He wasn't sure of he'd ever been an animal lover. Couldn't remember if he enjoyed going to zoos or nature reserves. If that was ever case then in certainly wasn't now. Not after months of being thrown around like a ragdoll by the various ghostly animals that caused trouble in amity park. If had the energy to hate them then that's what he would call the feeling building in his chest as he stared down the ghostly bull.
It bellowed, sounding like it's call had been out through several layers of filters and a lake. Even through he knew that bulls didn't immediately charge for the color red, they couldn't even see the color red, it still made him twitchy to be standing there with his usual hoody on. The four horned bull from hell snorted, and scuffed the ground with its front leg, tilting it's head.
"Aw crud." The boy groaned. There was nothing to say a ghost bull was going to behave anything like a real one. Those sounds it was making didn't have to mean it was about to charge. He couldn't move away from the door behind him. Anything that huge charging into an occupied classroom was sure to hurt someone.
A knife hidden in his sleeve slipped down into his hand. He'd just have to deal with it like he would a real bull, not that he would have chosen knives for that how that. It can't kill a ghost, he told himself, his eyes on the huge animal and for an instant wondered if going intangible would even help.
Then the boy ran screaming at the animal before it could start charging. The ghost bull nudged the ground again then charged, letting out a loud bellow. The boy side stepped the beast and slashed at its side. Contrary to what its size suggested, bull weren't all that slow, and this one was fast enough to spin around and knock the boy to the ground.
He skidded down the hall, then used a drinking fountain to pull himself to his feet. The bull faced him again, and again he stood his ground and stared it down. The animal threw back it's head and charged again. The boy was a ghost too, ghosts couldn't die, didn't mean it wasn't going to hurt like a…
Just before they clashed a green shield formed in front of the ghost boy, it shattered, but slowed down the charge. It didn't stop the boy from being flung down the hall and crashing into a row of lockers though.
"Got him!" Phantom tossed the Fenton thermos into the air and caught it again triumphantly. "Hey Red, no property damage this time.
"Great, Boss." The ghost groaned and looked up at the dented lockers. A lack of bull fighting experience suddenly seemed like glaring lack in his education.
"What's going on out here?" A teacher poked her head out of her classroom. Red fallen through the fall before she had a chance to see him.
Hitting the ground of the lower floor hurt much less than getting hit by the bull. Being able to use his intangibility at will would have saved him a lot of trouble if he could just remember it during fight. The bell rang for lunch and the ghost got himself up before anyone could see him.
"Hey Red." Danny stepped out of a supply closet. Too late. It should have taken longer for the halfa to dump Bessie in the Ghost Zone. "We need to talk."
"About how Bessie got through the lock on the portal?" The ghost stretched. "And why it would haunt a school. Guess they're serving it's cousins in the cafeteria today." He stood up. "Speaking of which."
"Yeah, we should go get lunch." Danny threw an arm around the ghosts shoulder and dragged him along. "I missed out on breakfast chasing the Box Ghost this morning and I'm starved."
"I didn't see him." Red said slipping out from Danny's hold as they walked to the big double doors.
"So anyway, I was thinking." The kid said, still holding one of the ghost's sleeves so he couldn't slip away. "None of us understand those chemical bonds in science class, so we were going to have a study group tonight."
"Isn't is kinda a case of blind leading blind if none of ya understand it?" The ghost asked.
"Looked like you got the hang of it pretty quickly." Danny said. "Falluca read out the pop quiz scores."
"I don't know if I'll be around tonight." The ghost said, there were a million other things he'd rather have been doing, up to and including being thrown around by that bull again. He opened his mouth to speak, an excuse already on the tip of his tongue
"We can invite Valery over too." Danny suggested and the ghost let off a string of mental curses. He hadn't even spoken with the Red huntress in days. If Danny found that out he'd have an excuse for even more questions. Kid was getting smart.
"Where?" The ghost asked, he could come up with an excuse before the end of the day. Right then he just wanted to find a quiet place for a nap. That headache was coming back.
"Great!" Danny grinned, cheeky little, he knew what he'd done. "We'll come up with a place over lunch. Maybe the sloppy joe you eat will be part of that bull, huh?"
"I'm really not hungry." He ghost said, looking around the packed cafeteria, there were a lot of people in there. A lot of very loud people packed too close together. He could feel the sensory overload creeping in again.
"This from the guy who said he was a vengeful ghost?" Danny laughed. "Come on, he woulda eaten you, it's only fair."
The ghost sighed. It was obvious the kid wasn't going to let him leave, and as crowded as the cafeteria was, it wasn't so full that he could get away unnoticed. Danny started pulling him to a table, he wanted to pull away again, that anything was touching him made him just that much more aware of all the people, and he was already overly aware.
They were almost at the table where Danny's friends were waiting. The ghost though that maybe once he got there he could pretend to sleep, channel out all the noise before it morphed into sounds that weren't there.
Something hit the back of his head and it was like all the noise had stopped. The football ricocheted and knocked into some girl walking by.
"Sorry about that." Dash Baxter said, the smirk on his face all the evidence anyone needed to know that the jock was far from sorry.
The ghost ignored him and bent down without a word to help the girl gather up her books. She thanked him, then scurried away. He took a deep breath and started walking for the doors, he'd walk away again, be the better man, prove that he was capable of it.
A ball hit him on the side of his head before he got very far, stopping him in his tracks. Danny said something to Dash about messing with the sick kid being low. The ghost felt his blood rushing to his face, burning his cheeks.
How freaking retarded could the jock be to have forgotten the beating he'd gotten the first time they'd met already? Footsteps got closer, Danny tried to get in Dash's way again but was pushed aside. Freaking idiot thought Jason was just some weakling to be made a victim of.
More deep breaths, he couldn't get into a fight, couldn't get kicked out of school, not again. Not if he didn't want another lecture from the boss, if he wanted to be benched again and spend all night in the cave. He shook his head, clearing away the strange thoughts.
Danny couldn't bench him, that wasn't something the kid would even think off. Then where had it come from?
"You gonna run away again Little Red Riding Hood?" The jock said, getting closer. "Think you're so smart." He threw the football at the ghost's back again. "There's nowhere for you to hide here."
He started to take another deep breath, better to stay calm, if he got kicked out of school and they checked his records… A hand grabbed his shoulder and started to turn him around. Everything went red, and the only sound was his own pounding heart, amplifying the headache.
His fist crashed into the taller boy's stomach, Dash doubled over and the ghost grabbed hold of his blonde hair and brought up a knee to smash into the jocks face, knocking him onto his back in the process.
The other jock, Kwan, grabbed the back of his hoody and lifted him off the ground, away from their leader. The boy broke free and rammed his elbow into the others solar-plexus, then swung his fist at the boys face, hearing a satisfying crack when it connected and he felt the red running onto his hand.
There were more, but he didn't care, why would they be any harder to beat into the ground that those before them. Idiots came at him running, their balance was horrible and it was easy to tip them over, use their own weight and force to send them flying into the surprisingly sturdy tables.
Stupid. All that muscle they had was worth less than their empty freaking brains when they couldn't use it properly. It didn't matter, he didn't care. He threw punches and kicks at those dumb enough to get back on their feet and try him again.
Multiple pairs of arms wrapped around him, pulling him away from his many opponents. Someone was talking, talking while that cluster of scum was picking itself up off the ground.
"Red!" The voice was high pitched, feminine. He looked away from the jocks and at the violet eyes leaning close to his face. On either side of him were Danny and Tucker. The ghost forced himself to calm down and shrugged them off, keeping his eyes on the jocks.
Sam frowned at him, her arms crossed while the other boys set him down on a bench. Danny looked a little worried, but neither he, nor Tucker looked like they were angry about the fight. The bespectacled boy actually looked like he was torn between laughing and staring at the temporary battleground in awe.
"Chicken soup for the soul, what happened here?" All eyes were suddenly on the overweight English teacher.
Minutes later, as the instigators of the fight, the ghost was seated besides Dash in the principal's office while the rest of the football team waited just outside for their turn.
There wasn't anything about the situation that worrying would help, so the ghost just didn't. He sat quietly, outwardly calm and paying close attention to Principal Ishiyama's lecture. Inwardly he kept his attention on Dash, relishing at the boy's twitchiness whenever he felt the cold red eyes on him.
A secretary popped into the office and whispered something to the principal.
"Mister Reed, it seems we're having some trouble contacting you guardians, please wait outside while we speak to Mister Baxter's father.
"Yes Ma'am." The ghost nodded and got up, very careful to keep his expression blank. It wasn't like he'd miss out on much by not going to the school anymore. They weren't teaching anything he didn't already know, and the kid didn't really need anyone watching out for him.
Ghosts didn't need high school diplomas.
"Mister Reed." The secretary called him over. "Would you please check that this information is correct."
Home address, Contact number, Email, Allergies, Health problems… All were filled out and all were fake.
He made a show of looking it over, changing his expression to one of confusion, then let an embarrassed smile creep onto his face.
"These are all for the old place." He smiled nervously. "I guess he just forgot to update them." Out the corner of his eye he saw Danny looking in through the square door window.
"I need you to fill in the correct information now, okay." She gave him a new form and a pen.
Just when he took the pen the office door opened and Dick plucked the writing utensil out of his hand.
The young man laughed. "He's so forgetful he'll probably get it all wrong again." He began filling out the form himself. "He can't even remember to take his lunch money most days." He didn't hesitate at any of the columns, ticking off all those that had been ticked off on the original form and handing it back with a flourish.
The secretary looked over the form and nodded. "You're sure this is correct?" She asked.
"If like you can give me a call on the new number." Dick grinned. "Maybe we can set a date and…"
The ghost's face crinkled in disgust and he dragged the man away from the blushing woman.
"Do you have to flirt with everyone?" He growled.
"Come on Little Wing." Dick wined, miming holding a phone to his ear and mouthing 'call me' to the secretary behind the boy's back.
"How are you even here." The ghost pulled the man around, away from the secretary.
"Your friends called me." Dick said. "You could have done a better job with those credentials you know. Todd Reed? That's adorable." His face went serious. "You know you need my help right now, or they'll all be dragged into it. I'll get you out of this mess, but you'll owe me."
The ghost frowned at the door, where Danny was peeking in. Lancer walked by and shooed the halfa away.
"What do you want from me?" The boy sighed. If he was found out they'd probably think he was a runaway, and they'd question everyone around him for answers that didn't exist. A superheroes secret identity couldn't afford having any spotlight put on them.
"Just some time to talk." Dick said. "Not with Red, or Todd Reed, but with you. A few hours won't throw off your super busy schedule, now will it?"
"Mister Reed?" The principal called and Dick kept his questioning eyes on the boy, as though he hadn't heard.
"Fine." The ghost walked into the office, Dick grinning as he followed behind.
He spun some story about having to change schools because of kids giving his little brother trouble about his condition. Martial arts classes to build up his confidence, and no Ma'am I couldn't believe it myself when he took to it so well, he'd never had much stamina you know. He's been sleeping in class? Well what did I just say. So glad he's actually making friends here, he's always been such a loner, it's hard for him you know. You're really too pretty to be a principal… that one had gotten him a discreet kick under the table.
In the end his punishment was a week suspension from school to 'think about his actions.' Dick had promised he'd keep a closer eye on the boy and they were finally out of there. The ghost caught Danny watching when they left the school and waved, then signaled with the hand that it was okay.
Sure the problem was taken care of, but he didn't feel okay, not in the slightest.
They went to a burger joint, not the Nasty Burger that Danny and his friends loved so much thankfully. Dick ordered them each a burger-fries-milkshake combo and they sat down at a booth near the door. Neither of them spoke while they waited for the food to come, and the boy was glad for the chance to prepare himself.
The place was pretty empty at time of the day, just a few old people who'd been out shopping and some kids playing truant. It was clean, and quiet, they were right up against the huge glass of the storefront, so he could watch the streets and the people who came in.
A waiter brought their food and Dick thanked him before taking a bite of the burger.
"You not hungry?" The man asked. "You didn't get lunch, right?"
"I don't need it." The boy said, but took a sip of the milkshake, banana flavored, to placate the man.
Dick shrugged and took a sip of his own. "Funny that you called yourself Todd." He said.
The boy just cocked an eyebrow and ate some fries, okay maybe he was a little hungry.
"Shows you do remember somewhere in there." The man elaborated. "Your full name is Jason Peter Todd."
The boy didn't want to say anything, but the name settled on his shoulders just right. It fit, and he could almost feel the weight anchoring him down. It was a good kind of weight, it meant that he was a person, he'd existed before he'd been nameless in the Ghost Zone and Red in Danny's world.
"You know." Dick stretched out, not fazed by the younger's silence at all. "Bruce took you out for burgers when you first met. Said you ate like five of them and threw it all up in the batmobile later."
Bruce? An older man's face flashed through the boys mind for a second. That was Someone, he knew it, but this time the knowledge wasn't comforting. That he had a past also meant that the past was real. The things in his nightmares really existed and they could still hurt him when he opened his eyes.
"I changed my mind." He stood up and tried to leave, but Dick grabbed his arm and held him back.
"I can change my mind about having to rewrite my whole identity here." Dick said, his face now deathly serious. "If you don't sit down I'll call the school and tell them everything."
Jason's chest felt heavy, like it was straining to keep his rapidly beating heart from breaking through his ribs. He looked pleadingly at the man, but was met only with stony indifference. Reluctantly he sat down again, buying his face in his arms and trying to control his breathing.
"If you don't keep your promises then no one will ever believe you." Dick was saying. "It's not like you have anywhere to go right now. Your friends don't get out for a few more hours, but we both know that you weren't going to…"
Now he knew why Dick had taken him to such an empty place, he'd known this would happen. That Jason wouldn't want to draw too much attention to himself in a public place, but lots of people would make it worse. Lifting his head to look at the man made it spin, and somewhere, there was something laughing, it was getting louder and louder and… He couldn't breathe again, and this time telling himself that he didn't need to wasn't helping.
Something cold was pressed to the back of his neck, shocking him into opening his eyes and banishing the laughter away.
"That bad, huh?" Dick said softly, and before he knew it Jason was being lifted off his feet and carried out while Dick whispered soothingly. "It's okay Little Wing, I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be this bad."
He didn't notice when he was set down on the brick barricade around the parking lot.
"It's fine. You're safe. Your okay. Hey look it's a cat."
Short sentences that didn't really mean anything important, but he focused on those words and on the icy compress at the back of his neck.
It took a few minutes for him to feel the wind blowing through his hair, prickling his skin. His hoody was laying next to him. Torn and bloodstained and worn thin from all of the fighting. It had been Sam's once, and it had been clean and new when he'd first put it on. No amount of soap would get it like that again, no matter how much he tried.
His head was pressed against Dick's chest, and the man was stroking his shaggy hair, still whispering nonsense …"not your fault. Sorry. It's going to be okay…"
However long it took, his breathing calmed down and the world came fully into focus. Everything was faded, the episode had just left Jason unbelievably tired.
"You do need a haircut." Dick said softly, not letting go of the boy.
"Okay." Jason said just as softly. He really did need one, he pulled away and put the hoody back on.
Dick helped him get to his feet and kept close enough that he could catch the boy if his legs gave out.
By the time they made it to an apartment block, Jason had recovered enough to be weary of an unfamiliar place. Pulling away would have taken so much energy though, and he'd have to figure out where to go next. It was easier to just let Dick lead him into the building.
"Tada!" Dick swung open the door waved out an arm, presenting his living space.
The apartment was tiny but it looked like it was in good condition.
"How'd ya get a place so fast?" Jason asked. Dick hadn't even been in Amity that long.
"Would you be able to say no to me?" Dick laughed. "How 'bout a grand tour!" He opened one door. "That's the bathroom." He waited for Jason to actually look inside, then shut it and opened another. "The master, and only bedroom." Jason took one look into the messy room and Dick shut the door. "I'm too busy to keep that clean."
He waved his had exaggeratedly at the counters across the room. "My cutting edge, fully equipped kitchen." He stomped his feet and opened his arms wide. "And were standing in the high definition entertainment area. High definition not included."
Jason clapped sarcastically, and Dick grinned. "Any questions?"
"Does it have room service?" Jason asked, and laughed at Dicks bemused expression.
"Sure." He deadpanned. "Thirty minutes or it's free." He lifted a phone off the wall. "Any requests?"
Jason shrugged and dropped down on the lumpy two seater in front of the tint Tv. "Just feed me."
Dick laughed at that, at least he wasn't sore about having to leave the other food in such a hurry. Wasting it kind of left a bad taste in Jason's mouth. Dick put Jason's school bag down next to the coffee table while he placed and order.
"Come on." Dick patted Jason's shoulder and smiled at the boy's confused expression. "We're cutting Rapunzel's hair remember."
Jason got up and followed Dick to the bathroom where his head was ducked under a stream of water from the basin, then he was seated on a stool in the kitchen. Dick propped a mirror on the counter so the boy could see his reflection.
It wasn't that long, the tips of his bangs just reaching his chin. Seeing what he looked like was still weird, like he was supposed to be seeing something else.
"Your hair's longer than mine." Jason said.
"Yeah, but I make it look good. You just look like a girl." Jason kicked out at Dick who just danced away laughingly. "Don't feel bad." Dick said. "If everyone was like me it wouldn't be special anymore."
"Just cut it." Jason growled throwing a towel around his shoulders.
"Yes Master Jason." Dick said in a British accent, flourishing his comb and scissors.
That made Jason smile, tickling at something just past the hazy nightmare of his lost memory. Snowy hair started dropping to the ground while Dick chattered on about his job at an ice-cream parlor. Jason's attention was only partly on the man's voice.
He was focused on the atmosphere of the place. It smelt like Kevlar, and grease, and a whole lot of other things he couldn't name. Somehow he knew that if he looked around he'd find the numerous weapons hidden in just about every place he could think of. There were wired by every window and door, only visible if you were looking for them, a security system better than you'd find in most prisons. Nothing would be coming or going without Dick knowing it.
"You're being pretty quiet." Dick said, combing the loose pieces of hair from Jason's shoulders. "I thought I'd get at least a few quips by now. "Something on your mind."
"It's familiar." Jason said without thinking. Dick was still until the boy spoke again. "Something's missing."
"There's a no pet policy." Dick said and went back to snipping. "So I couldn't get any bats in."
"You say that like it's a bad thing, that guanos such a pain to clean." Jason huffed.
"Oh I hated that." Dick groaned. "I can't believe I almost forgot about it."
"He made you do that too?" Jason laughed at the idea of the golden boy shoveling bat droppings.
"Not like Alfred was going to do it." Dick brushed aside the last few loose hairs and pulled the towel away. "All done."
His reflection looked a little more like him, the curls just sticking up at the edges and his shortened bangs parted in the center. Jason raked his hand through it and slid off the stool.
"It's kinda weird that you're so good at cutting hair." Red quipped and went for a dustpan he spotted near the kitchen sink to sweep up his hair.
"Don't hate." Dick said. "You can be stylish and a stylist." He scratched his chin. "We'll I can."
"Shut up." Jason threw the collected hair away. "Not everybody would exactly call that style."
"Pizza's here." Dick said, moments before there was a knock at the door. He grinned and went to answer it.
Jason scoffed. He was impressed, but that didn't mean he was going to admit it.
Minutes later they were sitting on Dicks sofa eating the warm pizza, and sipping on mugs of marshmallow topped hot chocolate. The atmosphere was even more familiar than it had been before, and Jason still wasn't feeling uncomfortable. It almost felt like home, almost, and it wasn't just bats that were missing.
Dick knew him, knew what milkshake he liked, what pizza he'd have chosen, and even how to make the hot chocolate that Jason sometimes woke up remembering the taste of. Jason wanted to ask what they were, where he'd come from, what had happened to him. Dick knew the answers to all the questions that had spun around in the boy's mind since he'd found out he was a ghost.
A few times, Jason almost asked them, but changed his mind before he could go through with it. He wanted to enjoy the quiet, the piece, the feeling that there was somewhere he belonged. The questions weren't impossible anymore, and suddenly that made all the difference.
Soon the food was finished and the two of them were laughing mindlessly at a cheesy horror movie that was too over the top to be anything but hilarious. They talked over the screaming teenagers, inserting their own lines into the movie.
They were just in the process of turning a chase scene into a race for the last taco when the movie was cut off by a breaking news bulletin. There was a ghost fight at the mall and anyone who had cars parked there was advised to move them before they got covered in bird excrement.
"These people have really weird priorities." Dick said, his expression dumbfounded.
"Well no one's ever died in a ghost attack." Jason jumped up and ran for the door. The kid was already there, and even if there hadn't been any casualties yet, anything could happen.
"Wait." Dick called, chasing after him.
"No time." Jason called back.
"I'll drive you." Dick jingled some keys as he rode ran past.
They got to an underground parking area where and Dick gave Jason a helmet, then got onto a black motorcycle with the boy behind him and they sped out into the city streets. If the apartment had felt familiar then this was even more so, racing at high speeds into danger. He laughed past the pain in his chest and almost wished they wouldn't get there.
He regretted that when there was a huge traffic jam on the road to the mall. Dick spun around and drove tried to get there via another route, but it was the same story.
"Looks like everyone took the newscasters advice." Dick quipped. "All the roads are going to be blocked."
Jason groaned and looked down at the line of cars, at that rate he'd be there faster on foot. If people did this every time there was a panic they were doomed.
"Hold on." Dick said and turned sharply down a narrow alleyway. With no more obstructions they tore through the emptier road on the other side. Though still in the same general direction, Jason knew this road didn't lead to the mall. He couldn't voice his opinion over the roar of the engine, so he just hung on and hoped Dick knew what he was doing.
.
.
.
Danny really hated those birds, and not just because they were annoying, or because they worked for Vlad. These were the same ghosts that had tried to kill his father not too long ago. Whether they'd been acting on orders or not he still wasn't comfortable having any of them around near his town.
They'd swooped in and attacked while he was still in human form for Pete's sake. Most ghosts at least had the courtesy of letting him find some place to transform first. These guys just went straight for his friends and flew off with them.
It happened every now and then, it came with so many ghost's knowing his secret identity, but it was what these vultures did every single time. They were like the mess-with-Danny's-family-and-friends ghosts. He ducked onto an alleyway and went ghost, shooting after the fleeing birds.
They were fast, and he'd followed them all the way to the mall before he caught up to them.
"No, no, no. Little halfa boy." One said, dangling Tucker around like a pendulum.
"Oh, I am so having chicken tonight." Tucker yelled at it. The boy looked like he was about to throw up. Good thing everyone was leaving the parking lot then
"Let them go." Danny said, his ghostly aura glowing brighter.
"No on you life, child... half-life." The bird shook itself, jostling poor Tucker even more. "Whatever, we have to bring your friend to Plasmius, don't chase us, we don't drop, huh?"
"Only we forgot which one we were supposed to bring." Another vulture said.
"Shut up you, he didn't need to know that." The one holding Sam reprimanded.
Danny took a look at what the ghost's were flying over, Sam and Tucker would probably be mad at him, but it was better than being carted off to Vlad. While they were distracted by their arguing, Danny fired off his ecto blasts at the ghost's feet. They cried out on shock and dropped the kids.
Sam and Tucker were screaming while they fell. Expressions of fear quickly morphed into disgust when they fell into a huge dumpster filled with garbage.
"You guy's okay?" Danny flew over to his friends.
"What do you think?" Sam asked. A chute above them dropped more garbage down on them, Danny could go intangible, but his friends not so much.
One Vulture slapped the other behind its head. "Now look what you've done. Plasmius will hold this over us forever.
"If you have forever." Danny charged at the two large birds. One of them he tacked into a nearby building and the other got a powerful ecto beam to the face. He had to wonder sometimes why it was always those three ghosts Vlad sent to do those kinds of things, always. Wait, there were supposed to be three.
Danny's glance went first to his friends to make sure they were still safe, and there they were grumpy, but otherwise fine. Next he scanned the skies above him, it was doubtful the bird would have flown away from the fight all together.
The last ghost swooped back into view from behind the mall.
"Hey look what I found." It said. "It's the one we miss…" It was holding a struggling Red in its talons, the boy swore, but couldn't free his arms to do any kind of damage. The vulture took one look at its partners and flew off, still clutching the ghost boy. So it would leave them behind after all.
Danny flew after the ghost, popping up in front of it and blocking it from going any further. It tried to get away, but every time it changed directions Danny was there waiting for it. Still it ducked and weaved an he couldn't tackle it outright without risking harm to Red, and ecto blasts would hurt him a lot more than Sam and Tucker.
A small object flew through the air, slicing the ghost's wing, then circling around and going back where it had come from. Danny tried to find the source, but then the vulture was falling down, taking Red with it. Why it was the ghost even needed it's wings to fly Danny didn't know, but he didn't really have time to think about it when he had to stop his friends from becoming a splat on the road.
Without a word, Red pulled out one of his bird shaped blades and threw it at the bird, pinning it to the side of a building so it wouldn't fall onto the pedestrians below. Danny set his friend down and went to made short work of sucking all of the ghosts into the thermos.
He got back to the mall where Red was helping Sam out of the dumpster, he got some sludge on his hands, but ignored it and turned to help Tucker as well.
"So did you get?" The geek was asking excitedly. "Dash's Dad was chewing him out all the way into there car."
"I think it was more that Dash lost to such a puny kid than that he fought at all." Sam said. "She sniffed at her hands and her face scrunched up in disgust. "I so need a shower after this."
"Gross, for once I agree with that completely." Tucker squinted at Red "Dude, what happened to your hair?"
"Oh." The ghost ran a hand over his shorter white hair. He looked even more like the Robin in the picture now that it wasn't a shaggy mess anymore. "Wing cut it when he picked me up." He folded his arms and spun around to frown at Danny. "How'd ya even gat his number?"
"He gave it to me." Danny said. "If he hadn't do you know how much trouble you would have been in? He said he was your brother."
Red sighed. "Yeah, it's great and all that you tried to help, but you're not gonna last long in this game if ya trust everyone that spins a convincing story." Red looked more serious and focused than Danny had seen him in a while. "One misstep an ya can get hammered down, an there's no guarantee of gettin up again. Understand?"
"So he's not your brother?" Danny asked, now a little worried that he'd handed his friend over to someone dangerous. "Did he hurt you?"
"As if." Red scoffed. "But that's not the point. Just because it worked out this time, doesn't mean it always will. What if you're supposed long-lost cousin shows up and ya wind up in a trap?"
"Wait." Tucker scratched the back of his head. "So it the guy your brother or not?"
"Dunno." Red shrugged." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and his eyes widened, then went back to his usual bemused stare. He pulled a wrapped candy cane out of his pocket, he waved the sweet at Danny. "He's harmless though. Don't ya have ta change back before your fans show up?"
"Danny told you about the study group, right?" Sam asked. "And you're coming?"
Red tensed up again, and Danny was worried he'd come up with a reason to say no. He'd forgotten to ask Valery over, but he was hoping Red wouldn't know that, he knew the weirdest things sometimes.
"Sure." Red said. "I've just gotta pick up my stuff from Wings place."
"Great." Danny said. "It's at Tucker's, you know how to get there?"
The ghost nodded and waved once before walking away. "Seeya there."
.
.
.
Dick went back to apartment as soon as Jason was back on the ground, he didn't want to get too involved with this world's heroes, when there were enough teams he had to take care of back home. He wondered how they were all doing. The only thing anyone knew was that he'd be away for a while on an extended mission. After he'd left so suddenly, they had to have figured out it was important.
The only contact he had with that side after coming through the Fenton portal was the little disk he'd sent flying home that said he'd found Jason. He only had two left, 'coming home' and 'need help.' It was a testament to Bruce's ready-for-anything approach to missions that he even had those. For all he knew everyone was waiting around for him to bring the kid back since he'd sent that one.
Alfred had probably already prepared his bedroom. What would they think if it took months more for Dick to gain enough of Jason's trust that the kid would go home. What if he decided he never wanted to go home at all? How many friends did he even have there? The only way to make him go back was for him to remember Bruce, and the episode earlier that day was proof that any regular means weren't going to work.
He hadn't counted on Jason being so damaged when he'd set out, didn't have the recourses to deal with it. Maybe sending Babs in would have worked better, she knew about things like that, could help better than he could.
Dick smiled, it had been easy to forget that there was anything wrong with the boy when he'd been relaxed enough to laugh along at cheesy effects with Dick. Was he that good at hiding it from everyone else, did he know himself what was wrong with him?
There was a knock at the door. A little screen set up in the kitchen showed that it was Jason. Dick schooled his expression and went to answer it.
"I just came to pick up my school…" The boy frowned up at him. "What's wrong with you, did you hear a puppy cry or something?"
"Me? Look at me, I'm perfect." Dick said, forcing a grin in place. "There's nothing wrong with me."
"Sure." Jason slung the bag over his shoulder. "That's how he always acted when there was something hugely wrong. You're not being controlled by a cult, right?"
"Who was controlled by a cult?" Dick had heard that story before, hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, but he had heard it.
"The Boss." Jason's smile slipped away and his eyes went vacant, somewhere Dick couldn't see.
"How long have you been having anxiety attacks, Little Wing?" Dick asked. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder to help ground him, keep him from loosing himself in his own thoughts.
"I don't…" He tightened the white knuckled grip he had on his backpack.
"Do you feel sick sometimes, feverish?" Dick continued. "Like you can't connect with other people, you just get bored when they talk to you, huh? Nightmares?"
Jason didn't say anything, but he didn't run away, or deny anything. The Jason Dick remembered wouldn't have been so quiet, would have started shouting that Dick was the crazy one for thinking that. The Red Huntress had said, the first night Dick had tried approaching Jason, that he'd smelled like smoke.
"Do you get depressed?"
That one got a reaction from the boy, he pulled away and frowned at Dick.
"I'm not depressed." Jason said, his eyes shifted around the tiny apartment. "I'm just…" He pulled his hoody a little lower. "I'm just..." He looked up an met Dicks gaze. "It'll go away, right?"
Dick was surprised at the question, the earnestness in Jason's voice. He didn't know how to answer, didn't know what would preserve the little trust the boy was putting in him.
"I don't know." Dick said honestly. "You were okay today, for a while, weren't you?"
"Yeah sure." Jason said. "I can't beat up the football team and get suspended everytime I'm mad though, can I?"
"Come find me when it get's bad." Dick said. "You know where I am whenever."
"After ya blabbed on about your jobs for five hours I can't forget." Jason rolled his eyes. "I gotta go now, told some people I'd meet up with them."
"Aw come on, don't go now." Dick said to the retreating boy. "We still haven't finished the movie."
"I'll see it next time." Jason called back.
"At least do something Jasoney so I know I didn't break you." Dick yelled from his doorway.
The boy turned and walked backwards both hands up in a rude gesture as he walked, a huge grin on his face.
"Yeah, don't get hit by a bus, brat." Dick said and shut his door, grinning himself when he heard the boy's laughter.
.
.
.
Vlad masters sifted through pages of data he'd collected through his pawn on Daniels new ghost friend. Updates on the ghost were few and far between, and every time he got new information it through any previous hypotheses out the door. Of coarse information collected exclusively from a hidden video feed could only go so far.
Mental evaluations, what passed for tissue samples in ghosts, these were things he needed to determine the ghost's nature. After he'd found out about the boy's memory problems, he'd though a simple message through the girl would be enough to draw him in. Not so, something was constantly preventing the girl from even conveying the message.
If he wanted samples he'd have to get them himself, but how? As far as Vlad knew he was only visible when he was with Daniel, and the younger halfa thwarted any attempts of Vlad's to bring him in. He watched over some footage from a few nights before, the last he'd seen of the ghost.
It appeared he was still incapable of flight, not unheard of certainly, especially in new ghosts, but he had certain other skills that made up for it. Vlad also found out that he wasn't the only one with an interest in the ghost, there was someone else tracking him.
He'd have to keep a closer watch or risk losing the prize.
He called up the girl, told her to seek out the ghost under the same ruse he'd used before. It was, after all, only natural for a man to be concerned when he found out his son was being stalked.
Vlad flipped a switch, bringing into view the people sized tubes filled with what cold someday be his perfect sons. He just needed to stabilize them, then he'd have no need for either Daniel Fenton, or his peculiar friend.