Chapter Three:

Calling it a house seemed to be an understatement, despite the building serving as just that. Even Sam's own home, one of the best that Amity Park had to offer, paled greatly in comparison. It was everything that you would expect from a rich Gothamite, the kind of house that the average person would only ever see in their dreams. There were people that would give anything to be where Danny was now, yet he would have traded a million Wayne Manors for tiny, run-down Fenton Works.

"Ahem," Alfred cleared his throat, putting an instant stop to any commotion as the pair walked into the living room. As soon as he did so, four pairs of eyes snapped up to meet Alfred's gaze. They were all sitting in a huddle on the floor, despite the two massive plush couches that sat behind them. The simple gesture worked and everybody in the room stopped talking at once.

"Danny, allow me to introduce you to the Wayne brothers. Masters Dick" —Dick waved his hand in greeting with a smile— "Jason" —an expressionless nod from the second oldest— "Tim" — Tim smiled and waved as well— "and Damian." Damian simply scowled. Danny didn't wave or smile back; just nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"How was the drive over?" Dick asked, still smiling.

Silence.

"It was alright," Danny said eventually, realizing that he had asked him directly and not Alfred when the elder did not provide an answer. He couldn't find anything else to say and just looked around the room again, starting to fidget with his fingers subconsciously. It was insane to him that the kids back at the orphanage were so desperate to be adopted. Sure, the place sucked and the food just was not good, but anything had to be better than being thrown into a fake family of strangers he didn't know. This shit was just awkward; or rather, he was just awkward.

"Perhaps you boys can help me show Master Daniel to his room," Alfred said, an attempt for them to get to know each other more, no doubt. Danny cringed a bit at the title, but still gave Alfred the slightest smile while grabbing his suitcase back, his only other bag being the backpack thrown over one of his shoulders.

"I was actually going to go-" Damian started to protest but Tim elbowed him harshly in the side, cutting him off.

"Of course we can," Tim said, staring daggers at Damian for a moment and then gesturing for Danny to follow them.

"We can give you a tour on the way," Dick agreed. Dick Grayson. Danny recognized him, of course. He would have to have been living under a literal rock not to. The man always seemed charming and charismatic from what he's seen of him, but he honestly assumed that anything he knew or heard had to have been just a rich kid's act to keep up the Wayne image. Dick, however, seemed sincere enough so far.

"These are our stairs," one of the other brothers stated. Danny, for the life of him, could not remember his name. He looked just a bit younger than Dick, with very light blue eyes that closely matched his own. What stood out were the wispy white bangs that hung from those eyes, a stark contrast to the rest of his dark hair. The color reminded him of his own hair in his ghost form. "They lead upstairs."

"I couldn't have guessed," Danny said, matching his sarcastic tone with his own.

"It's easy to get lost, so if you ever do then feel free to ask for help," Tim said. At this point, they had walked down a few hallways and made quite a number of turns. They showed him a few rooms, such as the library, another kitchen that was upstairs for some reason, a game room, a movie theater, and even an indoor pool. Danny, despite having a full and complete map of every turn and hallway they brought him to in his head, just nodded his understanding. They eventually reached his room and it was decently sized, but fairly plain. There was a large king sized bed with white sheets in the middle of the room, a dresser, and two night stands on either side of the bed. An ornate, gold curtain was the flashiest thing in the room, covering a massive window.

"Master Bruce will be home very soon. Please do feel free to join us in the downstairs kitchen for breakfast once you are settled," Alfred said.

"Will do," Danny agreed, deciding that a meal did indeed sound appealing. "Thanks, Alfred."

"You are very welcome, Master Daniel," Alfred gave him a smile in return. "If you would, young sirs, give Master Fenton his space. I'm certain that would be very much appreciated." Alfred turned to the doorway of the bedroom, where the four brothers were tightly packed in the arch of the doorway, peeking into the room.

At that, they turned to leave, giving out partings of "bye, Danny" and "see ya later"s, to which Danny replied with a half-hearted wave at their retreating backs. Alfred left with them, closing the door behind him and leaving Danny alone, once again.

His black suitcase stayed on the floor. He didn't really feel like unpacking today, or at least at the moment, and instead threw himself on the giant, plush bed. It was extremely comfortable and soft, and he felt himself sink into the mattress and lavish sheets with a small sigh of content. He sat up with the blanket still wrapped around him, offering a bit of comfort, and dug through his backpack.

It had a few files, documents and blueprints from his parents laboratory. Some of the blueprints he couldn't really make sense of, not really being a scientist like his parents had been. He has made sure to salvage what he could from the wreckage of the Fenton home, which honestly was not as much as he would have hoped. Some precious photos, not only of his family but with his best friends, were few and in-between. It contained a singular framed photo of his entire family, one of him and Jazz, and one of just his parents, as well as a couple photos of him with his best friends.

He stared for a while at one in particular.

His arm was around Sam's shoulder. She was sticking her tongue out at the camera, and with Danny's other arm he held up a peace sign, grinning lopsidedly. Tucker had been the one to take it, and the memory was as clear as if it had just happened yesterday.

Danny felt that familiar ache in his chest resurface. He used to cry every time he would look at these. He had missed them all so much that at some points in time he was quite literally not able to function. There were days where he would not leave his bed at the adoption center, refusing even to eat. He had lost so much weight that his power had noticeably started to weaken, and you could see his ribs through his hazmat suit in his ghost form.

Once he realized that he couldn't even shoot a single ectoblast without faltering back into his human form, he had hit his lowest. There was one night where he had snuck out and, somehow, he run into Skulker. The hunter must have been looking for him since he disappeared completely from the ghost zone, and Skulker took so much pity on him that he ended up leaving him alone.

Danny had tried to fire at him, to tell him to leave, but even just a few shots proved too much and he collapsed into his human form. Skulker at that point had left him be, and Danny realized he had never felt so pathetic as he curled up on a random rooftop and just cried harder than he ever had.

Something that night gave him the courage to start training again. He had never felt so weak and vulnerable in his entire life. If his mom could see him now, if Sam could see him, he couldn't even picture how disappointed they would be in him. He had to pick himself back up, if not for himself, then for them. He wiped at his eyes and stashed their photos back into his bag. His stomach was growling in hunger, and, with a reminder of how far he's come, he composed himself and got ready to meet the Wayne family for breakfast.