Chapter 7:
Danny had breakfast with his parents before they had to head over to Axion Labs to wrap up a few experiments, and clean up their lab spaces.
The halfa used that time to put the stronger door on the portal to the Ghost Zone. Danny also changed the access code. Hopefully his parents wouldn't try to open it again before they left for Peru so they would never realize the codes were changed. He also packed three bags with the basic ghost hunting equipment. One for Sam, one for Tucker, and then one for himself.
Danny wanted his friends to have easy access to the equipment they needed since Fenton Works would be locked up tight. A bag for himself that he could grab if there was an emergency in Amity Park where he would have to rush back. He also wanted to get it done first thing because Bruce was coming over later. Danny didn't want his biological father questioning why he was bringing all of this strange weaponry with him.
Hopefully they didn't check his bags before they got on the plane. They didn't have to do that for private planes right?
"Danny, are you listening to me?"
Jazz had called him while he was getting things together in the basement lab.
"Yeah," Danny responded automatically even though he had in fact not been listening.
His sister had been making him go through the events of last night in intricate detail, and was analyzing his reactions. Danny had tuned her out after the first ten minutes.
"Then what did I just say?"
"Something about trauma and it's okay to give Bruce a chance?" Danny took a shot in the dark.
"…Right," Jazz grudgingly agreed.
Danny silently pumped a fist of victory in the air.
"I know I'm talking a lot. I just want to help you. This isn't easy, and it's not going to be easy for a while. I wish I could do more. I wish I was there for you," Jazz sighed.
"Thanks, Jazz, and you might not physically be here but you've called pretty much every day to check in. I appreciate it," Danny really meant it.
Jazz had always annoyed him with her hovering, and psychoanalyzing his feelings but after she found about him being Phantom she had really proven herself. She had kept his secret, and watched over him. She helped him keep the secret from his parents, and protected him. He really came to appreciate her after she left for college, and Danny found himself missing her. His parents were always busy, and it was lonely when Tucker and Sam had their own family obligations.
"That's what big sisters are for," Jazz murmured softly.
"And little brothers are for causing trouble."
"Remember that since you have little brothers now," Jazz reminded him.
"Right," once again Danny wondered what Bruce's other children were like. Or how they felt about Danny moving in with them.
"Did Bruce tell you anything about them?" Jazz asked.
"No, we mostly talked about me," Danny hadn't liked being the center of attention.
"Maybe that's something the two of you can talk about when he comes over later," Jazz suggested.
"Yeah, I guess," Danny supposed that would be an easy topic of conversation.
"All right, well, I'll let you go, Danny. Call me afterwards to tell me how it goes if you want to."
"I will," Danny knew it would drive her crazy if he didn't call her.
They said their goodbyes, and Danny finished packing up the basement.
Sam and Tucker called him before noon to ask him how dinner went. They planned to get dinner at the Nasty Burger later that night. It would be the last one they would have together for a while. Danny would be leaving with Bruce tomorrow morning.
Promptly at noon the doorbell rang. Heart pounding, Danny tripped his way down the stairs as the half ghost raced down the stairs. This was why no one would ever realize he had superpowers. He was such a disaster and an anxious ball of energy all the time.
Danny threw open the door. Bruce stood on the front steps. He was even more casually dressed than he was yesterday. Danny wondered if the paparazzi would even recognize the billionaire out of his thousand dollar suits and in a small town like Amity Park.
Even casually dressed the man looked far more put together than Danny did. Bruce's black hair was cut short and kept neat. Danny couldn't quite remember the last time he'd gotten his haircut. Come to think of it he wasn't even sure if he remembered to brush the wild mop of black hair this morning between trying to get last minute stuff done.
"I got a couple of different pizzas since I forgot to ask what you liked," Bruce smiled and held out the stack of three pizzas.
"Thanks for getting the pizza," Danny smiled back. "And don't worry, I'm not really picky. I can pretty much eat anything."
He'd been eating food laced with ectoplasm for years when experiments left in the fridge leaked in to their regular food. Besides being half ghost meant he had a cast iron stomach now.
"That's good to know."
Danny led Bruce to the kitchen. For several long moments they ate their pizza in silence. Bruce seemed happy to eat in silence. He was so relaxed in a stranger's home with the son he thought was dead for sixteen years. Danny envied him that. Social interactions weren't exactly Danny's strong suit.
"I like the mushroom pizza," Danny decided he needed to make an effort.
His parents, sister, and friends were right. He needed to get to know his biological father.
"It's one of my favorite pizza toppings," Bruce responded.
"Me too," Danny was strangely relieved to find something they had in common even if it was something as simple as pizza toppings.
The discussion of the best pizza toppings broke the ice between them. It led to a discussion of other things as Bruce shared his other children's favorite pizza toppings. Danny worked up the courage to ask about Bruce's other kids.
Danny, Tucker, and Sam had done a bit of research about Bruce Wayne. Or well, Sam and Tucker had, Danny had listened to what they found but he hadn't participated in digging into Bruce Wayne's personal life.
The billionaire was only too happy to share.
There was Dick Grayson who Bruce had adopted when he was eight years old after his trapeze artist parents had died in a trapeze accident. He was twenty years old, and no longer lived with Bruce but he lived in the nearby city of Bludhaven. Dick had just started attending the police academy.
"He's very kind and capable. Dick drops in every now and then. He's looking forward to meeting you."
Tim Drake was fourteen and currently lived with Bruce. Tim had lived with him for the past year. His parents were also from the high society of Gotham but they were abroad, and had given guardianship of their son to Bruce Wayne.
"He works too hard. I have to constantly remind him to take a break and sleep. He's taken Damian moving in hard but then Damian is challenging."
"Challenging?" Danny wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that. What was he getting himself into? Danny could deal with ghosts. Challenging little kids not so much.
"Hmm," Bruce hummed. "Damian wants my complete attention. He isn't exactly fond of the other boys since they aren't my biological children."
"Why?" Danny frowned. Family was family in Danny's eyes. Blood didn't matter. Tucker and Sam were his family. The whole switched at birth thing just reaffirmed this belief for Danny.
"He was raised in a very… sheltered environment," Bruce's brows were slightly furrowed.
"So do you think he'll be okay with me moving in?"
"I'm sure it will be an adjustment for all of us. You are as much of a surprise to him as he was to me. The other boys knew I lost a son. Damian didn't know."
"And now he knows."
"And now he knows," Bruce hesitated a moment before continuing. "He was raised by your birth mother and her family."
"My birth mother? I thought the FBI couldn't find her?" Danny frowned.
"No, they couldn't. She disappeared after your birth, and what we believed was your death. But she would turn up unexpectedly in my life every so often in the years that followed. One of those times she conceived Damian, and then disappeared. I didn't see her again until she turned up with Damian two months ago, and then she was gone again. She might decide to visit once the story breaks about you," Bruce looked like he wanted to say more about the situation but was holding back.
Danny didn't push for more information. It looked like his biological parents' relationship was as complicated as his parents' relationship was uncomplicated. His parents may have been ghost obsessed but they absolutely loved one another. Danny had never even seen them argue before. They trusted one another completely. The halfa figured that's why his dad never got angry with Vlad's blatant flirting. Jack trusted Maddie one hundred percent.
Or… his dad really just was that oblivious to his 'best friend's' interest in his wife.
"Right, okay," Danny nodded. He'd cross the bridge of meeting his biological mother if and when it came.
Bruce told him a bit about Alfred Pennyworth. The butler had raised Bruce after his parents were murdered when Bruce was eight. The subject of Martha and Thomas Wayne's murders were quickly glossed over. Danny could see the pain the subject caused Bruce. Danny couldn't imagine witnessing something like that.
Bruce did not mention Jason Todd. Danny only knew about the other boy's existence thanks to Sam and Tucker's research. He'd died in some sort of accident the details of which had never been officially released to the public since Jason had been a minor.
"We also have some frequent guests who I'm sure you'll meet eventually. Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon come by often. Tim and Dick also have a few other friends who come by now and then. Your friends and sister are welcome to visit too. Wayne Manor is a big place," Bruce smiled.
"Thanks, I would really like that, and my friends would really like that too. Tucker is really into tech, and Sam likes the gothic architecture of Gotham."
"My—our ancestor, Solomon, was responsible for building quite a bit of early Gotham," Bruce explained.
"Oh, wow. I can't wait to tell Sam that!"
The rest of the afternoon passed easily. Conservation felt a little less stilted, and flowed a little more naturally. Bruce helped Danny box up the rest of his things. They packed nearly everything in the rental car Bruce had gotten, and took it to the airport outside of town where Bruce's private jet was stored.
Danny's first look inside the jet uncomfortably reminded him of just how rich Bruce was. Danny had spent time in Sam's mansion but it didn't quite prepare him for the level of luxury in Bruce's jet.
He could only imagine what Wayne Manorwas like.
Once most of his things were packed away on the jet, Bruce dropped him back off at Fenton Works. They said their goodbyes.
Bruce would come to pick him up tomorrow morning. They would have breakfast with his parents, and then that was it. It would be goodbye Amity Park.