AN: hm. Would you look at the date. Seems it's… been a while...

Okay, in my defense, I went through a major depressive episode where I literally didn't leave the house for like three weeks. I ended up having to withdraw from most of my classes because I was going to fail them. So I wasn't just being lazy!

But! Now I am on medication, and I'm seeing a therapist, and the semester is basically over, so I can get back to writing! Which is great, because not writing was really feeding into my guilt cycle which didn't help anything.

tl;dr, I am back in action! I am going to do my best on this story because I don't want to let you guys down! Reading your reviews makes me so incredibly happy and I definitely want to keep things good for all of you who bother to read my nonsense.

I have not managed to obtain the rights to Danny Phantom or Young Justice during my absence.

Danny opened the fridge, looking for something eat. He frowned as he took in the baren shelves. It had been Dick's turn to go shopping this week, but he had clearly forgotten. Again.

Danny sighed, grabbing some ramen out of the cupboard. He didn't really blame Dick for forgetting to get groceries. His job at the police station took up a lot of time, and that was without adding in his 'extracurriculars.' Still, Danny couldn't help but be grateful that he had insisted on going with Dick when he had left the team three years ago. There was no way he would have survived on his own.

Ramen done, Danny served himself some, glancing at the clock. 3 AM. He frowned again, looking at the window as if Dick would magically show up right then. Danny had dropped Dick off at the Batcave nearly two hours ago. He should have been back by now.

Danny groaned, allowing his head to plonk down onto the kitchen counter. He should have just waited in Gotham, but Dick had insisted that Danny go home and get some rest. Danny had tried to go to sleep, but he was too unsettled. He had tossed and turned for more than an hour before giving up and deciding to eat something. He had hoped that it would calm his nerves, but the smell of food only made him feel nauseous.

With a defeated sigh, Danny shoved the food away from him. He wouldn't be able to relax until Dick returned. He stared at the wall blankly for a few minutes before wandering over to his office. He might as well get some work done if he was going to be awake.

The main problem, he thought as he started to look through his paperwork, was that he wasn't technically supposed to know where the Batcave was. Batman had never given Dick permission to tell him. Neither of them were sure what would happen once Batman found out he knew, but Danny really wasn't eager to find out. Though, if he were being perfectly honest with himself, he knew that Batman was most likely aware of his forbidden knowledge. He was Batman after all. But on the off chance he didn't know, Danny wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

Shaking his head to dispel the unpleasant thoughts, Danny focused more fully on the papers in front of him. He was behind on next month's budget and needed to get it done before the end of the day. He spared a moment to wish he liked coffee before diving into his work.

Danny had been jobless for nearly an entire year when he and Dick first moved to Bludhaven. He had managed to get his GED, but he never went to college. Plus, there was also the fact that he was legally dead. The League had gotten him some false paperwork, but he wouldn't pass a background check at most places. He had begun to think he would never have a job.

His luck had changed one day during their first winter in the city. Danny had been horrified by the sheer number of homeless people who were trapped outside in the freezing weather. Dick had mentioned a homeless shelter that he could direct them too, and Danny had latched onto the idea. However, he couldn't help but notice that the shelter was incredibly understaffed and underfunded. He was worried that it would shut down unless some action was taken.

So one day, two weeks after he first learned of the shelter, he had gone there in his civilian identity and offered his help. The workers were so glad to have help that they hadn't cared about his sketchy background. Danny had quickly been put in charge of finances. He may have hated math when he was in high school, but as he got older, he found he had an affinity for it. It appeared that the Fenton genius hadn't completely skipped him over afterall. It was rather comforting honestly. Danny was glad that at least a little of his family's smarts lived on through him.

He had worked at the shelter ever since. He wasn't paid much, but he didn't care. He and Dick made enough to get by, and at the end of the day, they were helping people. That was all that mattered to them.

Danny had just finished balancing the shelter's budget when he heard the window open. Danny looked up to see Dick climb through the window, looking exhausted. Looking at the clock, Danny wasn't surprised. It was pushing four-thirty now.

"You have work in half an hour." He commented, putting the completed budget away. Dick groaned, peeling his mask off.

"Don't remind me," he grumbled, collapsing on the couch. Danny grabbed the cold ramen from the kitchen and handed it to him. Dick took a bite without really looking at it, only to spit the noodles out.

"What the-" He peered blearily at the bowl before blinking up at Danny in confusion. "Did you make ramen at four in the morning?"

"No, I made it at three." Danny plopped down on the couch next to Dick. "Though to be fair, I could have made something better if someone had remembered to do the grocery shopping this week."

Dick groaned again, letting his head fall back on the couch.

"I'm sorry Danny. I keep swearing I'm going to do it, but then-"

"It's fine." Danny cut him off. "Honestly, I get it. I'll just do the shopping from now on, it's not a big deal."

"I can't let you do that." Dick protested weakly. "I want to help."

"You are helping!" Danny said with a laugh. "You make all the money."

Danny shifted, getting more comfortable. "Anyway, what did Bats say? And why did you take so long?"

"Bats didn't say anything." Dick muttered, standing up and making his way toward his bedroom. "He never came back. I waited for hours. Finally I had to leave because of work. I did leave a note though, so hopefully he gets back to me soon."

Danny frowned as Dick disappeared into his room. That wasn't like Batman.

"Did Alfred know anything?" He called out. Dick walked out of his room, now in his police uniform, and shook his head.

"Nothing specific. He did mention that Batman seemed rattled about something, but he wasn't sure what. His leaving was definitely last minute though, which is why we were called in. No one else was available at such short notice."

Dick sighed, patting his cheeks in an attempt to look more awake. He dragged a comb through his hair half heartedly before giving it up as a bad job. More or less ready, he turned to Danny.

"How do I look?"

Danny snorted, standing up. He patted Dick's hair down a bit and straightened his uniform. It didn't help much.

"You look like you're going to drop dead any second. What's up? This isn't the first all nighter you've pulled."

"Ah…" Dick suddenly looked very guilty. Danny narrowed his eyes at him.

"Dick, you did sleep last night, right?"

"Well, the thing is-"

"Dick!" Danny yelled. "You promised you would go to sleep after we finished patrol! Which was important, because you pulled an all nighter the night before! Are you telling me you've been awake for three days?"

"I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you!"

Danny really wanted to keep lecturing his ridiculous roommate, but unfortunately he had to leave or he'd be late to work, and they both knew it. He growled before sighing.

"Fine. There's nothing we can do about it now. But no patrol tonight, got it? You are going to sleep the whole night through, or I swear to god-"

"Got it!" Dick said hurriedly, grabbing his keys and heading toward the door. "No patrol tonight, I swear!"

"And no 'research' either!" Danny yelled as the door closed.

Alone again, Danny rubbed his head. He was starting to get a headache. He had been up all night, which wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary, but also wasn't pleasant. Plus, there was this whole thing with the mystery guy and Batman's unusual behavior. That promised to be a mess.

Danny groaned. He was too tired for this. Luckily he had a few hours before he had to go to work, so he could get a little sleep. He briefly considered cleaning up the uneaten ramen before deciding to do it later. He shuffled into his bedroom and fell onto his bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

"Welcome home Master Bruce. I hope whatever you've been doing was fruitful."

Batman grunted, brushing past Alfred and heading to the computer. Alfred sighed, walking over to his charge.

"Master Dick waited for you for several hours. He had to leave for work, but he left a note."

"I'll look at it later." Batman muttered, staring at the screen. Alfred tsked, sweeping up the leaves that Batman had tracked into the cave.

"And you wonder why he never comes to visit anymore."

Batman stopped what he was doing and sighed. He pulled his cowl off, rubbing his face tiredly.

"I'm sorry Alfred. I'm just really stressed at the moment. Where's his note, I'll look at it now."

Alfred set the broom down primly before walking over to Batman, pulling the note out of his pocket. Batman took it gently and unfolded it, looking it over. His interest visibly sharpened as he took in the contents of the note.

"Where's Dick now? I need to talk to him."

"He's at work. And before you ask, so is Master Danny. Which you should know, seeing as I have told you as much multiple times."

"Alfred, I don't have time for your passive aggressive lectures about Dick. This is incredibly important!"

"More important than your son?" Alfred asked sharply. "I know things have been difficult since Dick moved out, but that is no excuse for you to neglect your family!"

"I AM DOING THIS FOR MY FAMILY!" Batman yelled. Alfred didn't react to the outburst except to raise an eyebrow. Batman faltered under Alfred's gaze.

"I'm sorry. Just… trust me on this Alfred. I know I'm acting… off, but this is important, for every member of our family."

Alfred looked at him for a long moment before exhaling softly, looking down.

"He gets off work at four. If you wait at his apartment, you should probably be able to catch him before he goes on patrol."

Batman nodded, taking in the information. He glanced at the computer screen for a moment before turning back to Alfred with a sigh.

"Thank you Alfred." Batman said softly. "I'm going to fix things, I promise. I know I don't always act like it, but this family is incredibly important to me. I just… I just have to figure out this one thing."

"Family isn't as simple as fixing one thing, Master Bruce." Alfred said sadly. "But I do believe that you are doing your best."

"Do you really?" Batman asked wryly. "Well, that makes one of us."

The two men sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Batman got up.

"I'd better get ready. At the very least, it will be nice to see Danny again."

"You should just adopt the boy and get it over with." Alfred said, picking his broom back up and continuing sweeping. "Heaven knows that he is already a part of the family."

"He knows where the Batcave is, that's basically the same thing." Batman said carelessly, heading up into the mansion.

"Hm. And when do you plan on telling him that you are aware of that fact?"

Batman laughed sheepishly. "Ah, you know about that."

He shrank under Alfred's disapproving gaze.

"I'll bring it up when I see him today." He promised hurriedly and Alfred sighed.

"I suppose that will have to do. Please try not to give him a heart attack."

Batman nodded his assent, but Alfred wasn't convinced. Beneath all the darkness and stoic nature, Bruce was a drama queen at heart. Master Danny was going to have a bad couple of minutes, that was for sure.

As Batman headed into the mansion, Alfred focused back on his cleaning. As he worked, his mind was going a mile a minute. Bruce was acting very strange, there was no denying it. Alfred could not think of many things that could shake the man, especially not to this extent.

And then there was the focus on family. Alfred felt an old stab of grief as he thought of their lost child. Could this have something to do with…?

He shook his head sharply. No. They all knew what had happened in that situation. There was nothing to solve, nothing to 'fix.' Nothing they could fix. Whatever was bothering Bruce, it had to be something else.

Even so, Alfred couldn't stop himself from gazing at a certain display case for just a moment longer than usual before he finally left the Cave.

AN: Yeah, that's right. I'm not even kinda being subtle. This story is about Jason, okay? There is literally no point in trying to hide it, it's obvious.

Well, to us at least. The characters have no clue what's going on. That's what makes it fun!

Anywho, in case you didn't know, it is canon that Dick Grayson moves to Bludhaven and becomes a cop. I just decided to make that part of my story and fix Danny into it. So don't be messaging me about how it's unrealistic, k? I don't know if any of you would do that, but just in case, that is why I made it that way.

Bye bye for now! Hopefully I get back quicker this time…