Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 19

Jason saw the flash in Danny's eyes and he knew…Tim's killer was dead already, good. The only thing he wished was that he could have helped. Tim clung to Bruce and thankfully, B was managing to actually show emotion, holding Tim close, comforting him. Tim was usually the most composed of them all, rarely showing his emotions in public or company thanks to those horrible parents of his, so seeing him fall apart…He'd never seen Danny react over the top or anything, so Tim could re-learn control like Danny had said, it would just take time.

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"It's alright son," Bruce murmured, holding Tim tight. He was cooler to the touch but Bruce assumed that was the new normal, he was still solid and breathing, alive.

He was so glad that Tim hadn't attacked him, he'd honestly thought he was after seeing his eyes flash green. But Jason was right, it wasn't the same green. And as long as they kept Tim away from those who had hurt him the most then they wouldn't lose him to rage like they had Jason for so long. If that meant that Tim truly became an independent Vigilante, then that was what they'd do. He could still work with those of them he wanted to but Bruce would not push him to work with anyone he didn't want to. He should have stopped pushing him and Damian together at Dick's urging long ago.

Tim would be safe if he did choose that route since Danny would be backing him up. And it wasn't like the other kids would abandon him either. He knew he was at least partially to blame for the mess his family was in, he hadn't done enough to curb Damian's behaviour and neither had Dick or Alfred.

He was guiltily glad that Tim hadn't been able to say more about his death. It had been bad enough finding Jason's broken body in the remains of that warehouse, to hear how his other son had died… it broke his heart to know Tim had died in agony. But what else could some kind of 'accident' with a portal be put pain? It was hard to keep his mind from considering all the ways that could have killed Tim and Danny before him. He'd lost two sons to the same death, because even if Danny never thought of himself that way, through his relationship with Tim he was family as well. He'd made sure that Daniel Nightingale would be provided for should anything happen, even after seeing the paperwork naming him the Masters' heir with his godfather now dead.

Eventually, Tim pulled back, wiping at his eyes shakily. "Sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Tim," Bruce assured him, making no move to push Tim away.

But Tim blushed slightly and moved back to the couch where Danny and Kon were sitting, obviously embarrassed by his actions. Bruce knew some of that was his fault, for the way he'd treated Tim in the beginning, but most of it could be laid at Janet and Jack Drake's feet. They had done nothing to see to Tim's emotional needs as a child and someone should have stepped in, but they'd had the money to cover up their lack of care.

"Are you alright?" he asked carefully.

Tim shrugged slightly. "It's…different. Pretty steep learning curve. Intangibility is not easy to control, I keep dropping things."

"At least you haven't lost clothing," Danny chimed in with a grimace. "Talk about embarrassing, lost my pants in front of the girl I had a crush on."

That got the boys laughing, lightening the atmosphere. Bruce was relieved to hear his sons laugh, Jason smirking and Tim's eyes lighting up happily. They kept the conversation topics light from there and Bruce kept his body language as open as possible when Tim began shifting in his seat, glancing at him occasionally. Eventually, Tim moved to sit beside him, leaning into his side. Bruce just let his arm rest over Tim's shoulders as they kept talking.

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Tim curled against Danny in their bed, eyes closed as he enjoyed the hand running through his hair. He felt exhausted which was silly since he hadn't really done anything except talk. It was weird but once B was there, his anger at the man had just…vanished as Bruce had hugged him. He doubted a hug would do the same for Dick or Damian though, the brat would probably stab him.

"Okay?" Danny asked softly.

Tim rolled over to face him, leaning in for a kiss. "Tired," he admitted.

"It'll get better," Danny promised. "You've been in an ecto-rich environment since dying, it'll take a few days to adjust and learn to filter the ambient emotions. And you might not have done much physically, but it's been emotional."

He nodded; he knew that but he still hadn't really expected it to be as bad as it was. He yawned and shifted closer, Danny wrapping his arm around him, kissing the top of his head when Tim settled against his shoulder. Danny's other hand went back to his hair and Tim felt himself melting, eyes drifting shut.

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Jason hummed softly under his breath as he flipped the pancakes. He really liked Tim and Danny's kitchen. He figured after the emotional stress of the day before that he would help out by making breakfast. Kon was already slouched at the counter, poor kid looked like he'd barely slept which made sense since the news was showing Superman and Superboy working together to evacuate people after a massive storm had caused flooding and mudslides on some island Jason had never heard of.

Eventually Tim and Danny appeared on the stairs, Danny steering a half-asleep Tim along. Jason chuckled and quickly got a mug of coffee. Once Tim was seated, Jason handed it over and Tim basically inhaled it, getting chuckles.

Eventually, Tim blinked at them, seemingly now awake.

"You're really living up to the half-dead idea Timbo."

"Bite me," he grumbled, almost hugging the coffee mug.

"Our poor caffeine fuelled Boy Wonder," Kon teased.

Tim stuck his tongue out in response.

Breakfast went over well and Jason was curious but followed Danny to the Nest when he motioned for it, surprised when he activated the white noise device to ensure Kon couldn't hear.

"You didn't kill the Joker."

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So, Drake was back. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd nearly been killed by the ghost that had been sent to take Drake, some people had died. And why? All to hand Drake to some old enemy of his boyfriend's. Father seemed happy but he had really hoped Drake was gone for good. The interloper still hadn't learnt his lesson.

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Tim sat on the edge of the roof, watching Gotham below. He'd never been afraid but now he could fly if he fell off. He'd finished the design for his new suit and had put it in for fabrication. It was very different to any other he'd worn…but he was very different too. He'd be matching Danny's Banshee gear for look. He was going back to a domino and was losing the cape for the first time ever. For colours it was mostly black and grey with some really dark red highlights. He'd chosen his new name, keeping with the ghostly theme like Banshee…and he knew it fit…but that might hurt Bruce because even if Bruce didn't know the mythology behind the name, he'd look it up.

He went on alert as he felt eyes on him, he was unarmed which probably hadn't been smart. Then he heard the scuff of a boot and turned, relaxing when he spotted Duke. He offered a small smile, and Duke relaxed, walking over to join him.

"Was worried you were a jumper," Duke offered.

"Nope, just taking in the view," he assured their newest 'brother'. He had no issues with Duke at all, he was a great guy.

"So…are you okay?" Duke asked quietly.

"Adapting," he shrugged slightly. "How did you feel when your powers started coming in?"

"Freaked out," Duke admitted, pulling off his helmet since they were sitting in a well-protected spot. He pulled out a bag and put it between them, revealing a bag of Alfred's patrol treats.

Tim took one to nibble, he'd missed them but Alfred was still a sore subject.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Duke asked.

Tim grimaced, but then shook his head. "If it was you, B, Jason, and Cass only then sure. But Damian, Dick, and Steph…I can't. Maybe in a few years I'll have the kind of control to be able to be near the demon brat but at the moment…well…you know how ghost stories go."

Duke winced. "Yeah…that wouldn't be good. But you're not leaving Gotham, right?"

"No," Tim shook his head. He pulled out his phone and quickly went through the security measures to get to his vigilante related files. "What do you think?" He showed Duke the images.

"Nice…matches the new guy, Banshee," he smirked. Thanks to Tim's kidnapping, they all knew Banshee and Phantom were both Danny. "Is it ready yet?"

"Should be by next week. Danny thinks I should be okay for some basic patrolling then too since I haven't broken anything for a few days."

"That's great!" Duke grinned at him. "If you ever want to try the dayshift, you're both welcome to join me."

"Thanks."

And of course, a few minutes later Duke had to dash off.

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Jason sat in his safehouse, mind still spinning from what he'd learnt. He hadn't killed the Joker…Danny had. He wasn't sure how that made him feel. B hadn't taken his killing the Joker as badly as he'd been expecting, he thought it was because of how traumatised Timmy had been. Seeing Tim like that had driven things home to Bruce.

Yes, his shot had left the man permanently disabled, but he hadn't killed him. Danny had slipped into his room and ended his life while ensuring he couldn't come back as a ghost. He wasn't sure how that made him feel.

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Cass ran her fingers through her little brother's hair as they sprawled on the couch together, a dance movie on. He was home and she was so happy about that, it didn't matter that he was different now. At the core, he was still Tim which made sense since everyone died, it might change some things, but the dead person was still the same. People changed and grew, even many of the dead with the Infinite Realms.

She was sad he was leaving the bats but she understood it. It hurt a little when he was the one who had made sure she knew she would always be one of them. But too many in the family had hurt him and Tim was making sure he didn't hurt them or the family by leaving. He was keeping the Wayne name to keep things out of the press though and he was also still keeping his job at WE. Bruce said he was family, no matter what, and Cass agreed. He had to do what was best for his own mental and emotional health.

She was not going back to Hong Kong, not for several months at least. Every time she left, something bad happened to Tim. Between his nearly dying with his identity reveal to Danny, then to Jason shooting Joker, and finally Tim being kidnapped.

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Dick listened sadly to Duke chatting away about running into Tim and how he'd offered to work with Banshee and Tim's new id if they ever wanted to. He wanted so badly to see his baby brother, to see for himself that he was healing from what had happened to him.

Everyone said it was his fault, that he abandoned Tim for Damian and then turned on him when Bruce was assumed dead. He didn't want to believe it, he loved all his brothers…but Babs had confronted him with a massive video file…proof of Damian's actions towards Tim as well as how Dick had let the baby bird down by breaking promises and focusing on Damian.

Seeing the footage…watching the light in Tim's eyes slowly die, to see him become withdrawn…but it hadn't just started with Damian, though it had gotten worse then. No…it had started after Jason's attack on the Tower, an attack Tim hadn't seen coming…because neither of them had warned him of the Red Hood's true identity. They'd had their own reasons for keeping quiet about Jason and it had left Tim blindsided. And when Tim had confirmed it really was Jason returned… they'd focused on bringing him home, not the damage done to Tim.

Seeing footage of Tim before Jason's return but after his return from his training oversees…it almost didn't seem the same kid. He'd always been so smart but back then there'd been such a brightness to him, an innocence despite the years he'd spent following them across rooftops to take photos. Some of the changes were the job, he'd been through and seen a lot since becoming Robin…but a lot of it was due to them. So why was Tim okay with B and not him?

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Kon sat back, grinning, as Bart ran circles around a laughing Tim. Cassie was shaking her head at them, holding the pizza boxes well out of the line of fire. It was just the four of them in the apartment, now that the laws and GIW were dealt with, Danny had gone to visit his only remaining link to his old life, the guy who had helped track down the creep who'd taken…killed Tim.

And then Tim moved, tripping Bart up, shocking him. It was one thing to know Tim was no longer strictly human, another to see him suddenly move too fast or walk through a wall. And it was why Tim was refusing to be around 'normal' people unless someone with powers was around, he was terrified of accidentally hurting someone. Kon didn't think it was a risk and the others agreed, but Tim was stubborn. Danny had pointed out that he'd managed at fourteen and with no training so Tim would be fine but Tim still wanted someone around who could stop any possible accidents. Which was part of why Kon was still in Gotham.

As far as the public knew, Tim Drake was recovering in private from critical injuries obtained during the weird sleeping epidemic. Damian had been seen in public on crutches but not Tim. He'd faked being shot once; he wasn't keen on having to fake even worse injuries. So, the fact that Tim was at the apartment was being kept under wraps, Danny lived their officially and Kon was staying as a family friend. Tim was recovering away from Gotham, in the countryside with lots of fresh air and privacy. And that would help keep the lives of Tim Drake Wayne and whatever new name he'd chosen separate too since Tim couldn't possibly be a vigilante if he wasn't in the city after all.

He got the feeling Tim was having a little bit of fun keeping his new id from everyone…but there was also some…reluctance? Like he wasn't entirely sure how it'd be taken. That was interesting. With Tim going more independent, Kon figured he was probably moving away from the bat and bird theme, he hadn't seen either on the images for the new uniform after all. So maybe it was something more ghostly?

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He read the report and smirked, so the monster had finally shown his face. He'd known Phantom had gone into hiding after the destruction of the Fenton Portal but they hadn't found him till he went to that reporter and then he'd vanished again. But there was one Danny Fenton at the apartment of his childhood best friend. Keeping him under surveillance had been incredibly hard and not always successful but now it would pay off. Daniel Fenton was Phantom, looking back it was so obvious. How had it managed to fool the parents for so long? It didn't matter, he would reveal it to the world, show them the mistake they had made in siding with those abominations and then they would be reinstated and given more funding and authority.

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Danny fixed his domino mask in place, still not used to the thing, and then slipped his comm in his ear. "You ready?" he called, leaning against the console to wait for Tim.

He didn't blame him for taking his time, not only was all his gear new, but it was his first patrol since his death. But Tim had adjusted well to being back in Gotham, his core was filtering the ectoplasm and ambience properly now and he hadn't snapped at anyone in over a week. Even Tim had agreed he needed to start getting back to normal activities.

An engine roared down the tunnel and Jason pulled into the Nest, taking his helmet off to look around. "Timmy getting all pretty for your date?" he teased.

And then Tim stepped out of the changing area, tugging at his gloves to settles them properly, face uncovered for the moment. Danny looked him over and grinned, he definitely liked the new look.

"So…who am I working with tonight kids? Banshee and…?"

TBC….

Yep, making you wait till next chapter for the new name. It's one of the ones on the poll I haven't used yet which are Spectre, Myling, and Caladrius.