"Let's go." Jason said as he locked the door to his apartment and turned around to the elevators. "They are expecting us in 10 minutes."

After the first rush of excitement left Danny's body, the same feeling of rejection crept back. He was fidgeting by the door looking everywhere just like he did in the cave.

"Come on Danny, they won't rip you apart." Jason joked but he didn't realize what he said. Those simple words reminded him of his father when he threatened his good ghost side to tear him molecule by molecule. Danny felt his eyes fill with tears but he didn't let them fall. He closed his eyes to calm down but the darkness only materialized his memories, making him cry even more. His breathing became shallow and uneven and his heartbeat rose.

When Jason turned around to see if his brother was following him, he found Danny in a near panic attack state. He wanted to know what caused this but he had to calm him down first.

"Danny, Danny! It's me Jason! Focus on me please!" Jason shouted into Danny's face trying to bring him back to the reality. It had no effect and maybe it made it even worse.

"I smell the blood of a petty little coward." The monster living within said, finally waking up from the loss of his consciousness.

"There's no one here..." Danny whispered looking around with frightened eyes.

"Oh, you didn't get it. I meant you."

"No, no, no, no, no, go away." The boy started backing away from the form of Dan that was slowly walking towards him.

"You reside in great disguises, trying to hide your real self." The monster crept closer, now kneeling in front of Danny.

Meanwhile in the reality, Jason was trying to approach the boy but without success. He was now sure that Danny's mind was playing with him, adjusting the reality for him. Jason had suspicion that the being Danny was backing away from was his evil future self. The fear in his eyes gave him out.

"Danny wake up! It's not real!" Jason kept shouting. He had to do something to get him out of his trance before his body won't be able to endure all of the stress.

"No, you're not real. I was here first." Danny whispered yelled as he was pushed to the corner.

"You can't pretend as if I'm not here when I'm standing in bones and flesh right in front of you." Dan chuckled deeply, taking a step forward.

"Danny! Danny!" Faint screams could be heard from all around Danny, making him look around. There was no one, only his evil ghost side in front of him. When he listened closer, those screams came from Dan? Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The whole world silenced for a while and then the voice screaming his name got louder and clearer.

When Danny opened his eyes again, he didn't see Dan in front of him, only his worried brother.

"I'm so, so sorry." Danny sobbed and leaned against Jason's warm chest. At the same time, he felt freezing cold as the person he was leaning against was Dan. Both of those feelings weren't as bad as Danny thought, mainly the cold one.

Yes, he hated Dan for those murders but deep inside, he wanted to have a better relationship like he had with Jason. After all, Dan was somehow his only living family left alive.

"You okay? If you don't want to go, we can stay here." Jason said in a soft voice as he slightly pushed Danny away to stand up.

"No, it's okay. We can go." Danny reassured his brother with confidence that appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed his bag and headed to the elevators.

Jason was left there stunned, not expecting him to recover so fast. The older teen caught up with his brother, leaving the talk for the car ride. They took a simple black car and sped off. First few minutes went in dead silence, only the engines and city sounds could be heard.

"Wanna talk about it?" Jason asked and gave Danny a short glance before he looked back on the road. The younger boy thought about in but he didn't feel like sharing right now.

"Just don't say it again." Danny said coldly, leaving Jason in thoughts. He had no idea what caused Danny to panic but he knew he didn't want him in that state ever again. It felt weird that Danny was backing away from him and at the same time not...

Jason didn't even realize when he got on the driveway to the manor and Danny also seemed as if he returned to the reality only now. The boy in the passenger seat looked amazed by the structure of the house.

"It looks bigger than Vlad's." Danny whispered before he could stop himself. The mansion destroyed his whole life on many levels. It took away his family and fused him with his archenemy.

"Just like my birthplace, don't you think?" Dan said in a sad voice but it quickly grew into laughter that could compete against Jokers'.

"Shut up!" Danny growled, being really annoyed with his ghost half. He had a good day after a long time and he was taking it all away from him. Again.

Jason knew that those words weren't meant for him. He has been around Danny long enough to recognize when he was talking to people around him and when he was talking to Dan. 'We'll have to work on this' Jason thought as he turned off the motors.

"We are here." Jason said without a thought. It sounded stupid since both of them had functional eyes and could see where they were. The driver got out of the car but his brother didn't. Jason opened Danny's doors but he didn't stand up.

"You wanna back up now?" Jason asked jokingly to bring up a smile but he made him frown even more. "You have to wipe off the frown before you go inside or the people living there will instantly suspect you of something." He continued.

This sentence brought a smile to Danny's face. Of course he knew that soon, he was going to face the best detectives in the world.

"See it's not that hard." Jason laughed and ruffled Danny's already messy hair. The boy made an annoyed sound and jumped up to ruffle Jason's hair too.

"You destroyed my hair." Jason whined as a small kid. He brushed his hair with a playful scowl before he pressed the doorbell. Soon after, an elderly looking man opened the door and greeted them both.

"Hello master Jason, and you must be young master Daniel." He greeted in a polite way.

"I guess you're Alfred." Danny guessed by the many stories that Jason told him. Alfred didn't respond, he only gave both males a kind smile in return.

"Master Jason, your room is ready and Master Daniel, you'll have a guest room on the bottom floor for now."

"Thanks Alfie, we'll put our bags away and head to the living room." Jason announced and showed Danny his room.

It was a huge bedroom, maybe not as big as Jason's or his brothers but big enough. It was about twice the size of his bedroom when he still lived with his family in Amity park. Before Danny could realize, Jason was back from his room and he was waiting for Danny to follow him.

"You don't have to worry about anything." The older male reassured, seeing his brothers discomfort.

"Yeah, this will help, thanks." He muttered sarcastically but Jason didn't blame him. If he was the one who was about to meet a new family with 5 totally new people, he would be worried too.

"The only one who bites is Damian." Jason laughed and Danny could swear that he heard few snickers and grunts from the living room. The halfa stayed quiet, not wanting to make enemies before he even met the people.

Jason walked casually into the living room followed by Danny. "Everyone, meet Danny." He greeted and all the eyes turned to the mentioned boy. He didn't like when they were staring at him.

"Hi, my name is Daniel Fenton." He greeted shyly but he didn't try to hide or make himself smaller. In fact, Danny tried to make himself bigger by puffing out his chest. The only reason he could find for doing this was that he tried to look tough in front of the worlds greatest detectives of all times.

"Hello Danny, it so nice to meet you. My name is Bruce Wayne." Bruce stepped closer and shook his hand with Danny. 'Man, his hand is freezing.' Bruce thought. When Danny stood opposite of Bruce, he felt really small, well smaller than usual.

"I'm Richard John Grayson but friends call me Dick. So nice to meet you." Jason's oldest brother greeted happily and shook his hand too.

"Timothy Drake." Tim waved at him with a smile. Danny was thankful that he didn't have to shake his hand with everyone, it wasn't pleasant.

"Damian Al Ghul Wayne." The shortest one greeted. He was the only one who looked like he didn't want to be here and Danny didn't blame him. He was glad that Jason offered him to stay with them but if he was on Damian's place, he wouldn't be so happy. Already having three older brother, it couldn't be easy to take in another.

"It's was so nice to meet you Danny. I have to talk to Jason for a while about the papers and stuff. The dinner will be ready soon so while you're waiting, try to know each other." The man said with a smile as he was walking out of the room. The three boys gave each other knowing glances while Danny smirked at Jason as if he was saying "have fun explaining."

The boys didn't seem to notice Danny's smile thankfully. It would look weird.

"So Danny, you want to play a game to know each other better?" Dick asked as he sat down on the couch next to Damian and motioned him to do the exact thing.

"Jason told me everything about you." Danny said with a smile as he remembered all the laughs they had.

"So you know us but we don't know you. Wanna share?" Tim asked, playing the dumb thing. Danny was sure that everyone in this house knew his full backstory maybe even better than himself but he didn't want them to know that he knows.

"Well there isn't much to talk about but ok." There was a short pause while Danny was trying to figure out how to start. "I came from a fairly big town, Amity park. The city is known for its 'ghost' troubles. My family and my friends lived there."

"Isn't there a hero? How's he called? Phantom?" Tim interrupted, secretly pulling out important information.

"Yes but he hasn't been seen for about 3 or 4 months. Never mind. Few months ago, the evil ghost Phantom first appeared. He terrorized my city too but Phantom, the good one, was able to beat him. Then he hasn't been seen for a long time. About two months after Phantoms disappearance, my family went for a trip to our friend Vlad Masters. We were staying there for a weekend when the ghost showed again. This time, our hero wasn't there so no one could stop the monster." Danny was so deep in his memories that he didn't realize those big fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

"He k...killed my parents and si...sister." The halfa cried into his hands. He felt really embarrassed for breaking down in front of Jason's brothers but they all seemed to understand his situation. After all, everyone, well maybe except Damian, lost their families in a tragic or sad way. A strong arm wrapped around Danny's shaking shoulders, holding him tight. At first, Danny thought that Jason has returned but when he looked up, he found Dick with a kind smile.

"You don't have to hide your feelings. The pain won't go away but it will get better by the time." He reassured and gave Danny last tight squeeze before letting him go.

~~~~~~~~~

When Bruce was out of Danny's sight and earshot, he turned to Jason with his hard Batman face.

"What happened." Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked as confused as he could, putting his drama skills to use.

"You didn't know about the escape?" The billionaire asked confused. Jason was in the cave nearly the whole time, how could he not notice?

"Joker escaped?"

"No, somebody much worse. Phantom." Bruce growled the last part of the sentence. He got much better sleep when he knew that the ghost was locked up but now when he was free, all of it was gone.

"How is it even possible? I was down there since 7AM till 2PM. Before I left, I checked everything to make sure he wouldn't escape..." Jason paused to give his words more effect and it seemed to work on Bruce.

"He couldn't have escaped on his own, somebody must have helped him out. Someone highly trained." The man said, thinking back to the point when he watched the security footage from the cave. The ghost was there and the next moment he was gone.

'Or someone from the inside.' Jason thought and he had a hard time to maintain his smirk. Fortunately, Bruce was facing the wall thinking so he couldn't see Jason's twisted face.

"You don't have to worry Bruce. You caught him once, you can catch him again. Plus now, I'll be with you guys." Jason said and put a reassuring hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"We should head to the dinner." The younger male said. "They are waiting for us." When Jason entered, he was met with a pleasant sight. Danny was talking to Dick and Tim. What shocked Jason the most was that Damian  added to the conversation and he didn't look irritated or bored.

A wave of jealousy passed through Jason. He have been living with his new family for some time now but they always had some kind of argument. He didn't remember when everyone talked together on a normal occasion, not counting explaining the strategies and hero stuff. Jason took the place right next to Danny and that was the cue for Alfred to bring their dinner.

"Did they treat you well?" Jason asked his newest brother and gave him a smirk.

"No they didn't." Danny laughed and Jason motioned a firing gun at his siblings. "Yes they did." The halfa finished and everyone burst laughing. It wasn't often that the whole family gathered around the dining table, because the older ones had their personal life that demanded their time too.

The dinner went quite peacefully for the Waynes. On a normal occasion, the boys would argue over some stupid things or Bruce would be out doing his Batman business. During their meal, everyone talked, getting to know each other better. Danny talked a lot about his friends and the ghosts that roamed freely through his town. When he mentioned the Box ghost, everyone laughed, even Bruce. It wasn't the fake billionaire laugh, it was real. Bruce shared a lot of stories about the boys which made everyone laugh again. Through the stories, one of the boys would mumble something about the story being imprecise and that he didn't know all the facts.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner." Dan popped out of nowhere (in his mind) and talked in an apologetic way. It soon changed to his crazy murderous talk: "Don't make yourself too comfy. Sooner or later, I'll take over your body and they will no longer live!"

Danny's day was officially over. As soon as his ghost side opened his mouth, he knew that it won't end good. His smile disappeared and was replaced by a deep frown. The boys caught his sudden change of mood and looked questioningly at Jason. Of course he knew what was happening but he couldn't just say 'Hey, you know what? Danny has serious mental problem and he is Phantom!'

"Come Danny, you didn't get any sleep yesterday and it's already late." Jason stood up and was followed closely by his brother. Everyone it the room was watching the scene in front of them, memorizing it for later.

Jason led Danny to his new room and they both sat at the end of the bed. It was quiet for a moment, Danny still having his little mental fight with Dan.

"I'm so sorry, he caught me unprepared." The halfa said ashamed. He should be strong, he should have Dan under control but the truth was that he didn't.

"Danny..." Jason started with a sight. "I can't tell you that I know how you feel because I don't. I'll I wanted to tell you is that you are doing a great job with maintaining Dan so don't think different." He smiled at Danny and gave him a quick hug.

"You really should get some rest now." He added and stood up to leave.

"Thank you for... well everything."

"You're welcome." Jason replied and quietly shut the door to Danny's room.

~TheWhiteKnights

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