Danny found himself seated in front of Batman on the roof, there were others lurking nearby, he could sense few of them, one he could only sense because they'd died before, they'd completely erased their presence otherwise. Danny sat on the rooftop bench and went through his pockets, finding the flash drive he'd had Tucker compile before he left.
"This is everything we were able to get on the situation in Amity Park. The GIW has my whole town in the Midwest under lock down. It's… it's bad. They're treating the whole town as ecto-contaminated and we… Basically they're trying to classify us as ecto-entities under some new section to the anti-ecto act. They've been keeping the whole town under a media blackout and… somehow they've kept any information from spreading or passed it off as rumors."
"Anti-ecto act?" Batman asked as he took the flash drive from Danny.
"It's an act they created about fighting off ecto-entities. It was put into law about a year ago. It claims that ghosts aren't sentient and… and now… it gives them permission to strip human rights from ecto-contaminated individuals. Myself included." Danny explained. He saw the slightest tightening of Batman's fist around the flash drive, the subtle furrow of the brow.
"You… you really didn't know." Danny observed with a small sardonic laugh. "Ha… you really didn't know… I thought maybe… we were just being ignored after all." He buried his face in his hands for a moment, fighting back tears of frustration and took a breath.
"We didn't know. If we knew… we never would have let this pass." Batman assured him.
"Thank you." Danny said with a weak smile. "I mean… after being labeled as a non human entity… it's… It's more than I hoped for really."
"We work with plenty of non-humans." Nightwing said as he came up behind Danny, putting his arm around Danny's neck in a friendly manner. Danny flinched subtly but didn't throw him off.
"Lets see… we've got aliens, got meta-humans, and even the Justice League Dark has a ghost on the team." Nightwing explained with a smile.
"Ghost? huh… I didn't know that." Danny said, filing that information away for later. He opened his mouth to ask more when he realized that Nightwing had subtly taken some hair and switched subjects. "If you're going to run my DNA and check on my story and who I am… I should warn you my DNA is completely fucked up from ecto-contamination. I've got a more extreme case than most. I have my ID, but I hear those can be easily faked… I don't have much in the way of confirming my identity. I doubt you'll take social media as a reliable source." He said as he looked up at Nightwing and then at Batman.
"The rest of Amity Park doesn't have ecto-contamination like mine, I'm… a bit of a special case." He said. "If you really are curious I could consent to a cheek swab… but I don't do needles." He said with a shudder, suppressing the trauma from his time with the GIW
"You've got good senses." Batman said as he studied him.
"It's the ecto-contamination. Most Amity Parkers have sharper senses than most, and they tend to be a bit more durable, recover slightly faster, and have better stamina than normal people." Danny explained. "Again, I'm a bit of an outlier. To be honest, that's probably going to cover a lot of the weirdness around me, if you have questions why I am odd, nine times out of ten it's the ecto-contamination. The other one time would be the amnesia… which now that I think about it might have to do with ecto-contamination as well."
Danny heard some chatter over the comms, something about checking into who he was and about Amity Park. Apparently there were a few things to say about him, his sudden adoption into the Fenton family, the mystery of where he'd come from, then the town's news slowly being filtered out over time, the traces the GIW had left in cutting Amity off from help, people who had moved out occasionally giving testimony about the ghosts. Danny sat quietly as he waited for the Bats to question him some more. They glanced over at him before Nightwing spoke up.
"Do you have a place to stay?" He asked, looking down at Danny. "We probably want to ask some more questions and go through the data you've sent us… it would be beneficial if you could stay in town to assist."
"I… I've been in town for a few days but… I haven't found a place yet… to be honest… I was kind of planning on finding a quiet place to curl up for the night. I spent last night in the graveyard. It feels a bit like home if I'm being honest… don't know why I shared that… Anyway… I don't need as much sleep as a normal human and was just kind of going to lay low for a bit." Danny admitted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"We have a few friends on the police force, some social services friends, and some others that may be willing to take you in for a couple of nights. We also have a few safe houses and locations that we may be able to set you up with on a temporary basis. Would that be okay with you?" Nightwing asked.
"Yeah… I guess that's fine… it makes it easier for you guys to find me and ask your questions later if nothing else. I had to ditch my phone so I wouldn't be tracked by the GIW" Danny nodded. He knew there wasn't much he could say that would stop them from tracking him and keeping an eye on him, he might as well get a marginally safe place to stay out of the deal.
"Are you kidding? He could be dangerous" Robin cut in and Danny looked over at him with a frown, wondering what the deal was with the teen.
"Is this about me being some kind of duplicate or clone of your dead twin? Because for starters, I didn't know you had a twin, much less a dead one, and Secondly, if I had wanted to cause trouble I would have done so already. Thirdly, I have no doubts you'll be putting surveillance on me, I've heard the bat brood is paranoid as fuck. Fourthly, I don't think you get to say someone is dangerous when apparently you meet any unknown person with a fucking sword. Finally, and fifthly, do you know what I had to go through to get out of Amity's lock down and travel here!? I'm going to pass out the second I lay down on any vaguely horizontal surface. I won't have time to plan nefarious deeds." Danny snarled. "Not to mention it's my fucking birthday and I can't even see the meteor shower because of the smog in this cursed city. I mean cursed literally by the way. Yes I can sense it, yes it's another side effect of my ecto-contamination."
The bats were quiet for a moment before Red Robin began snickering.
"He's got you there, demon brat!" He said as he emerged from a shadow, leaning against the wall of the rooftop access door.
"I am well into my teens, when will you stop calling me that?" Robin snapped at his predecessor.
"Maybe when you stop living up to the name." Red Robin said, tensing as he prepared to dodge a weapon.
"Oooh, bat family drama, not getting involved with that, thank you very much. Someone point me to the nearest available bed." Danny said, looking toward Nightwing, who seemed to be the most approachable of the Bats. Nightwing was also snickering at the interaction, but composed himself and smiled at Danny.
"Yeah, we can get you to bed. We have a safe house nearby you can crash at. And paranoid or not, we should have someone keep an eye on you, given the whole running from shady pseudo-government officials." Nightwing nodded. "I can show you the way, I'll have a buddy of mine come by to keep you company."
"I appreciate that." Danny said with a nod, standing and following Nightwing to the edge of the roof, they paused and Nightwing looked over at Danny.
"Hold tight." He warned. Danny took a step back and raised his hands in surrender.
"I'm decent enough at Parkour, so I can get down to street level myself." He said. "I'm no one's damsel in distress." He said before jumping off the side of the roof and picking his way down to the alley floor with grace and agility not typically seen in civilians. Nightwing paused and glanced over at Robin as Danny waited at street level.
"Not going to lie… I can see the resemblance between you two, maybe he is your long lost twin." Nightwing said.
"Danyal wasn't lost, he died." Robin said darkly, turning on his heel and grappling away. Batman rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"See if he will submit to the swab as indicated, even with whatever corruption he mentioned in his DNA, hopefully we can salvage enough to get some answers." Batman instructed.
"You got it B… um… you going to talk to the Demon Brat about keeping this dead twin a secret? Unless he told you and you didn't share, which is a different discussion entirely." Nightwing frowned at Batman, after all it wouldn't be the first time Batman had kept major secrets from the rest of them, and likely it wouldn't be the last. Like father like son he supposed.
"No. He didn't inform me I had another son, deceased as he may be." Batman sighed. "I will be talking to him after patrol."
"Okay." Nightwing said, before grappling off the roof and landing next to Danny in a dramatic fashion.
"Nice entrance… I'd bet money you've been in the circus." Danny said with a sarcastic clap that made Nightwing laugh.
"You're a funny kid. Come on, let's get you some sleep… and about that cheek swab you promised." He said, looping a hand around Danny's shoulders, Danny shoved him off.
"You are also definitely an older sibling who likes to butt into his younger siblings' business." Danny stuck out his tongue. "Get me to this safe house and a nice soft horizontal surface and you can get your cheek swab." He agreed with a nod as Nightwing called a motorcycle to him with the press of a button on his belt. Danny glanced back into the shadows, where he could sense the person from before and gave a small wave before being distracted by the motorcycle roaring up toward them, stopping with a dramatic screech.
"Yup, definitely a circus kid… maybe a theater kid." Danny said as he raised an eyebrow at the theatrics.
"Just get on the bike ghost kid." Nightwing chuckled and rolled his eyes, not that Danny could see that.
"Ecto-contaminated. Not a full ghost." Danny said, sticking his tongue out before sitting on the back of the bike. Nightwing climbed on and passed Danny a spare helmet.
"Not a full ghost? Implying you are part ghost?" He asked, raising an eyebrow that Danny couldn't see.
"Well… that is what the GIW is arguing so… maybe? Honestly I was ecto-contaminated before my parents ripped a hole in reality open in our basement." Danny sighed. "I'll probably get around to telling you - and the others listening in - the full story… but I'm the walking dead and even if I need less sleep than a normal human, I'm still tired AF." Danny grumbled, as he grabbed onto Nightwing's shoulders as the older man started the bike. They tore out of the alley and into the night, weaving in and out of traffic as they went. Unexpectedly, Danny heard Nightwing's voice in the helmet, apparently it was rigged with a comms system. Likely on a separate network than the main Bat channel, at least that's how Danny would have set it up. He wouldn't be surprised if everyone was listening in on their conversation.
"So the GIW… government agency that fights ghosts right? What have they done so far in Amity?" Nightwing asked, Danny thought a moment before responding.
"To humans or to ghosts? Because they've killed a few humans while chasing ghosts… and… the experiments they've done on ghosts… they're unspeakable." Danny shuddered, his slow heart rate spiking as tears misted his eyes. He was certain that Nightwing could feel him trembling at his back and hoped he didn't realize that Danny had first hand experience with the aforementioned unspeakable things.
"Both I suppose… let's start with the human aspect, as horrible as it is to say it, people care more when things could affect them, they care less about others… and honestly I can hear the arguments already that whatever they've done to ghosts shouldn't matter because they're already deceased." Nightwing sighed, and Danny was somewhat pleased to hear the righteous indignation in his voice.
"They've killed forty one people while pursuing ghosts, injured two hundred and twenty nine badly enough to be hospitalized long term, five hundred and seventy four if you count all injuries worse than sprained ankles. They've attacked random civilians for being ghosts, including a classmate of mine who'd just transferred from Michigan… he'd bleached his hair white and since our local ghostly superhero has white hair, apparently that was reason enough to attack Gregor… no Elliot, his name was Elliot.." Danny sighed, that had been a shitshow and a half hadn't it. How stupid could you be to mistake a human for a ghost, Elliot hadn't even been ecto-contaminated!
"That's just the stuff they did before deciding the whole town was under quarantine for being ecto-contaminated, and not including the various rights violations committed before then. In the past year or so, however, they've been limiting freedoms, keeping anyone from coming into Amity or going out, then they started having mandatory screening sessions to study the ectoplasm levels in the population. My parents managed to opt me out, but just barely. My folks are scientists, they study ghosts, create weapons to fight them, stuff like that, so the GIW was "kind" enough to let them handle my screening… and well… they already know my baseline ecto-contamination is high and are keeping an eye on it." Danny glanced at an area of town as they passed it, falling silent for a moment as he sensed a strange ecto-energy in the territory. It wasn't like the many shades that lurked around, it was stronger than that, but weaker than a proper ghost. It was quite a strange feeling, clearly the not-ghost had marked its territory, but he'd never seen a not-ghost do such a thing.
"You still good?" Nightwing asked when Danny had been silent for more than a few minutes.
"Oh… right… sorry, there… I just noticed something strange to me is all… but Gotham is really different from Amity. What was I talking about?" Danny said, pulling his senses away from the avenue that had caught his attention several blocks back.
"Your ecto-contamination and the mandatory screenings." Nightwing reminded.
"Right… so… My parents love me, but clearly the GIW don't care about human life, so they kept it on the down low that I was as ecto-contaminated as I am because the GIW would probably classify me as an ecto-entity with no human rights in a heartbeat, they're already trying to do that to the entire town and no one in town has even close to the ecto-contamination I have. Anyway, while they were able to shield me in some respects, a lot of other people weren't so lucky. They tried to arrest a bunch of people for their ectoplasm levels, the mayor protested… but he's been missing for a few weeks now… since just before they put the town under lock down." Danny looked up at the night sky, it shone red and gray with the city lights reflecting back from the smog. He wished he could see the stars, then he sighed and focused back on his story.
"There are detailed accounts on the flash drive, but you probably want the gist of it before then so that you have time to make sure I haven't given you a virus or something… anyway, things started to get really bad. They declared martial law, there were patrols in the streets, they… they would beat and incarcerate anyone breaking curfew. They were taking people into "questioning" left and right… Most of the people who came back were refusing to talk about what happened. I don't know if they were traumatized or if they were threatened… or brainwashed or what. It was getting so bad and it wasn't like I could do much to help… except to leave and try and find someone who was willing to help. Someone who wasn't afraid to go up against the government." Danny explained.
"That… that's troubling." Nightwing said, apparently not having the words to respond to the story, despite having encountered such situations before.
"Yeah." Danny said lamely. The two pulled up to an apartment building and Nightwing cut the engine before setting the bike on its kickstand and slipping off the bike. Danny followed, taking the helmet off and pausing for a moment.
"Nightwing?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah?" Nightwing acknowledged as he pulled his own helmet off.
"You've seen Robin's civilian identity right?" Danny asked, looking at the hero, his eyes scanning the man's face. "I'm not asking to know who he is… just… he claimed I look like his dead twin… do… does he really look like me?" Danny asked, a vulnerability in his face and voice that hadn't been there before. Nightwing was quiet a moment before sighing.
"I really shouldn't say." He said as he put the helmet in a compartment on the bike, and took Danny's helmet from him doing the same.
"I suppose that's fair… since if he does look like me and I find someone who looks like me, I could be like, hey that's Robin and putting secret identities at risk is a Dick Move and all." Danny said with a shrug. "I just… If… we did really look alike… I'm curious if he would know anything about where I came from… if-" Danny's musings were cut off by a large yawn. "Gods I'm beat." He grumbled and clamped a hand over his mouth as if that would stop the yawn that threatened to follow the first.
"Right… let's get that cheek swab, tell my buddy you're here, and let you get to bed." Nightwing said with a smile. "You can answer some more questions in the morning. My friend may be the one asking them though."
"Fair enough." Danny nodded as he followed Nightwing into the apartments, it was weird to see the vigilante underneath the fluorescent lights instead of in the dim smoggy light of the Gotham streets. The apartment building was hardly modern or fancy, but it wasn't shady and decrepit either, and as Nightwing let him into the apartment unit, Danny noted that it was perfectly nondescript.
"Hmmm… I was expecting something more seedy if I'm being honest. Then again… I'm like fifteen, I don't have much experience with safe houses." He said as he walked in and collapsed on the cough.
"Come on birthday boy, let's get the cheek swab then get you into a proper bed." Nightwing said as he pulled a collection kit from his belt.
"Cheek swab fine, but I live here now." Danny mumbled from his position on the couch, his eyes already half closed. He opened his mouth cooperatively and Nightwing swabbed the inside of his cheek, putting it into the tube and tucking it back into his utility belt.
"The guy who will be here in the morning is named Richard Grayson." Nightwing informed him. "He goes by Dick."
"Huh?" Danny frowned, opening one eye and raising his eyebrow. "Dick? Like… who gave him that nickname? Did they hate him? Why does he still go by it?"
"His parents, no, and he's used to it." Nightwing said with a small laugh. "He's the circus act so be nice." Nightwing said ruffling Danny's hair.
"Hmmm… I'll try." Danny mumbled as he began to fall asleep.
Damian knew that he wasn't supposed to be here, Father had specifically told him not to go near Danny until they knew more about him, but Damian couldn't help himself. He watched from the rooftop across the way as Danny lay sprawled out on the couch, sleeping as if he didn't have a care in the world. It was such a contrast to his real twin that he couldn't help but feel angered and frustrated by it. Damian adjusted the zoom on his mask, zooming in on Danny's face, looking over every little detail, moving down to his chest, which rose and fell far too infrequently, then to his hands, his shoes, taking in everything that would tell him more about the teen with his dead twin's face.
Whoever had replicated him had done an impeccable job. The little scar on his lip was the same, as well as the small one on his left cheek. His right arm had the scar from Damian's blade after he'd failed to defend, he even had the birthmark on the inner part of his upper right arm in the shape of a bat. Yet he had new scars too. What was the point of the new scars if he was merely supposed to be a duplicate? His left arm sported branching fern like scar, subtle, but clearly there, shining slightly in the low light. The scar bloomed from a round scar in the center of his hand, traveling up his arm, and likely across his chest, he could see where it came up his neck and part of his cheek. What was the point of such a Lichtenberg figure? Never mind that Litchenberg scars were meant to fade completely over time on the living. There was a thin scar down his neck as if he'd had a botched tracheotomy, and where his shirt rode up, there were many, many more scars. He'd seen some of them before, scars from training, scars he'd remembered his brother receiving, but also new ones, surgical scars, marks from blades, burn marks, all a ragged tapestry across his body.
Damian couldn't fathom how someone could get such scars, especially if he wanted them to believe he'd been a mostly normal teenager living in the midwest. He was certain his father and brothers had noticed the scars. Scars that typically one could only get from a life of crime or a life of vigilantism. Had this boy been some kind of vigilante in Amity Park? He'd have to ask Oracle for more data once she'd dug everything up, right now he wanted time alone to observe this doppelganger.
Danny groaned and rolled over slightly on the couch, grumbling and kicking off worn shoes. Damian would bet that his clothes hadn't been washed since he'd left Amity Park. If the town was under quarantine by some shady government agency, he wasn't even certain how Danny would have escaped. He hated that the teen called himself Danny, hated that he'd shared a name with his twin. Damian noted the various stains on his jeans, something that was almost certainly blood crusted on the cuff, oil, probably from a greasy meal of some sort on the pant legs, a splash of spray paint on his shoes and the left pant leg. His shirt wasn't any better, mustard and ketchup staining down the front of the faded gray nasa hoodie, sleeves also with evidence of blood and grease. His whole outfit had various grime and grit on it, not to mention the strange green stains that almost seemed to glow softly in the low light.
Damian returned his mask to normal vision and swung closer, landing on the fire escape without a sound. Danny stirred again, his already slow breathing slowed even more. How could this teenager be so unaware of his surroundings when he was supposedly on the run? How had he even sensed Cassandra's presence in the shadows when even Damian couldn't sense her if she didn't want to be found? Nothing made sense, it had to be a trap, why else would he come in like this, spin some sob story and pretend like he knew nothing about Damian when he'd so clearly been modeled after Danny.
Damian wanted to hate him.
And yet, he found himself somehow hopeful that beyond all logic, somehow, Danyal was alive and sleeping on the couch in front of him.
"Look, I've had a long and lousy week, so if you're going to come in at attack or collect more samples I'd rather you just do it." Danny groaned from the couch, rolling over and cracking open one eye… one glowing green eye. Damian held his breath a moment then opened the window and slipped inside.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Danny. Danny Fenton." Danny grumbled, the glowing eye closed once more. "You going to try and fight me? Because I'm really not in the mood."
"I haven't decided… but no… not right now." Damian admitted as he sat on the coffee table studying Danny. The other teen opened an eye again, this one no longer glowing as he looked over Damian… well… Robin. This teen would only see him as Robin.
"That's… comforting I think?" Danny mumbled, as he opened both eyes and propped himself up slightly. "I know I said I don't need as much sleep as a normal human, but I still would like to get some. At least an hour." He said, sarcasm and sass dripping from his voice.
"I won't attack." Damian promised.
"Cool story bro, still doesn't mean I like people staring me down in my sleep." Danny snarked, the impossible blue of his eyes staring into Damian.
"ما أنت؟ لماذا أنت هنا؟" Damian asked, his native tongue falling from his lips, Danny paused, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you just randomly talk to people in old arabic dialects or am I special? I've already answered those questions, can I please be left alone to sleep, or can you at least stare at me from across the roof again? Feels less invasive than you staring at me while sitting in front of me." Danny snapped clearly getting fed up.
"You understood me?" Damian asked, leaning forward.
"For fucks sake." Danny snapped and sat up, throwing a pillow at Damian who dodged and threw a throwing knife at Danny in return. Danny easily caught it, sending it into the wall to the right and glaring. "Fucking hell, you said you weren't going to attack!"
"You initiated combat." Damian growled, hand on the hilt of his sword.
"A pillow isn't the same as a fucking knife! Who the fuck raised you?" Danny snarled, his eyes flashing a dangerous shade of green. The same shade of green Todd's eyes did when he was pissed, a side effect of the Lazarus Pit.
"Assassins… then Batman." Damian answered. Danny stared at him then snorted.
"You have a weird back story." He laughed then leaned back. "Since you clearly aren't going to leave me alone, and we've already sent a knife into the wall, what are you here for?"
"Reconnaissance." Damian answered.
"Want to try that again? I know that's not the full truth." Danny said with a raised eyebrow.
"Tch." Damian responded and folded his arms. "Why do you think I'd tell you?"
"It might be quicker to ask me than to lurk outside my windows as I try to sleep." Danny shrugged.
"Humans lie." Damian scoffed.
"So do ghosts." Danny shrugged and raised an eyebrow, he then sighed and shook his head, looking at Damian with a certain seriousness and odd sympathy that hadn't been there before. "Look Robin… I don't know what happened to your twin, I'm not claiming to be him, and I really did just come to Batman for help… I considered going to others too, Captain Marvel or maybe even Green Arrow… I didn't come specifically to fuck up your emotional state and pick at old wounds." Danny said and Damian prickled.
"What are you trying to say?" He asked.
"Look, the first seven years of my life are a complete blank, okay? I don't know who I was before the Fentons found me and adopted me, for all intents and purposes I am Danny Fenton. I don't have any schemes or hidden agendas but… I guess what I'm trying to say is there is a small possibility that yes, I am somehow your twin who is supposed to be dead. Clockwork knows that could be how I ended up in the realms in the first place… come to think of it why have I never asked Clockwork to show me my past. You have an all knowing Master of Time on your hands and you don't ask about where you came from… that is indeed a tragedy." Danny said, with a smile. Damian glared and Danny looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I use humor to cope with shit, not always the best call, not always the best jokes." He mumbled.
"Danyal died… he was… you do look like him, you have a lot of the same scars, even the birthmark is the same." Damian said, glancing over Danny. "It's our birthday and you claim it is yours as well, even if you don't remember your past… I… it seems far too much to merely be coincidence and given our line of work. This many coincidences tends to add up to something nefarious."
"Fair enough." Danny shrugged, pausing to yawn and then sighing and looking at Damian. "Look, you guys have me under surveillance, and here at this lovely middle class apartment, I'm not going anywhere until I can figure out how to help my town. I get that Batman and friends deal with a lot of world ending shit, and trust me I've been through that circus a time or two, but there is nothing I can really do to reassure you I'm not here as part of some scheme to get the Bats or some Assassin after you or something…"
Danny yawned again and Damian looked him over, not sure what to say, it was rare he didn't have anything to say.
"I just want to get a couple hours of sleep and help to make sure that the GIW doesn't fuck up more than it already has… the realms are considering war and… Trust me that'll be a shitshow. I'll be here in the morning, I'll tell you all about who I am and how I got here, well… maybe most of it. I'm not going to pretend like I don't have secrets of my own… but you'll have the answers to your questions then. At least the ones I'm able to answer. I don't really like repeating myself either, so it's better if you wait till then anyway. If not to satisfy your own curiosity than for the benefit of your team." Danny reasoned. Damian stared at him a moment before nodding curtly.
"Fine. Point taken, even if it isn't appreciated." He said as he stood. "Sleep well." He said, turning to the window, he paused with one foot out the window and stared back at the teen who has the slightest possibility of being his twin - the the probability of him being a threat was higher- and for a moment he swallowed his pride. "Happy Birthday Danny."
"Hmmm… ppy brftda Dami." Danny mumbled from the couch, already heading off to dreamland, Damian confirmed this as he snored softly.
Dami…
Maybe the possibility of Danny being Danyal just increased… but so did his potential threat level. He'd recognized him, he knew his childhood nickname. Either possibility was going to be problematic. Damian stared at Danny a moment longer before he slipped out the window entirely, taking off into the night to process what had just happened.
Author's Note:
By the way the Arabic in this chapter was literally plugged into google translate and then copy and pasted. I am not a linguist. I am but a dumb english speaker.
Translation:
What are you? Why are you here?