Work Text:
Dick was honestly getting a little tired of this. He loved his siblings, don’t get him wrong, but sometimes they could all be… too much.
“Alright, alright, everyone! I have an idea!” Dick yelled, interrupting Damian before he could stab Steph with a kitchen knife (how had he gotten that past Alfred-) and quieting everyone else down.
He glanced around at everyone, all his siblings, before he spoke. “I propose we all hold our breath for as long as we can! And whoever is last holding their breath at the end wins everyone’s bets!”
His siblings, the competitive little shits they are, all got that hungry gleam in their eyes he’d seen a thousand times before. Immediately they began pooling their bets; money, snacks, favors, Steph even bet her waffle maker (of which she has several), while Dick went off to find the nose clips and a stopwatch.
By the time he got back there was a decent pile of bets on the coffee table (including an IOU slip for one(1) waffle maker) and everyone sat circled around patiently. He passed out the nose clips and sat down.
“Alright, clips on?” Dick got a round of nods. “Then let us begin!” He clicked ‘Start’ on the stopwatch and held his breath.
Duke was the first to go. It made sense, out of all of them he had the least training or experience. Then Tim, Steph, Cass, and Dick himself. The timer was at 7 minutes, and Damian and Jason were still going.
Now here’s the thing. The family were Bats. They all had training, some of the best on Earth you could say. Jason and Damian were trained by the League of Assassins, of course they would be the last two left.
That didn’t explain how they could hold their breath for this goddamn long.
10 minutes.
15 minutes.
By the 20 minute mark Dick was thoroughly freaking out. The two hadn’t breathed at all, and for the record did not look queasy or sick at all either. In fact, grim determination was all that showed on their faces as they stared each other down.
25 minutes.
30 minutes.
“Okay, can we time out? How the fuck are you holding your breath this long?!” Tim said incredulously as his gaze moved between Jason and Damian. The two gave each other one last look before taking off the clips and breathing.
“I coulda kept going.” Was the first thing Jason spoke.
He could have kept going.
What the actual fuck?!
“For the record, I also could have continued. I felt no ill effects from lack of oxygen and I would have won.” Damian glared at Jason as he recounted his own experience.
“What the heck do you mean?!”
As Dick was freaking out, Tim pulled out his phone and began typing. Dick heard him make a small strangled noise before he spoke. “The longest a person has ever held their breath was around 11 minutes.”
At that, everyone in the room turned to look at Damian and Jason. For the record, Jason looked about as confuzzled as Dick felt, while Dami just looked contemplative.
They all stayed in the room for a while theorizing why the two seemingly didn’t need to breathe, but were unable to come up with anything.
~~~~~
Tim sat at the dining room table on his laptop, doing paperwork for WE while waiting for dinner. Recently the company had seen some decrease in stocks and he was trying to figure out why. In his peripheral vision he saw his siblings entering the room one by one, sitting in their respective seats.
The last of the Batkids to enter was Damian, who was wearing one of the nose clips from a few days before and had the stopwatch in hand. As he slid into his spot next to Tim, Damian took off the clip and stopped the timer. He nudged Tim and looking up from his work, saw the look on Damian’s face. It was one he didn’t see often. A neutral look, but the subtle lines and his thinly pressed mouth gave him away as disconcerted.
Looking down at the timer in Damian’s hand, Tim’s mind screeched to a halt.
5 hours and 14 minutes.
“Were you holding your breath for that long!?” He whispered to Damian hysterically, who gave a subtle nod before tossing the timer to Dick, who caught it and sharply inhaled at the number.
The stopwatch was being passed around and was in Steph’s hand by the time Bruce entered, where she put it away in her pocket and signed the number to Duke, who hadn’t seen it. The concern in the room felt palpable, but they hid it and focussed on dinner. They could figure this out later.
Hopefully.
~~~~~
Jon loved hangout nights with the Waynes, especially when Damian was being less stabby than usual, like tonight.
They played games, watched movies, ate many snacks, and now were relaxed, spread around the room like cats. The background noise from the TV where Mulan was playing at low volume filtered around the room slowly. They’d exhausted themselves with Uno (which devolved into a screaming match, per usual), and Jon felt great, casually listening to the family talk while leaning against Damian.
That is, until Damian and Jason’s hearts just.. stopped beating. Completely.
He opened his eyes from his position (he didn’t want to get up, it was too comfy) and saw the two still talking as if nothing was wrong. As if their hearts were still beating .
Employing the observation skills Damian had drilled into him time and time again, he watched and listened. The seconds ticked by, but Damian and Jason were still acting as if nothing was wrong. Maybe they genuinely didn’t notice.
After 2 minutes, he cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. He pushed down his nerves and spoke. “I’d just like to mention that Dami and Jay’s hearts haven’t been beating for around two minutes and I’m not sure how concerning that is for y’all...” He trailed off at the absolutely ghastly looks he got from everyone.
Dick was the first to break the silence. “...What the HELL! First you two don’t need to breathe and now your hearts just aren’t beating. Okay. I need to go take a moment.” He walked out of the room with his head in his hands.
Next to him, Damian was stiff, most likely focussing on his heartbeat, which still straight up wasn’t there . “Kent is right, I cannot feel my heart beating. But why..?”
As he spoke, Jason started pounding his chest. Jon picked up the steady rhythm of his heart beating once more. “That’s fucking weird. I feel fine, though.” Damian also gave his chest a quick hit and his heart started again, as if nothing had happened.
Across the room, Duke piped up. “We should probably tell Bruce.”
They all agreed.
~~~~~
“Well, there’s nothing physically wrong I can find. They’re completely healthy.” Dr. Thompkins said, putting away her equipment.
They were in the Batcave, Damian and Todd had just gotten checked. Nothing was wrong with them, which made no sense , considering how Kent had said their hearts weren’t beating for well over a minute.
Damian would never tell it to anyone, but he was afraid. That there might be something wrong with him and Todd, something bad. Concerned that something could happen to them.
But he was nothing if not determined. He would figure this out. They would figure this out.
Like Richard always says, together.
~~~~~
Tonight’s patrol was boring. Not a lot of activity, apart from a few muggings and a drug deal Jason got to stop.
Now he was en route back to the cave, with Tim alongside him. They’d mostly solved any issues they had with each other, and while they still had some beef, Jason was actually quite glad he’d resolved stuff between Timmers and him. It felt nice to be a brother to him, and it felt nice to have someone by his side on those particularly bad nights of Pit Rage to calm him down (not that he’d EVER say that out loud to ANYONE, he had a reputation to maintain, fuck you very much).
Overall, one of the most calm nights Gotham had seen in a few months. At this point, Jason was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
And drop it did.
From the fucking sky .
As they landed on a rooftop, Tim stopped and Jason saw his head turn upward. Following his gaze, he saw a bright light high above them, and it was getting closer.
It was heading straight for Jason.
“MOVE!” Tim yelled, pushing him out of the way and tumbling down just as the glowing thing, no, person landed on the roof right where he’d been standing.
Jason untangled himself from Tim, who was grumbling you’re welcome asshole , and looked at the person.
And immediately felt like he was gonna throw up.
The person was actually a teenager , which made worse the fact he had a large open chest wound in the shape of a Y, bleeding Lazarus green blood everywhere. He didn’t appear to be breathing, and boy did that give Jason a scare before the teen heaved in a shaky breath and groaned.
“ H̸̢̳̪̗̀̐̀͛͗͑͌̉̕͠͠͝ȩ̶̗͉̺̪̠̪̰͊̈̎͒͐̂͌̃̄̀͆͝ͅl̵̢̛͈̭̠̊̓͌́̄̈́̽̚͠͝p̵̡̤͕̹̲̘̥̹͖̬͉̞̂͒ͅ ̶̜̘̭̜͙̱̚m̸͉͆̅́̒͛̀͗̈̒̏̑͗ȩ̵͎̤̞̠̜̫̠̭͖̀̍̓͒̂ͅ,̴̜͇̘͖̤̦͚̖̦͉̯̦̠͒ ̸̡̛̮͍͔̺͖̲͚͆̉̒̈́̈́̾̈́́̍̅͘p̴̨͖͖͔̹̦͐̈́̾̄͊̑̎ľ̸̩̳̠̭̮͈̗̫̥͗̅̓̆̈́̄͂͑̈́̇̚͜͠ͅͅẻ̸̡̧͈̻̮̜̮̥͇̪͕͉̗̌̀͂͌̎͝ͅą̸̧̛̞̖̩̲̪͉̲͈̎̈̃̽͗̊͝s̶̲̺̭̉̑̇̐̽͛͜͠ẹ̵̗̓̊̐͜,̸̧̢̭̮̹͖͕͈̤͚̎̑̈́̄́̚̚͜ ̵͓̯̂̃̌̋́̉̃̀̂̈́H̵̞͖̜̩̯̮̦̬͊́̅̌̈́͆̿͑̉͘͠ã̶̡̯̰̮̣͔̓̓͆͐̑̽̄̆l̴͉̿̓͒̒̈́̍͑̌̽̅͠͝f̶̨̨̙̈́ą̶̟̱͕̹̙̱̠̟͍͉̜̗͆͊̑́̃̊̋͝ ..” the teen.. spoke? It didn’t sound like any language he’d ever heard, but Jason understood it perfectly. Something in his chest resonated with the words, and there was a taste of.. smoke maybe? In his throat.
This kid was important, somehow. He had to help him.
Turning on his comm, he spoke. “B, there’s a glowing kid here with me and RR. He’s badly injured and needs medical, now .”
As the channel exploded with questions from the others, he gently picked up the kid and got moving.
~~~~~
Danny can’t exactly say he was knocked out, since he was never unconscious in the first place. It was more like he was completely out of it , like he had a surreal awareness of the world around him… it was probably from the blood loss. Oh right, he was losing blood. And his parents had ripped him open like they’d promised time and time again.
What was he focusing on before? He remembered now, he was flying away. Getting as far from his pa- Jack and Maddie as he could, when he recognized the city beneath him as Gotham City.
He’d talked with Sam and Tucker before about what cities would be best to flee to if they had to initiate Code Toast (Worst Case Scenario), and Gotham had been one of the top picks, mainly because of the sheer amount of ambient ectoplasm. It wasn’t nearly as much as Amity Park, that’s for sure, but it was a hell of a lot more than any other city they could find.
But there were the Bats to worry about. Tucker had suggested that maybe they’d help with the situation in Amity Park. While Danny didn’t have too much hope of that, it was possible. They’d tried contacting the Justice League before, but their calls and messages for help never went through. It was like they were being blocked. With some research Tucker had found out the bastards in white had some sort of signal blocker effectively keeping everything in Amity Park isolated, which, for the record, fucking sucked.
Maybe Batman and his brood wouldn’t want to help his town. That was always a possibility. Then again, that could just be the mini Sam in his head being pessimistic.
So when he’d reached the city, he was not feeling good. Danny felt like he was gonna pass out from the blood loss and whatever other shit his p- Jack and Maddie had put in him.
That is, until he sensed the presence of an ecto-entity. Another ghost. Except it didn’t feel entirely like a ghost. It felt like Vlad or Elle in a way, but not the same. Stronger.
It felt like another Halfa .
And boy did Danny feel relief at that. Maybe this guy could help him, he’d understand the struggles of being half ghost. He could get him the medical attention he so desperately needed right now.
So he changed course toward where he felt the Halfa was, and let himself fall. He thought he heard someone shout before feeling the concrete of the roof connect with his back. That landing could have gone better. He sat there for a moment, taking in the sounds around him, which was basically nothing, before speaking to the Halfa he knew was next to him.
Now that he was closer, this guy felt fucked up . His ectoplasm was a damn mess, and honestly? He smelled a bit. But he could still feel somewhat of an aura from the guy, and he knew the guy was not liking what he was seeing right now. Not great.
He heard the guy’s (man? person?) robotic voice and felt strong arms pick him up. Slowly he opened his eyes, and was met with a guy with a red hat thing? Wait. That was a red hood . Red Hood. The Halfa was Red Hood?!?
Danny felt Hood’s body stiffen slightly after his eyes had opened, but he kept going. Hood was taking him somewhere. Where though? Danny didn’t know, since he dissociated after that. The blood loss was finally getting to him.
By the time Danny came to again, he could hear the steady hum of machines. He forced his eyes open wider and focused his vision, getting a good look around. There were cots and what appeared to be medical machines, which honestly made him a little anxious until he looked down and saw he was bandaged up. Red Hood had gotten him help. Danny felt better than he had in an honest while. He was okay.
Danny heard the door across the room open, and he looked up to see Red Hood in the doorway, except without his helmet. He did have a domino mask on though. Hood ducked out of the room for a moment and Danny thought he caught he’s awake before he came back in and moved towards the bed.
Then the other vigilantes entered the room. Nightwing, Red Robin, Robin, a few Danny couldn’t remember the names of, and Batman himself. It was a little overwhelming, but the amount of concern Danny could taste in the air reassured him a bit.
Nightwing stepped forward and sat on the edge of the cot, looking lost for a moment. “How are you feeling?”
“..Better, now. Thank you for helping me.”
Nightwing nodded. One of the other vigilantes Danny didn’t remember the name of (he was yellow, maybe Sunlight? Sunspot? SIGNAL, that’s right) spoke up. “Who did this to you? Who hurt you?”
Danny thought about that for a moment. How should he answer? He remembered Tucker’s words about getting help against the GIW. Maybe the Bats would help with his pare- Jack and Maddie too, it would concern them with Red Hood being a Halfa.
Having decided, he told them. “My parents, the Fentons.” And boy did that change the mood in the room real fast . Everyone seemed to tense slightly, and the air tasted of righteous anger. “They’re ghost hunters, and they were hunting me for a long time. They didn’t know I was a ghost, so when I told them… they didn’t take it well.” Might as well spill all his secrets here if he’s at it.
“Ghosts are real?” The purple one (Danny could not remember her name for the (half)life of him) asked. Oh shit. Maybe they didn’t know about ghosts?
“We’ve met aliens and magicians before. I think the more pertinent question to be asking is, you’re a ghost? How do you hide that from people?” Red Robin pitched in.
“Well, technically I’m a Halfa. It let me hide it from them easier.”
Red Hood stood a little straighter. “Halfa, you called me that earlier. What does that mean?”
Red Robin looked at Hood with confusion. “You understood that garbled noise he made?”
“You didn’t?”
The two stared at each other for a moment before Danny cleared his throat. Welp, he was telling them everything anyway. “Halfas are half-ghost, half-human. It’s kind of like being right in the middle of life and death, existing in both and neither. Essentially the Schrodinger's cat situation. And it lets me do this.” He transformed, careful to keep the bandages and stitches from transforming with him.
He got a round of stares, before Robin spoke up for the first time. “Is he not what you would call ‘Prime Adoption Bait’, Hood?”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!”
“Hey, language!”
“What does ‘Prime Adoption Bait’ mean?” Everyone turned to him again like they’d forgotten he’d existed for a moment, before Red Robin gave a nervous chuckle.
“That kind of involves our secret identities, doesn’t it?” RR said.
Hood slapped Red on the back, and without missing a beat, “I mean, B left a minute ago. He probably went for the adoption papers, don’t ya think?”
“I’ll go check.” The purple girl left the med-bay, presumably to go find Batman.
“...Can I say no to being adopted?”
Nightwing answered this time. “I mean, yeah? But you do fit all the criteria, black hair, blue eyes, tragic backstory. It's kinda funny actually."
Danny thought for a moment. They hadn't immediately thought him evil or disgusting for being a ghost. They got angry when he talked about his parents hurting him. They were joking about adopting him. Maybe…
Maybe he could stay.
"Would I be safe here?"
An immediate round of confirmations from everyone.
"Would you help me save my town and my friends from a corrupt, biased government agency?"
"Oh absolutely." Red Hood cracked his knuckles.
“Will you let me clean out the nasty ectoplasm from Red Hood and Robin?”
“The what?!”
Danny inhaled sharply. “Oh shit, yeah. You two are not healthy. Corrupted ectoplasm can be bad, the only reason you two aren’t like, sick right now is because we’re in Gotham. I can fix it, when I’m better.”
Nightwing seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking. “Would the Lazarus Pits be ectoplasm then?” Oh shit, that’s not good.
“Real nasty stuff yeah. Have you two been in it? Not good.”
“Wait, you can fix the.. the Pit Rage?” Red Hood spoke, and Danny could feel a faint sense of hope from the man.
“Definitely.”
Nightwing turned to the others, who all turned to each other, a silent conversation playing out, before Nightwing turned back. “We’ll let you fix it.”
Danny let out a sigh of relief. “Then.. could I stay? If that’s alright?”
Nightwing grinned. “Yes. Now, we never got your name, kid.”
“It’s Danny. Danny.. well, I don’t have a last name anymore.”
Robin moved to leave the room. “I will inform Father of this revelation.”
“You mean strongarm him into adopting Danny if he wasn’t planning to already.” Red Hood quipped at him.
“What’s the difference?”
And as laughs lit up around him, Danny felt light. He felt happy and for the first time since he’d died… he felt safe.