"So… Are we going to talk about it?"

Tim sipped a bit of his apple juice pack. "About what?" He answered Dick.

"The… The brother. Daniel."

"If you are going to suggest adopting him into the family because of his physical features, I will stab you in the eye." Damian didn't even look up from his fruit snacks, the ones Alfred insisted they carry just in case the mission prolonged more than planned.

Which it did.

Since apparently they were waiting until the siblings finished their shift to ask the questions. Damian thought it was stupid - just kidnap the siblings, interrogate and get on with the investigation! There are things at risk more important than their jobs!

Stupid Father. Stupid Grayson. Agreeing with Todd was usually foolish, but this could prove to be a very bad decision.

"That would be super funny, but their parents are still alive." Nightwing shrugged, but a tiny smirk stayed on his lips. "I was referring to the green glow? In the kid's eyes?"

"He's 24, not a kid." Tim grumbled. He didn't like being younger than someone called "kid".

"Cranky because you are half the size I was at your age, huh." Jason smirked behind the thermos with coffee Bats had brought when it was decided they'll meet the siblings in the morning.

Despite having the option of sleeping until they were to meet the Fentons, neither thought they would be able to. They did their usual patrolling and when it was close to the meeting time they decided to regroup and set camp on the roof of the building the siblings lived at, eat some food Alfred prepared and rest for a bit. Duke stayed behind with Alfred at the Manor.

Only Steph was unironically happy when Dick said it has been a while since they went on a family picnic.

"Green glowing eyes, anybody?" Dick decided to ignore the starting argument between Tim and Jason.

"I agree that is very concerning, but," Batman sighed, "I think extracting information about their parents is more important right now."

"Jay?" The man turned from where he was about to pinch one of Tim's cheeks. "Did you feel any weird vibes from Daniel? Anything from the Pit?"

Jason caught his little brother's kick with one hand, pondering the question and ignoring the protest from Tim to let his foot go.

"Not really. I wasn't exactly paying attention, you know?"

"Yeah, because you were talking about your daddy issues." Steph elbowed Bruce, who refused to comment.

"Oh, shut up." He pushed Tim away from him, who did a flip and landed safely on both feet. Cass clapped softly at the display.

"Don't feel ashamed, it's more common than you think~." Spoiler singsonged, dodging when the other man tried to punch her arm.

"Children." Batman stopped the argument, secretly glad that they couldn't see his slight blush or how his eyes had followed Jason since they met up earlier in the night.

"No, but really, that girl is amazing." Dick munched on his sandwich, also looking at Jason.

"Her skills could be polished, but she got the advantage over Todd." Damian agreed.

"Is that a compliment or a backhanded insult to me?"

"I wasn't talking about the gun - which we should definitely talk about how she got that thing past the controls at Arkham; I was thinking more about her therapist skills. And her ability to make Jay sit still at all."

"Nobody told me to expect resistance. It won't happen again." Jason crossed his arms. He was still thinking about how Jasmine managed to get him in such a position and how his heart raced with fear for a hot second.

He hated feeling helpless.

"Cranky because you talked about your feelings?" Tim elbowed him, jumping back when Jason turned to glare at him.

"Maybe we should do that." Nightwing finished his sandwich and looked wistfully at the starless sky.

"Talk about Jason's feelings?"

"No," he shook his head but didn't look at Stephanie, feeling everyone's eyes on him. "If this Jasmine girl is so good that everyone at Arkham loves her, maybe we should talk to her as well. About feelings."

A few cringed at the thought, well aware that talking about feelings took a lot of work.

"That is if she's not secretly a mad scientist." Dick shrugged with a tiny smile.

It wasn't long until they saw the siblings turn around the corner and walk quickly to their apartment. Their building wasn't in the shady parts of Gotham, but still the city at night wasn't a safe place.

"Hm." Was all Batman said to the group before all of them, one by one, jumped down the fire escape stairs and into the correct window.

Of course, they waited inside the living room with the lights off. They had to play the dramatics and the intimidation tactics. It was Bat-theory 101.

"Huh." Was all the reaction they got from Danny, who didn't look surprised to find them there after flipping the light switch. His sister, on the other hand, took a moment to adjust to the sudden light and then smiled brightly at the intruders.

"Yes!" She pumped her fist.

Daniel side eyed her. "You are a weirdo."

"I am passionate, that's different." She ruffled his hair. "And look who's talking, you weirdo."

The young man rolled his eyes and closed the door, dropped his bag and hung the jacket, all without even glancing at the full set of super heroes in his apartment. Jasmine followed suit, but she constantly looked at the others with a tiny smile.

"Ok!" She finally addressed them. "We said we'll talk and now let's talk. I need my beauty sleep." She dragged her brother closer to the heroes.

The bats looked at each other for a moment before Batman stepped forward.

"Did you know your parents have independent contracts with the government?"

"Yes." Jasmine nodded carefully. She wasn't lying, but she didn't know where this was going. "They usually sell their inventions or patent them. Science isn't cheap and even if we don't agree with it, it's money and it brings food to the table."

Daniel snorted but didn't comment further on it.

"Do you keep in touch with your parents?"

They tensed a little, but recovered quickly.

"No." Daniel didn't add further comment.

"Our parents… We still call sometimes, but after we moved out from home…" She looked down. She wasn't lying here either, but there was more she wasn't saying.

"Have they mentioned something lately? Any kind of new contract? Anything about an ex-government division?"

"What did they do now?" Daniel closed his eyes and sighed, looking resigned.

Bruce was hesitant for a moment. So far the Fenton siblings were cooperative, a bit withdrawn, but it was understandable.

"Are you familiar with the name 'Ghost Inv-'"

"The fucking Guys in White?" Daniel's lips curled at the name. "What did theydo now?"

"Daniel-"

"Danny, please."

Batman nodded slowly. "It has come to our attention that Jackson and Madeline Fenton have long term contracts with the GIW," he searched Danny's face. It didn't change expressions, so he knew about these contracts, "as well as their collaboration and expert opinion on some experiments."

This was the key word. Danny and Jasmine froze. She had been drifting a bit from the conversation and let her brother deal with it as she admired the costumed guests, but she snapped back into attention as Bruce said the last word.

"What?" She asked.

"Experim-"

"We heard you the first time." Danny narrowed his eyes. "What kind of experiments?"

"The kind you don't want to know."

"No…" Jasmine's legs failed her and she let herself fall into the couch.

Her brother put a hand on her shoulder in support. "We knew this would happen eventually."

"I hoped to be there and stop it."

"I hoped they kept the experimentation at home."

"So you knew this was happening?" Bruce really didn't want to arrest these individuals. He liked them. Jasmine had been very nice to his son and handled Jason like no one else could.

"It's… complicated." Daniel… Danny made a face. "Our parents believe that ghosts can't feel pain."

There was a moment of silence.

"You said 'ghosts'. As in-"

"Specters, apparitions, phantasms." Danny interrupted Tim, making a gesture with his hand. "Keep up."

"But ghosts don't exist."

"Ha! Wouldn't that be nice?" Danny threw at Red Robin, the hand on his sister rubbing circles on her back. "Also, haven't you guys dealt with the paranormal before?"

"Unfortunately." He conceded with a shrug.

"So you're saying that the person we saw in the video was a ghost?" Batman stepped in before the argument could go further.

"Yeah." He narrowed his eyes as he noticed Batman and a few behind him relaxed their stance a little. "Would that make it better for you? Make it easier to ignore?"

"Danny." Jasmine said as a warning.

"No no, please, by all means, answer my question. Do you believe that because it is a ghost it's okay to be experimented on? To be cut open and have your guts thrown around as you watch them do unspeakable things, feeling every second of it?"

All of them saw it. His eyes, which had been a cool and crystalline blue, were now glowing and green. Lazarus Pit green, like Jason's were shortly after being revived.

But Danny didn't look consumed by the rage. He was angry, tense, and ready to fight - but his breathing was calm and controlled and the hand on his sister's back was still there, seeking physical contact.

"Calm down. It was just a question."

"Then answer me. It's also 'just a question'."

Bruce lifted his hands to show he wasn't a threat. It worked just a little. "No. It doesn't matter which species someone is - if they have life or consciousness, they don't deserve to suffer."

Danny blinked and his eyes were back to blue, but he still was tense.

"So all these weapons and their work with the GIW…?"

"Yes, it's to hunt and destroy ghosts." Now it was the brother who let himself fall on the couch. "Our parent's lives work." His mouth twisted in disgust.

"And you don't agree."

"Of course we don't fucking agree! Why would we, when -" He stopped himself. Hm.

Jasmine jumped in, taking one of Danny's hands and squeezing it. "Our parents… They are really obsessed with ghosts. It is their whole lives! Everything they do, everything they make… it's to capture, experiment on or kill ghosts."

Bruce didn't think he was the only one that caught the pained look in the young woman's eyes as she said this. He wouldn't be surprised if the siblings came from a neglectful childhood.

"While it doesn't surprise us to see them work with the GIW, we didn't believe they would go through with it. We had many big fights, around the time Danny and I moved out, about this topic. To make them see that it was wrong, that they should stop."

"They are beyond help, Jazz. I told you. I told you."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"You are not going to do anything." Batman's tone was final. "If you could tell us everything you know, we can-"

"No." Danny's eyes were green again as he looked up.

"No?" Nightwing tried really hard to not project how tense he felt.

"No. This is our problem. The GIW, our parents. The ghosts."

"No offense, but you don't have the means to deal with a problem like this." Tim's tone was controlled, but it let pass some of the judgemental disbelief. The siblings were smart, and probably trained, but they were still just a doctor and a prison guard.

"Full offense, but you don't know what the fuck you are talking about." The young man jumped to his feet, glaring with those unnatural glowing eyes. The lights in the apartment flickered for a moment.

Jason put a hand on his gun, ready to step in. Tim stepped forwards, eyes fixed on Danny's.

"Ok, let's stop." Nightwing put a hand over his little brothers' stomachs. Jazz took the chance and did the same with Danny.

"Danny. Your eyes." She whispered, but they could hear perfectly in such a small room. So she is aware of what is going on with him.

Whatever Danny did to make his eyes stop glowing Jason could feel it this time, now that he was paying attention. The Pit inside of him echoed, withdrawing on itself, closing and closing until he could barely feel it. His mouth tasted like copper for some reason, as if some kind of memory.

He gasped.

"Hood?" Someone asked, but he couldn't really say who. His attention was fully on the kid (not a kid , not a kid, his mind urgently told him) and how all hostility left him as they looked at each other.

Jason felt unnervingly seen, even with the covering helmet and the mask beneath. Danny, whatever or whoever he was, could see into his own soul. He was sure of it. It didn't matter how.

"What the fuck was that?" he muttered, finally.

"You are not Dead," Danny tilted his head, "but you are not one of the Living. What are you?"

Before Jason could say anything, Batman stepped between them, his dark and towering figure acting as a wall between them. Nobody dared to even breathe.

"What are you ?" Bruce used the voice. He was scared.

"Danny." Jasmine took her brother by the shoulder to turn his body around and make him look at her. "I think they can help."

Danny snorted. "How?"

"Batman has resources we don't. The Justice League-"

"No."

"Daniel-"

"Don't call me that."

"Danny, technically, we could appeal the Metahuman Rights Acts-"

"And technically I shouldn't exist."

"This could be our only chance!"

"Or they could make the situation worse!"

"Excuse me?" Steph lifted a hand, trying to follow the argument. The siblings turned to look at her at the same time. "How are you guys involved, exactly? I mean, they are doing really bad things to ghosts, but shouldn't ghosts take care of it? Do they have someone that deals with these things?"

The question was good. After all, why did the siblings care so much for the ghosts? Sure they didn't believe in their parents' ideals, but still, if it was that big of a deal why did they consider themselves the only ones who could stop it?

"Oh yeah, the ghosts have someone working on it-"

"Danny…"

"- Me." He said with the widest grin, and for a moment it looked like it had too many teeth, way sharper than they needed to be.

Jazz put her head in her hands, hiding the groan.

"Jazzy-pants, they are only going to get in the way with the detective-ing. Better rip that bandaid off right now."

"Don't call me that." Her mouth turned down a little. "And I can see your point."

"But?"

"The last time we barely made it, Danny. You can't be everywhere all the time -"

"I told you I was working on it."

"- and the GIW must have upped the security, especially if they are working with mom and dad." She continued, ignoring him. And ignoring the bats as if they weren't even there. "Sam and Tucker-"

"Leave them out of this."

Jazz's expression was pained. "Without their support our chances of success are lower."

"I've trained since."

"So did I! But it is not enough and you know it."

The siblings glared at each other, waiting for the other to yield first.

Batman didn't dare breathe, absolutely sure that if they remembered the bats were still here they would stop the argument - and stop giving them so much information.

"No Justice League." It took a moment to register that Danny was talking to them, probably because he was still looking at his sister's eyes. "If they get involved we walk away forever."

Batman really wanted to fight it - try to make them see that with a problem like this they didn't have a chance without help. Maybe insist that they were civilians, and use the usual spiel about them being their responsibility now.

But he couldn't find the breath to speak. Was it how Danny tensed, as if either option was equally disturbing? Or how Jasmine - Jazz - had a defeated air around her?

He had no doubt that if the siblings wanted to disappear, not even a god would be able to find them. There was just something about them, something inhuman and plainly other, that he was sure that they didn't throw empty threats around.

"Maybe we should start over again. No Justice League, no threats, everybody calm." Dick was really trying.

"And no lying?" Jazz answered him, but her eyes were fixed on Danny's, as if asking for permission.

This was it. They were going to finally explain what was going on with them.

Danny nodded. "No lying." He finally looked at the bats in their living room, the sunrise coming from the window stealing away the mysterious aura around them. "You can lose the furry suits, guys. It's not the same effect under the sunlight."

Before they could protest at the comment, Jazz turned with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, we know who you are. We've known for a while now."

"And before you get all paranoid, we are not going to do shit about it." Danny turned as well, eyes narrowed. "We sure know the importance of a secret identity."

There was a moment of silence.

"We will meet again tonight. If you really know who we are, come find the Cave."

"Hell no! I've got to work!"

"I didn't know that ghost-adjacent champions needed to work?" Steph said, tired with the evasiveness of the siblings and really wanting to go home.

Danny crossed his arms. "Rent won't pay itself. And I really like my job and would like to keep it, thank you very much."

As he moved, Jason's eyes noticed the scars that crept up his sleeve, an intricate zig zag of overlapping scars that mapped a rough landscape in what was once, probably, soft skin.

He didn't need to be a detective to know what those meant. Danny was trained, dangerous and had glowing green eyes - that he was a warrior of some kind was not the question.

Instead, he wondered if he had paid the price of Justice, and how much it cost him.

Many hours later, after suffering their respective day job/school with little to no sleep - they teased Danny about having to work, but they had to maintain appearances too -, the night found Bruce, Tim and Alfred going through Jason's footage at Arkham, as well as all the information on the siblings and the town they came from, Amity Park.

Now that they knew that Jasmine was not dangerous-

("Not dangerous? She pointed a gun to my face!")

- they could focus on the brother. They had dismissed him since on record there wasn't anything of notice from him. Didn't pursue education after highschool, no criminal records, not even a hospital visit; which was weird, since whatever reason that made Danny's eyes glow shouldn't be normal, or healthy.

Just in case they checked the Lazarus Pit activity. Any reported League operations, suspicious behavior from Ra's, any connection to something that was related to death and made your eyes glow green.

"Dunno, maybe there's something in the water from where they are from." Jason had commented when the search proved fruitless and he got bored of it.

"That's it!" Tim shouted as he picked up his tablet, furiously typing something on the screen and laughing when he did. He turned the tablet to show what he found, seconds before Jason opened his mouth to ask if he was okay in the head. "'Local superhero Inviso-Bill saves the day!'" He read the headline of the newspaper showing on the screen.

"Superhero?" Bruce commented, but his mind was fixated on the blurry photo of a figure flying away from the scene.

"Great, more supers." Jason groaned from the table where he was reading to pass the time until the siblings showed up - or not, some of them had the theory that the Fentons packed up and ran to deal with their parents on their own.

Not that Jason would blame them, but running into danger without backup to deal with estranged parents wasn't exactly a smart move. Zero stars out of five. Wouldn't recommend it.

"What kind of name is Inviso-bill?"

"The kind that bad press gives you," a new voice echoed in the cave behind them. "Not very intimidating. I know."

Batman turned, one hand ready on his belt… that wasn't there. Because he was wearing his civilian clothes. Heart racing, he glanced at Alfred, who nodded and tried to sneak towards a filing cabinet that disguised batarangs.

"Dude, calm down. We wouldn't want you to have a heart attack now." Danny relaxed his body on purpose, lifting his hands with his palms forward, trying to be as least threatening as possible.

"How?" Was the only thing Bruce could say.

This took Danny by surprise. "You haven't figured it out yet? I thought you were the world's greatest detective."

"Self proclaimed." Jason nodded in greeting at Jazz when she walked from behind her brother. The other waved with a wide smile.

"Hey, B?"

Bruce looks at Tim, who was showing him a picture on his tablet - a clearer photo of Amity Park's own superhero, Danny Phantom. His eyes went back to the Arkham Guard, Danny Fenton.

Phantom in the picture was younger, more fresh, with a big smile on his face. And of course the white hair and the green eyes.

Danny was burned out and tired, with dark bags under his dull blue eyes that were brimming with shadows full of secrets, adding years to his expression.

"You are a superhero."

Jazz made a face, but didn't comment. Danny rolled his eyes.

"No. I am definitely not. I'm just a Security Guard at Arkham."

"You were a superhero." Bruce tried again. Danny didn't say anything but the answer was obvious. "What happened?"

He knew it had been a bad move when Danny narrowed his eyes, the green creeping back into the blue, his lips curled into a silent growl.

"So… Do you have more-" Jasmine tried to move on with the conversation, stepping around her brother.

"Father! We heard the alarms and came as fast as-!" Damian came down running to the Cave, katana in hand, screeching to a halt when he saw the siblings.

"What's going - woah!" Duke froze behind the child. He blinked a few times, eyes fixed on Danny. "Bruce? Is this… the guy?"

The guy, Danny said under his breath, amused.

"Duke, this is Danny. And his sister, Jasmine." Bruce made a gesture, apparently accepting that this was happening.

But Duke only frowned and blinked, his lips pressed in thought.

"Something wrong?"

Duke tried to sound reassuring but his voice wavered a little. "He doesn't look human." A few seconds later he realized what he said and tried to backtrack. "I mean, there's this weird vibe around him…"

"Don't worry, I'm not offended. I'm not human." Everybody saw Jazz tense as Danny said this with a calm smile. "Just out of curiosity, what can you see? I wondered what the only meta from the bat-clan would see in me."

The hero used the moment it took to walk down the rest of the steps towards the batcomputer, where everyone was gathered, to think his words carefully. What he saw wasn't easy to describe.

"It's like… two pictures overlapping. Like these manipulated vintage ghost photos? But the… aura moves even when you're not moving. It's weird. Are you… possessed or something?"

Danny turned towards his sister with a big smile. "Did you hear that, Jazz? I look like a ghost."

She rolled her eyes, laughing at some kind of inner joke.

Damian opened his mouth, ready to protest and bring attention back to the fact that two total strangers somehow got into one of the most secret and protected places on Earth, when alarms started blasting from the computer.

Danny gasped, making a pained face.

"Danny?" Jazz asked, one hand on her brother's shoulder. They weren't looking at the Bats on the computer.

"I can't believe this." He murmured. "He actually did it."

"What?" Tim asked, trying to pay attention to both the siblings and Bruce at the computer.

"Joker has escaped Arkham." The man declared, drowning whatever Danny was saying to Jasmine.

"Of course." Jason rolled his eyes. He sighed, jumping down the table and turning his head to crack his neck. "Let's get going."

"No." Did Danny time his words with the moment the alarms stopped? If so, he would fit perfectly with the Bats' dramatics. At least in Jason's opinion. "He's mine."

The silence in the Cave was only broken by a group of bats flying away, as if they felt the air getting heavier.

"He's dangerous." Bruce tried to word it like it wasn't an order for him to stay put. It didn't work.

"Funny. So am I." Danny did that smile that didn't fit quite right in his face, eyes turning green and glowing even under the bright computer screens.

Jason saw his body tense, ready to run, and stepped in to stop him before Danny made a mistake. Green eyes turned to stare at him, once again the Pit doing flips and recognizing whatever Danny was. This time instead of calming it was terrifying, paralyzing, searching into his soul and pulling, evoking sensations he thought he wouldn't feel again. Pure terror. Screams. Hopelessness.

Darkness gathered from the corners of the Cave, a strange freezing wind circling around them. For a moment Jason could almost see white strands in Danny's hair when the breeze lifted it out of his face.

"You can come to the party if you want. But the clown is mine." Danny winked as if they weren't watching him with various panicked expressions, and did finger guns at his sister. "Be right back."

He stepped back and disappeared.