Chapter 7: Expectations

The tracker hadn't come online.

The Gotham duo crept silently through the storage facility, an undercurrent of tension lending urgency to their calculated movements. The beacon had been online every night since they had picked it up. Suddenly the pattern had changed. And, while neither would admit it, the change made the pair very anxious. It was too similar to the time directly after Robin planted the tracer. The signal had skipped over cities before activating. The same thing could be happening now. It could have already happened. They might lose their lead.

Which meant it was time for another approach. The dark-haired boy was now their primary focus. His nightly wanderings always brought him back to the locker business.

9… 8… 7… the duo counted down the numbers on the storage vaults as they approached their target. They had hacked the company's flimsy network the night before. One of the larger lockups had been hired out just over a week ago. By a 'Damien John Ferguson' who, according to the ID on file, was 18. Robin had his doubts about that last part. The photo on the licence showed a young man with raven hair and solemn blue eyes. Possible match.

They had reached unit 4. Robin smirked. Deliberate or not, the Chinese number for death seemed a fitting place to end the ghost chase. Batman was already working on the lock, picks in hand as he teased the tumblers into alignment. The Boy Wonder drew a small canister from his belt, spraying lubricant along the tracks of the door. The last thing they needed was for a squeaky joint to give the game away. He activated the holo-screen of his computer, calling up the thermal scanner. Three signatures. Him, Bats and one other. Looks like their mystery man was inside… 'weird - his reading is way low, even with the door blocking the signal'. Acting in unison teen and mentor lifted the door and slipped in quietly, closing the entrance behind them.

It was dark. The lockers had no internal lights and – were it not for the faint sounds of the city – the blackness could have passed for the void. Robin pulled out a light stick, twisting the top to activate the mechanism. A dim glow slowly began to fill the bunker. As it brightened, the Boy Wonder half-expected to see a chemical lab, computer banks, even a séance room – something befitting a secretive 'haunt'. Clearly he'd been spending too much time at the cave. The light finally reached the back corner. Robin paused, allowing himself to process the scene. Whatever he'd expected, it wasn't this.


The bunker was largely empty, the glow from Robin's lamp highlighting the starkness of bare walls and cold concrete floor. Two dark bundles lay at the far back. The pair stepped forward, stopping as the contents came sharply into focus. A traveller's backpack leaned against the wall near the centre, a black sports bag lying open beside it. A faded sweater peeked through the zip, along with a large bottle of water and what looked like the remains of a loaf of bread. A few smaller bottles had tumbled out to lie on the ground nearby. But it was the other shape that commanded the duo's attention.

It was the boy. Slumped in the corner and obviously asleep, a ragged blanket hanging from his shoulders. Robin eyed the blanket with concern; even in his insulated suit he could feel the chill radiating from the ground. The deep hood had been pulled back, revealing his face for the first time. Neither of the duo were happy with that they saw.

The teen's clothes were clean but in need of repairs - ill-fitting and rough in places, verging on worn through in others. His blue jeans were too long for him, hanging down onto faded, peeling, red-and-white sneakers. The arm that poked from his sleeve was hard-muscled but bony. Not starved, but nowhere near healthy. The white shirt and ever-present red hoodie hung on his slim frame in a way that Batman did not like.

A mop of shaggy black hair fell across the boy's face and into his eyes. The eyes themselves were closed but deeply shadowed, hung with tired circles and webs of lines that spread outwards from the corners. His cheeks had the pinched, slightly hollowed look that came with a growth spurt, a lack of food, or both. He hugged himself slightly as he slept, curling loosely as though to hide from the world. Silver tracks ran down his face, reflected in the light from Robin's hand.

He was crying.

The sight of the thin figure in the corner set something aching deep in the Boy Wonder's chest. Glancing at his mentor Robin knew that, beneath the Batman's trademark impassivity, Bruce felt the same. He frowned as the desire for answers fought with the beginnings of shame – what place did they have, disturbing any small peace this person had found? He sighed internally. Regardless of how they might feel, a possible lead on 'the Phantom' was too important to overlook. Sharing a brief look and a nod the dynamic duo slowly and quietly advanced towards the boy.


Something had woken him. Danny wasn't sure what or why. It could be nothing, just the end of another nightmare. Or it could be everything. He hadn't bothered to open his eyes but by habit born of months of running he was alert, listening, feeling, wary of the possibility of a threat.

Silence…no, not quite. Breathing, heartbeats, quiet footsteps. He tensed minutely. Something, someone was in the locker with him. Two people. Definitely human… or at least mortal, partially. Ghosts didn't have heartbeats. Definitely two people. One smaller than the other by the sound. Too quiet, too purposeful to be lost, too professional for a common thief. Getting closer. Hunters?

Only one real way to find out.

Danny pushed himself upright, springing into a crude defensive stance, eyes scouring the storage unit, ready to run, fight, hide, to escape. The intruders had frozen as he moved, standing like statues in the gloom. The smaller one was holding what looked to be a souped-up glow-stick, gently illuminating the corner of the bunker. He seemed young; Danny's age, maybe a few years below. Messy dark hair, a black and white domino mask, red and black short-sleeved jumpsuit, black gloves, black and yellow half-cape... 'No way'. A glance to the older man confirmed what the half-ghost already knew. Black and grey combat suit, full-length dark cape, face hidden beneath a cowl adorned with small, horn-like ears. Danny swallowed, eyes widening. The Batman and Robin. Were here. In his lockup.