#Danny keeps forgetting Tim's name

[rin-may-1103]

College Rivalry with the Genius Toddler in the First Row.

My take on this prompt Requested by @purplereaderfans

Danny looked up from his paper, a bright green crayon clutched in his small hand. Jazz patted his head with a quick smile, pushing her chair in so she could start making her way to the teacher, something about the wrong definition if Danny had heard what she'd been muttering correctly.

grumbling, Danny shook his head in an attempt to fix his hair. he hated how everyone was treating him like a child, he was sixteen, almost seventeen for Ancient's sake!

sure, he looked like he was three, but was this really necessary? head pats, baby talk, dumbed-down explanations; it's like they don't notice that he's still mentally a teenager. Like, seriously?

Mom and Dad had been the ones who created the damn device, they should know how to fix this, but did they? no, because; "Aww, Jack, look at him! Isn't our baby boy just the cutest!" and "Why yes, dear, we should get more pictures! It's not like every day a parent gets to witness their kid's toddler years again!"

danny hated it, even Vlad was treating him like a baby! Danny never wanted to hear the man try and speak to him like that again. it might actually be his new nightmare fuel, you know if he wasn't still using what happened with Dan and Pariah to fuel his consistent nightmares, that is.

Danny was ready to start blasting people's knees the next time someone so much as even hinted at dressing him up again. thankfully, for everyone's safety, Jazz noticed he was still mentally normal. She volunteered to take care of him while their parents worked on a way to reverse what their new ghost machine caused. (though he doubted it would be anytime soon, considering the GIW was acting up again.)

which, by the way, apparently wasn't supposed to have de-aged him, but in fact, just you know, 'barrow' his naturally made ectoplasm and knock him out for a few minutes. Ancients, his parents were insane.

he should have known they were going to do something stupid, but no; he had started slacking after revealing his phantom form and getting accepted by them. Because, again, why would he need to keep an eye on them and what they make when they promised to never try and hurt him and his normal rogues again?

they're adults, they should know how to handle themselves. but no.

oh, ho ho, was that such a big oversight on his part. they were Fenton's, of course, he should have kept an eye on them.

no longer making ecto weapons, his parents wanted to learn how to help peacefully capture raging ghosts and how to help heal the injured ones (mostly how to help Danny when he gets hurt). Noble, right?

right?

Wrong. somehow, they managed to create a de-aging device when they were trying to come up with a way to knock out an angry ghost without hurting them. How? Just how?? and what do they do without even testing to see if it would even work? use it on him. because, oh, danny's half ghost, and it's only supposed to make him tired right now, not knock him out. it should be fine.

and now he's a toddler.

a three-year-old toddler.

"psst!" someone hissed, dragging danny's attention away from his crumbled crayon. blinking, Danny dropped the crayon on the table and grumbled. this was the seventh crayon this morning, he really needed to get his strength under control before someone noticed.

"psst, hey kid!" they hissed again, making Danny sigh. turning his head, Danny glared at the weird dude who kept trying to talk to him. The dude usually talked to him like he was an adult, which Danny appreciated, if it wasn't for the fact the dude was hellbent on figuring out danny's secrets.

all because Danny scored more than him on a dumb test.

"What?" Danny grumbled, wiping the crayon crumbs off his hands and onto his pants. the dude, Danny thinks his name is Tam or something, frowned at Danny, watching him wipe the last of the obliterated crayon away.

"aliens," he hisses, leaning forward so he could stare more intently into Danny's eyes. "that has to be it, you and your sister are aliens. probably from some planet that's more advanced than ours."

danny blinked, studied the dude for a second, and blinked again.

"no," turning back, Danny grabbed another crayon and started filling out the worksheet in front of him, making sure to use as little of his super strength as possible.

the dude groaned and slammed his head onto his desk, the sound echoing out and around the silent room like a gunshot. Jazz snorted, pulling out her chair and sitting down. "that one has got to be one of the worst theories yet," she chuckled, turning her body to face the dude.

"you seriously can't believe my brother and I are aliens just because we got higher test scores, Tim." Jazz explained, casually leaning sideways in her seat so she could see him.

the dude, Tim, just groaned, slamming his head back into the desk, his voice muffled, "I wouldn't have a problem with it if it was just you," Tim lifted his head, glaring at him as Danny continued to carefully fill out his worksheet. "I can accept the fact that I'm not the smartest person in the room, I don't like it, but I can do it. I even respect it, having this much knowledge takes a lot of work and dedication, but him?"

"He's three, Jazz. he should be just starting to figure out the names of colors, and noticing differences between things. not astrophysics-level math questions from an April Fools gag test that our Psychology teacher jokingly gave us." Tim's eyes somehow got even narrower as he continued his rant. Danny valiantly tried to keep himself from laughing; Jazz said it was rude to laugh at people, especially if they weren't mentally all there, so he couldn't laugh.

but by the ancients was Tim making it hard.

with a fianl dash, danny smiled triumphantly. Setting the crayon down, he gave the paper a quick once over before deciding he was finally done filling it out.

now, for the moment he was waiting for; turning in his seat, Danny excitedly held up his paper, "Look jazz! I did it!" he had finally managed to complete the paper without ripping the page! and he'd only broken seven crayons! it was progress! there was hope! but Tim didn't need to know that, no, he needed to think Danny was excited about completing the paper.

Jazz, who was just as much of a gremlin as Danny, smiled as she patted his head, "Good job Danny! I'm so proud of you! why don't you go turn it in, I'm sure Mr. Kronmatil would love to see it."

smiling, Danny turned, climbed out of his seat, and started to make his way over to the teacher.

Tim grumbled in annoyance, his crazed theories and curses filling Danny's ears like the sweet sweet sound of music. if there was one good thing that came out of this whole fiasco, it was that Danny was able to work on his studies and cause as much chaos as possible while doing so.

being treated like a baby was all worth it when Danny turned and spotted the same confused and crazed look Tim had been giving him all week. yes, being de-aged wasn't fun, and he didn't appreciate being partially interrogated every time he entered the same room as Tim, but man it was so worth it when he knew he was driving one of the Gotham bat's nuts.

all because he scored higher than him on a test.

He couldn't wait to see Tim's face once the scores were announced tomorrow. He was so going to tell Lady Gotham all about it later.

[queeniewithabeanie]

Lady Gotham

Dpxdc Prompt #47

When Danny Fenton moved to Gotham for university the city noticed.

After all, before Lady Gotham was Gotham she was Samantha Manson.

It all started with the Nasty Burger explosion.

Mr. Lancer, Mrs. and Mr. Fenton, Jazz, Danny, Tucker, and Sam were all there. One moment, Danny was being confronted about cheating on his career aptitude test and the next all Sam could see was the familiar toxic green of the Ghost Zone.

Sam's first thought was did anyone survive? and her second was i need to find Danny.

She wasn't sure of the fate of anyone caught in the explosion, for all she knew she could've been the only one to die (unlikely), and if not that the only one to form into a ghost (sadly, plausible).

With worst case scenarios flooding her head, Sam began looking for anything familiar in the Zone. She'd never been without the infi-map before and now that she didn't have it she was lost.

She never had a chance of finding Danny because she fell into a portal after she'd barely begun searching.

When Sam became aware again, she found herself in a world similar to her home, but very different at the same time.

The times were different, this world barely in the 1700s. She was in a different location, somewhere in the northeast, but she couldn't tell exactly where yet. And most importantly, the world seemed more magical than the one she came from.

Of course, she tried to get home, but there were no natural portals opening up and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't make them herself.

After spending 20 years, more time than she had lived in her home dimension, in what had come to be named Gotham, Sam had settled down. She made friends with a family named the Waynes and though she would never forget Danny and Tucker she had an afterlife in this new dimension now too.

Sam protected the city best she could from anything that tried to harm it, making it her own haunt. Eventually the people around town started calling her The Lady of Gotham, later shortened to just Lady Gotham.

A century after joining the world, Sam was cursed and by extension Gotham was cursed too. She could no longer speak, and while she still tried her best to protect the city from outside harm there was nothing she could do about the corruption within.

She watched over the Waynes inside the limits of her haunt, them having become her family in this new world. And in return the Waynes tried to keep Gotham the best place it could be, attempting to keep it from becoming a cesspool.

Sam did her best, she did what she could and in return Gothamites had a certain pride in their city.

"It's terrible, but it's home" was the general sentiment shared by the citizens.

Soon enough the times were approaching to when she had been alive, and a new generation of Waynes emerged in her streets. When she failed to protect Martha and Thomas, Sam felt sorrow and let the shadows gather around Bruce to show him she was grieving too.

He left, but as many Gothamites did he came back. And when he came back it was with vengeance.

Her streets were more corrupt than they had ever been before, but Bruce came in like a knight in shining armor. No—not shining, but dark. Dark and jagged, but home and just as much a part of Gotham as Sam herself.

With Bruce becoming Batman, his partners weren't far behind. First Dick, then Babs, Jason, Tim, Steph, Cass, Damian, and Duke. And with so many Waynes, not in blood but in everything that mattered, trying to save her Sam felt more loved than ever before.

And then she felt a Danny Fenton, older than her's had ever gotten to be at 18-years-old, enter the streets. Sam, for the first time in forever, she longed for what could have been.

That night, the skies were clearer and the streets were quieter as Sam held on to Danny through the shadows and didn't let go.

Her knights wouldn't mind one more addition, she hoped.

[aealzx]

(This one is pretty long info dumping. Warning: mention of mild gore)

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Prologue

Previous Next

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With the state of the one named Danny, the safehouse Barbara directed the group to was one that was a little more well stocked than the others. It was only because of Jazz that they were able to reach it, being the one to accept all of them being blindfolded after Jason had suggested they could hold each other’s hands the whole time and let the rest of his team put the blindfolds on. It made walking a little awkward with Jazz firmly hanging onto her unconscious brother’s hand, but it was an annoyance Jason was willing to accept for the comfort it gave them. It was only when they were in a room without windows that they took the blindfolds off, and pulled chairs over for the kids to sit on.

“Don’t touch me,” Sam hissed when Cass took her arm to start cleaning a cut she had, snatching her limb back and glaring.

“If it gets infected and you get sick then you’ll have one more of your team in need of care. That seems detrimental to your state of affairs,” Damian commented after catching sight of Cass’ sad expression.

“Robin,” Tim hissed, not wanting to stress this group of teenagers out more than they already were.

“He’s not wrong,” Jason interjected, keeping a hold of Danny not only because there was only one table open that he’d directed Stephanie to set Danielle on, but also because he knew the others would behave better with their seriously injured friend in obvious custody. “You guys should take care of yourselves too, otherwise no one will be left to look out for him.”

It was effective. Sam flinched before lowering her head and hunching her shoulders like a scolded puppy, then offered her arm back to Cass.

“Dude,” Tucker protested weakly, but didn’t say anything else and aso looked to Tim to accept his own check up. He had to wait for Tim to stop facepalming first though, a heaved sign from him before he decided not to further comment on his two brothers’ unnecessarily blunt comments.

“Are you feeling a little better sweetie? Sorry we roughed you up so much, but you were quite the fighter and it was hard to deal with you,” Stephanie decided to also ignore her brothers, resting Danielle on the table while Dick was clearing the other.

At first Danielle was about to be snarky about whose fault it was that she wasn’t feeling okay, but Stephanie’s expert inclusion about her fighting ability effectively changed her thought process. “Heheeh. And don’t you forget it,” Danielle chimed with a proud giggle. “I’m feeling much better now. Thanks for carrying me all the way.”

“No problem! Thanks for listening to your sister and not fighting us again,” Stephanie returned. “Jazz said you’re different from the others. Do you need anything? It doesn’t look like you’re injured anymore.”

“I heal fast, so I’m okay. But do you have any food? We haven’t really gotten much lately,” Danielle asked shamelessly. She didn’t need any bandaids or antiseptic like the others, but fights had still taken a lot of energy on top of being short supply of food for the past few months. If they were willing to finally give her a good meal then she was going to take advantage of it.

“Sure thing,” Stephanie giggled, appreciating the honesty. “I’ll be right back,” she bid, leaving Danielle on the table and heading to another room where they kept food supplies.

Letting Stephanie pass by them, Jason shifted towards the remaining table where Dick was finishing clearing the surface of spare parts and supplies. “Get two blankets, he’s cold as ice,” Jason directed Dick, the concern in his voice being the only hit to his hidden expression.

“...Still breathing?” Dick asked after obediently pulling a thick blanket from a nearby cupboard and spreading it on the table first. They were both keeping their voices on the quieter side, letting Stephanie and Tim take care of keeping the other three occupied. Jazz was the only one staying near them, having not let go of Danny’s hand just yet.

“Yeah, it’s weak though,” Jason confirmed, carefully setting Danny down and helping Dick spread the second blanket over him. “How long has he been like this?”

That question was directed to Jazz, who pursed her lips both in reluctance to answer and to fight back more tears. “Since we got here. He collapsed and hasn’t woken up since,” she admitted, almost a whisper.

“What?” Dick smothered his outburst so the others didn’t notice, but couldn’t keep it quiet completely. “He’s been comatose for months without life support?”

Jazz flinched and shrank back slightly at the outburst, but Jason rested a hand on her shoulder to keep her from fleeing. They needed her to talk if they wanted to be able to help them. “He’s not a regular human, remember?” he reminded Dick, speaking up to try and help Jazz feel a little less interrogated.

Jazz didn’t offer any further information, just pulled her gaze back to look up at Dick, lip wavering despite her trying to keep a defiant expression. She wasn’t looking for pity, but she wasn’t good enough at pretending to be a tough girl that Dick didn’t notice her distress. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to... I know you were doing your best,” he apologized, pulling back a little as well.

“Dr. Thompkins has reached you guys. Penny-one opted to call her after hearing Danny's initial condition,” Barbara’s report came over all of their comms, able to keep tabs on everyone through secure video feeds of the inside and outside of the safehouse. And as each of her team members got DNA samples from their captive rescuees she was also starting an identity analysis for each of them in the background.

“Robin?”

That was all Dick had to say, calling to the youngest who was leaning against the frame of the only door. Damian simply raised his hand in a brief acknowledging wave before he left to let Leslie inside. As he left Stephanie returned a moment after, a plate of warmed up frozen burritos in her hands and a bag of bottled water over her shoulder. The bag caught Jason’s eye, and he moved over momentarily to grab one of the bottles and bring it to Jazz.

“Our medical contact has arrived. We’ll have her look at your brother first. Just make sure you stay hydrated,” he commented, handing her the bottle and letting her open it so she could see it was still sealed and therefore wasn’t contaminated. If that was even a concern that crossed her mind. It was starting to quickly seem like these kids weren’t criminals at all, and many of them were starting to have a hard time treating them as such.

“...Thanks,” Jazz responded, taking a moment to be willing to let go of Danny to open the bottle. It was much needed, and she ended up drinking half of it before lowering it again.

Jason watched her for a moment, noting how tense she was and her reluctance to speak with them. He couldn’t blame her for being secretive, having no idea what had driven them to where they had been. But he couldn’t help notice it was strange they were all still distrusting of the group they were with. Didn’t they know Batman’s group of birds were a trustworthy lot? Were they still hiding something illegal? Or maybe… they simply didn’t recognize them. Where were these kids from? “Before the Doctor gets here, I just want to strongly recommend that you don’t keep anything from her, alright? I know it’s scary to reveal things about your brother to a stranger, but the more she knows the better she can help. Got it?”

Jazz looked up at him at the half request half demand, eyes trying to see him beyond the mask as she considered his words. She hadn’t thought about that yet, being so used to keeping everything about what Danny was a secret from everyone. But what Jason said made sense, and she wasn’t going to risk Danny not getting better just to stay paranoid. Two months was a long time for them to have tried to figure things out for themselves, only to have every attempt fail. But if there was one thing they’d all learned in the past months, it seemed ghosts were practically nonexistent in Gotham. So perhaps there was much less risk than back home. “...Okay,” Jazz agreed, giving a small nod.

“This way Doctor. The young meta is over there,” Damian was quick to return, refraining from entering the room for a moment in favor of allowing Leslie to get by, but still gesturing his open palm towards the group of four to the right side of the room from the entrance.

“Thank you, Robin,” Leslie responded, stepping into the room and heading over to them. She didn’t sound too happy to be there. But considering the circumstances it was hard to be joyful about it. She did end up pausing when she laid eyes on Danny though, momentarily taken aback. “If I didn’t know any better I’d be questioning your ability to tell when someone was still alive,” she commented, looking at Dick and Jason for a moment before setting her medical case on the edge of the table with a small sigh. “Let’s take a look. What kind of injury is under the wrappings, dear?”

Her voice had softened, being able to recognize each of the kids who were there from the rundown Barbara had given her on the way there. As she gathered her tools Jazz watched her, hesitantly nudging herself to respond honestly. “...Burns,” she said quietly, willing herself to move as she saw Leslie pull out some scissors to cut the bandages with. “From here to here,” Jazz added, rising from the stool to gesture the entirety of Danny’s left side of his torso, and onto his shoulder somewhat.

“Thank you, dear,” Leslie hummed, slipping the scissors under the bandages on the opposite side to make sure she didn’t aggravate any of the injuries. It only took a moment to cut through the stolen wrappings, and then she was very gingerly peeling them away.

Jazz still felt nauseous whenever she saw the blaster inflicted burns marring a good portion of her little brother’s body, and was glad she was already sitting. Leslie didn’t seem too phased though, simply humming once the wounds were revealed even as Dick and Jason made tense noises. “Hmm. Those are definitely third degree,” Leslie commented, slowly cutting away the rest of the bandages around Danny’s shoulder. But then she noticed something unusual that caused her to look closer. The tissue that wasn’t destroyed appeared irritated, as if exposed to an allergen or poison. “What caused them?” she asked, looking closely.

“...A shot from a Blood blossom blaster,” Jazz almost whispered, clenching her hand as the memory of her brother screaming when the red tinted blast had caught him in the side made her feel even more sick. She wasn’t sure if that was worse than seeing him stand up afterwards with a gaping hole in his side dripping green blood. At least in his ghost form there hadn’t been much to see in terms of insides. But after having expended all his energy to take out the GIW’s machines he hadn’t had any left to heal, and the injuries had carried over his human half.

“Wait, you said third degree?” Sam suddenly spoke up, the whole room having stopped conversations when Leslie had come in. “You can’t see his ribs anymore?” she continued, standing up and intending to check for herself before Cass stepped in her way.

“Don’t interfere. You’ll get in the way,” Cass directed, holding her hands out to block Sam’s path and ignoring the glare directed at her.

Tucker made a gagging noise at the question, covering his mouth for a moment. “Dude, could you not remind me of that?”

So Sam wasn’t just being dramatic? Dick and his team ended up looking at Jazz when they heard her draw a breath of realization, turning from Sam back to check for herself. “Oh-... Oh thank goodness. You’re right,” she breathed, sagging to her knees and letting out a sob of relief. “We were right. He is still healing.”

It was a strange thing to hear, but for the first time since they’d caught them Sam actually gained a small smile. Danielle also ended up giving a short giggle too, kicking her legs once. “Told you,” she commented.

It was admittedly a very confusing conversation, but Dick had to just remind himself once again that Danny wasn’t completely human. Following Cass’ lead, Dick gently helped pull Jazz back to the stool she’d been on. “Let’s keep out of the Doctor’s way,” he suggested. 

“Can you guys explain a little more though?” Tim spoke up now, trying to piece together everything that had been hinted at. Apparently Danny had actually had fourth degree burns, but they had healed despite him not having proper medical care other than clean dressings, and having been asleep for months. “I’m having a difficult time understanding how he’s not…. in worse condition,” he added, catching himself from being too blunt like his siblings had been before.

“You mean how he’s not dead?” This time it was Danielle that was strangely blunt with a calmness that made the others think she didn’t fully understand what she was saying. “That’s easy. He and I are both halfas. It’s harder to kill someone who’s already half dead.”

Tim’s brow twitched, and Jason didn’t miss the few glances taken at him. He doubted they were the same as him, considering he unfortunately couldn’t phase through solid objects or fly like they had seen Danielle do many times already.

“Halfas?” Stephanie repeated, pulling her gaze from Jason and looking back to Danielle.

“It’s short for half human half ghost,” Sam answered, as though it was an obvious connection to make.

“Yup. See,” Danielle confirmed, pushing off the table midmorph and floating in the air instead of landing on the floor as her now stark white hair wisped gently in a soft wind unfelt by anyone else. It didn’t look like much of a change other than she had different hair and eye colors now. But it definitely felt different. That eerie skin crawling sensation that people usually associated with ghosts that almost never actually existed.

‘...Huh, I guess it’s kind of like Captain Marvel, but with their ghost half as the other side,’ Tim thought after a moment of consideration after watching Danielle. “And being halfas give you guys accelerated healing, but… Danny’s is… hindered?” he asked next, clarifying that they were on the same page.

The nod from Danielle turned into a grimace, and she floated back to sit on the table once more. “Something like that. We have to have enough energy for it to work, and he used up a lot. This place kinda sucks too. There’s no natural portals to the Ghost Zone, and no ecto hot spots that we can gather energy from either.”

“The closest supplement we could find that we thought would work was the Lazarus water. But after getting a hold of some we decided we shouldn’t risk using it,” Jazz added, feeling the despair starting to sink into her shoulders again.

“Yeah, that stuff is freaky bad. I only took a little bit and it was horrible,” Danielle agreed, shuddering and wrapping her arms around her knees.

The others weren’t sure how to answer that fully, most of them being lost in thought about the unfamiliar data they’d been given. Eventually Jason shifted with a short comment. “We’re not too fond of the stuff either,” he huffed, then switched his gaze back to Leslie.  “Have you finished looking him over?”

While they had been discussing half ghosts Leslie had continued her exam and treatment of Danny, having cleansed the obvious injuries, rebandaged them with Dick’s help, and added a simple saline IV, oxygen mask, and heart monitor. When Jason addressed her she was making notes about her results. “Mm. Aside from the burns it looks like he’s been exposed to an allergen or toxin as well,” she began, turning to face them.

“That’s the blood blossoms. They’re poison to ghosts,” Jazz supplied quickly, then looked apologetic for interrupting.

Leslie didn’t seem to mind though, just nodding and continuing her report. “There’s also the expected signs of malnutrition. If the human half still needs regular human nutrients then Vitamin IV therapy would be of benefit. The strange part is it looks like all of his bodily functions are significantly slowed, similar to that of cryogenic stasis. That could explain why he’s still alive after so long.”

“That also explains why he feels like an ice cube,” Jason noted, “Could you tell what’s causing it?”

“It seems to be self generated. I imagine this ‘meta’ potentially has ice related abilities,” Leslie answered. None of the teens said anything, but their tight lipped reactions and expressions of sudden understanding were enough to confirm Leslie’s guess.

“Do you have the details of the Vitamin IV needed? We can get that brought here,” Dick requested, moving closer to Leslie to look over her shoulder at the notes she’d taken. Leslie just shifted the tablet slightly, letting Dick get a good look since it seemed he was trying to formulate the next steps of action.

“Alright, it looks like everyone is stable for now. We’ll keep two people here at a time to keep an eye on everyone, and make sure people get fed and taken care of. Unfortunately none of you are allowed near any of our technology still, so we can see about bringing you some books or something to keep from being bored,” Dick started to plan out, giving a sympathetic shake of his head when Sam and Tucker groaned about not being let near technology. Jazz felt like it was fair enough, she wouldn't trust them either and at least they were going to make sure they had food and water. Plus they seemed to be pretty serious about taking care of Danny. Even after learning about the unique difficulties in his condition they hadn’t abandoned them yet. “The rest of us will work on getting the rest of what Danny needs, that we know of so far. Something to neutralize the blood blossom residue, IV vitamins, and ectoplasm. Does anyone else have any unique needs?”

At that point Sam raised her hand, letting Dick gesture to her before speaking up. “Vegetarian,” she said simply.

“Not a problem. I’ll make sure everyone in charge of food knows.” Dick nodded, noticing how Damian very subtly gained a smile about that. “Do any of you have a picture, or description of the blood blossom plants? It doesn’t sound like anything I’m familiar with.”

“The only ones we’ve seen look like rosebuds, red with black leaves and stems,” Sam spoke again, seeming to be more favorable to them now. The same care for Danny that was winning Jazz over was winning the rest of the team as well.

“Got it,” Dick nodded, gaining a pleased smile when Leslie also passed over a sample of the blood blossom affected tissue that she had taken from Danny before covering the wounds again. A tiny sample encased in glass, but it should be more than enough for them to figure out how to neutralize the remainder of the toxin without hurting the lad further. “Orphan, Spoiler, are you okay with taking the first shift?”

“Sure thing,” Stephanie agreed, giving a thumbs up along with Cass.

“I’ll stick around too for now,” Jason added, for no other reason that he felt like he should stay there for a while. At least until they knew for sure who these Phantom kids were.

Dick seemed surprised, but didn’t argue. “Fine. Keep in touch, we’ll let you know as soon as we find anything,” he nodded, motioning for those who weren’t staying to head out. He knew Leslie would stay to double check their work on the other kids, so it ended up being just him, Tim, and Damian filtering out the door.

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I actually had this one all typed out before I even started the prologue one. So I just had to draw something today to get it all up.

Drawing this I looked up canon heights for the first time and found out that Danny is a tiny lil nugget, and that's adorable X'D

I also complained to Na about "having to draw Jason's stupid helmet instead of his pretty face" and she gave me the suggestion of having his face on the side.

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Tag list: @galaxy-sharks-and-bottled-ships, @starscreamlover, @nerdynonnativenarnian, @dragongoblet, @zeestarfishalien, @bellathecatastrophe, @cj-ghostemoji-destielpie, @asexual-insomniac, @wolfeyedwitch, @tkiesai

[flwrkid14]

ohhh you know what id love to see in your writing style if you have the time? tim just... getting a kitten. getting a kitten and realizing this tiny innocent creature depends on him and simultaniously freaking out about it while settling into the role of owner. very much reminding him of his own childhood and dealing with thoughts of like... how could someone not love and cherish something completely innocent? basically making him rethink how he was treated. could definitely include danny co-parenting the kitty and just being lovely.

YOU DONT HAVE TO THOUGH AND I LOVE YOUR WRITING HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY RAHHH

hi anon!! tysm for the ask and the kind words !! <3 I hope u have a wonderful day too, and I had so much fun writing this !

Tim doesn’t mean to take the kitten home.

It’s raining. He’s bleeding. The alley is too cold, the sky too loud. And in the hush between thunder, there’s a sound like a whisper. Like a meow.

He follows it. Down a fire escape, behind a dumpster, into the alley’s lungs.

And there she is.

Shivering. Soggy. No bigger than his palm. His heart does something unfamiliar and awful in his chest. Her meow is hoarse and angry, and she bites his glove hard enough to draw blood. It's like love at first sight.

She meows again, and then cautiously plants herself on his boot like she’s made a decision.

It’s not a question. She’s coming with him.

---

At first, it’s chaos.

He googles everything. Kitten feeding schedules. Litter training. What it means when she purrs. What it means when she doesn't. He overthinks every sound she makes. He buys a cat tree taller than Damian. He reads labels on food like he’s defusing a bomb. He calls Alfred three times in one night because “her paw twitched in her sleep and I think she’s dying.”

Danny finds him sitting cross-legged on the floor at 3am, kitten curled on his hoodie, utterly still.

“She’s really taken to you,” Danny says, voice low.

Tim blinks up at him, dazed. “I think I’m her whole world.”

There’s a pause.

Danny smiles and crouches beside them, fingers brushing against Tim’s, “Yeah. Sounds about right.”

They don’t move for an hour.

---

Tim names her Cassiopeia. Because she’s dramatic and beautiful and just a little bit doomed. She is too small for her name. He whispers it like a secret anyway.

The first time she climbs onto his chest and falls asleep purring, something in Tim just… stops. Like a wire inside him went slack for the first time in years. It’s terrifying. It’s quiet. It’s warm.

She trusts him.

It's a small thing, barely a moment—Cassiopeia curling up on his chest with a sigh, a tiny, vibrating purr against the steady thrum of his heart. But it slams into him like a punch. A reminder. A question. A memory.

She’s so small. So soft. So painfully here, alive and warm and unafraid. And she looks at him like he’s a constant. Like he’s safety. Like she’s not even considering the idea that he might drop her, might walk away, might not come back.

That kind of trust is dangerous. That kind of love… it terrifies him.

Because Tim remembers being this small. Sitting on the floor of his childhood bedroom in silence so loud it rang in his ears. Because he knows what it’s like to eat dinner alone at a table too long, to pad barefoot through an empty penthouse and realize no one is looking for you. He remembers curling into himself under too many blankets and pretending that he was a ghost—easy to miss, easier to forget.

Cassi is too young to know what it's like to be forgotten.

And he wants to keep it that way.

She just wants warmth. Food. Gentle hands and a heartbeat beneath her tiny paws. She doesn’t want him to prove anything. Doesn’t expect brilliance. Doesn’t care about masks or missions or mistakes.

She just wants warmth. Food. Gentle hands and a heartbeat beneath her tiny paws.

And somehow, despite everything—despite the cold parts of him that never fully thawed, despite the cracks he tried to fill with caffeine and case files—she’s decided he’s enough.

He’s what she picked.

Tim doesn’t know what to do with that. He doesn’t know how to be someone worth trusting. But he wants to try. For her, for the tiny kitten making biscuits on his chest and purring contently with no problems in the world, he wants to try.

The ache in his chest is too deep to name. It sits between his ribs like something ancient and exhausted, something he's been carrying for so long he forgot it was even there.

He blinks hard. Swallows twice. Then buries his face in her fur and breathes.

She smells like laundry detergent and the soft plastic of the toy mouse Danny gave her. She smells like safety. Like a future he didn’t think he got to have.

He doesn't cry. Not really.

But something in him finally exhales.

She is safe. Loved. Spoiled rotten.

And maybe, just maybe, so is he.

[ew-selfish-art]

Demon Twin AU 

Tim Drake comes across a LOA manuscript detailing the sacrifice of a Demon Heir that’s dated around the time Damian is born and brings it to the cave. There’s no other mention of what went down, but it looks like Damian was a twin and the twin was thrown into the Lazaras Pits- Tim kind of forgets about it but shows it to Damian cause he figures that the guy deserves to know, and leaves it out for Bruce to see (basically the same thing as telling him). It doesn’t really change much but there is an obscured name in the corner so they can presume that the kid’s name would have been something starting with D A N. 

Well here’s the thing: Names carry power. Damian reaches out to John Constantine to ensure that the child is actually dead, because presumably John can do that. John wants to give the kid some closure, so he does what is supposed to be a super chill seance to an infant. He pricks Robin’s finger, chants a little and the air... turns violent.

Uh oh. Dan appears, unshackled from his prison in the Infinite Realms now that John has called upon them by someone with Familial blood. He cackles madly about the fact that it’ll be a good time to bring about the apocalypse again, promising to spare the bird for now, since he would have to get answers later. 

The alarms are blaring, the whole JL is hands on deck to try and stop Dan as he attacks across the globe. They’re saving as many civilian lives as possible but its getting very HAIRY in less than 2 hrs. Robin is out in the chaos, trying to track him down with John and Zatanna trying to recapture him and banish him back to the realms. 

Phantom touches down just as the three of them reach Dan- Danny has some choice words for his older alternate timeline self, including “This is why you have no friends.” and “Seriously, you didn’t even stop to say hi to my timeline’s Jazz this time.” and “Soup time for 1,000 years and then we can talk remediation.” 

After a short but brutal fight, Danny floats over to Damian, John and Z. After making sure they’re all right he’s like “Maybe you can never do that again? Also tell me how and why you did that so I can banish that spell?” And Damian explains that it was meant to ensure that the infant twin he never knew had passed peacefully and clearly that was not the case. Danny blinks a few times, uh, a twin?

Damian goes through the shit, John explains that it was a familial summoning meant to be an advanced seance (hence the lack of safe guards to keep the entity in) and Z confirms that there was nothing special to it beyond that. 

Danny then explains, that uh, “I guess my parents weren’t kidding when they told me I was adopted. Hi? I’m your brother. Uh, I go by Danny though. Dan was me in a different timeline and he’s normally under super strict lockdown.” 

[corkinavoid]

Obsessed With You by Cosmicandy

Theater gothic/Phantom of the opera

(For some horrific reason I couldn't think of a trope)

DPxDC Phantom in the Opera

9/2 sat

Went to Gotham City Opera to see Eugene Onegin with B & Dames. The performance sucked ass (as modern takes on classics usually do), but during Tatyana's aria, some tech guy dropped a rubber chicken from catwalks right on stage. I bet it was on purpose since the lead's voice sounded much similar to the sound that chicken made. Wish I could shake the dude's hand, that was truly the crescendo of the whole scene.

15/2 sun

Came by GCO on the way to WE. Had some time to spare, so decided to go in and find the rubber chicken guy to thank him for the laugh last week. Thought he might appreciate the positive feedback since he was defo yelled at for the stunt. Turns out everyone blames it on a 'ghost'. Using 'Phantom of the Opera' as a cover story is poor taste, in my opinion, but on the other hand, it worked, and who am I to judge.

17/2 mon

Got curious and pulled up the records of GCO employees. No one matches the guy I've seen on the catwalks.

18/2 tue

Blackmailed Damian into drawing the guy. No match through the face recognition program. Should have expected that, really; the one cute guy with a sense of humor I meet (or see, actually), and he doesn't exist.

20/2 thur

Can't stop thinking about the rubber chicken guy. Might have to go back to GCO and ask about the whole ghostly rumor. Last time, no one bat an eye at the 'ghost' excuse, now that I think about it. Has it happened before? Is it a go-to explanation for any prank no one wants to take credit for?

26/2 wed

Visited GCO at night. Seen the guy, but the cam footage came back corrupted when checked downstairs. So maybe the fact that his hair was floating and glowing in the dark was not a hallucination.

27/2 thur

Definitely not a hallucination! Good news: got a sample. Bad news: after analysis, the data also came back corrupted. Weird news: the hair keeps glowing even after it's been cut off.

2/3 sun

The guy's name is Danny. Ghost story confirmed. I'm having a crisis.

4/3 tue

I'm not sure if I want to know absolutely everything there is to know about him or I want to forget everything I've already learned. But then, I've already got so far. Might as well commit to the bit?

8/3 sat

Was invited to see La Traviata tomorrow. Can I still call that reconnaissance, or am I in date territory?

10/3 mon

...it was a date. On an entirely unrelated note, Teddy Hyde ruined all my attempts at coming prepared.

18/3 tue

Heard a new rumor among GCO staff members. They suspect the ghost in their opera is having a crush on Red Robin. Not sure where they've got that idea, but it sure took them some time to notice.

19/3 wed

Damian keeps staring at me at dinners. Maybe I should take that portrait of Danny that he did down from the wall over my bed.

22/3 sat

Going on a date today, and this time, it's definitely a date! Feels like I should be having a crisis over dating a ghost, but somehow, I'm only having a crisis over outfit choices.

61/0° gBs

hEy, yoU're keEEpinG a DIary¡ aboUt Me!¡ ThAt"s cuTe FUCK OFF DANNY THIS IS PRIVATE INFORMATION GET OUT heHeheEhe no~

~•~•~•~

The thing is, I loved the song. And I loved the aesthetic. And I had such a goddamn hard time figuring out how to fit them together; I went through at least three different setups before deciding fuck it imma write silly boys being silly and wish for the best.

Dare I say it turned out cute as fuck, even though I still missed the mark on theater gothic aesthetic for the most part. Anyway, have a few pictures for general vibes!

[Just so you know, if you enter 'sex with a ghost' into google, the first few results will be the lyrics to 'Sex with a Ghost' by Terry Hyde, which is why Tim's research has been rather fruitless]

[racke7]

Corporate War

So, I started thinking about this post.

Specifically, about what a setting with "a corporation of petty lunatics ruining the lives of their rival-company" would look like.

And then I realized:

Fentonworks.

Obviously, a small-time family-business like that won't actually accomplish much of anything, so we're roping in Vlad for this.

Vlad is a billionaire with a massive company, and an unfortunate tendency to come up with hare-brained schemes to seduce a married woman.

What I'm saying is that it's entirely in-character for Vlad to come up with some scheme of "merging" their companies together, and for Team Phantom to do the plucky-teen maneuver and switch the paperwork before he signs it or something.

Thus resulting in Fentonworks suddenly being the owners of Dalv-Co.

Now, obviously, this would upset Vlad quite a lot. But he gave it to Maddie, and now he can't take it back. (Both because of his obsession with her, and because they're always wearing ghost-proof gear, and it would never occur to Vlad to "ask nicely".)

So, now Jack and Maddie Fenton are the proud owners of a massive tech-company. They obviously have no idea what to do about that, beyond "continue inventing cool shit".

But since they're now a filter against Vlad's constant tendency to meddle and make enemies, this actually makes them into a much more successful company (Vlad is silently weeping blood in a corner).

This success finally culminates in the Drs Fenton being invited to a gala by Bruce Wayne, owner of Wayne Enterprises. Everything is going great, and then Jack meets Bruce.

Jack meets Bruce with all of his regular jolly enthusiasm, and Bruce responds with the Brucie-persona of a vapid but probably-good-hearted individual. (He might make a joke about ghosts? I dunno)

Jack comes home to Amity Park a changed man. He comes home with fury and anger and a terrible desire for vengeance.

Maddie thinks that Jack is being melodramatic, but Jack isn't listening. Jack is going to make the greatest invention ever, and then he'll shove it up Bruce Wayne's ass and fire it into space.

Vlad of course takes Maddie's side on this, because he always does that in a desperate hope to score points with her. However, he keeps getting distracted from Maddie by how vicious some of Jack's schemes end up sounding (they're terribly unrealistic, but such enthusiasm).

Vlad ends up giving in to Jack's deranged cackling of vengeance soon being at hand, because this is amazing. Vlad keeps forgetting that he's supposed to be resentful towards Jack for getting "everything Vlad wanted", because Jack shoots him gleefully vicious smiles and it's just-...

"What the fuck, Vlad?! My dad too?!" "I can appreciate a variety of things in life, Daniel. Do try to keep up."

Danny and the rest of Team Phantom quickly decide that they should stop this feud before it gets out of hand.

Sam, having access to rich-folks, gets them invites to a gala with Bruce Wayne in attendance.

And things... don't go to plan.

Tucker comes face-to-face with Tim, the genius CEO of Wayne Enterprises, who compliments Fentonworks for their "quaint" and "retro" designs. Tucker has to be physically dragged away before he can actually declare an open blood-feud to his face.

Jazz has a brief conversation with Dick (the oldest son), and immediately cottons onto the fact that Bruce is... probably not the best dad. As in, if someone drags the man's name through the mud a bit, instead of lauding him for "adopting orphan charity-cases"? He'd have it coming. Jazz washes her hands of this conflict.

Sam manages to corner Bruce, but gets distracted (as always) by some kind of comment about pollution and rights, and-... And Sam is now convinced that Bruce is setting their pollution only barely "below his competitors", as a way to have Poison Ivy attack his rivals. Sam is outraged about this, and now wants to burn down his company around him.

Danny stumbles across Damian, is immediately scoffed at, and promptly decides that, you know what? Actually? Fuck the Wayne-family.

So they return home, and suddenly? Suddenly they're very much on Jack's side in this conflict.

This of course results in them doing a bunch of petty pranks towards WE (same as in the video that inspired this whole AU). But it also results in Batman going insane, trying to track down the "villain" that's targeting WE, and find out if the reason that WE is being targeted is because somebody knows his secret identity (they don't).

Also, I feel like Dani should be allowed to return at the first rumor of a "fun feud" she can participate in. With Maddie doing the Bruce-thing and going "when the hell did we have another daughter?" (Jack is too focused on Vengeance to think too deeply about it, and Vlad keeps actively distracting her whenever she starts trying to question it).

And Jason?

Jason took a long sip of coffee, his eyes not moving from the dark-haired girl who'd just phased through a solid wall. The girl stared at him for a moment, before holding up her finger to her lips in a gesture for silence. "It's for a prank." Jason raised an eyebrow, then glanced at the bag she was carrying with her. A bag filled with what looked like lots and lots of toilet-paper. "To plug the toilets with." The girl explained. Jason imagined that that would cost a lot of money to fix. He took another sip of his coffee. "Don't forget the private toilets." The girl threw him a salute and a wide grin, and then she flew through a different wall. Jason made a personal note to remember to lace Tim's coffee with laxatives.

He's living his best life.

[helloilikepurple]

DC X DP - Danny Drake

Tim's parents didn't intend to have another child. One was plenty. And then an one drunken night resulted in Janet getting pregnant. It's a bit of a predicament, seeing as neither of them want another child (who will need to be fed and raised and stuff) but are also both generally against abortion. So, she rides out the pregnancy, limiting public appearances so it remains secret. She doesn't want to deal with the publicity her being pregnant would get her. It's too much drama. So she keeps it secret from everyone but her husband, and gives birth in a private hospital.

She refuses to sign the birth certificate. She doesn't want this baby tied to her. She doesn't even bother thinking of a name. She gives him away as soon as he's out. A yet-to-be-named newborn Danny is handed off to an orphanage as soon as he can be. The Drake parents go through medical procedures to ensure another pregnancy won't happen.

He stays there for a only a few weeks before an over-eager, excitable couple comes by with their young daughter, in search of a son to teach all their ghostly hunting ways to because for all Jazz, even so young, is smart, she has no interest in their research. Also, Maddie doesn't want to go through another pregnancy since her first one wasn't very enjoyable (she was in a lot of pain for most of those 9 months, basically unable to work on her research).

They see Danny and are quick to adopt him (well, as quick as you can be, but, with it being a Gotham orphanage, it's a lot quicker than it should be). Jack claims he can see the ghost hunter potential in him and Maddie thinks he's adorable. She's excited to have a little baby again to take care of and hold. She'd always wanted a big family, and while 2 children isn't really a lot, it's enough for someone as busy as her. Jazz is excited to have a little brother, and takes to reading books about babies and parenting to better take care of him. She loves holding him, and brags to all her friends about her baby brother, who's undeniably the cutest baby ever.

Danny grows up with the Fentons, not knowing he's adopted. Everything happens as it does in the show. And then, when Danny is 15, his parents take him to Gotham for a ghost hunter convention, Jazz busy with university hunting. Going to Gotham should've been a nice vacation for him. No ghost attacks for a good two weeks. Just Danny in Gotham - with free reign of the most crime ridden city in the world. Yeah this wasn't gonna' go well.

Gotham is dark. The air smells like sewage, death and bitter hope. The people feel like candles flickering in a storm, stubbornly refusing to go out. Danny decides he likes it. The hotel his parents choose is fancy (paid for by Vlad at the insistence that Maddie couldn't stay in some random, run down place after catching wind of their trip). Danny thought it suspicious but figured he'd deal with it when he needed to.

Anyway, Danny has his own room right across the hall from his parents. It's got a queen sized bed, full sized bathroom with a jacuzzi bathtub, a walk-in closet, a tv and a balcony. It's very nice. Danny sets his bags down and collapses onto his bed with a huff. He lays there for a minute, and then reaches for his phone to text Jazz, Sam and Tucker that he made it to the hotel safe (something they insisted on).

And then he stews.

Mum and Dad, for all their brilliance, can be forgetful when it comes to their children. Danny basically has free reign to do whatever for most of the 2 weeks they'll be in Gotham (which is his whole winter break and a little of the first week back).

Vlad's invited the Fentons to a few galas he's attending, insisting they'll be able to show off their inventions to a bunch of people. Danny knows its an excuse for Vlad to spend time with Maddie, make digs at Jack, and show him off as if he was his son. He's not looking forward to it, but the offer came with free, great hotel rooms so it could be worse.

(Plus, with Vlad paying he can spurge on room services and bleed him dry.)

Besides, Danny could do whatever he wanted the rest of the time. He could go to the planetarium and stuff. All he had to do was not out himself as a meta-adjacent person in a meta-hating city. Easy peasy.

All in all, what better time for all this to happen than on Christmas?

Honestly, even with the galas, the garish Christmas decorations all over the place, the music, and Vlad, this is seeming like a better Christmas than usual.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 18

Welcome to another WIP Wednesday!

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

Arc 1 AO3 Link

Arc 2: Part 1, Previous

Word Count: 1.7k

-----

From the radio station, the four traveled to the television studio for their next interview. The host had listened to their radio interview and helped summarize much of the information before asking further questions.

Tim and his teammates called into question the biases of the Drs Fenton and hoped their criticisms would bring others to think twice before taking their word as gospel.

When they were finally done, it was almost nine.

Tim shot off a quick text to Bruce for his morning check-in. He noticed Conner texting someone, too. “Who’re you talking to?” he asked.

“Sam. She says Danny’s still passed out. But her parents are talking about some sort of press release the mayor is planning on putting on at City Hall at ten.”

Cassie groaned. “Ugh, more reporters. Please say we don’t have to go.”

“We should,” said Tim. “But we can go in civvies.”

“Can we at least get breakfast first?” asked Bart. “It’s been hours since we woke up!”

“Yeah,” agreed Cassie. “I’m starving. Let’s get some food. I think I saw a diner when we flew to our second interview.”

Before Tim could consider protesting, Conner had him secure in his arms and TTK and they were in the air.

“Lead the way, Wonder Girl.”

Tim scowled to hide his smile. “Oh sure, don’t listen to your leader. Just do whatever.”

“You’d let us starve?” wailed Connor. “Then we’ll stage a mutiny!”

Cassie laughed. “Yeah, see how long you remain in charge of a hangry speedster, half-kryptonian, and demigoddess.”

Tim grinned. “Oh, but you forget I know you all very well. I can win you back to my side. Starting with Kon.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” demanded Conner.

“Easy. I’ll just bribe you with Alfred’s cookies and a great movie. If I add in a dash of ‘I need your help’ and my puppy dog eyes and you’ll be eating out of the palm of my hand.”

“That’s another square on my bingo card!” called back Cassie. “And look, we’re here!” She pointed down to a quintessential American diner with green glass windows.

The group met Bart a block away in an alley where they shed their gear.

“I’ll tell Sam what we’re up to.” Conner pulled out his phone to send the message.

“Quit wasting time! We’re on a deadline,” moaned Bart as he positioned himself behind Conner and tried to push him towards the street and breakfast.

Conner laughed and refused to budge, so Tim figured a demonstration of his power was in order.

He got in front of Conner and pouted at him. “I know I was joking about not allowing breakfast, but I’m the one who didn’t eat before the interviews. An omelet is calling my name.”

Conner groaned and ran a hand down his face. “Fuck you, Rob.” But he stalked forward out of the alley.

Tim and Bart exchanged grins.

“Seriously, Tim,” said Cassie. “This trip has been great for my bingo card.”

Tim stuck his tongue out at her and jogged to catch up with Conner.

Breakfast was simple but tasty and they devoured far too much food. Their waitress was clearly impressed with her first exposure to a speedsters appetite. Add in a super and a demigoddess and it was obscene.

All too soon, however, it was time to go to the mayor’s press conference. As they made their way there, they joined a growing crowd. Clearly many people were interested in whatever the mayor had planned.

In the crowd, he could hear comments about their interviews. It seems both had been posted online and already had thousands of views. Some people seemed to be sympathetic to them, but others were mistrustful of the “outsiders.”

“If they’re such good friends, why did it take so long for them to come here?” asked one man of his friend.

“I’ve a cousin in Central City. She says trouble always follows a superhero,” said another.

Tim exchanged a look with Conner. He’d be able to hear more conversations and could share his perceptions later.

Before long, they were entering City Hall. Already the seats were full, so they were forced to stand in the back. Jack and Maddie were sitting near the front. Jeremy and Pamela Manson sat on the opposite side of the room as them, but also were near the front of the room.

Tim exchanged looks with his teammates to make sure they saw both couples. Conner was glaring at Maddie and Jack.

“They’re complaining about our interviews,” said Conner. “Throwing around guesses that we are either possessed or have already been brainwashed by the ghosts.”

“At least we know they aren’t observant. Maybe they won’t notice us.”

Mayor Montez stepped up to the podium and everyone fell silent. “People of Amity Park, we have been faced with a threat the likes of which we’ve never before seen! And based on the events of this morning, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to rely on outside help to get us out of it.”

A stone sunk in Tim’s stomach and he exchanged looks with his friends.

“We only have one piece of business today: Defeating the ghosts that infest our town. And to do that, I'm calling for a vote to cede all ghost policing and security decisions”—he held up a photo of Maddie—“to Maddie Fenton.” As Tim watched, however, the mayor’s eyes glowed red and he winced. “I mean Jack,” he corrected, holding up a new picture of Jack Fenton. “The completely competent Jack Fenton.”

“He’s overshadowed,” breathed Conner.

Tim nodded and was already sending a message to Sam, Tucker, and Danny. “And who knows who else.”

Before they could say anything else, the mayor continued, “And we’ve located the ghost responsible for all the terror inflicted on our town.” He held up a picture of Phantom. “Whatever some outsiders may have tried to lie to you about this very morning.”

A gasp rang out among the crowd. Tim glanced at his friends. Conner was glaring at the mayor fiercely and Tim attempted to step in front of him, as pointless as their relative sizes made the action.

The mayor smiled viciously as a panicked crescendo rose from the crowd. Tim’s phone vibrated in his hand and he saw a response from Sam.

Sam: We saw Sam: Danny is on his way Sam: And we’re following as fast we can

Under his breath, Tim muttered, “Conner, you and Bart should go suit up. Cassie and I will stay and keep an eye on what’s going on. Stay close, but try not to be seen unless an attack happens.” Subtly, grateful for their places against the wall, he passed over the thermos he’d taken with him that morning.

Tim heard Conner’s sigh of relief as the two slipped away. He hated pretending to be a civilian in a crisis. Even more than the rest of them.

Cassie whispered, “I almost hate you for keeping me here.”

Tim just bumped their shoulders together.

The mayor, or rather the ghost inhabiting him, raised his arm and silence slowly fell. “We cannot call for outside help. Those who call themselves the Young Justice today proved that the so-called heroes of this world will defend our enemy over us. That they will spread lies to keep us subject to the whims of these ghosts.” The last word was spat. “So we must solve the problem ourselves. Jack Fenton, if the people of this town agree, you and those you train will be our defense force, will you do this?”

Jack near jumped three feet in the air in his excitement. “I’ve been training for this my entire life, Mayor Montez! I’ll be honored.”

“I believe we must institute martial law! The 9 PM curfew will remain in place. No one will be allowed on the streets alone. No loitering. The park will be closed until further notice. Same with the public pool and library and a number of other locations. Drs Fenton, will you be able to set up buildings protected by ghost shields where people can gather for safety?”

Whispering broke out among the public. Maddie stood tall next to her husband, though being continually overlooked in favor of him was clearly grating on her. “We can. Fenton Works is already protected and within two days we can have another shield up and ready. Within the week, we could have five.”

The whispered were almost loud enough to drown her out by the time she finished speaking

“Order! Order!” called Mayor Montez. “All in favor of declaring martial law, and allowing the completely competent Jack Fenton to mobilize a massive ghost hunt, please say—”

But cutting off the mayor, Danny, in his Phantom form, suddenly appeared in the air in the middle of the hall. “I might be too young to vote, but I’m casting one anyway.”

Around them, everyone gasped and people began backing away even as Danny shifted to look at them. Tim and Cassie both tensed and prepared to run.

“You people have to listen to me,” urged Danny. “I’m on your side.”

Mayor Montez took a step back as members of his security moved to stand in front of him. Jack and Maddie jumped up and glared at him.

“You’re not fooling anybody, ghost kid!” declared Jack. “You are going down!” He reached back and pulled out the Fenton fishing rod, the line was horribly tangled and Jack began messing with it. “As soon as I finish untangling this thing.”

Cassie let out a disbelieving huff.

Tim shook his head. “Apparently,” he replied to her unasked question. He pulled out his phone and shot a message to Bart and Conner.

Rob: get back here now Rob: All 4 of us are needed

Before he even finished typing his last message, Bart was at his side. Just in time to see Danny mutter something and shoot an ectoblast at his parents who were thrown back with the force of it, destroying the podium and leaving a burn mark on the ground.

“Shit,” muttered Tim. “Cassie, let’s go. Impulse, try to help where you can.”

“You’ve got it.”

----

Next

And so the best of intentions go awry!

I can almost taste the end of this arc, but for all I know, that'll take another 10k to finish. So we'll see what happens. Hope you enjoyed.

I no longer do tag lists, but please check out the Subscription Post if you want to be notified of updates.

[sarcasticscribbles]

Hello, TimSasha person, I was wondering if you had any thoughts about how Sasha learns about Danny.

I may have a little theory:

Slowly and gradually.

Tim has his walls up when it comes to Danny. He began working in research just a few months after Danny's death, determined to use the Institute's resources to investigate Danny's case while maintaining a facade for his coworkers. I think Tim wanted to keep to himself, but he's very bad at it; he is naturally drawn to people and thrives in company. He fits seamlessly into crowds and can put on whatever mask the people around him are comfortable with. I think Jon was his first victim. Since Jon lost his grandma a year prior, there was a mutual understanding.

Tim kept his research to himself, but as the months went by, he never found out what he was even looking for.

He met Sasha a few months after starting. They had drinks after work with coworkers, eventually ending up alone at the pub. Sasha wasn’t working in Artefact any more, but she shared stories that piqued Tim’s interest. She couldn’t give him access to the Storage, but she was fun to be around and knew a lot about the Institute. Sasha believes everyone’s here for a fucked-up reason, and that they wouldn’t work with horrific and paranormal research if they weren’t already familiar with it. She knows everyone’s wearing a mask, and she doesn’t blame them, as that’s what we as humans are taught to do to avoid isolation.

She knows he’s doing some independent research, but he denies it when she asks. Sasha first comes across Danny after finding a silly picture of Tim and him at a bar and joking about Tim’s outdated haircut. She asks, “You never told me that you have a brother,” and Tim stiffly corrects her with “had.” Sasha drops the subject after a silent apology.

When nearly a year has passed since the incident, he gets more fixated on his research, staying late and shutting people out. Sasha tries to help, but she doesn’t know what he’s looking for. He forgets one folder, and Sasha picks it up to give it back while Tim’s anxiously looking for it. “Who’s Danny?” she asks, as it’s the name written on top of the folder. He admits it’s his brother and goes back behind his walls to continue his research. Sasha doesn’t push, but she’s naturally curious. She sticks by him, since Tim thrives in company.

Eventually, it’s the anniversary of Danny’s death, and Tim has almost worked a year at the Institute with no progress at all. He wonders why he is even here; if he had just stayed with Danny in the living room that night, or stopped him from going to Covent Garden Theatre alone, or told him how stupid of a hobby urban exploration was-!

 Not that Danny ever listened to him anyway, but all the “what if’s” haunt him to no end.

Sasha finds him in the library; they are about to lock up, and they should probably leave. Tim can’t return home, even if he threw out the armchair he found Danny in, the empty spot in the living room is too much for him at the moment. She doesn’t understand, but offers her place if he needs somewhere else to go. She knows: 1) everyone’s here because of a fucked-up reason, 2) Tim had a brother, 3) his name was Danny, and 4) now he’s here.

She packs up his papers, folders, and books, respecting his boundaries by not looking through them. Tim is an empty shell of a man and doesn’t note the period between the Institute and Sasha’s couch. She doesn’t ask which Tim appreciates. She makes them tea and stays with him, talking about nothing until silence comforts them, and it’s not until the next day that Tim opens up to her.

Although it’s a strange story to tell and harder to believe, Sasha listens. She doesn’t understand it all, but she doesn’t have to. She believes him; why else would he work at The Magnus Institute?

[ollieofthebeholder]

And If Thou Wilt, Forget: a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 41: Come back to me in dreams, that I may give

[CLICK]

[ENGINE RUMBLING, TIRES ON ROADWAY]

GERRY

Where did she even get the name Jan Kelly from, anyway?

TIM

Jan after Jan Kilbride, the guy from the Daedalus project who got…messed up by the Vast. Kelly was her mother’s maiden name.

GERRY

…Did she tell you that, or did the Eye?

TIM

Since I didn’t even know about this place until you told me, definitely the latter. Mind the pedestrian.

GERRY

No, I thought I’d just run him over. Picking bits of meat out of the undercarriage is so much fun.

[TIM SNORTS]

[SEVERAL MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

GERRY

She wouldn’t send us there if it was dangerous. Or at least she would have given us some kind of clue as to how to…dismantle her traps or whatever.

TIM

I just hope the bill’s still current. She told me once she always paid her bills as far in advance as she could, just in case she was delayed somewhere, but it’s been almost two years.

GERRY

Surely she wouldn’t have put something so important in a situation so precarious.

TIM

I guess we’ll find out.

It’s down there.

[TIRES CRUNCHING OVER ASPHALT]

[SLIGHT CREAK AS CAR STOPS]

[ENGINE SHUTS OFF]

GERRY

Come on. I remember which unit is hers, so it shouldn’t take us too long to find.

TIM

Sure.

[SEATBELTS UNBUCKLING]

[CAR DOORS OPEN, FOOTSTEPS ON ASPHALT, CAR DOORS SHUT]

[FOOTSTEPS ON PAVEMENT, SLOW TO A STOP]

[FRUSTRATED GROAN]

GERRY

Great. Of course there’s a keypad for entry. God alone knows what combination of numbers she would have used.

TIM

260147.

[BRIEF PAUSE]

[DISTINCT SOUNDS OF THOSE SIX NUMBERS BEING PUNCHED INTO A KEYPAD]

[CHEERFUL DOUBLE BEEP]

[CLUNK OF A LOCK DISENGAGING]

GERRY

…Okay, God and you know.

Did she pick it herself for a reason, or was it random?

TIM

She picked it herself. For the same reason I would have used 140385, and can we please not ask those kinds of questions for a bit? That kind of Knowing isn’t my usual area of expertise, but I’m getting the information anyway and it’s starting to give me a headache.

GERRY

Sorry.

[DOOR OPENS]

GERRY

Come on. It’s this way.

[FOOTSTEPS ECHOING SLIGHTLY ON A CONCRETE FLOOR, BUT OTHERWISE ABOUT THIRTY SECONDS OF SILENCE]

TIM

Any guesses as to what it is she left us?

GERRY

No. You?

…Not asking the nosy bastard, just asking you.

[TIM LAUGHS A LITTLE]

TIM

Not a clue, which is a refreshing change.

Probably something we’d never expect in a million years.

GERRY

Hmm.

Do we think you don’t have a clue because she somehow hid it from the Ceaseless Watcher, or just because it’s letting you build anticipation?

TIM

…

The second one. It’s probably trying to get me curious.

Or maybe it’s just because that’s not the sort of thing I usually can just…do. Most of the information I pull out of nowhere legit is stuff I already knew but had no reason to use, and…I dunno, there’s probably a common theme for the stuff it usually gives me, but I can’t come up with it right now.

Anyway, unless she’s keeping her sister’s skull in there or something, I don’t think I’d just get that information.

[SQUEAK OF SOLES AGAINST THE FLOOR AS GERRY WHIRLS AROUND]

GERRY

Her what?

TIM

I told you, if I’d picked a code I’d have used 140385. That was Danny’s birthday. Gertrude lost her younger sister to one of the Fourteen. It’s why she went to work at the Institute in the first place, and why she offered me the job. We’re cut from the same cloth.

GERRY

Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick.

[RUSTLE OF FABRIC AS HE PULLS TIM INTO A FIERCE HUG]

[SEVERAL MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

[TIM PULLS BACK]

TIM

…Thanks for that, Ger.

GERRY

Any time.

Come on. We should almost be there.

[MORE FOOTSTEPS, EVENTUALLY SLOWING TO A HALT]

TIM

This one?

GERRY

Yep.

No cameras, so that’s good. Although I suppose if someone’s trying to spy on us, they wouldn’t need cameras.

TIM

We’re good. No one’s watching.

[JINGLE OF KEYS]

GERRY

…Sure of that, are you?

TIM

Yep.

[LOUD JANGLING CLUNK AS TIM SELECTS A KEY AND LETS THE OTHERS DROP]

GERRY

Wait, no, hang on. How can you be so sure?

TIM

[Audibly grinning] Finally figured it out earlier today. You know how I have that problem where it’ll randomly just feel like my finger’s swelling up and the ring gets uncomfortably tight?

GERRY

Yeah?

TIM

It’s not random.

I was talking with Martin earlier and he was ranting about a bunch of stuff he’s probably had bottled up for a while, and one of the things he was complaining about was feeling like he was being watched. Mostly as a joke, I put the picture on Sasha’s desk face down, and as soon as I did, the ring suddenly got so loose it actually popped right off. While I was waiting for you, I thought about it, and I realized that all the times it got tight was when we were doing something that someone might have wanted to know, or when Gertrude or Elias—or Jon, unintentionally anyway—was trying to directly Know what I was thinking. It gets tight whenever someone is trying to magically spy on me. Right now it feels fine, so we’re safe.

Let’s see what’s in here.

[RATTLE OF KEY BEING INSERTED INTO LOCK]

[FAINT CLICK OF LOCK]

[MUFFLED JINGLE OF KEYS AND LOCK BEING DROPPED INTO A POCKET]

[RATTLE, CREAK, AND GROAN OF A METAL STORAGE DOOR BEING FORCED UPWARDS]

GERRY

Holy war zone.

TIM

Frith and Inlé. I didn’t expect this much stuff.

GERRY

You know Gertrude. If something’s worth doing, it’s worth…digging through two dozen decaying unmarked cardboard boxes.

Still. She couldn’t have at least left us a map?

TIM

…I think maybe she did.

GERRY

…Oh.

TIM

Probably should worry me that it’s only got my name on it, but…

[TWO FOOTSTEPS]

There’s a recorder here. That’s what was keeping the tape upright. Want to listen to it here or take it home first?

GERRY

…

I don’t think I’ll last the two hours it’ll take to get home. Besides, we want to find…whatever it is she left to stop the Unknowing, right? Maybe she spelled it out on the recording. Let’s listen now.

[RATTLE OF THE DOOR CLOSING]

TIM

Our choices seem to be sitting on the floor or…standing.

GERRY

Yeah, no, I’m lazy. Sit.

[FABRIC RUSTLES, SLIGHT SOUND OF CARDBOARD BOXES SHIFTING MARGINALLY AS THEY SETTLE ON THE FLOOR AND GET COMFORTABLE]

[TAPE CLICK]

[A QUIET SPACE]

GERTRUDE

Tim. And Gerard, I suppose, you two don’t tend to keep secrets from one another. Which serves you well.

The time is seventeen minutes past two in the afternoon, fourteenth of March, 2015. As I record this, you are on your way to Çukurova, Turkey, by way of Istanbul. I have just finished speaking with you about returning to London due to the imminence of the Dark’s ritual, the Extinguished Sun.

If you are listening to this recording, it means I’m dead.

[TIM INHALES SHARPLY]

More specifically, it means that I am dead and that my…current theory was incorrect. There is no real point in repeating it now, I suppose. I’ve taken precautions not to be overheard, but there is still the risk. If I am correct, I will tell you about it when you return to London, as it will greatly inform our path going forward, but if I am wrong, there’s no reason for you to worry about it, and telling you will only send you down the wrong and, may I say, dangerous path.

So. To business. You are hearing this because I was able to disrupt the Dark’s ritual, but it likely cost me my life. This means that Elias will be appointing a new Archivist.

The position will not lie fallow for long. It cannot. The Archives need an Archivist, and so does the Ceaseless Watcher. I assume—or rather, I hope—it will be Sasha James, from Research; her background in Artifact Storage will give her a better chance of understanding. However, it may not be, and Elias may have made a different choice for some reason. Should Elias offer you the position, Tim—do not accept it. It will place you both in grave danger. Even graver than the danger you are already in.

(Momentary pause) On the topic of Elias. I know I don’t need to tell you not to trust him; you are already wise enough not to. And you’ve been good about avoiding him up to this point. That will be…far less simple in my absence, at least for you, Tim, so please listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you, and please, believe what I am saying.

The person you know as Elias Bouchard was originally known as Jonah Magnus—

[RECORDER CLATTERS TO THE FLOOR]

TIM

What?!

GERRY

No, no, I must have—we had to have misheard that, play that again, that can’t—

[TAPE REWINDS]

[TAPE CLICK]

GERTRUDE

—and please, believe what I am saying.

The person you know as Elias Bouchard was originally known as Jonah Magnus, the founder of this Institute. I have also known him as James Wright, and before that as Richard Mendelsson. He has found a way to extend his life by…placing it in other bodies, and taking on their identities. A slightly less obvious method than that employed by Maxwell Rayner, I suppose, but no less insidious.

[TAPE CLICK]

[SEVERAL SECONDS OF SILENCE]

TIM

Fuck me sideways and call me a snake.

GERRY

(With a pathetic attempt at humor) I know it’s serious when you aren’t swearing in Lapine.

TIM

I just…I…fuck.

Elias Bouchard has been Jonah Magnus this whole time? No wonder…

GERRY

No wonder what?

TIM

No wonder I can’t figure him out. He’s had—what, two hundred years of being…

GERRY

An asshole?

TIM

The Grand Mystic Pooh-Bah of assholes. And also a servitor of the Ceaseless Watcher.

He’s…he’s old, Gerry. Not just old, but ancient. And I don’t mean that in the sense of “he’s past his prime”, I mean that in—

GERRY

I know. You mean “ancient” like “ancient power.” Like the kind that gets written about on temple walls and whispered about behind closed doors.

TIM

Yeah.

And I think I’m strong enough to keep that out of my head?

GERRY

You are. He believed you when you said you didn’t have the keys to the Archivist’s office, right?

TIM

I mean, I assume so, but—

GERRY

No. No, you’re right, he has to believe it. You said he was disappointed, yeah? Probably because he made plans assuming you did, that you’d lie and say you didn’t but keep them and could…do exactly what you just did and break into Jon’s office when he wasn’t aware. Make him more paranoid. But you convinced him you didn’t and that threw off his plans.

TIM

…Which is why he suddenly remembered he had the key to the trap door and gave it to me to give to Jon. Either in hopes I would “forget” to give it to him, or that I’d make a copy before I did.

GERRY

God. He’s such a bastard.

What’s he up to, anyway?

TIM

Maybe we should keep listening and find out.

GERRY

…Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

[FABRIC RUSTLES AS HE PULLS TIM CLOSER]

[TAPE CLICK]

GERTRUDE

You’ve worked out, I’m sure, that he has certain…abilities of clairvoyance. On the off chance you haven’t worked out exactly what those abilities are, he has the ability to perceive out of any eye, real or symbolic, which is why I never keep photographs in the Archives. I’m not certain if Gerard’s tattoos are the exception or if he’s not aware of them or if it’s simply that the two of you have the skills to ward him away without knowing that you are doing so, but whatever the case, he doesn’t seem to be…entirely aware of your presence, Gerard.

Use that to your advantage.

I know that you are both well capable of protecting yourselves, both mentally and physically. Your bond to one another is a source of strength. Your knowledge is another. Keeping the Archives in a state of chaos is a third, and I trust you enough to help maintain that; I believe Elias’s plan would benefit from their organization. But I also know that you are both quite skilled in the mental shields I have instructed you in, and that you have developed on your own. Keep using them. It is not only the Ceaseless Watcher that may seek to slip past your defenses, so be on your guard.

It is also up to you to protect the new Archivist, whomever she—or he, I suppose—may be.

The Unknowing is approaching fast. You know this. I am still not certain of the timeline for it, but if you are listening to this tape it is still coming. Perhaps you have been able to ascertain that information by now, perhaps not, but either way, the new Archivist will not be prepared for what is to come. Even if it is Sasha, she may be prepared to accept the paranormal and the dangerous aspects thereof, but she doesn’t know the details like you do. The Archivist will need that information to succeed.

That being said.

I assume that if there is a new Archivist, there are also new assistants. Sasha may not appoint others, as I have mentioned to her that I don’t need any more help than you, Tim, but she may, and a different Archivist will also likely want a full staff. Which means you are likely dealing with a minimum of two new assistants—Martin Blackwood will, presumably, be one, but I cannot even begin to hazard a guess as to the second, and I don’t intend to try. It doesn’t matter. Be extremely cautious of them, and of how much information to divulge to them. I trust your judgment, but please be sure to weigh in your decision where they came from and why they are in the Archives. And if the new Archivist asks you to keep them ignorant, you will need to defer to their decision. At least to begin with.

(Deep breath) I will be recording a tape for the Archivist to come after me sometime before…before you return, or before the Extinguished Sun is due to…occur. I plan to give them enough information to get started with, but not the full details. I will also instruct them to play that tape for you, Tim, making no mention of this one. Be warned that if they do not—or have not done so, should you for some reason be listening to this after the new Archivist has taken the position—they may not have the best interests of the world at heart. They may also simply be skeptical, or perhaps simply willfully ignorant, pretending to ignore the truth as a defense mechanism or a pathetic attempt at safety. Whatever the case may be, if the current Archivist has not or does not take you into their confidence…trust no one but each other.

…

I don’t enjoy this level of paranoia. I certainly don’t enjoy that I am handing it on to you. But if it keeps the two of you safe, and if you can save the world in the bargain, I’ll accept it.

I am…fond of you both. I can admit that here and now. I’m fairly certain that this room is warded enough that anyone who may use that against me won’t be able to hear, and if they do, hopefully there won’t be time for them to use it against me. I…I hope you’re able to listen to this, and I’ve not put you in danger just by admitting that. (Heh) I suppose I must be getting sentimental in my old age. I’ll have to tell you about a few. If for some reason you’re listening to this even though I am still alive, likely because I’ve forgotten to actually destroy it, remind me to tell you about Emma. And Michael. I suppose I should tell you about Michael.

I hope you’ll both forgive me when I do.

(Sharp inhale) Right. I believe I’ve rambled long enough. You have work to do.

Hold onto the key to the storage unit until you are certain you can trust the new Archivist. Either wait for them to get up to speed on everything that they need to know or, if the Unknowing is too close to allow them that kind of time, bring them here. Hopefully they will not get quite so…obsessed that they gain powers too quickly, which means your abilities will be the more prominent, but nevertheless, between you and the Archivist you ought to be able to locate my contingency plan. Unless you and Gerard have found a better option. I rather hope you have, as this one may be…drastic, but regardless, this ought to be a good place to discuss. Everything here is safe. At least from Elias.

I don’t have much to leave behind, but what I do have is yours, Tim. Use it well and in good health.

One final request, and I hope you have returned in enough time to fulfill it for me. I registered a plan some time ago that when I die, I wish to have my remains cremated. I updated my will after returning    to London from Chicago to state that I wanted them sent to you, but if that does not go through, they may be sent to the Institute, in which case you will need to find some way of intercepting them or obtaining them from Rosie.

There is a disused burial ground in Dover with the stones overgrown, one that no one bothers to visit anymore. Somewhere in that ground is a stone for Grace Robinson. I…I ask that you scatter my ashes on her grave, and tell her…

Tell her what you wish you could say to Daniel.

Whatever else comes…good luck.

[TAPE CLICK]

[SEVERAL LONG MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

GERRY

Oh, Tim.

[TIM GIVES A SLIGHTLY BROKEN LAUGH]

TIM

You know what the worst part of it is?

GERRY

That none of that surprised you? Well, except the part about Elias Bouchard being Jonah fucking Magnus. I don’t know that I’ll ever be over that.

TIM

Honestly, no. That’s the second worst part.

The worst part is…I was just about to the point where I trusted him. Jon, I mean. Not Elias. There was never any conceivable universe where I trusted Elias. But Jon? I was ready to believe he was on the up and up.

GERRY

Bang goes that theory.

Do you think he killed Gertrude?

TIM

I don’t know. I don’t know that that matters anymore, honestly. If it was Jon or a random intruder or someone taking revenge for whatever she did to stop the Extinguished Sun or, hell, maybe that was how she stopped the Extinguished Sun, get into an old fashioned pistol duel with someone.

The important thing is that Jon knows about all this, and he’s chosen not to believe it, or else he’s chosen not to trust me. And that means I can’t trust him.

It means we’re on our own.

GERRY

Again.

TIM

Or still.

…

So I guess the big question is…now what?

[CLICK]

[lostonehero]

Ghosts in the insistute

"Uh, sorry about your brother Daniel." A older woman adjusts her glasses floating behind the man in urban explorer gear and looks to be stitched back together.

Danny sighs. "Don't. Gertrude. We both know he didn't have a choice, and i can't tell him to stop because he's going to get himself killed going down this route. I honestly thought he was finally making a turn for the better. Guess that won't happen now."

A man floats by missing both of his eyes. He's in a long button-up shirt, black dress pants and a name badge stating artifact storage, and Elias Bouchard. "Eh, it ain't that bad he might even join this hell hole of us being stuck, not you, but still." Eli shrugs. "Honestly, still kind of jealous you get to travel."

"Don't be bitter, Elias." Gertrude rolls her eyes.

"To be fair, he has to watch Jonah use his body and watch it get older as he stuck like this." Danny sighs. "At least you're not stuck to your sister."

Eli shudders. "Oh, don't you even put that out there. I don't need her visiting here to make that a possibility. Trevor attached to his brother when he visited to make a statement. I don't need to have my sister suffer with that. I abandoned her after all."

"You didn't, though." Gertrude gave a half-hearted pat on Eli's back.

Eli narrowed his gaze. "I really, really didn't like that."

Gertrude rolls her eyes again, pinching her brow. "If it's any consolation, I hope Tim dies first."

"Missing the entire point of me wanting my brother to live a long, happy life." Danny huffs. "You literally just died like a few months ago. You have no claim in this."

Gertrude sighs but doesn't say anything.

"Good morning, Martin!" Danny waves.

"The living can't see us." Eli crossed his arms.

Danny smiles floating next to Martin. "Do you think this fear stuff will trap you too?"

"Seriously?" Eli floats next to Danny. "The living can't see us. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

Gertrude clears her throat. "I can concur with Elias. The living, even those avatar to the eye or even end, cannot see us."

Martin sighs and in a quiet voice. "I'm half dead."

Eli froze, staring at Martin. "You're what?"

Danny scoffs. "I told you! That's Martin he's dating Tim. I asked him not to tell Tim about me because i knew Tim would hate him, and it's a healthy relationship. I dont want to ruin it for my brother."

"What do you mean by half dead child?" Gertrude raised a brow.

Martin quietly removes one glove to show a skeleton hand and then quickly replaces it. "I'm half dead. It's probably from my father's side because I never met him." He quickly quiets himself when the three left the archivist office.

"As I was telling you before, Martin can see the dead, which means us. He doesn't excatly make it known to the living." Danny crossed his arms floating back next to his brother.

"That's kind of upsetting." Eli frowns. "I'm sorry, kid. My father was a fucking monster. Yours is an actual monster, not a fear freak, though. He could be a decent guy, well not decent, he did abandon you."

"He didn't, Martin's mother had a one night stand and blamed Martin for being born." Danny floats upside down. "His Mom is the problem."

"Oh ew." Eli makes a face.

Gertrude sighs. "That's unfortunate, but maybe I'll be able to help you guys survive. Sasha was my pick for Archivist, but Jonah has other plans."

"Still don't get why Barnabas still likes him." Eli shrugs.

"I'm sorry, as in Barnabas Bennet?" Gertrude stares at Eli.

"I keep forgetting how new you are. You haven't even met all the others here." Eli chuckles. "Robert Smirke is here too. He and Mordechai have an ongoing bet about Peter, his great, great, whatever grandson who is in a relationship with Jonah. Barnabas likes Peter better anyhow and thinks he can just join the two when they eventually die. He's quite stubborn and still in love. Oh right there's others as well, but you'll eventually meet everyone. Speaking of that, I have to talk to Laura she always has the best gossip."

"Oh! Tell me everything. I have to know the deal with accounting." Danny smiles. "I mean, come on, that has to be a polycube at this point."

Eli winks and floats through the ceiling.

Gertrude follows.

.......

Martin puts his coat on and sighs. "So how long have you been stuck?" He was just outside, and the night chill made him put on his coat as soon as he stepped outside.

"He really wasn't kidding. You can see and hear us." Eli sighs. "Day before Jonah promoted my body. For a few decades now, well, two and nearly three decades. It's not all bad, I do have to admit we have the same taste in men, although I've been informed i am demi on all accounts, but I guess I'm still somewhat connected to my body because I share the feelings for Peter. It's really weird."

"That is quite odd." Martin nods.

"What are you doing waiting outside here?" Eli raised a brow.

"Tim and I agreed we don't want the others to know due to the gossip machine. So I catch the bus out here, and he picks me up from the closest drop-off." Martin messes with his gloves. "I do want to tell him. I've never been in a relationship this long before or cared about someone like I do him, but it don't know how to tell him that his brother hasn't left his side since he died. He only told me last month about Danny."

"I don't really have advice for you. However, he will catch you without those gloves one day." Eli chuckles at Martin's shocked expression. "Im good at reading people, and I know for a fact he doesn't know about that."

"Gloves and lies mostly." Martin sighs. "I don't want to scare him."

"He watched his brother die, I don't think bones will scare him." Eli waves at the bus approaches. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Martin nods and gets onto the bus.

.......

Tim was humming cutting vegetables in his shared kitchen. "Ok again. I'm sorry, I didn't think Jon would be such a dick to you. Look, I know we agreed to keep this a secret, but I don't like how he treats you and..." He turns to look at Martin, who was messing with his gloves in deep thought. "Marto?"

Martin swallows and blinks. "I uh right, sorry. It's fine, Tim."

Tim puts his knife down and sighs. "Are you ok?"

"I have to tell you something." Martin looks up with impossibly blue eyes at Tim.

Tim swallows. He probably fucked up and ruined the only good thing he had. He should have told the others. Martin didn't deserve to be hidden like a dirty secret. Every one thought he was a slut and that was fine. Even Sasha played along, but even his best friend didn't know the truth. Fuck he was such a dick. "Martin I'm so-"

"I can see the dead!" Martin sputtered out loud and clearly embarrassed.

"What?" Tim blinks clearly, not expecting the words to come out of Martin's mouth. "I'm sorry. Did you say you can see the dead?"

Martin rips off his gloves, showing off his skeleton hands. "I met Danny when we first met. He's kind of stuck to you since he died. He's the one to ask me not to tell you. I didn't... I don't want to lie to you anymore. I love you, Tim, and I've been terrified to say it. I've been so scared you would be scared of me because of this and... and..." He was crying thick tears dripped from his eyes.

Tim rushed forward, grabbing Martin's hands. "Martin, i could... wow, why are they warm? I'm sorry. I know this is serious, but they're warm, and that's weird, right?"

Martin pauses and chokes out a laugh. "To be honest, I don't understand it either. You're not mad?"

"Mad? Martin, I love you. Fuck I thought you wanted to end things." Tim gently places his forehead against Martin's. "I don't think i would have been able to handle that. You're the best thing to ever happen to me, and I just..." he freezes. "Wait, you can see Danny?"

Martin chuckles. "You know he was counting down till you would ask that."

"Fu-" Tim had tension bleeding out of his shoulders, standing back up. "It is him. You really can see the dead. I have so many questions, but I don't care. I need to do this first."

"Do wha -" Martin is cut off by a deep kiss.

......

"Oh, please don't tell me he watches." Tim groans covering himself with the blanket.

"He has a 30-foot radius around you, Tim." Martin chuckles. "He makes himself scarce during all your fun times."

"Is this why you always leave the TV on when we get busy?" Tim hums and scratches his chin. "That makes so much sense."

"That or he spies on the neighbors. He doesn't blame you." Martin smiles softly. "He wants to see you happy. He also wants to see you get old because it would be funny in his own words to see you break a hip being a idiot."

Tim snickers, and it turns into a full belly laugh. "That sounds like him. Where is he now?"

"Tim, I can't see through walls." Martin smiles, sitting up and looks around.

"Oh, you're done? That's fast." Danny poked his head through the door. "And your hands are uncovered?"

"He, however, can go through walls." Martin smiles, pointing to the closed bedroom door. "I know you can't see him, but he is now in the room."

"You told him?" Danny raised a brow.

"Danny?" Tim sat up, keeping the blanket over him. "Danny, I.... I've missed you."

"Dude, I've been following you for years. Why the bloody fuck is he being shy now? We shared a room!" Danny huffs.

"He's complaining that you're being shy." Martin thins his lips.

Tim groans. "You know what I lied fuck you Danny."

Danny burst out laughing.

"He's laughing at you." Martin grins when Tim starts laughing.

Tim grabs Martin's hand. "Thank you for giving my brother back, Martin. I dont think you need to get me gifts anymore."

"I'm still going to knit you a scarf." Martin kisses Tim's cheek.

"So now that there's open communication. I know we have years to catch up on and whatever, but I have to know, was Jon really in a band? Micheal talked about seeing him in college. The band was called Mechanisms." Danny floated closer to the two.

"Seriously? You can talk to your brother again, and that's the first thing you ask?" Martin huffs. "Micheal, and different spirit stuck at the insistute says Jon was in a band in college called the Mechanisms and he wants to know if that's true."

Tim's eyes widen. "No, Danny's right, that's a way more pressing matter. Jon, the stick in the mud academics who threw a hissy fit when we threw him a birthday party because it's unprofessional can not be cool or have a cool past."

Martin chuckles. "We do have the internet to help."

Danny is right next to Tim as he pulls out his laptop.

"Hell yeah, you're amazing, Martin. Also, thanks, Danny." Tim smirks.

"Fuck yeah. Less talking more, searching. I have to see this." Danny grins.

.......

"Oh, what has gotten you so happy, Tim?" Sasha chuckles, listening to Tim practically skip into the archives humming a tune. "Did you get lucky with Aaron from HR?"

Tim grins. "Even better." Hs tosses his phone open to a YouTube video.

"No." Sasha stares at the video.

"Aha! See, I told you, Eli." Micheal points at the phone screen.

Eli snorts. "This is something I don't mind being wrong about."

"Good heavens." Gertrude rolls her eyes. "If he dressed like that here, he would probably have a better chance of fitting in with the avatars."

Danny snorts. "I would pay to see that."

Martin bites his lip watching Jon pale as he exited his office because of the noise, and he went right back inside.

"It would have been easier to just ask his parents." Micheal crossed his arms. "They are attached to Jon like you are to Tim."

"Isn't that weird, though? I mean like hey, we're also dead, so tell us about your son, who you obviously been attached to a long time because you both are way too young to have a meaningful impact in his life." Danny frowns.

"We can hear you." A dark skinned Asian man huffs. He mumbles something in Japanese.

"Be nice, Shiro." The woman elbows the man. "But he isn't wrong. I died when my boy was six. Cancer is nobodies friend. I'm May, and this is my husband Torshiro."

"I was killed when he was 2." Shiro motions to the spot where his heart was carved out of his chest it was incredibly gruesome. "My past caught up to me from Japan." He was a scary looking man. "Ex Yakzua met May while she was teaching English in my territory."

"I was just killed by some stranger horror creature." Danny motions to being stitched back together. "You're thing sounds so much cooler."

"So tell us about this, Jonah. He is in your body, right?" Shiro points to Eli.

"Yeah, yeah." Eli sighs. "Jonah Magnus found a way around death through the fear god Beholder." He motions to his bloody holes where his eyes were. "You can guess how. He's going to use your son to initiate his plan unless he figured things out like Gertrude, or he cuts out his eyes. You can hear his whole thing if you talk to Barnabas or Robert. Honestly, I'm just glad to be stuck here than attached to him."

"That's great for you." Micheal sighs he was fading. "I'm attached to whatever possessed my body. I'll see you guys when the spiral returns." He salutes and vanishes.

"He way too polite to curse you out." Eli motions to Gertrude.

"I deserve that." Gertrude sighs.

"Well, we have to figure out a way to stop it." May huffs. "I will not have my son be used like a pawn for something he has no idea about."

Martin sighs. "I would love to help, but the man hates me."

Tim raised a brow and then made an o face. "Who's talking?"

"They're all talking among themselves, but before Danny mentions I could help Jon. I must say he hates me." Martin crossed his arms and points in a direction near Jon's office. "Jon's parents are attached to him like how Danny's attached to you."

"Ok, but help Jon, how?" Tim raised a brow.

"You can see us?" May gasps.

Martin nods. "Honestly, with the way you guys gossip, I would have thought everyone knew by now."

Eli shrugs. "It ain't my secret to tell, kid."

"Oh, um, thank you, I guess." Martin rubs the back of his neck. "But as I was saying Jon hates me, anything I will say to him he will dismiss. I get the whole fear thing, and you are his parents, but he hates me."

Shiro frowns. "The boy has a point. Jon is stubborn like myself. Your mother raised him, and she was an awful influence."

"Well, I didn't want her to raise him, but she forged my signature!" May pinched her brows. "Look, how about we start with getting jon to like you. He likes cats, and he does really like the tea you make him."

"Oh, I understand that. I basically raised my sister, and then my father disowned me, and I was banned from seeing her. I'm happy that she never saught me out to see Jonah puppeteer my body." Eli hums.

"Dude that's really fucked up." Danny frowns. "How about something more reasonable like finding Eli's sister."

"Well, if i knew her name, I could do that." Martin blinks. "That is really fucked up. You raised her, and your father disowned you? Was it to keep her away from you?"

"How about we stop talking about this?" Eli floats through the ceiling.

"And he's gone." Danny sighs.

Tim made a confused motion.

"Uh, Eli mentioned he had a sister he basically raised, and his father disowned him to keep him away from her. Danny wants to find her." Martin pauses. "It's been a while since I've translated for the deceased. I'm a bit rusty. I forget how you can't hear the conversation."

"Ouch, but yeah, no, I agree with Danny. The fear thing will take a while, right?" Tim hums. "And if that's the case, we have time to help the others, right?"

"I suppose Tim is right." Gertrude crossed her arms. "My efforts will slow him considerably things considered."

"As i said before, I literally can't get sucked off until Tim dies." Danny huffs.

"Why do you call it that?" Shiro riased his brow.

"Because wisked off seems too whimsical." Danny shrugs.

Martin rubs his face and sighs.

"Did Danny call moving to the next plane getting sucked off again?" Tim snickers when Martin nods.

"Disregarding that... wait, that's possible?" Gerturde blinks shocked.

"Well, yeah, it's possible. You're still very new to this. Things are tricky when it comes to being dead. Uh, I've had some experience talking to others, so let me -

Martin cuts off Danny. "Ghosts attached to a place like this insistute are stuck for a reason normally not known to them, and once that's filled, you'll move on. Ghost attached to loved ones can't move on until their loved one moves on. Other ghosts can't move on because of unfinished business, but they will eventually gain experience while dead to finally move on. Children are never ghosts. Eli is an exception to the rule since his body is still alive. He's still attached even if he doesn't feel it. He's lucky Jonah doesn't drag him along. You're new you havent even truly settled in yet. I've met spirits that are a few tens of thousand year old. It's like purgatory or hell. If you don't learn, you won't be allowed to move on, or something else is keeping you, and you're unable to fix that. Sometimes, that's as simple as cremation, or someone solves your murder. Others, it's incredibly complicated." He sighs. "I've heard old rumors about reapers that used to be around, but I've never seen them nor the spirits who I've talked to. Only the oldest ever seem to mention them."

"How do you know so much?" Shiro looks amazed.

Martin shrugs. "I've been like this my whole life. I was practically raised by the original settlers of Britain. They were much more civilized than the romans I've met."

"Celts?" Tim raised a brow when Martin shook his head.

"Older. I dont think they've been recorded." Martin hums. "That's a story for a different day, but yeah, there's a lot to learn. You won't find it in a book. You have to talk to the others and learn yourself."

Gertrude paused. "I see. I do have a lot to learn. This is out of my realm of expertise. I shall help you with the fears."

"I can help with ghost stuff." Martin smiles, watching Gertrude sink into the floor.

.......

"You killed me out of jealousy, so your opinion has no weight here." A French accent scoffs.

"Barnabas, it's a petty point. We both know Jonah loved you more. That isn't the point! I think that man can see us!" Mordechai motions to Martin, who was staring at them.

"I'm with Barnabas. The living can't see us. Even with the Beholders' power, Jonah can't see us." Robert crossed his arms.

"He can see you three." Eli pulled himself from the floor.

"Good heavens, Elias, can you not do that? There are plenty or staircases in this building. I designed this damn building." Robert huffs.

"Shut up, Smirke. What do you mean by living can see us?" Mordechai points to Martin.

"I'm half dead." Martin sighs, sipping his mug of tea. "Also, can one of you poke into Jonah's office and tell me why it's taking so long for me to be let into his office? He asked me up here about 20 minutes ago."

"Oh, that's easy Peter's visiting." Eli clicks his tongue. "Always feel cold when he does. It shouldn't be much longer unless Peter is horny than I would say. Come back in an hour."

"Ew." Martin pinched his brow.

"Half dead?" Barnabas raised his brow. "Boy, what do you mean?"

Martin looks around the empty darken hall and pulls off one glove. "See?" He ignores the gasps as he puts his glove back on.

"Impossible." Mordechai floats closer. "You shouldn't talk out in the open, Jonah can see and hear you."

Eli with his head through Jonah's office door. He pulls himself back out. "Yeah, no, he's pretty distracted at the moment. At least he kept my body flexible."

"O!" Barnabas slips through the office door.

"Pervert." Robert rolls his eyes. "But this is quite fascinating. Did you have a near death experience, or were you born like this?"

"I was born like this." Martin gets up. "I'll be back later since they're busy together."

"Wait before you go, could you tell us why we're stuck?" Mordechai sighs. "I really rather not be stuck here."

"Just because I can see the dead doesn't mean I know why you're here." Martin shakes his head. "Sorry. I can, however, pass messages over to the living if you have any requests."

"I do, but my family won't talk to you." Mordechai shrugs.

"Is it true Timothy now in the archives wrote a 12 hour dissertation on myself and my work? Daniel was talking about it." Robert smiles.

"Yes. And yes, I've heard it." Martin chuckles, shaking his head. "He does love your work."

"Amazing, you must set up a time we can discuss. That sounds absolutely riveting. Oh, I'll just pop on down and talk with Daniel." Robert sinks through the floor.

Mordechai shakes his head. "Thank you for your offer. However I must implore you to stay away from my family the Lukas's. You don't deserve that kind of death, and serving the Forsaken didn't do shit in my death."

"Um, thank you for the advice." Martin smiles and walks away.

Eli raised a brow. "That was nice and out of character for you."

Mordechai rolls his eyes. "Hush."

......

"Finally, it's Halloween!" Eli laughs. "Time for a festival! New faces and new spirits we can see only once a year."

"Isn't it a bit stereotypical for a ghost to be excited for Halloween?" Gertrude floated through Jonah's desk.

"That is right, you are quite new. This is your first all hallows eve festival." Mordechai hums. "Those who died with instruments live for the holiday. Well, we aren't alive, but Eli does like to perform."

"Oh, it's always a fun affair." Barnabas smiles. "You be surprised how far the property line is for us. Lots of singing and dancing. The oldest of us even come out from the tunnels for the festivities."

Robert nods. "Sure, we can no longer partake in carnal festivities, but that doesn't stop us from having fun. Your first time is always an odd one. You still cling to how you behave as the living when that doesn't matter anymore."

"What that means is let loose have fun. It's not like anyone alive can see us besides Martin. Even Mordechai has fun." Eli elbows Mordechai.

"Elias isn't wrong. I do hope the nice maid comes up from the tunnels. Clara is always a delight." Mordechai chuckles. "Almost convinced her last month to join me up here. She's a lovely little spitfire."

"They've been going back and forth for decades." Barnabas shakes his head. "Both are too proud to compromise, but everyone knows they love each other."

Eli nods. "Its like a will they wont they but both are too stubborn to admit they are in love."

Gertrude hums. "So i will be meeting the others?"

"I mean, they are always curious about the newbies." Robert crossed his arms sitting on Jonah's desk going through his computer. "I've already spread the word."

Eli shudders. "Fuck me, would it kill Jonah to now have sex at his desk." He barely glances at Peter who materializes. "Like I'm all for sexual liberation, but like how hasn't he gotten caught?"

"Years of practice." Barnabas chuckles. "Oh, I could tell you of our days. Of course, we also had to hide the fact of Jonah's privates, but it was still glorious and exhilarating."

"I may of been a slut but at least I wasn't a freak. I caught you both several times." Robert shakes his head. "Anyway, do you think young Timothy has finished his cooraspondace yet? I haven't been this excited in ages."

"I dunno, you'll have to ask Martin or Danny." Eli shrugs. "Anyway, this has been fun, but I have to talk to the others with instruments. I have no idea why they made me the host this year." He sinks through the floor.

"The boy is too modest. He's a great host." Barnabas chuckles softly. "Oh, you're in for a real treat, Gertrude. Elias always makes it a spectacular evening. Alas, he is right, though I have to prepare my performance. French or English this year? I still haven't decided."

"I am partial to your french." Robert smiles. "Although you better decide or someone will request German."

"Bite your tongue!" Barnabas huffs and sinks out with Robert following who was laughing.

"I suppose they argue about that every year." Gertrude smiles softly.

"Every year, but it's all in good fun. I suppose I am glad they dressed me properly before I died." Mordechai hums. "Come along. I suppose I could introduce you to some who come up early. They are always out in the yard while everything gets set up." He holds out his hand, which Gertrude takes.

"For the first Lukas, you are quite cordial." Gertrude looks skeptical.

"The forsaken didn't do shit but create problems in retrospect. The fears hold no power once you're dead. Speaking if which I do not envy Simon. He's nothing but a fool. I am fortunate enough I do not have to watch my family suffer due to my mistakes. Peter, i am proud of at least being different enough to be in a good relationship, even if it's with Jonah. I've watched long enough to see the outcome of my hubris."

Gertrude hums. "I suppose I have forgotten it has been over two hundred years for you. Very well lead the way." She takes his hand, and they go through the wall.

......

"Ugh, can you guys wake up now? It's Halloween, and I want to see the others!" Danny groans.

Tim's eyes flew open, and he stared up at his very clearly dead brother. He shrieked. "What the fuck!"

Martin was startled awake. "What?!" He sits up going through Danny.

"Nightmares suck dont they, anyway can you both get there early today it's Halloween and you know what happens. Eli is even hosting it's going to be great!" Danny floats back.

"Dan-Danny?" Tim stares at his dead brother.

Martin is now wide awake. "You can see him?!"

"Wait, you see me?" Danny pauses floating really close to Tim's face. "You can see me! I wonder why? Martin, do you know why?"

Martin shakes his head. "Again, I'm not an expert on this stuff! Maybe the older spirits might know."

"Danny... I..." Tim swallows. "You look like shit."

"I'm dead. What's your excuse?" Danny snickers.

"You woke me up." Tim smiles wide.

"I did!" Danny grins.

Martin sighs. "I'll make breakfast."

.......

"You are not seeing your dead parents." Jon mumbles under his breath as he is the third to arrive to the archives, which never happens. "You're perfectly sane and just need new glasses." He looks up seeing Martin and Tim, which is incredibly odd, but he also sees elias without eyes and a man that looks similar to Tim in a very realistic distasteful costume.

"Oh, morning, bossman!" Tim smiles wide waving. He was wearing a cat ear headband and a matching tail.

"Can you see me too?" The man who looked similar to Tim rushed forward, making Jon stumbled back. "Ooo, I'll take that as a yes! Good morning, Jon and Shiro, and May. Are you two excited for the celebration tonight?"

"We would be if we knew why the living could suddenly see us." May rubs her arm. "Again sorry Jon for scaring you."

"Stop scaring Jon, Daniel." Shiro sighs.

Danny huffs. "I ain't scaring anyone."

Martin chuckles softly. "Danny, you do look scary to those who don't know what happened to you."

Danny scoffs floating back by Tim. "At least I have my eyes still."

"Fuck you." Elias stick up his middle finger. "I can still see you're a little bitch."

Tim snorts. "I'm sorry I can't get over how fucking different you actually are. I thought Martin was fucking with me."

Jon swallows and takes a breath. "Just what is going on!"

"Long or short explanation? Because the short one is that the living can suddenly see us and we have no idea why or when it started. The long reason is you probably have to ask the oldest ones here for answers, but they are still in the tunnels." Elias shrugs. "Honestly, I'm surprised Robert hasn't flown down here yet to bother Tim, but i think that's because they haven't realized the rest of the living can see us."

"Your parents have been attached to you since they died. They'll move once when you die." Martin sighs. "I've been able to see the dead since I was born, so this is weird for me as well." He holds up his uncovered hands.

"Same for me. I'm stuck to my brother till he dies. I'll say it again you better live a long fucking life!" Danny huffs.

"Nobody lives long working in the archives." Gertrude slips through the wall.

"And there's the ray of sunshine that is Gertrude." Eli sighs heavily. "Surprise, she isn't missing she's dead."

"Who in God's name are you speaking to?" Gertrude gives an unimpressed look.

Tim waves. "Us we can see you today for some reason."

"Good heavens." Gertrude gasps.

"Ooo, do you think if I bother Rosie, we can talk some office gossip?" Eli hums. "Nah, she's terrified of Jonah she won't talk to me."

Jon rubs his face. "I have so many questions. This can't be real."

"Oh, it is." Gertrude narrows her gaze. "Now that we can talk, I can warn you and tell you you have to handle this position to stay alive."

"Oh yes, that would be great." May smiles. "Come on, Jonathan, this is important."

"You have much to learn." Gertrude sighs.

........

Danny huffs. "It is nice to meet you, Sasha, but you've lost Tim for like the rest of the day." He motions to Tim in a very animated conversation with Robert.

"Is that..?" Sasha motions.

"Yeah, that's Robert Smirke." Danny groans. "Its bad enough they've been pen pals."

Martin shakes his head. "Let him have this."

Sasha furrows her brows. "What do you mean by pen pals?"

Danny points to Martin's hands. "That isn't a costume. Martin is self-proclaimed half dead. Although born dead is a cooler title."

Martin rolls his eyes. "That won't catch on. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will be making some tea. Lord knows Jon needs it."

"Yeah, Gertrude isn't sparing any detail." Danny grimaced. "She's still pretty new to this being dead thing."

"I'm back!" A soft voice interrupts. "Oh, I am very glad I came back for Halloween."

"Micheal!" Danny waves.

"Gertrude's assistant Micheal?" Sasha gasps.

"Oh, right, hello. I was warned about this from some of the ancient ones. Something about the moon and such. I'm kind of like Eli, but I'm stuck to my husk of a body and not the insistute. Anyway, did I miss anything?" Micheal smiles.

"My brother and Robert have not stopped talking. Eli is debating on confronting Jonah. Martin is making tea, and Gertrude is talking to Jon, the new Archivist." Danny sighs. "The old ones are still climbing out of the dirt."

"Oh, that's great last year. I missed all the fun stuff. I hope I stay for everything." Micheal smiles.

"Fun?" Sasha looked over to Micheal.

"Oh, every Halloween, all the ghosts here throw a big festival. Eli is hosting this year, and all the people who died with instruments have a blast. I'm not much of a performer, but the others do put on a great show. It's dancing singing and fun all around." Micheal chuckles. "Honestly, this is the first year I will be able to see Eli host, and I heard it's a real treat."

"That does sound fun." Sasha hums. "This happens every year?"

"Yes!" Danny jumps up. "It's something I always look forward to."

"Oh shit welcome back, Micheal." Eli pokes his head through the ceiling. "Anyway, I need your opinion. Should I confront Jonah? I mean, he's still with Peter , so there's another person, but also, the other avatars are coming tonight as well. Wait shit isn't this place doing a collab with ODIAR? Ugh, more variables. Do I even want to confront him? Like there isn't anything I can do yaknow. Like fuck you for stealing my body and killing me. Wait, why am I even asking you you still haven't even yelled at Gertrude for killing you?" He groans.

"Holy shit I thought you were lying about the body snatching thing." Sasha blinks, staring at Eli.

"I was not." Martin sighs, handing her a warm mug of tea. "You should just talk to him. If anything, it will bring some sort of closure, and you can tell him to stay away from your sister."

"That is a very good point." Eli sighs. "I should probably do that before Barnabas realizes Jonah can see him." He floats back through the ceiling.

"You know all the ghosts here?" Sasha looks back to Danny.

Danny makes a so so motion. "I have a 30-foot radius around Tim that I can move around. Eli knows most of them, but you have better luck asking Robert, Barnabas, or Mordechai since they're the oldest that don't stay in the tunnels. The really old guys perfer the underground because watching the world change can get depressing."

Micheal nods. "Being tethered to someone isn't as great as it seems. I mean from my experience. Granted, I'm attached to the thing puppeteer my body, and it kills and eats people. But I have seen Gerry again, and that's always great. By the way, Gerry said he's happy Jonah killed Gertrude."

Danny snorts. "Of course, he would say that. He's another guy Gertrude got killed. The list is quite long actually, sucks that Gerry is trapped in a book."

"Gertrude killed people?" Sasha looked bewildered as Martin entered Jon's office.

"Oh, you have no idea." Micheal chuckles. "She was ruthless. Even if what she did meant, the fears wouldn't win. I really don't care about the fears anymore since they can't affect the dead."

"Ooo wait, is the stranger that killed me going to be here?" Danny gasps as Micheal nods. "Fuck yeah I'm going to haunt the shit out of them since they can see me."

.......

"Alright, don't scream. I have a few things to say." Eli floats through the floor. "One dick move taking over my body, but I'm pretty much over it at this point. Two the suits are tacky and pompous. Three stop having sex in this office, your office, where you're going to get caught, besides the fact that Barnabas likes to watch." He huffs sitting on Jonah's desk. "Also, your god will not serve you when you die. None of them will. Honestly, the fears have no effect on the dead. Also, hello Peter, nice to actually speak to you for once."

Jonah blinks. "Is that all?"

"I mean, what else can I say? I'm dead Jonah it's not like I can do anything but watch at this point. The irony is not lost on me." Eli sighs. "Also stay the fuck away from my sister."

"You have a sister?" Peter stares at Eli.

"Huh." Eli deflates. "Never mind then."

"So why are you here?" Jonah crossed his arms, leaning back. "I didn't think you had any earthly matters to attend to."

"That's not really how it works." Eli lays down on the desk. "I'm still somewhat attached to my body, but not enough. I'm tethered to it. Uh, like Micheal Shelly to the creature using his body like a puppet or Danny attached to his brother. I'm stuck here in the insistute well this entire property. Which is much bigger than you would think."

"So why are you here? Why is Mordechai here?" Peter frowns.

Eli shrugs. "There isn't excatly a manual for this. I stopped being mad about this like two decades ago. There isn't really a point to clinging to anger. As for the others here again, I don't know. Mordechai is just happy he isn't confined to that family home of yours. Anyway, I should go before Barnabas shows up. I've said my piece." He throws up a peace sign and sinks through the desk through the floor.

"W-wait." Jonah curses. "I have more questions."

Peter frowns. "Do all the dead have the injury that killed them?"

"More or less." Barnabas floats through the wall, startling the two. He motions to his skeletal frame, clearly showing he died of starvation. "Unfortunately, Mordechai didn't let me drown."

"Do you all just float through?" Jonah takes a breath.

"Why wouldn't we? It's not like living can normally see us." Barnabas hums softly. "It is quite nice to finally speak to you again, Jonah."

"He does have a point." Peter shrugs.

"Thank you." Barnabas smiles. "Anyhow, we do have a lot to catch up on. Although Smirke is in a heated discussion with Timothy, Mordechai is with his love Clara, who just returned to the surface. Oh, this year you can actually join in the festivities. It will be quite fun."

......

"Ladies and Gentlemen, or whatever you think yourself to be in ain't judging." Eli shouts, and his voice seems to echo over the fair grounds like he was everywhere. "Now this Halloween is a special one. The living can see us! Exciting, I know, but don't let that spoil our fun. Now, to the living joining us, I'm the actual Elias Bouchard, the one who stole my body, life, and eyes is one Jonah Magnus, so do with that what you will. I dont care. I'm dead."

A few snickers from the dead ring out.

"Now, to start off this spectacular, I would normally perform the opening act. However, it would be rude of me to ignore the living in the room." Eli smirks as there is laughter. "Now feel free to mingle, scare, or just converse about modern-day politics with the living, and when I give a shout, whoever gets the first bar starts the performance! The rules remain the same, but we do have a newly dead with us now."

Gertrude blinks as eyes land on her.

"So! Rules are first to start their performance has the stage until it's over, then you have to be fast to be the next one to start next. Dancing, singing, jokes, or just stories you wish to share are all fair game. Most audience participation will be the winner, so have fun, and myself being the host means I have no skin in this fight."

Danny loudly laughs.

"Oh, that always gets the Strangers victims a laugh. Keep an eye out for my signal for the festivities to start! Enjoy talking to the living. Also, to avoid last year's brawl, please stick to English. Seriously, there is only so much room in the tunnels for you guys to sulk, im looking at you, Barnabas."

Barnabas sticks up his middle finger as Robert snickers.

"Now to the living, try not to die, alright? I ain't going to hold your hand through the learning curve." Eli chuckles as there is more laughter. "I'm just fucking with you guys. Enjoy the show, everyone!"

More cheers erupts from the dead.

[moonsanoverthinker]

TMA SPOILERS // MAG 200

I wrote this based off a comment I saw on TikTok about Sasha and Tim being there during MAG 200! (Here’s Sasha’s POV)

And now onto Tim’s! (And for @look-at-those-niceass-rocks to be super normal about, although my tone reading isn’t great so I do hope you enjoy it!)

(Also hypothetical question, should I put things like this on ao3 as well? Because I’m unsure / don’t know how ao3 works for uploading things)

The two of them watched as he readied the knife. Watching as they pleaded and begged with each other,as they stand within touching distance but never being able to hear a word. Tim just stared his eyes flicking between them both, never settling on one of them for longer than a few seconds. And then he felt Sasha take his hand, giving him a reason to look away. He looked at her, only now noticing how tears streaked down his face as he watched hers fall. She smiled at him and he smiled back, it almost felt like old times. He watched as she tilted her head towards the huddled pair and he nodded slightly in return as they made their own silent agreement. They squeezed each other’s hand, smothering the finality with a single comforting act. Tim placed his free hand on Jon’s shoulder, gripping it firmly as his mind raced with a thousand different thoughts and a hundred different feelings. He saw glimpses of those early days of working in the archives, how mundane he thought everything was, how he’d always complain but now he’d give anything to go back. He looked at Sasha and smiled, remembering all those excuses he’d make so he had a reason to talk to her. He then remembered what he’d seen, that Thing that had her name but not her face. He hated that he didn’t notice. He felt his grip tighten on Jon’s shoulder, knowing that it didn’t matter how hard he squeezed, Jon would never know he was there. Tim still held on hard, knowing he could push his fingers into Jon’s skin without him ever feeling it. Yet he couldnt bring himself to do it, he wanted too, but here was something holding him back. He wished things couldve been different, for him, for her, for all of them. For Danny. He smiled as he remembers those childhood summers where they’d spend hours in that makeshift garden den, the sun warm and their smiles wide. Tim’s own smile quickly faded as he watched his brother’s childhood face, twist and contort until it is nothing but crudely stuck on features that don’t quite fit. He shook his head and the memory disappears, another one he’ll never quite be able to recall no matter how hard he tries. He hates that he can’t remember. Tim squeezed her hand harder, he can feel her bones shifting but he keeps squeezing, never wanting to forget again. He keeps his eyes focused on the three, he had so many things he wanted to say but the one thing he wished he could do, was remember them. He’d anticipated some kind of pain or sensation, like the first time but this time there was nothing.

[ollieofthebeholder]

And If Thou Wilt, Forget: a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 38: Goal won with shortened breath

It helped. Not a lot, but it helped. Or at least, Tim thought it helped. Certainly Jon seemed a lot less paranoid and suspicious over the next week. Martin began relaxing and smiling more, and Sasha was paying better attention to her lunch breaks. Tim, for his part, felt calmer and less jumpy.

That ended abruptly when he came back from lunch and nearly slammed face first into Detective Alice “Daisy” Tonner, who didn’t even slow down long enough to snarl at him to get out of her way before she was storming off towards her vehicle. The Hunt on her was unmistakable, though, and radiating off her with her anger, and even knowing it was less likely to have made her do anything to Jon the first time around than any of the other twelve Fears would have wasn’t enough to stop his anxiety spiking. He’d rushed down to the Archives to find Jon shaken but ostensibly fine, and while he’d claimed nothing was wrong he had left early with what he said was a headache. The next day he’d been tense and snappish at both Martin and Tim for what he called hovering—admittedly, probably not undeservedly.

Tim’s own mood took a decided downturn when he picked up one of the statements needing research and saw the opening line: I’m sure you know what urban exploring is. He made sure not to let the others mess with this one, especially after he’d read through it. This was personal. Anyway, nobody else would have been able to get to talk to the Gallagher-Nelsons; telling them he’d lost his own brother to an urban exploration in a Robert Smirke building had opened a lot more doors. It turned out Erin and Danny had even met, briefly anyway. Not that Tim disclosed that to Jon. He’d promised to keep the conversation off the record, and even if he hadn’t, he definitely wasn’t going to let Jon get any closer to St. Paul’s or the ersatz rector than he could help. He turned in his research and went home.

“I have a feeling that whatever it was, it’s long gone,” he told Gerry that evening as they took Rowlf for a walk—Tim usually did it on his own, but Gerry had insisted and he hadn’t argued. “Whether it got used in the attempt at the Extinguished Sun or just didn’t have the energy to continue once all that dissipated, I don’t know, but there’s no point in going back to St. Paul’s to look for it. Not that I would anyway, that’s not how I want to die. But I can’t help thinking about that camera.”

“It’s probably long gone, too,” Gerry said. “The…rector, you said? Probably destroyed it.”

Tim shook his head. “I don’t think so. It captured the Shadow.”

“The what?”

“The thing that killed Luke Nelson.”

“Yeah, I figured, but you just said the Shadow with a capital S,” Gerry pointed out. “Where did you get that name from?”

Tim hesitated, just for a second. “I don’t know if it has an actual name. It just seems like a good one to use. But whatever it is, Ms. Gallagher-Nelson got it on film. You and I both know how rare that is.”

Gerry hummed. He didn’t look happy, but when he spoke, it was in a mild enough tone. “So what, you want to go talk to the rector and ask what he did with it?”

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the actual rector. Anyway, what would they have been doing there at five in the morning on a Wednesday? Their Wednesday services are at ten-thirty in the morning. And there’s no alarm on the sanctuary, I checked when I was there trying to talk to someone.” Tim paused while Rowlf cocked his leg against a street lamp. “No, it’s got to be one of two things. Either someone who knows about the Fourteen and was trying to keep her from falling into it worse took it from her so she wouldn’t get obsessed with it like Melanie King has done, or someone involved in the People’s Church of the Divine Host took it so they could use it for their ritual. I’m inclined towards the latter.”

“I’d love to hear your reasoning.”

“Robert Montauk. Those photographs he took that were part of the evidence. I’m thinking the Dark, even more than some of the other Fears, makes use of photographs in their rituals. If Erin Gallagher-Nelson had a camera that could actually catch Mister Pitch? For sure they would want that.”

“Please tell me you’re not contemplating chasing down the People’s Church of the Divine Host.”

“Not seriously, no,” Tim said honestly. He glanced up at the sky. “But it’s a quarter moon.”

Gerry followed his gaze. “Which means?”

“Which means there’s one other place we might be able to track it down.” Tim slipped his hand into Gerry’s and squeezed lightly. “Feel like checking out the Night Market with me?”

It was a Thursday night, which meant this was undoubtedly a terrible idea, but Tim found he couldn’t let it go. Gerry must have known that, because he didn’t take off his coat when they got home, just made sure Rowlf had water and food before coming back to Tim and taking his hand to lead him out the door. They took the Tube to the closest spot to where the Night Market had been before, then started walking.

“How did you find it before?” Gerry asked as they walked along the path, hand in hand. Tim could almost fool himself into believing it was just a regular romantic walk. “I mean, did you just stumble on it or…?”

“Just…random things Nonno told me. Old folk legends about hiding from the moon and dancing with your shadows, that kind of thing. Hard to explain.” Tim paused briefly to listen. “I think I hear it. Come on, around here.”

“I don’t hear anything,” Gerry said, but he followed Tim anyway.

It wasn’t like the last time. This time, when Tim stepped the quarter turn around the width of a shadow, he didn’t find himself standing directly in the center of the Night Market. He could still hear the muted bustle of the crowd, the stillness so reminiscent of a snowy day, but he stood on one side of a short arched tunnel that opened out on the other side into the rows of stalls. Which normally wouldn’t have made any sense; they’d fetched up against the side of the Putney Bridge, which didn’t have access to the other side from down here. Normally someone walking this path had to turn away from the river and walk a bit up the A219 before getting to a point where it was safe to cross. And Tim knew there was no marketplace on the other side of Putney Bridge. Nevertheless, the Night Market was there.

He took a deep breath and glanced up at Gerry. “Ready?”

Gerry didn’t answer for a moment. He simply remained where he was, staring straight ahead. Tim was about to assure him they didn’t have to do this if he didn’t want to when he said, very carefully, “Tim? Can you tell me what it is we’re looking at?”

Tim laced his fingers through Gerry’s and turned to study the entrance ahead of them. “I—it’s a tunnel, I guess. Dark stone, looks like it’s probably a bit slimy to the touch. On the other side it opens up into the Night Market. Looks like the stall right by the entrance is selling”—he adjusted his head slightly to get a better view, but there was no need to banish the illusion this time, he could see it clearly—“carnival masks. I’m, uh, not totally sure what they’re made from, but…probably don’t want to buy one.”

Gerry pressed his lips together tightly. Finally, he said quietly, “I can’t see anything, Tim. It’s just black to me. If you say the Night Market is there, I trust you, but…”

“No, I’m not doing that to you. Either the Dark is waiting for you or it really isn’t there for you, but either way, I’m not risking you.” Tim turned away from the tunnel without a second thought. “We can do something else.” He paused as something else caught his attention. “Uh, can you see that?”

Gerry followed Tim’s finger. “The door over there? Yeah, that I can make out. Why?”

“I think that might be an entrance to the tunnels. Or else there’s a secondary entrance to the tunnels behind it.” Tim gave Gerry a mischievous grin. “Want to check it out?”

“I’m game if you are,” Gerry said after no more than a second’s hesitation. “Won’t it be locked, though?”

“Probably, but I can fix that.”

It wasn’t locked, actually, or else the lock was a very cheap one. The door itself turned out to be a maintenance tunnel, but Tim clicked on his pocket torch and scanned the walls, then nodded, tracing a finger along a crack. “Look—right here. It’s like the trapdoor in the Archives. Subtle, hard to find, but…yeah, this is it, I’m sure of it.”

“How did you know it was there?” Gerry asked.

“Guessed, really, but it had to be in here somewhere. This tunnel goes straight through. Let me see if…” Tim felt around for a moment, then pushed on one of the stones. More or less as he’d expected, the section of wall in front of him swung away silently, obviously on a very delicate counterweight. “Bingo.”

“Okay, next question. How do you know this is connected to the tunnels under the Institute? We’re, what, two miles from Chelsea?”

“Bit under. Closer to two and a half to the Institute. But the tunnels go too far down to actually be the remains of Millbank, so they probably go further than we thought. And I know everyone who’s been in those tunnels has wandered long and far enough they probably stretch a good way.” Tim swept the torch ahead of him and frowned. “And these are steps going down. We’re almost definitely going to get in on a lower level. I’m not sure how deep Jon has explored, honestly, so we might be treading new ground here. We’ll have to be careful.”

“This isn’t exactly going to be a convenient way to get into work while avoiding the front door,” Gerry said as he followed Tim into the stairwell. The door swung almost silently shut behind him, and his hand tightened around Tim’s.

Tim squeezed back comfortingly. “Not exactly what I’m looking for. But I’m sure we can find other exits on our walk if that’s what I end up wanting to go for.”

“Right. Down into the depths of hell we go.”

Tim glanced over his shoulder. “That was a selling point for the London Underground at one point.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Okay, not exactly in those words, but it was a genuine poster that was commissioned in 1924. ‘It’s Warmer Down Below.’ They made another version in 1927, I think. Anyway, it was meant to promote the Underground and how it was so much warmer, and consistently so, than taking transport on the surface. 1927 was an exceptionally cold and windy winter.” Tim checked the walls briefly to make sure there were no turns leading off the stairs before he kept going down. “The poster, at least the ‘27 one, really does look like it’s saying the Underground is warmer because it’s closer to hell. Or at least to the Earth’s core.”

Gerry sighed. “How do you just know that?”

“Haven’t you ever been to the London Underground museum? They’ve got copies of quite a few old posters in the gift shop. Mind your step, there’s a loose stair here.”

The stairs went down further than Tim had maybe expected, and they weren’t steep, either; he reckoned you could probably put a board over the top of them and have an almost perfectly legal wheelchair access ramp. It finally bottomed out, though, and they were presented with a short, curved hallway that led to a maze of tunnels. Tim scanned the area with the torch. “Okay. Do we want to try and figure out a way to one of the higher levels, or explore this one?”

Gerry hummed thoughtfully. “Let’s just explore and see where we end up. Do you think Jon’s made it down this far?”

“No,” Tim said with a shake of his head. He set off down one of the corridors. “He’s terrified to go too deep, or too far from the Institute—it’s going to take us an hour at least to get close. And he doesn’t come down in the tunnels as often as he used to. It’s harder for him to sneak the key, and he hasn’t been able to figure out how to get a copy of it from Elias.”

“Told you that, did he?”

“He’s been talking about it on the tapes. Not the official ones. I think he’s started keeping backups with his own research. But he’s not as subtle about recording them as he likes to believe.” Tim couldn’t remember when he’d heard Jon narrating into the recorders, but he must have overheard at some point.

The tunnels on this level were definitely warmer than the ones above them. Tim found himself unbuttoning his coat to get a little more air in. The floor was dustier, too, and the walls, while they still shifted from worked stone to carved rock with no apparent pattern, at least made more sense to him.

Less so to Gerry, apparently. “Are we just going in circles?”

“No, we’re good,” Tim assured him. “The pattern’s meant to make you think you’re doubling back on yourself, but trust me, we haven’t passed the same stretch of rock in ages. Smirke didn’t do closed loops.”

“Still convinced this is Smirke’s work, then?”

“I’m probably the closest thing living to an expert in it, Ger. Yeah, I’m convinced.” Tim paused at an intersection, then turned to the left. “There ought to be a stairwell up this way.”

Twenty feet further along, they did in fact come to a set of stairs, these much steeper than the ones they’d come down and spiraling tightly. Gerry shook his head. “I probably ought to be worried about how you knew this was here.”

“Just logic. The way Smirke designed things, we’d gone too many steps not to run into a stairwell of some kind.” Tim started up.

“Okay, smart guy, then why are they so different from the others?” Gerry followed Tim into the stairwell.

Tim concentrated on his footing. The weird wedge shape of the risers meant that if you weren’t careful, you could easily slip off the narrowest portion of the step. “Further from the river, I’m guessing. The ground along the bank of the Thames is softer, so you have to kind of go more gradual to avoid the whole thing collapsing in on itself, and you don’t want to have too many rooms right up alongside it anyway. Those stairs were wide enough that they’d provide a bit of a barrier if the Thames did swell its banks, too. This is probably a repurposed well, actually, one that dried up or maybe got closed because it was contaminated.”

“How would you know for certain?”

“Maybe if we found a Shape?” Tim smiled at Gerry’s groan from behind him. “No, that part’s just a guess. I’d need to look at old plans of the area. But I think I’m right.”

Gerry muttered something Tim couldn’t quite make out, but he evidently chose not to say anything further.

Going up the narrow helix took a lot more effort than it would have to go up the steps they’d come down, and definitely took a lot more than going down them would have. Tim thanked God, Saint Anthony, and his lucky stars that Gerry had actually stuck to his resolution to quit smoking after they got back from their trip, because his lungs were damaged enough; if he was still an active smoker, he’d be in serious trouble. As it was, he climbed stoically, if unhappily.

For his part, Tim found himself quietly murmuring a litany of prayers under his breath, both to keep his pace steady as he ascended and to give them what aid he could. He started off with the novena to Saint Lucy he’d recited during his first exploration, the one that had give him the clarity to see into the room of worms properly, then shifted to one of the prayers to Saint Anthony to guide them to what was lost—what, exactly, he wasn’t sure, but he felt certain there was something he needed to find, and hopefully his patron saint would guide them. For good measure, he tossed in a prayer to Saint Thomas the Apostle, patron saint of architects and builders, in the hope that he’d maybe had some influence over Smirke or could at least get a line to him in a hurry to guide them through whatever he had wrought.

The question of whether Smirke had gone to heaven or hell flitted through his mind, but since Gerry didn’t really believe in either one, Tim decided not to bring it up.

Three Aves and one Pater later, he spotted the edge of a doorway a half turn ahead. He was about to turn and suggest to Gerry that they maybe go through it when he froze. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and…he couldn’t explain the sensation exactly. It was like he could just make out a noise on the edge of his hearing, or barely catch a whiff of a scent he couldn’t identify. Whatever it was, there was something through that door, something that was…dangerous? Was it dangerous? His senses were all mixed up. It wasn’t…whatever was out there wasn’t dangerous now, but could it be? Jon—no, Jon wasn’t here—was it Jon? It wasn’t Jon, it wasn’t the Archivist, it might be a danger to the Archivist, or to the Archives, or—

“Tim?” Gerry said from behind him.

“Shh,” Tim hissed. He reached back and found Gerry’s hand with his free one, squeezed it twice, then clicked off the torch and pocketed the key ring. Luckily there was—somehow—just enough light to at least give texture to the darkness, so he wasn’t going to be doing this in pitch black. As soft as he could and still be audible, he whispered over his shoulder, “Stay close, and try not to make any noise.”

They inched forward, slow and careful. Tim knew it was stupid to take his eyes off the stairs in front of him, but he would have to trust his free hand against the column as he slowly made his way backwards up the steps, looking over Gerry’s head and keeping his eyes fixed on that doorway. Thankfully, nothing followed them, and whatever was down there, they seemed to have escaped its notice. Still, Tim didn’t breathe easy until they’d gone two more turns around and the door was completely out of sight. He turned back around and saw, somewhere above them, another doorway.

Another quick prayer—to Saint Michael this time—and Tim led Gerry around the steps, which dead-ended at the door. Still, he waited until they had gone through the arch and he’d listened intently before he clicked on the torch again.

“Sorry,” he said, squeezing Gerry’s hand lightly. “You okay?”

“I’m good. I think.” Gerry took a deep breath. “What the fuck was that all about?”

“I’m not sure…there was something down there. It’s…” Tim blew out a sigh of frustration. “Everything’s all mixed up down here, but it felt like…I dunno. It’s not dangerous to us, I don’t think, but I couldn’t risk leading it to the Archives. And I’m not prepared for a fight.”

Gerry pressed his lips together tightly. “We need to get out of here, then. Not because I think you’re likely to end up in a fight if we stay down here, but because I worry about you being down here too long, Tim, you know that. And it’s already been almost two hours.”

“Two hours seventeen, but who’s counting?” Tim tried for a grin and got only a half worried, half exasperated look in reply. He sighed. “Come on. Let’s see if Jon got this far.”

It became very quickly evident that he hadn’t. There was a complete absence of arrows on any of the first three tunnels they tried. There weren’t any down the fourth tunnel, either, but the reason for that was immediately obvious. These walls were neither stone nor brick nor hewn rock, but…dirt. Solid packed dirt, smoothed out and arced overhead like a rabbit’s run. The floor, too, was tamped earth, covered with a thin, loose layer of soil freshly fallen from the ceiling above. There was no sign of footfall down them whatsoever.

“This isn’t right,” Gerry murmured. “This can’t…why would there be a solid earth tunnel above stone ones?”

“It’s not solid earth. Look.” Tim angled the torch at a spot on the ceiling and was rewarded with the faintest glint. “That’s mortar up there. This is a brick tunnel, it’s just been covered with earth for some reason.”

“I don’t feel the Buried,” Gerry said slowly. “Not that that means it isn’t here.”

Tim closed his eyes for a moment and let the sensations settle over him. He’d gotten pretty good at telling when one of the Fourteen was around. “I think…there’s a sense that it’s been nearby, maybe? But not in this tunnel. This dirt is just…here. Probably it used to be a mud coating over the brick—this isn’t a sewer or anything, so no reason for it to be exposed brick particularly—and it’s just dried out over the decades. Maybe Smirke meant to attract the Buried for some reason, or maybe to…contain it, but…” He paused, frowned, and opened his eyes. “Wait.”

“What?” Gerry sounded extremely unsettled.

Tim swept the torch down the tunnel, then pointed at a barely-noticeable passage running off to one side several meters ahead. “There. We need to go there.”

“Why?”

“Just…trust me.” Tim set off towards the passage. Gerry cursed in what sounded like German, then followed.

As Tim had suspected, the side tunnel had an extremely sharp jog right next to it, meaning that anyone stumbling down this corridor would be unlikely to recognize the tunnel wasn’t a dead end. A few feet away was an arch that looked deceptively like the ones that led to the stairwells, but Tim’s breath caught in his throat when he saw it. “That’s it.”

“What’s it? That’s what?” Gerry demanded.

Instead of answering, Tim moved toward the archway, almost like he was drawn to it, and stepped through. On the other side was a bare stone room, perhaps eight feet on each side, completely empty. There was a halfhearted attempt at a cobweb in one corner, a single smear on another wall, but otherwise, it was just…empty.

“This is where she was,” he said quietly.

Gerry stopped in the doorway. “Where who was?”

“Gertrude.” Tim crossed to the center of the room, knelt, and touched the stone floor. It was strangely cold to the touch, even for what and where it was, and it felt…empty. “This is where Martin found her. It’s not where she died, but…her killer brought her down here. He left a trail getting her here, obviously, but he must have cleaned it up behind himself. Martin found it by accident—obviously he wasn’t meant to. He said there were no cobwebs, no spiders.” He got to his feet and tilted his head to study the wisps of cobweb in the corner. “This place was warded against interference by the Fears. Martin broke the seal when he came in, which is how the Mother of Puppets got started…she must have decided it wasn’t worth the effort, though. And it’s how the police found it. They never would have if they hadn’t had a Hunter with them. But nobody needs this place anymore, so now it’s just…abandoned. There’s nothing left.”

“Tim?” Gerry said, in a choked, barely controlled voice. “How did you know that?”

Tim opened his mouth…

…and closed it.

He thought about every argument he could make. About probabilities, and logic, and experience. He thought about sensations and signs and counting steps. He thought about all the possible answers he could give Gerry, all the reassurances, all the soothing little…

Lies.

He turned slowly around and met Gerry’s eyes. The worry and fear in them was obvious, as was the way he was gripping the door frame. Tim suddenly became aware that the battery in his torch had flickered out and died before they had made it out of what he was persisting in thinking of as the rabbit tunnel, and that, much like when they had been climbing the spiral staircase, Gerry was actually standing there in complete and total darkness.

And Tim was not. He couldn’t see as clear as daylight, but he could, at the very least, see. He Saw. And in that moment, he Knew.

Quietly, fighting to keep his voice steady, Tim said what he had been avoiding admitting, even to himself, for…God, months. “I don’t know.”

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

It’s a running joke in the manor that Tim’s kid was like a cat

And he would never admit that he could kind of see it himself.

The climbing, the ability to go from zero to a hundred in energy, and unfortunate ability to be too cute to actually get mad at him for anything he does.

Finding said son running out and about when there was breakout was pushing through.

“Hi Dad!!”

“Danny! What are you doing out here?!it’s still lockdown chickadee!”

Danny looked down at the ground and scuffed one of his shoe against the pavement.

“I know… but you’ve been gone so long and I’ve been worried!”

Tim sighed and tapped his comm,

“Oracle, please keep lookout for the next couple minutes.”

And crouched down in front of his son,

“You haven’t been home in a while and I missed you..”

Tim sighed as he wiped a tear from Danny’s face.

It was almost unfortunate how much the kid took after him.

“Kiddo I’m sorry, that’s my fault, I know we haven’t been able to hang out for the past week-“

Danny stomped a foot in frustration,

“No you don’t understand! You forget to sleep when you don’t come home ‘n’ great grandpa Alffie said we got to sleep because it’s good for you ‘n’ that when you don’t you are more likely to get hurt! I don’t want you hurt!”

Tim wanted to argue, and say that he was fine. He’s been taking cat naps between searching and the fights. If it was anyone else in his family he would’ve done so.

But this was his son, his little chickadee who loves so much and worries about himself so little.

He needs to set an precedent before bad habits emerge.

Picking Danny up, Tim set him down onto his hip and stuck his chin on his head.

“You’re right, I guess I haven’t been being nice to myself like I’m supposed to. How about we go back home and I’ll lay down with you for a couple hours?”

Danny peered up with glassy eyes,

“Can you stay for breakfast?”

And didn’t that just hurt to hear? Faded memories of asking that same question only to be given this almost pitying look danced in the back his mind.

“Sorry kiddo, but we just don’t have enough time before our flight but don’t worry when we get back we’ll have a family day, just the three of us!”

Clearing his throat Tim met his son’s eyes.

“Sure champ, and when we finally get joker back in Arkham we can ask everyone to have a family day, how does that sound?”

Stars almost seemed to take over Danny’s eyes as he let out a little gasp.

“Really?!”

“I promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, many of Danny’s mannerisms were reminiscent of a cat, but this was new.

Tim pinched his eyebrow in exasperation as he looked at his siblings.

He wished he never got up this morning.

“And how exactly did Danny somehow get a crowbar?”

The kid in question just happily swung his legs as he sat on the bench unaware that he himself was going to be getting a far longer conversation as soon as they got back to the manor.

“To be honest.. in hindsight, not my brightest moment.”

“WHY IN GODS NAME A CROWBAR?!”

“He said he needed something to help take care of the trash! I thought he would use it like a knapsack or something!”

Jason Thew his hands in the air, and Dick let out a snort while he nudged the mess of a clown next to him.

“Well he very much did use it for something.”

“Nightwing! I’m just as mad at you for somehow loosing the kid this badly to begin with!! You. Are. Not. Helping.”

“I know but I’m just saying, he gets his dramaticism from you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the day, Joker ended up paralyzed from the neck down.

Jason and Dick were both no longer allowed to babysit Danny alone.

And one little munchkin was, though very much grounded, hailed a hero by all of Gotham for the actions that were live-streamed by onlookers.

And once he was no longer grounded, he did get his family day.

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

oh boy... I'm gonna get called out for this...

In no particular order and cross fandoms (Danny Phantom, Batman, Teen Titans, Pokemon, D&D, Persona, Zelda, Cthulu Mythos, Naruto, and The Gamer)

Spoilers: I'm gonna forget these are meant to be boring a lot, went for badly most of the time but... eh... Before I forget! @eight-bitanarchist Imma also need to put a read more here...

Kids starts with guitar lessons, winds up killing gods.

(Currently) No one can sleep well.

Local Super hero tells kid not to date villains, he does so anyways.

sometimes, therapy requires taking a step back, removing yourself from the situation, and doing something valuable.

kid has a habit of collecting dead things.

three kids check out a factory. Nothing bad happens there.

if the god of time wanted to play a barbarian named Tim, no one's gonna argue.

kid gets date after beating up a family's sugar daddy.

kid asks pretty girl to prom. She says yes.

beating people up to give them therapy.

teenagers go to the biggest concert since the dawn of history

Kid is accidentally too powerful to stop himself from destroying everything he loves.

Kid needs to figure out if it's better if people think he's into zoophilia or necrophillia.

Mom wishes daughter would have a fairy tale wedding when said girl does not.

Girlfriend finds out boyfriend was keeping secrets.

Parent dies, and realizes they made a mistake. Yes in that order.

Viking versus Pirates treasure hunt

Kid needs to explain that he has a girlfriend, yes, she's real, but no you can't see her.

Three people usually not haunted, are.

Girl becomes plant, she does not like this

kid goes to school in the future

kid repeats himself for a half hour.

Two people talk at night as two kids talk at night

Kid joins school play, so do the dead

Girl hooks up with her best friend's ex.

Kid becomes a super hero through the power of video games

Kid becomes super hero by the power of a lack of self preservation

Kid wants to become basically the president by the power of rock

Kid wants to become a hero by the power of rock

Kid becomes a hero via the power of being a furry.

Two kids geek out about music and punch their teachers

Woman walks around with a weapon that's against the Geneva convention

Kid looks up, and his classmate's hair is on fire, and no one cares.

Weak person gets unlimited power, it goes bad

Political Marriages

Kid needs a check up, or a mechanic.

Three people get married against their will. They have no problems

Parents enter government building. The building leaves.

Three kids, but off 33%

Girls have night out, but better.

All the cool kids summon ghosts

School burns down

Courtly romancing

The Hangover but only one person has a crazy story.

Government conspiracy ruined by McDonalds

Teen does multi-billion dollar companies jobs better than them

(Currently) kid has a discussion about new classes

Writers!! Describe your current WIP(s) in the most boring way possible. I want to see this skdjfkdfhk