Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"His majesty has decided to grant you an audience. He wishes lets you know that he shall 'see to it, personally'. Follow me."

Tim didn't like where this was going. At all. As if the spell in itself hadn't been bad enough, this was just… Then again, he supposes this is good. Every help he can get to get this sorted out is appreciated. So here's hoping the price he will no doubt have to pay for this mercy won't be too high. What other options did he have, after all?

Following the knight he came to a castle that he really didn't want to enter. It was tall - tall enough to make Wayne manor look small, in fact - and glowing in a blueish-turquoise hue. The black stone walls curl up into towers that he is pretty sure should be physically impossible. Then again, this was a different dimension, wasn't it? As if the roses made out of green ice growing up the castle walls hadn't been enough prove of that.

The gate was made out of what Tim thought might be marble, but he wasn't sure. Was there a kind of marble in this world that was black with swirls of purple, red and blue like a galaxy? He couldn't say. How would he? This was literally a different plane of existence. And, yes, Tim was stressing this a lot. Yes, he kept thinking about it. But it was just so fucking surreal! Cur him some slack, okay? Please.

The halls were long and obviously not used to having feet actually touch the soft, white carpets. The carpet was way too soft and too clean for that. He would know, with the amount of siblings he had. Even Alfred wouldn't have been able to keep a carpet this white.

Would he ever be able to see Alfred again? His siblings? The thought made his throat feel tight and his eyes burn. Just one more reason to hope this wasn't all just some trap.

Inside the castle, the windows didn't show the weird dimension with its green everything and the random floating doors and islands that he'd found himself in thanks to the spell he'd been hit with. Instead there were stars. And though it were the same constellations, each window portrayed them just a bit differently. As though you could watch them from different centuries - a thought Tim hadn't expected to ever sound as realistic as it did right now.

The drapes were made of silk, a deep wine red that reminded Tim of blood flowing down those black walls. He tried not to think that way, but he couldn't help it. So he just tried not to look at them instead. The ceiling, though, was pleasant to look at. It was like looking from the bottom of the ocean up against soft waves and bright sunlight. Which was also the source of light in the castle halls, apparently. Well, there could have been worse sources of lightning, really. Tim was glad it wasn't something as cartoonish as thousands of flickering candles or lightning crackling. His life was cartoonish enough as it was, really. He couldn't use any more of that, especially not right now. Not after the day he's just had.

Did the dead drink coffee? Because he would really appreciate some right about now.

After passing an infinitesimal amount of doors made out of different uniquely coloured woods - the wood actually seemed to have those strange colours, they didn't look painted - and many, many crossroads with ancient looking columns on the edges of the walls, they finally arrived at a white door with golden handles and elaborate engravings. Were those different constellations? Tim was pretty sure he could see what he thought to be the star sign Virgo, and that over there could have been Cancer. Or maybe not. Tim hadn't payed attention to constellations and stars in a long time, after all.

The knight gave a knock, loud as a gunshot against the silence that had only been disrupted by Tim's quiet steps so far. For some reason he didn't even wait for a response before opening the doors. "Your majesty, abiding your wish I have brought your… guest before you."

Yeah, Tim decidedly did not like the way the knight had just pronounced "guest". Still left without other options, though, he entered once he got what he decided to interpret as a prompting look behind the knight's helmet.

The throne room was lit up from the floor, which looked like blue lava underneath glass, instead of the tranquil waters from above that had enlightened the corridors. There was a swirly, green something behind the lace curtains on the left of the room, which Tim decided not to look at too closely, and a glittering, sparkling, moving oil painting of the universe on the right. The ceiling was higher, but Tim didn't look up to see what it looked like. Instead, he focused on the throne in front of him. The throne which was made out of black ice and white cushions. The throne which was guarded by multiple skeletons Tim hoped weren't real. The throne on which a figure in a black cape sat, a crown of green fire floating above his head.

Tim took a deep breath and steeled himself as he walked towards the figure who looked all the more intimidating with the light coming from below. And once he was close enough to see what he looked like, actually looked like - Tim immediately froze to the spot.

Tim did a double take, but he still saw the tan man about Tim's own age sitting there. Still the same black hair and the same blue eyes.

Tim blinked again.

Still the same lean frame and the same sharp jawline.

Closing his eyes and shaking his head, opening them again.

Still the same long fingers and full lips, the same snub nose.

"…Danny?" When Tim finally called out the name, he found his voice was barely above a stunned whisper. Which might be good. If this was an illusion, he didn't want to break the fragile impression.

The other man smirked, however. And as he stood up, cape pooling around him like oil, he nodded. "Hi, Tim. Good to see you still remember me." Tim was too stunned to speak, so the other man - Danny, that was really Danny, the same Danny, Danny in the flesh (?), Danny was here - simply continued. "Let's get right to the point: I'm the king of the Infinite Realms now, and I've asked Frighty out there to come get you since I noticed what was going on when you arrived here."

The disdain in Danny's voice when he mentioned the title didn't go unnoticed to Tim, but he really had other things to worry about. So he filed that notion away for later, hoping he didn't actually forget about it before "later" would come.

"I… You… What?" Tim had never felt so eloquent before in his entire life. Shaking his head, he tried to regain some sense, understand the situation. First things first: "You died?"

For some reason, this actually made Danny smirk. "I tripped. Slipped on a stray screw in my parent's lap and electrocuted myself. I mean, can you imagine? I actually stumbled right into death. Guess you were right with that one." Tim failed to see the humour in it, still a bit preoccupied with the knowledge that his first love wasn't only suddenly in front of him but apparently had also died. Noticing so, Danny shrugged. "I didn't die completely, don't worry. Like, I am dead but my life's not over yet. It's complicated… Like an open relationship with death?"

Okay. So, Tim was even more confused now.

Allowing a tired sigh to escape him, Tim hugged himself. "I… Danny, I'm really confused. And scared." He knew he only let himself admit that because it was Danny in front of him, and he hoped Danny knew that as well.

A comforting but icy hand was placed on Tim's shoulder. "I know. I wish I could say I'd bring you home but…" The sigh made Tim's heart fill with dread. "Tim, the spell that was used called the Ancients. I can't do anything about that. The only way you can use the portals back home would be as one of mine. So… after death."

Dread. That was the first thing he felt. Then came grief - So he wouldn't see his family ever again? This was just it? Eternity in afterlife, even before he had died? - and anger - Wait. Before his death? But… That wasn't fair! It wasn't his time yet. He wasn't even dead! - and sadness - He wasn't even dead… But he might as well be, right? If he would be trapped in here anyways? - and then a sudden crash of emotions too strong for him to point out or understand.

"I'm sorry, Tim. I really, really am." The soft voice of his ex, no, the Ghost King did little to calm him down. Nor did the sad smile he received. "I… We can sear for loop holes, though? I'm not sure there are any, but… It is worth a try. Death works in mysterious ways. More than life, actually."

That did give him a little hope. Hesitantly, Tim nodded. He uncurled, absently wondering ow or when he'd even gotten down on the floor hugging himself like that. Right. Loop holes. Magic had loop holes. Most of the time, anyways. Tim just hoped this time it would be a usable one. And that they would find it.

"Until then, you're welcome to stay with me." Danny got back up, smiling a bit more like his usual self now. That did help, Tim faintly noted. Seeing that mischievous smirk full of honest glee he'd adored so much before he'd left to become a Robin. It was nice. Familiar. Comforting.

"Thanks, Danny. Really, thank you."

His tired smile was met with a soft gaze and a chuckle. "Anything for you, Timmy."

Timothy Jackson Drake and Daniel William Fenton had had a horrendous first meeting. It had been in summer camp, Tim was there because his parents weren't home again and Danny was there because his parents had decided it was unsafe for him to stay home during them doing… something. Danny had never told anyone what it was, but the rumours had spread far and quickly. And Danny had been known to be the single most troublesome teenager in the camp. And that at only fourteen years old.

Their first meeting had involved the midnight stroke of a faraway clock, a self-build machine exploding, Tim almost falling off a tree, both boys covered from head to toe in sot and some weird slimy thing.

"What kind of idiot climbs that high when he can't even hold himself up, anyways?" Danny had asked the thirteen-year-old boy then.

"I'm smart enough, thank you very much." Tim had shot back.

"You sure? 'cause I think that fall might have killed half your brain…"

"I didn't fall. And besides, counter question, what kind of idiot gets himself electrocuted like that?"

Danny had spluttered. "I… I just tripped on the cable! It happens."

After that kind of first meeting, they had tried not to get involved with each other after that. But it hadn't quite worked out that way, both of them stumbling across the other again and again. And somewhere along the line they had started to search for each other. And that, in turn, and evolved into them meeting up under the tree Tim had almost fallen out of that first night.

It'd been Tim's first kiss. And among the foggy air and the moon above and the smell of flowers, Tim had feared he might get rejected the longer the silence had stretched on. That rumours would explode about him, that his parents would be informed and he might get the worst form of their attention now. Until Danny had taken his hand and kissed him back, that is.

They kept it secret. And it was great, Tim had felt like he was flying. But once the camp was over, Danny had trouble with his parents and their machine and Tim had taken it upon himself to help Batman out of his head. Soon, their conversation had stilled - and that had been it.

He hadn't expected to see Danny ever again. And even less had he expected to still feel the tingle in his stomach watching the other smile and joke around. To feel his heart melt when Danny started to rant about stars and the cosmos for what could have been hours or seconds for all Tim knew. He hadn't expected his heart to jump when Danny took his hand and pulled him along the halls of the ghost castle. Or to feel so happy just sitting in the library and doing research, Danny sitting on the ladder and Tim on the soft rug.

It didn't take long for them to fall back into easy laughter and barely hidden giggles, and ridiculous jokes and easy banter. Or into confiding in each other.

Of course, both of them had changed since then. But Tim found himself liking Danny's new sides almost more than those he'd known about form their childhood. And he felt that Danny appreciated the new him as well, though that might have been wishful thinking.

Half a year into his stay, Danny and Tim got back together.

Three quarters in, Tim started to help Danny with his work.

One year in, they had their first argument.

Two years in, Tim was generally referred to as the Kings's consort, much to both their embarrassment.

Three years in, Tim was instructed on ghostly etiquette. Thoroughly.

And four years in, they found a way to bring Tim home.

"A royal wedding?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. The wedding of the High King of the Infinite Realms. One of the things I could do to commemorate the wedding would be to give free passage over the portals to everyone involved for one night. If we do it on Halloween, you could use one to take you back." Finally, he looked up from his book. "That's what it says…"

"So, you mean…" Tim swallowed, glancing down into his cup. "You would have to marry some prissy princess to send me home?"

But to his surprise, Danny made a noise of disagreement. "No. I would have to get married. To someone of my choice. In a ghost wedding. As in, married till forever."

Tim nodded, taking that in. That was… Okay. So at least his boyfriend wouldn't have to marry someone else so he could see his family again. That was good, because Tim really didn't want to have to choose between Danny and them. But on the other hand…

"You don't have to." He said. "If you don't want to."

There was a long silence, and Tim feared Danny was upset. That he'd tell Tim how actually that was a relief, because he didn't want to spend time caged to Tim. However, when Danny finally spoke, it was soft and hesitantly, shy and bashful. "What if… Tim? What if I did? Want to, that is? Like, marriage. With you. If I… What then?"

Startled, Tim looked up. Oh. Oh, Danny was blushing. And he looked so nervous. That was… Oh. Wow.

Clearing his throat, Tim thought about it for a moment. "I wouldn't be able to see my spouse then. Nor would you."

Danny scoffed. "I do have a life outside the Realm, you know? Just been spending some extra time here lately. Cause of the company and stuff." Danny shuffled his feet nervously. "So, like, we could buy a house. Live over there. Build a portal in the basement, you know, to commute. Something like that."

"Maybe something along the Finger River and Gotham River? In the lower parts of midtown, where I can reach Wayne Industries easy enough, but not too close. Like on Pearl Street, or Robinson Avenue… Somewhere there."

Danny smirked, obviously happy that Tim went along in his musings. "Wherever you'd want. But with a garden, somewhere Cujo can run around."

"That'd be important, yeah. And a second lower level. For all nightly persona activities." Tim looked at Danny, making sure the other knew how important this was to him. "I wouldn't want to retire when I make it back."

Danny hesitated, but only gave a sigh and no resistance in the end. "With a med bay, then. But also with a good view of the sky. Even if Gotham's nights are horrendous, I'd still want to be able to look at the sky."

"A library?"

"Oh, definitely! One with love seats and high shelves and books on everything we're interested in. And with a desk and computer for you, both super secure." Danny nodded enthusiastically.

"Super secure? Danny, how do you make a desk secure?" Danny looked startled at Tim's question, before finally using his ectoplasm to shape a lock and give Tim a questioning look, shrugging as he offered it. Tim couldn't help the laugh that escaped him, and with the way it made Danny giggle he wouldn't have wanted to either.

"I'd want to be the one to tell my family." Tim decided. "Keep it under wraps until I found the right moment to break the sudden news."

"I'd just send a picture of you sleeping titled "my husband" to my family and ghost them after that." Danny shrugged. "It'd be hilarious."

"I'd want a use-doors-only rule in place at the house, except maybe the attic and the cellar."

"I'd want our tech to be tuned to my ecto-signature. So it wouldn't go wonky around me."

"A smart home?"

"Fine. But no vacuum robots or automatic lawn mowers. No robots in general, actually."

"Yeah, I could live with that much. It's fair."

After a moment of silence, Tim decided to break the conversation, move away from the theoretical. "What are we doing, Danny?" he asked his partner.

Danny shrugged, taking both of Tim's hands in his. "We're thinking about a future. Together. Alive. If you want it?"

He took a moment to think about. Really think about it. Would he want a live with Danny? Death with him? Together forever, like they were now, the High King and his prince consort? Would he be happy with this marriage, even if it wasn't the only way to see his friends and family again? He already knew the answer: "I would."

Before Danny could say or do anything with the pure relief and happiness on his face, though, Tim smirked. "But! You haven't asked yet."

Danny blanked for a moment, blinking at Tim as he repeated the words he'd said when Danny had only implied asking him out all those years ago. Then, his shoulders slumped and he gave a long, suffering sigh. "You're impossible. Do you know that?"

"Ah. But you love me." Danny huffed as Tim smirked. "You love me and you want to propose to me~"

To his surprise, Danny actually went down on one knee, pulling a black velvet box from the folds of his cape. When he popped it open, there was a silver band looking like wings inside it, with a gem tat seemed to hold the entire cosmos. It was beautiful, and obviously prepared well before Danny had noticed the loop hole. "I do. I do want to propose to you. So, Tim, love of my death-" Tim didn't miss the way Danny smirked at his scoff when he said that part "- would you do me the honour of being mine forever and marry me in some weird ectoplasm ritual per ghost customs?"

Tim smiled, an honest smile this time. "Danny, Treasure, there's nothing I'd rather do than a weird ectoplasm-ghost-custom-ritual with you."

Their wedding was nice. Since it'd been November when they'd found the law that let Tim return to the realm of the living, there'd been ample time to prepare. A lot of people came, and even if Tim was nervous he loved every second of it. By the end of the ceremony, Tim was officially the only one able to summon Danny without a circle - and once he died (hopefully far, far into the future) Danny would be able to do the same to him.

Clockwork, Danny's (mostly) former mentor, gave the two of them a wedding gift as well: A portal to Gotham at the night Tim had been shot with the spell.

It was a wonderful gift, especially since the time spent in the Infinite Realms hadn't affected Tim's body at all. Showing up missing after a long, long time without having aged at all would have been a bit hard to explain. Besides, this way he wouldn't miss any of his life.

It was also a nerve wreaking gift, though. Because he still had to fight the witch that did this to him. Had to end the fight and then tell his family about what had happened. Where he'd been, who he'd met, what he'd become.

"Well, then. See you on the other side?"

Danny offered him a nervous smile. "Sure. But, before you go? Did you know I suck at the whole hero thing?"

Confused, Tim turned to Danny, portal behind him. "What?"

Softly, Danny pecked him on the cheek. "Ask me why," he whispered. Tim complied. "Because if I'd have to choose between the world and you, I'd choose you. And then we'd have to spend eternity knowing I did."

"Huh?" Wow. Tim could be so eloquent sometimes. Still, he really hadn't expected this.

"Make sure I don't have to choose, okay?" Danny gave Tim a chastise kiss on the lips. Floating away a bit, Tim's husband smirked. "Now go. I'll see you later."

Before Tim could say anything to that, grandpa Clockwork patted him on the back. "Have a good journey, your highness, and may you not return anytime soon."

Nodding, Tim entered the portal.

And the next thing he knew, he was back in Gotham.

"Red Robin!" A voice he'd missed all too dearly cried out hurriedly. "What was that? Are you okay?"

"All clear, Nightwing. I'm doing well."

A few relieved sighs came from the coms - When had Tim even put his Red Robin gear back on? - and he could hear Jason growl. "That's all nice and well, but what the fuck did she just do to you?"

Tim took in the battlefield around him, his family battered and drained. The surprised witchy woman who'd shot her spell just now. Maybe, he thought, right now wasn't the ideal time to tell them. "Nothing." He ended up saying. "The spell didn't do anything. It must have misfired or something."

Chapter Text

The letter arrived about four months after the wedding. Danny and Tim had managed to move into their new home by now, furniture mostly set and tables already cluttered. The letter hadn't actually been delivered to the house, of course, but Danny liked to take requests for audiences and such home. He could read them while Tim worked on his day job as CEO, and the two of them could sit in domestic silence for a while. Most of the requests would be denied, anyways. It was just that he got a letter of invitation every time someone tried to summon "the Ghost King" and he had to decide where to actually let himself be summoned, unless Tim was the one summoning him.

Danny had not expected there to be a letter from a John Constantine, though. Someone he knew through Tim's mention. A member of the Justice League Dark.

»Honoured High King« it read, meaning Constantine was at least aware how a summoning circle for the High King worked »I call upon you in the name of the Justice League, sworn protectors of our world. We request an audience to request your help, as we can't protect the world without your assistance. We ask for you to take the time and answer our call.«

Simple and to the point. But Danny didn't like this. He really didn't like his choices here.

Tim, on his way out to patrol for the night, apparently took notice of Danny's expression. "What's wrong, love?"

"It's this letter." Danny didn't look up as he answered slowly, staring as if the words would change just from that. "John Constantine asked me to come. For the Justice League. But… I don't work with official heroes. Not after the whole debacle with the anti-ecto control acts…"

Tim stopped, Danny could feel his husband watching him carefully. "The Justice League doesn't work with the government," he noted

"But the Justice League America does, and that's part of them. Besides, do you really think they wouldn't want to keep tabs on me? That they wouldn't prepare to have me send to that government agency should I become too much for them to handle?" Danny scoffed. "I don't buy it."

"They don't know about the GIW, Danny. I'm sure they don't know. If they did, they'd be on your side. You could ask for their help in taking that stupid thing down, as compensation for your help."

Danny still didn't like it. Even if Tim had insisted on that every time they'd talked about the Justice League, Danny remained sceptical. He had to, after everything he'd seen every time he'd had to release one of his own from the GIW's grasp. After everything he'd heard from them, about how they'd ended up there.

Across the room, Tim sighed. "Alright, I'm not having this conversation again. How about this, then: You hear them out. And if you really can't believe they're trustworthy - which I can assure you they are -, you can take care of the problem alone. B won't like that, sure, but if they went so far as to ask for you it surely is more important than that. Just… Try to believe in them at least that much? For me?"

Danny hummed noncommittally, still trying to figure out what kind of traps this could mean. Tim sighed in response to that, and opened up their back door. "I'll be back. In the mean time… You know what I think."

"M'kay. Don't make us spend eternity knowing I did something bad."

"Yeah, yeah," Tim chuckled, "Love you too. Bye."

After a few moments, Danny finally looked up. Right to the now closed back door. He didn't want to do this. But as always, Tim had a point. And if Tim believed in them… Also, Bruce was technically his father-in-law. Whom he should probably give the benefit of the doubt more than anyone. And whom he didn't want to be hated by, especially not before Tim had gotten over himself and told them about him already.

Groaning, he wrote an answer to the summons instead of tearing it. To Constantine, the answer would appear immediately. If he'd just torn it, the magic circle would have been broken and the summons would simply have been marked as a failure. But he couldn't do that. Not when Tim believed in them so much. He still didn't like it, though.

Hesitantly, Danny changed into his High King attire and tidied his appearance up a bit. Then he gathered a page of parchment and the pot of ink he'd snatched from the Realms to work at home with, and wrote out a document with his conditions. Once all of that was prepared, he took a deep breath and opened up a portal, right to where and when he'd said he'd meet them.

He made himself invisible when entering the watchtower, just in case. When he arrived, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and a guy Danny didn't know but suspected to be this Constantine were sitting around the table of the conference room. None of them seemed very happy at the moment, so even when there didn't seem to be any traps Danny didn't reveal himself yet.

"All I'm saying" Wonder Woman resumed what must have been an ongoing conversation "is that we need to prepare. How are we even going to greet this guest? There's etiquette to be followed - etiquette which we don't know."

"And all I'm saying is that I don't know. Hell, I didn't even think we'd get this far! He doesn't answer a lot of summons… It's fucking terrifying he did this time, alright?" Danny looked at the man in the coat, whose breath smelled a bit like whiskey and whose clothes smelled like cigarettes. He looked… tired? Exhausted? Something like that.

"I'm with Diana on this one." Superman shook his head with crossed arms. "We can't have the discussions fail because of something like that."

Huh. That was weirdly polite for humans to act towards a ghost. Even if he was the High King, most humans didn't like to dwell on that before their time was up. Weird. But not unsettlingly so.

"Do you have any info that might help us receive our guest, Constantine? Any idea who might be coming?" Ah. So the coated man really was John Constantine. Good, at least the summoner would be here when he arrived, then. What did Green Arrow mean by that, though?

But the man shook his head. "No, Oliver. Again: It didn't say. The answer we got was that we should gather here at midnight to 'resume the negotiations' and that's it. I don't know anything else, we're all in the same boat. Now, will you stop asking? It's not gonna make the knowledge suddenly pup into my head."

"I've never met someone working for royalty before…" The Flash turned in his chair a bit too fast not to get dizzy. "What's a royal emissary like anyways?"

Taking that as his clue, Danny straightened his back and floated from the shadows as if he'd just arrived. "Not an emissary, Flash. This is far too delicate to send someone else."

There was a moment of silence as the Leaguers took in Danny's form, his royal garments and, especially, the flaming blue crown floating above his head. Not even the Flash moved, or maybe he was just moving too fast for Danny to notice. Only when Constantine's unlit cigarette that he'd been chewing on met the floor did the room come back to live again. Wonder Woman was the first to stand up, he noted, and Green Lantern the last. Constantine, on the other hand, was the first one to bow.

Dismissively Danny waved his hand. "No need for all that. Let's get to it, instead." With all the regal manners that had been drilled into him, Danny took an empty chair but floated above it instead of actually sitting on it. "Now, let me introduce myself. I am Danny Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms. You can call me Phantom."

"It's an honour to meet you. My name is Diana of Themyscira, known as Wonder Woman. These people are called by the names of Batman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Flash, and Superman. And John over here was the one to pass our request to you."

Danny hummed, listening to the names he already knew. Then, he made sure to fix each of them with a glare. Only Batman didn't flinch, he noted. So they knew he could be dangerous, then. Good. He was still scared they might try something, that Tim's faith in them might have been misplaced. "So, then. For what reason did you ask the King of a Realm that is at war with the one you protect to come?"

There was a beat of silence. Danny hoped he hadn't crossed any lines, but he just had to get that out of the way first. Make sure they knew his standpoint on all of this.

"War?" Flash finally asked, eyes glancing to Constantine. "What war?"

Danny scoffed, really hoping that Tim was right and they just didn't know instead of not seeing it as what it was. "I am talking about the anti-ecto control acts that the governments of this plane put into place. The laws that declare my people as non sentient. And also the Ghost Investigation Ward, whose experiments many of my subjects nearly perished under." Danny's anger grew with every word, even if he hadn't meant to antagonise the Justice League alongside the government. He knew the crown above his head was spinning faster and the flames grew brighter. "The many, many regulations and acts of brutality that we have suffered under. That war."

"…What are the anti-ecto control acts? It's the first I've hear about it." Tim was right. It really did look like that revelation had shocked all of them. Even Constantine. That was a bit calming, actually. So he smoothed his face a bit as he looked at Batman to answer.

"A set of laws that declare that any being existing on ectoplasm is considered non sentient, dangerous and… Well. They allow for capture, extermination and experimentation on my kind." He held steady eye contact as he told them, trying and failing to keep his hands from trebling. The way they always were when he had to remember the things he'd seen there, the things his own parents had wanted to do to him before finding out just who that ghost they'd been searching for was. "The GIW is an organisation carrying out those laws. I have had… multiple meetings with them. Most of which were either them trying to hurt me and those around me, or me being forced to rescue my subjects from their labs and cages. Ectoplasm makes for good energy sources, I've heard. They don't care that it's the blood of my kin - just as they don't care about the way analgesics and anesthetics do not work on us."

Danny's eyes left Batman to look at Superman instead. "Forgive me, but I have some qualms working with those whose who dissect conscious people and drain them or their blood for their own gain. Which is why I have refused any and all contact from heroes like you so far."

"Why'd you come then?" Danny's gaze snapped to Green Lantern, who very obviously tried not to show how scared he was. "I mean… You wouldn't have come all this way to tell us this, right?"

Danny shook his head. "Someone very dear to me insisted that you are trustworthy. So I came." He sighed, leaning back. "See, what I need you to understand is that I want to help. But as long as things remain as they are, as the High King, I cannot do that with a clear conscience. Personally, I have always hoped for yours and mine to exist with each other. Peacefully."

"You want to negotiate a peace treaty?" It was Dina who said that. And Danny smiled, nodding his confirmation. "We do not belong to the government. It… It's not possible to change laws for us."

Danny pulled out the parchment then and passed it to Batman. Both Diana and Superman read it alongside him, the others were too far away to see what the glowing ink said. So Danny crossed his arms as he surmised what he'd written out earlier. "I want ectoplasmatic beings to have rights. Which ones can be determined later. The experiments will stop, and hunting ghosts will become illegal. Exorcisms will need permission either from me or my court. Ghosts will be allowed to be witnesses in court regarding their own death. In turn, I will personally sentence any of my subjects who become a danger to the living, and I will make laws in accordance to negotiations with the government that my subjects have to follow in the realm of the living."

The heroes looked back up at Danny. "Essentially, I want the government to make a peace treaty with me under those terms, with rights and obligations on both sides. Try everything in your capabilities to get this approved. I understand that time isn't something we have in abundance at the moment, so it doesn't have to be right away. I only require your word for it, and an insurance. That's the condition for my help."

"And if we don't agree?" Danny tensed at Green Arrow's words. He didn't like the sound of that, he really didn't.

Folding his hands to steady them, Danny took a shaky breath he didn't need in this form. "In that case, you won't receive my help. I will go back home, and leave you and your problems here. And I will never answer your summons again."

"So essentially the entire world is your hostage?"

Danny shook his head. "No. I will still give you the information I have on what you have to do. I simply will not help you any further than that. But, again: I do want to help."

"What kind of insurance do you want?" It was Constantine that asked him. Smart man, Danny started to like him. But then again, maybe it was just because a magically inclined man ought to know how to navigate talks like this.

Trying to get his sincere apologies across in the way he looked at the man, Danny opened his mouth. Not before noticing the way the magician stiffened at the expression, though. Rightfully so, sadly. "Smart question," Danny noted, making his voice sound as calm and gentle as he could with it still overlayering as it always did in this form. "The insurance I want from you is an oath. One of you, preferably you yourself, will have to swear to do it - to me, on your afterlife."

John Constantine went so pale he might as well have become a ghost himself. He sucked in a breath before not breathing at all for a while. His blue eyes were dripping with fear at the thought, and Danny couldn't hold it against him. Again, he offered an apologetic smile - one that didn't seem to help to console Constantine at all.

"So you want us to, what, swear on John's afterlife that we will not leave anything untried to get the government to accept your terms for peace negotiations?" Danny nodded at the summarisation Superman had given, a solemn look on his face.

"I'm sorry. Really, I am. But I am as desperate to help my people as you are, if not more so. And I don't think the mere effort of convincing the necessary people is too much to ask. Even under those conditions. But if you do, I will be very much obliged to work with you."

"I understand your heart as a ruler" Diana started, hands folded and brows raised in thought "but may we know what this… oath would do to John first?"

It was Constantine himself who answered this time, gaze still locked on Danny and voice shaky but sure. "It's an oath made with my soul on stake. Magic makes it more powerful, so someone like me couldn't break free from it, either, not even if there was a new High King before I died. If broken, an oath like that would condemn me to… I would be trapped as soon as I died. Unable to pass on or turn into a spirit of any form. Instead, I would have to relive my own death again and again, for eternity. A never ending loop of my end, with all the pain that comes with it."

"However" Danny made sure to add to the obviously horrified leaguers around him. "If he fulfils the oath that threat will vanish - and as a little plus, he will be under royal protection after his death for as long as I am King of the Infinite Realms." Danny closed his eyes, clenching his still trembling fists under the table. "I am aware what I'm asking of you, though. My own death was drawn out for a while, and I know how much that isSo, again: You are free to refuse. I will not hold it against you beyond not answering your summons again, and I will offer you all the knowledge I have on how to deal with your current problem. I will leave peacefully, and I won't hold it against you after your mortality has claimed you."

"Yeah, John, you don't have to-"

"I, John Constantine, swear an oath on my afterlife to you, Danny Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms," Constantine interrupted the gentle voice of his coworker, eyes holding Danny's gaze steadily even as his hands were clenched in an unsuccessful attempt to have them stop shaking "that I and those in this room will use all the resources we deem safe to convince the government of the United States to participate in the peace negotiations you have just shown us your proposal for."

Once Constantine was done speaking, Danny could feel the oath settle next to his core. Satisfied, he nodded at the magician who was still pale as could be. "That does it. Thank you, truly." He hoped they could hear just how much this meant to him in the way his voice cracked, how much hope he felt at the chance to finally be able to get rid of the source of constant fear he'd had to deal with for so long, the raw wound the entire Ghost Zone was trying to heal from collectively.

"Well, I mean… 'My people are suffering and getting experimented on, please promise to do what you can to help me change that peacefully' isn't exactly much to ask if you think about it. Especially from an eldritch horror that could very easily destroy everything if he felt like it. Besides, all we have to do is keep word, right?"

"Right." Danny confirmed, letting a smile take its place on his face. His real one, not the king smile. He also tuned down on the aura of death and all over intimidation. His form shifted the slightest bit to look more human, just a little less eldritch horror like. He could see the heroes relax a bit at that, and as he lazily rested his face in the palm of his hand he could see how they registered only now how young Danny must still look. Well, too bad for them.

Ignoring the revelation the heroes just seemed to have had, Danny pulled out a card from his pocket and slid it across the table to Constantine. "My contact info" he elaborated when he was met with a confused look "since it can take, like, forever 'til I notice a summon request, and I'm pretty sure you don't wanna to exhaust your powers every time. Gotta keep in touch, right?"

When he was only met with more confused looks, Danny smirked a bit more. "What? Said I'd work with you, didn't I?" His smirk deepened as he saw the realisation dawn on their faces. "No matter what happens, we're allies now. And I am a hard ally to get rid of. Like gum under your pretty, little, shiny shoes. So… Looking forward to working with you in the future! Now. What did you say you needed help with again?"

Chapter Text

"Hey, did you hear? Red Robin is in love!"

That sentence nearly made Danny choke on the coffee he'd been drinking. Wait, what? Had Tim finally told people? Pulling out his phone, Danny looked for any notifications. And really, Tim had written him. When he saw what the text was, he couldn't help but laugh, though: »I am never talking to Dick again. Ever.«

A smile playing with his lips, Danny stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. For once, he was actually happy that the other Leaguers still made a wide berth around him since they were so overly conscious of who he was. Surprisingly the most private place in the watchtower was the corridor right outside the cafeteria, so he didn't have to go far until he called his husband. Once the other picked up, Danny didn't bother with greeting. Instead he just casually said, smirk still on his lips and surely in his voice: "Did you hear? Apparently Red Robin has a crush on someone~ Wonder what that's all about."

The other side of the line gave a long, suffering groan. "I hate my brother. Did I ever tell you that? I hate him." Danny could hear his husband's clothes rustle and the couch squeak. He must have flopped down on it, Danny thought fondly.

"That bad, love?"

"He's worse than a Monday without coffee!" When Tim complained as such, Danny actually let out a whistle. In Tim-speech that was probably the worst insult possible. Dick must really be getting on Tim's nerves right now. "Okay, maybe not that bad…" Tim conceited after a bit, but he didn't sound much happier. "But still! I can't believe him…"

Danny adjusted his stance a bit as he imagines his husband dramatically flailing his arms about. As another Leaguer walked by, Danny gave a quick wave but didn't react other than that. "So? What did he do this time? And how much harder to we have to make his life?"

He succeded in making Tim snicker a bit with the second part, but soon enough the younger man was back to sulking. "So B and the little demon are on patrol today, right?"

Right. That was why Bruce wasn't at the Watchtower today, even though the man could be a bit of a control freak. Especially when Danny was involved - he still didn't trust the ghost fully yet.

"So Dick and Jason dragged me out of the office around noon since we all have more time on our hands today. Something about making sure I don't overwork myself."

Danny nodded. Sounds about right.

"Which, rude. I can take care of myself very well, thank you very much."

Tim really couldn't. Danny had actually been planing to lure his husband away from the desk with cuddles when he would inevitably try to pull another all nighter.

"And I would have said no, but we ran out of coffee in the office for some reason, and they promised I'd get some."

Yes. Danny had made sure they would run out. He didn't want Tim to join him on the side of the dead because of the frankly concerning amount of caffeine his husband consumed, after all. But Tim was too calm to have figured out he had strategically been doing that. Good.

"So we went out and there was this girl that was really pretty. And Jason was joking about how I should go and give her my number. Said I might get browny points for looking so scatter brained. Can you believe him? That's just… Urgh! As if! I look very put together. But they always tease me about looking rattled…"

Danny could only agree. Whenever Tim had a stressful day in the office, especially when he'd been low on caffeine during that, his hair would be a mess from him combing his hands through it and he would start to leave things lying around everywhere. Sometimes he even forgot a pen behind his hair. He wouldn't bother with his suit jacket anymore and his tie would be loosened just a bit. The only thing remaining as immaculate as when he'd left the house the same morning would be his vest. And he would always wear the same pout and there was that furrow to his brows… It was adorable.

"Anyways! Not the point. So he says I should talk to the girl, and I told him I wasn't interested. So Dick went and asked whether I already had someone I liked. And I do! I wouldn't have married you if I didn't. But I haven't told them, so I… didn't say anything."

Danny sighed fondly at that. Jupp. Tim still hadn't found a way to tell them. This sounded much like all the other attempts. Honestly, it was cute how important it was for Tim that they would react well to their relationship and that they would like Danny. But also, he was starting to loose his patience over here. Meeting his in-laws finally - officially, that is - would be nice.

"But I blushed, just a bit, and Dick gasped. Like, gasped really loud. Loud enough for people to turn around kind of loud. Which didn't make telling them any easier, thank you very much."

Danny had to pull himself not to coo at that. Tim always had been so self conscious around people. It was surprising to see just how different he could be at work - at Wayne Enterprises, as King Consort of the Infinite Realms and as Red Robin - than how he was every other time of the day. Tim hated it when Danny called that cute, though. Even though it really, really was. The way he blushed when he got shy… Damn. Danny really was a simp, wasn't he? Best not to let Tim know that.

"And the two of them got me to admit that I do like someone. And I told them a bit about you. That you met me as Red Robin, and that you helped me out and that we used to be together before. And I wanted to tell them. Really, I wanted! But at the same time, that was the middle of a café and there were still so many stranger staring, and I mean, how do I tell them that I was already married? They'd freak out, and I really don't want to cause a scene, right? So I try to change the topic."

"Yeah, but love, none of this explains why we're upset with your brother?" Danny couldn't keep the fond smile out of his voice. He knew he couldn't, he had tried and failed.

"I'm getting to it!" Tim's voice also had a smile in it. Hearing him like that still made Danny feel a bit giddy. "So. We change the topic and that's the end of it. And we could have just gone home and I'd be like 'actually, I didn't want to tell you in the middle of the café but there's something I have to tell you about the guy I like'. It would have worked- Don't laugh! I would have!"

Pushing down his snickering, Danny shook his head. Yeah, he doubted Tim would have done that. With how it's been going those last few months, Danny was sure he would have chickened out in the end.

"I'm not laughing!" Danny lied, pushing off the floor to float cross legged instead.

"You are! I can hear you…" Tim chuckled himself. "Okay, but seriously. That was a really good set-up, right? But then Jason said he thinks he can find out who I like. And Dick decided to make a bet out of it. And the entire family is in, because apparently the idiot forgot to take out his communicator or turn it off during the entire conversation! So they all heard. They all heard, Danny! The entire family! And now all of them have a bet going to figure out who I like."

"What a Dick move."

At Danny's deadpan voice, Tim started to laugh uncontrollably and Danny soon joined in. "It really was," Tim giggled. Then after sobering up some, he informed Danny: "We're also mad at Damien, by the way. 'Cause the little demon blabbered over at young justice and now there's rumours going around. Which is just fucking embarrassing, thank you."

Dramatically, Danny gasped. "There's rumours?! I didn't even notice. And here I thought those were about some one else with your name that I don't know but everyone else who knows you knows about and calls exactly like you. What a shocking revelation. Such a mystery…"

"Oh, shut up!"

When Danny looked up, he saw Flash standing next to the door, giving a shy wave. Oh. Was it already so late? He sighed. "Hey, love? I gotta go… My turn."

Tim groaned. "Really? Urgh, fine… Oh, hey, before you hang up: Are you fine with pizza later? I don't really feel like cooking, and you're gonna be gone forever so I'm not waiting for you to come home and cook something."

Danny hummed. "Sounds good. I don't care what kind, don't wait up for me."

"Great. And I will anyways. I'll just work on some contracts while I wait."

"T-" Danny glanced at Flash. "Love!"

"What? Only until you're back!" Tim sounded extremely defensive for someone who 'wasn't overworking himself' like he always liked to claim. "Whatever, I'm hanging up. Have fun, love you."

"Love you too." He could hear Tim's chuckle before the line went dead and he pocketed his phone. He sighed, letting the fond feeling in his heart swell for a moment before collecting himself and turning to his colleague. "So. Ready?"

Flash hummed, walking next to Danny as he floated to the meeting room. They would probably be the first there for the briefing, but since the two of them would be on monitor duty after that was better than too late. Especially since the Leaguers who were on duty right now weren't even involved in that particular briefing. They would be dead tired and want to go back right about now, too. Then again, if it was Flash who was coming to get him for their shift they would probably be running late if anything. Fastest man alive but also latest man alive, somehow. Barry was a strange one in that regard.

"So…" Flash's voice pulled Danny out of his thoughts. The young man glanced at him with barely hidden curiosity. Flash was a big fan of gossip, as surprising as that was with his golden retriever personality. "Who were you calling?"

Danny smirked, raising a brow. Flash was still cautious around Danny, because of the scare of their first meeting if he had to guess. But at moments like this he was reminded of Tucker when they were back in middle school, eagerly waiting for a new story from his best friend. If he told Flash, Danny knew the entire League would know by the end of the night. Which Danny didn't really mind. So he shrugged, right as they arrived at the doors to the conference room. "My spouse."

There was one second of silence, before Barry all but screeched right as the door swung open: "YOU'RE MARRIED?!"

Nonchalantly, Danny walked inside and took his space, a baffled Flash trailing after him. "Oh, yes," he nodded casually while fully aware of all the Leaguers present gaping at him together with Flash, "I am. He's the love of my death. The best decision I ever made." As he sat down, he looked at Flash. Should he…? Probably not. He did anyways, though. "I worry for him a lot, actually. Humans can be so squishy…"

"You're married to a live human?!" This time Barry barely managed to wheeze it out. And Danny couldn't help but chuckle at the expression he had.

"I am." He confirmed. "I don't know why it's such a big deal, though?"

"It's not. It's not…" Flash shook his head, trying to gather himself and hide his curiosity. He failed miserably, and it was all Danny could do not to laugh.

When Superman cleared his throat, Danny looked up. "Now that everyone is here, do we want to start?"

"Nope!" Danny happily answered, twirling in his chair. "But we're going to anyways." He was met with some unimpressed stares and a few snickers. Lovely. Maybe he would get a hang of this whole colleagues thing, after all.

Danny did notice Jason on the other end of the table, though. Red Hood, though barely ever present, made it very clear that he tried to avoid Danny in particular. Probably since it was awkward, with him being technically one of Danny's subjects. Right now, though, Jason was looking at Danny with a gaze that he couldn't decipher. When he raised an eyebrow in question, though, Jason only bowed his head a bit and focused back on the meeting.

Huh. Strange.

Something was weird with Jason.

Jason didn’t like the League, or at least he pretended not to. Most of the League didn’t like Jason. They were not really pretending. So Jason always, without fail, made a scene and went early when he had to come for a debrief or a status report or something like this. And if not that, then his snide comments and he’d really rude dementor got him kicked out about halfway through the meeting. Point is, he never, ever stayed until the end.

Now, technically Jason was dead and only Denise red through the ectoplasm in his veins. Which technically made him Danny’s subordinate. Yeah, the first time meeting each other hadn’t gone over awfully well. And Danny had gotten a lot of comments about how the others ere jealous of him, because Red Hood actually listened to him and wasn’t an all-out bratty asshole when it was about him. Danny agreed, the man had a sharp tongue.

So why then had the man not caused any problems whatsoever today? He hadn’t made a single comment, didn’t even complain or insult the others as he did his own report. He had just been sitting there, suspiciously quiet and well behaved. Apart from his facial expressions, that is. And the obvious half-listening.

Danny wasn’t the only one who noticed, either. No, all the heroes present gave him nervous glances. Danny couldn’t really blame them, it was the same feeling as when you or rouges just went silent all of a sudden. Something was up, and all of them knew it. All of them knew that there was no way Jason Shut-Up-Or-Die Peter How-Are-You-More-Brain-Dead-Than-A-Litteral-Zombie Todd was just randomly holding his tongue and spinning in his chair lazily as though there wasn’t a room full of very insultsable heroes around him. None.

When the meeting was nearing its end, Danny was sure the blue eyes under that hood kept narrowing in on him. And though the impatient taping of his fingers against the table did seem to comfort the other heroes, Danny felt like it was just making everything worse.

"Well, then. If no one has anything else to add?" No one said anything. Two or three sets of eyes went to Jason before the ducked their heads or leaned back, as if too scared to annoy the man further. Danny could understand it, by now even he was mildly terrified what the other would do if whatever issue he had right now didn't resolve itself fast. Hey, being an overpowered, half-dead, eldritch, royal monster didn't do shit against self preservation instincts! "I suppose that concludes the meeting for today, then."

That was the cue for most of the heroes to leave the room quickly. They always did when either Jason or Danny were around, and this time Danny would have liked to join them. But he and Flash did have monitor duty tonight so it wasn't as if he could, really.

Differently than every other time, Jason didn't get up immediately, though. Instead, the man hesitated in his chair before finally noting something down quickly. The scratching of the pen against the paper sounded more aggressive than usual, and if Danny wasn't mistaken Jason didn't usually tear paper that carelessly.

It was just Jason, Barry and Danny left in the room by now. And Jason very pointedly walked over to Danny. Which was strange, because Danny knew that Jason hated being close to him. And yet…

The man took of his helmet when he stood in front of Danny, always remaining a bit cold and polite towards the ghostly monarch. He even inclined his head in a soft bow. "Your Highness."

Danny pulled a face. Jason was the only one who still insisted on calling him that. Honestly, Danny was about 80 percent sure that the man only did it to bother Danny, really. How was it that he could politely call out a title and make it sound like he said "fuck you" instead, anyways? Tim had joked it was a talent all Gothamites had, especially those from Crime Ally. But Jason would have to have a natural talent for it to work that well.

"Red Hood," the ghost finally acknowledged back, a smile on his lips. "Did you need something? I noticed you seemed unusually distracted earlier…"

Wordlessly, Jason offered Danny the piece of paper. When he took it, slowly because he was really confused why Jason didn't just say something instead, his brother-in-law nodded satisfied and left, putting his helmet back on as he went. He only hesitated in the doorway, turning back around for a moment. "Respectfully, your highness." Then he was gone.

… What?

After sharing a confused look with Flash, Danny opened the note.

Then he blinked, closed the note and opened it back up again. It hadn't changed.

After the initial shock came amusement. This was… Okay. Oh, Danny liked this. He didn't like what it said, really, but the way Jason did this? Genius. Iconic. Best version of a shovel talk ever. Chuckling a bit to himself, Danny looked around for a pen - Someone always forgot theirs, so now there was just a pile of ownerless pens, which everyone claimed they wouldn't have forgotten if it was theirs, in the back room. Danny and a few others liked to take the nicer pens home, because, hey, new nice pen, right? Only after checking for trackers, of course. - and crossed the second option.

"What is it?" Flash had approached curiously, but kept enough distance to give Danny some privacy. A glance up confirmed that the hero was much more relaxed now that he knew Danny didn't think the note a serious issue.

He actually did. The deliverance was just funny. But he wouldn't tell Barry that.

Pocketing the letter, Danny did the first thing being a hero had taught him instead: He deflected. "Oh, it was just something about this guy that my husband- I did tell you about my husband earlier, right? Actually, he told me his brothers made a scene earlier. He pretend that he's annoyed now, but really he's just embarrassed. So I was thinking about bringing him a coffee later - he really loves coffee, you know? Thriving on it. I have to keep looking up how much a human can drink before it's dangerous and I… Actually, do you think you could help me with that? You're like the expert on blood sugar and too much energy around here."

And… There. Barry was completely and utterly distracted. Danny smiled to himself as he sipped from his cup listening to his friend.

Friend? Was that right? Hm… Danny liked to think so, but did the hero feel the same way? Huh. He'd have to ask later.

For now, though, Danny leaned back and enjoyed talking to Barry. Especially since he finally, finally got to brag about his wonderful husband to someone. Even if he couldn't say his name yet. Not until Tim told everyone himself. He's promised, after all.

Chapter Text

Tim was surprised when he heard the knock on the door. Except his family no one would come this late, and his family wouldn't have knocked. None of them ever did. He knew, he was part of it.

Putting his laptop to the side and making sure the contract he'd been working through wouldn't fall from the pile of books on the table, he stood. He held a knife at the ready, just in case. When he opened the door, though, he almost closed it again. Jason was too quick at going inside, however. Agile piece of shit.

"What's wrong?" Tim took a closer look at his brother, scowling. No injuries, and he was in civil clothes. No folder or samples for a case either. "Why'd you suddenly come?"

"What? Can't I visit my baby brother at random times of the night?" Jason didn't even try to pretend he wasn't looking around Tim's living room. Consciously, he tipped over a picture with him and Danny as children. He didn't feel like explaining that one.

"You could," Tim slowly answered as he sat back down on the couch and took his cup of still mostly warm coffee, "But you wouldn't. So what's wrong?"

He watched as his brother casually poured himself a drink and sprawled across the armchair across form him. "I'll tell you what's wrong. What's wrong is that you" - he pointed at Tim with the bottle before putting it down on the table - "didn't mention you're fucking married. Also, when, how and why are you married? Oh! And why the fuck" - Jason took a swing from his glass - "did you marry a dead guy?!"

Ever so slowly, Tim set his cup down. "…You know?"

"Uh, duh!" Jason shrugged, looking Tim up and down quickly. "You reek of death, it got a hell of a lot harder to say no to you all of a sudden, you're all dodgy and shit about your random and sudden new house, he's exactly your type, you both feel like the Lazarus Pits decided to spit out people now when you definitely didn't feel like that a couple months ago, and - oh - his royal idiocy is using your shampoo. Also, you tell us you like someone the same day he tells everyone he's actually been married all along? Yeah, no offence but that wasn't exactly a difficult one to figure out."

Okay, that made sense. But there was one thing in that tangent that stood out to Tim more than the rest. ”It got harder for you to say no to me?”

Jason stiffened at those words, slowly looking at Tim with wide eyes. ”No… No, Tim, I know what you want to say, but-”

”Jason…” Tim smirked, making Jason pale a bit ”Do you mean you‘re technically my subject now?”

Jason groaned. Loudly. Tim snickered more.

”You died,” Tim teased, holding back his laughter. ”You died and now I’m your king. I’m” He couldn’t hold back his laugh anymore at the appalled face his brother made. ”I’m the boss of you now.”

”Urgh! Shut up!“ Jason made a face, leaning back to dramatically fall over the armrest. ”Why?”

Tim snickered. "Oh, this is jus perfect! Ancients, this the best moment of my life. Nothing compares. I swear, I love Danny but this is my number one reason why I like being married now."

At that, Jason pulled himself up again. "Right, right, let's move on. For example: You still didn't answer my questions. Why did you marry the High King? And when even happened all of this? Actually, no, why didn't you tell anyone you were seeing someone? I mean, I get why you wouldn't wanna talk to me 'bout this stuff, but why not someone else? Dami- okay, no, but… Dick! Why didn't you tell Dick or something?"

Tim sighed, looking at his intertwined fingers. He tried not to chew on his lip, a nervous habit that he didn't even remember developing. "I…" He sighed.

Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe this was a good opportunity to practise telling everyone. It was one step closer, at least. And telling one brother might be easier than telling the entire family. Even if it was Jason, who he was 80% sure would try to kill Danny a second time, 60% sure wouldn't approve of the marriage, 40% sure still didn't like Tim very much and 100% sure would tease him endlessly for being a foolish simp for Danny. Best not let him know about the last one, then.

"Do you remember that night in June? We, uh, we fought with that witchy woman. I got hit with a spell?"

Jason nodded, brows drawn and lips tight. "I do… You said nothing had happened. But you felt…"

"Like death?" Tim guessed, giving a strained smile. "Yeah. I, uh, I lied. Sorry. I just… I, well, we were mid-fight and I didn't want to… The point is, Jayson, that I… The spell did do something. I found myself in the Infinite Realms. Alone, disoriented and, eh, well… It wasn't a good experience."

"Shit." To his surprise, Tim noticed Jason actually looked a bit worried. Did he just imagine that? He decided to just believe it, for now. It made telling Jason a bit easier. "Are you… I don't even know what to say. What… Timmy, is everything okay?"

"Yeah." He smiled, this time honestly. Jason really seemed to care right now, huh? "Yeah. Danny noticed I was there, and he recognised me. So he send his knight to come and get me. He was there for me, and he was so sweet and… He let me stay with him. Promised he'd find a way to get me back. 'Cause it was supposed to be a one way trip with no hope to return, but he promised that there's always loop holes and we'd definitely find them. And we, uh, we did."

Tim looked at his brother, noticing how he was intently listening to him. Shit, Jay didn't really do that. Just all the more prove that he might actually think this was important, that Tim was important.

Tim took a shaky breath. Alright, then. This was the most important part. "It took us four years to figure it out. The way to get me home was an old tradition. One where Danny was allowed to give me access to one portal, in commemoration of his wedding. So he, well. He proposed. And we got married in Oktober, fifth year after the spell. And here we are."

Jason was eerily unresponsive for a few seconds. Then he nodded. "I see." After a moment he shook his head, though. "Actually, no, I don't. I don't get it. Tim, you weren't gone for five years. It wasn't even a second. How…?"

"It's a complicated… mess. I don't really get it myself. The Realms are connected to all universes and all times? So, uh, a portal there can get you anywhere, anywhen. You don't want to go through them randomly, or you'll have no idea where they spit you out. The portal Danny let me use was a wedding present from a friend. He controls time? Cryptic little shit that changes his age every time you blink and… I don't even know. But he made a portal back to the exact moment I was send into the Realms, and since you don't age over there…" Tim shrugged. "Again, it's complicated and I don't even get it myself. Don't think about it too much, you'll only get a headache."

"…Okay. That's" Jason seemed to look for the right word "a lot. So, you… You married the High King to come back? That was your reason for marriage? Is this some kind of arranged marriage deal?"

"Aw, you do care!"

Jason scoffed. "Of fucking course I do! You're my brother, kinda. It's my job or something. Now, answer the question, I gotta makes plans to fuck shit up and I need to know what exactly I have to fuck up."

"It's not." Tim smiled, taking his cup back into his hands. This was working out a lot better than he'd imagined. "I made sure Danny knew he didn't need to do that, and we both went back and forth a lot to make sure we both really wanted this. It's kind of a forever deal, after all. Soul marriage is ridiculous. But, yeah, we're happy." He could feel himself blush and smile at the thought of his husband. "We love each other. I love him. He's… Gosh, Jay, he's amazing! I don't even know why he chose me, he… He's the best. I'm so lucky to have him…"

Tim wasn't crying, shut up.

Okay, maybe a bit. But he was really happy, okay? And he'd waited so long to talk to someone about this! He had a right to get emotional.

Jason carefully mustered Tim. He didn't know what his brother was searching for, but he found it. At least he nodded in satisfaction, and maybe approval. "You look happy. That's good." There was a bit of a pause. "So. A dead guy, huh?"

Now it was Tim's turn to scoff. "Don't make it sound creepy! Besides, I knew him when he was alive." Tim stood up to get the photo he'd turned over before and passed it to his brother. "We were together when I was thirteen. Summer camp, short relationship. All cutesy. He pretends he isn't a romantic, but Danny actually made a replica of that tree we used to meet under in his castle, the one where we first kissed."

"Urgh. That's mushy, juck." Jason glanced back up at him. "Suits you."

"I- What? That… I don't even know why I feel so offended. That wasn't even a bad thing."

"Older sibling talent." Jason just shrugged, looking all smug. "Why'd you keep it secret, though?"

Tim grimaced. "I… I didn't want to? It's just- There wasn't really a good time, okay? And it just got harder over time, and now I… I just don't know how."

"Hm." Jason smirked. "Gotcha. Too bad for you, but it's my duty as your older brother to enjoy your suffering. So I am not gonna help you. Tough situation, little brother."

Jason got a pillow to the head for that, but he only laughed.

There was a pause, and then Jason suddenly got that look again. That one very specific look on his face, that stiffness in his shoulders, the tense shifting of his legs, the way he glanced to the floor to his left. Tim knew what it meant. And like always, he hated the implications of it.

He considered Jason his older brother. Sure, Jason had been dead for the longest time. And, sure, when he'd come back he'd tried to… They hadn't had the best start. But Jason hat fought against the alien anger inside of him. And ever since he found Danny again, ever since they talked, Tim understood how much energy his brother really must be spending just fighting it back. How painful and lonely he must feel, how scared. He knew Jason would never admit to it, mind you, the man was way too proud for that.

The point is, they had come so far. And he'd grown up with whispered stories about him, with smiles and far-away looks and strained voices as his name got mentioned on roof tops like a wonderful but forbidden secret. Tim might not have grown up along side him, but he had grown up admiring the boy he'd heard about. Tim hadn't known his brother for long, but Jason was his brother. Jason was his big brother, even if the other didn't see it like this. Jason Peter Todd was strong and reliable and Tim hated how far away he felt.

Eve when they were in the same room, even when they fought side by side, even as they teased and bantered and had their moments, in the end this look would always return. And then Jason would become unreachable again. So close, in the same city, not even a call away - and yet somehow even farther than when they'd still thought him dead.

Tim loved his brother. With the anger, with the corpses, with all that came with him. But he hated, Tim absolutely despised how easily the other could pull away. Especially since he was always so quick to do it every single time Tim could almost convince him that his love wasn't one-sided. And he understood that Jason needed his space. He did, really. And he wanted to give his brother all the space that he needed.

There was also a scared, lonely child inside of him, crying and screaming for the attention he never got. He knew it wasn't fair, but every time Jason pulled away like this, Tim was turned back into a child whose parents just didn't love him as much as his job, whose family couldn't be bothered to waste more attention and time than need be, not on him. And Tim knew, he knew he wasn't that child anymore. He had Danny, his wonderful and attentive husband, and Dick, and Barbs, and Cass, and Steph, and Dami, and Duke, and Bruce, and Alfred, and, yes, he had Jason now. He had such a huge and loving family - he had so many people who cared that he was okay, who would come to his home, middle of the night, to make sure he was happy, who he didn't need to wonder whether they would notice if he just disappeared, because they would and they would come for him and he knew it.

But Jason was about to retreat again. He was about to leave. And Tim was scared. Why couldn't his brother just stay, just once, why didn't anyone ever just stay when they didn't have to? Why couldn't Jason just placate that lonely child inside of him, stun it into shutting up for once and, fucking hell!

And when Jason clicked his tongue as he always did, when he cleared his throat and put a hand on his neck, Tim knew he was good enough at hiding that turmoil and unfounded panic inside of him. He could just smile and let Jason leave and have his little breakdown later. He could avoid the risk of being turned down like his parents so liked to do when he was little and Jason would never have to know how pathetically weak that look on his face made Tim every time.

"Well… 'S good to know you're doing okay. Since that's all taken care of, guess I shouldn't bother you anymore. I… Kinda just dropped in after I was done with everything on the fly." Jason was doing it. He was rambling, and if Tim didn't say anything he would be gone in a few moments. Like it always happened. "Good to know I don't need to waste time worrying, though. You should sleep soon."

Tim's gaze fell onto the picture Jason had set down at some point. The one of Danny and him when they where just stupid kids feeling love's butterflies for the first time. Of him and the boy he'd always thought it would be impossible to see again.

Of the man who had made sure he would even get to see Jason again at all. Who had comforted him in all those nights when he'd cried, who had promised Jason and Tim would be able to get closer eventually. Since he would come back. And he had. So now there was only one thing to do…

"Actually!" The word came out louder than Tim had wanted them to. He cringed, and looking up he saw Jason was surprised. He'd stopped halfway into getting up. "Why don't you stay for a bit longer? I think I overdid it on the coffee, and Danny's not going to be here for a few more hours. We could…" He tried not to let his voice sound too hopeful, to fragile. "We could talk about that book you were mentioning last time?" Tim smiled a bit, remembering just how much of a geek his brother actually was. "Or I could answer all the questions I'm sure you have about ghost physiology?"

For a moment, Jason didn't move and Tim's heart sank. But then there was something unreadable on Jason's face, just for a second. "What, you mean like… Some quality time… sibling bonding shit?"

Tim shrugged, fidgeting with the handle of his cup. "I… Yeah? I guess? If you want to…?"

And to Tim's absolute astonishment and delight, Jason actually sat back down. "Shit. Guess I'm in. Only if you get me some of your death juice, though. Not all of us expect to stay awake the entire night, you know?"

And Tim laughed, free and unbothered for once. Because Jason knew, Jason was here, Jason had actually (indirectly) admitted they were siblings and they were both okay just spending time together, and fuck, he was so goddamn relieved.

"Sure, coming right up."