Bruce Wayne looked over the edge of his newspaper, seeing his adopted son and guest (that he wanted to be his adopted son) sitting on either side of him at the table.
Danny poked at his food, finally eating something. Dick shoveled the pancakes into his mouth, he had school in an hour and his hair was slicked back and his school uniform on. Bruce eyed the little ghost boy, so much strength in a small body with a meek personality. The GIW did a really good job at traumatizing the boy.
Bruce's eyes gaze flicked over to Dick, who was practically inhaling his food. Bruce found out some things last night that had literal and figurative relation to Dick. Danny and Dick are brothers.
At first it shocked the Bat, then he searched all over for the Greyson's missing boy, Daniel. Danny of course was a nickname for Daniel, so that stretch wasn't too far. They both spoke romanian, but the throw off was Danny's appearance, he was almost the opposite to Dick. Danny having white hair and green eyes opposed to Dick's black hair and blue eyes.
But how did Danny half die and then get caught by the GIW? And the records of the GIW said they only had him for four years, which meant he was five when they caught him, but he was three when he went missing. This was something Bruce could only ask Danny, but he didnt want to force Danny to answer questions he didnt want to answer.
Bruce folded his newspaper and looked uneasily between the two brothers, who didn't even know they were related. Danny looked up at the movement and saw Bruce's unease, he frowned and tried to figure out what had Bruce so concerned. Dick was oblivious to the whole thing, for he was chugging his glass of milk.
"So Dick, what did you guys do yesterday?" Bruce asked, hoping he could spring the question indirectly. Dick set down his cup and glanced at Danny, who stiffened up and looked down. Something happened apparently, Bruce thought.
"We, uh, went outside, Danny hadn't been outside in a while." Dick said somewhat hesitantly, the acrobat didn't know if Danny wanted him to keep his ghost half secret or not.
Bruce raised an eyebrow in question but internally he realized how much Danny didn't know. Four years of his life gone, no education or experience outside of a few rooms, Danny would need schooling. The white haired halfa gave Dick a delayed slow nod, he figured if Dick trusted Bruce then he should trust him too. Dick smiled softly, he was glad Danny was coming out of his shell, he needed to trust people more.
"Danny and I walked around a bit and Danny showed me some of his powers." Dick said casually, like Bruce already knew what he was talking about. Bruce, of course, did know, but knew that Dick didn't know he knew. (hehe, I like this sentence.)
"Powers?" Bruce asked innocently, he had looked over Danny's tests where his powers were used. Danny used them quite well in the fights, and there was a surprising amount of said powers.
"Yeah, he can fly, go invisible, be intangible and blast stuff with his hands. I don't really know what it is but it looks like a beam or something, but it comes out of his hand." Bruce's eyebrows rose, Danny had told Dick what he could do. Bruce suppressed a smile, Danny was already warming up to trusting Dick, and indirectly, Bruce.
Danny's head lowered, he was apprehensive of Bruce's reaction. Surprisingly Bruce's core never changed from its black and yellow, the yellow being miniscule in the mix. Bruce gave in and smiled at Danny, he needed to show positive reinforcement so Danny knew he could trust him with anything.
"That's quite the array of powers Danny. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come by these powers?" Bruce said as he raised his own glass of milk to his lips.
Danny blanched and Dick looked at him worriedly, Danny only told him he was half dead, not how he became half dead. Dick, sensing Danny needed a minute to think, tried to stall.
"He said he's, uh, half dead." Dick said plainly, looking for any hint of surprise on his mentor.
"Oh?"
Dick frowned, Bruce already knew, somehow, he knew. Dick wanted to facepalm, of course he would know, he's Batman! It's his JOB to know these things, but the vigilante had asked to know how Danny had died. Dick's brain churned, as important as that is, if Bruce needed to know it must be connected to something larger.
Danny sat in silence, he thought about his death, so long ago yet he met it on a daily basis, or at least, he used to. He remembered the sparks and the electricity striking him like lightning to a metal pole. Danny shivered, his ears were overrun by blood, his mind going back to the days where all he could hear were his screams.
Danny didnt realize he fell out of his chair, Bruce and Dick leaped up to help him but Danny could not see it. His eyes were wide and unfocused, his mind in some other place. A place like Hell.
Danny felt everything, all the electricity surging through him, the sparks dancing across his skin like fire. His body smoked, burning flesh singed his nose. Someone was yelling, after a while he found out it was him, the screams echoed in the empty space Danny was stranded in. He had no idea where he was, he didnt particularly care, as his body was being torn to shreds by the lightning that was attracted to him like moths to a flame.
He was in shackles, the metal insanely tight on his wrists, he was being pulled apart. His arms themselves seemed to scream as he tried to keep his body together.
Someone came to him, wearing white and black, it was GIW Bruce. Back again to break every bone in his body as he writhed, suspended in space.
"NO!" Danny yelled out, he was barely able to move a hand to block the evil man.
A spark of electricity leaped off his hand and connected to the agent. The agent seemed unaffected, Danny panicked, he struggled to ignore the pain in his body. He could deal with electricity, somewhat, it was the agent that made everything worse. He grit his teeth as his body shook with the strain of moving against the chains that bound him.
Danny was able to get his hands close together as the agent got alarmingly closer. He charged an ectoblast, the green stark against the white sparks. He glared at the agent, seething with anger, he put years of torture into the blast, all his pain and suffering were stuffed into one massive bomb.
His eyes flashed red, he closed them.
No. He couldn't lose control again.
With an angry war cry Danny chucked the blast at the agent. The explosion disintegrated the agent, not even his bones were spared. It was so bright Danny had to raise a hand to shield his eyes, he didn't notice the lightning had stopped.
He stood there weakly, huffing, shaking with the overuse of his nonexistent muscles. He fell to his knees, his eyes hooded by his hair, chains limp around him. What had he just done? Nothing was making any sense.
-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-
Dick snapped his fingers under unconscious Danny's nose, both vigilantes racked with concern. Once the child had gone down Bruce knew he made a mistake, he had triggered something. Danny was lying ominously prostrate on the ground, his eyes under the lids we're moving but that was all, it didn't even look like he was breathing. The body was quickly covered in sweat, the white hair becoming damp and a thin film of perspiration forming on the halfas face. Dick looked up to Bruce, a worried face met another.
Danny sat up with a large intake of air.
Bruce and Dick jumped back, surprised and wary of what would happen next. Danny's head twisted around, jerking from one side to the other, searching for something. His wide toxic green eyes landed on Bruce, Bruce had no idea what to do. Should he apologise? Comfort him?
Danny flew up to Bruce, wrapping his spindly arms around Bruce's neck, and hugged him. Bruce hugged him back tightly, wondering what the heck was going on, but knew the child needed something from him, even if it was just a hug. Dick watched with a small smile but sent a raised eye brow to his mentor, trying to figure out if his surrogate father had any idea what was happening.
Danny sobbed on Bruce's shoulder, holding him tight and wishing he could erase his memory. He had killed Bruce. GIW Bruce, but still Bruce. But that was all in his head, this was all so confusing.
"It's ok Danny, I should not have asked you that question, I'm sorry." Bruce rubbed the halfas back and whispered softly. Danny shoulders shook, his body numb with tears and fatigue of his vision... Episode? Danny had no idea what to call whatever had just happened.
Danny shook his head, no, he wanted to tell Bruce. He wanted the episodes/visions/whatever they were called to stop. Bruce sat down on a chair and Danny released him enough so he could sit on Bruce's knee, still hugging his chest.
"I-I-I di-di-died... by... by el-elect-electric-ctricity." Danny stuttered into Bruce's shirt, the billionaire rubbed his back gently as the halfa finally got the words out. Bruce and Dick shared a soft look. Dick came over and hugged his little brother, not knowing how close he was to his dead sibling. (the double meaning is real!!) (or would it be triple?)
"I'm sorry, did the GIW kill you?" Bruce asked hesitantly but Danny was on a roll. A blubbering roll, but a roll nonetheless.
"N-no, m-m-mom and d-dad l-l-lab... ack..." He frowned and quieted as he tried to find the right word, tears streaming down his face.
"Accident?" Dick offered, Danny nodded.
"Gh-ghost p-por-portal..." Danny said, his breathing calmed to a shuddering breath instead of hyperventilation, not much of an improvement but it was better than the alternative. Bruce's eyes narrowed, the GIW had a ghost portal, who else did?
"Who were your parents?" Bruce almost said adoptive parents, yeesh that would have been bad. Danny was already in a fragile state, he didn't need the only non-traumatic part of his past tainted. He would tell Danny and Dick they were related, just not yet.
"M-Maddie, J-Jack, and Jazzy m-my si-sister. She h-had a b-bear." Danny said calmly, as one would tell their parents how their day at school went. Dick wanted to laugh at the casualness of Danny, but he was interrupted by a flash of light.
A ring appeared around Danny, the child was surprised, for the longest time he thought he was fully dead. The white ring told him otherwise. The ring split and one moved up and the other down, when they passed over him Danny's clothes changed, as did his appearance. Dirty black hair now sat on Danny's head, clear blue eyes shifting from one vigilante to the next. He wore a white shirt with a red oval, blue jeans and red shoes.
Danny looked down on himself, it was the outfit he wore the day he was caught, it seemed a little too small but overall it fit pretty good. He guessed that was bad, if the clothes that fit him from four years earlier meant he really hadn't grown. Then an overwhelming feeling of tiredness came upon Danny, he just then remembered how weak his human form was.
Bruce smiled, there it was, that's why they look so similar. Definitely siblings. Dick was blinking, he looked a lot like his brother, there were too many coincidences. First his age, language, now his looks. Dick began to have an itch, he NEEDED to know if Danny was related to him, he needed to know NOW.
Bruce saw Dick's expression and chuckled while Danny sat confused, why was he laughing?
"I wanted to wait until you were more...uh, emotionally stable. But I think Dick is going to have a cow if he doesn't get an answer." Danny was lost, Dick had a cow? Tell him what? Dick locked his eyes onto Bruce, excitement sparking in his core.
"IS IT TRUE?! IS DANNY MY LITTLE BROTHER?!" Dick yelled, crystal blue eyes pleading for an answer.
"Yeah, you two are brothers." That's all Dick needed to hear.
Dick rushed into a hug, first his guardian then his long lost brother. Danny thought he was going to have a cow...whatever that meant. Jazzy wasn't his sister? He had different parents? What happened to his real parents? His nightmare returned to him, his brother and parents, the one by the big tent. That was his real family.
At first Danny hung limp in Dick's squeezing arms, then in a rush of emotions he hugged him back. His brother. Right here in front of him, this entire time.
-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-
"Hello Walker, what brings you to my tower?" Clockwork asked, gripping his staff in an attempt to calm his nerves. Now was not the time to get cold feet... er... spectral tail. He knew why Walker was here, but important information had to be said before things should start happening.
"I think you know, Master of Time, but for the benefit of those less knowledgeable I will answer." Walker said cooly, his guards watched with steely eyes, Clockwork wanted to roll his if he wasn't so nervous.
"As you undoubtedly know, the ghost zone has been going through a few changes. First with the halfa coming here causing quite a bit of commotion that you might remember. Then who show up? But a hoard of flesh bags seeking to destroy us all." Walker said with a glowering frown, Clockwork knew all of this already, the past few years had been eventful and quite traumatizing for the entire Ghost Zone. The Plasmius massacre was dreadful, whole islands had been leveled, ghosts had been massacred and the GIW came soon after. At least, that's what the ghosts knew, Clockwork knew what really had happened... and it wasn't any better than the propaganda.
"Yes, I am aware of the happenings in the Ghost Zone." Clockwork's body shifted to an old man and he let his red gaze drift over the guards present. Too many to fight, but he knew that a long time ago.
"Then you admit that you stand by and do nothing while the Ghost Zone is sucked away price by price into oblivion?" Walker demanded, rule book in hand.
Clockwork sighed, it's true he was a little late on the uptake but he had been busy caring for a friend of his, a little halfa. And everything he was doing now was to fix the Ghost Zone's chaotic problems, it just included a little insight, insight he would only gain if he took this path.
"I admit that the ghost zone is indeed in need of help, and I am willing to help in any way possible. Which, I might add, is exactly what I have been doing in my clocktower for the past few months." Child Clockwork glared at the pristine clothed warden, annoyed that he had to defend his honor.
Walker's scowl lightened, "I'm glad you think so." A sly smile spread across his skull-like face. "I am in need of your help. As secure as my prison is I am not completely convinced it can hold Plasmius. I was hoping you could come with me to oversee the cell."
Clockwork expected this, he's had this conversation 2,362 times already. In each one Walker asks Clockwork to go to his prison for whatever reason he can come up with. Clockwork knew that Walker did not have Plasmius in custody, nor that he had a cell just for him. The special cell that he had to 'examine' was a trick, it was actually a cell to keep Clockwork in.
In the times Clockwork looked to the future and saw himself in that cell his sight was usually blocked, only a few times could he escape. But the times where Clockwork resisted led to even more unrelenting chaos and unspeakable catastrophes, so there really was no choice. Clockwork had to let himself be taken.
"Alright Walker, I'll come. But first I need you to send a message to your, uh, employer, so to speak..." Middle aged Clockwork started with a smirk.
Walker's smile diminished. In all of their conversations Clockwork liked this part, it was so much fun to mess with people's mind. He, of course, knew that Walker was not here on his own planning, he was being pressured by the GIW.
Meanwhile, Walker was having doubts, it was already difficult to trap someone who can see the future, but the metaphorical (but not to be ignored) noose around his neck didn't give him much leeway in the matter.
"Tell the GIW they should stop attacking young Daniel, it will cause their downfall."
The game was up, everyone knew what was happening now, Clockwork floated forward, ready to be escorted to Walkers jail. Walker didn't know what the message meant but he figured the GIW agents would. They floated in silence, the mass of guards surrounding the Master of Time, Walker leading the way. The shadow of the prison stretched over the entourage, the massive three foot thick gate was lowered and inside the prison they went.
Clockwork had a detailed map of the place, he had been there too many times for the ghost to count. He knew that if he took a right here it would lead him to the cafeteria, a left would be the guards barracks. Straight was solitary confinement. Clockwork grew a cold scowl on his face, no matter how many times he saw himself going into this place it always gave him a bad feeling. This place held no hope, only fear and death, more so because of the warden's inexplicable love for execution. But that would be considered mercy, and the GIW had no capacity for mercy.
As they walked, Walker could not help but wonder why the Ghost of Time would allow himself to be captured. Walker sent a glance over his shoulder, Clockwork was ignoring his surroundings, looking straight ahead with a contemplating frown, his eyes a little unfocused in thought. Walker was no Clockwork, but he knew that what lay ahead of them was not going to be a walk in the park. They came upon the cell Clockwork already had a detailed description of.
It was dark, an eerie purple glow seemed to radiate off the walls. It was rather large as far as cells go, no windows, no bars, just solid walls. The door itself seemed to be made of concrete, thick and heavy. He knew it was exactly 3 feet thick and laced with concentrated ecto-ranium, one touch would burn his ghostly skin. It was one of the main reasons Clockwork could never escape, they never opened the door and he nor any other ghost could touch it.
And most importantly, Clockwork's powers were diminished in this room, like a dampener. He could not get much of his power outside the walls, he had tried many times. The few times he was able to get his power out it seemed to dissipate into the ghost zone, not nearly powerful enough to alert anyone or free himself. Simply put, Clockwork was trapped.
Clockwork floated into his cell, something he'd done many times, and looked back to Walker. He held out his hand and Clockwork gave him his staff with a glare, the warden left without a word and the door was sealed shut with a hissing noise. More like a, CLUNK ksshhhhhhh...
There was to turning back now, whatever happens next will either secure a future, or destroy it.