Chapter Text
There was a sleeping teenager in the middle of the summoning circle. Bruce recognized the shape immediately — a hundred memories of finding Jason or Duke or Tim sprawled out asleep on couches flash through his mind.
There was also, he noticed a moment later, a man standing on the edge of the circle, holding a book high in the air. Their voice was still ringing through the warehouse, their chanting having crescendoed to a shout. The rest of the cultists were standing back, their mouths open only in amazement.
Orphan, Spoiler, Red Robin, Robin, and Nightwing exploded through the windows, just behind Batman himself, already jeering at the cultists, throwing smokebombs down into their midst, being as loud as they possibly could. It was the polar opposite of their usual tactics, but they were trying to disrupt the ritual by any means necessary, and that included making noise.
“Nightwing,” Batman snapped, “with me.”
Nightwing pulled out his grapple and changed directions on the fly. He swung alongside Batman towards the floor of the warehouse, aiming for the center of the circle.
Batman kicked the chanter in the shoulder, knocking the book into the air. He reached out and caught it, snapping the slim binding closed as he landed and on top of them.
Nightwing had gone right for the teenager in the middle of the circle. He scooped the boy up without stopping and sprinted out of the circle with the teen wrapped in his arms.
“Hostage secured,” he said.
“Good. Keep him safe,” Batman handcuffed the chanter before he joined the rest of the battle. The vigilantes were used to fighting while out-numbered, and these cultists weren't even putting up a fight. In fact, many of them tried to flee when they realized what was happening. These were not established criminals: they were normal people who had been caught up in something awful. The aftermath of this mission was going to involve a lot fewer arrests and a lot more deprogramming than usual.
In less than five minutes, they were done, and Oracle had called for the police and paramedics.
“Injuries?” Batman asked as he strode towards the huddle of vigilantes.
Tim looked up from his wrist computer, “Robin sprained his wrist and I got a scrape. That’s about it.”
“These cultists were too unskilled to injure me on purpose,” Damian said, “One of them fell on top of me.” His wrist was already in a brace.
Batman grunted in acknowledgement. “And the hostage?”
They closed ranks around Nightwing subtly, like they were trying to block his view.
Batman’s stomach dropped. Had they been too late? Was the child dead? He stepped forward to get a look, but Orphan stepped in between him and Nightwing.
“B,” Red Robin said, “He’s fine. Just asleep. We’ll let the paramedics take a look at him.”
Batman frowned. “Was he sedated?”
“I’m not sure,” Nightwing said. He was still holding the teenager protectively, turned away from Batman. “Either he was, or this kid sleeps like the dead.”
Beneath the cowl, his brow furrowed in concern. He stepped around Orphan and knelt beside Nightwing.
“Damnit,” Spoiler said softly.
“It’ll be fine,” Red Robin said.
“You all are ridiculous,” Robin said. “B will not adopt another child just because he was kidnapped by a cult.”
Batman stifled a sigh as they all began to protest. “Nightwing,” he said.
“He really is sleeping,” Nightwing assured him. He turned to show Batman the teenager in his arms.
He had black hair, long enough to reach his shirt collar and cover his ears, and he looked lanky and awkward even clinging unconsciously to Dick. His pajamas, patterned with stars, were a couple inches too short for his arms and legs. He couldn’t have been older than 15. His mouth was open slightly, and he was snoring very quietly.
Batman pushed down the surge of anger at the cult. There would be plenty of time to be angry at them later: now he needed to focus on the wellbeing of this child. If he had slept through the battle, he must have been drugged. No one could have slept through all that noise.
“Let’s take the vitals we can,” He said, “and see if we can wake him up before the paramedics arrived. Did he have an ID?”
“He’s in his pajamas,” Nightwing said, and he could hear his eyes rolling beneath the mask. “But I checked, and no.”
Batman nodded and continued his examination of the child. He wasn’t bruised anywhere, no cuts, no punctures from needles. If he had been drugged, it must have been mixed into his food. Did that mean that he had been a prisoner of the cult for an extended period of time?
The teen wasn’t totally catatonic. When Batman picked up his arm, he pulled away with a sleepy groan, and tried to roll over in Nightwing’s arms, clinging more tightly to him. Behind Batman, there were snickers from the rest of his team at the sight.
“Aww,” Steph said, “Wing, you’re already the favorite.”
Dick shook the teen a little in protest, but even that just made him cling closer. “Damn. He sleeps like you do after a caffeine crash, Red.”
“Hey,” Tim griped.
Bruce was beginning to have a suspicion as to why the noise of the battle hadn’t woken the child. He clicked his fingers beside the sleeping boy’s ear, and there was no response.
“Oh,” Dick said, “he’s deaf?”
“No,” Bruce brushed aside the teen’s hair. He reached into the child’s ear and pulled out a bright green earplug.
Dick laughed, “Earplugs,” he said in relief.
The others tittered again as Batman retrieved the other earplug. Unsure what else to do with them, he tucked them into the same pocket he had stuffed the ritual book.
“Can he hear us now?” Red Robin asked.
“Maybe—” Nightwing started, but just then the teen in his arms stirred.
“Ugh,” he whined, “please shut up. I’m so tired.”
Batman took a step back and let Nightwing wake him the rest of the way. People didn’t appreciate waking up with Batman looming over them, and he wasn't trying to scare the boy.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Nightwing said, putting on his best friendly grin, “We’ll let you sleep once we know you’re okay, promise.”
The teenager’s eyes opened slowly, “Dad?” He asked, confused.
The word made Batman’s heart clench. He sounded so uncertain. How long had this child been held hostage? Why hadn’t anyone been looking for him?
“No, kid, sorry. It’s just your favorite vigilante,” Nightwing flashed another smile at him. “What’s your name?”
“Danny,” Came the reply, still half asleep. Then Danny blinked, and his eyes opened very wide. His eyes were a soft sort of blue. “Wait, who are you? Where am I?”
“Hi Danny,” Nightwing said, “I’m Nightwing. You’re safe.”
Danny squirmed out of Nightwing’s grip and dropped to the floor, straightening up to look at all of them with wide eyes. “Uh, that’s great and all, but why are you in Amity Park?”
Batman made a note of the name. It wasn't the name of the cult, that was the Temple of Infinite Life and Eternal Darkness, but maybe it was a compound they had built somewhere else. Some large cults could have more than one commune.
“Amity Park?” Spoiler asked, “Where's Amity Park?”
“Illinois,” Danny said, and suddenly the Cult was a much bigger problem than he had previously imagined.
“Danny,” Nightwing said gently, “You’re in Gotham.”
“Gotham?” Danny’s blue eyes were getting so wide they threatened to pop out of his face.
“Do you remember how you got here?” Nightwing continued, “were you brought here by the Temple?”
“The Temp—?” Danny cut himself off and looked around the room properly. His eyes went to Batman, then to the gagged and silent cultists, and then, finally, to the summoning circle on the floor of the warehouse. His eyes got even wider somehow, and then he was saying, “Yeah, I was.”
Danny was a terrible liar.
The vigilantes around him stayed silent for a minute, just staring at the kid.
“Yeah,” Danny said, uneasily, “but, uh, oh yeah! I was in Gotham with my parents. I didn't remember until just now. They're probably looking for me.”
“Probably?” Batman asked.
“Definitely,” Danny amended. “I mean they work a lot but they’ve definitely noticed I’m gone by now so…” he started inching towards the door.
Batman didn't miss how his children, especially Red Robin, frowned at that. They all moved as one to keep Danny still. It was a protective reflex, but for the boy it probably felt like he was surrounded by wolves.
“You really should stay here,” Nightwing said, “I’ll stay with you, alright? We’ll get you home as soon as the paramedics give you the all-clear.”
The boy looked like he would rather have been sacrificed by the cult.
Just then, one of the conscious cultists managed to pull their gag off using their shoulder, and immediately began to yell, “Spirit! We summoned you! Kill the bats and free us!!”
“What the hell?” Spoiler asked. She stalked over to the cultist and punched them smartly in the jaw.
“Spoiler,” Batman growled in disapproval, but he didn’t mean it.
“Don’t worry about them,” Nightwing said to Danny, “they’re crazy.”
“As in, they’re totally batty?” Danny said, and then his face paled like he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
All the bats stared at him, until Orphan, of all people, let out a tiny snort of laughter. Nightwing and Red Robin both smirked. Robin just made a dismissive noise.
“Yeah,” Nightwing said, “absolutely batshit.”
“Swear jar,” Robin said.
“Hey! Batshit doesn’t count,” Nightwing said, “that’s an adjective.”
“It contains an expletive and is used in a derogatory context.”
“You're too young to know the word derogatory and use it like that!”
“I am plenty old enough!”
Danny slowly relaxed as the attention shifted off him. He looked around as if looking for an escape, but Nightwing kept his hand on his shoulder, making sure he stayed nearby.
Batman felt a rush of fondness for his children, but he growled, “Boys, please.”
Danny looked at him in a strange way, like he thought Batman had told a blatant lie and he didn't believe him.
“Sorry,” Nightwing said with a grin that said he wasn't. “We’ll let you go back to investigating. Come on, Danny, let's go wait for the paramedics outside.”
“Paramedics are 2 minutes out,” Oracle said through their communicators.
While Nightwing pulled Danny out of the building, the rest of them turned back towards the cult.
“Start speaking to the conscious cultists,” Batman said, “see what can learn about their leader before we interrogate them.”
“Wait, we’re interrogating this guy?” Spoiler said, “I thought we were finished? These guys were the source of everything, right?”
“Maybe,” Batman said. “I want to know where they got this,” he pulled out the thin grimoire and held it up, “I’m calling the JLD to come look at this. If there’s more to do here, they'll pick up information we can't.”
“But Zatanna is off-world,” Red Robin said with alarm.
“I’m calling Constantine,” Batman said grimly. He reached for his league communicator, ignoring the sounds of his disgruntled teenagers as they complained under their breath about Constantine and his cigarettes.
Dick stepped back into the warehouse, looking around, “Guys,” he said hesitantly, “did Danny come back in here?”
“No,” Tim said, as they all looked at Dick, and then around the room like one of them could have missed a teenager wearing starry pajamas slipping past them.
“He’s gone,” Dick said.
“What?!” Came the worried chorus back.
“I turned around to wave to the ambulance and when I looked back he was just—” Dick ran a hand through his hair, “not there anymore.”
“Orphan,” Batman said, “Oracle,” work with Nightwing to find the hostage. Assume he's been recaptured.
“You got it,” Oracle said.
Cass just gave a tiny nod and ran out the door with Dick to search the surrounding area.
It was.one thing too many to just brush off, really. This cult was still a very active threat, and considering they had reason to believe they had bases in at least two US states, this was outside of Batman's ability to address on his own. “This is a justice league crime scene now,” Bruce said, “bring the criminals out and secure the perimeter.”
“Got it,” Tim said as he set off towards the cultists. Damian ran off to lock the other doors into the warehouse, and Bruce went outside to the intercept the cops before they could come in and make a mess.
And, after he couldn't put it off any longer, to call John Constantine.
“Danny?” Jazz said as soon as he picked up the phone, “Where are you?”
Ah, so she had woken up. What time was it here? Danny checked his watch. It was 6 o’clock AM, which meant Jazz was up at five looking for him.
“Uh,” Danny looked around himself. Unhelpfully, there were no large billboards listing the nearest cities and how far away they were. For all he knew, this stretch of forest went on forever. “Indiana, I think? I’m about two hours away.”
Jazz hissed into the phone, “Why did you go to Indiana?!” She sounded terrified for him. She had sounded like that a lot lately.
“Actually,” Danny said, “I was in New Jersey. I’ve been flying for a few hours already.”
Now her voice rose to a terrified shriek, “Danny! What happened?! Were you attacked? Did Vlad kidnap you again?!”
He had to pull the phone away from his ear because her voice was so piercing. He brought it back with a wince after a moment, “Really, Jazz, it’s okay. I’m fine and on my way back. I’ll explain it as long as you promise not to freak out, okay?”
“Danny—” He cut her off as his phone beeped to let him know he was getting another call.
“Hold on Jazz, Sam is calling me.” He swapped over to the other channel, “Sam?”
“Danny!!” Sam and Tucker said together on the line.
“Where are you?” Sam demanded, “Jazz said you aren’t at home, and you aren’t at Tucker’s either.”
“Hold on, Jazz already called me. I’m gonna put us all into one call so I can tell all of you at once.”
After a moment, he had done so, and he said, “Hello?”
“Danny?!” Three concerned voices yelled back.
“I’m here,” He said soothingly, “I’m okay, and I’m on my way home. Everything is alright.”
“Do I still have to promise not to freak out before you’ll tell me anything?” Jazz asked.
“No,” He said with a laugh. “It’s actually kind of cool. I got to meet Nightwing and Batman.”
There was a beat before Tucker said, “If you met Red Robin too I am going to be so jealous! Tell me you didn’t.”
“Uh, yeah, him too, but Nightwing did most of the talking.”
“What does Batman have to do with you being in New Jersey?” Jazz asked carefully.
“I got summoned by a Gotham cult,” Danny said, “and the Bats broke up the ritual.”
“That sounds terrifying!” Jazz yelped.
“Yeah, it probably would have been,” Danny said, “but I slept through the whole thing!”
There was a full three seconds of silence, and Danny had to laugh at them. Even after two years, he could still be insane enough to stunlock them.
“What?” Sam said finally.
“Yeah,” Danny was still laughing, but he got it under control. “So you know how Dad’s been trying to install a new ghost alarm on the house for the last two weeks but it detects me if even a single finger goes intangible?”
“You mean the reason I haven’t slept in two weeks?” Jazz said, “Yeah, duh.”
“Well I decided to give the Fenton Earplugs a shot, and, well, they don’t block out the siren, but they can muffle a whole warehouse full of cultists getting the stuffing beaten out of them by Batman,” Danny said. “I woke up with Nightwing princess-carrying me.” He had to stop to let out an honest-to-goodness cackle because he knew both Sam and Jazz thought Nightwing was hot. And Tucker was, at least, a huge fan of all the Bats.
“Nope,” Jazz’s voice had gone sarcastic, “I’m not scared for you anymore. How do I get summoned to Gotham?”
“Eww, Jazz!” Danny said. “First Johnny now this?!”
“Oh my god, will you ever let me forget about that?”
Danny cackled again.
“I’m offended that you think Nightwing is like Johnny at all,” Sam said.
“Same,” Tucker said. “But let’s argue about that later. Danny, did you talk to the Bats at all? Did you tell them anything?”
“No,” Danny said, “I wasn’t Phantom in the circle, just Danny. Really it was lucky, cause if I have looked like a ghost, they might not have rescued me at all.”
“That’s not true!” Jazz protested, “Batman would have stopped the summoning even if it was Phantom they’d captured.”
“Probably,” Danny admitted, “but I don’t think he would have let me go so I could slip away before they started trying to call mom and dad for me. They thought the cult was trying to sacrifice me, not summon me.”
They all let out a collective sigh of relief.
“So you got away from them okay?” Tucker said.
“Yup,” Danny said, “I might have disappeared from right behind Nightwing’s back though, so they might start a manhunt for me. But I doubt Gotham vigilantes would start a nationwide search for me.”
“That is true,” Sam said slowly, “but the Justice League might, if they’re really worried about you.”
“As long as they keep it off the news, I don’t care,” Danny said. “They’ll see I’m home with my parents, I’ll pretend I don‘t remember anything if they ask. Or maybe Mom and Dad will just refuse to cooperate because they’re technically affiliated with the government.”
Jazz sounded relieved now. “I’m glad you’re okay, Danny. I’ll make breakfast for you when you get back and sign you out of school.”
“Thanks, Jazz,” He felt a rush of fondness and gratitude towards Jazz. His heart squeezed with the memory of the powerful emotion he had felt radiating from Batman. It was common knowledge that most of the Robins had started their careers young and grown up as vigilantes. Danny had thought Batman was some kind of psycho, like Vlad, and he was always collecting and training mentees to make his perfect successor. Until that moment, it had never occurred to Danny that Batman thought of the rest of the Bats as his family, and not like Vlad claimed he did. No, in that moment, Batman had given off the same familiar parental love he felt from his own parents sometimes, though less and less often now. These days, all he felt from them was disappointment, hurt, and confusion.
“Yeah, catch up on your sleep. Sam and I will make notes for you,” Tucker jumped in too.
“Thank you guys,” Danny said, “but I’d really be—”
“Danny, we’re trying to help you because we love and care about you,” Jazz somehow said that incredibly sweet sentence with an eyeroll. “So take the help. It will make us stop worrying.”
He laughed again, but much more weakly. Jazz was really getting on him for refusing help lately. She didn’t understand that he was just trying not to drag them down with him into the vigilante lifestyle. But he was tired, so he’d let her win this one. “Fine. Thank you all. I’ll see you in a couple hours, Jazz.”
“Bye, Danny. See you soon,” Jazz said.
Tucker and Sam also said goodbye, and Danny hung up the phone. He tried to enjoy the last of the stars as dawn broke over the eastern horizon behind him.