Chapter Text
He supposes that he should expect to go through this process each time there's a new incident or criminal apprehended. He switches tabs and begins scrolling down the website's feed. While there are quite a few discussions and theories being posted, the vast majority of what he sees are either memes or edited clips.
The main clip being used focuses on a boy and isn't even edited in most cases. The boy in question, Danny Fenton, appears to be on an old train and talking to an older teen. He doesn't need to read his lips to know that he's apologizing. Danny turns to a nearby window, opens it, before easily climbing his way through the window, and up the side of the train car.
It makes sense that so many people have taken to using the gif and applying it to any number of situations. Based on captions like “Me when my parents throw a block party” and “Me when my boss asks who wants to work overtime”, people have found it to be very relatable.
What doesn't make sense, however, is how viral one particular photo has become. Out of the many posts that he's looked through, almost every other post is some variation of the picture in question, with and without edits. It's more of a selfie really. There's an older teen with dark brown hair and eyes in the foreground. An excited smile stretches across his freckled face as he angles his camera to include Danny who is unaware as he looks down at his own phone in the background.
Some of the posts also include a screenshot of a forum post below it that reads “Look who I just spotted on my commute!”. Others have taken to cropping out Danny entirely to replace him with various media icons including: Slenderman, The Walrider, Mew Two, Predator, Perfect Cell, and an empty space with the text “Your dad”.
One version had the original picture with the caption “How it started” and a second picture with Danny cropped out and an open window drawn in his place with the caption: “How it's going”. The teen's face has also been edited to look both concerned and horrified.
There was a particularly creative one where the text on the selfie reads: “Ask out your crush. The worst they can say is no”. The words “Your crush:” is then followed by the gif of Danny climbing out of the train.
It doesn't take him long to find out that 19 year old Alan Wake leads a completely normal life. As a train enthusiast, he was documenting and taking pictures of the train that afternoon for the train lovers guild he's part of. He also has an extensive history on multiple train forums reaching back almost a decade.
But he's getting sidetracked.
After sifting through so many edits and compilations, he decides to rewatch the original video to make sure he didn't miss any important details. As soon as he presses play, his screen is taken up by the words “Where in the world are Carmen and Sandy?” It's quick to fade with a transition of sparkles before focusing on a Hispanic woman in her twenties.
“Welcome back to ‘Where in the world are Carmen and Sandy?’ I'm Carmen-”
“-and I'm Sandy!” A voice from behind the camera says.
“I bet you're all wondering where we are today.”
“Or when we are!” Sandy chimes in.
“Agreed. This place is sure to look like a blast from the past for some of you.” The camera pans slowly to capture the train’s interior and decorations.
“And for those of you who have never seen something like this before for yourselves or in a movie, you're in for a treat!” Sandy says, excitedly.
“Before we move on with the show, I do have a few train facts to share thanks to our amazing camerawoman! She made sure to remind me that there'd be some serious consequences if I left them out”, Carmen teases.
“Hey! My dad works with trains and this is one of the few times my vast knowledge of them can be applied”, Sandy answers back. Before Carmen can continue, they are interrupted by the train's intercom.
“Attention passengers! Due to a prior altercation, your conductor has become indisposed. Thankfully, I have taken it upon myself to take over for him. Now that I'm behind the wheel, I think it's time to shift gears a bit. While the city's railways have been a reliable route to the train system for decades now, they are still connected to the original tracks that were built during its founding. Usually, these rails would be unusable due to their age and dis use, but I've taken a special interest in them and, through extensive renovations, have repurposed them for my own use. While I have big plans for this train, none of you factor into them. As such, I'll be letting everyone off at a predetermined location before I continue on my way. All you have to do now is sit back and enjoy the ride.”
The voices of the other passengers raise in volume as panic starts to set in.
“Oh, before I forget, I just wanted to announce that I have engaged the locks for all doors connecting the cars and disabled the emergency brakes for everyone's safety. No need to panic, we'll be arriving at our destination before long and you'll each be on your way home. I hope you enjoy the rest of your voyage!”
As the intercom cuts off, the train suddenly lurches to the right, sending people crashing into each other and the phone recording it all skittering away. It takes a few minutes of darkness before the phone is retrieved. The video shows a Black woman in her twenties inspecting the phone before she turns it to view the chaotic scene of the train. It's not long before she stops on Carmen, now on the floor.
She looks up when Sandy's hand reaches out to help her. Once on her feet again, Carmen noticeably rubs at her left arm before settling on clutching at her side.
“Hey, are you okay?” A voice asks from off screen. The camera shifts to focus on a concerned Danny.
“Uh, yeah. Mostly,” Carmen replies.
“Are you sure? No head injuries or did you only hit your side?” He turns his attention to Sandy. “I'm pretty sure I saw some people fall on top of you. Any injuries?”
After they both assure him that they are okay, he looks relieved. “That's good at least. It looks like the worst injuries have been bruises so far. What thought process goes through someone's mind that makes a train hijacking seem like the best idea? This is what I get for thinking I was allowed to enjoy my commute,” he mutters before returning to his friend's side.
The camera doesn't pick up what he says over the noise from the other passengers, but Danny looks apologetic as he says a few short words. He steps away to inspect a nearby window and smiles when it opens easily.
Just as easily as he opened it, Danny slides his body through the window. He manages to keep his feet on the window sill and uses it to climb up the train's side, leaving the remaining passengers in shocked silence.
“D-did he just..?” Sandy starts to ask, Carmen only answers with a stunned nod, her mouth hung open.
“But we're going 70 MPH at least! We have to do something or at least call someone!”
“Who would we call? Even if we wanted to report the hijacking, we don't know where we are and we have no service.” She starts to make her way past the other passengers.
“Where are you going?”
“Well, I need answers and the only one left to give them is over there.” Carmen shrugs before closing the distance between her and Alan.
“Excuse me? We couldn't help but notice your friend climbing out of a moving train. I just had a quick question: What the actual fuck?”
The other boy is startled out of his shock and refocuses on Carmen. It takes him a bit to gather his thoughts.
“Um, we're not really friends, I just met him today. I only know about him because he's a new vigilante that I've been obsessed with. That also explains him using the window to get out, I think. All the doors were locked and he's probably going after the hijacker as we speak”, Alan hesitantly answers.
“He's a vigilante?! What's his name and how long has he been doing this for?” Carmen asks, surprised.
“Well, he's stopped a few villains and their plots over the course of the last couple of months, the most popular was either the one involving sharks or the one with the dinosaurs. He didn't tell me his vigilante name when I asked, so I guess he just hasn't decided on one yet since it hasn't been that long.”
“Oh, wait. I think I saw some videos circulating about him. I remember the shark one but not the dinosaur one,” Sandy says.
With the confirmation, Carmen continues her questioning. “So you're not worried?”
“Of course I'm worried! How can I not be when we're literally being held hostage and heading to who knows where?”
“Yeah, I see your point. So, what else can you tell me about our mystery hero?”
As Alan didn't have much in the way of answers, the next few minutes are filled with him describing the different incidents Danny has been involved in up until that point. With Sandy occasionally adding in what she knew, the atmosphere almost feels light. That is until they are once again interrupted by the train. As it slows to a stop, the tension rises in the face of such an uncertain situation. Even as they hear the sounds of the locks disengaging, they are hesitant to exit. Surprisingly, it's Alan who's the first to open the door and peek out after a few minutes of tense silence. His head turns towards the front in the direction of the train's engine.
Alan turns back to the occupants and lets out a hysterical laugh. “Looks like the problem's all taken care of.” With that, he opens the door fully and carefully climbs his way down to the forest floor.
The camera is slow to follow before leaning just outside of the door to get a glimpse of what is going on. Alan can be seen walking to the front of the train where two people are, one standing while the other is sitting on the dirt. The camera zooms in as Alan reaches Danny and they begin talking with each other, the older man at their feet looks to be in a conductor's uniform… And tied up with rope?
“It looks like the vigilante has the villain tied up. So I guess we wait for the cops to show up now”, Sandy relays to the others.
Suddenly, part of the video is obscured by Carmen's head as she leans out of the train car. After a few moments of assessment, she straightens up before jumping out.
“Carmen, wait!”
Sandy cautiously makes her way down and jogs to catch up as Carmen marches up to the group.
“Hello! Mind if I ask a few questions? Just curious about what just happened as any concerned citizen would be. No pressure!”
Danny looks confused before his shrug of confirmation opens the floodgates. What follows is a rapid fire of questions that any reporter would be proud of, but Danny manages to use his answers as a misdirection expertly. When the police finally arrive on scene, the video ends without him finding anything new.
Maybe he should take another look at the forums instead? Enough time has probably passed for the scrutiny of whichever moderators remember him to die down. If not, he'll just rotate his line up of available alt accounts. It took him a while to not only find a reliable website, but to also build up an online reputation prior to embedding himself in that section of the community. Honestly, he might as well start building the presences of his next set of alts just so he can ask questions that would seem less suspicious spread out across them.
“What are you doing, Drake?”, an accusatory voice comes from behind him.
Tim turns around to see Damian glaring at him from the doorway. How strange, his desk chair never completely faces away from either the window or the door. Feeling the surprisingly plush texture under his hand, he realizes that he must have relocated to the living room at some point.
Between one blink and the next, Damian teleports around the couch to stand to his right. Did he develop powers recently or did he manage to hide them this entire time? Or maybe he closed his eyes for longer than he thought? Trying to focus on the matter at hand, his brother being here doesn't make much sense. Tim knows for a fact that it's a weekday as he requested to work from home for the rest of the month.
“Shouldn't you be in school right now?” He asks as he squints at his computer screen. He can make out the number 11 but can't quite tell whether it's AM or PM.
“It's winter break, we have no classes for the rest of the year.”
“Oh.”
“You still haven't answered my question.”
Tim tries to think back further than two minutes, but his thoughts are swimming together into an incomprehensible mess. Thankfully, Damian decides to take pity on him when he takes too long. Even his sigh sounds more resigned than annoyed.
“The computers, Drake. I doubt you need more than one laptop to keep Wayne Enterprises running smoothly. So why have you chosen to turn the living room into your personal server? The least you could do is keep it contained to your own room.”
“I needed to do research. I went over the allotted hours I'm allowed to use the Batcomputer, so I'm not allowed to use my own at the Nest. I wasn't limited on how many of my own computers I can use around the manor and will fully exploit the loophole before Alfred finds out. And there must have been a good reason for me to relocate to the living room. It probably has something to do with having the space to easily switch between all of my laptops.”
“I wasn't aware of you taking on any new cases. You said last time that Gotham was suspiciously quiet regarding the more… interesting cases,” Damian says, as much curiosity as he'd allow bleeding through.
“It's not technically a case, just a new interest. I've been looking into that new vigilante who has basically trended every other week. It was actually laughably easy to find him. But that got me thinking: What if he has all this information available so that no one will think to look any deeper? I mean, looking back at each of the viral videos, they became so popular that most people are busy reacting to only what's happening in them. By the time people start to question who this kid is, another incident happens and they're too distracted by it to keep investigating. It's actually pretty ingenious for him to use such a tactic on a large scale like this. I just need to figure out why-”
“You need to stop immediately!” Damian interrupts with a low growl.
They both pause in surprise.
Damian takes a breath before continuing. “How long have you been looking into this vigilante?”
“Huh?” Tim asks, still startled by his sudden bout of hostility.
“When was the last time you ate? Or got up at all besides going to the restroom?”
“I had yogurt this morning,” Tim says as his eyes land on a nearby cup, still half full with an off white substance.
“That used to be a cup of milk, Drake,” Damian says, unimpressed, before continuing.
“So you don't even remember what you ate? Should I tell Alfred that you've been neglecting your health again? And so soon after the last time he had to have a talk with you too. He might just extend your punishment when he hears of this.”
Tim tries to focus on Damian's words, but he can't help feeling a sense of wrongness with his current situation. Why would Damian show up when he should be in school? If he was curious about what he was researching, he'd leave as soon as he found out. Why would he be so focused on his eating habits?
“Oh.”
It all makes sense now.
“You're not real,” Tim says with complete certainty.
“Excuse me?” Damian looks at him in disbelief.
Tim nods to himself, “It would explain a lot. You suddenly appear when you should be in school, the interest in my research and my health, and using Alfred as a threat? Obviously, my mind wants me to avoid getting into trouble with Alfred again.”
“If you can't take care of yourself to the point you believe you are hallucinating, and the hallucinations are making more sense than you, you should reevaluate your life choices.
This is a new level of pathetic I didn't expect you to reach.”
Seeing that Tim doesn't acknowledge or react to his words, Damian can only sigh. “Just go get some rest. Maybe you'll be able to regain some sense when your body has at least an hour of sleep to work off of.”
After some thought Tim realizes that, whether or not Damian is really a hallucination, sleep was his best option. Worse case scenario would be that he is hallucinating and Alfred finds out, leading to even more restrictions. He doesn't notice himself getting up and walking to the door, but manages to mumble something close enough to a goodnight before he leaves. As Tim makes his way to his room, Damian claims his vacated seat and gets to work.
Stopping at his bedroom door, Tim is surprised by how much force he has to put into opening it. Peeking his head through first, he sees that what was once a tower of papers must have fallen to block the door. He squeezes his body the rest of the way into the room and lets the papers on the floor close the door behind him. Tim is more concerned with figuring out what happened to his room.
All available surfaces have been draped in papers of varying sizes and amounts. It looks like all of his thumb tacks are being used to hang up documents on each of his walls, though he only remembers two of them having corkboards. Where furniture used to sit, mounds of printed out pages and notes have taken their place. The floor looks to be where all discarded ideas and abandoned theories ended up, with some organized stacks being dotted about.
However, the mess on the floor pales in comparison to what's become of the ceiling.
A canopy of thick strings in a rainbow of colors run along the surface originating from a mass in the middle that branches out. He can make out even more documents in the spaces that aren't obscured by them. Rather than using more tacks, the strings connect to papers, pictures, and each other with tape, cascading down a couple of inches before lifting back up to the ceiling. He tries to track the path of one of the strings, but fails to find a connection between the pictures of Aquaman, dinosaurs, and… a strange looking soup thermos?
He might have fallen down a deeper rabbit hole than he thought if he can't even remember mapping out the information he gathered around his room. He stumbles through and over the miscellaneous stacks of items on his floor before finding what might have been a bed last month now looks to be where he tried to set up a method of organization. He picks up a random sheet of paper and looks at it through blurry eyes. It looks like his past self was creating his own version of the Dewey Decimal System.
Too tired to move the massive heap of papers off of his bed, he pulls the duvet that was partially obscured on the floor and becomes one with the papers. Thankfully, it's nowhere close to the most uncomfortable surfaces he's found himself sleeping on. His body comfortably sinks down as the papers cradle and mold around him.
Before he can willingly succumb to his exhaustion, Tim does a final sweep of his room. His gaze is eventually drawn to a strange shape on the opposite side of the room. It takes him an embarrassingly long few minutes to make out the outline of his bed.
Huh.
After a few seconds of debating with himself, he comes to the conclusion that it's definitely not worth getting up. He's already settled in and doesn't think he can build up enough motivation to move. If his bed wanted him to sleep in it, it should have tried harder. As he begins to drift off, Tim tries not to think about how much cleaning and organizing he'll have to do when he wakes up or the potential heart attack Alfred would have if he sees the state of his room.
A thick blanket of snow is already covering everything he can see from his window and, if the weather forecast is correct, there will be more to come overnight. Still, that doesn't seem to deter the stream of people he can see rushing by to finish any last minute holiday tasks. A majority of the houses in the area are fully lit up and have been since November 1st. Unfortunately, the ongoing rivalry to have the biggest and brightest Christmas displays has ramped up as many seem to have taken how much light pollution his home gave off last year as a challenge.
He honestly doesn't know what he'd do without his blackout curtains and hopes that his neighbors made sure to buy their own. Seeing the return of so much holiday cheer wherever he looks doesn't fail to give him flashbacks to how his last Christmas went. Thankfully, this year will be different.
Danny has a plan.
It's deceptively simple and that's exactly why it's 100% foolproof! While his parents are busy arguing, he'll have free rein over the house. With Jazz spending the holiday weekend at a friend's house, he doesn't even need to worry about being roped into any possible traditional festivities. He'll spend the afternoon baking what anyone would need during the holidays: bribery cookies. This is his first year being explicitly invited to the Christmas party in the Ghost Zone and cookies will be a great way to get on everyone's good side. Depending on how many he makes, he can probably spend the time before the party gifting cookies to those who aren't going to be there tonight. Then he'll spend the rest of the night staying out of trouble and stuffing his face with food that is completely edible!
He starts off his day by making sure to start his morning as late as possible. Maybe his parents will be in too much of a rush to notice that he isn't in the car with them. It'll also be easier to hide a batch of cookies from his dad if he's not around to smell them.
Danny cautiously makes his way down into the living room, the silence almost unnerving in its rarity. Just as he's about to enter the kitchen, his world explodes with sound. The sudden change has him preparing for an attack out of reflex. When he realizes he's still alone, he tracks the sounds to their source… the lab. He doesn't need to make it all the way down the stairs to see his parents completely engrossed in their newest invention.
Correction: Danny had a plan.
“Shouldn't you both be at the mall right now? Dad, you love spreading Christmas cheer to the kids as they line up to sit on Mall Santa's lap. And Mom, without you, who's going to break it to the children that their families and our consumeristic society are content to lie to them for as long as possible in the name of profit?” Danny asks as he makes his way over to their workstation, careful not to trip on the various scattered parts laying around.
His parents pause as if just noticing his presence. His Dad is the first to speak up.
“Hey there Danno! Didn't see you there, but glad you're around to see history in the making! It took a few days of planning, but I'm adding the finishing touches on my latest and greatest invention! I haven't come up with a name for it yet, but, when it's done, this baby will lock in on the magical signature on the nearest holly jolly entity before you can say Ho Ho Ho! I can miss one day of spreading cheer if it means proving I'm right once and for all.”
Before he can dissect…. all of that, his Mom chimes in. “The only thing your father is right about is us overlooking the use of magic as an added variable. It may just be the best way to prove that there's no magic involved in the holidays and I can go public with my findings with more concrete data.”
“Okay, I'm even more confused now. Can we take it all the way back? What's this about magic?”
“Well, it all came to me when I was watching a Christmas special a few days ago. Just when it was about to reach the best part, it was interrupted by a live broadcast of a fight. Rock monsters were rampaging in a city when a woman in a magician outfit stopped them. As she was chanting, some were being levitated away from civilians, water appeared out of nowhere to put out fires, and metal lamp posts were picked up and bent to keep them all restrained. That's when it hit me! I already knew Santa was magic, but I've never thought about the feats of magic happening every day. There's literally years of footage floating around of magic use that proves its existence! Of course everything we know about Santa sounds impossible when he's using magic to bring joy and presents all these years.” His Dad explains.
“All laws of nature follow their own set of rules. Just because we don't know what applies to magic, doesn't mean that they don't exist and anything is somehow possible! Magic may be real, but, by studying what it can and can't do, I can prove that Santa Claus has always been an elaborate lie!” His Mom retorts.
“So you decided to meddle with powers beyond your understanding to win an argument… Will you be done before tonight?”
“We didn't have time to fully study the magic field, but we don't need to fully understand something to track it! We're almost done with the amplifier that we'll hook up to the scanners. If there's any magic within a 100 mile radius, it will detect, track, and record all readings”, his Mom answers.
“We'll be out there before sundown to make sure we don't miss anything. Santa can come at any time between then and morning, so we have to make sure to stay vigilant all night!”, his Dad adds.
“Uh huh… Have fun with that. I'll be in my room enjoying not being out in the snow all night. Oh, I'm going be making cookies in a bit. You can take whatever's left on the counter when you leave.”
“Great idea! We'll need nourishment to keep us warm and alert, we can't afford to miss even a single blip on the scanners”, his Dad exclaims before both of them return to their work.
Seeing as he has plenty of time to kill, Danny starts gathering what he needs to make the cookies as soon as he enters the kitchen. He becomes lost in his own head and goes through the motions of baking on autopilot. Unfortunately, by the time he's made several batches of chocolate chip cookies, the clock shows that it's barely past 2 PM. Knowing that he still has hours before he can attempt to leave through the portal, he cleans up his mess and puts away all but two trays of cookies.
With nothing else to do, Danny retreats to his room. His TV is left ignored as he flops onto his bed. The chances of finding something showing that isn't Christmas related is low enough that he doesn't bother trying. Instead, he scrolls through the cheerleader group chat to see what everyone else is up to. Big surprise, they're enjoying the holidays with their families. Maybe he can text Sam and Tucker and hope to receive an answer before tomorrow?
He's saved from his decision making by his phone vibrating.
Damian: I hope you are having a better Christmas than I am.
Damian: We don't even celebrate Christmas, but my eldest brother likes to follow traditions from different holidays to ‘spread the joys of togetherness’.
Damian: It's just an excuse for him to perform as many inane tasks as he can because he claims they are fun. I'm convinced that their only purpose is to push us to harm each other.
Damian: Grayson attempted to hang up “Mistletoe” around the manor. Thankfully, Barbara, a family friend, was able to dissuade him as kissing one's siblings is frowned upon.
Damian: But one of my siblings couldn't leave well enough alone and suggested that hugs should replace kissing.
Damian: I'm still trying to hunt down who it was, but I now have to avoid all of the traps my brother has set up since then.
Danny: Aw, that sounds fun! Not the trying to kill each other part. Your brother and my sister would get along too well. She's always been focused on trying to have the full Christmas experience, even if it kills me.
Danny: I've never liked Christmas, but it sounds like your family's enjoying themselves. It seems like the only thing my parents can agree on is the joys of arguing.
Damian: Arguing? About what?
Danny: Eh. Same old, same old. I'd rather not get into it.
Damian: Will you be okay?
Danny: Of course! It happens every year, so I've gotten good at avoiding the worst of it.
Danny: Best case scenario would be the usual screaming matches. And, as long as they don't cause another public disturbance, the cops won't be called.
Danny: Unfortunately, this year seems a bit different.
Danny: I told you before that my parents are scientists, right? Well, they're currently held up in their lab working on inventions that will supposedly end their argument once and for all.
Damian: Can I call?
Danny's brows furrowed in confusion. They've been texting back and forth since they exchanged numbers, but it didn't really occur to him that they could speak with each other. Giving it more thought, it would be easier to talk rather than typing everything out. Damian does seem to like efficiency after all. That settled, Danny is quick to text his confirmation and answers the call on the first ring.
“Hey Damian! It's been a while since we've talked. Can't believe I completely forgot we can just call and talk with each other at almost any time,” Danny greets, at ease.
Rather than share in his good mood, it feels like Damian is trying to interrogate him. “Are you safe? You don't sound distressed, but that could just mean your parents are close enough to be listening in. ”
“Safe? Yeah, I'm safe and warm in my room. My parents are staying in the basement until they finish with their project, then they'll use it to collect data. Looks like that'll keep them busy until tomorrow at least. On the upside, that means they'll forget all about cooking!”
“Your parents are more concerned about their work and an argument than they are about cooking for their own kids?” Damian practically growls.
Okay, so his wording could use some work. He tries reassuring his friend. “It's for the best. Their attempts at cooking usually end up with the food being more alive than when they started. Besides, Jazz is at a friend's house and I'm going to a party tonight.”
“Your parents are allowing you to attend a party during the holidays instead of celebrating together?”
“Well, they don't know I'm going to a party. I was just going to sneak past them, but, now that they're busy, I can stay out all night without them noticing!” Danny excitedly explains.
“You're staying out all night at a party that your parents don't know about? That's very dangerous. Do your friends and sister at least know where you're going? Are any of your other friends going to be there?” Damian asks in rapid succession.
“Sam, Tucker, and Jazz know that I'm going, but not where it is. A different person hosts each year apparently and I only found it last year by accident. I've known a lot of the people who are going to be there for at least a year, but I’m not used to talking to them outside of them just showing up randomly. At least it'll be something interesting to do.”
“Are they students from your school? How old are they?”
“You know, I never bothered to ask. It just seemed like an impolite thing to do. And none of them go to school with me.” He only ever guessed that Sydney Pointdexter was from the 50s but it's a toss up on the others. Maybe he can ask Ember at their next session so he doesn't accidentally offend someone.
“So they're possibly significantly older than you and you're not worried about anyone at the party hurting you? Even if you've known them for a year, you shouldn't be taking risks with your safety.”
Oh, that is definitely concern leaking into his voice. Danny cheers at his ability to read his friend, but feels uncomfortable unintentionally worrying him. He can't tell him about ghosts, but maybe hearing about the truce will help?
“Don't worry, I'm completely safe. Apparently they always had problems getting along and decided years ago to a sort of truce. One day a year, they'll come together and aren't allowed to fight or try to hurt each other. They all decided on Christmas and it became an annual tradition that turned into a party over time.”
“An agreement they formed before they met you doesn't guarantee that they won't harm you! It only takes one person to not keep their word for the arrangement to fall apart”, Damian stresses.
“Well, they proved themselves to me last year, so I know that I'm safe.”
There's a beat of silence before Damian asks, “What happened last year?”
“Someone, we'll call him Mr. Writer, was very petty and trapped me in- … somewhere unfamiliar after I upset him. I was trying everything I could think of to escape and that's how I ended up at the party initially. He only allowed me to get away because he thought the truce didn't apply to me and everyone else would attack. They explained to me about the annual truce and, when I told them that Mr. Writer broke it to target me, they helped stop him. To make up for breaking the truce and the mess he caused, he's hosting the party this year. I've noticed that he's a total introvert when he isn't talking about books, so this is really the best form of punishment”, Danny reminisced.
“So he's a criminal that you confirmed kidnapped you and then attempted to harm you further by leading you to what he assumed were dangerous individuals? And they're letting him hold the party where he can potentially plan something worse as revenge?!” Damian's voice has risen considerably by the time he finishes.
“No, he's not a criminal. He only did something to me the one time and it was after I destroyed the only copy of a book he was writing for the last two years. I had a lot of unresolved anger towards all things Christmas and told him I wasn't sorry for destroying his Christmas poem. He said that he wanted to trap me until I learned my lesson. I did learn to be less of a jerk, but, more importantly, that I can get help from the most unexpected people to fix the property damage I may or may not have caused”, Danny explains.
“That isn't as comforting as you think it is. You've only succeeded in making me even more concerned!” There's a few moments of silence as he considers his next words.
“You'll have your phone on you at all times, correct? It would give me some peace of mind to text you throughout the night with updates on your wellbeing.”
“The area I'm going to is pretty remote, so there's no cell service. I was just going to keep my phone off until I get back to save power. We can text when I get back if you want?”
“Why do you want to go to this party again? Everything you've told me so far are reasons not to go at all.”
“It's great to get away sometimes. I didn't expect my parents to be out all night initially and didn't want to hear the same arguments they always yell at each other. I've also been told that the food there is amazing. Each person brings at least one dish to share and there's this one elderly woman who is obsessed with food and cooking and she always brings enough to feed an army. I'm bringing trays of chocolate chip cookies because many of them aren't great at baking. It'll be nice to have a large variety of edible home cooked meals to choose from. I'd rather not be around anything Christmas related at all, but this is the next best option I have.”
“You can always spend the holidays with me.”
“What?” Danny asks, stunned.
“You said that you wanted a safe place with edible food to spend the day. I am offering my home as a better alternative”, Damian explains as if that makes perfect sense.
“Today?” Danny hopes the disbelief in his voice gets through to Damian.
“Of course. It may be short notice, but I have both the time and resources to make it work. My family will also be in attendance, but that slight disadvantage will be offset by the presence of Alfred. He makes food of only the highest caliber and will make anything you ask him to. I haven't had a dish he made that wasn't enjoyable.”
So, that didn't work. He'll have to try something else. “That's very sweet of you Damian, but I don't want to cause any problems between you and your family by crashing their holiday plans. I'm also pretty sure my parents will notice if I'm gone for so long without telling them.”
“If that's your only concern, then you can stay over next year. That gives both of us time to speak to our respective families about the arrangement. You said before that your parents allowed your sister to spend Christmas with her friend, so that shouldn't be an issue.”
“That isn't my only issue. I'm fine with just going to the party and I'd rather not have you go out of your way to host me when I know I'm never in the best of moods this time of year.”
“Either you agree to staying over next year or I can spend the next few hours listing all the ways this party can go wrong”, Damian says.
“Can we talk about literally anything else?”
“We can always talk about what you told the police when you must have reported your kidnapping. Or should we discuss the property damage you committed last year?” Damian suggests with faux innocence.
Seeing that he's talked himself into a corner, Danny tries a different tactic: A diversion.
“I feel like we've spent all this time talking about me and how my day is going. What about you? Anything else happen with your family? I want to know now if I need to rescue you from your brother… or break you out of prison. It'll also be great for me to know what to expect staying with you next year.”
Damian reluctantly goes along with it and he is easily immersed in the drama having so many siblings entails especially during holidays. Danny tells himself that, by agreeing to Damian's terms, it buys him at least a year to figure out a way out of it. He tries not to feel like he agreed to a promise made in blood.
Damian can admit to himself when he has miscalculated. Usually, this is the case for many of the social interactions he has found himself in since his arrival in Gotham. He's gotten much better at scaring away people before it gets to that point and many have finally given up entirely. But recent events have left him with that same feeling of being unbalanced.
While his friendship with Danny and subsequent bonding over the aquarium incident were unexpected, it has been an overall positive learning experience. That doesn't stop him from wishing that his friend wouldn't find himself involved in dangerous situations so often. He's held his own and won so far, but it only takes one mistake to be seriously injured or killed.
Knowing that nothing can mitigate Danny eventually finding himself in danger, Damian has turned his focus on his own family. That is to say, Danny's popularity has reached a point where his family has started to take notice. His interaction with Tim has highlighted that fact. Thankfully, he was in no state to continue his research and there's a high chance he won't remember all of the information he found. Sending him away allowed him the time to delete as much of the dug up data as he could while keeping only the wildest conspiracy theories that were also saved. Even with his efforts, it's just delaying the inevitable when it comes to his family.
After the call earlier, Damian realizes he was worried about the wrong things.
Looking back at their past conversations, Danny always mentioned his friends and occasionally his sister, but rarely his parents besides mentioning that they were scientists. He assumed that this was due to their busy schedule combined with the probability of NDAs involved in their line of work. He knows better now. He tells himself that he couldn't possibly have known without Danny telling him, but that doesn't stop him from feeling like he could have done more. It also leaves him with a number of questions.
How long have Danny's parents been arguing and what are they arguing about?
It sounded like it's been going on for a while, so maybe it's the same argument repeated over the years. His initial worry was for Danny's safety, but he didn't seem remotely worried, just exasperated. He chooses to take him at face value and believe that they haven't physically hurt him. Damian is more concerned over what two angry scientists would build to ‘end their argument once and for all’. In his experience, it's never anything good and usually something that causes some form of property damage. He makes a note to keep track of them from now on.
There's also the mystery group of people Danny will be spending the night with. Even if he ignores the fact that Danny hasn't known them for long and they're all possibly older than him, there's an innate danger of being in a remote area with no cell service and no one else knowing where he is. Who's to say that the others won't do the same thing that Mr. Writer did? From the way Danny explained it, they don't usually get along and might be antagonistic. He's seen Danny handle himself against multiple opponents, but he doesn't even know how many people will be attending the party.
Is he used to being exposed to people who might attack him?
That might explain why Danny keeps such a nonchalant demeanor in such dangerous situations. If he's used to constantly being in danger, what he's experienced so far might not seem like a problem to him. Is he in more danger at the party then? He didn't really go into detail about when the truce is officially over. What would happen after the party and the truce if one of them decides to attack him when he's not expecting it?
He doesn't want to think about what else could happen tonight. He instead switches gears to figure out what he is able to do for his friend.
Doubting that he can come up with a plan that survives initial contact with Danny, he decides that it is a better use of his time to focus on gaining more of his trust. After all, he only found out about his rocky relationship with his parents after knowing him for two months. By fostering their friendship, he can get a better grasp of the relationship Danny has with his parents and any other points to be concerned about.
Inviting him over to spend the holidays had been a hasty offer he made in the heat of the moment. Giving it more thought, it would be a great way to keep Danny from a possibly harmful environment while showing him what healthy holiday practices should be. Unfortunately, agreeing to push it back a year has the downside of lessening any impact he can make at this point in time.
He'll focus on being there for Danny for now.
Cheerleading has given him an outlet and a way to be surrounded by a new support system. That they also travel to games and competitions outside of their hometown only adds to the positive effect it has on Danny's wellbeing. Feeling better about his prospects, Damian decides to make a list of possible long term and short term goals. He gives Crow extra pets as he gets up and she takes the chance to stretch out into the warm spot he vacated. He sits at his desk as he gets to work. It's not like he planned to leave the safety of his room before dinner after all.