#damian and danny are brothers

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC prompt: Spiritual Siblings

Bruce: My assassin kid can't be that normal!

Damian: Well, I’m completely emotionally stable by Amity Park standards. The problem is with you. Obviously.

~~~~~

Damian had long found peace and home in Amity, so he did not worry that the new family and Gotham might not accept him.

Sure, Al Ghul had lived without any contact with his biological father all these years but he could safely say that he had a happy childhood. First years were hard and he was raised more as a weapon than a human being. Even so, after that a ghost who decided to become his brother appeared and everything changed.

Damian still does not know what Ra's owes Phantom but Danny has a right to take him, without prior notification, to live with Fentons, to visit Aunt Alicia at her farm, and to make Vlad’s weekends much less calm and boring. Danny jokes that he just steals him as a hostage when Al Ghul does not pay taxes for using Lazarus Pits. Whatever the reason, he already has a family that loves him.

However, he still wanted to make an effort to fit in this one too. The model of conduct certainly was his older brother. No, not the oldest, of course. To be honest Dan wasn’t the kind of a man that could charm you from the first minute. But Danny, in Damian’s experience, had a calming effect on people. So he tried to act like him.

And, yeah, for lack of experience, he was more fun!Danny at home and super!Danny on patrol but he also really tried not to get any of his own assassin personality in his new-self and was tired of it. He couldn’t get a 100% match. Fine. Still doesn’t look like anyone in this house really likes him, so whatever.

Damian understood why Bruce didn't like his company. Jazz had long ago explained to him the importance of voluntary consent. His mother did a terrible thing. Al Ghul was not a child and therefore he was ready to admit it. However, he also understood that children were not responsible for the actions of their parents.

As a biosocial being, he wanted to be more than just a painful reminder of what had happened to Bruce. Wayne's ignoring of his existence was rude. But Damian wouldn't force this man to spend time with him just because he was legally obligated to take care of his well-being. He wasn't going to prove anything to Batman, and he definitely didn't need his attention. The care of his real family is enough.

But Damian really tried to get along with new potential siblings. He even shared Sam's and Danny’s special jokes with some of adopted kids 'cause he didn’t want them to feel like he put himself above them. He wasn't good at showing emotions but he was as open as the assassin could afford to be to strangers.

But they all obviously expected something from him. And it reminded him of the League in an unpleasant way. It was easier with Fentons. Almost everyone in Amity Park was saying what they thought, and Damian didn’t have to waste time decoding potential conspiracies.

Damian missed movie marathon nights with Sam, Tucker, and Danny. And he hoped Dani had time to bother Vlad in his absence.

It was so weird here. When Danny and Valerie were fighting, they would gather at the dinner table anyway. When Damian wanted to have combat training with Drake here, he was forced to stay in his room. A very strange punishment. And undeserved one too.

Al Ghul felt quite calm and fine sitting at his easel and painting the people he left behind. An unusual subject for his paintings. But, Ancients, he missed Amity.

He missed Jack's bone breaking hugs, Maddie's Ecto-Contaminated food, arguments of Sam and Tucker, cozy art class with Mr. Baxter and even Vlad's done look. He missed Danny telling him about the stars. He also missed sword practice with Dan's boyfriend Fright Knight and he missed Dan's stories about his other youth. He missed literary evenings with Mr. Lancer, Clockwork and Ghost Writer. He even missed the hours-long Jazz lectures. He missed the dance of death and life. He missed being looked at without expecting anything from him. He missed the crowd. In the league, he was never at one with himself and in Amity he was always surrounded by people who were not afraid of his fate as the heir to the said League. This Manor was full of people, but for the first time in his life he felt lonely. Damian has to admit that he felt left behind. Of course, he understood that people needed time to build relationships, but he could have sworn that even he didn't need that much time to connect with Fentons. Maybe this is one of the tricks of the Clockwork? Then this one is not funny at all.

~~~~~Phone call~~~~ Damian: Mom, I want to go home. Maddie: I'm so sorry to hear that, sweetheart. What happened? Damian: Just…Nobody likes me. Why was I sent here? I'm not weak. And my brothers are quite capable of protecting me from Raas. I don't need Batman for this. Maddie: We'll figure it out, champ. Moms love you, remember? I'll talk to Talia, okay? Your brothers and sisters are already on edge and ready to steal you right during the patrol. Damian: It would be nice, but it would put a bat on their tails. So lock them in thermoses if they bother you too much. Maddie: But that won't stop Jazz. Damian: I missed the part where that's my problem. Maddie: Well, it will be your problem if she comes to your doorstep with your childhood photos and moralizing.

~~~~~~~~

It's his birthday. And he was always excited about it. But now, looking at the pile of gifts, he realizes that these people don't know him at all.

And this is the family of the best detective in the world? Maybe yes, but none of them bothered to really find info about him or ask him about his likes. Damian's a stranger here, and that's obvious.

The lunch container, which he will obviously give to the Boxing Lunch when he's in the right time interval, tennis rackets that Youngblood might like, The Graveyard Book…

Valerie had already read it to him and Dani before it was published. Thanks to Clockwork for his little miracles. The book reminded him of home.

Obviously this one is from Jason. And well, Damian doesn't think it was a pun on his life in Amity, more like Hood's inside joke about death but Dami will definitely leave this thing in the room at the Manor and maybe take it with him to the GZ or Amity Park.

~~~~~~~

When they gather at the festive table, Damian realizes that he has to make some kind of speech. He tries to be as brief as possible in his report.

Damian: Todd, your gift is appreciated. And I found a potential use for items that were given by others, Bruce.

Damian never called Batman his father. With Maddie and Talia, calling both moms wasn't weird, especially when Jazz explained to his biological mom that he wasn't trying to replace her. But with Wayne, it was different. Both women took care of him, they deserved this title. Wayne provided for his needs, but his core heart didn't feel like they were close. Surely there's nothing wrong if they're just Bruce and Damian? Obviously, they both don't enjoy each other's company.

Jason: So, do you like books, little demon? Damian: Sometimes reading is quite relaxing, I should point out. I'm not indifferent to Stephen King and Lovecraft. Jason: Personal recommendations? Damian: Cujo is one of my favorites. Jason: Not a common opinion, huh. Damian: It reminds me of my family. Damian tries to smile like Danny does, but Jason's twitching eye clearly indicates that he screwed it up.

~~~~Dick and Jason synchronously drop their forks as an excuse for a conference under the table.~~~~ Dick*whispers*: How's the situation? Jason*whispers back*: If the boy asks for a dog, don't be fooled. He will be happy to dance on our graves.

~~~~Cass knocks over their heads, urging them to return to their seats.~~~~

Damian: So how good you are at fading and sliding,Todd? Jason: Why did you ask? I can't, of course. Damian: Because you're dead. It seemed to me that this was a completely understandable interest. Jason: Wow, what a jerk. Damian: I wonder why your own incompetence makes me a jerk? Even my sister could do this when she wasn't dead for even a month.

Jason, for some reason, looks awkward, although he has never been embarrassed before by the idea that a girl could be stronger than him.

Jason: Your sister? How old was she when... So it's all about age. Damian rolls his eyes.

Damian: We're the same age. It seems like it was four or five years ago. To be honest, I don't remember. I wasn't around then. I'll ask Danielle the next time I go to the cemetery to visit her. Dick: I'm so sorry, Dami. Where is she buried? We can take you. Damian: There's no need. She has no grave, as there was nothing to bury. Bruce sighs loudly and covers his eyes with his hands. Damian: It's just easier to contact the afterlife in places like this, you now? Duke: We are very sorry, dude. Damian: Don't be. People come and go, and then come back if they haven't finished annoying you. There's no point in regretting the past. Her creation was not the most ethical thing but everything is going as it should. At least that's what Grandpa says. Considering that the old man is older than time, I prefer to believe him. No one plays with fate without his permission unless they want to get hit by the clock. Tim now looks like he's going to throw up and Damian hurries to move his plate closer to him. Jason: Yes, Bruce, this is definitely your son. Damian: Did I say something wrong? Dick smiles faintly at him but still doesn't find anything to say. Damian shrugs and goes back to eating asparagus. People outside of Amity are so weird.

Signal looks at Damian suspiciously as he carefully rearranges the plate of soy sausages away from himself. Did he take him for an idiot? Everyone knows that even vegetarian sausage bite and fight no worse than those with meat when they come back to life. It's not Damian's fault that he doesn't have an ectoblast with him and wants to have extra distance from the opponent.

~~~At the same time, in the walls of Wayne Manor~~~ Dani: The operation codenamed "Get Haunted Idiot" is declared open. Danny and Dan *salute*.

~~~Several Days Later~~~

Damian: So, this is Dan. Danny says we keep him as a GIW repeller. Dick: And Danny and Dan are.. Jazz: His brothers. I'm Jazz by the way. Elle and I are his sisters. Damian: I feat the criteria to participate in their name cult, so they took me. Dan, Danny, Dani and Dami. Dan *ruffles Damian's hair* : I prefer to call this biting threat Damn, to be honest. Dami: Shut up, DaNtE, they almost wrote Dark in your passport, you idiot. I can't believe I thought I missed you. Danny: Wow. Rude. Your grandpa would be disappointed. Great job, lil one.

~~~Several years later~~~

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 10 - "It's alright, I'm here now."

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: Slight mention / implications of experimentation

A/N: I might have gotten a bit carried away with this... I also might take a little inspirational break tomorrow.

Damian should have known better, he knew his mother and he knew his grandfather. He should have known, especially after having met Respawn. Could his mothers behavior maybe clued him in sooner? But nothing had seemed any different lately, maybe that was what should have tipped him off. Yet if it hadn't been for Drake's paranoia, after another incident with his grandfather, Damian knew he probably wouldn't have found out anytime soon, either.

He ran through the halls of the League of Assassins facilities, knowing this place probably better than his siblings that were keeping his grandfather's men busy. He could hear them over the coms, he could also hear his father confronting his mother. They were in a different location to cover more ground. Richard and Todd were with him in this location while Drake and Cain had gone with their father. Brown and Thomas were back in Gotham awaiting hopefully good news.

Damian rounded a corner, dodging another of his grandfather's men. He did not wait or turn to pin the man down. Trusting his siblings to take care of this, and a second later, gunshots echoed behind him.

There were various options of where the child, his newly created younger brother, could be. But considering how his grandfather had changed, Damian took another turn leading to the underground area. As much as there was a likelihood that the child was created to replace him, he was sure that grandfather was raising the boy differently also, as he was now considered a failure since he had left.

When he reached the underground area he slowed down, blade drawn and surveying the area. It was surprisingly empty, something Damian did not trust. Carefully he walked along the hall until the distant sound of sniveling made him pause.

"I think I found him." Damian relayed through the coms.

"Gotcha we will catch up with you brat." Todd answered and Richard agreed a second later, spouting some 'mushy' nonsense in addition.

"We will finish up here then and prepare for the pick up!" Drake on the other hand informed, despite the fact that Damian could still hear their fathers end of what appeared to be a heavy argument with his mother through the coms.

Carefully he made his way over to a heavy looking metal door. Locked. Damian clicked his tongue. It took a bit of lockpicking but soon enough he heard the soft click of the lock and he slowly pushed the door open.

"Of course grandfather would have an underground lab." He eyed the room and the equipment stored in it. Different machines with different functions were lined all along the walls. He could see villes, tubes, containers and pinchers of Lazarus Water. But what really caught his eye was the huge tank in the back of the room. The tank was nearly empty except for a four inch high puddle of Lazarus Water and a barely clothed, blue eyed child sitting in it.

The child was indeed the source of the sniffling Damian had heard early as he now saw the boy looking at him wide eyed and rubbing at his eyes furiously like he did not want to be seen crying.

"W-who are you?" The child asked, voice cracking from obvious disuse. How bad were they treating this boy? "You look weird."

Damian knew his eyes were softening just a tiny bit at the child's question. They hadn't trained out the child's natural honesty yet. There was still a chance for this boy to grow up with more normalcy than he ever did.

"You can call me Robin." He answered the child as he stepped closer, noting how tiny the boy appeared to be, unintentionally clicking his tongue. Something must have been wrong with the documents Drake found. The papers spoke of a boy at the age of six. But this boy was tiny, clearly younger than that. Or perhaps they hadn't had the chance for the forced aging process?

"Are you a fruitloop?" The boy inched to the back of the tank away from Damian and he barely refrained from clicking his tongue at that motion.

"I am human, not a type of cereal." Damian shot back at the kid inspecting the tank and how to best open it to get the child out.

"Well duh. But you could still be a fruitloop." Richard would have a great time talking to this child, Damian briefly thought as he knocked against the glass of the tank, trying to judge from what kind of glass it was made and if a Batarang was enough to break it.

The child watched him, there were still some tears in the corner of the boy's eyes but there was also curiosity. "You really are getting me out of here?"

Damian absentmindedly nodded as he reached back with the batarang in hand. "Keep were you are, I am going to bre-"

"No, it's fine!" The child suddenly hopped up, splashing the puddle of Lazarus water against the glass as he clumsily stumbled forward, pressing his hands against the glass from the inside. Damian stopped mid movement, watching how the child's tongue stuck out in concentration as the boy continued to press his body against the glass.

For a moment, Damian was wondering what the child was doing until the boy's hand suddenly went through the glass, falling forward. Damian hurried to catch the boy as he literally fell through the glass.

"What did you do?" He asked once he had the boy, his new baby brother, securely in his arms. The boy giggled, swinging his legs a little in the air.

"I got powers!" It didn't make sense to Damian, neither his mother nor father had a meta gene but there was the possibility of his grandfather mixing in other DNA or possibly, he looked around the lab, no he didn't want to imagine this.

"I see." Was his only answer to the boy for now, he turned to his com. He balanced the boy in his arm while placing a couple of devices in the room in preparation. "The child is safely retrieved. Prepare for pick up."

The boy's eyes widened as Damian made his way out of the underground part. Richard and Todd were waiting at the entrance of the stairs for him. The weight of the boy in his arms and the feeling of his small hands clinging to his uniform, it slowly caused the realization that Damian indeed had a blood related little brother now. Not a clone, but a little brother. Sure he had been created through an artificial womb but the boy was not a clone.

"ETA 5 Sending the pick up location." Drake spoke over the coms.

He was close to the stairs when he noticed the boy pressing his face into his shoulder, shaking slightly. It caused Damian to slow down and inspect the child. Did he overlook an injury?

"You… are you really taking me out of here? It's not a trick from the fruitloop to make me trust him? You are taking me away?"

The words made Damian stop right by the foot of the stairs. Richard and Tood were right at the top, waiting for him. He could go up and let Richard carry the child and do the comforting. His brother was better at this than he was. But for some reason, Damian didn't want to do that. He sent one look up the stairs before putting his focus on the child.

"Do not worry." Carefully, while still holding the boy securely Damian made the boy look at him, wiping the beginning of tears away from watery blue eyes. Whatever his grandfather had done to this child, Damian as well as the rest of his family will not let it happen any longer, especially now that they know of his existence. "It's alright, I am here now."

Saying this sounded very 'cheesy', as his oldest brother would put it, in his ears but the small hopeful shine in the boy's eyes was worth it. "As long as I am here, grandfather will no longer lay a hand on you, nor put you through anything you do not want. I am sure father and the rest of our family will agree."

And didn't Damian know it? Because despite all the conflict and contempt that sometimes existed among them, it was still a fact that his family was protective, it was not a if but a certainty that if anyone harmed his baby brother then he was surely not the only one burning down a building or two.

It rang especially true that once they got picked up, instead of letting one of his siblings hold their new brother he tossed them a controller with a certain gleam in his eyes and watched them fight over who got to trigger the explosive he had placed underground before they were out of reach. All while their baby brother was snuggling into his arms and purring like a cat. Damian smirked at his older siblings, it appeared that his baby brother already had a favorite. Not like his siblings would have been a competition in the first place.

[phantoms-world-and-more]

Damian and Danny are brothers, but not twins (Danny is a year older). While Talia isn't a great mother she does love her children in her own way. So when Ra chose Damian to be the heir he had no need for Danny. Ra told Damian to kill him in a final test to become the heir. Damian hated his older brother and was always in competition with him so he didn't hesitate. Talia made it look like Damian killed him (even Damian thinks he did), but she whisked him away. She gave/hid him with the Fentons, she and Maddie had trained together.

-Danny knows Bruce Wayne/Batman is his father but sees no point of contacting him especially after Damian shows up on the scene (also him being a billionaire, they are all fruitloops with too much money and power). He never wants to be in the same room with Damian ever again. Besides he loves is new parents Jack and Maddie.

-Talia has become more of a cool aunt figure/then mother figure who sometimes swings through town leaving interesting gifts

-Jack and Maddie are good parents, and would do anything for their children. Especially anything to keep them safe. They even do a 180 after Danny reveals to be Phantom and drive the GIW out of town.

-It somehow gets out to the BatFam that Damian was not the only child of Talia and Bruce. They trace Danny to Amity Park and try to force a reconciliation. It does not go well.

-Jason knew about Danny, he helped Talia discreetly whisk Danny away to the Fentons. He gets why and supports Danny's position of not wanting to be near Damian.

-Danny refuses to see Damian and claims Jazz and Ellie are his only siblings. Even if Damian has changed, it's within his rights not wanting to be around someone who hurt him badly. While he may at some point forgive Damian for what he did, that does not mean he has to forget and from a relationship with him.

-Danny's family supports his decision. Jazz especially when one of the BatFam makes a remark that he is too young to make such a final decision. She goes off on all them and psychoanalysis them.

Hahaha I love this!

Damian can go two ways

A) he feels guilty and is desperately trying to make things better, getting increasingly desperate and trying anything and everything to get his forgiveness

B) he relapses in his progress and still hates Danny, him being a reminder of when he was under Ras's control, and fearing that Danny will attempt to replace him as the blood son, reminder that Danny dosen't want or care about being blood son falls on deaf ears

The batfam all have different reactions from completely siding with Danny about not wanting to have a relationship with them (Jason) to wanting a relationship but accepting that he might not want a relationship (dick) to complete denial about Danny not caring about them (Bruce)

[sonnyaavce]

I NEED HELP IN A SMALL QUESTION

As I’m currently writing the next part of mockingbird (Damian and Danny brothers au!) I had come across a small roadblock

I have two ways I want to finish the prompt:

Let Damian honour his brother with the Batfam with a small altar in Wayne mansion.

Let Damian and Dick have a brotherly moment and paint Danyal and Damian in a nice family portrait.

So, that’s why I wasn’t able to upload anything, I have a very heavy roadblock (ADHD isn’t helping my case btw) because I want to do both but I know I will burnt out by proxy.

So , I need some of your help please, how can I approach this? And which one to write/publish it?

UPDATE 07/06/2025

After some deep hard therapy and self reflection for almost a year, I decided I will write two more parts of DannyxDamian twins au. As I felt that I can explore more about how Damian heals his mourning with his brothers and family and then I plan on writing a reunion in the near future.

Well, that's all I wanted to share for now, and as I'm still not good at socialization and social media, ill leave ya all here. Ok?

Good?

Bye then!

[uniasus]

Damian couldn't say why he felt compelled to visit Dani after her last class, but he is. Complete with a stuffed animal, because he's a vet and sometimes it's nice to have something to hold when recovering from an injury. Not that he's supposed to know that and -

There's someone in Dani's classroom already. He's their age, maybe a few years older, and fussing over her. Damian can't understand the language they are speaking, which is only half a surprise because he knows a lot but Dani knows more. It's rather impressive actually, as he told Dick last night.

He freezes as the other man suddenly pulls Dani into a hug. She tenses, but then relaxes into it a way Damian hasn't seen her do before. She's usually so full of energy and passion, practically floating as she lectures, but here she is, sagging into the hold of another man.

Damian realizes two things. Whatever melty thing happened yesterday and her sudden recovery? Not a normal thing for her. She's still recovering, thankful for support and care. The other is, Damian can admit he wants to offer it to her, but someone else already is.

He starts to scoot back, surely she won't want his gift. It's too sudden, they've barely talked, and he wants to offer her a stuffed dolphin?

"ttt," he scolds himself softly.

Dani and the other man look at him.

"Dami!" Dani says, a beam on her face. Up close, Damian can see she's tired and fighting it. Feels the sympathy for the struggle of hiding night life consequences from day job activities. He wants to tell her he knows, but it doesn't feel like the time.

"Hello, Danielle."

"Come, meet my cousin."

Oh, Damian likes that word. He walks into the lecture hall, shoulders back, squeezing the stuffed animal tightly. No way he's giving it to Dani in front of her cousin, who is staring at him with narrowed eyes. There is a high risk of Damian looking like a fool, giving a gift. That will not happen in front of a stranger.

"Dami, Danny. Danny, Dami. And Dani!"

Dani grins as she finishes the round of pointing, delighted at how similar their names are. Danny chuckles, leaning an arm on Dani's shoulder, but while his voice is light his eyes are hard.

It's the same big- brother stare Dick gave to Damian's friends. But more, somehow. The look is sweeping, calculating. Less Dick Grayson and more Nightwing.

If Dani is part of the vigilante life, it stands to reason her cousin might be too.

"Short for Damian?" Danny asks.

Damian goes to answer yes, but pauses when he realizes the question is in Arabic. Perhaps Dani has talked about him.

"Yes," he answers back.

"Danny is short for Danyal," he offers.

And now it's Damian's turn to scrutinize him, from head to toe. The fighter stance, the blue eyes, dishevelled black hair.

How eerily similar he looks to Dani.

Dani, who also knows Arabic, looks between them. Then folds her arms and stares at Danny. She asks a question in the language they had been using before, the one Damian doesn't know. Danny shakes his head, the way his hair falls so familiar. As is the fierce look on Dani's face.

Bruce doesn't have siblings. Nor does Talia. Dani and Danny, Danielle and Danyal. They're not cousins.

Damian scowls. He wants to ask, but also doesn't want to step into the family fight. Dani is recovering from a quite literal meltdown.

Danny turns to him and asks a question in Arabic again. He looks almost shy asking. "Is your full name Damian...Al Ghul?"

In answer, Damian drops his gift for Dani and wraps his arms around Danny. His missing older brother (whom he always assumed was dead), here. In Gotham.

He pressed his face into Danny's chest, not crying but eyes leaking, and Danny's arms encircle him, Danny's face pressing into Damian's neck.

"I honestly thought the adoption line was a joke you tossed at Vald," Dani says. Arabic again, and Damian notes that she uses the language to include him but also to keep the conversation private from anyone in the hallway.

"That he was so fruity he couldn't even tell I wasn't Maddie's or Jack's?"

"Or that sons were a dime a dozen, and Vlad had his pick."

"I'm missing something," Damian mutters, pulling back. Danny squeezes before letting go.

"Tonight's not a good time, but this weekend, I'll fill you in. Both of you," Danny says, looking at Dani.

"You're paying for lunch and dinner."

----

Later, once the Wayne's are brought into the loop too, Jason can't stop laughing. "Your first crush was the clone of your big brother? That's taking big bro worship a bit far, don't you think?"

Damian flings a dagger at him.

So Dani ends up going to university after completing her GED and getting a degree and becoming a historian at 24.

She later applies to Gotham University as a History teacher.

Damian, also 24, ends up getting a veterinary degree and also starts teaching at GU. Mostly so he can monitor any students that was to get a PhD or seems supervillain like.

Damian is very curious about the new History teacher that has been everywhere in the world, can speak a dozen of languages, and is incredibly beautiful intelligent.

Sometime later, the JLA gets into a tough spot regarding ghosts and the paranormal, and Constantine calls up an expert to help them out.

It’s Dani.

She makes a summon circle and starts chanting. She gets rid of the threat, but starts melting.

Dani vanishes into thin air, and Damian is prepared to not see her at work tomorrow, but to his surprise, Dani shows up completely healthy (if not a little tired)

Damian and the Bats are now very concerned

Eventual serious chaos.

Any media is welcome as long as you tag and comment :))

[dcxdpdabbles]

Danny: Why are you so angry?

Damian: How dare you speak to me, peasant.

Danny: Saying things like that, make it hard for people to approach you.

Damian: Good.

Danny: .....I like it. It gives you moxy. We're best friends now.

Damian: What?

Danny: I'm Danny Fenton by the way. Here this is my phone number. I'll message you when I get on Doom. You play viedo games right?

Damian: No.

Danny: That's okay. I can teach you.

Damian: I'll deliver you to the Grim Reaper

Danny: Oh, cool, a Goth! I had a friend just like you-

Damian: Why would I care about-

Danny: This means I know you would love to go to Dark Poetry Night and an environmental clean-up art event on the same day. *Hands over flyer* I can pick you up around three, and we can get dinner, then make it to poetry night. What time is your curfew

Damian wide eye: Father expects me to be in bed at ten pm.

Danny *nodding*: I'll get you home by nine then.

Damian breathlessly: Okay.....

Danny: Great! Later! I'll text you!

Damian: What....what just happened?

Tim: You just experienced why Brucie Wayne is so powerful in the galas. That's what happened.

[leafyeyes417]

Struck from his vocabulary

Danny was talking to Sam and Tucker one day. He knew he was adopted but didn’t know anything about his birth parents. They had all tried to search between ghost attacks but hadn’t made any headway. Unfortunately Danny hadn’t been paying attention when he groaned out, “I wish I could learn who my bio parents are.”

Danny really thought he had struck the w word from his vocabulary. He realized his error when Desiree popped up and poofed him away after ‘granting his wish.’ Ending up in a fancy dining room with like 10 people staring at him startled, was even worse.

Danny growled. “Fudge! I said the Taboo!” He continued cursing (in book titles. No one could swear in Amity due to a previous w—h, it’s habit now). He was interrupted by one of them chuckling. “I’ve never heard anyone curse in book titles before, I’m stealing that.”

There was a sigh from a tired looking kid. “That honestly fits you.” Then the older looking man finally speaks up. “Can you tell us your name? And how you got here? What was that about a Taboo?”

Danny sighs. “I’m Danny. Can I get your names first so I know who I’m talking to?” After being introduced to the Waynes (not that Danny realizes who they are, he’s never been interested in celebrities unless it involves space), and the Butler Alfred insisting he sit down and eat (he was starving), Danny continues. “Anyway, the Taboo in our town is the w word. Say it and weird stuff happens. Like me disappearing from my home town to here. Where are we anyway?”

To say Danny had a mini freak out about ending up in Gotham from the middle of nowhere Illinois and how he was going to get home after finding out his new location…

[somanyfandomsorkinafs]

(I am ~buzzing~ with ideas…. Allow me to release some)

Once Danny was an adult, he decided to join Ellie in her ‘permanent world tour’. It’s better than staying in Amity where the opinion of Phantom hasn’t gotten much better. Besides, the portal caused the veil to get weaker, allow ghost to wreak havoc where ever they want.

He’s met a lot new ghost cause of this too. Old as Mycenaean Greece to non humans who came to Earth and died there. Danny’s learnt so much from them that he’s basically a walking in Encyclopaedia.

So, Danny’s decided “fuck it.” and has it became a part-time history teacher. It’s fun! He knows the details by heart and is able to make it more fun than just droning on about the same old wars and whatever. He enjoys it, the kids enjoy it and the ghosts having their stories told!

Of course, this does cause some problems when people try to correct him. Danny’s argument? “I got them correct sources.”

And when anyone asks him how knows his sources are correct? “My source was there when it happened.”

Cue the dc world thinking that Danny’s just some immortal guy whose decided to use his immortality for good(TM)

[stars-obsession-pit]

“Hello, Mr. Wayne. I’m calling on behalf of the Amity Park police department. I… god, there’s no easy way to say this. We found a dead body, and genetic tests identified you as the next of kin.”

A mixture of icy fear and confusion pooled in Bruce’s chest, and he felt himself lean against a wall for support. “What? Who? But, Damian was just here!”

“Don’t worry, it’s not him.”

“He’s the only blood relative I have.”

The officer sighed. “I dunno what to tell you. We don’t know. Kid was dead for months before we dug ‘im up, so identifying any other details towards his previous identity has been… difficult. We don’t even have any missing persons reports it could match. Quite frankly, we were hoping you’d know something, ‘cause we’ve been coming up blank.”

“I will,” Bruce rushed out unthinkingly, his mind still caught up on the word ‘kid’.

“What?”

“I’ll help however I can. Amity Park, you said? Where is that? I’ll book a flight right away."

“No, really, sir. I appreciate it, but you don’t need to do that. No offense, Mr Wayne, but you’re not a forensic analyst.”

The words ‘yes I am’ balanced on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say them. Batman was the detective, not Brucie Wayne. But Batman didn’t have any reason to travel so far afield to investigate a single dead kid, so Bruce Wayne would have to do.

“I at least want to take a look.”

[somnoir]

Little star's favorite

It all started when Talia came to Gotham with a gift.

The gift in question was a twelve year old boy.

Bruce stared at the boy who was almost the exact replica of Damian if not for the blue eyes and longer hair. He looked utterly perplexed at the sight of Bruce, tilting his head before frowning at his mother with a visibly displeased look.

"Beloved, may I introduce you to Danyal, our Damian's twin brother. He was... Away... On a mission until recently." Talia hummed, a hand on Danyal's back.

"You... You didn't think to tell me about him when you told me about Damian?" Shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked down at the boy who looked a little more like him than Talia and felt himself softening. "Hello Danyal."

"Hello."

Talia smiled, before her expression fell. "A little warning, beloved. The twins do not get along. Damian is quite the competitive child and Danyal... Well, he's the nicer one if I must say." She shrugged, running her fingers through her son's hair before pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Go on now, Najmi As-Sagheer (my little star)."

"Ummi... Must I join them? I am perfectly fine with remaining in the league." Danyal muttered, eye twitching but his expression was quickly schooled into neutrality.

"Yes, Danyal." She sighed, "I have no intention of letting father keep you."

Bruce raised a brow at her words.

"That is a conversation for another time, habibi." Talia lazily insisted, gently pushing Danyal towards Bruce.

Bruce, for all he's lived, immediately recognized a feral cat in the form a child. Yep. Another Damian. That was seemingly the nicer one.

But he was scruffy little thing who was being called little star by his mother. Bruce blinked, offering his hand to Danyal (like how a person would do by letting a cat sniff his hand to see if they were safe).

Danyal, more twitchy and annoyed than his brother, looked at the hand like it had personally offended him.

And that is how Batman brought home another child while holding him by the scruff.

(Danny hated everyone except for Alfred—both cat and butler)

Danyal was a much quieter person compared to Damian. Unlike his brother who had practically came into their lives guns blazing and declaring that he was the rightful heir to the bat, Danyal mainly ignored them. He would glare, snarl, and scowl, but not in the way Damian did. The kid was obviously threatened by them, but more for his own safety rather than inheritance.

He avoided them like the plague, only welcoming the company of Alfred and occasionally Cass.

He didn't join in on the vigilante business, opting to stay back with Oracle and just quietly direct them on their missions. It was strange in all honesty.

They didn't know much about Danyal, aside from the fact that his mother called him little star for his natural love of space. That he liked to tinker with gadgets and make his own weapons. That he really liked fudge.

Aside from that, the kid was quiet and was usually hiding out in his room.

Tim wasn't particularly thrilled to have another demon brat in the family. He avoided Danyal as much as possible expecting for the boy to be just like his brother and attack him.

But apparently not.

It's one of those unfortunate times that Tim's sleep deprivation and overload on energy drinks gets him benched by Alfred and not Bruce. No one particularly wanted to argue with their beloved butler/grandpa so Tim was stuck in place. It was a much quieter night than usual, almost peaceful (as much as Gotham can get).

Babs was relieved of her duties to have a night off, rest and relax and such, while Tim manned the bat computer in Oracle's place. He almost didn't notice the mop of black hair that suddenly appeared beside him.

Tim didn't want to admit it, but he flinched at Danyal's presence and how he was quietly standing there with a tray of coffee and cookies. Blue eyes blinked at him, silently pushing the tray forward to offer Tim the lone cup (most likely for him) and the plate of cookies.

Suspicious, Tim narrowed his eyes. "Alfred wouldn't make me coffee after benching me for this kind of thing."

Danyal shrugged, "Made it myself. Thought you'd need it since the others will be gone for a while."

"That's poisoned."

"It's not." Danyal frowned, immediately taking the cup and taking a couple sips himself before once again offering it to Tim.

Now, Tim wasn't stupid enough to ignore the possibility of Danyal having some tolerance to poison. But Tim was also tolerant to a lot of poisons so might as well.

When taking one sip, he was already feeling weird. One, there was no poison. Two, it was actually pretty good.

Danyal just sat there and stared at the screen, munching on cookies and pointing at the screen whenever Robin started to stray from the patrol route. Tim had a lot of fun reportingtattling to Bruce about it.

Eventually, it became a routine.

Danyal always sat beside Tim. Quiet and just offering random stuff, either food, some little gadget he made, or just the most bizarre stuff he found while at school.

Tim learned many things about his weird little brother. How cameras go crazy around him. How he had his reasons for not being touched. How Danyal was more silent than Cass. How Danyal vanished and reappeared at times.

(The glowing green eyes were the most concerning.)

He never really took notice of how Danyal started to gravitate to him. Always with him, barely without.

(Tim refused to admit that he was just the same.)

"Can I go on patrol with you?" Danyal asked, tugging at his Red Robin suit with a curious look. "I wanna meet Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn."

And Tim didn't really see much of a problem with that. Danyal was a highly trained assassin that Ra's apparently trusted to go on a solo mission while Damian had to be whisked away from the league. It wasn't too absurd for Tim to just shrug and let his kid brother tag along.

He was also very sure that his baby brother was an eldritch being with how the shadows seemed to rise around him. Yeah, the baby was a cryptid amongst a family of supposed cryptids. Very fitting.

It's a nice night. With Danny running amok with Tim, clearly having fun. But that one looks of sadness didn't escape Tim when Danny paused and looked to the sky with longing.

Tim remembers how Danny rambled about the stars in their shared moments, where it's just them.

Tim remembers how Danny would describe the sky in Nanda Parbar and how he often snuck out just to see it.

Tim remembers how much his little brother likes space and turns to the cloudy sky of Gotham that hides the stars.

Tim remembers how he was often depraved of the brotherly love he wanted. How he didn't get the full experience of having an older brother.

"You okay, little star?"

Danyal snapped his head towards Tim, eyes blown wide and flashing green (he knows that wasn't normal but he ignores that in favor to the way Danyal visibly softens at the nickname).

"'m okay, akhi." Danyal muttered, following after Tim after adjusting his own hood.

And it's like his heart stops.

Yep.

Tim has had Danyal for barely a year and he was willing to throw hands with Ra's, Talia, and Bruce for him.

"C'mon, qalbi(my heart). Batburger's still open."

He barely noticed the shift after that. But others think it's a glaring change that often made them stop and stare.

Danyal went to Tim whenever he needed anything.

If Danyal wasn't in bed, you'd find him snuggled up to Tim.

Danyal hated it when people touched him... Except for Tim.

Danyal liked Tim the most.

The day Dick thought it was a good idea to call Danyal 'Danny' (a nickname that was only used by Tim and Alfred), he almost got stabbed. Well, that's where all the stabbiness went to.

Safe to say, Tim was Danny's favorite.

And Danny was Tim's.

"Drake! What have you done to my brother?!" Damian pointed a katana at Tim, who lazily glanced his way before turning back to Danny who was comfortably snuggled up to him and watching Blue while Tim scrolled on Tiktok.

"I haven't done anything to Danny, demon brat. Now shoo!" Tim's irritation could be heard from a mile away, shamelessly shooing Damian away with a flick of his wrist. Then the next second, he was combing his fingers through Danny's hair and listening to his younger brother make a purring noise.

(Another point of investigation because that is not fucking normal, Tim. Cute though!)

"I refuse to believe that Danyal would prefer you over me!"

"You're just salty that he stabs you like you stab me." Tim waved him off again, watching as Danny yawned and continued to ignore everyone else.

The click of a camera immediately alerts him and he's tugging Danny down before the much younger boy lunges at Dick.

"Woah! What's up with him?" Dick nervously asked, instinctively raising his phone above his head.

"Delete that!" Tim snarled, pulling Danny closer and guiding his brothers face to his shoulder. "You know he hates it when people take pictures without consent!"

(Tim doesn't tell them that something goes every wrong with the footage if Danny was ever in the picture.)

"Dick." Tim warned, effortlessly picking up Danny, because yes, his seemingly cryptid baby brother could become weightless, and snatched Dick's phone. Yep. Instead of Danny, there was a very strange figure, a glitching silhouette of black and green. He deletes it immediately.

Dick was pouring, "I don't have any pics of Danny—"

"Don't call me that, Richard." Danny scowled, clinging to Tim like a koala. He was strangely more child-like than Damian, muttering about annoying people who interrupted bonding time. (Dick was just forced to pout.)

"Danyal." Damian crossed his arms, scowling at Danny who was still comfortably cuddled up to Tim. "It is not appropriate to cling to Drake in such a way! You will embarrass our mother and father if you are seen acting like a petulant child!"

Tim wanted to argue that no, he wouldn't embarrass Talia and Bruce by being a kid, but Danny just grabbed a cookie from nowhere (note to self, add possible teleportation powers to cryptid baby) and shoved it into his mouth.

Danny just yawned, fixing Damian with a lazy glare.

"Tuhali, can you shut up?"

Damian stood stock still, while Jason and Bruce choked on their own spit. Jason slapping a hand over his mouth and Bruce just staring at his twins like the apocalypse was about to return.

"What did you just call me?"

Danny yawne again, "My spleen."

Tim knew what Tuhali meant. Of course he fucking knew Arabic! But to think that his cryptid baby brother was straight up calling Damian his spleen?

The spleen that Tim doesn't have.

The spleen that's important to the immune system but you can survive without it?

Tim grinned, grabbing his cryptid baby and made a run for it.

Yep.

Danny was definitely his favorite.

Credits to: @strangergraphics for the dividers used.

[uniasus]

Yes yes yes!

------

It's the witching hour, which is the perfect time for a visit from a ghost.

The wall above Damian's headboard develops a crack that widens, revealing a swirling Lazarus portal. It had freaked Damian the first time, certain the League had figured out a way to weaponize the bubbling pool of it they controlled. He still tenses, but he's seen this before. He knows what's coming.

From the green liquid comes a black and white figure. Black suit, white gloves, white boots, white hair.

Once upon a time, his brother had black hair. But once upon a time, his brother had been alive.

"Dami!" Danny says, flying into Damian's outstretched arms.

"Hello, Danyal," Damian says softly.

Damian is, was, older by two years. He's not sure how Danny has managed to age as a ghost, but it's slower than Damian has. At eighteen, Damian has a bit of height and a developing set of wide shoulders. Danny looks fourteen, beanpole limbs and a perfect height to fit under Damian's chin.

He loves the times his younger brother comes to chat - he has a habit of appearing after a tough patrol and the conversations and cuddles help immensely, though Damian will never admit it to anyone and constantly throws off Dick's arms even as he's been reaching more and more lately.

Dick is worried. Damian is too, but every time he gets to hold Danny close he forgets that.

Danny squirms out of the hug and Damian lets him. He wants to hug his little brother for hours and hours, but he can't without remembering the last time he did it before Danny's death. How Ras sent him after a threat in Nanda Parbat, saying as heir it was his job to protect the Demon's Head, protect the current leader of the League and preserve his rank. The threat had been a clumsy assassin Damian really should have questioned - but he'd been raised to kill any target he'd been pointed at.

The threat had been an oblivious Danny, and Damian hadn't realized until he stepped out in front of the enemy assassin and slide a dagger between his ribs. Only then did he recognize the blue eyes and small build, learned how ruthless his family was. Ras and Talia praised him, but still Damian refused to share what he did with Danny's body.

He'd tipped it into the Lazarus Pits, which transported his brother into the realm of the dead. When Danny learned how to travel in and out of it, Damian had been his first visitor. And only visitor, he assumes.

Damian smiles as he watches Danny float around the room on his back. He rambles about how he fills his time - hanging out with ghostly friends and defeating ghostly rivals. League training has helped somewhat, Damian thinks, because Danny has never reported losing a fight.

"I wish you would say yes to a visit," Danny sighs as he finishes updating Damian.

"I am happy with my life, Danyal. Besides, my brothers would be sad if I left."

"You could come back! I'm not asking you to live with me."

Damian hums. Lazarus Water is fickle. It keeps his grandfather healthy far, far behind his years, granting almost immortality. It brought Todd back from the dead. It has healed Thalia, and once, he thinks, himself. But it has also drowned and burned and captured so many people he is sure bones lie at the bottom of the pit in Nanda Parbat, unless they have been eaten at by acid.

His family has been lucky, favored, but Damian is not sure he can follow Danny into the realm of the dead and not be changed. He has a strong idea that it'll make him match his brother - a ghostly inversion. He's also not sure if he'd ever make it back. It took Danny eight years to access the world of the living again. Dick would cry to lose another little brother.

Damian still thinks about taking his brother up on the offer every day.

"I don't think so," Damian answers.

Danny places a hand on his heart and swoons. Damian winces, remembering the way Danny had fallen back in his arms. The stickyness of blood. If his brother gives any indication that stepping through the portal will fix things. If the requirement for Danny to forgive him, to be at peace, to rest, Damian will take his hand.

"You could stay here," Damian offers. "Meet Father and the others."

Danny blows a raspberry, artificially elongating his tongue like a cartoon. "I have too much to do in the Zone. It's amazing I even have the time to sneak out to see you. But you're worth it, Dami." He gives his brother a smile. "Anything to see my big bro."

Damian's heart clenchs.

He has a big brother. He has four. Dick is the best though. He's the one Damian believes understands the most, picking up emotional cues like Bruce and Tim understand crimes from paper trails. Dick is who Damian visited two weeks ago to ask about Todd's death. Dick is who has been coming to the Manor frequently for dinner and trying to pull him into hugs, to talk. Who has patrolled Gotham to pick up on a hint of Damian's stress. Who has sent multiple photos and gifs of kittens and puppies.

Dick is a good big brother, he cares. He visits.

Damian has done nothing to help Danny. Not while he was alive, not now that he is dead. It is Danny who visits. Danny who soothes him after a rough night. Damian has offered nothing, and here he is again, asking Danny to do more for him. Of course, he says no.

Something beeps, not Bat gear, and Danny looks at a device on his watch. He sighs.

"Sorry, Dami. Looks like I gotta go kick ghost ass. The sandman from hell is at it again."

Above Damian's headboard, the portal cracks into being, ready to swallow his brother whole. Damian can't resist pulling Danny in for a goodbye hug. When Danny returns it, Damian squeezes tighter.

"Be safe, Danyal."

"Always. But you could come help? Sam and Tucker won't be much use if Nocture's already got to them."

Damian buries his face in Danny's hair. It defies gravity, strands tickling Damian from his forehead to his ear.

Dick told him the living take priority. If a ghost of Todd had shown up, Dick wouldn't have taken the offered hand. But Danny is going to go fight. Danny is going to fight alone. Damian is already the world's worst big brother, saying no wouldn't change that. Saying yes wouldn't change that either.

But maybe it means Danny would stop wiggling out of hugs.

Danny pulls away, floating in space before the portal. His face is hopeful. And, for the first time since he's been showing up, he begs.

"Please, Dami?"

Damian can't resist.

"Okay, Danyal."

He takes his dead brother's hand and feels gravity loosen its hold. Damian hasn't changed clothes, he'll die in his Robin gear. But he accepted that fact years ago. He wishes, for a heartbeat, that he explained things to Dick. Mentioned Danny at least once.

But then Danny flies forward and Damian takes a deep breath before the world turns green.

Dcxdp

Just thinking of like a demon twins au where danny finds out damian is no longer under their grandfathers rule and goes to visit him in ghost form.

And damian is grieving all over again. Because thats his little brother, dead at his hands. Never able to grow up and live a full life. Just this weird mirror version of it. And now that damians embraced his fathers way of preserving life it feels even more of a waste and he mourns the experiences they could've had together. It felt like less of a blow when he was still in the league and surviving wasnt much of a life. Danyal was most likely happier at rest then there, but now? Now damian wishes they had more time.

Danny not realizing hes forgotten to tell his brother hes actually still alive. keeps saying that damian should come with him. See his home, meet his friends, Etc. Damian thinking danyal wants to drag him to the afterlife. Considers it even, because he owes him that much. Scared by his own thoughts and telling bruce or dick about it. And theyre both grief stricken and furious. Just this whole misunderstanding snowballing. Another son but one whos been lost before they could ever meet. One theyd never been able to know. Who never got the chance to be a child before his time was cut short. And everyone wanting to find a way to lay danny to rest without him stealing damian away too. Bruce desperate to meet this imprint of a son he never met but terrified of it taking away the son he still has.

Lol thinking of like 100 ways this could go.

Bruce calling in constantine. Danny feeling betrayed that they called someone to banish him? He thought damian would be happy to see him? Would accept him. Thought he could meet his father as well.

Or

Damian making him a grave and showing him that he can "rest" now like hed never been properly laid to rest with the league. Danny thinking its either a) a funny joke or b) finally realizes whats going on.

Or

damian offering to go with him as long as hes able to come back? He still wants to live his life and there are others in dcu who can go between realms (sorta i guess?) Danny being like yeah? No duh we'll come back xD damian being like??? When he sees amity lol.

[corkinavoid]

Thank you, @aceinacorner, for this gem:

You are the inspiration for

DPxDC Ring of Rage? More Like Ring of Engage [pt. 3]

[<- part 2 | part 4 ->]

Duke narrows his eyes.

He swears Tim was not in the Cave just five seconds ago, and yet, in the brief moment when Duke wasn't looking, he just materialized out of motherfucking aether. Smelling like Chinese food and holding a chicken skewer that looks so good that Duke's mouth waters.

"Can I have a piece?" He asks, the divine smell of food overriding the urge to ask 'where did you get it' or 'how did you get here'.

Tim nods, smiles, and hands Duke the whole skewer before going for the elevator.

Is it Duke's hallucination, or is he really humming something as he goes?.. Actually, that doesn't matter. The chicken tastes even better than it smells, and Duke is perfectly willing to keep his mouth shut in exchange for food.

You don't talk with your mouth full, after all.

~☆~

Cass watches Tim over the table. She hasn't heard him coming into the dinner room - no steps in the hall, no rustle of clothing or breathing. It's like the boy has somehow appeared right in front of the door out of nowhere before entering.

What's more, he seems obviously not hungry, picking at his food with an absent, if a bit dreamy, expression. Granted, Tim always picks at his food, but Cass can see the difference between 'Tim's mind is busy with a new case and therefore too distracted to eat' and 'Tim already had dinner elsewhere and is too full to eat now'.

The bags under his eyes are also not as dark as they usually are. Come to think of it, Cass hasn't seen him in a bad mood for a few weeks now, which shouldn't really be that strange, but it's Tim. The smallest of inconveniences can put him in a bad mood.

Tim notices her looking and raises an eyebrow.

Cass blinks and goes back to her plate. Whatever is keeping her brother happy, it deserves her full approval.

~☆~

Jason is... not so sure as to what is happening.

He did notice that Tim was really chill lately, but this is going a bit overboard.

"Did you spike it with arsenic, Replacement?" He asks, suspiciously looking the offered cup of coffee over without taking it. Tim - surprisingly, actually - doesn't react to the nickname in the slightest, instead giving Jason a deadpan look. Then, he brings the cup up to his mouth, takes a sip, and hands it back again.

Okay, well, that proves no arsenic, at least. It's still very weird. Tim doesn't just buy coffee for people, and he especially doesn't buy coffee for Jason.

"Am I going to owe you something for it, or what?" He asks, slowly reaching for the cup. Tim sighs.

"No. It's just a drink - my boyfriend loves it, and I think you'd like it as well," he explains with a shrug, and Jason is honestly too befuddled to ask about anything. Including the boyfriend part.

No, but since when does Timbers have a boyfriend? He sure hadn't mentioned anything about it to any of the others.

The drink turns out to be not coffee but something else, tangy and thick, and when Jason takes the lid off, it's green like Mountain Dew.

It does taste great, though, and later Jason considers asking Tim for another one. He hadn't had anything better in ages.

~☆~

Damian strikes through the last one of the training holograms, breathing heavily. And yet, just as the 'simulation complete' message pops up in the air, he hears a step behind him.

He turns around faster than a lightning, and-

Finds Timothy's neck at the tip of his katana, with his hands up in surrender.

"What are you doing here?" Damian sneers, lowering his weapon, and Tim swallows. Not because of surprise or fear, though, he clearly had some half chewed up food in his mouth.

"Inaccurate drop off," he says, looking Damian straight in the eyes, "I was aiming for the main floor."

He smells of Indian food and spices, and Damian almost sneezes.

"What do you mean 'aiming'?" He demands, but Drake just waves him off, heading towards the elevator up.

"No worries, I'll do better next time," he shoots a smile over his shoulder, "See you on patrol!" And with that, the elevator doors close after him, leaving Damian alone.

Drake has always been strange, but this is too much even for him.

Not that it's Damian's business. He huffs and starts the simulation over again.

~☆~

If Dick didn't witness it with his own two eyes, he would have never believed it. Alas, he did, and even though the swirling green vortex has already disappeared like it was never there, Tim, whom the strange portal just spat out on the floor of the Cave, is still here.

"What the fuck was that?" He nearly yells, and Tim looks up, a face of perfect innocence.

"What was what?" He returns the question, and Dick can't find the words to explain, so he just wildly gestures to the place where the portal has been less than five seconds ago. Tim blinks, "Oh, that. That was my date."

Dick chokes on his breath.

"Your date?" He parrots, hoarse and breathless, and Tim nods, like there's not a single thing wrong with anything that has just happened. "Since when do you go on dates? Wait, I thought you were engaged, you said it was cheating to date anyone else, even if you didn't know the spouse, you said-" he cuts himself off, feeling his own face slowly falling and his stomach sinking down in horror. "No. No, don't tell me."

But the shit-eating grin on Tim's face is already proof enough.

Dick clears his throat. Takes a deep breath.

Seeing that Tim is still in one piece, and, well, that he did just casually come out of a magic portal in the middle of the Cave, it's probably safe to say that it's not the first time.

And, judging by the mirth in Tim's grin, it's also safe to say he's been rather enjoying it.

Dick releases one long, loud breath and forces a smile on his face as well.

"So, how is it?" He asks, trying in vain to sound light-hearted, not suspicious. Tim's smile gets wider, and there's a glint of excitement in his eyes now, which Dick considers a good thing, all in all.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask."

~☆~

Bonus Scene (that somehow turned out longer than I planned)

~☆~

"Where's Tim?" Bruce asks when all the rest of his kids are already seated around the table for breakfast.

"At Danny's, probably," Steph shrugs before digging into the waffles on her plate. Bruce frowns.

"Danny's?" He asks. He hasn't heard that name before. Is that a friend of Tim's?

"Drake's paramour," Damian clarifies, not bothering to look up from his own food, and Bruce's mind comes to a screeching halt. He blinks stupidly, looking around the table and sincerely hoping it is some sort of a prank, but Cass smiles and nods, and Dick has an expression of pure exhaustion on his face, and Duke is huffing a snort of laughter at him for it.

"Since when-" Bruce starts, but he is suddenly cut off by a glowing circle that appears just a few feet away from them all.

It grows quickly, morphing into a vortex, a green and ominous tear in reality big enough for a person to walk through, hanging in the air a few inches over the ground. The space around it feels staticky somehow, and the color is too bright to look at directly, and it definitely doesn't belong to their dining room. But before Bruce is able to say another word or do anything at all, Tim steps out of it, his hair and clothes ruffled.

"Oh, fuck," he mutters upon seeing them all, and turns around, sticking his head into the vortex just as it starts to close. The vortex pauses.

Bruce is almost too stunned to move.

His kids don't share the sentiment, though, most of them not paying the portal any attention at all. Bruce would have reprimanded them for the poor awareness of their surroundings if he didn't notice how Damian simply glanced up at it before going back to his food.

They saw the portal. They just didn't deem it dangerous. For some reason.

Tim's face comes back out, and he turns to Bruce. His expression looks different than before: a bit smug, a little mischievous, and just a tad bit nervous.

Then, another head pops up through the surface of the portal. A boy - or at least they look like a boy - with snow white hair that floats in the air and bright, almost neon blue eyes. His skin is far too pale for him to be human, and- he has freckles that look like constellations.

For some reason, that's the part that makes Bruce finally resign to the fact that this is just how his life is. With breakfasts interrupted by green portals and otherworldly boyfriends - because who else might it be, really - before he even had his morning coffee.

"Hi!" Said otherworldly boyfriend grins and waves his hand. "I'm Danny, Tim's fiance," he introduces himself, and Bruce conjures the last scraps of his scattered mind to smile and nod back.

"Good morning, Danny. I'm Bruce." He has no idea what else to say; it seems like a bit late for shovel talk, but a bit early for welcoming speech.

"Would Young Master Danny care to join us for breakfast?" Alfred's calm, but still slightly amused voice comes from the door. Bruce turns to look at the butler with a sense of exasperation - is he really the last one to learn anything in this house? - but the man seems... well, not surprised, at least not on the surface. But his grip on the pitcher of orange juice is just a little too tense for him to have been in the know all along.

Danny turns to him and smiles nicely - his teeth are also way too sharp for a human - before shaking his head, "No, sorry, I was just dropping Tim off."

"For God's sake," Tim rolls his eyes, "Just put on some pants and come out, I refuse to suffer through this alone."

Dick chokes on his toast. Steph gasps, her eyes snapping between Tim and Danny in delight. Cass snorts and kicks her under the table. Damian groans.

"Spare me from the details of your personal life, Drake. Need I remind you that I am thirteen," he narrows his eyes.

The constellations on Danny's cheeks shine just a bit brighter, and Bruce has no idea what that is supposed to mean, but his guess is along the lines of embarrassment. Especially when the boy completes it with rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"You mean to tell me that, at thirteen years old, you don't know what sex is?" Tim deadpans, running a hand through his hair in a useless effort to smooth it and taking his seat at the table. Dick's coughing fit comes back with renewed force.

"We didn't-" Danny starts, still kind of hovering midway through the portal, but Damian pays him little attention.

"I do. Yet, I prefer my mind free of the knowledge when it applies to you."

"I want all the details, though," Steph pipes up, looking at Danny from her seat, "Can you, like, sprout tentacles or something, because I know for a fact Tim likes that kind of-"

"Steph!" Tim yells at her, face red, and then turns to Danny, who suddenly has a very interested, if a bit mischievous, look on his face, "Don't you dare."

"Yeah, okay," Danny snorts and disappears back in the portal. Bruce half-expects it to close after him, but the vortex stays.

Which probably means the boy - the King of Infinite Realms, Keeper of Unseen Worlds, Eyes of the Universe - is going to be right back.

After he puts on some pants, supposedly.

Bruce watches Tim rub his face in frustration while Steph giggles and elbows him in the side, and sighs. This is so not how he expected this morning to be.

[noodly-chimera]

You are not yourself when you're hungry or something. Danny needs a lot of food to keep himself family friendly

(They're friends now btw, I make the rules)

[zhelin-thames]

Part 2 Wayne Family Group Chat

Tim: okay everyone just… act normal tonight please PLEASE

Dick: Define “normal”

Jason: What did you do

Cass: 👀 Tim: nothing!! nothing illegal!!! just. just dinner. simple. civilized. family dinner. 🧍‍♂️

Damian: If you’re acting suspicious, I’m bringing a weapon.

Bruce: No weapons at the dinner table.

Damian: Too late.

Alfred: The food will be served at 7:30 sharp. Please refrain from traumatizing each other until dessert.

[7:32 PM – Wayne Manor Dining Room]

Everyone is seated. Food is passed. Tension is suspiciously low. Then…

Dick (whispering to Jason): yo who’s the guy next to Tim? 👀

Jason: Idk but Tim’s looking at him like he hangs the stars

Cass: 👁️👄👁️ they’re holding hands under the table

Bruce (barely hiding surprise): Tim. Who is your… guest?

Tim (sweating bullets): This is Danny! My boyfriend! Of 2 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days! …Surprise 😅

Danny: Hey. :) Nice mashed potatoes, by the way.

Cue stunned silence. Until—

Damian (squinting intensely at Danny): “…Out of 8 billion people… you chose HIM? You couldn’t find anyone better—BROTHER?”

Tim (scandalized): “HEY!! Leave him alone! I love him!”

Damian (deadpan): “I was talking to MY brother, Timothy.”

[Entire table goes silent. Fork clatters. Jason chokes. Dick drops his wine. Cass looks delighted.]

Bruce (visibly malfunctioning): You have a brother?

Tim: I’m sorry, WHAT??

Danny (shrugging, sipping water): Yeah. Hi. I’m Danyal al Ghul. Heir to the Demon. Escaped at ten. Been vibing ever since.

Damian: This is an insult. You didn’t even ask for permission to court my brother Drake (oops we r back to last names). My actual brother. Biological. Blood-related.

Jason: Tim’s dating a former assassin prince. Who is B's son, blood son. That’s SO on brand for you.

Dick: This is better than Netflix

Cass: 💚 new brother 💚

Bruce (massaging temples): I need a drink.

Alfred (bringing wine): Already poured, sir. read tags!!

[p1nkshield]

Prompt idea: Danny has been attending Wayne family dinners for weeks now and he truly doesn’t know how he got this far

Danny has been without a home or a means to get food for a while because of either identity reveal gone bad or Dan timeline shenanigans. Either way he needs to eat. As a last ditch attempt Danny tries to attend/infiltrate a Wayne family dinner. He’s seen the Wayne kids around Gotham and he’s sure that he could look and act the part enough to get in the door and out with some bread rolls at least.

Was it his best idea? No.

But he sure as sugar ain’t firing on all cylinders rn.

And Bruce already has a gaggle of blue eyed, black haired children.

What’s one more?

Batfam of course notices immediately when a whole new kid shows up, grabs some miscellaneous pieces of food and then prattles off some excuse about “not being that hungry.” (Clearly a bald faced lie) And that they were “Going to the library to study for finals, bye Dad!”

1. No one skips out on family dinners. Even Jason was here.

2. Alfred sets the table for everyone ahead of time and the kid had no place to sit.

3. Nobody in this house studies anything beyond case files.

4. Nobody in this house calls Bruce Dad.

Danny thinks he is suffering from success. No matter where he is in Gotham someone picks him up and insists he’ll be late for family dinner which is unacceptable.

Alfred just wants to feed the boy.

The batkids are amused by his efforts to look as though he’s been here all along.

Bruce is drafting adoption papers as we speak.

[wonderwomanpleasesteponme]

Val wondering Gotham trying to enjoy her vacation visiting her family in the city: *notices Robin and a ghost arguing*

Val who has gotten better with her ghost hatred and is less 'shoot first ask questions later' when it comes to ghosts and really doesn't want to mess up time with family whom she hardly sees by fighting with one: not my monkeys not my circus.

Robin shouting loud enough for her liminal hearing to pick up: you don't want to kill me? Not after I took your place as both father and grandfather's heir? Don't take me for a fool ahki.

Val: huh Robin's brothers with that ghost.

Val: *looks more closely at the ghost Robin is arguing with realizing it's Phantom*

Val hurriedly putting on her suit to fly up there: MY MONKEY MY CIRCUS