Chapter 9:
The flight felt as if it had simultaneously taken forever and was over far too quickly. Danny was not ready to be in Gotham but there was no stopping it now.
The jet set down on a private airstrip. An older man with steel colored hair was waiting for them with a sleek and expensive looking black car.
"Danny meet Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred, this is my son Danny," Bruce introduced.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Daniel," the butler's eyes sparkled warmly.
"Yeah, you too. But you can just call me Danny," the black haired teen rubbed the back of his neck.
"Master Danny then," the butler stated stubbornly.
"Okay…" Danny shuffled awkwardly.
"That's the best you're going to get out of him. He raised me and still calls me Master Bruce," Bruce whispered in his ear as they climbed in to the car's backseat.
Danny chuckled. Having a butler was going to take some getting used to.
The ride to the manor had Bruce acting as a tour guide. Danny's biological father proudly pointed out landmarks as they drove past Gotham City. The skyscrapers and the city itself were a lot bigger than Danny had been expecting. He'd never actually spent a lot of time in big cities before, and was grateful that Wayne Manor was located just outside of the chaotic and dark city.
Alfred asked Danny about what his favorite meals were. The butler looked quite put out when Danny said he would eat anything. Bruce found seemed to find it hilarious.
The first look of Wayne Manor had his jaw dropping open. Danny didn't exactly know what he'd been expecting but it wasn't this grand and massive place. The gothic manor was surrounded by an intricate stone wall, and it was even larger and nicer than Vlad's manor he'd bought from the dairy king.
"Wow," Danny gaped, shocked to think this was going to be his home for the next two years. It was certainly the polar opposite of Fenton Works. Fenton Works was cobbed together with random parts from failed experiments. Wayne Manor was elegant and clearly crafted together using only the best quality materials.
"Welcome home, Danny," Bruce held the door to the manor open for him.
Danny nerves were spiking. This was really happening. He was about to step foot in to the house he would be living in for the next two years, and meet the people he would be living with for the next two years. He hoped it went well.
"Thanks," Danny took a step through the ornate front door. His nerves made his powers act up. The foot he took a step with went intangible, and he promptly crashed in to the floor when from his knee down sank in to the floor.
The bags he was carrying went flying, and his face was intimately introduced to the thick plush carpet as he smashed it against the floor.
"Are you all right?" a gentle voice asked.
"This is a nice carpet. Very soft," Danny mumbled, the pain was already receding thanks to ghostly healing powers.
A strong hand hooked underneath his armpit, and hauled him back to his feet. Thankfully his foot was cooperating, and was no longer intangible or stuck in the floor. That would have been very awkward to explain as it was it was incredibly embarrassing to have his powers acting up like this.
Bruce brushed him off, checking him over for injuries. Danny flushed red at seeing the audience in the entryway who had been witness to his complete failure.
There were three guys, all black haired, and two girls. One was a redhead in a wheelchair who looked to be around Jazz's age, and the other was a blonde girl who appeared to be around Danny's age.
"Here you go," the gentle voice from earlier came from the oldest boy who was really a young man. Dick Grayson held out Danny's lost bag to him. His dark blue eyes were as kind as his voice.
"Thank you," Danny smiled sheepishly, still more than a little mortified. That was a great way to make a first impression. But at least he didn't completely reveal his powers to these strangers.
"Are you certain the DNA test was performed correctly, Father?" the youngest black haired boy demanded. The bronze skinned boy was scowling at Danny, an unimpressed look in his almond shaped, dark green eyes as he swept his eyes up and down Danny's rumpled form.
"Damian," Bruce's tone was one of warning.
So the little twerp was Danny's biological brother. Danny flashed him a bright grin. "Yup, looks like you're stuck with me."
Damian's glower turned darker, and for some reason his annoyance only made Danny grin wider and want to ruffle Damian's perfectly slicked back hair. Huh, maybe teasing little siblings was just something that was ingrained.
Introductions were made. The last black haired, blue-eyed boy was Tim Drake. He was a year younger than Danny. The red haired young woman was Barbara Gordon, Dick's girlfriend, and a close friend of the family. She was the daughter of the police commissioner. The blonde girl was Stephanie Brown, a close friend of Tim's.
The group helped bring his boxes to Danny's new room which was nearly as big as the whole top floor of Fenton Works, and had it's own private bathroom. Or at least most of the group helped. Damian refused saying it was servant's work.
"Servant's work? You grow up with more servant's than just a butler?" Danny inquired, he was just trying to get used to the idea of a butler. He couldn't imagine growing up with servants plural. Just who was his birth mother that Damian grew up with more than one servant?
Damian didn't deign to answer him and just chose to go to his default expression for Danny: a disdainful glower.
"Sorry about him. We're still trying to house train him," Dick ruffled Damian's neatly styled hair.
Damian instantly swatted Dick's hand away, and smoothed his hair back in to place. "Don't touch me, Grayson. My manners are infinitely better than yours."
It seemed like Danny wasn't the only one Damian didn't approve of. In fact it seemed the only one whose opinion Damian cared about was Bruce's.
"Of course they are," Dick winked at Danny over Damian's head.
Danny definitely found himself liking Dick. The others weren't too bad either. They just weren't as welcoming and openly friendly as Dick clearly was. Danny understood. He wasn't the most socially adept person either, and having a stranger move in so suddenly when they were still trying to get used to Damian had to be difficult.
They got all of Danny's boxes and bags to his new room, and then they had an early dinner. Alfred had whipped up a full three-course meal for the occasion while the rest of them were bringing up the boxes.
"This is really good, thank you, Alfred," Danny thought Jazz would be pleased that he'd remembered to use his manners.
"Of course, Master Danny," Alfred nodded pleasantly.
"You have tomorrow off, Danny, to get settled here in the manor. But you'll start school on Tuesday," Bruce explained.
"Right, school," Danny wilted slightly in remembrance of having to start a new school. An prestigious academy for Gotham's elite no less. Sam had looked it up for him. He wouldn't have his friends but then there wouldn't be any ghosts there either.
"Not a fan?" Dick teased.
"Eh," Danny shrugged.
Tim snorted. "Gotham Academy isn't too bad as far as schools go. They have great-accelerated programs. You won't be bored."
"Right, accelerated," Danny's hands twitched.
Even in the short amount of time he'd known them it was apparent they were all geniuses. Danny knew he wasn't stupid exactly but school had never been his forte even before the ghosts started interrupting everything.
"They'll help you get caught up to wherever you need to be. I'm sure you were in a different place in the curriculum at Casper High," Bruce soothed, somehow knowing exactly the right thing to say to ease Danny's nerves.
Danny felt his muscles unclench. He really hoped he didn't make an idiot out of himself.
"CasperHigh? In AmityPark? Really?" Stephanie chuckled.
"Yup," Danny grinned. The irony of it all had not escaped the residents of Amity Park.
"So tell us more about yourself, Danny," Barbara smiled at him.
"Um, not much to tell, I guess," Danny shrugged. "I had a pretty normal life."
"For someone who grew up with a portal to another dimension in their basement," Bruce dropped the bomb.
There was spluttering and questions as there often were when someone new learned about Danny's life. Eyes darted to Bruce to see if he was being serious. Sometimes Danny forgot about how weird having a ghost portal was. Everyone in Amity Park knew about Danny's parents' obsession even before the ghosts started attacking.
Also, now that Danny knew about Desiree's wish spell around the town he wondered how much his new housemates would be able to accept. Believing in ghosts was difficult enough but when there was an actual spell preventing them from doing so? Danny wouldn't hold his breath from them doing much more than humoring him.
"Another dimension?" Tim demanded, eyes wide when Bruce assured them all that he was being serious.
"I saw it with my own eyes," Bruce stated.
Everyone's eyes shot to Danny with varying degrees of shock. Did that mean Bruce still believed what he saw in Fenton Works? Now that Bruce had been in Amity Park and seen ghosts would the spell still affect him like everyone else? Or would he slowly forget, and once again believe ghosts weren't real? Danny really should have looked in to Vlad's wish a little more.
Of course with everyone's attention on him he got nervous and began to ramble. "Yeah, my parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone. But it's kind of misleading its not really a place for dead people's spirits. It's more of a place between places you know? Not that my parents really care about the distinction."
"How long have you had it?" Barbara asked.
"Uh, almost three years I think. It didn't even work at first it wasn't until I—"
Danny cut off abruptly. He could feel himself pale as he remembered the…Pain…Fear…Dying. Why did he have to think about that? It was two years ago. His body shuddered and Danny barely kept himself from sinking through his chair and into the floor.
"Until you what?" Bruce commanded.
Danny flashed a grin. "Uh, nothing just had to remind them to turn it on."
"Then what happened?" Dick prompted.
Danny told them about all the ghosts coming through, and a few notable attacks on the town. It was obvious they didn't believe him but they all listened politely and asked questions. Well, all of them but Damian who scoffed and muttered disparaging comments under his breath after Danny's intelligence and sanity.
After dinner everyone went their own way. Danny was grateful for the time alone. He couldn't remember the last time he spent that much time with a group of unfamiliar people. The answer was probably Kindergarten. Amity Park was a small town. Everyone knew everyone else, and Danny had rarely left its borders.
He called his parents, Jazz, and Sam and Tucker to check in, and let them know he'd made it safely to Gotham. Of course they all asked him how things were going. Danny reassured them everything was fine. Honestly it was too early to tell how things were going.
Bruce, Alfred, Barbara, and Dick were all welcoming. Tim and Stephanie were a little distant but friendly. Then there was Danny's biological brother. It was clear for all to see that Damian hated Danny's guts, and wanted nothing to do with him.
Danny wasn't really sure what to do about that. Damian obviously felt threatened. But Danny didn't know how to reassure the younger boy. He supposed he could treat the younger boy like a ghost. Danny would be understanding of his quirks until the boy pushed him too far, and Danny was forced to stand up for himself.
Danny eyed his various boxes and bags of belongings strewn about his new room.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," he muttered.
Danny took advantage of his new ensuite and state of the art bathroom. He showered, put his pajamas on, and then flopped down in the huge and comfortable bed. Within moments he was out like a light.