Dani To-Do List

- talk to Jason

- get a little depressed

- go to the record store with Damian

- crazily enough, she is no long depressed

"Does your family know?" Dani asks Jason, after she's sufficiently freaked out and they've moved their discussion to the top of a building to watch the swirling green sky. Dani's taken off her hat and gloves, letting her hair out of its bun to cascade down her back.

Jason looks at her oddly.

"What?"

"Just… never change, With-an-i."

"Um, kay?"

"No, they don't know," Jason sighs, and Dani doesn't quite believe him, but she decides to let it go. Maybe he just doesn't want them to know she knows they know? Who knows. "Do they know about your whole…" He gestures at the Zone.

"No," Dani admits. "It's… big."

"Well, don't tell them. Those…" He glances at her. "Know-it-alls… could stand not to know every secret."

Dani hmms, then asks, "How did you know it was me? Sara never said my name and you never saw my Halloween costume."

Jason looks at her incredulously. "You're wearing the same watch, kid." Dani looks down at it, having totally forgotten she was wearing it.

"Is that really what gave me away?" Dani pouts, fiddling with the watch. She thought she had such a good disguise. What if Robin could find her out too?

"You are the most oblivious person I've ever met," Jason deadpans. "First, Dick posted a picture of you and the brat in the family chat. Second, I recognized your voice. Third, there aren't many people that feel the way we do, kid. I'm shocked you didn't put the pieces together when we met at the Manor."

Dani purses her lips, glaring at the man. "I don't know how common people like you are!"

Jason chuckles, shaking his head. "Well, let me just say, there aren't many of us. I'm the only one I know of."

Huh. Maybe these 'Pits' aren't such a big deal. She should probably still do something about them though. "But you thought I was…?"

"Because I could feel the Pits in you," Jason explains. "Though, I guess I was feeling this?" He gestures to the area around them. "This is so surreal."

"Well, it's not really meant for the living," Dani comments, shrugging.

"So when you said I 'dipped my toes' in the afterlife, and you 'jumped all in', is this what you meant? That you've been here, and I haven't?"

"I guess," Dani allows. "I don't have any idea what happened to you."

"Well, I think I would remember this place." Jason looks around some more, still taking in the admittedly bizarre scenery. There's currently a mariachi band drifting from one door to another not too far from here. "Do you come here often?"

"Pretty often. Once every month or so."

"Why?"

"The neutral ectoplasm filters out all the gunk that comes with being around so many other emotions," Dani explains. "Ectoplasm absorbs emotion really well, and if you don't purify it here, it starts to get really nasty. You keep talking about your Pit thing, and I'm guessing it's just a bunch of ectoplasm that's been sitting around too long. It starts to get really really gross."

"And… it can bring back the dead because it's connected to this place?" Jason guesses.

"Now that, I don't know," Dani admits. "Ectoplasm does have some crazy powers, but I've never thought of it bringing someone back to life. With some magic, maybe? I don't know enough about magic to say."

"Huh." Jason looks deep in thought.

"And now that you mention the whole death thing, that explains all the rage and pain in your ectoplasm. I mean, dying brings out the worst emotions in a person, and the ectoplasm is there just sucking it up. If you came back because of that ectoplasm, all those emotions would have probably really screwed with what you were actually feeling."

Jason's head whips in her direction. "What do you mean?"

Dani blinks at his sudden laser focus. "Just that your ectoplasm has a lot of rage and pain in it, and that's probably made you feel angry and hurt."

"That…" Jason exhales sharply, holding his palm to his head. "You mean, that all this pain, this rage, it's someone else's? This hatred and fear…? It's not mine…?"

Dani studies him. This revelation seems to have really shaken Jason up. She can't tell yet if it's a good thing or a bad thing. "I mean, some of it is probably yours," Dani allows. "It's just amplified. You get really angry really quickly, and it's hard to calm down. I get that too sometimes, if I'm around it enough without coming here for a bit of a detox."

"Will that work for me?" Jason demands, eyes desperate. "Is there a way to get rid of this… residual emotion from the others?"

Dani blinks, a bit surprised at his request. She shouldn't be, though. If she felt angry all the time, she'd jump at the chance to fix it too. "I'm not a doctor," Dani starts, "and you're a bit different from me, but it'll help, at the very least. Don't you feel better?" She can feel that his ectoplasm has purified a bit. Maybe not all the way, since the emotions in them are a bit more deep-seated and complex than what Dani has, but the longer they stay here, the more she can feel the anger in him draining away.

"I do," Jason mutters in disbelief, placing a hand on his chest. "I feel like… like myself again, for the first time in years."

"Is that why you don't come to Manor?" Dani wonders aloud. "Because you're angry all the time?"

"It's really, really complicated," Jason sighs. "But that's part of it, I guess. My dad didn't really avenge my death the way I wanted him to. And he replaced me with Tim… at least, that's what it felt like…?" He pauses, considering. "I guess I don't feel as strongly about that right now."

Dani grins. "Yeah, I bet."

"I have so many questions," Jason groans, letting himself fall back onto the roof so he can look up at the green sky. "Like, where did you come from? How did you end up like me? What is this place, really? How do you know so much, when I've been searching for the answers ever since I came back? And… and how did I come back?" Jason sits up, looking at her. "I didn't come back in the Pits. I dug my way out of my grave, here in Gotham. But it wasn't… it wasn't really me. Like, I was alive and breathing, but I wasn't Jason." He fiddles with his fingers, deep in thought. "Someone brought me to the Pits in Switzerland. That was where I really came back. It was…" He exhales harshly. "It was awful."

"It sounds awful," Dani agrees.

"If you didn't come back from the Pits, how did you come back?" Jason asks.

"It's bad manners to ask a ghost about their death," Dani replies immediately. "And I may not be a full ghost, but that rule still applies to me. I'm not going to ask you about yours, so please don't ask about mine."

"Right, okay," Jason says, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, that was insensitive. I just figured if I knew what happened to you, I could try and figure out what happened to me."

"Yeah, our experiences are way different," Dani says. "So I can't help you there."

"You said all living things come here," Jason recalls. "Is it possible to find someone who might know?"

"Probably," Dani allows, "but this is also the Infinite Realms. The answer to your question could be anywhere."

"But I could find it?" Jason presses. "Find someone who knows what happened to me, how I came back? How to fix what I am now?"

Dani huffs in frustration. "Like I said, probably. But don't waste the chance you were given on finding out why it was given to you. You have eternity for that, if you really want to use it that way. And as for how to fix what you are now, I can ask my doctor about it."

"You have a doctor?" Jason asks in surprise. Dani nods. "Why do ghosts need doctors?"

"Most don't. But even doctors die, and it's not like they lose their expertise."

Jason just kind of stares at her. "You know, you've lived a bizarre life."

"I'm starting to realize," Dani replies in a dry voice. "And I can't help but notice how obsessed everyone is about knowing every little detail."

"Sorry, sorry," Jason laughs, holding his hands up in surrender. "We were raised that way. Wait until you meet Bruce, that's going to be the real challenge."

"He's been sick for a long time," Dani realizes. "Is he, like, dying?"

Jason barks out another laugh. He seems to be getting lighter as the time goes on and his ectoplasm continues to filter through the Zone's neutrality. This must be closer to who he actually is. "Nah, that man's too stubborn to kick the bucket. He's either still recovering or taking a beach vacation. You never know with Brucie Wayne."

Dani feels like she's missing something here. "Um, and you said he's the one that'll be the most fixated on every detail? He sounds irresponsible."

"You'll get it one day," Jason teases, booping her on the nose. "Now, give me the real details. Dogs have ghosts?"

"Uh, yeah," Dani says, rubbing her nose. "All living things, remember?"

"So when I die, will my dog be waiting for me?" Jason asks hopefully.

"Probably," Dani says. "Animals and humans are all just dead souls here. And with dogs, they form connections pretty strongly to people. I once helped someone over that was immediately drowned in a dozen labs. They were so happy to see him I thought they might die of the excitement." Dani laughs at her own joke. "Again!"

Jason grins. "I'm so glad I'll get to see Ace again."

Dani sobers. Talking about dead dogs will do that to you. "You had a dog?"

Jason nods, his smile getting a bit sadder. "He died with me. Tried to protect me til the very end. I'm glad I wasn't alone when I died, but when I really came back, you know, after the Pits, and he wasn't there? I think a part of me never really came back from that."

Dani immediately feels tears fill her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Jason accepts her sympathy with a nod, looking down at his hands, which are clasped on his knees. "He was a good dog." Dani can feel the grief behind that statement, and she's suddenly infinitely grateful that her dog has already died, that he'll be with her forever. Then Jason claps his hands. "Anyway, we should probably head back. I'm sure the others are freaking out trying to find you."

"How would they even know I was gone?" Dani says, stretching a little. "I'm always out in the city."

"And giving Dick coronaries," Jason agrees.

Dani doesn't know what those are. "Sure. Let me call Lady Gotham."

Jason mouths the name in confusion as Dani reaches out into the space around her. The Good Lady had been peacefully watching from afar as the two not-quite-dead visitors were conversing, and when she feels Dani's summon, she gracefully makes her way over to them.

Jason's eyes grow wide at seeing her. She floats before them, her dress billowing out around her. Jason looks back to Dani and then to the Lady. "You dressed up as… Lady Gotham?"

"Yeah," Dani answers. "See how close I got it?" Dani floats closer so he can see better. Lady Gotham fills the surrounding space with fond amusement. "Can we get passage back to the living realm, Lady Gotham?"

Lady Gotham tilts her head, then whispers in Dani's mind, "Just a moment, Princess. I wish to confess something to my dear Hooded Knight." Dani glances over at Jason, but it doesn't seem like he heard her. He's still just kind of studying her, a bit of confusion on his face.

"She said she wants to confess something," Dani translates. Then she returns to the other ghost, "He's one of yours?"

Some ghosts choose humans as part of their obsession or even just as agents that help them fulfill their obsession. It makes sense that a vigilante that protects her city would be one of her people. Maybe that's why all the Gotham vigilantes escape death time and time again; a ghost's protection is not a small thing.

Lady Gotham floats forward, hand outstretched to Jason. He leans away, darting a couple glances at Dani for guidance, but she just shrugs. Lady Gotham cups Jason's cheek, tilting her head as she does so. "My brave knight," she coos, sending a shiver down Dani's spine. Yikes, Gotham can be cre~epy. "I held your soul in my hands. You want so desperately to know how you came back, and I confess that it was my doing."

"What?" Dani blurts out in surprise.

"What did she say?" Jason demands.

"She said she's the one who brought you back. But that shouldn't be possible…" Jason jerks back out of Lady Gotham's hand, eyes wide.

"You are correct, Princess. When he returned, all I did was revive his body. He was still here, sleeping in my grasp. I was not able to return his soul, so I led the Demon's Daughter to him." Dani relays what she's saying, watching something like shock or wrath take over his features. "I know you must have wished for peace, but I could not let you go."

"Who are you to decide that?" Jason rages, taking several steps back. "And why me? Of everyone in Gotham?"

"The Princess is correct," Lady Gotham answers, and Dani repeats it, sans the whole 'princess' title. "I should not have been able to do such a thing, even as imperfectly as I had. I certainly would not be able to do such a thing for every citizen within my borders." She folds her hands together before her. "My influence is limited. I cannot cross to the mortal realm. I delegate my city's protection to my beloved Knights."

Jason's face is tight when he hears this. "I want to leave," he forces out through clenched teeth.

Dani glances at Lady Gotham. She doesn't seem remorseful or apologetic. She just seems fond, and maybe a little sad. "If I may borrow some of your power, Princess?"

"Go for it," Dani says, shrugging. Gotham is a fairly strong ghost, so she doesn't really get why she needs Dani's help, but Dani doesn't mind. She's topped off on energy from being in the Zone anyway.

A portal splits the space before them, quickly growing in size until it's big enough to accommodate Jason's beefy build. Jason doesn't look back as he steps towards it, grabbing Dani's hand as he does. Dani doesn't appreciate it, despite his good intentions, so she yanks out of his grip and shoves him through the portal.

She glances back at Gotham, knowing the old ghost has more to say to her specifically.

"Will you take care of him in my stead?"

Dani rolls her eyes at the plea. It's hardly her responsibility to take care of a full-grown man. Still, she's kind of already accepted it. "Sure."

"You have my deepest gratitude, your Highness," Lady Gotham breathes in her mind, curtseying low. Dani rolls her eyes again. "And, might I say, your costume is impeccable."

Dani throws a pleased smile at the ghost over her shoulder, unseen behind her veil, and then leaps through the portal.

It's time to end Halloween for this year.

Dani wakes up to Titus's cold nose in her cheek.

"Hey, boy," Dani mumbles into her pillow, reaching out her hand to scratch him on the head. "What are you doing inside?" The dog doesn't answer, just licks her hands and then jumps on her bed, upsetting her cozy nest of blankets. "Ugh, you suck."

Dani sits up, yawning so wide she feels her jaw pop. She slept deep.

She got home around five in the morning on the back of Jason's motorcycle. He insisted on driving her all the way home despite her protests, lecturing her about the dangers of Halloween night. Listen, Dani's aware of the dangers. She was one of them, thank you very much. He had to get into his "civvies" as he called them (like, heroes are so commonplace nowadays they have their own lingo? Wild) and change out his motorcycle. Jason may live in Crime Alley, but it's obvious he's not entirely separate from the wealthy living style of the Wayne's. And don't try to convince her otherwise. He has fourteen motorcycles. NO ONE needs that many motorcycles. If that's not excess, Dani doesn't know what is.

When she finally got back, she was exhausted. She shed her costume, shoved it into the back of her armoire, and collapsed on the bed without bothering to take out her bun.

She's suffering for that last decision a little bit. Her hair is one big knot, and it's going to be a pain to brush out.

Solution: she just won't. That's what ponytails are for.

Dani succumbs to Titus's slobbery promptings to get up for the day and heads to her bathroom. It's not connected to her room, but she's the only one that lives in the attic, so she's the only one that uses it. She washes off last night's adventures, brushes her teeth, and gathers her wet hair into a ponytail. It'll take hours to dry. Oh well. She pulls up the hood of her sweatshirt and ties the strings.

She follows Titus down to the dining room, where a casual breakfast of cold cereal and muffins is set out. Dani glances at her watch, realizes for the thirtieth time that it doesn't actually tell time, and then looks to the dining room clock. It's half past nine, meaning the rest of the household has probably already finished eating and started working.

Heathens. It's a Saturday.

Maybe that's for the best though. Dani doesn't feel like much company today. She's still kind of shaken from last night's heavy emotions. Maybe she'll spend the day trying out video games and eating junk food contraband pilfered from Tim's room.

Dani picks at her muffin, savoring each bite. Alfred's muffins, like everything else he makes, are heavenly. The fact that there are any left is nothing short of a miracle, though Alfred may have had something to do with it. It's cranberry-orange. Dani gives it an 8 out of 10.

"Oh, good, you're awake."

Dani looks up at Damian, who's standing in the door frame, Titus at his side. She heard him approaching, but it hadn't really registered in her mind that she would have to be socializing. "What's Titus doing inside?" Dani asks instead.

"Titus is always allowed indoors," Damian huffs, though he doesn't come into the dining room. His hand rests on Titus's head. "He was guarding the litter, but the final kittens were adopted this morning, so he has been relieved of his duty."

"Hm," Dani replies, shoving another little bit of muffin in her mouth.

"What is your itinerary for today?"

"Where's a blank sheet of paper I can give you?" is Dani's response.

"So you are available, then," he surmises. Wow, Dani's impressed he cracked the code. "You expressed an interest in building your musical library last night."

Did she? She might've mentioned that she wanted to hear more of the spooky Halloween music from last night. An offhanded comment like that didn't exactly mean expressing interest, but okay. "I guess."

Damian examines her with a critical eye. "What is the matter with you?"

Dani sighs, swallowing the bite of muffin in her mouth. "Just a long night."

Damian seems to understand, which doesn't make a lot of sense, because there's no way he could know the shenanigans she got up to last night. Not unless he was Robin or something.

Wait.

"Would you like my assistance in setting up your sound systems?"

Dani squints at him. He's being suspiciously nice. "Why?"

Damian sniffs, looking away to appear disinterested. "I have a brief window today where I am not occupied with anything else."

What a dirty little liar. He wants to hang out. Like, of his own volition! Badly enough that he's actually asking her! And yet, Dani still doesn't quite feel up to it. Sullenly, she says, "My sound system won't work."

Damian pauses, studying her. He's smart, and she knows he can tell she's not just talking about not being able to set it up. "Like the cameras?"

"Something like that," Dani answers, eating more of her muffin with her chin resting on her propped-up hand. Honestly, she doesn't care to keep it from Damian anymore. So what if the Waynes know she screws up electronics? It'd be pretty impressive if they hadn't noticed yet, honestly.

"Then we shall fix the issue with the same solution," Damian says after another long moment of just looking at her. Dani flicks her gaze back up to focus on him, humming neutrally. "We will go to the record store."

Oh. That does sound fun. She's used a record player before, back in the three days she spent as a drug cartel Roomba technician in Syria. They mistakenly thought she had any expertise in technology at all, but little did they know, she was the one that broke their Roomba (when she was in the room, and when she left it worked, crazy). So anyway, she used their record player a couple of times while pretending to work on said Roomba. Why they didn't just buy a new Roomba is beyond her. She suspects they were trying to kill her because she knew too much (due to another ghostly friend), but before they could, she stole all their toilet seats and some important looking documents.

That was a good Labor Day weekend.

So a record player would be pretty cool, actually.

"Do you have a record player?" Dani asks. It's been a couple of months since she came to live here, but Damian still hasn't invited her inside his room. She does have some manners, so she hasn't infiltrated any of the Manor's bedrooms.

"I do, but we will be getting you one of your own," Damian tells her, nodding his head in agreement with his own idea. "Alfred has already left for the day, but I will summon Drake." He pulls out his phone.

"I don't need a record player," Dani mutters, but her argument, like all the others regarding money, falls flat.

"You are correct." Damian doesn't put his phone away. "Drake has agreed to take us."

"What did you have to threaten him with?" Dani drawls, giving up on her fight against going. It was pretty weak to begin with anyway.

"I had to do no such thing," Damian sniffs. He probably isn't lying, but Dani knows that Tim enjoys riling Damian up, so there's something fishy about the older boy agreeing so readily. "He will meet us in the garage. Come."

Oh well. There goes her day of trying new games out. It's probably for the best. Dani rarely gets in these dour moods, and she hates them. But she can never manage to actually drag herself outside to do anything, so it's kind of nice someone is forcing her. She follows after Damian, petting Titus the whole way.

As it turns out, Tim wasn't threatened. He was, however, misled into thinking Dani was the only one who wanted to go. That Damian was coming with them was an unwelcome development. The two brothers immediately start bickering.

It's actually pretty funny to listen to, so Dani just sits back and enjoys the show. Damian is arrogant and prideful and his insults crack like a whip, but Tim never fails to come up with a cunning retort. It's like watching interpretive dance, with words.

For instance: "At least I didn't have to stalk Father until he allowed you to stay in the family."

"Hm, but unlike someone, he actually had a choice with me."

"He took you in out of pity!"

"Better than obligation." And then they started physically fighting.

That was one fight Dani walked in on a couple of weeks ago. Now, they're just fighting about which record store would be best. Then, the best way to get to said record store. Then, whether Damian would be a better driver.

"You need only leave the car, Drake, I am far more capable of getting us home in one piece."

"As if I'd let you drive my car! You'd crash it to prove a point!"

"Not with Danishara as a passenger."

"Danishara?" Tim's attitude immediately goes from irritated to curious.

"Damian gave me a new name since I don't like Danielle," Dani pipes in, a little sad the verbal sparring match is over. "Just keep calling me Dani, though."

"Huh." Tim glances over at his little brother. "You're attached~"

Damian looks thrown at the tease, before annoyance rushes back. "It is always a pleasure to have company outside of you, Drake."

"Oh, shut up–"

And on they go again. Honestly, Dani loves their dynamic. She has never once seen affection between the two of them, but she can feel their deep well of respect and admiration for one another. They would so easily go to any lengths for the other, from death to murder, complaining about it the whole way.

"How long will you be?" Tim asks when they get to the store. "I'm going in to work since we're already in the city, but Alfred should be done with errands around noon."

"I am fully informed of Alfred's schedule," Damian snarks.

"I was talking to Dani, you brat."

"Okay," Dani says, grinning at Tim. "Have fun at work."

Tim glares at Damian a second more before turning back to her with a smile. "Sure, I'll do that. Make sure you get at least a hundred records, okay?"

"What?"

"Two hundred, at the very least," Damian retorts. "We are not cheap, Drake."

Tim rolls his eyes. "See you tonight, you menaces."

"Bye!" Dani waves, then turns to the record store, starting to feel excitement wash away her melancholy. "Let's go in!"

The vibes of the record store are immaculate. Soft jazz is playing in a big open room with rows and rows of bins stacked with records. The walls and floor are concrete, but tasteful graffiti brings color into the space, and the chill is kept out with a collection of vintage rugs on the floor. Several customers are spotting the stacks, flipping through records. Dani loves it. She could spend hours here.

They do.

Getting the record player was easy, and Damian helped Dani pick two out with different features in less than a half hour. Picking out the records took much, much longer.

See, Dani has heard some great songs in her travels. Danny is also a music enthusiast, and whenever she stops by, she usually gets to hear a few bangers. So obviously, she needs to collect the records that have each of those songs. It's a bonus that there are more on the same disk she may also like.

Damian picks out a few dozen that he feels are essential for her collection, and Dani also picks certain ones that look different and seem fun. This record store has thousands of records, and only the most recent releases have multiple copies. Dani has to see all of them. What if she misses a good one?

She ends up asking random patrons for their favorites, adding records from all kinds of genres onto her growing pile. The employees end up adding their own recommendations, and for a couple of hours, it feels as though the entire store is helping Dani craft her collection. She gets everything from New Orleans blues to punk rock to bluegrass to video game soundtracks.

Honestly, if it was possible to listen to that much music, she would have insisted on getting every unique disk. But that would take forever to listen to. As it is, Dani is going to have to be playing music almost constantly to figure out what her favorites are. She's already planning on giving each of the records a score and sorting them by how groovy they are.

They don't leave until it's almost time for Alfred to start prepping dinner. The butler comes to pick them up, ignoring Dani's pleas to stay longer and Damian stubbornly continuing to look through one of the bins. They're threatened with no dessert.

They check out pretty quickly after that, and even that takes a solid forty-five minutes with all the cashiers working together.

Alfred sets them both to loading the car with their bounty while he settles the obnoxious bill. Dani thinks Alfred sent her out so she wouldn't overhear the total, but she listens in anyway. It comes out to $9,634.22. She spent almost ten grand on records.

She almost feels disgusted at her own gluttony, but Alfred's response to the total makes her feel better. "Oh dear, I'm surprised Master Damian held back." She has to remember that money is nothing to these people. It's a strange but familiar concept. Dani has never held much value in money, partly because of Vlad's attitude towards it, and partly because half her interactions are with ghosts that have no need for currency, but she recognizes how essential it is to survival. She knows the hunger of running low on money, of being unable to eat because you didn't have some paper or metal to fork over in exchange.

She has a complicated experience with money. It's like she's always swinging back and forth between finding it invaluable and worthless, and being with the Wayne's only exacerbates the confusion.

Regardless of its value, she's grateful. She makes sure to thank both Alfred and Damian, who both wave off her gratitude as if this much is nothing.

It makes her feel warm.

While Alfred starts dinner, Dani and Damian carry armfuls of records up to her room, Titus trotting happily behind them. Luckily, this Manor is so obnoxiously huge it has its own elevator, because otherwise, the task would be far more tedious.

"We will need to order storage for the vinyls," Damian comments as he stacks the records on top of each other in several piles. Nearby, Titus snoozes on one of Dani's beanbags. "It will be difficult to sort through them with your current set up."

"Sure, sure," Dani dismisses, picking up one of the records at random and reading the song list on the back. "Can you set up the record player? I want to try one of these out!"

Damian grunts in response, then gets to work, wiring the general use record player up to the speakers and adjusting the settings. He doesn't even look at the directions, seemingly familiar with all the functions. Dani, in the meantime, is trying to decide which vinyl she wants to christen her record player with.

"Let's do this one!" Dani says the second Damian turns to look at her, presenting "The Best of Queen". Damian scans over the title before nodding in approval, holding his hand out for the record. Dani watches carefully as he places the vinyl on the stand and then moves the tonearm onto the surface.

Before long, Dani is completely captivated by the soft piano opening of "Don't Stop Me Now". Damian stands up and moves behind her, presumably done with hanging out with her for the day. She turns back to him to thank him again, only to find him rifling through her vanity drawer to grab… her brush?

"No," Dani pouts.

Damian just turns to her with a blank expression. "Your hair is a mess. You will not be attending dinner with your hair as it is."

"You're not brushing my hair," Dani says stubbornly.

"You may do so with or without coercion," Damian threatens. Dani never thought a hairbrush looked so threatening before, but now it feels almost like Damian's wielding it like a knife.

"I'm prepared to fight you," Dani doubles down, standing up with fists brandished.

She doesn't even know what happens next. One moment she's challenging Damian, the next she's over his shoulder and on the ground, face pushed into the carpet. She can tell he was purposefully being careful not to hurt her, but he was still firmly holding her down. "You've lost," Damian says simply.

"But –"

"Titus."

The dog is suddenly in her face. Damian withdraws, and Dani sits up, giggling as Titus uses his nose as an adorable weapon. Once she's sitting, Damian clicks his tongue, and the huge dog settles his whole weight in Dani's lap.

"This can't stop me," Dani declares boldly.

Damian is standing in front of her, a smirk on his face. "Then move."

Dani wiggles a little, eliciting a grumble from Titus. The dog looks up at her with baleful eyes. To move would be to disturb the sleeping puppy, and Dani doesn't have the willpower to do it.

She looks at Damian with betrayal. "How could you?"

"I offered you an easier alternative," Damian says. "Now, allow me to make you at least somewhat presentable."

And that's how Dani ended up letting Damian brush her hair, utterly trapped beneath a very comfortable dog, listening to "Another One Bites the Dust", which honestly feels a bit pointed.

Dani forgot all about being desolate today.

She thinks maybe that was Damian's intention all along.

haha I bet you thought this chapter would be angsty. Nope! Almost entirely fluff. Angst/action happens next chapter :)

For everyone in the reviews saying they can't wait for Dani NOT to put two and two together about their identities, well done XD. She's really not going to do the math. In her mind, it's none of her business. Not prying into people's lives is her love language. Too bad it's the complete opposite for her family members lmao.

I have a couple notes that I made while writing this chapter to clear things up:

- In my canon, Ace was with Jason when he went to Ethiopia. He was shot trying to protect Jason from the Joker, and crawled his way over to his beaten human before the bomb went off. There is a reason for this. It will be revisited later.

- Also in my canon, Lady Gotham kept Jason from actually passing the veil into "true death". From her connection with all her "Knights", she prevented him from crossing over and held his soul until she could heal his body. She is not God, however, and the process was supremely imperfect. She's not a healing ghost, for one thing. Jason's body was never going to last. And she couldn't put his soul in it anyway, since she doesn't have the power to cross the veil (if any of you spot an inconsistency with this particular fact, let me tell you, I am fully aware. It's a plot point that I'm actually pretty excited for). So she led Talia to him and when Talia put him in the Pit, Jason's soul was shoved back into his body. That's my particular take on it. I'm not sure if it was a little clunky to put in, but I wasn't sure when else I'd put that info in and eh it didn't come across too weird I hope

- Dani isn't depressed or anything, it was just a really intense evening and she wasn't feeling it. Damian taking her out is his way of helping her cope. It worked, clearly. If you feel mankind is doomed, what you need is to spend time with the good pieces of mankind (i.e. Damian and random strangers that love music)

- the roomba technician thing? I wrote it while I was feeling completely unhinged. Ergo, Dani was unhinged. It's so obnoxiously out of place but I'm keeping it. In all actuality, Dani probably would have come into contact with a record player from Sam, but oh well. Dani was once hired by a drug cartel as a Roomba technician (totally fake job that they gave her to keep her close and find out how she knows what she knows) is now canon. I'm the author, you can't change my mind XD

One last thing: someone incredibly talented and way too nice made this amazing fanart. Here's the link: wallycet/771169669924159488/alright-so-found-another-epic-dpxdc-fic-its?source=share, and Wallycet - seriously, this is one of the coolest things. They say it isn't inspired by a direct scene, but I think I'll MAKE it a direct scene XD

(I really hope the image shows, but if it doesn't any of you who know how to do it please let me know!)

All in all, Happy New Year's, guys!