Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny groans as he feels the summons. He almost dismisses it, but then he feels the sacrifice. They’re alive but fading, dying. He accepts.

Danny ignores everyone outside the circle, focusing solely on the 8-year-old girl bleeding out at his feet. He picks her up, and the wounds start absorbing the ambient ectoplasm he exudes. He gathers ectoplasm in his hand and places it on the most significant wound. The girl twitches before going lax in his arms. Danny hears her heartbeat stop, letting his power flare as his head snaps up. Ice shoots across the room, instantly incasing everyone up to their waist in ice. Danny keeps pouring ectoplasm into the girl when he feels a core trying to form.

“Who did this? Who summoned me?” Danny’s voice is calm, but his eyes are bright, solid green, and his anger flows out of him, dropping the temperature.

Several people in robes open and close their mouths, unable to utter a sound.

Finally, a woman manages speech, “W-w-we di-did, My-my King.”

A man nearby continues when her words fail at Danny’s glare. “We-we offer you our-” his words falter as Danny turns his attention to him, “our daughter, who has ma-”

They both scream as ice spikes suddenly shoot through their shoulders.

“You have killed a child, your own child. How dare you!” Danny growls out, his voice becoming less human with every word.

Symbols, glowing ectoplasm green, burn along the throat of every cultist. All of them scream, grabbing at their throats and coughing.

“When you die, there will be no afterlife awaiting you. No heaven or hell, no valhalla or helheim, nothing. You will simply END. These marks will remain until you die. They will make sure you feel every ounce of pain you have ever caused others, emotional, physical, and mental. No one will ever be able to stop this pain; trying will only make it worse.” Danny releases the ice as he finishes, and they all collapse to the floor unconscious.

The marks brighten sharply before the glow fades, leaving tattoos in their places. Danny brings his attention back to the child whose coloring is changing. Brown hair turns blue and moves like water, and skin becomes paler. Even her ceremonial white shirt and pants are darkening to black. His eyes widen and dim as he understands.

“Who are you?” Danny doesn’t look away from her but needs to understand.

It takes a moment before anyone speaks. “ We’re vigilantes and heroes. We were trying to stop the summoning.” The voice is surprisingly steady, not entirely, but a lot better than he was expecting. Danny looks up and makes eye contact with him despite the mask and releases the ice containing the speaker as he observes him.

He’s the farthest away, only a few feet from a wall. Black hair, wearing a black, armored suit with red accents and chest plate, a black belt, yellow bandoliers forming an X across his chest, and another bandolier around each bicep, his cape slit to appear as feathers. A bo staff is the only visible weapon at the moment. He can feel the love this city has for him, can feel the safe-protector-heart-guardian-knight-prince as easily as he feels his core. Danny observes the others as a name comes to mind.

Closest to the speaker is a man with black hair dressed in a mask and a black suit with minimal armor, if any. He has a blue V on his chest, the tops of which come up to his shoulders, then down his arms to the middle, and ring fingers on both hands, each holding a pole a little longer than his forearms. Safe-protector-fighter-angry-knight Gotham projects.

Next is a blonde in a white button-up with a red tie, black slacks, and a beige trenchcoat. He’s shaking in fear. His soul feels stained and fragmented; it's painful to look at, so Danny moves on. Stranger-magic-tolerate-safe.

Next is a pair, an adult and a child, standing back to back.

The child also has black hair. His shirt is red with yellow accents, black sleeves with green armor, and a yellow belt around his waist. His pants are also black with green armor and green boots. His cape is hooded, black on the outside, and yellow on the inside. He wields a katana and a glare. Danny just raises an eyebrow. Knight-warrior-new-insecure-angry-safe.

The adult wears a dark grey, heavily armored suit with a yellow belt and a black bat on his chest. His cape, cowl, gloves, and boots are all such a dark blue that they look black unless they're in just the right light. Knight-leader-fighter-parent-hurt-angry-safe.

Last is a woman with black hair. She’s dressed like a performer: in a tuxedo-style leotard with black fishnets, a black top hat with a red ribbon, and a yellow corset. She holds a black wand with white ends. Magic-friend-safe.

Danny turns back to the speaker as he releases the others from his ice. “Lady Gotham speaks highly of her knights and prince.” Danny can feel his confusion.

“Lady… Gotham?”

Danny tilts his head. “Do you not know of your City Spirit?”

The speaker slowly shakes his head, as do the other knights, when Danny turns to them.

“What is a City Spirit?” the child demands, his voice shaking. He frowns at himself for it.

“Robin,” the adult next to him warns.

“Shut it,” the blonde says at the same time.

“Do not blame the child for asking about something he should have already had explained to him,” Danny glances at the blonde before turning to the woman. “Lady Gotham says you are their friend. Why do they know nothing of her?”

She gulps as she steps back in fear before visibly steeling herself. “Batman doesn’t like magic or outsiders in his city. I didn’t know they weren’t aware of her.”

Danny’s eyes fall back on the adult. He tilts his head again and opens his mouth to speak when the child in his arms shoves herself out and starts freaking out when she floats instead of falls, eyes glowing a bright blue in fear.

“What-what’s going on? What is this?!” the child cries as she looks down at herself.

“You died, Little Star,” Danny says gently.

The girl snaps her head to look at him as she finally falls to the floor. As she does, her form bleeds, almost melts, away. Brown hair and white blood-stained clothes coming back. The woman gasps, but Danny ignores her as the girl looks back at herself. She looks back up at him as he kneels in front of her.

“I didn’t know this was possible,” Danny says to no one in particular.

“What is this?” Batman demands.

“Shut up.” the blond hisses.

Danny ignores them both, but the girl snaps around to face them. She’s tense and shaking until she sees the first one to speak.

“Red Robin,” she whispers, awe tracing her voice.

Red Robin slowly moves forward as she relaxes just the slightest bit. She slowly gets to her feet, only for one of them to become intangible and fall into the floor. Danny catches her before she hits the ground. The child stares at her foot, still in the ground, before slowly looking up at Danny.

“You’re a halfa,” Danny says, amazed.

“A what?” The child’s voice is so tiny it pains Danny.

“A halfa. Half alive, half dead. It’s extremely rare. Including you, there have only ever been four halfas. I think your innate magic changed how the ectoplasm affected you,” Danny explains.

Her eyes widen, and her form melts back into blue hair and black clothes. “I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to!” She suddenly disappears. “I wasn’t trying- I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she cries.

Danny, still holding the child from her fall, pulls her closer. “It’s ok. You’re not in trouble. This isn’t a bad thing.” He starts rocking back and forth on his heels, projecting safe-protect, as she calms down.

“Red! What are you doing?” the least armored one calls as Red Robin passes Batman, who grabs his arm.

Red Robin glares at Batman. “Let go.” Batman doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t let go. Danny waits five seconds before using ice to force Batman’s grip off. It melts as Red Robin keeps moving toward the summoning circle and stops just outside of it as the child fades back into view.

Batman goes to say something only to have ice cover his mouth. He meets Danny’s eyes as it melts and freezes at the glare.

Danny stands, still holding her, and turns to face him properly. Red Robin glances at Danny but focuses on the girl.

“Hi, I’m Red Robin,” he says.

“I-I know. You’re my favorite,” she whispers shakily.

Danny feels his surprise and pride. They both smile gently at her.

“That means a lot, thank you. What’s your name?” Red Robin asks.

“Summer Charles.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Summer. Are you hungry?” Red Robin pulls a protein bar from his belt and offers it to her.

She eyes it before looking away and curling up against Danny. “I’m not allowed to eat when I’ve used magic. Bad kids don’t get food.”

Everyone tenses at that. Danny growls before quickly changing it to humming, projecting safe-protect again.

“Who told you that?” the woman asks gently.

Summer just burrows her face into Danny’s shoulder. His humming picks up, projecting as much as he can without overwhelming her. It takes a moment, but she pulls back to look up at him again. He just smiles at her and keeps humming.

“Summer?” Red Robin calls gently.

Summer doesn’t hesitate to look at him, even if she does so slowly. He smiles at her.

“That’s not true. You should eat whenever you’re hungry, and having and using magic isn’t a bad thing. Can you tell us who told you that?” Red Robin offers her the protein bar again.

Summer watches him as she slowly reaches for it. Once it’s in her hands, she looks up at Danny, who smiles and nods, still humming. She stares at it for several long moments. “Mom and Dad,” she whispers, refusing to look at any of them.

Danny moves to Red Robin. When he steps out of the circle, the blonde starts cussing, and the woman gasps again. The other knights drop into defensive positions, but they ignore them.

“They were wrong. They shouldn’t have treated you like that. We,” Red Robin gestures to himself and the other knights, “will make sure they can’t anymore.”

Silent tears start running down Summer’s face. She opens the wrapper and slowly eats the protein bar. Danny stops humming when she finishes.

“How are you feeling?” Danny asks.

“Tired,” she mumbles.

“Then sleep, Little Star. No harm will come to you,” Danny promises. She does just that, closing her eyes and curling up again, letting the exhaustion pull her away.

“What happens to her now?” the lightly armored one asks, moving up to stand by the other knights.

Danny watches Summer for a moment before holding her out to Red Robin, who slowly takes her in confusion. They watch as her form bleeds back to brown and white.

“She trusts you,” Danny tells him. “This is her human form. The other one is her ghost form.”

Red Robin looks down at her and nods.

“She can’t stay in the realms. It will hurt her human half, make her sick. I will bring her to the realms for training, teach her to control the powers she will get. Many of my subjects will jump at the chance to help her with her magic. But we can’t stay in the living realms long term.” Danny explains.

“What about the other halfas?” Robin asks suspiciously.

Danny watches him blankly. “Not an option at the moment. I will take her to one of them when that changes, but that isn’t possible now.” He faces Red Robin again, searching his face. “This will be significantly easier if she can stay with someone she trusts here.”

“I’m the only one, aren’t I?” Red Robin asks.

“Yes. I don’t know why, but I can feel it.” Danny huffs at their confusion. “Ectoplasm is emotion-based. We feel it like you feel the wind.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Red Robin agrees.

“Red Robin,” Batman growls as the other knights stare at him in shock.

“What should I expect?” he continues, ignoring the others.

“Invsilibility, intangibility, increased strength and senses, and she’ll be more sensitive to emotions, both hers and others. These will happen in both forms. There are many other possible powers, but those are the only consistent ones. No two beings are exactly alike. I don’t know if her magic will affect her powers, or it could just be another one. Either is possible.” Danny pauses to look at Summer. “I can’t believe there’s another true halfa.”

“What do you mean, ‘true halfa’?” Red Robin questions cautiously.

Danny opens his mouth to answer before snapping his head to the rafters. “I assume the two new bats are with you.” Two figures drop down at this.

The first is a woman with black hair in a black suit, cape, and mask. She has a yellow bat on her chest, a yellow belt, and white wraps around her forearms and hands. She lands just within arms' reach of Red Robin. Safe-warrior-fighter-protector-knight-seer-princess Gotham projects.

The other is a woman in a black suit with purple sides, a purple belt, and a purple hooded cape. She lands between the first and the others. Safe-fighter-protector-knight.

The first gives Red Robin a cursory once-over before turning to Danny. She looks at him, and Danny understands she sees and feels the world more similarly to him than any other knight. He watches her see this as well and smiles at her. She smiles back and steps closer to Red Robin, looking at the child in his arms, completely relaxed. The other knights look between her and Danny in shock.

“Black Bat?” the purple girl questions curiously, relaxing slightly when Black Bat smiles at her.

“Safe. Protector,” Black Bat tells them.

“Definitely not Pariah Dark, then,” the blonde mumbles. He stands up straight in panic when he realizes he has spoken out loud.

“No. I am not that tyrant. I defeated him before I was even dead a year, though I didn’t receive the crown until years later,” Danny confirms. He smirked as both magicians paled at this. “He threatened those I care about. That is not something I tolerate from anyone,” he continues, warning clear in his tone.

Danny feels Black Bat’s gaze and finds her smirking at him.

“Spoiler, report,” Batman instructs.

“Oracle sent us to check on the situation when all of you stopped responding to your coms,” Spoiler reports. “What’s going on?”

“Drake has obtained a child,” Robin states.

Spoiler whirls around to stare at Red Robin.

“No names in the field, Robin,” Batman corrects.

Black Bat calmly looks up at him, searching his face before smiling wide. “Niece.” This startles all the other knights. Red Robin opens his mouth, but Black Bat stops him by putting her hands on his shoulders. “Niece,” she says firmly. He closes his mouth and gives her a small smile.

“How are you going to get her for training? I can’t risk having an interdimensional just showing up in my civilian life,” Red Robin asks suddenly.

Danny holds out a hand. Red Robin carefully passes Summer to Black Bat before taking it. Danny’s eyes glow brightly again as green lines and symbols race up Red Robin’s arm before sinking through his suit and settling on his skin.

“This is a private summoning circle for me specifically. Unless you are actively using it, it will look like a tattoo that only you and beings of the realms can see. Summon me when she wakes up, and we will make a plan and schedule,” Danny instructs.

The magicians stare, open-mouthed, at them before the woman shakes herself, cautiously asking, “Shouldn’t you take her first?”

“No, it’s better if she wakes in a familiar world. The realms are a lot to handle all at once. Waking up there as her first experience would be risky,” Danny explains as he enters the original summoning circle and activates the return sigil.

“Thank you for your help, High King Phantom,” Red Robin says.

Danny smiles at him as he returns to the realms.

Chapter Text

“What the bloody hell just happened?” Constantine breathes.

Tim looks down at Summer in Black Bats’s arms before looking back at her. He glances at the others, and Black Bat nods. He calls his bike before taking Summer back.

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Phantom?” Nightwing breaks in.

“How did I know his name?” Tim asks.

“The summoning circle, mate. He said it was his private summons. Those come with every title and name he’s ever used or has ever been used for him,” Constantine explains as he lights a cigarette.

“So Red knows all of his titles?” Spoiler asks, looking between them.

Zatana nods, “He’s also protected.”

“Oh yeah. I could feel the bloody thing from across the country,” Constantine grumbles.

“What does that mean?” Nightwing asks cautiously as Batman glares at Constantine.

“By putting the summons on you rather than giving it to you, he’s marked you. His authority and power protect you—anything, or anyone, that goes after you will answer him. I doubt anything supernatural will ever even try,” Zatana explains.

“Why didn’t he do that for the kid?” Robin asks.

Zatana shrugs, “It could be several things. Maybe he can’t because her magic is unstable, or being a halfa prevents it. Black Bat said he’s a protector, so maybe he can’t give it to someone without their consent, or he just won’t without it.”

Tim slowly nods, “That would make sense.”

His gauntlet beeps then, letting him know his ride is here. Everyone follows him out of the warehouse. Batman frowns when he sees the bike.

“You ne-” Batman starts.

“I’m not taking her to the cave,” Tim interrupts, not even pausing as he moves to Redbird.

Batman steps towards him, only to be stopped by Black Bat as she shakes her head no.

“Hn.”

“Push it, and I won’t even take her to the Nest. We both know you won’t find me if I don’t want you to.” Tim sets Summer on his bike and half turns back to the others, giving them a hard glare that makes Nightwing tense and Batman frown more. “Do not bother us until I personally give you the ok.”

Constantine snorts, “Don’t have to tell me twice, mate.”

Zatana glares at him. “He wasn’t talking to us .”

Constantine just shrugs and lights up another cigarette. Zatana groans.

“Black Bat and I will keep everyone away,” Spoiler assures him.

Black Bat half turns to Tim, still firmly in Batman’s way, and smiles. “Promise.”

Tim returns the smile and climbs onto his bike, rearranging Summer so she’s leaning against his chest.

“You don’t know how to care for a kid,” Batman growls.

“I have some pretty good examples of what not to do,” Tim retorts, glaring at Batman.

Batman flinches the slightest bit and stares at him in shock.

“If I need advice, I’ll call Arsenal.” Tim starts his bike and takes off.

Summer doesn’t even twitch on the ride over, the trip upstairs, or while being set on the couch. Tim changes out of his armor before coming back to the living room. He stops to watch Summer for a minute and almost has a heart attack when he notices she isn’t breathing—until she does. It’s slow and much less often than it should be, six breaths in a minute, he watches and times.

“What the fuck did I get myself into?” Tim whispers to himself.

He scrubs his hands over his face and breathes for a moment. Then he grabs his phone and texts Cass.

2:48 AM

Little Brother

Please come over

I need you to change Summer into clothes that aren’t soaked in her blood

Big Sister

👍🏃

Tim takes another deep breath, nods, and pockets his phone. He checks Summer’s wounds to find they’ve completely healed, leaving behind slightly pink scars. He also discovers that she has several other older scars. He’s pushing down his rage, feeling his breathing getting choked down, when his sister enters through the window, still in her armor.

She tilts her head in question.

“She’s got a dozen old scars. I highly doubt any are from childhood clumsiness.” Tim says through gritted teeth.

Cass stills and slowly nods.

“Her breathing is strange, too. About half as much as she should.”

Cass tilts her head again.

“I counted six per minute.” 

“Concern?”

“I don’t think so. She’s half dead now; it almost makes sense that she doesn’t breathe normally anymore.” Tim knows he sounds stressed. 

Cass comes over and pulls him into a hug. Tim buries his face in her shoulder as he returns it. They stand there like that for a few minutes. When he finally pulls away, he feels like he can breathe again.

“There’s extra clothes in the guest room. The smallest are obviously gonna be Damian’s,” Tim explains. “I’m gonna call Jason and get him to give me Roy’s number.”

Cass nods, picks up Summer, and disappears down the hall. Tim rubs his face and pulls out his phone again. He hesitates at Jason’s contact before hitting the call button and putting it on speaker. It rings but goes to voicemail. Tim closes his eyes as he starts.

“Hey, Jason, it’s Tim. I just got a kid. She’s eight, and I have no idea what I’m doing. If you could give me Roy’s number or maybe give him mine, that would be great. I could really use his help and advice right now.”

Tim hesitates before just ending the call and pocketing his phone again, collapsing onto the couch. He checks his phone to see two pictures of Summer when it vibrates. In the first, she’s asleep on top of the covers, dressed in one of Tim’s pull-over hoodies and a pair of sweats. She’s drowning in the oversized clothes. The other is of her tucked in under the covers. Tim smiles at them as he saves them. 

Cass comes back as Tim stands again.

“Well, this has been a night. I’m gonna go pass out,” Tim informs her.

She just smiles and says, “Good.” Then, she pushes him toward the hall before leaving the way she came, closing the window behind her.

He laughs as he heads for his room and crawls into bed. He forwards the first photo to Jason before letting sleep pull him away.

~~

Tim groans when he wakes to his phone ringing in his ear. It stops for a blessingly quiet 5 seconds before starting again. He grabs and glares at it until he sees it’s Jason calling. He’s answering as he gets up.

“What the fuck do ya mean ya ‘got a kid’?! Where? How ? If you don’t start explaining, I’m gonna lose my shit and have to call Dick,” Jason starts, not letting Tim get a sound in much less a word.

“Zatanna and Constantine were helping us with a cult-”

“Zatanna and Constantine!?"

“Yeah,” Tim sighs.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. This cult tried to summon the High King of the Infinite Realms, Pariah Dark. Apparently, he was strong enough to destroy the planet with a swing of his sword and a tyrant.” Tim pokes his head into the guest room to see Summer still asleep. He leaves and heads to the kitchen.

“Was? As in, he’s not anymore?”

“No idea. All we know is that there’s a different king, Phantom, who Cass said is safe and a protector.”

“Damn, that’s high praise.”

Tim snorts, “No kidding. Phantom even said he only fought Pariah Dark because the tyrant threatened those he cares about.”

“Good for him! What does this have ta do with the kid?”

“The cult leaders, Samuel and Margret Charles used their own daughter, Summer Charles, as the sacrifice. They sliced open both of her forearms, from the inside of her elbows to her wrists, and stabbed her in the stomach.”

“THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS!! IF I EVER-”

Tim pulls the phone away from his ear as Jason cusses and screams. He has time to load and start the coffee machine before Jason has calmed down enough to speak, though Tim can still hear his heavy breathing.

“How is she?” Jason asks tightly.

“She died and came back.” Tim hears Jason stop breathing altogether. “She has amazing innate magic. That plus Phantom being there brought her back, mostly.”

“What da ya mean ‘mostly’?” Jason asks, throwing Tim off at the softness in his voice.

Tim blinks before grabbing a mug and continuing. “She’s what’s known as a halfa. This means she has a human half and a ghost half and can switch between them. Also, this comes with powers on top of her magic.”

“What the fuck ?” Jason whispers.

“Yeah.” Tim pours his first mug and downs it. “Phantom explained that, including her, there have only ever been four halfas in existence, and he can’t keep her in the realms because it would hurt her human half. He’ll take her there for training, but she’ll live with me.” He fills his mug again and sits at the counter.

“Ok, wait. Why did ya end up with the kid?”

“I was the only one there she trusted. Apparently, I’m her favorite.” Tim smiles into his coffee as he drinks.

“During all this bullshit, she decided ya needed to know, your her favorite?” Tim can hear the smile in his voice.

“Yep. With Dick, Damian, and B there in addition to me, Zatanna, and Constantine.”

Jason busts out laughing, taking a few minutes to calm down.

“Phantom asked me specifically, what was I supposed to do? Say no to the being who could probably destroy the world without a sword. Besides, she looked so scared when she spotted Batman,” Tim remembers.

“That’s a fair point, and I mean, a lotta people still think Batman’s against magic and metas as a whole, so… Also, when did Cass meet him if it was just you guys?”

“Maybe, but… I don’t know. It just felt different. And the summoning circle cut our coms, and Babs sent her and Steph to check on us.”

They sit in silence for a minute.

“How is Phantom gonna come get Summer?”

“He gave me his private summoning circle, and I’m supposed to summon him when she wakes up to make a schedule so I don’t have an interdimensional being just randomly showing up in my civilian life.”

“ Damn , little brother, you got yourself in one hell of a situation. Do you need anything besides Roy?”

Tim bluescreens at the ‘little brother’ comment. “Uh… I don’t…I don’t know,” He replies in a small voice.

“Well, call me if you need anything. And text me when Phantom leaves so I can have Roy call you.”

“Ok,” Tim breathes, a little dazed.

“Any idea when we get ta meet her? Roy’s gonna be bouncin’ off the fuckin’ walls.” Jason continues, unaware or ignoring Tim’s mini-breakdown.

“Uh, no, no. I’m gonna wait til she tells me she’s ready to meet people. And I’ll be starting with Cass and Steph.”

“Good call.”

“Yeah. I think Cass might actually kill me if I try to let anyone meet her niece before her.”

“ Niece ? Fuck she’s already your kid , your kid. That was fast.”

Tim blushes, “Cass called her that when she saw me holding her after she fell asleep at the scene and wouldn’t let it go.”

“How hard did you protest?” Jason asks smugly. Continuing when Tim doesn’t respond, “That’s what I thought. You’re attached.”

“I know, shut up,” Tim groans, blushing harder.

Jason just laughs again. Tim drops his head onto the table and pouts for a moment.

“You and Roy can meet her after the girls,” Tim says.

Jason hesitates, “You don’t have to invite me.”

Tim sits up, “What?”

“I don’t have to come with Roy if you don’t want me in your place.”

“Jason, you’ve been here before. Why wouldn’t I let you come now ?”

“Because this is personal shit, and everything else has been for cases. I know I’m not your favorite family member, so there’s no reason to pretend like ya want me in your personal life.” The pain in Jason’s voice makes Tim’s stomach drop.

“You called me your little brother.”

“What?”

“You call me little brother .”

“Yeah… I’m not seeing your point, Tim.”

“Why wouldn’t I want my brother in my life?” Jason hesitates, and Tim continues, “I have always wanted siblings, and having all of my potential brothers try to kill me or betray me fucking hurt. You are the only one that has given me a real apology, one that wasn’t forced or dismissive or-” Tim takes a deep breath, forcing the tears from his voice. “I have wanted you to be my brother since you became Robin, and you apologizing and actively doing better brought that wish back. I want you here because you are my brother. I thought you knew that but didn’t see me as yours, so I never pushed you to come around more. Please come with Roy.”

Tim listens to Jason cough to clear his throat.

“I’ll be there, little brother.” Jason’s voice is tight, but it makes Tim smile again.

“Thank you, big brother.”

Jason snorts. “Hey, can Star come with us?”

“Of course. I know better than to try to separate you three. I just didn’t know if she would want to.”

“Thanks. Let me know when,” Jason says before hanging up.

Tim smiles at his phone before looking up at the hallway. “I haven’t even met you properly, and you’re already helping me.”

He starts going through the messages, ignoring any from Bruce.

Dick sent him a picture of an unconscious Batman in the back of the Batmobile. Tim opens the chat as another text comes through.

2:26 AM

Dick

[photo]

He tried to follow you

Cass didn’t hesitate

10:17 AM

Dick

We filled in Alfie

A child may yet convince him to take care of himself

His words

Let me know if there’s anything i can help with

Even distracting b

10:36 AM

Dick

Dukes also been filled in

Baby Bird

Thanks for the updates.

Tim goes to Duke’s messages next.

6:17 AM

Dayshift

Cass just filled me in. I think you’ll be good at this

Also what did you say to Bruce? He’s been pouting since I got up

10:38 AM

Tech Boy

Thanks Duke

Ask Dick if you really wanna know

Next is the group chat Steph added him to with her, Cass, Babs, and Kate.

2:30 AM

OG

I just sent you Summer’s documents

Let me know what else you need anything else

Badass

????

Summer?

#3

Tim’s kid!

let us know when we can see her!!!!

Shadow

Niece 😴

🤯🤩🥰🎉

2:53 AM

Badass

I’ve been filled in. Let me know if I need to kick Bruce’s ASS

10:41

Favorite Boy

Thanks guys

Will do all the above

Who changed my name again

Tim’s surprised to see a message from Damian.

2:30

Damian

Good luck with your child, Drake.

10:42

Drake

Thanks

Tim sets his phone down with a disbelieving smile as he stands up.

“I have a lot more help than I thought I would,” he whispers.

Chapter Text

Tim smiles until he opens the fridge to find a carton of expired milk, a six-pack of eggs, and a stick of butter. Tim sighs as he throws out the milk and goes to check on Summer again. She’s sitting up and looking around in confusion. Tim knocks on the door frame, causing her head to snap around.

“Morning,” Tim says softly.

“... Morning…” Summer hesitates.

“I’m Tim Drake-Wayne, but you know me as Red Robin.”

Summer’s eyes go wide. “I’m not supposed to know that.”

“High King Phantom asked me to care for you while you’re on the living plane. That means you’re gonna stay with me, and you should know who I am.”

“I’m staying with you?” Summer asks hesitantly.

Tim nods with a gentle smile.

“King Phantom… Is that who was holding me?”

Tim nods as her stomach gurgles, making her blush and curl into herself.

Tim chuckles. “I can make scrambled eggs or order food. Which do you want?”

Summer hesitates, searching his face. “I like scrambled eggs.”

Tim smiles at her and then holds out his arm. Summer’s eyes trace the lines of the summoning circle.

“What’s that?”

“Phantom’s personal summoning circle.” Summer snaps her eyes up. “It doesn’t require anything except focus. He asked that we summon him when you wake up, but I think we need food first.”

Summer nods and gets out of bed.

“Bathroom's just across the hall, kitchen's to the left. Come out when you’re ready.”

Tim hears her head to the bathroom as he starts cooking. They’re quiet through breakfast, and then he sends Summer to sit on the couch while he summons Phantom in the kitchen.

Tim focuses on the circle, remembering how Phantom had appeared the night before. The bright green glow of the circle activating makes him uncomfortable, but he can’t place why. A black orb appears in front of him. It just sits there for a moment before it starts expanding, parts stretching out and spinning. Then, it fractures, releasing a blinding light. When Tim can see again, Phantom stands in the orb’s place.

He looks the same. His armor lays across his chest, forearms, thighs, and shins. It’s as dark and consuming as space, with dots of light that seem to shift and shine of their own accord. The undershirt and pants are white, with the slightest green tint. The outside of his cloak and his boots are the same as his armor, while the inside is the same bright green as his summoning circle, as are his eyes. His hair is white, glowing faintly, and his skin a frozen blue. The crown floating above his head is both made of green-tinted ice and wreathed in green fire.

“Sorry. I forgot to warn you about that,” Phantom says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “The way I come through depends on which title you focus on. I haven’t tried them all, but I know the Protector, Keeper, and Defendor ones won’t blind you.”

The titles Protector of the Realms, Balance Keeper, and Defendor of Amity Park softly push into Tim’s mind as they’re mentioned. As Phantom pulls his hand away, Tim sees a black ring with some kind of green pattern that’s too small for Tim to make out.

“That was cool ,” Summer breathes, eyes glowing blue.

Phantom huffs a laugh as he turns to her. He walks over to the couch and kneels in front of her.

“How are you feeling today, Summer?”

“Good. Red Robin made food before he summoned you,” Summer beams.

“Good.” Phantom smiles as he stands. “Ok. Unless I say otherwise, anything I tell you, ever, stays between the three of us. Do you understand?”

Summer nods, but Tim frowns at him with narrowed eyes.

“The living have a habit of getting in over their heads when they learn about the realms. If they survive, they are always left in extreme pain permanently. I’m only telling you because you need to know to take care of Summer,” Phantom explains, looking Tim directly in the eye.

He searches Phantom’s face and only finds earnest truth and weary acceptance.

“I understand,” Tim says, nodding. “Is that why you put your circle on me?”

“Yes. Few from the realms would even threaten you now,” Phantom confirms.

Tim glances at Summer and raises an eyebrow. She has both hands over her mouth, and her eyes are now a solid blue.

Phantom chuckles. “You can ask me anything.”

“Are there really three others like me?” Summer rushes.

“Kind of.”

“You said she’s a true halfa. That implies there’s one that isn’t,” Tim interjects.

“Two, actually. What makes them halfas is that they have two separate forms,” Danny explains. “Some ghosts have human disguises, but halfas have a form that’s still alive .

“The first-ever halfa was more human than ghost. He couldn’t process ectoplasm as well as the others. He kept aging like a human, and when his human half died, he became a regular ghost, though he did keep his powers and strength.

“The second is the only other true halfa, a perfect balance of life and death. He seems to have stopped aging around 20-ish. The first halfa got his human half killed, but his core brought him back, and when his core got damaged, his human half healed it.”

Tim’s eyes widened as another title pushed through while Phantom talked about the second halfa. True Halfa.

“The third halfa is more ghost than human,” Phantom continues, unaware of Tim’s realization. “She’s a clone of the second halfa, made by the first, who is obsessed with him. The first didn’t really know what he was doing though, so she came out a girl. She stopped aging when she was physically 16-ish, and her human half hasn’t died, so we don’t know if she’ll lose it.”

“Can I meet him? The second halfa?” Summer asks.

Phantom smiles at her and opens his mouth to respond.

Tim beats him to it, moving closer, “You already have.”

They both turn to him, Phantom in surprise and Summer in confusion.

“I have?” Summer questions, tilting her head.

“Yes, but how- oh, duh. The summoning circle has all of my titles,” Phantom realizes.

Summer looks between them, still confused. Phantom sighs as white rings surround his waist and move away from each other, revealing a regular guy. His skin is pale but not unhealthy, and he’s got blue eyes and black hair. He's wearing a black jacket over a white NASA t-shirt, faded green cargo pants, and red and white shoes.

“When I look like this, I’m Danny,” Phantom admits reluctantly.

“I’m Tim,” he responds.

Danny gives him a grateful nod while Summer stares open-mouthed at him.

“Do I look like that when I transform?” Summer asks in awe.

“No, your change seems to drip or melt off you, almost like water,” Danny tells her.

Summer’s eyes glow again as her form melts. She watches her clothes melt away, smiling wide and bright. She giggles as she looks herself over.

“Are those the same clothes she died in?” Tim asks tensely.

“Yes. I’ll teach her how to change them if she wants, but she’ll always have this form. It took a while before I even knew that changing my form was possible. Then I got my crown, and two new forms came with it.” 

They stand there for a minute before Tim opens his mouth to ask about Danny’s dimension.

Danny cuts him off before he can make a sound. “Don’t ask how a ghost died. It’s dangerous. Asking could push us into reliving our deaths, which can and has hurt those around us, the living especially. The more powerful the ghost or the more violent the death, the stronger the reaction will be. Make sure the others know and understand this.” Danny holds eye contact until Tim nods with understanding in his eyes. “Or you could be talking to a Neverborn and embarrass yourself.”

“What’s a Neverborn?” Summer asks, drawing their attention again.

“A being of the realms who was never alive. They can be anything from an emotion strong enough to draw ectoplasm to it to the personification of a concept. My mentor, Clockwork, is time itself,” Danny explains. “The personifications are also called Ancients.”

Another title pushes forward. Ancient of Space.

“You’ve died, but you’re also the Ancient of Space. How?” Tim asks.

Danny blinks at him, eyes turning green. “I’m what ?”

Tim steps back. Danny closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“I’m gonna have a chat with Clockwork when I get back,” Danny grumbles through gritted teeth before taking another breath. To answer your question, the dead can become Ancients if they stay in the realms long enough. Like ‘don’t remember they were ever alive to begin with’ kind of long enough. Usually, we move on to our afterlives or are ended long before that point. The only one to become an Ancient is Nocturne, the Ancient of Sleep.”

“How do you know he was alive?” Summer asks.

“I asked Clockwork. Being the Ancient of Time means he’s often the only one able to remember things like that.”

They sit in silence for a bit before Tim finally breaks it. “So, how are we handling training?”

Summer looks at him in confusion. “What training?”

“Your training,” Danny tells her.

“Why would I need training? I can’t use my magic,” Summer says, looking between them.

Danny tenses, closing his eyes as they glow again. Tim steps closer.

“You can . No one worth listening to will ever tell you you can’t. We might say ‘not now’, but never ‘you can’t’,” Tim explains.

“But Batman-"

“Will have to get over himself,” Tim interrupts. “His main objection to magicians and metas is that it’s much easier for them to be manipulated or trafficked here, but he should know I won’t let that happen. And even if he does try anything, my family has already told me to let them know if I need them to beat him up. Black Bat, Spoiler, Red Hood, and his teammates are already actively helping.”

“Batman will also have to get through me and my entire court. That won’t be an easy task, and no magician worth their salt will be willing to help him,” Danny adds.

Summer looks between them as she starts to cry. Danny beats Tim to her, pulling her close as he floats.

Tim stands awkwardly before heading to the kitchen and pulling a water bottle from a cupboard. Danny raises an eyebrow at it.

“My girlfriend would hate you for the plastic waste,” he says.

Tim just shrugs. “Yeah, well, not much choice. Joker poisoned the tap water last week, and a few more tests still need to be done to ensure it’s safe again.”

Danny’s about to say something when he suddenly stops and settles on the floor again. Summer lifts her head, still sniffling.

“Hey, Summer,” Tim calls, moving closer and offering the bottle, “Do you want some water?”

Summer looks over, taking the bottle with a nod. Danny rubs her back as she finishes calming down.

“Do you need a break?” Danny asks gently.

Summer shakes her head as Danny sets her on the couch. He smiles at her as Tim nods, but they give her another minute before Tim asks her another question.

“Do you want to stay at your school?”

“Do I have to?” Summer asks cautiously.

“You need school, but I can get you into a new one or online if you want,” Tim explains.

Summer hesitates before whispering, “Are they gonna be mean?”

Tim hesitates before admitting, “I don’t know. It’s possible, but I can’t promise either way.”

Summer watches him with the most awed expression. Tim looks at her in confusion.

“You didn’t lie. Adults always lie about that kinda stuff.”

Danny moves back as Tim kneels in front of her, looking her in the eye.

“I won’t lie to you. If there’s something I can’t tell you, I’ll say ‘I can't tell you’, but I won’t lie,” Tim promises.

Summer starts tearing up again as she slowly leans forward, pressing her face against his shoulder. Tim pulls her into his lap and sits on the couch where she had been. He makes eye contact with Danny.

“Online is probably best, at least until she can control her powers,” Danny suggests.

Tim nods. “That’ll give her more time for practice too. How often are you taking her?”

“That’s gonna depend on how well she’s handling her abilities at any given time.” Danny flounders at Tim’s unimpressed eyebrow raise, which he learned from Alfred. “Spending too much time in the realms while developing new abilities threw me off. Some are stronger in the realm, some are weaker, and some even only work in my human form. I want her to understand her powers in the realms, but I’m hoping that most of her training will be in the dimension she lives in.”

Tim takes a deep breath before rephrasing tiredly, “How often would I be summoning you for her training?”

Danny shrugs before reaching into his chest, pulling out a PDA, and looking through it. Tim stares at him in horrified bewilderment.

“I don’t know the time difference between our dimensions yet, but I think yours is faster than mine,” Danny starts without looking up. “We’ve been talking for a couple of hours, but it’s only been a few minutes back home. I’ll have to have Tucker run the numbers.”

He looks up as he opens his mouth to say something else but stops when he sees his face.

“Why did you pull a PDA out of your chest ?” Tim’s voice carries more distress than he intends.

“Cause that’s where I store it?” Danny responds, confused.

Summer sits up and turns to look at Danny while still leaning into Tim heavily. 

“What’s a PDA?” she asks.

“Very outdated tech,” Tim tells her, glaring at it.

“It’s also the only tech I’ve found that doesn’t corrode within months of ectoplasm being added to it. I have to add ectoplasm if I want to be able to communicate across dimensions.”

Tim frowns in disgust as Danny laughs.

“Tucker loves anything and everything tech. If you want, I can introduce you an-” Danny starts.

“ Please ,” Tim stresses.

Danny just laughs harder while Summer looks between them in confusion. He takes a minute to calm down, taking another deep breath before speaking.

“So, the closest thing the realms have to doctors are the yetis of the Far Frozen. I’d like you to let Frostbite, their leader, give you a check-up and make sure you’re healthy and your core is developing properly. Today, if at all possible,” Danny says to Summer.

She looks back at Tim, who nods, before nodding herself.

“If we have time, and you’re still feeling up for it, I want to introduce you to my partners,” Danny continues.

“Partners?” Tim asks.

“Yeah. My girlfriend, Sam, is gonna be the one helping with the magic. And my boyfriend, Tucker, will help with the tech,” Danny explains.

“You can do that?” Summer questions.

“As long as everyone knows and is ok with everyone else. If you have to lie to someone about someone else, you shouldn’t be dating both,” Danny tells her.

Summer nods seriously. Danny smiles at her as he transforms back into his King form.

“Time in the realms is…a guessing game. As I mentioned, different dimensions have different time flows, so summon me if we’re not back by tonight. I can use my circle to find you if we get done before you summon us. I’ll make sure we’re invisible, so we don’t accidentally blow your cover,” Danny tells Tim, offering his hand to Summer.

He nods as Summer takes Danny’s hand with hunched shoulders.

“I’ll see you tonight, then,” Tim says to Summer.

Summer’s shoulders relax slightly as she nods and smiles at him.

Danny claws at the air beside them, ripping open a portal in Tim’s living room and stepping through it. Tim finally realizes why the green glow makes him so uncomfortable.

Chapter Text

“Woah,” Summer whispers as they enter the realms.

“Weird, huh?” Danny asks, remembering his awe at the realms before Walker had scared him on his first trip, even if it had been accidental.

Summer nods as she takes in the swirling green expanse of the realms, floating islands, and doors. Then she looks down at the snowy island they're floating high above.

“We’re floating! How?” Summer exclaims.

“The realms are different than the living worlds. There’s a lot you can do here that’s gonna be harder there,” Danny explains. “Like when I teach you how to change form or if you develop elemental powers or duplication.”

“What’s that mean?” Summer tries.

“Duplication,” Danny says as he duplicates himself, “means making a copy.”

Summer looks between them open-mouthed. Both Dannys smile at her before merging back together.

“Will I be able to do that?” she asks, awed.

“Probably,” Danny chuckles. “No one has the same powers, and I don’t know how your magic will play into it, but I’ll bet you will.”

Summer grins and looks at their hands. She slowly lets go, and she starts drifting away slowly.

“Flying here is easy. Pick a direction and focus on going forward. Changing direction is just changing where your focus is. To stop you, just think about stopping. The realms will help you,” Danny tells her.

Summer suddenly shoots off to the left before stopping abruptly. She turns to him as he laughs. He closes the space between them slower than it had been created, stopping much gentler.

“Try again. Think of the speed and effort you put into walking,” he suggests.

She starts moving, slowly circling Danny and gently stopping in front of him.

“Good job,” he encourages. “How about we try going down?”

Summer nods and looks down. She starts descending quickly before slowing. Danny follows, keeping pace with her. As they approach, a village comes into view.

“Welcome to the Far Frozen, Summer. When we meet the yetis, you can introduce yourself however you want. Frostbite will need to know you’re a halfa, but anyone else can figure it out themselves if you don't want to tell them.”

She stumbles as she lands just outside the village, shivering in the cold.

“Welcome back, Great One,” Frostbite calls as Danny lands.

Danny smiles as he greets him back, “Hey, Frostbite. It’s been a while.”

Frostbite nods and turns to Summer, who’s watching him nervously, eyes catching on his ice arm for a moment.

“Hello, I am Frostbite, Chief of the Far Frozen. What may I call you?” he asks.

Summer looks to Danny, who nods at Frostbite. “S-Summ-m-mer, a t-t-true half-fa,” she shivers.

Frostbite glances at Danny, who nods again.

“Well, let’s get you inside and warmed up. Then, I would like to ensure your core is developing properly, if that’s alright?” Frostbite asks, leading them through the village.

“That’s w-w-why King Phant-tom brought m-m-m-me here,” Summer tells him, shivering quickly becoming trembling.

As they walk through the village, other yetis call out greetings or wave to Danny, who responds in kind.

Frostbite leads them inside and down a hall to the last door. Inside is a cot with several blankets pushed into the corner, a couple of oversized chairs, and a table. 

Frostbite heads back down the hallway as Summer looks around.

She climbs onto the cot, wrapping two blankets around herself. “H-how-w-w are y-you not c-c-c-cold?”

“I have an ice core. That means ice powers and an extreme resistance to the cold, so this feels like a nice day to me. But it also means I don’t do great in the heat,” he tells her.

Frostbite returns with two warm drinks and hands them over. Summer curls around her mug instead of drinking it, relaxing in the warmth. Danny is halfway done with his drink by the time Summer starts hers. When they’re both done, Frostbite takes their cups, leaving again.

As Summer warmed up, so did her nerves. Danny could feel the confused-wary pouring from her as she whispered, "What's he gonna do?"

“What’s he gonna do?” she whispers.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I met him when my ice powers started, so I don’t know how this works.”

“Is it gonna hurt?”

“No. Nothing I do will hurt you,” Frostbite says, returning with several things. “These are devices that Lord Tucker and I created to treat The Great One and Traveler, should they ever need it.”

“When did you guys do that?” Danny asks in surprise.

“After the incident with The Betrayer,” Frostbite growls, putting everything on the table.

Danny frowns at the memory, quickly pushing it away. He feels Summer’s curiosity. “The first halfa.”

She nods and glares at the wall before turning to Frostbite and dropping the blankets on the cot.

Frostbite nods to her as Danny moves to sit down, leaning back and closing his eyes.

“How long has it been since you were in the Infinite Realms last?” Frostbite asks.

“This is my first time. I just became a halfa.”

“I see. These will measure how your body interacts with the realms' ectoplasm.”

Danny opens his eyes to see three straps dotted with sensors. Frostbite wraps one along Summer’s arm, criss-crossing as it goes up. Another goes around the opposite leg similarly, and the last goes around her head. He leaves them there as he continues.

“This is a monitor,” Frostbite says, holding up a device on a silver ribbon. “It will record both your core and heartbeat. I ask that you wear it until you are able to come see me again.”

Summer puts it on, and the ribbon shrinks until the device sits against her throat. Danny can see the ribbon stretching and adjusting as she moves to test it.

“I can barely feel it,” she says, amazed.

“Yes, it was designed to be as unnoticeable as possible,” Frostbite explains, looking at a device that had lit up when the ribbon settled. “Your core is developing well. There must be plenty of ambient ectoplasm in your realm.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s another form of ectoplasm,” Danny says. “When the living die, they release ambient ectoplasm. It’s why places with a lot of death create ghosts so often.”

“Like graveyards?” Summer asks.

“Yes. Places like hospitals, too.”

“But hospitals are for healing, not dying.”

Danny pauses before glancing at Frostbite for help, only getting a head tilt before explaining, “Yes, but the germs that make you need a hospital die when you heal. And the hospital doesn’t know how to heal everyone, and sometimes that means they die.”

“Oh,” Summer whispers.

Danny watches her frown in thought before turning to Frostbite. “And from what I understand, Lady Gotham has much more ambient ecto than she would like.”

“Ah, Lady Gotham,” Frostbite says, nodding. “It has been some time since I last heard news of her. She will take good care of you, young halfa.”

Summer watches them, understanding starting to roll from her as she smiles brightly. “She talks to me sometimes. It always makes my magic buzz, but it’s nice. Sometimes it feels like a hug.”

Danny smiles at her as Frostbite nods.

“Yes, Lady Gotham enjoys having someone to talk to,” Frostbite confirms. “If you are in her care, you probably won’t need this one.”

He pulls out a silver chain bracelet.

“What’s that one do?” Danny asks.

“It draws ambient ectoplasm to the wearer. The hope is that it will prevent you from over-extending yourself. But Lady Gotham will do that for you,” Frostbite explains.

“What if I need to leave Gotham?” Summer asks. “Red Robin does sometimes, and I might have to go with him.”

“Then you may need it,” Frostbite agrees, handing her the bracelet. “May I ask who this ‘Red Robin’ is?”

“He’s a hero! My favorite hero,” she tells him with a bright smile.

“He’s also her guardian in their dimension,” Danny clarifies.

Frostbite nods as he turns to push the table into the corner of the room. He does the same to the chairs. Danny blinks at him when he just picks up Danny’s chair instead of asking him to move it.

Once everything is out of the way, he creates an ice figure in the middle of the open space. He turns to Summer and motions for her to stand.

“I would like you to hit this as hard as you can,” Frostbite tells her.

Summer glances between him and the ice, then at Danny.

“This will tell us how your ectoplasm moves while actively being used, making it easier to instruct you when you develop other powers.”

Summer nods slowly, fear-panic leaking from her. She takes a deep breath and steps closer, staring at it.

Danny moves to kneel in front of her, pushing calm-safe out. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want the ice to hurt anyone,” she admits.

Danny nods and forms a shield between them.

“I’ll put a shield up so the ice won’t hit us. Go on, push on it. Nothin’s gettin’ through.”

She does before nodding, calming down. Danny and Frostbite move all the equipment, stand by the cot, and he puts up the shield.

Summer closes her eyes, and Danny sees something move between her fingers before she closes her hand. She opens her eyes, throws her punch, and the ice explodes.

Danny drops the shield and shoots to her, kneeling next to her and checking for wounds. He stops dead when he notices her staring at the blue ectoplasm encircling her hand, moving and flowing. It slowly absorbs into her form, leaving light blue marks where they had been last.

He opens his mouth to call for Frostbite but freezes when he notices the awe-fear-amazment-shock pouring out of him. Danny looks over to find Frostbite staring at Summer.

“You… still have your magic,” he whispers.

Summer frowns in confusion before cautiously responding, “Yes?”

Frostbite blinks at her, openly lost for words.

Summer’s confusion slowly becomes panic, and it seems to knock Frostbite out of it.

“I have never heard of that, but you are a halfa. Anything is possible,” he rushes, exuding interest-excitement-fear-awe .

“I’ve seen magic in the realms,” Danny says in confusion.

“Yes, but it is magic of the realms,” Frostbite stresses. “Young Summer still wields mortal magic. There is quite a difference, but I do not understand it well. You will have to talk to Lady Pandora about this.”

“Is that bad?” Summer asks.

“No. It is just not something I would have thought possible,” he assures.

A silence hangs in the air for a moment before Frostbite shakes himself. He approaches them and holds out his hand to Summer. “May I have your hand for a moment?”

She slowly places her hand on his and he covers it with his ice hand. Her eyes glow solid blue for a long second. He releases her hand when it fades, and she’s visibly dazed but recovering quickly.

“You have a fascinating amount of magic, both mortal and of the realms. Your core is developing much faster than The Great One’s did. This could be because of your magic, Lady Gotham’s influence, or the fact that you have those you trust who can and will protect you,” Frostbite informs them.

Danny frowns.

“So that’s good?” Summer asks.

“Yes,” Frostbite confirms.

“I have people I could trust,” Danny says.

“Yes, Great One, I am not questioning that. However, they could not truly protect you,” he clarifies.

Danny opens his mouth but hesitates. He watches as Frostbite takes the straps off of Summer, feels the trust-protection she experiences when she looks at him and remembers the wave of it when she’d been with Red Robin.

“No. I guess not,” he whispers, voice strained.

Frostbite projects reassurance-comfort-strength-change as he leads them back outside. “Is there anything else you need from me?”

“Not today. Thank you for all your help,” Danny says.

“Of course,” Frostbite says before turning to Summer. “It was wonderful to meet you, Mage. Please remember to keep the monitor on until we meet again and wear the bracelet should you ever need to leave Lady Gotham’s care.”

“I promise I will,” Summer tells him.

“Ready?” Danny asks her.

She nods, and he gently takes off. She starts faster but quickly matches his pace as he smiles at her.

“Are you up for meeting my partners, or do you want to go home?” he asks her.

Summer thinks for a minute as they fly away from the Far Frozen. “How long will we be there?”

“As long as you want, unless Red Robin summons us first.”

Summer nods and thinks a little longer. “Ok. Let's go see them.”

Danny smiles at her, but his smile fades when he looks forward again and sees a tower that hadn’t been there before. He groans, long and loud.

“When did that get there?” Summer asks.

“That’s Clockwork’s tower, so it’s always and never been there,” Danny sighs.

"What?" Summer blinks at him.

“That’s what he says anytime someone asks that,” Danny says, voice as dead as him.

“I don’t get it,” Summer admits.

“No one but Clockwork does. We’ll have to meet my partners later.”

The doors open as they approach, and Danny leads Summer to Clockwork.

“Hello, Summer Charles. I am Clockwork.”

Danny groans at him as they land in front of the old man.

“Hello to you too, Young King,” Clockwork’s face remains blank as his form shifts to a baby, but Danny can hear the smile and feel his amusement.

He glances at Summer when he notices shock-confusion-awe coming from her. She’s staring open-mouthed at Clockwork as he shifts to an adult.

“What do you want, Clocky?” Danny asks, adding the nickname just to be annoying.

“Just to warn you,” Clockwork says.

“About what?” Danny asks tensely, stepping closer to Summer, who is also tense.

“The Observants are waiting for you at your keep.”

“Thank you. You’re my favorite Ancient, and I appreciate you very much,” Danny tells him, suddenly relaxing.

“Who are the Observants?” she asks, slowly relaxing too.

“A group of Neverborn who were in charge for a while and don’t like that they aren’t anymore. And they hate me 'cause I’m the reason they aren’t,” Danny explains.

“They try to make Danny’s rule as difficult as possible,” Clockwork adds.

Summer’s face scrunches up in disgust.

“Can I hit them ?”

Danny laughs so hard he doubles over as Clockwork smiles at her.

“Maybe once, only if you can claim not to have control,” Clockwork agrees calmly, an old man again.

“I like you,” Summer says, smiling back at him.

“You are the coolest kid I’ve ever met,” Danny tells Summer when he finally calms down, his grin is wide and sharp. Then he turns back to Clockwork. “While we’re here, will you tell us the time difference between our dimensions?”

“One day in your home is two and a half in hers.”

“Wow. That big?”

“Yes. Do make sure Red Robin understands this,” Clockwork tells him dismissively.

Danny opens his mouth but stops as he feels a gentle tugging on his core. He scoops Summer into his arms and lets the summoning pull them back to Gotham.

Chapter Text

Tim stands in his living room, staring at the portal as it closes, finally realizing why that glow unsettles him so much. His breathing and heart rate take several minutes to return to normal.

He resolves to ask Phantom about the Lazarus Pits as he pulls out his phone and pulls up Jason’s messages.

12:43 PM

Baby Bird

Phantom took Summer to realms to get checked out by his doctor

I need to get groceries and talk to Bruce

Roy can call whenever he’s ready

His phone starts ringing immediately. The number is unknown, but Tim answers anyway, assuming it’s Roy.

“Welcome to parenthood!!” Roy screams as soon as the call connects.

A startled laugh is forced from Tim as Jason speaks. “Jesus, Roy!”

Another voice laughs, probably Kori.

“You’re on speaker, by the way,” Jason clarifies.

“I figured,” Tim snorts.

“We’re in Gotham. Do you wish us to come shopping with you?” Kori asks, a smile audible in her voice.

“That would be great,” Tim admits.

“Do you know what she likes? We could grab some decorations for her room. Or some new clothes,” Roy rushes out.

“Well, we have to get her somma your merch since you’re her favorite ,” Jason says.

Roy starts cackling as Tim goes bright red.

“I regret telling you anything ever,” he groans.

“This is only the beginning. I have so much shit to catch up on giving ya 'cause we couldn’t get our shit together ‘til ya had a kid dropped on ya,” Jason tells him.

“I’m not just gonna get her my merch,”  Tim says as a smile stretches across his face.

“You’re right,” Kori agrees. “She should have everyone’s merch.”

“Fuck yeah! Let’s do it,” Roy says, still a little breathless.

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” Tim groans.

“Nope,” Jason declares. “You’re stuck with us now. ETA 15 minutes.”

“Ok. I need to get ready, so let yourselves in,” Tim tells them, moving to his room.

“See you soon!!” Roy yells.

“Fuck! Roy! Not in my ear, you-”

The line goes dead before Jason can finish, and Tim shakes his head with a smile.

He takes a quick shower and brushes his teeth. He hears movement in the kitchen as he throws on a Superboy t-shirt and jeans.

Tim pauses to text Cass.

1:06 PM

Little Brother

Can you get everyone to the manor for dinner

Jason and his partners are with me already

Big Sister

👍

🍗🕕

He pockets his phone and wallet and comes out to find Jason opening every cupboard. Roy and Kori spot him first from their spots at the island.

“Damn, Tim. You weren’t kidding when you said you need groceries,” he laughs.

Jason turns to stare at him. “How da ya live like this?” he asks in bewilderment, 

“I don’t usually eat here, ok?” Tim defends, going red again. “Tam makes me eat at the office so she knows I’ve eaten. And I’ve been caught up in the Cult case, so I didn’t realize how bad it was until I made eggs this morning.”

“ Dude ,” Roy laughs.

Kori gently covers her mouth in a half-assed attempt to cover her amused smile.

“Ya have a case and a half of water, three tubs of coffee, three different half-empty bags of chips in your cupboards, a single piece of chicken in your freezer, and a third of a stick o’ butter in your fridge,” Jason tells him, completely deadpan.

Tim blinks at him.

“I have chicken?”

Roy’s laughing so hard he’s doubled over. Kori starts laughing as Jason stares at him in exasperation before rubbing his eyes.

“I know, ok? Shut up!” Tim snaps heatlessly.

Jason finally starts laughing as Kori collects herself, amusement and mischief dancing in her eyes.

“Let us go. We have much to get,” she says as she starts herding the hyenas out of his apartment.

Tim groans but follows, locking the door behind them. Roy and Jason laugh all the way to their car. 

Jason turns to Tim as they get to the car and stops, tilting his head. “When did you get a tattoo?” he asks. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be one to get any.”

Tim stares at him as Roy and Kori turn to look.

“What are you talking about?” Roy frowns, scanning Tim.

“I do not see a tattoo,” Kori says, tilting her head.

“How can you miss the big ass tattoo on his arm? What language even it that?” Jason glared as he looked between the three of them.

“It’s not a tattoo. It’s Phantom’s summoning circle,” Tim admits. Everyone stares at Tim as he continues. “Only beings of the Realms can see it, except for me, because it's on me .”

“Then why can I see it?” Jason asks, tensing.

“Is he in any danger?” Kori asks, moving closer to Jason and gently placing her hand on the back of his neck.

“No more than usual,” Tim says cautiously. ”The pits have something to do with the Realms.”

“Of course, it’s the fucking pit!” Jason growls.

Kori drops her hand to his back, tracing it up and down as the other encircles his wrist. Roy presses himself to Jason’s other side and gently leans on him. Jason wraps an arm around Roy’s waist, closes his eyes, and breathes deeply.

“I’ll ask Phantom about them. Maybe he can do something,” Tim says.

“Thanks,” Jason says tensely, nodding as he slowly pulls away from his partners.

They climb into the car in a tense silence that lasts the whole drive to the store.

When they enter, Jason and Roy both grab carts. Roy pulls up next to Tim while Jason moves to Kori.

“We’re gonna grab perishables. Ya two get everything else,” Jason says as they walk off.

Roy nods, and Tim follows him down the first aisle.

“So, Jason said you wanted advice,” Roy starts, putting shampoo and conditioner in the cart.

“Yeah. If you have any to give,” Tim says, adding a red luffa. “I don’t know how old your daughter is, just that you have one.”

“I mean, I have some, but I don’t know how useful they will be. Jason said she has powers or magic?”

“Both.”

Roy stops as he’s grabbing body wash before turning to stare at Tim, who glances around.

“She already had magic,” he whispers. “She got powers when her parents sacrificed her to summon the High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms.”

“ Fuck ,” Roy says softly.

“Yeah.”

Roy takes a deep breath, grabs the body wash, and continues down the aisle. They cover the next couple of aisles in silence.

“They probably fucked her up pretty bad,” Roy says solemnly.

“Definitely,” Tim agrees.

“She needs all the support, all of it, from everybody. And make sure you reward good behavior and spend time with her, one-on-one and with others.”

“Everyone has already offered support,” Tim explains, nodding, “and when they meet Summer, they’ll make sure she knows that.”

“In their own chaotic ways,” Roy jokes.

Tim snorts and nods.

“Get to know her. Don’t guess or turn her into a case; communicate. Kids may not always have the words we need to understand them, but they usually know what they want.”

Tim thinks through the advice, letting Roy grab everything. He only contributes when Roy asks him to.

“Hey guys,” Jason calls.

Tim looks around and realizes they’ve walked the entire store as Kori comes to stand beside him.

“Are you alright?” she asks.

“Yeah, I just didn’t realize we finished,” Tim says.

Jason frowns at him but doesn’t say anything. Tim can feel his eye when they’re paying and loading the groceries into the car. Jason only stops cause he refuses to let Roy drive, but he keeps looking at him in the rearview.

Jason nudges him as they put everything away, but Tim just shakes his head. Jason shoots him another look that says, ‘ we’ll talk later’, but lets it go for now.

Once everything is away, Kori links arms with him and starts leading him out again. Roy grabs his keys off the counter where he’d dropped them when they came in.

“Wh- Hey! Where are we going?” Tim asks.

“To get merch,” Roy declares.

He laughs when Tim groans.

“I don’t even know who she does and doesn’t like,” Tim says.

“Besides likin’ ya and hatin’ B, ya mean?” Jason asks, smugness dripping off his shit-eating grin.

Tim opens his mouth before snapping it shut and letting them drag him out again. Jason drives them to the mall, Roy practically vibrating in his seat the whole way.

 Roy drags Tim into the first decor store he sees as Jason laughs at them. Tim shoots down the themed sheets and buys plain black ones and a red comforter at Jason's insistence.

Kori pulls him into a clothing store with a Red Robin t-shirt in the window. Roy finds a Nightwing shirt, while Jason finds two jackets, one Red Robin and the other Red Hood. Tim gets all four, a rainbow of plain, solid-colored shirts, a couple of pairs of jeans, a few pairs of shorts, and a couple packs of underwear. 

Jason points out the gift shop, but it’s Roy who pulls him in. Tim finds a pen set themed after the batgirls, two pens per bat, and notebooks with Signal, Robin, Spoiler, and himself on the covers. Kori finds Red Hood and Red Robin pins.

As they leave the mall, Tim spots a photography store and stops. The others turn back, and Jason follows his gaze and raises an eyebrow with a smirk.

“Gonna turn her into a stalker too, or do ya just want it?” he asks.

Tim rolled his eyes at him but hesitated before quietly saying, “If she doesn’t like it, I could use it for surveillance or something…”

Jason throws an arm around his shoulders and leads him inside, Roy and Kori following. They leave with a new camera and three extra lenses.

When they return to Tim’s apartment, Jason follows him into Summer’s room. Tim sets the merch and camera on the bed and stares at them while Jason puts the clothes on her desk.

“Ya ok?” Jason asks.

A strained laugh forces its way out of Tim’s throat. “When have I ever been?” Tim whispers, turning to look at Jason. “What if I fuck this up? I have no idea what I’m doing , Jason. I don’t want to fuck her up worse.”

Jason silently opens his arms for a hug, and Tim lets himself collapse into him, shaking.

“You’ll do fine,” Jason says, pulling him as close as possible. “You’re not gonna have to do this alone. Ya have help. And ya couldn’t possibly be worse than her parents.”

They stand there for a minute before Tim pulls back. Jason lets him, scanning his face before nodding.

“When do ya wanna deal with the bat?” Jason asks.

“I don’t,” Tim groans as dramatically as possible.

Jason nods as he laughs.

“Cass said dinner’s at six, and she’s gonna make sure everyone’s there,” Tim continues.

“Everyone?”

“Yeah,” Tim smiles as he hands Jason his phone. “Read the ones from this morning.”

He heads back out to the living room, and Jason follows. Kori and Roy are sitting on opposite ends of the couch, legs tangled together in the middle.

“Holy shit, even the Demon Brat,” Jason says.

“Yeah, I was surprised too,” Tim says, sitting in a bean bag chair Steph had decided he needed.

“What’s Duke talking about? What’d ya say to B?” Jason asks as he hands the phone back before flopping into the armchair.

“He said I didn’t know what I’m doing in that way that implies I’ll fail without his help.”

“Fucker,” Jason grumbles.

“Yeah, so I told him if I needed help, I’d call Roy,” Tim tells them with a smirk.

They all bust out laughing. Roy laughs right off the couch and lies on the floor until he can calm down.

“Maybe they should come with us to dinner,” Jason laughs.

“I thought that was the plan?” Tim frowns, looking at Jason. “Was it not?”

“I didn’t think so, but I’ve got no complaints,” Jason admits, smiling softly.

“Then we better get going. Don’t wanna throw off Alfred’s schedule too much,” Tim says as he stands.

This has everyone on their feet in a heartbeat. Jason throws an arm around Tim’s shoulders once Tim has locked the door.

“How much are we telling Bruce?” Jason asks.

“I don’t think we should mention the pit until I talk to Phantom. I might be wrong,” Tim responds.

“I doubt it,” Roy says ahead of them.

Tim rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out as Jason and Kori laugh. Roy smiles and shrugs as he climbs into the car. Everyone follows suit.

The drive is quiet. Tim presses his head to the window and breathes. The others don’t acknowledge him until they approach the manor.

“Ya ready for this?” Jason asks as he parks.

“Nope,” Tim responds as he climbs out of the car.

Roy snorts as they follow him.

Alfred opens the door as they approach. “Welcome home, Master Tim, Master Jason. It’s a pleasure to see you again, Miss Anders, Mister Haper,” Alfred says as they enter.

“Hey, Alfie,” Jason says.

Roy and Kori smile and wave.

“Hi, Alfred. Dick said you’d been updated?” Tim asks.

“Yes. I had hoped to meet Miss Summer when Miss Cassandra informed me you’d be home for dinner,” Alfred says.

“Yeah, I’ll explain when everyone’s together,” Tim tells him.

“Then I shall hold off on dinner until the discussion ends.”

Tim blinks at Alfred. “...Thanks, Alfred.”

The others stare in shock as Alfred nods and returns to the door. He opens it to reveal Dick climbing the steps with Kate.

“I still don’t understand how you do that,” Kate tells Alfred.

“It’s simply my job,” Alfred replies, explaining nothing as usual.

Dick laughs as he hugs Alfred. “It’s good to see you, Alf.”

“You as well, Master Richard. And you, Miss Kane.”

Kate nods at him before turning to Tim. “So, Summer?”

“I’ll explain when everyone’s together,” Tim tells her.

Kate nods again.

“Everyone has arrived. Where would you like to have this conversation?” Alfred asks.

“At the table,” Tim says, taking a deep breath. “I want to get this over as soon as possible.”

“Then I shall summon the others,” Alfred says as he leaves.

Dick leads them into the dining room as Cass and Steph bound into the room. They immediately tackle Tim in a hug. Kori catches them before they can fall, gently righting them.

Everyone sits as the others filter in and join them. Bruce is the last to show, glaring when his eyes immediately catch on Roy.

Once everyone else is seated, Bruce sits at the head of the table. To his right is Dick, Barbara, Kate, Kori, Roy, and Jason. Damian, Duke, Steph, Cass, and Tim are to his left. Alfred stands by the door, and the others look at him curiously.

Bruce opens his mouth, frowning when Tim cuts him off before he can start.

“Summer is with Phantom. He wanted his version of a doctor to check her over,” Tim says.

“You gave her to an unknown?” Bruce questions, voice just this side of Batman.

Tim glares at him. Jason, Cass, and Kori also glare while Roy leans back in his chair with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in judgment. Dick closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“ Safe ,” Cass stresses.

“We don’t know that,” Bruce reasons.

“That’s my call to make,” Tim says, making Bruce frown. “I’ve had, and will continue to have, the most contact with him. If he wanted to hurt us, he would have done it in the warehouse.”

“You’re too close to make a clear call,” Bruce says firmly. “You were rash and impulsive last night. We don’t know what Phantom can do.

“Are you implying he made Tim get attached to Summer?” Dick butts in.

Bruce doesn’t answer.

“There were two magicians and Gotham herself there,” Tim says calmly. “If Phantom had done something, they would’ve said something, even if they couldn't have done anything.”

“Hn,” Bruce grunts, frowning.

“Gotham herself?” Kate asks.

“Zatana sent us a report on our ‘city spirit’, so you can read it whenever,” Dick tells her. “And I agree, we would know.”

“Hnn.”

“Phantom asked me to clarify something before they went to the realms,” Tim tells them. “Don’t EVER ask the dead about death. It could push them into reliving theirs, which can, and has , hurt those around them, especially the living. This includes both Summer and Phantom, understand?”

He gets nods from everyone, though he has to stare Bruce down to get his.

“When Summer’s ready, Cass and Steph will meet her first, then Jason, Roy, and Kori. I don’t care what order the rest of you come in, but no groups larger than three,” he continues, getting more nods before he turns to look Bruce in the eye. “You don’t get to meet her right now.” Tim watches hurt flash through his eyes. “Cass had to knock you out to keep you away last night, and I honestly don't trust you not to push too far. If you get your shit together, then I’ll introduce you. And if you show up before you’re invited, we’ll disappear.”

Bruce holds eye contact briefly before glancing at the others and nodding.

“I understand,” he says through gritted teeth.

Tim turns to Alfred, who nods before leaving to get dinner.

Bruce is silent the rest of the night while everyone else argues about who’s gonna be Summer’s favorite. Damian is quiet, only joining when directly addressed and glaring at his plate. They both disappear as soon as dinner is over.

Jason and his partners drop Tim off at his apartment. Once inside, he leans against the door and groans.

“That was too easy.”

Chapter Text

Tim pushes away from the door with a sigh. He heads to his room and digs through his closet. He drags his lockbox out and stares at it for a minute before finally taking it to Summer’s room.

He leaves it by the door and heads back to the living room.

He takes a deep breath as he focuses on the circle, taking Phantom’s advice and bringing Defendor of Amity Park to the front of his mind.

A green and black spiral with white rings surrounding it appears in front of him. The rings expand as the spiral condenses. The spiral expands as the rings fade, revealing Phantom carrying Summer as it fades, too.

“This one of the other forms you were talking about?” Tim asks, noting the changes.

His clothes are different, and he looks younger. He wears a white crop jacket with black sleeves and green lines running from shoulder to wrist and along the zipper. It’s over a black shirt with a white stylized D with a P in it, clearly a logo, and another green line running down his sides. The lines continue down the black cargo pants, outlining the white pockets on the way to his white combat boots with black laces and green soles.

As Phantom nods and turns to put Summer on the couch, Tim sees the same stylized logo in black across the back of his jacket.

“Yeah. This is the one I made, before the crown,” Phantom explains.

Tim smiles when Summer grins and waves at him while Phantom talks. She holds out a bracelet to him, so he steps closer to take it, noticing the choker she’s wearing.

“If I have to leave Gotham, I need to wear that,” Summer says. Then she touches the choker. “And I need to keep this on until I see Frostbite again.”

“The choker is a monitor for her core and heart,” Phantom continues, “and the bracelet is to draw ambient ectoplasm to her. She won’t need it here 'cause Lady Gotham will make sure she gets plenty, but outside of this city, she’ll need to wear that.”

“Ambient ectoplasm?” Tim asks as he looks over the simple bracelet.

“Ectoplasm that everything makes when they die,” Summer states. “Hospitals have a lot.”

Tim blinks at her before turning to Phantom.

“It’s how ghosts usually form in the living realms,” he adds, “even if they’re closer to shades than actual ghosts.”

Tim blinks at him before deciding to put that info in a box to deal with later and turns back to Summer.

“Are you hungry?” he asks.

Summer thinks for a moment before shaking her head. She looks down at herself and frowns. “How do I change back?”

“Can you hear Tim’s heartbeat?” he asks back.

Tim raises an eyebrow as Summer tilts her head before nodding.

“Focus on that,” Phantom continues. “Use it to remember your heartbeat. Remember how it feels being human, how you feel.”

Summer closes her eyes. After a moment, her form slowly drips, sections of her hair becoming brown again, patches of her clothes becoming the ones Cass had changed her into. She’s panting slightly by the time she’s living again.

“Good job,” Phantom praises with a slightly too wide smile. “That was so much better than my first few attempts. And it’ll get easier the more you practice.”

Summer smiles as her breathing settles.

“There’s some new clothes and other stuff for you in your room if you wanna go through them,” Tim tells her. “My brother and his partners made sure you have plenty of merch, too.”

She blinks at him and tilts her head with a frown. “But I have clothes at home.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know when or even if we can go get them, so I got you more,” Tim says gently.

Summer stares at him before slowly getting off the couch and heading to her room. Tim watches her go before turning to Phantom.

“We saw Frostbite and Clockwork today,” Phantom says, turning to Tim. “Oh, and CW said one day in my dimension is about two and a half here.”

Tim nods and takes a deep breath. “I have a few questions.”

“Shoot,” Phantom says, sitting criss-crossed in the air.

“Her breathing is slower. Is that something I should be worried about?”

“Oh, no, that’s normal,” Phantom grimaces, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, guess I forgot to warn you. Her heartbeat, breathing, and body temp are lower. As long as she has enough ectoplasm, she won’t need to eat or sleep as much, but I would try to keep her as close to normal with those. Oh, and her ghost form won’t have breathing or a heartbeat.”

Tim sighs in relief as he nods.

“Why can’t she live with you?”

Phantom startles, dropping suddenly before slowly rising again.

“You said it’s ‘not an option’, and I understand the first halfa being dead-dead, but what about you or your clo-”

“Cousin,” Phantom cuts him off. “She’s my cousin.”

“What about you and your cousin?” Tim corrects with a nod.

Phantom searches Tim’s face for a moment. Tim doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but he seems to find it. “Summer is the first halfa created outside my dimension. There’s a set of laws in my dimension called the Anti-Ecto Acts. They say anything that makes, consumes, or has ectoplasm is nonsentient. They can legally capture, torture, experiment on, and exterminate us, not that they’ve figured out how to do the last one yet—even living people who set off their sensors. This means that, even with all the crime and rouge attacks in Gotham, she’s safer here.”

“So a living person can have ectoplasm?” Tim asks.

“It would take a lot of long-term exposure or a near-death experience while surrounded by ectoplasm,” he says, voice flat as he drops to stand.

“Like if someone bathed in it?” Tim asks cautiously. “ Or if someone was thrown in while they were essentially brain dead?”

“Those are very specific scenarios.”

“My brother died, came back to life mostly brain dead, got kidnapped, and thrown into what we know as the Lazarus Pit,” Tim says as he grabs his laptop and pulls up the file on it. “He could see the summoning circle.”

Phantom looks at the frustratingly grainy pictures of the Pit and growls, eyes becoming a solid green. His voice is barely human when he says, “Based on the color, I’d say that’s highly corrupted. How was your brother after?”

Tim takes a moment to push down his rising panic. “Angry, violent, and he says he blacked out for like a year after.”

Phantom snaps up to stare at Tim, making him step away. “He said ? He’s coherent?” 

“Yeah,” Tim whispers. “He’s Red Hood.”

“The brother that’s already actively helping?”

Tim nods.

“ How ?” Phantom whispers, staring at him before looking back at the file. “I have to deal with this.”

Phantom steps away, rips open a portal, and shoots through it.

Tim stares at where the portal had been before pulling out his phone and messaging Jason as he heads to Summer’s room.

9:51 PM

Baby Bird

Phantom says the pits are highly corrupted ectoplasm

He’s pissed they exist and amazed ur coherent

He took off to deal with them

I didn’t get a chance to get details about you

Tim sighed as he pocketed his phone and stopped in Summer’s doorway.

She’s separating the merch into piles on her bed with the camera in her lap. The clothes are also divided but piled on the floor instead.

He knocks on the door frame, startling Summer, who looks up in panic. Tim smiles softly at her and asks, “Can I come in?”

Summer relaxes and nods, even as she frowns in confusion.

Tim doesn’t move. “This is your room. I won’t come in if you don’t want me to.”

Summer blinks at him before slowly saying, “You can come in.”

“Is there a reason for the piles?” he asks, gesturing to the various piles as he grabs his lockbox.

All the Red Robin and Red Hood merch are to her right, Black Bat and Signal’s merch are to her left, and the rest are in front of her, the farthest away.

Summer’s hunched into herself far enough for her shoulders to be up by her ears, and she won’t look at him.

“You won’t be in trouble if you don’t like something,” Tim says as he puts the lockbox on the end of her bed. “I want you to have things you want.”

She searches his face for a moment before pointing to the farthest pile of clothes and admitting in a whisper, “That pile feels bad.”

Tim nods. “Ok. I’ll donate those next chance I get.”

Summer slowly relaxes as she points to the pile to her right. “You and Red Hood are my favorites. You’re both nice.”

“Have you met him?” Tim asks.

“Yeah,” Summer says quietly. “Dad forgot me at the store sometimes, and Red Hood took me home once. We moved after that.”

Tim takes a deep breath and pushes the anger at her parents back down.

Summer hesitates before continuing, pointing to the pile to her left. “These two have waved at me, and I’ve never seen the rest.”

Tim blinks at her. “When did Black Bat wave at you?”

Summer blinks back at him. “Who’s Black Bat?”

“This Batgirl,” he starts, holding up one of Cass’s pens, “ goes by Black Bat right now.”

“That name is so much cooler,” she whispers in awe.

“Yeah,” Tim chuckles, “it is.”

“She saw me walking home after Dad left me at the store. I was almost home, and she waved at me. I waved back and gave her a thumbs up so she knew I was ok. She stayed there until I got inside. I met Red Hood later, after my birthday.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“December 23rd,” Summer says proudly.

Tim smiles at her and nods. “Did you get left at the store a lot?”

“Mom went more. She never forgot me,” she says while shaking her head before holding out the camera. “Why is this here?”

He hesitates, shifting between his feet. “I don’t know what you like, but I enjoy photography. I thought I could teach you if you want. And if you don’t, then I get a new camera.”

Summer smiles softly as she pulls the camera close. “What do you take pictures of?”

“A few things,” Tim says as he opens the lockbox and pulls out a couple folders. “These are my public safe ones. They’re mostly nature and sunrise/sunset shots.”

“Pretty,” she whispers as she flips through them.

Tim smiles as he pulls out the folders for Jason, Cass, and Duke. “My favorite subjects are my family. I prefer candid photos, meaning they don’t know I’m taking the picture, and Cass, who you know as Black Bat, is usually the only one to notice. But that means I don’t get candid photos of her very often. I’ve only got two.”

Summer smiles brightly as she flips through those, too. She laughs at the one of Cass looking at the camera, like she’s on a reality show, over Dicks shoulder.

She pulls him to sit on the bed as he starts telling the stories behind some of the pictures. Slowly, they work their way through the folders.

Tim’s in the middle of telling a story about how Batman and Robin ended up covered in glitter when Summer slumps against his side. He looks down to find her quickly losing the fight to keep her eyes open.

He chuckles as he moves everything off the bed, puts the folders back in the lockbox, and takes it back to his closet. He returns to find Summer curled up on the covers, dead asleep already. He tucks her in, turns out the light, and heads back to the living room.

Tim starts a pot of coffee and opens his laptop, pulling up everything Babs had sent him on Summer.

~~

By the time 3 AM rolls around, Tim has created three cover stories for taking Summer in, withdrawn her from school, set up an online class for her to start next semester, and added his notes and perspective to the files of both the cult and Phantom.

Then he hears Summer yell. He’s on his feet and down the hall before he can think.

He finds her clawing at the bed with one hand, the rest of her body falling through it.

Tim grabs her arm and pulls her to the side and out of the bed. Summer reaches for him with his other hand, crying when it goes through him. When she tries again, she manages to cling onto his shirt, crying and shaking the whole time.

Tim presses the hand tangled in his shirt until it’s flat against his chest as he exaggerates his breathing. “Breathe with me. It’s ok, I’ve got you, just breathe.”

She tries, but it takes several minutes before she starts to settle and a few more until she’s tangible enough for him to pull her into a hug. Her legs are still intangible, and she’s still shaking, but she’s no longer crying.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Summer rushes out.

“It’s ok. You’re ok. I’ve got you, you’re ok,” Tim says, rubbing circles into her back.

“It was just a dream. I shouldn’t have woken you up,” she mumbles.

“I wasn’t asleep, but I want you to wake me up. I don’t want you trying to deal with this by yourself. I want to help. ”

Summer just buries her face into his shoulder, even as she becomes completely tangible again.

Tim gives her a couple more minutes before asking, “Do you want to talk about it, go back to sleep, or get food?”

Hesitantly, Summer whispers, “Food.”

He nods, carries her to the kitchen, and gently sets her on the island. “How does french toast sound?”

Summer shrugs as she whispers, “Never had it.”

“Well, that’s a tragedy. We gotta fix that,” Tim declares as he pulls out a pan. He grins at her and gets a weak smile back.

She’s completely silent and still as he cooks and won’t look at him while they eat. He directs her to the couch while he puts the plates in the sink to deal with later. She still won’t look at him as he sits on the coffee table in front of her.

“Do you want me to call Phantom?” Tim asks gently.

This makes her snap up to look at him with tears in her eyes before shaking her head.

“Ok,” Tim says, moving to the couch, turning on the TV, and handing her the remote. “Do you wanna watch something?”

She silently puts on a documentary about African wildlife before finally speaking, voice shaky but underlined with hope. “You’re not gonna send me away? Or make me tell you?”

“No. I asked about Phantom cause your powers scared you. Sending you away never even crossed my mind,” Tim tells her firmly before groaning as dramatically as possible. “And I don’t like talking about my nightmares right away, either. People pushing just makes me quieter. I’ll talk about them when I’m ready.”

Summer turns to him with wide eyes. “ You have nightmares?”

“Yeah,” Tim sighs. “Don’t know anyone who doesn’t.”

“Even Red Hood?”

He nods. “Even Red Hood.”

Tim pulls her into another hug, as she starts crying again. She cries herself back to sleep while clinging to him, so he lays on the couch and lets himself join her.

Chapter Text

Danny shakes with anger as he lands in the Far Frozen for the second time today. He tries and fails to smother it as the yetis give him a wide berth.

“Great One? Are you alright? Is the young Mage?” Frostbite asks as he cautiously approaches, apprehension- worry -fear pouring off him.

“How can living beings survive enough corrupted ectoplasm to qualify as a being of the realms without losing themselves to it?” Danny asks instead.

Frostbite pauses midstep and stares at him, fear pouring from the few yetis still nearby. “Corrupted ectoplasm… that should not be possible.”

“And yet there are two that have,” Danny growls.

Frostbite takes a step back as his anger spikes to the point that he stops shaking, appearing calm to anyone unable to feel or read the emotions of others.

“Pandora may have more informa-” Frostbite starts.

Danny takes off before he can finish, shooting through the realms. His anger pushes him to Pandora’s Acropolis faster than ever.

Pandora readies her spear as Danny lands before her.

“What’s wrong?” she asks as she scans him for injuries.

“How can living beings survive enough corrupted ectoplasm to qualify as a being of the realms without losing themselves to it?”

Pandora freezes and stares at him before frowning. “It would have to be corrupted by the living.” 

Danny’s anger spikes enough to make her tense and clench her spear before continuing.

“The effects would be milder, and the ectoplasm would be easier to separate from the corruption. You might be able to simply pull them apart. However, doing so to the living would cause immense pain as it would leave the corruption in their body. I might be able to remove it safely if this person needs it.”

“I’ll ask, but I can’t promise anything,” Danny forces out through gritted teeth.

He rips open a portal and leaves without another word, returning to Summer’s dimension over an ocean. He pauses, closing his eyes as he focuses on the flow of ectoplasm in the dimension. Slowly, he narrows his focus to just Earth, feeling four pools.

They’re all corrupted, so Danny heads to the worst one first.

He finds it deep in a mountain, under an ornate monastery half-carved into and half-built on it.

It’s a sizeable oriental base with blue roofs, pale walls, and red and gold accents. The buildings are tiered. The towers have five, the main building has four, and the rest have three. The main building’s top tier has multiple floors, and the bottom two have large courtyards. There are easily 100 people practicing sword drills, and death clings to all of them to varying degrees.

Danny glares as he flies past, anger spiking again as he realizes this place trains killers. He changes course to visit the minor concentration of corruption before dealing with the pit.

He’s invisible and intangible when he emerges in an ornate, high-ceilinged office.

The corruption sits in a middle-aged man sitting at a desk. The arrogance-coceit-cruelty pouring from him makes Danny grimace in disgust, reminding him of Vlad closely. He waves a hand at the person before him, who bows and leaves without a word.

The man stands as Danny becomes visible, silently dropping so his feet silently skim through the floor. The ‘silent’ alarm he pressed as he did made Danny roll his eyes before glaring at him. Ice races across the floor and up the walls until the room’s encased in it.

The man tries to remain intimidating, even as he trembles in the cold, demanding, “W-what i-i-s-s-s the m-m-meani-i-ing of th-th-this?”

Danny continues to glare as he moves to stand directly in front of him, ice matching his pace as it encases the man up to his waist.

The man swings at him, only to pass through. Danny grabs his arm, then the other, when the man tries again and freezes them to his sides.

“ You reek of corrupted ectoplasm ,” Danny growls. His voice is nowhere near human, but his words are still understood. “ You’re the one that’s been bathing in it .”

Satisfaction-pride fills him at the man’s harsh flinch.

“Y-you’r-r-re of t-t-the p-p-p-pit-t-ts,” the man realizes. “T-t-t-hen I, R-r-r-ras a-a-al-l Ghu-u-ul, am y-your m-m–mast-ter. You-u w-will rele-e-ease me.”

Danny grabs his arm by the bicep as he switches to his king form and squeezes until the bone shatters.

“ You are nothing ,” he growls as Ras screams.

Danny reaches into Ras’ chest with his other hand, drawing the ectoplasm to his palm while carefully leaving the corruption exactly where it is. Once he has it all, he releases the arm and the ice supporting Ras.

Ras collapses in pain. He’s coughing, shaking, and unable to move.

Danny leaves him on the food in the frozen room as he pulls his invisibility back to him, sinking through the floor and down to the pit. He doubles over, nearly collapsing, at the pain-rage-fear-sickness bubbling up from it. It’s a few minutes of forcing himself to breathe through it before he can take in his surroundings.

The cavern around him is dark and reaching. Stalagmites are jutting up from the floor while stalactites hang from the ceiling thirty feet above his head, and stairs climb along the wall. He’s floating above the pit, its edges cracked and crumbling, fifteen feet at its widest.

Danny touches down at the edge of the pit. After encasing the cavern in ice as he had the office, he raises the hand, still holding Ras’ ectoplasm, and starts pulling the pit away from the corruption. With his other hand, he opens a portal and starts feeding the ectoplasm back to the realms. Soon, all that’s left of the pit is a layer of black sludge coating the bottom and sides. 

After closing the portal, Danny releases the ice encasing both rooms and leaves, heading to the next pit.

He finds it in another mountain, under another fortress, though this one was more like a medieval castle. This one is much more naturally corrupted, forcing Danny to purify it. He steps into the pool and opens another portal. He starts drawing the ectoplasm into and through himself before pushing the purified ectoplasm back to the realms. Danny collapses, coughing and shaking as the corruption forces its way out of his body through his mouth in the form of black sludge. It takes him a few minutes to collect himself and close the portal.

Both of the others are also naturally corrupted. The third was on an island with two volcanoes in the middle of it. The fourth and newest was less than fifty miles outside of Gotham.

By the time he’s done with the last one, Danny’s shaking uncontrollably, crying, and his vision is spotty and blurred. It takes nearly an hour for him to calm down enough to collect himself enough to close the last portal. He immediately rips open another one, stumbling through directly into his throne room and collapsing again.

He hears shouting but can’t make anything out. An arm wraps around his shoulders, and hands cradle his face as his vision goes black, and he finally lets himself pass out.

~~

Danny wakes slowly. There are bodies on either side of him, arms wrapped around his waist, a soft breath on his neck, and a weight on his chest.

He opens his eyes to the familiar stars on the ceiling of his room in the keep. They shine and shift as he watches before he scans the room.

Frostbite enters quietly, smiling gently when he sees that Danny’s awake. “Hello, Great One.”

“Frostbite?” Danny rasps before devolving into coughs.

The arms around him tighten, Sam curling further into his side while Tucker tucks his face closer to his neck. Miraculously, neither wake.

“Do not push yourself. You are still recovering.”

Danny frowns. “From what?”

“I believe you were cleansing corrupted ectoplasm.”

“Right,” Danny remembers, “they called them Lazarus Pits.”

Frostbite hums in thought as Danny slowly sits up without waking his partners. Tucker shuffles closer, face pressed into his hip, while Sam doesn’t even twitch, head pillowed on his thigh. Danny gives them a small, tired smile before looking back at Frostbite.

“Are you ok?” Danny asks him.

“Yes,” Frostbite assures him. “Though, we have all been quite concerned. I came to your keep to inform Lady Sam and Pharoh Tucker of our conversation. We had just begun discussing how to find you when you returned.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry anyone or to scare you,” Danny whispers as he closes his eyes.

“I understand your anger, Great One. Corruption will always remain an urgent concern and task. You did frighten me, but you were forgiven as soon as I was able to calm myself.”

Danny offers a weak smile as he looks back at him. “There were four pits. I was able to pull the ectoplasm away from the corruption of the first ‘cause the living had corrupted it. But I had to actually purify the other three.”

Frostbite freezes, panic-shock-reassurance rolling off of him as Danny keeps talking. “You purified four pools of corrupted ectoplasm?”

“Yeah,” Danny sighs before continuing in the most sarcastic tone he can muster, “I wonder what could’ve possibly made me collapse.”

Sam snorts as she rolls over to look up at him. He runs his fingers through her hair as she does.

“Hey, Supernova,” he whispers.

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and sits up, turning to face him properly. She opens her eyes, and Danny fills with dread at the storm in them.

“DANIEL JAMES FENTON!!” she starts.

Tucker bolts up and whirls around, looking for danger.

“IF YOU EVER THINK OF DOING SOMETHING SO STUPID AGAIN, I WILL SOUP YOU FOR A MONTH, ANCIENTS HELP ME!!!”

Tucker blinks the last of the sleep from his eyes before throwing himself at Danny. Sam breathes for a moment before doing the same. Danny holds them as close as he can without hurting them. They stay like that for several minutes before Sam finally pulls back.

“So, four pits?” she asks.

“And a fruitloop. He’d been bathing in the pits,” Danny adds, grimacing and nodding at their disgusted looks. “Yeah. Red Robin’s brother was tossed into one. He could see my circle, so Red asked about it. Pandora said she could help him.”

“How?” Tucker asks as he finally pulls back.

Danny shrugs. “I don’t know. I told her I’d ask if he wanted her help, but I didn’t ask how. I should probably find out before I go back to their dimension.”

“Definitely. I doubt any of them will be down for anything if they don’t have all the facts,” Tucker agrees.

“I shall have Pandora summoned on my way out,” Frostbite says. “I would prefer you rest a while longer before returning to any of the living realms. I would suggest a full day in your realm, but I know better than to expect that.”

Danny gives him a sheepish smile as he rubs his neck. “Heh, yeah, I can’t stay still that long.”

“Even when you really should,” Sam grumbles.

Tucker snorts as Danny sticks his tongue out at her. She rolls her eyes even as she gives him a loving smile.

Amusement-joy-relief rolls off of Frostbite as he heads to the door. “I shall be on my way. Pandora will no doubt arrive as swiftly as possible.”

“Bye, Frostbite. Thank you for everything,” Danny calls.

He gives them a gentle smile and a nod as he leaves.

“Of everyone we’ve met in the realms, Frostbite is my favorite,” Tucker declares.

Danny snorts while Sam raises an eyebrow as she smirks.

“Technus would be so offended he’s not his ‘tech buddy’s’ favorite,” Danny grins.

“Nah, Techie knows he attacked us too often to be my fave. He is, however, my favorite of your rouges, which he also knows.”

“Dora’s my favorite, with or without the attacks,” Sam admits.

“She is a fellow badass. Makes sense she’s your favorite,” Danny agrees.

Tucker nods as they both turn to him.

Danny blinks at them. “Oh, uh… I don’t have a favorite. They’re all a major pain at all times. The ones that weren’t trying to fight me have all been super helpful in one way or another.”

Sam nods while Tucker shrugs.

“That’s fair,” he admits.

They sit silently for a minute, soaking in each other's presence before Sam gets up, tugging her boys with her. They follow her into the library and back to their favorite nook. Danny hesitates by the stairs leading to his observatory until he sees Sam grab the book she’s been reading to them. It’s not a story they would read or enjoy, but they love listening to her.

He and Tucker grin at each other before dropping onto either end of the couch, leaving the middle for Sam, who smiles and plops into her place.

Danny leans against her as he throws his legs over the arm of the couch. Tucker does the opposite, legs across Sam’s lap while leaning against the arm. He jabs Danny in the ribs with his feet, but Sam gives them a look before Danny can retaliate.

Once everyone has settled, Sam opens the book and starts reading.

~~

They make it through four chapters before Danny sits up.

“Pandora’s here,” Danny says as he stands.

Sam closes the book as Tucker lets her up and stands up. She takes Danny’s offered hand and lets him pull her up, leaving the book in her place.

They quickly reach the entrance hall, finding Pandora admiring the night sky wrapped around one pillar.

“That one is a loop of the stars above the Ancient Greece of my dimension,” Danny explains.

“I thought they looked familiar,” Pandora says as she faces them, holding up a scroll. “Frostbite said that there were four pits and that you need to know how I will be helping the living.”

“Only one was entirely corrupted by the living. The others seemed to have started having their corruption, but they were still primarily natural.”

“They can’t be corrupted accidentally. Someone was doing it on purpose.”

Danny nods. “Ras al Ghul was bathing in them and training killers. I already dealt with him. He won’t be doing it ever again.”

Pandora nods back.

“We need to know how you can help the living ‘cause Red Robin and his brother probably won’t let you help til they know what you’re doing,” Tucker explains.

Pandora tilts her head. “I don’t know who Red Robin is.”

“He’s the guardian of a new halfa. She’s eight,” Sam tells her.

Pandora tenses. “The child must be quite the warrior if she could fight back to some of her life.”

“She definitely is,” Danny confirms. “Oh, this reminds me. Frostbite says she has both Realms and Living magic. He said he didn’t understand it well enough to explain and that I would be better off asking you.”

“She has both ?” Pandora blinks at Danny as he nods. “That is quite a lengthy explanation. I would prefer to help the brother before we get into this. And I would love to guide the young mage in her studies.”

“That would be great. Sam’s gonna be helping with the living magic.”

The women nod at each other with determined smiles before Pandora adds, “It will be a pleasure working alongside you.”

“Yeah, this’ll be fun.”

Pandora gives her one last nod before getting back on track. “How I help this brother will depend on how the ectoplasm has bonded to him if it has at all. I might be able to pull it out entirely, or doing so may kill him. I won’t know until I meet him. I am willing to go with you to meet him, as it would be easier if I explained it myself.”

Danny nods. “I still have to ask if he even wants or needs help. How much can I tell them about you?”

“As much as you are comfortable giving. I trust your judgment.”

“They probably won’t agree to it right away. I’ll send for you when I have an answer.”

Pandora nods and leaves without another word.

Danny turns back to his partners. “I’ll be right back.”

“Remember, Frostbite wanted you to wait another day before going back to the living, so be careful ,” Sam reminds him.

“And make you come back in one piece,” Tucker adds.

Danny nods, kisses them both on the cheek, and opens another portal.

Chapter Text

Tim wakes slowly. The pressure next to him leaves him confused and frowning as he pries open his eyes. Then, the pressure shifts, and an elbow is jabbed into his ribs. He flinches as it hits right on a still-healing bruise, falling off the couch in the process.

Tim groans as he sits up and looks over at Summer. She slowly blinks at him before giving in and going back to sleep. He snorts as he gets up, checking his phone to find it’s just after ten in the morning.

“I’ve slept more in the last two days than in the last two weeks ,” he whispers to himself, opening his messages.

10:26 PM

Jay

Fuck. How is he going to deal with them?

Also, Roy’s on my ass about meeting Summer but won’t text you ‘cause he doesn’t want you to feel pressured.

10:04 AM

Baby Bird

Idk how

That doesn’t really surprise me

I’m gonna ask Summer today

Also you’ve apparently already met her

You walked her home after her dad forgot her at the store

He moves to the group chat with Cass and Steph.

8:48 AM

Control

 Niece?

Chaos

when when when

10:13

2.0

Haven’t asked yet

Also apparently Cass has seen her

She waved at you when she was walking home

You stayed where she could see you until she got inside

Then he clicks into Tam’s messages.

Yesterday 12:00 PM

Tam

Where are you?

Tim?

Yesterday 1:46 PM

Tam

If you don’t have a damn good explanation for disappearing without using our process, so help me, there will not be a body left for anyone to find.

9:22 AM

Tam

Tim!

Tim jumps to his laptop on the table, panicking and ignoring the pain that shoots through his knees when they hit the rug. He opens his encrypted email, adds the three covers and a quick backstory, copies Barbra, and sends it to Tam.

He returns to his phone and sends Tam the pictures Cass had sent him the first night.

10:23 AM

Tim

[photo]

[photo]

I’m sorry

I owe you another long vacation for putting up with me

Tim gently sets his laptop on the coffee table with his phone face up on top after making sure the ringer is on.

Then Summer stirs, sitting up while rubbing her eyes, and Tim takes the distraction from his impending doom.

“Morning,” Tim says.

Summer startles and whips around, smiling when she sees it’s just Tim. She doesn’t seem to notice the glowing blue marks on her arms, even as they take a second to start fading. He decides not to mention them, just adding it to the list of things to ask Phantom about.

“Are you hungry?” Tim asks.

Summer shakes her head, and Tim opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by his phone.

Dread fills him when he sees Tam’s contact on the call. He glances at Summer, who’s looking curiously at the phone, and answers on speaker.

“You’re on speaker with Summer here and awake,” Tim rushes out, trying to stop Tam from immediately cussing him out.

Summer looks between Tim and his phone.

Tam huffs. “Hi, Summer. I’m Tamara Fox, but you can call me Tam. I’m Tim’s secretary.”

“What’s a secretary?” Summer asks quietly.

“I keep track of Tim’s meetings and messages,” Tam explains.

“She’s the only reason Bruce and I still have a company to run. I’m amazed she’s still willing to put up with all our chaos, in and out of the masks,” Tim adds.

“Thank you for helping him,” Summer says.

Tam lets out a defeated but fond sigh. “Thank you for saying that. I needed to hear it.”

Summer frowns at the phone before looking at Tim in confusion.

“I forgot to let her know I was taking you in, so she’s mad at me.”

“Don’t be mad! He didn’t do it on purpose! I’m sorry!” Summer panics, tense and wide-eyed.

“Woah! Hey, it’s ok,” Tim stops her as he moves to sit next to her. “She can be mad at me for as long as she needs to be. I should’ve updated her yesterday. I had time and didn’t think about it. You have nothing to apologize for, nothing .”

“And I’m not as mad anymore. I understand why he forgot. You’re more important than my need to know,” Tam adds.

Summer hesitates before asking, “Promise?”

Tam doesn’t when she responds with, “I promise.”

Summer slumps heavily into Tim’s side, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders.

Tam gives them a couple seconds before she continues, “I think your best option is the number two.”

Summer looks up at him in confusion.

“I made three covers to tell the public to explain why you’re suddenly living with me,” Tim explains.

Summer nods even as she curls in on herself, still leaning on Tim.

“Option 1: I pull a ‘Brucie’,” Tim continues.

“Bruce is known for randomly adopting kids for seemingly no reason,” Tam explains.

Tim smiles fondly, adding, “But my public persona isn’t as impulsive as his, so people are gonna be suspicious and be a pain about it.”

“The slander from the tabloids alone, ugh,” Tam grumbles.

Tim hums in agreement. “Option 2: We’re cousins. The public wouldn’t bother us nearly as much, but the gala crowd might be more interested in you.”

“Option 3: You’re half-siblings. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t understand why this one’s even an option,” Tam admits.

“Cause you haven’t seen her. She looks enough like my mother that I could easily convince people she cheated or my parents had an open relationship,” Tim explains. “And it’s public knowledge they only wanted one kid. They absolutely would’ve gotten rid of any other kids.”

“That will definitely help with any family claim you decide on, but it’ll make sure the upper class never leave you two alone.”

“Yeah. And we might have issues if someone who was with my parents while Mother would’ve been pregnant calls us on it. They were out of the country when you were conceived and born, but they were still influential enough that it could be an issue.”

“What’s conceived mean?” Summer asks.

Tim freezes in panic as Tam busts out in uncontrolled laughter.

“Uh, um, made. It means made.” His voice is so strained he’s a little surprised it didn’t crack.

Summer squints up at him in suspicion as Tam starts to calm down.

“I promise it means made. It’s just a very specific way that I’m not prepared to explain. Please don’t make me ,” Tim pleads.

This sets Tam off again, but Summer nods and looks back at the phone. Tim sighs in relief as he glares at his phone.

“I’m so glad you have a kid!” Tam laughs. “This is gonna be great!”

“ Anyway , if we go with option two, you’d be from my mother’s side of the family. I think this is our best option, too,” Tim continues.

“Why did you make three if you like one already?” Summer asks.

“I wanted you to have a choice. And Tam and Babs will catch any problems I missed,” Tim explains.

Summer hesitates. “I don’t know who Babs is.”

Tim grins. “Barbara Gordon. She was the first Batgirl, and now she’s Oracle, our badass hacker and master mask wrangler.”

Summer and Tam snort, nearly in unison.

“I’ve cleared your schedule for the next week. We’ll need to decide on a cover by then,” Tam says.

“Oh darn,” Tim smirks. “That means I’ll have to miss the meeting with Lex. How tragic.”

Tam snorts again as Summer starts to fidget. Tim checks on her to see her tracing the glowing marks on her arms as they fade.

“Thank you, Tam. You’re amazing,” he says as he watches her.

“You’re welcome, Tim,” Tam says. “Bye Summer. I can’t wait to meet you in person.”

Summer startles at being addressed as Tam hangs up.

“I’m gonna meet her?” she asks in surprise.

“If you want. But it’ll have to wait until you’ve met my siblings.”

Summer blinks at him as her eyes turn blue, and the marks light up again before an excited smile splits her face. “I get to meet your siblings?”

Tim smiles as he nods. “I was thinking of inviting Cass and Steph over for dinner tonight.”

Summer cheers as the marks glow brighter. They flash, and she vanishes.

Tim shoots to his feet, panic squeezing his lungs, and spins around. He lets out a shaky breath when he spots Summer, confused and tense, sitting on the dining room table. She watches him with wide, scared eyes as he approaches, stopping well out of arms reach.

“Are you ok?” he asks gently, panic fading as he watches her slowly relax.

She traces the marks as they fade again as she nods.

‘Those are cool,” Tim says as he eyes them. “They’re the same color as your eyes when they glow.”

“My eyes glow blue ?” Summer asks as she climbs off the table.

He nods as she comes closer, her eyes glowing again.

“That’s so cool!” she whispers to herself, making him chuckle.

“Have you always had those marks?” Tim asks cautiously as they sit back on the couch.

Summer shakes her head as she brings her hands up in front of her eyes, which are glowing enough to light up her palms. She giggles as the marks glow again.

Tim tenses up again, but she only floats a foot off the couch and gently lands a few seconds later, completely oblivious that she’d done it.

“They showed up when I used magic with Frostbite. Blue blobs showed up and went into my arm,” Summer continues.

Tim takes a deep breath and nods as he hands her his laptop, which is already open to Amazon, and the TV remote. “I’m gonna do dishes. You can watch whatever you want, but my family is gonna wanna get you presents, so I need you to make a list, ok?”

Summer frowns at the laptop but nods, taking both. She turns on a nature documentary about dolphins as he heads to the kitchen.

~~

Summer is frowning and fidgeting with the closed laptop when Tim returns to the living room.

“Is something wrong?” he asks gently.

She startles before holding out the laptop. “I finished the list.”

He takes it, setting it back on the coffee table as he kneels in front of her. “You’re not gonna be in trouble if something’s wrong. I just wanna help if I can.”

Summer hesitates before quietly asking, “Why do they want a list?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what they want.”

Unease creeps through Tim. “Why do you think they want anything?”

“Mom and Dad said I only get things when I’m good, when I do what they want.”

Dread hits him like a bus as he asks, “What did they want?”

“No magic, especially in public, or to not tell the other something.”

“Not tell about what exactly?”

Summer hunches in on herself as she explains, “Dad didn’t want Mom to know about forgetting me or when he went to the roof. Mom didn’t want Dad to know about her going to see Mrs. Ruby next door. She’s mean, but Mom sees her a lot.”

Tim relaxes slightly and sighs. “My family gives gifts 'cause we’re celebrating a birthday, Christmas, or Hanukkah, or they just saw something and thought of someone. You don’t have to do anything.”

Summer slowly relaxes, too, and Tim remembers Phantom saying something about feeling other’s emotions.

Then she frowns. “We can’t celebrate my birthday. Mom says it’s too close to Christmas.”

“Even if they were on the same day, if you wanted to celebrate both, we would. Two days isn’t a problem,” Tim tells her. “What did you do for Christmas?”

Summer shrugs. “I was always in trouble and wasn’t allowed out of my room.”

“Somehow, I doubt that’ll be the case here,” Tim says with a grin.

Summer smiles back and restarts her documentary.

Tim grabs his phone and laptop. As he settles back into the couch, Summer cautiously leans against him. Tim smiles and wraps an arm around her, feeling her melt into him.

He opens the chat with Cass and Steph and snorts.

10:20 AM

Control

!!!!!!!

🤯🤯

Chaos

WHAT

that’s not fair

she’s always the favorite

Control

🎉🎉🎉😁

Chaos

im gonna cry 😭

12:19 PM

2.0

Summer agreed to have you guys over for dinner

Control

🎉😁🎉🍗

Chaos

give us a time or imma bust down ur door right now

Control

⬆️👍

2.0

5:30

I’ll start cooking about 6

Control

🎁?

Chaos

oooooo

yeah

what should we get her

Control

🦇🦇🦇

Chaos

well duh

what else

Tim chuckles, checking on Summer when she shifts. She sits up, turning so her side is pressed against the back of the couch, and her feet are lightly pressed against his hip. He reaches over and ruffles her hair. She blinks and smiles at him before going back to her show.

“Cass and Steph will be here at 5:30,” he tells her.

She lights up, eyes and marks glowing as she starts to float again, higher this time. She laughs when she notices and tries to look under herself, flipping upside down in the process. She lets out a startled laugh that devolves into uncontrolled giggles.

Tim rights her, laughing as she starts bobbing in the air.

“It’s working!” Summer cheers through her giggles.

Tim opens his laptop as she plops back on the couch.

“Wait,” Summer starts. “Who’s Steph?”

“Stephanie Brown, Spoiler,” Tim explains. “She’s also my best friend and Cass’ girlfriend.”

She nods seriously and goes back to her show.

Tim smiles at her and reviews her list: notebooks with various animals, a pack of animal-themed pencils, a separate axolotl pencil, a shirt with an axolotl holding a knife, a Red Hood beanie, and three Red Robin pins. He mentally notes all the different items and themes before adding everything to the cart and ordering it.

He closes his laptop, grabs his phone again, and makes a new chat with everyone but Bruce.

12:37 PM

Tim

An incomplete list of Summer’s likes: notebooks, animals (axolotl=favorite?), beanies, enamel pins, knives (??)

Also Jason and I are her favorites

Cass and Duke she likes

Doesn’t have an opinion on the rest

Then he mutes the chat. He’s about to put his phone down when Dick texts him.

12:39 PM

Dick

Is the list y Cass and Steph just sprinted through the manor

They almost ran over Dami

Baby Bird

Probably

They’re coming over for dinner

Dick

I’ll take bat-sitting duty then

Baby Bird

Thank you Dick

Tim puts his phone down as Summer starts to fidget again, opening her mouth before shaking her head and hunching in on herself. He nudges her and gives her a soft smile as he tilts his head.

“W-Ca-Do we have time to take pictures?” she asks.

Tim’s face splits into the broadest grin he’s ever worn as he pauses the TV. “Absolutely. Go grab your camera and the case with the extra lenses.”

Summer scrambles off the couch and to her room but walks back, carefully holding her equipment. Tim shows her how to attach and remove the lenses and neck strap. Then, he walks her through the different settings before heading to the balcony. They cycle through Summer taking pictures, both of them going over it, and Tim showing her how to get a better shot for a couple of hours before finally returning inside.

Tim looks through his kitchen while Summer goes through her pictures, curled up in a bean bag chair.

“How do we feel about chicken pasta for dinner?” Tim calls from the kitchen.

“I like chicken and pasta,” Summer replies as she plays the TV and returns to the bean bag.

Tim returns to the couch, lying down as Summer relaxes further into her chair. He smiles and gets comfortable, prepared to learn about dolphins.

Chapter Text

When the knocking starts, Tim checks his phone. He’s amazed they’re here at exactly 5:30 instead of early.

Summer sits on the floor next to the far side of the couch with her camera as he gets up. He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything as he opens it.

Summer giggles as she gets up to sit on the couch next to the arm. Her eyes stay on her camera even as Steph bounds over after shoving a large rainbow gift bag at him.

He rolls his eyes as Steph kneels on the bench behind and slightly to the left of Summer, looking over her shoulder at the picture.

Tim matches Cass’ bright smile as she steps in. She looked at the others pointedly before raising an eyebrow at him.

“I got her a camera. We spent a couple hours taking pictures from my balcony today,” Tim explains.

Cass shoots him a smug smile as she moves to drop her red gift bag on the coffee table before turning to Summer, her smile softening. “Hello.”

“Hi,” Summer says softly, looking up at her and glancing at Tim as he drops Steph’s bag with Cass’ before offering the camera to her. “I’m Summer.”

“I’m Steph, and this is Cass,” Steph introduces as Cass takes the camera. “She got a great pic.”

Cass holds the camera so Tim can see, too.

Steph, who had been bouncing on her toes, is blurry and only recognizable by the blonde blur around her head. Tim’s arm is also blurry, but the rest of him is clear, and a bright smile is visible. Cass is the only one in perfect clarity and has a matching smile.

“Yeah, it is,” Tim breathes, grinning at Summer, who matches it. “Good job.”

Her eyes go blue as she takes the camera back.

“Are you up for presents?” he asks.

Summer’s eyes fade back to brown as she looks at the bags before nodding and setting her camera on the table.

Steph grins and flings herself over the back of the couch, bouncing on the cushion to Summer’s left. Cass smiles fondly as she settles on the table's edge and passes over Steph’s bag first.

Summer hesitates before pulling out her presents, revealing it’s all merch. There’s a Red Hood notebook, a Spoiler shirt, a Black Bat sweatshirt, two Young Justice notebooks, a Signal beanie, and a Red Robin water bottle.

She holds out the t-shirt to Steph. “This is you, right?”

“Yep!” Steph grins.

Summer looks down at the pajamas she’d never changed out of before getting up and heading to her room. Steph’s grin falters until it doubles as she returns in shorts and the shirt, though it’s a couple sizes too big.

After sitting back on the couch, she holds out the sweatshirt. Cass nods before Summer even opens her mouth, smiling brightly as Summer pulls it on, too.

“Sweet niece,” Cass coos as she hands over the second bag.

Summer blinks at her before looking up at Tim, standing by the chair closest to her. “I thought I was gonna be your cousin or sister.”

“To the public,” Tim agrees. “But the rest of us all know you’re my kid. I’m too attached for anything else.”

“Oh,” Summer whispers, eyes wide as she looks up at him.

Guilt prickles at his skin as he realizes he hasn’t made that clear.

She slowly turns back to the bag and pulls out the animal-themed presents. There’s a journal set with different animals on each, an axolotl stuffie, a pack of socks with various cartoon animal bards, a bird-themed pen set, and a rainbow pocket knife.

Summer laughs as she opens the knife and wraps one of the axolotl’s legs around the handle. “It’s the shirt!”

Tim laughs, too, grabbing his laptop when the girls shoot him curious looks. He pulls up the order he’d placed earlier and lets them look through it.

Steph cackles when she finds the shirt, Cass giggling with her.

“‘You axolotl questions.’ Dick’s gonna love it,” Steph heaves as she catches her breath.

“Dick?” Summer asks.

“Close the knife if you’re not using it,” he tells her.

She struggles for a second but gets it closed and looks back up at him.

Steph cuts him off before he can get a sound out, “Dick’s their older brother.”

“Nightwing,” Cass adds.

Tim rolls her eyes at them. “You’ll get to meet him eventually if you want to. Anyone you want to meet, I’ll do my best to get you the chance.”

“Even if they’re not from Gotham?” Summer questions.

“Even if we have to travel around the world to meet them,” Tim promises.

Summer smiles as she starts floating again. Tim, smirking, gently pokes her in the shoulder, making her laugh as she flips upside down again.

Cass laughs, too, as she rights her, only for Steph to grin and poke her. Summer laughs harder as she flips again.

Tim watches contently as Cass gently tugs Summer around the living room, keeping Steph at bay. Summer giggles the whole time, letting herself be pulled around the room like a balloon.

He chuckles when Steph finally manages to poke her again. Cass sticks her tongue out at her as she rights Summer again.

Tim checks his phone and starts moving to the kitchen. “I’m gonna start dinner.”

“FOOOOOD!!” Steph cheers as she follows him into the kitchen. She watches him pull out ingredients and cookware. “So what we cookin’?”

“Chicken pasta,” Tim says. He can feel her gaze like a physical weight. 

“How are you holdin’ up?”

“Better than I thought I’d be,” Tim admits.

“Tim,” Steph calls gently.

He turns to face her, sighing at the obvious concern on her face. “I’m still stressed and overwhelmed, but when I left the warehouse, I expected to do this mostly alone. I thought you and Cass would be my only support. Then, I woke up to a mountain of support, which dropped my stress so much that I didn’t even have words. Jason and I had a real talk, one that wasn’t about a case. Even Damian messaged me. I am so much better than I thought I’d be, and it’s because I know if I need help, I can call you guys or my friends. My friends, who have no idea I have a kid and who have a habit of breaking in and kidnapping me when they decide it’s been too long since they’ve seen me. Fuck.”

Steph laughs as he whips out his phone, nearly flinging it across the room in his rush to get to the group chat with his friends.

6:12 PM

Smart Dumbass

Don’t come over until I give you the all-clear

I have a traumatized kid and the last thing we need is to scare her

Strong dumbass

How the fuck did u get a kid

Smart Dumbass

I’ll send you the file later

Tim pockets the phone again as he groans. “Ok, they’ve been told. I just need to send them the file later.”

Steph grins as she nods. “Good. How has Summer been?”

“She had a nightmare that set off her intangibility last night and teleported from the couch to the dining table, but hasn’t had any problems since.”

“Which could be a problem.”

“Yeah. We don’t know what happened behind closed doors, past what Summer’s told me, and that’s still in pieces.”

Steph nods. “Did you summon Phantom?”

Tim shakes his head as he turns back to keep prepping dinner. “She thought I was trying to send her away when I asked if she wanted me to. I told her that would never happen and decided to give her the day to process that. I’m gonna bring it up again after you guys leave.”

Steph nods as Cass suddenly cries out.

They both whip around to see Cass alone in the living room. She’s looking around the room but returning to a spot in the air.

Tim’s stomach drops as he calls, as loudly as he can, “Summer?”

“What?” Summer’s voice, wavering and startled, comes from where Cass keeps returning.

Tim leans on the counter, sighing in relief and taking deep breaths. Steph steps closer and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“T-Tim?”

“Can’t see you,” Cass says.

“But you’re looking at me?” Summer questions, panic making her voice shake.

“Phantom said one of your powers is invisibility,” Tim tells her.

“Oh. That’s what the buzzing is,” Summer says, mostly to herself.

She flickers before remaining in view and dropping suddenly. Cass catches her, holding her close as Tim rushes over.

Summer clings to Cass, who meets Tim’s eyes before taking her to the couch. Tim takes another deep breath before kneeling in front of Summer, who refuses to look at either of them.

“Are you ok?” he asks, frowning when all he gets in response is a weak nod. “Summer?”

“Don’t call Phantom!” she sobs.

“Woah, hey,” Tim startles, pulling her into his side as he sits on the couch. “It’s ok, it’s alright.”

He makes eye contact with Cass again before she nods and joins Steph in the kitchen.

When Summer’s sobs have dropped to sniffles, Tim speaks again. “Phantom isn’t gonna take you if we summon him. He wants you to live here, and he’s hoping he can get most of your training here, too. He’s not gonna make you leave.”

Summer pulls away to look up at him, hope and fear warring in her eyes.

“I’m not gonna get rid of you,” Tim continues. “I want you here. Do you understand?”

Summer nods. The fear’s still there but not as much, so he lets it go for now.

“Do you want to watch TV?” he asks softly.

She nods again and reaches for the remote. Her marks light up again, and the remote shoots into her hand. She freezes before slowly looking back up at him.

“That’s awesome,” Tim laughs. “You never have to get up to get it.”

Summer relaxes again as she turns on the TV and pulls up a lion documentary.

Steph catches Tim’s attention, waving her arms wildly. When he looks over, she motions around the kitchen and gives him a thumbs-up.

He motions her over, and Cass remains at the island as Steph bounds over. 

She drags a beanbag chair over and plops down. “Ooooo, lions.”

Summer smiles at her slightly. “Did you know they can sleep for twenty-one hours a day and have up to six cubs at a time?”

“The sleeping sounds amazing , but I don’t think having six babies at a time is worth it.”

“Me either,” Summer agrees. “It didn’t look fun.”

Tim smiles as he watches them. “Are you ok if I keep cooking?”

Summer nods as she pulls away. Tim hesitates before getting up.

Summer grabs his shirt before he can walk away, whispering, “Can we summon Phantom tomorrow ?”

Tim hesitates again but agrees with a nod. “After breakfast.”

Summer gives him a weak smile before turning back to her lions.

Returning to the kitchen, Tim finds all the prep is done, the pasta is already on the stove, and Cass is cutting up the chicken. He sends a two-fingered salute to Steph, who smiles back as he starts the sauce.

“Thanks for catching her,” Tim says quietly.

“Always,” Cass assures him.

He gives her a tired smile. “I’m so glad she’s ready to meet you guys.”

She bumps their shoulders as she moves beside him and starts cooking the chicken. Tim takes a deep breath and leans on her for a moment.

“Phantom?”

“Dealing with the pits,” Tim tells her.

Cass stares at him with wide eyes.

“Jason could see the summoning circle,” Tim continues as Cass glances at his arm. “I asked Phantom about it and found out the pits are pools of corrupted ectoplasm. He was pissed, scared the hell outta me, and he was surprised that Jason wasn’t catatonic or something. He took off last night and hasn’t been back. I was gonna summon him tonight, but Summer asked to do it tomorrow.”

“Worried?”

Tim sighs. “I hope he’s done with the pits. That’s not something I really want to interrupt.”

Cass nods in agreement. “Worried about Summer?”

“Yeah,” he breathes. “She teleported earlier, so when she went invisible, I was so scared she’d done it again but hadn’t stayed in the apartment this time. We don’t know her limits, so for all I know, she could end up in China, or Antarctica, or-”

He cuts himself off when Cass presses into his side. He takes a deep breath, finally noticing his tears and wiping his face.

“Good Dad,” she says after a few moments.

A wet laugh and weak smile escape him. “Thanks, Cass.”

She hums and nods as she tests the pasta, decides it’s done, and strains it. Tim tries the sauce, nodding before pouring it into the pan with the chicken and turning off the burner he’d been using. He simmers the pan for a minute before turning to Cass, who has already grabbed plates and forks and is now adding pasta to each.

They both look up when Steph cheers. She’s moved to the couch, and Summer, now on the closer end, is holding out her camera to show her. Steph grins as she pauses the TV and whispers something to Summer, who nods.

Steph stands, scoops Summer into her arms, and brings her to the island, gently setting her on a stool.

Summer nervously fiddles with the strap as she turns her camera to show them. Tim is filled with pride, and a broad smile stretches across his face when he sees the picture.

It’s a candid shot of him and Cass. She’s carefully adding pasta to a plate, completely engrossed in her task. Tim’s turned to look at her with a with a fond smile. He looks tired but content.

Cass grins, going around the island to gently ruffle her hair and offer a hug. Summer immediately leans into her.

Tim pours his pan over the plates after turning off the last burner and sticks forks into the piles of food.

Cass releases Summer when he comes around the island, too. Tim grins as he pulls Summer into another hug. She melts into him, and he kisses her on the top of her head.

“I’m so glad you like your camera,” he says.

Summer nods into his chest. “Steph says my invisibility will help get the candid ones.”

“She’s right,” Tim agrees.

Cass nods before grinning. “Pranks.”

Tim matches her grin while Steph cackles. Summer grins, too, eyes glowing, and streaks of her hair drip into blue before fading back to brown.

Tim and Cass take the plates to the coffee table while Summer and Steph get drinks from the mini-fridge at the island. Summer gets an orange soda for herself and a Zesti for Tim, at Steph’s suggestion, while Steph gets a Zesti too and grabs a water bottle for Cass.

Tim and Cass bring over more bean bag chairs so they can all sit comfortably at the coffee table.

Steph starts eating as soon as she sits down, passing over the water bottle as she does. Tim snorts as he takes his drink.

They eat in companionable silence, and Cass collects plates when they’re emptied. Tim glares heatlessly at her when she snatches his plate and heads for the kitchen before he even starts to stand. She comes back with more drinks and a smug smile.

Tim sticks his tongue out at her before turning to Steph when she speaks.

“And now the questions begin,” she grins.

Summer blinks at her before turning to Tim.

“You get five,” Tim tells her.

“Booooooo! You’re no fun,” Steph groans. “Fine. What’s your favorite color?”

Summer blinks at her again. “Purple.”

Steph cheers and Summer looks at Tim in pure confusion.

“It’s her favorite, too. You’re the only ones in the family with that favorite,” he explains.

“Cause we’re the only ones with taste,” Steph declares.

Cass sticks her tongue out at her, and Steph blows her a kiss in response. Tim just laughs at them.

“Favorite animal?’ Steph asks.

Summer thinks for a second. “Axolotls. Did-did you know that the things around their heads are their gills?”

“Really?” Cass asks.

Summer nods. “They have lungs, too, so their gills are weird. I like the black ones best.”

“Huh,” Tim and Steph say in unison.

“I didn’t know they had lungs,” Tim continues.

Summer nods with a bright smile. “They’re so weird.”

Steph chuckles and continues, “Favorite movie?”

“I’m not allowed to watch movies,” Summer says, “Mom says they’ll give me ideas.”

The adults pause before Cass grabs the remote and flips through streaming services. “Allowed here. Start now.”

Summer looks up at Tim cautiously, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” he assures her. “Movies are just important to us cause it’s the only time we can all hang out together without it devolving into a fistfight, usually.”

“Yeah, we need another movie night soon. It’s been a while,” Steph says. “Could you watch anything?”

“Documentaries. I like animal ones better than people ones.”

“Are there any about axolotls?”

Summer lights up. “Yeah, I’ve seen two!”

“That’s five,” Tim says as Steph opens her mouth to ask her next question.

“Wh-But-” she sputters.

“Movie’s starting,” Tim cuts her off as Cass settles on and plays How to Train Your Dragon.

Steph sticks her tongue out at him before turning to pout at the TV as Summer giggles at her. Steph smiles and winks at her before going back to pouting. Tim rolls his eyes, which makes Summer giggle even more before she’s absorbed in the movie and the others settle in.

Tim checks on Summer as Hiccup touches Toothless for the first time. She’s still absorbed in the movie, but her eyes are lidded and take a few seconds to reopen after a yawn.

He pauses the movie, ignoring Steph complaints and protests as he picks Summer up. She lays her head on his shoulder, even as she frowns.

“You’ll enjoy the movie better when you’re not fighting sleep. We’ll finish it tomorrow,” Tim promises as he heads to the hall bathroom.

He ensures she brushes her teeth before heading back to her room hand-in-hand when she says she wants to walk. He lets her climb onto the bed, chuckling when she curls up on top of the covers. She slowly blinks at him as he tucks her in and is asleep by the time he makes it to the door.

Tim returns to the kitchen to find Cass doing the dishes while Steph is on the phone.

“Cass and I’ll be there,” Steph declares. “Those fuckers won’t get away.”

Steph spots him as Cass turns off the water and leans against the counter next to the sink.

“Hey!” Steph defends as she puts the call on speaker. “Tim’s here too.”

“Did you guys get to meet Summer already?” Jason asks.

“Yep!” Steph confirms. “Tim just put her to bed.”

“Hey, Jay,” Tim greets.

“Does this mean we get ta meet her soon? Also, answer your damn phone, fucker!”

“Just cause you asked, I’m not even gonna touch it,” Tim snarks.

“Bitch,” Jason says in his most dramatically affronted tone.

“Hey, I have to give you shit. I have so much to catch up on,” Tim defends.

Cass smiles as Jason and Steph snort.

“I’m summoning Phantom tomorrow morning,” Tim continues. “I’ll ask about you guys after.”

“Got it. Roy and Kori leave in a week, so I’ll need at least a day to get them back if it's after that.”

“Understood.”

“Awesome. You girls should get over here soon so we can plan for tonight.”

“On our way,” Cass responds, coming to stand beside Tim.

“Great,” Jason hangs up without another word.

“Wooow, not even a goodbye,” Steph complains. “I’m gonna give him so much shit for that.”

Cass clutches at her heart and collapses into Tim. He laughs as he rights her and walks them out.

Tim leans on the door and glares at his kitchen before sighing and finally heading to finish the dishes.

Chapter Text

The exhaustion slams into Danny as he steps into Tim’s apartment. They’re both at the island, Summer sitting on a stool and Tim standing across from her, eating breakfast.

Summer swallows her bite. “Do I have to go back to the realms?” She’s nervous-sad even as Gotham offers comfort-reassurance .

“Not if you don’t want to,” Danny promises. He raises an eyebrow at Tim, who shakes his head slightly.

Stress-concern-nervous rolls off of him as Summer looks between them nevously. Tim cuts them off as he smiles at her, and Gotham shifts her attention to him.

“We were gonna summon you after breakfast. I made fried potatoes and scrambled eggs if you want some,” Tim offers.

“It’s the best,” Summer says.

Danny huffs a laugh as he shuffles over, sits a stool away from her, and transforms back to human. “Sure, why not? As long as it doesn’t attack me.”

Their sheer confusion makes Danny cackle while they stare at him. Summer still has her fork in her mouth, and Tim’s arm is still raised to close the cupboard with a plate in hand.

“What?” Tim asks eventually.

“The house I grew up in had a man-made portal to the Realms in the basement. It leaked ectoplasm all over, and now, my whole town, including plants, animals, and people, is super liminal. Anyway, my parents don’t know the meaning of ‘lab safety’ and kept ectoplasm in the kitchen fridge when they ran out of room in the mini-fridge in the lab. It would soak into and reanimate the food. Getting attacked by a rabid pack of hotdogs when you just wanted lunch isn’t fun, but the worst was this one Thanksgiving,” Danny shivers. “That turkey would not go down.”

Tim nods solemnly as he hands Danny his plate. “My brother, Robin, once set his pet turkey to attack me, so I understand that pain.”

Summer gasps as the marks from the Far Frozen glow with her eyes. Suddenly, she vanishes and reappears, now sitting on the counter to Tim’s right. He startles but is clearly already aware she could do this.

“Robin has a pet turkey?! Can I meet it?” she asks, practically vibrating as Tim picks her up.

“His name’s Jerry. When you meet Robin, ask if he’ll show you his animals. He’s got a whole zoo at this point,” he says as he brings her back to her plate.

Summer rocks on her stool as she happily finishes her food and waits for them.

“Teleporting?” Danny asks as he eats, exhaustion fading a little.

“Yeah, it started yesterday,” Tim says.

“That’s cool,” Danny grins, and Summer matches it. “So, the pits.”

Tim straightens, tense as apprehension-hope-fear crawl through him.

“All four pits have been purified and removed. Only the corruption is left in those pools,” Danny explains. “Ras al Ghul won’t be messing with ectoplasm, or anything else, ever again.”

Unease adds to Tim as he takes the plates, even as his body and face remain neutral. He drops the neutrality when Danny raises an eyebrow. “Is he still alive?”

Danny can’t tell what answer he’s hoping for. “Yes, though he probably wishes he wasn’t. I removed the ectoplasm but left the corruption, so he’s in too much pain to even twitch.”

A smirk slowly stretches across Tim’s face as fear-unease becomes joy-spite-relief and mixes with Gotham’s own relief and Summer’s curiosity .

“The corruption will kill him eventually,” Danny continues, “but it’ll be slow and painful.”

“ Good ,” Tim says as he puts the plates in the sink.

“Gotham agrees,” Danny snorts.

Tim hesitates before cautiously asking, “What about Red Hood?”

“That’s not something I can do,” Danny admits.

“Why not?” Summer asks.

“‘Cause I don’t want him to end up like Ras,” Danny says, “that’s the only way I know how to deal with it. Lucky for us, Pandora knows realms magic much better than me and has agreed to help.”

“Help how?” Tim asks.

“She’s got to explain it to you. She knows me well enough that she didn’t even try to explain it. I would’ve messed up that game of telephone so fast ,” Danny snorts. “I do know that she needs to know how exactly the corrupted ectoplasm has bonded to him. That’s what will determine how she helps.”

“So she needs to meet him,” Tim clarifies.

Danny nods.

“Is Red Hood sick?” Summer asks.

“Yeah. Pandora’s gonna help him if he wants it,” Danny says.

“So he’s gonna be ok?”

“Yeah, he will be,” Tim assures her as he pulls out his phone. “He may not agree to this immediately, but I think he will eventually.”

Summer smiles brightly before it falters. “Pandora, like the one who released evil into the world?”

“Yes, but the story is entirely wrong. She made the box and trapped the worst evils in it. And now she protects it.”

“Really?” Tim asks as he pockets his phone again.

“Yeah. After we beat the Box Ghost, who had stolen her box, she explained the whole story. He was absorbing the evil energy cause he wanted to be feared even though he’s pathetic.”

“The Box Ghost?” Tim and Summer ask in sync.

Danny grins as he mimics Boxy’s movements. “I am the Box Ghost! Master of all things cardboard and square! BEWARE!”

They all bust out laughing.

“That sounds like a line from an old cartoon or something,” Tim groans.

“Yeah. And to be fair to Boxy, he has…limited control of the stuff in the boxes. Once, there was a box of knives that almost killed Sam. I barely made her intangible in time.”

Danny tenses when panic slams into him from Summer, and they both freeze. He sits up straight and looks between them.

“You can turn other people intangible?” Tim asks.

Danny goes to respond until Summer suddenly pops out of view. He ignores the panic shooting from Tim to focus on her heartbeat and rapid but near-silent breathing.

Tim relaxes when Danny pulls Summer into his lap, even though he still can’t see her. Danny and Gotham project reassurance-comfort as he rubs her back.

Tim takes a deep breath before explaining. “She had a nightmare the night before last after you left to deal with the pits. It triggered her intangibility, and I found her clinging to the bed with one hand cause the rest of her was in it. I pulled her out and held her as much as possible until she calmed down.”

Summer slowly fades back into view as Tim talks, and he relaxes as she does.

“She also teleported from the couch to the dining table and scared Black Bat, Spoiler, and me when she went invisible last night while I was making dinner,” Tim adds.

“Why didn’t you summon me?” Danny asks carefully.

Summer curls into his chest, fear-shame-panic pouring from her. Danny holds her tighter.

“She was scared I was trying to send her away when I suggested it,” Tim tells him. “We hung out, and she met Black Bat and Spoiler so she could have a day to relax before we summoned you.”

Danny watches him for a moment before looking down at Summer. “That’s not the only reason, is it?”

Summer looks up with teary eyes and says, “I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Danny looks up in confusion as realization-guilt-shame pours from Tim, and she starts sobbing.

“We met her because of a summoning that hurt her,” Tim grits out as he comes around the island to hold her hand and start running his fingers through her hair.

Danny takes a second to process that before curling around her, careful not to block Tim’s access. “I didn’t even think about that. Tim’s circle won’t hurt him. It pulls from me, my energy and power. The circle will break long before it would require a sacrifice. I gave it to him so that everyone knows he’s under my protection.”

Summer’s sobs have died down to sniffles as she nods and reaches for Tim.

Danny has an idea as he uncurls and lets him take her.

“Can I bring my partners here?” he asks.

Tim blinks at him as Summer buries her face in his shoulder.

“Sam and I can start her training while you and Tucker work on your tech, so you don’t have to rely solely on the circle,” Danny explains.

Summer looks back at him with wide eyes as Tim nods. Danny nods back as he gets up and rips open another portal.

“I’ll be right back,” Danny says as he steps through, back into his library.

When he sees no one, he focuses on their circles and feels them heading to the labs, so he does, too.

He comes around the corner as Sam is leaving Tucker’s lab. Surprise-confusion drifts from her as he silently ushers her back in.

“I need you guys to come meet Summer and Red Robin,” Danny starts once he’s got them both in front of him. “Her powers are acting up, one of which is apparently teleportation.”

Their mouths literally drop.

Sam is the first to recover. “ Teleportation ? Are you sure?”

Danny nods. “Watched her do it. She didn’t notice until Red Robin picked her up and put her back on her stool to finish breakfast.”

“Breakfast? We just had dinner!” Tucker butts in.

“Time difference is two and a half days there for every day back home,” Danny explains.

“Oh, that’s gonna be tricky,” Tucker mumbles.

“Anyway, I need you to pack a bag with everything you need to upgrade their tech. Summer hates the summoning circle I gave Red Robin.”

“I don’t blame her,” Sam admits.

“It is how she died,” Tucker adds as he moves to start packing.

“I know, and I’m horrible for not even considering how that would affect her when I gave it to him.”

“A lot was going on that night. You had just discovered you could make halfas, got summoned to a dimension with genuine heroes, and had the closest call with the GIW yet. I think you can be forgiven for not thinking everything through this once,” Sam assures him before turning to Tucker. “Make sure you grab two PDAs in case their tech fries.”

Tucker turns to look at her in mock offense. “Me? Forget my babies? How dare you. It’s like you don’t trust me, Bug.”

Sam sticks her tongue out at him. Tucker just grins and waves like the little shit he is. Danny snorts as Sam rolls her eyes.

Once the bag is packed, Danny pulls open another portal. Sam and Tucker go through first and have to catch him when he stumbles through after them, exhaustion slamming into him harder this time.

Tim and Summer watch from their spot at the island as Sam and Tucker help him to the couch.

“This is what you get for not listening to Frostbite,” Sam scolds.

“What’s wrong?” Summer asks.

“He’s opened three portals on top of not resting enough after dealing with four corrupted pools,” Tucker explains as he looks over. “I’m Tucker, by the way.”

“I’m Sam. You must be Summer and Red Robin,” she says, gesturing to them as she says their names.

“Tim, when I’m not in the mask,” he corrects.

“You got it,” Tucker says.

Summer watches them before offering a small wave. Sam and Tucker both wave back, and Danny shoots her a tired smile.

“So, where are we working?” Tucker asks.

Danny laughs at the anticipation-excitement exuding from him. Tim slowly matches it as he eyes the bag and gestures to the large workbench in the far corner.

Tucker runs over and starts setting up, making Tim laugh as Summer climbs out of his lap.

Tim watches her come to the living room and stand next to Sam before he follows Tucker over. Danny watches as he fiddles with something on the table before it slides open and down the legs, revealing a compartment. Tucker practically vibrates with amazement-joy-excitement as he looks through it.

Danny turns his attention to the girls as Sam huffs and shakes her head in exasperation-love-amusement before turning to Summer.

“Danny tells me you can teleport. Should we start with that?” Sam asks her.

“Or intangability?” Danny asks.

“Intangability,” Summer decides immediately.

She moves a bean bag chair and sits down as Sam sits beside Danny.

“Thought so,” he chuckles. “Intangibility, flight, and invisibility can all be spread to other people and things.”

“When you’re intangible and/or invisible, you can only touch or see other things or people that are also intangible/invisible,” Sam adds.

Danny nods. “To turn intangible, imagine something going through you, and to be solid, imagine being stopped by the thing.”

“Like flying in the Realms?” Summer asks.

“Yeah,” Danny agrees, “except you have to do all the thinking since the Realms aren’t here to help. Eventually, it’ll be second nature, and you won’t even have to really think anymore.”

Summer nods as she turns to the coffee table and puts a hand on it. She frowns when only two of her fingers go through. She keeps pushing until Sam gently pulls her hand away.

“Try pushing your fingers through first,” Sam says, holding a hand vertically with her fingers pointed down.

“And go slow. Focus on the part about to go through and what already has,” Danny adds.

It takes another five tries to get her whole hand through and another two to be solid again. Slowly, they work their way through the different limbs and furniture. By the time she’s ready to try her whole body, Summer’s consistently switching on the first or second try.

“Tim! Tucker!” Danny calls, startling them both. “Come here and watch this.”

Tim kneels on the bench behind the couch closest to the kitchen while Tucker stands beside the opposite arm.

Summer takes a deep breath before slowly walking through the couch until she’s standing in the bench. Then she puts her hands on it and pulls a leg up. It drops back through the first try but stays up on the second, and she pushes herself up to stand next to Tim.

Summer blushes as Tim ruffles her hair with a bright smile. Relief-pride fills them both.

Tucker cheers. “You’re already doing so much better than Danny.”

“Hey!” Danny says.

“In his defense, he had to teach himself, usually in the middle of a fight,” Sam cuts in.

Tucker shrugs. “She’s still better.”

“Oh, definitely,” Sam agrees.

Tim snorts as Danny gasps dramatically and clutches at his chest.

“Oh, my half-beating heart!” Danny cries out. “This betrayal shall be the second death of me!”

Summer giggles as he falls to his knees. Sam and Tucker roll their eyes while Tim shakes his head.

“Hood’s gonna like you,” Tim declares.

“So dramatic,” Tucker groans as he starts dragging him back to the workbench. “We’re ready to add the ectoplasm now.”

Danny gets up as Summer climbs over the back of the couch and comes to stand with Danny and Sam on the other side of the table.

“Magic, invisibility, or flight next?” he asks.

 “Invisibility,” Summer says.

“Danny!” Tucker whines, impatience-exasperation wafting from him.

Sam drips with amusement-love-exasperation as she stifles a laugh. “You better go before he drags you over there.”

Danny sighs but nods, pulling his ectoplasm to his fingertips as he joins the boys. He coats every piece that they point to. Then Tucker wordlessly waves him away as he focuses back on the circuit board in front of him.

Tim has a fist pressed to his lips in an effort not to laugh, but his amusement-delight tells Danny it’s a losing battle.

Danny shakes his head fondly, gestures to Tucker, and then leans over to kiss him on the temple.

Tucker swats at him in exasperation-love-annoyance as Danny ducks away laughing. Tim finally gives in to his as well.

“Oh, just go back to training, Risk,” Tucker huffs.

“Risk?” Tim asks as he calms down.

“It’s what I call him when I need him to know he’s being an annoying little shit,” Tucker explains, glaring at Danny when he smiles and waves.

“Why Risk?”

“Cause he’s a tech nerd,” Danny says cheerily.

Tucker sticks his tongue out before adding, “And when he first got his power, and through the rest of high school, everything he did was a risk.”

“Not everything!” Danny denies.

Tucker just gives him a blank look. Danny sputters out half-formed words before giving up with a sigh. He heads back to the girls as the boys cackle behind him.

Sam and Summer have claimed bean bags as Sam talks Summer through some magic. A loose ball of lavender vines hovers above Sam’s open palm as a pale blue whirlpool hovers above Summer’s.

Summer’s marks glow again, throwing light around as it passes through the whirlpool.

“Wow,” Danny whispers.

Summer doesn’t even twitch, focusing solely on the whirlpool and Sam.

Sam glances at him before ignoring him. “That’s great! Now, you can either push it out and away or pull it back to yourself. Pushing it can do some serious damage, so we’re gonna pull it.”

Summer nods and takes a deep breath.

“Follow the same flow back to your source. Take your time. There’s no rush,” Sam continues.

Her vines shrink and dissipate as Summer watches before focusing back on her whirlpool. Slowly, it dissipates, too, and her marks fade after a few seconds.

“That was awesome,” Danny says, startling Summer.

“Yeah, she did great,” Sam grins at her.

A soft joy-pride-embarrassment slowly waves off of Summer as she smiles shyly.

Danny pulls over another bean bag and plops down. “Ready for invisibility?”

Summer nods and shifts in her bag to face him.

“This one’s more of a feeling,” he admits. “Did you feel anything when you were invisible earlier?”

“I was…buzzy? Like when Gotham talks but all over and not as strong.”

Danny nods. "That’s a good way to describe it. When you feel that, you’re invisible. You can also focus the feeling on parts of yourself so only the other parts can be seen.”

“Really?” Summer asks.

Danny holds up a hand and turns the pointer and middle fingers invisible.

“Cool!” Summer whispers.

“Showoff,” Sam says.

Summer quickly gets the hang of invisibility but can’t get partial shifts.

Soon, Tim and Tucker join them and find her pouting at her hands. Tim raises an eyebrow in question as Tucker flops into Sam’s lap, who groans but leaves him.

“She can’t get the partial invisibility. It keeps spreading, and she goes completely invisible,” Danny tells him.

Summer curls up in her chair as Tim snorts and drags his bean bag over, plopping down beside her. She uncurls a little when he ruffles her hair again.

“We set up three types of phones, two per type, a laptop, and a camera. We tried some coms, but they immediately fried,” Tucker tells them.

“He also gave me two PDAs,” Tim groans.

“I understand. You have such beautiful tech, and we probably won’t be able to use any of it!” Tucker whines as Sam rolls her eyes with a fond smile.

Tim groans again as Danny laughs.

“Oh! Did you ever figure out how you got the Ancient of Space title?” Tim asks

It’s Danny’s turn to groan. “I forgot about that. Clockwork is gonna be such a pain to track down.”

“Wait, hold on. Back up. What do you mean ‘Ancient of Space’?” Tucker asks as he sits up.

Sam blinks before her circle lights up for a second. “Oh, Ancients! How did I miss that?”

Tucker’s circle also lights up briefly, and he and Sam sit in shock.

“Guys?” Danny asks.

“What the fuck ,” Sam whispers.

“You know, it almost makes sense,” Tucker says, slightly dazed. “You’ve loved space for as long as I’ve known you.”

“Yeah, but I wanna know how ,” Danny stresses. “The way CW explained it made it sound like I shouldn't be able to be an Ancient yet.”

Sam and Tucker look at each other and then back at Danny, who shrugs. They groan but let it go as Tucker and Tim pull out their devices. Summer goes back to try partial invisibility while Sam watches her, slowly drifting to sleep, and Danny soaks in their presence.

“Red Hood’s willing to meet you and Pandora but reserves the right to back out at any time,” Tim says suddenly.

Danny nods. “That’s fair.”

Tim nods back and turns to Summer. “How do you feel about meeting Hood and his team tomorrow?”

Summer’s eyes and marks spark as she starts to float. Tim chuckles as she cheers. Danny grins as she gently lands again.

“Well, I think you’ve got flight down pretty well,” he says.

“Huh?” Tucker asks, looking up from his PDA.

Sam huffs a laugh as Danny shakes his head.

Tucker shrugs and stands. “We should get going. We have class in like 6 hours and I need my beauty sleep.”

Sam and Danny groan but stand as well. Tim rises as Danny rips open another portal, exhaustion spiking again. 

“I’ll message you when I wake up and again when I’m with Pandora. Let me know when Red Hood’s ready for us,” Danny says.

Tim eyes the portal as he nods. “Will do.”

Danny nods back and waves at them. “Bye, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Summer waves back as he and his partners step through, back to his keep.

Chapter Text

Tim woke to screaming. He was out of bed and heading for the source before he could process the sound.

He finds Summer in her ghost form and still asleep, floating in the back corner where the ceiling, outer wall, and kitchen wall meet. She’s flailing and lashing out, one arm smashing through the drywall like it isn’t even there.

“Summer, it’s ok. You’re alright, I promise,” Tim says as he drags a nightstand over.

Standing on it, Tim’s tall enough to catch one of her hands and gently pull her away from the ceiling. Then she lashes out again. Her caught hand is yanked out of his grip while her free one hits him, backhanded, in the chest. He’s sent across the room and hits the floor, wheezing as he tries to draw air back into his lungs.

As soon as he can drag his voice out again, he’s speaking. “It’s ok. You’re ok. It’s just us. There’s no one to hurt you here. I promise you’re safe.”

He keeps it up as he climbs back onto the table. Summer slowly stops lashing out and curls into herself as tightly as possible as her screams fade to whimpers. Tim grabs a foot this time, pulling her down and over to the bed.

She’s still floating, so he holds her close to keep her from returning to the ceiling. Her hair still has steaks of brown, but her eyes are bright enough that the glow is visible behind her eyelids.

“You’re safe. No one will hurt you here. I won’t let them. You’re safe ,” he says as he starts running his fingers through her hair, occasionally making and undoing braids randomly as his adrenaline bleeds out and his chest begins to ache.

He has no idea how long he sits there, but by the time Jason appears in the doorway, gun drawn, Summer has stopped whimpering.

Tim watches as Jason scans the room, checks the window, and walks through the closet before finally gathering himself.

“What are you doing?” Tim whispers.

“Clearing the room?” Jason asks. “We were worried when ya didn’t answer the door or your phone.”

Roy appears in the doorway with Kori behind him. Jason holsters his guns as they all look over Tim and Summer.

“The apartment is clear,” Kori says softly.

“Nightmare?” Roy asks.

“I woke to her screaming,” Tim nods.

“With all the soundproofing in this place?” Jason asks in confusion.

Tim frowns as he nods slowly and gestures to the new hole in the ceiling. “I found her up there. I watched her make the hole.”

“How?” Kori asks.

Tim lets go of Summer just long enough to show her floating. As he pulls her back, her weight settles against him, and he finally starts to relax.

“I can stay with her if you’d like to get some rest,” Kori offers.

Tim shakes his head. “She doesn’t know you. I don’t know how she’d react, especially after a nightmare.”

“On that thought,” Jason buts in, “I’m gonna get started on breakfast. And make ya a pot of coffee, or three.”

“You’re my favorite brother,” Tim says with a tired smile.

Jason blinks at him before a wide grin slowly splits his face as he heads for the kitchen.

“Oh, that’s gonna go straight to his head,” Roy laughs as he and Kori follow him.

It doesn’t take much longer for Summer to start waking up. Tim lets her push away from him, and she looks at him in confusion before looking around.

“Tim?” she whispers nervously.

“I’m sorry I came in without permission,” Tim whispers back. “You were screaming, and I needed to make sure you were ok. I’ll leave if-”

“No!” Summer throws herself back into his arms. “Don’t go.”

“I’m here as long as you want me to be,” Tim promises.

Summer curls up in his lap as she takes in her clothes and pulls a chunk of hair to where she can see it. “I’m dead again.”

Tim flinches, and Summer looks up, startled and a little panicked.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t stop them,” Tim says, “but I’m happy they can’t hurt you again.”

Summer watches him before dropping her gaze to her knees and taking a deep breath. Slowly, her form drips back to her human one. “Will I ever see them again or my stuff?”

“I would prefer you didn’t,” he admits after a minute. “But if you really feel the need to, I’ll take you. I won’t let you be alone with them, but I’ll take you. Your stuff is fine. The cops have already gone through you’re old apartment, so we can get it whenever. I would prefer my siblings to get it, but we can go if you want.”

“I had to hide the stuff I like. Mom always gets upset when she sees it. Will they be able to find them under my dresser or behind my bed?”

“Yeah,” Tim chuckles, “they can do that. If you make a list of what’s where they’ll bring them to you.”

Summer smiles up at him. And they sit in silence for a few more minutes before Tim sighs and flops back so he’s lying down, dragging her with him.

“Jason and his partners are here. He’s the best cook in the family, and he decided to make breakfast,” Tim tells her as they stare at the ceiling. “Don’t tell Alfred I think Jay’s the better cook.”

“I don’t know who they are,” she says.

“Oh, right. Jason is Red Hood. Alfred is technically the Wayne butler, but he’s our grandpa and the one that’s really in charge.”

“Will Alfred be mad if he finds out?”

“Probably not, but he’s always been the one that feeds us, so it’s kinda sacrilege to say.”

Summer nods and sits up. “So we have to get dressed now?”

“I’m gonna, but you can stay in your pajamas,” Tim tells her. “None of them will care. I’m gonna make sure they aren’t making a mess of our kitchen, but you can come out whenever you’re ready. I’ll come back if you want me to stay until you’re ready.”

Summer nods again and giggles as he rolls off the bed onto the floor. He grins as he gets up and heads back to his room, closing her door behind them.

He changes, goes through his morning routine, grabs his phone, and heads to the kitchen. He smiles when he sees her door open, and the hall bathroom closed with the light on and water running.

Tim turns the corner into the kitchen and sees Jason at the stove. Roy sits sideways, feet thrown across the couch, and Kori floats behind him. She’s looking at something over his shoulder with a soft smile.

Jason shifts, and Tim catches sight of the clock on the stove. It’s 10:24, and they were supposed to be here at 9:30.

“How long did you wait before coming in?” Tim asks.

“Like a half hour,” Roy calls from the couch.

Tim blinks at him before turning to Jason, who’s nodding.

“We waited in case ya were still asleep or Summer needed ya,” he explains.

“Which she did,” Kori adds, turning to face them.

Tim snorts as he sits at the island, and Jason passes him his coffee.

“Summer didn’t have blue hair in the picture I got,” Jason starts questioningly.

“That was her ghost form,” Tim explains. “Did you read the file?”

“Part of it. Roy read the whole thing, but the pit wouldn’t let me get past ‘er parents. Kori had to calm me down so I wouldn’t go after them several times before I gave up,” Jason admits reluctantly. “I haven’t even really met ‘er yet, and I’d already tear the world apart for ‘er.”

“Now you know how I feel,” Tim grins as he rubs at the ache in his chest.

Jason raises an eyebrow at him, and Tim shrugs.

“I tried to get Summer away from the ceiling while she was still lashing out at her nightmare and got thrown across the room for it. It doesn’t ache nearly as much but is still noticeable.”

“No sharp pains?”

Tim shakes his head, and Jason nods as Summer comes out carrying a notebook. She’s wearing her Red Robin shirt, Red Hood jacket, and sweatpants.

Jason’s grin almost splits his face when he turns and sees her, but Summer is focused entirely on Kori, who waves.

“Hello, I’m Koriand’r, Princess of Tamaran. To the people of Earth, as a civilian, I am Kori Anders, and as a hero, I am Starfire.”

“Hi,” Summer says as she waves back.

“You can join her,” Tim says, smiling and holding a hand out when she looks up at him. “You can float with her if you want.”

Summer smiles back and gently passes over the notebook as she floats and slowly flies over to Kori, who smiles and offers a hand when she’s close enough. Summer takes it and gets twirled around as she giggles.

Roy waits until the giggles have died down to introduce himself. “I’m Roy Harper, Arsenal.”

Summer waves at him with her free hand, and he waves back.

“And I’m Jason-”

“Red Hood!” Summer says in awe, pulling her hand back and waving at him with both.

Tim laughs at Jason’s blush while Kori and Roy laugh. They get a glare in response.

“Tim said we’ve met before,” Jason starts, continuing when she nods. “It took me a while, but I remember you now. You were with an older girl, and we dropped her off first, right?”

“Holly,” Summer nods. “She always came and found me when Dad forgot me. She said her cards told her when I got left behind and if I needed her to walk all the way with me.”

“Her cards?” Roy asks.

“What do you mean ‘walk all the way with you’?” Tim asks over him.

“Sometimes she walked me to my door,” Summer starts slowly, “and sometimes she stopped when we got to her door cause her cards said I’d be safe.”

“Tarot cards?” Roy asks.

Summer shrugs and nervously looks between everyone as she flies back to Tim, landing on the stool directly to his right. He bumps her shoulder, smiling gently at her when she looks up. She relaxes and leans into his side as he pulls her stool closer.

Jason motions his partners over as he plates food and passes them out. Kori doesn’t land, sitting cross-legged in the air as Roy sits on the counter by the sink.

Summer glances at Kori before looking up at Tim.

“You can use your powers. You don’t have to ask,” he tells her.

Summer grabs her plate and floats to sit with Kori. Jason and Roy smirk at him, and he blushes and drops his gaze to his plate.

“So attached already,” Jason teases.

“And already such a good dad,” Roy praises.

Tim flushes further and shovels food into his mouth as Jason laughs. Behind him, the girls giggle quietly. They look to find them whispering and ignoring them.

“And Kori’s already the favorite,” Jason says.

“Does that really surprise you?” Roy asks

“Nope. She’s the best of us.”

Tim snickers at the lovesick looks on their faces, and Jason flips him off without looking away. They eat as they devolve into teasing.

Suddenly, Summer appears on the counter on the other side of the sink from Roy, but she’s too close to the edge. Roy and Tim jump to their feet while Kori shoots over, stopping just out of arm’s reach of Jason as he catches her.

Summer screams and shoves away from him, making him stumble and slam into the island. She backs into the corner and watches Jason as she shakes and stops breathing. Everyone freezes as Tim approaches, pulling Kori away as he passes her.

“Summer?” he asks.

Her eyes don’t leave Jason, and she tears up, but she reaches for Tim. “He didn’t feel bad until I touched him.” 

“What do you mean?” he asks, taking her hand.

“It hurt,” she sobs. “I didn’t feel it until it hurt!”

Tim looks back at Jason to find his eyes wide and bright green as he shakes, but there’s no anger. And Tim understands.

“The pit. You felt the pit. Are you still in pain?” he asks, turning back to Summer.

Slowly, she shakes her head before finally looking away from Jason. “The pit is why he’s sick?”

Tim nods. “It’s what Phantom and Pandora are coming to fix.”

“Are you always in so much pain?” Summer asks Jason.

They both look back at him. Kori has sat on the island, hugging Jason from behind as he stands between her legs while Roy is cupping his face and trying to get him to look at him. Jason keeps watching Summer and slowly shakes his head.

“No. I was angry and homicidal and violent at first, but the pit’s never directly caused me pain. It just made me get myself in situations where I could be,” he says, the pain in his voice making Kori hold him tighter and Roy lean against his front.

“Pandora can help him?” Summer asks Tim.

“Phantom is sure she can,” he assures her.

Summer slowly pushes away from the corner and into Tim’s arms as her shaking stops. Jason gently pushes Roy off of him, finally looking away from her.

“I’mma fix the hole,” he mumbles, shaking his head when Roy moves to follow down the hallway.

Kori hesitates before following Jason when Roy nods at her.

“I’m sorry,” Summer whispers. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Roy tells her.

Summer buries her face in Tim’s shoulder instead of answering. He and Roy share a look as he rubs her back.

“Do you want me to talk to him? Tell you if he’s upset with you?” Tim asks.

She nods frantically, and Tim puts her down and looks up at Roy.

“Will you -” he starts.

“I’m not going anywhere. Go talk to him,” Roy cuts him off and drops to a knee in front of Summer. “What do you wanna do while we wait?”

Tim kisses the top of her head as she grabs Roy’s hand and pulls him to the couch.

Tim finds Jason in Kori’s arms as she’s floating so he can reach the hole. He’s tense and angry, but his eyes aren’t glowing anymore. Neither acknowledges him, so he returns to his room and goes through yesterday's tech.

He grabs a phone and finds a group message from Phantom. He goes through each tech, adding names and responding individually.

Phantom

Made a chat with all your tech

Let me know which is whos

I’m heading to the one class i have today

Control

Phone 1-1 = unused

Tim

Phone 1-2 = Tim

Summer

PDA 1 = Summer

Tim

PDA 2 = Tim

Control

Phone 2-1 = unused

Tim

Phone 2-2 = Tim

Control

Phone 3-1 = unused

Summer

Phone 3-2 = Summer

Phantom

Got it

Tim blinks at the immediate response before he pockets phone one and returns to Summer’s room, leaving her devices on her desk. Kori glances at him as he enters this time, offering a small, strained smile. He nods at her, and she lands, putting Jason down and kissing his temple before leaving.

Jason doesn’t look at Tim, making him sigh as he walks over and stands in front of him.

“I ain’t backing outta shit,” Jason starts. “I can’t do that ta ‘er again.”

“You and Summer, blaming yourselves,” Tim sighs.

Jason snaps to look at him. “She ain’t done anything wrong . Why-”

Tim raises an eyebrow at him, and he shuts up. “Neither one of you did anything wrong. If Phantom had thought she could respond like that, he would’ve warned me, so there’s no way we could’ve known. You didn’t choose any of this. You don’t deserve to punish yourself for it.”

Jason watches him for a minute before deflating. “How da ya have Alfie’s look so perfect?”

“I’m a mimic, Jason,” Tim snorts. “I observe and copy when it benefits me. Why do you think B says I borrow his morals.”

“What? When has he said that?”

“Every day since I made him take me as a Robin.”

“The fuck da ya mean?”

Tim grins as he leaves the room without another word. Jason groans but follows him.

In the living room, they find Kori and Summer floating above the coffee table, crisscrossed, facing each other and holding hands while Roy stands nearby, pushing them so they spin around each other. The TV is paused at the beginning of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

Jason snorts as Roy pushes them a little harder, making them spin faster.

Summer lets go of Kori, barely catching herself before slamming into the TV, and snaps around to stare at him. She slowly flies over, landing and taking Tim’s hand as Jason steps back to stay out of arm’s reach.

“He’s upset with the pit, not you,” Tim tells her.

“We’re gonna get rid of it today,” Jason says. “so I won’t have to be upset anymore, and it can never hurt ya again.”

Summer smiles at him. “Can we watch the movie Roy picked?”

“Of course,” Tim says, leading her over to drag bean bags over. “You didn’t have to wait for us. We could’ve restarted it or rewatched it later.”

“But don’t you have to make sure it’s something I can watch?” Summer asks as she plops down.

“Your mom’s rules don’t apply here,” he reminds her. “You can watch anything age-appropriate, and I trust Roy to pick a good one.”

“Oh,” she whispers before turning to Roy, who’s settled on the couch with his partners. “You were right. I’m sorry I made us wait.”

Roy shrugs. “I get it. And I had no problem waiting ‘til you were ok to start.”

Summer turns to the TV as he presses play and carefully wiggles her feet under Tim’s thigh as she lets her get absorbed in the movie.

Tim glances at Jason, who’s watching Summer, and takes a deep breath. He hopes Pandora can help and that he will never have to hear Summer scream like that again.

Chapter Text

Jason and Kori are cleaning up lunch when Tim gets a message on his new phone.

Phantom

I’m with Pandora

Let me know when you’re ready

“Phantom’s ready,” Tim says.

Jason and Kori leave the kitchen while he, Roy, and Summer head back to the living room from where he’d been showing them the workbench. Tim pulls a spare mask out of the table as he passes it.

“Anything we need to know before they get here?” Roy asks.

“His portals are what made me think of the pits,” Tim tells them. “They’re a brighter green, vertical, and swirl inward instead of bubble.”

“How the hell did ya get from that ta the pits?” Jason asks.

“The summoning circle reminded me of something, and it clicked when I saw the portal,” Tim explains.

Jason frowns at him.

“It glows when he uses it,” Summer whispers.

Tim wraps an arm around her. “I don’t know how you want to introduce yourselves, but I’ve been saying your codenames.”

“That why ya had us bring our gear?” Jason asks.

“Yeah,” Tim agrees. “Phantom will probably find out eventually, but I don’t know if Pandora will be around that much. He made it sound like her coming to a living realm is rare. Also, I told him that you guys are teammates. I don’t think he’s gonna be a dick about it 'cause he’s also got two partners, but that’s not my call.”

“Always three steps ahead,” Jason snorts. “Thanks. Let’s get moving. I wanna be pit-free as soon as possible.”

Kori sits on the couch while Roy and Jason nod and head to the guest room to change. Tim puts on his mask, and Summer pulls over a bean bag.

“You really like those, huh?” Tim grins.

She smiles at him as he sits in the chair closest to the window. She drags her bean bag over so it’s at his feet. Kori shoots him a soft smile as she gently settles against his leg. Tim blushes as he opens the new phone again.

Tim

Ready when you are

It’s a minute before a portal opens, and Phantom steps through in his regular form.

A massive blue-skinned, four-armed woman follows him. Her long hair is magenta, and the crest of her golden helm is a fire of the same color. A golden chest plate covers her black, short-sleeved top, and her floor-length skirt starts black before abruptly switching to gold at about mid-thigh. Each arm has a black band around each wrist and just below each elbow. The front right arm holds a blue spear with a gold tip while the other three wave.

Summer waves back as Red Hood and Arsenal come back. They falter at Pandora’s intimidating presence but keep coming when she waves at them as well.

“I am Pandora,” the woman says. “It is a pleasure to meet all of you.”

“I’m Red Robin,” Tim starts before gesturing to Summer. “I’m the one in charge of Summer.”

Summer glances at Phantom as Pandora kneels in front of her.

“Hello, young mage. Phantom and Frostbite have requested that I assist with your Realms Magic,” she says. “We will have to do this in the realms.”

Tim takes a deep breath and looks up at Phantom, who nods.

“Do we have to go today?” Summer asks.

“No,” she says as she stands. “Today, I am here to help the one with corruption.”

Summer nods as she climbs into Tim’s lap. He looks up to meet Phantom’s eyes, finding amusement and relief in them.

“I’m Phantom,” he says, attention returning to the others.

“I’m Starfire,” Kori introduces. “You don’t look as you were described.”

“They probably described my High King form,” Phantom explains, “but I prefer this one. I only really use that one when summoned 'cause I have to, or if I want to make a point.”

“That’s fair,” Roy huffs. “I’m Arsenal.”

“Red Hood,” he adds.

“And who will I be helping today?” Pandora asks.

Hood steps forward. “Ya should probably know that Summer had a bad reaction when she fell, and I caught her. She screamed as she crawled into the corner to get as far as she could from me.”

Summer curls in on herself as Pandora glances over at her.

“I will need to touch your skin,” Pandora says as she steps closer and holds out a hand.

Hood removes a glove and takes her hand. Pandora holds it for a minute, slowly frowning, before letting go and turning to Phantom.

“I need Sam,” she says.

Phantom is tense as he rips open a portal and leaves without a word.

The vigilantes all share a look as Pandora turns to Summer again. She holds her hand out again, and Summer slowly takes it.

“Who’s Sam?” Roy asks.

“She’s the one who Phantom appointed to teach our young mage living magic,” Pandora explains, distracted as the flames on her helm flicker.

She releases Summer’s hand and steps away, concern evident on her face.

“Why do you need Sam?” Tim asks cautiously.

Pandora hesitates before looking him in the eye. “I need her help to test an ability Summer may have. It’s rare and dangerous. If you have it, the sooner we start training, the safer you’ll be.”

“Why do ya think she could have this ability?” Hood asks.

Pandora turns to him, “Your corruption isn’t strong enough to cause a reaction like that. She could have the ability, Gotham could have purified you some after her reaction, or she could just be far more sensitive to corruption.”

“But we need to be sure,” Tim says.

Pandora nods before changing the subject. Tim shares another look with Star as she addresses Hood again.

“The ectoplasm has bonded to you in a way that, if removed entirely, will kill you. I will have to purify it and remove the corruption separately. It will not be a pleasant experience.”

Hood slowly nods as another portal opens, and Danny steps through again, this time with Sam.

She’s still got her goth style, tight black jeans with rips showing dark purple fishnets underneath, and a purple crop top with a black skull over a black, long-sleeve fishnet shirt. Her hair is tied back this time, showing off an undercut.

“What are we doing, Pandora?” Sam asks.

“I need your help determining if Summer can purify corruption by contact,” she explains.

Phantom and Sam snap to attention, speaking together. “ WHAT ?”

“What does that mean?” Tim asks as her hugs Summer closer to him.

“The second Ruler of the Infinite Realms is the only one ever known to have the ability to purify by touch,” Pandora explains. “Before she became High Queen, others forced her to use this ability, causing pain and permanent damage to her core. It took her a long time to figure out how to control it and escape them.”

“She became High Queen because one of them was the High King, and he’s the first one she defeated,” Phantom adds.

“Will finding out hurt ‘er?” Hood asks. He’s tense, his hands clenching and unclenching. Arsenal is draped against his side while Star moves behind them and wraps an arm around each.

“No,” Pandora says firmly. “She will not be in any pain.”

Summer wiggles in Tim’s hold, so he lets go. She steps over to the women, fidgeting nervously as she looks up at them.

“What are we doing?” she asks.

“We both will take one of your hands,” Pandora says before turning to Sam. “I’m sorry, but you must think of your time with Undergrowth.”

Sam flinches and Phantom reaches out and rubs gentle circles on her upper back.

Summer looks back at Tim, who smiles at her.

“If you’re comfortable with this, I won’t stop you,” he says.

“Will I hurt someone if I don’t?” Summer asks as she turns back to Pandora.

“I don't know, but I know that you will hurt yourself,” she tells her.

Summer takes a deep breath as she holds out her hands. The women each take one, and Pandora takes Sam’s other hand. Sam closes her eyes as they become a deeper purple that extends across the whole eye. Summer’s marks glow brighter than any time Tim’s seen so far, as she flinches slightly.

Pandora’s frown grows as the others relax. Her fire sputters but remains lit.

Sam slowly opens her eyes, and they’re purple again. “I can’t feel him in the memory anymore.”

Summer walks back and curls back up in Tim’s lap. He holds her as Phantom laces his fingers through Sam’s.

“What does that mean?” Roy asks.

“She has the ability,” Pandora declares as she turns to Tim and Summer. “When you are ready and comfortable, I will happily begin your training. For now, we will give you something for protection.”

“‘Give her something for protection’?” Tim questions.

“The way her magic pushed against ours made it clear it doesn’t like other magics,” Sam explains. “We can’t place spells on her without hurting her, so until she can make her own, she’ll need something to help block others from discovering this ability.”

Pandora nods as she removes one of her bands from her back left wrist and wraps it in two hands. Ectogreen symbols surround them before sinking through. She opens her hands and offers the band to Sam.

She doesn’t hesitate, even if she doesn’t take the band. She hovers a hand over it as she mutters, eyes flashing again. When she removes her hand, purple marks have joined the green symbols.

Pandora then offers the band to Summer, who uncurls and takes it. At her touch, it splits into two and adjusts themselves to fit her wrists, extending up her forearms as they narrow, covering the first third of her arms. Her marks glow again as waves along the edges of the bands slowly etch themselves into existence in a matching shade of blue. Then, all colors fade, and the bands are plain black again.

“The corruption can still hurt you, but these will warn you,” Sam says.

“If the bands glow again, return to your guardian,” Pandora explains. “Do not touch what sets it off, or let yourself be touched.”

“I promise I will,” Summer says.

Tim tightens his hold on Summer as he meets Phantom’s eyes again and gives him a determined nod.

“They won’t touch ‘er,” Hood growls.

“We’ll deal with anyone who tries,” Arsenal agrees.

The Outlaws fall into a strong wall of support and protection. Star and Arsenal smile at Tim and Summer while Hood nods.

“Are you still going to make Hood better?” Summer asks.

“If it’s what he wants,” Pandora says as she turns to Hood.

“Yes,” Hood confirms. “I have ta.”

“You must remove your helmet and the other glove,” Pandora tells him.

He doesn’t hesitate, handing them to Arsenal, who puts them in the other chair as he approaches her. She takes both of his hands with her back arms as the front ones rest on his chest.

“I will purify the ectoplasm. Drawing out the corruption, once it’s separated, is the part that will hurt.” Pandora says before she looks over at the other Outlaws. “He will be unconscious while his body adjusts to the pure ectoplasm.”

They all nod, and she focuses on Hood. His eyes glow enough to be seen clearly through his mask lenses, and he twitches lightly. The twitching increases as Pandora pushes her hands up, and he chokes and coughs as they go over his neck. Then she yanks them away from his face, and a thick black sludge follows.

Pandora releases Hood, and Star and Arsenal catch him as he collapses.

She clasps the sludge in her front hands as her back ones summon fire before dropping the sludge into it. It takes several minutes to burn away, and she waits for another before extinguishing the flames.

Tim watches as Star gently lays Hood on the couch, and Arsenal sits on the edge of the couch next to his hip.

“He’ll be ok, now?” Summer asks

“Yes,” Phantom assures. “He’s still very liminal, but Lady  Gotham will make sure his ecto doesn’t become corruption again.”

“Liminal?” Arsenal asks.

“Living beings who are ecto-contaminated,” Phantom explains. “They do get some abilities while not to the same extent or strength. Faster healing, better healing, higher strength, and night vision are the most common but far from the only possibilities.”

“The uncanny valley also tends to get triggered in normal people when they look at us,” Sam adds.

“Oh,” Phantom turns back to Tim, “and there’s a high chance you’ll be liminal eventually. With me and Summer around and Lady Gotham pushing ambient ecto here, plus my circle, I’ll be amazed if you don’t.”

“You’ll both have far too much fun with any of those,” Arsenal laughs and shakes his head. “How long will he be out?”

“I’m unsure, but I doubt it will be more than a day,” Pandora says.

“I can ask Frostbite,” Phantom offers, “he might have a more specific answer.”

“Please,” Star nods.

Phantom nods and rips open another portal. “I’ll be right back.”

Sam and Pandora wave goodbye as they step through.

There’s silence for a second before Arsenal turns to Tim with a conniving grin that makes Tim tilt his head.

“If you become liminal, will you get green eyes too?” Arsenal asks. “Cause if you do, you could freak some people out.”

Tim matches his grin. “Ya know, suddenly, I hope so.”

Then he looks down at Summer, who’s running her fingers over her bands as she stares at Hood.

“Are you ok?” he asks her.

“I could’ve helped him,” Summer whispers as she tears up.

“You would’ve hurt yourself in the process. No one wants that,” Tim says firmly.

“But he-”

“Would hate himself for you being hurt to help him,” Star cuts in softly.

“Jason protects people, especially kids,” Arsenal says. “If a kid got hurt helping him when there was a way they wouldn’t have, he’d be heartbroken.”

Summer looks back up at Tim as her tears start falling. He hugs her as close as he can as she buries her face in his chest.

“Just cause you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” Tim says softly, glaring at Arsenal’s flat look. “You need to understand the consequences and effects, physical or not. I also need to work on it so we can do it together.”

Summer nods into his chest without pulling away and lets out a muffled “Ok.”

Star and Arsenal smile at him before turning their attention back to Hood. They sit silently as Summer slowly falls asleep, and Tim gently sets her on her bean bag.

“So what now?” Roy asks.

Tim shrugs as he opens his mouth to respond until his phone goes off. When he checks it, he finds a message from Phantom.

Phantom

Frostbite says he’d have to see Red Hood to determine when he could wake up

Do we want to bring him or just drop it

Tim hesitates and looks at the others. “Frostbite needs to see him to narrow down when he’ll wake up.”

“So we’re meeting another ghost today?” Arsenal asks.

“If you’re both alright with that?” Tim responds.

He gets nods and goes back to the messages.

Tim

Bring him

The portal opens quicker this time, and Phantom steps through first, grinning mischievously.

Then, a massive yeti follows. He’s covered in white fur and equipped with gray claws and a pair of fangs poking past his lip from the bottom jaw. The horns scraping Tim’s ceiling are made of clear ice, as is his left arm, though it has the arm's skeleton on display. The right arm sports a gold band around the bicep. There’s a gold belt holding up a blue loincloth and a large blue cape clasped with a blue and gold charm. He’s holding a brown bag.

Phantom barely holds back laughter as the bag is placed at his feet. He smiles at Summer as she wakes up.

“What the fuck,” Arsenal breathes.

This breaks Phantom’s hold, and he cackles as Frostbite smiles.

“I am Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen,” Frostbite introduces, “chosen Healer of the Great One, High King Phantom.”

Arsenal’s mouth hangs open until Star reaches out and nudges him.

“I am Starfire, this is Arsenal, and this,” she gestures to Hood, “is Red Hood. He is the one we would like you to check on.”

Frostbite nods. He looks over Hood before turning to Tim briefly. Then, he pulls devices from the bag and sets them on the coffee table. “You must be Red Robin.”

“Yes,” Tim confirms.

Frostbite smiles at him and nods as Summer tiredly waves at him.

“Hi, Frostbite,” she mumbles.

“Hello, Mage. I am glad to see you again,” he responds before looking back to Tim. “Thank you for caring for the young mage.”

Tim smiles down at her as she looks back up at her. “I will never need to be thanked for this. It’s my pleasure.”

Frostbite smiles at him and nods again.

Chapter Text

Frostbite picks two sensors, a tablet, and another device from his pile on the coffee table and heads for Red Hood.

His leather jacket, thigh holsters, and steel-toed boots have joined his helmet and gloves on the chair closest to the kitchen. The domino mask and the rest of his outfit are still in place. His black hair, with the white streak in the front, clearly has had fingers running through.

Arsenal’s bow and both quivers have joined Red Hood’s gear. The rest of his outfit is still in place, and Danny lets himself wonder, again, why he doesn’t have sleeves.

The amount of worry-hope-apprehension-anticipation pouring from everyone is dizzying.

Arsenal and Starfire move aside, keeping physical contact with Red Hood and a careful eye on Frostbite. Arsenal moves to the other end of the couch to wrap a hand around his ankle while Starfire floats over the back of it to kneel on the bench and start gently playing with his hair.

Frostbite places one sensor on Red Hood’s chest before holding the second one to his temple. They beep, and he checks the tablet as it lights up before removing the sensors and holding the last device out. It beeps, too, and is put down as the tablet is carefully tapped at.

Frostbite nods at the tablet before looking up at Starfire. “He should wake within the hour.”

Starfire and Arsenal both visibly relax, but everyone lets the worry-concern fade.

“An hour here or at home?” Danny asks.

“Here,” Frostbite confirms.

“Are you sure?” Red Robin asks.

“Yes,” Frostbite assures. “Lord Tucker and I designed the last device to measure the time flow of the realms. He is currently designing a smaller version that he can wear to limit any time loss.”

“Tucker helps with a lot of tech,” Summer says.

“It’s his favorite thing,” Danny snorts. “And technology is to the Infinite Realms what magic is to most people in the living realms.”

“Only half believed in at best?” Red Robin huffs.

“Pretty much,” Danny agrees.

“Lord Tucker and the Great One’s inventions have greatly assisted my position as Healer,” Frostbite adds.

He grabs another device, the same one he’d used when giving Summer the choker. He turns to Summer and kneels before her, holding it out. It lights up when it gets within a foot of her. He pulls it back and looks it over before nodding.

“Your readings are wonderful. You may remove the monitor if you wish,” he says.

“How do I do that?” she asks as she tugs at the ribbon, which just stretches with the movement.

“Hold the device and pull. The ribbon will release,” he explains.

Summer does as he says, and the ribbon slides off like it had never been connected. Wonder rolls off her as she hands it to Frostbite, who takes it, puts everything back in his bag, and picks it up.

“Is there anything we need to be on the lookout for?” Arsenal asks.

“Not really. There shouldn’t be any side effects besides the liminal abilities he could develop. He’ll probably have at least three, but the combo differs from everyone,” Danny tells him before turning to Red Robin. “Let me know if he develops something else. It’s super rare, but you’re all strange enough that it wouldn’t really surprise me.”

Everyone nods, and Danny nods back before ripping open another portal as Frostbite smiles at them.

“I hope to see you again under better circumstances,” he says.

He steps through, and Danny moves to follow when Summer stops him as panic-worry spikes from her.

“Will you stay until Red Hood wakes up?” she calls.

“If that’s alright with everyone else?” he asks as he looks around.

He gets another round of nods and lets the portal close. He pauses before turning to Tim as he pries his domino mask off.

“Will they be around a lot?” he asks.

Tim looks at the others and then at Summer. “Yes, you should probably show them your living disguise in case training takes you out of the apartment and you run into them.”

Danny smiles and nods at him, expressing gratitude for the cover story. This makes Summer blink in surprise and smile.

Danny then lets his transformation wash over him and throws out jazz hands. “Hi, I’m Danny Fenton, a completely normal, totally not dead, 21-year-old.”

Arsenal’s jaw drops as Starfire lands on this side of the couch.

“Hello, Danny. I am Kori Anders,” she says.

“Is this outfit your Starfire or Kori style?” Danny asks.

“Kori,” Tim and Arsenal say in unison.

Amusement drips from all three of them, with the addition of arousal from Arsenal and confusion from Summer. Danny tilts his head as Kori smiles.

Tim pulls out his phone, looks up Starfire, and shows him a photo. “This is Starfire’s outfit.”

The picture shows a metallic purple leotard with darker, horizontal purple sides. Silver bracers cover her forearms, and plating covers her shoulders and extends slightly up the sides and back of her neck. Her boots go to her mid-thigh and come to a point in the front. Every edge has a layer of silver plating. Several green jewels are set in the silver at the edge of her gauntlets closest to her elbows, the point of her boots, the inside edge of her hips, and the junctions of her shoulders and collarbones. Her hair extends far behind her and trails fire as she flies.

Danny looks up at Kori’s outfit today, and the difference is striking. Her dark red hair only falls to her hips. The long-sleeve purple sweater she’s wearing barely dips below the edge of her shoulder, and her black and purple tie-dyed skirt falls to her ankle with a slit on one side that stops mid-thigh. And simple black flats adorn her feet.

“That is quite the difference,” Danny huffs as he returns the phone. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Kori.”

“I’m Roy.”

Danny looks over to find that he’s also removed his mask, rubbing at the corner of an eye.

Danny grins. “Wonderful to meet you, too, Roy.”

Suddenly, Roy turns to Tim with a grin, amusement-teasing . “He’s gonna get mistaken for one of you.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tim agrees, continuing when he notices Danny’s confusion. “Batman has a habit of adopting black-haired, blue-eyed orphans. We’re a pretty famous family, so you’ll probably get lumped in with us.”

“Especially if you go out with Summer,” Roy adds.

Summer frowns and looks up at Tim. “Why do I matter?” She squeaks as Tim suddenly hauls her back into his lap.

“As long as you’re a part of this family, people will be interested in you. It’ll be a lot at first, then it’ll come in waves, but it’ll always be there,” Tim explains. “And even if none of that was the case, you matter because you exist.”

“That’s all that matters,” Danny adds softly. “Do you understand?”

Summer looks at them with wide eyes as she adds. Then she and Danny both snap to look at Red Hood.

After a few seconds, Red Hood slowly sits up, pausing before looking around.

“Hood?” Tim asks softly.

“I don’t feel it anymore,” he whispers, awe-relief thick as it waves off him. “Even the angry hiss in the back o’ my head is gone.”

Roy and Kori swamp him in a hug as Summer climbs out of Tim’s lap and goes over. She holds her hand out. Red Hood hesitates, looking at Tim, who nods, before gently taking her hand. They stay there for a few seconds before she throws herself into his lap.

Red Hood lets out a wet laugh, relief-joy falls from him, and he lets go of his teammates to pull her as close as he can.

Danny can feel the dopey grin fighting its way across his face. He rolls his eyes at Tim when he notices his smirk, making him snort.

“Thank you,” Tim says as he moves to stand beside Danny.

“He’s one of mine. I never need to be thanked for helping my people.”

“That will never stop me.”

“Or us,” Roy adds.

“Thank you, Danny,” Kori says.

Hood looks up to say something but stops when he takes in Danny’s appearance. “Um?”

His loved ones grin at him, amusement-glee-joy pouring off of them.

“This is Danny,” Tim starts.

“He is a normal 21-year-old man,” Kori continues.

“Totally not a dead guy in disguise,” Roy adds before giving into his laughter as Danny does.

“So, this is what? A living disguise?” Jason asks.

Tim nods as he starts chuckling, too.

Danny takes a moment to collect himself. “I have it in case we need to leave the apartment for practice.”

“The teleporting will definitely mean leaving eventually,” Tim says.

“Realms magic will have to be in the Realms,” Danny adds. “and living magic will have to be elsewhere eventually.”

“Living magic?” Roy questions.

Danny nods. “Magic is different for us. I don’t use it much, so I’m not the person to ask, but I know it’s way more dangerous or completely useless in the living realms. There’s no in-between.”

“Why does living magic need to be done elsewhere?” Kori asks.

“I know a living mage who accidentally blew up a building when she lost control,” Danny explains before turning to Tim. “Don’t tell her I said that. She will make sure I have a second death.”

Tim laughs, and Summer giggles as she finally turns from where her face had been buried in Red Hood’s chest.

Danny smiles as he opens his mouth but freezes when a frantic tugging at his core from Sam’s circle starts.

“I have to go,” Danny rushes out before letting the summons pull him back to Amity Park without another word.

He appears in the living room of the apartment he shares with Sam and Tucker, where he finds Sam patching up Valerie on the couch while Tucker taps furiously at his computer. Rage-pain-worry-fear slams into him, and he instinctively drops the temperature in response.

Valerie has several fresh bruises, a couple cuts, and a few burns. Her clothes are covered in dirt and blood.

“The GIW took Wes!” Valerie nearly shouts.

She hisses as Sam moves to treat another burn, and the temperature drops further as he fills with rage as well.

“Found them!” Tucker calls.

Danny shoots over to him to see security footage from the GIW base on the edge of town. Wes is being hauled out of the van, stumbling as an agent shoves him and two others drag him inside.

He pulls his High King form to the surface. The sound of weapons makes him turn around, and he finds Valerie has activated her Red Huntress armor and gear, with a gun already in hand.

It’s been updated again. The first layer looks connected, one solid piece, with the red of the hood extending down the shoulders and arms, darkening as it goes down and lightening again as it reaches the inside of her legs. Her sides are solid black and extend down to her boots. The darker red on her waist is also the color of the metal plating around her neck and shoulders. Black beading decorates her chest, and a belt around her hips, the pockets of which are decorated with red beading.

“ I’m done ,” Danny growls. “ They’re done .”

“Finally,” Sam snarls as she grabs the mace Dora had gifted her, pockets the lipstick laser, and kneels to tap her anklet to activate her armor. By the time she’s standing again, she’s completely covered.

Her armor has also changed. The black medieval plating now fades into a dark blue at the edges, while the chainmail underneath is a darker purple than the lavender color it had been and now comes up to a hood. The black undershirt also extends through the hood and over her face. The chest plate is now decorated with purple vines and dark green thorns.

Tucker hits a button on his watch to activate his own and grabs his tech bag, his regular gun with extra clips, and two ecto-guns. “Let’s do this.”

His armor is mostly the same. The red khepresh and green plating around his shoulders and forearms are all still covered in black-lined hieroglyphs. Golden linens wrap around his body, and black belts with red pockets and green hieroglyphs are wrapped around his waist and hips, crossing to form an X. What’s new is the blue waves decorating the edges of the linens and the green snakes wrapped around each bicep.

Danny takes off, knowing one of the girls will bring Pharoh with her and being unwilling to wait any longer.

He stops abruptly about half a mile from the edge of their ghost shield. Sirens and emergency lights activate, responding immediately to his presence while agents run around.

“Fright Knight,” Danny calls as he tugs open several portals.

Fright Knight appears at his side as the army of skeletons pours through the portals. Danny throws up a shield of his own as the agents open fire, and Fright Knight throws a shower of meteors that smash into their shield. It flickers violently for a moment before settling again, and the agents start yelling and running around more. Danny raises a hand to stop him from throwing another shower.

Danny extends his shield as the skeletons surround the base. They land as a giant flower emerges and blooms, revealing Vervain and Pharoh. A few seconds later, Red Huntress flies in.

Pharoh jumps down and starts setting up his tech and hacking. He gets the ghost shield down, and Danny drops his shield and nods at Fright Knight, who throws another shower.

The army charges, and Vervain sends a wave of vines as the meteors demolish the fence.

“Go get him,” Pharoh says without looking up from his tech. “We’ll be right here.”

“I shall remain here to protect your chosen partners until you return, my liege,” Fright Knight assures as he kneels, head bowed.

Vervain rolls her eyes but doesn’t protest, just sending another wave of vines.

“Thank you, Fright Knight,” Danny accepts.

He rises again as Danny grabs Red Huntress, extending intangibility and invisibility to her as he flies them into the building. He stops in an empty hallway, landing as she pulls up a map on her gauntlet.

Danny focuses on Wes’ circle. “Fifteen feet down, thirty-six feet right, three feet up.”

She moves the map until she finds the room. “Interrogation room. Two automatic blasters inward and four out, two cameras, and it has its own shield on a separate power grid. It’s on but not active.”

They look at each other in suspicion before she taps her com. “Pharoh, did you shut off the shields for the interrogation rooms? They’re on a separate grid.”

“Not yet. Separate grids are gonna take me a sec,” Pharoh says.

Red Huntress and Danny make eye contact and respond together, “Trap.”

“Are we tripping it?” Pharoh asks.

“I’m getting Wes back now . I don’t care what I trip right now,” Danny grits out.

“Agreed,” she says, switching the com to the speakers in the gauntlets. “I’ll keep the com on speaker. We'll let you know if we trip the trap before you shut off the grid.”

“Kick their asses,” Pharoh says.

They continue to Wes’ interrogation room. The shield activates as soon as they’re inside, and the guns charge up as they move to track Danny. He throws up a shield to block any blasts, even though they only track.

Wes is slumped on the table, hands cuffed together and to the center of it, but sits up as the shield is made. There’s a cut on his forehead that’s stopped bleeding, a split lip that bleeds as he gives them an exhausted smile, a black eye that is already darkening, and he’s cradling his ribs.

Red Huntress gently pulls him up and into a hug that he melts into, even as he stumbles from the cuffs around his ankles.

“Hey, guys. Fancy seeing you here,” Wes jokes as he pulls away, still leaning heavily on her.

“Forehead, eye, lip, ribs. Any other injuries?” Danny asks gently as he frosts over his eye and ribs before icing his lip shut.

“Ankle. Cuffs aren’t helping,” he says.

Danny reaches for him but stops when the cuffs give Wes a small electric shock, which makes him whimper. Red Huntress sits Wes back in the chair and starts working on the cuffs.

The ankle cuffs are undone as the guns and shield power down.

“Grid’s down. I’m also in the cameras and there’s no one in the base. They’re all out here. There aren’t very many, and everyone’s subdued.”

The three of them freeze.

“What?” Wes asks, voice strained.

“Already?” Red Huntress asks at the same time as the wrist cuffs drop.

“We’re coming back,” Danny says firmly as he grabs his fraidmates around their waists and hauls ass back to the rest of his fraid.

He sets them down, passing Wes to Red Huntress so he doesn’t collapse. He looks around to find small groups of agents scattered around and surrounded by skeletons as the extras stand on the perimeter, but there aren’t any more than 30 agents. Most are unconscious, and those who aren’t are dazed and sluggish.

“Something’s wrong,” Vervain says. “This was way too easy.”

Danny nods in agreement as Wes and Red Huntress snort.

“Especially with how hard they fought to take him,” she says.

“What exactly happened?” Pharoh asks.

“They came into the coffee shop as I was heading to break,” Wes explains, “waving scanners around and kinda froze and glared when they got to me.”

“I got there as they were hauling him out. Tried to make them let go,” Red Huntress adds.

“I didn’t start fighting until they slammed her on the ground,” he continues. “I got hurt in the process. Then they dragged me here and threw me in that room without a word.”

“They waved the scanner over me as they tossed him in the van but let me up and apologized for the inconvenience ,” she continues. “They still refused to tell me why they took him. So I took off for your apartment.”

“Why didn’t you summon me?” Danny asks.

“I didn’t have time to draw your big ass circle, Phantom,” she says, exasperation-annoyance dripping as she does.

“You haven’t given her a personal circle,” Vervain tells him.

“What? No! I gave it to you the day my parents caught me,” Danny denies. “Didn’t I?”

Vervain and Pharoh shake their heads.

“You were gonna, but they caught you before you could,” Wes reminds him.

Danny forces himself to remember that day and groans. “Fuck!” He starts to say something else but is cut off as everyone’s coms go off simultaneously.

“Where are you?” Jazz’s voice is full of panic, making everyone tense even more. Panic-worry shoots from everyone.

“The GIW grabbed Wes,” Danny says. “We just got him back.”

“Get back to your apartment now ,” Jazz demands. “I’ll explain when everyone’s there.”

“We’re on our way,” Red Huntress assures.

Jazz cuts her com without another word.

“Go. I’ll meet you there,” Danny says.

Vervain takes Wes’ weight from Red Huntress. Vines quickly wrap around them, and they disappear into the ground. Red Huntress summons her board, pulling Pharoh on and taking off.

Danny tugs open more portals before turning to Fright Knight, who had silently observed the agent as more regained consciousness. “I need you to update my court. I have a feeling I’m gonna need them.”

“Yes, my liege. It will be done,” Fright Knight responds with a slight bow as he joins the skeletons, returning to the realms.

“Tell Red Robin,” Danny says to nothing once the last skeleton is gone and all portals have closed. Then, he takes off to catch up with his fraid.

Chapter Text

“Should we be worried about that?” Jason asks cautiously after a few moments of silence.

“No.” Everyone turns to Summer. The sudden attention makes her hunch in on herself a little. “He got summoned, like when you summoned us from the Infinite Realms.”

“Someone summoned him?” Roy asks.

She nods as Jason peels off his mask and meets Tim’s eyes, suspicion clear. Tim nods in agreement, and Jason nods back, relaxing a little.

“Thank you for explaining,” Kori says, tucking a piece of Summer’s hair behind her ear.

Summer watches her with wide eyes as a smile slowly spreads on her face before faltering. “Is he gonna come back?”

“Yes,” Tim assures her. “I don’t know when, but I do know he will be back.”

Summer nods half-heartedly as Jason tugs her into leaning against him again. She gives him a weak smile and settles against him.

“What are we doing now?” she asks quietly.

“What do you wanna do?” Jason asks back.

She shrugs but won’t meet anyone's eye. Tim meets Roy’s, Kori’s, and then Jason’s eyes, getting nods from each of them.

“Ugh,” Jason groans. “I gotta get outta this armor.”

“Sorry!” Summer scrambles out of his lap, nearly smacking Kori in the face in her rush. She stops on the other side of the coffee table and stares at her feet. “Sorry, sorry.”

Roy opens his mouth as Jason starts reaching for her. Both stop as Tim stands and shakes his head before motioning to the hall. Jason nods and pulls his partners up, collecting their gear as he speaks.

“We’ll be back once we’re in comfy clothes again,” he says.

His voice is level, but his eyes are filled with panic. Kori shoots Tim a worried look while Roy watches Summer with a pained one before they head to the guest room.

“Summer?” Tim asks, kneeling just out of arm’s reach, careful not to crowd her. “Can you talk to me? Tell me what’s going on in your head?”

She sits on the floor and curls up before slowly looking up at him, only to look away and start tracing patterns into the rug.

“Does this have something to do with your parents?” he continues gently.

She shrugs before whispering, “Dad and Mrs Ruby get so angry when I’m in their way.”

“Angry, how?”

Summer buries her face in her knees. “They yell. Mrs. Ruby pushes me sometimes. I tripped over her purse once, and she yelled more. Then Mom started yelling, and she grounded me.”

Tim takes a slow, deep breath. “That won’t happen here. If you’re ever in the way, we’ll ask you to move or just go around you. No one’s gonna yell at you for it. If they do, they’ll have me to deal with.”

“They won’t be mad?” she asks, finally looking up.

He shrugs. “Damian always acts mad. It’s usually just an act, but everyone gets angry.”

Summer frowns. “Who’s Damian?”

“Robin. The one with Jerry the Turkey,” he explains, smiling as she laughs.

“Will he be mad if I ask about Jerry?” she asks, uncurling and pulling on her fingers.

“No way,” Tim snorts, offering a hand as he stands. “He loves his animals and talking about them.”

Summer smiles and takes it, letting him pull her to her feet as The Outlaws return.

Roy scans them before grinning. “So, do we know what we’re doing?”

Summer fidgets as she looks between them and Tim. He nudges her and tilts his head.

“I made the list of my stuff,” she says.

“Awesome,” Tim says as he catches Kori’s curious head tilt and Jason and Roy’s worried looks. “She had to hide the stuff she likes.”

Kori frowns as Summer pulls her notebook out from under the coffee table. Jason closes his eyes and nods as Roy moves closer and kneels next to her.

“Ooooo. Who gets to go, then? Or are we all going?” he asks.

Summer looks up at Tim and shakes her head when he raises an eyebrow.

“Roy, Kori? Would you mind?” he asks.

“It’s our pleasure,” Kori says with a bright smile.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Roy bounces as he stands, and Summer hands him the notebook. “We’ll be right back with your stuff!”

“Thank you,” Summer calls as they head for the door.

They smile and wave at her as they leave.

Jason pulls out his phone for a second before pocketing it again. “I sent them the address from the file since they forgot to ask.”

Tim snorts and rolls his eyes before turning back to Summer. “Anything you wanna do?”

Summer shrugs again, but she’s still looking at them so Tim takes the win.

“Well, since they’re getting your stuff, should  we rearrange your room so we can put them where you want?” Jason suggests.

“I can rearrange the room?” Summer questions as she looks between them.

“Of course,” Tim confirms. “You can decorate and arrange it however you want. It’s your room.”

Summer smiles, grabs Tim’s arm, and pulls him to her room. Jason laughs as he follows them, and Tim flips him off over his shoulder.

By the time Roy and Kori return, the room is very different. The bed has been moved into the corner, under the patched hole. One of the bedside tables is centered against the wall shared with Tim’s room, while the other is next to the bed under the window. The desk has been moved to the left to make room.

Tim’s in the process of ordering a large dresser, three bookshelves (at Jason's insistence), and another slightly smaller desk while Jason and Summer are giggling together as they lay on the floor.

“Wow,” Roy says as he steps into the room. “You guys have been working .”

He and Kori walk around the bodies to drop a soft pink backpack and a small navy blue duffle bag on the bed next to Tim.

“There was a lotta pink in that room,” Roy comments.

“Mom said that’s the color normal girls like, so I had to like it,” Summer explains.

“That’s dumb as hell.” Roy frowns. “I don’t think I’ve ever known a girl whose favorite color was pink.”

“I know a couple, but it’s not more common than any other color,” Tim adds with an eye roll.

“What are your favorite colors?” Summer asks.

“Red.” The harmony makes Tim roll his eyes as Jason snorts and Roy laughs.

Kori smiles fondly as she gives her answer. “I like purple.”

“Yay!” Summer cheers.

Tim snorts and clarifies, “That’s her’s, too.”

Kori smiles at her and sits on her other side. “It’s a good color.”

Summer grins at her before getting up, hugging her quickly, and climbing onto the bed. She starts going through the backpack first. There’s a sketchbook, a pair of worn-out black and purple sneakers, a beat-up pencil pouch with sunflowers and yellow axolotls, and beat-up copies of the first and fourth Seeker books.

She frowns and moves to the duffle bag. She pulls out a blue and purple tie-dye hoodie and relaxes. Then, she spots the shoe box underneath and holds it close.

Jason is visibly struggling to hold back laughter. Tim flips him off as Summer looks over at him.

“Timbo used to keep his stalker photos in a shoe box like that,” he laughs, moving to lay his head on Kori’s lap.

“Stalker?” Summer asks, looking back at Tim.

“When I started taking pictures, I was sneaking out at night to get candids of Batman and Robin without them ever knowing I was there until I told B when I became Robin,” he explains.

“Stalking,” Jason says cheerily, grinning up at him.

He laughs when Tim flips him off again as Summer opens the box. Inside is an elephant stuffie. It’s stained and torn, a few small ones, but the trunk is off entirely, and a hind leg is only connected by half an inch of fabric and a couple random threads.

“Dad said I was too old for stuffies,” Summer whispers. “Food was on her when I pulled her from the trash can.”

“Can I see her?” Tim asks.

She hands him the box and slumps into his side.

“What’s her name?” Roy asks.

“Salad.”

Roy and Jason burst into laughter as Tim smiles at the elephant. Jason’s head falls off Kori as he curls onto his side while Roy is doubled over.

Kori eyes her boys before tuning back to Summer. “Why Salad?”

“Elephants eat plants. Salads,” Summer explains as she looks between the hyenas.

Tim kicks Roy in the thigh while she looks at Jason, and Kori jabs Jason in the ribs when she looks at Roy. They both get glares with the attacks.

Summer keeps looking between them when they shut up before slowly looking back at Tim.

“I think Alfred can fix Salad,” he says after a moment.

“Really?” she asks.

Tim smiles and nods as he pulls out his phone and calls Wayne Manor, putting it on speaker.

“Wayne Manor. Alfred Pennyworth speaking.”

“Hey, Alfred,” Tim greets. “Any chance B’s gonna be gone at some point soon?”

“Hello, Master Tim. Master Bruce has meetings all morning tomorrow,” Alfred says. “He will not be home until mid to late afternoon. Master Damian and I will be the only ones home.”

Tim smiles at Summer. “Do you wanna meet them at breakfast tomorrow?”

“Yes!” she yells before slamming a hand over her mouth.

Alfred chuckles, and Tim and Jason both grin at Summer, who slowly lowers her hand and smiles back.

“I look forward to meeting you tomorrow, Miss Summer,” Alfred says.

“Miss?” she mumbles as she sits up again.

“If we bring a stuffed animal, could you fix the tears and stains?” Tim asks.

“I would be happy to do that,” Alfred agrees. “It wouldn’t be the first one I have fixed. I remember Master Dick’s tears when he brought Zitka to me with a small tear her the side.”

Summer lights up, almost vibrating in excitement.

“Salad is also an elephant, and she’s in pretty bad shape,” Tim continues.

“Understood, Master Tim,” Alfred responds. “If the damage is too extensive, I may have to keep Salad for a night, but I will have my kit ready for your arrival.”

“Thank you, Alfred. We’ll see you tomorrow,” Tim says.

“Have a pleasant night, Master Tim, Miss Summer,” Alfred responds.

“You too.” Tim hangs up and gently puts the lid back on the box.

Summer’s marks spark to life as she starts floating. Then she squeals and teleports to just outside Kori’s reach. All three guys startle. Tim catches himself before actually moving, Jason sits up and whips around, and Roy takes a step toward Tim before stopping. 

Kori, however, calmly reaches out, leaning over a little, and tugs on Summer’s pant leg. She bobs in the air and giggles as the guys relax. Then she looks around and hunches in a little.

“Oh,” she says. “I teleported again?”

“Yep,” Tim confirms. “We should start practicing that soon.”

Summer nods as she flies back to the bed and lands closer to the middle. Tim moves the duffle over so she can keep unpacking.

She pulls out a thin, faded rainbow blanket, a sparkly dark purple knitted beanie, and a faded blue ball cap without a logo.

“Where did you get all this stuff?” Jason asks.

“Grama gave me Salad. Holly gave me the rest,” Summer says as she spreads the blanket out and crawls back to Tim’s side. “She said I should have things I like.”

“She was right,” Roy agrees.

Tim carefully bumps her shoulder. “Definetly.”

~~

The Outlaws have left, and Tim is in the middle of washing dishes when the water stops. It’s still coming out of the tap but frozen in the air without the cold or ice. Tim pulls his hands away and takes in the absolute silence.

He whips around to find Summer and her documentary are also frozen. She’s mid-sip of her soda.

As he does, something rubs at his neck. He finds a solid black ribbon hanging around his neck. The medallion is a gold gear with a black center and a stylized CW.

He looks up to find a blue being floating in front of the fridge. He doesn’t have legs, just a ghostly tail, but the rest of him appears primarily human. He’s wearing a purple tunic and cloak with the hood up. There’s a black belt and a gear pinned at the base of the hood. There’s a scar across his left eye, a long white beard, and what looks like a grandfather clock in his chest. Each of his gloves has three watches and a pocket watch hanging from the belt. He carries a black staff topped with a purple V that holds a stopwatch.

“Clockwork,” Tim says as he eyes the being.

“Correct,” Clockwork confirms.

Tim nods slowly as he gestures to Summer. “How?”

“I have stopped time,” the ghost explains. “The medallion allows you to move as you normally would.”

“Why?”

“We need to talk.”

“About what?” Tim asks.

“You must not contact Daniel until he messages you,” Clockwork warns.

“ Why ?” Tim glances at Summer. “What if Summer needs him?”

“The government body called the Ghost Investigation Ward has made a move, and if he is distracted, things will get worse. Summer will be fine if she does not cross paths with Joker.”

“I’ll kill him first,” Tim spits before taking a deep breath. “What will happen if he manages it?”

“If he touches her, he will set off an ability her body will not be ready for,” Clockwork explains. “She will end up in a coma, and until she’s ready for the ability, Daniel would have to be with her constantly for her to be conscious.”

He leans back against the counter, closes his eyes, and forces himself to breathe through the rage. “Maybe I should just kill him now.”

“Do not.”

Tim’s eyes snap open in a glare.

“One of the curses on that soul transfers to whoever kills him and changes them into Joker with his memories.”

“ One of the curses?”

Clockwork doesn’t respond or even move beyond the calm wavering of his tail. Then, his form changes. He shrinks, and his face softens as the beard disappears. 

Tim gapes at him, mind going blank before he puts that in a box to deal with later. Shaking his head, he moves on. “Danny made it sound like you don’t explain yourself. Why are you now.”

Clockwork still doesn’t move, but Tim gets the distinct impression that he’s amused.

Tim frowns. “Oh…kay? Is there anything I can do to help Danny?”

“Protect her.” Clockwork nods at Summer. “His fraid will need to stay in Gotham until this is over. They will need help.”

“I’ve got plenty of safehouses they can use until we can get them settled.”

Clockwork nods at him. “Daniel is an ancient because he is King.”

“What?” Tim asks after a pause.

“Ancients are created when their power matches the reach of their field. Halfas are exceptionally overpowered, and the crown has increased his well over the requirement.”

“And you haven’t explained any of this to him?”

Clockwork smirks before disappearing, medallion going with him, and sound returns.

Summer finishes her sip before pausing and looking over at Tim. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Tim says as he turns off the sink and moves into the living room. “Clockwork just stopped by.”

Summer looks around as she frowns.

“He paused time while he was here,” Tim clarifies.

She blinks at him before a grin breaks out on her face. “He can do that? That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, it is,” he admits. “I freaked me out, though.”

“Why was he here?”

“Phantom has stuff he has to do in his dimension. He probably won’t be back for a while, but his fraid will be in Gotham while he is. I have no idea what a fraid is, but they’ll be here.”

“Oh,” Summer says as her face falls, and she turns back to the TV.

Tim plops down next to her, and she leans into her side.

“Is he coming back?” she whispers.

“Of course he is,” Tim assures her as he wraps an arm around her and rubs her arm. “I don’t think even a second death could keep him from coming back. Why do you think he wouldn’t?”

“Cause I’m too much work. Aren’t I?”

“Never,” he says firmly. “Any parent who says their kid is ‘too much work’ shouldn’t have ever been a parent. Phantom will agree with me. He’s way too attached just to leave you here.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do,” he stresses. “He wouldn’t have given me a summoning circle or brought his partners here if he was ever willing to leave you.”

“Are you sure?” she sniffles.

“Yes,” Tim promises.

“Ok.” She curls into his side.

Chapter Text

Summer’s rubbing her eyes as she comes out of her room. Her other arm is curled around her shoebox, her Robin notebook on top, and a pen in her hand. She’s wearing jeans, her Red Robin jacket over a Red Robin shirt, and her Red Hood beanie.

“Do you have your phone?” Tim asks.

Summer stops and backs into her room again. She comes out again with her axolotl added to the pile as she struggles to get her phone and PDA in her jacket pocket.

Tim chuckles as he helps, putting one in each pocket. Then, he leads them down to the parking lot and into his car, waiting for her to buckle herself and settle in before asking, “Ready?”

Summer nods but clicks her pen and fidgets nervously with the pages of her notebook.

Tim watches her for a second before a distraction comes to mind. “Can you do me a favor?”

Summer nods.

“While we drive, will you make a list of places to go and things to do once you’re legally mine?”

“Ok,” she whispers as she opens her notebook.

Tim smiles as he faces forward and starts the car.

Nearly halfway through the forty-minute drive, he notices Summer’s frowning and twitching. He starts to ask, then remembers how she always has something playing on the TV, even when she’s not really paying attention. He turns on the radio and watches through the rearview as she slowly relaxes, writing something occasionally.

Tim waits until they’ve pulled up to the gate before turning around and asking, “You don’t like the quiet, do you?”

Summer flinches but explains. “A quiet car means Mom’s mad. She’s scary when she’s mad.”

The gate opens as Tim turns back around, and he starts down the driveway as he speaks again. “Tell me if I’m doing something or taking you somewhere that makes you uncomfortable or hurts you. I don’t want to do either, so I need to know how to avoid it. Do you understand?”

Summer sniffles out a shaky “Yes.”

Tim hums as he parks on the side of the fountain closest to the door, turns off the car, and faces her again. “Alfred will insist on calling you ‘Miss Summer’. Are you ok with that?”

“Why?” she asks as her face scrunches up.

“Cause he’s British and technically works for us.”

She blinks at him but nods.

“Damian tends to be dismissive and snappy. Let me know if he goes too far.”

Summer nods again, and they get out of the car. She waits for him to come around so they can head to the door together.

Summer blinks when Alfred opens the door as they reach the top step.

“Morning Alfred,” Tim greets.

“Good morning, Master Tim, Miss Summer. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hi,” Summer whispers, giving him a little wave that earns her a gentle smile.

Alfred nods at her and leads the way to the kitchen. Tim takes her stuff and sets it on the counter as she climbs onto one of the stools. He pushes it in and sits on the next stool.

“I must admit,” Alfred starts as he dishes up food, “I’m impressed you’re awake so early without having to be at the office. Unless, of course, it’s because you’ve refrained from sleeping at all.”

Plates are placed in front of them as Tim raises his hand in surrender.

“I haven’t pulled an all-nighter since I got my kid,” Tim says as he throws an arm around Summer’s shoulders, making her giggle around her fork. “I promise.”

“Well then,” Alfred smiles at them, “thank you, Miss Summer, for this miracle.”

Summer swallows her bite as she frowns. “I didn’t do anything?”

“You exist. That’s all you ever need to do,” Tim tells her.

She watches him with wide eyes as Alfred starts dishing up another plate. It’s set on the counter as Damian comes in and pauses when he sees them.

He glances at Tim as Summer gives him a small, nervous wave before grabbing his plate and heading back to the door. “I shall be in my room.”

Summer deflates a little as he turns the corner.

Tim makes eye contact before getting up and kissing the top of Summer’s head. “I’ll be right back. Stay with Alfred.”

Summer nods half-heartedly and looks up when Alfred gently clears his throat.

“Master Tim has informed me that you have a friend needing help,” he says.

She’s reaching for the shoebox when Tim heads after Damian.

He catches up as Damian makes it to the top of the stairs. “Damian!”

Damian is tense as he stops and waits for Tim to catch up.

“I get you hate me, but you don’t get to treat Summer like that.”

“I do not understand,” Damian admits with a frown.

“Neither do I,” Tim stresses, not even attempting to keep the pleading edge out of his voice. “I thought, maybe, you’d help me when I read your text and again at dinner when you didn’t even scoff at me. Now, you’re barely acknowledging Summer and avoiding us. Why ?”

“You specified that Father isn’t allowed to meet her,” Damian says. “Only Father.”

“Yeah? He’s the only one I don’t trust with her.”

“ Why ?” The desperation in his voice surprises them both, but Damian steals himself and waits for his answer.

“Why what?” he asks cautiously.

“Why am I trusted? Todd may have tried as well, but my attempts on your life were more serious and numerous. I do not understand why I am trusted with your child,” Damian explains calmly.

“Are you gonna attack her?” Tim asks.

“No.”

“Not even verbally or emotionally?”

“No,” Damian repeats firmly.

“Then I have no reason to keep her away.”

Damian glares, frustrated tears quickly forming. “ Why ?”

“Because I see you in her. In her love of animals and being her family’s sacrifice.” Tim puts a hand on Damian’s shoulder to stop the protests he’d started. “You may not have been physically sacrificed like she was, but that’s far from the only way. I’m well aware of how Bruce sacrifices all of us, and I’ve unfortunately spent enough time with both Ras and Talia to get a taste of their styles, too. I may not understand all of it, but I know enough to know you can help her, and that’s not something I’m gonna take away from her just cause you only recently stopped trying to kill me.”

“I’m sorry,” Damian whispers, surprising them both again, but he takes a deep breath and commits to it. “I shouldn’t have rebuffed you when I first arrived. I shouldn’t have attempted to kill you. And I shouldn’t have started and escalated fights knowing that Father and Grayson would shift most of the blame to you. I’m sorry.”

Tim is forcing tears back as he gently squeezes Damian’s shoulder before letting go. “Thank you, Damian.”

“It’s long overdue. You have already apologized for your part in our interactions,” Damian sniffs.

Tim smiles and motions down the stairs. “Come on, little brother, Summer wants to ask about Jerry.”

They return to the kitchen to find Summer carefully stitching a small hole in Salad under Alfred’s gentle instruction. He nods at them as they enter before cutting the thread when she looks up at him.

“That is a wonderful start,” he praises. “Do you think Salad will be ok if I do this to finish patching her up?”

Summer nods slowly and gently as she puts her stuffie away. Tim sits again, Damian sits on his other side, and Alfred packs up his sewing kit.

Then Alfred gently closes the box and picks it and his kit up. “I will be back momentarily. The next time you see Salad, she will no longer be injured.”

Summer nods as Alfred leaves, pulling her axolotl into her lap. Then, she flips her notebook open to draw while the boys finish eating. Alfred returns as they finish and immediately takes their plates.

“Timothy has informed me of your interest in Jerry,” Damian starts as he stands, “and your love of animals in general.”

Summer glances at Tim before nodding excitedly.

“Would you like to meet him?”

“Really?” Summer squeals as she shoots into the air, glowing brightly. “I can really meet him?”

Tim grins at Alfred’s raised eyebrow and Damian looking between him and Summer.

“Yes,” Damian says as he focuses back on her. “Are you aware you’re glowing?”

Summer nearly drops her stuffie as she pulls up her sleeves to examine her marks. Damian looks back at Tim as she traces them.

“It’s normal,” Tim assures him. “She can also fly, obviously, be invisible and intangible, and teleport. If you see her do anything new, let me know. And if the bands on her arms glow at all, bring her back immediately.”

Damian nods as Summer lands next to him and holds out her arms, glow fading as she does. Then, she slowly takes his hand, grinning at Tim when he doesn’t shake her off.

“I have a few things to do,” Tim says as he watches them and makes a decision. “Do you want to come with me, or are you ok with Damian taking you to meet the animals?”

They both blink at him before Damian straightens proudly and nods.

“You’ll come back?” she asks nervously.

“As soon as I’m done,” he promises. “I will not leave you here. And you don’t have to go.”

She looks between them and nods. “I wanna go.”

Tim smiles at her and looks to his brother.

“I will look after her,” Damian declares. “We shall be in the barn, and I shall text you should we move.”

“Thank you, Damian.”

They start for the door when Summer gasps and rushes back for her notebook and pen. Then she hugs Tim and rushes back to Damian.

Once they’re gone, Tim sighs and slumps onto the counter, pressing his forehead into the cool marble. Then, he sits up and digs $100 out of his wallet. Alfred raises an eyebrow as it’s handed to him.

“I’m gonna go cuss my lungs out while I update some files,” Tim says as he stands. “After, I wanna talk to you if you have time.”

“I will add this to the swear jar for you,” Alfred tells him. “I will meet you downstairs for our talk.”

Tim nods and heads down. He plops into the computer chair and immediately starts screaming and cussing at the top of his lungs. He keeps going until he physically can’t, coughing and heaving as he calms down.

Once he can breathe, he starts a list of the realms beings he’s met with descriptions and basic cliff notes of the stuff that directly affects a living realm, one of them, or their rouges. Once he’s done, he updates Summer’s file, adding a list of everyone she’s met so far, and messages Oracle to have everyone check the updates.

Then, he makes a list of tech they’re trying to get to work with ectoplasm. He’s careful to keep Tucker’s name and living status out of the file, making it sound like Phantom is the only one to help.

Last, he goes through Bruce’s notes and leaves comments. Most get a ‘Fuck off B’. Ones he’s already asked get answers, and similar ones get ‘I’ll ask, and you’ll do nothing’. And ones that are clearly off limits get increasingly violent and/or traumatizing threats.

Tim is in the middle of the fifth threat when a steaming mug is placed in front of him. He blinks at it and then looks over to find Alfred.

“You have been down here for quite a while,” he tells him. “Master Damian and Miss Summer returned to the kitchen about an hour ago for a snack before returning to the animals. Miss Summer did ask where you were and if you would be joining them soon.”

“Has it really?” Tim rasps, voice rough from his screaming. He checks his phone and finds several messages from Damian and even some from Summer. He groans and thunks his head onto the table. “Fuck!”

“Did you forget how easily you lose time when at this computer?” Alfred teases dryly, gently nudging the mug against his head.

“Yes,” Tim groans into the table before sitting up and taking a sip of the offered tea. “Thank you. How the fuck do you do this?”

Alfred raises an eyebrow at the swear but leaves it as he asks, “Do what?”

“Parent. Us as well as B.”

“Parenting is never easy, Master Tim. And I was technically still his employee, so our relationship has always been a touch more complicated. I will admit that Master Bruce’s … unusual coping mechanisms did make assisting the rest of the family easier.”

“That’s not helpful,” Tim groans.

“Somehow, I don’t believe my experiences will help you most, as Miss Summer has powers and magic where none of you do. With the exception, of course, of Master Duke.”

“Who was a lot older when he got his,” Tim adds before downing the rest of the tea. “You’re probably right. I should be asking magic users and maybe Martian Manhunter.”

“Those would be good options,” Alfred agrees as he takes the mug. “But even if you decide not to, I believe you will continue to do well with her.”

“Well?” Tim snorts. “I let myself get sucked into the computer and basically forgot about her. How well could I be doing?”

Alfred gives him a stern look that makes him freeze. “You have already gained a lot of trust. She went with Master Damian, despite her unease, because you trusted him to look after her. She was comfortable with me for the same reason. That child has been through so much, but trust that you will not do anything, or allow anything to be done, that would add to the pain. I will not tolerate any self-deprecating on this.”

Tim gulps and nods.

Alfred hums. “And please make sure you are taking care of yourself as well. Your siblings will be happy to help.”

“When everyone has met her,” Tim agrees cautiously. “I’m not dealing with the fit the ones who haven’t met her will throw. Damian is the only exception cause we’re finally getting along.”

“Yes,” Alfred agrees. “ Master Dick, in particular, would be very upset but very proud of you two.”

Tim nods as he clicks back to the first list and scrolls to Clockwork’s cliff notes and Alfred reads through them. Then he clicks on the nearly blank file on the Ghost Investigation Ward.

“All we know of this group is that it’s a government body attacking the realms?” Alfred questions.

“Yes,” Tim grits out.

“Do you know how long Phantom will be gone for this?”

“No idea.”

“And the comment about curses on the Joker?”

“Super concerning, and he wouldn’t elaborate.”

Tim’s phone goes off, and he checks it to find another message from Damian, four of which were pictures.

The first is of Summer, her jacket missing and a black backpack added. She’s holding her hands out, cupped together, and Jerry is eating from them. Her form is slightly blurry, and her eyes and marks are clearly glowing.

The second and third are of Summer and Bat-Cow. The first is of Summer getting licked by Bat-Cow, while the second is Summer hugging her. She’s blurrier, and her arms aren’t visible in either, but her eyes are brighter.

The last is of Summer lying on the ground as Titus stands over her. His tail and tongue are just blurs.

7:56 AM

Damian

[Photo]

Summer teleported back to me when the food was gone.

She nearly floated out of reach when I introduced her to Bat-Cow.

8:31 AM

Damian

[Photo]

[Photo]

We are going to the pond. Bat-cow is sad that we are leaving her.

8:58 AM

Damian

[Photo]

I am no longer Titus’ favorite. We are heading back to the kitchen for a snack.

9:05 AM

Damian

We are taking Titus for a walk.

9:47 AM

Damian

We are looking for Alfred the cat. He is probably in the library, but we will go there even if we find him elsewhere.

Tim

Thanks for staying with her and the updates

Sorry I haven’t been responding

I’m almost done

Tim laughs as he responds before passing the phone to Alfred.

“That is quite impressive of her,” Alfred says. “I will have to request copies of these photos.”

“Of course, Alfred. I would never try to keep them from you,” Tim laughs as he switches to Summer’s messages, finding two photos and a text.

The first photo is of Damian with a duck in his lap as he feeds another one. He’s got a small, soft smile as he watches it eat.

The second photo is a selfie with Damian. He’s clearly confused and surprised but smiling for her. Unlike in Damian’s photos, she's not blurry but is still glowing. She’s hovering over his shoulder to take the photo. A black blur is just visible in the background.

8:41 AM

Summer

[photo]

[photo]

9:01 AM

Summer

Do you want a snack?

9:59 AM

Tim

I’m almost done

I’ll meet you in the library

Guilt flashes through Tim as he responds before showing Alfred her photos, too. Then, he sighs. “How’s B been behaving?”

“Master Bruce has attempted to demand more information from both mages several times. Neither were happy or indulge him, although Constantine was far more crass about it.”

Tim groans again as he stands. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Yes. However, he has not attempted to follow you after the first night with Miss Cass,” Alfred continues as they start upstairs.

“I bet,” Tim snorts. “I’m gonna go meet up with my kid. Thanks for the updates.”

“Of course, Master Tim,” Alfred says. “I shall be up with snacks shortly.”

Tim nods and splits from him to head to the library. He hears Summer’s excited voice before he even gets to the door.

“-an there’s also a lizard so small that it can drown in a raindrop!”

“Really?” Damian asks.

Tim chuckles as he comes around the corner to the sitting area. They’re sitting on opposite couches with the backpack on the coffee table between them. Damian has his back to Tim while Summer faces him but is looking at her lap. She’s no longer glowing as she smiles at the cat there.

“Yeah! But the water just slides off ’cause its skin is weird. It can even stand on puddles without getting wet!” Summer explains as she gently pets Alfred.

“Interesting,” Damian says. “I will have to look into this more.”

Summer grins as she looks up at him, spotting Tim in the process. She lights up again and suddenly teleports into the air in front of him. Her surprise matches his as she falls instead of floating. He catches her as she curls around Alfred, and Damian jumps over the back of the couch.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I didn’t!” she cries as Tim lowers them to the floor. “I’m sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

He settles her in his lap and starts rocking her as Damian settles to sit on his feet in front of them.

“It’s ok. You’re ok,” Tim assures her. “You’re not in trouble, and no one’s mad.”

Summer slowly uncurls a little, and Alfred pokes his head over her arms to look around. Then, he climbs onto her shoulders and nuzzles against her cheek before jumping into Damian’s lap and grooming himself.

Then Alfred, the human, comes around the corner with a plate of cookies and three mugs of hot chocolate. Summer sniffles as Tim runs his fingers through her hair, and Alfred hands her a mug and a cookie.

She looks up at him before slowly taking a bite and a sip as she uncurls the rest of the way. She turns in Tim’s lap to press her back against his chest as she finishes the cookie. Damian scoops his cat into his arms, pulls out the axolotl, and passes it to her.

“I’m afraid you will have to bring her back quite often,” Damian starts, ignoring Tim’s confused frown. “All of the animals quite liked her, and you will not deprive them of her presence.”

Tim smiles as he understands. “Of course. We can’t upset them.”

Damian nods as Alfred hands them their mugs and puts the plate on the table. Summer looks between them as she rubs her eyes and takes another sip.

“Very good, young masters,” he says as he hands them both a cookie.

Summer snorts as they take them and slaps a hand over her mouth. Alfred raises an eyebrow as he hands her another cookie before leaving.

“What’s so funny, huh?” Tim teases.

Summer shoves the cookie into her mouth so she can’t answer. Tim chuckles as Damian’s face softens, and the cat climbs onto his shoulders and curls around his neck.

~~

It’s just after one when Tim and Summer start down the stairs. Damian had given her the backpack to keep and promised to teach her knife-throwing, though Tim isn’t sure how they got on the topic.

Summer has put her jacket back on instead of putting it in the bag and is adjusting the straps as they walk when Bruce comes into the foyer and stops.

Tim ignores him until he steps in their way with a pleading look. Tim glares until Summer tugs on his shirt from her spot half-hidden behind him.

Still glaring, he introduces them. “Summer, this is Bruce Wayne, Batman.”

The judging look that flits across Bruce’s face makes his glare deepen as Summer presses closer to him.

Then Bruce kneels and offers a hand to her. “Hi, Summer. It’s nice to meet you.”

Tim looks back at her and sees her looking nervously between them. He takes a deep, slow breath. “You don’t have to interact with him, but I won’t stop you if you want to.”

She watches Bruce briefly before slowly slipping out just far enough to shake his hand before darting back behind Tim.

“How long are you guys staying?” Bruce asks hopefully.

“We’re not,” Tim snips as he leads Summer by him, making sure to stay between them.

Summer shakes her arm and pulls at her jacket sleeve as they make it to the car. She then places the bag next to her, buckles herself in, and returns to tugging at her jacket.

Tim gets in and starts driving, often looking back to check on her. It’s not even ten minutes into the drive before he’s pulling over. Summer has burst into tears, pulled off her jacket, and is sobbing into it.

Tim moves into the back seat with her before asking. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“It feels bad!” she sobs, shaking at the force of them. “It was good, and now it’s bad!”

“Can I see it?”

The jacket is shoved at him as she curls into his side. He checks the sleeve and finds one of Bruce’s bugs. She finally looks up as he removes it.

“Is this better?” he asks as he hands it back.

Summer sniffles as she holds it for a second before hugging it as she nods. “What is it?”

“This is a bug,” Tim explains as he takes a picture of it. “We use them to spy on people who know stuff we need to know.”

“I don’t like him,” she whispers before curling forward and burying her face in her knees.

“If he ever comes near you again, as Batman or Bruce, scream as loud as you can. I will come beat his ass.”

Summer nods but doesn’t sit up. Tim gently rubs her back as he sends the picture to the big chat.

1:23 PM

Tim

[photo]

B just tried to plant this on Summer

She will now be screaming anytime he’s near and I will be kicking his ass in response

Somebody kick his ass tonight

And somebody update Alfred

He keeps rubbing her back until she sits up again.

“Can we go home now?” she whispers.

“Absolutely,” he tells her.

He gives her the axolotl again before throwing the bug into the street and getting back behind the wheel.

Chapter Text

Danny is the last to arrive at the apartment, landing next to Jazz as she grips the remote. The news is on TV, and the GIW and Fentons are holding a press conference.

“-old sensors could only reveal smaller, weaker entities. These new sensor upgrades, created by Drs. Maddie and Jack Fenton, allow us to identify which people have been corrupted by these beings.” Agent Alpha says. “We will be working to detain such individuals this week and are hoping to find a way to cure these people and release them.”

“And if you can’t?” a reporter asks suspiciously.

“We can’t risk the corruption spreading, so they will stay in our care,” the agent says flatly.

“We will save them from the ecto-scum trying to turn them against us!” Jack declares.

“We hope to find a way to neutralize it completely so no one ever has to worry about being corrupted again,” Maddie continues calmly.

Fear-panic-dread-anger is so thick it's nearly suffocating.

Jazz turns the TV off and throws the remote at the couch. She forces herself to breathe for a minute before speaking. “They’ve been replaying this since it happened this morning.”

Tucker collapses onto the couch, shaking as he buries his head in her hands. Valerie pants as she leans heavily on the back of the couch. Sam’s hands shake, but otherwise, she’s outwardly calm as she works on patching up Wes. He, on the other hand, is openly staring at the TV and crying in terror.

Jazz opens her mouth again but stops when her phone rings. She puts it on speaker as she answers, and the sound of panic immediately explodes from it.

“They got Wes! They took him!” Mrs. Weston cries. “They took him from work! What do we do?”

“Mom!” Wes calls over her, and all noise from her end stops. “Phantom got me out. He brought me to Danny’s.”

His mom devolves into relieved sobs.

There’s shuffling, and then Mr. Weston’s voice comes through. “Stay there. We’re on our way.” Then he hangs up without waiting for a response.

“What are we gonna do?” Wes whispers.

Sam starts to respond when frantic knocking on the front door starts. She approaches the door cautiously and looks through the peephole before yanking it over. Maurice and Angela Foley, and Damon Gray rush through and to their kids. Fear-relief-desperation-anger-grief-love-pain rolls off of all three of them.

The Foleys are crying and panting like they’ve sprinted all the way from their house. They’re each carrying a duffle bag that are dropped as they wordlessly pull Tucker into a hug.

Mr. Gray is barely outwardly calm as he drops both his duffle bags and backpack on the couch before gently cupping Valerie’s face. He tilts and turns her head, silently asking about the wounds.

“I tried to stop them from taking Wes,” she explains. “Phantom got him out and brought him here.”

“Just Phantom?” he asks quietly, face deadpan.

“He may have had some help,” she admits.

Mr. Gray nods as he hugs her, squeezing her to him.

Mrs. Foley clings to her son for a minute before forcing herself to let go. Then, she helps Sam finish patching Wes up and checks the bandages on Valerie.

“What’s in the bags?” Tucker asks as his dad lets him go.

“You have to leave,” Mr. Foley says shakily.

“ What ?” Danny and his fraid say in unison.

“You’ve been so deep in all this for so long,” Mr. Gray says. “Their sensors will go off with all of you, won’t they?”

“Not me,” Valerie insists. “They scanned and let me go when I failed to save Wes.”

Mr. Gray frowns. “How?”

“Her suit protects her,” Danny explains before gesturing to himself and Jazz. “She’s not as liminal as us.”

“How long will that last?” Mrs Foley asks, voice and eyes wet. “Or until the GIW upgrades their sensors again?”

“They’re right,” Danny admits. “We can’t stay here. Phantom has to deal with this.”

Tucker deflates and starts sobbing as his mom pulls him into another hug. Valerie is trembling as she forces back her tears. Wes curls in on himself, panting and trembling. Sam is blank-faced and empty-eyed as she stops him from falling out of his chair. Jazz’s breath catches in her throat as she closes her eyes and forces a nod.

“Where are we supposed to go?” Sam asks. “We can’t stay in the Realms.”

“Realms?” Mr. Gray questions.

“The Infinite Realms is the actual name for the Ghost Zone,” Jazz explains blankly.

“Why can’t you stay there?” Mr. Foley asks.

“It’s too dangerous for the living for many reasons,” Danny says as he desperately tries to think of a safe place.

“Gotham,” Tucker chokes out as he pulls away from his mom, scrubbing at his face. “Phantom mentioned something about Gotham possibly helping.”

Sam and Danny both let out relieved laughs before breathing out the name together. “ Gotham .”

“Gotham?” Mr. Foley questions.

“No,” Mr. Gray cuts in. “Don’t tell us. It’ll be harder for them to find you if we don’t know.”

The Foleys frown but nod and drop it. Then there’s more knocking, and Sam checks the door again. The Westons rush over to their son when the door’s open enough, dropping the backpacks they’re carrying as they collapse to their knees. All three are sobbing as they bundle Wes up in a hug.

Tucker, Wes, and Valerie start going through their bags while Mr. Forley, Sam, and Danny update Wes’ parents. Jazz disappears down the hall while Mr. Gray and Mrs. Foley collect tech and photos from around the apartment.

Tucker’s first duffle bag is full of food, mostly snacks, but also a couple tubs of homemade cookies. The second bag contains a mix of pictures, tech, blankets, and jackets.

Valerie’s backpack is full of weapons, some against ghosts, but most against humans. Her first duffle bag is all clothes. The second is photos, more weapons, a blanket, and a dog stuffie. Tears finally fall down her face as she pulls it out.

Wes’ first backpack is filled with clothes, while his second contains notebooks, photos, and his laptop.

Jazz walks back into the room with three more duffle bags. Danny snorts and nods when she tilts her head back down the hall.

In his bedroom, he finds two suitcases and a backpack. He phases the extra backpacks out of the walls and adds them to the pile.

Danny duplicates himself, transforms as he turns invisible, and phases through the outside wall. He flies around and phases back inside through the living room wall as Danny returns with everything.

The parents nod at him as Jazz and Sam help Danny put everything they have collected into the extra bags.

“You’ll protect them?” Mrs. Weston asks, voice trembling.

“Always,” Phantom says firmly. “With everything I am.”

She nods and pulls Wes into another hug. Every other parent quickly follows suit. Danny and Jazz get pulled into the Foley’s hug while Sam is caught by the Grays. Everyone’s whispering goodbyes, and most are crying again.

“Do we need to tell your parents what’s happening, Sam?” Mr. Weston asks as he releases his son.

Phantom and his fraid all tense, anger-annoyance, and he looks away from him as he forces himself to breathe through the sudden sike.

“They cut me off,” Sam grits out, “when they found out who I’m dating. Grama was the only one who would’ve cared, but she died a couple years ago.”

Mr. Weston flounders for something to say until Phantom’s head snaps to the door, and he holds up a hand. His fraid immediately shuts up, the parents following suit.

Not even a full second into the silence, he hears faint footsteps. They’re careful, quiet, and numerous. Gentle clinks of metal and rustling of fabric join them.

“Time to go,” he says as he tugs a portal open. “There’s a lot of people coming.”

Panic-anger-grief washes over the room as Jazz, Danny, and Sam immediately start tossing bags through. Then Phantom hears a whisper-shout he’s all too familiar with and pulls the rest of the bags through with his telekinesis.

“The Fentons are with them,” he says as his fraid files through, Sam and Tucker helping Wes. He turns to the parents one last time. “I will not let anything happen to them.”

He doesn’t wait for a response before shooting through.

Pandora and Frostbite rush over as Wes and Valerie take in the entrance hall for the first time. They startle when Frostbite gently checks over their bandages as Pandora collects bags.

“We came as soon as Fright Knight left,” Pandora says as she straightens. “The others are ready when you are.”

At his name, the knight appears and kneels at Phantom’s side as he absorbs his duplicate. He transforms back to living as he looks at each of his fraid before turning to his knight.

“Go get my council,” he says.

Fright Knight immediately disappears to begin his task.

Then Danny turns to Pandora to see she’s got every bag that isn’t in someone's hand. “Take everything to my room. We’ll go through it later.”

She nods as she plucks the rest out of everyone’s hands and heads off. He snorts as the others sputter and loof between her and their now empty hands.

He huffs a laugh as Frostbite herds everyone to the medbay. No one gets out of the check-up. As they wait for their turn, Tucker hands Danny a PDA.

“I downloaded everything I could,” Tucker explains.

Danny takes it and pulls him close. He kisses Tucker’s temple as he slumps into his side. Sam slumps into his other side once Frostbite’s satisfied with her condition.

Once Frostbite’s satisfied with everyone, he leaves the medbay, and Danny steps away from his partners to turn to his fraid members that haven’t been here before.

“Do you wanna go to your rooms or just crash in mine?” he asks gently.

Wes and Valerie stare at him.

“We have our own rooms?” Valerie questions after a moment.

“We all do,” Jazz confirms. “I’ve never stayed in the realms overnight, so mine’s never been used.”

“We haven’t either,” Tucker adds.

“Just for a different reason,” Sam continues.

The thruple laughs as the others glare and groan.

Then Wes meets his eyes. “I can’t be alone right now.”

“Thank fuck,” Danny breathes as he offers a hug, relaxing as Wes accepts and leans into it. He picks him up as they leave.

Sam and Tucker lead the way to the room, passing Pandora on the way. Danny stops for a second, but Pandora waves him on.

Valerie only hesitates for a second before plopping across the end of the bed. Sam and Jazz sit with their backs against the headboard, far enough apart for someone to lay between them. Tucker lays across them so his legs are over Jazz’s shins and his back is over Sam’s.

Sam puts a pillow under Tucker’s head as Danny lays Wes in between Valerie and Tucker. She scoots closer until he’s sandwiched, and they finally relax completely. They’re barely awake as Danny gently lays across them, careful to keep his weight light but present, so that his feet are in Valerie’s lap, his legs are across Wes’, his lower back across Tucker’s, and his head between Jazz and Sam’s hips.

Jazz absently runs her fingers through his hair as Sam and Tucker each take a hand.

Danny focuses on pushing comfort-calm-safety as much as he can. Slowly, the fraid falls asleep around him, and once Jazz finally gives in to it, he starts going through the PDA.

~~

When the door opens, Danny is glaring at his ceiling, focusing everything he has on keeping calm enough not to wake the others. Dani closes it behind her, silent and crying.

“Is everyone ok?” she whispers, staying by the door, shame-guilt-sorrow pouring from her.

“They’ll all live,” he whispers back.

“I should’ve been there to help. I ignored what was going on so I could travel.”

“No,” Danny says firmly. “You were fulfilling your obsession and caring for yourself, as Frostbite told you to. Even if this hadn’t happened, staying in Amity would’ve destabilized and ended you.”

“But-”

“I can already feel how much stronger, steadier you are. Please don’t wish for something that would’ve hurt you. Please .”

Dani sobs as she nods and takes a step toward the bed. She stops and opens the door when a gentle knocking sounds.

“Your council has assembled,” she says as soon as he can see them.

Danny floats up and over to them, landing next to his cousin. “Are you staying with them or coming with me?”

“I’m coming,” Dani says without hesitation before stepping into the hall.

Danny snorts as he follows, silently closing the door as he does. They follow Pandora to the council room. Voices are heard all the way down the hall.

Danny takes a deep breath and pulls forward his king form before pushing the door open. Silence falls as he steps into the room, flanked by the women.

Fright Knight silently stands at the far side of the room while Frostbite stands on the side closest to them, both watching as Dora and Wulf turn away from the observant, who is the only one sitting.

He pauses at the anger-anomosity-annoyance-selfassurance before walking to the end of the table closest to Fright Knight. Once he sits, the others join him. Dani, Pandora, and Wulf sit to his right, while Frostbite and Dora sit to his left. Fright Knight moves so he’s half a step behind and a whole step left of Danny’s chair. The observant remains in her seat directly across from him. Once everyone’s settled, Clockwork appears to Danny’s right, the same distance as Fright Knight.

“Red Robin has offered to help your fraid settle in Gotham,” Clockwork says offhandedly.

“Amazing,” Danny whispers as he lets himself sag into his chair in relief for a second.

He straightens as he pulls the PDA out of his chest and plugs it into the table. The large screen built into the middle lights up as the data transfers into it.

“The GIW has updated their sensors and started attacking anyone ectocontaminated,” Danny starts as he taps on the table screen, pulling up the schematics. “They aren’t sensitive enough to start attacking the townsfolk yet, but they got Wes this morning. Valerie was scanned but released, so they still have a lot of improvements to make before they will.”

“They’ll keep upgrading until they start finding it,” Dani says, frowning as she takes the PDA from her cousin.

“Even as they are now, these sensors will detect us even if we’re invisible and intangible like the Fenton’s security systems do,” Fright Knight says.

“Aren’t all their equipment capable of this?” Dora asks.

“No. Most of their handhelds don’t, and those that do aren’t nearly as accurate,” Danny spits out. “But this is far from the worst thing.”

“No fucking kidding,” Dani hisses.

The screen switches to the GIW’s latest set of battle plans. Frost spreads as Danny rereads their plans to nuke the realms and Amity Park when that doesn’t work.

“What are these ‘nukes’,” Pandora asks.

“Nuclear weapons,” Danny growls as he taps through the documents, adding more to the screen and enlarging a couple. “They’re bombs that do so much damage it’ll make the area unlivable for decades. And that’s if the shields they’re gonna try using don’t limit the blast radius. If they do, the damage will be worse and last longer.”

“Either way, no living being will survive,” Dani adds.

“Kiom da dangero ni estas?” Wulf asks.

“ We aren’t in any danger,” Danny tells them as another set of documents appears on the screen.

Something in his core starts expanding as claws extend from his fingers, and the edges of his vision start going black. He’s pulled out of it when Dani processes what they’re reading.

“THEY CAN’T BE SERIOUS!!” she screams, standing fast and hard enough to send her chair slamming into the wall.

“They know these nukes won’t work and are still willing to try?” Dora questions.

“Any being created by this attack will be unstable and in immense pain,” Frostbite growls. “I’m unsure if I would be able to help them.”

The observant scoffs. “If you had been dealt with when we first-”

“ Enough .” Danny barely even hears himself as he stares her down, vision starting to go black again. “You are only here because I decided keeping you away wasn’t worth the fight. Speak again, and I’ll have to change my mind .”

His vision is nearly entirely black, and spots are starting to appear when Clockwork places a hand on his shoulder. His vision returns to normal, and he blinks up at him, but the shake of Clockwork’s head stops him from questioning it right then, even as some of his council glance at him.

He’s reassured he hadn’t gone too far by the curious-intrigued-proud-reassured rolling around the room. The only fear-panic comes from the Obsevant as she comes back to herself.

“You seem to think you forced him to let one of you on his council,” Dani sneers. “He’s not that weak.”

Danny turns back to the observant. “Don’t push me.”

She’s trembling, and her pupil is blown so wide the iris is nearly invisible. He can see literal stars fading as her trembling picks up.

“I need to figure out a way to make sure no human tries this again,” Danny says.

“Talk to Red Robin,” Clockwork says.

Danny nods. “I need supplies for a royal decree.”

Fright Knight disappears and reappears at his side, kneeling and holding out the supplies.

Danny writes as he speaks. “No one will go to Amity Park without my direct permission. Not until the GIW is dealt with.”

Once the declaration is complete, Danny passes it to Pandora, who duplicates it. He then seals the documents and hands them to his council.

“Spread the word,” Danny instructs.

Everyone but Dani and Clockwork leave, and Danny sags into his chair again as Dani flings herself at him. They cling to each other as she starts crying softly into his shoulder.

“Red Robin can help?” Danny asks. “Without endangering Summer?”

“She will be safe while you handle this,” Clockwork assures him.

“Thank you,” Danny whispers. “Am I getting another power?”

“Yes,” Clockwork says and vanishes without another word.

The halfas sit there for a while longer before going back to his room. Danny lays back where he’d been before the meeting while Dani curls around Valerie and Wes’ heads. Eventually, they both join the fraid in sleep.

Chapter Text

Tim wakes to the living room sensors blaring and shoots up as he turns on his phone. The security camera shows Danny standing in the living room. He’s looking around and fidgeting before scrubbing his face. Then, he crouches and buries his face in his knees, his hands shoved into his hair.

Tim shuts off the alarm as he rolls out of bed. He pauses long enough to check on Summer, who’s curled around her axolotl, fast asleep as she should be at 2:30 AM.

As Tim leaves the hallway, Danny stands, grimacing and rubbing the back of his neck. They’re silent as Tim makes coffee, downing the first cup.

Danny waits until his second cup is poured before speaking. “How’s Summer?”

“She’s been ok,” Tim says. “Met most of my family and has liked everyone except B. He tried to pull some shit.”

“Anything I need to deal with?” Danny asks, his eyes still blue but glowing. 

“And take away my siblings’ fun?” Tim asks in mock offense.

“That’s fair,” Danny snorts as he nods. He takes a couple deep breaths before finally bringing up the topic he needs to. “Clockwork said you offered to help my fraid.”

“I still am offering,” Tim says. “Can I know what a fraid is?”

“Clockwork didn’t- Of course not, why am I surprised?” Danny sighs. “A fraid is basically a family. Ghosts… adoption would be the closest, but it’s really more than that. Anyway, we adopt each other, so if a yeti, a neverborn, says that a human, a ghost, is their mom, they.”

“And how do living humans fit in?”

“Same thing, but since they don’t have a core , it’s not binding for them. We still feel the pull of whatever bond it is, but the living, even liminals, don’t feel any different than they would for other living people.”

Tim blinks and starts to ask but stops and shakes his head. “It’s too early for an existential crisis. How long are you staying, and should I wake up Summer?”

“That’s fair, not long, and not this time,” Danny answers. “I’ll be back with my fraid when you’re ready for them and spend as much time as I can with her.”

Tim nods as he leads Danny to the work table and opens it. He then pulls out his nightwork laptop and the one Tucker had put together for their test, closes the table, and sets them on top.

“Do I need to create identities for them?” Tim starts. “How many? How close do they physically wanna be to me and each other?”

“Yes,” Danny says. “Five for sure, six if Dani decides to come.”

“Seven it is,” Tim says, continuing at his confused look. “You’ll need one.”

Danny stares at him for a moment before slowly nodding. “Tucker can help you when he gets here. They’ll wanna be as close as possible. We’re all pretty touchy even if Sam is only with Tucker and me.”

“Next to each other, if not all together,” Tim says, nodding. “I’ve got a couple safehouses that they can use until I can get them a better place, but they’re gonna have to share rooms and beds cause none of them are very big or close to each other.”

“That’s fine,” Danny says, taking a deep breath as Tim nods again. “Clockwork said you’d have some advice for dealing with the GIW.”

“I’ll need more info on them and your forces.”

“Figured you would.”

Danny holds a hand out, palm down. Tim raises an eyebrow but holds a hand under his. Two flash drives fall out of Danny’s palm, and he drops his hand.

“The green is basic info in my forces and their abilities. It does not get seen by anyone else.” Danny waits for another nod before continuing. “The red is everything I have on the GIW. I’m a protector, so I’d really prefer not to kill anyone if possible.”

“ You don’t wanna kill, or you don’t want anyone to kill?” Tim asks.

“ I don’t want to,” Danny clarifies. “My council and I will be planning and preparing, too, but Clockwork said you could help, and I want this done as soon as possible.”

“Got it.”

“Let me know when you’re ready for my fraid or with advice.”

“Are they safe? Do I need to rush to find a place they’ll fit together?” Tim asks as Danny rips open a portal, one foot through already.

“They’re in the realms right now. I don’t want them there for more than a couple days,” Danny explains.

“I’ll probably only need one, if even that long.”

Danny hesitates before grimacing and speaking. “I’m sorry I woke you up to drop this on you.” 

Then, he steps through the portal without giving Tim time to respond.

Tim sighs and picks up the red drive before stopping at the sound of little footsteps and sniffles. Summer stumbles across the hall to the bathroom, her axolotl clutched in her arms.

On her way back, she stops and turns to Tim, pausing before coming over. He pushes back from the table a little, and she climbs into his lap, wraps an arm around his neck, and goes right back to sleep. Tim’s arm curled around her back to keep her in place.

Tim chuckles as he plugs the drive into the test laptop to start his research. His phone goes off, and he checks it as he pulls up the first file.

3:02 AM

OG Hacker

Check your email

Security footage is important. Compilation is his punishment

It’s chronological

Tim raises an eyebrow but does as instructed on his nightwork laptop. He finds two videos, the cave security footage and the other a compilation video of everyone fucking with Batman on patrol.

The footage is split screen, with the left side focused on Batman and the right side showing all of his siblings. He’s talking about the files and updates Tim had made, making no comment on the annotated list of questions. Then Nightwing asks a question.

“What do we do about the curse on Joker?”

Even over the video, Tim can see how Batman’s anger spikes as he grumbles, “That’s not something any of you need to worry about.”

There’s silence as he starts for the Batmobile.

Then, Red Hood wipes around, screaming as he pulls a gun and shoots Batman in the back. “You knew! You knew and did nothing!”

Nightwing and Robin draw their weapons and advance as Spoiler and Black Bat disappear toward the stairs.

“Stop,” Batman demands, and is ignored and forced to back up.

“Is that why you revived him after I killed him?” Nightwing hisses.

“HE WHAT!?” Red Hood screams.

He lets loose a couple more shots as Batman bolts for the car and peels out of the cave.

Tim is seething so much that he can hardly breathe. He struggles not to crush Summer to him as he switches to the next video.

The compilation starts with Batwoman appearing and shooting him with rubber bullets in the weak spots in his armor. Several clips like it are scattered throughout the video.

There are also scattered videos of him activating trick gear. A couple smoke bombs are gritter instead. He opens a pocket in his belt and gets a plume of colored smoke.

Nightwing dumps what Tim assumes is glue over Batman’s head and kicks him in the chest, sending him stumbling into Spoiler and Red Hood’s range. They dump hot pink and neon orange glitter over the glue. Then Hood punches him in the face hard enough to nearly knock him off the roof. No one helps steady him.

Red Hood shows up again to cut Batman’s grapple line, making him slam into a wall and fall into a full dumpster.

Signal even shows up, helping Robin trip Batman off a roof and into another, half-empty, dumpster.

The last clip of Batwoman shooting is the only time she doesn’t hit her mark. Batman catches and pins her to the ground. Then, a blur slams into him and knocks him out. Black Bat helps Batwoman up, then taps at his gauntlet.

The last clip in the video is more cave security footage. Alfred can be seen patching someone up in the medbay as the batmobile comes in. Batman is pushed out, and then Black Bat and Batwoman each grab a foot and drag him to Alfred.

Tim struggles not to wake Summer as he texts Barbara back and sends a selfie. Summer and her stuffie are clearly visible, clinging to him.

3:37 AM

Hacking Buddie

I fucking can’t with that bastard right now

The compilation was amazing and I love you for it

[photo]

Summer being amazing as a prize

OG Hacker

She’s so cute

And you’re so attached already

Any idea when I can meet her?

Hacking Buddie

Idk

We need a couple days to relax

It’s kinda been back to back

OG Hacker

Got it. Let me know

Tim’s smile and amusement die quickly as he starts reading through the files. He switches the other computer to a blank file and starts planning as he reads.

He’s barely through a third of the drive when Summer starts whimpering. He absently runs his fingers through her hair, looking down at her when she starts moving, arm falling from his neck as her body turns closer to his. He meets her eyes as she blinks sleepily at him.

“Dad?” she mumbles, barely audible.

The one word makes Tim bluescreen. By the time he collects himself, she’s asleep again. He stiffly reaches for his phone and calls Roy.

“Hello?” Roy grumbles, sleep still heavy in his voice.

“She called me ‘Dad’,” Tim whispers.

“Ok?” Sleepy confusion is still clear, even as his voice becomes clearer.

“How do I react to that?” Tim panics quietly. “Do I ignore it or celebrate? What if she doesn’t do it again? What if she does ?”

“Stop.” Roy's sudden firm order immediately shuts Tim up. There’s a sigh and rustling on the other side of the call. “How did this come up?”

“I was working on something in the living room when she woke up to use the bathroom,” Tim explains. “She ended up sleeping on my lap instead of in her bed and whimpering. I comforted her, and she kinda woke up, called me Dad, and fell asleep again.”

“Is her bio dad someone she’d be comfortable sleeping on or even near?” Roy questions.

“I seriously doubt it,” Tim growls.

“So she probably recognized you. How did you react, and was she awake enough to remember it in the morning?”

“I didn’t, and I don’t know,” Tim groans. “I blue-screened, and by the I got my shit together, she was asleep again.”

Roy hums. “I wouldn’t bring it up or celebrate. If she does repeat it, acknowledge it calmly and move on.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Just cause she’s subconsciously ready doesn’t mean her trama’s gonna let her say it on purpose.”

“Right,” Tim says as he curls over his kids. “fucking trama. Sorry for waking you up for this bullshit.”

“Hey, don’t apologize, I volunteered for this bullshit,” Roy says in mock offense. “Call me whenever you want.”

Tim snorts. “Thanks, Roy.”

“Anytime, Little Red. Night.”

Tim huffs as the line drops before taking a deep breath and whispering to himself. “It’s fine, it’s fine. That was a stupid freakout.”

He scrubs at his face with his free hand as he sits up and returns to work as the first rays of sunlight come through the windows. He’s just over halfway through when Summer wakes up.

She slowly looks around before looking up at him. “Tim?”

“Morning,” Tim greets, looking down at her and ignoring the stab of disappointment.

Summer looks around again but makes no move to get up. “Why am I here?”

“You got up for the bathroom and came over here instead of going back to bed,” Tim explains.

Summer freezes, invisibility kicking in as she does. Tim reaches out to where her head had been, relieved she hadn’t turned, and starts running his fingers through her hair.

“I don’t remember,” she whispers.

“Not surprising,” he says dismissively as he starts to rock.

“I’m not in trouble?” she asks cautiously, popping back into visibility.

This makes Tim pause. “Why would you be in trouble?”

“‘Cause I’m in your way?”