Disclaimer: not mine

Mentions of torture and scientists doing things they shouldn't without anaesthetic. Poor Danny

Chapter 22

"Myling has activated his emergency beacon and I've got no signal from Banshee."

Dick froze and looked over at Bruce, seeing his utterly blank face.

"Location," Bruce barked. Babs gave the coordinates and they were immediately on the move.

Dick didn't hesitate to follow, not considering that Tim wouldn't want to see him, it was an emergency after all. Thankfully, Jason soon indicated he was on the way too but they'd probably beat him there.

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Tim lay curled into a ball, shuddering with pain, hands clasping his side. It hurt! The shot had gone right through his armour, felt like it was tearing him apart…he shivered, gagging. Danny…where was Danny…he tried to move but he couldn't.

"Myling!"

There were voices…human…no! He tried to fight but strong arms wrapped around him and then he was being held against something hard.

"Shh Tim, you're safe son," the voice slowly became clear.

"He's bleeding badly B, whatever hit him ripped right through his armour like it wasn't there. Some kind of energy weapon?" another voice spoke, and Tim hissed at it and the hands trying to get to where it hurt.

His head was being brought up to stare at something black. "Myling, we need to bandage the wound for transport. Can you understand me?" the nice voice again, and he whined softy. "He's conscious and aware, but I don't think he's understanding what we say."

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Bruce held Tim as he thrashed, hissing at Dick like an animal. He might be conscious but he was reacting solely on instinct it seemed, maybe slightly aware of who they were? But not really cognizant.

And then Jason hit the rooftop, rushing over. "How bad is it?" he demanded and then he saw the puddle of green tinted red. Seeing Tim hissing and trying to get at Dick, Jason pushed him out of the way and took over first aid, Tim calming some. "That's it little brother, just relax," he murmured, and Bruce was relieved to find Tim slowly relaxing against him.

He hated having restrain any of his children but it happened. Too many of their Rogues liked mind-altering substances after all. And it wasn't as bad as post-Joker Junior at least when Tim had been driven half out of his mind at times, unable to recognise him at all. Jason worked quickly to stop the bleeding and then Bruce stood with Tim cradled to his chest.

Dick reappeared on the roof; frown obvious. "No sign of Banshee, but there's blood in the alley, I took a sample. There's some burn marks on the walls too, some kind of energy weapon."

He really did not like the sound of that. The GIW had been disbanded, their bases raided. But had they missed some agents? Danny's parents were dead, as was Masters, had they passed weapons on to anyone else?

He got them to the Batmobile once it arrived, getting in back with Tim to keep him calm, Dick taking Jason's bike since Jason got in as well. "Any footage of the attack?" he asked Oracle.

"I'm still working to clean it up, Banshee messes un-altered cameras up. Myling's got protections on his mask footage," she answered, frustrated. "But…there, before they arrived, a man…in a white suit."

A white suit, that would suggest the GIW. He carefully removed Tim's domino, the back windows too dark for anyone to see, especially with Tim lying in his lap. He gently stroked his hair since it had fallen free at some point. Tim had settled thankfully but Bruce didn't like the way he was breathing. If it was an ecto-weapon then getting him to change would likely make it worse.

Finally, they pulled into the cave to find Alfred waiting with a gurney, Jason taking Tim from him to lift out of the Batmobile and onto the gurney. They moved into the medical bay, having to cut Tim free of his gear to get to the wound. It was basically from chest to hip, his ribs likely at least cracked. A massive burn but not like a normal burn wound, this was…it was messier, uglier than usual.

Alfred removed the field bandage and went to clean the wound, Tim shrieking.

Bruce moved, cupping Tim's face in his hands. "Look at me Tim, it's okay, you're safe son. Let Alfred work sweetheart."

Then Jason was there, slipping a canula under his nose, the soft sound of oxygen beginning. "His readings are all over the place, even for a halfa," Jason murmured.

"Call Tucker Foley, his number is saved in the computer. With Danny gone, he's the closest we have to an expert," Bruce decided, and Jason nodded.

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Tucker hung up from Danny's brother-in-law and grabbed the phone designed to be able to contact the Infinite Realms. He was liminal and sadly that didn't come with portal powers. Danny was missing and Tim…Tim was badly wounded. He was thankful when Frostbite answered, telling him what he knew. Frostbite would go or send another to Gotham to reach out to the bats for Tim. And he was not thinking about Tim Drake-Wayne being a bat and now a halfa, nope. He was staying out of that community.

He had his own work to do, no one but Danny knew the GIW better. If one of them had evaded the government once disbanded, he would find them. He had to.

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Frostbite emerged into a cave and then he heard a familiar sound, rushing to his patient.

"Oh my," a human commented but Frostbite focused on Tim.

He quickly began take his own readings, checking the young one's core was still stable. He knew these kinds of wounds…human weapons designed to rip them apart. If he was a full ghost, he would have been Ended.

He sedated Tim once sure it wouldn't harm him further and began tending the wound.

"Will he recover?" another mortal asked, and Frostbite glanced at him. His concern was obvious, Frostbite had not learnt much of Tim during his stay, but he felt it safe to assume this one was his parent.

"Consort Tim will remain a halfa," he assured. "His core is undamaged as well. The wounds will heal with time. Where is the Great One?"

"You mean Danny?" another asked, and Frostbite nodded. This must be Jason, the one who had died and been brought back. "He was taken. Blood was found and it's his."

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He smirked, watching the body floating in the containment tank. Finally, after so long, he had Phantom. The things they could do with such a being… it would be so easy to kill it but no, not yet. The things they could learn were too tempting to end it just yet.

Had the Fenton's ever realised their son was dead? Perhaps it was for the best they had died not knowing their son had become one of the monsters they had dedicated their lives to destroying.

Agent Alpha chuckled as an electric charge was added to the tank, Phantom convulsing, but its appearance becoming human. That was very interesting.

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Slowly, Tim opened his eyes, blinking up at the Batcave. Wha…he reached up, feeling the oxygen canula under his nose, the tug of an IV in his arm…bandages around his body. Danny! He jerked and then hands were holding him down.

"Easy Tim, it's okay," Jason soothed, leaning over him so he could see him. "With me kiddo?"

He swallowed; throat dry. "Ja…" he coughed and then a straw was being pressed to his lips.

"Welcome back, you gave us a good scare," Jason told him, hitting the button to raise the head of the bed, Tim wincing at the movement.

"Ha'nd?"

"What happened?" Jason asked, and Tim nodded lethargically.

"You were ambushed, we found you wounded on a rooftop and the signs of a fight in the alley below. We had to contact Danny's friend, Tucker, and he had Frostbite come to help you."

He closed his eyes, fighting tears, Danny… "T'k D'ny."

"Yeah, it seems Danny was the target. Everyone is searching Tim, we'll find him. You just focus on healing."

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Kon closed his eyes, listening intently. Tim was conscious and able to communicate which was good. But he couldn't hear Danny, just like when Tim was taken. But this was different, the man who took Tim was dead. They suspected the same people who had attacked Lois had Danny now, well, those who hadn't been taken into custody. They had to find Danny, he'd seen some of the records, of what they did to ecto-entities. If that happened to Danny, to the King…what would the Realms do…what would Tim do?

He knew Tim…had seen what Tim could become under the worst circumstances, what they all could have become. And if Danny was killed by someone who had slipped away from the League and police…or had been allowed to by someone not happy with the repeal… yeah, Tim was not going to play nice at all. And the Realms would follow him as the King's Consort.

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Tim watched the footage again. He'd had to help Babs clean the footage up since the Agent had managed to scramble even their ghost proof cameras. They had no access to Danny's footage, wherever he was, they'd either destroyed or blocked his tech. He still ached a little but he was healed well enough that Frostbite had returned to the Far Frozen. The scar from the blast was barely visible too thankfully.

"We'll find him, Tim."

He tensed at Dick's voice, knew his eyes were glowing, fists clenched, but he took some deep breaths. He jerked his head in a nod, acknowledging Dick's words. "We have to. If they End him…I won't be able to stop the war," he warned.

And he wouldn't want to. He might still be half alive, half human, but the Realms called to him and without Danny… he took a deep breath, feeling his power surge, fighting down the urge to transform. They had to find Danny, the did.

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Bart raced around, knowing Wally and Barry were doing the same, all of them looking for Danny. They had to find him! Not cause it'd start a war but for Tim! Kon and Supes couldn't hear or see him so whoever took him was smart enough to account for them. But could they stop three Speedsters?

The whole Justice League had been mobilised to find Danny. And they would.

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Danny thrashed on the table, unable to escape the ghost proof restraints. He was burning! The unmistakable scent of Blood Blossoms present in the air…knew it was in the IV cruelly shoved in his neck. He couldn't hold back a scream as a scalpel sank into his chest.

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Jason found Tim curled into the corner, blue eyes flickering green every few seconds, arms wrapped around his chest as he gasped for air. He swore softly but quickly messaged the others that he'd found him. "Hey Timmy," he murmured. "Can you hear me?"

Tim had just suddenly screamed and bolted almost an hour ago, hiding away in the depths of the Manor. It was obvious that something was very wrong, but what? He'd been cleared by Frostbite before the yeti had left. So, what was wrong with him?

"Come on Tim, give me a sign here," he pleaded, not sure if he should try to touch him or not. He didn't want Tim to lash out instinctively or anything.

Tim whimpered in pain, curling tighter. "H...hurts."

"What hurts Timbit?"

Tim's eyes flared and Jason felt his own flash in response. What the hell was happening?

"King…dying…" Tim's eyes were pure green, his voice distant…was it even Tim talking?

"Tim, snap out of it!" he reached out to grip his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Come on Timmy."

Tim moved with his shaking, head slumping down limply.

"Tim!"

Tim moaned softly, head coming up to blink at him, eyes once again fully blue.

"Hey Timmy, you with me?"

And then Tim was in his arms, shaking with violent sobs.

"It's okay, I've got you," he promised, holding on tight. There was blood on Tim's clothes, he'd hurt himself. Jason gently brough up the sedative, pressing the needle to Tim's skin and the kid didn't react as the drug was injected.

In moments, Tim was limp in his arms, breathing more normal as the sedative did its job. It had been nice of Frostbite to leave them with some since apparently normal sedatives wouldn't work correctly on Tim now. Jason stood with Tim in his arms, carrying him back into the main areas and then down to the Cave.

"Is he hurt?" Bruce asked, spotting the blood.

"Self-inflicted," Jason answered as he carefully laid Tim on the bed. He was way too light considering his age, then again, he was half ghost now so maybe that was why? "I think…I think he's feeling Danny's pain somehow. He said they're killing him."

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Word of Tim's condition in reaction to what was happening to Danny was kept quiet, only his old team, Clark, and Diana knowing. With that knowledge, their searching intensified. Barbara worked with Tucker, searching for any sign of where Danny was being held and who might have been missed in the clean-up.

And then they found a lead.

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Dick didn't even flinch at the sound of a shot and a cut off cry, for once, he didn't care at all if Jason was making lethal shots. Not with what they'd seen… how had the Justice League missed this?! They were all meant to be in custody! They'd thought they had taken down the GIW but apparently, they'd been wrong. Someone of authority had escaped the net and been working to get the group up and going again. Finding bigots wasn't exactly hard no matter what group you hated.

He slammed an electrified eskrima into a guard, not even watching him collapse. The labs where Danny was kept were likely on the lowest level, the best guarded and hardest to reach…or escape from.

"What the…Myling's here!" Beast Boy yelped.

Damn it! Tim was meant to remain on the Batplane under watch. How had he slipped off with Cass watching him?!

And then Tim was there and Dick stared in awe at his little brother. He hadn't seen him in full ghost form before and it was a shock. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, revealing sharp teeth, his eyes glowing fully green, body glowing. And then everything began to shake. Dick ducked as he heard something, a metal cup flying over his head. What?

All he could do was stare in shock as metal began to buckle and bend before ripping from the walls. Okay…that was Tim?! Three men in white appeared and then dropped, their bodies almost cut in half by the flying metal. Dick swallowed…Tim…

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Tim fought without thinking, he could feel Danny, so close, in so much pain… he didn't care about those killed as his powers reached out. The lines on his wrists glowed where the metal had melted into his skin in death. He could feel all of the metal around and it was his to do with as he wished. He couldn't phase through most of the halls, the area protected to a point with ghost shields, stronger the closer he got to Danny. But they couldn't stop a halfa, Tim flickering between forms as needed.

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Noise…so much noise…he coughed up blood, his throat utterly shredded…did he even have lungs or anything anymore? Why wouldn't they stop? He wanted…him…he wanted him…who? Everything was muddled but then…something coming…someone…

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Tim froze in the doorway as he took in the splashes of red and green. No… he forced his body to move, to approach the table to look at the body there. And then Danny coughed, blood trickling past his lips. Tim reached for the IV in his neck pulling it free, able to smell something… something every instinct screamed was dangerous. He ripped the restraints off, they may be ghost proof but they were still metal. He tenderly wiped the blood from parted lips, relieved to hear him still breathing.

"Danny?" he whispered. "Danny, I'm here. You're safe now," he whispered, but Danny just coughed up more blood. He needed help…Realms help. But Tim was a baby ghost…he had no clue how to open a portal… He grabbed Danny's hand, able to feel the Ring of Rage even if no mortal would be able to detect it. "I love you; you can't die. Help me!" he demanded; fingers clenched tight around the Ring.

And the Ring responded.

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"They're gone," Jason reported. "Myling yelled Help me, there was a flash of green, and now they're gone." He really hoped that meant they were with Frostbite. "B…it's bad, it's really bad. Don't let any of the kids down here."

He walked over to the man in white sprawled against the wall. He was alive, just unconscious and Jason pressed his gun to the man's temple but then lowered it. No…he might have intel they needed. Hopefully J'onn would rip it painfully from the bastards mind.

Diana was soon there, slapping on cuffs meant to contain metas, just to be safe. Then the man and any other survivors were carted away and Jason called Tucker to make sure he knew what was going on since he was their best bet for contacting the Realms.

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Frostbite disentangled Tim from the Great One as gently as he could, knowing the young one might not be fully aware of anything outside of Danny and his being in danger. But the boy didn't fight them, thankfully. They got their King into the medical room, horrified as they took in the extensive damage. How was he not Ended? Thankfully, they had a method of cleansing Blood Blossoms from a ghosts system, not painless, but it should get his body to begin healing, especially in the Ectoplasm of the Realms. The Infinite Realms themselves would aid the King in healing.

No one tracked time as they worked over the Great One until finally, he was placed in the same tank that Tim had once been, to allow him to rest and heal. And then Frostbite went looking for Tim, finding him sitting on the floor where they had appeared, just staring at the blood on the ground. Thankfully, he was in ghost form so the cold would not be affecting him as badly, but his core was not of ice or cold so it would still be affecting him.

"Come young Consort," he murmured, urging the young halfa up, guiding him deeper inside to where there was more warmth.

He needed to be cleaned up from the blood and checked for wounds of his own. Frostbite carefully wiped away the Great One's blood and a little of Tim's own, finding his wounds were already healed. So, he took him to the room he had recovered from his death in and settled him into the bed, humming a song sung for the young to help coax him to sleep.

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Tucker slumped back in relief, Danny and Tim were safely in the Far Frozen. Danny was still alive and had survived treatment for what had been done to him. Frostbite would be giving the full details to Technus to send with the intent of charging those involved. The US government had recognised the Realms and Danny was King. They had attacked a 'foreign' sovereign which was not something you were meant to do. They were definitely going to ask to extradite those involved to the Realms to be dealt with and Tucker didn't feel at all sorry for them. If they had killed Danny…he shuddered but then grabbed his phone to call Oracle and let her know so she could tell whoever else needed to know.

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Cassie collapsed on Tim's couch, tired from the search and fight. But Oracle had shared the good news, Tim and Danny were safe in the medical care of the Infinite Realms. So yay, they wouldn't be going to war! Not that she would have sided with the US, not after everything they'd allowed to happen. And until those captured were interrogated, they didn't know for sure that the government hadn't secretly been backing them still with the promise of weapons and limitless green energy sources.

If they had…she might be asking to immigrate to the Realms. If Pandora was there, well, that was the chance for training better than any other! Besides, Tim needed them, just look at the trouble he got into without them.

Bart appeared with loads of food and Kon turned the tv on, Tim and Danny didn't mind them crashing in their place thankfully.

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Tim stood before the tank he had once healed in, watching Danny float within. He felt sick as he took in the masses of healing wounds. He'd been kind of out of it when he found Danny but now, he could really take it all in. They'd torn him apart; how could anyone do that to another being? But they didn't believe they were sentient or sapient so that was how. Frostbite said Danny was healing, that he would live, but how well would he heal? Tim didn't care if he was left with scars, they didn't matter, but how would it affect his quality of life? They'd removed organs!

And then to his shock, Danny's eyelids fluttered, opening slightly, the fingers of one hand twitching.

Tim pressed his hand to the tank, staring into glassy eyes. "It's okay Danny, you're safe now," he promised, just like Danny had done for him when their positions were reversed.

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J'onn stared at the fanatical human in the cell. This man was like those who would experiment on his kind or any non-human. He was completely obsessed and convinced he was right, he refused to listen to any evidence that he was wrong. Thankfully, he was the leader, Agent Alpha, the last of the original GIW. Those he recruited were also in cells, those who had survived the attack on their base anyway. He could not blame Myling for his actions, or Red Hood either. They had been fighting for family and their King. Surely Jason counted as part of the Realms with how long he had been dead.

The Justice League could not punish them, they would face the justice system. Would the Infinite Reams call for them to be tried in their courts? What kind of punishment would they be given? He hoped it fit their crimes. He had not seen Banshee but he had read the reports of the room he had been found in.

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Bruce sighed and leant back in his chair, he was covering for Tim with the company, saying he and Danny had gone overseas for personal reasons. He just hoped they wouldn't be gone for months, Myling and Banshee being gone while for so long while they were, was risky. They may need to get someone to step in and be seen in their gear a few times if they were gone too long.

He had seen the mask footage of what Tim had done, had seen him tearing the base apart. Danny had an ice core that allowed him to use ice, so was this Tim's core power? Did Tim realise what he had done? He'd known Jason would use lethal ammunition but Tim was meant to be held back till they had secured the base and found Tim. Cass had been very apologetic for letting him get away from her, but the Batplane had a lot of metal in it. Thankfully, Tim had not harmed his sister, aware enough to know she wasn't his enemy. He had never wanted Tim to know the pain of killing, to have that weight on him. Could he deal with it?

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Slowly, he became aware. He was lying on something soft, the air comfortable. The pain was gone. Had they stopped? Why?

"Danny?" a voice called, and he fought back a whimper.

Who was Danny? Was…was he Danny? Someone else? He didn't want to know, didn't want to be awake.

"Shh, it's okay, you're safe now," the voice whispered. He flinched as a hand touched his face and then it pulled away. "Danny? It's me, it's Tim."

Who was Tim? Who was Danny?

TBC…

Is that chapter ending mean of me?