Dani's To-Do List

- finish Halloween costume

- find out more about grave

- finally meet Jason!

The first thing Cass does after getting back from her trip overseas (which had been incredibly sudden, otherwise Dani would have gone with her without hesitation) is go out to lunch with Dani. They go for Himalayan food and fill each other in on their last few weeks.

Once Cass finds out about her Halloween plans, she insists on being part of it and takes her shopping for the dress. This is perfect, because Dani's hoping to ask Cass about the grave she found in the backyard.

She gets a little distracted, though. She's really missed hanging out with Cass.

By the time Dani remembers the mystery and her quest to solve it, the mute girl is helping her attach violet ribbons on the frilly black abomination they found at the prom dress store. Luckily, Cass was shopping with her because it ended up being like four hundred dollars, which is absolutely obscene, by the way. And Dani's just going to be cutting it up! Cass insisted it was perfect and refused to leave the store without buying it, despite the younger girls protests about the unnecessary expense.

Anyway… back on track. "So, I haven't met Jason yet," Dani starts, and Cass glances at her pausing as she reads the anticipation and mischief in Dani's body language.

Cass signals for her to continue.

"And his last name was Todd, right?"

Cass raises her eyebrows, smirking a little at Dani's antics, and nods her head. Then she signs, "Why?"

"Well, I found this grave in the backyard…" Cass doesn't even blink. She really does have the most impeccable poker face. "It says Jason Todd lies there. But Dick said I would meet him soon, and that he just doesn't like coming to the Manor. Did he die?"

"Complicated," Cass signs. She tilts her head both ways, as if weighing her options. "Long story. Not mine to tell."

Dangnabbit. Cass may not lie to her like Dani thinks Dick, Tim, and Damian would, but she's redirecting. Dani pouts. "Whose is it then?"

"Jason," Cass signs, a custom sign like the opening of a book that ends in her hand moving in a J shape.

"But I haven't even met him!" Dani says, slouching in her chair. "I've only seen his grave! Don't you usually meet people before you visit their graves?" Well, live people. Dani meets ghosts through their graves all the time.

Cass shrugs with a grin. "All I say: happen before I live here."

Dani sighs. "Do you think Alfred would tell me?"

Cass shakes her head.

"Dick?"

Another shake.

"Stephanie?"

"Jason," Cass signs again.

Well, that investigation was short-lived.

Cass considers her. Then she glances surreptitiously around them and then signs, "Internet."

Oh. Maybe Dani could stand to be a little more persistent. That was the most obvious answer.

Except that she can't really use a computer.

Actually, maybe she should finally do something about that. Someone (Dick or Tim, probably) left a brand new cell phone in her new room, which she'd picked up and turned on to nothing but static. It's been sitting in her nightstand drawer ever since. It was the same with the computer. They must be really high tech to react so poorly to her.

Cass reads her disappointment with her all-seeing eyes and then suggests, "I get Jason here."

Dani perks up immediately. "You will? I've been dying to meet him since I got here!"

Cass shrugs. "Stubborn. Angry. But…" She lets her fingers trail out of the sign, smirking. "He like me."

Dani's said it before and she'll say it again: Cass is so cool. "When?"

She considers this. "Tonight."

Tonight! Cass can solve anything! She's the coolest person Dani's ever met. This is instantly confirmed when Cass pulls out her phone and texts Jason—nicknamed "Drama King" in her phone — a simple: Manor. Tonight.

She goes back to attaching the silk to the dress. After a couple of minutes, Cass's phone buzzes again and Dani eagerly peers over the older girl's shoulder to see his response.

Why

6:30

Cass smiles mischievously, sending a wink Dani's way. Jason repeats his question, but Cass doesn't respond. When Dani asks why, her only response is to have some patience.

Twenty minutes later, Cass's phone buzzes again.

Fine.

The girls share a victorious grin.

Dani's missed her.

Dani stands in the hallway outside Tim's door, books hugged tight to her chest. She was going to let Tim get some rest and leave him alone, but when she listened in to see if he was sleeping, she heard the tell-tale sound of a very-much awake Tim typing away on his laptop. When he pauses for a second, sighing and probably rubbing his face, Dani moves up to the door and knocks on it.

A pause, the soft footsteps of socked feet on plush carpet, and the door swings in. Tim smiles when he sees her. "Oh, hey Dani. What's up?"

"Would you help me with something?" Dani asks, gesturing with her armful of books. She would do it herself, but she needs the internet to look some of it up, and everything in this Manor is too high-tech for her to use.

Tim glances down at the books with a glimmer of interest. "Sure. Are those some of the books you and Steph got from the Underground Railroad bunker?"

Dani's kinda impressed he recognized it at a glance. He only saw them once, and they've been stashed away in one of Dani's hideyholes since. "Yeah. They're records. I was hoping to track down the people and see what happened to them."

She can see the little spark in his eye that signals his mind demons have started dancing around in his brain, demanding he solve the mystery. "Sure, sounds like fun. Let me grab my laptop." He turns around and grabs the laptop and a notebook off his overflowing desk. Dani's only caught a couple of glimpses of Tim's room, and it makes Danny's look spotless. Seriously, how does Tim find anything in the pile of clothes, papers, tech parts, and who-knows-what-else? "You're judging," Tim chides, glaring at her a little.

"I certainly am," Dani confirms, eyeing the pile of cheesit boxes with a pair of dress shoes on top. "Why do you have so many socks?"

"You can never have too many socks," Tim retorts. "Now, if you want my help…?"

Dani decidedly does not laugh at him, which Tim rewards with another glare, and they walk off in the direction of the dining room. "We only have an hour until dinner," Dani explains when she shuffles past the turn that would take them to the library.

"Alfred doesn't like work at the table," Tim warns. Dani turns her puppy dog eyes on him, which he is supremely weak to. "Well, we can ask, but it's up to him."

Alfred doesn't mind, as long as they clean up before he's ready to start setting the table for dinner. Dani appreciates it, because she's too excited about Jason's impending arrival to wait anywhere else. Except maybe the foyer, but there isn't a good work table there.

"Alright, let's see what you've got." Tim accepts one of the books Dani slides over to him. He opens it up and reads the first page. "Oh. It's in code."

"It's railroad terminology," Dani supplies. "I'm guessing the conductors are the people helping the slaves, which are either baggage, loads of potatoes, or bundles of wood."

Tim blinks, giving her a proud little smile, and then opens his notebook. "Here, take notes. Let's determine what each code word is referring to."

He goes down the page, which is formatted like some kind of ledger for a train station. Each word he lists goes in the notebook. With a quick search, Tim pulls up some of the well-known terms that were figured out and compares them to the first-hand document.

"Conductors are the guides," Tim explains, tapping his finger next to a row that lists two conductors and four bundles of wood. "They are traveling with the slaves. The family bunker you found was called a station, and the family themselves were station masters." Dani nods and writes that down. "And see here? These funds came from 'stockholders'. They donated money or supplies. The names may be listed, but I'm guessing it's more code."

From the ledger information, Tim manages to connect Lyla's family house as the midpoint between a few other 'stations'. Most fascinatingly, however, is the mention of "Moses". Tim explains that this term refers to a single person: an escaped slave by the name of Harriet Tubman, who traveled the Railroad several times to help other slaves escape to Maryland. Tim wondered aloud why she was in New Jersey. Dani was just in awe. She has to meet this Harriet Tubman lady. She sounds amazing.

They continue to work, mostly decoding all the terms and trying to find out names and dates to use to start tracking down slaves. There were some numbers, titles, pseudonyms, but mostly slaves were simply referred to as "bundles of wood". Tim is sure there's more information about them, though.

And then Dani senses him: Jason.

Like Red Hood, she can feel him like she can ghosts. A little different; fainter, with more discomfort in the back of her throat, and without the normal shiver down her spine. When he steps within the bounds of the Manor, she can feel him like a spider crawling up her arm. It's disconcerting. Dani nearly thought it was Red Hood.

But then she remembered there was another potentially resurrected person in Gotham, one that had been invited here for dinner.

Dani focuses hard on pretending to stay engrossed in her discussion with Tim. They found a possible lead on one of the families – the one supposedly led by Harriet Tubman. Since she's so famous, information on her "baggage" is much more readily available. The others might require some more digging. They might have to contact some historians and curators for information on the other stations.

It's hard to pretend she's as interested in the research as much as she was two minutes ago. Her focus is entirely shifted to listening to Jason greet Alfred and bicker with Damian. He only has soft words for Cass, who immediately starts dragging him towards the dining room to meet Dani (if the approaching footsteps and Jason's half-hearted protests are anything to go by).

"What are you doing here?" Tim asks in surprise when Jason walks through the dining room door.

Dani jumps to her feet, excited to finally meet the last Wayne brother.

"Cass texted," Jason replies in a brusque tone. "Take it up with her." Cass grins from where she's hanging off of Jason's arm.

Tim raises his hands in surrender. "Hey, I was just curious. I'm glad you're here." Then he glances over at Dani. "We've been waiting to introduce you to our newest resident."

Jason follows his gaze and Dani can feel the panic that filters through him. Hadn't he sensed her too? Was his sense less developed? Had he just been too distracted with the influx of complicated emotions Dani can sense from him?

"What are you—" Jason pauses, seeming to collect himself with a couple rapid blinks and a harsh swallow. "What are you doing here?" he chokes out, garnering concerned looks from both Tim and Cass.

Dani glances at Tim, then Cass. They're not looking at her. "I… live here now?" she answers with a touch of uncertainty.

"No, but… what…" Jason steps back. "Wait, I need a minute."

He turns on his heel, shrugs off Cass, and all but flees from the room.

Dani blinks. Looks at Tim, who's as confused as her. Looks at Cass, who looks like she's puzzling things out. "Was it something I said?"

Tim assures her it wasn't, still looking lost and frustrated about it, while Cass stares at Dani with something calculating in her dark eyes. "Go talk him," she signs.

"Uhm, that might not be the best idea…" Tim starts, but Dani has already stood up to follow Cass's instructions. "He's… Listen, Dani, he's not the most… stable."

Yeah, Dani would be surprised if he was. His ectoplasm is as messed up as what Dani had sensed from Red Hood. Had Jason come into contact with the "Pits" Hood had mentioned? All the angry and terrified emotions that their souls were contaminated with had to be seriously messing with their heads. Two people in the span of a week with the same condition? What were the odds?

"I'll be fine!" Dani calls over her shoulder as she trots off after the new brother. He'd already gone a good distance away, and he seemed to be heading towards the west end of the property.

Which, coincidentally, is where his grave is.

Dani has to run to catch up to him, but luckily, he pauses on his grave, standing there and watching it with despondency.

He turns when Dani gets closer. "What are you doing here?"

"Following you," Dani replies. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Haven't we talked enough?" Jason snaps, his eyes flashing green. If Dani wasn't sure of his liminal-status before, she definitely is now.

"I've never met you before," Dani answers honestly, a bit surprised at his response. "At least, I don't think so?"

Jason studies her with something like disbelief slowly edging out the toxic green his irises had turned. "You… don't you know who I am?"

Confusion coloring her tone, Dani unsurely asks, "Are you not Jason?"

They just kind of… stare at each other.

"You really don't know?" Jason asks. "You haven't figured it out?"

Oh, Dani gets it now. "Of course I have!" she chirps. "We're literally standing at your grave! If you want to hide the fact you've died, you should probably get rid of the gravestone."

Jason blinks. He looks behind him, at his grave, then back at her. Then, he throws back his head and laughs hard. It almost sounds painful with the force the laughter is coming out of his chest. Dani just kind of stands around awkwardly, unsure what he's laughing at.

Eventually, Jason calms down, wiping away the tears in his eyes. "Not much of a detective, are you?"

"Am I supposed to be?" Dani wonders, tilting her head. What is she missing here? Why is she being laughed at? "What's so funny?"

Jason has started chuckling again. With the sparkle of mirth in his eyes, he waves her off, "Nothing, nothing. So you found my grave?"

"Uh, yeah, it's right there," Dani says uncertainly, glancing at the grave as if to reassure herself it's still there. "I was wondering about that actually…"

"My family was under the impression I'd died while I was visiting my birth mom overseas," Jason says. "Obviously, that wasn't the case. The grave is funny, though, so I make sure they don't get rid of it. What did you say your name was?" He throws an arm around her shoulders and steers them back towards the Manor.

Dani isn't entirely satisfied with the story, sensing a lot more behind it if the spark of pain when mentioning his mom is anything to go by. And someone had been buried there, somewhat recently, and was no longer there. "Uh, Dani. With-an-i."

"With-an-i, got it," Jason echoes, grinning. Dani doesn't understand his sudden mood shift. She does let herself get led back into the Manor, but it's mostly out of bewilderment.

She feels like she's missing something incredibly obvious here.

Jason can't believe it.

This is unprecedented.

Someone ended up at the Manor without knowing their identities. That hadn't happened since Dick, back when Batman was barely more than rumor. Dick had been telling him to come to the Manor to meet their newest sibling for more than a month now. She'd been living here for more than a month and she hadn't figured it out!

She'd literally met Red Hood and him within the same week, and by what he can tell, she can sense him like he can her, but far more potently. And she just… what? Thought there were two of them? That she hadn't made the most obvious conclusion was probably the most entertaining thing to happen in Jason's life. He even tried to give her a hint, just a little one, and she totally glossed over it!

It's refreshing to have someone in the Manor that isn't constantly trying to pry secrets out of his head. She takes things at face value. Jason's sure that living here will train her out of that line of thinking, but he'll enjoy the "don't ask, don't tell" policy she's got going on right now.

And the look on Tim and Damian's faces when he walks in with an arm around With-an-i is absolutely priceless. You'd think he was holding a gun to her head or something. She must be special to get those two wrapped around her finger like that.

Oh, and what must they be thinking about his interest in her? Ahhh, tonight was far more entertaining than he thought it would be.

"So what were you guys doing when I got in here?" Jason asks, taking the seat next to With-an-i and enjoying the twitch in the brat's eyelid. The books Tim and With-an-i were pouring over when he arrived have been neatly put away on one of the side tables against the wall, Tim's laptop sitting on top.

"Looking into the history of some escaped slaves," Tim responds. Because, why not? Honestly though, with Tim, that's fairly normal.

With-an-i nods along. "From the Underground Railroad station I found a while ago."

"Huh?"

"The night Steph and I declared war on the booting company and became vigilantes."

Jason's a little lost, but with a few glances around the room, confirms that this is not only common knowledge, but also a fairly regular way to announce it. "Do I ask?"

"Not unless you're ready to know," Tim advises him in a sage tone. Jason looks over at Cass, who nods just as somberly. With-an-i, of course, looks immensely pleased with herself.

Jason decides to take the risk. "What do you vigilantes call yourselves?"

Without missing a beat, With-an-i responds, "Boot-man and Rob'em."

This was apparently not common knowledge. Tim chokes on his drink and Cass giggles silently. Jason can't help but wonder if she knows…? But, then, she would know his identity. With this question in his eyes, he glances at the brat, who subtly shakes his head.

"Which one of you is Boot-man?" Tim asks.

"Uh, I am. I started it. Stephanie is my sidekick."

"Robin is Batman's partner," Damian corrects, signature scowl on his face.

"And Rob'em is Boot-man's lackey," With-an-i replies.

"This conversation is inane," Damian huffs after a second of looking at the young girl. Honestly, the fact that he participated in it in the first place suggests he doesn't hate her nearly as much as he's pretending to. "And your self-proclaimed quest to oppose parking enforcement companies is ridiculous. If drivers do not wish to be penalized, they should avoid parking their car illegally."

"But it's not illegal!" With-an-i insists, a fire burning in her eyes. "They're the ones being illegal! But the cops won't do anything, because it's such a small citation, and I'm pretty sure the parking enforcement guys are bribing them too."

"You may continue this discussion later," Alfred cuts in as he walks through the door, leading a distracted Dick through. He's focused on a tablet, but he eventually looks up to reorient himself towards his seat, and when he does, he spots Jason.

Jason revels in the slight flash of panic when Dick notices With-an-i next to him. Dick's always been overprotective, and this girl is untrained and completely unaware of all the danger around her. "Hey, Dickie," Jason greets easily.

"Jason," Dick returns. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I wanted to meet him!" With-an-i jumps in, either oblivious to the tension or ignoring it completely. "Cass pulled some strings."

Cass nods while Jason rolls his eyes. He just takes requests from Cass more seriously, is all. She's one of the more sane members of the Batfamily, after Alfred and Lucius. Jason would follow her into hell. Or, you know, family dinner.

"Well, hey," Dick says after a moment. "It's nice to see you."

Ha. Bull. Dick looks like he would've rather swallowed glass than see Jason here next to his new little adoptee. Jason shifts, just a little, and it's like the mob boss is dancing around a live wire with the way Dick tenses.

With-an-i looks between them with furrowed brows. "What are you guys doing? Knock it off." Dick shoots a final glare at Jason and sits down in the spot across from With-an-i, and Jason just grins back, smug. With-an-i turns her blazing blue eyes on him. "I told you to knock it off."

And there's just something about the way she says it. Maybe it's the way his insides get all twisted up at her annoyance, maybe it's just the youth in her face and the fire in her eyes. But Jason sits in his chair properly, up straight and away from towering over the young girl, and stops intentionally antagonizing Dick.

Tim and Dick share a look. Jason glowers at them, then looks away when With-an-i gives him a glare. Cass is watching the whole spectacle with glee.

"Favorite sister," Cass signs, gesturing at With-an-i.

"She's your only sister, Cass," Dick teases, sending her a more relaxed smile as the tension eases. "And you guys spent time together today, right? Did you figure out a name sign?"

With-an-i brightens up considerably at the change in topic. "Oh, yeah! We did that at lunch. Have you gone to the Himalayan place on eleventh east? Fantastic sukuti, if you ever want any. Anyway, we were brainstorming some ideas and I think we figured it out!" She makes the sign for a 'd' and then swirls it upward over her open left palm. It's the sign for 'spirit', but with a 'd'.

… This is an actual child. This isn't a hyper-genius twelve year old with stalker tendencies and too much knowledge for his own good like Tim. This isn't a highly trained assassin from the League like Damian and Cass. This is a literal child, who has died like Jason died. And if Jason wasn't sure she was unaware of their secret identities before, he's positive now. There's absolutely no way she would choose 'spirit' as her base sign if she knew she was among a family of detectives. Not if she wanted to keep her death a secret.

Jason will kill for this child.

When he looks up, he sees the brat looking at him. There's mutual understanding in the gaze they share. Demon brat knows the significance behind With-an-i's sign, and he seems just as willing as Jason to keep it from the vultures (looking at you, Tim) for the time being.

Maybe she would get the chance to reveal her own secrets.

Maybe for once in this universe, the Bats could stand not to know something.

But regardless of if With-an-i managed to pull it off or not, the other Bats would be getting no help in their investigation from Jason.

Kay listen. This is my finals week, so even though I wanted to add at least another thousand words to this with another scene, but I didn't have the time. I have the scenes for the next chapter drafted out, though, and I think you guys will really enjoy it! It's the Halloween episode... and I've got something interesting planned for it 3

Also, you may think it's weird that Dani hasn't figured out Red Hood is Jason, but she's 13 and also she's got DANNY's genes. Boy's clueless, and them genes passed on lol.

I have a goal to get the Christmas chapter out around Christmas, but it's a solid bit down the line so I'm not sure it'll happen. We'll see. I get bored when I don't have class, so I'll probably be writing more. Thank you all again for your reviews, and I'll see you all next week!