Disclaimer: Don't own Danny Phantom or any form of batman.

Been reading lots of fics for these two, esp crossovers of them. I've never seen the show or read the comics so majority of my knowledge comes from the fics I've read. So, keep in mind that is where 99% of my knowledge comes from.

Chapter 1

Danny rolled onto his side, watching the other teen as he slept. It was good to see him sleeping, he'd honestly been wondering if Tim ever slept with the bags permanently under his eyes. He drank more coffee than Danny did! Still, Tim had work in the morning and showing up in yesterday's clothes would get attention. Tonight wasn't meant to be a sleepover, they'd just planned on takeout and a movie in Danny's tiny apartment, nothing else. There hadn't been anything else yet…because of him. Even sleeping so close, sprawled on his bed, it was risky. Tim had never said anything about the coolness of his hands and Danny always had long sleeves on nowadays, even in summer due to the scars, so hugging was okay and even Tim leaning against him on the couch wasn't too risky. Tm loved that in summer since he didn't overheat. But in winter?

Danny wasn't a meta so technically Batman shouldn't be mad about him being in Gotham, right? It…it was a medical condition. Or something more like Superboy, without cloning involved, a hybrid of two species. Except his second species was just technically illegal. So it was actually safer if he was mistaken for a meta since they were legally protected now. He hated it, hated lying to Tim even if only through omission, but how could he tell him the truth?

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to go back to sleep, but then Tim shifted, rolling closer. He couldn't help it, carefully wrapping his arm around Tim's waist, smiling slightly when Tim seemed to relax even more. He really didn't want to wake him…but a glance at the clock said he had to. He was never going to be the reason Tim got in trouble at work, he did so much as co-CEO and he'd barely turned nineteen! Danny was barely managing part-time classes and his job at the coffee shop they'd met in. Tim had offered to get him an internship but Danny had turned him down, he wasn't with Tim to get a foot in the door anywhere.

Danny gently squeezed Tim's waist, pressing a quick kiss to the back of his shoulder. "Tim, you need to wake up."

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He didn't want to wake up, he was comfortable and safe, cool too…because Danny was holding him, well he had an arm around his waist. Tim opened his eyes to find he was in Danny's apartment, the one he wished he could convince him to move out of but Danny had refused. He wouldn't let Tim just pay for things, which was good but also frustrating. Still, why was he in Danny's bed…oh, date night when he'd literally gotten no sleep the night before thanks to a stake out. He probably should have rescheduled but he did that too often already.

And he had a meeting this morning, one he couldn't skip, Danny knew that which explained the gentle wake up. He hated that Danny was so careful in waking him, but he'd snapped awake fighting twice before, beyond thankful that he hadn't hurt Danny who had managed to dodge both times. He might not be a vigilante but apparently his Mom had been into martial arts and had taught him to defend himself growing up. If he ever hurt Danny…but he knew it was a risk, as long as he was dating a civilian it would always be a risk. He'd been so on edge when they'd first met, still dealing with everything that was the craziness of Bruce being lost, losing Robin, losing his spleen, Ra's…

He shook his head and forced himself to sit up, stretching, catching Danny watching him with a soft smile, returning it. He leant down and kissed Danny, ignoring their morning breath. "Thanks," he murmured, he was lucky Danny had woken otherwise he'd be running to the office in yesterday's clothes and that would start rumours.

Yes, the family knew he was dating someone but not who and he wanted to keep it that way, no matter how many times Bruce pressed for details. Danny was wary of meeting the extended Wayne brood and until he was ready, Tim would do what he could to keep them away. It wasn't like Tim spent much time at the Manor anymore himself which made it easier. He'd done his own background checks into Danny when they'd started becoming friends, as bad as he felt about it. There'd been nothing dangerous, but he'd also been able to read between the lines enough to give him idea why Danny was nervous about meeting Bruce or any parental level person. He supposed he was lucky Danny hadn't withdrawn from him once he realised who Tim was and how big and complicated his family was. By then though they'd bonded over their love of coffee and tech, it was why he'd offered Danny the internship.

Danny was very independent, insisting on always paying his own way, and Tim had to respect that. He'd worked hard to get into college, that'd been obvious from his school records. But at Wayne Enterprises, he could get closer to his childhood dream than he would anywhere else. He'd seen the records of Danny attending all those space camps as a kid, the love of space and science…until he was fourteen and everything had just gone wrong. There'd been hospital records, plummeting grades, signs of a teen in trouble, but just before he hit sixteen things had settled and his grades had recovered, thankfully. If they hadn't then he'd have probably never come to Gotham, they never would have met. He'd never asked about the injury since that would give away that he'd looked into Danny's past and Danny never talked about it. Danny never mentioned his family either, and Tim didn't blame him, it had to have hurt to lose them like that, to know they'd been on the way to see him graduate high school and then… well, it was no wonder Danny was so independent. He wished Danny would accept his help but he understood why he wouldn't, he didn't want anyone to think he was dating Tim for his money and influence. Tim knew he wasn't, that was enough as far as he was concerned, but he had to respect Danny's wishes too.

"Don't forget to eat something, not just coffee," Danny told him, yawning.

"I will. Go back to sleep," he told him, leaning in for another kiss before forcing himself off the bed.

He envied Danny getting to sleep in, he only had an afternoon shift today and no class. He grabbed his things and left the apartment, making sure the door locked behind him. That was one thing Danny had agreed to at least, letting Tim improve the locks on the apartment. Sure, it wasn't Crime Alley or anything, but it was not the best part of Gotham either.

He headed for where he'd parked his bike since Danny's building didn't come with a garage and drove home to shower and change before heading into the office for the day. And yes, he managed to grab some food with his coffee on his way in, he'd promised after all and he was actually hungry. Despite what most thought, he didn't just live on coffee, but he often wasn't overly hungry in the morning.

He offered Tam a wave as he passed her desk, not talking since he'd just taken a bite of his sandwich, which made her smile. He settled behind his desk and powered on his computer to check everything over before the meeting. Maybe he should sleep at Danny's more often, or invite him to sleep at his place since he felt better rested than he had in a while. Then again, while his apartment and bed were more spacious – they were far more likely to be interrupted there…or there was always the possibility of Danny finding something that would be hard to explain.

Not that the others tended to drop by, but his computers would set off notifications in the apartment and that would be harder to explain than a text message. He loved Danny, trusted him…maybe…maybe it was time to tell him the truth? He knew Danny had secrets too, had a pretty good idea what he was trying to hide, and maybe if he opened up first then Danny would follow.

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Danny dropped his keys and went to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes, exhausted. He checked his phone, smiling at the picture Tim had sent him earlier before putting the phone aside. He went to his bedroom, digging through his closet for the locked box hidden at the back, slipping his hand through it to grab the phone hidden within. He then left the apartment via the fire escape, heading for the roof. He checked for any sign of vigilantes and then moved across the rooftops until he was a good distance from home. Hidden in the shadows, rings of light spread from his middle, transforming him. He went invisible and then took off, flying high into the sky above Gotham before turning the phone on.

He only checked once a month, never the same date to be safer. He was his only contact to his old life, as far as the world was concerned Daniel Fenton died with his family. Danny Nightingale was just a kid from Chicago. They didn't even have the same birthday, that had been the first thing changed in his records. His birthday was technically correct, it was just the day Phantom was born. Tucker and Technus had worked together, using the facts of Fenton's life but changing names and locations to create Nightingale's. The portal accident became a freak lightning strike during a storm, the lab accident that blew Fenton Works up was changed to a car accident, his parents' names…Jazz…all changed to keep him safe.

Tucker was the only other one left and they'd had to split up thanks to the stupid GIW and Vlad. Sam…she never should have been there but she had and now… he took a deep breath and read over the messages from his only remaining friend, the only person who knew who he really was, though not where he was. They were careful, he didn't know where Tucker was either. Though Tucker did keep an eye on Amity Park since he could hide his searches a lot better than Danny could, Val was doing a good job and without the Fenton Portal the place had become a lot calmer. Vlad was forced to keep his head down as well. The two of them had actually worked together very briefly to remove all remaining ghost tech from the wreckage to keep it out of the GIW's hands, the agency was becoming too competent. It was why Danny had ended up in Gotham, even the agency was wary of pissing off Batman by encroaching on his city, plus the city had enough excess ectoplasm in the air to keep Danny healthy and help hide him. It wasn't the only choice, there were other cities that could hide him, and Technus had even made it look like he'd left the country to help hide him better, after all, only the US and Canada had the Acts. If he'd gone to Europe then they couldn't touch him but he hadn't been able to bring himself to leave America.

He hated lying to Tim, to be literally keeping half of himself from him, but he knew he wasn't the only one with secrets. He'd never push Tim, he trusted him, loved him and knew whatever he was hiding it wasn't something bad, he could sense that much. And Tucker had responded to last months rambling message about telling Tim, not that Tucker knew his name, they never used names for safety reasons. If someone, somehow, managed to crack their security, the messages wouldn't mean a thing to them. Tucker's message was to trust himself, if he thought he could trust Tim with the truth then go for it.

He sent his own updates in return before turning the phone off and dropping from the sky, transforming back once he reached the roof. He then slipped back to his building only to duck back into the shadows, holding his breath as one of the bats landed on the roof, looking around for a bit before moving on. Hmm…from the red in the costume he'd assume either Robin or Red Robin since the Red Hood tended to stick to Crime Alley…no sword though, didn't the current Robin carry one? So probably Red Robin. Had he spotted Danny?

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He listened to the others chat over the comm as he made his own patrol, not bothering to speak up. He only ever spoke when someone spoke to him first or if he had something he needed to report. He missed the days of easy chatter over the comms but they were long gone, his hope it'd go back to normal with Bruce's return long faded. Sometimes, Tim wondered why he didn't just cut the last ties, go fully independent…except there was that small part of him that clung to the idea of family. He went to the Cave still, to give mission reports or when he was called in, but the last time he'd been to the Manor itself had been Bruce's birthday party, the public one. He bore the Wayne name after all; it would definitely make the papers in a bad way if he didn't go. He was the one who went to the various galas, the others very rarely appearing anymore which made them very lonely events. Maybe…maybe he should invite Danny to the next one as his plus one? Not like his sexuality hadn't been questioned many times in the press over the years.

It had gotten better since meeting Danny, becoming friends and then more, but he couldn't help clinging to the Wayne family even as part of him considered dropping the name from his own and going back to only being a Drake, not Drake-Wayne. Maybe…maybe one day it would be Drake-Nightingale. He shook those thoughts off, focusing on his patrol as he neared Danny's building. He tensed though, spotting a hint of movement, landing silently. He looked around carefully but there was nothing and after a few moments he continued on. It'd be too late to join Danny once he finished, sadly.

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She checked the logs and kept going only to pause and go back, frowning slightly. She read back further and further, heart sinking. Sure, she'd thought a few times things were quieter, but she hadn't realised…she pulled up the surveillance feeds for the Cave and Manor and felt a little sick. How had she missed this? How had they all missed this, unless…surely it wasn't intentional? She went further and further back, as far back as when Bruce was missing, hand covering her mouth as she watched and listened to the night Damian became Robin. Oh Dick.

Two years…was this fixable? Would…would Tim even want to fix it? He had the resources, everything needed, did he even really consider himself one of the bats anymore?

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Danny walked into work and smiled when he spotted the familiar figure already at a table, laptop open before him and cap on his head to hide his features a bit. The staff knew they were friends and so kept that table at the right angle for the occupants to be a bit hidden, they were good about that. Plus, Tim probably spent the average person's salary on coffee at the store so helping him stay incognito was the least they could do.

He nodded to Sandy who grinned and waved him away so he headed for their table. He wanted to lean down and kiss him but they were in public, no matter if mostly out of sight, so he didn't. "Hey," he murmured.

Tim looked up and smiled at him, something that always made Danny feel a flush of warmth which for him was something rare. "Hey, figured I'd come see you since we've both been busy."

"Missed you too, phone calls aren't the same." But at least they could keep in contact that way. He shifted to let their hands brush, briefly tangling their fingers together, and Tim smiled again.

"Long shift today?"

"Till closing," he grimaced, a matching frown appearing on Tim's face. "Sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I did just show up. Our schedules will match up soon, they always do."

"Very true Polaris," he teased, and Tim flushed slightly at the nickname, but Danny thought it suited him. He was Danny's North Star now.

"Get to work, space cadet," Tim mock groaned, and Danny laughed but headed to the back to grab his apron.

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Tim crouched, blending in with the beams as he watched the men move about below, smirking slightly as he slipped a hand into one of the many pouches. With an easy flick of his wrist the smoke bombs were deployed, causing shouts of annoyance and dismay. He leapt down, landing in the middle of them, his cowl allowing him to see even in the smoke, bō in hand. He twisted, catching one of the thugs across the lower back before getting another in the back of the knees, both going down hard.

Soon, he had them all down and began restraining them for the cops, placing the call himself and leaving behind the counterfeit money they had been bringing into Gotham. It was time to head home for the night and try to get those reports done for WE before it was time to head into the office.

He stripped out of his gear and headed upstairs to collapse on the bed, wanting to get a little sleep at least before working on the reports. Tim checked his phone and smiled sleepily at Danny's last message. Sometimes his boyfriend was almost as much an insomniac as he was, though due to college papers rather than crime fighting.

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Danny stared at the paper in shock, unable to believe the headline. Vlad…the Froot Loop…was dead? Dead dead and not just a halfa? His crazy 'uncle' had retired as Mayor after Danny's family died, moving back to Wisconsin and Danny honestly hadn't really kept track of him since then. What could have killed him? Or…was this the GIW covering up his disappearance? Had they worked out Plasmius was Vlad? Dead or captured, it would have to be published since he'd remained in visible control of VladCo and Axion Labs.

Part of him…was saddened by the news. He was now the last of his kind. Dani…Dani had destabilised at barely a year old and nothing they had tried had saved her. The Ecto-Dejecto had bought her time, they'd thought it had saved her, but in the end, it had only been a temporary fix, working less and less until it didn't work at all. And now Vlad…there was a chance he was still alive, but did Danny want to risk everything on such a slim chance?

He'd have to check the phone again soon, message Tucker, he'd be able to get into the GIW's servers thanks to his Technus improved tech, not that his friend had ever stopped tinkering himself with it. Danny sometimes wondered who was better, Tucker or the Oracle he'd heard whispered about sometimes. He or she apparently was part of the bats, he didn't think it was surprising they'd have an excellent hacker on their side to help keep their ids safe. It was safer for Tucker to look into Vlad, for all of them.

If they had Vlad…, could he give up his life in Gotham, Tim, to go and save the halfa who had made his life hell? What did he owe him?

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Tim grinned as he flopped onto Danny's couch, putting his feet up on the table only to get a playful slap to remove them. He reached up, curling his fingers in Danny's hair, tugging gently, and Danny went with it, bracing one hand on the back of the couch, letting them kiss slowly. He let his fingers move through messy black locks only a little shorter than his own, feeling Dany shiver slightly in response. He didn't try to pull Danny any closer, just enjoying the kiss, letting Danny chose how much contact he was comfortable with.

Soon they were sprawled on the couch, surrounded by the remains of dinner, controllers in hand as they battled it out on the tv. Sometimes, it was very nice to just be a teenager.

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Bruce paused as he heard something…something he couldn't remember hearing in a long time. Tim was laughing, genuinely laughing, sounding happy. He swallowed, why had it been so long?

"Danny," Tim was still laughing, but Bruce couldn't hear anyone else so likely on the phone. Who was this Danny and what were they to his son? "That's just…seriously. Okay, alright." Then there was silence for a little. "Tonight, seven thirty, I'll be there. Love you." And then his office went quiet.

Love you…did he mean that how it sounded? Was Tim…dating someone? Danny could be short for Danielle or something…or Daniel? Not that it mattered. Why hadn't Tim told them, introduced this person to the family at…and it hit him, when was the last time Tim had come to the Manor, not the cave but the actual Manor? To Alfred's Sunday family brunch? There'd been the party for his birthday and Tim had definitely been there but Bruce had barely seen him after the obligatory family photo for the papers. He…he couldn't remember Tim coming around other than that. Maybe soon after his return, but nothing in at least a year, maybe even more. How could he have missed that? Missed the fact his second youngest never laughed around them anymore… and when was the last time he'd bantered over the comms? If he spoke on patrol, it was business only.

Tim's report from that time was very basic, too basic. What had happened to him during his search that had changed him so much? Or was it something from before he left Gotham alone? So many deaths one after another, surely it wasn't surprising that Tim had changed. But it felt like more than that, he just didn't have enough data, not yet.

He raised his hand to knock on the door, hesitating, but then he slipped away. He didn't want to upset Tim while he was happy. He would do his research first, then approach the boy. Boy…he was how old now? Nineteen or twenty? And he felt a flash of shame at the fact he wasn't sure. He'd been trying to do better with his kids, had thought he was succeeding, so how had he let Tim slip through the cracks?

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Danny stared at the message…Vlad was really dead as far as Tucker could find. He'd have to head into the Realms and check with Clockwork to be positive then. Surely if the GIW had him, the ghost of time would have sent him a message because it could lead them to hunting Danny even more vigorously, despite not being sure if Phantom was even still around or had returned to the Infinite Realms.

He had to get himself together, Tim would be over in another…he glanced at the clock, hour. Right, he had food to order and collect and a movie to set up.

TBC…

So how am I doing?