Phantom stilled instantly. How did the man sneak up on him? He felt the boy within him freeze too, but it was more of an 'I just got caught doing something bad and I'm going to get grounded' kind of feeling, and not the, 'if this guy recognizes me as a ghost I'm going to be captured and dissected' kind of fear that Danny's got going on.
He slowly turned around to find a man who was probably a little older, since he had white hair and a mustache. His suit was very dapper and he was holding a tray with some sort of biscuits on it. He seemed like a butler of some kind. 'Alfred!' Red exclaimed in his head. Danny immediately turned on whatever charm he could find and spun around fully to face the man.
"Hey, Alfred." Red seemed puzzled at the fact that Danny knew the man's name, so he obviously didn't know that he had just revealed it to him. "How's it going?" He put his hand on his hip and leaned against the kitchen counter he was just sneaking past moments ago. 'Act natural, act natural.' Danny repeated in his head. He was sure Red heard him because he felt a hint of amusement spark up at Danny's mantra.
Alfred frowned slightly looking the boys —boy– up and down. "Don't start that with me, Master Tim. You know you can't have your suit upstairs, no matter how 'Cool' it makes you feel." Danny had to suppress a snicker and Red Robin —Or Danny guessed, Tim, now– had felt a little embarrassed.
"Sorry Alfred, I guess I just forgot I had it on." Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He had no idea if that was something 'Tim' would do, but it sure as hell made him feel better.
Alfred raised an eyebrow at him slightly skeptically. "You should get changed then. Your brothers have already gotten changed and are upstairs, if you are looking for them." Okay, so he had brothers, that's cool. Danny assumed they would also be other vigilantes like Red Robin, here. Danny didn't know much about the Gotham Vigilantes. He heard a few things from Tucker but he never really looked into them.
Danny inched away slightly. "Riiiight. I'll go look for them then." It seemed like Alfred didn't take his eyes off of him, but suddenly another man —maybe 20-something— walked into the room.
"Hey, Alfie!" The man jumped up and slid onto the kitchen counter. 'Oh no, not Dick too. Please not now.' Danny stored the information he just received from Tim as he looked the man up and down. He gave a light smile. He had black hair and blue eyes, he was also quite tall and somewhat muscular, and he was wearing a t-shirt that had a superman logo on it. Danny snickered in his head.
Alfred had sent a disapproving look towards the young man. "Master Dick, I would appreciate it if you got off of my kitchen counter." He scolded.
"Sorry, Alfie." Dick chuckled and slid off and stood a little closer to Danny —Tim— and leaned on the wall next to him in a relaxed position. "Hey Timbo, is B back yet? Is that why you're not downstairs?" He had a bright smile and seemed way too cheery to be in a house with Batman. Or, Danny guessed, mansion in this case.
Danny tried to quickly think of something. "Uh, Yeah he's on his way back now."
"Why are you not with the ghost we caught then?" Danny stilled slightly but tried hard not to give it away.
He rubbed the back of his neck again. "The contaminant device downstairs is good enough to hold him, at least until Batman gets back."
"Yeah right!" Tim scoffed. "And how did you get out of there in the first place?" He seemed genuinely curious.
"Later."
Dick nodded, seeming to accept Danny's excuse before he reached his hand up to ruffle Danny's hair in a friendly or brotherly manner. "Alfred must be giving you an earful for wearing your suit upstairs, little bird."
Danny laughed awkwardly and almost tried to step out of the hair ruffle. "Yeah, well I was just about to go to my room and get changed anyway." He stretched his arm across his body and yawned. "And I should be getting to bed soon too. It seems I haven't slept in a while." Danny was actually very surprised at how tired this body was. Really, when was the last time he slept? He would have to ask later.
He saw Dick next to him tense a little and Alfred raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're okay, Tim?" Dick leaned in closer and put his hand up to feel Their forehead. His brow was crinkled with concern and Alfred still just stayed mostly silent.
Danny pulled away once the hand was removed from his forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying Dick, but I just need a rest."
Alfred stepped forward and tilted his head. "Are you sure you're not coming down with anything, Master Tim? Something I can get you, perhaps… coffee?"
"No, I'm fine thanks, Alfred." Danny waved his hand behind him as he quickly walked out of the kitchen and back the way he came.
Not knowing that the moment he left the two men behind him both immediately shared a look.
)-(
The ghost left very quickly, the way out through the kitchen was now off-limits. He turned his way to the stairs leading to the upper floor with the bedrooms on it. He assumed he was trying to find Tim's room to try and sell his story. But all Tim was doing was panicking more and more. Not only had they run into Alfred but he had run into Dick as well!
Alfred might not have a well-known social presence, but Dick currently does. Phantom kept walking at a quick pace as he was glancing around for a way out. Oh no! He knows Tim's name! He was so screwed. He can't be Red Robin after this, not again. He let Bruce down, he let Dick down, he's letting everyone down, if only he could fight off the ghost a little more, if only…
"Dude! Stop panicking! You need to calm down before we have a panic attack!" Phantom's voice sliced through his panic. Tim inwardly winced at it before trying to calm himself. But he couldn't do any of his breathing exercises when he wasn't even in control of his own lungs!
"How am I supposed to calm down, Phantom!" Tim snapped back as angrily as he could. "You are inside of my body controlling me like a meat puppet. And you are compromising our identities!"
"I just, I don't know…" Tim had now noticed an ache in his knees. He realized that Phantom was at the top of the stairs and gripping the handrail. He felt him breathing heavily, Tim had now processed what the ghost had said moments ago. 'you need to calm down before WE have a panic attack!' They must be more connected than Tim thought if his panic and thoughts were affecting the body that badly.
But he could also feel fear, panic, and maybe worry radiating off of the ghost as well. But it was more fear of getting caught than anything else. Phantom spoke out loud. "I... -I Just want to get out of here." His voice was quiet.
Tim sighed in his head. They can't do anything while laying here in the middle of the stairs. "My room is just a few doors down." Tim finally said. "6 down on the left." Phantom slowly stood up and regulated his breathing. He was focusing really hard on getting it slow and even. But then again Tim had no idea when the last time he breathed was! Given that he is a ghost and everything.
Phantom managed to creep down the hallway and slink into Tim's bedroom. It was pretty much a mess. Clothing and papers are all over the place. Surprisingly enough his bed was made, given that he hadn't slept in it in a while. The last time he slept was at his desk over his laptop for a few hours while working on a case, maybe last night, or the night before Tim couldn't remember.
Phantom scanned the room and Tim didn't even notice that he was analyzing everything as Phantom did as they shared eyes at the moment. It was weird not being able to move his eyes. But he could focus on things in the corner of his eyes, vision not needing to focus on what Phantom was focusing on, which was useful.
"How do I get out? With that shield, I can't phase out of here." His eyes glanced towards Tim's bedroom window. He slowly walked over to it and looked out. It was about one story from the ground. 'Perfect.'
Got a little nervous. "You're not going to throw us out the window are you?"
"Nope, don't worry." Phantom reached his hands forward and then paused before he touched the window. "How do you open this?"
Tim fought the urge to laugh at the question. "It's just a normal window dude, just undo the latch and open it. Have you never used one before? Or do you just phase through everything?"
The ghost snickered. "I meant if there were any traps or something on it to zap me." He touched the latch of the window tentatively and then pulled it open, a light wind blew into the room from outside. Ruffling the curtains on either side of the window frame. "I may be dead, but I know how to use a window, thank you very much."
"Sure, if you say so."
Phantom chuckled before pausing, one hand pressed on the window sill. "Hey Red, Don't worry about your identities. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I won't go revealing them to anyone. I know how important they are."
Tim was surprised at how genuine that felt. It wasn't just the voice but when you could feel someone's emotions it made it a whole lot more believable. "That won't stop me from looking for you after this. Just to make sure."
Phantom laughed dryly. "Yeah sure, that's if you can even find me." He said out loud. Tim felt some pain prang in his chest. But then it started to ache more and more like his lungs were too big for his ribcage and it was filling with pressure. He dropped to his knees and it started getting worse. Like something was trying to be ripped out of the center of his chest.
After a couple of seconds, the pain suddenly stopped and the only sound in the room was ragged breathing. But then Tim's body was overwhelmed with panic from… Phantom? "Red… We have a problem… I'm stuck."
Authors Notes
Beta Read by gamma_radio
Ha Ha, you thought that was the end of that but nooooo! All set up with a goodbye and everything mwah ha ha!
lmao, this chapter was so much fun to write! I loved it so much! I hope you liked it too! The first scene had me cackling as I wrote it! XD We had the conversation with Dick and Alfred and it seems that they know something is up :0
Oooh and now Danny's stuck, what's going to happen next?
Please tell me what you thought of the chapter! I love to hear what you think and always love your amazing comments. :D
