Chapter Text
Roy kept an ear out on the kids as he texted. They were gushing over their favorite parts at the zoo, and even Dan was grinning when he talked about how much his mother was going to like the star projector. Dani fervently agreed, citing that their mother was “obsessed with space.” They were adorable.
Roy was just a little concerned at how quickly the three of them had decided they were family (he knew he and Lian might end up having to move again), but kids could just be like that. He remembered.
(He firmly ignored that those weren’t his memories.)
He texted Jason updates on their zoo adventure and briefly bemoaned the lack of pictures of the zookeepers desperately trying to get the girls out of the penguin exhibit. Jason texted back that he was spending time with Danny and getting the guy to eat some burgers. Good; Danny needed to spend more time with adults that weren’t at his job. He also needed to eat more; Roy recognized the look of someone who gave most of their food to the kids.
Roy was also using the texts to keep an eye on where Dick was. He wanted to share the information that the GIW were targeting Damian, but not until the man was somewhere he could process it it. Somewhere that wasn’t with the traumatized runaway single parent.
“It go boom!” said Dani as she waved her hands to demonstrate. Lian giggled and fell over.
“It wasn’t that big,” said Dan. Roy looked over and noticed the boy was blushing.
Roy kind of wanted to know what they were talking about, but didn’t want to interrupt to ask. The best thing was that the kids were having fun. They should probably go down for a nap soon; that was quite the adventure they had. And they were all clean (even if the girls still faintly smelled of penguin poop).
A knock at the door interrupted Roy’s thoughts. The three kids went silent and they looked at him as he gestured for them to stay quiet. Lian gently grabbed Dani and Dan’s hands and led them to her bedroom as Roy pulled out a gun before making his way to the door. He wasn’t going to take any chances with the children. “Who is it?” he asked as he clicked the safety off.
Those white-suited bastards weren’t going to get near any of the children if he had anything to say about it.
“Tt,” came a familiar scoff. “Harper, it is I.”
Roy sighed and put the safety back on the gun before slipping it into his holster. “Damian,” he announced loudly for the children. He opened the door and Damian shoved a bag with several bottles of shampoo and soap at Roy before pushing past to enter.
“Thanks, Damian,” Roy said as he looked at the Bat approved (probably super expensive) soaps that were used to remove penguin smells.
The boy sniffed as he looked around the apartment. “Pennyworth insisted that you keep some and give some to Renatus.”
Yeah, Danny would probably need them for Dani. “Thanks,” he said again.
The kids peeked out of the room. “Damian!” said Dani happily.
Damian nodded. “Danika. I have something for you.”
Warning bells began to ring in Roy’s mind. Something for Dani? What could Damian possibly have for her?
“What? What?” Dani bounced towards him, taking larger leaps than any regular child could. She looked up at the older boy with shining eyes.
Roy, who still had his phone out, quickly snapped a picture and sent it to Jason.
“I have procured for you a superior chew toy,” Damian stated.
Wait. What? Why would a kid as old as Dani need a chew toy?
Roy watched as Damian pulled something shaped kind of like a bone out a bag and handed it to the child. She took it and, as Roy watched, bit into it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she took it out of her mouth to look at the toy. “This is nice!” she said.
“Can I try?” Silently she handed the toy to Dan, who did the same thing. “This is nice.”
Damian gave a short nod. “I brought more.” He handed Dan one of his own.
“Oh! Me too! Me too!” said Lian. Dani handed Lian her chew toy and Lian tried to bite it. “Ow!” she said as she glared at it.
“Danika and Dante have enhanced bite strength, and the chew toys were designed to compensate for that,” Damian explained. “Should you also wish a chew toy, Lian, I shall get you one designed for normal bite strength.”
“Kay!” said Lian happily as Dan and Dani chewed on their toys.
Maybe they were hungry. Roy was hungry, and he hadn’t been nearly as active as the kids. And since Jason was feeding their mother, there was no reason he couldn't feed the kids. “Let’s get food,” he said.
Lian looked up at him. “Dan and Dani eat like Flash,” she said solemnly.
“Good to know,” Roy said as he pulled out his phone to make an order. “You eating with us, Damian?”
“I must depart. It is my desire to discover what it is that has publicly been learned about those taken into custody on this day.”
Roy realized that Damian was deliberately not talking about the agents. He knew that Dan knew, but it was probably a good idea to keep the info from the girls. Less mass destruction of property that way. “Have one of the others send me updates,” he said absently. Damian gave a curt nod before leaving. He paused before clicking the order button and looked at the kids. “Any allergies? Food restrictions?” he asked. “Uh, I mean—”
“We can eat anything,” Dani said.
“Almost anything,” corrected Dan.
Dani made a face and stuck out her tongue. “Yeah. Ick. Gargoyle food.”
“George is nice,” said Lian.
Okay, so all people food was a go. Roy made the order. “Food should be here in twenty minutes,” he said. All three kids cheered.
Tim was almost certain he knew who the biological father of the kids was. One Vladimir Masters, reclusive multi-millionaire. Went from nobody to rich in less than three years. Wasn’t much of an entrepreneur, and in fact tended to invest in money sucking schemes. His only talent, if one could call it that, was to get people richer than him to—give him things. Things he wanted.
Had also been a huge donor to CADMUS. By itself, that meant nothing. After all, lots of people had donated to CADMUS back in the day, back when they were promising an end to the need for a waiting list of donated organs.
But Masters had received multiple rounds of equipment from them. Their top scientists (who were, sadly, now all dead and past the point of interrogation) had made several trips to Masters’s Wisconsin estate. No information as to why was available.
It still could have been completely innocent, of course. After all, there were public records of Masters’s fight with some kind of disease in his twenties. He’d been in some form of hospitalization or rehabilitation for almost ten years. It was possible that Masters’s had had a flare up of the disease, and had required medical aid to prevent another ten year recovery. Possible.
But not likely.
Likely, the man had wanted from CADMUS the same thing that most of the people paying into it wanted—he wanted to clone someone. Perhaps create an infant from himself and another donor. And, like Luthor, not particularly caring if the second donor was willing.
The problem was with the number of trips. Tim knew that it had taken CADMUS and Luthor years, and an untold number (because they’d accidentally destroyed that part of the facility, Bart) of failed clones until they’d finally succeeded in creating Kon. So it made sense that there were a number of failed attempts, like with what had happened with Kon.
Danny had two kids. Kids who remarkably looked like Danny. Kids who bore all the hallmarks of having been in a lab, from what Tim could tell.
Perhaps they were clones.
Wouldn’t make anything better. In fact, it made Tim want to destroy Masters even more. If they were clones, it would explain the bit when Dani protested getting another name, because she was “named after” Danny. Tim had no idea what she’d said after that, while Danny was hugging her, but it would also explain the sheer amount of rage on Danny’s face when she’d spoken.
Tim had seen the logs. He knew they were lucky, so very lucky, that Danny had a tight reign on his temper. If he let loose, it would make Jason at the height of Pit Madness look calm.
Tim took a sip of his coffee as he pondered the best time to inflict Pit Madness on Jason. They’d need to have Masters right in front of them, preferably with some of those GIW for extra collateral. They’d need to make sure that Jason was limited in his weaponry, to cut down on unnecessary collateral. And they’d need to make sure they were far away from both Bruce and Gotham, to cut down on repercussions.
He got a ping on his personal line, the one that was solely reserved for his Team. “Red Robin,” he answered.
“Duude,” said Bart, voice slurred. Tim couldn't see him, but could imagine him swaying. No wonder.
Dealing with that magical threat would have taken everything all three Flashes had. “Everything good, Impulse?” he asked.
“Totally. Gonna go to Gotham now.”
Tim frowned. “Get some sleep first,” he advised. “It can wait until tomorrow.”
“Kaaay.” The line cut out and Tim smiled. Bart was one of his favorite people.
Cass perched next to a gargoyle. It wasn’t one that she’d been personally introduced to, but it was chatty with her all the same. According to the gargoyle, its name was Edmund.
“And that daycare! That woman was terrible, you know!” Cass nodded gravely. “All it took was a little glowing, a little floating, and bam! She thought the baby was possessed! If the Pained One hadn’t been hiding, he would have kicked her butt!”
Cass had noticed that the gargoyles didn’t use names, not like people used names. They used descriptions. Dani was “the Loud One.” Cass herself was “Guardian.” Damian was “Stabby Robin.” Jason was “Magic Robin.” Steph was “Prank Robin.” Duke was “Bright One.” (Bruce was, oddly enough, “Batman.” And Dick was “Nightwing.” She didn’t know why.) Dan was “Cranky One.” But Danny. Danny was “Pained One.”
She didn’t know why.
Suddenly Edmund went silent. He hissed. “The Fear One has escaped the Holding Place and That One is in Gotham.”
Cass’s head tilted. Fear One? Which was that? And who was Edmund calling “That One?”
“Go,” said Edmund. “Warn the others! We’ll keep watch.” Edmund turned to his original position and froze.
Cass pat Edmund’s side the same way that she’d seen Danny pat George’s before she took off, back to the Cave. The others needed to know what George had told her. She didn’t know who Edmund was talking about, exactly, but all information was good information according to Bruce and Tim.
Cass made it into the Cave just as the alert sounded. Breakout at Arkham; Scarecrow had escaped. So now she knew “The Fear One” was Scarecrow. That made sense. “The Holding Place” was Arkham. That also made sense, given that most of the rogues were repeatedly chucked into it.
As they scrambled to find Scarecrow before he unleashed his latest gas (that they did, thankfully, have an antidote for), Cass found herself with a single question.
Who would Edmund refer to as “That One?”
Jason dropped Danny and Steph off at the complex before heading to his headquarters. Bruce could mope and whine all he wanted about the fact that Jason had taken over as crime lord in these parts; Jason got results. And, hopefully, bastards in white suits.
Sure, he’d been able to interrogate the two who had gone to the Manor. (And what kind of suicidal idiot would try to barge into Bruce Wayne’s home?) But Bruce had had a point about making Alfred clean up blood. Besides, they needed the two to be alive and (relatively) well in order to stand trial in front of Oa when the Lanterns took them in.
Luckily, Jason’s headquarters had a room just for interrogation. Jason hadn’t even had to build one; it came with the building. Completely tiled, drain in the floor—it was easy to clean. It was also almost soundproof, so interrogating someone in there wouldn't even bother the people working outside.
One of the perks to stealing an already running operation. Jason got into the building, Tammy checked in to let him know that none of those white suited bastards were waiting for him, and he went to his office. Before actually entering, he turned and leaned on the rail to look over the operation. There were people dividing up drugs, people setting up emergency go bags, guards keeping look out for trouble, the works. His people worked like a well oiled machine.
The few Goonions on the floor were working on slotting themselves into the job, and doing fine at it.
Jason heartily approved of the idea of a Goonion. Hell, there had been at least three rogue attacks that he knew of that were stopped before they began because the workers were striking against that particular rogue. He gave a piercing whistle that was only slightly modified by the helmet. “Who’s my Goonion rep on the floor?”
A young man, arms scarred from what looked like some kind of animal mauling (although that didn’t mean sh*t in Gotham), spoke up. “That’s me.”
Jason nodded. “Get your ass up here; I got things to discuss.” He ignored it as his phone began to buzz in his pocket. Whatever the fam wanted could wait until he was done here. None of them appreciated just how much work running this empire was—from drug distribution to henchmen loyalty, to making sure no one broke his rules and involved kids in sh*t. It was exhausting.
The Goonion rep looked around warily as he entered the office after Hood. Smart; good instincts. “What you got to discuss?” asked the rep.
“I’m sure you’ve heard how I’ve put a call for assholes in white suits to be brought to me,” Jason said. He didn’t know how much the Goonion Rep had heard, but he wasn’t going to start this by treating him like an infant.
The rep shrugged, still wary. “I heard,” he said simply.
Jason gave a short, firm nod. “Good. I want you to put it back to the Goonion that I’ll pay reward for assholes in white, even it’s not my people that bring them to me.”
Jason leaned against his desk while the rep thought that over. What Jason was offering was unprecedented, and could come back to bite him in the ass if he wasn’t careful. To pay the Goons of other rogues and crime lords for something for him—he might end up dealing with anything from spies to other crime lords and rogues gunning for him for crossing territories. It was worth it.
“Any restrictions?” asked the rep.
Jason grinned under the helmet. He didn’t know if the rep knew what Jason was offering, not in its entirety, but the rep was—tentatively—on board. “They have to be able to answer questions,” Jason said. The rep grinned; they both knew all the leeway that could come with it.
Bruce could turn over his intruders to the Lanterns if he wanted. Crime Alley cleaned up its own messes.
His phone trilled. He suppressed a groan; that mean Barb had hacked it again to turn the sound on. Which meant this was important. “Hold that thought,” he said as he pulled his phone out and checked it. And then reread it to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought was seeing on the screen. “New plan,” said Jason as he pocketed the phone. “I’ll pay for bodies and the tech they carry.” The rep’s eyebrows sprung to his hairline as Jason pushed past him and out to where he could yell over the floor. “All right, People!” he shouted. “Pack it up! Rogue is loose; get to your homes, hidey-holes, or wherever you are that isn’t here, and don’t forget your f*cking gas masks!” Jason thundered down the stairs. “Tammy! Get messages to all the girls; get off the streets!”
“Yes, Boss!” said Tammy as his people scrambled in an orderly manner.
Jason turned to the rep. “You good here?” he asked. The rep nodded. “Good.” Time to go deal with a scarecrow.
Roy was not going out. Not only because he knew nothing about Scarecrow (and knew he’d just get in the way if he tried), but also because he needed to stay with the kids. One, Danny wasn’t back yet. Two, Roy had no idea how long Danny had been in Gotham, and if Danny knew what the dangers of Scarecrow on the loose were. No one needed a super-powered meta high on fear gas.
Especially not one with Danny’s—mental scars.
“All right kids,” Roy said. He was grateful the kids were quick eaters and there were only cardboard boxes from the pizza left. “Dan, are yours and Dani’s gas masks in your apartment?” Roy hoped the kids had gas masks. He only had the one child sized that he was fitting onto Lian as he spoke.
(He loved Jason, he really did. He trusted that Jason would never do anything to put either him or Lian in danger. He didn’t trust the building that Jason put them in, because while he knew that when people were exposed to fear gas they swarmed the streets he didn’t think they started out on the streets.)
“We don’t have gas masks,” said Dani.
Oh.
Oh, that could be bad. He remembered his last dose of fear toxin, and he’d gotten the watered down sh*t. He didn’t want to imagine any of the three Dans getting dosed with it.
“Okay,” said Roy as cheerfully as possible with a Scarecrow alert. He put on his own gas mask. He couldn't help anyone if he succumbed to the gas.
(His hands trembled slightly as he remembered the sh*t he saw with his last dose.)
He pushed memories to the back as he looked at the kids. “We’re going to go into the bathroom,” because it was the smallest, best contained, and had extra air filters. And no windows.
Step one to surviving a fear gas attack: don’t inhale the gas.
Step two to surviving: don’t let anyone who has inhaled the gas know where you hid.
Roy nearly groaned out loud when he heard the window slide open. He turned to yell at whichever vigilante decided to give them a surprise visit. He stopped at the sight of a familiar white and black cat mask. “Jade,” he said. He kept his voice even. He also stood up and tried to step between her and Lian.
Not that it would help. He was well aware that Jade outclassed him. Her head tilted as she looked at him. With the mask on it looked innocent; inquisitive.
The only thing she was inquisitive about was how long it would take for her to kill him.
“Mom,” whispered Lian.
“Good Mom or bad Mom?” asked Dani.
Roy looked down to see that Lian was scowling through her mask, the plastic shield making her features look bigger than they were. “Bad Mom,” she said.
Roy—was not prepared for what happened next. Dan grabbed the table they’d been eating at and threw it at Jade as Dani grabbed Lian’s hand. “Run!” Dani said as she and Lian took off, past Jade.
Into Gotham.
During a Scarecrow attack.
Roy took a step towards the two retreating girls before a sound made him whirl. Jade had somehow gotten out from under the table and now had her hands locked around Dan’s throat. Roy had just enough time to register something shine on Dan’s forehead before the door was burst in and Danny punched Jade across the room.
“Get your hands off my child!” snarled Danny. His glowing green eyes dared the assassin to get back up.
Glowing green eyes. Eyes that were, suspiciously, like Jason’s when the Pit was acting up.
Roy was beginning to think there more than a few gaps in his brief before he came to Gotham.
Jade got up in a fluid motion, still silent. Eerily silent. Danny put himself between the assassin and Dan as Spoiler jumped in, dropped to a roll, and—
Roy wasn’t certain what happened, exactly. One moment Jade was poised to leap at Danny and the next—the next she was on the ground, knocked out. The kind of move that Roy expected to see from Black Bat more than Spoiler.
As Spoiler began to zip tie Jade (how had she even found them?), Danny looked around. Roy helped Spoiler collect all of Jade’s weapons—especially the hidden ones. “Where’s Dani and Lian?” he asked Dan.
Dan’s hair began to float around his head as it flashed white, his eyes began to glow a brighter red than normal, and his mouth opened in a snarl to reveal that his teeth had, somehow, gotten sharper. “If anything happens to Lian I will burn this city to the ground,” he growled.
“You’re not going to burn the city to the ground,” said Danny absently as he went to check on Roy.
Roy was startled by the cool fingers against his pulse points. He looked up at Danny as Dan said, “I can do it. I can do it, Mama.”
Danny left Roy to go kneel by Dan. He put his hands on Dan’s shoulders. “If you burn the city to the ground,” Danny said firmly, “Lian will have no place to live.”
Which.
Was not at all what Roy expected Danny to say. Did he think that Dan could actually do it? Could actually burn Gotham to the ground?
Then again, looking at Dan—Roy wasn’t convinced the kid couldn't.
Dan blinked at Danny’s words and seemed to calm down as he looked around, conflicted. Dan reached out and grabbed at Danny’s arms. “Mama,” he said.
“You need to stay here,” Danny said firmly. “You need to protect this place. Protect it, so Lian will have a home to come back to.”
Dan let go and nodded as he turned back to normal. “I can do that, Mama.”
Danny nodded back. "I know you can." He pulled off his ever present messenger bag and rummaged in it until he pulled out a smaller bag. He gave Dan a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be right back,” Danny said, “with Lian and your sister.”
“It’s not safe to go out,” Spoiler warned. Roy yanked one of her hands back before the trap on Jade’s belt could take it off.
“It’ll be less safe if Dani gets dosed. Roy, does Lian have a gas mask?” Roy nodded as he watched Danny fasten the smaller bag to his belt.
“Be careful, Mama,” said Dan.
Danny smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair. “I will, Dan.” He then slipped out the window.
“Wait for me!” yelled Spoiler as she followed after Danny.
Roy watched them go. He turned to Dan who was watching the window with a predatory gaze that made Roy feel pity for anyone who tried to get into the apartment. “I notice you weren’t worried about your sister.”
“Dani can also burn the city down,” said Dan softly.
Lian hadn’t liked seeing her mom show up out of nowhere, but she did like getting towed like a balloon. She wasn’t sure what Dani was doing, but Lian floated along behind the other girl. It was safe; Dani would never let anything happen to Lian (and neither would Dan), and it was kind of fun.
More importantly; her mom was far behind her.
Dani slowed to a stop and Lian floated to the ground before she was heavy again and they both looked around. Nothing looked familiar to Lian. “Do you know where we are?” Lian asked.
“No.” Dani looked nervous as she also looked around. “I don’t think I’ve been here before.”
Okay. Sometimes, when she was lost, Roy said it was important to stay where she was to be easier to find. Other times, it was important to find someone to help her. This would be a time to find someone to help.
And maybe the person who could help them find their way back could also help them with Lian’s mom. “We need to go up,” Lian said.
Dani’s grip on Lian’s hand tightened. “Did you hear that?” Dani asked.
Lian tilted her head as she tried to hear what Dani was hearing. She knew that Dan and Dani could hear things she couldn't. “No?”
Then she heard it. A metallic scraping sound. The two girls whirled to face it and slowly backed up. They were stopped by a brick wall behind them as a tall man with a mask over his face stepped towards them.
Cass was the first to see Scarecrow. He was stalking towards two young children. No.
No, he would not be allowed.
She dropped on him and used the momentum to knock him out. Compared to other rogues, he went down quietly. Unfortunately, the attack caused him to drop a device that began leaking a dark green gas.
Even more unfortunately, only one of the children was wearing a gas mask.
Cass had just enough time to recognize the children as Lian (with a gas mask) and Dani (without one).
Dani’s eyes went wide as she brought both hands to her chest, letting go of Lian. A silver light began to glow on both girls’ foreheads. “Daddy?” she whispered as her body began to shake.
Agent RS looked around the tunnel with a sneer. He wasn’t certain why they’d gotten orders to place bombs, but he wasn’t going to question them. That wasn’t his place.
This city was crawling with disgusting ectoscum. And worse—sympathizers. Traitors to their own kind. They all deserved to be destroyed, in RS’s opinion.
After setting the bombs, RS climbed up to street level. He headed back towards his vehicle, ready to update the map with the locations of the bombs he’d planted. He hoped the bombs would be enough.
Something heavy hit his shoulder, and he felt the bones under it snap as he dropped with pain. He managed to turn to look up at his attackers. A kid and a teen. The kid had a backwards baseball cap. The teen had some kind of metal bar. Both of them were wearing gas masks. “You have assaulted a federal agent,” RS growled at them.
Both of them laughed. “Yeah, this is one of the bastards,” said the teen.
“Hood’s gonna give us so much money!”
“Hey, he just has to be able to talk, right?”
RS’s heart sank as the kid’s face lit up with glee.
His last conscious thought was that he hoped the bombs took these two out with them when they went off.
Danny may have had health problems, but he could really run when he was motivated. Steph was normally the fastest in a given group (all those nights running around on rooftops was great for building stamina), but Danny was easily in a class of his own. And he was focused on something, something that she couldn't see. He made turns and took shortcuts she didn’t think many of the natives knew about (she’d check in with Jason later), and seemed driven in a way she’d never seen on him before.
No. Wait. She had seen it before—in the video Riddler released. Danny was a machine, going over obstacles, through spaces that would have made her hesitate if she hadn’t been trying to stay right behind him, and dodging the increasing number of people who had been affected by fear gas.
“Any idea what he’s tracking?” asked Barbara.
Steph knew the former Batgirl had her back. “None,” she admitted as they squeezed through a gap in a fence that Steph hadn’t realized would be wide enough for them. As they kept going she risked a glance back.
She had no idea how they’d managed to get through it.
“I had Scarecrow on camera, but he keeps vanishing,” Barbara’s voice said. Her tone was calm, collected, and almost robotic. Steph had no doubt that if she’d been watching the woman she would have been alternating between her monitors as if she was some kind of living robot.
Steph winced as a sharp feedback pierced through the com. “Turn right at the next path,” a deep, masculine voice said. “Danny will keep going straight, but you can’t follow him through that.”
Steph knew where they were. “That’s a dead end.”
“Who is this?” demanded Barbara. Steph heard furious clicking.
“There is no time,” said the male voice. “Veer right—now!”
Steph followed the instructions. Either they were an ally, and telling her the truth, or they were an enemy and she would spring the trap. It really was that easy.
“Duck,” advised the new voice.
Steph did—just as something flew over her head.
“We’re going to dance it,” said the new voice.
Steph realized she couldn't hear Barbara anymore. “I’ll have you know,” Steph said, slightly out of breath, “that I am the best at Dance Dance Revolution.”
“Glad to hear it. To the left!” She took a step to the left just as something crashed down where she’d been standing. “Take it back!” A quick jump back as the pavement in front of her cracked. “High as you can!”
Steph jumped and grabbed the railing of a fire escape just as the street beneath her fell into the sewers below. “I’m so good even the ground falls for me.”
“You’re not out of the woods yet. Higher!” Steph jumped higher and then, when she reached the top of that building, she leaped to another, higher building. She’d never been as grateful for her lessons with Dick on building jumping as she was when the building she just escaped from began to crumble.
“What’s with the destruction?” asked Steph as she grappled to yet another building.
“Turn right! The GIW set up some acid bombs in the sewers. I sent the data to your pal Oracle—drop! Straight! And some kids after the agents.”
“Kids?” demanded Steph.
“Don’t worry; I made sure they had gas masks first. One more right and they’re straight ahead of your location.” The feedback sounded again and Barbara’s voice was once more in Steph’s ear.
“—en I get my hands on you I’m going to rip your kidneys out and feed them to you!” ranted the woman.
“Not mine, I hope!” said Steph cheerfully as she rounded the corner—to see Black Bat on top of Scarecrow, a green gas filling the narrow alley, and two small children. She had just enough time to recognize that a) the two children were Dani and Lian, and b) Dani didn’t have a gas mask.
Steph ran closer as Dani began to shake and back away, staring into the mist. “Daddy?” asked Dani.
The absolute terror in Dani’s voice cut through Steph. No child should have to sound like that. Ever.
But especially not while naming their father.
“No,” Dani’s eyes were wide and she shook as she tried to take a step back, only to collide with the brick wall behind her. “No.” Tears flowed down Dani’s face as she raised her arms to protect herself. “I’ll be good!” she cried out. She winced. “I’ll be good!” The second time was more of a sobbing beg as she pushed further into the brick wall behind her.
The brick wall began to crumble around the small child and Steph realized that this wasn’t just a terrified little kid: this was a terrified, super-powered little kid. Who was hallucinating. And not recognizing anyone around her. Oh, this could be bad.
“Mama!” cried Dani. “Mama, help!”
“Mama’s here, baby.” Steph had no idea where Danny had come from, but he was suddenly there and pulling Dani into his arms. Before either Steph or Black Bat could protest he cuddled the girl close. “You’re having a bad dream.”
Dani’s eyes were still overflowing with tears. “A bad dream?” Steph got closer. She had an antidote in her pouch and she needed to get close enough to use it.
Was the girl’s skin even weak enough for a needle to pierce, or would it break, like if someone tried to give Superman a shot? Steph grabbed the inhaler with the antidote instead. Normally they wouldn’t risk an inhaler on someone so young, but speed was really going to be important here.
Dani opened and closed her eyes several times making the tears run faster. “I can’t wake up.” Dani reached out and grabbed Danny’s shirt as she looked in his direction. From the way her eyes didn’t quite land on him, Steph could tell the little girl couldn't quite see him. “Mama, I can’t wake up!”
“I know, Baby,” said Danny, his voice soft. “You got some bad medicine that’s giving you a bad dream.”
Dani began to cry, soft little hiccups. “Do I—do I have ta wait?”
Danny cuddled her closer. “No, Baby,” he said. “Never again. Steph, you remember Steph?” Dani gave a slight nod as Steph took another step closer. “Steph has some good medicine for you.”
“Yup!” Steph said as she gave up on stealth (which had never been her strong suit anyway) and walked over. She pulled out the inhaler. “I’ve got the good medicine right here!” Dani turned to her, tears still streaming down her face, but it was clear the child couldn't see her. Steph pulled the cap off the inhaler. “I’m going to put some plastic up to your mouth,” Steph said.
The girl flinched and Danny rubbed her back. “It’s okay,” he said. “This is just for the good medicine. No one’s putting a muzzle on you.” The girl buried her face into Danny’s chest. “Take your time,” Danny said in a soothing voice.
Steph waited with a smile on her face as her blood began to boil. A muzzle? Someone had put a muzzle on the kid?
Tim. Tim would know. And would probably have a twenty step plan on how to make the threat a former threat that may or may not include killing someone. Steph would have to add her own two cents.
Dani pulled back, away from Danny’s chest. “Are you ready?” Steph asked gently. Dani nodded and opened her mouth. “Okay. When I put the plastic up to your mouth, I need you to close your mouth around it. And when I say ‘breathe in,’ I need you to breathe in, okay?” Dani nodded. “All right, open.” Dani’s mouth opened and Steph put the inhaler to the child’s lips. “Close.” Obediently, Dani’s mouth closed around the inhaler. “Breathe in,” Steph ordered as she pushed the inhaler to push the medicine into Dani. Dani obeyed.
Dani pulled away from Steph and pushed her face back in Danny’s chest as Danny rubbed gentle circles on her back. Lian reached out and grabbed Danny’s shirt. “Will she be okay?” Lian asked.
Danny bent his knees to get closer to Lian’s height without tilting Dani. “She will,” he said firmly. He stopped rubbing Dani’s back and held out a hand towards Lian. “Come on, Lian. Let’s get you home before Dan decides Gotham's stood long enough.” As Steph watched, Lian climbed into Danny’s arm and he stood, holding both children. Lian reached around until she had as much of her arm around Dani as possible and rubbed the other girl’s back the same way that Danny had been.
“Out of curiosity,” Steph asked. “How did you know it was me?”
Danny looked at her. His face was blank, as if he didn’t have the emotional power to deal with that question. (Fair.) Then Danny turned his attention to Black Bat. Black Bat shifted until her body pulled back a bit and Danny rolled his eyes. Black Bat bounced her weight to the balls of her feet, shoulders forward. Danny nodded. Then, without another word, he walked off.
“Huh,” Steph said as she watched him go. “I didn’t know anyone outside the family could do that.”
Cass gestured towards Danny and the two girls. Steph nodded. “Yeah, there’s still affected people. Keep them safe on the way home.” Cass saluted before she followed the trio—invisibly.
“You get all that O?” asked Steph.
“Yeah. I’ve got the others out distributing antidote. You got more doses?”
“Always as many as I can for a gas attack,” Steph reassured the woman. She also had antidotes on her for the last known version of Joker gas. Not that she expected to need it during a Scarecrow attack (especially since Joker was still in the hospital), but she liked to be prepared.
“You should check in with Dick when this is wrapped up. He wants an all bird meeting.”
Steph paused. That was oddly specific wording. “Oh?”
Oracle hummed. “Oh, yes. Meeting will be in the Nest, though, and not the Cave.”
Steph grinned. “Good to know.”
Danny gently tapped at the window with his foot and Roy flung it open. “Thank God,” the man said, clearly relieved as he stepped back and let Danny in with both girls. He noticed Dani wasn’t doing well. “Is Dani okay?”
“Dani will be fine,” Danny said firmly. She had to be. The antidote would kick in, and Dani would sleep, and when she woke up she’d be back to normal.
No, she wouldn't. She’d be clingy and weepy for a few days while she processed whatever the fear gas had made her see. At least this time she wouldn't be processing it while also being cut open.
“It’s my fault,” Lian said solemnly.
“No.” The protest came from Dan and Danny looked at the boy curiously as he bent enough to let Lian’s feet touch the ground. Dan grabbed Lian into a hug. “Not your fault,” the boy said.
Lian hugged him back and began to sob. “Dani’s hurt!” she wailed.
Danny gently pat Lian’s head. “Dani will be fine,” he repeated.
Speak it enough times and it would be true. Danny had faith in that. And he’d say it as many times as necessary, and do everything he could to make it so.
Dan pulled slightly back from the hug. “Are you okay, Lian?” he asked. Danny could see how the ectoplasm in the air was swirling around him, ready to be pulled if Dan thought it was necessary.
Lian sniffed and tried to rub her eyes through the gas mask. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I’m okay.”
The ectoplasm stopped and dissipated as Dan pulled her back into a hug. “That’s good,” Dan said firmly. “I’m glad.”
Danny stood back up, rubbing Dani’s back. She whimpered slightly, but seemed to be asleep. Hopefully her dreams would be better than whatever she’d seen.
Danny looked over at Roy. “What happened to—?” He gestured his head towards where the woman that had attacked Dan had been.
“One of the local birds swung by and got her,” Roy said quietly. “She’ll be dealt with.” Danny nodded at the savage conviction in Roy’s voice.
“All right.” He waited until the children’s hug naturally ended. “Come on,” said Danny softly. “It’s time for bed.”
“Okay,” said both children. Lian toddled over to Roy as Dan reached up and grabbed the hem of Danny’s shirt. Danny nodded at Roy before taking his two back to their apartment.
He didn’t bother trying to start the bedtime routine. The night—and the day before it—had just been too crazy. Tomorrow they could start it back up.
Danny leaned against the wall of the living room and gently slid down until he was fully seated on the floor, making sure that Dani wasn’t jolted at any time during the movement. He opened his eyes to see that Dan was watching.
Danny smiled at his son and held out his free arm. “Come here,” he said.
Dan did. Instead of snuggling into Danny though, he pressed his back against Danny’s torso as he grabbed onto Danny’s arm like an enthusiastic kitten. “I know you’re feeling jealous,” Danny said softly. “You also feel bad for feeling jealous, because Dani clearly went through something terrifying. And, Dan? That’s okay. It’s normal.”
Dan’s grip tightened. “I should have been more worried.”
Danny sighed. He bent so that he could press a kiss to the top of Dan’s head. “You know how durable Dani is,” he said. “It’s not surprising that you were more worried about Lian. And, Dan? It’s okay. It’s okay that you feel that way. It’s normal.”
Dan was silent for a moment and the only sounds in the apartment were the electricity humming through the building and the far distant sounds of people screaming and crying as they dealt with their own doses of gas. “When did you get so mature?” asked Dan.
“I had to,” Danny softly reminded the boy.
Another arm squeeze. “Yeah,” Dan agreed. He was silent and Danny knew what was going through his mind. What would have been going through Danny’s mind if their positions were reversed. “You know,” Danny said. “The only thing I regret about what happened is all the pain that you and Dani had to go through.” He would have done anything in his power to spare them from that.
Even if it had meant watching Dan destroy the world again.
“Even though you can’t fly anymore?” asked Dan.
“I can fly!” Danny protested. He flew all the time.
Dan sent him a withering glare over the boy’s shoulder. “You know what I mean,” he said grimly.
“Yeah,” agreed Danny as he let the indignation go. “I know.” He curled his arm around Dan as much as he could. “Even if I never see another star,” he said, “I won’t regret it. What’s important is that the two of you are as safe as possible, and as healthy as possible.” Danny sighed. “Everything else—what will be will be,” he said reverting to one of Clockwork’s famous saying.
“I hate that guy,” muttered Dan.
“I know,” said Danny. He couldn’t. Not when he had his children like this. Not when they were safe, and in his arms.
He also hated the Ancient. When Dani had nightmares, when Dan panicked at being called “smart.” At the memories of splashes of red and green against pristine white walls.
“I know,” Danny repeated softly.
