"Stay together and don't do anything reckless. That goes for you too, Danny." Batman into his comms. Laughter playing over the device.

"We'll take good care of them, B." Dick chimed.

Batman had demanded they keep their devices on, at least to him. He needed to hear what was going on at all times, especially with him unable to tag along.

"Ooooooo, new kid already getting scolded?" Steph chuckled over the comms.

"What he do?" Duke asked, a crinkling sound like opening a bag of chips played after.

Batman sighed, "Roped a giant catfish ghost."

"..." Silenced filled the line, til Stephanie started bursting in laughter.

"Seriously?" Duke softly chewing on chips.

"Affirmative." Batman rubbed his face, trying to think. "Is Oracle online yet?"

"She's up getting a cup of coffee."

Batman grunted with acknowledgment.

"But I can already tell you what she found."

"Go on?

Sound of feet shuffled, as if one was turning in their spot. Duke's sound of eating still softly in the distance.

"Apparently, Gotham wasn't the only city that had a strange battery floating around the black market. Star City was the only one with recorded damages, that reported they were possibly caused by an unknown power source. But, their were reports and rumors of a mysterious power source found in every major city. Even stranger men in white are popping up all over the country asking about the battery, claiming to be government agents."

"Because guys showing up in white vans are not suspicious." Duke chimed.

"Anything from the League?"

"Superman came over a while ago asking about the battery, you will not believe what Duke told him."

"Ssh! I was half-asleep, Steph!" sound of struggling was heard as if Duke was trying to keep Stephanie from saying what was next.

"He asked-ack-did you check the bat room?" Steph was laughing. "Superman was so confused."

"Uggggghh," groan of embarrassment coming from Duke.

"Then he goes like 'oh, we're in the bat room.' "

"I was half-asleep! I couldn't remember the word cave!"

Batman twitched his lip, in amusement. He could only imagine Superman's face when dealing with that. "Were you in costume?"

Duke took a moment before replying, "Uh, yeah."

"Had to slap a mask on him, he dozed off in the chair."

"All of you are way to wired for the amount of sleep you get."

Batman took in that bit of information. The sooner they saved the Fentons and get them on board, the better their chances were. "What did you tell him afterwards?"

"Oh, that you were investigating it, and you'll get back to him later. He said for you to contact him as soon as you can. He looked concerned."

"Hm.. he has a right to be." Especially if their theory about kryptonite and ectoplasm was correct. No doubt, Lex Luthor would have bought out at least one of the batteries.

"I'll contact him, once we've rested up back in Gotham. If everything goes well here, we might be able to secure a direct source of intel for the situation." Batman hoped the Fenton parents were capable enough and willing to assist to the growing problem at hand. Even if they weren't, perhaps their children could lend access to their files.

"Situation keeps going from bad to worse."

"What else is new?" Steph hummed.

After a bit of silence Batman stated, "Danny is a half-ghost."

"Wait, so he's a meta?!" Duke asked with excitement.

"According to the government, he's not. Its one of the few pieces of information I need to research. But he does have powers and would be considered superhuman, otherwise."

"So it has to count, right?"

"Nope, not a meta. Not yet, anyways."

"What, no! He has powers Steph! He has to be one. Come on!"

"20 dollars and your share of desserts will be mine!"

"You're not even in the lead!"


-\o.o/-


"We'll take good care of them, B." Dick turned towards the others, a grin on his face.

Danny's cheeks were pinkish while his face scrunched with embarrassment. Jason lightly teasing Danny, by poking his cheek while Jay's other arm used his shoulders as an arm rest. Tim and Cass snickering away.

Dick was glad that Danny didn't run off after hearing about Jazz. Though Jason was the main reason for that, having held Danny in place by the back of his shirt. He settled down pretty quick afterwards, as if realization sunk in.

Dick was hopeful they were getting through to Danny a bit. It felt a bit weird, but Danny did feel like bits and pieces of all his brothers and himself put into one chaotic bag. Which concerned him even more that Danny was so ready to put everything on his shoulders and take any risk without a second thought. It must be tough to be Jazz.

Dick clapped his hands, to get their attention. "Alright, lets get going. We need to be dropped off in the loading dock, where the weapons are. Want to explain how the catfish is getting us inside, Danny?"

"Oh easy, we're going to phase in." Danny said as he shoved Jason off of him, turning back towards the catfish. Whispering some incoherent words to it.

Jason blinked, having stumbled back a bit, then shrugged it off. It was a bit strange to be shoved off so easily.

"We're not ghost though."

"Exactly, reason we need his help.-Oh she? ...they? Ok, ok, their help. I could phase in myself, but I couldn't bring anyone with me in this state." The catfish having interrupted with some distorted mewing.

"...a catfish ghost has pronouns?" Tim didn't expect to learn that today.

"And green whiskers." Danny said as he climbed up onto the catfish ghost, Jason giving him a boost whether he needed or not, "Come on, before they change their mind. Oh, Er, Thanks."

Jason staying on the ground, helping give a boost to everyone else to get on top of the catfish. Dick reaching out his hand once up on the head, to help pull Jason up. "Everyone grab on to the lead."

They held onto the lead, Jason and Dick having Danny in between them as Cass sat by Jason's side and Tim by Dick's.

"Ready?" Danny asked them, as they all nodded, Cass giving a thumbs up. He leaned forward, to signal to the catfish to go ahead.

"W̵͚̟̤͇͠ȅ̷̬͘ͅ'̷̠̫̙̠͊r̶̨̼̻͇̋̚̕ḙ̶͚͈͔̚ ̷̢̢̥̳̇̋ͅŗ̷͔̱͙̤̿̐͠ȩ̸̫͒́å̸̛̟̹̥̀͋̕d̴̫̭͚̒̊̄͗y̴̧̹̲̰͉̋̌,̷̩̔̚ ̴̻̤̤̌͛k̴̙͈̺̕͝e̷̗̮̿e̶̥̖̼͍̞͒̊̈p̸̨̣̩̮͗̇̒̉ ̸̢̬͈͔͋̈́u̸̥̤̙̼͕̅s̵͎̳̪̲͂̉ ̷͍̰̰̹̽̊a̴̘͑̀b̸̨̲̔̑̑͘ö̶͓́̈́̓́̑͜v̶̬̀e̷͙̞̬̎̌̕ ̴̧̝̣͓̀ẘ̵̛̹̮̼̌̚ą̶ṭ̵̛̺̐ͅͅe̵̯̯̹͗́͐r̸̨̩̰̞̓ ̸̡̖̉̊͗͝͠u̵͖͋̿̈n̵̯͋͜t̶̻͈̱̅̊͐͐̂i̵̭̫͓͋͒̏͊̋l̵̬̟̰̙̊͒ ̶̟͖̒w̷͎̟̄̽̽̔͜e̶̜͇͔͒'̶̛̥̦̪̑͜r̸̢͇͖̗̹͌̌̍͘ḙ̸̓͐̽ ̷̫̎̽̾c̸͚̦͙̀̌͊̔̚l̶̗͂͛́ȯ̷̰͚̙͘͠s̵͈̻̟͛͝ë̵̝́͒ ̷̠̞̥̮̍t̵̙̅̈̊̀̊o̸̡͙̙͆̈ ̵͕͙͙͔͒͗͆t̶̖̽́̄͘h̸̝̹̮͑e̴̛̯ ̵̡̙̿͋͜l̵̠̈̐͝ạ̶̦̗͗͒͗̾i̶̼͉̽̑̀͜r̷̛͔̭͇̫̞̓̚.̸̼̮̗̣͙̽͛ ̸̭̠̲͎̍W̵̨͙͈̊̉̏̔͠ͅe̵̠̱̼͌ ̴͎͌n̴͎̋̆e̴̬͙̮̹̔̉͊͑e̵̲̺̓̈́d̵̩̫̎͒͒ ̸̳̙͓́̐͗t̵̨̹̫̟̺͊̒̃͒̕ö̸͍͠ ̸̬̭͙͉̅̂͜͠͝e̴̢̜̱͐n̸̥̯̜͐ţ̷̡̍̌e̶̳͌͂r̶̰̩̲͕̺͛͌̈́ ̶̧͌w̶̡̠͙̻̞̄ĥ̴̢̰͙͜ȅ̷͍̺̣͛̕̚r̸̬̩̽̅͑͝e̷͉̖̭̙̊̈́ ̷̼̗̫̞̒t̵͙̦̱̟̫̽͌͐̒̚h̴̞̗̱̯̏e̶͈̓̎ ̸͇͙̾̄̍̈t̸̖̊u̷̧̦̦̜͎͌̓̓n̶̢̜͉̲̔̾n̴̞̤̤̣̟̉̈́ě̶͔͊̔̚l̷̨̥̗̳̥͛͂ ̴̼̹͚̎̓̎͝ͅc̵͖̦̦̜̀̓̃͆o̴̲͖̞͖̭̔̓ǹ̶̤ǹ̸̨̘̲̹̓͗̓e̵̖͊́c̴̠̐ṭ̸͎͝ș̶̭̳̣̥.̷̧̛̙̰̟͛̓̏ ̴̳̬͕̚"

"M̶͔̹͚̗̥̓̒̃̈͒e̸̡̺͂͛̾ŏ̶̧͇̇͋ͅŗ̶̜̹̑̐͑r̷̫̯̓ṙ̶͓̮̗̇r̴̢̧͍͙̃̊͂r̶̥͇̖͌̒̆̏o̸̠͕̣͛ͅo̷͉̗̖o̵̫̣͝ó̸̲̝͎w̶͇̖̲͈̏w̸͓̼̗̋̆͌̅̕͜ẅ̴̨̪̜̳́̿̃ ̴͔̲̎̍͐M̵̨̜͙̣͌̾́̂ͅe̸̢̖͈̘̯̓͌̎o̷̝͎̻̦͌͌̍̒̒w̵͔͍̥̆̚͝"

The catfish ghost eased into the water keeping head above the surface.

"Ghost have their own language?" Tim inquired.

"Uh, kind of? Language implied you learn it. Which to be fair I had to half learn it.. guess where I was half dead. I'm better at it in ghost form."

"So, is that why I can get the gist of it?" Jason muttered more to himself than anything.

"Wait, Hood, you can understand it?"

"Only Danny a bit, the catfish keeps going.. meow I think."

"No, you heard it correctly." Danny clarified.

"Wait, then how can you understand it?" Jason asked.

"Emotions and guess work. Lots of guess work."

"Danny, I think I'm starting to see a pattern and its concerning. Do you use your instincts for everything?" Dick asked.

"Uh..." Danny blanked, he didn't recall. He just thought he was good at thinking quickly. He chuckled out. "Its kept me alive this long."

"Half-alive."

"Hey! That wasn't my instincts that was me just being stupid."

"M̴̫̤̈́̈͂̍ẹ̷̖̈͒̚m̷̨͉̃͋e̷͖̘̥͋͆̄̋̚ơ̷͂͒ͅw̴̞̺̮͍̆͗.̶̺̦̆̈́̽͜"

They were already near the land mass, ready to dive in. "They're ready to dive. Ok, hold on tight to the rope and don't freak out if you loose all your senses, that's normal."

"All our.. senses-" The catfish dove in the middle of their confusion, turning them all transparent under the surface of the water.

It felt like loosing all your senses, but faintly overloading them all at once. Everything was a blur, then came back suddenly, revealing that they were now inside the garage.

Danny was the first to hop off of the ghost as the others took a moment to get their bearings back. Their skin felt tingly and they were acutely more aware of every organ in their abdomen than normal. Jason was the first to recover, pulling the rest of them off and bringing them back to their senses.

"Thanks, Little Wing. Whoo. Is it bad that I want to do that again?" Dick patted himself down, being the next one to recover.

"Masochist." Tim looked pale as he held his stomach. Cass stood next to him, touching her abdomen as if to make sure all of her organs were still there.

"Nah, you just like your body to match your thoughts, transparent."

"I'm not that obvious!" Dick whined as Jason just walked over to where Danny was.

Danny was reaching into the catfish's mouth, unhooking the bat-a-rangs from its gills. Jason eyeing down the ghost with arms crossed, ready to reach for Danny in case the fish decided to have lunch instead. The catfish ghost just grinned sharply back.

Danny yanked the last one out, and gave the ghost a pat on the side of its face. "There, free as a whale."

The catfish whined in an irritated tone.

"Oh right, uh hold on." Danny stood back, holding his hand out in front of him as he blew out an ice sculpture, looking like a chunky rat. He coughed and wheezed as he tossed it into the catfish's open mouth. Trying not to think of how gross that seemed to him. The catfish purred and then swam straight back into the lake.

"Your not going to faint on me are,ya?" Jason stepping forward preparing to catch Danny if he happened to fall.

"Huh, no," Danny coughed into his arm, "Just forgetting I'm running on limited supply. Whew... no more ice got it."

"No more ghost powers, period. After all, don't want to miss all the fun because your sleeping, right?" Jason ruffled Danny's hair, then gestured to follow him back to the group. Who were currently cutting down the weapons.

"Hm, Got it." Danny wiping his mouth with his arm, clearing his throat as he followed.

It felt strange to be working with a group. Not that he didn't fight with others, Sam and Tuck helped all the time. Valerie was pretty good to have on your team too.. But to fully rely on others was strange. He was willing to give it a shot. Jazz be more upset if he ran after her by himself anyways.

It was one of the main reasons, he wasn't running off.

Surprisingly, it was Cass up in the rafters cutting down the weapons and not Dick, who stood one the side with concerned expression. Tim was investigating the control room, to see the damages and to investigate. Trying to figure out their escape plan.

"Got a broken wing?" Jason nudged Dick with his elbow.

"No, Robin went off to find Jazz instead of waiting for us, his comms off again. B isn't too happy, also turn yours on. Pleeasseee..." Dick sighed as he walked over to help catch the netted weapons, lowering them down slowly with Cass.

"Uggh, Fine."

"Do not turn it off again." Batman stated over the comm not missing a beat.

"Bold of you to assume it was on in the first place." In reality, Jason just didn't like the idea of Bruce listening to everything he did.

Danny let out a snort, overhearing their conversation, making Jason grin. At least someone enjoyed his humor, as Batman just grunted in response.

"Kay, Danny. Brief run down?" Dick ushering Danny over.

"Eh, basically same as any other weapon. Either they blast an ecto-beam or shock the ghost." Danny picked out the ones that weren't as obvious and explained them. But it seemed like Jazz packed all the obvious ones. Danny smiled a bit, knowing it was something she did on purpose.

"Dibs on the bazooka!" Depending on how well it worked, Jason might try to find a way to accidentally keep it on the plane.

"Your parents have a bazooka?"

"And an iron maiden. And a portal to another dimension. And an encyclopedia about fudge." Danny's way of saying, so what's your point.

"Ah, fair." Dick sighed.

Batman and Jason were still stuck on the iron maiden part.

Dick patted his sides, he had a couple of blasters and since his weapon was upgraded, he was going to main it for now. A wrist-ray on his wrist in case he didn't have time to reach for one.

Cass was playing with a green ectoplasmic staff, that looked similar to a double ended light saber. She had blasters from earlier still strapped to her sides.

Danny plucked out a couple of blasters. He didn't need much, just something to replace his ghostly blasts. Plus he still had Robin's sword strapped to his back. Shame he didn't get to tell him before he ran off, though probably was a good thing by the dreadful look Red Robin gave him.

Danny's eyes glance over as Jason picked up some more guns. He had a lot of gun straps, almost as many as his parents. His eyes then trailing over to a bag underneath the weapons. He didn't need to look in it to tell what it was. He smiled, Jazz's doing.

"The repellant's in that bag. You guys might want to spray down now." Danny pulling out the mask Batman lent him from his jean pocket. Bruce made sure Danny didn't leave it behind.

It almost hit Danny hard, thinking of how much he missed having someone to rely that wasn't just as clueless to everything as he was. Even Red Hood and Nightwing, trying to save his butt when he was in danger. It wasn't just him fighting.

It wasn't just him having to protect everyone.

It wasn't just him...

He pulled on the mask, re-tightening the straps a bit to make sure it fit. Nightwing was already pulling out the cans of repellent, tossing one to Orphan and then Red Hood.

Jason's face scrunched up as he held the repellent in his hand, having received a faint whiff of it. "Smells like Replacement when he hasn't slept in four days straight."

"Smells like strawberries to me." Dick sniffed the can.

"Coconut." Cass stated.

"To me it smells like a dead skunk that's been rotting in the sun on blacktop." Danny stood up.

"Ah, wonderful imagery. Left my helmet back on the plane, too. Guess worse thing that'll happen I'll puke all over that bastard's face." Jason stood up and sprayed himself, face scrunched up in disgust. It wasn't the worse smell in the world, and he did work in crime alley to know that for certain.

Danny chuckled, holding back a laugh with his hand, imagining Plasmius's appalled screeches now.

Tim walked out of the control room, shaking his head. "No fixing the controls, its all melted to the floor."

Dick tossed him a repellent as him and Cass finished spraying each other down. "There might be emergency exits, we'll locate the Fentons first. Keep an eye out for exits on the way."

"I doubt there is many, probably just one other exit, knowing Vlad." Danny huffed.

"And since he's a ghost, there really isn't a reason to have exits, is there?" Tim sprayed himself down, Dick helping spray the back. Cass helped finished Jason off, who coughed and gagged a bit.

"Then we'll make our own if we have to." Jason smirked, holding back his urge to hack for the moment of sounding cool.

"Exactly." Dick grinned.

"If you must, try to create an exit point at the top of the building." Batman chimed in.

Dick nudging Danny with elbow with a chuckle, "No matter how many years we've been fighting and he still treats us as apprentices."

Danny smirked, "Must be a paren-er an adult thing?" Batman wasn't their dad, was he? Wait, what if he was?

Jason was holding back a laugh, as Tim and Dick held back a grimace. They could feel Batman's brooding expression from over the comms. Dick just chuckled, "Must be."

Dick turned with a clap, "Alright, let's go. We'll split up when we see a way to access different levels of the building."

"Call top." Cass chimed.

"Call which ever way is faster to kick the bastard's teeth in."

"Or we could just follow the signs and let Fruitloop find us. Its not like we can really hide the smell. Knowing him, he would have decked out the rooms where he's keeping my family." Danny said as he walked out the garage doors into the hallway, the others quickly following to his side.

Danny pointed to the sign on the wall, "See? Lab that way, stairs that way. I would bet 20 bucks his master suite is on the top floor."

They stared at the strange scrawl of letters, Jason squinting but felt a bit cross-eyed looking at it.

"Oh right, its probably in... anyways the lab will probably contain his plans or at least, what he has been doing in the area if Mom and Dad aren't there." Danny stated turning to them. "Jazz will probably be closer to his suite. He knows better than to harm Jazz or leave her with our parents. So my guess, he's keeping her comfy and far away from Mom and Dad as physically possible."

"Me and Orphan will go up then. We'll all meet back in the middle." Tim stated as Cass already went towards the stairs.

"I can keep an eye out for Danny myself if you want to go after the Demon Brat."

"I trust them, besides I think baby bird be upset if I run in too early." Dick did want to check on Damian, but he figured Damian want to redeem himself. He did sound rather upset for letting Jazz run off.

"...Baby bird, Demon Brat, Replacement, Disco Wing, Little Wing... you know, if I didn't already know who you are, I would have no idea what to call you. Also I rather not meet my parents in the after life, so can we go now?"

"Lead the way." Jason gesturing down the halls, then followed right behind Danny.

"Do we really call each other by nicknames that often?" Dick whispering.

"Yes." Batman answered over the comm.

(Steph has added Danny's bet to the betting pool.)