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Dick got home with his new plant in hand, closing his apartment door behind him and looking around to see where he should put it.
Constantine had given him this sorta weird looking plant that he called Blood Blossoms. Said it was harmless to humans but would provide some sort of protection against spirits and keep them out. They’d never really dealt with spirits, but according to Constantine, there had been whispers from some place called the Infinite Realms about one of their strongest ghosts making Gotham their new Haunt.
According to Constantine, that was not good depending on who the ghost was and according to Bruce, better safe than sorry so each of them had been given one of these plants.
Except for Jason.
While he got along better with the family, he did not like to listen to Bruce. So when he’d sent some sort of message about them all needing to get something Constantine said they needed, Jason just flat out ignored him.
Dick had convinced B to pick his battles and said they could just give one of the plants to Jason later.
He looked at the strange plant and then around his apartment. Hm, he had some room in his bookcases. He didn’t have as many books as Jason (most of the siblings didn’t have as many books as Jason) so there was plenty of room for other things but he usually used that space for pictures and little knick-knacks his siblings had gotten him. Damian always perked up when he noticed that Dick put something he’d given him on display.
The sill of his kitchen window was free! Perfect!
He put the plant down on the window sill and watered it, but didn’t think about it much aside from that. He went about making some dinner and then suiting up and leaving for patrol. It wasn’t an overly busy night and he was able to get back to his apartment at a somewhat respectable time. He stripped out of his suit, showered, and then fell into bed, falling asleep shortly after his end-of-patrol check-in.
~~~~
Dick had a bit of a bounce in his step when he left work today. His wonderful new boyfriend was coming over today. They’d only been dating for a few months, but Dick was already nearly head over heels for this man. They’d met when Dick was visiting Timmy at WE and had accidentally walked into Danny. He helped him pick up the massive stack of papers he’d been carrying and then helped him sort them when it became apparent that they were severely out of order. He was working in the aerospace division after finishing up a degree in that field.
And he was so beautiful that Dick had just asked him then and there if he’d be willing to go on a date with him and if he could get his number. Danny had stuttered and blushed profusely but agreed.
He then freaked out when he found out during their first date that Dick was Bruce Wayne’s eldest child. It actually felt nice that Danny hadn’t realized who he was when he agreed to go on a date with him. Usually there were people who asked him out because of who’s adopted son he was.
So he now had a boyfriend who was incredibly smart and beautiful (no matter how much Danny denied that part). He knew that his parents were scientists and had even looked them up but hadn’t found much other than them being located in some small midwestern town. His sister had recently started working at Arkham for an internship for her psychology degree and Danny didn’t seem as worried as Dick thought he’d be.
Which Dick was taking to mean that his sister could seriously kick ass if she needed to.
He was drawn out of his thoughts when he noticed Danny walking up to his apartment building just as he was. He hadn’t yet figured out how Danny was so good at timing things like this. There must be some sort of secret. He greeted Danny with a kiss before they walked into the building together.
Nearly as soon as they walked through the doors, Danny put a hand to his head.
“Something wrong?” Dick asked, stopping in his tracks to look at Danny with a concerned frown. It didn’t look like he was injured anywhere. Danny waved off his concern.
“Just had a headache suddenly come on. Weird, that hasn’t happened to me in years,” Danny responded, frowning himself a little. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“You can take some tylenol or something when we get to my apartment, come on,” Dick said, leading Danny to the elevator.
Danny’s headache seemed to be getting worse the closer they got to Dick’s apartment and he was really starting to worry now. Maybe Danny was getting a migraine? Or a sinus headache? Both of those sucked.
He unlocked his door and let Danny in first before coming in after him and closing the door, nearly walking into Danny when he noticed him staring into his kitchen. At the Blood Blossoms from Constantine.
The silence was eerie.
And only a few moments later, Danny bolted from the apartment without saying a thing to Dick. He was frozen in shock for a moment and then tried to follow, but there was no trace of Danny in the building or outside it. It’s like he just… vanished.
Something else he’d discovered his boyfriend was infuriatingly good at: appearing and disappearing out of seemingly nowhere.
He took out his phone and called Danny once he got back inside his apartment.
No answer.
Then he texted him, asking about what happened and where he was.
He waited a few hours, but there was still no answer or even any indication that Danny had read the text. He tried texting again but there was still no response. Same thing when he tried calling a couple more times.
He was getting pretty worried.
If he hadn’t heard back from Danny by tomorrow, he’d go to his place, possibly as Nightwing, to see if he was alright. The way he’d run from the apartment was so unlike him. He’d never had that sort of reaction before, but maybe it had something to do with the headache he’d gotten. Though there shouldn’t have been any reason why Danny couldn’t’ve ridden out whatever was going on in Dick’s room.
Though maybe it was a migraine and Danny had meds for it back at his place.
~~~~
The next day rolled around and by noon, he still hadn’t heard from Danny.
That meant he was heading over to Danny’s place to check on him. He’d go over first as Dick and see if he answered the door. If he didn’t hear anything telling him to leave, he’d go in and personally check on Danny. If Danny wasn’t there for whatever reason (Dick already knew Danny didn’t have work today), then he’d start snooping around as Nightwing.
He really hoped some rogue hadn’t snatched him.
Walking up to his apartment building, Dick was a mess of nerves. He was really hoping Danny was ok and was just sick or something and that’s why he hadn’t answered. He hoped this wasn’t Danny dumping him, though he didn’t know what he’d be dumping him for.
He made his way to Danny’s apartment and knocked on the door. There wasn’t any answer from inside and he didn’t hear anything. He knocked again. Once more, he didn’t hear anything from inside. He took out his key, unlocked the door, and walked inside.
The unit was colder than normal, which was saying something since Danny typically kept his place pretty cool. Not too bad, but cooler than Dick’s place. He shivered a little as he walked further inside. There was no sign of Danny in the living room or kitchen, and the kitchen didn’t even look like he’d been in it since early yesterday based on what he saw sitting on the counters. He moved towards the main bedroom.
Opening the door, he was surprised to see Danny in bed, very obviously sick and in pain. He suddenly felt horrible for hoping that this was why he hadn’t heard from him since he ran out of Dick’s place.
He rushed over and reached a hand out to smooth over Danny’s head, feeling how feverish he was. He was sweating and when he opened his eyes, he didn’t seem to be all there.
“D’ck?” Danny murmured, at least recognizing who was in front of him. Dick sighed in relief that Danny wasn’t feverish enough to be delirious.
“Yeah, sweetheart, it’s me.”
“Why ‘r you h’re?” Danny asked, voice still weak.
“I got worried when you ran out yesterday,” Dick answered truthfully. “I wanted to make sure you’re ok. I’ll take care of you, you don’t have to suffer through whatever you’re sick with.”
“Y’u don’ need to,” Danny replied, though his head pushed into Dick’s cooler hand anyways.
“I know I don’t need to, but I want to.”
That seemed to pacify Danny since he stopped arguing over Dick taking care of him. He was still concerned over how sick Danny was, but he’d make sure he got better.
~~~~
Ok, so Danny was definitely some sort of meta.
When his fever had spiked, Danny’s eyes had started to intermittently glow a bright green like the Lazarus Pits. It made Dick tense up at first because of what glowing eyes that color usually meant with Jason, but there was no murderous rage. Only Danny seeming a bit more miserable.
Danny had also glowed a couple times. Not just his eyes, but his whole body was glowing. And he’d spit up some bile and glowing green liquid that looked like a more… pure? version of Lazarus Water. He was just really confused at this point.
It took a few days for Danny’s fever to fully break and for him to start getting better. Dick had taken off work to take care of him and even called out for Danny so he wouldn’t have to worry about missing work suddenly. He’d also made him soup when he was lucid and well enough to stomach some so that he wasn’t fighting whatever he had on an empty stomach. But Dick just mostly sat in the bedroom with Danny, reading over some cases on his phone and cleaning up a bit around the apartment just so he had something to do.
“Ugh…” Danny groaned a few days after Dick had first gotten there and about a day after he’d stopped glowing on and off. “What the hell?”
“Danny?” Dick asked, causing Danny to open his eyes and look over to where Dick was sitting next to his bed.
“Dick? What’re you doing here?”
Dick helped Danny sit up before answering. “I was taking care of you. You ran out of my apartment pretty suddenly and I waited a day to see if you’d answer my texts or calls but when you didn’t I got worried. I came over here and found you sick and stayed to take care of you. You had a pretty bad fever.”
He could see Danny’s eyes light up with recognition, probably remembering enough of the past few days to match what Dick had told him. He then looked over at him, skepticism in his eyes.
“Dick… why do you have Blood Blossoms in your apartment? They’re really rare and you didn’t have them before.”
That froze him. Danny knew what about Blood Blossoms? According to Constantine, only those who dabbled in magic or dealt with ghosts knew what they were.
“A… coworker gave them to me. Said they’d ward off spirits or something. Why? Are they what made you sick?”
Danny didn’t answer, instead fidgeting with the blanket. Something seemed to partially click in Dick’s mind.
“Danny… does this have anything to do with you being a meta?”
Danny’s head snapped up so fast, Dick was worried he’d done something to his neck. His eyes were wide with fear, though he tried to cover it up but not fast enough to fool Dick. “W-What?”
“Danny, you had some… interesting side effects while sick. I don’t care if you’re a meta, but if those flowers can cause you issues because of it, I want to know. I won’t keep them around if they hurt you.”
Danny sighed, and then nodded a little. “I-I’m not sure I qualify as a meta, exactly, but they do hurt me. A lot. Especially if I’m close to them.”
“Then I’ll get rid of them,” Dick said, and saw Danny look at him with some surprise and wonder.
“You’d get rid of them just because of me?”
“Of course! I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in my place. But Danny, what did you mean about not exactly qualifying as a meta?”
Danny fidgeted some more, clearly unsure about telling Dick.
So Dick decided to take a first step that might help Danny feel more comfortable.
No matter if Bruce would think it’s a stupid decision so early in their relationship or not.
“If it helps at all, I’m… Nightwing. And I can tell you that Batman has no problem with metas living in Gotham. He just worries that any meta heroes might get targeted or affected by the more unhinged rogues we have.”
Danny’s eyes went wide as he looked at Dick. It felt like he was looking into his soul and reading it, but Dick didn’t flinch or move as Danny did so. Eventually, Danny gave a small nod like he believed him before letting out a small breath.
“I’m what’s known as a halfa. I’m half human and half ghost,” Danny said, looking at Dick to see what his reaction was, and Dick just kept his expression open, not showing his slight confusion so Danny would keep talking and hopefully explain some more. “I wasn’t born like this, but I had an accident and it just… happened. Because of that, I kinda got some ghost powers and ghost repelling things like Blood Blossoms or ghost hunting weapons affect me. A lot, even when I’m in human form.”
“Well, I’ll admit, I’ve never encountered a halfa before, but I’m sure you should still qualify as a meta. Now, why don’t I get you something to eat, and you can tell me more about this?”
Danny smiled at him and Dick took that as a good sign and a win.
~~~~
They were sitting on Danny’s sofa later, both having eaten and the two talking more about their respective vigilante lives. Dick had been pretty surprised to hear that Danny was a vigilante too and that he was the ghost that Constantine had heard of setting up a Haunt in Gotham. And it was partially for his own health so he could take care of one of his Obsessions.
“So what I’m hearing is that I need to get rid of that fucking plant and give Constantine hell,” Dick said, a bit pissed at the magician for just assuming that what was going on was something bad without trying to find out more information. Trying to talk Bruce out of keeping that damn plant out was going to be a pain, but he wouldn’t take Danny near that Manor unless it was done. It affected him just being in the same building as the damn thing.
Another surprise: his boyfriend was the king of ghosts. So not only was his boyfriend beautiful and smart, he was powerful too. He was down bad for Danny. Jason would never let him hear the end of it when he inevitably found out.
“Constantine… that fucker. I’ve been trying to find him so I can yell at him over the mess he’s given me over all those soul contracts!” Danny said, an annoyed look on his face. Dick smiled at him, maybe a little feral.
“Wanna come with me so we can yell at him together?”
Danny matched the feral smile.
“Sounds like a great idea.”