"So Danny, How was it being stuck with B?" Dick asked in a low whisper, as they followed the signs to the lab.

"Uh, nerve racking? He kept calling me different names at first, so I wasn't sure if he would turn on me or not."

Batman tried to suppress a gruff.

"Like what?"

"Dick. That was the first one he called me. So I didn't know if he was blaming me or well Jazz said it could have been a name. Which made sense, because he called me Tim, too. So you might want to make sure his head gets check when you get back. He did hit it pretty hard." Danny scratched his cheek, pretty awkward to talk about a man who was listening in.

Jason slapped a hand over his mouth trying hard not to burst out laughing.

Dick looking like he was suppressing a laugh with the grin after his face paled at the initial shock. "Oh, did he?"

Danny raised a brow, squinting his eyes at them. Then they popped open in realization. Batman was calling him by one of their names. Oh. OH! But who was who?

-He was too busy with this line of thought he forgot there was an upcoming wall in front of them.

Danny bonked face first into it. "ow."

Jason started laughing into the crook of his elbows, not able to hold it back. Dick just patting Danny on the shoulder, pushing open the double doors beside them. As the lettering appeared the same as one earlier, they assumed this was the lab.

The laughter dropped as they looked around the room. Everything was lit by the glowing green capsules that rested on the far right side. Bulky machinery with modern digital displays lined the walls, some stood in the middle of the room and by the capsules. Cables lined the sleek tile floor, kept neatly out of the walk area.

Their eyes though, stuck on what was in the capsules. Danny walked in front of them, his face morphing from confusion to anger. His teeth gritting. "Again?!"

Jason and Dick shared a confused and concerning look with each other. The capsules held deformed bodies, only one of them clear enough to see. It was looking at a younger Danny.

"Cloning." Dick frowned, then turned his way to the computers hoping to hack them for information. "I'll find his research data."

"Danny, he did this before?" Jason stayed by Danny's side.

"How do you think I know about destabilization?! I watched myself melt in front of me!"

Jason and Dick grimace from their own spot.

"Danny can you tell us more of the incident? It'll help disregard unusable information." Batman asked over the comm trying to keep Danny's focus.

Danny took a breath, he really didn't want to mention the cloning thing. "Vlad got tired of me rejecting to be his apprentice, and decided to make a version of me instead. However apparently halfa-DNA is REALLY complicated, and I have like 3 different kinds of DNA. Long story short, because he couldn't get all 3 samples of my DNA, all the clones dissolved into goo."

Except for one, but he wasn't going to mention her. Unless Vlad took her too. He hoped not.

"Does he have access to all 3 now?" Jason asked.

Danny must admit he kind of admired all them speaking calmly at the moment, he couldn't. He didn't see Jason was struggling.

"He shouldn't. I destroyed everything in his lab that day." Danny looked back at the clone.

"What kind of password is Little Badger?"

"...that's what he calls me." Danny huffed between gritted teeth.

"Oh. um.." Dick continued to access the files on the computer as well as the readings.

"Would the mutated animals have anything to do with this. I see a fox in one of these capsules." Jason was checking out all the tubes that contained glowing green goo. He presumed were filled with ectoplasm.

"I.. don't know. I know he's the reason majority of them are dead. He's done that before too. Normally he's too pompous to do the same thing twice." Danny hesitantly left his younger self to look at the other tubes as well.

"...Apparently he was experimenting, mixing animals and humans with ectoplasm. Trying to find a balance, but a balance to what?"

Danny felt a shiver, as he rushed over to where Dick was. Jason following after just to make sure he didn't trip on the way. "What where?"

"Here, he's talking about balance but he doesn't explain balance of what. Also there were some files I can't access. I think its ghost speak." Dick showed Danny the files.

"Its not. Its just corrupted, I think." Danny didn't like what he had read. He can only think of one thing. "But I think.. I hope not, but... Vlad was trying to figure out how to make... a half ghost."

"That's fucked up."

Dick hummed, if it was purposely corrupted then maybe he could still access the files. Whatever was on it, must be important. "Red Robin, you think you can help me with this?"

"Uh... little busy-"

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER!"


-ewe-


Stupid foolish girl. Reckless. Damian grumbled in his thoughts as he kept to the shadows of the halls. He had managed to find the stairs and caught up to some voices. He heard Jazz, but not for long. He assumed by the sound he had taken her up higher.

So now he was on the top floor, the ghost finder in his hands, keeping an ear out for the annoying girl's voice.

"Jasmine, I assure you I want nothing but the best for you and Daniel." Plasmius's voice nasally filled the hall.

Damian crept closer to the sound.

"Really? By inducing trauma, kidnapping, and using emotional manipulation? That's abuse! You're abusing Danny! All in hopes we learn to love you through STOCKHOLM syndrome! That isn't love! That isn't caring! That's far from being KIND, Vlad."

Damian thought Jazz was loud before, but her yelling was on a volume rivaling Dick's. He glanced at the Fenton Ghost Finder, it read Plasmius was 6 feet away, through a solid wall panel. Damian searched the hall for a door.

"Abuse?! You want to talk about abuse? Then how about we talk about your parents." Vlad's voice dripped with venom.

"..."

Damian felt a sinking feeling in his gut from the voice. Things were escalating. On top of that he wasn't finding any luck with the door... maybe a secret one? He studied the panels more closely.

"Oh? Gotten so quiet, my dear? You were QUITE vocal about what I've done to Daniel, yet, when your parents are mentioned you shut your trap. Just like the perfect daughter, right?"

"T-that's not-"

"Please! Save it, Jasmine. You're the golden child, Jack's FAVORITE. Why on Earth would you want to jeopardize that."

"No! That's-"

"While Daniel is shoved to the side, always grounded, always doing the chores Jack too lazy to do. Forgotten."

"They don't-"

"They don't what? Mean to? When has that changed anything?! That hasn't changed the fact that your Father's bumbling buffoonery ruined my whole life!"

Damian squinted his eyes, at the word buffoonery. Who used the word buffoonery in a heated argument?

"You ruined your life! Dad didn't stop you from seeking a family!"

"He prevented me from being with Maddie!"

"My Mom would have chosen Dad over you regardless!"

"FINE! What if she had!? Daniel still be half-dead if not fully, thanks to their incompetence!"

Damian frowned as everything went silent. He couldn't find an entry point. He either, had to wait to catch Masters when he walked out if he didn't just phase through the wall. Or...

"Their neglect of safety protocols, beyond that ugly looking jumpsuit, did wonders for him. And that's not all they've neglected, either, is it?" Vlad's voice deepen in a coldly but calm tone.

There was a vent in the wall. He could climb in it and reach the room that way. It had to have ventilation if he was keeping Jasmine in there.

"How many times have you wished to be a ghost just for a chance that they look at you? How many times have they dropped everything because of an idea for a new invention or a new theory on ghost? That's why you've work so hard in academics, right? To be noticed."

Damian carefully unscrewed the vent, using his utility knife from his tool bag.

"Yet, it didn't matter how hard you studied, how hard you tried to be good... the perfect daughter, they always left at the faintest mention of ghosts."

There was a pause before Vlad continued.

"No?" He scoffed, "Your parents are the same as they were in college, I've seen it with my own eyes. Lemon biscuits! This whole trip proves that! Their daughter begged and pleaded for them NOT to involve ghosts, yet they couldn't pass it up-"

"No-I mean.. I'm not the perfect daughter. Not on purpose. I've known for a long time, ghosts will always win."

Damian froze in his movement, for a moment.

"Then why do you fight me so hard on this? You know they're a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Especially Daniel."

Silence again. Damian was afraid to move, as the silence was so barren that it would amplify any sound.

"Ah, yes. Older sister syndrome is a thing, isn't it? You feel like Danny is yours? ...Guess we're not so different."

"You're wrong..." A broken voice followed by a sniff.

"Am I? We'll see what Daniel thinks? Hmm?"

Damian hurried to yank off the vent, and climb inside, as Vlad phased through the wall.

Vlad straightened up his tie and cuffs, letting out a huff. A sound of an alarm clock hitting the wall chimed behind him. Shaking his head.

"All those psychology books going to waste. Honestly, why can't she or the badger understand? I can pay for their schooling, trips to Greece for them and their annoying friends, buy out their favorite restaurants, keep ghosts and the guys in white off their backs, all for a tiny fee of disowning their idiotic Father and sadly my poor Madeline as well." Vlad sighed.

The ending cling of the vent shutting closed, drew Vlad's attention. He raised a brow as he glanced down the hallway, peering at the vent. "...Daniel? Come to save your sister?"

Damian kept silent, but was internally cursing at himself. He held his breath and stayed still.

Vlad's footsteps echoed through the hall coming closer to where he heard the noise, eyeing the vent.

"INTRUDER INTRUDER!"

Vlad whipped towards the noise as one of the vultures flew up through the floor, tail singed. "Oh, hush! Must you screech every time. I gave all of you buzzers for a reason."

"Do you want me to do my job or not!? I'm not getting paid enough for burnt tail feathers. What tough old bird want a roasted bum like mine?" The vulture huffed.

Vlad grumbled, "...Fine. Where were they?"

"Fifth floor, east side. Shot me down and then ran off."

"Fifth? Alright, go keep a watch on their parents. I just need another hour before I can dispose of them."

The bird nodded with a grumble then flew back down. A black ring appeared around Vlad's waist, then in a blinding light, Plasmius's form took his place.

Damian wiped his eyes, seeing spots. Once his vision regained, he checked on his ghost finder to see if the coast was clear. He caught site of the dot leaving the finder's reach. Coast was clear, now to go find her room.

-

Jazz pulled her knees to her chest, sitting on the edge of a large bed. It was a bedroom with a small kitchenette, probably had private bathroom too, but Jazz didn't want to examine her new surroundings.

She sniffled, wiping her face against her arm. She knew better than to let Vlad's words sink in. But words that hurt the most, often hold a bit of truth to them. Jazz knew her parents were, by all accounts, textbook neglectful.

They loved and cared for them. There was no doubt about that. They were just terrible at being there for them. They never mean to, but both had obsessive disorders with ghosts. However, they've spent so long trying to prove ghosts were real, that they perceive any negative criticism about their obsession to be 'Nay sayers' or 'Haters' as Danny would call it.

Its something they would have to fix. But in order to fix it, they would have to realize it was broken.

Jazz tried, god did she try, to show them.

But the portal. That accursed portal. Took over their life, took Danny's... Showed them ghosts were real. It proved them right. There was no talking them down from that. She doubled down on her books and tried to be the adult in the family, because she knew her parents' attention was completely gone.

Danny needed someone.

Ok, maybe she did suffer from Oldest child syndrome... but she was trying. What if she wasn't trying hard enough.. like her parents? Was there something she was missing?

Jazz clenched at her arms, feeling tears stinging her eyes again. She couldn't protect Danny. She couldn't stop her parents. She barely manage to keep everything together by threads, but what good did it do?

She was terrified of waking up one morning to her parents gloating about ripping apart Phantom molecule by molecule. She was terrified of Danny disappearing for good. She was terrified that she wasn't enough.

Jazz knew she wasn't enough.

She sobbed into her arms, no longer able to hold back the stress she had been building on herself.

A clang of metal dropping to the floor, jolted Jazz. She hurriedly wiped her face clean, trying to put on a strong face, before pulling her attention to the direction of the sound.
She relaxed with a smile, seeing Robin awkwardly standing there. He had to have heard her cry. She didn't blame him from feeling awkward. It never was easy, even for someone open to emotions, to watch someone cry.

"No chance you didn't hear any of that, huh?" Jazz chimed putting on a brave face. She had to mask her pain. Robin still didn't need to see her so broken.

Damian clenched his fist, lips pressed tight. He could tell she was hiding her pain, almost like Dick. With a stupid dumb smile. "Tt, you be deaf not to."

"I heard the dumb bird calling intruder, I'm guessing Danny and the others are here now. Right?"

"...I assume, as it wasn't me. Apparently your brother, found them a way in by using a giant catfish ghost."

Jazz snorted back a chuckle, "Sounds like Danny. He's always good at making up plans on the fly."

Damian gritted his teeth, "Seems to be a family trait."

Jazz blinked, trying to make sure he heard him right. "Danny's better at it than me. My plans end up like this."

"Recklessness seems to also be a family trait."

Jazz just laughed, sniffing back. "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks."

Damian quirk an eyebrow up.

"For cheering me up." Jazz clarified.

"All I did was state facts."

"Mm. Facts can be helpful in grounding the mind back to reality." Jazz scooted off the bed, taking a breath. She had to pull herself together again.

Damian was confused by her, and felt a bit of heat tinge his cheeks. "Then, I'll state another one. You're nothing like Masters."

Jazz smiled warmly, "Yeah, I know. Thank you."

"And y-you're a good sister." She reminded him of Dick. Of course she wasn't as good as Dick.

Jazz felt tears prick her eyes again and couldn't help, but pull Robin into a tight hug.

Definitely reminded him of Dick. She let go quicker, than Dick did.

"Oops s-sorry, I'm an emotional hugger. Kind of like Dad. Thanks. I wish I could protect Danny more, but... I'm glad all of you are here." Jazz sniffed, feeling most of her doubt wash off.

"You are still an idiot. You didn't need to sacrifice yourself." Damian crossing his arms, thanking that he had the insight to keep his comms off. He would die from embarrassment if any of his family overheard this. Especially Dick. Cheeks still tinged with pink.

Jazz chuckled, "Yeaaaaaah, let's not tell Danny that though. ;3 He doesn't need to know that I'm not the smartest. Not yet."

"If he hadn't figured it out, I don't think he ever will."

Jazz nodded, standing back up from where she knelt to hug Damian, "Ok. Let's go, I saw a glimpse of where he's keeping my parents. Besides Danny needs me, and your siblings need you."

Robin froze, "I do not have siblings."

Jazz blinked and then smiled, one that showed she knew more than letting on, "Right."

"...I take back everything I have said, and you will tell me everything you know now." Robin pulling out the roasting stick and pointing it at her threateningly.

Jazz just chuckled, "Well, I didn't have proof until tonight."

"Speak."

Jazz shook her head, then sighed, "There's only one person in Gotham that fits the bill. Who has the time, the emotional trauma, the wealth, and has wards that are around the same ages as the rest of the Gotham heroes.

-That and when we met, he kind of called Danny, Dick. Which at first, meant nothing, until I realized Dick is a nickname for Richard. Richard Grayson has black hair and blue eyes. He was also was raised in a circus, which would accumulate his love for swinging high in the air, like on a chandelier."

"..."

"...Plus Bruce Wayne had a kid who was proclaimed as decease, and Red Hood.. mentioned..."

"..."

Damian reached to turn on his comms.

"Robin! I told you not-"

"Father, would you like to explain why you've compromised our identities by outing Richard's name."

"..."

"B did what?"

"Too be fair, Batman had a pretty bad concussion." Jazz tried to explain.

"That is not an excuse!" Damian hissed. He couldn't believe he let his guard down in front of her! She was sneaky... He was.. actually a little impressed.