Chapter Text
Jack ignored the stop sign as he plowed through it with the GAV. He and Maddie followed a ghostly Gotham signature with their Fenton ectolocator.
They had come to the gothic city for a supernatural conference but had found it lacking. Most of the people there were quacks, and those who weren’t fake were pretentious snobs that turned their noses up to the Fentons for how they dressed.
That was fine by the Fentons because, at the moment, they were going to get a ghost that didn’t come from Amity Park.
Since they had found out about Danny being half-ghost, they no longer wanted to tear ghosts apart, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t get other data. Power level, ectosignature, maybe even some samples if the spirit was sentient enough to give them some. They could document obsessions and perhaps even find out what kind of ectoentity it was.
“Turn left, Jack. The ectoentity has stopped moving!”
Jack made a sharp left, barely avoiding another car.
“Turn left again and then stop.”
Jack followed Maddie’s instructions, and they stopped at the entrance of an alleyway. They went straight ahead following the signature.
Both Fentons were vibrating with excitement. Maybe that’ll be the first ghost they’d see in Gotham. The place was full of ambient ectoplasm. They could imagine what kind of ghost could be made under Gotham’s conditions.
They both turned when a trash can was thrown.
At first, they saw nothing, but then a boy wearing a dirt-covered suit came from behind the can.
Both Fentons felt their hearts sink as the boy turned blue eyes toward them. He couldn’t have been older than Danny.
“Mads, he’s the one with the signature we’ve been following.”
Maddie nodded and walked toward the boy. She put her hands up in a sign of peace when the boy whimpered in fear.
“It’s okay, sweetie; I won’t hurt you.”
The boy was shivering in the cold. His suit, while looking expensive, was full of holes and wet. Maddie’s heart clenched.
“Can you tell me your name,” she asked softly.
“B-Bruce,” the boy said.
“Is that your name? Bruce?”
The boy’s catatonic face turned a bit frustrated.
“B-b-brush,” he said again.
“Maddie, I don’t want to get too close in case my height scares him. I brought a blanket from the GAV. Wrap him around it.”
Maddie took the blanket. The boy looked at Jack, but instead of being scared, he walked toward the orange-clad man.
He looked at Jack in confusion, “B-Bruce?”
“No, kiddo,” Jack answered in an uncharacteristically low voice, “my name’s Jack. Do you know yours?”
“Wh-where’s da? Where’s B-B-Bruce?”
“I don’t know, kiddo.”
Maddie put the blanket around the boy’s shivering shoulders. The boy seemed to return to a catatonic state, staring into the middle distance.
“What should we do, Mads?”
“We can call the police, I suppose. See if anyone is missing a child that fits his description.”
Both Fentons took the boy into the GAV while they waited for a police officer to show up. Who they got made them think very little of the Gotham police. The men were dismissive of their concern and wanted to take the clearly catatonic boy to juvie. Juvie!
The boy needed a hospital, not jail.
So, both Fenton’s took the boy to the hospital while the police begrudgingly escorted them. Thankfully, while there, they were able to talk to a social worker. Unfortunately, she was swamped and couldn’t find any missing children that matched the boy. Maddie and Jack felt their heart clench once more as they stared at the boy.
“What’s going to happen to him,” Maddie asked.
The social worker shrugged, “Most likely, he will be put in a home for special needs children.
“That’s it,” Maddie asked, outraged.
“Listen, Mrs. Fenton, we are overworked and underpaid. That is the best we can do. Now if you can excuse me, I have other cases to get to.
Jack fiddled with the Fenton ectolocator. It still pinged an ectosignature, and it was coming from the boy.
“You know,” Maddie started, “I have a friend that owes me a favor. It’d be dangerous for him to be left alone. What if the GIW finds him and experiments on him? He already has too many scars.”
Jack smiled, “We already have a half-ghost son. What’s a son with an ectosignature?”
“We should consult the kids first,” Maddie said. Jack nodded while staring at the boy. He looked so small, bandaged up in the hospital bed.
Jack half listened as his wife explained to Jazz what was happening.
Thankfully, both kids said yes, and Danny even said they could bring the boy to the Far Frozen to get checked over by Frostbite. That was a relief to both Fenton parents as the Ghost Zone had more advanced technology.
They had been able to get the name Jay from the boy.
A week later, a newly named Jay Fenton was taken to Amity Park, Illinois.
One year later
Jay woke up screaming. He could hear laughter and saw green, green, green.
“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m here.”
Jay let himself be comforted in his mom’s arms.
“He was there, mom. He killed me.”
“Shh, it’s okay, sweetie; I got you.”
____
Jay Fenton (formerly known as Jason Peter Todd-Wayne, not that he told his parents he had those memories back. He didn’t want to return to Gotham where he was.) watched as his siblings bickered with each other.
He didn’t remember much after his death. (Jason had been buried! It was too small; he had to get out! Now!) However, he knew the Fentons had rescued him and given him back his mind.
Jay shuddered to think what would’ve happened if his parents hadn’t found him. Nothing good, that’s for sure. Kids rarely survived in Gotham intact. A kid with his mind not 100% there? Well, it wouldn’t have ended well.
The fact that they had been uniquely qualified to deal with an undead kid had just been the icing on the cake.
While he had seen a lot as Robin, Jay still hadn’t seen half the crazy stuff he had seen while with the Fentons. Ghosts, gods, the Ghost Zone, a King for a brother…
Jason wasn’t complaining. He loved his new family.
“All right, kids, time for school.”
Jay took his bookbag and ran after Danny.
____
“He’s hiding something from us, Jack.”
“I know, Maddie, but it’s best to let him come to us. Frostbite said he died and came back. That had to be traumatic for anyone. We’ve seen the scars; it wasn’t an easy death.”
“I wish he would trust us.”
Maddie remembered all the times Jay woke up screaming that the man with the green hair had killed him. Her fists clenched; she wished she could get her hands on the man who made one of her babies cry.
Jack took her hands; Maddie’s fists unclenched as she held on to the man who loved her.
“We’ll take care of Jay, Maddie. After all, the Fentons always stick together!”
____
“Mom, dad, I want to talk to you about something.”
Both Fentons turned away from their work and looked at Jay. Jason gulped.
Here goes nothing, he thought.
____
“Alicia, do you still have Waller’s number,” Maddie asked as soon as the phone was picked up.
“Yeah, why?”
“I want a clown dead.”
Two weeks later, Jason saw the headlines.
Joker Found Dead in His Cell
He knew his parents had avenged him.
“Jay, time for dinner,” his mom called out. Jason smiled. He finally had a real family.