Dark-Net

by KodiakWolfe13

Batman is less than pleased when there's a new, upgraded Dark-Net online, one much more impressive than Calculator's. Of course, when he find out who the newbie is, his mood plummets further. (Criminal!Danny)

4. Paranormal

Ch.4: Paranormal

If anyone had been in the apartment, they would not have immediately seen Danny. At first, only the stereo lights would've been visible in their corner, the blue bars rising and falling with the soft beat. With some light, however, they would've seen the teen tucked away under one of his tables, hiding under a grey blanket wrapped loosely around his frame. The lump of a human rose and fell gently in time with his breathing. Half-buried in his pillow, only his mop of ebony hair was visible.

In his dreams, Danny ran. Behind him, law enforcement agents dressed in white chased after him, waving around big guns with green buttons. Danny didn't know who they were, who they worked for, or why they were chasing him. They simply chased, and Danny fled. He stretched his legs out in long strides, trying to cover as much distance as he could, but no matter how fast he ran, he only seemed to be slowing down, his body weighed with exhaustion. The agents were catching up, covering the same territory as him in less time. They creeped up on his tail, and there was nothing that Danny could do about it. He had nowhere to escape to, just the paved road before him, trapped on all sides by towering skyscrapers. So caught up in the chase was he, he didn't even hear his computer ringing at first.

BR-RING BR-RING, BR-RING BR-RING.

Danny's feet pounded as he pushed himself to go faster but only continued to slow. He passed Sam and Tucker on one side of the street, Batman chatting it up with Lorrie on the other side. No one looked his way, his footfalls nonexistent. The agents yelled something behind him, but Danny couldn't understand what they said.

BR-RING BR-RING, BR-RING BR-RING.

The teen looked for the sound, but all he saw were buildings. Yet, it didn't matter. The ground cracked beneath him, the sky bled black, the agents began to fade behind him. Still, Danny ran, unconcerned. As long as he ran, nothing could catch him, not even the end of the world.

BR-RING, BR-RING. BR-RING, BR-RING.

Danny's eyes fluttered open, his vision fuzzy and dark. He groaned as he recognized his computer's ringtone and muttered, "This better be good."

Throwing his blanket off, Danny pushed himself up. BAM. His head slammed into the desk above him. Grabbing his head, Danny hissed and yelled, "Fuck!" Swearing under his breath, he pulled himself out from the table, grabbed his chair, and crawled into it. He squinted at the light from the lone hologram, a familiar name flashing across the blue background. He growled under his breath and pressed 'accept.' "This better be good."

Unfazed, Batman greeted, "Good morning, Sunshine. How are you?"

Danny's eye twitched. That coupled with the dark crescent moons outlining his eye sockets made him appear rather deranged, all things considered. The teen uttered a long groan and said, "It's too late for this shit."

"It's eight at night."

"Fuck you and your manmade concepts, trying to lock me into society's idea of existence. I refuse to bow to it, so fuck off." Danny snapped. With his left hand, he rubbed the gunk and sand from his eyes, completely missing the slight upturn of Batman's lips. It was gone by the time he was done, and Danny took to rubbing his pounding temples, eyes closed. "Random question: with all the villains you've faced over the years, how are you not dead? I feel like you should be dead. You wouldn't be bothering me if you were dead."

His voice as dead as a doornail, Batman said, "I'll ignore your offensive comment and say that my years of training and intelligence have yet to fail me."

"That's just too fucking bad." Danny shook his head, his limp neck allowing his gaze to avert to his mattress. Another wave of tiredness hit, and Danny glanced at the computer screen. Thinking to himself 'fuck it,' Danny slid from his chair and crawled back to his mattress, embracing the pillow and rolling himself into the blanket. He mumbled into the soft fuzziness, "Forgive me for leaving you, friends."

Somewhere from above, Batman's voice called, "Danny, come back up. I need to talk to you about something."

"My ears still work even when I'm lying down, sir."

For a moment, there was no answer. Danny perked a bit, his ears straining for any indication that Batman was still on the line. He just came to the conclusion the Dark Knight must've hung up when his deep voice came again, shattering his dreams as he said, "I need to know if you know any experts on a substance called ectoplasm."

BAM. The computer wobbled on top of the table as Danny screamed, "Motherfucker! I swear to God, I'm going to murder everyone in this building." Danny crawled out of his hole a moment later, seething with frustration. He settled back into his chair, looking far more focused now, even with the exhaustion and pain hanging over him. "Where did you manage to find ectoplasm?"

"What does it matter to you? Do you know something about it?"

"A thing or two, but it's all very contextual, you see." Danny waved to his screen. "So, would you care to share your findings, or should I go back to sleep?"

Batman looked away for a moment, the sound of typing come from off-screen. A second later, a picture of a black Harley Davidson popped up beside the Dark Knight's face, a lime-green 13 stamped on the side of it. The driver, a man with greasy blonde hair and radioactive green eyes, smiled wildly as he weaved between two cars, his green skull pendent waving behind him. On the back of the bike, clinging to the driver, was a woman with green hair, crimson eyes, and heavy purple lipstick. She wore the same smirk, yelling something into her partner's ear.

"These two have been breaking traffic laws for the past few nights, causing numerous automobile accidents. There has yet to be a casualty, but I don't expect that luck to hold for much longer." With a few more clicks, the picture was gone, leaving only the Dark Knight. "I haven't been able to capture them because they simply ride through all the traps we set up. However, I managed to surprise the driver last night and nicked him with a batarang. But instead of blood, all I have is this green, sticky paste that the internet claims is ectoplasm."

Having hidden his face when he saw the picture, Danny now peeked out from behind his fingers. The biggest smile stretched across his face, and his eyes lit like firecrackers – the first time Batman had ever seen the boy genuinely happy. Danny said, "Oh, you'll never catch them with tricks like that. Your driver is Johnny 13, an expert motorist. He'll evade whatever you lay out, if he doesn't just phase through it. His girlfriend, Kitty, is just an adrenaline junkie along for the ride." Chuckling, Danny leaned back in his seat. "God, I haven't seen those two in years. So many memories are coming back all at once."

Unable to contain himself, Batman leaned forward and asked, "You know these two?"

"Oh yeah! We go wayyy back." Bracing his foot against the table, Danny started rocking himself. "You see, a couple of years ago, I had a mentor named Technus who just happened to be a ghost." Batman opened his mouth to interrupt, but Danny help up his hand. "Don't even try to tell me ghosts aren't real. You will lose. But anyway, Technus was the definition of insane and also a technopath, which meant I learned pretty much nothing from him. Go figure. Not the point, though. The point is, he lived in the Ghost Zone – the dimension where ghosts live. Real self-explanatory. That's where I met Johnny and Kitty 'cause, y'know, they're also ghosts." Danny gave a cheeky grin. "We became great friends for obvious reasons."

Danny could feel the eye-twitch from Batman as the Dark Knight said, "So, let me get this straight… You want me to believe that ghosts are real and that they have their own dimension."

The teen nodded. "Yup. When a person dies, sometimes they still have things they think they have to do, which means their consciousness has to go somewhere. That place would be the Ghost Zone. There, the consciousness attaches itself to some ectoplasm and – BOOM! – instant ghost." Danny gave a small wave. "And before you wonder about civilians' safety concerning ghosts, don't worry about it. They're generally pretty chill, and they don't come out to our world very often. There's not really any convenient, reliable way to get in and out, so they usually choose to stay put."

"Supposing this is all true, you sure seem to know a lot about these guys on a species level," Batman commented, narrowing his eyes in suspicious.

If Danny noticed, he didn't let on, just shrugged in a 'what-can-you-do' kind of way. "When you live with them for as long as I did, you pick it up. So, now that you have your very own ghost expert, I'm assuming you want some help stopping Johnny and Kitty, right?"

Batman replied, "That's the plan."

"Well, sorry to be a mood killer, but there's nothing I can tell you over the phone that will help you stop them. Nothing you own will be able to touch them if they don't want it to. Something about ectoplasm and physical objects operating on different wavelengths." Danny gave another shrug and waved the explanation off. "But anyway, lucky for you, this is just Johnny and Kitty. They're pretty open to seeing reason and hearing others out, even if they're a bit antisocial. If you found a way to get him to talk, I'm sure he'd go home with a little bit of begging."

The Dark Knight thought about Danny's plan for a moment, considering his options, and then asked, "Why don't I pick you up and bring you to Gotham instead? You said you were friends, right? That means you could talk him down easier than I?"

Danny smirked. "Probably, though he might convince me to burn down the city to be funny. Who knows?" When Batman didn't laugh, Danny rolled his eyes. "Ugh, yes, he'll go home. When should I expect you?"

"A few hours. If you have anything you need to bring, have it ready by the time I get there."

Before Danny could answer, the line died. Fine with the sudden end to the call, Danny spun in his chair to face his mattress. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered, "Now to deal with you…"

Roughly six hours later, Batman found himself standing above a sleeping Danny, who had moved his bed from under his table to the middle of the kitchenette. Batman could only see the top of his black hair – the only indication the teen lived other than the rise and fall of his chest. He seemed cozy inside his little burrito. If not for the fact Danny was kind of a dick, Batman would feel bad for having to wake him.

Nudging the teen's side, Batman called, "Hey. Wake up."

Danny groaned, lifting his head from his pillow to look around. His unfocused eyes eventually found the Dark Knight beside him, as well as the open window waiting for them. He sneered at Batman and grumbled, "You know I have a door, right? I promise it works."

"Can't. The bat costume is a little too noticeable for that," Batman replied. It wouldn't sounded sarcastic coming from anyone else, but somehow, the Caped Crusader made the statement sound like the gravest situation possible.

Danny snorted. "What the fuck are you talking about? This is Vegas. A clown lives in the apartment down the hall. You'll blend right in."

"Uh huh. Sure." Batman rolled his eyes, then turned on his heel. Heading for the window, he called, "Anyway, it's time to go. We've got a long plane ride ahead of us."

Danny pulled himself out of his burrito and hopped to his feet. However, instead of following Batman to the window, he beelined for the door. Opening it, he said, "Yeah, that's fine and all, but I'll meet you on the roof my way."

Batman shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The two parted, each leaving through their respective exits. Danny locked the door behind him as he left and then wandered down the hallway, barefoot and looking a tad homeless. He passed one of the other residents on his way to the stairs who gave him a disgusted look, but Danny gave her two middle fingers without looking. There was no access to the roof in this apartment; it'd been sealed off after too many arrests for young twenty-somethings hooking up with teen girls with fake IDs. So, Danny headed for the lobby and onto the streets where he stopped. Humming to himself, he mumbled, "I didn't really think this through, did I?"

He'd barely finished his sentence before Danny found an arm locking around his waist. He shrieked as his feet left the sidewalk and he launched into the air, held captive only by a single arm. Moments later, he was dumped onto the apartment rooftop, where he shot to his feet like a rocket and gasped for breath.

Despite Danny's brilliant performance, Batman's expression remained as blank as ever. "You should've gone through the window."

"Please jump into traffic."

"Because you asked nicely, no." Batman patted Danny's cheek twice, ignoring when the teen tried to bite him, then headed for the big ass jet just chilling ten feet away.

Danny's mouth dropped open. He did not make a move to follow, nor did he even seem to breathe. Eyes as wide as saucers, he could only stare.

Batman jumped into the pilot's seat, and clicking his seatbelt into place, he looked up to see that Danny hadn't moved from the spot he'd dropped him. He rolled his eyes and barked, "Danny, stop wasting time. Let's go. What about 'long plane ride' do you not understand?"

The teen snapped out of his stupor and sprinted to join the Dark Knight in the plane. He climbed in with all the grace of a newborn fawn, and after falling into his seat, the dome closing behind him, he proceeded to gawk at all the bright buttons and sleek levers. He whispered, "It's just not fair."

Batman turned the Batplane on, his hands flying over the controls with ease. "What isn't?"

"How come you get an awesome plane and I don't?"

As they began to take off, Batman sighed. "This ride is going to be longer than I thought."

Batman would later confirm that his assessment had been correct. For the first two minutes, Danny managed to reach peak adorableness, all his energy poured into enthusiasm for how the plane had been made and how it worked. However, after those initial two minutes, Batman found himself exhausted by the sheer amount of questions Danny managed to scrounge up. For example, what did it matter what the precise measurements for the landing gear was? Batman tried to divert the teen's attention to literally anything else, but somehow, his inquisitive mind would always loop back around to some innocuous detail of the plane. After about two hours of constant discussion, Batman finally just stopped answering.

Granted, that didn't mean Danny didn't stop asking. His mouth kept running for about another half hour until, deflated by the lack of replies, he finally shut up. Frowning, the boy pulled his legs up to his chest and looked out the window.

Batman wanted to feel bad. He really did. But how could he when he finally had blessed silence?

Besides, after being given a few moments, Danny settled down to doze – a nap for nap's sake to pass the time. Batman could tell it wasn't a restful sleep, however. Every time he'd seen the kid passed out in his apartment, he'd been as still as a statue. Yet, for the remainder of the plane ride, all he did was fidget in his seat, eyes closed, breathing easy, but uncomfortable as all hell. Still, he was unconscious enough to not know when they were landing – thankfully. Batman really didn't need him knowing where the entrance to his hangar was, after all.

As soon as they were safely landed, the Dark Knight unbuckled himself, and getting out, he paused. Reaching back, he shook Danny's shoulder, calling softly for him to wake for the second time that night – well, morning now. Danny shifted in an obvious attempt to bury himself in the seat, mumbling, "Leave me alone, you workaholic."

Batman glared. In a dry tone, Batman said, "I'm the workaholic here? Me?"

As his nights of monitoring the Dark-Net surfaced from the depths of his memory, he reminded himself how much of a typical teenager Danny was. Just like all his boys, Danny too liked to stay up for long periods of time, only to then sleep for long periods of time to make up for it. However, as he seemed prone to do, Danny took it to the extreme. Whereas most adolescents stayed up for a night, Danny scoffed at that and said, "A whole night? Bitch, I've been up since last month. Your game is pathetic."

Tim used to try to be like Danny. This whole sleeping-through-everything thing was exactly why Batman hadn't let him be like that.

Sighing, Batman gave a rough shake to Danny's shoulder, startling him awake. "If you're really that tired, sleep on the floor. For now, get out of my plane."

His eyes bleary and unfocused, Danny glared and growled but did as ordered. Undoing his seatbelt, he exited the vehicle, giving it one last wistful look over his shoulder. Then, he looked forward and saw just exactly where he was. His mouth dropped open, his steps tapering off.

Already halfway to the computer bank, Batman shot a look over his shoulder. "What, Danny?"

"Is this your HQ?"

"No. We're at Disneyland."

A smile broke out on Danny's face. "Hey, I've never been. For all I know, this actually is Disneyland."

Batman sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time. He nodded towards the computer bank. "Hurry up and get down here. I have to be somewhere, but I have to lay some ground rules before I go."

"Not my problem," Danny mumbled as he sauntered his way towards the Dark Knight. His wide blue eyes circled the vast expanse of the cavern, taking in everything from the giant penny and t-rex on the trophy level to the fucking Batmobile. As soon as Danny saw that last part, he thought he might faint.

From the computer bank, Batman snapped for Danny to hurry up – again – but Danny couldn't bring himself to move any further. Batman felt his ire rise, but he tried to bite it down. Danny looked so much like a kid in the candy store; again, a sense of deja-vu washed over Batman, reminding him so much of his boys. All the dark humor had drained from Danny's face, and his stupid grin appeared so innocent.

Still, Batman had a Wayne Enterprises meeting that he was already late for, and Danny had all day to look at his toys.

Eventually, Danny made it over to where Batman waited for him. (Actually, Batman caught the back of his shirt as he tried to bolt for the car, but that was besides the point.) Without further delay, Batman launched into his list of rules Danny only half-listened to, too distracted to care. To be fair, most of it the teen probably saw coming a mile away ("You can use the computer, but tamper with it, and I will know." – "Don't touch anything." – "No joyrides." – "Seriously, do not touch anything, not the gadgets, not the vehicles, not even the costumes." – "No leaving or going up that staircase.").

The ground rules wrapped up, Batman let the teen in on one last key piece of information. "I have an associate who will be down shortly and will be watching. He goes by Penny-One, and if I found out you treated him with anything less than the utmost respect, I will kick your ass. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's great. Let me go look at the car now, please," Danny whined. He leaned in the direction he could see it, his body held in place only by the arm held in Batman's hand.

Rolling his eyes, Batman sighed. He released Danny, shaking his head as the teen immediately bolted for the garage, screaming 'Yes!' the entire way down. He turned on his heel and headed for the stairs, praying for strength at having to face Alfred and telling him that they had an unexpected house guest and the anger that would come once the older man saw him in his suit in the house.

The disapproving scowl had already set deep into Alfred's face when Bruce came through the grandfather clock, his eyes flickering up and down his unmasked but still costumed frame with a look that said, "You're disobeying my number one house rule." Bruce held up his hands in surrender. "I can explain."

"Explain all you like. You are still breaking the rule, Master Bruce."

"I know. However, I have a very intelligent, very sneaky little guest downstairs who is probably already trying to dig up my secrets." Bruce shrugged, then started for the hallway all the while shrugging off his cape. "It didn't seem like the greatest idea to change down there, you see."

"While I cannot disagree, I will continue to be disappointed," Alfred said. He follow behind Bruce patiently, taking his costume garments from him as Bruce shed them, shaking his head. "I am assuming that the little guest downstairs will need a babysitter for the rest of the day."

Bruce cast a sheepish look over his shoulder. He placed a hand on the back of his neck but kept himself from rubbing it. That was Danny's little nervous habit, not his.

"Could you?" Bruce asked.

Alfred sighed. "I will deal with the boy, just as you will have to deal with two missed meetings from this morning."

"…shit."

An hour later, Bruce was off to deal with those two meetings Alfred had mentioned, and Alfred himself found himself wearing the ridiculous domino mask and descending towards the Batcave with eggs, sausage, toast, and orange juice made for brunch. As he came to the bottom of the staircase, he placed the tray of food on the nearest table and went in search of the boy. He found him, not so surprisingly, half-shoved under the Batmobile.

Alfred sauntered up to the launch pad and looked down at the flailing arms and legs. He commented, "In a bit of a pickle, are we?"

The struggling ceased. The teen – Danny, Alfred had been informed his name was – slid slowly out from under the Batmobile, grinning. "Me? In a pickle? Never."

Alfred waved for Danny to come out. "Well, in that case, you have no need to be under there, do you? Come along. I'm sure Batman would not appreciate you tampering with his car, and I will not appreciate you letting your food get cold."

Danny perked. "Food?" He jumped to his feet, ready to follow Alfred wherever he went. Thick, black grease coated his hands, but he didn't hesitate to wipe it all over his white shirt. Alfred gave a disgusted look, but it went right over Danny's head. He asked, "I'm guessing you're Penny-One?"

"Indeed. Now, might I suggest a shower once you've finished gorging?"

"You may suggest it all you like." Danny smirked. "Doesn't mean I'm going to indulge you, though."

For the first time that day, Alfred smirked back. "How much would you like to bet on that one?"

After the longest day known to man, Batman trudged down the stairs, beaten from the horrendous hours but determined to get through the night one way or another, even as he braced himself in preparation of fixing whatever mess Danny had made during the day.

Except… it didn't look like he'd made a mess. Of anything.

Standing at the edge of computer banks, Batman scanned the computers. Found nothing that looked wrong. Found nothing wacky outside them. He looked around the cave. Nothing out of miss – except for the black-haired teen sitting in his chair, curled with a literary classic in his hand. From the looks of it, it looked like Danny was reading Moby Dick.

Batman walked up behind the teen. He didn't look up.

"Danny, where's Penny-One?"

The boy didn't look up. He flipped the page, eyes scanning through the lines. "Upstairs."

"Upstairs?" Batman looked back towards the stairwell, then back at Danny. "I'm confused. He was supposed to be watching you. And since when do you read books?"

Danny still wouldn't look up. "I read them now."

"Why?"

Finally, Danny's eyes – his wide, frightened eyes – turned towards Batman. He seemed to shrink in his seat as he whispered, "I don't want to talk about it."

The telltale slide of the grandfather clock echoed off the walls, followed by the muted thuds of Alfred's footsteps. Danny shrunk in his seat, burying his nose back in his book, while Batman turned to see his old friend appear around the bend. Alfred joined his side moments later. Batman said, "I need to know your secrets."

A grin tugged at the corners of Alfred's mouth. He patted Danny's shoulder, eliciting the barest hint of Danny's own grin. "I apologize, Master, but I cannot divulge my secrets."

Batman's eyes flickered between Danny and Alfred. "I see how it is."

Danny rolled his eyes, and with a sharp thump, he closed his book. Standing up, he set it on his seat and turned to Batman. "Alright, before you get your panties in a twist – well, more of a twist than they are already in – are we going to go find Johnny or what?"

"Obviously. Last night, he caused an accident that landed someone in the ICU," Batman said. When Danny made to run for the Batmobile, Batman held out a hand to stop him. "However, I can't just let you go out without some kind of disguise. You may be good at hiding your tracks online, but others will have no problem tracking your face. I've thought of a few ideas if you want to hear them."

For the first time since Batman had met him, Danny began to look sheepish. He started to rub the back of his neck as he said, "No need. I've actually already got that covered."

Batman and Alfred shared a look from the corners of their eyes, then Batman's eyes narrowed at Danny. "Explain."

"It would be harder to explain than it would be to show. However, if you kill me for this, my ghost will come back to haunt your leather-clad ass, okay?" Danny said as he backed up, putting a few feet between him and the older men. He gave them his signature smirk before closing his eyes.

Another look between Alfred and Batman.

Danny whispered something to himself, and a white ring of light sparked to life around his waist. It split in two, traveling up and down his body, changing him in their wake. Where blue-eyed, black-haired Danny stood in his lounge clothes now stood some kind of ethereal version of him. His loose t-shirt and sweatpants had turned into a black vest zipped up the sides and black jeans with white stitching down the sides, the ends tucked into combat boots. Two green belts crisscrossed his waist. The hood on his vest had been pulled up, casting shadows over his face, but not hiding his pure white hair entirely. A white aura hung over his tanned skin, faintly humming in the silence of the cave.

Danny opened his eyes, and two toxic green eyes stared back at Batman. He laughed and held out his hands, "So, what do you think?"

If Alfred had had anything in his hands, it would've shattered on the floor by now. He raised a hand to cover his mouth. "My word."

Batman narrowed his eyes into thin, white slits, all hint of amusement gone. He clenched his hands into fists under his cape, trying not to let Danny see his anger. He'd find it too amusing. "You lied."

His smirk an arrogant thing, Danny shook his head and wagged his finger as if somehow Batman was the one in the wrong. "No, no. I've done pretty good at refraining from lying. On the other hand, have I been keeping certain silly, little truths from coming to light? One-hundred percent." Danny shrugged and held out his hands, as if to ask, "What can you do?"

"As if somehow that's any better?" Batman snapped.

"Not better. Oh no, I'll never claim to be morally better than anything or anyone." Danny turned on his heel, angling himself in the direction of the garage. As he started carefully stepping away, he said over his shoulder. "But will I find ways to technically be in the clear? Yes. Yes, I will." With that, he scurried away, cackling to himself.

"I'm going to kill him," Batman seethed.

Alfred gave his employer a sympathetic pat on the back. "I understand the desire, but remember that, of all the boys you've mentored in your lifetime, this one may be the one that needs the most patience. The fact that he showed this side of him at all should say something about your progress with him, would it not?"

Batman clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and then released all the tension in his body until even his fingers were limp. "I guess you're right." He looked towards his car, where Danny bounced on his toes, looking like he might stroke out with excitement. "But I may still kill him."

"Just remember to hide the body properly. We don't need the police force hunting you down again if we can help it."

Batman snorted under his breath, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he gave a grinning Alfred one last wave.

As Batman walked down the stairs, he got a sight of Danny's back as the boy stared at his car. Of all the things he expected to be emblemized on the teen, he hadn't expected the white angel wings stitched into the back of his vest, all sharp angles and sweeping lines. They were wide, too – wide enough that they didn't fit entirely on the vest. Instead, they continued as black ink down his arms, connected when Danny's arms hung by his sides.

"Anything else you would like to share with the class before we head out?" Batman asked as he came up behind the teen. He eyed the tattoo in particular. "Like why you chose angel wings instead of devil horns?"

Even if he couldn't see it from his angle, Danny's glowing eyes flickered over his shoulder. His smirk softened, his eyes drifting away for a moment, but as quickly as he blinked, the memory was gone, and the smirk returned. "That detail would be unimportant, and as for general sharing with the class, no. I have nothing else to add."

Batman sighed, muttered, "Somehow, I doubt that," and then, opened the Batmobile's top.

With a tiny squeal, Danny jumped in. He plastered himself against the smooth leather seat, taking in all the buttons and levers within his reach. Eyes wide, he seemed to be sizing everything up, taking note of every small detail and making notes to himself as to what buttons did which task.

"Don't touch anything," Batman said as he hopped in. The top closed behind him, and running entirely on autopilot, Batman started turning the car on. Danny vibrated with excitement watching, his fingers clearly itching to do something. Batman let himself a small grin before he stepped on the gas, the car zooming off without another moment's notice.

In an instant, Danny's attention switched from button pushing to passing scenery – the blue haze of passing lights, the jagged cavern walls. As they neared the exit, Batman jerked the wheel to the left, never slowing. Danny yelped as he slammed into the car's side, hitting it hard enough to see stars. Batman winced, but as long as Danny couldn't remember where exactly they'd come from, then that was all that mattered.

"Should've worn your seatbelt," Batman remarked.

As soon as the black spots faded from his vision, Danny pulled himself up. He glared at the Dark Knight, but without turning his head, he buckled himself in. "Do I have to say it?"

"Save your breath. I'm sure they'll be plenty of other moments to tell me to go fuck myself."

"Glad to know. I'll be sure to jump on the next opportunity."

Batman didn't bother with a reply, and the two fell into silence that bordered on comfortable. Danny's attention went back to the passing scenery, even if there wasn't much to make out in the blurry landscape.

As they neared their destination, Batman asked, "So, what am I supposed to call you in the field?"

Danny glanced over at him, his eerie eyes focal points of light within his darkened hood. He seemed to turn a few options over in his head, testing them out, until he finally gave, "Just call me Graveyard."

Another name associated closely with death. Batman wanted to shake his head, tell him to choose something – anything – other than these gloomy aliases of his, but he kept his mouth screwed shut. His pleading wouldn't change anything, so why even bother?

Batman decided to turn his attention to things he could control, could influence. "Before we approach Johnny, I need to know how you plan to defend yourself in case things go south. Do you have powers, or do I need to supply you with a weapon?"

"A weapon would be cool," Danny – Graveyard, he amended – said, his voice somehow both light and ominous. "but it would be unnecessary."

Batman had suspected as much. "So, you have powers, then?"

"A few."

"Like?"

"Possession. Energy beams. Lightning. Ice." Batman couldn't see it, but he could feel the growing smirk on Graveyard's face. "Weather control. Sucking the soul straight from a person's body."

So, probably a select few of those options, then. Which Graveyard had, Batman wouldn't know until he saw the teen use them. Until then, Batman could only guess, and he couldn't press for any concrete answers. Just as it had been with every question that he'd asked the teen, he gave enough to satisfy, to give an idea of the whole picture, but he knew how to keep his cards pressed close to his chest.

With how long he'd been on his own, Batman wondered if the teen even knew the extent of what his powers were. How to use them. Maybe that's why he spent so much time on his computers and not using his powers to his advantage – he knew his strengths and weaknesses, what he could and couldn't do. Maybe the same couldn't be said for his abilities.

"Were you born with them?" Batman asked.

Graveyard shot him a look. He leaned against the wall and propped his head on his fist. "Are you trying to instigate another round of twenty questions? Who knew the Gotham's Creature of the Night would be so chatty?"

A glance. Batman shrugged as if he couldn't give less of a shit about Graveyard's answer and said, "Answer if you want. I can't make you." As much as he would love to. As much as he wanted rip the answers straight from Graveyard's brain.

Batman could feel the teen's stare on him, could feel the intensity of his gaze burning holes in his skull. Finally, Graveyard released a long sigh, sinking in his seat. "I got them in an accident when I was fourteen. When I went to the Ghost Zone, I'd only gotten there through an accident – and then couldn't get back. Technus, for all his craziness, had been the one to help me regroup. Said he could help me get home when he learned our hobbies were one in the same." Graveyard gave a little laugh. "The other ghosts in the area hadn't been too happy about it, but I didn't help matters by being a prick. They ganged up on us one day, separated us from each other. One of them tried to kill me by blasting me with their ecto-rays."

Batman glanced at Graveyard from the corner of his eye. He found those glowing green eyes staring back at him, their hue illuminating his eye-sockets – the strangest Grim Reaper that Batman had ever seen.

"This happened instead," Graveyard said.

"That must have been terrifying." Despite his neutral voice, Batman felt a chill run through him – maybe not a reaction to the events specifically but to how casually Graveyard could relay them. This teen – this child, he kept reminding himself – shouldn't be able to tell this story so calmly. His boys, for all their strength, couldn't compartmentalize their trauma to the extent that Graveyard could.

The teen shrugged. He relaxed in his seat, kicking an ankle onto his knee. "It would be if it hadn't been so funny. What incredible karma – for me and the ghosts both."

Batman didn't know how to answer, so he didn't. For once, Graveyard didn't seem to mind the quiet, his attention again turning to the scenery as Gotham's skyscrapers raced to meet them.

Four hours later, they still hadn't said anything else, and more importantly, there hadn't been any sign of Johnny 13 and Kitty. The police scanner lay dormant between the two, and at some point, Graveyard remarked, "You know, I thought this place was supposed to be rampant with crime? Seems quieter than Vegas, if you ask me."

At that exact moment, the police scanner crackled to life.

Batman and Graveyard looked down at it at the same time, then looked back up at each other. Batman glared as Graveyard shrunk under his gaze, scratching at the back of his neck. Batman said, "Maybe you should've been named Jinxed."

"Hey!"

Batman held up his hand as the dispatcher's voice came over the radio, the voice a mess of static and garbled tones. It was only years of practice that Batman was able to make out him saying, "Our favorite reckless motorist is making moves again. Heading down Thomas Wayne Boulevard, toward the Brown Bridge."

"Hold on," Batman said. With a few gear shifts, the Batmobile took off from its gentle cruise to nearly flying. Graveyard slammed back into his seat at the jerk, eliciting the smallest smirk from Batman as he stammered a number of curses under his breath. "I told you to hold on."

"Shut your whore mouth," Graveyard hissed.

The longest six minutes of the teen's life later, the Batmobile came to a screeching halt on the deserted bridge. The top popped open, and Graveyard crawled out of it, his face nearly green. Batman jumped out after him, facing the direction they could hear Johnny's motorcycle roaring.

Graveyard trudged up to the Dark Knight's side a moment later. "So, what's the plan?"

"Don't have one." At the teen's incredulous look, Batman nodded his head towards the silhouette that appeared on the horizon and was fast approaching. "I was curious to see if you had one, and if you didn't, I wanted to see how you would handle it. After all, I thought they were your friends?"

Graveyard raised an eyebrow, then smirked. He cracked his knuckles and began to walk forwards, saying over his shoulder, "Works for me."

Even as the teen stepped up to the task and Batman stepped back, the Dark Knight was pulling out a few bat-a-rangs from his belt, useless as they were.

Graveyard stopped a few feet away, relaxing back on his heels and studying his fingernails as the blur of the motorcycle grew closer with every second. Once he deemed the enemy close enough, he opened up his hand, a green ball of energy sparking to life in the palm of his hand – something that caught Batman's eye in an instant. Graveyard reeled it back like a baseball, and shooting it forward, yelled, "Oh, JOHNNY! Miss me?!"

As the ball of glowing green hit the ground near the motorcycle, it exploded and threw dirt and dust into the air. The motorcycle swerved and a horrible scr-r-r-reech rang out as the driver hit the brakes. Yet, despite the friction, the bike was still barreling closer, closer, closer – right into Graveyard.

Batman's muscles tensed, ready to jump in, but also curious to see what the relaxed teen planned to do as bike and riders screeched towards him.

All he did was stand. Wait. At the last possible moment, the bike came to an abrupt halt, just inches from where the teen stood as if he'd planned it that way. Graveyard even bent forward, resting his elbows on the handlebars as he propped his head on his fists. "Cutting it a little closer there, huh, Johnny? And here I thought you loved me."

Batman had never seen eyes so wide. Johnny's green orbs, so similar to Graveyard's own, swirling and glowing, seemed to have grown twice their size, and his mouth hung open. He didn't move as his girlfriend peeked over his shoulder, gasped, and asked, "Little D? Is that really you?"

Under the hood, Graveyard's greens seemed to spark, growing the tiniest bit brighter. "Actually, it's Graveyard now." He stood, placing a hand to his chest with a dramatic sweep of his arm. "And while I may have changed physically a lot over the years, name included, I'm still the same person you once knew."

Nobody but Batman cared to notice as a horde of red and blue flashing lights appeared on the horizon, racing down the bridge and coming to a halt just thirty feet away. The cops jumped out of their cruisers just in time to see Kitty jump off the bike and crash into Graveyard for her 'long overdue hug,' to which he returned in equal force. The cops, all in a hurry to take defensive positions behind their car doors with their guns and finally realizing the scene before them, fell into confused murmurs and glances amongst each other.

Commissioner Gordon looked to Batman. Batman held up a hand, studying the scene.

With a laugh and a shake of his head, Johnny hopped off his bike and as soon as Kitty had released her victim, he and Graveyard clasped hands, coming in for a half-hug. The biker said, "Damn! Little D isn't so little anymore. You've grown, what? An inch since the last time we saw you?"

Graveyard glared. "Har-dee har har. Very funny. You're not that tall yourself, Johnny. Just above midget status, in fact."

"So, if I'm above midget status, then does that mean you fall into midget status?" Johnny asked with a shit-eating grin.

"No. Of course not." Graveyard pointed to himself. "I'm a gremlin. Duh."

Johnny barked a laugh, throwing his head back as his body shook all over. Crossing her arms, Kitty rolled her eyes, then pushed her boyfriend to the side and allowed the spotlight to fall to her. "Enough with the bullshit. I gotta know – where've you been, babe? How've you been? It's been ages."

Batman noted how Graveyard's smirk softened at the corners, a gentle smile all for the green-haired girl. "Oh, you know. I've been a little bit of everywhere. I've got a new base set up in Vegas, so that's been fun. You guys should come check it out sometime."

As the biker took his place by his girlfriend's side again, the couple gave each other a knowing look. Johnny said, "I think they'd be great, dude. Have you tricked the place out yet? Built that computer lab you've always wanted?"

"Oh HO, you wouldn't believe that amount of shit I've built. I have gone above and beyond with the computer lab. You should see the amount of crap I cram into this tiny space." Excited like a kid on a Christmas, Graveyard launched into a long rant about his little set-up in Nevada, all the while Johnny and Kitty stood smirking, nodding along like patient parents. None bothered to acknowledge the heavy police presence just thirty feet away.

While they talked, Batman ducked to the side and strode up to Gordon – the only calm one in his entire squad. The epitome of relaxation, he leaned up against the car, gun put away and cigarette tucked into the corner of his mouth. He took it out as Batman approached. "Forgive me for having to ask, but please tell me that's not another kid you went and adopted?"

"Not exactly." Batman turned on his heel as he came up on Gordon's side, turning back just in time to see Graveyard throw his head back and laugh. "Think of it more as an afterschool mentoring program that only happens a few hours a week."

"Ah, I see," Gordon muttered before taking another draw from his cigarette. "So, is your temporary ward going to do us a favor and drag that motorist's ass over here? He's got a long list of road violations to answer to."

"I'm sorry to tell you, but you won't be taking Johnny in to answer for anything."

Gordon raised an eyebrow.

Batman glanced over his shoulder. "Even if we were to throw him in the deepest, darkest cell at Blackgate, it wouldn't be enough to keep Johnny or Kitty in. They'd be gone by dawn." He turned back to see Kitty knock Graveyard with a soft punch to the shoulder. "Instead, we're just going to convince him to stay off of Gotham's roads."

Batman could feel the stare with which Gordon pinned him, boring holes into his head. "I've never seen you bend the rules like this before, especially not for metas abusing their powers."

"Trust me – if you knew what I did, you'd be bending the rules too."

"We have stronger prisons than Blackgate."

"Doesn't matter. None would hold them, and it's not worth trying to create one over traffic violations."

"They were violations that got people hurt."

"I know all too well."

Gordon wasn't happy with that answer if the click of a lighter was any indication. Truthfully, neither was Batman, but what could he do? No prison could house a ghost, and even if Graveyard had some method of being able to contain Johnny and Kitty, the likelihood that he would sell his friends out like that was slim to none. Better just to stop them than waste time trying to find ways to contain them while they continued to cause traffic accidents every night.

Neither the Commissioner nor Batman spoke again. Finally, Graveyard and his friends seemed to wrap up their conversation, the boy giving Kitty a hug and clapping hands to chest-bump Johnny once more. Then, the couple was hopping back on Johnny's bike and taking off down the road again, disappearing into the night.

Batman took that as his cue. He walked back to where Graveyard stood, the teen watching the corner where his friends had disappeared. Batman stopped beside him and asked, "So, should I be expecting to see them again anytime soon?"

"Nah. You don't have to worry about it anymore. Johnny and Kitty can be reckless as fuck, but they're also not dicks." Graveyard shrugged and finally dragged his eyes from the horizon, grinning up at Batman. "All anyone had to do was ask him nicely to go somewhere else."

Batman tilted his head, expression twisting into exasperated disbelief. "Are you forgetting that his actions caused a number of accidents? That they were on the way to killing someone with their actions?"

"No, I haven't forgotten." Graveyard shrugged again. He grinned a ruthful smile, then started heading for the Batmobile once more. Over his shoulder, he called back, "But then, I also haven't forgotten how many times no one came to save me. After that, I don't feel so bad."