Disclaimer: not mine

Saw the ad for the new superman movie, there's colour! The last movies were so dark and gloomy. Never heard of many of the actors, makes me feel old

For the millionth time – stop messaging/reviewing me about artwork. You will be immediately blocked!

Chapter 8

Bruce sighed, leaning back in his chair, he hated sitting things out. But he had spiked the sensor enough that everyone had stated he was remaining behind. He'd been borderline, but that had been enough for his children. Thankfully, Damian hadn't put up much of a fuss about remaining, since Bruce was.

He was concerned about the Fenton household. Would they try to take Danny back? He'd redacted the information on him in the reports given to the team, but surely there would be family photos within the home. While Danny had supplied a lot of information, they needed more to bring the perpetrators to justice, which was why the investigation team was being sent even as Clark and Lois prepared the opening salvo of articles.

He wanted to be with the team but he'd had to accept that it was too risky. If he set off a sensor… he assumed he was borderline due to his little trip through time since he'd come very close to dying many times. Tim likely could have gone in his place but they hadn't even bothered to test him given his brother would be the most comfortable with him. Dick did have years more experience than Tim anyway, he would do well.

,

He saw the caller id and smiled, picking up. "Hey."

"Hey," Tim sounded tired but no worse than normal.

"Everything okay?" he asked gently.

"Kon came over for a while, met Danny. It went well which was good," Tim explained and Bernard heard the familiar sounds of Tim shifting around on his bed. "They both seemed to like meeting someone like them, even if Danny grew up not knowing. Oh! And B came around, he bought the story that Danny is my younger twin brother who was given away at birth."

"Really?" he asked, kind of surprised. Sure, Tim had shared stories of successfully lying to Batman but this? And he'd claimed his clone as his twin? So, did that mean he'd be staying in Gotham? "So, you decided to trust him?"

"I…yeah," Tim whispered. "I know it's crazy, it's too fast…"

"Tim, not everything needs a week of planning and a million contingencies. Sometimes, instinct works," he pointed out gentle.

And if it turned out Tim was wrong, if this new brother broke Tim's heart, Bernard was pretty handy with a baseball bat and a bō thanks to Tim wanting to make sure he could use the weapon since he always had spares hidden around.

"Do you want to meet him?" Tim offered.

,

Kon slipped into the penthouse, flopping down on the couch.

"I do have a door."

"Yeah, but this is easier," he shot back.

"You sound upset," Lex commented, looking up from his tablet.

Things between them were still odd, Kon couldn't help being on edge after everything. But in the last year, Lex had really been trying to be there for him. He'd cut down on antagonising Kal too, pulled away from the other 'villains'…he seemed to really be trying to turn over a new leaf. Kon's nice college account was thanks to Lex, not that he had any idea what he'd want to study or where.

"Yeah, we found some laws that almost passed when you were President. RR says they were hidden in things that were needed, but were caught and altered," he clarified, he wasn't blaming Lex. "They're bad."

"How bad?" Lex was giving him his full attention now, brow furrowed in concern.

"The Anti-ecto Acts and an agency called the GIW."

Lex frowned. "That sounds vaguely familiar," he admitted, picking his tablet up. "Ah, those," he murmured after a few moments. "They were far too vaguely worded, could have endangered anyone who ever flatlined in a hospital. Let alone you and some of your cohorts. Why the sudden worry about something that failed to pass?"

"Because the GIW didn't disband when they didn't, they've got an entire city cut off and under the belief they did pass."

"They what?!"

"The Kents have been given info to write articles. If you've got anything…"

"I'll see what I can find, especially on those who proposed such human rights violations."

Lex might be wary of heroes, especially those with powers, but he had his reasons for that. And he'd been mellowing. And while he liked power, massive human rights violations weren't really his thing. After all, he had created Kon to help protect people.

,

They had slipped in quite silently, but not enough to beat his surveillance. The Justice League was in Amity Park. Daniel's work? Hopefully. If they had come at the GIW's behest then things were about to go very wrong for everyone trapped within the city limits. He could get out; he had his own portal and for now it remained hidden since he had the good sense to turn it off when not in use.

He supposed he would know if they came to him, he had something of a truce now with his little badger and his 'team'. If Daniel had sent them, then surely, he would have told them to come to Vlad since he was not only the Mayor but the only adult who knew everything.

,

Nightwing slipped through the shadows, Zatanna shadowing him. Constantine was doing his own investigation at the high school since it was apparently a 'hot spot' of some sort. So was the house they were approaching…what the hell?!

"What is that?" she whispered, and he shrugged.

Whatever it was, it had to be breaking a million codes. How had the house not fallen under the weight? He found the right window and leapt upward, finding it easy to unlatch. He was guessing the informant who had approached them lived in the house and that this was their room. How else could they have such exact information on getting past the house security systems? The bedroom looked like a typical teenagers', just…empty, like no one had been there for a while which made sense.

Zatanna motioned down and he nodded, moving out first, listening carefully. There were people within the house, sleeping. The last thing they needed was to wake them. Then again, he kind of wanted to speak with the Dr. Fenton's, to ask what the hell they were thinking with most of their papers. They were engineers and biologists; they had no business making so many assumptions on emotions and mental states. If those laws had passed…most of Dick's family would have fallen under them.

Halfway down the stairs he froze. What…how…that…that was Tim. But that was impossible. He looked about fifteen…Tim had been with Young Justice, starting to merge into the Titans…Jason had been back…there was no way he'd been in Amity Park.

"Nightwing?" she hissed, she'd seen it too.

"I don't know," he answered. The redacted files…B knew about this. "come on," he whispered, heading down, they had a time limit after all.

He found the pantry door except it opened to more stairs lit by a sickly familiar green glow. He didn't want to see what was down there, but they had to. So, he walked down the stairs only to freeze in horror as he took in the massive, swirling green. That was… he looked at Zatanna to find she'd gone as white as a sheet as she stared at it in horror, never a good reaction from a member of JL Dark.

,

What had he been thinking? It was too soon, what if something went wrong? No, he would not catastrophise. Danny had done nothing, all his research into Phantom showed an untrained hero doing his best, learning on the job. What little research he could get through the block on the town using what Danny had brought them. His friend had been very thorough in going through the GIW databases and even adding in their own data. There was enough for Tim to put together the kind of hero his cl…brother was. And wonder if he would join the bats and birds. Maybe even the Titans?

And then the front door was opening which meant a key and Tim was up and moving, meeting Bernard in the doorway, wrapping around him, leaning in for a kiss.

"You better be Tim," Ber murmured when they parted.

Danny laughed. "He is!" he called, and Tim blushed slightly.

He took Bernard's hand and lead him into the apartment properly even as Danny stood from the couch. "Danny, this is my boyfriend, Bernard. Bernard, this is Danny." He felt so nervous, it was ridiculous!

Bernard offered his hand and Danny shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

,

Danny fought the urge to fidget. He was meeting Tim's boyfriend! Did that mean Tim trusted him? Why? His boyfriend seemed nice, with a warm grin and kind eyes, but he was a civilian! Sure, he probably had some basic training since Tim was a public figure in civilian life but still…

He thought he'd like Bernard given his comment after he finished kissing Tim hello but he could also tell that he had very different tastes in a partner to Tim. That made sense, they weren't the same person, except genetically. They had very different upbringings, different experiences, Danny's death… Tim needed someone he could relax around, who wasn't part of the life but Danny needed someone who could defend themselves from Ghosts, who could go toe to toe with him in a fight…and that really limited his options. It was why he'd dated Val, even if she hadn't known about his double life.

Soon they were sitting on the couches, making fun of Tim's movie choice, his orig…brother pouting at them.

,

They met back on the Javelin and began compiling reports and comparing notes. None of it was good. The Fenton's would be going away for a long time for that portal business alone let alone the weapons and OSHA violations, likely child endangerment too given the location and ease of access to their lab. As for the GIW…they were not a government agency no matter how hard they pretended, so where hell did their funding come from? They hadn't gained access to their base to hack into their systems yet. It was going to be very risky given their security so was being left till right before they left. Constantine and Dick would be going in, Dick to hack and John as the emergency portal exit if they were detected.

Dick sent what they had to the JL, knowing they wouldn't be happy with what the team had found so far.

,

Jazz watched the footage with a small smile and then deleted it. They were good, very good, but they hadn't understood the kind of security that Fentonworks used. She sent a message to Tucker to check the GIW servers as well. He'd done it, Danny had gotten out and made contact. Why else would Nightwing and some woman in a top hat be on the recording? Investigations could take time though so they would have to be patient and keep their heads down.

The city was a powder keg, Phantom hadn't appeared in days, no ghosts beyond Blobs had. The citizens were getting restless, ready to take on the GIW if needed to get their freedom back. She hoped the JL showed up before that could happen, otherwise a lot of people could die. They might need to carefully spread the word of the JL investigation to help keep people calmer.

,

Bruce wasn't at all surprised when Dick remained as the others filed out, his arms crossed and eyes locked on Bruce.

"What the hell is going on B?" he demanded. "The Fenton's…"

"Daniel Fenton," he answered, putting up one of the family photos where they could both see it. "Born Daniel Janus Drake seventeen minutes after his twin brother."

Dick gaped at him, yanking out a chair to fall into it. "Timmy…does he know?"

Bruce nodded. "I went to tell him before he could hear anything and found the twins together. Tim has known for years but thought his brother was happy in a safe and loving home. By the time that truly began to change, Tim was in deep with Young Justice and lost track. Danny recently learned the truth and came to Gotham to meet Tim and reach out to Batman on behalf of the town for help," he explained, watching Dick slump back in the chair.

"Twins…Tim could have grown up with a brother, with someone," he whispered, and Bruce nodded.

He loathed the Drakes for how they had 'raised' Tim, knowing that he could have had someone at his side but they had given the younger son away….

"So, they're staying at Tim's?"

"Jason is remaining close as extra security but Danny doesn't think anyone will be able to track him here. He brought all of the paperwork on his adoption with him."

"Smart."

"How bad is the situation?"

"The whole place is on edge. One wrong move…it'll be the town vs the GIW. We didn't see any Ghosts, maybe none were around or maybe they were warned to get out of town." Dick shrugged slightly. "Anything knew on who blocked our systems?"

Bruce shook his head. "There seems to be some non-human element to it."

"Great."

"Go home chum, get some sleep."

Dick snorted. "Take your own advice." But he stood and left the meeting room.

,

Jason cleaned his guns, leaning back in the very comfortable chair. Tim had really gone all out when he designed his Nest. The place was perfect and very nicely outfitted. B had chosen function over comfort in the Cave, Tim had managed both. He was keeping an eye on everything to the twins and Bernard could have a fun evening. As much as he itched to be on patrol, he wasn't going to leave Tim alone to defend the place if Danny was found.

Sure, Phantom could fight, he was a ghost vigilante after all. But the GIW specialised in fighting his kind. And according to Tim, his boyfriend was no slouch when it came to hand to hand, but he was still a civilian. So, Jason was staying close until they knew the kid was safe.

He liked Danny and he hoped the kid would stick around once it was all over. They already had a meta on the team, plus Jason as the resident zombie, so what was a adding a halfa? So he'd either have to learn to mute the glow or operate in his human form, but he'd fit right in…could even mean Timmy having a permanent partner since the kid went solo way too often. He got why Tim did, didn't mean he liked it. Maybe that made him a hypocrite since he worked solo too, but he also wore heavier armour and carried guns.

Did Danny know how to shoot? A lot of the weapons the Fenton's made were some kind of freaky firearm, did he know how to use them or only how to meddle with them? Could be interesting if he did know how.

,

Tucker sank back in his chair, he'd finished, he'd covered the JL's tracks. While they'd done a very good job, they didn't know ecto-tech and so had missed a few things. They had come to Amity Park! Finally. That meant Danny had made it out safely. It had been hell, waiting for news, surely the GIW would have announced it if they had caught Phantom. But if they'd just killed Danny for trying to get out?

They had hope now. That was more than they'd had for a while.

TBC…..