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Jason leaned against a stalagmite that grew from the bat cave floor. The rock was cool and damp behind him. The chitter of bats overhead and the quiet drip of water from stalactites across the ceiling echoed around the open space. Jason shivered slightly, grateful for the padded leather jacket that topped his Red Hood suit. Outside the cave the sun had set, plunging Gotham into an equal chill to the air inside batman’s hidden lair.
“There is a new rouge loose in Gotham.” Batman stood, the bright wall of computer monitors glowing behind him, casting eerie shadows across his cowl. Dramatic bastard.
Oracle had called all of the bat kids to the cave for some super-duper emergency briefing. B had even sent the demon brat to personally escort Jason from Crime Alley to make sure he came, apparently deeming the Stabby RobinTM the only one fit to deal with Red Hood’s antics. They weren’t wrong.
Tim sat cross-legged on the computer chair to batman’s right, slouched over a steaming mug of coffee and eye bags conveniently hidden by his black domino mask. Damian stood at batman’s left, back straight, posture perfect, and his hand resting on his katana’s hilt at his side. His face was screwed into his typical scowl as he stared up at batman with rapt attention.
“Signal was the first to spot the meta this morning,” Batman continued, gesturing towards where Duke sat with his legs stretched out in front of him on the floor of the cave. Duke rubbed his eyes blearily at the mention of his name and looked up at batman.
“Yeah, I saw them flying over downtown, headed towards crime alley. Black suit, white boots and gloves, white hair, and green eyes. They had this cape—it shimmered? It was hard to look at, actually, all of the guy was hard to look at. It was like he had a different form in every plane, all of them overlapping a glowing so bright I nearly fell from where it was standing on the roof. It was like staring into the center of a star. I had to squint just to make out details.” Duke pushed the heel of his hands into his eyes. “I am still seeing creepy, meta-shaped blobs in my vision. It was brutal.”
Jason huffed a quiet laugh, though probably not for the reason the others in the cave expected. There’s no fucking way.
“Have you ever seen something similar before?” Dick asked. He tilted his head curiously, the whites of his blue domino mask widening with curiosity.
“Never.” Duke shook his head emphatically. Jason’s smile grew wider under his hood.
“I wasn’t able to get any security footage of them either,” Tim chimed in over his coffee, the computer chair spinning in slow circles as he spoke. “All of the footage was glitchy and pixilated. Any audio was corrupted too, made this horrible screeching sound before blowing out the bat computer’s speaker.”
“We ran Duke’s description through the JLA database and it came up with something.” Batman reached for the mouse, opening a folder onto one of the larger screens in front of them.
Red text flashed on the screen, with a blurry picture in the center of the nearly cartoonish wanted poster.
VILLAN WANTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
002PHANTOM
Class one ecto-entity. Extremely dangerous and hostile. Do not engage.
Contact GIW with any information.
Below the blood-red text was a picture intending to identify the so-called Phantom. The background was dark as if the picture was taken at night. All of the details were fuzzed or smeared and none of the buildings were recognizable. In the center were two sharply focused, glowing green eyes. The pupils were slit like a cat’s and the iris and sclera were all the same horribly familiar green. A blurry smile floated beneath the eyes, looking out of proportion as if it was disconnected from the rest of the face. The being’s too many teeth were sharp and pointed and the smile was wider than the Joker’s. The eyes seemed to be staring through the screen and right at them as if it could see them somehow.
“Ugh, that’s creepy.” Steph reached forward, over batman’s arm, and closed the tab, shuddering. “It felt like it was watching me. Were they that bad in person?” She looked over her shoulder at Duke, brows furrowing with concern. Jason had never been so grateful for a helmet to hide his facial expression. His smile was nearly splitting his face in half.
Duke shrugged. “It was too bright to get a good look at the face. Plus, it wasn’t like they stuck around to chat.”
“GIW?” Cass questioned softly from where she was standing in a shadowy corner.
“Ghost Investigation Ward,” Batman explained, his gravelly voice laced with skepticism. “A little known and poorly funded branch of the American government dedicated to the study of ecto-entities, or what they claim are ghosts.”
“Based on the ability list that I’ve seen from Phantom and some of the others in their databases, I think they are just a specific class of meta-beings. The skill sets are actually incredibly similar to Martians, so maybe they’re alien? I doubt they are actually ghosts.” Tim added, pulling up another page on the monitor. “Most of the abilities are pretty thematically appropriate for a supposed ghost. Invisibility, intangibility, possession. Accelerated healing, which is interesting. Laser beams—which is… less fun.”
Tim cringed at the implications and Jason smirked.
“There is a whole database of these metas, but this Phantom seems to be their main point of interest. I can see why; the rap sheet is pretty extensive. Property damage, evading arrest, attempted kidnapping, aggravated assault,” Tim clicked through reports on each of the items as he worked his way through the list. “Taking hostages, interdimensional war crimes?”
“Sounds like my kind of guy,” Jason said, biting his tongue to keep from laughing. Batman’s growing scowl made it so fucking hard.
“This is not the time for jokes Todd. There is a serious threat out in the streets of Gotham. If you cannot stay focused, then perhaps you are not fit for this mission.” The little robin bristled, hand tightening on his blade as if itching to draw it.
“Woah, Dami, it’s okay. Just ignore him.” Dick reached over to rest a hand on Damian’s shoulder but he growled and stepped out of reach.
Batman pointedly ignored the commotion. “We do not have a full picture as to what the meta is capable of, but we need to find him before one of the other rogues find out first and get in contact. We patrol tonight, your usual routes. Keep an eye out for any signs of him and use your coms if you are so much as suspicious, he could be nearby. Do not try to face him alone.” Batman leveled a glare at Jason and he suppressed another laugh.
“Oracle is gonna try to get in contact with the GIW while we’re out looking. She’s already sent in a request for information and we are waiting to hear back.” Tim slumped against the back of the chair.
“Stay on your coms and keep your eyes open,” batman concluded gruffly, turning away from his kids with a snap of his cape and creeping away into the shadows.
Jason pushed away from the rock he had been leaning against, uncrossing his arms and stretching his back. It cracked satisfyingly. “If you losers get your asses handed to you by a ghost, don’t come looking to me for help, I’d just laugh.”
Dick whined in response, spouting some bullshit about sibling bonds and the importance of family to Jason’s back as he hopped onto his bike and rode out of the cave.
Jason locked the apartment door behind him and kicked his boots off onto the floor vaguely near the shoe rack. His socked feet were quiet as he padded into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around a slender waist.
He rested his head on fluffy black hair and relished in the purr that rumbled against his chest.
“You’re a wanted man,” Jason said softly, smiling into the hair that tickled his face. Jaons felt shoulders bounce against him as the other man laughed, twisting around in his arms to he could look up at Jason’s face.
Sparkling blue eyes met his, the corners creased with laughter. “Is that so?” a wide grin that flaunted his deliciously sharp fangs.
“Absolutely, the whole bat clan is hunting you. Wanted by the US government? What sort of riffraff have I been associating with? I feel betrayed. My reputation may never recover!” Jason swooned dramatically into the shorter man’s arms, savoring the touch.
“Hmm, I don’t know. If people can look past the homicidal drug lord, obviously dating a wanted man would be the last straw. Society is harsh, you may never be invited to another Wayne Gala.” He rolled his eyes and Jason’s smile widened.
Jason straightened, scooping up the man in his arms and walking towards the living room before flopping them both down on the couch. He looked down at the man now settled on his lap and relaxed against the couch cushions. “If that’s the case, I might have to keep you around. I haven’t been able to find a successful Bruce repellant quite yet. The duffle full of heads only attracted his attention further I’m afraid.”
Jason studied the face looking up at him, carding a hand through the soft, black hair.
The man had cold, tan skin and blue eyes that glinted green when he smiled. His slender form was draped in one of Jason’s shirts which hung off his shoulder and slid slightly down his arm. A pair of sweatpants covered a pair of skinny legs. When standing, he was about a head shorter than Jason, and he was far too light for his build but Jason attributed that to how gravity never really seemed to know how to behave around Danny. The shadows in the room seemed to cling to him, leeching off of the feeling of power that bled from his skin.
A smirk settled onto Jason’s lips as he met Danny’s eyes again.
“Evading arrest and assault are perfectly understandable, but interdimensional war crimes? Kind of overkill, don’t you think?”
Toxic green swirled in Danny’s eyes as his smile spread just a little wider than it was supposed to, his teeth growing sharp.
“Please, love, you underestimate me. Plus, that file hasn’t been updated since I was, like, 17, imagine what it would look like now?” The air in the room began to chill, lights flickering menacingly overhead.
“I might actually get the chance to find out. Oracle already contacted the GIW. They are probably on the way here.”
Danny relaxed against Jason’s chest, another purr rumbling out of his core. The lights dimmed further and the room seemed to glow slightly green. A crown flickered in and out of visibility, blue flames licking up the harsh metal circlet. Jason buried his face into the crook of Danny’s neck, dotting the skin with soft kisses.
“Delightful,” Danny’s voice was layered with static as his smile broke into a mind-twisting grin that would send the joker screaming, “I haven’t had a new plaything in years.”