 

“But you have to! Dick said I have to have a buddy!” Danny protested, grabbing Jason’s hand and trying to tug him into the offered room. 

Danny wasn’t get anywhere; Jason was heavy. The man sighed before relenting, letting Danny pull him into the room. Danny looked around the room. There really wasn’t anywhere they could hide, except for maybe behind the desk? There was a table and chairs, but they both couldn’t hide behind those… The desk it was. 

“Over here!” Danny insisted, pulling Jason with him behind the desk and onto the floor. 

Danny settled himself down, cross legged. Jason reluctantly sat next to him, his back leaning against the drawers of the desk. After a moment, Bruce came over, sitting back down in his chair which was right next to Danny. It was silent. 

“Pssst. Jason,” Danny whispered. 

“What?” 

“I’m - I’m sorry about calling you a Fruit Loop earlier,” Danny whispered earnestly. Jason smirked. 

“Don’t worry about it kid, it was pretty funny.”

It was silent once more. Danny fidgeted. He’d had nice little conversations with the others when they’d hid. Even with Damian! They’d talked about animals. Apparently Damian had a cat and a dog. Danny had made Damian promise him that he’d get to meet the pets. With Tim, he’d shown Danny a bunch of really cool pictures on his phone of all the different places he’d visited with his friends. Most of the pictures though were of Tim and this taller guy with glasses and piercings. 

“So…. what do you like to do?” Danny asked. 

“Read.”

“What kind of books do you like? I like the Percy Jackson ones.”

“Classics.” Danny frowned. 

“Do you… do you not want to talk to me?” he asked hesitantly 

“What? No! I do,” Jason’s eyes flicked over to Bruce. 

“Then why are you saying only one word? Do you… not like me?” A myriad of emotions crossed Jason’s face. 

He reached out, grabbing Danny’s arm, pulling him sideways into Jason’s lap. Danny squeaked in surprise, holding his stuffed animal close. Jason sighed, running one of his hands through his black and white hair. 

“Look, I’m… I’m not as physically affectionate as Dick. Or you. And I’m not the best at talking either. But. You’re my nephew. You’re my family. You’re also adorable as fu-freak kid,” Jason admitted.

Danny relaxed, letting his head rest against Jason’s chest. He could feel it now, from Jason’s core, how the man felt about him. Jason’s core was fiercely protective, kinda like Batman. 

“Okay. I think I get it,” Danny said, snuggling further into Jason’s hold. 

“You do?” Jason asked, skeptically. 

“Yeah. You’re like Batman. You don’t say a lot, but you’re still there, you still care. You’re very nice, you just have a hard time showing it,” Danny said, nodding sagely, patting Jason’s cheek. Why did Jason look so shocked? Was he surprised at being compared to Batman? It was a very nice compliment. 

They sat there in silence after that, Bruce typing away at his computer up above them. Exhaustion swept over him, his eyes drooping. 

“You falling asleep on me, kid?” Jason asked amused.

“No, don’t wanna sleep.” 

“Why don’t you want to sleep?”

“Nightmares.” 

“What are they about?” Danny sighed. 

“Just. Memories? I think? Of what happened before I woke up on the Watchtower.” Danny responded with a yawn. Jason stiffened underneath him, and he heard Bruce stop typing. 

“What happens in your nightmares?” Danny scowled at Jason’s questions, ducking his head, so it was under Jason’s chin.. 

“No. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t like it. It’s scary.” 

“Have - have you told Dick about it?” Jason asked. 

“No.” Jason snorted

“Is that becoming your favorite word Danny?” he teased. 

“No…” Danny muttered reluctantly. Jason laughed. 

“Can you tell me about your nightmares?” Jason persisted. 

“Hmmmm. What will you give me?” Danny asked, hoping that Jason wouldn’t have anything. Not that Danny was even sure what he wanted. 

“Well. I happen to have good information that Alfred is baking cookies today. I’m offering you my portion.” Oh. Cookies. He hadn’t had one yet, in this life. But from what he just knew, cookies were good. They were dessert. 

“What kind of cookies?” he asked hesitantly, feeling very tempted.

“Chocolate chip and snicker doodle. You know what kind of cookies those are?”

“Yeah,” Danny said, looking into Jason’s eye, “But how do I know you’ll give me the cookies?” Jason grinned, ruffling his hair. 

“Smart kid. Well, Bruce is here, he knows of our little deal. He’ll back you up when Alfred gives everyone cookies.” Jason said, pointing to Bruce, who was still in his chair, but had turned to pay attention to their conversation. 

“Hmmm. Okay.” Danny said cautiously. He took a deep, shaky breath, closing his eyes.

“In my nightmare. I’m in this metal tube thing. Like the Zeta tube from yesterday. But. The walls aren’t smooth, they’re covered in wires,” Danny’s voice shook. 

He opened his eyes, curling in on himself a bit, his stuffed elephant trapped between his legs and his chest. He leaned his weight against Jason. His breathing picked up a bit. Tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over. 

“I’m walking. Slowly. I think… I was scared. It was pretty dark. There’s no sound. And then. It all goes white. And I feel - I feel so much pain. I remember screaming. Then I wake up.” Danny sniffed, tears falling freely now. He pressed his face into Jasmine, taking a shuddering breath. 

“I don’t wanna play Hide and Seek anymore. I want Dick. I want my dad.” 

Chapter Text

Jason fumbled for his phone, opening it and calling someone. Hopefully Dick. Danny continued to cry, his head starting to hurt. 

“Hey, hi, uh, Danny’s crying,” Jason told the person on the phone, “he’s asking for you. We’re in Bruce’s office.” 

“I - I may have asked about his nightmare. And bribed him to tell me. I wouldn’t have done it if I thought it’d be that bad!” Danny could feel Jason’s wince as he no doubt received a verbal reprimand from whoever was on the phone. 

Danny didn’t really pay attention, crying softly. He just felt… all over the place. He’d been angry this morning, then sad, then happy, and now sad and scared again. He was just… so tired. Danny just really wanted to stop crying and to sleep. But sleep meant more nightmares, and that phantom pain in his limbs from the electricity. He could almost hear his own scream echoing in his ears. 

Danny curled tighter around his elephant. He lifted his head when he heard the door to the office open, seeing his dad Dick come racing in. Danny was still scared and sad, but his dad Dick was here now. Things were going to get better. Launching himself up in the air, he flew right at his dad caretaker clinging to him like a koala, the stuffed elephant hanging from where Danny had circled his arms around his dad's Dick’s neck. His dad Dick stumbled back a bit, but didn’t fall. 

“Oh little bird,” Dick said sadly, petting his hair, “you’ve been having a real rough day, haven’t you?” 

Danny nodded, his face still hidden in Dick’s shirt. Dick sighed deeply. 

“Yeah, you need to get some more sleep.” Danny brought his head up, looking imploringly at Dick.

“No! I don’t wanna sleep! Then I’ll have nightmares!”

“You need to sleep, Danny,” Dick insisted, carrying Danny out of the office. 

Danny looked over Dick’s shoulder, meeting Bruce’s concerned eyes. Jason was leaving the office as well, just behind Dick, with a guilty look on his face. They walked for a little while, Danny sniffing, tears still rolling down his face slowly. Bruce stayed in his office. They made their way into a library, with a massive fireplace and large windows. There was a large plush couch, along with two matching loveseats and four armchairs. 

Dick set him down, and Danny reluctantly let go, clutching Jazz the elephant close to his chest. Dick sat next to him, pulling Danny into his side. Turning his torso, Danny hugged his dad Dick. 

“You hungry, Danny?” Danny nodded, his tears finally starting to slow down. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was till Dick had said something.

“Jay can you-?” 

“Yeah, on it,” came Jason’s curt response. 

Dick sent out a few texts while he rubbed his hand up and down Danny’s back. The rest of Dick’s siblings who Danny had been playing Hide and Seek with entered the room one by one.  Cass sitting on the couch next to Danny. Damian took an armchair and Tim took the loveseat. Jason returned, hesitating before making his way to the other empty armchair. 

Danny felt exhaustion hit him. His head hurt. He was tired. But Dick’s hand on his back felt nice. His eyes were drooping. They closed. Danny just drifted. Not really asleep, but still very aware of everything around him. He didn’t know how long it was till Alfred came in with sandwiches on one of those cool three tiered things. The elderly man placed them on the coffee table. 

“Here we are, young sirs and madam. The vegetarian ones are these two, Master Damian. Eggplant, tomato, and pesto, and this option here is a classic egg salad sandwich. Thes rest are tuna, turkey, and ham and cheese sandwiches. I will return shortly with beverages.” 

Danny blinked sleepily, watching Alfred leave. Dick nudged him gently.

“Go ahead, you get to pick first.” 

“Me?” Danny asked surprised. He’d kind of assumed it would just be everyone for themselves. 

“Yeah, we’ll pick ours after you. Youngest to oldest,” Dick said with a grin. 

Danny hummed, looking over the sandwiches. They all looked really good. Getting up from the couch and making the short distance to the coffee table where the assortment of sandwiches were, Danny grabbed one of them. He wasn’t really sure which one it was, it just looked good with lettuce and tomato and slightly tinted red bread. He’d never seen lightly tinted red bread before. Well, not that he’d seen a lot of bread in the first place. 

“Turkey! Nice choice,” Tim said from his spot on the loveseat, reaching forward to grab one, getting his hand swatted at by Damian. 

“Richard said youngest to oldest. I am next.” Damian scolded, grabbing the eggplant sandwich. 

“Yeah, but you weren’t going to take one that had meat, like me, so it’s fine,” Tim countered, annoyance creeping into his tone as he grabbed one for himself. Cass and Jason looked at each other. 

“Ladies first,” Jason said, waving a hand to Cass. She did, grabbing what looked like a tuna and cucumber sandwich. 

“Are you going to try it Danny?” Dick asked. Danny took a bite, his eyes widening. It was really good! He began to scarf it down.

“Whoa, slow down, you don’t wanna choke,” Dick said. Huffing out a sigh, Danny sorta slowed down, finishing it just after Dick picked his. 

“What kind of bread was that? Why was it red?” Danny asked curiously, eyeing the tiered platters, debating if he should grab another. 

“Pretty sure it was tomato basil bread,” Jason responded. “Have another kid, there’s plenty.”

Danny grabbed one that he was pretty sure was one of the ham and cheese ones, devouring that one quickly as well. Alfred arrived with pitchers of water, a teapot full of jasmine tea (like his elephant!), and a pot of coffee along with an assortment of mugs and glasses. Dick insisted that Danny drink water, since he’d been crying so much. After his second full glass of water, Danny felt himself drifting again. 

Dick and his siblings were talking about Dick’s job. Apparently he used to be a cop in a city not that far away, called Bludhaven. There was also another city across the bay called Metropolis. Dick still had to finish moving the last couple items from his apartment. Damian and Jason volunteered to help him with the last items. That was nice of them. Yawning, Danny leaned against his dad Dick. 

The voices were soothing. 

He was surrounded by all these people. It was nice. The last time he’d been around this many people had been when he initially woke up. All of them were family this time. Well, they had been the first time too, not that he’d known that. 

“Falling asleep sweetheart?” Dick whispered. 

Danny didn’t respond, but nuzzled where he was leaning into his dad’s Dick’s side. Danny's eyes were already closed, and he was tired of fighting sleep. Of fighting his exhaustion. So he let himself lose the fight and fall.

***

Danny briefly awoke when he heard someone shrieking. He blinked and groaned, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. 

“Hey, it’s alright, go back to sleep,” said a voice. 

Oh, it was his dad. But which one? Nightwing or Dick? They both sounded the same. And kinda looked the same. They both called him little bird. Were they twins? No, then they both couldn’t be his dad. Or could they? Whatever. He’d think about it later.

***

“Danny,” someone called, shaking him. 

Danny grumbled, trying to swat at the hand. All that got him was a chuckle. Reluctantly, he opened them. He’d been moved slightly, so that he was more comfortably draped on top of Dick. 

“He’s so cute,” someone whispered from the left. 

It was a blonde haired, blue-eyed woman in a purple sweatshirt. Yup, he had a familial bond with her. Just how many kids had Bruce adopted? Or had? Danny had a lot of aunts and uncles. Or was she a cousin? No, definitely another one of Dick’s siblings, based on how she interacted with the others. 

“Come on Danny, you need to get off of me for a minute,” Dick said with a grin, poking his side. 

Danny slid off the older man, till he was standing just in front of the couch. Behind him, Dick sat up, before grabbing Danny and pulling him into Dick’s lap. Danny looked up at the man, annoyed. Why was he made to get off, only to be pulled right back in? Danny got his answer when Bruce sat down next to them silently; Danny hadn’t even noticed that the man was there. Cass was still on the other end of the couch. The blonde woman in the hoodie sat down next to Tim, Damian and Jason were still in their armchairs, as was an African American man. 

“Ahem.” Dick loudly cleared his throat. “Thanks everyone, for coming. I know you’ve all heard about him, but I want to introduce you all to my son, Daniel Thomas Grayson. Also known as Danny.” 

“Danny. Everyone here, in this room, is our family and closest friends. The blonde on the couch is Stephanie Brown. You’ve already met my brothers, Tim, Jason, and Damian. That there is Duke Thomas. And you’ve already met Alfred, Bruce, and Cass.” 

“Um. Dick?” Danny piped up. 

“Yes Danny?” 

“You said that everyone in the room is family or close friends?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why are you lying?” Danny asked with a frown. 

“What do you mean?” Dick asked, confused. 

“I have family bonds with everyone in the room,” Danny responded. It was rather obvious, the glowing little lines that connected them all. 

“Family bonds? What are you talking about?” Dick said, looking concerned. 

“The little glowy lines. Ugh, here.” Danny didn’t know why Dick was pretending he couldn’t see them. 

He grabbed the line that connected him and Dick. It brightened, becoming more solid. There. Danny smiled, pleased. He looked back at Dicks’ face, only to see the man wide eyed in shock. Danny glanced around the room. It… looked like everyone was surprised by the bond. Oh no. Was Danny the only one who could see them? Was this another one of his powers? He couldn’t remember this one. 

“Um. I - I’m pretty sure they’re family bonds. I have one with everyone here. So… we’re all family?” Danny said unsurely. 

“I - Do you have these with everyone?” Dick asked eventually. 

“No. I didn’t have any with Superman or Mrs. Martian.” Danny paused, biting his lip. “Oh! But I did have some with some of the heroes! I have bonds with Nightwing, Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin.” The room sat in silence for a moment, before Stephanie spoke up.

“So… Danny… You have a family bond with me?” 

“Uh huh. You’re one of my aunts, right? Your bond looks the same as the one I have with Cass.” Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say, as Stephanie’s eyes turned a bit watery. 

“Huh. Cool.” 

Duke also had a contemplative look on his face. Did they… not know they were family? The room was silent for a while. Danny couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. He hadn’t realized that he was the only one able to see them. Now who was going to explain how that worked to him? Not only that, but it seemed that he kept surprising everyone and making the room go silent and awkward. Dick squeezed him tight, keeping Danny’s back flush against his chest.

“Can you let me know next time you meet someone and you have… a bond?” Dick asked softly. Danny nodded. Dick sighed deeply. 

“Thank you sweetheart.” Taking a deep breath, Dick addressed Danny, but louder, so the rest of the room could hear.

“Danny, everyone in this room is your family. Everyone has been really excited to meet you, and we all have gifts for you, to welcome you to the family.” Dick explained with a smile, booping Danny gently on the nose with one of his fingers. 

“You already got my gift last night, your elephant. We’re going to go around the room in a circle, so you’re up, grandpa!” Dick teased, nudging Bruce with his elbow. Danny squirmed excitedly.

Bringing out a small black box with a light blue bow from his pocket, Bruce placed it in Danny’s hands. 

“Here you are, chum. Hope you like it.” 

Removing the ribbon and opening the box, Danny gasped. Inside was a thick, black leather and cord bracelet with a pendant that looked like a galaxy. Setting Jasmine aside, he picked it up out of the box, and slipped it onto his wrist. 

“Here,” Bruce said, turning his body towards Danny, helping him tighten it around his arm. 

“Thank you,” Danny whispered, looking into his grandpa’s Bruce’s eyes. “It looks like the stars. Did you know that stars were the first thing I saw when I woke up?” Danny asked. 

“I did. Nightwing and Batman told me.” 

As Danny admired his new bracelet, he felt Bruce lean towards Dick and whisper.

“It has a GPS monitor, heart rate monitor, among other things. I will send you all the information later.”

Since he was sitting on his dad’s Dick’s lap, he couldn’t see the man’s reaction. There was a shifting further down the couch, as Cass stood up, making her way towards Danny with two items in her hand. She handed Danny a foil lined bag. 

“Smell,” she stated. Curious, Danny opened it and sniffed, his eyes widening. It smelled… citrusy? And kinda like the ground after it rained. Or at least, that’s what his brain said. 

“What is it?”

“Assam tea. My favorite. We drink together, sometime, yes?” Cass asked with a smile. 

“Yeah! Thank you! Oh, this is a rose, right?” he said, as he accepted the other gift, which was a pot with a white rose with pink and red stripes. He’d never seen a rose like this before. 

“Rose, yes. No thorns. Alfred and I take care of the roses outside. Martha’s roses. You can learn. Help out. If you want.” 

Danny perked up. Oh! OH! Cass wanted to spend time with him, hang out! That’s why she’d given him these things. She wanted to spend time with him, get to know him! She wanted to be his aunt! His inner self fluttered in excitement and happiness. Danny gave her a beaming grin. 

“Thank you, A - Aunt Cass! I’m really excited to hang out with you too!” Aunt Cass smiled, patting him on the head before heading back to her spot on the couch. 

“Here,” Dick said behind him, grabbing the flower pot and moving it to the coffee table, “let’s make some more room for your other gifts.” Dick also moved the tea and Jazz to the table. Danny froze. 

“Is it my birthday? Is that why I’m getting gifts?” he whispered, trying to turn around to whisper in Dick’s ear, but Dick was holding him firmly in place in one hand while he used his other to make more room on the table. 

“No, it’s not your birthday,” Dick chuckled. “You don’t really have anything, so everyone decided to get you some welcome gifts. You’re our newest family member, after all.” 

“Alright! My turn!” yelled Stephanie, grabbing a brightly colored blue and yellow pastel gift bag, handing it over to Danny. “Danny! Cute little nephew of mine! This is just a taste of what you and I are going to be up to tomorrow!” 

Curious, Danny removed the tissue paper, head tilting upon seeing the stacked T-shirts in the bag. Pulling them out, one by one, he gasped, his eyes going wide. They were shirts with different heroes on them! The first one had Batman and Robin on it. He excitedly pulled out the next one, grinning upon seeing Nightwing on the next. 

“Steph. You didn’t,” Dick said tiredly. 

“I totally did! There’s shirts with allll of Gotham’s vigilantes, also one with Bludhaven’s own masked hero,” Stephanie said proudly. 

“I LOVE them!” Danny exclaimed, he wanted to wear the Nightwing one now! 

“Whoa, what are you doing Danny?!?” Dick exclaimed, stopping Danny from removing his shirt. 

“I wanna wear the Nightwing one,” he protested. 

“You can wear it tomorrow, you don’t want to make extra laundry and work for great grandpa Alfred, do you?” Dick asked. 

“No…” Danny muttered. Sighing, he looked over to his Aunt Steph. 

“Thank you.” 

“Of course, bud! We can get you even more tomorrow!” Dick groaned softly behind Danny. 

Tim was next, and he reached to the side of the couch, pulling out a box. It was passed down the line of people, from Tim to Steph, Steph to Cass, Cass to Bruce, and finally from Bruce to Danny. It was actually kinda heavy. Removing the lid, inside were a couple items that Danny didn’t fully recognize. They seemed to be some sort of electronics in bubble wrap. 

“TIM! A tablet?! And a Switch?!? He’s seven!” Dick scolded. 

“There are parental controls already on the tablet. And the switch just has Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and Zelda,” Tim clarified. “Besides, you’re going to need something to keep him busy on rainy days. Or days when you’re… a bit more tired.” More tired? Did Dick not sleep well? He fell asleep quickly last night. 

“Um, thank you Tim,” Danny said. 

He didn’t really know what a switch was. But he knew what a tablet was. He’d seen plenty of them in use on the Watchtower, but they’d all been used for work. Why would Tim get him something that was for adults? 

 “No problem Danny. I have a Switch, and so does Steph. Let me know if you want to ever play together,” Tim said with a smile before taking a sip from his coffee. 

Oh, so the Switch was something for games. Got it. 

“Guess that means I’m up,” Jason commented, standing up and passing a neatly wrapped box to Dick. 

Opening it up was a boxed set of books, along with two others which had been placed on top of the boxed set and wrapped with it. One of the loose books was a collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, with beautiful illustrations on some of the pages. The other was Coraline, which had an illustration of a girl holding a candle on the front. The boxed set was for the Anne of Green Gables books. 

“Jay… these are great. Although Coraline might need to wait a little bit. What do you think, Danny? Want me to read to you before you go to bed? Or read with Jay?” 

Dick might be more excited about this one than Danny. He felt himself blush slightly. He was maybe a little old to be read Fairy Tales before bed, but… Danny couldn’t deny that snuggling up with his dad Dick and having him read to him sounded amazing. Jason had said that he liked classic books. 

“Are Anne of Green Gables classics?” Danny asked Jason, swinging his legs a little. He was getting a little antsy, being in Dick’s lap for so long. He also ignored Dick’s question, for now. 

“Yup, sure is. It’s one of the… easier ones to read, especially for your age,” Jason remarked. 

Danny thanked him, leaning forward to set the books down on the dwindling space on the coffee table. Leaning down to grab a box underneath his chair, Duke slid out a rectangle, along with a small bag. 

“Here you go Danny. Um, welcome to the family, and uh, thanks for just… automatically considering me family?” Duke said awkwardly, rubbing his hand behind his neck. 

“Thanks,” Danny said, smiling to himself, “I’m sure I’ll love them.” It was kinda cute how shy Duke was.

The box turned out to be a puzzle, the image on it was emblazoned with the title ‘The Justice League’ and had a variety of heroes on it. Danny recognized a few that he’d seen on the Watchtower. The small bag had a wooden cube thing, that was three by three, every other square that made up the cube was darker, the wood stained a dark brown. 

“Let me know when you finish the puzzle. I have a lot of them, and I wouldn’t mind a buddy to help me solve them.” 

“I will,” Danny promised.

Danny squirmed slightly, knowing Damian was next. He wasn’t entirely sure what the man thought of him. He seemed a bit surly or annoyed with Danny at times. 

“Danny. Take these,” Damian stated, handing over three neatly wrapped gifts. 

Opening, Danny was surprised to find a sketchbook, along with fancy looking colored pencils and watercolors. 

“Should you need any assistance in how to use them or pointers when it comes to drawing… feel free to reach out.” Danny blinked in surprise. Huh. Maybe Damian did actually like him? 

“Thank you Damian,” Danny said with a smile, running his fingers over the pencils. Damian’s gifts joined the little pile on the coffee table. 

“My dear boy,” began Alfred, stepping forward. Danny turned to look at him. “It has been some time since a child’s laughter had graced these halls. I have looked forward to your arrival since the moment Master Dick decided to bring you here.” 

Alfred handed Danny a soft, dark blue, almost black, blanket that had little white dots along with pink and purple in it. Was this? Yes, it was! It was a blanket that looked like a galaxy! It was so soft too! Danny took one of the edges, rubbing it against his cheek, his core fluttering in happiness. Danny wrapped it around himself, unintentionally hitting Dick in the face a little with the blanket. 

He’d gotten so many nice gifts from everyone, and he was excited to use and try out all of them! He hadn’t - he hadn’t expected this, but this was so nice of everyone. Material things didn’t buy love, but… Danny could see how much thought and care everyone had put into their gifts for him. 

“It’s really soft. Thanks, Alfred. Um, thank you again, everyone. I wasn’t - I didn’t expect any of this. It’s really nice. I - thank you. You didn’t have to,” Danny said shyly. 

Danny felt himself get squeezed happily against Dick, and a kiss placed in his hair. The people around the room, his family, replied with various forms of ‘you’re welcome’. Danny squirmed in his spot on Dick’s lap. 

“Getting restless, Danny?” Dick asked, amused. 

“Yeah. Wanna go play.” 

“Okay. But you have to take someone with you,” Dick replied, cuddling Danny a bit more before addressing the room. “Alright, who wants to play with their nephew?” 

“OH! Me!” Stephanie shouted, jumping out of her seat, hand raised as if she was waiting to be called on. 

Danny slid off of Dick’s lap, clutching the blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. 

“Wait!” Danny paused, looking back at Dick who had grabbed the blanket. “You shouldn’t drag it around like that, if you want to keep it clean. Here, I’ll hold on to it, okay. Or,” Dick sighed, “You can take it, if you really want. Just be careful not to trip on it, okay.” 

Danny looked at his blanket cape, pondering. He didn’t really want to get it dirty. He wanted to have it in his room, to wrap himself up in at night. Danny hummed. 

“Okay. But I’m taking Jazz then,” Danny relented, letting go of the blanket and grabbing his elephant, heading towards the door where Steph was waiting, Cass also heading towards the entrance to the library. Once they were outside, Steph put her hands on her hips and bent down slightly. 

“Alright kiddo! What do you want to do?” 

***

Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Cass were super fun. He felt more confident calling them that after they’d conspired together to slide down the banisters in the front entryway, with one of his aunties keeping watch to ensure they didn’t get caught by Alfred or any of the others. They’d spent some time doing that, before he was led to the sitting room to make a blanket fort. 

He’d never made one before, and it was rather fun! They had to move some of the furniture, and had grabbed a wooden coat rack to help support the blankets in the center. Once they’d made the fort, the three of them sat under their fabric canopy. Aunt Steph was really nice, and she kept the conversation flowing. He told her about how he liked stars, and how he was hoping to put glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. Danny whispered to them about Nightwing coming to check on him last night! How he was hoping the masked hero would continue to look out for him. His aunts had given each other a look when he told him that. 

Aunt Stephanie told him about how she was a nurse at Gotham General. She showed him pictures of her in all sorts of colorful scrubs. She also had all of them take a quiz called ‘What Justice League Hero are You?’. Danny had gotten Superman, Aunt Cass had gotten Wonder Woman, and Aunt Steph had gotten the Flash. 

Aunt Cass didn’t say as much. But she told Danny about her travels and showed him some pictures. She’d also shown him some videos of her dancing. Aunt Cass had been so graceful, so pretty. She’d moved in perfect time with the music. When Danny had asked her if she could teach him how to dance like that. Cass patted him on the head and nodded. They were watching more videos of Aunt Cass dancing when someone else invaded their fort. 

“Beep beep! Make room for me guys!” Dick said as he crawled into the fort. Aunt Steph moved over so Dick could lay down between her and Danny. 

“Dick! We’re watching Aunt Cass’s dancing videos! Isn’t she pretty?” Danny asked, happy to see his dad the man, leaning against his shoulder. 

“She is really pretty. Cass is an amazing dancer. Let’s finish this video, then it’s time for dinner, okay?” Dick told him, ruffling Danny’s hair. Danny hummed. 

“Okay.” Danny had no idea how long it had been since they’d left the library. He was getting hungry though. 

***

After dinner, Danny had to help Dick take down the blanket fort. It was kinda sad. He’d worked hard to build it with his aunts, but Dick reassured him they could rebuild it whenever Danny wanted, which was cool. Much to Danny’s delight and embarrassment, Dick followed through on reading him Fairy Tales before bed. After reading him the story of Hansel and Gretel, Dick tucked him and Jazz in and kissed Danny’s forehead. Turning on his side, Danny fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Danny woke up slowly. He turned over slightly to look at the window. Groaning when he saw that it was still rather dark out. He didn’t want to be awake this early. Danny rolled back over, grabbing his stuffed animal. He stared into the embroidered eyes. 

“Jazz. Do you think it’s okay if I have two dads?” he asked the stuffie. He knew that Jazz couldn’t answer him. 

“I know people can have two dads. It’s just. Dick is my bio dad, kinda? I’m half made of him? But I’m made of Nightwing too, aren’t I?” He paused, frowning. 

“Even if it’s not as much as Dick, I can still think of Nightwing as my dad too, right? He was the first person who took care of me. And he visits me…” 

“Yeah. I can have two dads!” Danny told the elephant, feeling more confident. Nerves hit him again. 

“Do you think… do you think I should try calling Dick dad today? I kinda want to. He just… he loves me so much. And I can’t help but love him back. Even though it’s only been like, two days…” 

“I want a dad, Jazz,” Danny whispered. “I want a family.” 

Danny laid there for a few minutes longer, before sighing and getting up. He was pretty sure he knew where Dick’s room was. Getting out of bed, he peeked his head outside his room. The hallway was empty. Stepping out, he crossed it and made his way to the door that was across from his and a little to the right. He knocked gently and waited. When there was no answer, he slowly opened the door and looked inside. There were some clothes strewn about that had missed the hamper, but other than that, the room was fairly clean. Sitting up blinking sleepily at him was his dad. 

“Danny? Come here little bird,” Dick said with a yawn. 

Closing the door behind him, Danny made his way towards the bed. His dad patted the bed next to him, settling back down. Danny hopped up onto the bed, squeaking when his dad pulled him close and into his arms.

“Did you have another nightmare, Danny? It’s okay. I’m right here. I’ll protect you,” his dad crooned, pressing Danny’s face to his chest, fingers carding through his hair. Danny blushed a little, but snuggled in more into his dad’s hold. Dick chuckled. 

“There you go sweetheart. You’re my little cuddle bug, aren’t you?”

It was just him and his dad. He could admit to that. Danny nodded, sighing when he felt his bond with his dad flair in contentment and happiness. Dick placed a few kisses on his head, and then relaxed, falling back asleep. Danny drifted for a while, enjoying the closeness. Eventually though, light started to peek through the curtains. Not only that, but Danny was getting restless. Danny struggled, attempting to get out of his dad’s hold, but Dick only held him even closer. Giving up, Danny turned intangible, freeing himself from his father’s hold. 

Making his way back out into the hall, he grabbed Jazz from his room before attempting to make his way down to the kitchen. He hadn’t really had a chance to look around a lot when walking through the halls. Danny had always been escorted by someone. There were all sorts of fancy looking paintings and stuff on the walls, and the wall paper was subtly decorative with swirling patterns.

Danny cheered softly when he made it to the kitchen. He hadn’t gotten lost! He looked around, hoping to find something to snack on while he waited for everyone else to wake up. 

“What are you doing?” came a sharp voice behind him. Yelping, Danny spun around clutching his elephant tightly. He relaxed upon seeing that it was just Damian. 

“You scared me!” Danny accused. “Um. Do you know of something small I can eat? I don’t - I don’t want to be too full for breakfast… but I’m hungry.” 

Damian stared at him, evaluating him, before turning away and entering the pantry. He came back out with a banana and handed it to Danny. 

“Here.” 

“Thanks,” Danny said gratefully, taking the banana. 

He hopped onto one of the chairs, putting his elephant on the table and attempted to peel the banana. This one was a little stubborn, but he eventually got it open. He watched Damian make himself some tea, sitting across from Danny as the water boiled. After finishing his banana, Danny looked around for a trash can, spotting one in the corner. That taken care of,  he sat back down. The tea kettle whistled, Damian stood up, then hesitated. 

“Would you… like some?” Danny wrinkled his nose. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never had tea before.” 

“I will make you a cup. You might enjoy it.” 

Damian poured the boiling water into a teapot, then placed a metal infuser he’d filled earlier with tea leaves. Bringing over a coaster, he set it down on the wooden table, then placed the teapot on top of it. Damian then brought over two tea cups, setting one down in front of Danny and one in front of his spot before sitting back down. 

“You are up early,” Damian commented. 

“Am I? I just know the sun was starting to rise,” Danny kicked his legs under the table. “Why are you awake this early? And does everyone sleep in late here?”

“It is a little after five thirty AM. I get up this early so I can take Titus for his morning walk. As you are… awake, would you like to join me?” Excited, Danny floated up, standing on his chair. 

“YES! Titus is your dog, right? The one you were telling me about yesterday!?!” 

“Indeed. Now sit down. It is dangerous. You will also need to get dressed before you can come with me. Go now. The tea should be finished before you come back.”

“Okay!” Danny exclaimed, jumping down from his chair and running out of the room. He knew exactly what he was going to wear! The Nightwing shirt he got yesterday, along with the last pair of sweatpants in the drawer. Just to be safe, Danny brushed his teeth and combed his hair. When Danny slid into the kitchen once more, Damian was exactly where he’d left him, although now both tea cups were steaming, filled with a clear, greenish yellow tinted liquid. 

“The tea is ready. Ironically, it is Jasmine.” Danny picked up the tea cup, trying to match how Damian was holding it. 

“Is that not what you named your companion after?” Damian asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Um, no. Dad - Dick - he said I should name my elephant after something that reminded me of home, that made me feel safe. Jasmine - Jazz - just popped into my head. I think it might have been from before? But I don’t remember anything from then. Not really.” 

Danny eyed the cup in front of him. Hesitantly, he sipped it. It didn’t burn him, like the hot chocolate the first day. It tasted okay? It wasn’t sweet, and had a slight aftertaste. It was strong? What was this flavor? Danny took another sip, still not really sure what to think of it. 

“It’s not bad. But it’s not really good either. Why do you like it?” he asked curiously. 

“Tea is something I drank often with my mother and maternal grandfather. Now, I drink it often with Pennyworth. What else do you remember from before you woke up?” Damian asked intently, leaning forward slightly. 

“No. I don’t want to remember stuff from before. Some of it was okay. I remembered eating cereal. But other stuff was really bad. Really really bad. Stuff that hurt. A lot. I don’t want to remember any more of that!” Danny told Damian firmly, frowning and shaking his head slightly. 

The two sat in silence, both drinking tea every once in a while. Danny drank mostly because it was there and he wasn’t really sure what to do, although he did grab Jazz off the table, putting her in his lap. Danny wiggled in his seat, sighing. He wanted to walk the dog, to go outside! Damian should hurry up! He began tapping his leg. Damian closed his eyes and sighed softly, before draining his tea and getting up. 

“Let’s go. Are you taking your elephant?” 

“Yeah? Why not?” 

“It will more than likely get dirty, and if you want to hold the lead, you will need your hands free.” Danny looked down, worried. He wanted to take his stuffed animal. But. He also didn’t want to get Jazz dirty. He wasn’t really sure if you could wash stuffies. 

“She’ll be safe in my room, right?” he asked Damian worriedly. 

“Of course.” 

One quick detour later, and Danny was running back, only to see Damian headed towards him. He skidded to a halt, letting Damian reach him, then followed him back towards a room two doors down from his dad’s. Damian opened the door, entering the room. It appeared to be Damian’s bedroom, and there, in a large green dog bed was a massive black dog, sprawled out, watching the two of them with his dark brown eyes. 

Damian made a single, quick signal with his hand, and the dog stood up, approaching them, sitting down just in front of Damian. 

“This is Titus. Let him sniff your hand,” Damian instructed, pulling out his phone and holding it up once he’d stepped to the side. 

Hesitantly, Danny stretched out his hand. He hadn’t thought Titus would be this big! He was almost as big as Danny! A wide grin stretched across Danny’s face, and he giggled as Titus’s wet nose touched his hand. 

“He’s so big! How did he know to come and sit?”

“I have trained him to follow both verbal commands and hand signals,” Damian responded, continuing to hold his phone. Was… Damian recording his first meeting with Titus?

“Wow. You’re such a smart doggie,” Danny turned to look at Damian, hope shining in his eyes. “Can I pet him now?”

“You may. Do so gently, and slowly at first.” 

Danny began to stroke the top of Titus’s head, between the ears. Jumping up and down excitedly, giggling as Titus let him, and at the fact that Titus was wagging his tail! That meant that Titus liked him! He liked Danny petting him! Damian tapped on his phone, then put it away, turning to grab a few toys and a leash. Danny watched him, finally taking stock of the room. 

The walls were really bare? He would see hooks and nails where items had been displayed recently, but had been moved. Weird. Why had Damian taken everything down? Or was this from before this was Damian’s room? 

It immediately slipped from his mind when Damian clipped the leash to Titus’s collar and held it out to Danny, asking if he wanted to be the one to hold it. 

Boy did he ever! 

***

Danny and Uncle Damian had finished walking Titus, throwing a ball for him on the manor grounds midway through their trek. His uncle had also shown Danny a few of Titus’s commands, letting him try them out. Danny had been practically vibrating with excitement when the dog had obeyed, letting Danny shake his paw, barking on command, sitting, rolling over, and laying down. 

By the time the two made it back to the manor, the sun was much higher in the sky, not that you could really see it very well, due to the cloud coverage. When Uncle Damian had told him that since his meeting with Titus had gone so well, the dog would be free to roam the manor once more, Danny had shrieked with glee. The dog was going to be around all the time now!!! After that, Uncle Damian sent him back to his room, suggesting he get Jazz, and breakfast would be soon. 

Skipping down the hall, Danny made his way to his room, grabbing his stuffie, before heading to the dining room. Walking Titus had made him really hungry! He’d even had a banana this morning, but running around outside had been really tiring. In the dining room, his dad was already there, standing talking to Uncle Damian while his Aunts were already sitting and chatting, Grandpa Bruce once again sitting at the head of the table. Danny ran forward, giving his dad a hug around his waist, interrupting the conversation. 

“Dad! Dad! I met Damian’s dog! We went on a walk! Titus is so cute!” Danny excitedly told him. Dick’s expression morphed into shock and surprise, then utter joy. Danny laughed happily as he was picked up and swung around, his dad having to move to the left to avoid hitting Uncle Damian.

“Good morning Danny!” His dad swung him around for a moment, before placing Danny on his hip.

“Did you have a good time with your Uncle Dami?” Danny nodded, leaning his head on his dad’s shoulder. 

“Are you looking forward to going shopping today?” Danny scrunched his nose. 

“Kinda? I want more clothes. And shoes, especially shoes. But I don’t know. Going outside should be cool though. I haven’t really seen a lot of normal people. Just you guys.” His dad laughed weakly. 

“I wouldn’t really call this family the definition of normal…” Danny tilted his head, confused.

“Why not? Everyone seems normal to me?”

“I - Well, for one, your Grandpa Bruce is… very rich. So are Uncle Tim and Uncle Dami. Uncle Jason as well. That makes it so there’s a lot of attention on us. There’s going to be a lot of people staring at us today. Just stick close to us, and everything will be fine, okay?” 

Danny just looked at his dad. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine. 

***

It was not fine. 

Danny had maybe probably underestimated how rich his family was. And how many people would pay attention to them. There hadn’t been anyone following them with cameras when they’d gone and gotten shoes. Danny had gotten some super cool sneakers that lit up, and a pair that had these secret wheels in the heels. The rest of the shoes ended up being really plain compared to those. The paparazzi started showing up when they were looking at clothes. 

At first, it was just one, hovering on the edge of their peripheral vision. When he’d pointed it out to his dad, Dick had told him to ignore it for now. That was a lot easier said than done. The flashing lights from their cameras were very distracting, as was their whispering and calls for him to look over at them. Although they tried to hide it, Aunt Steph and his dad weren’t enjoying the attention either. The two adults blocked the camera’s view of him as much as possible, and Danny doubted that any of them got good pictures of him. Danny loved his family. 

Thankfully they lost a majority of the stalker paparazzi people after leaving the clothes store, but they’d shown up again at the toy store. Honestly. Danny was just trying to pick out some glow in the dark stars for his ceiling! And some action figures! Aunt Steph was helping him find action figures of all the heroes he’d met on the Watchtower, along with a few more. She’d handed him a purple clad masked vigilante named Spoiler, one that was completely covered in black called Orphan, and a red haired bat themed vigilante called Batgirl. She’d also put three or four different Nightwing ones in the cart, which was really nice of her! Someone must have told her that Nightwing was his favorite hero, since he couldn’t remember telling her that. 

Ignoring their followers was going well, till they said something weird. 

“Dick, how do you feel having a new baby brother?”

“How do you feel about Bruce being a dad again at his age?” another called. Danny stopped, tilting his head in confusion. He turned to look at his dad. 

“Grandpa Bruce has a new son? I have a new uncle?” 

At his words the furious clicking of the cameras got even worse and the paparazzi got even closer, scaring Danny. He hurried to his dad’s side, worried. He was immediately scooped up, his dad encouraging Danny to hide his face against his father’s chest. 

“Alright, time to go. Steph, you got everything?” His dad asked with a surprising amount of authority. 

“Yup, you got it! Get the baby out of here!” Aunt Steph confirmed. Baby? Baby?!? He wasn’t a baby!!!

“‘M not a baby!” he protested, as his dad rushed him out of the store, leaving his aunt behind. 

Minutes later, they were sliding into the back of Great Grandpa Alfred’s car, having escaped the people and their cameras. The car eased into traffic and began to drive them back to the manor. 

“Dad, did Grandpa Bruce adopt another kid? Am I going to have a new uncle?” he asked curiously. He was a bit nervous. He already had so many Aunts and Uncles!

“No, Danny. They were talking about you.” Danny blinked, confused.

“But… you’re my dad? Not Grandpa Bruce.” 

“I know sweetheart. But they don’t know that. They just… assumed that your grandpa was adopting you. So they got… excited when they heard you call Bruce grandpa. He’s uh, you’re Bruce’s first grandkid, his first grandson, so they got really excited.” 

“Oh,” he said, relaxing a little. That made more sense. “But why do they care so much?” 

“That’s a great question. I’m honestly not really sure. Probably because Bruce has a lot of money, and people like to gossip and judge people who are wealthy like your grandpa is,” his dad explained. 

“People are weird.” 

***

Danny was playing with his tablet on the couch, his dad doing something on a laptop at a desk further in the library. Dick had shown him a timer, telling Danny he got two hours to play on the tablet, then he’d have to play with something else. That was totally fine with Danny. He just wanted to look up stuff about Nightwing and the other heroes. Nightwing was apparently the hero/vigilante of Bludhaven, a city about an hour away from Gotham, but Nightwing was known to assist Batman and Gotham’s other vigilante’s to take down Gotham’s variety of Rogues. 

Danny wasn’t sure how often Nightwing came by to assist. Maybe though, if he was lucky, Nightwing would visit him each time? He was kinda starting to miss the kind hero who gave him the best hugs and cuddles, his only competition being from Danny’s other dad, Dick. Feeling a bit glum, he watched shaky, grainy videos of Nightwing running and flipping across Bludhaven’s rooftops. If he asked nicely, would Nightwing teach him how to flip like that? How to be that graceful and smooth? How to twirl and be just so… acrobatic. 

Danny was pulled out of his thoughts by Uncle Damian entering, asking if Danny wanted to come with him on Titus’s afternoon walk, the large Great Dane already by his uncle’s side. His dad ruffled his hair, telling him to have fun with his uncle when he handed over his tablet. The walk was really nice. Uncle Damian talked really formally and used fancy words, but he was actually pretty nice. Dinner was good too, and before Danny knew it, it was time for bed. Sitting in his brand new pjs, with his stuffed elephant, Danny sat in bed waiting. 

Hoping. 

But Nightwing didn’t come. 

And Danny fell asleep, waiting. 

***

There were three small miniatures made out of ice. One was of a young man in a T-shirt and cargo pants, holding a PDA and wearing a hat that looked like a cross between a beanie and a beret. The second was a young woman in thick combat boots, a skirt, crop top, and a short bob with a small ponytail. The third was another young woman, in long pants and a long sleeved shirt. There was a headband in her hair. Lifting up the figure with the headband, Danny spoke. 

“Great job Danny! You did all those King duties you hate! I’m so proud of you!” came his voice, higher than usual, attempting to mimic his sister’s voice. Grabbing the figure of the young man, he spoke once more. 

“Yeah Danny! You’re doing an awesome job being the King of the Infinite Realms dude!” Danny was speaking deeper this time. Setting down Jazz, Danny grabbed the final figure. 

“Yeah ghost boy, that was real clever of you, how you brokered peace between the Phantom Zone and the Ghost Zone. I’m impressed!” 

“Thanks guys!” this time it was just Danny’s regular voice, in a fake happy voice. “That’s so nice of you! I’m real proud of myself too!” Danny slumped, setting the ice figures down, his right hand, now  free, was placed over his eyes. 

“I’m so pathetic. You guys have been gone for years. Hundreds of years. I miss you all so much. I’m so… alone,” Danny whispered, his voice breaking.

Chapter Text

Danny wasn’t as cheerful when he walked Titus with Damian the next morning, and he was mostly silent during breakfast. His mood picked up a bit when he rebuilt a blanket fort in the sitting room with his dad and they played with the hero action figures they’d bought yesterday. His dad was fantastic with thinking up all of these crazy and wild stories for the different heroes to go on. Danny didn’t have any action figures of bad buys, so they improvised using some cutlery, a small clock, and other various items they could find, including a hat. 

After each caper, Nightwing and friends always saved the day! His dad tried to get him to have Batman or Superman be the main hero, as they were older, and having been a hero longer, but Danny wasn’t having it. Nightwing was a hero, the best one! Nightwing was definitely a team player, but he was always the leader, and he always had the best plan. 

His dad was a little… weird about that. The best Danny could tell was that he was flattered? And embarrassed? But he seemed to think Danny was cute? Danny really couldn’t understand why his dad felt that way. 

After playing for a while, they snuggled under Danny’s stars and galaxies blanket in the theater room. They watched two Disney movies, Snow White and Bambi. They were both really good! But Danny’s heart hurt, it hurt a lot, when Bambi’s mom got shot. He’d sniffled and cried a little, his dad stopping the movie and comforted him, holding Danny to his chest, pressing kisses to his forehead and rubbing Danny’s back. 

Then they had to dress fancy. Standing in front of the mirror next to his dad, Danny had a realization. They looked so similar. They had the same black hair, bright blue eyes, olive toned skin, and their face looked the same. He’d known that he was his dad’s kid but… he hadn’t known how similar they looked. To be honest, Danny didn’t bother looking in the mirror often. He just… didn’t really care how he looked. 

Danny blinked in surprise that there was someone in the sitting room, sitting across from Grandpa Bruce. They were a broad man, in a large loose looking suit and square glasses. His dad ushered him towards the couch. He hopped on, leaning and hugging his grandpa’s side. Danny was rewarded with a flare of amusement and fondness in his bond with his grandpa, and a gentle patting of his back. Danny smiled to himself. Yeah, these bonds totally told him what his family was feeling when he was close enough. After his dad sat down, Danny leaned against him, eyeing the stranger.

“Hi there squirt, my name is Clark Kent. I’m going to be interviewing you and your family today.” The stranger said with a smile. Danny squinted at him. Suspicious. He was one of those media people, like the ones who’d been following him, his dad, and his aunt yesterday. 

“What’s your name buddy?” Clark asked. Danny stared at him, but didn’t respond. After a beat of silence, his dad hurried to answer. 

“Sorry about that, he must be feeling a bit shy. This is Danny, Danny Grayson. My son.”

“How did you find out about Danny?” the reporter asked. 

“I found out about him a little over a week ago, and I’ve loved him since the moment I saw him,” his dad explained, the warmth and sincerity in his tone causing Danny to duck his head and blush. He didn’t think his dad had said out loud that he loved Danny before? Danny had known, of course, because he’d felt it through their bond, but it hadn’t been said. 

“How old are you, Danny?” Mr. Kent asked. Danny slowly lifted his hands, showing seven fingers. The man wrote it down on his yellow notepad. 

The reporter continued to ask questions, directing the majority of them to his dad and grandpa, but asking Danny some every once in a while. It was really boring, but he learned some interesting tidbits as he slowly slid down the couch. He wasn’t called out for it till his head was on the seat of the chair. 

“Danny, what are you doing?” his dad asked, amused. Danny looked up towards him, noticing the warm smile on his father’s face.

“I’m melting.” 

“You’re melting? Did someone pour water on you?” Why was his dad laughing? 

“No. I’m melting because I’m bored.” 

“Hi bored, I’m dad.” Danny groaned at the horrible joke, letting Dick pull him back up. 

“That was terrible dad,” he complained as he was placed in his father’s lap, his core warming and humming as his dad pressed a kiss on his cheek. Danny squirmed, pretending not to enjoy his dad’s affection, but he did, he really did. 

“Can you sit with us for a little longer, sweetheart? Then we’ll take pictures and have dinner.” That sounded okay, except - 

“But what about Titus? I wanna walk him with Uncle Dami, and they go on their walk before dinner.” Okay, he was whining a little, but he loved Titus! And his uncle was pretty cool too. 

“I’m sure if you ask nicely, Uncle Dami will wait to walk Titus until after dinner. He should be in his studio, which is right next to the library. Do you think you can get there on your own?” Danny nodded excitedly, sliding off his dad’s lap. 

“Hurry back chum,” his grandpa called as he raced out of the sitting room, “Remember, no running in the halls!”

Danny paused, then smiled mischievously to himself. His grandpa said no running. But he hadn’t said no flying! Once he was out of sight, he floated up off the ground, then shot down the halls, grinning as he zoomed around corners, skidding to a stop in front of the library. Okay, dad had said that the studio was right next to the library. He began checking the doors on either side of the library.

Danny was sure the adults were talking without him, which was fine because their conversation had been so boring. It was nice to hear about how much his dad cared for him, but Danny felt a little guilty. He hadn’t known that in order to keep him, his dad had quit his job, and moved away from Bludhaven, where he lived. That his dad had moved back in with grandpa, which based on Mr. Kent’s questions and from what Danny knew, was kinda looked down upon by society. Danny felt… grateful. He didn't know his dad had done all of that for him! Before his dad had even met him! 

He was brought out of his thoughts when he found Uncle Damian standing and sketching at a large, tilted desk with Titus at his feet. Upon seeing Danny, Titus looked up, his tail thumping on the floor. Setting down his pencils, Damian turned to face Danny, his face betraying no emotions. Giving Titus’s head a quick pet, Danny hesitantly approached his uncle. 

“Um, Uncle Dami, um, you know how we’ve been walking Titus together?” 

“Yes, I am aware,” Damian answered calmly. 

“Would it be okay, if, um, you waited to walk Titus till after dinner? So I can come too?” he asked nervously. 

“Yes, I can wait -,” Domain stopped talking after Danny leaped forward, hugging him.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Danny exclaimed happily, before freezing slightly.

He hadn’t hugged Uncle Damian before, and the man had kinda given Danny the impression that he didn’t really like physical touch. Danny looked up, worriedly, his blue eyes meeting Damian’s green ones. He needn’t have worried though, as Damian gently placed his hands on Danny’s back. Grinning, Danny squeezed a little tighter, pressing his face into Damian. Pulling back after a moment, Danny waved and left. 

“Bye Uncle Damian! See you at dinner!”

Danny didn’t really give Damian time to reply, zooming down the hallways once more, halting in the air before landing softly. Hopefully his dad and grandpa were almost done talking to this reporter guy. 

Oh.

They weren’t. 

“- rather adorable. You should get out something that records low frequency sound, you’ll notice it right away. It’s like a cat’s purr, that’s the only way I can describe it,” Mr. Kent was explaining. The adults glanced at him as he entered. 

“We’ll look into it,” Grandpa Bruce told the man, all three standing up. 

“It’s time for pictures now, Danny. Is Uncle Damian going to wait for you to walk Titus?” His dad asked. Danny nodded. Mr. Kent directed them where to stand for the photos.

“Uh huh. We’re going to go after dinner.” 

“Do you mind if I come too?” His dad asked, placing his hand on Danny’s shoulder. 

“No, it’d be great if you came with! But you have to ask Uncle Dami. Titus is his dog.”

***

Mr. Kent stayed for dinner.

Which. 

What.

He hadn’t understood why the man was here. His dad had whispered to him that Clark was a nice person, a nice reporter, and he was actually friends with Grandpa Bruce, which didn’t really make a lot of sense. But whatever. 

His dad came along on their walk with Titus, Aunt Cass joining too. It turned out that the rest of his uncles and aunts didn’t live at the manor. Most of them lived in Gotham, just not here, in the big house. Dad said they could visit them sometime, which was exciting. Danny was curious what their places looked like. Danny had shot into the air in delight when his dad told him that he would be visiting the heroes again, in two days. Danny had plummeted back to earth though when his dad informed him that they’d have to travel… by Zeta tube. 

Why.

Why did it have to be Zeta tubes? 

Danny was wrapped up in his blanket on the couch, playing on his tablet. He was mindlessly playing one of those match colored bubbles games. There were three or four of them on his tablet now. He just switched between them when he ran out of lives on one of them. Danny just wanted… to not focus on anything. To shut his brain down. He really really wanted to play Hide and Seek and other games with the heroes, but not if that meant that he’d have to go into one of the Zeta tubes! 

The timer went off in the distance, and Danny sighed. 

“Time for bed, Danny.” He turned off the tablet, but didn’t get up, just pulling his blanket closer around him. 

“Danny,” his dad said, coming around to stand in front of the couch, “come on, you need to get up.” 

“Can you carry me?” he whispered softly. He felt gloomy and lethargic. The Zeta tubes were weighing heavily on his mind. His father’s brow furrowed, and he leaned down, feeling Danny’s forehead with the back of his hand. 

“You don’t feel hot. Are you feeling okay, sweetheart?” 

“ ‘M fine. Just. Dad, can you carry me to bed?” Was this a dumb thing to ask? 

It didn’t matter though, because he was lifted up, blanket and all. 

“ “M not too heavy, am I?” he asked, slightly worried. 

“No, not at all. You don’t need to worry about that. I’m pretty strong,” his dad told him with a grin.

Danny was carried down the halls, his dad using his hip to wiggle the handle and open it. Danny couldn’t help letting out a small giggle, watching his dad struggle with the handle. He was gently placed on the bed, and Danny reluctantly unwrapped himself from the galaxy blanket, his dad taking it, folding it, and placing it on top of his dresser. Danny let himself be tucked in. He wanted - he wanted to say something. He felt all mixed up inside. 

“Dad,” he called, his father halting in the doorway. 

“Yeah Danny?” Danny hesitated. 

“I feel weird. Inside. I don’t know what to do.” 

“Feel weird how?” his dad questioned, making his way back over. 

“Like. My emotions. They’re all tangled,” Danny attempted to explain. He wasn’t doing a good job though. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I think so.” 

“Okay. Where do you want to start?” His dad climbed onto the bed. Danny sat up, and his dad placed his arm over Danny’s shoulders.

“I want to go and play games with the heroes. I want to use my powers and stuff. But,” Danny took a deep breath, “I’m really scared of those metal cave things, the Zeta tubes. It’s like - the feelings, they’re fighting? And I don’t know what to do?” 

“Okay. What are your choices?” his father asked kindly. 

“Um. I guess go or don’t go? But I’ll be sad if I don’t go. But I’ll… I’ll be really scared if I do. And then I won’t have fun.” 

“That’s true. What if… what if we tried to make you less afraid of the Zeta tubes? Or, even though it would take longer, we could see if there was a different way we could get you there,” his dad offered. 

That might not be so bad. 

“How long would it take?” 

“Depending on how you travel, it could take anywhere from, oh, three to eight hours?” Danny frowned. That seemed like a long time. 

“Danny. Why are you scared of the Zeta tubes?” his dad asked softly. Danny squirmed uncomfortably. Had Grandpa and Uncle Jason not told his dad?

“I - the Zeta tubes. They were in my nightmares the first night I came here.”

“I’m sorry Danny. I didn’t know they would scare you, or remind you of things from before.” Oh. So they had told him. 

“I know the Zeta tubes are different. They look different than that weird thing in the wall.”

“It was in the wall?” 

“Yeah. I was scared to go in, but there were two people behind me. One of them wanted me to go in. They didn’t… they didn’t go in the tube thingy with me.” 

“I’m sorry Danny. How else - how else are the two different?” His dad sounded so sad, and almost like he didn’t want to ask some of these questions. It wasn’t exactly something fun to talk about. 

“Um. The Zeta tubes… they’re smooth. And their light is yellow. It has that lady voice in it. The other one… there were tubes and cables everywhere.” Danny’s breath hitched, his voice starting to wobble, pressing his face into his dad. 

“There was no voice, it was just quiet. And dark. The Zeta tubes aren’t as dark. Then it - it turned on. There was a white light. It was so painful. I think it was electricity? And it hurt my heart. It hurt everywhere.” Tears fell down his cheeks, dampening his father’s shirt. 

“Oh honey,” his dad whispered, pressing kisses into Danny’s hair, holding him tightly. 

“It’s okay. I promise you, that will never, never happen to you again.” They laid there in silence for a moment, his dad’s hand running soothingly up and down Danny’s back. Danny sighed, relaxing. 

“Do you think I’ll always be scared of Zeta tubes?” 

“I don’t know. If you want, you can try to work on getting over your fear of them. But only if you want to,” his dad reassured him. 

“Nightwing said he uses the Zeta tubes a lot. Do you?” 

“I - Nightwing is a hero, and I know that the heroes generally use Zeta tubes to get around. It’s a very… convenient way to travel.” 

“Oh.” That made sense. His other dad, Nightwing, wasn’t scared of the Zeta tubes. Nor had Dick been when he’d picked Danny up from the Watchtower. Danny didn’t want to be afraid of the Zeta tubes. He could be brave, he could! 

“Do you think it will be hard to hang out with the heroes if I can’t use Zeta tubes?” 

“It will be harder than if you could, yes. But I’m sure they can make it work.” His dad stroked his hair, comforting Danny. 

“Do you think… I can practice tomorrow? Or try it? To see… how scared I am?” Danny asked nervously. 

“Uh… I can ask, see if there’s a way we can try to test it. Are you sure you’re up for that Danny?” his dad questioned. 

“I - I’m sure,” Danny said, trying to sound confident. 

“Okay. You can back out at any time. I won’t judge you, and neither will anyone else. If they do, beat them up for you, okay?” His dad told him, tickling Danny’s sides a little. Danny couldn’t help the little giggle that slipped out. 

“I don’t know dad, I don’t think you can beat up Batman or Nightwing.” 

“Oh? You don’t think so?” his dad teased, ramping up the tickling. Danny giggled even more, and began to try and get away. 

“Dad! No! Stop!” Danny gasped out, laughing. 

His inner self thrummed and hummed in joy, reveling in the play and close contact he had with his dad. He laid back on the rumpled sheets as his laughter faded away. Danny was glad that his dad had stopped when he’d asked. Ancients, he loved his dad. Sitting up and crawling back up the bed, he wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck. 

“Thanks Dad. I feel a lot better now.” His dad hugged him back. 

“Of course sweetheart. You can talk to me about anything. I’ll always be here for you, you’re my son.” Warmth surged through Danny. Emboldened, he pulled back slightly from their hug and kissed his dad on the cheek. 

“Love you dad.”

“I love you too, Danny. So much,” his dad’s voice cracked and wobbled, squeezing Danny tight against him. 

Reluctantly, the two separated, Dick tucking Danny into bed, his elephant snuggled up in Danny’s arms. Pressing a kiss to Danny’s forehead, his dad whispered to him. 

“Sleep well, my little bird. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“Night dad. Love you too.” 

Danny watched as his dad went towards the door and flicked off the light. His dad stood there, for a moment longer, his silhouette illuminated the light further down the hall. When his dad stood there like this, he reminded him kinda of his other dad, Nightwing. They really did look alot alike. They had the same type of build, tall and lean, with the exact same haircut. It was really weird. 

His dad shut the door, plunging the room into darkness, except for a nightlight on the other end of the room. Huh. He didn’t remember putting that there? It seemed to be star themed. One of his family members had probably put it there. It was nice though, that his room wasn’t fully dark anymore. 

Sighing, Danny turned over, hugging Jazz tightly. 

He needed to sleep well, since he had to be brave tomorrow. He was going to attempt to use the Zeta tubes. 

Chapter Text

Danny shot up with a gasp, his heart pounding. He clutched at his elephant, panting, tears starting to leak from the corners of his eyes. 

Of course he’d had nightmares about the weird not Zeta Tube. He’d thought - he’d hoped that after he slept last night with no nightmares, they’d be gone. But they weren’t.

It wasn’t as bad, or as scary this time though, waking up. 

He had Jazz and the nightlight. He didn’t want to stay here though. 

Getting up, he made his way to the door, peeking outside into the hallway. Danny tiptoed across the hall to his dad’s door, opening it and looking inside. No dad. He must not have gone to bed yet. How late did his dad stay up? 

Danny paused.

He didn’t really want to bother anyone else. 

Reluctantly, he made his way back to his room. Danny didn’t want to stay here right now. He didn’t want to go back to bed. He flew up, phasing through the floors until he was above the manor. It was a beautiful night. Danny sat down on the roof, looking up into the sky. He could catch glimpses of the stars between the clouds. He could see the lights on the horizon from Gotham City, and from here, you could see the entire sprawl of the city. 

The manor seemed to be on a hill? A mountain? Allowing it to overlook the city. 

It was really nice up here, despite the slight chill. 

There was movement, out of the corner of his eye. Oh, there was Great Grandpa Alfred. He needed to think of a better word for that, as saying great grandpa was really long. Although maybe Alfred wouldn’t like that. He seemed to like cleanliness and decorum. Decorum. What a word.

Noticing that Great Grandpa Alfred was looking his way, Danny waved. 

The elderly man waved back; he was on the phone with someone.

Danny smiled, happy that his great grandpa had waved to him. 

His tears had stopped a little bit ago, and he was feeling better in general. He should see if he could bring his dad up here. Speaking of his dad, Danny needed to figure out what was going on with his dad and Nightwing. They were just… so similar? If he saw Nightwing again, he might be able to figure it out. It made Danny a little sad to think that his other dad hadn’t really been around recently. He missed Nightwing. 

Nightwing had been his person while he was on the Watchtower, he’d been the first person Danny had met upon waking up. He’d helped Danny walk while his legs and muscles woke up and got stronger. He’d played with Danny and spent time talking with him. It hurt that someone who’d been so important to him, and who had been around all the time was just… gone. Or just around a lot less. 

Now his dad, Dick, was his person. Uncle Dami might be second, just because they spent time every day walking Titus. After that, he wasn’t sure. He needed to spend more time with the rest of the family and get to know them. Danny was actually really looking forward to it! He put Jazz on his knees in front of him (he didn’t want her to get dirty!). 

“What do you think, Jazz? We like our family, don’t we?” Danny moved the stuffed animal, so that Jazz nodded at him. 

“Me too. So like, the mystery of Dad and Nightwing. Do you think they’re twins? Well, you haven’t seen Nightwing, have you? They look a lot alike. They have the same body, the same hair, the same smile… They both call me little bird. I’ve never seen them together though,” he confided to his stuffed friend. 

“Why do you think we’ve never seen them together, Jazz?” he asked, leaning back so he was laying flat on the roof, holding the elephant above him. He felt like that was important. It seemed important. 

He was pulled from his thoughts hearing someone climb onto the roof. Danny turned to look, then sat up, eyes wide. It was Nightwing! Danny watched in surprise as the vigilante headed towards him. Danny scrambled to get up, and then ran across the tiles to hug his dad. 

“Hey little bird! What are you doing on the roof?” Nightwing asked with a smile, ruffling his hair. 

“I had a nightmare,” he explained, his answer muffled slightly since his face was pressed into the adult’s stomach. Curious, he poked the suit that Nightwing was wearing, causing the man to yelp in surprise.

“Oh no. Sorry. Did I hurt you?” Danny asked, pulling away worriedly. 

“Ah, no, it’s okay, just took a hit near there so it just hurt when you pressed against it. I’m fine.” Nightwing reassured him. Danny eyed him suspiciously. 

“I don’t believe that. Where does it hurt?” Danny demanded. 

“I - Danny, I’m fine, promise.” 

“No! Where are you hurt?” He said frowning. Nightwing sighed, running his hand through his hair. 

“I got hit here,” Nightwing said, indicating a spot on his ribs, near where Danny had poked, “and here,” pointing to a rip in the suit on his leg where a small gash was bleeding. 

Kneeling, Danny placed his hand right next to the gash, letting a small piece of ice form over the wound. Nightwing flinched slightly at the cold, but otherwise didn’t move. Standing back up, Danny placed his hand lightly over where Nightwing had pointed out on his chest and let frost swirl across the material of the suit. There. Hopefully the ice would help with the swelling. 

“That should help. Um, I think it melts in like an hour or two? Soooo… yeah,” Danny said, looking up at Nightwing with a pleased smile. He’d helped! 

“Ice powers. Okay. Thank you Danny! Let’s get you off the roof and back in your room, alright? You need to sleep, little bird. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.” Danny frowned. 

“I do? I just know that I’m -” Danny stopped talking, his face falling when he remembered that he’d be trying to conquer his fear of the Zeta tube. 

“Hey, Danny, sweetheart, look at me. You don’t have to try the Zeta tubes if you don’t want to. I don’t - we don’t want to see you scared and upset. Maybe it would be better to try after you talk to Black Canary, and get some therapy. I don’t want to do anything that makes your fear worse.” Nightwing said, lifting Danny’s head up by placing his fingers under Danny’s chin. 

“Come here,” Nightwing said, picking Danny up. Alarmed, Danny let himself float a little, so he wasn’t too heavy and wasn’t pressing against the hero’s ribs.  

“Nightwing! You’re hurt, you shouldn't be carrying me,” he protested. 

“Don’t worry about me, little bird, I’m fine. You’re not that heavy,” Nightwing said with a chuckle, walking over toward the edge, pulling out a grappling gun from somewhere? Danny guessed his back. 

“That’s only ‘cause I’m floating a bit,” Danny countered, annoyed, puffing out his cheeks. 

“Hmmm. Thank you sweetie. Hold on tight to me and to Jazz, okay?” At Danny’s nod, he sent the grappling hook into the chimney, then gently jumped off the edge of the building, the line letting them descend slowly. 

Once they were on the ground, he pressed a button and the grappling hook came back, retracting back into the gun. Somehow, Nightwing was able to open the window to Danny’s room. Danny wasn’t entirely sure how, he hadn’t phased through it to undo the lock or anything. Nightwing annoyingly insisted that he changed his pajamas and at least wiped off the bottom of his feet before he got back into bed. Apparently his pajamas were dirty from sitting on the roof. 

“All done little bird?” the hero asked after Danny exited the bathroom. Danny nodded. 

“Good,” with that, Danny was lifted up and tossed lightly over Nightwing’s shoulder, then he was slid further down so that he was just being held upside down by his ankles. Nightwing spun him around a bit, expertly flipping and moving Danny’s body. Warmth and joy filled him, his inner self dancing and thrumming in excitement, laughter pouring from Danny’s mouth. At the end of this whirlwind of movement, Danny was flopped down on his back on his bed.  He laid there for a moment, giggling. 

“Did you have fun?” Nightwing asked, his voice warm. Danny could only nod, still laughing.

“Good,” the hero said, tapping one of his fingers on the tip of Danny’s nose. Danny scrunched his nose at the touch, his laughter finally slowing down. 

“Will I see you again soon?” Danny asked. 

“You’ll see me when you go play with the Team, okay? I’ll be there and in charge of the games.” 

“Okay.” Nightwing hesitated, before speaking once more. 

“Danny, next time you have a nightmare, you should go find someone, okay?” 

“I did. I checked my dad’s room. He wasn’t there though.” Emotions flashed across Nightwing’s face, but they were there for just seconds, so Danny wasn’t able to figure out what they were. 

“O - Oh. Okay. If he’s not there, you can always go downstairs. You can usually find your great grandpa Alfred there. He can get your dad to come right away, wherever he is, okay? I know you didn’t know, but please don’t go up on the roof again, not without letting an adult know and getting permission.”

Danny frowned, but reluctantly agreed. 

Nightwing handed him Jazz and told him good night. Once Nightwing had left through the window, Danny looked down at his elephant. 

“Well. You’ve met Nightwing now. What do you think?” There wasn’t an answer, not that he was expecting one. 

“He talks just like dad. And looking at it again… our bond, it’s exactly the same,” he told the elephant. Lowering his voice, he whispered, “Do you think Dad… is Nightwing?” 

***

The next day went along like normal. Well, as normal as they had been so far. Walking Titus. Breakfast. And then… it was time to test out the Zeta tubes. His dad wasn’t worried about the initial Zeta beam teleportation thing. Because, well, it was a phone booth. His dad was worried that getting back would be the hard part, since it would look like a Zeta tube. As to where they would be Zetaing to… the Batcave! He was going to see Batman’s house! 

If Danny wasn’t so nervous, he would be super excited. 

Apparently he would get to meet some of the heroes he’d already met and some new ones! Batman also wanted to run a few more tests on him, because all of his equipment was right there. Dad had promised him that it would be just like the tests he’d already done on the Watchtower. A simple blood test and a spit test. It didn’t make sense to him why he’d need another. Danny would have to ask Batman. 

Danny had decided to leave Jazz at home. He didn’t want to accidentally leave her anywhere, plus, Dad would be with him the entire time to comfort him. It was just him and his dad in the car today, with Danny in the backseat. He’d taken the Switch and had started playing whatever game was in it. Apparently his character had moved to an island and he had a mortgage now? That part wasn’t really fun. The rest of it was though, which was good. He got to catch bugs and fish, and he could build and craft stuff. 

He had to shut off his game after they parked and walked towards the phone booth. This part, Danny wasn’t scared at all. It looked just like a regular phone booth. With a flash, the two were transported elsewhere, Danny quickly stepping out, so he could be out of the Zeta tube as quickly as possible. 

Taking a look around, his mouth dropped open in shock, his eyes wide. 

This.

Place.

Was. 

AMAZING!

There was a dinosaur! And a giant penny! And… was that a cow? Instinctively, Danny started to float up, trying to get a better look at everything around him, only to be stopped by a hand on his ankle. He looked back, surprised. His dad gave a small shake of his head. 

Oh. 

Danny floated back down, blushing slightly. Now that he thought about it, it probably wasn’t nice to float around through someone’s house. This was Batman’s house, right? Or at least where he lived? That was totally some bathrooms over there, and Danny would bet that Batman’s bedroom was behind one of those doors. There was a computer with a massive screen, tons of vehicles, a plane, and one side had a bunch of high tech equipment. 

The owner of the cave, Batman, had been sitting at the computer, but he stood up, approaching the two. Over by the tech equipment was Red Robin, and next to some of the cars were two female heroes he hadn’t met in person, but had seen in the store, Spoiler and Orphan. 

“Welcome, Danny, Dick,” Batman greeted them. 

“Hi B, long time no see!” his dad said. There was something weird about his dad’s tone, almost as if there was some sort of secret? Or was there something funny about that statement? He looked at his dad curiously before looking back at the hero. 

“Hi,” Danny replied distractedly. 

He really wanted to go around and explore, but he couldn't. His dad probably wouldn’t be happy with him if he did that. Maybe if he asked, Batman would show him around the Cave and he could check out all the cool stuff. He definitely wanted to pet the cow. Although he really wanted to know why they had a cow?

“Come on Danny, we’re going to run the tests first real quick, then we can tour the Cave,” his dad encouraged, grabbing his hand, leading him to where Red Robin was, Batman just behind them. Hearing them approach, Red Robin turned around. 

“Hi Danny! Good to see you again,” the shorter man said. Well, he was short compared to Batman and his dad. Turning to look at the other, he said, “The tests are set up, so we can start running them as soon as we get the samples.” Danny frowned.

“Why do I have to do this again? I did them all before on the Watchtower. I don’t like being poked with needles.”

“Well… last time, when they took them, there was a lot of time between when they took your blood and saliva and when they were placed in the machines to be tested. The samples… degraded quickly. A lot quicker than blood or saliva samples usually do. So we’re hoping to get some actual answers before they degrade,” Red Robin explained. 

“Why does my blood and stuff degrade so quickly?” Danny asked with a frown. 

“We have some guesses, but we’re not sure. We’re hoping to find out.” 

Grumbling, Danny let them take the spit in a tube and some of his blood. He perked up a little when Red Robin put a Nightwing band aid over his wound. Although, did everyone know that Nightwing was his favorite? He was kinda obvious with how much he liked that hero, wasn’t he? Red Robin got the tests running, and Batman began to show them around the Cave. 

All the mementos were super cool, and he got to touch the dinosaur!!! He met Spoiler and Orphan, who were both his aunts, like Aunt Cass and Aunt Steph. Spoiler even reminded him of Aunt Steph with how loud and boisterous she was. They let Danny sit on some of their bikes which was cool, and Danny even got to sit in the passenger seat of the Batmobile!!!

Danny was checking out the cases that held the different suits, Batman explaining that he would need to wear a domino tomorrow, and that he could practice wearing one today, if he wanted, which, cool, when the machines running the tests beeped. Red Robin, having moved to the computer, got up and began reviewing the data on the screens. Leaving the cases behind, Danny headed back towards the machines, his dad and Batman following. Danny floated up gently, so he could peer over Red Robin’s shoulder. 

“What does it say?” he asked. Glancing back at the others, Red Robin hesitated. 

“Danny definitely has Kryptonian heritage. Probably… probably from Kal-El. It also found Martian DNA and Lazarus Water.” 

Danny frowned. Kryptonian? What was that? Martian, he was pretty sure he new what that was, that was like Ms. Martian, and she was an alien right? Danny’s core wiggled and thrummed in excitement. All of a sudden, a different machine beeped. Was that the other test? No one seemed to be moving towards it though. Ah well. 

“Does this mean I’m part alien?!?” Danny asked excitedly. Red Robin nodded. Danny shot up into the air, spinning. 

“That’s so cool! I’m part alien!” He grinned, looking back down on the people below him. His dad - His dad looked worried. Was there something wrong with that? He floated back down. 

“Dad? Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His dad was trying to smile, to reassure Danny, but he could tell it was an act. 

Danny put his arms around his dad’s neck, his dad automatically wrapping his arms around him, placing Danny’s weight on his hip. Danny reached out through their bond, checking. Yeah, his dad was worried, and a little scared. Why did that make his dad scared? The hugs and cuddles his dad gave him usually made him feel better. Hopefully it worked in reverse too. 

“Dad, why are you scared? And don’t say you’re not, I can feel it,” Danny pressed, reaching down to grab the bond between them. There, his dad should be able to see it now, as long as he was holding it. His dad took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them and looking at Danny, gently running the hand not holding Danny through his hair. 

“I’m afraid that your other… donors won’t treat you well, or be as accepting of you, and that will hurt you. I’m afraid of what this means for you, in terms of allergies and weaknesses. How much will Kryptonite affect you? And does fire make you weak as well? Another selfish part of me is scared that I’m going to have to give you up and spend less time with you. You’re my son. I want you around all the time” 

Oh. 

Danny hadn’t even thought of any of that.

“But aren’t you the major donor? That’s what Nightwing said. You said it too, I’m fifty percent you. So… they can’t take me away, right?” 

“They can’t, not all the time. But then can insist that you spend time with them, which they have every right to. I - This - you don’t need to worry about this, Danny,” his dad said, holding him close. 

Batman shifted behind them. 

Oops. 

He’d forgotten that they were there. 

“There is some Kryptonite in the cave. We should test it now, especially since we can treat him immediately if he has a reaction.” 

His dad squeezed him tightly before nodding. Batman walked off, getting whatever the Kryptonite was. Coming back with a small but heavy looking box, Batman looked grim. 

“Danny. This may or may not hurt. We just need to test to see if it does, that way we can be sure it is not around you in the future,” the dark hero explained. Danny cocked his head. 

“Like an allergy test?”

“Yes, it is similar to that. Are you ready?” Gripping his dad tighter, Danny nodded. Everyone around him tensed slightly. 

Batman opened the box… and nothing happened. Danny stared incredulously at the green rock. He looked back at Batman, confused. 

“Why would I be allergic to a rock? Can people be allergic to rocks?” 

It was pretty though, giving off a soft green light. It looked so cool. Leaning forward, Danny reached out to touch it. As soon as his fingers brushed against the Kryptonite, pain shot up his arm. Shrieking, Danny pulled away, his fingers throbbing, tears of pain gathering at the edges of his eyes.  His inner self screamed at the pain and shock, one of the machines blaring in the background as well. 

His dad grabbed his hand in a strong grip, looking at the red irritation and blisters that were rapidly appearing on Danny’s fingers. Danny was quickly placed on a medical bed, with Red Robin crowding around as well, Spoiler and Orphan were right behind him, having run over upon hearing Danny yell.  

“Ti - Red Robin, get me some ice and a bandage,” his father ordered, examining Danny’s hand. 

“We’ll need to ice your hand for a bit Danny, and then wrap it up with some Neosporin, okay?” His dad reassured. 

“Does this mean I’m allergic to the rock?” Danny sniffed. 

“Yes, sweetheart, it does. The good thing is that it’s a rare rock, so you shouldn’t be around it often. It’s also just a mild allergy.” Danny looked up at his dad, horrified. 

“That’s a mild allergic reaction?! What does a regular one look like?” His dad hesitated, distracting himself by grabbing the offered ice pack from Red Robin. 

“Here, hold this to your hand,” his dad ordered. Danny winced when he did, the ice both soothing and irritating his skin. 

“Most people who have this allergy are highly allergic, and just opening a box with the rock could give them a reaction,” his dad explained. 

Spoiler hopped up on the bed next to him, pulling Danny to lean against her shoulder, her hand coming up to pet his hair. Today was his first time meeting her, and through his familial bond, he felt her worry and care. It seemed like he could only feel his family’s feelings when his heart and their heart were close to each other. But the lines come from the center of the chest? Not so much from where the heart was?

“So the baby’s part Kryptonian? Anything else?” Spoiler asked the others. Danny frowned. He wasn’t a baby! Why did Spoiler and Aunt Steph call him a baby?!?

“Well, we found Martian DNA. We’ll have to compare the results to see if it’s either from Martian Manhunter or Ms. Martian. Or if it’s some unknown Martian. As for the Kryptonian… I ran a quick comparison, and we’re pretty sure it’s from Kal-El. It makes sense considering their previous… clone,” Red Robin explained. 

Batman returned, the box gone. Orphan sat down on Danny’s other side, gently reaching out to pat his head. Danny’s dad removed the ice from Danny’s hand, checking the blisters and the irritation. The irritation was pretty much already gone, and the blisters looked smaller. His dad hummed softly, before he smeared vaseline over the blisters and began to bandage them. 

Winking at him, his father gave him some kisses on his bandaged fingers before leaning up and kissing Danny’s forehead. 

“There. Kisses to make it better,” his dad said with a small smile, opening his arms. “Come here. I think it’s time we headed home. I’m pretty sure we’ve missed lunch and I want to get some cuddles with my little bird.”

Yes, home! And snuggling with his dad! His core singing in relief and excitement before the reality of the situation hit him. Also that dumb machine was dinging again. 

“That means… Zeta tube time, right?” he whispered. 

“Yeah,” his dad sighed, “yeah it does. Don’t worry though, Danny, you can stay in my arms if that makes you feel better.”

Danny leaned his head against his dad’s chest, his inner self still scared and trembling. It would be better, if his dad held him, right? He could - he could try to focus on their bond, and that feeling of love, comfort, and protection that his dad usually gave off. That stupid machine was still going off in the background, Red Robin heading over to turn it off. 

“‘Old me please,” Danny mumbled, burying his face in his dad’s neck, not really wanting to be able to see the Zeta tube as they went in. 

His dad said goodbye to the others, heading over to the Zeta tube. It would be Batman today manning the computer. The others gathered around, except for Orphan, she’d disappeared somewhere. Danny’s breathing picked up, becoming shorter. 

He could do this. 

He was brave. 

He was brave. 

Danny just needed to focus on his dad and their bond, not their surroundings. Their bond was warm, comforting, sending reassurance and comfort his way. His father’s hand was rubbing up and down his back, the other holding him tight. Danny’s breath hitched when he heard the robotic lady’s voice, squeezing his dad back. A kiss was pressed into his hair. His inner self hadn’t stopped trembling and whimpering, scared for pain that it was sure was coming. 

No. 

His dad was here, his dad would protect him. 

There was a flash, and they were in the phone booth once more. 

“You did it Danny. My brave little bird. We’re going to go outside, and wait by the car. Aunt Cass will be here to drive us home, okay?” his dad crooned, stepping outside and hurrying to the car, unlocking it and placing him inside the backseat. 

As his dad slid in with him, Danny would swear he heard the flash of the Zeta tube once more. He flinched. His dad closed the door, helping Danny buckle up. He didn’t really want to let go of his dad’s shirt, making it harder for his father. Aunt Cass came by a moment later, sliding into the driver's seat and taking them home. 

Danny calmed down during the trip, able to release his grip on his dad’s shirt. His hand still stung a little, from earlier. He said hi to Aunt Cass, perking up a little as his dad told him that ice cream was waiting for him back home. He didn’t even have to ask, but his dad carried him back into the house, where they ate lunch and then headed to the living room. After that, Aunt Steph and Uncle Tim showed up, and they all made a blanket fort on the floor of the living room. It was a little crowded, with himself, his dad, his two aunts and his uncle. 

They spent the remainder of the day watching movies and cuddling under soft blankets. Uncle Tim had brought Jazz and his galaxy blanket, which he kept wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. His inner self was practically purring now, being so close with his family and surrounded by them. 

They had to stop for dinner, but after that, Uncle Jason showed up, Danny practically jumping on him to say hello. Flying powers were great! Uncle Jason had been surprised by the enthusiastic greeting, but ended up joining them on the floor. Dad had made him get into pjs and brush his teeth though after dinner, reminding him it would be much more comfortable to keep watching movies like that.

Uncle Duke and Grandpa Bruce showed up around the same time, Grandpa Bruce sitting on the couch while Uncle Duke joined them on the floor. It took only a little bit of pleading for Great Grandpa Alfred to sit on the couch with Grandpa. Uncle Damian had taken some pleading as well, but he’d caved as soon as Danny gave him his best puppy eyes and called him Uncle Dami. 

Danny was cuddling with his dad, laying his head on his dad’s stomach, Uncle Tim on his other side. He felt amazing, his core felt filled to the brim with love and was vibrating with happiness. Then, he heard the whispers. 

“Wait, is the baby purring?” Aunt Steph whispered. 

“Be quiet Brown! Or he might cease!” scolded Uncle Damian.

Danny’s cheeks flushed. He was… he was purring?!? Like a cat?!? He felt his core dim, no longer as happy and well, it was embarrassed now. He’d had no idea that when his inner self did things, that it actually made sound! No one had said anything before! Maybe they could only hear it now, because he was this happy?

“Look what you did!” Damian accused. 

“Hey! How was I supposed to know he heard me!” 

“You are not being quiet! Of course he heard you!” 

“Danny,” his dad whispered. Danny looked up, meeting his dad’s soft gaze. 

He blushed even more, realizing that his dad was looking at him with an adoring and loving expression. Grabbing Danny under the armpits, Danny was pulled up so that he was half laying on his dad, his head now right under his dad’s chin. Leaning down slightly, his dad whispered into his ear. 

“Don’t worry about them, Danny. It’s okay to be happy. You’re safe here with us, and we all love you. I love you.” 

Danny blushed, feeling his inner self thrumming and vibrating with happiness. Loudly. Probably loud enough for it to be heard once more. Yeah, it definitely was, considering the pleased emotion he was feeling from his dad. 

“Love you too Dad,” Danny whispered. 

“Oh! He started again!” 

“Brown, if you cause him to stop once more, I will stab you.” 

“Love you too Dami!”

They continued to watch movies, Danny still… uh… purring. It had been dark for a while, and they’d watched three movies and were on their fourth when Danny’s eyes began to droop. He wanted to watch this movie though. It was called Homeward Bound, and he needed to know if Sassy, Chance, and Shadow made it home. It was important. He needed to know if they got back to their family. Somehow, he made it through the movie.

“Time for bed little bird,” his dad whispered, stroking his hair. Danny grumbled sleepily. 

“Can we just stay here? Do I have to go to my room?” He felt his dad move, probably looking back at Grandpa and Great Grandpa. 

“We can stay,” his dad told him. Addressing the others in the room, his dad said, “You guys can stay too if you want, but no pressure. I know the floor isn’t comfortable, even with all the blankets, pillows, and the two air mattresses.” 

“I must change into sleeping attire, but I will return,” Uncle Damian announced quietly. There was agreement from the majority of his aunts and uncles. 

“You’re welcome to stay too, Grandpa,” his dad teased. “Though you might want to take the couch. Might be more comfortable for you.” 

“Jay… will you stay? I know Danny will be happy to see you joined us in our little sleepover.” 

“That’s low, Dickie. Using the kid against me,” Uncle Jason protested weakly. 

“Does that mean you’ll stay?” 

“I guess. If it makes the kid - my nephew - happy.” 

Danny sighed contentedly, pleased that his family would be staying. He could hear them talking and moving around, but it was all fuzzy as he drifted off, still purring.

Chapter Text

Danny woke up the next morning to light coming in through the window. He groaned, turning over. Wait. Was that a cat? There was a black and white tuxedo cat sleeping among the blankets on the other side of his dad. He sat up, intrigued. He wanted to pet the cat, but it looked like it was sleeping.

“Are you going to pet him or not?” Danny turned his head, seeing Uncle Jason sitting up in a tank top, a rumpled blanket around his hips. 

“I want to, but won’t that wake him up?” Danny whispered. 

“He’ll live. He’s generally a friendly little fella,” Jay said. 

Wiggling out of his dad’s arms, Danny floated up till he was hovering upside down over the cat, his shirt falling down slightly. Hesitantly, he reached out and tentatively pet the cat. It jerked awake, giving Danny a little merp before sniffing his hand. Deciding Danny was okay, the cat began to lick itself, ignoring the boy hovering over it.  

Jason stood up, picking his way over to where Danny was, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the makeshift bed that had been set up in the middle of the room. Danny giggled, he was still upside down. 

“Come one kiddo, you’re going to scare the sh- crap out of everyone if they see you hovering over them.” 

“Where are we going?” Danny asked.

“I’m going to feed you.” Uncle Jay said. That piqued his interest. 

“You’re going to cook? Won’t Great Grandpa be mad?” Danny questioned, worried. 

“Nah. I’m the only one Alfred trusts in the kitchen. The others lost privileges. Demon brat is sorta allowed, as is Cass,” his uncle explained. 

“Can I help?”

“Hmmm. Alright. But you gotta follow my directions. We’re not going to destroy Alfred’s kitchen,” Jason warned. 

“Okay.” 

Uncle Jason showed Danny how to make pancakes. They were a little messy with the flour, but other than that, the pancakes were looking good! As they cooked, Jason had Danny help him clean up the kitchen, telling Danny how important it was to clean up after yourself while cooking, to reduce your work for later and to give you more counter space. Looking around though, Danny wondered how one could run out of counter space in this kitchen.

They made chocolate chip, blueberry, strawberry banana, and regular pancakes. As they made them, the rest of the family trickled in to watch, chatting amongst themselves. Uncle Jason swatted the hands of anyone trying to take one early. Once they had a small pile of each kind on a plate, Uncle Jason shooed everyone to the table, including Great Grandpa Alfred. After that, they all ate, Danny eating the chocolate chip pancakes along with his dad and Aunt Steph. The others ate the healthier options, which was fine for Danny. More chocolate chip pancakes for him then! Danny felt really proud of himself. He’d made food! Something most of his family couldn’t do! Both Danny and Uncle Jason got praise for the pancakes. 

After breakfast, his dad took him aside, crouching down so he was eye level with Danny. 

“Do you still want to go meet the Team today? You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I know you used the Zeta tube yesterday, but that still scared you,” his dad asked. 

“Um, we’ll get to play hide and seek, right? And I can be invisible?” Danny asked, biting his lip. 

“Yes. You’ll also have to show Nightwing and the others all the powers that you know of, and if there’s time, you’ll have a session with Black Canary too,” he explained. That didn’t sound too bad. The only thing that would suck was the Zeta tube. 

“I still wanna go. You’ll help me get home with the Zeta tube, right? You’ll be there the whole time?” His dad hesitated. 

“I - I can’t be there the whole day. I will bring you there, and then I will be there when it’s time to come home. Nightwing will be there though the whole day. So will Robin and Red Robin. Batman, Superman, and a couple Justice League members will be there too.” 

“Will they be playing hide and seek too?” 

“Maybe, you might need to convince them though. You’re the cutest, so if anyone could, it would be you,” his dad laughed. Danny puffed his chest up a little in pride at that. Yes, he was very persuasive! 

“If you’re going to go then Danny, then there’s a few small things we have to go over. Number one, don’t tell anyone your middle or last name, okay? The founders of the Justice League and some of the team know who you are, but to the rest of them, it’s a secret.” 

“Why is it a secret?” Danny asked curiously. 

“It’s to protect you, and to protect us. The less people who know a secret, the easier it is to keep it.” 

“Oh. So do I get a code name? Like a spy? Or a hero?” Danny started floating in excitement. This was going to be so cool! 

“I - If you want? You could just go by Danny. Um, what about Chick? Or Hummingbird? Because you’re my little bird?” His dad offered. Danny gave him a disgruntled look. 

“No, those are bad code names…. Hmmmm,” Danny thought hard, putting his hand on his chin. 

What would be a good code name for him? What would a good hero name for him be? Appearing in his mind, just like the name Jazz had a couple days ago was a single word: Phantom. 

“I got it!” he exclaimed, raising his fist in the air in triumph, “Phantom! That’s what my code name will be!” His dad looked at him a little confusedly. 

“Phantom? That doesn’t really have anything to do with birds…” his dad said, trailing off. 

“Does it have to?” His father gave a small smile that had a touch of sadness to it. 

“No, no it doesn’t. You don’t have to follow a tradition you don’t even know about. You can be whatever you want. I promise,” with that, his dad cupped Danny’s face in his hands, placing a kiss on his forehead. 

Why did this make his dad sad? No, that wasn’t exactly the right word. Melancholic maybe? 

“Let’s get you into some work out clothes, okay? I’m pretty sure those heroes are going to tire you out. Oh, and Batman gave me a domino for you to wear to help keep who you are a secret.”

Danny could tell that there was still something bothering his dad, but he wasn’t sure how to help. Hopefully his dad would be feeling better soon. Was his dad sad that he wouldn’t see Danny most of the day today? He’d have to make it up to him tomorrow, giving his dad extra cuddles and love. 

***

Danny was having such a hard time sitting still. He wanted to get up, to float, to do something instead of just waiting here with Red Robin for Nightwing to come. The area around his eyes itched where the domino was on his face. It has been the weirdest thing putting it on in front of the mirror with his dad’s help. 

Now that he thought about it, how had his dad known all those tips and tricks when it came to putting one of these tiny mask things on? That didn’t seem like something just anyone knew. In fact, the only people who probably knew about that sort of stuff were people who wore dominos regularly. Aka heroes.  

Sighing, Danny flopped over, laying down on two of the chairs, staring up at the ceiling. 

Look at the evidence, Danny. 

Dick knew how to put on a domino mask, something Nighwing would know. When Dick had left, Nightwing hadn’t been here. And soon, Nightwing would be here when Dick wasn’t. They both called Danny little bird. Their bond with him was the same. They had the same silhouette, the same hair, the same smile. 

Conclusion?

Dick was Nightwing. 

It was the only thing that made sense.

Danny did have other theories, like Dick and Nightwing were twins, but they didn’t seem as likely, after looking at all the evidence.

The best way to test it would be when they left. If Dick was going to be the one taking him home, then that meant Nightwing would leave just before Dick arrived. 

Danny sat up. If Dick was Nightwing… wouldn’t that mean that Batman was Bruce? Both Nightwing and Dick had told him how they’d been adopted by a nice older man. Just a single man, not two. Did that potentially mean his aunts and uncles - ?

The door burst open, and in came a rushed looking Nightwing, who immediately came over and scooped Danny into a hug. 

“Hi little bird, it’s good to see you! I heard from a certain someone that you wanna go by Phantom as your secret code name.” Nightwing said, ruffling Danny’s hair with a grin. Danny stared at the mans’ face. If he covered the eyes, then he was pretty sure that was Dick’s face. That was his dad. 

“Wait, what? It’s not bird themed?” Red Robin asked, shocked. Danny frowned. There was nothing wrong with Phantom! And why did it have to be bird themed?

“I think Phantom is cool. It’s my secret code name, not yours,” Danny defended, pouting slightly. Why didn’t people like his code name? 

“Sorry Da - Phantom. I was just surprised. I wasn’t expecting that code name,” Red Robin backpedaled. 

“Are you ready, little bird? We’re going to go test your powers after we meet a couple people.” There was a hint of nerves to Nightwing’s tone. 

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Danny cheered. 

“Just remember, like with your dad, if - if you see anyone with a bond with you, let me know, okay?” Danny nodded. 

He followed Nightwing down a hall to a large, open space where Batman, Superman, Diana, the Robin Hood guy, a blonde lady with a black jacket and black boots, and a green skinned man in a black suit and a blue cape. Besides Batman, he didn’t have bonds with any of them. That was fine with him, he already had a ton of familiar bonds. 

Superman waved at them, smiling. Danny waved back. Noticing that Superman was looking elsewhere, the others turned to look too. They all smiled openly, except for Batman, who gave a barely there one. 

“Hey there Danny! Good to see you again,” Superman said. There was a hopeful look on his face. Weird. What was he hoping for? 

“You already know Batman and Wonder Woman, but these are Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Martian Manhunter,” Superman pointed out each person as he named them, each of them waving at Danny, except for Batman. Batman always had to be different. Danny hadn’t known that Diana’s hero name was Wonder Woman. 

“Hi! Nice to meet you! Oh! Oh! I picked a code name! Dad said I didn’t have to, but if I’m gonna hang out around heroes, I wanted one! Do you wanna know what it is?” Danny asked them with a grin.

“Let me guess, is it bird themed?” Green Arrow asked, laughter in his tone. Danny frowned, crossing his arms, huffing. 

“No. Why does everyone think it’s related to a bird?” he asked angrily, looking away from the group and pouting. Honestly, this was starting to get annoying! So what he hadn’t picked a bird name! What was with bird names?!?

“What is the name you decided, little one,” Wonder Woman asked kindly. Danny eyed her suspiciously. Diana had been nice to him, the one time he’d met her. 

Reluctantly, he mumbled, “Phantom. I chose Phantom. I thought it was cool.” 

“It is a good name, a strong name,” Wonder Woman reassured him. Danny looked at her warily. 

“You really think so?”

“I do.” 

“Thank you,” he whispered shyly, putting his hands behind his back and moving his right leg back and forth. Yeah, he liked Wonder Woman. She was cool. 

“Okay,” Nightwing said, clapping his hands together, clearly trying to change the subject, “Why don’t we start the tests? Just to be sure, Phantom, do you see any new bonds?” 

“No, no new ones. Just the same ones as before with you and Batman,” Danny responded. 

Weirdly enough, Superman looked a little disappointed, before his face switched back to normal. None of the others reacted though. 

Whatever. 

Time to show off what he could do! 

***

At first, the group was happy and excited for each ability he showed off. Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter left half way through, citing being busy, although Mrs. Canary told Danny she’d see him later. As the list of powers grew longer, the atmosphere changed. It was tenser, more somber, and wary? Was there something wrong with having so many powers? He wasn’t sure. Were they scared for him or of him? The only ones who didn’t really change their demeanor were Nightwing and Batman. Danny was really glad they were his family. 

He was demonstrating his ice powers, explaining them as best as he could. 

“Um, so I can make it so that it doesn’t melt if I don’t want it to, or put like a timer on it? I used it the other day on D - Nightwing. I think he had some bruises or something? Either way it was good to put ice on it, so I did!” Danny explained happily. 

“Are you able to control the temperature of the ice? How detailed are you able to make it?” Batman asked. 

“I don’t know about the temperature, but I can make some super detailed stuff, look!” Danny said, concentrating and making a little statue of Batman out of ice, handing it to the man. “See! I actually dreamed about this a couple nights ago! I was sad and lonely, so I made a couple different figures and tried to play with them.” 

Danny drooped slightly. That had been a really sad dream. Even playing with the ice sculptures that he’d made hadn’t cheered him up. 

“It didn’t really help though. I was still sad and lonely. I’m pretty sure I cried after.” 

Danny looked up. Superman looked utterly crushed and heartbroken, as did everyone in the room. Even Batman was frowning. Oh no. He hadn’t meant to bring the mood down. Nightwing came up and pulled him into a hug. 

“Oh little bird,” Nightwing whispered, his voice thick with emotion. Danny hugged his dad. 

“It’s okay. I’m not lonely anymore. I have a big family who loves me,” Danny reassured Nightwing, patting the hero on the back. Danny had to suppress a giggle. It was the opposite of how it usually was! Usually his dad was reassuring him, but this time, he was doing it to Dad!

“Do you wanna see the figures I made? I named them all.” 

“We would love to Phantom,” Wonder Woman said, stepping closer. 

Pulling himself out of his dad’s hold, he concentrated, making the young woman in thick combat boots, a skirt, crop top, and a short bob with a small ponytail that he’d seen in his dream. He handed her to Wonder Woman. Danny thought for a moment, she hadn’t had a name in his dream, but he knew she had a name, it was just on the tip of his tongue… oh!

“This is Sam. She’s really cool. She’s vegan and she loves plants. She wears black and purple all the time and I think she’s something called… goth? Yes, she’s goth. She likes skulls and bats and spiders and stuff. Sam’s not afraid of anything and I’m pretty sure she could beat anyone up. Sam’s super loyal and a great friend.” 

“I - Thank you Phantom. She’s beautiful, and she sounds like a wonderful person.” Wonder Woman tried to hand Sam back to Danny. 

“Oh, no, you can keep her, if you want. That’s just a figurine of her, Sam’s in here,” Danny said, patting his chest over his heart. “I can always make her again out of ice.”

“Very well, little one. I will treasure her. Thank you for giving me this statue of your friend,” she said with a kind smile. 

Danny beamed back at her, then turned to Superman. Concentrating once more, he made a young man in a T-shirt and cargo pants, holding a PDA and wearing a hat that looked like a cross between a beanie and a beret. This one was called… Tucker. Danny handed it to Superman. 

“Here. This is Tucker. My other best friend. He’s nerdy and techy. He likes animals, mainly dogs and wolves. He comes up with dumb schemes sometimes and totally gets himself into trouble. He’d do anything for his friends though and is always willing to lend a hand or an ear. He has a heart of gold and cares a lot about family and friends, and is super chatty and friendly.” 

“Thanks Da - Phantom. He’s great,” Superman told him. Danny nodded, pleased. 

“Yes, yes he is,” Danny turned to face Batman, the ice copy of the hero still in Batman’s hands.

“Oh right, you already have one,” so he then faced Nightwing. 

His dad. 

He supposed… it was fitting that his dad got this one. 

Got Jazz. 

Making the final figure, a young woman, in long pants and a long sleeved shirt. There was a headband in her hair. Before handing it to the hero, Danny stared at it for a moment. 

“My dad gave me a stuffed elephant a couple days ago. He said… he said I should name it after something that reminded me of home, that made me feel safe. So I named it Jasmine. Jazz. This… this is the original Jazz.” Nervously, Danny gave the figure made of ice to his father. Gently, Nightwing took it from him, looking the figure over in his hands. 

“I - Jazz is a bit of a know it all. But… she’s nice. And she takes care of me, and always wants the best for me. She’s really smart and great with emotions and just understanding mind stuff. She always did her best to protect me and cheer me up. I - Unlike the other two… I - In my mind, she wasn’t just a friend, she was my older sister. I don’t know. I just wanted a family. And someone who cared about me, and tried to protect me from everything that hurt… So… yeah,” Danny ended his explanation looking away shyly, a blush on his face. 

He wasn’t really sure how they’d take his little rants about his imaginary friends. Although, he was pretty sure Jazz wasn’t imaginary. That had been her, in his dream with the cereal. That probably meant that Sam and Tucker were real too. Or had been real. But if he didn’t remember them alive, and wasn’t even sure if they had been, that made them imaginary, right?

“I - Danny - Phantom… Come here,” Kneeling down, Nightwing hugged him. Danny hugged back, but he was surprised by how sad his father was. He could feel it, now that his and his dad’s cores were close. 

“Let’s finish this later. Not today. I’m not - I” Nightwing struggled to say. Batman leaned down, placing his hand on Nightwing’s shoulder. 

“We’ll take a break. Have a snack. That should give all of us a chance to compose ourselves. If you still feel that way chum, we can finish another day.” Danny looked around confused. 

“But… I feel fine? Isn’t it me we’re testing?” 

“Yes. But sometimes, something normal to you, isn’t normal to others. So although you feel fine and can continue, I don’t think the rest of us feel up to doing so without a moment,” Batman explained evenly. 

Danny thought it over. Everyone did seem rather sad… maybe a break was good. 

He still hadn’t shown them that he could do this cool transformation thing. Well, he was pretty sure he could. Danny had yet to actually do it, but it had to be like all of his other powers that he’d never tried before, just known that he’d had. Also… the whole fact that his powers got stronger when he transformed, but he couldn’t be transformed forever. At least, not now? He was still too small, too young. Again, things that he just knew were kinda weird. 

“Can I have ice cream?” Danny asked hopefully. Releasing him from the hug, his hero dad laughed wetly. 

“You can have whatever sweets you want.” 

***

Danny got his ice cream. In fact, there were over ten different kinds in the freezer. Nightwing had let him try a small spoonful of each kind. Once he’d tried them all, he got to pick which two he got scoops of. It had been a tough decision, but he’d ended up with chocolate and cookies and cream. They were really good! Apparently they were mainly for the Flash and for Impulse. 

Superman had to leave at that point, although Batman and Wonder Woman could stay. 

So once again, they resumed. 

It was going well, until they got to the end of the list, and Danny had to bring up the whole ‘I can transform and that makes me more powerful’ thing… 

“Hey, um, D - Nightwing?” he tried. His father didn’t notice, examining some of the targets he’d hit with his green blasts. There’d been a weird silence the first time he’d showed the blasts and the shields he could make. Something about the color being weird. 

He was about to try again, louder this time, so his dad could hear, when Batman grabbed his arm. Danny looked up in surprise, his inner self fluttering in surprise. Batman really could be intimidating, even when he wasn't trying to be. 

“That’s twice now you almost called Nightwing something. What were you about to call Nightwing?” Batman asked. 

Danny flushed. He’d been about to call Nightwing dad. It was something he’d thought of the man before he’d even suspected Dick and Nightwing were the same. Crooking his finger, trying to get Batman to come closer. The man leaned down, Danny floating up slightly so he could whisper in Batman’s ear. 

“I want… to call Nightwing Dad. But I don’t know if he’ll be okay with that. I know people can have more than one dad. But I also don’t know how often I’ll see Nightwing, or what my other dad, Dick, will think of it. Plus I’m still figuring some things out. So please don’t tell him,” Danny pleaded. 

There was also the whole Dick may be Nightwing thing, but that was included in still trying to figure things out. Batman stood up. 

“I see. I will not tell.” 

“Thanks,” a mischievous idea came to him, “You know Dick right?” Danny asked, paying close attention to Batman’s reaction and answer. 

“I do,” came the delayed and likely reluctant answer. 

“Do you think he’ll be sad if I call Nightwing that?”

“I don’t think he will. He might even be happy.” 

“Why do you think that? He said yesterday that he wasn’t looking forward to sharing me with whoever Kal-El is?” Ha ha! Take that Batman! Danny could be a detective too! What was Batman going to say to that?

“That is… different.”

“How?” Danny asked, tilting his head slightly. 

“What are you two up to?” Nightwing asked, coming over having finished looking at the targets. 

“Um, we’re just talking. OH! Nightwing, there’s one more thing.”

“There is? I thought you said that was the last one, besides the earthquake one that makes you pass out?” his dad asked. 

“That was the last one, but, um, there’s this thing. I don’t really know what to call it? Maybe a transformation? I can’t hold it for long, but my powers are stronger when I’m like that. Supposedly.” 

“Well, let’s see it then Phantom!” Nightwing said cheerily. 

Taking a deep breath, Danny did his best to summon the rings of light that he knew would wash over him. It just took him reaching into his inner self, his core for the rings to appear around his middle, traveling in opposite directions. His T-shirt, sweatpants, and sneakers disappeared, transforming into a tight fitting black and white suit. It looked slightly different than what he remembered. There wasn’t a symbol on his chest, and the suit looked more professional and sturdier than what he remembered. The suit was mostly black, but the ends, basically where his hands and feet were white. There was also a strip of white around his waist. 

As soon as he transformed, an alarm went off on Batman’s arm and on Nightwing’s. His father glanced at it, before his face went pale, hastily grabbing Danny’s arm and checking his pulse. 

“Danny, turn back. Now .” Nightwing demanded, his voice scary and scared at the same time. 

Worried, he did. The alarms stopped, Nightwing checking his pulse once more. He breathed a big sigh of relief, placing his hands on Danny’s shoulders, leaning down so his forehead was touching Danny’s. 

“B. I’m done with tests. I can’t do anymore right now. We’re done. My heart can’t take another surprise right now,” Nightwing straightened up, looking at Batman. Danny couldn’t see his expression from this angle. 

“I’m taking my kid and we’re gonna go play.” 

With that, Danny was hoisted up in the arm, thrown carefully over Nightwing’s shoulder before the man walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

Danny wasn’t really sure how he should be feeling at the moment. Part of him was elated that Nightwing had called him his kid (well, if Nightwing was Dick, then he’d been calling Danny his son for a while…) and part of him was upset. Danny was carried down the halls and brought to what seemed to be a random bedroom. He was swung onto the bed, his father crawling up onto the bed after him, wrapping Danny up completely in his arms. Nightwing buried his head into Danny’s shoulder, his own shaking slightly. 

Was…

Was Nightwing crying?

“D-Dad? Nightwing? A-Are you alright?”

“No. I’m upset. Danny…” Nightwing pulled back, his hands coming up to cup either side of Danny’s face. 

“Danny, you didn’t have a pulse. That really scared me. If you couldn’t -” Here his father took a shuddering breath, “if you couldn’t change back, I don’t know what I would have done.” Danny could hear the pain and devastation in Nightwing’s voice. 

“I didn’t - I didn’t mean to -” 

“Shhhhh. I know sweetheart. I know you didn’t mean to. I know.” Nightwing hugged Danny tight once more, petting Danny’s hair. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t know I would react like that. Can you - Can you do something for me, little bird?” 

Danny nodded frantically. He would do pretty much anything to make his dad feel better. 

“Can you promise me that you won’t - won’t change like that without letting me, Batman, Bruce, Dick, or Alfred know?” 

“I promise Dad, I won’t,” Danny told him earnestly. The whites of Nightwing’s domino narrowed slightly. Oops. 

“Danny. You called me dad?” Danny flushed. 

“I, well, you helped me so much when I first woke up, and you really care about me, and we have a really strong family bond. So…. aren’t you my dad?” He had stumbled through that explanation, but his dad - Nightwing - should understand what he was trying to say. He also didn’t want to reveal his suspicions… not yet. 

Nightwing sighed, running his hand through his hair. 

“Can you give me lots of cuddles? And snuggles? I would love some if you feel comfortable giving me some.”

Of course he would! He loved being close to his dad! Nightwing hadn’t had any problem before, with them cuddling or being physical, he’d literally carried Danny here. 

“Yeah! Why wouldn’t I?” Did Nightwing think he wouldn’t not to? 

“I don’t know. Just wanted to give you an option, little bird. You don’t need to hug or give physical affection to anyone you don’t want to,” Nightwing explained, shifting back so he was leaning against the headboard. Danny looked at Nightwing like he was stupid. 

“Duh. I know that,” Danny said, crawling up to lay on top of the hero. Nightwing laughed, ruffling Danny’s hair. 

“Okay, just making sure. You’re such a cuddle bug that I wanted to make sure you knew you didn’t have to be.” Danny frowned. 

“I want to. I love hugs.” 

Nightwing sighed. 

“We unfortunately can’t spend the rest of the day cuddling and talking. Are you hungry?”

“Not really. I had ice cream, remember?”

“Well, you need to eat some more before we play. There is some fruit that you can have, it’s good for you. They’ve got lots of Vitamin C.”

“Do you think I’m going to get scurvy or something? I’m not a pirate.” Nightwing laughed. 

There was a knock at the door. It then opened, Robin stepping inside with Red Robin coming in right after. 

“We heard the alarm. It seems… you are fine.” Robin stated. 

“I told you Baby Bat, they’re fine. Batman would not be this calm if something had happened,” Red Robin reassured Robin. 

Danny sat up, moving his limbs around, Nightwing wincing underneath him. 

“Be careful where you put your weight, little bird,” Nightwing reminded him. Ah, right. Nightwing’s ribs were probably still bruised. 

“Do you guys wanna come join us? We’re cuddling.” Danny asked them. Nightwing had said that he wanted snuggles, so more was probably better. If they were related, they wouldn’t mind either. 

Red Robin laughed lightly, before crawling on to the bed. 

“Wow, Phantom asks once, and you willingly go to bed,” Nightwing teased. 

“What can I say? He’s cute. Plus he’s not trying to restrict my caffeine intake.” Red Robin snarked, laying down and stretching out, his head near Nightwing’s shoulder.

“Oh, are you saying I’m not cute?” Nightwing asked with a grin. 

“Take it however you want.” Danny watched the two of them interact with interest. 

“Are you coming Robin?” 

“No. The bed looks crowded. Nightwing. When will we be grouping to play… Hide and Seek.”

“Uh, give us about half an hour? We’re going to snuggle a bit more, then Phantom needs to eat some more.” 

“Understood. See you then. Nightwing. Red Robin. D - Phantom.” Robin turned around and stalked out. Once the door closed, Nightwing sighed. 

“He’s still always so formal when in uniform,” Nightwing mumbled. 

“Don’t think that’s ever going to change,” Red Robin muttered. 

The three talked for a little while, Red Robin showing Danny some of the super cool gadgets he had, as well as the amazing computer that was on his arm. 

When their snuggle time was over, Red Robin ended up being the one to carry him. So Danny liked to be carried. Sue him. It was kinda wild though how strong Red Robin was. He’d thought the man would have struggled more, considering that he was smaller and not as strong looking as Nightwing or some of the other heroes, yet Red Robin carried him with ease. 

They ate some oranges, Robin having returned and ‘supervising’ them. Although he did grab a pear, peel it and hand Danny slices. His core thrummed in laughter at that. Robin was just like Batman and Uncle Jason. Uncle Damian too, now that he thought about it. They all didn’t talk too much and were kinda blunt, but they showed they cared with their actions. 

Finally. 

Finally it was time to play with other heroes! 

They made their way back to the room they’d Zetaed into. There were a couple other heroes waiting for them. 

The closest one to them was a young man in a white and red costume. It was basically white, except for a red stripe down the middle and red gloves and shoes. He had yellow and red goggles, with reddish brown hair. 

The next was a blonde haired woman with star shaped earrings (which Danny loved! Could he get some star earrings too?). She had a black hairband, along with a black red and gold top, the gold zigzag separating the black which was on top and the red which was on the bottom. She had red pants, silver bracelets on each wrist, and a glowing golden rope that was looped neatly and resting at her hip. 

The third was a man with black hair and piercings, ridiculous sunglasses, and a leather jacket. Underneath the jacket was a suit that was blue on the top with Superman’s symbol which then led down to a pointed V where it transitioned to red pants. There were two belts slung across the man’s hips, and one around his right thigh. The thick heavy black boots with the belts were impressive too, as were the fingerless red gloves with silver pieces on the knuckles. 

What was the most exciting though, was the familial bond that connected him and the punky Superman. Superpunk? He didn’t know what kind of familial bond it was, as it wasn’t like any of the others he’d had so far. Danny excitedly tugged on Nightwing’s hand. 

“What’s up little Phantom?” 

“You said to tell you if I have family bonds with anyone. There, the punk superman. I don’t know what kind of bond it is, but we have one!” Danny explained excitedly. 

“O-oh. I see,” Nightwing said, clearly shocked. 

“What? Why are you surprised?”

“I suppose… that I assumed that since you didn’t have one with Superman, you wouldn’t have one with Superboy.”

Oh. That did make sense. Danny got why it was weird that he had a bond with Superboy. But he had one, so what did it matter? And it wasn’t a parent one. Or an aunt or uncle one. Or a grandparent one. So what did that leave? Cousin? Brother? 

Brother felt right.

Danny let his hand slip from Nightwing’s hurrying over to approach the heroes who were chatting and laughing with one another. 

“Hello!” Danny greeted them cheerily. “Are you guys going to be the ones playing with me?” 

“Heck yeah we are!” Superpunk, aka Superboy, cheered. 

“We’ve been looking forward to it!,” the blonde haired lady said. 

“Yeah, RR’s been hyping it up. It’s going to be Crash!” the final guy said. 

“Who’s RR? Oh! Um, I’m Phantom! That’s my code name! I picked it today,” Danny told them proudly, puffing out his chest a little. Yeah, he was pretty cool.

“RR is me, Phantom,” Red Robin said, stepping forward to join the group. “These are my friends. When I had the Robin mantle, and even now, we work together a lot. This is Impluse,” Red Robin said, pointing to the man in the red and white costume. 

Gesturing to the lady, he said, “This is Wondergirl, and that is Superboy. Robin is playing with us as well.” 

Danny looked between them. If Superboy was related to Superman, then was Wondergirl related to Wonder Woman? Red Robin was obviously related to Batman. So then who was Impluse related to? Also, hadn’t he eaten some of Impulse’s ice cream?

“Who’s your super parent?” Danny asked, looking at Impulse. “Also, I’m pretty sure I ate some of your ice cream.”

“Oh! The Flash is my gramps. He’s part of the Justice League. Funny story, my dad is like, a baby right now, time travel, am I right my dude.” Impulse told him with a grin. 

“Alright! Now that you’re all introduced to each other, why don’t we play? We’re out here in the desert, but no leaving the building! There’s also going to be a timer here on this screen. When it goes off, you need to come back here. You can use any of your gadgets or abilities, but no property damage please! For fairness’s sake, Robin will be the first seeker. Any questions so far?” Nightwing asked. 

They all shook their heads. 

“Great, your time starts…. NOW!” 

At Nightwing’s exclamation, the timer on the large TV screen started to go down.

The others ran off, grins on their faces, Danny flying right behind them. Hide and Seek was fun!

Until it wasn’t. 

Due to his invisibility, the others struggled to find him. His brother, Superboy, was able to hear his heartbeat, like Superman could. That didn’t help Superboy though when Danny phased through walls to get away. Red Robin did something that made it so he knew where Danny was, but Danny could evade him by disappearing through a wall. 

After the third round, Nightwing switched around some of the rules. Danny wasn’t allowed to phase through walls, and it would be the Team against Danny. Danny would have a red piece of fabric, which would be the flag. Danny was practically wiggling in excitement, a mischievous grin on his face. 

“Five against one, lil Phantom! You think you can beat us? Give us the run around?” Superboy teased with a massive grin. 

“Yeah! I totally can!” Danny responded. 

“We will not go easy on you,” Robin stated, crossing his arms. 

“It’s going to be harder than you think, you can’t use your density shifting,” Red Robin reminded him, typing something on the computer thing that was on his arm.

“That’s true,” Danny said, eyeing the timer. Thirty seconds left till he left to hide, then another thirty seconds before he would be chased. 

“But what makes you think I haven’t been holding back?” Danny asked the group in stereo as he created four duplicates. 

Oh, those shocked faces and Nightwing holding back a grin behind his hand was totally worth it. Danny turned and ran, him and all of his duplicates laughing as the timing signaling he could hide rang out. They all ran out of the room through the same hallway, but Danny turned invisible, letting his duplicates run loudly down the hallway. They would be his decoys. 

Creeping down the hallway invisible along the edge, Danny heard the second timer go off, meaning Robin, Red Robin, Wondergirl, Impulse, and Superboy would be after him. That was fine. Danny continued down the hallway, looping back around to make it back to the room where the Zeta tubes and Nightwing was. 

Nightwing was standing there, texting on his phone, the timer above him ticking down. Eighteen minutes left. Danny floated up, so he was hovering over Nightwing, slipping his arms around the hero’s neck, the man stiffening, reaching up to tightly grip his arm, then it relaxed. 

“That you, little bird?” the man whispered. 

“Uh huh. Can I be a Koala?” 

“A Koala?”

“Yeah, baby Koalas cling to their mom’s back. So… can I hang out here? On your back? I can float a bit so I’m not heavy,” Danny offered. 

“Of course sweetheart. You can be my Koala anytime,” Nightwing said with a soft smile that Danny could just barely see.  

Danny’s inner self purred, happy he could hang out here. He lifted his legs up, wrapping them around Nightwing’s middle. He nuzzled the back of the hero’s neck and head. Danny was pretty sure they wouldn’t think to look back at the start to find him. Not only that, but he could chat with his favorite hero! It was kinda boring when he had to hide and no one was finding him. Sure, it was lots of fun when he was being chased, but when he could just phase away? 

Yeah. 

Not so much.

He sighed. It was a good thing Nightwing had said that he couldn’t phase. It should make playing more fun. 

“What’s that big sigh for, D - Phantom?”

“Playing like this wasn’t as fun as I’d thought it would be. I have too many powers,” Danny mumbled. 

“You do have a lot. But so does Superman. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Nightwing reassured him. 

“Okay.” Danny wasn’t fully sure about that, but he’d believe his dad for now. 

“Do you have any fun plans for tomorrow? Or is there anything you want to do?” Danny hummed, thinking. A devious idea sparked in his brain. 

“Um, I wanna hang out with my dad. I barely got to see him today. I feel better when he’s around. We always do what I wanna do… so maybe we can do things that he wants to do. As for other stuff… I have a lot of aunts and uncles, and I don’t really know anything about them, or grandpa and great grandpa. I don’t know. That would be nice, I guess,” Danny rambled a bit. It was all true. He was just… purposely saying more than he would if he didn’t think Nightwing was Dick.

He waited. If Dick was Nightwing, he would feel emotional, right? From Danny’s words? Checking their bond, he was pleased to note there was surprise, love, and a deep sense of appreciation? Was that even an emotion? Oh well. He felt it. 

Yup Yup. 

Nightwing was Dick! 

Dick was Nightwing! 

Ancients, that could mean so many different things when it came to his other Aunts and Uncles! And Grandpa!

“That’s very sweet of you little bird,” Nightwing said, his voice a little choked. “I'm sure they’ll all be so happy to hear that.

“Do you think Superboy can come visit sometime? I want to hang out with him too.”

“I - sure, he can come hang out sometime. He um, he actually already does come by Gotham fairly often.” 

“He does?!? Cool! Oh, but does he only come as his hero self?” Danny asked worriedly. 

He was just figuring out who Nightwing, Batman and some of the others were! If he had to figure out who Superboy and potentially Superman was, that would be a lot of mysteries! Plus, he’d had a lot of clues to figure out his two dads were the same person…

Finding out who his brother was would probably be a lot harder. 

***

Red Robin had eventually found him, and he couldn’t be a koala any longer. Sensing that Danny was getting bored with their games, they’d gone back to that gym room, and Danny had covered it in snow. After that, they’d throw snowballs at each other, he’d made a snowman, and made a few snow angels on the ground with Nightwing, giggling all the while. Impulse didn’t join them, something about it being too cold for him.

When they were done with the snow, Danny melted it all. They went to a different room, where they played musical chairs. It was hilarious to watch the adults fight over the chairs. They never fought with him though. Danny won twice because of the fighting, but Impulse won the other two rounds. Being super fast was an advantage to the game. 

After that, Danny had to say goodbye, Nightwing telling him that he had a session with Black Canary. Danny gave all of them hugs, but he hugged Superboy the longest, looking up with his best puppy eyes, asking if the hero would visit him. Superboy had been surprised, but had fumblingly agreed, after he was kicked in the leg by both Robin and Red Robin. 

Unsurprisingly, Nightwing explained that he would have the session alone, and that he would be gone afterwards, explaining he had to head home. Danny nodded, understanding. Nightwing had to disappear, so Dick could reappear! It made perfect sense. 

He didn’t know about talking to Black Canary, but his dad explained that it would just be a discussion about whatever Danny wanted to talk about, and that he didn’t have to answer anything. So that was cool. 

He sat on the couch, shuffling as he looked at Black Canary, who was sitting across from him. She smiled at him. 

“Hi Danny. It’s good to see you. How are you doing?” She asked.

“Um, I’m doing good!” 

“That’s wonderful to hear. I’m glad you’re settling in well with the Waynes. They’re a wonderful family,” she commented. “I was a little worried because Dick told me you’d been having nightmares.”

“They’re great! The nightmares aren’t about them, they’re… they’re about before. Before I lived with them. Before I woke up,” Danny lost a bit of his exuberance, reminded of the portal thing. 

“I’m sorry to hear that. I know you’ve talked about it a bit with your dad and your Uncle Jason. Did that make you feel better?” 

“Yeah. But I always cry when I talk about it…” Danny frowned, looking away. He didn’t like crying so much. 

“Is there something wrong with crying?” Black Canary asked gently. 

“No, but… I just do it a lot. And Aunt Steph called me a baby. I’m not a baby,” Danny grumbled, pouting slightly. 

“Physically, no, you’re not. You have the body of a seven year old child. Not only that, CADMUS put a lot of information in your mind. But Danny… emotionally, you are much younger. You don’t have all the emotional experiences that other children your size have had. So, there’s nothing wrong with the fact that you’re more emotional. In fact, it’s to be expected.” 

“But I can walk! And talk! I’m not a baby,” Danny protested. 

“Yes, you can walk. But didn’t you need help at first? I remember Nightwing helping you stand, and learn how to walk. You struggled to eat and use your hands too. It only took a week or so for you to learn, but emotions are harder, there are many adults that struggle with emotions as well. So don’t be too hard on yourself Danny when it comes to your emotions. You’re still learning, and that’s okay.” 

Danny hummed, thinking, swinging his legs back and forth, his feet just skimming the ground. He looked back up at the kind hero. 

“Can we talk about something else?” he asked. He needed… he needed to think about this stuff. And probably talk to his dad about it. 

“Of course Danny. This is your time, we can talk about whatever you want.”

Huh. What did Danny want to talk about? 

“Ummm… I don’t know.” 

“Do you want to talk about your dad? And your family?” She offered. 

“I can talk about them. I love them.” Danny told her, grinning happily. 

“That’s great! Do you think they love you too?” 

“Yeah! My dad’s told me that he loves me, and I can feel it too, with our bonds! I can’t feel it unless I’m close, but my dad picks me up and cuddles me a lot, so I get to feel it a lot too. Some of my grandpa, uncles, and aunts haven’t said it, but I can feel it from them too. They love me and they want to protect me,” Danny gushed. 

“Is that important to you, that they protect you?”

“Yeah, the other me was sad and hurt a -” Danny cut off. 

Uh oh. He hadn’t - He didn’t mean to talk about the first life, the previous version of him. He’d wanted to keep that a secret. Not only that, but the other him didn’t matter, he was the past, Danny was now. The previous Danny had also wanted Danny to be happy, to live his life without worrying about the past and what he’d gone through. That was why all the memories were sealed away, right? 

To protect the current him?

“What do you mean by the other you?” Black Canary pressed. Danny shook his head frantically. 

No. 

No, he didn’t want to talk about that. 

“Did someone tell you not to talk about that? Someone at CADMUS?” She probed. 

Danny didn’t answer, drawing his legs up, squeezing his eyes tight. 

Living a second time wasn’t something people really did, not only that but crossing dimensions too! Would - would his dad hate him? He’d been lying, kinda. He just hadn’t told them everything about what he remembered from before. 

Danny could feel his heart hammering in his chest, far louder than normal, his breathing picking up. His core quivering in uncertainty.

He needed - He needed to leave, to leave this room. 

Mind made up, he got up, ignoring Black Canary’s call to wait. He phased through the door, looking around wildly. Sitting in one of the chairs just outside the door was his dad, having looked up upon seeing Danny’s movement in his periphery. Danny pushed his dad’s arms aside, crawling into his dad’s lap, his entire body trembling. 

He just wanted to be held and cuddled right now. 

Danny heard Mrs. Canary leave the room, walking over to speak to his dad. His father was hugging Danny now, rubbing his back soothingly. Danny tuned out their conversation, not wanting to hear it, burrowing deeper into his dad’s shirt, as if it could hide him from the world. 

Chapter Text

“Danny,” his dad whispered, holding him close and pressing kisses to his hair. “We need to get going sweetheart. Are you… are you okay to leave? Or do you need a minute longer?” 

“We can go,” Danny answered shakily, refusing to move his head from where it was pressed against his dad’s chest. He just wanted to bask in the love, protection, care, and worry that he felt radiating off of his dad. 

“Alright.” 

He felt his dad stand up, moving down the hallway before pausing. 

“Do you want to go outside real quick Danny? It’s dark now, we can look at the stars,” his father offered softly. Slowly, Danny lifted his head up. 

“Yeah. That would be nice. Aren’t - aren’t we on the Watchtower though?” 

“No little bird. We’re at a training facility in the Southwest desert. Didn’t you notice that the Zeta tube room was different?” 

“I did, but I didn’t know if the Watchtower had another Zeta tube or something. I didn’t get to explore the entire place.” His dad hummed. 

“That’s true. No, we’re out in the Arizona desert. I - we felt that due to your density shifting powers, it wouldn’t be a good idea to give you free reign to explore on a space station. You might accidentally go outside into space. Not only that, but there isn’t anything… sensitive here. A lot of meta teens come here to learn about how to control their powers. Batman was able to pull some strings to get it mostly empty for today, just for you.” 

Danny felt his core warm. Batman had done that just for him? His grandpa had done that? That was really nice of him. 

The two remained silent as Dick made his way to a side door, scanning his eye before exiting the building. Danny blinked at the warm breeze that hit his face. The ground was a reddish brown, cracked due to the little rainfall. Cacti and thin pale green bushes dotted the landscape. There was no sound, besides his father’s footsteps. His father walked for a few minutes, before finding a large red rock to sit on, moving Danny so he was safe and protected in his lap. 

“It’s late.” Danny commented, noting that the sky was mostly dark, with streaks of red coming from the horizon. The sun must have just set. 

“Yes, it’s definitely past your bedtime, but I think we can make an exception for today,” his dad told him, giving him a small squeeze. 

They only had to wait but a few minutes longer before the red left the sky, leaving it dark. The faint lights from the building behind them cast their shadows in front of them. You couldn’t really see Danny’s since he was safe and protected in his dad’s lap. The stars began to emerge above them; Danny feeling a pang of longing. 

He loved space. 

“Do you think I can go up in space again?”

“I don’t know Danny. The Watchtower has a lot of secretive information on it. I don’t know if the Justice League will be okay with you going up there again. Or if I’m okay with it.” Danny turned his chest to look up at his dad the best he could. 

“Why not?” he asked petulantly. 

“Like I said Danny. What if you phase through a wall and go into space? You wouldn’t survive, little bird. And that - That would make me really sad. I love you, Danny. So much. And I don’t ever want anything to happen to you.” His dad’s voice was choked towards the end, holding back tears. 

Hearing his dad like that took the wind out of Danny’s sails. If it made his dad that sad, that worried… he wouldn’t push. Much. Danny wanted to keep his dad, he didn’t want to have to give him up. 

“Okay. But…I can promise not to phase while I’m up there?” Danny pleaded. He wanted to go back up to space! Even if just for a little bit. 

“We can talk about it again when you’re older.” That wasn’t a yes, but it also wasn’t a no. 

Being older. That brought up Danny’s conversation with Mrs. Canary. 

“Dad. Do I… act like a baby?” Danny could feel the hesitance through their bond. 

“I would say that you do, sometimes. It’s not a bad thing. Not to me. You’ll always be my baby, Danny. No matter how big you get. You’re my son.” 

“Mrs. Canary… we talked about how I’m big on the outside, but still little emotionally. She said it was ‘cause I haven’t been awake long… so I haven't learned how to - to control my emotions.” 

“That makes sense. But, you seem pretty good with your emotions to me. Although, you’ve generally been a very cute,” his dad began to tickle his sides, “very happy little boy.” Danny was giggling, his core thrumming happily by the end of his dad’s words. After a minute or so, his dad stopped his tickling. 

“You don’t have to be happy all of the time, Danny. It’s okay when you cry too. I promise I’ll do my best to be there to comfort you, and if I’m not, you can always go to anyone in our family, and they’ll give you hugs and cuddles, okay?” 

“But… isn’t crying a bad thing?” 

“No, Danny. It’s not bad. It’s okay to feel upset and sad. All emotions are fine, there’s nothing wrong with them. It’s when you start using them to… convince people to do things, or use them against others, that’s when they start to get bad.” 

“Okay. Is that… is that why when I got mad, and yelled at Uncle Jay, I had to leave?” His dad laughed. 

“Yes Danny, that’s part of the reason why. Uncle Jay hadn’t done anything, right? That’s why you felt guilty later, and apologized. You already knew it wasn’t nice to yell at Uncle Jay.” 

All of that made sense. 

Dread filled him, and he shivered. 

What if Mrs. Canary told his dad about the other him? If she told him that he remembered more than he’d told his dad. He’d told his dad about almost everything. Well, not how Jazz was in his cereal dream. Or that he’d been bigger, older in a lot of his dreams. Or that he’d been a king. Or that he’d lived a different life already, and had picked to come here. 

Okay, maybe he was keeping a lot from his dad…

“Dad?” he asked nervously. 

“Yeah Danny?” 

“What if…. What if I haven’t been telling you everything I remember?” he asked, his core shaking with worry. He started actually shaking a little in fear as the silence stretched between them. 

“I would be sad, Danny. Sad that you don’t trust me, and that you don’t believe I would love you no matter what.” His dad’s voice sounded sad, disappointed. 

Checking their bond, Danny felt his throat tighten. He hadn’t meant to make his dad sad… he’d said it was just pretend, and for it to make his dad this sad?

“You promise? You promise you’ll love me no matter what? That you won’t leave?” 

“I promise little bird,” his dad said, his voice practically radiating his sincerity. Danny took a deep breath. 

“I think I’ve lived before. In some of my dreams… I’m bigger. I’m older. In most of my dreams, I’m alone. But in the cereal one, there was a red haired girl. She was older, and she told me to hurry so we could go to school. But dad, I’ve never been to school.” 

While Danny talked, his dad squeezed him tighter and tighter, putting Danny’s head under his chin. 

“Oh. OH. I’m - I’m so sorry little bird. Those - Those are probably my memories. CADMUS has… in the past created clones and input memories into them. Memories from - from other people. It is weird that they input them into you, when you’re more of a hybrid clone and not a direct 100% match, but CADMUS… what they do with clones doesn’t always make sense. We already suspected that they’d input some information, since you know things, things that people generally learn in school as they grow up. I suppose…. I suppose we thought they hadn’t finished, since you don’t know some things, like how you didn’t know the names of any of the Justice League members and thought the Green Lanterns were actual lanterns…” his dad trailed off. 

Danny felt himself relax. His dad already knew? His dad already knew that he’d lived before? Was his dad actually the person he’d been in his memories? But he’d thought his dad didn’t have powers? So how was he the ghost king? Was his dad the one who’d traveled from a different dimension? Did traveling through dimensions make him lose his powers? Did he lose the title of ghost king? Is that why he hadn’t told anyone? It was a big secret? 

It felt wrong? 

But he didn’t really have anything to prove that it was? 

Another thing to add to the things detective Danny would need to investigate.

“Oh. Um. I probably shouldn’t have run away from talking with Mrs. Canary then.” His dad chuckled. 

“Ms Martian told me that you put up a natural block on your memories. It’s - people can unintentionally put blocks on their memory when they’ve experienced trauma. Knowing… what I know about my memories, I’m not surprised. I bet -” his dad took a shaky breath, “I bet all of my traumatic memories were too much at once, along with - with whatever CADMUS did to you. So Danny. Don’t - don’t feel like you have to see those memories. It might be better if you don’t. M - My want, and everyone else who wants to know what CADMUS did to you isn’t worth you seeing the memories that made you so scared you blocked off part of your mind, okay? It’s fine if you never remember.” 

Was that really okay? 

To just… lock all those memories away forever? Pretend they didn’t exist? 

It didn’t feel right though, to forget about Tucker and Sam, most of all Jazz! He also still felt like he was missing someone important… 

“Alright. I won’t purposely try and see the memories. But Dad… it’s memory stuff. I can’t control if I see them or not?” It felt kinda dumb, promising something he couldn’t control. Danny yawned. 

“Maybe. But our subconscious is more powerful than we think.” 

Danny didn’t really believe him, but it didn’t really matter. They sat in silence, looking at the stars, Danny’s eyes beginning to droop. 

“You crashing sweetheart?” 

“‘M not driving a car. No crash,” he mumbled. 

His dad laughed at that, standing up and flipping Danny around, so his head was on his father’s shoulder. Oh, that was nice, having something to lean against. Danny’s eyes slipped closed, relaxing into his dad’s hold. He could feel them moving, his dad walking. 

Ah, there was the beep to let them back into the Not - Watchtower building. 

His dad stopped to talk to someone, Danny vaguely listening to the conversation as he drifted. 

“You okay chum?” Chum. That was grandpa B. 

“No, not really. Pretty sure I’m going to need an emergency session with Dinah after I tuck him into bed,” his dad said with a hollow laugh. 

“He seems to be sleeping well.” 

“Yeah. Using his powers and running around with the others tuckered him out, even though I fed him a bunch of sweets…” A hand brushed the hair on his forehead, moving his hair away from his eyes. His father resumed walking. 

“They were well deserved.” 

“I can’t feed him candy everytime something bad happens, B.” 

“No. Not all the time, but sometimes it’s alright.” His dad laughed. 

“Oh? What’s this? Are you going to become one of those grandparents that spoils their grandkids, showering them in sweets, just to send them back to their parents on a sugar high?” his dad teased. 

“Alfred would never let me,” his grandpa admitted. His dad laughed; it was happy this time. Then he sighed. 

“At least the Zeta tube will be easy this time, with him asleep.” 

“Indeed. Damian told me he had a bond with Conner?” 

“Yeah. It doesn’t make sense. The test showed that 25% of his DNA comes from Clark, yet he doesn’t register him as family, but Clark’s clone, Conner is family. There must be something we’re missing.” 

“It is rather strange. Clark was rather disappointed. He was hoping to do right by Danny, especially since he had not reacted well when Conner was found. Considering the amount of Clark’s DNA Danny possessed, he wanted to take on a more grandfatherly role. He told me he was happy to let you play the role of parent, and would not seek to take that from you.” 

“Wow. That must have been one conversation with him, sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get you to talk this much!” 

“Dick.”

“Kidding, kidding. Mostly. Thanks though, for checking with him…. Dad. That’s one less thing for me to worry about. You coming back with us?” 

“Are you going in through the Cave?” 

“Yeah, he’s out. Don’t think he’ll be waking up.” 

“Then yes.” Danny heard clicking, then even behind his eyelids, there was a brilliant flash. He whined softly, but otherwise didn’t move.

“Yup, fast asleep. Even his nemesis the Zeta tube didn’t wake him!”

“Hmm. You mentioned other things you were worried about?” Another deep sigh from his dad.

“The mission in Paris, the one that was supposed to be a month long. I was able to get Roy to take my spot, but I still have to go for three days. I need to tell Danny. I’m… worried about that.” 

“He will survive, we are here.” 

“I know that, B!” his father said, exasperated. “I just hate the idea of leaving him. He’s been living with us for less than a week, and he was only awake for what, a week and a half on the Watchtower? He’s practically two weeks old! And I have to leave him for basically a fourth of the time he’s been awake! Not only that, he’s very attached to me. And I’m - I’m attached to him too, B.” Danny felt the faint press of a kiss to his forehead, along with a slight squeeze. 

“You are just assisting with an extraction, running the comms, and providing backup, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

“You should still be able to call everyday, video call even.” 

“I know. But it’s not the same.” There was a moment of silence before his dad continued. “I’m thinking of asking Jason to stay here while I’m gone.” 

“As much as I wish he would, I doubt he will… because of me,” grandpa admitted sadly. 

“See, I’m not so sure about that. I can’t ask Timmy because he can’t even take care of himself, so adding an energetic seven year old? Not going to work. Cass left for Hong Kong this morning, so she’s out. Duke is in college, so I can’t ask him. Damian is busy with Wayne Enterprises. Steph works as a nurse, and there’s no way she’s going to have energy to watch him after those twelve hour shifts. Jason loves kids, plus he has a soft spot for Danny already,” there was a touch of pride in his dad’s voice. 

“He’s such a sweetie, everyone can’t help but love him. Jay’s already come twice in the past week, and he actually stayed over last night. That’s more than he did in the past three months. Plus, he doesn’t have a day job, not really. He might…. He might be willing to stay over those three days.” 

“Hmmm.” 

“It’s worth a shot! Otherwise it’s up to you and Clark to watch him. Anyway, don’t stay down here too late B!” His father began to walk again, going up stairs before halting at what Danny could only assume was the top. 

“Oh. B” 

Silence.

“He - I think he has some of my memories. His dream about cereal… he said he was bigger, and that there was a red haired girl telling him to hurry up so they could go do school. I’m pretty sure he was talking about Barbara.” This time, Danny heard a sigh, but it wasn’t coming from his dad. 

After that, his dad started walking again, stopping. Then there was the feeling of going up? An elevator. 

Walking. 

More walking. 

Then he was placed on a bed. His bed. 

The pull of sleep became stronger. He was vaguely aware of his socks and shoes being removed, then the blankets were placed over him, and a soft thing was placed next to him on his left side. 

“Sweet dreams, my little bird.”

Chapter Text

Danny awoke early the next morning, before rushing off to see if Uncle Damian had left yet to walk Titus. He had not, so Danny was able to happily join. As much as he’d had fun (and some of it certainly hadn’t been fun) yesterday, he was happy to be back home. Danny was watching Damian curiously as they walked. He’d realized that Dick and Nightwing were the same person, which meant all sorts of things when it came to the rest of his family! Damian was too tall to be Red Robin, but not as tall as Red Hood. So that pretty much just left Robin. 

Danny could see it. 

They were both kinda formal, didn’t talk a ton. Hmmmm. 

“Uncle Dami, what did you do yesterday while I was gone?” 

“I went to work.” 

Well. Danny honestly should have expected that answer. That’s what Uncle Damian did almost everyday. 

“Yeah, but what did you do after you got home?” Danny persisted. 

“I painted.”

Okay. Danny wasn’t going to get any clues from Uncle Damian right now. 

“Can I paint with you someday? Like, maybe tomorrow? I wanna hang out with my dad today.”

“I can make time tomorrow. We should start with sketching and drawing, and save the paint for a later date.” Damian hesitated, seeing Danny’s disappointment. “Although, we might be able to paint a little.” 

“Yes! Thanks Uncle Dami! Come on Titus!” 

Danny took off down the path, Titus bounding excitedly with him, keeping pace. To his surprise and delight, Damian had decided to run with them too. He was faster than Danny, his legs much longer. Titus barked, speeding up until he was just ahead of Uncle Damian. Danny frowned. He didn’t want to be last! 

Gritting his teeth with determination, he tried to run faster. He was gaining on them! He might be able to catch up to Uncle Dami - 

Danny tripped, falling and skidding in the gravel below, his palms and knees stinging. 

He glanced up at where Damian was, having stopped upon hearing Danny fall. His uncle’s face was calm. He was fine, it just stung a little. Danny sat up, sniffing a little before he stood all the way up. 

“Are you bleeding?” His uncle asked. Danny sniffed, then looked at his dirty palms. There were pinpricks of blood among the dirt and the rocks. His knees stung too, but he couldn’t tell if he was bleeding there or not because of his jeans. 

“Yeah.” 

“Then we shall cut our walk short. I will bandage your wounds once we return to the manor.” Guilt filled Danny. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cut the walk short.” 

“I know you did not.” 

They made their way back to the house in silence, Uncle Dami filling Titus’s water bowl once they returned, then filling his dog bowl. Damian led Danny to the small dining nook, instructing Danny to stay. His Uncle left, then returned with a first aid kit. Damian cleaned his palms. 

“This is rather reminiscent.” Uncle Damian commented. 

“What is remisen - reminisc - reminiscent?” It didn’t happen often, but Danny hated it when he struggled with bigger words.

“Do you not understand the word?” 

“I understand it, I just wanna know what like, past things you’re thinking about?” Danny told him, slightly annoyed that Uncle Dami thought the didn’t know that word. 

“When I was younger, merely a few years older than you are now, your father would often be the one to help me bandage my wounds. It is… fascinating how the tables have turned. I am the one bandaging your wounds, and you are Richard’s son. I am certain my father bandaged Richard’s wounds when he was younger. It is a rather strange and unintentional tradition, between the Waynes and the Graysons.” 

Danny didn’t really know what to say to that, except something nagged at him. 

“Wait, Grandpa Bruce’s last name isn’t Grayson?” Uncle Dami raised an eyebrow at Danny’s incredulous tone. 

“No, it is not. His last name is Wayne, as is mine. Richard’s and your last name is Grayson. Now, lift your jeans. I need to see if there are any wounds there,” Uncle Damian commanded. 

Danny pulled up his pants, bunching them around on his thighs. Both of his knees were skinned, his right one worse than the other. Damian cleaned them off, Danny wincing at the sting. 

“Does everyone have different last names?” 

“The majority of us, yes. Did you assume all of us had the last name Grayson?”

“...Maybe.” 

His Uncle let out an amused huff, putting a bandaid on the scrapes on his right knee. His left wasn’t bad enough to need any. Great Grandpa Alfred entered the kitchen, glancing at the two boys with a raised eyebrow. 

“Good morning Master Damian, Master Danny. It is rather early for dressing wounds. What happened?” He asked, as he began to move around the kitchen, getting out ingredients. 

“I fell. Are you making breakfast?” Danny asked, watching his great grandfather curiously.  

“Indeed I am. I am making crustless quiches.” 

“Can I help?”

“I can hardly say no to an extra pair of hands, especially after your exceptional assistance to Master Jason yesterday. Do you wish to help as well, Master Damian?” It was phrased as a question, but Danny got the feeling it really wasn’t.

The three began to work, Alfred assisting Danny in cracking the eggs and stirring them till they were all yellow. Danny washed the bell peppers, removed the brown flaky outside of the onion, and retrieved the garlic from their papery prison. He watched as his uncle and great grandpa carefully cut and chopped the different ingredients. Danny wasn’t allowed to help chop, but maybe one day he could. 

Alfred pulled out some circular white dishes, which were apparently called ramekins. With his great grandpa’s help, Danny poured the egg mixture into the ramekins, then they added the vegetables before placing them in the oven. Danny wanted to watch them cook, so the light was turned on inside the oven, and he sat in front of it. 

It got boring quickly, as it didn’t change or cook quickly. Thankfully Titus came over, planting himself down next to Danny on the floor. Uncle Dami had shown Danny where Titus liked to be pet, and Danny was rewarded with Titus’s back leg twitching and moving in delight. Giving Titus a kiss on top of his head, Danny thought. 

It would be nice to have his own pet, wouldn’t it? Uncle Dami could teach him how to train a dog to be just as well trained as Titus. Also, wouldn’t Titus like a friend? It could be lonely without friends. Danny had his maybe imaginary maybe not friends. But they weren’t here now, were they? Would Danny meet anyone his age? 

Danny was surprised when the timer beeped, glancing inside the oven. Oops. He’d missed watching it cook. Grumbling, Danny went off to wash his hands at the direction of his great grandpa. Apparently he needed to wash his hands before eating, considering he’d been petting Titus. 

Titus wasn’t that dirty. Could he help Uncle Dami give him a bath one day? 

After breakfast, Danny and his dad made their way to an AMAZING gym! There were ropes, cargo nets, and all sorts of things to swing on and climb on, even a set of trapeze swing things! Danny yelled in excitement when his dad told him they would be climbing, doing flips, and maybe, just maybe, if Danny was really good and listened, he could start to learn how to use the trapeze!

After changing his clothes into some weird brightly colored leotards that his dad helped him get into, they spent the next few hours climbing, stretching, and swinging. Danny wasn’t as flexible as his dad, but he wasn’t too far off! His father explained that with some practice, Danny could be just as flexible as him! Danny really wanted that. He wanted to be just like his dad! 

Finally, finally, they made their way to the trapeze. Danny was kinda tired at that point, having run around having fun with his dad. It took some time, but his dad explained how to dismount, Danny needing to practice the tuck and roll he’d learned earlier. It didn’t take long till they were both swinging slowly back and forth, upside down on the trapeze, Danny giggling and laughing uncontrollably. 

It was really fun! 

Dad said they would practice for a while before they brought in another person to start practicing swinging to and fro from the different swings. 

As it slowed, Danny dismounted, just like his dad had explained, falling into the net below, his father right behind him after he got out of the way. Danny crawled back onto the net once his father landed, laughing, a massive grin on his face. 

“Danny? We need to get off -” His dad stopped as Danny got close enough to start tickling him. 

Payback! 

“Oh, you’re on little bird!” His dad exclaimed, reaching over to tickle Danny back. 

The two rolled around in the net, laughing, stopping when Danny pleaded for it between laughs. They laid back in the net, breathing a little hard. 

“Danny, my little bird. My little… Robin. There’s… something I need to tell you.” Danny looked up curiously at his dad’s face. 

“I - I need to go on a trip for a few days. I’ve asked your Uncle Jay to stay at the manor for most of it, and for some of your other aunts and uncles to come visit while I’m gone, so you won’t be lonely. Your grandpa Bruce and his friend Clark will watch you the last day. I’ll call you every night, okay?” 

Danny wasn’t sure how to feel. He didn’t want his dad to be gone for a little bit. 

“You’ll come back though, right? You promise?” Danny couldn’t help the wobble in his voice. He didn’t want to think about what would happen to him, what he would do if his dad didn’t come back. 

“I promise, Danny. I’ll only be gone for three days,” his dad told him earnestly. Danny frowned. 

“Three days is a long time.” 

“I know sweetheart, but your aunts, uncles, and grandpa are planning all sorts of fun things for you to do while I’m gone. You’ll be so busy you won’t even miss me,” his dad said with a grin, but it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“No. I don’t believe you. I’ll miss you the entire time! I don’t want you to go!” Danny whined, moving around till he was laying on top of his dad, clinging to him. 

“Sweetheart - Danny - let’s get off the net.” 

Sniffing, Danny reluctantly got off the net, clinging to his dad’s leg as soon as his dad clambered off as well, tears starting to fall. He was scooped up in his dad’s arms, Danny frantically reaching out to cling to his dad’s neck. 

“Oh, Baby. I’m not leaving yet. We still have a week together sweetie. No need to cry,” his dad told him, attempting to soothe him. 

Danny didn’t care though, clinging tightly and hiding his face and his tears in his dad’s chest. His father sighed, carrying them to the bathroom to change. Danny insisted on his dad staying right outside the door to the toilet and talk to him as he changed, slipping his hand into his father’s as soon as he finished. Danny just… he hated the idea of his dad having to go away for a while. Especially now that he knew that his dad was Nightwing! He’d spent his entire life so far with his dad. Yeah, it wasn’t that long, but that didn’t mean he wanted his dad to leave for three days!

During lunch, Danny insisted on sitting in his dad’s lap, even though it wasn’t really practical. He didn’t care. 

His dad was leaving soon. 

It didn’t matter that he said he was coming back, Danny didn’t know that. Not really. He wouldn’t believe it till his dad came back. Any attempts his dad made to pull him off just caused Danny to start crying and cling tighter. 

“Danny,” his dad said, petting Danny’s hair, “I’m still here, I haven't left yet. It’s okay sweetheart.” 

That reassured Danny a little, but not enough. So his dad brought him to his great grandpa. 

“Alfie… I don’t know what to do. He won’t stop crying and won’t let go,” his dad told the older man, desperation leaking into his tone.

“Master Dick, it has been a long time since I raised a child this age, but I believe the best option is to get items that comfort him. I shall grab Jasmine and his blanket and shall meet you in the library. Are his books in his room?” Great Grandpa Alfred always sounded like he knew what to do. He was so smart. Danny sniffled.  

“I - Yeah, the ones Jay got him are there. Thanks Alfred,” the relief in his dad’s voice was palpable. 

Before Danny knew it, he was wrapped up in his blanket, Jazz in hand, cuddled in his dad’s lap. His father was reading him some of the fairytales. It was soothing, as was the ear he had pressed to his dad’s heart. The steady thumping was reassuring. Grandpa Bruce, wearing a warm looking long sleeve shirt and some slacks, entered the library, holding a bunch of Danny’s action figures. 

“Bruce?” his dad questioned. 

“Alfred… reminded me that I haven’t played heroes with you and Danny,” there was something weird about the way Grandpa said it. Danny watched him curiously. 

Wait. 

Grandpa Bruce was probably Batman. 

Did that mean he could play heroes with Batman and Nightwing? 

“Dad, can we play?” Danny asked excitedly. His dad pressed a kiss to his head. 

“Of course, little bird. Here - Let’s move this table, then we can get down on the floor.” 

Danny reluctantly slid off of his dad’s lap, opting to hold his father’s hand to still keep that link to him. He sat down, tugging his dad down with him, looking over all the toys his Grandpa had brought. 

“Here, you can be these ones,” Danny said, handing his dad Spoiler, Signal, and Robin. 

“Grandpa, you can be these ones.” Danny handed him Batman, Red Hood, and Orphan. 

Danny kept Nightwing. Although. He stared at it. Would he have to give it to his dad? Because his dad was Nightwing?

No. He would keep it. His dad didn’t know that Danny knew he was Nightwing. So it was fine. 

“Everything okay Danny?” his dad asked. 

“Huh? Oh, uh huh. Just thinking of what they should do, and who they should fight.” It was partially true. 

“Who does Batman and Nightwing fight a lot?” Danny asked. 

“Condiment Man,” Grandpa said in a deadpan voice. 

“Condiment Man? No way, it has to be the Joker or just random muggers,” his dad protested. 

“Yes, but Batman's fights with the Joker are usually rather brutal, and Joker can be rather sadistic in his… jokes.” Sadistic jokes? What would that even look like? 

“Joker it is! But I don’t know what he looks like…,” Danny declared. He kinda wanted it to be accurate! Batman and Nightwing were going to fight people they actually fought! 

“Is he a clown? Or a mime?” 

“No Danny, we’re not going to have your toys fight the Joker. Let’s think up a fun villain for them to fight. You had them fight Clock man and the Spoon and Fork Duo last time.” Danny pouted. 

“Why not? Why do I have to make one up?” 

“Because he’s not a nice person Danny.” 

“Isn’t that the point? He’s a bad guy. Of course he’s not nice,” Danny protested. 

“He hurt your Uncle Jason,” Grandpa Bruce said solemnly. Danny blinked in shock, then drooped. 

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t - I didn’t know,” he told them guiltily. Grandpa Bruce reached out, ruffling his hair gently. 

“It’s alright. You didn’t know chum.” 

“Is chum something old people say? Batman says it too.” Danny blurted out, both men stiffening ever so slightly. So maybe Danny liked messing with them a little bit, now that he knew, but they didn’t know he knew. 

His dad started snickering. 

“Guess you’re old now, huh B?” his dad teased his grandpa. 

“I suppose so. Jay has been calling me ‘old man’ for years,” Grandpa said with begrudging acceptance. 

“Um, so a villain… how about... the Box Ghost!” 

“The Box Ghost?” his dad and grandpa asked. 

“Yeah! He likes all things square and rectangular! Especially boxes! But he steals them, which is bad. And ‘cause he’s a ghost, he’s going to be real hard for the heroes to capture!” 

With that, they began to play, Danny leading the group of heroes facing the dastardly box ghost (who he’d made an ice figure of a man in overalls holding a box to represent). He actually learned a couple things about the heroes while playing. 

Signal was a meta and fought crime during the day. Red Robin was very good at technology and good at making plans. Red Hood did use guns, but they tended to have rubber bullets in them. Orphan didn’t really talk. 

Playing went well! His dad left twice during it, saying he had to go to the bathroom or needed water. He’d left so quickly that Danny hadn’t really had time to start crying and grab him! He’d just sniffed sadly and continued to play, but not as happily. Grandpa reassured him and distracted him, which was nice. Grandpa made the Batman action figure do the splits, which, knowing it was Batman himself doing that? Made Danny giggle a little while his dad was gone. 

After the third time his dad left, Danny turned to his grandpa. 

“Is dad leaving on purpose?” he asked. Grandpa hesitated. 

“He is,” Grandpa admitted. 

“Why? Why does he keep leaving while we’re playing?” Danny whined. His dad was leaving in a week! He shouldn’t be leaving so much now, while they could still snuggle and play! 

“You were very upset earlier. You didn’t want your dad to leave,” Grandpa explained. 

“I still don’t want him to leave! But he keeps doing it,” Danny complained. 

Danny wanted comfort. Getting up on his knees, he crawled over to where his grandpa was sitting on his side. Grandpa shifted, sitting up more, allowing Danny to crawl into his lap. He’d been in Grandpa’s lap before, when he was Batman, but he didn’t think he’d been in it when Grandpa was Bruce. Gosh secret identities could really get confusing. 

Danny snuggled into the warmth, reassured by the calm, love, and protection that came across their bond. He had his blanket and his elephant with him too. 

“Dick… your father is worried that you’re too attached to him, based on your earlier behavior,” Grandpa said, unease and worry flaring through their bond. 

“Why? Is that really a bad thing?” Danny demanded tearfully. 

“Too much of anything can be bad. There’s nothing wrong with loving your dad and wanting to be with him, but… not letting go and crying when your dad tried to get you to let go, insisting he stay right outside the door when you changed clothes… that’s not normal behavior Danny.” 

Danny pouted, hating that he was right. Why was he acting like that? It was just - just whenever the idea of his dad leaving was brought up, he just felt so scared. Scared that his dad wouldn’t come back. Especially since he was pretty sure it was a mission for Nightwing. His dad didn’t have a job; not anymore, not after Danny. 

“Why are you telling me?”

“You’re a very smart boy, chum. I think you know that you can’t spend every moment with your dad.”

“What if I want to?”

“So you don’t want to spend time with anyone else?” 

Danny didn’t get a chance to answer, his dad making his presence known. 

“Awwww, you two are so cute! Stay there, I want to get a picture!” Danny’s dad cooed, pulling out his phone. 

They sat there for the picture, although everything in Danny was yelling at him that he needed to run over and attach himself to his dad as soon as possible. As soon as his dad sat back down, he wormed his way into his dad’s lap. Sorry Grandpa, he loved being held by his dad most of all. 

“Dad look, Batman’s doing the splits,” He said, pointing to the toy, reveling in his Grandpa’s deep sigh and his dad’s laughter. 

***

The rest of the day went… better. Danny tried not to be as clingy, but he still couldn’t help that panicked feeling when his dad got too far away. Falling asleep had been the worst, Danny tossing and turning for what felt like forever! When he gave up, he crept into his dad’s room, feeling guilty at the deep sigh it earned him.

Chapter Text

Danny skipped walking with Damian and Titus the next morning. He hated doing it, but he didn’t want to leave his dad. It gave him some time to think though. His dad was Nightwing. Grandpa was Batman. That left the rest of the heroes that he had bonds with. Aunt Steph was probably Spoiler, based on the blonde hair. That meant that Aunt Cass was Orphan. Uncle Duke had to be Signal then. Uncle Tim was the only one who was short enough to be Red Robin, which meant Uncle Jason was Red Hood and Uncle Damian was Robin. 

It just all clicked. But then who was Batgirl? He had an action figure of her. She obviously existed, but he just… hadn’t met her yet. Hopefully he would soon. He still had to figure out the weirdness that was his brother, Superboy. If Superboy was his brother, and Superman was related to Superboy, why wasn’t Danny related to Superman? 

Danny really needed a way to keep all of this information straight. 

Now that Danny could look around the room a bit more, it was clear that his dad wasn’t great at cleaning up. Danny puffed out his cheeks, annoyed. Why did he have to keep his room super clean if his dad couldn’t even do that?!? It wasn’t fair! 

A lot of things weren’t fair. 

Like his dad leaving for three days. 

Whining softly, he turned over and wiggled until he was closer to his dad. His shifting must have woken him up, as one of his dad’s arms came up and pulled him closer. 

“Morning sweetheart. How’d you sleep?”

“Slept okay.” 

“Any nightmares?” 

“No.” 

“Good,” his dad was definitely happy about that. “You missed walking with Dami and Titus this morning. That’s one of your favorite things to do. Are you feeling okay?”

“‘M fine. Just… didn’t want to go today. Wanted to stay with you,” Danny admitted, closing his eyes. He knew his father wouldn’t be happy hearing that. 

“Oh honey. You were okay going to hang out with the heroes a couple days ago. You didn’t see me all day then and you were fine. Happy even.” 

“That’s ‘cause Nightwing was there! And you weren’t leaving for a while! This time - this time Nightwing won’t be here, and you’ll be gone too! I won’t see either of you for three days! What if something happens while you’re gone? What if you never come back?!?” Danny was close to hyperventilating at this point, the tears having started at the beginning of his outburst. 

His dad hugged him tight, rubbing his back and gently shushing him. 

“Danny… did someone leave and not come back?” His father asked after a moment. 

“I - I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t know,” Danny said between sobs. 

His father placed a kiss on his crown and continued soothing him. Eventually his hiccuping sobs faded away, leaving Danny tired and with a headache. After a moment, his dad left the bed, but not before making sure Danny had his stuffed elephant and was tightly wrapped in the blankets. From the warm comfort of the bed, he watched as his father picked up the scattered clothes and put them away before getting dressed and ready for the day. Danny squeaked in surprise as he was scooped up out of the bed and held in a princess carry.

“Alright my precious cargo, your turn!” 

Danny couldn’t help the slight blush and embarrassment he felt from being called precious cargo. He squirmed only slightly as he was brought across the hall to his own room and placed gently on the bed. From there, it was easy to tell what his dad wanted. Dutifully, he got dressed and brushed his teeth before coming back out and slipping his hand into his father’s. 

Together, they walked to the dining room. 

The rest of the morning passed rather quickly. He watched some more movies with his dad, he got to spend some time on his Switch, his dad just feet away working on something on the computer. Then they had lunch. 

After lunch, Danny went to draw with Uncle Dami. Danny gave his dad his best puppy dog eyes, but he could only get his dad to agree to stay and draw with them for a bit. His dad promised one hour, then he had to go work on some stuff. Probably whatever Nightwing mission he had. 

It was fun though, drawing. He drew both of his families, his superhero one and his civilian one. None of his drawings looked as good as Uncle Dami’s though. They were just… so good. Thankfully Uncle Dami was happy to explain how to draw people, starting with a sketch and a basic understanding of human anatomy. Well, clearly it was basic to Uncle Dami, not so much to Danny. 

Danny was so engrossed in his lesson, he barely acknowledged his dad ruffling his hair and him leaving, telling them he’d be back to check on them later. 

He noticed though when they were finally going to shift to painting. His inner self shivered anxiously. Danny didn’t like that his dad wasn’t here. But… he could try to be brave. Grandpa was right. He shouldn’t be this… worried or anxious without his dad. Was this the sort of stuff he was supposed to talk about with Mrs. Canary? 

Painting ended up being fun though. Even with an apron to protect himself, Danny still ended up with smears of paint all over his fingers and arms, even with some on his cheek. He ended up making two paintings, trying his best to sketch out what he wanted on the canvas lightly with pencil, using the new techniques that Damian had taught him. 

His first painting was lots of red, but you could kinda tell it was a circus tent. He put someone falling from high up, the wire having snapped. There was a second figure, still standing on the platform, watching the other fall.

The next was of a vibrant green maw, that swirled ominously. Or at least, that’s what Danny was trying to make. It looked scarier in his imagination. 

Surprisingly, Uncle Damian did not pay much attention to the green painting, he paid the most attention to the red one. 

“We should… not let Richard see this one,” Damian stated, staring at the painting. 

“Why not? It’s a circus. Dad said he grew up in a circus. Wouldn’t he like it?” Danny questioned. 

“Normally, yes. But this figure, figures? Here,” Uncle Dami said, pointing to the falling figure. “Why did you draw that? And what happens to the falling one?” 

Good question. Why had he drawn that? Danny furrowed his brows. 

“Uhhhh. I’m not sure. I wonder if it’s another one of my memories? Um, but I’m pretty sure they get saved! And everything turns out okay!” Uncle Damian stared at him. Danny shifted nervously. 

“That is rather… idealistic of you. Let me tell your father what it is about. And we cannot let him see it.” 

With that, Damian turned the easel around, so that it faced the wall. Part of Danny wanted to stomp his foot and complain this wasn’t fair, why did one of the pictures he’d worked so hard on have to hide?!? It was a great picture! There was another part of him that knew that he’d must have remembered something that was probably bad. Why else would Uncle Damian have asked what happened to the person as they fell? Danny was pretty sure they’d been saved. But what if they hadn’t? What if they’d - what if they’d hit the ground? 

That would be bad. 

Very bad. 

Danny frowned, thinking as they made their way to the dining room for dinner, sitting down in their usual spots. Dad had said his parents had died. But he’d grown up in a circus. So was whatever memory he’d accessed - 

“Danny! How was painting? You look like you had lots of fun! And that you need a shower,” his dad said, mirth in his voice. 

“It was good! Uncle Dami didn’t like one of my paintings though. Said we had to hide it.” His dad’s brows furrowed, a frustrated look on his face. Grandpa didn’t look too happy either upon hearing that. 

“Damian,” father said sternly. “He’s just a kid, he’s not -” 

“His painting was fine, for a child. It was the subject matter. It was another repressed memory. One that should not be delved in further, at the moment,” Uncle Dami bit out, interrupting Father.

“What was the subject? In simple terms, Damian,” Grandpa said, although it sounded like an order. 

“It was a circus bathed in red, with at least one, possibly two figures falling from a snapped line. Must I continue? Or do you understand why it should not be pressed?” Damian snapped. 

The table was silent. 

Yup, whatever that memory was, it wasn’t a good one. 

Dinner was awkward. 

Danny felt guilty for having made it that way. 

Weirdly enough, Dad let him have more time on his Switch. Dad… wasn’t okay. He usually only got two hours a day on the electronics he got from Uncle Tim, so having more time was… weird. Then he was passed off to Grandpa, his dad explaining he needed to make a few private phone calls. 

Probably Nightwing stuff. 

Danny pouted, hugged his dad for a while, not letting go one his dad’s first two attempts to end the hug, finally relenting on the third. It was okay though, hanging out with grandpa. They played checkers, and later chess. Danny didn’t win any of the matches, but he was starting to last longer by the time he started getting restless. Grandpa was strong though, picking Danny up and carrying to his room to get into pjs. 

It was starting to feel like being picked up was his weakness. He just loved it. 

After getting into his pajamas, Grandpa snuck him some cookies. He was pretty sure Great Grandpa Alfred knew though. Great Grandpa knew everything. Grandpa knew a lot too. He was able to answer all of Danny’s questions as he tucked Danny in. Danny kept asking questions though. He was not about to go to bed without saying good night to his dad. 

Thankfully his dad came soon and he was able to get his good night. Finally letting himself go to sleep. 

***

The next couple days were a lot of the same. He got up, walked Titus with Damian. Ate breakfast, then did a variety of activities during the day. He went to the gym again, where his dad continued to teach him gymnastics and how to use the trapeze. They went out and had lunch with Aunt Stephanie, and one day they had dinner with Uncle Duke. Grandpa’s friend Mr. Clark came by again, and played some card games with Danny and his grandpa. Uncle Jason swung by too one day, and he read Danny very fancy sounding books. Thankfully he stopped and explained a lot of what was happening, otherwise, Danny would have been very confused. Aunt Cass started to teach him how to waltz and how to do some of the basic moves a ballerina would do. Danny even had tea time one day with Great Grandpa Alfred. Uncle Tim played Animal Crossing with him, and gave Danny a couple pin boards when he’d asked about how to keep information together when you were trying to solve something. It was a nice gesture, but Danny didn’t have any pictures to put on it, nor any pins to actually pin anything.

Danny could tell that Dad was trying to not only let him connect with the rest of his family, but also trying to get Danny used to his dad not always being there. He hated to admit it, but it was working. He felt more okay with his dad being away. Would that last over the three days his dad would be gone? Danny wasn’t sure. 

He was still so nervous about that. 

His dad would be leaving tomorrow. 

Danny hated that. Time was moving so quickly, if only it would slow down. He wasn’t even going to bother attempting to sleep in his own room tonight. There was no way he could sleep. Thankfully, his dad wasn’t forcing him to go to bed when he’d protested, insisting that he stay with him. Danny was snuggled into his dad’s side on the couch, wrapped in the blanket Great Grandpa gave him while his dad did something on the computer. It was all in a different language, one Danny shouldn’t understand. 

But it only took a little bit of staring at it before the language shifted, and all of a sudden he could understand it. Honestly, he had no idea how. That was not on the list of powers he knew he had! Since the documents were talking about Paris, he assumed the language was French? But it really could be any of them, Danny had no way of knowing. It was talking about someone who was undercover, in some sort of smuggling ring, and then a detailed plan that seemed to take approximately a month to fully dismantle and ensure the entire ring was gone. 

Danny just skimmed it, not fully understanding everything the report was saying. He may be able to understand the writing now, but that didn’t mean he understood the chemicals it was talking about, or all of the people and probably places that were mentioned in it. Finishing that particular document, his dad absentmindedly reached out and pet Danny’s hair. Danny sighed softly, his core thrumming happily. 

“You need to go to bed, little bird, it’s almost midnight.”

“No. Not without you,” Danny grumbled sleepily. His dad chuckled. 

“Alright. It shouldn’t be too much longer.” 

Knowing he didn’t have to stay up a lot longer made it harder to stay awake, his eyelids feeling heavy. His dad was typing this time, sending out messages to a bunch of different people, most of it in different languages. His eyesight started to adjust to the language, before dad moved to a different chat and typed another one. Danny was able to catch snippets though. 

‘Thank you’

‘Paternity’

‘Leader’

‘Short notice’

‘Understanding’

“Okay,” his dad said, snapping the laptop closed and putting it on the table next to him. “Time to go to bed.” Danny sat up, blinking blearily. His dad stood up, stretching, before turning back to the couch and leaning over Danny. 

“Oh, little bird,” he sighed, “you’re so tired. I know I shouldn’t have let you stay up this late, but it was so sweet. And I didn’t want you to go either,” Dad admitted softly, picking Danny up. 

He snuggled into his dad’s arms, happy they could finally go to sleep. Danny was already in pjs, and had already brushed his teeth, so after he was placed on the bed, he half watched his dad go about his nightly routine. Before he knew it, Dad was done and crawling into bed, pulling him close. Their cores were nice and close. He just had to reach out and he could feel his dad’s love and care for him. It was always so nice to feel. 

“Love you Dad,” Danny mumbled sleepily. 

“Love you too, Danny. So much.” Love, pleasure, and happiness spilled across the bond. Danny basked in the warm feelings for a moment, before letting them go. Sleep time. 

“You’ll be careful, right? When you’re out as Nightwing?” he asked, snuggling further in, then yawning. 

“I - what? Danny?” his father sputtered in shock. 

“Nightwing. You have some hero mission. So be careful.” It wasn’t that much of an ask… 

“I - how?” 

“‘M smart.” 

Yup, Danny was very smart and a good detective. Almost as good as Grandpa! Maybe. It wasn’t like he’d solved a lot of cases. Just one. It’s okay though. He didn’t want to be a detective anyway. He was going to be an astronaut, so he could see the stars all the time! 

He could hear how shocked or flustered his dad was (it was really hard to concentrate right now, too sleepy). Danny yawned once more, closing his eyes. It had been worth it, staying up. He’d gotten extra time with his dad, but now he could finally go to sleep. 

So he did.

Chapter Text

Danny woke up slowly. It was already light in the room. The bed was empty. He sat up, alert, his heart starting to pound. Where was his dad? He couldn’t have left, right? He wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Danny, would he? NO. There was no way his dad would do that! Scrambling off the bed, he grabbed Jazz, throwing open the bedroom door and running down the hallway. It was against the rules to run in the hallways, but he honestly didn’t care at the moment.

He ran to the dining room. The sun hadn’t been that high, so Danny could only hope everyone was still eating. Nearly slipping as he raced around the corner, Danny was relieved to see that not only was his dad there, but nearly everyone in the family was as well, only Aunt Cass was missing. Rushing into the room, he ignored everyone except his dad, knocking into the chair slightly to hug his dad from the side. It hurt slightly, where his body dug into the chair. There was just enough room that he might be able to climb into his dad’s lap. 

Okay, maybe not, as he bumped the table hard, shaking it slightly.

“Danny!” His dad scolded, although not harshly. “You’re not going to fit. There’s some empty seats at the end, you can sit down there.”

Dejected, Danny made his way down the table, sending his dad the best puppy eyes he could manage. If his dad just moved back slightly, he could fit… but no. His dad didn’t budge. Danny sat down, hugging Jazz tightly. 

It hurt. 

His dad still loved him, he knew that. But he kept pushing Danny away, right before he was leaving too! It didn’t make sense. Was Danny bad? He’d been trying his best to be good, and he was pretty sure most of the days he was! Yeah, he’d yelled and kicked his dad on the first day, but he’d been a lot better since then! And yeah he didn’t always listen at first, and he may break the rules sometimes when he thought no one was watching, but they were the small rules! Like no running! 

Danny gloomily picked at the food, his hunger having disappeared in favor of what felt like a hard rock in his stomach. It was eggs, hash browns, and fruit. Stuff Danny usually liked. He tuned out the conversation around him. They were talking about his dad’s trip. Who was going to watch Danny (Uncle Jay, Grandpa, and Grandpa’s friend Clark), some of the ‘fun’ things he was going to be doing with his family. It wouldn’t be the same without his dad though!!! 

“Are you feeling alright, Master Danny? You’ve hardly touched your food,” Great Grandpa asked, worry evident in his voice. 

“‘M okay,” Danny fibbed. He hated lying, but he didn’t want Great Grandpa to worry even more. It was clear though that Great Grandpa didn’t believe him. 

“Matters of the heart are just as important as taking care of your body, Master Danny.”

Danny felt his lip wobble. Yeah. He knew that. He needed to talk to his dad, like how he’d done when he’d talked through his feelings about wanting to play with the Team and not wanting to use the Zeta tube. He just - bringing up his dad leaving for a couple days scared him, and made him feel vulnerable and alone. And it hadn’t even happened yet!

There was a sigh from the head of the table. 

“Danny.” 

It wasn’t loud, but it was his dad. Danny’s head snapped over to look at his father, hope welling within him. His dad scooted back, opening his arms. Needing no further prompting, Danny slid out of his chair, nearly knocking it over in the process, and raced over. He felt frantic, climbing into his dad’s lap, sitting sideways in it and looping his arms around his father’s neck, letting Jazz sit in his lap. 

Dany reached out, needing to feel the bond, needing to know that he was still loved. Danny sagged in relief, taking a shuddering breath upon feeling that he was still loved and adored. There was also worry and fear in there too. Was the worry and fear why his dad was pushing him away? Did Danny scare him with all of his powers? Dad said he didn’t scare him. Danny didn’t think that had been a lie. Dad didn’t lie to him, just… didn’t tell him everything always. 

“Hey cuddle bug,” Dad whispered, holding him close and pressing a kiss in his hair. “You doing okay little bird? You didn’t eat your breakfast.” 

Danny didn’t answer, just cuddled in closer. He didn’t have an answer to give. His dad sighed. 

“Hey Danny. I just wanted to ask you about something you said last night.” He looked up at his dad curiously. Something he’d said last night? What had he-? 

Oh no. 

He’d mentioned that he knew dad was Nightwing. 

It was supposed to be a secret, and he’d spilled it! It was fine though, right? He’d just told dad the secret, and dad was the one who the secret was about. He glanced around. Dad wanted to talk about it in front of everyone? 

Oh right. 

Everyone else was a superhero too. 

“Um, yeah, I remember what I said, even though I was real sleepy,” Danny said cautiously. 

“So, what - what makes you think that?” Danny tilted his head. His dad really wanted to go over this now?

“What makes me think you’re Nightwing?” 

The entire table was still, everyone listening in on Danny’s conversation with his dad. He didn’t like it, didn’t like so much attention on him. No, he couldn’t go invisible right now. Maybe later. This - this was important. 

“A lot of things. Do you want me to list them all?” There was a muffled snicker to the left of them. Uncle Tim. 

“Yes Danny, can you list them all.” 

“Well, okay. Like, everything about you physically is the same. And you both call me little bird. No one else does. Just like only Grandpa and Batman call me and other people chum. Um, our bonds are exactly the same. Exactly. And I’ve been paying attention. You’re never together. If Nightwing is there, then you aren’t. If you’re here, then Nightwing isn’t. OH, and, I may have purposely overshared with Nightwing when talking about you, dad. Then I checked the bond and Nightwing shouldn’t have reacted like that unless he was you! So yeah. That’s my evidence.” 

Danny puffed out his chest a bit towards the end. He was proud of his detective work! He’d done a great job! 

“It wasn’t hard to figure other people out from there.” 

“Figure out other people?” his dad asked, his voice higher pitched than normal and fainter than usual too. It sounded kinda strangled? 

“Yeah! Like I said, if you’re Nightwing, and Batman and Grandpa both call me chum, then they’re probably the same person. Their bonds are the same too. Plus, Dad, you told me that you were adopted by a nice older man. Nightwing told me the exact same thing. Also, I’m pretty sure Nightwing said that Batman was his dad, so if you’re Nightwing, then Grandpa is Batman!” 

At the end of his impassioned statement, Uncle Tim started laughing hysterically.

“Found out!” More laughter. “By a three week old! Oh Rao, this is the best!” 

“Tim,” Grandpa scolded. 

“Lay off old man, this is hilarious,” Uncle Jay protested. 

“Oh! Do me next! Danny, who am I?” Aunt Steph asked excitedly. 

“You’re Spoiler. Uncle Tim is Red Robin. Uncle Duke is Signal, Uncle Jay is Red Hood, Uncle Dami is Robin, and Aunt Cass is Orphan. Aunt Steph, who’s Batgirl? I have a toy of her, but I haven’t met her yet.” 

The once boisterous table turned silent again. Uh oh. That wasn’t a good sign. 

“She’s still around, but she tends to go by a different name now. We’ll go visit her after I come back, okay?” 

Danny nodded. He felt a little better now, in his dad’s lap and with the whole secret hero identity thing out of the way. 

“You can’t tell anyone about us all being heroes. That’s a big secret, and if people who aren’t supposed to know find out, they could hurt us or you. I don’t want to scare you, but you need to know it’s very dangerous if you tell people.” Danny nodded. 

“I know. I won’t tell anyone. It’s just like how my powers are secret, and I can’t tell anyone about them, otherwise they’ll try to vivisect me, right?” 

His dad’s eyes widened, a shocked and horrified look on his face. There was the tinkling of glass. Danny twisted his torso a bit. Uncle Jay had broken his water glass, a furious look on his face. Actually, pretty much everyone looked like they were trying to hide how mad they were. 

“Vivisect, Danny?” 

“Yeah, vivisect me. Or rip me apart molecule by molecule to figure out how I tick,” Danny added.

Why did that come to mind? It had to have been something from before. All the random things that popped in his head tended to be from before. He’d promised his dad he wouldn’t try to remember stuff from before if it was painful, but this wasn’t painful, this was just regular old stuff that he felt like people had told him all the time. 

“I think someone told me that a lot, but I don’t remember who. So I tried to hide just all the stuff and I would lie so I didn’t get hurt.” Danny frowned. “It felt bad to lie, but it was to protect myself.” 

“Hey Steph, Duke, Dami. You wanna go on a real quick trip?” Uncle Tim asked in a very cold voice. The three of them nodded solemnly. Dad looked conflicted, like he wanted to tell them no, but also yes.  

“If I didn’t have plans…,” Uncle Jay muttered with clenched teeth. Grandpa didn’t seem too happy either, he had a brooding look on his face. 

“You guys… can talk about going after my trip. Who’s going to hang out and spoil their favorite nephew while I’m gone?” Dad asked them, giving them all a look. 

“Yeah, and if you think that I’m not going to fu-fudging want in on this trip, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m going,” Uncle Jay declared, leaving no room for argument. 

“Fine. But after you come back,” Uncle Duke said, the others agreeing. “Besides, I’m sure Cass wants in on this too.” 

“We can introduce Danny to the Kents. They can watch him while we go on a very brief trip. I’m sure he will love spending time with Conner, and Clark would be happy to watch him as well,” Grandpa told the table. 

“I’m assuming this is something you want to be included on, Dick?” Grandpa asked Dad. 

“NO!” Danny yelled. “NO! You haven’t even left on this trip! You can’t plan to go on another one!” Danny pleaded, upset. 

“You wanted to hang out with Superboy, didn’t you Danny?” His dad asked. Oh. That certainly piqued his interest. 

“Yeah…,” he admitted. 

“Do you want a sleepover with him?” Danny’s eyes widened, his mouth opening to let out a small gasp. 

“Yes!” 

“If you go to the Kents, Superboy will be there, and you guys can have a sleepover. We’ll pick you up the next day. Won’t that be fun?” Danny eyed his dad suspiciously. 

“This feels like a trick. But I wanna have a sleepover with Superboy… Okay. I guess.” His dad ruffled his hair. Yeah, Danny felt like he was gonna regret that later. 

That was a problem for future Danny. 

“Right. Let’s get you dressed, and I can start packing,” Dad said standing up, taking Danny with him. Darn. His dad was still leaving. He’d briefly forgotten about that.

He was dropped off in front of his room. Danny hurried to get dressed and brush his teeth, having showered last night before he’d joined his dad on the couch. Once he was done, he went to his dad’s room, hopping on the bed. His dad had a small suitcase out, and was filling it with clothes. Underwear. Shirts. Pants. PJs. 

Danny eyed it. Could he maybe fit in there? He could be invisible, and just hang out intangible in the suitcase until his dad got wherever. It had been Paris, right? Yeah, he could do this. He looked up, his dad busy with collecting his toiletries. Danny made a duplicate, leaving it on the bed as he phased into the suitcase and then turned invisible. 

Yes, this would totally work. He would hide in the suitcase and go along with his dad! It was going to be hard to stay still though. And he had no idea how long it was going to take. He had Jazz with him too. His dad exited the bathroom, placing toiletries in the suitcase. Danny had to put his hand over his mouth to stop some giggles from coming out as a toothbrush, hair brush, toothpaste, and more were put inside his invisible chest. 

“Alright! All done! Do you want to play with your toys for a bit? There’s still an hour or two before I have to leave,” his dad said as he zipped up the suitcase. 

Oh no. Danny had no idea if the duplicates could respond. Luckily, it did.

“Yeah! Heroes!” came his own voice. 

Alright, it wasn’t great, but whatever. It would have to do. 

The suitcase was hefted up and…

Danny wasn’t in it. 

Thankfully he was still invisible! 

“Why don’t you go to the living room, and I’ll be there shortly. Just going to put this in the main hall.”

Floating up, Danny floated behind his dad, trying to get himself back into the suitcase. It took a few tries (it was even harder because the suitcase was moving!) but he was eventually able to get back inside, staying invisible and intangible the entire time. He assumed they’d gotten to the hall when everything stopped. Then he heard his dad walk away. 

Now… he just had to wait. 

It was very dark, and very boring, but he amused himself by talking quietly to Jazz. He sang to her a little song about soup time, since the cramped dark space reminded him of it, of soup time. He had no idea how much time was passing. It had to be a lot, right? An hour was sixty minutes, and there were sixty minutes in an hour and sixty seconds in a minute. He could start counting? Would that make the time go by faster, or slower? 

Then he heard fast footsteps. 

Oh, had the time already passed that quickly? Was his dad already leaving? 

To Danny’s utter shock, he felt the suitcase being tipped over, then zipped open, revealing the outside world once more. He stayed invisible and intangible, trying to be as still as possible. There was his dad, a thunderous scowl on his face, looking incredibly angry. His dad loomed over the suitcase. 

“Daniel Thomas Grayson! Get out of there right now!” his dad hissed, the fury evident in his voice. His dad couldn’t possibly know he was there- 

“Do not make me say it again,” his father warned. 

Scared and worried, Danny dropped the invisibility, then slowly clambered out of the suitcase before dropping the intangibility as well. Once he was tangible once more, clinging tightly to his stuffed elephant, his dad grasped his upper arms and shook him ever so slightly.

“Danny. What were you thinking?!? What if something happened to the bag? What if you weren’t taken along when I went through the Zeta tube?!? Did you really think that I wouldn’t notice that that was a duplicate?!? Danny! I am… so disappointed in you!” 

Danny began to cry, his core whining and quivering, begging for forgiveness. He’d disappointed his dad! He’d just been worried this morning about being bad, and then he’d had a stupid idea and it had gotten him in the worst trouble yet so far! So much worse than that first day when he’d been super tired! 

“Those tears aren’t going to sway me. You’re going in time out, mister. Now get up,” his dad ordered, still clearly angry. 

Stumbling slightly, he stood, one of his dad’s hands still on his arm, the grip firm, but not painful. His dad led him to the sitting room, then to the far corner. 

“You’re going to stay here and think about what you did. You have ten minutes.” 

Obediently, Danny sat in the corner, continuing to cry. He’d wasted some of the time he had left with this dad! That thought made him cry even harder. He’d messed everything up! Danny had thought he was so smart, figuring out everyone’s secret identities, that he didn’t think he’d be caught in the suitcase. That was dumb of him. 

Eventually his sobs subsided, his core calming down as well, till he was just sniffling and whimpering every so often. Distantly, he heard a timer going off, then his dad approaching. He glanced up from where he was sitting criss-crossed on the floor. Danny’s core trembled, fearing that his dad was still mad at him. Danny stood up quickly, ready to race forward and hug his dad. His dad would forgive him, right? And he’d get all sorts of cuddles? And they could spend the rest of their time before his dad had to leave together! And - 

“Wait,” his dad insisted, his arms reaching out, keeping Danny at arms length, unable to hug his dad. “What did you do? And why was it bad?”

Was this a trick question? He had to answer right, right? Or else he would be kept here? 

“Um - I - I hid in your suitcase,” Danny mumbled nervously. 

“And why was that bad?” His dad asked again. Danny gulped. 

“Uh, ‘cause I was trying to trick you into taking me along with you. And that wasn’t good.” 

“That’s right,” his father agreed, letting go of Danny’s shoulders, “Now, are you going to try and trick me again?”

“No.” 

“Good. Come here,” dad said, opening his arms. 

No longer held back, Danny rushed forward, his eyes stinging. If he had any tears left, he was sure he’d have started crying again. 

“Now. There’s only about an hour and a half left until I have to leave. So you and I are going to snuggle and talk. Because I’m going to miss you, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”

Dad brought him over to the couch, leaning back so he was stretched out along its length, with Danny on top of him. 

“Are you still mad at me?” Danny asked, worried. 

“No sweetheart. You know what you did wrong, you sat in time out, so I’m no longer mad. Time out was to make you think over what you did, and for me to calm down. It was for both of us. Remember how we talked about how emotions can be hard sometimes for adults too? Dad was having a hard time with his anger. It was important for me to take some time away to calm down, let myself feel the anger, and then let it go. My anger came from a place of fear, and worry. I didn’t want to say something mean because I was angry,” his dad explained, gently petting Danny’s hair.

“That doesn’t sound like you had a hard time with your emotions,” Danny accused with a small frown. His dad laughed. 

“Yeah, it doesn’t sound like that, does it? But remember, I’ve had lots of practice, so I knew what to do. Usually, when you get really angry, it’s best to take some time to calm down, and that usually means walking away from what’s making you so mad. I’ve been reading about calm down corners, and how they’re really great for kids to go to to calm down and to learn how to deal with their emotions. Would you possibly want one?” 

“A calm down corner? Um, sure? We can try it, I guess. Where did you hear about it though?” Danny asked, wrinkling his nose. Surprisingly, his dad blushed a little, looking embarrassed. 

“Well. Your Uncle Tim loves to research. So he’s been sending me all these articles on child development and Power Points that he’s made about raising a kid and how he’s going to be a great uncle. They’re good resources,” his dad admitted. 

“Why do you need them though? You’re a great dad, the best!” His dad grinned, leaning up to give Danny a kiss on his forehead. 

“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that, little bird. Love you Danny.” Danny’s core thrummed happily, and he smiled. 

“Love you too dad!”

The two stayed cuddled on the couch, his dad eventually encouraging Danny to drink water. Apparently it was always important to do that after you cried. Dehydration. That’s what caused Danny’s headaches pretty much after every time he cried. Time was not on Danny’s side, as all too soon it was time for his dad to leave.

It didn’t feel real. It felt like an out of body experience, hugging his dad one last time before he walked into an area of the house Danny hadn’t really explored since playing Hide and Seek that first day. All he knew was that Grandpa Bruce’s study was in that direction. His dad would be Zetaing to wherever he was going, through the Batcave. Even though Danny now knew, they didn’t want him to find out where that was. 

It was hard, staying in the hall with Uncle Jason. It took everything in him not to run down the hall after the retreating back of his father. Danny gripped Uncle Jay’s hand really hard, although he was careful not to use his super strength. 

“You wanna make brownies with me?” Uncle Jay offered. “Have you had those yet?” Danny sniffed. 

“Yeah. Sure. No, I haven’t had them,” Danny croaked, his throat all scratchy. 

These next three days were going to suck.

Chapter Text

Making brownies went well. It was distracting, which was probably the point. Danny got to help a lot more this time, measuring out all the different ingredients and helping to stir. After they baked, Danny got to try them. There was something about the chocolatey, fudgy taste that made him tear up a little. 

It was really good. 

After that, Uncle Jay whisked him away to the living room, where they briefly watched a show called Kitchen Nightmares before his uncle switched to a different show called Chopped when Mr. Ramsey said a naughty word. Well quite a few naughty words. They were bleeped, but it was pretty obvious what Mr. Ramsey was saying. It was okay. It was something. Dad had explained that Paris was six hours ahead of where they were in Gotham, so Danny could call his dad after lunch, and then again right before bed. It was going to be very early for Dad, but he’d said it was okay, that he’d still be up. 

“How long till lunch?” Danny asked, clutching his elephant tightly. 

“You’ve got another fifteen minutes or so, kiddo.” 

He was snuggled against his uncle’s side. Danny felt like the only reason he wasn’t super freaked out was because Uncle Jay kept distracting him, and ‘cause when he was close like this, he could feel Uncle Jay’s care for him and how Uncle Jay would protect him. 

Protection. 

That seemed to be really important to him. 

Was Mrs. Canary right? Was being protected that important to him? He wanted to talk to his dad about it, but his dad wasn’t here. 

That sucked. 

Just a bit longer, then he could talk to him. 

When it was finally time for lunch, Danny scarfed it down, giving his uncle his best pleading eyes after he finished. Uncle Jay sighed. 

“Let’s see if he’s free right now, it’s still a little early, but he’s probably - Yeah, okay, come on squirt. We’ll head back to the living room, and then you can call your dad.”

Danny speed walked as quickly as he could to the library. Uncle Jay was watching, so he couldn’t fly. He hopped on the couch, giving his Uncle his best pleading face. Jason sat next to him, opening up his phone and then clicking a few buttons to start a call. He then handed it to Danny. It said calling, and his dad’s grinning face was in a round bubble in the center of the phone. There were a couple other buttons, and it looked like the speaker option had been pressed. A timer started at the top of the phone screen.

“Hey Jay! How’s he doing?” came his dad’s voice through the phone. It sounded slightly different than usual, but that was probably ‘cause it was a phone call. 

“Dad!”

“Oh, well hi there sweetheart! How’re you doing sweetpea?”

“I miss you, dad. Miss you lots. But I’m doing okay, for now, I guess. We made brownies.”

“Yeah? Were they good? Your Uncle Jay makes some really good desserts,” his dad explained. There was some rustling in the background of the call. 

“They were really good. I can save some for you,” Danny offered. Maybe his dad would come home sooner if he offered brownies? His dad laughed. 

“You can try, but desserts never last long in the manor. How about we make some with Uncle Jay when I get back?” 

“You’re banned from the kitchen Dickie,” Uncle Jay reminded from his spot next to Danny. 

“It’s okay Dad, you can watch us. Or maybe we can make cookies or something and you can help decorate. We watched some cooking shows, and there was this commercial for one about cookies, and they were in all sorts of cool shapes with really colorful frosting on them!” Danny started getting excited, thinking about it. 

It could be him, his dad, Uncle Jay, Uncle Damian would probably want to come too, he liked drawing. Drawing on cookies was similar, right? Who else would want to come? Great Grandpa, of course, maybe Grandpa too. Would the rest of his aunts and uncles want to come too? Ooooh, could it be like a party? Could he send out invites or som-

“Sure, I can supervise, and help decorate. You do trust me with using frosting, right Jay?” his dad asked, a teasing note in his question. 

“I trust that you can use it, and that you’ll be licking the damn stuff off of your fingers constantly,” Jason muttered. 

“Anyway, Danny, has Uncle Jay told you some of the fun stuff you guys will be doing yet?” his dad asked, changing the subject. 

“Oh, no. I just know that I’ll get to call you later tonight, and then tomorrow morning.”

“Do you wanna do the honors?” His dad asked. 

“Sure.” Turning slightly to face Danny, Uncle Jay continued, “So, kiddo. We’re going to go hang out at the park, and then I’m taking you to BatBurger. There’s also an amusement park and a go cart place, your choice. Timbo also wants to hang out with you, and Duke’s gonna finally be done with finals, so we’re hangin’ with him on the final day. I got a couple other ideas too, if we run out, so don’t worry squirt, I’ll keep you plenty busy.”

“That’s a lot of stuff,” Danny said in awe. Were they really going to do all of that in three days???

“You just let your Uncle Jay know if it’s too much and you get tired, okay Danny? Plus, knowing you, you’re going to want your cuddle time, aren’t you, my little cuddle bug?” Danny blushed, but was pleased to hear the affection practically dripping from from his dad’s voice. 

“I’ll let him know, just like I know not to say anything about the whole hero thing. But Dad, I don’t really have anyone to cuddle. Uncle Jay and Uncle Damian don’t really seem to like hugs and being touched. I’ve only snuggled with Grandpa like twice, and I’ve never done it with Great Grandpa. I’ve been next to my other Aunts and Uncles, but I don’t know if we’ve really cuddled…” Danny trailed off, unsure. 

He was immediately pulled into his Uncle Jason’s arms. 

“Look, Danny, I’m not the best at initiating physical contact like hugs and shi- stuff, but I ain’t ever gonna turn you away kid. You just need to come find me, and you can be my little octopus.” 

“Jay…” his dad said in a tight voice. 

“Oh, shut up you big octopus. You and your fuc- damn octopus hugs. At least Danny’s asking if it’s okay and not just springing them on me.”

Danny couldn’t help but laugh at that, hearing his dad sputter and try to defend himself over the phone. 

“Yeah Dad! You’re the one who said that you should ask for hugs and cuddles and stuff,” Danny accused. His dad had said something like that, back when he was Nightwing and they were cuddling on that bed after the power tests. 

“I - Well, you’re my son! I’m trying to teach you so that you’re better than me, I want you to have a better life than I did.”

“Does - does that mean you had a bad life Dad?” Danny asked worriedly, clinging tighter to his Uncle. 

“No baby, no, it doesn’t mean that. My life has been good, I’m happy. It’s just… I want you to have an even better one. I want you to be even happier than I am,” his dad explained. 

“But… you’re pretty happy. That’s going to be hard, to make me even happier.”

“I know, little bird. But I still want to try.” Ancients, Danny loved his dad, his core thrumming happily. 

“I have to get going, little bird. Thank you for calling me, Danny. Have fun with your Uncle, and you can tell me all about your day when we talk later, okay? Love you sweetheart.” 

“Love you too Dad. Miss you.”

“I miss you too, little bird.” 

It was silent for a moment, neither side hanging up. It was Uncle Jay who took the phone and ended the call. Danny felt both better and worse after the phone call. He missed his dad real bad right now. He was happier though, after talking to him. His dad was just so much fun and great to talk to. 

“Can we cuddle a little longer? Before we have to go?” Danny asked. 

“Sure kid, we can.”

***

After spending some more time on the couch, where Danny asked a lot of questions about Uncle Jay’s hair, they made their way to the garage. There were… so many cars! Uncle Jay said he usually rode a bike, but Danny couldn’t ride with him on it till he was older. He definitely noticed though that his uncle didn’t tell him how much older he had to be to be able to ride a motorcycle. 

The park was pretty cool, it was brightly colored and there were a couple other kids there, but not many. Danny practically dragged his uncle to the swings. They competed to see who could swing higher. His laughter and joy had attracted the attention of the three other kids there, and once Danny got off the swing, he was shyly approached and asked if he wanted to join them in playing pirates. The playground was the ship, and they raced around, hoisting the sails, walking the plank, and having sword fights with some sticks they’d found under the nearby trees.

Danny had no idea how long they’d been playing, it had taken a little bit for them to get to the park. But the sun was probably still pretty high in the sky when they left? Uncle Jay and Danny went to an arcade next. The lights and sounds were a little overwhelming, but it was AMAZING!!! Danny looked up, mouth open in shock as his uncle gave him a cup filled to the brim with tokens. 

“Are you excited Danny?” Jason asked with a grin, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “There’s a cool motorcycle game that I think you’ll like. Plus I can show you my favorite games.” 

“Yeah!” Danny practically shouted, nearly vibrating in his excitement. 

His uncle led him to a racing game which had two fake motorcycles. Jay lifted him up onto one. 

“Here kid, up you go. Do you recognise that logo?” Danny looked at the screen, then gasped. 

This game… It was a racing game featuring the different Gotham vigilantes! It seemed that most of them had different motorcycles? The game proudly showed off that some of the bikes were heavy, medium, or light, providing all different sorts of racing experiences, depending on what the rider liked. There was some vague plot about needing to race to get to the scene of a crime or something. Honestly, Danny didn’t care. He just wanted to pretend he could ride around and race like his family. 

“Timmy had this game made as a sort of side project,” Uncle Jason explained, walking towards the front of the game, sliding a few of the arcade coins into the machine. 

“Duke and Steph had a blast being beta testers for it. Wayne Enterprises has a deal to manufacture and produce toys and games based on the Justice League and other heroes, and all the profits go to charity. It’s pretty good. Timbo and the others did a good job. Now,” Jay said, as he got on to the bike next to Danny. “You ready to race?”

Danny grinned, as the game began to count down on the screen. 

“You’re on!”

Uncle Jay won every single race, but Danny was getting better in the end! And he didn’t really care anyway! It was so much fun! He did have a little bit of a hard time making the motorcycle turn, mainly because to turn, he had to lean causing the bike to tilt to the side, and it was difficult to get the bike back up into a straight position. Sometimes it sucked that he was so small. This was one of those times. 

After that, they played some shooter game, his Uncle Jay having to help lift him up so he could point the fake gun at the screen. He did okay. They played Skee-Ball, pinball, and they even played two rounds of air hockey, Danny winning one of those. There were so many different games, and Danny wanted to try as many as possible. He was collecting all of these tickets. 

Eventually there were no more tokens in his cup, Uncle Jay leading him to the counter to pick out his prize, giving Danny his tickets so he could get something bigger. After much contemplation, Danny got the small model rocket, a small slinky, and a neon fidget worm. 

Getting back in the car, Danny played with his new toys as they drove to the place, which looked to be some sort of burger joint. Heading inside, Danny looked over the pictures, reading the description before getting what was essentially a burger, fries, and a milkshake. It came with a packaged toy of what appeared to be Signal. It looked a little off, but it was fine. He’d gotten so many new toys today! He couldn’t wait to tell his dad all about it! 

After dinner, they rode back to the mansion, Danny doing his best to hide his yawns. He’d done a lot today! Thankfully Uncle Jay was totally willing to carry him into the house when he lifted up his arms, carrying him up the stairs from the garage. He was instructed to go get changed and ready for bed, and then to meet his uncle in the library. Yawning, he did so, bringing his blanket and Jazz with him to the library. It was tablet time, right? 

He was wrong. 

Uncle Jay pulled Danny into his lap, cuddling close, and then read to him. Danny felt his core start thrumming, relaxing into the warmth, the soothing voice, the strong arm around him. Yes, this was great. Danny snuffled, then wiggled closer, putting his head over his Uncle’s chest, hearing the heart thumping. Danny checked their bond, thrilled with the protection, the care, the love, the… the everything that was coming through it. 

He hadn’t checked the bond since that time in Grandpa’s study. 

Danny would probably be seeing a lot more of it, since Uncle Jay would be watching him tomorrow too. He’d actually had a really fun time. He hated to admit it, but he actually didn’t - 

Wait. 

What was that weird stuff in the bond? 

It was like the green of the not Zeta tube. Why was that in his bond with his Uncle? 

“Mm, Unc’ Jay?” he asked sleepily. 

“Yeah kiddo?” his uncle said in his soft deep voice. 

“Why you got green stuff in you?” he mumbled. His uncle was still, not answering. 

“You can… you can see that?” Jason whispered. 

“Uh huh. It’s hard to see. Like it’s,” he yawned, “like it’s hiding.”

“Is it bad stuff? Or good stuff?” Danny asked, waking up slightly due to the conversation. 

“It’s just something that I thought… I thought was out of me,” there was a bitter laugh. 

“I guess that was stupid of me to think, it’s in too deep to get all the way out. You said it’s hard to see? Is it hiding, or is there just barely any of it left?” Uncle Jay asked earnestly. 

Danny frowned, concentrating on the bond further. There was so little of it… was it hiding? It didn’t seem to be? Especially since it was all over his Uncle’s core, and in their bond. Actually, looking at his own core, which wasn’t something he’d done at this point, he saw even more green on his side. 

Huh. 

“‘S not hiding. Just a tiny tiny bit left,” Dann answered, holding up his hand to show how small it was with his fingers. 

“That’s…. Good. Let’s get you to bed and call your dad. You can tell him all about your day.” 

Uncle Jay didn’t leave any room for him to protest, taking him to his room and putting him in the bed. Just like after lunch, Uncle Jay called his dad, but this time, it was a video call. 

“Squirt’s real tired, so we probably won’t be on long,” his uncle explained. Danny gave him a grumpy half-hearted glare before the phone was placed in his hand. His dad’s face was on the small screen, smiling. His hair was wet, as if he’d just come out of the shower, and he was in pjs too. 

“OH, little bird,” there was mirth in his dad’s voice, “you look so tired sweetheart. Did you have a good day?”

“Dad. Missed you. I had a really really good day,” Danny reached up with his free hand to rub his eyes. 

“Dad. I played pirates today, and I decided something.” 

“What did you decide Danny?” 

“‘M gonna be a pirate. But I still wanna be an astronaut. So. Space pirate. Capt’ Danny Grayson, terror of the - the … space doesn’t have oceans or seas…. Oh! Terror of the cosmos!” Danny declared eventually with a pleased smile. 

There was a choked off sound next to him, Danny turned and pouted upon seeing his uncle trying to hide his laughter. Danny could tell his dad wasn’t doing much better with his mirthful eyes and pressed lips. 

“What? I can totally be a space pirate," Danny argued. 

“I’m not saying you can’t, just, Danny, we’re heroes, aren’t we? And pirates aren’t usually on the side of the law,” his dad fumbled to say. 

“I don’t wanna steal or do dumb stuff like that. I just wanna have sword fights and be in space. Space Pirate. Pirates also like, have sea battles and they drink whiskey, but I don’t know what whiskey tastes like.” Danny yawned once more.

“And you won’t for a very long time,” his dad said with a soft chuckle. “Well, I’m glad you had such a good day, baby. I had a good day too. Good night little bird. Sleep well darling. Uncle Jay will be just down the hall. If you have any nightmares, go to him. I’ll talk to you when you wake up. Bye sweetheart.” His dad waved, the video lagging slightly. 

“Bye dad. Love you. Night.” Danny waved back half heartedly, tired. The call ended, and he handed the phone back to Uncle Jay. 

“I’m just two doors down. Come get me if you need anything, anything at all. Night kid. Sleep well.” 

Jason ruffled his hair before getting up, heading out of the room. He glanced back at Danny once more, before closing the door. Danny yawned again, then snuggled into his pillow and blankets. He was so tired, probably ‘cause he’d stayed up so late the night before and he’d done so much with his uncle. 

One day down, two to go. 

Chapter Text

Danny was on the deck of a pirate ship. There were a bunch of skeletal pirates coming towards him. He snapped a strange looking bo staff in half. An orange and black suit clad woman called out for him, sending a skateboard his way. Hoping on, he skated forward and took out six approaching skeletons. He was then thrown back into his peers by a pink sound wave. 

A tall, blue haired pirate woman said, “The only one rocking this boat, is ME”. 

With that, she sent another pink sound blast which encapsulated Danny and his peers into a pink bubble. It rather reminded him of a hamster ball. He beat his fists uselessly against the bubble, his comrades doing the same. A small child approached, pulling him out with a silvery hook. 

“Time to walk the plank, sharkbait,” the boy quipped, who was also dressed like a pirate captain. He gleefully put Danny on the wooden plank, forcing him back with the silver hook. He fell, just after, the green dome around the floating ship dissipating. Grinning in triumph, he transformed, floating up over the two pirate captains, the young female one asking where the splat was. 

Angrily, he hit them both with his green blasts, snatching the guitar out of the air as the captains fell backward. 

“Looking for this?” he asked smugly, holding the magic guitar. The woman snarled, taking off her hat. Her eyes turned red and her hair transformed into brilliant blue flames. The flames shot out, following him, destroying the ship as he dodged. 

“Well, maybe not the best idea. Bon voyage kid, catch you on my comeback tour!” She laughed ominously, then she teleported away in a swirl of blue flames.

The young boy came at him with a sword, his hooked hand having transformed into one. Danny used the guitar to block the blow, only for the guitar to break in half. He kept the neck of the instrument he held it out to the child and taunted him. 

“Bring it on, snot-nose!”

The two fought on top of the mast as the sail burned below them, a skeletal parrot flying around the boy captain. It’d been snarking earlier about how the young pirate boy wasn’t using the correct pirate terminology. 

Things got a little hazy here. 

There were a bunch of adults on treadmills and various workout equipment looking dazed. There was a large man in an orange suit. Dad? A woman with red hair next to him. Mom? Yet there was another girl with red hair too, who was younger. Jazz?

***

Danny yawned, waking up. He glanced at the window. It was still early. He should be able to go on the morning walk with Titus and Damian. On his way to the kitchen, he was surprised to find both Uncle Damian and Uncle Jason. They were drinking some sort of spiced tea, Jason pouring Danny a cup when he asked about it. Uncle Jay laughed at Danny’s face when he tried it. 

It did not taste good. 

After running his tongue under the tap in the sink to get rid of the yucky flavor, they were ready to go on their walk! It was different but good that Uncle Jay was with them. There was a quiet camaraderie between his two uncles, unlike the grudging acceptance they had of his dad’s excited behavior. 

“Um, do you guys think dad’ll let me have a dog?” Danny asked shortly into their walk. 

“He would certainly hear you out should you present a case,” Dami said, dodging the question. 

“Maybe you can show him you’re responsible, or something? That would be good,” Jay suggested. 

“How would I do that?”

“It is good that you often come on walks with Titus and I. That is a sign that you could handle walking a dog every day.” 

“That’s true,” Danny stated, hopping up to balance on one of the short walls in the garden, walking along it to keep up with his family. 

“Didn’t Cass get you a plant? It was a rose, right? Have you been taking care of that, kiddo?” Uncle Jay asked. 

Oops. 

“Ummmmmm. I should probably do that. Do you think it’s died already?”

“Nah, I bet Alfie’s taking care of it. You should talk to him though, so he can teach you how and get you to start taking it on. Between continuing to walk Titus with the Demon Brat and takin’ care of the plant, you should be able to prove you can take care of a dog. Probably would help too if you made a report or somethin’ to show that you know about dogs, know what kind you want, what to feed them, how to train them, and all that jazz.”

“Hmmm. Good to know. Thanks!” Danny said as he jumped down from the wall. It wasn’t that high, closer to like handrail height. 

They paused for a bit, to let Danny throw a ball for Titus. Both Uncle Jay and Uncle Dami could throw it so much further than Danny could. Frowning to himself, he decided to use some of his super strength to throw it as far as they had, only for the ball to sail far into the distance. There was no way Titus could get that…

The Great Dane whined sadly, unsure of where the ball had gone, having seen the ball leave Danny’s hand, but not where it landed. Feeling bad, Danny gave Titus extra pets and kisses. Other than that, the walk was pretty normal, so was breakfast. After that, he got to call his dad and tell him about his pirate dream. 

“Dad, Dad! I had a wild dream last night!” 

“Yeah? What happened in it, little bird?” his dad sounded apprehensive. He obviously thought it was probably another memory, but there’s no way this was a memory. 

“I was a pirate on a ship, and I was fighting a lady pirate with blue fire hair and a super super cool guitar sword!”

“Ooooh, did you win the fight?”

“Yeah, I like, used the rigging and stuff, and I beat her in a sword fight. It was really cool and epic Dad. There was also a talking parrot that was all bones. He was kinda snarky and kept commenting on how we weren’t using the right pirate terminology.” 

“Wait, so there was a parrot that complained about how inaccurate everything was?” his dad asked, laughter in his voice. 

“Yeah, he was a real jerk,” Danny grumbled. “I had a crew of people, they were all wearing uniforms, and they were orange and black. The whole dream was very… very Halloweeny.” 

“It sounds like a very interesting dream, a Halloween pirate battle.” 

“Yeah. The ship was floating too. It wasn’t space, but it was kinda close to being a space pirate.” 

“Why did you need to fight the pirate lady?” 

“Oh, cause she was stealing adults and brainwashing them with her siren songs. I had to save them, duh. There was a man with black hair, he kinda looked like a mix of you, Grandpa, and Uncle Jay. I knew I had to save him and all the others, but especially him. There were also a couple others who were important too? But I remember the man better,” he explained. 

They continued talking for a little while, until his dad had to go. Then he had to get ready to go go carting! Aunt Cass just arrived from out of nowhere, and they picked up Uncle Duke and Aunt Steph on their way to the track. Danny wasn’t old enough to drive on his own, so he had to ride with Uncle Jay, strapped into his uncle’s lap. It ended up working out, since Uncle Jay was the best racer and they won practically all of the races.

After that, they walked around a bit, window shopping, Danny between Uncle Duke and Aunt Cass. There were a couple paparazzi people following them, they’d showed up towards the end of their go carting time. It’d seemed like Uncle Jay had lost them for a bit when they drove off, but they were found again. 

Using some sort of hand communication (it was not sign language), Cass sped up to be near his uncle and his aunt, Uncle Duke grabbing his hand.

“Be ready to run, Danny,” he whispered softly. He looked up in surprise. 

Uncle Jay made some sort of signal with his hand, and then Uncle Duke was pulling him into an alley, the shadows around them shifting to cover them, helping to hide their presence. Shadows… didn’t normally do that. Was Danny doing that?!? He didn’t remember having that power! Oh no, how many more powers did he have??? Were they going to have to do some tests again? 

“Cool, we made it,” Uncle Duke said, grabbing his keys from his pocket. 

They entered a large, brick apartment building. His uncle led him up the stairs, up to the top floor, opening the door to a corner apartment, looking back to make sure Danny came inside. It was cozy inside, with fabric curtains, a shag rug, and a faded orange couch. There was a desk in the corner, covered with papers and textbooks stacked around it on the floor. 

“Sorry about the clutter, college has been kicking my butt a bit, along with everything else. It’s a balancing act, but hey, I’m still getting straight A’s. Somehow.”

“I think it’s nice. It’s um, warm. Do you like school?” Danny asked. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty good. I like that I can study what I want to, instead of having to do all the subjects, ya know? Dick’s signing you up for school next year, right?” his uncle asked. 

“Um. Maybe? I don’t know. I don’t know how much I know? I feel like I know so much about some things and nothing about others…” he trailed off. 

“Uh, Uncle Duke? There - there was some weird stuff happening with the shadows as we were leaving. I don’t - I think - I think I might have a new power,” Danny admitted. He already had so many! He didn’t want people to be afraid of him, that was the last thing he wanted! 

“Oh, hey, no, that uh - that was me. You and I… we’re the only ones with powers in the whole Batclan thing.”

“You have powers?” Danny asked, shocked. 

“Uh, yeah. Didn’t anyone tell you?” Duke asked, surprised. 

“No!” 

“Oh, well, I don't know. Maybe they wanted me to be the one to tell you? Honestly, I don’t know what they’re thinking half the time. I may be part of the Bats, but that doesn’t mean I understand them all the time,” Uncle Duke admitted. 

“What - what do your powers do?” Danny asked curiously. He wasn’t alone. He wasn’t the only one in the family with powers! 

“I can manipulate light and shadows. It didn’t exactly start that way, it was more of how I saw light and shadows, but it changed, so now I can move light and darkness around,” Duke explained. 

“Did that scare you? When your powers changed?” 

“A little. I had to practice a lot. Learning how to use it, how to control it, made me less afraid of it. It’s a part of me. There’s… also some weirdness when it comes to being among the others. They do everything as humans, right? And here I am, with powers. I thought… for a while, that it would be better if I didn’t use it, that I would be disappointing Bruce and the others. But it’s just… another tool in my arsenal.”

Should he practice more? With his powers? But he didn’t actually have any new ones? Except for the fact that he could read languages. 

“If you are cool with it, can you show me them, sometime?” he asked.

“Yeah, I can do that Danny,” his uncle said with a smile, light gathering around him. Danny’s eyes widened. 

His uncle was 

SO 

COOL!!!

***

The rest of his aunts and uncles showed up, and they played board games. They played Life, Clue, Trouble, Jenga, and more. What Danny found even funnier was that his relatives would gun for each other, and then Danny would end up winning because no one ever ended up really targeting him. That changed after his third win in a row at Clue. Then everyone was gunning for him. 

They ordered some really good food, which he was told was Chinese food. Uncle Jay ordered a lot, and they all shared and tried everything, sitting on the floor in Uncle Duke’s apartment. It was nice, sitting around talking with and listening to everyone. Snuggled between his two uncles, Danny felt content, his inner self thrumming happily. Based on the small smiles that he saw passed around, it was audible. 

It would be even better if his dad was here. 

Danny frowned, looking down at his plate, his core no longer singing. 

“What’s up short stack?” Jay asked after he swallowed his mouthful of food. 

“Dad’s not here. I wish he could be here. He’d like this,” Danny whispered, poking at the orange chicken. 

“Yeah, Dick would love to be here. But… we can take a picture and send it to him! I’m sure he’d love that,” Duke suggested with a smile. 

With everyone in agreement, Danny sat in Uncle Duke’s lap, the rest crowding around them for what was called a selfie, according to Aunt Steph. After the first couple round of pictures, Danny was passed around, much to his displeasure and complaints. He had to take pictures in all of his aunts and uncles laps. Aunt Steph annoyed him, poking and pinching at his cheeks, pressing a big sloppy kiss to them as well, laughing at his protests. Aunt Cass was nice, gently placing her head on top of his, her arms around his tummy. Uncle Duke was pretty chill too, ruffling his hair and making cool light sparkles around them which totally enthralled him. Finally, there was Uncle Jason who also ruffled his hair and pulled him real close and tight. 

It was a great time. 

Danny was sad when they had to drive back to the manor, but he got to call his dad and send him the pictures with how two aunts in the back. His dad loved all of the pictures, cooing over the phone about how cute they all were, how he was so happy to have pictures of his little bird and the family. Dad was so pleased that Danny was having a great time with his aunts and uncles. It wasn’t as long of a call as Danny would have wanted, but he knew he would get to call his dad again before bed. 

Knowing his family, they had more fun activities planned for him when they got back to the manor.

Chapter Text

It was a good thing the car ride was so long, since they were going to go swimming! He’d known that there was a pool, but he’d yet to see it or go in it. Danny was given a couple pairs of swim trunks. He obviously chose the blue ones. There were some bathrooms next to the pool, which Danny and the others used to change. Uncle Tim and Grandpa wandered in too, but sat down on the lounge chairs next to the pool on their laptops, supervising. Aunt Cass helped him put sunscreen on, and Uncle Damian came in with some floaties which were placed on his arms. 

Danny had allowed it, but pouted the whole time. Yes yes, he had no idea if he could swim, but he was the only one with floaties! It didn’t really seem fair! The inflatable rings around his arms that were connected by a squishy foam part was not very comfy. As soon as Uncle Jay said that he could get in after listing the rules (the most important one was no peeing in the pool. Gross!), Danny bolted. 

He heard his family yelling for him to wait behind him, but he didn’t care. 

Danny leaped off the edge of the side of the pool into the water. 

There was a brief moment, where he was weightless above the water, before gravity took hold. With a massive splash, he was plunged into the water before the floaties forced him back up. Danny was able to doggy paddle to turn and look at his family, who looked utterly shocked. He started laughing, finding it absolutely hilarious. Moving his legs and arms, he headed towards the stairs so he could jump in again. He was met there by Aunt Cass in her black with gold accents one piece swimsuit. She had a massive floppy hat on too. She looked great as she smiled at him, from where she was sitting on the stairs. 

“Jump again?” His aunt asked. Danny nodded happily. 

Uncle Jay and Duke were both wearing swim shirts and trunks, but Danny could see that they had scars, Jay and Dami had a lot more than Uncle Duke. Uncle Jay was wearing red swim trunks and a black shirt and Uncle Duke was in emerald green trunks with a green shirt. Uncle Damian was also in green trunks, but he had not bothered with a swim shirt. 

“Alright kid, ya got me with that stunt. Now how about we jump in together,” Jason asked, extending his hand. 

“Yeah! Let’s go!” 

Uncle Jay quickly got tired of jumping in. Danny did not. How could he? It was so much fun! He was eventually coaxed away from jumping in, to cling onto Uncle Jay’s back. It did not last long before Aunt Steph stole him away. She laughed, holding both his hands, walking backwards though the pool, dragging him along. She was in a purple tankini and purple shorts. It seemed like pretty much every time he saw her, she was wearing purple. 

Aunt Steph then initiated a game of Marco Polo, after explaining the rules. Danny kept getting caught because he kept giggling. It was so funny watching Steph, Jay, Dami, and Duke fumble blindly around the pool. His fingers were starting to get all wrinkly by the time they finished their fourth game. 

When he pointed it out, they got out for a little bit, to drink water and have some snacks. Uncle Jay handed Danny a cool looking towel with a red octopus on it. Then he sat down, getting into his Uncle Tim’s space. There were designs for something on the screen, it was real zoomed in, so Danny had no idea what it was. There was watermelon, pineapple, honeydew melon, and some grapes. 

“Do you want some grapes or watermelon, Uncle Tim?” Danny asked, offering up some of the fruit on his plate. 

“I probably should eat…” his uncle admitted, taking a cluster of grapes. 

“Um, do you know why they call it watermelon?”

“No, I don’t. I’m guessing it has something to do with how juicy it is? And how the fruit is basically mostly water.”

“Do you think if we put a watermelon in the pool, it will float?” Danny asked, curious. Tim looked pensive. 

“We could probably look it up… but… what better way to learn than do it ourselves? Hold on a sec, I’m going to get a watermelon.” Then Uncle Tim set aside his laptop, heading back into the house. Was he actually going to get a watermelon? And were they going to put it in the pool? 

“What’d ya say to him?” Uncle Jay asked, curious. 

“Oh, we were talking about watermelon, and about if it floats. So he’s going to get one, and I think we’re going to put it in the pool?”

The rest of his aunts and uncles gave each other confused looks.

“Well. It’s better than some of the other weird experiments Tim could rope Danny into…” Aunt Steph muttered. 

Shrugging his shoulders, Danny went back to snacking on fruit. Tim came back, in a pair of black trunks and carrying a medium sized watermelon. 

“Alright, let’s see if this floats,” his uncle said, heading to the pool. Danny trailed behind him, intrigued. 

Uncle Tim placed it in the water, and the melon just… floated there. It bobbed in the pool, slowly drifting along the edge. 

“Do you think we can play with it? Play like… idk, water basketball or something?” Danny asked, crouched next to the edge of the pool, watching the watermelon. 

“Water polo might be better. Or just trying to get it all the way across the pool…,” Uncle Tim mused. 

Thus began a strange game of water polo. Watermelon polo? They couldn’t actually throw the melon, and lifting it out of the water was against the rules. The goal was to get the melon to the opposite end of the pool and touch the edge. Gently. No one wanted the watermelon to break in the pool. Even Grandpa was intrigued enough to change into swim trunks and join them. Great Grandpa decided to watch from the edge, taking pictures and filming. 

They were in two teams. Danny, Uncle Jay, Aunt Steph, and Uncle Tim on one side, Aunt Cass, Uncle Damian, Uncle Duke, and Grandpa on the other. It went pretty well, considering they were playing with a watermelon. 

It never cracked. After that, Grandpa went back to his laptop, while Danny chased and was chased by his aunts and uncles with squirt guns. It was like a real shoot out! But it was just water! Danny got to use some of the rolls and gymnastics moves he’d been learning from his dad. After he slipped and fell for the third time, and Grandpa’s laptop had been squirted, they had to put the squirt guns away. 

Danny was starting to get tired, but Aunt Cass offered to teach him how to swim, and he could also get some dive toys on the steps. They started with some of the basics, putting his head under water, floating on his back and his front, and then starting to learn how to kick. Somehow knowing that Danny was getting ready to leave the pool, she got out a few sinking toys and had him practice getting them. They were by the stairs, so it wasn’t that deep. He was able to get the first one on his third try. After that, Danny was able to get the others. 

Climbing out of the pool, he was ready to rest. He wrapped himself in his octopus towel once more and meandered over to Grandpa. If he snuggled and slept with Grandpa on the lounge chair, it would probably be quieter, and he might be able to nap… Danny did just that, nudging at his Grandpa to move before he climbed on. There was no way he wasn’t getting Grandpa wet, but if Grandpa cared, he would have said something. Probably. 

Yawning once more, Danny cuddled in close and closed his eyes. 

***

Danny woke up to him being picked up by Uncle Jason. 

“Hey there squirt. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“S’okay. Can’t sleep the whole day,” Danny yawned out. 

“The pool really wiped you out, didn’t it kiddo?” his uncle asked as he carried Danny back into the manor and towards his room. 

“Yeah. But was fun. We should do it again when Dad’s here. I miss him. A lot. But you make me feel safe though.”

“Uh, thanks? I’m glad.”

“Can you - can you remind me that I need to talk to dad about that? Love and protection… talked about it with Mrs. Canary, but wanna talk about it with Dad too,” Danny asked sleepily. 

“I can text him while you go shower and get into pjs,” Uncle Jay offered, setting Danny down on his feet inside his room. Danny frowned. 

“Did I really sleep that long? Is it already time for bed?”

“Nah, I only let you sleep for around half an hour. Just figured after you shower, you might as well get into pjs, ‘cause we’re eating dinner and then some low key stuff before we call Dick and get you off to bed,” Jay explained. 

“”Kay, bye bye for now,” Danny said, waving slightly as he toddled off to the bathroom to shower, grabbing his pajamas on the way, ignoring Uncle Jay’s snort of amusement.

One shower later, Danny slowly made his way downstairs to the dining room, holding Jazz in his arms. He was more awake than earlier, but still tired. He was missing his dad too. Hence Jazz. His dad had been the one to give Danny his elephant, and it helped somewhat to squeeze his stuffie now that he was acutely missing his father. 

Uncle Jay was great, but he wasn’t Danny’s dad. 

Danny practically scarfed down his food. Even with all of the snacks he’d had earlier, he was so hungry! After that, he had to say goodbye to Aunt Steph and Uncle Duke, Danny hugging both of them tight. He also whispered in Uncle Duke’s ear, asking if he could talk to him some more sometime about powers. Uncle Duke had ruffled his hair, telling Danny he could reach out to chat anytime. It warmed something within him. His family was so supportive, so loving, so… so present. Everyone cared so much about him. 

Danny loved it so much. 

After that, everyone who was still there, went to the living room to watch something called ‘Grey Ghost’. Danny remembered Grandpa and Dad talking about it his first or second day here? But Grandpa said that Danny wasn’t old enough for it. 

“Grandpa, I thought you said I’m too little for this show?” Danny asked, tugging lightly on his grandpa’s sleeve. 

“Normally yes, but I picked some episodes that should be good for you to watch,” Grandpa explained. 

Danny insisted that he sit between Uncle Jason and Grandpa. He wanted his two biggest protectors near him. Not that he didn’t think Uncle Damian, Uncle Tim, or Aunt Cass wouldn’t protect him, he just felt it strongly in their bonds with him. Danny actually really should look deeper at his bonds with more of his family. Had he ever bothered to even look at the emotions coming from anyone besides Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle Jay?

No

Danny was going to have to change that.

Maybe a different night though. He was very warm and comfy where he was, leaning against Uncle Jay. The episode was interesting, he guessed. Everyone but him had obviously watched it before, as they all knew what was going to happen, except for Danny. Grandpa and Uncle Tim kept asking if he’d figured it out yet. Which, duh, he had. At least, he was pretty sure. They wouldn’t have shown that toy collector seller guy unless he also had something to do with the story, and as soon as he realized that the bombings were done using toy cars…. Yeah, it was kinda obvious. 

“This is a really old show, right?” Danny asked the room. 

“Ancient,” Uncle Jay confirmed. 

“Father watched it when he was young,” Uncle Damian added. 

“It was very influential on me as a child. It’s just one of many things that inspired me to become Batman,” Grandpa said, a far away look in his eyes. 

Oh wow. Danny hadn’t known that. 

“So this show… it’s really important, huh? Did you learn how to become a detective by watching it?” Grandpa chuckled softly. 

“No, no I did not, chum. But it’s part of what made me interested in becoming a detective, in using my mind to figure everything out. This show also was part of the reason I was inspired to create a costume. I could only help out and do so much as Bruce Wayne, so I decided to help out in a different way, to try and rid Gotham of all that infects it.” There was so much passion and drive in Grandpa’s voice. He clearly cared so much, did so much. 

“Is it… is it okay then, that I don’t want to be a hero?” Danny asked cautiously. His whole family was made of heroes! Even his brother Superboy! 

“There’s nothing wrong with that at all. That is entirely up to you. It is a very difficult and hard life. What do you want to be?” Grandpa reassured him. 

“Just focus on bein’ a kid, Danny,” Uncle Jay said. Although they were silent, Danny knew Uncle Tim, Uncle Damian, and Aunt Cass were listening. 

“Okay. I wanna be a space pirate,” Danny told Grandpa seriously. Uncle Jay and Uncle Tim both had amused grins. Uncle Damian sighed heavily and Aunt Cass just smiled serenely. His grandpa blinked a few times before grinning. 

“Space pirate,” Grandpa said slowly, “that will be a first for this family, but I look forward to it, Captain Danny.” 

Danny giggled, snuggling further into Uncle Jason. 

“Do you think Dad will be happy with me wanting to be a space pirate and not a hero?” There were a chorus of yes’s from around the room, which surprised Danny. Didn’t a lot of parents want their kids to follow in their footsteps. Speaking of most parents… 

“Um, because I’m a clone, I don’t have a mom, right?” The living room was silent, except for the sounds coming from the TV and its sound system. 

“That’s right,” Grandpa eventually said softly. 

“But if Dad marries, I can get a mom, or maybe a second dad?”

“That is true. However, things have changed drastically for Richard lately. While he has many who seek to be in a relationship with him, it is ultimately up to Richard,” Uncle Damian stated. He always sounded so fancy with his big words and just… just how he spoke. 

That made sense though, he supposed. 

“When can we call Dad?” Danny asked Uncle Jay. He sighed. 

“Let’s watch two more episodes, then it’ll be around time to call, then it’s time for bed.”

Focusing back on the TV, Danny and his family watched two more episodes, Danny guessing correctly who the bad guy was each time. It warmed his core, getting their smiles and approval when he was right. It was really nice. Afterwards, Uncle Jay picked him up, gently tossing Danny over his shoulder, carrying him to bed. Danny couldn’t help but giggle and laugh the whole way, waving goodnight to his family as he was taken away. 

He got to tell his dad all about his afternoon, how they’d gone swimming, he’d put a watermelon in the pool with Uncle Tim, practicing swimming without floaties, dinner, then watching Grey Ghost with Grandpa and the others. Overall, it’d been a great day. His dad was happy to hear all about it, but his dad sounded tired too. Was dad getting enough sleep? Was he missing Danny and not able to sleep? He’d have to give his dad lots of cuddles and they’d have to have a few sleepovers when his dad got back. 

All too soon, the call was over, and it was time to go to sleep. It was harder this time. Danny tossing and turning in bed. Giving up, he silently got up, creeping down the hall to where Uncle Jay would be sleeping. Danny knocked softly on the door. No answer. He opened it, peeking inside. Uncle Jay wasn’t in bed yet. 

Holding onto Jazz tightly, Danny made his way back downstairs. He could hear faint voices from the living room. From what he could see, most of his family was still there, talking. Uncle Jay was drinking from a fancy, short looking glass with a dark amber liquid in it. 

“- ddler is up to something. There’s been a couple messages and riddles around. He seems to be collecting money for -” Uncle Tim cut off upon seeing Danny peek his head around the corner. All heads in the room were focused on him. Danny gulped. 

“Um. I can’t sleep.” Uncle Jay stood up, walking towards Danny, reaching out with one hand.

“Alright. Night. Guess I’m off to bed early.”  Danny took the offered hand, the two heading back up upstairs, towards Uncle Jason’s room. 

“Up you go,” his uncle said, lifting him up onto the bed. “I need to get ready for bed, then I’ll be back.” 

With that, Jay went into what Danny could only guess was the ensuite bathroom. Danny crawled under the covers with his stuffed elephant, looking around the room. There were a lot of bookshelves, all of them filled to the brim with books. The side of the manor had clearly been altered to give Jason’s room a nice reading nook, with a cushioned seat and lots of pillows. 

Wow, Uncle Jay must really love books. Had he used to want to be a librarian before he became the hero Red Hood? 

Danny was pulled out of his thoughts when his uncle came back, getting in on the other side of the bed. Once he was settled in the bed, Danny squirmed closed, till he was right next to his uncle, pressed up against him. 

“Uncle Jay?”

“Yeah squirt?”

“I love you.” 

There was a long pause. 

“I - I love you too kiddo,” his uncle said eventually, his voice tight and scratchy. 

Pleased that he was snuggled up with one of his family members, and that he was loved, Danny fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Waking up with Uncle Jason was different. It wasn’t his dad. It was fine. He just. Missed his dad. Danny sniffed, his lip wobbling. Tears started to fall down his cheeks, feeling kinda gross as they dripped down his neck. Danny buried his face into his stuffed elephant. He wanted comfort. Sniffling, Danny reached out and poked his uncle. The man jerked away, reaching to grab for something that was under his pillow… yet there wasn’t anything. 

“Uncle Jay?” he croaked, his uncle groaned, running his hand down his face.

“Hell, kid. Scared the crap out of me. C’mere. What’s wrong?” Jay asked, sitting up and pulling Danny into his lap. Danny snuggled in, feeling somewhat comforted by the contact. 

“I miss my dad.” 

“Yeah? What ‘bout him do ya miss?”

“He just has the best hugs and cuddles. And he loves me, a lot. So much. And he’s always there for me. He’s a good dad. The best dad. I miss him so much, Unc’ Jay,” Danny mumbled, his voice shaking. Talking about it hadn’t made him feel better, he just wanted to cry even more now! 

“Ah. Shit. Uh, It’s still kinda early, but we can call him,” Uncle Jay said, fumbling for his phone, which was on the nightstand. Sniffing, Danny turned so his back was to his uncle’s chest, that way he could see the phone. 

“‘Ello? Jay? It’s kinda early for you to - Hi Danny! Oh, sweetheart, why are you crying? Did you have a bad dream?” His dad asked worriedly, looking at them through the screen. 

“Daddy. I miss you. I don’t - I don’t like that you’ve been gone so long. Do you have to stay till tomorrow? Can you come home sooner, please? Please Dad?” Danny pleaded. His dad looked conflicted. 

“I - I was going to come back early tomorrow morning, but I can try to be back late tonight. That’s the best I can offer you Danny. I know you miss me, and I miss you too, sweetheart. So much. I miss my favorite little bird. We can spend most of tomorrow snuggling and cuddling, if you want. We’ll cuddle and I’ll hold you real tight, until you’re squirming to get away. How does that sound?” Danny frowned slightly. It sounded okay…. But- 

“I wish it was tomorrow already. But okay.” 

“You’ve been such a brave boy, and I’m so proud of you. I know this has been hard, for the both of us, but we’re almost there. Remember, we’ll still talk at lunch and before bed. So we’ll still talk today. And you’re hanging out with Grandpa and Clark!” 

“Clark is Grandpa’s friend, right? The suspicious reporter one?”

“Wait, shortstack, why are you sus of Clark?” Uncle Jay interrupted Danny from behind. 

“He’s a reporter! He’s a journalist! Like those people who keep following trying to get pictures of me! I don’t like them!” Danny huffed, annoyed. 

“Clark is Grandpa’s best friend. He’s not like those ones, um, there are different kinds of reporters. There’s paparazzi, like the ones that have been following you, and then there are journalists who interview people and try to inform people. There are also gossip columnists and other stuff, but Clark is a journalist, not part of the paparazzi. Knowing me, and knowing the rest of our family, do you think we would let anyone near you that could hurt you?” His dad explained. 

Danny thought for a moment. They wouldn’t, would they? Everyone was always taking care of him, checking on him, loving him, and playing with him. Knowing how focused Grandpa and Uncle Jay were about protection there was no way they’d let someone who would hurt Danny near him or take pictures of him. 

“No. You wouldn’t. You all love me too much,” Danny replied, brightening. It was reassuring, to think about how much his family loved him. He loved them so much too. 

“That’s right, little bird! We sure do!” 

“Yeah kid, we do.” 

Danny smiled softly, happy. 

“Feeling better?” his dad asked. 

“Yeah. Yeah. I do. Clark is hanging out as Grandpa’s best friend, right? Not as a journalist person?” 

“Yeah, he’s going to be here because he’s Bruce’s best friend. Also because he’s better at playing and interacting with kids.” His dad told him.

“But Grandpa’s good at playing,” Danny protested.

“He’s what, played with you once? Clark has a lot more experience, and I feel better knowing he’s there.” 

They chatted for a little longer, before Dad had to go. As usual, Danny joined Uncle Damian in walking Titus. He also went to Great Grandpa Alfred, asking about the rose bush Aunt Cass had given him. He’d been led to a rather bare sun room, with just the potted rose bush. It still looked pretty good, and his great grandpa explained some of the basics of rose care. Danny had arrived at the manor after the yearly fertilizing and mulching, but Danny could help out in fall with pruning the roses for winter. Aunt Cass would be helping out as well. 

Then came breakfast, which Uncle Jay had made while Danny was talking to his great grandpa. Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, and pancakes. It was a lot of food, but Uncle Tim was still here as was Aunt Cass. Uncle Damian and Grandpa were there, like always. Mr. Clark had perfect timing, as he was ringing the door just as they were finishing breakfast. Now more aware that he would be around more, Danny studied the man as he greeted Grandpa and his aunts and uncles in the front entryway. Danny was watching from around the corner, Uncle Jason looking amused when he saw Danny.

He obviously smiled a lot, as he had those wrinkles in the edges of his eyes. He looked at Grandpa a lot, smiling whenever he did so. He was close to Grandpa too. Like, physically close. Was that what best friends were like? Danny didn’t have a best friend, so he wasn’t sure. He had Jazz, his elephant. But Jazz couldn’t talk back to him. It had been really fun the other day, playing pirates with those kids. Best friends though were people you saw a lot, right? And you knew where they lived and had sleepovers and stuff. 

Contemplating, Danny got out from behind the corner, approaching the newcomer. 

“Hi Danny! Nice to see you again!” Clark greeted him. Danny watched him, before eventually responding. 

“Hi. You’re Grandpa’s best friend?” he asked. Clark blinked in surprise, then a faint blush appeared on his face. 

“I’m one of his good friends, yes,” Clark agreed. Danny stared at him some more. 

“Should I call you Mr. Kent, Mr. Clark, or just Clark?”

“Clark is fine! The others sound pretty professional, and, well, I’m a family friend, so…” the man trailed off, rubbing his hand awkwardly behind his head. Danny observed him a bit more, then relaxed. Yeah, this guy was fine. His family trusted him, and he clearly cared what Danny thought of him. 

“Okay. Are you going to play heroes with Grandpa and I?” Clark lit up, looking excited.

“Yes! We can definitely play heroes! I’d heard that you didn’t have anyone from the Justice League besides Batman, so I got the entire set, along with the Teen Titans, some of the Outsiders, and a few others!” Clark told him with a grin. Grandpa pinched the bridge of his nose.

Oh yes. 

This was going to be so much fun, playing heroes of Grandpa and his… his coworkers? Friends? Teammates? Defeating various bad guys. 

“Well, it’s been fun. See ya shortstack,” Uncle Jason said, crouched to give him a hug, then ruffled Danny’s hair as he stood up. 

“Bye Uncle Jay! Love you!” Danny told him with a smile. 

A light pink appeared on his uncle’s face, before he softly muttered, “Love you too kid,” before he left the house. 

Danny returned his attention to the room, noticing that pretty much everyone was struggling to hide their shock. Well, except for Aunt Cass. She didn’t look surprised at all. Aunt Cass was cool as a cucumber. 

“What?” Danny asked the room defensively. Was there something wrong with what he’d said? Or what Uncle Jay had said. 

“Oh, don’t worry about them, Danny. They’re just surprised. They’re not used to people talking about their feelings,” Clark explained with a smile, before nudging Grandpa with his elbow, “Isn’t that right, B?”

“We can talk about our feelings,” Grandpa protested. “We just chose not to.” 

“Why? Isn’t it better for people to know how you feel about them?” Danny asked curiously. 

“I think that too, but some people don’t think that way. Or they just assume people already know. Your grandpa and your entire family in general are really good at reading body language, so they can usually tell how other people are feeling. Or they know how to control their own body language, so that no one knows how they feel,” Clark explained. 

“It’s not a bad thing, Danny,” Uncle Tim told him, dressed in his suit already for another day at the office, Uncle Damian right behind him. “Honestly, it’s probably something this family could really use more of! We all know poor Dick was the most… emotionally available out of us. Plus, we haven’t had so much fun together as a group in a while.” 

“I couldn’t agree more, Master Tim. Yesterday was one of the first days that not only a majority of this family was in this house, but nearly everyone took a break and had some much needed fun. I also can’t help but notice the increased presence of Master Bruce’s children in the house since young Master Danny arrived. Master Danny has truly been a breath of fresh air in this house, and I have been enjoying all of the changes I have been seeing since he arrived,” Great Grandpa spoke up. 

Had things really changed that much? It was all just so normal to Danny. Uncle Damian and Uncle Tim left for work, both of them getting hugs from Danny before they left. Aunt Cass picked him up and spun him around, just like his dad would. Had she been able to tell through the body language emotion stuff that he’d been missing that? 

“Love little nephew. Have fun with Grandpas,” she’d told him before she left for the day too. 

That left just Grandpa and Clark in the entryway, Great Grandpa having left with his two uncles. 

“Play time?” Danny asked the two. Clark looked excited. Grandpa… not so much. 

***

First, though, they played with the farm set that Clark had gotten him. Clark had showed him pictures of his parents farm, and how they had a few animals, but that he had pictures of the rest from their neighbor’s farms. Danny gave the little wooden animals all sorts of names. He named the pig Vlad, the cow Lunch Lady, and the chicken Skulker. Clark had thought they were great names, although he did subtly question Danny about naming the cow after lunch. Danny held firm. Lunch Lady was the cow’s name. 

Danny was starting to understand why Dad had asked Clark to come. 

Grandpa was doing his best, but he wasn’t great. Actually, the last time they’d played, Danny had been paying more attention to his dad than to how Grandpa did at playing. 

“You’re not very good at this,” he told Grandpa. Grandpa just sighed. Danny patted his hand. 

“It’s okay grandpa. I have a lot of imagination, and I’m real good at playing, so I can teach you. Clark is pretty good too! We can teach you together.” Danny reassured his grandpa. 

After that, they played with the Justice League toys. Danny decided to let Grandpa be Batman. Danny had Wonder Woman, Clark had Superman, and Grandpa had Batman. 

Playing had been… interesting? 

Grandpa and Clark really cared a lot about protecting each other’s dolls? Grandpa cared way too much about the little details, and they kept saving each other. Whatever, Danny was having fun playing Wonder Woman. She’d been so cool when he’d met her on the Watchtower, and Danny knew she could kick butt! Basically, Wonder Woman kept saving the day while Batman and Superman were off saving each other and just… staring at each other a lot. 

“Uh. Is Batman really good friends with Superman?” Danny asked them after the fifth or sixth time the two saved each other. 

“Yes,” Grandpa said gruffly. “Batman and Superman are friends.” Danny eyed his grandpa. 

“Are they more than friends? Like boyfriends? Or husbands?” Neither man answered Danny. 

Okay….. That was weird. 

Oh, did Grandpa have a crush on Superman? And Clark knew about it? 

“Here,” Danny said, taking the two dolls and putting their faces together. “Batman and Superman kiss. And they become boyfriends, and live happily ever after. Can they actually help Wonder Woman now?” 

Alright, now neither of them were looking at each other. Danny crossed his arms and huffed, annoyed. It was just a kiss! Really! And it was just pretend. It would just be the same if he made Wonder Woman kiss Batman! Or Superman! It was all pretend. 

Well. 

Grandpa was Batman. So that part wasn’t really pretend when Grandpa was in control of the Batman action figure, but when Danny was in charge of it, total pretend. 

“Are you guys gonna stop being weird? Or do we have to play something else?” Danny complained. 

“We can keep playing. I know… this is your favorite thing to play. We can keep our personal feelings about Batman and Superman in a relationship to ourselves,” Grandpa told him. 

They went back to playing, Superman and Batman finally acting more like heroes and helping Danny, aka Wonder Woman, with the bad guys. Danny had them fighting a giant plant man called Undergrowth. Between them, they were able to defeat Undergrowth and save the world. But then! Then came Vortex! Master of the skies and weather! Using Batman’s smarts, Wonder Woman’s lasso, and Superman’s strength they beat Vortex, but not before he messed up a lot of the weather on the imaginary Earth. 

Then had to stop after that, Grandpa telling him they had tickets to a baseball game, all three of them would be going. Danny hadn’t ever been to one, it was going to be very exciting!

***

It was not. 

Ancients. 

Baseball was so boring. The popcorn and hotdogs were good though. The special booth and seats they had were cool too. Grandpa got him a foam finger thing, and he got to try soda for the first time. It was so fizzy! And so sweet! Clark let Danny sit on his shoulders for some of it, which was super cool! The last time he’d done that, he’d sat on Superman’s shoulders. It was actually really similar. Even though they dressed really differently and Clark had glasses, Clark and Superman were a lot alike! That was probably why Grandpa was friends with them. 

It made sense. 

Great Grandpa Alfred drove them back home. Danny asked if they could wait to call Dad until they got back, because he wanted to ask a few things in private. Grandpa called Dad for him, and then once his dad picked up, Grandpa said hi and talked a bit before handing the phone to Danny and leaving the room. There was no video this time. 

“Dad?” 

“Yes Danny?” 

“I think I messed up a little bit,” Danny admitted. 

“What happened little bird?” his dad asked concerned. 

“Um, so we were playing heroes. I was Wonder Woman, Grandpa was Batman, and Clark was Superman. Grandpa and Clark were making their toys act all weird and they kept saving each other. I was tired of it. They weren’t helping Wonder Woman defeat Undergrowth!” Danny complained. 

“So I decided, I was just gonna have Batman and Superman kiss, cause it seemed like they had a crush or something on each other. Then I made them boyfriends. That way they can stop staring at each other and saving each other, and being dumb. It worked, but there was something kinda weird about the atmosphere after that?” Danny was worried. 

“Oh my god. Oh my - I need to get the footage. Oh my god. I need to save this, I need to, Danny, sweetie, sweetheart, I love you so much! You are getting so many toys and candy!!!” his dad sounded… thrilled?

“It wasn’t bad? It was good?” Danny asked, confused. 

“It was very good Danny. Batman and Superman have been dancing around each other for a long time, and this might - might - be the push that was needed to confess. Or reveal feelings. If you who haven’t been here for that long, and you can already tell how much Batman and Superman love each other? And you’re totally cool with it? Your Grandpa already knows that the rest of us don’t care if he dates a man, and quite a few of us think Superman is a great option,” Dad explained. 

“What does Grandpa feel about all of this?” That was the main thing, wasn’t it? If Grandpa actually wanted a relationship. 

“Hmmm, that’s been harder to figure out. Bruce tends to say that he doesn’t have time with his nightly activities. But he has time for us. He has time for a family. He’s also getting older. He admitted to me that he does want to have a romantic relationship. I think one of them just needs to muster up the courage to confess. I’ve listened to Diana, Wonder Woman, complain a few times about it. Well, more than a few times,” Dad told him. 

“Either way, this isn’t something for you to worry about. I know you stepped into Grandpa’s love drama by accident, but you don’t need to do anything about it. Promise me you won’t? Promise me you’ll leave it alone?” His dad asked. 

“Hmmm. Okay. I can ask Grandpa about it later though, right?” Danny asked. He had so many questions, like what was it like to love someone romantically? He knew what it was like to love family… how different it was compared to that. 

“Yes, but not while Clark’s here, and don’t be surprised if Bruce doesn’t answer all of your questions. He’s very private about this sort of stuff. Keeps his cards real close to his chest,” his dad warned him. 

“Now, there is something I want to ask you. Did you like Mrs. Canary? Did you like Dinah?” 

“Mrs. Canary? Yeah, she was nice. I need to tell her sorry for running out…” Danny mumbled, a little ashamed of how he’d done so the last time he talked to her. 

“I’m sure she understands. Would you be okay with talking with her again? I’m looking to set up sessions, that way you can talk to her and get therapy twice a week for a while. When you and Mrs. Canary think you’re ready, you can go down to one time a week, but you can always go back up to twice a week, if once a week isn’t enough for you.” 

“Twice a week? That seems like a lot. Do I have to start off with that many?” Danny whined. 

“It’s what’s recommended, little bird. Like I said, you can always go down to one, but I think you can handle going twice a week for what, two to three weeks? And we can always switch to someone else if you end up not liking talking to Mrs. Canary.”

“Fine, I guess.” His dad laughed. 

“I know, I know, not the most fun or interesting conversation, but it’s important,” his dad insisted. “This isn’t going to be fun, but we’re also going to do some tests to see where you’re at in terms of school and what you know. You’ll get to meet my good friend Barbara! She’s gonna help out with the test. Like Clark, she’s a family friend. I went to school with her back in the day. She’s real smart.” Danny could hear the admiration in his dad’s tone. Whoever this Barbara was, his dad thought she was really cool. Hopefully… she would like Danny too. The conversation switched to the baseball game, how it had been fun, but also really boring.

Chapter Text

After his call with his dad, Danny made his way back to where his Grandpa and Clark had been. Clark looked, worried? Unsure? He was fiddling a lot with his shirt, with his glasses. He just looked super uncomfortable in general. Why did he look like that? Had Grandpa said something weird? Grandpa did run around in a Batsuit, so he was pretty weird already. 

“What are we gonna do now?” Danny asked the two men. 

“B told me you’ve been watching Grey Ghost! We can watch some more of that,” Clark said, his nerves seeming to fade as he focused on Danny. 

“It was pretty good. Do you play chess too, like Grandpa?” 

“Oh, I do, but I’m not very good at it. He always beats me,” Clark told him with a laugh and a quick smile that was directed towards Grandpa. 

“Can we watch a movie then, Grandpa?” Danny asked, stepping closer to the man and tugging on his sleeve. 

“Sure we can chum, come here.” Grandpa told him, picking Danny up. 

Yes, Grandpa didn’t know how to really carry a conversation, but he knew that Danny loved to be carried. Danny rested his head on his Grandpa’s shoulder and relaxed, peering curiously at Clark as they headed towards the living room. He actually didn’t know a lot about Clark, since he’d been so distrustful of the man. It wasn’t nice though to talk during movies. Maybe he could ask questions before they started. Once they were settled in on the couch with blankets and his elephant, Danny turned once more to Clark, scrutinizing the man.

“When did you meet Grandpa? How long have you guys been friends?”

“I met him a long time ago. We weren’t friends at first, despite me trying. After some misunderstandings were cleared up, we found that we work really well together, and we’ve been friends ever since,” Clark explained with a soft smile, a faint, far away look in his eyes. He was probably remembering all the good memories and stuff. 

“That’s cool. You guys are best friends, right?” Danny asked, looking between the two. He was sitting in the middle of them, feeling especially small but very protected. There it was again. Protection. 

“We are,” Grandpa told him calmly. Clark took in a sharp breath, looking awed that Grandpa had said that. Dad had said not to pry…. So Danny wouldn’t. But he was curious about other things. 

“What’s the difference between, say, best friends and boyfriends? Girlfriends? Is it just the kissing?” Danny asked them. “‘Cause you can hold hands with friends, right?”

“You can hold hands with friends,” Clark reassured him. 

“Cool. Do you think I can have both, a boyfriend and a girlfriend? And we all just get along?” Grandpa sighed. 

“You definitely take after your father,” Grandpa muttered. “Yes Danny, you can have both. It’s not as common, and they both need to know about each other, but it can work. Did you want to start the movie now?”

“Oh. Right, yeah, let’s watch it!” Danny agreed, stopping his questions. 

For now. 

***

Danny resumed asking questions during dinner. These ones were a little different, not focusing on stuff about relationships, but more about Clark and where he’d grown up. Turns out Clark was part of the same Kents who Danny would be having a sleepover with??? Superboy apparently lived with them! Which… if Superboy lived with them, was he related to the Kents somehow? But he didn’t have a bond with Clark. Or Superman, actually. Gosh, he’d been thinking a lot about Superman today, he kept getting brought up. 

After dinner, once it got dark, Grandpa brought him up to the roof to look at the sky and the stars, since there weren’t a lot of clouds tonight. Danny chatted Grandpa’s and Clark’s ears off about what few stars they could see, and how if they were somewhere with less light pollution, smog, clouds, and just… what made Gotham, well, Gotham. 

Clark (who had somehow gotten on the roof) told Danny about how his parents farm was located out in the country and you had a great view of the stars. The more Clark talked about the place, the more excited Danny got for his eventual sleepover there. He’d survived two days so far without his dad, and was almost done with a third. He could survive spending the night somewhere. Although he’d rather think about it more when his dad came back. 

“Dad said he’d try to come back tonight. Can I wait up for him, please Grandpa?” Danny pleaded when it was finally time to get down off of the roof. Grandpa sighed. Clark laughed. 

“You’ve got your gramps wrapped around your little finger, don’t you?” Clark teased, ruffling Danny’s hair. Danny looked at him confused. Grandpa hadn’t said yes yet though? Did the sigh mean yes?

It apparently did, since Danny was in pjs, hair still damp from his shower snuggled between the two men, although he was partially on top of Grandpa. Danny had his tablet (Grandpa hadn’t even set a timer!) while Clark and Grandpa chatted about whatever it was old people talked about, the news was on in the background. Danny paid attention when a story came on about a meta smuggling ring being broken up in Paris. That’s where his dad was! Was that what his dad had helped with? Had he saved people from the meta smuggling ring? 

What was a meta smuggling ring?

Danny tried to look it up on his tablet, only to get an error, stating that he was looking into restricted content. He just wanted to know what it was! Grumbling to himself, Danny decided to look up Grandpa. That should tell him all sorts of stuff! He saw all of these dumb articles about how Grandpa was a fool, made mistakes, and was often seen leaving with women. Why was that important, who cared? There was also a bunch of stuff about Grandpa having a surprise secret grandson (that was him!). Something something Wayne legacy. All the articles cared about if Danny was going to be seen more, if he was going to be in the will, if he was going to be made heir, and who his mom was. 

Boring stuff, really. 

He looked up stuff in regards to his dad. He’d already looked up Nightwing stuff, so he just had to look up Dick Grayson. There were some articles, the most popular was actually written by Clark, and it had a picture of his dad, grandpa, and Danny on it. It was from the first time he’d met Clark! It talked about all sorts of stuff, like how dad had left the police force, moved back to Gotham, and was adjusting. It was pretty clear though that his dad loved Danny, and didn’t mind doing any of that. Danny felt a bit bad though. He’d just… come into his dad’s life and changed everything! 

Yet his dad loved him. 

His dad loved him so much, and Danny loved him too. He actually really loved all of the family he’d met so far. They were great. Were all of them okay though that he’d been changing their lives? His dad was, but what about the others? No, they all liked him. 

Danny yawned as he started looking up stuff about Uncle Jason. There was… a lot? Apparently Uncle Jason has been hurt on a trip to Ethiopia as a kid, and then hospitalized for years as a John Doe (what a weird and random thing to call people when you didn’t know their names). Grandpa had only found out about what had actually happened to Uncle Jay a few years ago. It was a really wild story! But Uncle Jay would probably know what it was like to just… wake up and be older? And in a new place? Darn, if only he’d known about this yesterday, then he could have asked his uncle. 

Danny grumbled to himself, which then turned into a yawn. 

There wasn’t much else about Uncle Jay besides that, apparently he didn’t show his face in front of the press much. Danny didn’t blame him. The press sucked. Except for Clark, he was okay. Danny turned his attention to Uncle Tim. Boy, was there a lot about him! All sorts of stuff how he became CEO at seventeen and then did an awesome job at it (which, duh, his family was the best!).  There was this super sad backstory about how Uncle Tim had parents, but they were poisoned? And that killed his mom, but his dad survived, but was in a coma. So then his uncle had started living with Grandpa, and became the CEO, and all this other stuff. Uncle Tim still worked at Grandpa’s company, which was called Wayne Enterprises. The article mentioned that Uncle Damian had started working there too. 

He wasn’t going to read about Uncle Dami yet, he was gonna look into Aunt Cass. But he was yawning even more now, the words starting to blur. 

“I think it’s time we took this away, don’t you Bruce?” Clark asked, tapping Danny’s tablet. He frowned. This was his tablet! Only Dad or Grandpa or someone in his family could say when he could or couldn’t use it! 

“Um, right, it’s probably time to get off it, Danny,” Grandpa told him. Danny grumbled, but reluctantly gave it to his grandpa. 

What was he gonna do now?

Unsure, he just laid there, listening to Grandpa and Clark talk, their voices deep and soothing. He began to drift a bit, but he paid attention to their words. 

“Dick reached out to me, something about a sleepover while you guys deal with a mission?” Clark asked Grandpa. 

“Yes. Danny has made a few… disturbing comments which lead us to believe that CADMUS would threaten him often to make him behave. There is no other way he could have heard such things.”

“So, family trip to take down more CADMUS facilities?” 

“Essentially. When Danny was rescued, there was some data on the computers that led us to believe there were three more facilities. Getting Danny settled in and preparing for him was a high priority, so I had Oracle and some of the others working on it. Once Danny revealed what those… scum said, it became the highest priority. Between Oracle, Red Robin, and the others, we think we have determined where those are.”

“Okay. I don’t mind babysitting him a bit! I’m glad he’s finally starting to like me. I was getting a little worried that he didn’t like me as Clark,” Clark admitted softly. 

“You are difficult to dislike. Children can be stubborn. He has unfortunately had a few bad experiences with the paparazzi, so that transferred over to you. Now that he knows you’re fine, there haven’t been any issues,” Grandpa reassured Clark. Danny felt Grandpa’s hand move from where it had been resting on his back. 

“Bruce… we should. We should probably talk about what happened today.”

“Nothing happened today Clark.”

“Really? So Danny didn’t make the Batman and Superman toys kiss? Because I’d like to talk about that,” Clark insisted. 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Grandpa countered. 

“I think there is. Danny doesn’t even know I’m Superman, but he could tell that there is something… something between us.” 

“Yes. That we’re friends.” 

“Right. Well. What if I want to be more than friends.” Clark stated. 

There was a long silence after that. Danny sighed and shifted slightly. There. That was more comfy. 

“Danny?” Grandpa asked softly. 

“Mmmmh,” Danny replied sleepily. Was his dad finally here? “Dad? Dad’s here?” 

“No chum, not yet. Go back to sleep.” Danny sighed unhappily, but did so. 

***

“-ny, Danny, wake up little bird. Oh, you’re so sleepy.” Danny rubbed his eyes. He knew that voice! He opened then, and he was filled with energy as he leapt up, putting his arms around his dad’s neck. 

“Dad! Dad! Dad! You’re back!” Danny yelled excitedly, lifting his legs to wrap them around his dad as he tried to cling to his father.

“Ah! Be careful sweetheart, I’ve got a couple bruises and a scratch on my back,” his dad warned, but he didn’t pull Danny away. He actually pulled Danny closer, pressing kisses all over Danny’s face and hair. Danny giggled, his core thrumming and purring at all of the attention and just the fact that his dad was back! 

Finally! 

It had felt like forever!

He’d had a good time, but he’d missed his dad. 

“You’re so cute,” his dad cooed, “Especially when you purr.” Okay. So he was purring. Danny didn’t care though, his dad was back! That was all that mattered! 

“Dad, Dad! You have to tell me all about your trip!” His dad laughed. 

“I’ll tell you in the morning! You need to go to bed mister! And so do I. What do you say we have a little sleepover tonight, huh Danny? I’ve missed you, you’ve missed me. I think we both need a lot of cuddles, don’t we, little bird?” 

“Yeah!” Danny cheered happily, his core still purring away. Turning around slightly, he waved. “Bye Grandpa, bye Clark! Night!” 

“Good night Danny!” Clark told him with a smile. 

“Good night chum. I’ll see you both in the morning,” Grandpa told them both. 

Dad carried Danny to his room, grabbing a suitcase along the way. Danny practically melted into his dad. It felt so so good to have him back! Danny was already ready for bed, so he didn’t have to change, but his dad did before crawling in bed with Danny. Underneath the pjs, Danny could see a few bandages and bruises. He looked at them sadly. 

“Do they hurt a lot?”

“No little bird, no they don’t hurt much. They’ll be healed before you know it, don’t you worry,” his dad reassured him. 

“That’s good. I don’t like seeing you hurt,” Danny told him softly. 

“I don’t think anyone likes it when their family is hurt sweetheart. Come here, cuddle bug. I’ve missed you.” His dad opened his arms, Danny crawling in to snuggle against his dad’s chest. 

“I missed you too Dad. Talking to you on the phone wasn’t the same,” he complained.

“I know, but it’s over now, and next time, it will only be for a night, okay? We’ll still see each other afterwards.” 

“Fine,” Danny huffed before he relaxed and softened slightly. “Love you Dad. Love you, and Grandpa, and Uncle Jay, and everybody. I just love you all.” His dad gently carded his fingers through Danny’s hair. 

“Awww, Danny. I love you too, and so does the rest of your family. We all love you so much.” Danny could hear his purring get louder at his dad’s words. He blushed slightly. How loud was it, if he could hear it? Probably pretty loud. His dad wouldn’t be able to fall asleep if Danny was this loud…

“I got sent so many pictures while I was gone sweetpea. It looked like you had a great time with your Uncle Jay and Grandpa and everyone else who came to hang out.” 

“It was a lot of fun. It would have been even better if you were there,” Danny protested. His dad chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to Danny’s forehead. 

“And I will be, next time. You and I will make all sorts of fun memories too, little bird, no worries. Some that are just us, some that are with us and Grandpa, or your aunts and uncles. We have so much time, Danny. It’s time to go to bed now.” With that, his dad began to hum a song, then softly sang some of the lyrics. 

Baby mine, don't you cry

Baby mine, dry your eyes

Rest your head close to my heart

Never to part, baby of mine

Little one, when you play

Pay no heed what they say

Let your eyes sparkle and shine

Never a tear, baby of mine

If they knew all about you

They'd end up loving you, too

All those same people who scold you

What they'd give just for the right to hold you

From your head down to your toes

You're not much, goodness knows

But, you're so precious to me

Sweet as can be, baby of mine

Baby Mine - Dumbo

Sung in his dad’s voice, it was soothing, calming. Sighing, Danny fell asleep. His dad was finally back. He couldn’t wait to ask for a dog and learn all about what his dad had been up to on his trip. Plus there were more meeting with Mrs. Canary and the tests for school and stuff. Danny had so much to look forward to. 

Chapter Text

Danny was in a park, he was in the other form, the one with the white hair, green eyes, and the black and white suit. He was sitting in the grass, smiling to himself as he sat there. From the brush came a small, adorable green dog. It was a Rottweiler, a puppy at that. In it’s mouth was a soggy tennis ball. The puppy proudly trotted up to Danny and placed the wet ball in his outstretched hand. Danny grinned proudly petting the dog on it’s head. 

“Good boy! Good boy Cujo! You ready?” Danny asked, taking the ball and then raising it to throw it. The puppy, Cujo, yapped excitedly, tail wagging, backing up and jumping in excitement.

“Oh, I think you are! Fetch!” Danny yelled as he threw the ball far, the green puppy excitedly racing after it. 

Sighing, in contentment, Danny leaned back to look up at the sky, able to see a few of the stars despite the light pollution of the city. He heard the crunch of footsteps on the grass, and he smiled. Sitting down quietly next to him on either side, were Sam and Tucker, their hands lacing with his. Tucker leaned against his shoulder, smiling as he messed with his PDA in his right hand, his left interlocked with Danny’s. Sam was on Danny’s left, her right hand clasped with his left. She plucked a few flowers that were growing among the grass, placing them in her hair before grabbing a dandelion and putting it in Danny’s. 

They looked older, likely mid twenties. Danny felt relaxed with them, like he could truly be himself. They knew him to his very core, and loved him, flaws and all. He loved them too, with all of his heart. Smiling at Sam’s antics, he leaned over, pressing a kiss to Tucker’s dreadlocks. Cujo, came back moments later, tail wagging excitedly as he brought back the ball. 

Danny threw the ball a few more times, enjoying the peace that came with being next to his two best friends, his soulmates, his partners, as he threw the ball over and over, till the puppy finally had enough, crawling onto Danny’s lap to nap. He laughed softly. It was apparently nap on Danny hour, as Tucker had fallen asleep, Sam not long after. He supposed it helped that he was nice and cool on this warm summer evening. 

***

Danny woke up late. He had stayed up late, so it made sense. For once, it was his dad who was awake before him! Something about jetlag and time zones. Sure dad. Danny was maybe a bit clingy, wanting his dad to carry him a lot. Clark was still here at breakfast, something which Dad was super thrilled about, based on his smiles. Danny listened as they talked about his day yesterday. The game, playing with his action figures, watching stuff, stargazing, everything. Then Dad said something, and there was something weird about his tone. It was probing? Teasing? It was just different than usual. 

“So… I see you stayed the night Clark,” his dad stated with a grin. Danny turned to look at them, sipping at his apple juice. Clark blushed, Grandpa was reading his newspaper, as usual. It was a bit higher though, he could usually see Grandpa’s eyes. Danny could hear Uncle Tim’s and Damian’s conversation about the company halt.

“I did…”

“What room did you sleep in?” His dad asked, a strange smile on his face. It didn’t look like a bad one. Grandpa put his newspaper down roughly. 

“Dick. I hardly think that’s appropriate,” he scolded.

“Just curious. A little birdie told me that Batman and Superman kissed yesterday. Their dolls did, at least,” his dad said, casually (or maybe not so casually) taking a sip of his orange juice. Uncle Tim made a pleased noise, while Uncle Dami made a strangled one. Danny furrowed his brows. 

“Dad, didn’t you say not to talk about Grandpa’s love life? And not while Clark was here?” Danny asked. All eyes turned to him, relief in both Grandpa’s and Clark’s eyes. Now his dad looked a bit awkward. 

“I did say that, but I said that you shouldn’t poke too much,” his dad admitted. 

“So you get to ask and I don’t? That doesn’t seem fair,” Danny complained. 

“I - No, that wasn’t entirely what I said. Also, some things have changed since then…”

“I was unaware that your Batman and Superman dolls kissed while you were playing,” Uncle Dami interjected. “How did that happen, Danny?” Danny perked up. 

“Oh! So Grandpa and Clark and I were playing heroes, and I was Wonder Woman, ‘cause she’s cool and nice. Grandpa was Batman, Clark was Superman. And Grandpa and Clark were making them save each other and just weren’t focusing on Undergrowth! He was a plant villain who wanted plants to take over the Earth. Anyway, I was tired of them saving each other and just not paying attention, so I had Batman and Superman kiss. After that, they helped Wonder Woman defeat the bad guy!” Danny exclaimed, proudly thrusting his fork in the air as he remembered the triumph they’d had over the plant villain. He winced though as some of the potato fell from his fork, hitting him lightly on the head as it came down. 

Uncle Tim was clearly grinning behind his hand, while Uncle Dami looked… pensive? Brooding? As he stared at both Grandpa and Clark. 

“Fascinating,” Uncle Damian said, “I presume you know what you’re doing Father. You have not had the best taste in partners. I will admit the alien is better than your past relationships.” Here, Damian turned slightly to address Clark. 

“I will be blunt. I know where Father keeps the Kryptonite, and I have some he is unaware of, as do the rest of my siblings. We have not been as oblivious as you two have been, dancing around each other, unwilling to voice your feelings. We have prepared for this day. Should you hurt Father, we will ensure you suffer as well.” 

“Shovel talk already, Baby Bat?” Uncle Tim teased, before looking at Clark and saying a bit more seriously, “I agree with what Dami said. Good luck, by the way. I don’t think you understand how much of a mad house this family can be sometimes.” 

“Well, you know I’ve always been rooting for you, and hoped you’d become part of the family,” Dad said with a grin. Honestly, to Danny they were all missing the biggest point here. 

“Wait, you’re an alien?!?” he asked Clark, beyond thrilled. His dad put his head in his hands, and sighed. 

Breakfast ended up being a rather long affair.

***

Turns out his dad had gotten him some souvenirs from Paris! There was a snowglobe, along with a model of the Eiffel Tower, and some pastries. They were sitting out on the lawn in the backyard having a little picnic. It wasn’t actually that sunny, but at least it wasn’t sprinkling or raining! Great Grandpa had packed them some sandwiches, which Danny ate before the pastries as his dad told him about Paris, and Danny told his dad about his last couple days. He’d already told his dad pretty much everything in the phone calls, but his dad was happy to hear it all again, showing Danny all the pictures he’d been sent from his family. 

It turns out that Grandpa and Uncle Tim had taken a lot of pictures during the pool day! There were also some of him snuggled up in his towel with Grandpa, fast asleep. Really so many pictures. Danny didn’t know how they’d gotten half of them. 

“Did you have any other dreams while I was gone, besides the pirate one?” his dad asked. Danny shook his head. 

“No, that was the only one. I did have one last night about playing fetch with a green dog,” Danny told him. Should he mention now that he wanted a dog? He had only really just started taking care of the rose, and he hadn’t really made a presentation or report or anything yet on why he should have a dog and how he would do a great job taking care of it. 

“Oh,” his dad said, “That’s my friend Beast Boy. He can turn into any animal. Sometimes, as it can be relaxing, he indulges in some of those animal instincts. Was here anyone else there?” 

“Um, yeah, there was a guy with some tech. I think it was Tucker, and then Sam was there too, but they were older,” Danny explained. His dad looked a little confused. 

“I’ve seen what Tucker and Sam look like, because of the ice sculptures you’ve made,” his dad said slowly. “Can you describe them a bit for me?” Oh no. It’s been a bit since the dream, and besides the part where he played fetch with the green dog, the rest of it was hazy already, slipping from his mind. 

“There was a girl, she was pale and had black hair and like.. Purple eyes. She um, liked nature and dark and gloomy stuff. And then the guy, he loved technology and was African American. Um, we were outside on the grass, and he fell asleep,” Danny told his dad, thinking hard. His dad thought for a moment. 

“I think that might have been Teen Titans… as that sounds a lot like Raven and Cyborg, and I tended to hang out with Beast Boy with them. Was there a girl with red hair?” Danny shook his head. 

“No, there wasn’t a girl with red hair.” His dad looked a bit perturbed by that. 

“Hmmm. That’s definitely weird. I’m surprised she wasn’t there, and that she wasn’t the focus of that dream,” his dad muttered. 

“Is she important?” Danny asked curiously.

“She was very important to me at the time. She still is, but I don’t see her as often, and she’s actually closer to your Uncle Jay now,” his dad said with a sad smile. Danny blinked. 

“So she’s both your friend and Uncle Jay’s friend?” His dad hummed before looking off into the distance. 

“We dated for a while, Starfire and I. It didn’t work out, but we’re still friends. Not as close as before.” That sounded sad. 

“How come?” he asked, leaning onto his dad. 

“How come what?” his dad asked, gently petting Danny’s hair. 

“How come you’re not as close as before?” His dad sighed. 

“That’s a tough one Danny. People change, as they get older. They no longer have the same likes and dislikes. Other times there is too much hurt between them. There’s all sorts of reasons people can drift apart. Sometimes, there’s not much you can do to stop it. I cherish the time that Kori and I were close, were together. I learned a lot from her, and discovered a lot about myself. She helped me become the person I am today, and I’m grateful to her for that. I’m glad she’s friends with Jason now, and that she has his back.”

Danny thought for a moment. 

“I want friends,” he whispered, before looking up at his dad, their eyes meeting, “but I don’t know any other kids.” 

“That’ll change soon, hopefully. We’re going to get you into school, starting August. Remember how I told you about my friend Barbara? She’s going to come tomorrow and you’ll be taking a bunch of tests. It’s going to be a bit boring, but I figured we can go out for ice cream, or do something fun, just the two of us after you finish your tests.” Danny laid back on the picnic blanket, looking up at the cloudy sky, only small bits of blue peeking through. 

“Um, when is it now? How far away is August?” Danny asked. School. Would it be fun? Or would it be boring? Would he make friends? Danny wanted friends, but he also really missed the ones he already had. Or was it used to have?

Laying down next to him on his side, his dad answered, “It’s only a couple months away. It’s almost June. That’s why the weather has been so nice lately. Well, nice for Gotham.” His dad laughed softly. 

“So, I have time before school?” Danny looked at his dad. 

“Yes little bird, you do. You have a lot of time.” 

“I liked playing pirates with the other kids. Can I make friends before school?” 

“Ummm,” his father looked a bit uncomfortable, “I know your Grandpa knows some kids your age, but I’m pretty sure they’re all the high society type. We might know of a few that you can meet and play with that aren’t those type of kids.” Danny frowned, rolling over so he was on his side too, facing his dad. 

“Is there something wrong with high society kids?” 

“No, there’s nothing wrong with them at all, Tim could explain this better, but, well… Bruce has a lot of money. Their parents will probably put a lot of pressure on those kids and insist that they should do whatever possible to become friends with you. You don’t want someone to feel forced to have to be your friend, do you?”

“No! I want them to like me for me!” 

“Exactly. Not all of them do that, but some do. Uncle Tim’s parents did that to him a few times.” 

“That isn’t nice.” 

“No, no it’s not,” his dad agreed. 

His dad was a good dad. A great dad. He loved him so much. His dad was protecting him, keeping him safe from stuff he hadn’t even thought about! It was nice outside today.

***

After their lunch outside, they played around in the gym again, his dad teaching him more gymnastics. Since Uncle Tim was here, he was going to visit him. Uncle Tim was in the theater room, watching some sort of ice skating cartoon on the screen. It looked super cool. It was already paused when they came in. Heroes were really good at telling when people were coming. 

“Yuri on Ice again Tim?” his dad teased with a big grin. Uncle Tim blushed lightly. 

“What? It’s my comfort show. I like to have it on in the background…” Tim muttered. “You have no room to judge. How many times have you fallen asleep watching Friends? Or the Office?” 

“Touche. Well, you have some free time? Or freeish time? Danny wants to hang with you for a bit, and apparently I’m not allowed,” his dad said in a light tone. 

“I can move some things around,” Uncle Tim agreed, moving some of his papers so the seat next to him was free. “I’m surprised you’re letting Danny out of your sight so soon after getting back.” 

“Um, it’s ‘cause I asked for it. It’s a surprise, so dad can’t know,” Danny spoke up. He didn’t really like leaving his dad either so soon, but if he wanted to make his report on why he should have a dog, he needed Uncle Tim’s help! 

A dog was worth it!

His dad reluctantly left, so Danny hopped onto the seat next to Uncle Tim. 

“What do you need, Danny?” There was something calculating to his uncle’s gaze. What did he think Danny wanted? To ask him how to hide a body? 

“I need help making a report of why I should have a dog. Uncle Jay said that you’re really good at research and reports,” Danny told his uncle seriously. His uncle blinked in surprise, then laughed. 

“Sure! I can definitely help you with that! I made one back in the day to show to my parents. I was just wanting any kind of pet, and my parents never saw it and …. Nevermind, so! What kind of dog do you want?” 

Oh no. 

Danny was vaguely aware there were lots of types of dogs, but he wasn’t sure…

“Um, I want a dog that can protect me. That’s nice. One that likes to cuddle. I want a dog to play with. They need to get along with Titus, because Titus is already here, and it’s his house first. Uhhhhhh Oh! They have to be pretty easy to train. It would be cool too if they were super cute and loved to give kisses. Ummmm. I think that’s it?”

“Hmmmm. Okay. There’s a lot of different types of dogs that have some of those traits, but not all of them. Well. I think one of them will…” Uncle Tim grabbed his laptop, tapping a few things before the theater screen shifted away from the cartoon to a search engine. 

“Alright,” the screen changed to show a longer haired dog, “German shepherds are known for being great at protection and being super smart. They can be a bit territorial, and aren’t always the friendliest. Do they look cute to you?” Danny looked at Uncle Tim, horrified. 

“Uncle Tim! All dogs are cute!” he protested. 

“.... Alright. Are you looking for an extra cute dog?” 

“.... some dogs are cuter than others,” Danny admitted. 

“Yes, it’s all a matter of opinion. Do you think German Shepherds are extra cute?” 

“Ummm, they’re cute.” The screen changed to a different looking dog, with shorter fur. 

“Labrador retrievers! They’re great dogs, super smart and friendly. They’re very kind and loveable. Not the best when it comes to protection though. Are they super cute?” his uncle asked.