Disclaimer: not mine

Decided to be nice and not leave you to wait anymore.

Chapter 16

Danny flew through the halls, driven on by Tim's agonised screams. In ghost form his heart couldn't pound but it sure felt like it was. He found the lab, lit up with green and white light, a portal forming, and he slammed into Vlad, ignoring the sickening noise made when the other hit the wall. He rushed towards the portal and then hesitated, staring at the writhing form within. He could feel it…it was too late to pull Tim out, not unless he was prepared to help organise a funeral. Tim may still be screaming…but his heart had stopped, his brain and lungs would follow seconds later…Danny sank to his knees, unable to do anything but wait.

Seconds later, Tim was alive again, over and over. He couldn't interfere, didn't know how many deaths and revivals it would take. Now he knew how Sam and Tucker had felt that day and he wished he didn't. It felt like an eternity of waiting and then a body was flung out of the portal, rolling limp across the floor.

Danny scrambled to his side, very carefully rolling Tim over, moving him into his lap. He was a ghost, but a full ghost of halfa? Black hair had bleached to white, his skin deathly pale, not yet tinted either green or blue. He was dressed as Red Robin, the uniform colours inverted to green and white with the gold accents now more of a silvery purplish colour. Danny lifted a trembling hand to gently stroke Tim's hair, waiting for him to wake. But then he stopped and carefully lifted one of Tim's hands, grimacing at the sight, he'd been cuffed and the cuffs had acted as a conduit for the electricity. Both wrists were now burned even through his gloves, the metal melted into the now white material.

He glanced over at where Vlad lay, seeing the blood on the floor and really not caring if the man was dead. Not after this.

"I'm here Tim, you're safe," he whispered, knowing how crazy it was to wake up, how all over his senses would be.

He was relieved when Tim shifted, whimpering softly, his wounds were healing but he'd still be in pain for a while. Danny looked at the open portal and then stood, cradling Tim in his arms. He walked over and stepped into the portal, emerging in the Infinite Realms, feeling them welcome him back. He set off for the Far Frozen at top speed, wanting to get Tim to help. He'd had to recover alone for the most part, the hospital treating the burns but unable to give him the real help he'd needed. The great part about being King, the Realms sensed his urgency, shifting around them until the Far Frozen appeared before him. He landed on the edge of the settlement and headed in.

"Great One!"

The familiar voice had relief flooding his veins and Danny turned to face Frostbite, letting him see Tim's limp form. "Help him, please."

"Quickly." Frostbite gently took Tim from him, Danny having to fight himself to let go. Tim needed medical care that Danny couldn't give. "What has happened?"

"It was Vlad, he…he recreated my accident," he explained, and that got everyone moving even quicker. "His name is Tim, he's my…he's mine," Danny whispered, unable to look away as Tim was stripped so that they could see the burns from the electricity.

They were worse than Danny's since his hands had been held above his head by metal cuffs. Danny was only scarred on the arm he hit the on switch with, Tim had Lichtenberg figures going down both arms to his chest and up his neck, thankfully stopping short of his face. Melted metal still clung to his skin, even in ghost form. They carefully cleaned his wounds and then placed a mask over his face before lowering him into a tank of medical strength ectoplasm to help him heal faster.

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Bruce was exhausted and wanted nothing more to sleep, but he couldn't, not yet. He entered the medical bay and made his way to the occupied bed, finding Damian asleep, but this was an obviously natural sleep. He reached out to run his fingers through black hair, relieved Damian had woken from Nocturn's influence.

But there had been no word from Danny since he had left. Had he found Tim or was he still searching? He couldn't lose another child, not after all of the close calls Tim had had, Damian's near fatal fall… he still hadn't reconciled with Tim after he'd called to yell at him for running Danny's DNA.

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Dick watched Bruce with Damian before slipping away and to his own room, utterly worn out. He was worried about Tim, they all were. Who knew what the man would do to him. And why had he taken Tim? Revenge against Danny or something else?

Danny…Dick really didn't know what to think anymore. It had been strange enough learning they were related, though he could definitely see it. But finding out he was half ghost? That he'd died as a teen? He honestly didn't know how to deal with that.

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Jason let Kon into the penthouse via the Nest since he now had access to it. He knew Kon wanted to stay and wait for word, and if Danny got Tim, then they'd come back to the apartment or Nest, not the Cave. He'd called Clark to fill him in while still helping out, so there was no worry about concerned supers showing up. Good thing the place had some spare bedrooms since neither of them wanted to use the couples bed. That was just way too intrusive, even for Jason.

After a night of running around saving sleeping people and then helping clean up, they were both exhausted. He wasn't all that surprised when Kon flipped a hidden switch, the bedroom he was in lighting up oddly, UV lamps, nice. Tim had really planned for his friends to stay over when designing the place.

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He was floating, cool liquid all around him, a sensation of safety helping him remain calm. Something tugged at his memory though, pushing him to wake up.

"It's okay Polaris, you're safe," Danny's voice reached him, and he relaxed instinctively at the familiar sound.

Slowly, his eyes opened and he found he was floating in a tank, panic rising, but Danny was standing on the other side, one hand against the glass, green eyes locked on him. Seeing he was awake, Danny smiled, looking relieved.

"Hey," he murmured. "It's okay, don't panic. You…you were really badly hurt. We're in the Infinite Realms, the Far Frozen, I brought you here for treatment. Do you understand?" Danny asked, and Tim managed a lethargic nod, getting another smile in return. "You can sleep if you want, I'll be here the whole time."

Yeah…sleep….

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Danny slumped as Tim's eyes drifted shut in real sleep rather than unconsciousness. He'd woken, recognised Danny, and understood him, that was good.

"Rest easy, Great One, he is healing well. His core has begun developing and his ectoplasm levels are steady."

Danny nodded at the information; he wasn't at risk of destabilising then. "I need to go back, destroy the lab and see if Vlad's still alive." But he'd promised Tim he'd be there.

"He will not wake again for some time and that portal must be shut down," Frostbite pointed out.

Danny nodded reluctantly and left the medical facility to head back to Vlad's facility. He found the man still lying on the floor. He knelt down to check but he could sense it, death. Vlad was dead and yet there was no sign of Plasmius. Had he truly passed on?

Danny went to the computers and began opened them to Tucker.

"Tim?" Tucker asked over the comm.

"With Frostbite," Danny murmured. "He…he just kept screaming. We were only fourteen and you and Sam…

"Oh Danny," Tucker whispered. "You got through it, he will too. And he'll have you there to help him learn and adjust, right?"

"Yeah. Let me know if Vlad has anything written about why he did this."

"Of course, Tim deserves to know."

"Once you've got everything, I'm destroying this place."

"Carefully I hope," Tucker's tone was teasing.

"I'm not Dan, no ending the world in my plans."

"Good."

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Jason grabbed his phone as it rang, seeing Danny's id on it. "Did you find him?" he asked, and then Kon appeared at his side.

"Yeah," Danny sounded exhausted and…grieving? No, not Tim. Beside him, Kon was frozen, eyes wide with horror. "He's…healing."

"Danny," Jason growled.

"Vlad…recreated my accident with him. I don't know yet if it worked or…or killed him. He's in ghost form and hasn't switched back. I took him to the medical facility in the Realms that treats me. Right now, I'm destroying Vlad's lab and then I'll head back. He's woken once and seemed aware enough, he recognised me and could understand what I was saying. We'll have to see once he wakes up again."

"If…if it killed him?" Kon asked shakily.

"Then he's already a fully formed ghost and Gotham has plenty of ectoplasm to sustain him, but he couldn't go back to his life. You saw my ghost form; he won't pass as human. Maybe a meta but with more information now coming out about us, someone would eventually put it together."

"Can we see him?" Jason asked.

"Once he's awake, I'll check with Frostbite to see when he'll be up for visitors. Kon…I'm not sure how your biology would take the Realms, there's no sun here. Jason, honestly, you should get checked over as well. I need to go; I'll call again later."

"Tell Tim we're waiting and he better not be dead."

"Will do."

Jason put his phone aside, slumping back against the couch cushions. Tim was either like Danny…or a ghost. He felt sick.

"Tim" Kon choked, and Jason looked at him, seeing the tears.

"Come here," he tugged at Kon who collapsed against him.

"It's going to be okay, no matter what, we'll stick with Tim," he promised. If Tim was a ghost, then he better get used to spending time in Gotham. They'd find some way to manage it. If he was like Danny then it should be easy enough, Danny had faked being totally human with Tim for a year or something and they'd been dating!

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Danny watched as Tim's limp form was pulled from the tube, the mask removed. It was so strange to see him with white hair and Danny wondered what colour his eyes would be, the more common red or green like his own? He'd been redressed before being placed in the tube in case he transformed to human. His uniform was important to Tim so best to have it transform back with him. That was if he was a halfa, Tim's readings were hard to translate and since Danny hadn't been examined so early on, they had no way to know if that was normal…or if it meant he was a full ghost.

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Tim slowly became aware of something soft under him, the air was crisp, cold…but he wasn't cold, covered in blankets. A cold hand was holding his, fingers running through his hair. He forced his eyes open and there was Danny, in ghost form, watching over him. "D'nny?"

Relief flooded green eyes and Danny leant closer. "Welcome back," he whispered, leaning in to kiss Tim's forehead. "How do you feel?"

Tim tried to sit up but he felt really weak, Danny caught him as he flopped back, shifting him to rest against the propped-up pillow. He looked around in confusion. "Wh…" he swallowed; throat dry. "Where?"

Danny turned away and then held a cup to his lips, Tim drinking gratefully. He wasn't on ice chips so that was a good sign. "We're in the Infinite Realms, the Far Frozen since they have the best medical facilities. What do you remember?"

The Infinite Realms? Why would Danny bring him there? What had…his eyes widened and he grabbed for Danny's arm. "Vlad. He…there was a tank…it burned."

"Tim…" Danny stared at him, something in his expression that had Tim getting scared. "Just stay calm, okay?"

"Danny, what's going on?"

Danny held a hand mirror out to him, turned over, and Tim cautiously took it, flipping it right side up. Had he been hurt badly enough to leave scars on his face or something? That would be hard to…he stared at his reflection. No…no, no, no…

"Tim, calm down," Danny took the mirror from him, holding his hands.

Tim stared at him, fighting the urge to cry. "I'm…I…" he couldn't say it, didn't want to accept what he'd seen. Vlad had…Vald had killed him. No! He couldn't be dead, he wasn't even twenty yet, not for another month…he had so much he still wanted to do…he…

He gasped as he felt something race through him, rings spreading over him and then suddenly he felt his heart thundering away in his chest. He saw Danny's eyes go wide, a relieved smile spreading across his face.

"Danny?" was that what he thought, hoped?

Danny lifted the mirror again and Tim stared at his familiar reflection, relieved to see blue eyes rather than green, his hair black again.

"You're a halfa," Danny whispered.

"You didn't know?" Tim asked in confusion.

"They hadn't seen someone newly transformed; we couldn't tell from the readings if you were a halfa or full ghost." Danny leant in and pressed a gentle kiss to Tim's lips.

"What did Vlad do to me?" Trying to remember was hard, everything blurry.

"He re-created my parents portal and used you to activate it," Danny admitted.

Oh. Tim shivered as he remembered pain. Never ending pain unlike anything he'd ever felt.

"Hey, come on Tim, breath with me. You're going to be okay. Vlad can't hurt you again," Danny was holding his hands tightly, and Tim gasped in a breath and then another. "That's it, try not to think about it."

Tim stared at Danny, it'd been one thing to hear how he had died and now…now Tim had the same experience. He let go of Danny's hands and reached for him, Danny pulling him into a hug. Tim hung on tight, closing his eyes to just soak in the comfort of being held by Danny.

"What did you mean, about Vlad?" he couldn't help asking, feeling Danny tense slightly in reaction. Oh. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yeah. I was so focused on getting to you…I didn't really care how hard I hit him. He's really dead now, not a ghost. Tucker's going through his computers…he was insane, Tim. My mom's death seems to have made something in him snap. It looks like once he found out about you, he focused on making you a halfa so I…so I wouldn't lose you like he did her. Not that she was ever his to lose."

Tim sat back in shock. Vlad had done this for Danny? He didn't blame Danny, he hadn't been in contact with his godfather for years, they'd both been declared dead at different times even. But if being a halfa was meant to keep him 'alive' for Danny, how had Vlad died so easily? Or…had his chosen to move on somehow? If he was insane then truly dying might have been the kindest thing to happen to him.

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Bruce set his phone down, closing his eyes in relief. Danny had found Tim. He was glad Jason had called to tell him. He didn't blame Danny for not calling, he would want to be by Tim's side. Though…they didn't know if Tim was alive or dead. Even if Tim was a ghost, Bruce would still love his son. But could Tim come back if he was a ghost? Sure, they had overturned the Anti-ecto acts, Phantom had gone public as a ghost, but that didn't mean people would accept them living among them. But even if he couldn't still live in Gotham, the Manor was private so he could at least visit frequently.

He'd nearly lost Tim so many times recently, he was not going to give up even if he was dead now.

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Frostbite watched the Great One with the new halfa. Thankfully, the young man's readings had become steady. They had all seen their King after he lost his little sister, then his family, if he lost his lover who knew what it would do to him.

He had never met Plasmius and so had never had the chance to study his condition but from everything he had heard of him, Frostbite did not believe he had been a true halfa, not like Daniel and now Timothy were.

He did not like the way the metal cuffs had melted into the new halfa's skin but he appeared to be moving his hands well so perhaps they had not done deeper damage. The scars were as healed as they could make them, they might fade more with time and weren't too noticeable in human form at least. Had Plasmius not realised that by cuffing his hands up, the electricity would flow through both? If re-creating the Great One's accident then that was an odd change, and a risky one. It could have killed him fully before the portal had a chance to form enough to allow the ectoplasm out to begin bonding with him.

Having a King with a spouse to help balance them would only be good for the Infinite Realms.

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Danny wrapped his arms around Tim's waist as he stood in front of a mirror. "There's no rush to do this," he murmured, placing a gentle kiss on his throat.

"I want to see," Tim answered, the slightest shake to his voice. He'd been discharged from the yeti's care yesterday and Danny had snuck him into the Keep, not wanting anyone to know they were there.

"Okay," Danny agreed, understanding that Tim needed to do it, to fully see what had been done to him and begin learning about the changes he'd undergone.

Danny didn't want Tim to go through what he had after dying; struggling to understand and control his powers, having to fight.

"Close your eyes," he instructed, watching Tim's reflection to see he'd closed them. "Reach for your core, here." He moved his hand to rest over where Tim's core would be. "It's like a soft hum inside your chest. Just tug on it, gently."

He waited and then smiled as familiar rings appeared, splitting over Tim's body, changing the clothes he'd been given into the inverted Red Robin uniform, domino included.

"Open your eyes Polaris."

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Tim forced himself to straighten up a bit and then he opened his eyes, staring at his reflection. He reached for his now white domino, carefully removing it to stare at bright green eyes. He honestly wasn't sure if he would have preferred red or not. He didn't like the reminder the green gave him, of the Pits…and how Jason had been at first. Jason probably wouldn't take seeing them well either, none of the bats would.

But this was him now, he wasn't human anymore. He was half dead and half alive, trapped between the two states. Even in full uniform, the Lichtenberg figures were visible on his throat, he was glad they weren't very noticeable in human form, he already had to use concealer on the scar across his throat.

It was him, but not. He looked so strange with white hair and even paler skin. He'd been pale enough thanks to the Joker, now he was deathly white, which made sense since he was dead in this form. Would he eventually take on a green or blue tint like most ghosts?

"Okay?" Danny asked, still holding him gently.

"Not too fond of the uniform change," he answered.

"The colours are a bit strange," his boyfriend agreed. "You can learn how to change that with time," he promised, that was a relief.

He was Red Robin, not Green Robin. But…was he still Red Robin?

TBC…