Chapter Text
Danny thought Gotham was alright apart from the turf war between gangs, the occasional building exploding, the extensive gallery of rogues, and crime lords, but all in all Gotham was nice it had the Bats and Wayne so he wasn't complaining not like he could get seriously injured during a rogue attack. Working in WE aerospace division was something he always wanted after finding he could not be an astronaut after the accident, but it was a second best.
Currently Danny was on break, he decided to skip the building's cafeteria, and go to a little cafe a few streets a way to have lunch(in the back of his mind something was pushing to go). Opening the door the little dinged announcing his arrival only making two or three heads turn his way. He ordered fours shots of espresso and a blueberry muffin settling down on a two seat table beside a window facing the door(no Jazz it's not paranoia) ten minutes in with half a cup of coffee, and no muffin the temperature suddenly became uncomfortably hot looking around no one seemed to be affected other than him. Ignoring said feeling Danny continued sipping his coffee at a relatively slow pace when his ghost activated glancing around for the said ghost when someone entered the cafe the temperature rose again that it was hard to ignored. Eyes moving towards the door what Danny didn't expect was for the stranger to be already staring at him like he was some kind of puzzle he was trying to solve. Danny gave the man a little wave, and the man nodded in greeting before moving to the counter he was sure the cause in the rise of temperature and his ghost activating was him but he looked very human.
So Danny stretched his senses hoping to catch something which was turning out to be a very bad idea cause ew whatever was in the man was disgusting looked like corrupted ectoplasm, prodding a bit more Danny was surprised to find that the man had a core(a ghost core)Danny should have a bit more careful caused the man turned sharply, and glared taking big strides up until he was in front of Danny , and wow was he handsome plump lips, tanned skin, most of all his eyes which were glowing a now familiar ectoplasmic green.
He dropped into the chair across from Danny, and the feeling of -right right MINE KN- overwhelmed Danny which he resolutely ignored. The man glared even harder at Danny when the silence stretched out longer how should he even start the conversation this is someone who is a halfa who might not even know he is part ghost, and isn't that a treat another halfa right here in Gotham.
"What the hell did you did to me?", and wow he seemed to have everything from looks to voice Danny could just drown listening to him focus Danny focus he asked a very important question.
"I don't know what you mean." He says looking anywhere but the man's handsome face.
"Don't bullshit me. You did something, and I want to know what it was." The man accused still very much glaring at Danny.
How does Danny begin to explain, like you died right and you came back but there's something wrong with the way you came and it's making you very sick and hungry that is a one way ticket to get punched straight in the face, but one look at the man's angry but very concerned face Danny knew he had to spill.
"Alright, there's know easy way to say this, but you have died, and you are still dead." at this he stiffened but nodded prompting Danny to continue."I have too, but here is something wrong with the way you came back."
"Your ghost core has cracks all over it." At his questioning look Danny decided to explain what ghost cores were first.
"Ghost cores are a ghost's very being if their core were to be destroyed they would cease with no chance of reincarnation or moving on "
"And I have that?" The man's voice took a questioning tone to it
"Correct"
"So something is wrong with my core." He repeated.
"You have this green glowing sludge ro-"
"Lazarus pit." He interrupted
"Is that what you call it?" Danny questioned
"Yes."
"Well, from the way everything looks" gesturing to the man's chest area. "You should be showing symptoms of heightened aggression, and tendencies for extreme violence. Correct?"
"Pit madness." He answered looking down at his clenched fists on the table.
Danny felt pity for the man knowing something was wrong with him, but not knowing how to fix it or whether or not you will be from the torture, and looking back at their conversation atleast the man has an inkling of what he was going through, but didn't know how much it was affecting him. He seemed he was trying to make sense of what Danny said finding out you are dead, but breathing can make someone fall down the paradox of a rabbit hole.
"You know, I can help you." That made him perk up a bit.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Danny nodded a bit of hair falling in front of his face.
He looked to be thinking about it before coming to a conclusion if the furrowed brows were any indication. Danny still had to return to work checking the time Danny decided to cut the meeting short. Bringing out a piece of a paper , and a pen he quickly scribbled his number handing it to the guy.
"Am sorry, but I need to get back to work. Here's my number. The name's Danny. Danny Nightingale. Nice to meet you." Voice taking a mid western accent, extending his hand for a shake.
"Jason." He stated shaking his hand. His hands were calloused, and there were visible scars. Danny didn't want to assume , so he let go.
"It was lovely meeting, but I gotta boo outta here." Laughing he downed the rest to his warm coffee. Warm. Danny glanced at the halfa - Jason- smiling into his cup. Setting it down he got up Jason rolled his eyes at the obvious pun, but still cracked a smile, so Danny counted it as a win for him.
"You can set the time, and date for next meet up, and I will bring what you need you can also ask any questions you have."he said getting up from his chair.
He moved towards the door turning back he gave Jason a bright smile, and a little wave before exiting the cafe. He was once again on the sidewalk, he felt his core thrum with the need to protect as he continued on his journey back to work.
~■●■~
Jason didn't know what to think of the enigma that was Danny, and the feeling of -right right MINE KI- was not making it any better, and frankly he knew he was out of his depth. Finding out he was still dead, and the pits were making him sick was a little too much for him. So he decided to do a deep dive on Nightingale, what he found was not much sadly. He worked for WE aerospace division, and very much liked space in general with the amount of tickets for Gotham planetarium. He has a sister Jasmine Nightingale who currently works in Arkum Asylum Jason sent her a mental salute like sending that of a soldier to war. Other than little tidbits of his life he was clean. So he decided to check his hometown of Amity park somewhere in Illinois. There seemed to be some kind of firewall he was unable get pass, and he didn't want of the help of Timmer or Barbie so he gave up, but he was able to get a picture it seemed to be a few years old judging by the quality.
The picture contained two adults, and two kids they were obviously family based on resemblance. The daughter looked to be exactly like Jasmine. Looking a bit more he came across an old news clipping showing a boy of either 14 or 15 years black hair, and blue eyes presumed to be dead. The name of the boy was Daniel Fenton. Jason connected the dots atleast Danny wasn't lying when he said he was dead if the information was actually true also made sense why he changed his last name.
Jason rubbed away the crust that around his eyes, looking at the time he got ready for patrol. After patrol Jason debated putting in Danny's phone number, but that was a problem future Jason can think about, with that he went to sleep uneasy but hopeful he might be able to get rid of the pits. Sleep decided to hug him tight never to let go with no nightmares.