Once again I'd like to thank my beta/editor for all the hard work she puts into the chapters. You can thank her for a lot of the cute couple moments in this chapter.
Chapter Nine: The Truth Comes Out
Jason woke to someone saying his name. He opened his eyes, and found himself with his head pillowed on his arms resting on Danny's hospital bed near his legs. Jason sat up, stretched, and found Dick looking at him.
"What?" he asked without any anger.
"It's just," Dick started, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth, "you make a really cute couple."
"Ugh," Jason groaned.
"What?" Dick asked, still smiling gently.
"Don't start your emotional bullshit right now," Jason begged, and Dick snorted in laughter.
"No promises," he said.
Jason didn't know what this was. He and Dick hadn't had a civil conversation in years, since before he died, and even then their relationship had been overshadowed by Dick's fight with Bruce. Jason by no means felt the raw anger for his brother anymore, hearing what Dick had done to the Joker had squashed that. And then Dick had come to his and Danny's aid when Jason had felt himself falling apart. Jason didn't know what to do. And now here Dick was, standing just inside the doorway to his boyfriends hospital room, a bundle of get well balloons in his arms.
Dick crossed the room and set the balloons on the small table near the head of Danny's bed. They nearly scrapped the ceiling. Dick sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the room from Jason and rested his chin on his fist. He looked at Danny with pity in his eyes, an emotion Jason didn't think Danny would like.
"So, he's the one you've been running around Gotham with?" Dick asked and Jason knew what he was saying. He was asking about Phantom.
"I guess," Jason breathed out, sitting back in his chair. His stomach growled in the quiet room and he realized he hadn't eaten anything in well over twenty four hours. Dick heard it too and smiled softly at him.
"You hungry?" he asked.
"No," Jason lied and crossed his arms over his stomach to repress the gnawing hunger.
"Come on," Dick said, standing up and gesturing for Jason to do the same. Jason eye'd Danny, he really didn't want to leave him.
"He'll be fine," Dick assured, noting Jason's attention. "I talked to the nurses on my way in, they said he's unlikely to wake up for several more hours." Jason mulled this over, but his stomach growled again and he groaned. Dick offered him a hand up and Jason took it, letting his brother haul him to his feet. Together, they walked through the halls of the massive hospital to the cafeteria. Dick led the way, taking the stairs without Jason having to ask.
...
The cafeteria was massive, and Jason felt overwhelmed. It was dinner time, and the place was fairly full. There was a strange mix of somber and joy radiating from the room. There were people whose loved ones were dying, people who just learned that their family or friend was going to be fine, and fathers who were welcoming their child into the world. It was overwhelming.
Despite sleeping the whole day, Jason was still tired, so he followed closely behind Dick as they navigated through the crowd and found their way to a buffet line. He looked at the food with some disgust. Despite his hunger, he felt if he ate any rich food right now he'd throw up. His stomach was still knotted with worry. So he got a salad and a yogurt parfait that he thought he could handle. Dick got mac and cheese because of course he did.
They sat down on opposite sides of a table and Jason picked at his food.
"So, you're gay?" Dick said, opening the conversation.
'What a Dick place to start,' Jason thought to himself.
"Yeah, I'm gay," he breathed out loud.
"I'm glad you've found someone," Dick said, wistfully. Jason looked up from his food and was surprised that Dick wasn't eating.
"Danny's great," Jason said, not sure what his brother wanted.
"Damien has been telling me about your movie nights," Dick broke the silence that had fallen over them. "It sounds like fun." Jason looked closer at his brother. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept well, and he was fidgeting with his fork. The fact that he wasn't eating his cheesy nightmare should have been enough for Jason to realize something was bothering him. And with the comment about Damien and their movie nights, Jason thought he knew what it was.
"Just ask me Dick," he said with a sigh.
"Ask you what?" Dick said, pretending he didn't understand. Jason just looked firmly at him and Dick sighed. He dropped his fork and intertwined his hands in his lap.
"Jay, are you still mad at me?" he asked, looking at Jason from under his bangs. Jason let out a long breath before replying.
"No Dick, I'm not mad," he said. "But I don't know where that leaves… us," he finished flatly, gesturing to the space between himself and Dick.
"What do you mean?" Dick asked, unsure.
"I mean," Jason searched for the words. "When I was a kid, I just wanted you to be my brother, and you were a shit brother." Dick bowed his head, ashamed.
"I'm sorry," Dick said, meeting his eyes. "I know I was a 'shit brother' to you, and I hate myself for that. I was just so angry at Bruce, and I let that anger affect how I treated you." He paused for a brief moment, then continued, "I'd always wanted a sibling, but I was in a bad place when you came along. That's no excuse for how I treated you, I know that, but I just want you to understand that it wasn't your fault Jay," Dick picked up his fork and poked at the pasta growing cold on his plate.
"Well, I can understand having a rough relationship with Bruce," Jason said, not sure how to react to his brother's admission. Dick laughed humorlessly.
"He loves you Jay," Dick tried.
"Well he has a really funny way of showing it," Jason grumbled, shoving a spoon full of yogurt and berries in his mouth.
"Oh don't get me wrong," Dick said, a smile teasing on his lips, "he could use about five years of therapy to get his shit in order, but he does care."
Jason pulled the spoon out of his mouth and sighed. He didn't want to have this conversation right now. Dick took the hint and changed the subject.
"Tim was asking about you before I left," he offered.
"Yeah? He's awake?" Jason asked, grateful for the change of topic.
"Yeah," Dick laughed. "Awake and pitching a fit already. Damian won't leave him alone. He's worried about Tim, even if he won't admit it."
"I bet Tim loves that," Jason said with sarcasm, knowing full well how those two barely got along most days.
"He threw everything he could reach at him, and Damian still wouldn't leave," Dick admitted with a smile. Jason grinned at the image.
"So Jay," Dick started, "not to butt in but, once everyone is better, would you and Danny like to come to my place for a movie night? Damien and Tim are invited to."
"No," Jason said and Dick's face fell before he added, "your apartment is disgusting. You can just come to my place for movie night." Dick smiled broadly at him and ignored the insult to his subpar cleaning skills.
"Really?" Dick asked and Jason nodded. "Thank's Jay," he said, warmth in his voice and a blinding smile. Jason just snorted at his brother's antics. They ate their food after that, talking about their brothers and Danny, and just enjoying each other's company for the first time in years.
...
When they got back to Danny's room a familiar and unwelcome figure was standing in the doorway, looking in.
"Bruce," Jason growled and Dick stiffened at his back. Bruce turned to look at them and Jason saw he looked like shit. The bags under his eyes were heavy, and he looked older than the last time Jason had seen him out of the cowl. His temples were starting to gray.
"What are you doing here?" Jason ground out. He felt Dick put a hand on his shoulder, either for comfort or to keep him from attacking Bruce, Jason couldn't tell.
"I wanted to check on you two," Bruce said, gently, meaning Jason and Danny.
"Well, you checked on us. Mission accomplished, you can go home now," Jason said pointedly. He shrugged off Dick's hand and shoved past Bruce into Danny's room. His boyfriend was still asleep and Jason pretending to be looking at his vitals, ignoring the two men at his back. The silence was tense and stretched until Dick said, "Bruce, can I have a word?" and led their 'father' several paces down the hall.
Jason released an explosion of air from his lungs and sank into his chair. He wrapped his hands around Danny's and tried to ignore the conversation in the hall. It wasn't hard, there was lots of background noises to focus on, but he still caught his and Danny's names a few times.
Finally, Dick came back into the room and sat down across the bed from Jason. There was no sign of Bruce.
"Did you tell him to fuck off?" Jason muttered.
"I told him you aren't ready to see him, and that he needs to stay away for now," Dick said, his expression sour. Jason hoped he was frowning at Bruce and not him, and then startled when he realized he actually cared what Dick thought of him. He'd spent years convincing himself that he didn't care what the first Robin thought of him, but it'd always been a lie. Jason had always deeply wanted Dicks approval. He wanted to know that he was a worthy successor, that he was a worthy brother. And now, he had a chance to have that, to have the older brother he'd wanted for years. It was more than he could think about right now. He turned his attention back to Danny.
"Where did he come from?" Dick asked, also looking at the unconscious form on the bed before them.
"I don't really know," Jason admitted. "We never really talked about our pasts in specifics." Dick hummed in understanding. In their line of work, you couldn't really talk about your past without cutting a lot of the details out.
"And you didn't know he was…" Dick left the name unsaid, but Jason understood.
"No," Jason breathed out. "I suspected, but it just didn't line up," he shrugged. Dick nodded.
"Well, I'm sure it's one heck of a story," he said, curiosity blazing in his eyes, and Jason had to agree. He wanted to know how Danny and Phantom could be the same person just as much as his brother.
…
A while after Dick had gone home to start the evening patrol, Jason was startled when a groggy voice asked, "Jay?"
Jason jumped and looked up from his phone where he'd been reading. Danny was awake and looking at him. Jason grinned broadly at him.
"How are you feeling?" Jason asked, placing a hand on top of Danny's.
"Like shit," Danny groaned. "Can I sit up?" he asked. Jason frowned at the controls on the arm of the bed that would have lifted Danny into a sitting position, and instead pushed the red button that would call a nurse.
"Let's ask first, okay?" he asked gently.
"Fine," Danny relented. He worked his mouth for a moment before adding, "I'm thirsty." Jason was relieved; if Danny could complain, he knew he'd be fine. A nurse came in a moment later.
"Oh, you're awake," she said cheerily. "How are you feeling honey?"
"Terrible," Danny said and Jason was surprised he left the swear words out. The nurse came over and looked at his chart.
"Does your side hurt?" she asked, concerned.
"Yeah," he admitted.
"What would you rate your pain on a scale of one to ten where one doesn't hurt to ten being unbearable," she asked.
"Like a three I guess," Danny said. The nurse frowned at him and gently placed a hand over where Danny's wound was. He flinched, badly, and the nurse clucked.
"There's no need to act tough. We'll up your painkillers," she said. Then she went through several more questions and tests, before Danny asked if he could sit up.
"You can, but not all the way," she relented.
Once the nurse left, they sat in an awkward silence for a while. Jason finally broke it.
"You scared the shit out of me, you know," he said. Danny chuckled.
"Sorry," Danny said.
"How'd it even happen?" Jason asked softly.
"During the fight," Danny whispered back.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do when we get out of here," Jason warned.
"I will. I'll tell you everything Jay," Danny said somberly.
"I love you," Jason said, because he'd swore he'd say it when Danny woke up, and he was one to keep his promises. Danny looked at him and Jason could see the love in his eyes, so he wasn't surpassed when Danny replied, "I love you too." After the initial shock wore off they shared a tender kiss.
…
The next morning, after a fitful sleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair, a sharp knock on the door frame drew Jason's attention away from his phone. Danny looked up from his own phone, Jason had given it back to him. Two police officers stood in the doorway and Jason cursed to himself. It was standard procedure for cops to question anyone hospitalized with a bullet wound, and Jason should have known that. He should have also gotten with Danny and straightened out their story before they showed up. Jason was off his game.
"Can I help you officers?" Jason asked, trying to keep the tension from his voice.
"We just have a few questions to ask Daniel," the male one said, looking pointedly at Danny. "Who are you?" he asked Jason.
"Jason Peters," Jason explained. "I'm Danny's boyfriend." The officers looked at each other with a pointed expression that made Jason's back stiffen. He knew they considered him a suspect. It wasn't surprising, domestic violence was far too common in the Narrows.
"Jason, can you come with me into the hall while my partner talks to Danny?" the female officer asked. "I've got a few questions for you as well."
Jason glanced at Danny who was casting him a pleading look, but Jason didn't see a way out of this.
"Sure," Jason said, and followed her out into the hall. She closed the door behind them cutting him off from hearing the conversation in the room.
"Now, Jason, can you tell me what happened?" she asked, a sternness in her eyes. Jason's thoughts spun as he tried to figure out what Danny would tell the male officer. He hopped Danny would keep it as close to the truth as possible, so that's the route he chose.
"Danny called me while I was at my friends house," Jason started, trying desperately not to lie.
"Can this friend confirm this?" she asked.
"Yeah," Jason said, knowing that Dick would be happy to. "Do you need me to call him?"
"That's not necessary yet," she said. "Go on."
"So, Danny called me and said he needed help, so I rushed over," he continued.
"You didn't call an ambulance first?" she asked, suspicious.
"No," Jason admitted, trying to sound regretful. It wasn't hard, he knew he should have called 911 instead of rushing over himself. Danny could have died long before he got there, but with everything that had happened that night, he hadn't been thinking clearly.
"I should have called 911," he continued. "But I'd been up for hours, my friend's brother had just been in a car accident, so I was really not thinking straight," he explained. A car accident was the usual cover story if one of the Bats got injured on the job, and Jason hoped that was what Bruce had told the media.
"Alright, what else," the officer promoted.
"Well, I got to Danny's apartment and he was unconscious, so I called 911, and they took us to the hospital," he finished, holding his hands out, palms up.
"You don't know how Danny was shot?" she asked, like she didn't believe him.
"We haven't really had a chance to talk about it," he explained. "He only just woke up." Both of those statements were technically true. Then, the door to Danny's room opened, and the male officer came out. The two officers looked at each other and the male one nodded.
"You can go back to your boyfriend now," the female officer told Jason. "We'll come back in a moment." Jason slipped back into the room and they closed the door behind him. The officers would compare stories and if they didn't line up… Jason didn't want to think about that. He sat down in his chair and sighed.
"What'd you tell them?" Danny whispered.
"The truth," Jason said, but made a so so gesture with his hand. Danny nodded and stared at the wall. Jason knew he was smart enough to realize the danger they were in. After several long moments, the officers came back into the room.
"Well," the male one breathed out. "We'll see what we can do about finding the men who shot you Daniel, but I'm afraid without a clear description, the chances are slim," he explained. Jason let out a breath. They'd managed to line their stories up somehow. The officers didn't suspect him of shooting Danny.
"I understand," Danny said. The officers made their apologies and well wishes and left.
"That was close," Jason said. "What did you tell them?"
"Just that I got mugged walking home from work, and when I wouldn't give them my wallet they shot me, and that I don't really remember anything after that," he shrugged.
"That's good," Jason said.
"What'd you tell them?" Danny asked.
"That I was sleep deprived and when you called me saying you were hurt I rushed over instead of calling 911 and that I didn't know how you were shot," he summarized.
"I should have called 911 before I called you," Danny admitted, shame settling on his face.
"It's not your fault, you'd just been shot," Jason comforted. He took Danny's hand and squeezed. Danny squeezed back. Jason's heart swooned at the knowledge that they were both going to be okay.
…
"How are you two doing?" Tim asked when Jason picked up his phone. He was in the process of driving his car back to the hospital to pick up Danny who had been discharged that afternoon.
"Good," Jason said as he navigated Gotham's after work traffic. "Danny's been discharged. I'm on my way to pick him up now. How are you doing? I hear Damian has been driving you nuts."
Tim groaned. "You have no idea. He won't leave me alone, the little shit. I keep asking him what he thinks is going to happen, the Joker is dead after all," he whined. Jason chuckled.
"How did he answer?" Jason asked.
"He didn't! Just looked at me like I was stupid. I keep throwing my pillows at him, but he just keeps bringing them back!" Tim continued to whine.
"I'd come over there and drag him away, but I've got Danny to take care of," Jason said, a smile breaking out across his face at his younger brother's antics.
"Speaking of, Dick said you confirmed he's Phantom," Tim changed the subject. Jason could hear the question in his words.
"Yeah, he hasn't had a chance to explain it yet though. Too many ears," Jason said.
"Well once he tells you, I want the story," Tim said. "Oh shit, Dick's coming. I got to go." Tim hung up before Jason could say anything else.
…
As Jason pushed Danny in a wheelchair through the hospital, he thought he saw a familiar female face out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked, she wasn't there.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked, and Jason realized he'd stopped walking. Jason shook his head to clear it.
"Nothing," Jason lied and continued to make his way to the exit, but he could have sworn he'd saw Harley Quinn in a nurses uniform, smiling at him.
…
Finally, Jason sat down next to Danny on his couch, a plate of delivery pizza in his lap. Danny was slowly eating his pepperoni slice and giving Jason nervous looks. Jason knew he was dreading the explanation he'd promised and didn't push. But as the silence dragged on Jason's desire to know pushed him to speak.
"So," Jason said, cautiously. Danny sighed, putting down his pizza.
"You want to know how I'm Phantom right?" Danny asked.
"Yeah," Jason admitted. "I can't figure it out."
"Well, I'll have to go back a while to explain it all," Danny said.
"I'm all ears," Jason said, also putting down his food and wrapping his arm around Danny. He pulled his boyfriend to his side. Danny took a deep breath and began.
"My parents were ghost hunters, but ghosts are only what they thought they were hunting. They weren't true ghosts, though they shared some similarities. You see, there is this flip side to our reality called the Ghost Zone. Our two realities can't exist without each other, they hold each other together. And in the Ghost Zone there are these beings born of human souls mixed with the Ghost Zone's ectoplasm. They can come to our world sometimes through tears in the walls between our two worlds. That's what my parents were hunting that they thought were ghosts." Danny paused to see what Jason's reaction to this would be, but Jason just waved him on, waiting for the rest. Danny took another breath and continued.
"When I was fourteen, they built this portal that was supposed to open a door to the Ghost Zone, but it didn't work. So they just gave up and left it. One day, me and my friends Tucker and Sam were messing around with it. They dared me to go inside, and I did. My parents weren't the best at design, and I guess they put the ON switch on the inside of the portal, and I bumped it. It turned on with me inside, and when I came out, I could turn into a ghost."
"Turn into a ghost?" Jason asked curiously.
"Yeah. I like, transformed. I got white hair, and green eyes, and I can use my powers. They used to be stronger, and I used to be able to use them a little bit in my human form, but something happened…" he drifted off, remembering.
"It's okay," Jason said, hugging Danny closer to him. He wasn't sure he fully understood what Danny was telling him, but he believed every word nonetheless.
"Well, anyway. When I turned on the portal, ghosts started to come through. Me and my friends would fight them and send them back. We did that for years, till I was sixteen. I never told my parents what I was, I didn't know how they would react. They hated ghosts, and I didn't want them to hate me," he said with a faraway look in his eyes.
"But then, one day, there was an accident." Danny choked up and Jason rubbed his back in comfort until he got himself under control enough to continue.
"An experiment went wrong, and the lab in the basement exploded," Danny said, tears streaming down his face. "Everyone was there, my parents, my sister, my friends, and me. They all died… . but I didn't," Danny took a deep breath to calm himself down before he continued.
"There was this group that we dealt with a few times before, the GIW. We called them the Guys In White, but that's not what it actually stands for. They are a government division that deals with ghosts, and when the lab exploded, they were called in to clean it up. That's when they found me," Danny said, trailing off again.
"Were you hurt?" Jason asked and Danny nodded.
"My powers saved me from the brunt of the blast, but I was still hurt. The GIW had tried to capture me several times over the years, but I was always too strong for them, but this time, they got me. They… they experimented on me," Danny said, the pain and horror clear in his voice.
"For how long," Jason asked gently. He was trying desperately to keep his anger hidden, but the pit was rolling in his stomach and in his vision. It was hungry for revenge.
"Two years," Danny said quietly, rubbing at his eyes and burying the side of his face more into Jason's torso. "They found a way to destabilize my core, all ghosts have one. It's where our powers come from, but I rely more heavily on mine because I'm only half ghost. But unfortunately they were able to destabilize it and unsync my two halves. In that state they were able to hurt only my ghost half."
"That's why Phantom has scars on his neck and a missing tooth and you don't," Jason said, understanding.
"Yeah," Danny said. "The scars are because they were trying to find a way to prevent me from using my most powerful ability. I call it a ghostly wail. It's this really powerful sonic attack," he explained.
"How'd you get out?" Jason asked. Danny smiled humorously.
"They didn't keep my core destabilized properly, and they didn't disable my ghostly wail completely. I managed to get out of the ecto-uranium restraints. Ecto-uranium is this mineral that corrodes ectoplasm which ghosts are made of. It hurts and weakens us. Anyway, I got out of them and used my wail to take out their entire compound. I barely got out with my life though. And my powers are still weak and unstable. I should be able to use them in my human form but I can't. I still can't fly like I used to, or turn invisible. And the damage to my ghost half hasn't transferred to my human half like it should, so I know I'm still out of sync." Danny folded his hands in his lap.
Jason didn't know how Danny could be so calm about this, but then he thought about how he talked about his own death and torment by the hands of the League. He joked about it; pretended like it didn't matter. Danny was doing the same thing, keeping the trauma at arms length so it didn't hurt so much. Jason did some mental math and realized Danny had been free from the GIW for a year. He didn't know what Danny had been like when he first got out, but he'd managed to shove most of the trauma down and learn his triggers. Shoving everything down wasn't healthy, but it was easier. Jason knew that.
Jason thought over everything Danny had told him. It explained a lot, hell it explained everything. Every question he had was answered. He understood what had happened to Danny, and his gut roiled. The GIW was the organization that neither Oracle nor Red Robin could hack into. They'd been on the right track. They'd been so close, but the fire wall had stopped them. And if they had been experimenting on Danny, it explained why they needed one so strong. They didn't want anyone to know what they had been up to. And if they found out Danny was alive, and that he was in Gotham... Jason didn't want to think about it, except to decide that he would kill every last one of them if they ever showed their faces in his city. With this convection in mind he pulled Danny carefully up onto his lap and held him close, kissing him tenderly. He felt Danny's body relax into him. Jason vowed to never let anyone hurt his Danny ever again. And Jason just knew he would do anything to keep that promise.
And there we have it! Some of you actually guessed it or got really close. What do you think? I nerfed Danny for several reasons, both story and logistic so I'm curious what you think about it now that the reason is out. Please review.