The house is quiet.
I barely hear the others' footsteps as they walk past my door. It's weird, I thought I would like this, but I can't help but wait for something to happen. For yells, explosions, or weapons firing off into the night.
But there's none of it, just silence.
I wake with the sun and watch as dark clouds cast the world into shades of gray. It's still early, so I start to unpack. Putting the clothes away was easy, but the rest took a little time. How do you hide stuff without Batman finding it? I could do like I did with the Fentons and put it in the walls, but knowing Batman stuff is already in there. To double-check, I stick my head through, and yep, it's lined with all kinds of wiring, much too new to come with the house initially. What does it do? I follow the wiring and look at where it's connected to, and from the looks of it, it's a sensor. Probably part of the house security system. I take my head out of the wall and check the floor, which is thankfully free of wires. I choose a few different areas and stock the med kits, rations, and other items. I end up putting the flash drive with the rope dart and daggers. My more normal, civilian things, I put up with little fanfare. For now, I'll keep the model rockets on the dresser. Hopefully, they'll let me hang them up; they would look cool amongst the new stars.
While looking through pictures, I hear a door slowly open. I look outside, hoping to get an idea of the time, but with all the clouds, I'm left guessing. Should I see who it is? I apprehensively make my way to the door, my hand hovering on the handle. I can't help but question, 'Do I really want to do this?' I'll have to meet them eventually, but I thought our first meeting would have Damien as a buffer. I know they've all seemed to take this in stride, letting a new person into their home, but it just doesn't feel right.
I'm invading their lives.
There's been much to watch in their civilian lives and on the vigilante scene over the years. Thanks quieted down after Damien came to live with Father, but that still doesn't mean everything's okay. Do I really want to be another complication? They're already helping me professionally. Is this too much to ask? My mind flashes back to Father telling me, " It's time to come home," as I take a shaky breath and peek out the door.
I leave the room, my door squeaking, causing a man, more like a boy, to turn around. It's Tim; he's wearing a white T-shirt and jogging pants carrying an empty mug, " What are you doing in there? Did Bruce say when he's coming?" I walk forward, and just as I'm about to introduce myself, he ruffles my hair.
" Excuse me, but what are you doing,"
He chuckles," Just making sure you enjoy your last moments as the youngest little D," and walks down the stairs. What does he mean? He can't possibly think I'm Damien, could he? I look down at my raggedy NASA shirt and Sam's pair of sweatpants that I had " forgotten" to give back. I know I haven't been around him lately, but these don't seem like something he would wear.
I sigh and return to my room, " I guess I'll just introduce myself at breakfast then." I change out of pajamas into something a little nicer, meaning I change my sweatpants out for jeans, and make my way downstairs. Unsure of where to go exactly, I wander around. Last night I only got a chance to see the foyer and the path to the bedrooms. I go through many rooms filled with fine art and nice furniture until I start seeing stuff a little more worn. A sitting room that looks just as chaotic as anyone else's, but in a way that you know it's cared for, and continue on. I make my way past the entertainment room, and finally, I go into the library. I can't help but gawk at some of the works. The books are in their original jacket covers and look like they've never been opened. The collection itself rivals most public libraries. It's as if Ghost Writer had found a human residence. I stroll through and look at the variety; Jazz would love this.
I start looking through the science section, hoping to find something about the stars, when a sudden pressure finds its way onto my shoulder. I look next to me and see a black and white cat, "Oh, hello there." I took them off my shoulder, their claws digging into me a little bit, and try to hold them. They immediately start to squirm, so I put them on the floor, thinking they would go away, but they started kneading on my leg. I squat down to pet them, " What am I going to do with you," I take notice of their collar, " Alfred?" Making me grin. I take a picture of Alfred, and for who knows how long, I sit in the middle of the library, playing with him.
" Come on, demon brat, breakfast has already started," says an annoyed voice. I turn away from Alfred and see Jason with his arms crossed, " you know Alfie won't let us eat until everyone gets there." I give Alfred the cat one last pet and make my way to Jason. I don't know why but something about his voice is really irritating. There's something off about it, like it has an extra tone just out of sync. We make eye contact, and I watch his eyes turn realm green. My insides fill with a thin layer of frost as if my ghost sense hiccuped and got trapped inside. I watch as he backs up by a couple steps, " who are you," he asks, his voice low.
" I'm Danny," I say with an inhuman grin filled with off-looking sharp teeth. There's just something about ghosts that has always troubled me. That being our need to fight. Others think it's weird, and I get it I do, but there's something so telling about a fist to the face. And it seems he was dead just long enough for him to get the urge to do me in too.
Jason's eyes widen a little before he can help it, " your baby D?"
"In the flesh."
He takes a step forward as if to get a closer look, " Demon brat 2.0? You really expect me to believe that?" he eyes my teeth, " What are you?"
I fake pout, "that's rude, dude. I thought you would get that as one dead guy to another." His face looks like it's been slapped, " so Mr. Zombie wanna try that again?"
" What did you call me?"
" A zombie, but if you want a scientific term, I can call you a Revenant? I didn't know if you have a preference, so ..."
His eyes glow as he takes a swipe at me. I dodge under his arm and kick out his foot, causing him to lose his balance. Before he can go down, he unexpectedly grabs my shirt, causing me to go down with him. He tries to pin my arms down, but I go intangible, and I slide right through. He grits his teeth, "that's cheating!"
" All is fare in love and war," I say, standing over him, the need to punch him in the face greatly diminished, " are you feeling any better?"
He huffs and gets off the floor, " Yeah, and what's with that anyway? I haven't felt like that since Replacement showed up."
" Replacement?"
" Tim, he's the Robin after me."
"I know that. I'm not an idiot, but I didn't expect the name-calling," I grumble, " The aggression, though, is a dead people thing."
We make our way out of the library, " What do you mean? I know the others have had the old ticker stop once or twice before, and I've never seen them act like this."
" It depends on how you got brought back," I fill my eyes with ectoplasm and give him a thorough look over, " If I had to guess, you took a dip in the Lazarus pits?"
He scowls, " I was an unwilling participant."
" That doesn't matter to the pits," I say empathetically. We walk for a minute or two and are silent before I ask, " has the anger been a constant thing, or was it with just me in the room?"
"What's it to you," he says defensively.
" I think... you have toxic ectoplasm in you."
" toxic ecto- what?"
" Ectoplasm. That's what's inside the pits. Over time, it gets contaminated, filled with anger and other strong emotions. It's a miracle really that you are the first Revenant to come from those things," The first we know of. He looks like he wants to say something, but I stop him as I can hear the voices of others, " if you want, we can talk about it later, and private? I might be able to help with the anger."
He turns to face me, " You can fix the pit rage?"
I shrug, " fix isn't really the right word for this. Once you die, that's it; you can't go back to the way things once were. But I know we can make you better. Ectoplasm isn't supposed to hurt you like this. It's not supposed to influence your emotions into something else. It can strengthen them but not twist them." I try to muster up all of my confidence, " Even if we fix you, you'll still be a revenant. There's nothing we can do about that, but will you at least let us try to help?"
" Us?"
I smile, " My people, of course," and walk into the room.
Gramps is the first to spot us, " Good morning Young Masters Danyal, Jason."
" Good morning–" Im tackle hugged out of nowhere.
" Hi, I'm Dick; it's nice to meet you, " He says, squeezing the life out of me.
" Honestly, Richard," Damien says, shaking his head, " It's not like you haven't met him before."
" But that was over the coms," he says, still squeezing, " that doesn't count."
I mouth help to the room, but it goes unnoticed. Uncomfortable with the affection, I walk intangibly out of his hold and make my way toward the table, causing everyone to go quiet. I make my way toward the coffee maker and turn to Tim, " Where are the mugs at?"
He doesn't say anything, just stares at his coffee and then back to me. I turned to Gramps, and without having to say anything, he passes me a mug, " thank you."