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Danny picked at the sleeves of his coat and Tim huffed, batting his hands away, "Stop that."
"It feels weird," Danny huffed right back at Tim who rolled his eyes.
"You'll get used to it."
"Doubtful," Danny muttered, but made a conscious effort to stop picking at the sleeve. Any moment now they'd be entering the ballroom to join the rest of their guests. Danny still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but it was a little late to be backing out now.
"Should have ditched like the others," Danny murmured and Tim looked at him.
"You can ditch the rest of them, but this one is the first gala we've had since the article about you came out. Most of the people are here for the chance to see you."
"That's what I wanted to hear," Danny drawled sarcastically.
"We can sneak you out early," Bruce cut in and Danny looked at him as he moved to join Danny and Tim, "But you have to make an appearance."
"So much for these being optional," Danny replied and Bruce winced.
"The rest will be. I should also warn you that Selina informed me that she planned on being here tonight."
"What? Why?" Danny looked over at Bruce.
"She often attends," Bruce admitted, "Usually to try and steal something, but I think her motives for tonight are more pure."
Danny gave a sigh and Tim squeezed his shoulder, "It'll be alright. Odds are that you won't even see her with how many people there are."
"Was that meant to be comforting?" Danny snarked back and Tim shrugged a little.
"Boys," Bruce cut in again, "It's time to go. Please at least try to behave?"
Danny swallowed and nodded a bit, following Bruce and Tim into the ballroom. Tim hadn't been kidding, there were an absurd amount of people there. Danny wasn't sure he'd ever seen so many people in one place. Maybe at one of Ember's concerts, but that was honestly a bit of a toss up.
Bruce was immediately stopped by the crowd of people moving forward to chat with him, Tim soon equally trapped. Danny swallowed again and tried to skirt around the edges of the ballroom to make it over to the food table where at least he could shove a piece of food in his mouth to buy him time and distraction.
He saw a lot of different people try to head toward him, but he didn't pause or slow in his pace as he made it over to the food table and let out a sigh.
"Figures you'd be here."
Danny jerked around at the familiar voice and grinned at the sight of Sam in a fancy black dress, Tucker next to her in his own tux. Without missing a beat, Danny pulled his two friends into a hug.
"I didn't know you two were going to be here," Danny complained and Sam grinned a bit.
"We wanted it to be a surprise. Bruce invited my parents, who, by the way, think that you hung the moon at this point and have been bragging to everyone about how long they've known you."
"Which is hilarious," Tucker added, "Given how bad of an influence you were on Sam."
Danny snorted in response, but couldn't stop smiling, "It's good to see you guys."
"How have you been, Danny?" Sam asked gently and Danny shrugged a little.
"It's been alright. Overwhelming at times, like right now, but overall, it's been good."
Tucker reached out and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, "Good to hear. I know we talk all the time, but it's different than seeing you in person. You look the best you have since the accident, man."
Sam nodded her agreement even as Danny blushed a bit, "Well three meals a day makes a big difference."
"There you are, kitten."
Danny turned again and blinked at the sight of Selina. She came over to stand next to him, looking him over before turning her attention to his friends.
"Selina Kyle," she said, offering Sam and Tucker her hand.
"I'm Sam, this is Tucker. We're Danny's best friends."
"Charmed to meet you," Selina purred before looking back at Danny, "You really do take after Bruce."
Danny blinked at that before shrugging a bit, "I guess so."
"I know so," Selina said with a secretive smile, "Well you kids enjoy the party."
With that she disappeared back into the crowd. There was a pause before Sam leaned in close to Danny and whispered, "That was your bio mom, right?"
Danny nodded his agreement, watching Selina go before turning back to Sam and Tucker, "Yeah, that's her. Bruce warned me that she'd be here tonight. I didn't expect her to find me so quickly, though."
"No kidding," Tucker agreed, "Is she going to come out as your parent or…?"
"No idea," Danny said with a shrug before a commotion at the front door caught his attention.
"-on the list!" the security guard was yelling and Danny frowned a bit, moving toward the commotion with Sam and Tucker right behind him.
"I was invited," a very familiar voice hissed back, "I will not have someone who clearly doesn't know how to do their job try to embarrass me like this."
"Oh no," Danny groaned once he caught sight of the person in question, confirming what he'd already known.
"What's he doing here?" Sam asked and then gasped a bit when her parents walked over to the man in question.
"Sir there must be a mistake," Sam's father was saying to the security guard, "This is the Mayor of our town. He's been on the guest list since the list was made."
"No mistake," the guard said, giving Sam's father a hard look, "His name was removed from the guest list some time ago."
"Unbelievable," Vlad responded, before looking over at the Mansons, "Can you believe this?"
"Why was he removed?" Sam's mother asked, looking concerned.
The guard shrugged, "Not my place to ask. All I know is that he's not allowed on the premises."
That was when Vlad's eyes landed right on Danny and his entourage. Danny could practically see the pink glow in them from the anger that was welling up inside of Vlad.
"Daniel," he nearly growled and took a step toward him.
The security guard moved to stop him, but Vlad just shoved him out of his way as he made his way toward Danny. Danny glared right back at the man, even as he tried to figure out just what it was that he could do to stop him in the middle of this crowd. He didn't get very far in his planning, though, before Bruce and Clark Kent of all people appeared between Danny and Vlad.
"Vladdie," Bruce said in a jovial tone of voice that Danny had never heard from him before, "What's all this ruckus about?"
A hand tapped Danny's shoulder and he turned to see Lois Lane, press badge around her neck. She gestured for him to follow her and he nodded, grabbing Sam and Tucker's hands as he followed the woman back into the crowd. They made it to the other side of the ballroom before Lois spoke to them.
"I don't know what your deal with Vlad Masters is, but it's best to let Bruce and Clark handle it."
"I didn't know you guys were here," Danny said in response and Lois smiled at him.
"We attend a lot of Wayne galas as press," she turned to the other two who were with Danny, "Hi, I'm Lois."
"Sam and Tucker," Danny said, pointing to each in turn, "They're from Amity."
Lois' eyes lit up at that, "Oh really? Would you two be willing to do an interview about Amity Park and the ghosts that live there along with Phantom?"
The two hesitated and Danny smiled at them, "Lois is on our side."
"Really?" Tucker asked, still looking wary.
"I'm writing an article about the GIW and what they've been doing not just to Amity Park and it's residents but also to the ghosts that reside there," Lois agreed.
"Wait, you're Lois Lane," Sam said, pointing at the woman in question, "I've read your articles before."
Lois gave a smile in response, "That's me. So, what do you say to an interview?"
"To make it real juicy, we can even tell you what's up with Vlad and Danny," Sam said with a grin, even as Danny groaned.
"I don't have permission to talk about that," Danny cut in, "We'd have to check with Bruce."
"Leave that to me," Lois said with a knowing smile, "So," she pulled out her recorder, "Tell me all about what Vlad Masters has against Danny Wayne."
~~~~~~~~~
Clark always admired how Bruce could handle people.
Most people would assume that Superman was the one who was good with people, but they'd never seen Bruce when he was actually trying. Most of the time, Batman was standoffish and quiet, but when there were kids involved, he was an entirely different person.
Especially when it was his own kids that were involved.
Danny may not have been part of Bruce's brood for very long, but it was pretty clear just how protective of Danny he was. Whether that be because he thought Danny needed more protecting than his other kids or because Danny actually let him do the protecting, Clark wasn't sure.
As it was, both Bruce and Clark had moved to put themselves between Masters and Danny. It hadn't even been a thought in Clark's head before he'd moved to do it. Entirely on instinct. Bruce, however, clearly was thinking and thinking quickly. Clark had been there the night that Tim said he was taking Masters off the guest list after learning that the other had cloned Danny. That he was one of Danny's rogues.
And Clark had heard from both Jon and Kon that Danny didn't have his ghost stamina or strength in human form. That he was just a normal, human kid when he wasn't Phantom.
Clark was vaguely aware of Lois pulling the kids back into the crowd. She didn't know the extent of what was going on, but she knew both Bruce and Clark well enough to know that she should get the kids out of what could be a danger zone.
Though, Bruce was doing an amazing job of playing dumb and defusing Masters.
"You invited me," Masters repeated, sounding exasperated, "Why am I no longer on the list unless Daniel did something?"
"Oh Vladdie, you know he doesn't like to be called Daniel," Bruce replied good naturedly, "It's Danny."
"That didn't answer my-"
"You were taken off the list weeks ago, though I can't recall why now. I'm sure it made sense at the time. Unfortunately, though, that does mean that you're going to have to leave or else cause an even bigger scene…"
Masters paused an glanced around to see everyone watching and whispering about him. He tensed up at that and Clark grinned as he realized he could make this much worse on Masters.
"On your way out," Clark chimed in and both men turned to look at him, "Perhaps an interview explaining what, exactly, is going on between you and Danny Wayne?"
Clark was already mentally revising his and Lois' article to include some information on Masters as the man flushed red.
"That brat-" he started before cutting himself off and looking at Bruce, "I've known Daniel his entire life. I have no problem with him."
"Danny," Bruce corrected cheerfully, "And I'm sure you don't. That would be silly, a grown man having a problem with a teenager."
"All his life?" Clark asked and Masters turned his attention back to him, "So then you know his adoptive parents?"
Masters hesitated a moment, "I've known them since college, yes."
Clark took a step toward Masters, making him take a step back, "So then are the rumors true that they were preforming illegal vivisections on ghosts and neglectful toward their children?"
"Maddie would never-!" Masters started before cutting himself off again, "I don't know what you're talking about. Their children were much loved."
"You're the Mayor of Amity Park, right? How could you let the GIW come in and take over everything?"
Masters was pretty red at this point and he bit out a harsh, "No comment," before turning back to Bruce, "I'm taking my leave. See if I come to another Wayne gala."
With that, Masters turned and headed out of the ballroom and back out onto the street. Clark watched him go for a moment before glancing over at Bruce who looked bewildered. Clark knew it was a mask, but sometimes he forgot what a good actor Bruce was.
"Perhaps," Clark said, catching Bruce's attention, "Danny would be interested in giving an interview about Masters?"
"Oh I'm sure we could arrange something," Bruce said with his thousand watt smile.
That was all the permission that Clark needed.