Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jazz slipped out of the house, heart pounding as she stepped onto the dark, silent street. There was a quiet groan from behind her and she squeezed the hand she was holding tighter.

"Hang on, Danny. We'll get you to Sam's and figure out what to do from there."

There was a quiet grunt of acknowledgment and Jazz slipped an arm under Danny's shoulders, holding most of his weight as she headed down the street. No one else was awake at this hour, which was kind of the point of their escape.

Jazz had been beyond horrified when she'd stumbled across Danny, in Phantom form, trapped in her parents' lab earlier that evening. Her parents had already gone up to bed and Danny…

Well, Danny was in rough shape. She wasn't going to think about it more than that.

It took her longer than she liked to break Danny free, even longer to pack up a couple of bags of clothing and even longer to get them both out the door, but they had made it. Now they just had to make it to Sam's place before anyone spotted them and they could come up with a plan. They could do something.

It was a long walk, filled with Danny making quiet, pained noises and multiple breaks when he just couldn't keep going. Jazz was beginning to panic; it wasn't like she could take him to a hospital. The best place for him was probably the Ghost Zone, but Jazz hadn't really thought about that and wasn't about to take him back into that house.

They managed to reach Sam's house and Jazz pulled Danny's phone out of his pocket. He was sweating and panting now, leaning heavily on Jazz, but they were there. They were almost safe now. They could do this.

Jazz put the phone up to her ear after scrolling down to Sam's contact. It took agonizing seconds before a very sleepy "Hello?" reached her and Jazz's heart jumped into her throat.

"Bad ending," she said and could hear Sam sitting up in her bed in alarm, "We're out front."

"One second."

Jazz could hear the panicked footsteps through the phone as Sam made her way down from her bedroom to the front door. Every second that it took caused Jazz's anxiety to spike and she had never been so relieved to see a door open. Sam gave a gasp at the sight of them, moving toward Danny.

"Oh Danny," she whispered before slipping her arm under the one opposite Jazz and leading them both inside.

Sam lead them into the living room where they eased Danny onto the couch and he slumped against it with another pained groan.

"I'll get the first aid kit," Sam whispered before slipping off again.

Jazz bit her lip, looking at Danny before looking at his phone again. It was 3am, but they really needed all the help they could get at this point. She scrolled down the contacts list again before putting the phone back to her ear.

"Someone better be dead. Again," Tucker said in lieu of a hello and Jazz bit back the angry response that rose up at his very not funny joke.

"Bad ending," Jazz said again and Tucker cursed under his breath, "We're at Sam's."

"Ok, ok," Tucker said, doing a breathing exercise, "We're prepared for this. We can do this."

"Where are we going to go?" Jazz asked instead of answering or even hoping for Tucker to have an answer.

"Hang on."

Jazz could hear furious typing on Tucker's side before he spoke again, "Gotham, New Jersey. You have a sister and an uncle there."

"I have a what?" Jazz asked, voice pitching higher than she meant.

"Shh!" Sam said from where she was tending to Danny. Jazz winced in apology before turning her attention back to Tucker.

"Apparently you're a twin and you were supposed to go live with your uncle like your sister did, but that obviously didn't happen. It's a place to start, at least."

"Right," Jazz agreed, her mind swimming with everything that had happened this evening, "Can you text Danny an address?"

"You got it," Tucker said and Jazz heard the ping of the text come through, "Do I need to head over?"

Jazz looked at Sam and bit her lip, "I think we're going to get on the road as soon as we can. But if Sam wants-"

"Sam does want," Sam cut in, "We're going with you."

"Sam-" Jazz started but then Tucker cut in.

"On my way!"

The line went dead and Jazz huffed in response, hanging up the phone before looking at Sam, "We can't all just disappear."

"We can and we will," Sam disagreed, "We promised we were in this beginning to end. We're going with you. Besides, I can fund this little adventure."

And Jazz really couldn't argue with that so instead she nodded, "Alright, go pack your bag. We'll take your car."

Sam gave a nod, looking at Danny one last time before getting to her feet and running back upstairs. Jazz dropped to her knees in front of Danny and cupped his face.

"Hey, are you still with us?"

"Barely," Danny admitted, opening his eyes and looking at Jazz, "What's the plan?"

"We're going to Gotham."

~~~~~~~~~~

Danny was asleep in the backseat, leaning against the window. Sam was sitting next to him and kept glancing at him in worry, but she didn't say anything knowing as well as the others that they couldn't take him to a hospital. Jazz was doing her best to stay focused on the road and not glance back at her brother every other second.

Tucker was in the passenger seat, trying to find out more information about where they were going and, maybe, find Danny's birth parents while they were at it. Jazz and Danny had known for years that they were adopted, but they hadn't ever bothered seeking out any family they might have had. At least, not until they started preparing for the Bad Ending.

After Danny's accident and sequential death, and the Fentons' near obsession with finding and experimenting on Phantom, Tucker had started looking into whether or not Jazz and Danny had any living family. Jazz had known that Tucker had found family for her, and they had left it at that.

But now that they were enacting their emergency plan, Jazz was spiraling. She had a twin. And an uncle. How wild was that?

"Uh, guys?" Tucker said and Jazz glanced at him before looking back to the road, "You're not going to believe what's happening right now."

"What is it?" Sam asked, leaning forward from the backseat.

"I was digging into Jazz's family and it turns out that her uncle is the Commissioner of the Gotham police department and her sister works at a library, but when I tried to get more, I hit one hell of a firewall. So I, of course, was working on breaking through it and I just got a message from Oracle telling me to stay out."

"Who's Oracle?" Jazz asked, probably looking as confused as she felt.

"Oracle. As in, the hacker for the Bats? They're a legend in the hacking community. To the point where people aren't sure that they even exist, but here they are, talking to me."

"If they're a hacker for the Bats, does that mean that they'd be able to help us find Danny's birth parents?" Sam asked and Tucker looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I guess I could ask for their help," Tucker muttered and began typing away.

"Don't upset the Bats before we even manage to get there," Jazz said with a sigh.

"I won't, I won't."

Silence fell over the car again other than the sound of Tucker typing. Jazz bit her lip as she looked at the navigation. Only 3 hours to go.

~~~~~~~~

"You're sure this is the place?" Jazz asked from where they were parked in front of the house.

"Yup," Tucker said without hesitation, "It's what is listed in the records as the Gordon home. And Oracle confirmed it once they understood what we were looking for."

"Did they have any success in getting access to Danny's birth records?" Sam asked and Tucker shook his head.

"They're still working on it. Looks like the records got sealed after the adoption."

"…do you think they're home?" Jazz asked, still looking at the house in question.

"Well there's one way to find out," Sam said, getting out of the car.

"Sam!" Jazz hissed before getting out and following her to the front door. A glance back at the car showed Tucker trying to wake Danny.

Sam walked up to the door and knocked with little fanfare and Jazz bit her lip, waiting to see if anyone answered.

Silence was their only response.

"Guess they're not home," Sam said with a frown.

Jazz ran a hand through her hair, "Let's find something to eat then and we'll find somewhere to stay for the night."

Sam nodded her agreement and the two young women headed back to the car. Danny was upright, though he looked dazed.

"What's up?" he asked with a yawn.

"No one is home so we're going to get food," Jazz answered.

"Good, I'm starving," Danny muttered, rubbing his face tiredly.

"There's a place called Batburger not far from here," Tucker offered and Jazz shrugged before putting the address into the GPS.

~~~~~~~

Barbara frowned as she stared at the screen in front of her.

It had been odd to find someone trying to dig into hers and her father's personal lives, especially when that person not only found but was dismantling her firewall. She had reached out to message the person and that had lead her down a rabbit hole.

The person in question, one Tucker Foley as she had learned, was in the company of her missing twin sister. The one that Barbara hadn't known existed until all of a few hours ago. It had taken some digging, but she had found the original birth certificates and the eventual clerical error that would lead to one of them being adopted out to a family in Amity Park.

A town that didn't exist.

It used to exist, Barbara was sure of that, given that there used to be records of it but somehow it ceased to exist and no one noticed. She had brought this up to Foley who had said that it was the GIW's fault, whatever that meant.

So Barbara went down another rabbit hole.

Thus it was that hours later, not only was she now aware of a missing twin, a missing town, and a group of young adults on the run from the missing town on their way to Gotham, but she was also aware of something very concerning.

Not that the rest of that wasn't concerning but…

"Hey B?"

She got a grunt in response so she took a breath and continued, "I stumbled across something that looks League big."

"What did you find?"

"The GIW, or Ghost Investigation Ward, is being funded by the government to seek out and capture ectoentities to experiment on and eradicate."

"What are ectoentities?"

"In a word? Ghosts."

"Ghosts," Bruce deadpanned in response.

"Not just ghosts, but yes. From what I'm reading here? It's not good, B. Jason probably falls into this category."

Bruce grunted again, "And the government is funding this?"

"You better get comfortable, B, it just gets worse from here."

~~~~~

Jazz was shaking as she set her bag down on the bed of the hotel room they had booked. She and Sam were sharing a room and Tucker and Danny were in the room next door, a door between the rooms allowed for them to have direct access. They had left the middle door open for the moment, Sam in the other room helping Danny change out the dressings on his wounds and Jazz?

Jazz was on the verge of a mental breakdown that had been threatening to make itself known from the moment she had found her little brother strapped to that table.

It was the first time that she'd been alone since that moment and the first time that she didn't have a plan of action. They were in Gotham. All they had to do now was find the Gordons and explain to them who they were and that they needed help and pray that they'd help them. If not? Well, Jazz supposed they'd keep looking for Danny's birth parents and if that didn't pan out…

Well, if that didn't pan out, Jazz wasn't sure what they were going to do. Technically Danny was eighteen now so they could just get jobs and live on their own. Though, Danny hadn't actually graduated high school yet and Jazz knew that he'd had plans to go to college and get as far from their parents as he physically could.

Too bad it hadn't happened soon enough.

Jazz could feel the tears welling up in her eyes at the memory of finding her little brother and she quickly shook her head to get rid of the image. She couldn't cry. Not yet. It wasn't safe.

Besides, Danny was feeling a lot better now that he'd gotten a lot of sleep and some food. It was going to be alright. Everything would be fine.

~~~~~~~~

Danny came to slowly.

He felt like the last two days had been spent sleeping and dazed. He knew that his body was desperately healing so he didn't let himself be too upset about it, but it still sucked. It took him a moment to remember where he was. Hotel room. Gotham.

He slowly and carefully pushed himself upright, hissing a bit as the movement tugged at his wounds. He didn't look down, didn't want to see the damage anymore than he already had. It was overwhelming and he'd almost puked the night before.

Tucker was still asleep, and the darkness from the room next door indicated that Jazz and Sam were likely still asleep as well. Danny gave a sigh, grabbing his phone and seeing multiple missed calls from Maddie and Jack.

Because they were Maddie and Jack now. He couldn't think of them as his parents after what they had done. Even if they hadn't realized it was Danny that they were doing it to.

He deleted the voicemails that they left, cleared his notifications and tossed his phone back onto the bed before rubbing his face with a groan. He wasn't sure what their plan was for the day, but he wasn't sure that it mattered. Jazz had family here that she was trying to get into contact with. Danny was a little nervous about her uncle being on the Gotham police; what if they turned him in? Where would they go then?

A sound behind him made him turn and see that Tucker was awake. The other yawned before sitting up and grabbing his laptop, popping it open.

"It's it a little early for that?" Danny asked and Tucker shook his head.

"I was just checking to see if my program unsealed your records yet."

Danny took the silence that followed as a 'no' and looked back toward the window. Gotham was a much bigger city than Amity was. It would be easy for Danny to go unnoticed here. Especially as long as he stayed Danny and not Phantom.

There was a noise from the other room and Danny assumed Jazz or Sam was awake too. They'd likely head to breakfast soon and then…

"Holy shit."

Danny turned to look at Tucker, raising an eyebrow in question. Tucker didn't need the encouragement as he didn't even look up from his screen, "Oracle looked into the GIW. They're taking it to Batman to take to the Justice League."

"What did Oracle find?" Danny asked, brow furrowed a bit.

"The Acts. They say they go against the Meta Protection acts and that they're going to try and get them shut down."

"That's great news," Sam said as she appeared in the doorway.

Danny hummed in agreement. Not being illegal would certainly help things. It wouldn't fix what had happened, but it would make him breathe easier.

~~~~~~~~

It took 3 days to work up the courage to go to the police station and ask for Commissioner Gordon.

Jazz had gone alone, figuring it was better to not totally overwhelm the man. The other three were hanging out at the hotel nearby waiting for an SOS or an all clear text from Jazz to let them know what they were doing next. Jazz had managed to walk into the police station and make it to the front desk before the receptionist did a double take and told her to wait there a moment.

Jazz had blinked in confusion when she had run off, leaving Jazz to take a seat in one of the waiting room chairs and wait. It was barely five minutes later that she returned, a man with her. Jazz got to her feet and opened her mouth to ask for help again when the man spoke over her.

"Who are you?"

Jazz blinked in confusion, brow furrowing a bit before she replied, "My name is Jazz. I'm looking for Commissioner Gordon?"

"I'm Commissioner Gordon," the man replied and Jazz blinked in surprise, "Come with me to my office."

Jazz bit her lip but nodded in agreement, following the man back to his office. He gestured for her to take a seat in the chair on the other side of his desk has he moved into his own chair. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.

"You look just like my daughter."

Jazz nodded a bit, "Barbara, right? I recently found out that she's my twin. I came here hoping that I could meet her."

Gordon frowned at her, "How did you find out she's your twin?"

"I found my birth records. I was adopted by another family as an infant. A friend looked into it for me and found Barbara and yourself."

"And you came all this way just to meet us?"

Jazz hesitated, "Uh, well, you see, my little brother he…"

Gordon looked at her in worry and Jazz swallowed, feeling her eyes start to burn again. Oh no, she couldn't cry, not here, not now but-!

"Our parents hurt him. Pretty badly," she whispered, feeling the first few tears escape, "I had to get him out of there. And I didn't know where else to go."

"Where is your brother now?" Gordon asked, not unkindly.

"He's in our hotel room with a couple of his friends. They're watching over him for me. I understand if this is too big of an ask, but we could use some help."

~~~~~~~~

Jim Gordon was used to weird days. It kind of came with living in Gotham as long as he had. It was never boring and there was always something new happening. That didn't mean that he was expecting his daughter's long lost twin to show up at his place of work and have a breakdown over her adoptive parents abusing her brother.

She was holding it together pretty well so far, but Jim could see that she was teetering on the edge of a full blown meltdown. Not that he could blame her; she'd come home to find her brother half dead and done the only thing she could think of. She took him across the country to the only place she knew she had family.

It was a big ask, Jim couldn't deny that, but he also wouldn't be able to say no to these poor kids. Jazz had said that her brother was younger than her, though Jim wasn't sure by how much. He could still be a teenager. Babs herself was only twenty which would make Jazz the same age.

"Jazz," Jim said gently, and she looked up at him with red rimmed eyes, "I can get the local police involved and have your parents arrested for what they did to your brother, but I'm not sure-"

"No," Jazz cut in, shaking her head, "It's… it's complicated. You wouldn't be able to get through to the police there anyway."

Corruption in the force? Or perhaps one of her parents on the force. Either way it left Jazz in a position of no power and little options.

"What is it that you want me to do, then?"

Jazz hesitated, biting her lip and looking back at the floor, "We're staying in a hotel right now, but we have limited funds. If you could help us with a place to stay while we get on our feet, it would be appreciated."

Jim hesitated. This was Barbara's twin. He knew that his daughter would want to meet her and get to know her. Knew that he too would like the opportunity. That didn't mean that it was the best idea to let a bunch of strange kids come stay at his house. It didn't mean that he wanted to leave them to their own devices either, though. They'd end up in Crime Alley or something equally horrific. This was Gotham after all.

"Has your brother gotten medical attention?"

Jazz faltered, "Not… from like a hospital but we've been taking care of him."

So they hadn't trusted medical professionals either. This was proving to be a pain in the ass already. But Jim wasn't going to say no to a bunch of kids asking for help.

"Tell you what, I know a local doctor who doesn't ask too many questions and who knows when to keep her mouth shut. You bring your brother to see her and then we'll figure out where you can go. I know someone with an emergency foster license who could probably take you in if it came down to it."

"Really?" Jazz leaned forward a bit, clearly surprised, "I, ok, yes."

Jim nodded and wrote down Leslie's address, handing it over to Jazz, "Tell her that I sent you."

Jazz nodded, taking the piece of paper, "Thank you Mr. Gordon."

With that she turned and left his office. Jim watched her go for a moment, wondering just what it was he was getting himself into.

~~~~~~~~

The doctor that Gordon had given them turned out to be as good as he promised she was. Leslie Thompkins was a sweet, older woman who had a very no nonsense vibe about her. She took one look at Danny and had ordered him onto the examination table. One look at the table in question had sent Danny into a panic attack and Dr. Thompkins had ordered him to sit on the floor and worked him through a breathing exercise.

She hadn't asked for him to sit on the table again, especially not once she got his shirt off to examine the damage. She hadn't questioned it, hadn't said one word about the strange scars, nor the fact that Danny was half healed by this point. She had just checked him over, wrapped his ribs and told them that they'd done a pretty good job of taking care of him given their lack of medical knowledge.

Never mind that all three of them were pretty used to patching Danny up at this point in their lives.

She also gave Danny some pain killers before sending them on their way. Danny was quick to pop one of the pills in his mouth, which worried Jazz. Just how much pain was Danny in?

"So now what?" Sam asked as they got back into the car.

Jazz blew out a breath, "Gordon said that we'd figure it out after the doctor looked at Danny. He mentioned that he knows someone with an emergency foster license…"

"We don't have to," Tucker said, though he looked a little uncertain, "We can keep living in the hotel room for a while longer, right Sam?"

"Yeah, totally, we don't need to worry about strangers poking into our lives more than they already have."

Jazz bit her lip, "Yeah, but, how long can we keep that up?"

There was silence for a bit before Sam spoke again, "We can get jobs, find an apartment-"

"Stop," Danny said tiredly, "You can't just abandon your lives and start over."

"Yes we can," Tucker denied, "And we will if it keeps you safe. Don't worry so much, man."

Danny looked like he was about to disagree when there was a 'ding!' from Tucker's computer. As one they all turned to look at the device and Tucker popped it open.

"It's a message from Oracle," he murmured.

"What does it say?" Sam asked, leaning toward him.

"They managed to get Danny's records unsealed. They're reaching out to your birth mom now. Apparently there was no dad listed."

Danny bit his lip. Jazz looked over at him and let out a quiet sigh, "It's another lead. At least we're making progress. We'll stay in the hotel a little longer, but we really need to come up with a real plan."

"Like I said, jobs, apartment-" Sam started again and Danny cut her off again.

"No, stop. Just. Stop."

Sam gave Danny a frustrated look that he ignored. Jazz let out another sigh, "Let's get something to eat. We'll talk about this more later."

~~~~~~~~~

Bruce stared at the file in front of him.

Barbara had sent it to him with a little note that the child in question was in Gotham looking for his birth parents. How she knew that, Bruce was uncertain but he wasn't going to question it too much. She was Oracle, after all. He huffed as he stared at the mother's name.

Selina Kyle.

That was all it took to get him moving.

~~~~~~

"Eighteen years ago you gave a child up for adoption."

"Well hello to you too," Selina purred, looking over at Bruce who was in his Batman attire, "How do you know about that?"

"Because the child is here in Gotham."

"What are you asking, Bruce?"

"The child's father wasn't listed on the birth certificate. Eighteen years ago…"

Selina gave a sigh and turned away from Bruce, heading for the kitchen. Bruce didn't hesitate to follow. She poured herself a glass of wine, taking a healthy sip of it before finally turning back to Bruce.

"Yes, he's yours."

"Dammit Selina."

"What did you want me to do? Neither of us were in a place to be parents at that point. Hell, I'm not sure that I'd be ready to be a parent now." Selina finishes off her wine and gives a sigh, "What are you going to do?"

"…It's complicated."

"He's yours, technically."

"He has a family."

"Does he know who you are?"

"No."

Selina gives a nod, "This changes nothing for me,"

Bruce gives her a look before leaving. Selina sighs again and pours herself another glass.

~~~~~~~~~

"You what?"

"Bruce, we've talked about this."

"Yeah, didn't we tell you to be more careful after Damian?"

"Technically this was long before Damian."

"Bruce."

"What was long before Damian?" Damian asked as he came into the room.

His father, Drake, Richard, Todd, and Brown all turned to look at him. There was an awkward silence before Bruce spoke up.

"How was school?"

"Fine. What were you all talking about?"

Looks were exchanged before Richard moved over to Damian, "We uh, just found out that Bruce has another kid."

Damian looked at Bruce in confusion, "With mother?"

"Ah, no," Bruce said, rubbing his face.

"Oh yeah, who is mother dearest?" Todd asked, looking back at Bruce.

"And how old is the kid if it was before Damian?" Drake added.

Bruce let out a sigh, "He's eighteen-"

"Eighteen!" Brown cut in, "He's older than us?!"

Drake looked equally shocked but Richard frowned, looking over at Bruce, "Does that mean that…?"

"Selina is his mother," Bruce said in answer to the question that Richard didn't finish.

"…Don't tell me he is coming here," Damian said into the silence that followed.

Bruce gave a shrug in response, "I have no idea why he's in Gotham other than he was looking for his birth parents."

"There's a lot of reasons to look for birth parents," Drake reasoned, "Most of which don't involve him living here."

"How did you find out about him?" Damian asked, crossing his arms.

"Oracle," Bruce admitted which caused the rest of the group to look at him.

"Why does Oracle know about this kid?" Richard asked before Damian could.

"She hasn't told me," Bruce said with a frown, "But she also didn't know he was mine. Just that he was Selina's."

"So what do we know about him?" Drake asked.

"Just his adopted name," Bruce shrugged a little, "Why?"

"Obviously we're going to look into the kid," Todd said as though it was the most obvious thing ever, which Damian was inclined to agree with that.

Bruce just sighed.

~~~~~~~

Tim frowned as he hit dead end after dead end. The only records he could find on this kid were the ones from when he was born and then adopted. After that, it was like he disappeared off the face of the earth. Tim wouldn't even know he existed if it wasn't for Babs confirming that the kid was in Gotham looking for his birth parents.

"I'm guessing you've had as much luck as I have."

Speaking of Babs. Tim gave a sigh and shook his head, "Whoever made this place disappear did a good job of making everyone living in it disappear too. There's hardly any proof that the place even existed. How did you even come across this?"

"Accidentally."

Tim frowned at the computer screen in front of him at the lack of an answer. Babs was usually more forthcoming with information which meant…

"Do you know the kid?"

"No, but his friend is an acquaintance of mine. That's how I found out about the GIW too."

And wasn't that a mess. Between Bruce suddenly having another kid that no one knew about and having to deal with dismantling the GIW with the Justice League, Bruce looked at wits end. Which was why Tim took it upon himself to research the kid in question. He wasn't expecting to come up with absolutely nothing and run himself into the very problem that Bruce was looking to solve.

"Who the hell is this kid?"

~~~~~~~

Danny had passed out after they ate, likely from the pain meds. At least, Jazz was hoping it was a side effect of the pain meds and not something else. Dr. Thompkins had given Danny a, mostly, clean bill of health so Jazz was just going to keep telling herself that Danny was fine and was just recovering.

As a result Tucker was in Sam and Jazz's room, typing away. Jazz was ignoring yet another call from Maddie and Jack and Sam was watching a video on her phone. Jazz turned her phone off when the call started over again, figuring that she didn't really need it right now anyway.

"No way," Tucker said, causing Jazz to turn and look at him.

"What's up?" Sam asked, not looking up from her phone.

"Oracle got in contact with the mom and was able to get who the dad is out of her."

"And?"

Jazz got to her feet, coming up behind Tucker.

"And I can't believe what I'm reading! It's-"

"Bruce Wayne?" Jazz cut in, stunned.

"Yeah!" Tucker agreed, turning to look at Jazz, "Danny's bio dad is Bruce Wayne. How crazy is that?"

Sam came up next to Jazz, looking at the screen as well, "Can we get in contact with him?"

"Oracle already did. He wants to meet up with us."

Jazz and Sam exchanged looks before Jazz looked at Tucker, "We shouldn't make any plans until Danny's awake."

"Danny's awake," Danny's muffled voice came from the other room. There was silence for a moment before Danny appeared in the doorway, yawning, "What's up?"

"Your bio dad wants to meet with you," Tucker answered and Danny frowned.

"How'd he find us?"

"He didn't, Oracle found him and he wants to meet you."

Danny hesitated, looking at Jazz before looking at Tucker, "Oh, uh, when?"

Tucker began typing back to Oracle, "Tomorrow?"

"Sure," Danny agreed, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Danny, you don't have to-" Jazz started but Danny shook his head.

"It's part of why we're here, isn't it? I may as well meet with this guy."

"Bruce Wayne," Sam cut in.

"What?"

"Your dad is Bruce Wayne."

Danny's jaw dropped.

~~~~~~

Tim wasn't sure what he was expecting when Oracle told them that Bruce's son wanted to meet up with him. He certainly wasn't expecting the pale, sickly, black haired, blue eyed teen that walked into WE looking like a lost lamb. Tim wandered over to the boy before he could make it to the front desk.

"Daniel?"

The boy flinched a bit and looked over at Tim. Tim blinked in surprise, uncertain what it was that had startled the other so. The boy cleared his throat and awkwardly gestured toward himself.

"Just Danny."

"Danny," Tim agreed, offering him a hand, "I'm Tim. I'll take you up to see Bruce."

Danny took the offered hand and had a surprisingly strong grip given that it looked like a strong breeze could blow him over, "Nice to meet you."

"This way."

Tim lead Danny to the elevators and used his badge to get them up onto the floor where his and Bruce's offices were. Danny leaned against the wall of the elevator, an arm wrapped around himself in a way that was oddly familiar to Tim.

"Hurt your ribs?" Tim asked after a moment and Danny started a bit.

"Uh, yeah, bruised. How'd…?"

Tim offered him a small smile, "I've bruised my own ribs enough to know when someone else has. What happened?"

A haunted look passed over Danny's face before it was gone. Tim almost could have thought that he imagined it with how fast it happened.

"Oh, y'know, teenagers," he responded instead, leaving Tim to fill in the blanks. Tim frowned but didn't comment further.

The elevator dinged, announcing their arrival on the correct floor and Tim stepped out. Danny was quick to follow, looking around as Tim lead him to Bruce's office. He paused outside the door, knocking and waiting for permission to enter before opening the door and gesturing Danny in.

Bruce got to his feet and Tim could see the nervous energy coming off the man. They had no idea what it was that Danny wanted with them and Bruce hated unknowns. So did Tim, for that matter, but it wasn't Tim's kid suddenly showing up on their doorstep.

"This is Danny. Danny, this is Bruce. I'm across the hall if you need anything," Tim said before closing the door and heading back to his own office where he could see his siblings spying.

"That's him?" Steph asked as soon as Tim walked in, "I expected him to be taller."

"He looks sick," Dick observed, looking over at Tim, "You think he's here for a medical reason?"

Tim gave a shrug, closing his office door, "He's claiming bruised ribs from teenage things, whatever that's supposed to mean."

Jason crossed his arms, leaning against Tim's desk, "You think he's a threat?"

"I think there's more to him than he's letting on. He had a strong grip despite his appearance."

~~~~~~~~~

"Please, have a seat," Bruce said and gestured toward the chair in front of his desk.

Danny hesitated a moment before carefully lowering himself into the chair as to not jostle his ribs. They were mostly healed, but they were still tender. Bruce frowned a little as he watched him before shaking his head a bit and offering a bright smile.

"So, Danny was it? What can I do for you?"

Danny hesitated again. They had spent a lot of the night before planning for this meeting and at the end of the day, Danny still didn't know what to say once actually faced with the man that was supposedly his bio dad. He opened his mouth and he surprised himself with what came out.

"Why didn't you want me?"

The horrified look on Bruce's face had Danny sitting upright and holding out a hand, "Sorry, that's not… I didn't mean to ask that."

"No," Bruce said, holding up a hand of his own, "No, it's… I didn't know about you until yesterday. Your mother didn't inform me of her pregnancy."

"Oh," Danny said, swallowing, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Bruce said gently, looking worried, "But I will admit that I am uncertain what it is that you could want after all this time…"

Danny rubbed his face, laughed a little without any real humor, and looked back at Bruce, "Nothing. I don't want anything."

"Surely there's something-"

"No I just… I'm not safe at my adoptive parents' house and we managed to unseal my records and then it was you and I just… nothing. I don't want anything."

~~~~~~~~

Bruce frowned as he watched his son have the beginnings of a breakdown in real time. It was clear that Danny was going through something and that Bruce was just the cherry on top of what was sounding like a terrible life. His heart clenched a bit at the thought.

"What do you mean, it's not safe?" Bruce asked and Danny immediately pursed his lips, sitting up straighter, resting his hands against his knees.

"Nothing. This was a bad idea," Danny said before pushing himself to his feet.

Bruce also got to his feet, coming around the desk and gently laying a hand on Danny's shoulder, "Danny, if you're in danger-"

"I'm not, it's fine, I have it handled. I just… wanted to know."

Bruce faltered again. He had been expecting a lot of things, but a broken child certainly hadn't been one of them, "…Selina didn't think she was fit to be a parent. That's why she gave you up. It wasn't that she didn't want you. It wasn't that I didn't want you."

Danny eyed him for a moment before shrugging his hand off, "Well now that that's settled, I guess I'll see you around."

"Danny. I'd like to get to know you. I'd like to be in your life now that I know about you."

"Trust me when I say it's better you don't," Danny said before turning and heading for the door.

"Danny-"

"See ya, Bruce," he offered in response before slipping out of the office and closing the door behind him.

Bruce stood in the middle of his office at a total loss. That had not gone at all as he'd expected.

~~~~~~~~

"Ah hell," Jason said, slipping from Tim's office at the sight of Danny all but bolting from Bruce's office.

"Dammit Bruce," Dick muttered and followed Jason out of the room before chasing after Danny.

Bruce himself came out of his office a moment later, looking down the hall toward the elevator where Danny and Dick were getting on. Steph huffed and marched over to him but Cass beat her to it.

"What did you do?"

Bruce gave a helpless shrug in response and Tim gave a sigh. Of course he didn't know what he did. He rarely did when it came to his kids.

~~~~~

"Danny!"

Danny ignored the call from the unknown voice and got onto the elevator. Unfortunately, the doors didn't close fast enough and the person who had called him slipped onto the elevator with him.

Danny raised an eyebrow at the man standing before him. Black hair, blue eyes, was he another of Bruce's kids?

"Hey uh, my name is Dick."

"On purpose?" Danny blurted before he could stop himself.

Dick gave a laugh, "Yeah, on purpose. Listen, I know that Bruce is just terrible with words, so whatever he said, it wasn't what he meant."

Danny snorted in response and looked away, "He meant it plenty."

Dick frowned and ran a hand through his hair, "What did he say?"

"He asked what I wanted from him."

"Dammit Bruce," Dick said, with feeling, "That's not… it's not like we assumed you were meeting with him for the money or something like that."

Danny looked at Dick with a frown, "Well I'm not."

"Right," Dick agreed, "We figured you had another reason. Even if that was just looking for where you came from."

Danny looked away again, thinking about the last week and the hell he had gone through, "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Bruce has foot in mouth syndrome and you really have to get used to him to understand what he's really asking. When he was asking what you wanted… he was really asking if you were ok."

Danny could feel the tears welling up for the first time since he'd been saved from the Fentons. Now was not the time for a breakdown but with Dick looking at him like that, he couldn't help the few tears that escaped.

"Whoa, hey," Dick said, moving toward him before pulling him into a loose hug, "Whatever is going on, we can help, alright?"

Danny shook his head, wiping at his face, "No, you can't."

"We can't change what already happened," Dick agreed, "But if you need help, we can help you."

Danny pulled away from the hug, putting himself in the corner of the elevator and pulling his knees up to his chest as he felt the first sob lurch out of him.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, Dick settling down next to him as he had his breakdown. He became vaguely aware of others coming in and another body settling on his other side, but he couldn't find enough of himself to care. He'd been being strong for Jazz and Tucker and Sam and now he was just …

When the sobs finally subsided and Danny finally became aware of himself again, he was able to see a dark haired girl leaning against him while texting with someone. He blinked in confusion, looking over at Dick. Dick offered him a small smile in response.

"That's Cass."

Cass looked over at him and offered a smile before signing something to him. He blinked again and looked at Dick who was laughing quietly.

"She says, 'new brother'."

Danny's brow furrowed in confusion, "Just who are you people?"

"Bruce's other kids," Dick offered with a slight shrug, "Most of us are adopted, though Damian would be your half brother."

"Just how many kids does he have?"

"Well there's me, Jason, Tim, Cass, and Damian. And you, obviously."

"…and he still hasn't figured out how to properly talk?"

Cass and Dick both laughed at that and Dick shook his head, "No, we're teaching him, though. He's a lot better than he used to be."

"Horrifying," Danny said with a sniffle.

"Yeah, you should see some of the fights he and I have gotten into over the years," Dick admitted, "You feeling up to standing?"

Danny nodded and both Cass and Dick got to their feet before each offering Danny a hand up. He hesitated a moment before taking their hands and letting them pull him back to his feet. He winced a bit and Dick frowned.

"Tim mentioned that you hurt your ribs. What happened?"

The urge to breakdown all over again hit Danny like a ton of bricks, but he swallowed it back and shook his head instead, "Nothing."

Cass signed something else and Dick was nodding in response which made Danny a bit wary. Dick offered him a smile instead, "Why don't we try this again, hm? Bruce told us that you're not safe at home anymore-" when the hell had Bruce told them that?? "-so I can draw my own conclusions on what happened with the ribs. I don't know where you're staying right now, but it's probably not very safe if it's in Gotham. Why don't you come home with us?"

Danny stared at Dick, a little stunned, "…I'm not the only one here."

Dick tilted his head a bit, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, my sister and my friends are here with me."

"Please tell me your sister is through adoption and not Bruce's because if I have to lecture him about safe sex one more time-"

Danny laughed and shook his head, "No, no, adopted sister."

"Thank god. Not that we're not happy to have you here, but this happens far too often in our household."

Danny laughed again and Dick grinned in response.

"Bring them over for dinner. The rest of us will keep Bruce in check. Promise."

Danny bit his lip, looking uncertain, "I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

"It'll be fine. We'll invite Babs and Steph over too. Make a big thing of it."

"…alright," Danny reluctantly agreed and both Cass and Dick smiled in response.

"Great! What's your number? I'll text you the address."

~~~~~~~~~

Jazz stood in front of the door, biting her lip. They were at Wayne Manor for dinner as promised and she was wondering if this was really a good idea. Danny hadn't told them much about what had happened with the meeting with his father other than it had gone poorly and one of his kids had to smooth things over and they had all been invited to dinner to make up for it.

Sam came up next to her and knocked on the door with more confidence than Jazz was feeling. It was one of the things that she admired about the other girl. Danny and Tucker were standing just behind them, Danny looking as uncertain as Jazz was feeling.

The door opened and an older man was standing there, "Welcome." He did a double take at the sight of Jazz, staring for a moment before his eyes settled on Danny, "We've been expecting you."

He stepped to the side allowing the others to enter before leading them toward the dinning room where Jazz could hear a bunch of other voices. He opened the door and the group stepped in. Immediately all the voices stopped and everyone stared at Jazz in shock.

"Wh-?" Sam started to ask but then Jazz's eyes landed on the only other red head in the room.

She let out a gasp, her hand going to her mouth in surprise. It was her twin. It had to be her twin. They were identical. It was like looking into some strange sort of mirror.

"Oh what the hell?" a man with a streak of white in his hair asked, looking from Jazz to the other red headed woman in surprise.

The woman in question moved away from the table and, oh god, she was in a wheelchair. What had happened?? She wheeled her way over to Jazz, eyeing her critically.

"Are you… Jazz?" She asked and Jazz nodded, "I'm Barbara. It's nice to finally meet you."

Jazz was stunned so Danny came up next to her and offered Barbara a hand, "Danny. Don't mind Jazz. She's not fully functional at the moment."

Without missing a beat, Jazz shoved Danny which got a laugh out of him. Barbara offered a small smile, "Funny that our families would know each other."

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked and Barbara glanced at him before gesturing around.

"The Waynes are like family to me. And here you had one for a sibling all along."

Jazz offered a smile of her own, "Yeah, I guess that is funny."

"Hey, Babs, want to fill in the rest of the class here?" The oldest of the boys piped up and Barbara offered him a grin.

"Oh, didn't I tell you about my secret twin?"

"Uh, no, no you did not."

"Right, well, this is my twin Jazz. Jazz, these are Dick, Jason, Cass, Tim, Steph, Damian, and Bruce."

Jazz smiled at gestured toward her own group, "These are Sam, Tucker, and Danny."

Barbara offered her a smile and rolled her way back to her spot at the table, "Well have a seat and let's get to eating this amazing meal that Alfred made."

Jazz found herself next to her twin, Danny next to her. Sam and Tucker ended up next to him as people shifted around the table to make room for their little group to stay together. Jazz let out a breath as she looked around the room at everyone present. Maybe, just maybe, this would be alright.

"I talked to my dad," Barbara said into the quiet that had followed everyone getting settled, "I'm glad to see you're doing better, Danny."

Danny ducked his head, clearly not thrilled at the reminder of his injuries, "Thanks. Dr. Thompkins was great."

"You went to Leslie?" Bruce said, looking worried.

"Oh dad sent them to her," Barbara offered.

"For the ribs?" Tim guessed and Danny nodded.

~~~~~~~~~

Barbara frowned to herself and looked over at Tim at the question. She hesitated a moment before deciding to push forward. They knew that Danny was running from his adoptive parents already so…

"Dad said that it was your parents?"

Danny tensed up, and Jazz didn't hesitate to pull him into a hug while shooting Barbara a dirty look. Sam and Tucker also tensed up. Whatever it was that had happened, they were all aware of it and it had been terrible. Barbara could see Jason bending the fork that was in his hand from how hard he was gripping it. She certainly had made the table even more tense than it was before.

"He also mentioned that you said law enforcement in your town wouldn't do anything. Are your parents law enforcement?" Barbara probed gently and Sam cut in.

"Stop. You don't know anything."

"I know your town doesn't exist."

Silence followed that before Dick cleared his throat, "What does that mean?"

"It's the government," Trucker said instead, "They took over our town and made it disappear."

"Why?" Tim asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Because of the ghosts," Jazz answered, still looking upset but no longer holding Danny.

"Ghosts," Bruce echoed, looking as though he thought he heard her wrong.

Danny let out a tired sigh, "Amity is haunted because our adoptive parents created a portal to what they call the Ghost Zone. Ghosts come through it and terrorize the town."

"So close the portal," Damian said and there were head shakes from the Amity group.

"That's not good enough for the government. They tried to blow up the Ghost Zone," Sam said, "And if they had succeeded, it would have unraveled reality."

"Uh, what?" Steph asked, looking deeply concerned, "The government almost destroyed reality?"

"Got real close," Danny agreed, "But our local hero stopped it in time."

"Who's your local hero?" Dick asked and Barbara perked up in curiosity.

"He goes by Phantom. Also a ghost. He keeps the other ghosts from causing too much trouble," Tucker replied, "But the government is trying to take him out too."

Cass signed 'why' and though none of the Amity Park group spoke sign language, they seemed to understand just fine.

"Because he's also a ghost and therefore needs to be destroyed as far as the government is concerned," Jazz said with an edge in her voice.

Dick turned to Bruce, "Do meta rights cover ghosts?"

"No," Danny replied before Bruce could answer, "And there's laws in place that make experimentation and extermination of ghosts legal."

Bruce frowned. He, of course, already knew about the Acts. Barbara has sent them to him after all, but he wasn't Batman right now and Bruce Wayne had no reason to be aware of any of this. Apparently he hadn't shared this with the rest of them yet, though, because they all looked alarmed.

"Experimentation and extermination?" Damian echoed and Barbara knew that tone. Usually a new rescue animal followed that tone.

"And if our town, its people, and its ghosts don't exist, there's no way for people to be upset over it," Sam added.

Bruce was eyeing Danny, "Are the ghosts why it's not safe at home?"

Danny tensed up again, not that he'd ever fully relaxed but clearly the adoptive parents were a touchy subject.

"Bad ending," Tucker muttered and Sam punched his arm, "Ow!"

"Bad ending?" Tim repeated, looking from one to the other.

"Bad ending," Jazz agreed, "is the code we came up with in case we ever needed to get out of town."

The fact that they'd needed that code to begin with had implications that Barbara didn't like. Judging by the look on Bruce's face, he didn't either

"…Dad told me what you told him," Barbara admitted and Jazz sent her a panicked look, "It's not our business, but we can't help you unless you're honest with us."

Danny looked as though he wanted to slide under the table and knew he couldn't so he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

"…I didn't tell him everything," Jazz admitted and Danny looked at her in surprise, "Couldn't tell him everything. I came home and I found Danny almost dead. What more could you possibly want to know?"

Silence. No one moved. Barbara wasn't even sure that the others were still breathing. She knows she missed a breath or two.

"Who?" Jason finally asked into the silence. Who had hurt Danny that badly?

"Our parents," Jazz's voice cracked and a few tears fell.

Sam got up and hugged Jazz, murmuring quietly to her. There was more silence. Their parents had almost killed Danny. Barbara has already known that, but she needed the others to understand what they were walking into. Judging by the looks on their faces, they not only knew but they were committed to helping the kids.

"Where are you staying?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Kings Inn," Tucker replied and Jason was already shaking his head.

"That's at the edge of Crime Alley."

"You can all stay here," Bruce said and Jazz shook her head.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"You can't keep staying there. It's not safe near Crime Alley."

"I think the name kind of gave that away for us," Tucker deadpanned.

"Just stay for the night."

Danny let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face before turning to Bruce, "Listen, we appreciate the offer, but we're fine where we are."

"Until you're not," Jason cut in and Danny frowned at him.

"…he's got a point, Danny," Jazz said quietly.

"Jazz-" Danny started with another sigh before Sam cut in.

"We can just change hotels."

Danny made a frustrated noise, "We aren't doing anything, you should be going home."

There was silence while Danny and Sam stared each other down. It took longer than expected, but Sam did look away first. Barbara couldn't help her surprise at how stubborn the group was. But then again, Danny clearly took after Bruce in more than just looks.

Jazz cleared her throat and turned toward Bruce, "We'll stay for the night, but we'll figure out what we're going to do moving forward tomorrow."

Bruce gave a nod of agreement, "That's reasonable. I'll have Alfred drive you back to collect your things."

Danny pursed his lips but didn't comment, clearly not alright with this plan, but likely didn't have a better one. It was true that they were safe in the hotel until they weren't. That area might have technically been outside of Crime Alley, but it was close enough that nothing good happened there.

And Barbara was pretty sure that Jason would have spent the entire night camped out by that hotel just to make sure that they were safe.

The rest of dinner, while still mildly tense went by smoothly. Danny never fully relaxed, but he was chatting quietly with his friends while Jazz was observing the table as a whole. Barbara was really interested to know what her twin was thinking, but she'd already pushed their boundaries quite a bit that night.

~~~~~~~~~

The trip back to the hotel to get their stuff and check out was uneventful minus a small argument between Danny and Sam about her and Tucker going back to Amity where they belonged. The argument had died by the time they got back to the car and were driven back to Wayne Manor. Neither side had given in, but were pushing the conversation off until tomorrow.

Alfred showed the group to their rooms, leaving them to get ready for bed. Danny was changing when there was a knock on his door. He called a casual, "Yeah?" assuming that it was his sister or one of his friends.

Imagine his surprise to see Dick let himself into Danny's room. There was a pause where Dick just stared at him and Danny was confused by the reaction before he remembered that he was shirtless and the damage that had been done could be seen. Danny made a strangled noise, grabbing his shirt and yanking it over his head quickly before turning his attention back to Dick.

"You're… not who I was expecting."

"…Danny," Dick stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, "Those scars look pretty fresh."

"They're healing just fine," Danny said, "The doctor said so and everything."

There was a strange look on Dick's face at that answer, "I meant… was that… are they from your adoptive parents?"

Danny swallowed hard. He didn't want to think about those scars or how he got them. He'd been doing a pretty good job of ignoring that entire situation since he woke up in Gotham and had been planning on keeping it that way a little while longer. He'd already had one breakdown in front of Dick; he really didn't want to have another.

Apparently Dick took his silence as an answer because Dick let out a slow breath before speaking again, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would they do something like that?"

It took Danny a moment to realize that Dick was angry on his behalf. It was kind of sweet, actually, but Danny had more than enough people already angry on his behalf that he was trying to get to not ruin their lives. He also really didn't need any more people to know about his secret, but…

"…because they can, legally," Danny replied and Dick jerked his head up to look at him in alarm.

"What?"

"The Anti-Ecto Acts. I'm ecto-contaminated from years of exposure to ectoplasm."

"So they dissected you?"

Danny flinched, wrapping his arms around himself. He didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't like he could deny it when Dick had seen the scars. There were only so many things that a Y incision scar could be for and none of them were anything good.

"Your ribs," Dick whispered as if he'd just connected the dots and Danny winced again, "How are you even upright?"

"Ecto-contaminated also comes with fast healing…" Danny muttered, "Also I wasn't upright for the first few days we were here."

Dick inhaled sharply at that, swallowing before looking at Danny again, "Bruce needs to-"

"No," Danny cut in, "No one needs to know."

"Danny. This is. This is really serious."

"I know. But it happened, it's handled, it's fine. No one else needs to be involved."

Dick didn't look happy about it, but he didn't disagree either, "…is anyone else aware…?"

"Jazz, and Tucker, and Sam all know. It's what bad ending meant."

Dick looked even more horrified than he did a moment before, "You all knew that it was a possibility?!"

Danny gave Dick a flat look, "What did you think we meant?"

Dick sputtered, "Not that."

Danny shrugged a bit, "Well that's what it meant so…"

"Why did you stay??"

"Where would I go?" Danny countered.

"Here! Like you are now!"

"I didn't know there was a here to go to until yesterday! I was supposed to just get through high school and then leave to go to college and everything would have been fine and I never would have come here or known about Bruce or any of you."

Dick winced in response and Danny gave a huff, "I didn't mean - "

"I know," Dick cut in, "I get it. Trust me. We've all been through our fair share of trauma that has lead to us saying things badly. But Danny. We're happy you're here, even if it wasn't under good circumstances."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you happy that I'm here? You have no reason to be. I'm just bringing more drama for you to deal with."

"…Danny. We're pretty used to Bruce bringing in new kids under weird circumstances. He adopted me after my parents were killed. He adopted Jason when he found him trying to steal the tires off his car. He adopted Tim after his dad was murdered. Damian is his by blood, but he was still a surprise. And Cass, well, she's got her own complicated trauma too. You're not a burden."

Danny hugged himself, closing his eyes tightly. He jumped a bit when he felt hands on his shoulders, but he didn't shrug him off. Dick had already seen him break down once. This was probably fine, right?

"Danny, look at me."

Danny opened his eyes and looked up at Dick.

"You're one of us now. Whether you like it or not. We're here for you. And part of that is going to be telling the truth about what's going on."

"No!" Danny said and pulled away, "No one else has to know anything."

"We can't help you if we don't know."

"I don't need help, alright? I've got this handled."

Dick raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, clearly. Danny-"

"Just… forget it, alright? Forget you saw anything. What did you come in here for anyway?"

Dick gave a sigh, "I was just checking to see if any of you needed anything."

"I'm fine."

"Right. Well, I'll see you in the morning then. G'night, Danny."

"Night."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dick checked on the other Amity Park kids before slipping down to the Batcave where the rest of his group was waiting. Damian frowned at him when he entered.

"What took you so long, Richard?"

Dick ignored him, going over to Babs who was sitting at the batcomputer, "What do we know about being ecto-contaminated?"

"Why?" Babs looked at him curiously.

"Because Danny said that he's ecto-contaminated."

Babs tensed up, "I was afraid of that. It's exposure to ectoplasm. It makes him a target for the Acts."

"Yeah, that's what he said."

"Dick," Bruce cut in, looking over at him, "What do you know?"

"…ok, for the record, I didn't say anything."

"Dick…" Bruce started again and Dick held up his hand.

"Dick didn't say anything, especially not to Bruce. But Dick might be telling Batman that Danny has a Y scar on his chest."

There was a crash from behind Dick and he turned to see that Jason's bike had fallen over.

"What?" Jason asked, stalking back over to Dick.

Dick traced where the scar was on his own chest and Jason went pale before turning to look at Bruce who was standing perfectly still.

"…he told you not to tell us," Tim guessed and Dick nodded.

"He said no one else needed to know."

"Then why did he show you?"

"He didn't… I walked in on him changing…"

"Did he say how...?" Bruce started and seemed to be unable to finish.

"They dissected him, B. His parents."

"Why?" Bruce looked pained and Dick hesitated a moment.

"He said because they legally could."

There was a silence through the cave as everyone absorbed what Dick meant. Because of the Acts, Danny was seen as less than human and therefore had no rights. Babs was the first to recover, typing furiously on the Batcomputer. A moment later, two pictures popped up, a man and a woman.

"I don't have much about them since the town still doesn't exist, but these are Madeline and Jack Fenton, Danny's adoptive parents."

Jason turned and headed for his bike and Dick huffed a bit, "Jaybird-"

"I'm going to find them and deal with them myself if I have to," Jason replied.

"You don't have to," Bruce cut in, looking at his second oldest, "The League will do something about them as soon as we can find this town."

"Still working on that," Babs said, looking furious at the thought that she was being kept out still, "But I've been making progress. It's just slower than I'd like."

Bruce turned and headed toward the zeta tube, "Patrol is canceled, I want this to be our top priority until we can find those people and bring them to justice."

Babs turned and headed for the elevator, no doubt to go back to her Clocktower and work from there. Tim dropped into the seat in front of the Batcoputer and began typing away. A motorcycle revved to life and Dick had no doubt that Jason was going to go through his own contacts and see what he could find.

"We'll still patrol," Steph said quietly and Cass nodded her agreement.

Dick gave a sharp nod at them grabbing a mask and then followed Bruce through the zeta up to the Watchtower.

Batman was making his way through the tower toward the meeting room, no doubt about to call an emergency meeting and take his emotions out on his fellow super heroes. Dick huffed a bit and followed him.

"B, you can't just react to this," Dick said softly as he caught up with his father figure, "This is going to be very delicate. The kid's already ready to bolt at a moment's notice."

Bruce grunted in response and slipped into the conference room. Dick sighed and put on the mask he'd grabbed before following Bruce in. A couple of the League were already in the room, much to Dick's surprise. He figured it must have been a coincidence since there was no way Bruce had time to call anyone (except maybe Superman who would have heard Bruce just talking about him).

Martian Manhunter looked up from the reports he was going over and frowned in Bruce's direction, "Batman-"

"Not yet," Bruce replied as he reached the console that he would use to call and emergency meeting.

Martian Manhunter looked over at Dick who just shrugged in response. He wasn't going to say anything until Bruce did, which would likely not be until everyone else showed up.

It didn't take long for the rest of the League to show up and, to Dick's slight surprise, Justice League Dark too. Bruce waited at the front of the room for everyone to arrive and take their seats, arms crossed and shoulders tense. Dick stood next to him and could see the questioning looks sent his way since he was still in his civvies.

Once it seemed everyone was settled, Superman spoke up, "What seems to be the problem, Batman?"

Bruce uncrossed his arms and said in a tight voice, "There's been a development on the Ecto-Acts front."

Everyone straightened up at that and Constantine frowned at him, "It's only been a couple of days. What happened?"

Bruce pursed his lips for a moment before he spoke again, "We've discovered two people who are actually vivisecting people who are ecto-contaminated because they legally can."

Shock and horror spread through the group and Dick winced a bit. He could have softened that blow, and Bruce knew it, but he wanted the shock value. It tended to get people to move faster.

"So you want us to stop them?" Flash guessed and Bruce tilted his head.

"Unfortunately they live in the missing town and we're still having trouble locating it. That being said, we have a survivor in our care who might be able to direct us to where the town is."

Dick couldn't help but think that Danny would hate being referred to as a 'survivor' but he wasn't sure how else to explain it to the League. He let out a breath. He'd forgotten that the kids from Amity Park had driven to Gotham and therefore likely knew how to get to Amity Park if they needed to.

"Have we made any progress with the Acts or the GIW?" Bruce continued.

"Oa is ready to step in if needed," Green Lantern replied, "They're both illegal according to them."

Dick pulled out his phone and texted Babs, asking her if she could trace the GPS on Jazz's phone to find the location to Amity Park. He looked back up when he noticed it had gone quiet and eyes were on him.

"Sorry, I just thought of a way for Oracle to find the town," he murmured before looking over at Batman.

Bruce nodded a bit before looking back at the League, "I want this to be top priority. We can't risk them taking more victims before we find them."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Dick you're a genius," Babs murmured, kicking herself for not thinking of it sooner. She hacked into Jazz's phone and checked her mapping app, tracing their path back to Amity Park.

"Got it!" Babs crowed over the comms.

"Got what?" Tim asked immediately.

"It worked?" Dick chimed in a second after.

"Yeah it did, good work, Boy Wonder." Babs grinned, "I know where Amity Park is."

"Send it to me," Jason said, the anger still very clear in his voice.

"No, send it to me," Bruce cut in, "I'm going to send a team out there to deal with this."

Jason gave a low growl in response, which Bruce ignored and Babs sent Bruce the coordinates.

"That should be their starting point, which I assume is in the town though I don't know where they left from. If it was their own house or…" Babs trailed off because there was a chance that they were heading directly to where ever it was that Danny had been vivisected.

"I'm sending a team," Bruce said calmly into the comms, "The Lanterns are putting pressure on US leaders to remove the Acts and the GIW. I'm going to trust the rest of you to keep the kids safe until I return."

Affirmatives went across the line from everyone, and Babs couldn't help but smile a bit, "I'll bring them to my dad if we have to."

"That's a good idea if this ends up taking too long," Bruce agreed and Babs smiled a bit.

"Go get them, B."

~~~~~~~

Bruce was not expecting the coordinates that had been sent to them by Barbara to lead them to a mansion, but here they were. Nothing about the group from Amity Park had screamed that they were rich to Bruce, but it was hard to say. They knew next to nothing about any of them or anything about the town.

Clark came up next to him, looking up at the house before them, "Three occupants. Civilians from the look of them. Not the Fentons."

Hal came up on Bruce's other side and looked the place over, "So then what were they doing here when they left?"

"Maybe it was just on this block?" Clark offered, looking around at the other houses, "I'm not sure how accurate the coordinates were…"

"Very," Bruce cut in, "Though this might explain the car they were driving. It was surprisingly nice for teenagers."

"They?" Hal asked, looking at Bruce.

"The victim was brought to us by his friends and sister," Bruce admitted, "From what Nightwing and Oracle told me, he wasn't in good shape when he arrived."

"That makes sense," Clark hesitantly admitted, "Given what happened. Should we question the people here…?"

"It's as good a place to start as any," Bruce agreed, moving toward the door.

It must have been quite the sight, Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern walking up to the house in this town but luckily there didn't seem to be many bystanders around. It was Hal who knocked on the door and moments later a woman who was probably a little younger than the men on her doorstep opened the door.

"Oh god," she said immediately and started crying, "This is about Sam, isn't it?"

Clark tilted his head, "Sorry, who?"

"Samantha, my daughter. She went missing and she hasn't been using her emergency credit card or answering her phone…"

Bruce frowned a bit, even as Clark reached out and gently touched the woman's shoulder, "We're not here about your daughter. I don't think."

Clark looked back at Bruce who tilted his own head a bit, "We might be tangentially here about your daughter. We're looking for the Fentons."

"Did they do something to her?" the woman was in near hysterics as she asked, and what was probably her husband came up behind her.

"Pam, breathe."

There was a pause before Bruce spoke again, "Your daughter, do you have a picture of her?"

The man disappeared for a moment before coming back with a photo of Sam, Tucker, and Danny, "This is our daughter and this is the Fenton boy. Did he do something?"

"No, but your daughter is in Gotham," Batman confirmed, "And perfectly safe."

"Safe? In Gotham?" Pam replied and Clark held up his hands to try and calm her.

Bruce gave a small sigh, "We can't really explain, but Sam, Tucker, and Danny are in Gotham for their own safety at the moment. We're here to talk to the Fentons about what happened."

"Was it something to do with the ghosts?" the man asked and Bruce hesitated, "Those Fentons and their ghosts. They're always causing problems."

"So you know where we can find them?" Hal asked gently, trying desperately to get them back on track.

"Of course, they're hard to miss," Pam scoffed, "With that giant contraption on their roof and the flashing Fenton Works sign."

Clark raised an eyebrow, even as he gave them a charming smile, "Could you point us in the right direction?"

The man gave them directions to the building in question and the group thanked them before heading for the car that they had rented for the occasion. Bruce slid into the driver's seat, frowning.

"So," Hal said once they were all in the car, "A group of teenagers run away from this place and go to Gotham of all places to look for help?"

"It wasn't a terrible idea, obviously since they got in contact with Batman," Clark said, though he looked a little skeptical.

Bruce let out a breath through his nose, "Danny's older sister is related to Commissioner Gordon. He's why they chose Gotham."

Clark gave a hum of understanding, "That makes a lot of sense."

Bruce nodded, pulling the car onto the road and driving them through the town. Sam's parents were correct; it was very easy to spot the Fenton household once they saw it.

"What is that?" Hal asked, leaning forward from the backseat.

"No idea," Clark answered with a frown, "A lab?"

Bruce grunted in response before pulling to a stop in front of the Fenton household. He took a breath and got out of the car. This was were his son had grown up. This was also where his son had been hurt. Bruce probably shouldn't have been part of the group to come on this mission, but he was the one with the most information. Without him, they wouldn't have known who Sam was or been able to assure her parents that she was safe.

But Bruce was at least as compromised by this entire situation as Jason was.

The trio headed up to the door and knocked. There was no answer so Bruce looked at Clark who hummed.

"They're home. Maybe they didn't hear us?"

Bruce tried ringing the doorbell but that also got no response. He frowned. Hal shifted a bit and looked around.

"They're villains, right? We can just go in…"

"I agree," Clark said, reaching out and turning the knob, "…it's not even locked…"

Bruce grunted and lead the way into the house. Inside it looked mostly normal and Bruce paused, seeing the pictures of the Fenton parents with Danny and Jazz. He made a mental note to take some of the pictures home with him since the kids likely hadn't taken much with them when they escaped.

"They're this way," Clark said, leading the way into the kitchen where there was a very strange looking door.

Hal frowned, "Well that can't be anything good."

Bruce took another steadying breath and reached out to grab it, but Clark stopped him. Bruce turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in silent question.

"Your heart is racing," Clark said quietly and Hal suddenly turned and looked at Bruce, "What are you not telling us?"

Bruce paused and then, "This is likely where the victim was tortured."

Clark gave a wince in response, but Hal squinted a bit at Bruce, "There's more to it than that."

Bruce gave a sigh, "Now isn't the time."

"Are you compromised?" Clark asked, brow furrowing in a way that assured Bruce he was slowly putting the pieces together.

"I'm fine," Bruce said back and then pulled the door open, heading down the stairs into the lab where the doctors Fenton were indeed located. They had both looked up at the sound of people coming down the stairs and were now staring at the gathered heroes, perplexed.

"Batman, Superman, Green Lantern," Madeline Fenton's brow furrowed as she looked at the group descending the stairs into the lab.

"Are you the doctors Fenton?" Clark asked, though they all knew they were.

"Yes," Madeline answered, glancing at her husband, "What's this about?"

"Your work with the ecto-contaminated and ghosts," Hal answered, "It's against the law to do what you've been doing. We're ordering you to cease and desist or you'll face the wrath of the Justice League."

"Now hold on," Jack Fenton spoke up, looking at his wife again before looking back at the Justice League members, "Nothing we do here is illegal."

"The Anti-Ecto Acts are illegal Acts that are being dismantled," Clark spoke up, "Making everything you do here illegal."

"Where are your children?" Bruce spoke up and the doctors paused, looking at each other again before Jack gave a shrug.

"At school this time of day," the man answered, making Bruce bite back a growl.

Madeline blinked a little, "Why do you ask?"

"Because their friend, Sam, was reported missing along with their friend Tucker," Bruce assumed given Sam's parents' reactions. It was likely that Tucker's parents were also looking for him if he hadn't been in contact with them.

"Missing?" Madeline breathed in alarm, "I haven't…" She looked at Jack, "Jazz and Danny, I haven't seen them… and they haven't been answering their phones…"

Jack looked back, just as alarmed, "The school would have called if Danny wasn't there, right?"

Bruce was betting the school had called and that the Fentons hadn't answered. He let out another breath before speaking again, "Where is the school?"

~~~~~~~~~

Hal stayed behind with the Fentons while Clark and Bruce went to the school to confirm with them that Danny had been missing for days without his parents noticing.

"You planning on taking them to court for neglect?" Clark asked as Bruce parked at the school in question.

Bruce hesitated before he looked at Clark, who raised an eyebrow at him, "…Their son, Danny, he's adopted."

"So you're going to try for custody," it wasn't a question, but Clark's brow furrowed anyway.

Clark was Bruce's best friend. He could be honest with him, especially when it was just them. And he'd need to know if he'd have to step in and stop Bruce from reacting. It was logical to tell him.

"I recently found out that Danny is my biological son."

"You can't be serious."

"…he was also the Fentons' victim."

Clark swore under his breath, "You shouldn't be here."

"There wasn't time," Bruce countered, getting out of the car.

Clark scowled at him, but followed him out of the car. They headed toward the school, ignoring the looks and whispers that followed them. They were approached very quickly by an older, balding man who looked a little stressed by their appearance.

"Batman, Superman," the man said once they were in speaking distance, "I'm Vice Principal Lancer. Is there something I can help you with?"

Bruce and Clark exchanged a look before Clark spoke, "We'd like to speak with you about potential missing students."

"I know that students you mean. Are they alright?" Lancer asked and to his credit, the man seemed to genuinely be concerned about the kids.

"They're safe," Bruce replied, "If we could talk in your office?"

"Of course," Lancer replied, leading the two through the halls and down to his office. Students were quick to clear a path, but the whispering was even worse inside than it had been outside. Clark tilted his head a bit, clearly listening to things before looking at Bruce. Bruce gave a nod as they followed Lancer into his office.

Lancer closed the door behind them and gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk, "Now, can I ask what the Justice League has to do with three teens from Amity Park?"

"It's a long story," Bruce admitted, "But they came to us for help with the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW."

Lancer closed his eyes, rubbing his face a bit, "It's been 4 years. Why would they suddenly…" He murmured mostly to himself, "Something happened, didn't it? To Phantom? They always seemed close to him and no one has seen him since Fenton and his cohorts disappeared."

"Phantom?" Clark echoed and looked at Bruce who tilted his head a bit. Danny and Tucker had mentioned Phantom, but Bruce wanted to know more.

"He's the town hero. A ghost. Not much is known about him other than he appears and stops ghost attacks when they happen," Lancer replied.

Bruce gave a hum, "Phantom wasn't with the group when they came to us."

"We were worried that the Fentons had captured him," Lancer admitted, "Have you been to see them?"

"Yes," Clark replied, "They seemed to be unaware of their children being missing. We wanted to confirm with you that they haven't been here and you've been reaching out to the Fentons about it."

"Everyday," Lancer agreed, "They never answered or called back. It's not unusual for them, though. Usually the best way to communicate with them is through their children." He paused, "Wait, Jazz is missing too?"

"You're familiar with Jazz?" Bruce asked and Lancer nodded.

"Jasmine was an excellent student and did her best to keep her brother in line. We were all very proud when she got into 3 Ivy League schools."

"She didn't go," Bruce guessed.

"She decided to take a couple of years off. I think she was sticking around for Danny, to make sure he was taken care of. Danny is supposed to graduate this year."

From what Bruce knew of Jazz, that made a lot of sense. It was unfortunate she felt she had to be a parent to her brother, but if she hadn't been there to find Danny…

All of this was painting a picture that also explained a lot of how their friend group worked. Jazz had been the one to say they were staying the night. Sam had fought with Danny, but not with Jazz. Jazz had likely been an authority figure for a lot of Danny's life if their parents were neglectful on top of everything else. That meant that she was an authority in Sam and Tucker's lives too.

"What do you know about the Fenton parents?" Bruce asked and Lancer gave a shrug and a bit of a sigh.

"Professionally? Not much. They're not very involved with their children's education."

"And unprofessionally?" Clark probed.

Lancer cleared his throat, "They're kind of the town pariahs. And nuisances. Most of the town can't stand the Fentons and their children had the misfortune of taking the brunt of it. Mostly because the parents seem oblivious to it."

"What do you know of their work?" Bruce asked, knowing that they were getting off track, but wanting an outsider opinion.

"Only what they yell to the sky about it," Lancer admitted.

"Is… is that common?" Clark asked, looking concerned.

"Oh yes, they are frequently yelling about how they're going to catch Phantom and pull him apart molecule by molecule. It's why we were worried he had been captured by them when he disappeared."

Bruce closed his eyes and took a breath before getting to his feet, "Thank you Mr. Lancer. You have been very helpful."

Clark and Lancer also got to their feet, Lancer looking hesitant, "The kids… you said that they're safe."

"Yes," Bruce agreed, "They're in Justice League care at the moment with an associate of ours. We'll make sure nothing happens to them."

"You're not going to tell me what happened to cause them to go looking for you, are you?"

"No," Bruce agreed, "Just know that they're safe and being taken care of. Better than they were being taken care of by their parents from the sound of it."

Lancer winced at that, "And Sam and Tucker are with them?"

"Yes," Bruce replied, "They all came together."

Lancer nodded before opening the door to his office and stepping aside to let the superheroes out, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," Clark replied with a smile and the two headed out.

Bruce turned to Clark once they were back in the car, "What did you hear?"

Clark hesitated, "The entire school seems to think we were here because of the kids. Because of Phantom."

"…we should look into Phantom. Ask the Fentons about him. See if they actually caught him and…"

Clark winced in response. There might be a second victim and they didn't know where they were or how to find them.

~~~~~~~

Dick rubbed his face, pocketing his phone. Bruce had just called him and updated him on what was happening. They were arresting the Fentons on multiple charges. Dick wasn't sure how that was going to go over with Jazz and Danny, but at least they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else.

"-prefer you waited for Master Bruce," Alfred's voice came into Dick's hearing range and he looked up to see Alfred following the Amity Park kids down the stairs, their bags in their hands. Oh boy.

"You've been saying that for hours, but Bruce still isn't here," Danny replied, turning toward Alfred once they reached the bottom of the staircase, "And we can't wait all day."

"Danny," Dick called and Danny turned to look at him, "We… we need to talk before you make any more decisions."

Danny looked like he was about to argue, but Jazz touched his shoulder, eyes narrowed at Dick, "What happened?"

Danny tensed up then, actually looking at Dick, and then frowning, "Is… is Bruce alright?"

"He's fine," angry, frustrated, probably wanted to punch a hole in a wall, but fine, "It's… it's about the Fentons."

Jazz's hand tightened on Danny's shoulder and Danny faltered, "…What about them?"

"They've been arrested by the Justice League."

"What?" Tucker squeaked, "Why?"

Dick looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean, why? For…" he paused, realizing that he was going to have to admit that he told someone what had happened to Danny.

Danny was quick to catch on, "You told the Justice League?"

"…told the Justice League what?" Jazz asked, looking at her brother.

"Dick walked in on me last night without a shirt," Danny replied and the Amity Park group tensed up, "And went and tattled to the Justice League. How did you even know how to contact them?"

"It's kind of a well known secret that Bruce funds them," Dick replied easily, "We kind of have a direct line to them because of it. And yes, I told the League. Well, actually, I told Batman and he took matters into his own hands but…"

"And they… arrested them," Jazz said slowly, like she was uncertain that she heard correctly.

"They couldn't risk leaving them unattended. Couldn't risk them hurting someone else."

Danny looked ready to argue but Jazz squeezed his shoulder again and he looked at her, "Jazz?"

"Good," Jazz replied, "They can't be trusted not to hurt someone else."

Dick blinked a bit in surprise before clearing his throat, "The Justice League is also working to get rid of the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW as a whole. That might take a little longer but… you're safe now."

Danny sniffled a little at that and Dick couldn't help but feel for the kid. He was probably feeling a roller coaster of emotions from that bombshell.

"And you're more than welcome to keep staying here. But uh… the Justice League found out that Sam and Tucker have been reported missing by their parents so…"

Tucker winced in response, but Sam just looked defiant even as Danny spun to his friends in surprise, "Don't look at us like that. It's not like we could call and tell them what was going on so it was just… easier to not contact them."

Tucker rubbed the back of his head, "I guess we can tell them now if it's all going to be coming out…"

"Is it all going to be coming out?" Jazz asked, suddenly looking worried.

"We'll likely be able to keep Danny's name out of it," Dick said, "But I'd have to confirm with the lawyers who are going to be handling the case to be sure."

The Amity Park kids exchanged a look and Danny let out a breath, "Sam, Tucker, go home."

"Danny-"

"Your parents reported you missing. If you're found here, then it's going to get everyone in trouble."

Sam faltered, "We can just call-"

"Go home, Sam," Jazz cut in, "I think it's time this adventure came to an end. Danny and I will have to stay here but you two can go home. Go finish school."

"Yeah, go get your diplomas," Danny said with a sad smile.

"…alright," Tucker replied, "But Gotham U just made it to the top of my school choices."

"Mine too," Sam agreed.

Dick's heart clenched at the reminder that these kids were still in high school. He cleared his throat and the group looked at him.

"Danny, Jazz, you're still welcome here. Or, Jazz, I know that Babs would love to get to know you better. You could always stay with her or Jim for a while."

Alfred cleared his own throat and the group turned to him, "I'll prepare some snacks for your drive back."

With that, he slipped around the group and Dick couldn't help but smile after him. He looked back at the kids who looked perplexed.

"It's a long drive back to Amity Park, right?" Dick shrugged a little, "He likes to take care of people when he can."

"…let's put our stuff in the car," Sam said to Tucker who nodded and the two headed past Dick and through the front door.

Danny looked at Jazz, who hesitated and Danny smiled, "Go get to know Barbara. I'll stay here."

Dick relaxed at that, "Perfect. I'll call Babs and let her know to expect a guest."

"You're sure that's alright?" Jazz looked hesitant and Dick nodded.

"Yup, she mentioned it to me when I talked to her last night. You have nothing to worry about. Alfred will even give you a ride over there."

"…alright," Jazz said with a hesitant smile and Dick couldn't help but grin back, "I'd like to get to know her."

Danny gave a nod and headed back up the stairs, "Well I guess I'll go drop my stuff back in the room."

Jazz looked at Dick, "Can I leave my stuff by the door?"

"Sure," Dick agreed, "And we'll plan a trip back out to the house to get the rest of your things once you two know what you want to do long term."

"Thank you," Jazz breathed as she set her stuff by the door, "For everything."

"Trust me when I say that it's the least I can do."