Chapter 3: Tugging at the heartstrings

"YOU WHAT?"

"I am married to-"

"HAHAHAHAHHA, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS."

"Danny-"

"I HAVE TO TELL THE OTHERS."

"You will not-"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT MARRIED TO RED HOOD."

Jazz gave up trying to talk to her brother and simply stood there in contemplation. She looked back at her guests, who were so out of place in her tiny apartment, her eyes staying on Red Hood a bit longer than they should.

There was this pulling sensation, something that told her she needed to be closer and closer, that she needed to please him, that she needed to tell all her secrets to him.

She hated it so much.

Look, if she made friends and told these friends her secrets, that was cool. If she found a partner she wanted to make happy, that was cool. If she wanted to get married to said partner, that was unexpected because she was not the marrying kind of gal, but she wasn't against it either.

What was really pissing her off was being forced to it.

She could find a husband on her own, thank you very much.

"Danny, focus." She grabbed her brother by the shoulders, shaking him a little for effect.

He had started laughing the moment he entered by the door, just after looking between the vigilante and herself. Danny could sense the bond thing the ghost did to the married couples, so it wasn't a surprise that she had little to explain to him.

"Okay, okay. I'll focus," he kept giggling. "What's up?" He waved at the guests, not really affected by their scary aura.

After all, Phantom had dealt with them plenty of times in the past. Batman had reluctantly accepted the 'meta' in the city, since he was not doing any harm and Phantom always checked in when he was in town (aka, when he visited Jazz).

Hood waved back, Batman kept scowling. It was his default expression.

Jazz guided Danny back to the crowded kitchen table, making him sit on the only free place, right in front of Hood. She sat back down in front of Batman, letting the anxiety of the situation settle in.

"How much have you told them?" Danny was not laughing anymore, finally getting serious.

"A ghost is responsible for this, liminality, and Hood is-"

"A halfa."

"I prefer the term zombie." The man crossed his strong arms, which she was looking at for a second too long than what was appropriate. Stop looking, stop looking.

"Na-uh. I've seen those and you are not it," Danny leaned in a little. "But you sure died, huh." He sniffed a little and smiled, turning to look at his sister. "I'm seeing a trend here, Jazzy."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She crossed her arms.

"Two for two dead boyfriends?" He raised an eyebrow.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Danny's smile was all teeth. "Sorry, you are right," he made a vague gesture with his hand, "husband. My mistake."

She took out her second favorite knife, a small switchblade, from her jeans pocket and threw it at Danny's face. He caught it, of course. His reflexes were beyond what was humanly possible even in his depowered human visage.

"Rude." He folded the blade and gave it back to her. "Also you need to practice more."

"One day I'll finish what the portal started." Jazz accepted the knife with a growl.

"I would like to see you try." His smile got wider as a challenge.

A chuckle reminded them that they had an audience. Hood's expression was impossible to pin down but he was chuckling, shoulders relaxed.

"You two are so cute," he said before taking out something from a hidden pocket in his sleeveless jacket. Jazz gasped. "Also you just reminded me, I think this is yours."

"My knife!" She took it from his hands, smiling. "I thought I lost it forever."

"You left it behind in some dude's shoulder."

"Yeah, didn't have time to stop and get it back while running away from an interrogation," she glared at him. "Thanks for giving it back." She held it over her chest, consciously knowing it was stupid to feel like this over a knife, but it meant something to her that he noticed it was hers.

"This is so cute," Danny interrupted their moment. Were they having a moment? "Just like in Cinderella." He wiped a fictitious tear from his eye.

Hood flinched at the comment and leaned back on the chair, overlapping his hands over the table.

"Well, it's nothing. Also, the edge is dull, in case you haven't noticed."

He was trying to act nonchalant about the whole issue. She let him have it. "I know. I just haven't gotten around to get it sharpened."

"I can do it for you?"

Jazz blinked. He had offered so fast. "Um…"

"Focus, Jazz." Her brother had the worst shit-eatting grin in his repertoire. "We have a ghost to catch."

"Tell us more about this 'ghost'," Batman, who had preferred to keep quiet and observe, redirected the conversation. "Jasmine-"

"Jazz, please."

He nodded. "Jazz commented he had been marrying people, legally, and that it cannot be undone."

"That's correct," Danny leaned back in his chair, now with a serious face, "sneaky little bastard always runs away before I can even track their signature. Assuming you and loverboy over here-"

"Hey!" Both protested at the same time. Jazz and Hood looked at each other in surprise.

Danny snickered. "Cute. If you guys are the latest victims I think I could find them this time. When did you meet?"

"A bit after noon," Jazz looked at the vigilantes for confirmation. "I think it was during lunch time."

Hood nodded. "A bit after that I started feeling the symptoms."

This confused Danny. "So soon?"

Before either vigilante could ask what he meant by that, Jazz jumped in. "Actually I have a theory about that. The vial, please," she extended a hand at Batman.

"What."

"I know you have it."

"I don't-"

"Before you gaslight me into thinking you didn't take it, please remember what that thing can do in the wrong hands."

"And yours are the right hands?"

Danny snorted. "The best that could be."

"You'll come to learn, Mr Batman, that my brother and I are deeply acquaintanced with what ectoplasm can and cannot do. We know things. You could say it's in our blood." She let out a small smile.

"You didn't." Her little brother started crackling. "I have to remember that one."

Despite the fact that neither found her joke funny, both Batman and Red Hood did a double take on the siblings. Something seemed to click in their minds, because Batman extracted the vial she left unattended as she went to open the door when Danny arrived, and that he had taken to probably analyze later.

"Thank you," she nodded when he placed it in her hand. "Alright. My theory. What do you guys call this?"

"Lazarus waters." Hood grumbled.

She nodded at him before turning towards her brother. "Ring any bells?"

"Some," Danny didn't look pleased. "I've heard rumors… but I'd need to check. What does this have to do with-" His eyes widened, realizing something. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"I see."

"Mm-uh." Jazz nodded.

"Could any of you explain? Especially since it has to do with me?" Hood didn't sound happy.

"You got dipped in the stuff, yeah?"

"How did you know?"

Danny whistled. "Nasty. Nasty thing. Bad." He shook his head. "No wonder you are fucked up."

"Danny! Be nice."

"Sorry. You are 'quite unwell'." He made air quotes, rolling his eyes.

Hood wasn't at all appeased by what he said. He leaned in exactly like Batman did, and Jazz found it funny. "Explain."

"You, my dear brother-in-law," Jazz cringed at the words, but Hood was too angry to react, "are a baby halfa, but your core formation has been… stunted. Malformed. Half baked, so to speak."

"What does that mean?" He prompted when Danny paused.

"It means you are more affected by your emotions, which feel more intense for you, and your obsession is not even defined. That can really harm a ghost, and in less measure, a halfa. Is an impressive feat that you have made it thus far."

"I've always been stubborn," he tried to act cool, but even with the modulator Jazz knew he was nervous.

"Can he be cured?" Batman said. He sounded hopeful. Huh. Jazz didn't know the two vigilantes were this close.

"Cured from the malformation? Maybe, but you'll need to check with an expert. And I'm no expert," he added the last part quickly when the man tensed. "I can make the curse less intense for you, though."

"Can you?" Jazz frowned. This was news for her.

"Yeah. Some stuff happened, I'll tell you later." He made a dismissive gesture and turned towards Hood. "Will you let me try?"

"What are you going to do?"

"What I'm going to do is purify the constant stream of corrupted ectoplasm still coursing through your veins. That gunk has been messing with the half formed core and not letting it settle."

"And that will help how?" Hood was still tense, but was listening.

"Imagine an open wound. If it gets infected then it will cause a fever and mess up with the body, right?" He nodded in understanding. "If I get rid of the infection the wound will still be there but at least it can heal properly."

"You thought of that yourself or did Frostbite help you?"

"You shut your mouth," Danny glared at his sister, "and it was Sam's idea to see it like that."

"Heh."

Sam and Tucker had found out recently that prolonged ecto contamination and being possessed by a powerful ghost was an explosive mix that created baby halfa cores in alive people. They weren't like Danny, but something closer to what Jazz was instead.

"Alright."

"Hood." Batman's tone was a warning growl. "It is unknown what this could do to you."

"I mean, you'll be fine if you decide not to take my offer," Danny shrugged, "but then you won't be able to be too far from my sister for too long."

The vigilante looked at her. She couldn't see his expression, but his silence told her everything. The poor man had been roped into this mess and married to an unknown woman without his consent. She would be pissed as hell (she was, in fact). But on top of that she had to be twenty-four seven attached to the hip to a stranger? Dreadful.

Also he had vigilante things to do. He couldn't protect the city if he had to be aware of the time and the distance between them.

She nodded at him. Danny's purifying powers might be new, but she trusted he wouldn't hurt the man.

"Alright," he repeated. "Go ahead."

"Okay," Danny stood up and quickly walked around the table so he was behind Hood. He put his hands on his shoulders. They were slightly glowing green. "This is what's going to happen: You'll feel cold and then hot, but whatever happens, don't fight me."

"O… kay?"

Jazz knew the moment it started because Red Hood tensed, his hands curling into fists over the table. She resisted the urge to take one of his hands in support, unsure if he would welcome the touch.

"Almost done." Danny murmured.

Hood's fists trembled for a second. It must be hurting him. Jazz panicked. Has this been a mistake?

Just as she was considering jumping to her feet and pushing Danny away from her husband, they were done.

"Wow," the man commented, letting out a breath. "I was really fucked up, huh?"

Danny chuckled. "Very."

"How do you feel, Hood?" Jazz winced, low key wishing that Batman didn't make it sound like he was asking for a report instead of genuine worry.

"I feel…" he tilted his head, looking for the correct words. "I feel peace. It's quiet."

"Not to cut the cute revelation short, but I also got the signature of the fucker."

"Can you find them?" Jazz asked.

"Yeah. They're still in town. Might haven't run out of people to marry."

"Alright, go. Call me when you have them."

"Sure thing." He stepped away from the table and did finger guns at his sister and Red Hood. "You two behave. Toodles!"

With that, he scuba dived out of her living room window.

Jazz was impressed when neither vigilante ran to check he hadn't splattered to the ground. She did live on the fifth floor.

"Your brother is Phantom."

Yeah, she should have expected this. They weren't exactly what you call 'subtle' at this point.

"Gee, what gave it away?"

"Phantom did exactly the same exit move a few weeks ago. Finger guns and all." Hood answered.

"And the glowing green hands and eyes." Batman completed.

Alright. This sounds about right. Danny wasn't careful about differentiating Phantom and Fenton since a few years back.

"So he's not a metahuman."

"You are connecting the dots, huh." She straightened her back, placing one hand over the other on the table.

"He's a ghost."

"A halfa." By Batman's nod, he expected the answer. She felt compelled to clarify anyway. "He died and was brought back to life. Not everyone that is resurrected ends up as a halfa, though. You need a high concentration of ectoplasm." She looked at the vial still in her hands.

The damn green substance had done so much to and for them, including bringing her brother back to life. Including making her liminal.

"What about you?" Hood asked, one of his hands approaching hers. "Are you one as well?"

Was the hope in his voice a product of her curse-contaminated imagination?

"No," she shook her head. "I haven't died. Yet. But I will, and then the amount of ectoplasm already present in my body will do the job just fine."

There was a heavy silence in the kitchen for a few moments. Jazz had accepted her fate a long time ago, but that didn't mean she was going to give up her dreams of a successful career in psychology. The ghost hunting was fun and everything, but she had her sights set on being a therapist.

"I'm sorry." Hood brought her back to the present.

"What for?"

"That this has been done to you." Jazz got the feeling that he was speaking from his own experience. He was dipped on these Lazarus Waters against his will. "Whoever did it should pay."

"Maybe it was forcibly brought back to life." He had said jokingly back at the mall.

"The people that did this to me, to us, don't even know what they did. They don't know Danny died either." Her laugh wasn't happy. "They still think Danny simply hasn't grown out of his rebellious phase."

"Your parents. They are 'ecto scientists'."

She smiled at Batman, honestly glad that she didn't need to explain much. Despite the curse compelling her to share everything, that didn't mean she wanted to speak about it.

"Their lives' work. Everything else was secondary."

"You brother fucking dying is secondary?" Hood was very tense.

She shrugged. "In their defense, not that I excuse their behavior, we are very good at lying. I'm not going to give you all the sobbing backstory, but if they found out about the halfa thing they would kill him again, permanently."

"That's why you are in Gotham? Did you run away?"

Why was Batman so invested now?

"No. I'm here because I wanted to work in Arkham. There is an internship exclusively for Gotham University's students and I want it."

"Are you insane?"

Jazz scoffed and rolled her eyes at Red Hood. "Like I haven't heard that before. Nope, I'm just very interested in criminal psychology and reintegration into society." She looked at her hands. "I know some are beyond help, but there are others that could be worked with. I have a few ideas, but until I get my hands on that internship I won't be sure if they could actually help."

"That's very dangerous, you don't know that place like we do."

"I can take care of myself," she crossed her arms. "Also, when you know what happens after death it kind of takes the edge off a little."

Hood scoffed, not really convinced. "Some of the regulars there are really dangerous, even if you don't fear death."

"Is this about the Joker?" By the way he jumped, she guessed it was. "I do have plans for him, but it is a work in progress. Not that I can actually do anything," Jazz made a face, "I doubt they'll let an intern get close to him at all."

"Better if you don't."

It was the condescending tone what pissed her off. "You don't know the kind of bullshit Danny and I had to deal with every day, buddy."

"Surprise me." Red Hood leaned back in his chair, shoulders relaxed and sounding amused.

She narrowed her eyes. "This isn't a pissing contest. I don't need to explain myself to you."

Her phone started ringing. She took it out from her jeans pocket and taped the answer icon, then put it on speakers.

"Did you get them?"

"Fucker is more powerful than I expected." By the way he was breathing heavily and by the firing sounds in the background, he was still mid-fight.

"More powerful than you?" That was concerning if that was the case.

"Nah. Just too slippery. I could use a hand, partner."

Jazz rolled her eyes at the way he pronounced 'partner', like in the old western movies. "Alright. Be there as soon as possible."

"You can't get in the way of one true lo~ve." Someone, probably the ghost, was heard screaming before a series of explosions.

"Eat this, motherfu-"

Jazz ended the call.

"Alright! Be right back!" She stood from her seat. "You can wait here if you want, there's food in the fridge and-"

"We are going with you."

She scrunched her nose at the Dark Knight. "Yeah, right. I don't think so. This isn't your kind of fight."

With that she turned her back on them and rushed to her bedroom to get her weapons duffle bag that was hidden under her bed. She ran back towards the kitchen, honestly surprised the two vigilantes were still there, placed the bag on the table and took off her cardigan, leaving her in only her white tank top and jeans.

With a sigh, she tied her long hair in a low ponytail with a hair tie she had on her wrist. It was time to gear up.

Jazz ran to the closet by the entrance and fished her boots and her vest, strapping it around her torso with practiced moves. Then, she picked up all her ecto knives from the weapons bag and the modified Jack o' nine tails Danny made for her and placed them on their respective places.

The boots were also modified by Danny, something about soaking the threads with anti-ecto paint so ghosts couldn't phase through her kicks. She hid another knife in her boot, just in case.

"If you have those, why use a dull knife?"

She looked up from her hands searching for her ecto-guns and the holsters in the duffle bag, finding a very curious Red Hood trying to peek into the bag.

"These don't hurt humans," she tapped the knives strapped to her torso. "For Gotham I did have to buy human knives. This one," she pointed at the one he gave her back, "was my first acquisition. That's why it has value to me."

Finally, she found her holsters and strapped them to her legs and the vest, making sure they wouldn't move. The guns were next, she checked the batteries were still full and secured them in the holsters.

She saw a gloved hand try to steal an ecto gun from the bag, but she slapped it away.

"Nope. Not for you."

"Says the gun-stealing thief."

"I gave it back!" She giggled. "But I will need those." She picked the one he was trying to steal and another one, just in case, and put them in their place at her lower back in the designated space on her custom made vest.

"It's just one ghost, how much will you really need?"

"It's never enough. Have you ever been in a ghost fight?" Jazz zipped the duffle bag shut and went back to her room to hide it under the bed. "If you steal something from me, I'll know, by the way." She commented as he stood up to follow her, probably.

"I'm going with you." It wasn't a question.

"You don't need to, the curse-"

"I know, I know. Whatever your brother did fixed some stuff for me. I want to go with you."

Jazz stood there for a moment, watching him. She really, really, wished she could see his face or at least his eyes, to gauge what he was thinking. So far he had been an okay guy and curse or no curse they did make a great team back at the mall.

Yeah. He could be useful.

Also, she wanted to keep him close.

"Sure thing," she shrugged with a little smile. "If you can keep up."

Before he could ask what she meant, she went back to the closet by the entrance and pulled out her gloves, her black biker jacket and the biggest gun she had.

"What's that for?"

Jazz put the heavy rifle-like weapon on the kitchen table so she could put on the gloves and the jacket, zipping it up to hide the weapons. Then, she looped the strap of the gun over her head so it would rest on her back.

"It's just my Moral Support."

With that, she picked her black helmet and her keys and exited her apartment.