Chapter 7

Summary:

Breakfast at Wayne Manor is definitely interesting with Danny at the table! After breakfast, Jason and Bruce have a little talk before a trip to the Watchtower.

Notes:

Sorry it took so long to update this! Between Dannymay2023, Invisobang, and this, I've got a lot on my plate! In other news. I finally got a drawing tablet and will soon start to post my not-so-great art to go along with the stories! (At least concept art is cool, I think/hope.) That's also a time-sink, though. But--it's content! Go, go DP Phandom!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Alfred headed towards the den to wake up the young Masters for brunch. As he approached the open room, he heard soft sniffling and voices. When he heard Danny talk about his feelings of safety, his heart broke for the child. He silently wiped a few tears from his eyes, and decided to wait a bit before announcing brunch. He slowly backed out of the doorway and made his way to the kitchen. He decided to add chocolate chip pancakes to the morning's repast. He served only the best for his charges; chocolate chips were known to help stimulate small children's appetites, after all…

Danny's first meal at Wayne Manor was a whirlwind of stimulation. He wasn't sure that the pancakes were made just for him, but he couldn't help but notice that they were only set in front of his place at the table. He also didn't miss the way Grandpa Alfred's eyes lit up when he went back for seconds—then thirds! He met so many people, too! Danny had no idea that Grandpa Bruce had so many children! First there was "Uncle Dick." Danny laughed at the man's name. He liked the way his new uncle's eyes sparkled when they looked at him. He also loved the way it felt to be accepted fully for all that he was, without having to hide anything.

He almost felt bad remembering the fear that always stayed in the back of his mind when he lived with the Fentons. They were good people, and they loved him. Danny gave a little sigh when he realized that they were gone because of him. He didn't think about the past for long, though. His mind was buzzing with energy for some reason, and it made it really hard for him to focus for any real length of time.

His attention turned towards his Uncle Duke, who had jumped in surprise when Danny greeted him with glowing green eyes at the breakfast table. Uncle Duke squinted a lot when he looked at Danny—something about him being "bright." Danny was pleased that his uncle thought he was smart!

Then, there was Aunt Steph! She was so surprised to see him sitting next to his guardian at the table. Hm. Danny wondered. Was it too soon to call him dad?? Aunt Steph kept calling him "Mini Me" and giggling. Danny wanted to throw a biscuit at her, but he didn't want to upset Grampa Alfred. Apparently, his guardian (dad!) didn't worry about that, because he did throw a biscuit at Aunt Steph! She caught it and took a big bite of it, and then she laughed again. Danny decided that he might just have to mess with her later.

Grandpa Bruce sat at the head of the table and watched everyone eat. He had a cup of coffee and a newspaper. Danny's eyes were drawn to the coffee. "Oooh! Can I have some coffee, please?" He bounced in his chair. Everyone's head swiveled around to look at the energetic boy. No one said anything until Grandpa Alfred said, "Absolutely not, young sir. Coffee will stunt your growth."

Someone snorted and said something about a "Tim," but Danny hadn't met anyone named Tim, yet…

OH! Was that a DOG??!! A tall, dark-haired teen walked in holding the leash of a huge dog. Danny loved dogs! Especially big ones, like Cujo! Would Cujo find him all the way in his new home in Gotham? The boy's eyes began to glow a bright blue, and his hair began to float. Little snowflakes began dancing around Danny's head as he watched the dog with delight. Danny squealed in joy when the dog turned its attention to him.

"Titus, Heel!" The black Great Dane immediately stopped moving towards Danny and stood beside his owner. "Interesting…Titus rarely shows interest to other humans before he has his breakfast."

Danny smiled. He did not notice that he was floating over his chair. "Hi!" He said. "I'm Danny!Can I pet your dog?I sort-of had a dog, before I came here.I don't know if Cujo will find me here, so can I play with your dog?Does he bite?What does he like to eat?Oooh!Can I hold his leash?"

"Danny." The boy in question was literally vibrating in excitement. "Danny!"

Jason's voice finally broke through the boy's exuberant questioning of his youngest brother. "Danny, it isn't polite to question others without giving them time to answer back."

Danny (and the rest of the room) turned to look at Jason. Danny gave a slow blink and gently floated down until he was settled back on his chair. "Oh." He wasn't sure what else to say.

Steph snorted. "That was such a dad thing to say!"

Danny turned to her and cocked his head. "Well, he is my dad…I mean…Elle was my clone and I was her dad, so…since I'm Jason's clone, I guess that means Jason is my dad!" He smiled at the realization and looked at Jason. "You are my dad! You are!"

Several things happened at once. Stephanie choked on her orange juice. Duke, who was trying to get up, fell out of his chair. Alfred dropped a plate of melon slices on the floor, and Bruce and Dick both said "You have a clone??" at the same time. Danny briefly looked at the chaos and shrugged. He looked at his grandpa. "Um. Yeah? I just said so."

Damian, who had been silent since Danny's revelation, huffed a small laugh. "Now Todd is a grandfather? The world must be coming to an end." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room with Titus, completely ignoring the extra chaos his words caused.

Jason sat with his mouth hanging open. "I'm a grandpa?"

Dick straight up asked. "Who's Elle?"

Bruce brought up a more pressing issue. "Who cloned you?"

Stephanie and Duke just sat in silent information overload.

Danny chose to answer his grandpa first. "Fruitloop made Elle." The boy's face fell. "Well, he kind of made a bunch of tries first, but they all died except Elle."

He looked at Jason with tears in his eyes. "She's all alone out there now. She'll never find me here."

Bruce looked at Danny and thought about all the things this child had lost in such a short amount of time. His heart broke for the boy. "Danny, I promise I will do everything in my power to find her and bring her home."

Jason pulled Danny into his lap. "Hey now, when B makes a promise like that, he keeps it. We will find Elle. No matter where she's at, we will find her." Danny laid his head on Jason's chest.

Stephanie finally found her voice. "Who's Fruitloop?"

Bruce cleared his throat. "Danny," His voice was gentle. "Where exactly did you live before you came to Gotham?"

Wide blue eyes looked up at the Batman. "Amity Park."

"Do you know what state Amity Park is in?"

"Il-low-noy." Danny carefully pronounced the word.

Dick immediately started typing on his phone. Alfred began cleaning up the mess on the floor, while Duke got to his feet and moved to help Alfred. Stephanie remained where she was sitting, confusion still plain on her face. "Who's Fruitloop?" She asked again.

Danny scowled. He did not like that question, and he did not like pushy people. "Vlad is the Fruitloop. Please. Leave. Me. Alone!" Danny's last word sent a visible shockwave across the table. The glasses and plates directly in front of Jason went flying. The silverware embedded itself on the far wall behind an empty chair. The tablecloth tore with a "riiiip" and the severed part drifted down and covered Stephanie's head.

Danny blinked. "Oops." He looked at his dad with wide eyes. "I forgot I could do that."

Bruce took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, Jason, I think we need to move up our scheduled visit to the Watchtower, don't you?"

Jason just nodded. What in the hell did those crazy people do to his boy?? He was going to have to find out, so they might as well get it over with. He smiled down at Danny and ruffled the boy's hair. "So, kiddo. Wanna take another trip to space?"

Danny squealed in delight. "Yes, yes, yes, PLEASE!!!!"

"There are some special people there who would like to meet you."

"Can I see the stars and the moon this time?"

Bruce spoke up. "We will definitely make sure you get to go to the observation deck and look at the moon and stars—if you are a very good boy and cooperate with my friends."

Danny looked from Jason to Bruce and back again. "I'll be soooo good! I promise!"

Bruce's tone got more serious. "Danny?" When the boy looked at his grandfather, the man spoke again. "Do you remember the costumes we were wearing last night?" The child nodded, and Bruce continued. "When we are in those costumes, it is VERY important that you call us our special names. You only use our special names when we are in our costumes, do you understand?"

Danny nodded. "Uh huh. It's like when I was a hero." The boy pointed to himself. "I was Danny when I was like this." He quickly changed forms. "And I was Phantom when I was like this."

Bruce smiled at him. "Exactly! When we go to space, we need to wear our special costumes and use our hero names. You should stay in that form and use your hero name too." He silently made a note to look up a teen hero named "Phantom."

Danny cocked his head. "You want me to go to space as Phantom? But the bad people are after Phantom…"

"The bad people won't be where we're going, kiddo." Jason said. "It will only be us 'heroes' up there today."

"Cool!" Danny was so happy that he flew out of Jason's arms and did a flight around the high ceiling.

Dick looked up. "I'm jealous!"

Alfred looked tired. "Master Dick, please stick to the chandeliers…"

Everyone on the ground burst out laughing, and Danny's core sang in contentment. He had really found a new home! It felt wonderful!

1:00pm EST- Batcave

"You sure you're ready for this?" Bruce looked at his son with concern. "I don't want you to get hurt…"

"Can it, dad. I'm fine. Danny is fine. We are BOTH fine."

"The pacing says otherwise."

"He's gonna do great with the League's testing."

"I know that. Do you?" Bruce regarded his son with concern. He did not want to get in the way of Jason's parenting of the meta child, but he also didn't want to see Jason make the same mistakes that he had done when he was a young father. "Jason, I believe in your abilities to handle what you need to handle. Just don't forget that it's alright to ask for help sometimes—and it's always alright to lean on your family for support when you need it. If you want to talk about whatever you're feeling. I'm here."

Jason took a deep breath and hung his head. "What if the League thinks he's too powerful and tries to take him from me? I know they don't exactly trust me…"

Bruce put his arm on his son's shoulder. "They'll have to get past ME to take him from you, son. Besides, I believe the fact that you are moving back to the Manor will count heavily in your favor. The bigger question is going to be who will train him, and when. The powers he has already demonstrated are phenomenal. With his mental faculties regressed, he might not have the greatest control. The fact that he doesn't even remember all of his powerset is a bit troubling—BUT, I believe those are all hurdles we can handle together. Provided we can keep Ra's out of the picture."

"I'll die again before I let that filthy motherfucker get his hands on Danny."

"That's what I'm afraid of, son."

Alfred exited the elevator. "Master Bruce, Master Jason. Young Master Danny has finished cleaning up and is prepared to leave. I assume that you would like to bring him down to the cave yourselves?"

Jason smiled. "Yeah, thanks for looking out for him for a bit, Alfred. We'll head upstairs now."

Notes:

I apologize for not responding to the comments last chapter. It's been a really hard week for me. I try to drop in what I can, but please know I read every one of them, and they make me smile! They also motivate me to write more, faster! Even if it's just an emoji to show that you care! :-) Thanks!