Work Text:
Things at Wayne Manor were getting a little… weird.
Oddly enough it was Dick that noticed it first. Things would disappear then reappear just slightly off from where they were before. Everyone who would come into the manor would swear they saw movement out of the corner of their eye but when they would turn nothing would be there. Alfred would be cooking and get a cold chill as if someone was watching intently. He had even turned around to say something to Jason only to find that he wasn’t there. Perhaps the most concerning, they all experienced these things in the Batcave as well.
What finally tipped Dick off that something wasn’t right was he saw Damian out of the corner of his eye only to turn and no one was there. Dick could put a lot of things off as sleep deprivation and stress, but full blown hallucinations? That was too far.
The first thing he did was tell Bruce to get the house checked for a gas leak. When that turned up nothing he turned to more nefarious options. He decided to spend more time at the manor. Sleeping over and attending every family dinner. He didn’t mention his hallucination to anyone. Deciding to keep it to himself and investigate solo.
After weeks of these strange occurrences and no explanations, Dick turns to the only person he can think of. John Constantine.
***
Dick had waited to call John Constantine for as long as his conscious would allow him to. Truly he didn’t want to call the magic user but to be honest? He was desperate. After seeing that hallucination of Damian, Dick was on edge. There was no way he had just disappeared in the middle of the room. Not even Damian was that good.
So here Dick was, watching in disgust as John lit a cigarette in the middle of the foyer. “Do you really have to do that here?” He says as he crosses his arms.
John takes a drag and slowly exhales while nodding his head. “Yep,” He says, British accent strained by the smoke
“Helps me think.”
Dick rolls his eyes and doesn’t say anything further as Constantine walks around the foyer, taking the occasional hit of his cigarette. He stops in the middle of the room and closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes he says, “Yeah, you’ve got a ghost alright. Pretty strong one too.”
Dick raises his eyebrows, “A ghost? You’re kidding me, right?”
“No joshing here, kid. You have a genuine haunting on your hands.”
Dick runs a hand through his hair and puts the other hand on his hip. “Number one: I’m not a kid. Number two: I thought ghost were like, super rare? Isn’t Deadman an anomaly?”
Constantine drops his cigarette and puts it out with the toe of his shoe. “They are. And he is. Ghosts are rare. At least the kinds that can do anything. Most ghosts are weak, like shades and ‘blob’ ghosts. This, however, is a rather strong one. I’m not sure I even have the power to get rid of this one.”
“What do you mean you don’t have the power to get rid of it? So what? Are we just stuck with it?”
Constantine shrugs, “Pretty much.” He starts walking to the door and claps a hand on Dick’s shoulder as he passes. He stops before he reaches the door and turns back around. “You know, there is one way you might be able to get rid of this ghost.”
Dick turns around to face Constantine, knocking his hand off his shoulder in the process. He could sense that whatever the magic user was gonna say was not going to be fun. “And what way is that?”
“Simple. You just have to figure out what the ghost wants. What it’s unfinished business is,” A grin spreads across his face, “Easy peazy, mate.”
Constantine walks out the door leaving Dick to stare at the discarded cigarette on the floor.
***
How does one make contact with a ghost? Dick’s answer? A Ouija board.
Dick lit the last candle around the board and put his hands on the planchette. Taking a deep breath he-
“What are you doing, Richard?”
Dick jumps and flings the planchette across the room. He whirls around, placing a hand over his racing heart, “Damian! What on Earth are you doing?”
Damian raises one eyebrow, “I believe I asked you first.”
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Dick looks up at the teenager standing in the doorway. Damian had grown so much since he first came to Gotham, in more ways than one. Not only was he taller but he had grown quite a bit mentally and emotionally. He was no longer that cocky, overzealous boy he was before. Now he was much more humble and even caring in his own way. Not to say he wasn’t still rough around the edges and more a than little quick to cut you with words.
“I’m just messing around with this old thing,” Dick says, pointing to the Ouija board, “I found it in the attic.” Not technically a lie.
Damian narrows his eyes and seems to think about his response. “I suppose you wouldn’t mind me joining you then?”
Dick blinks. That was not the response he was expecting. “Um, sure? I guess that’s fine.”
Damian nods and moves to the opposite side of the Ouija board, sitting down cross-legged. Dick begins to stand so he can get the planchette, only to look down and find it sitting in the middle of the board. His eyes flick up to Damian to find him staring at the pointer with lines between his eyebrows, he then looks back up and meets Dick’s gaze, confusion and concern in his eyes.
Dick settles back in, shaking off the lingering unease and placing his hands back on the planchette. Damian follows suit and they both take a deep breath.
Steeling himself Dick asks the first question.
“Is there anyone in the room with us?”
No response.
Damian raises his eyebrow at Dick again. “I don’t believe that’s how that works.”
“Alright, then why don’t you do it, Mr. Know-it-all,” Dick responds, crossing his arms over his chest.
Damian’s impeccable posture somehow gets even straighter as he nods to Dick to put his hands back on the planchette. He obliges and puts his fingertips back on the pointer. The teenager across from him closes his eyes before saying, “We open ourselves to any spirits that wish to communicate with us.”
A chill goes down Dick’s spine at Damian’s words. Something about them didn’t feel right. Dangerous even.
“Is there anyone here with us?”
A pause.
Nothing happens.
“Is there anyone who wishes to speak with us?”
A pause.
Nothing happens.
Dick gets an idea. “Do you like pizza?”
A pause.
The planchette moves.
The pointer slowly makes its way to the corner of the board and points to the word ‘yes.’
Dick bursts out laughing. Damian scowls.
“Very mature, Grayson,” He says as he crosses his arms and looks away.
Dick stifles his laughter long enough to say, “Woah Baby Bat, you and I both know I didn’t move that. You did.”
Damian looks back at Dick and cocks his head to the side. “I did no such thing.”
He begins to retort until he remembers what Constantine said about the Manor being legitimately haunted. Dick looks back down at the pointer and then back to Damian in quick succession. When their eyes meet again they both put their hands back on the planchette.
It’s Damian that asks, “What is your name?”
The pointer moves again. Steadily spelling out a name.
“Danny?” Dick asks, repeating what the apparent spirit had spelled out. “The manor is haunted by a ghost named Danny?”
Dick looks up in time to see Damian shake off an odd look before asking, “What do you mean the manor is haunted?”
His cheeks heat as Dick replies, “Oh, yeah. About that… The manor is sort of haunted.”
Damian removes one hand from the planchette to pinch the bridge of his nose, a move he had totally gotten from Jason, “Is that why you are playing with a Ouija board?”
“Maybe.”
The teenager lets out a deep breath, “And how can you be certain the manor is haunted?”
“I called Constantine. He came over when everyone was at that gala and confirmed my suspicion. He said the only way to get rid of the ghost was to find out what it wanted and help it move on.”
“You called Constantine before you informed the rest of the family?” Damian asks, annoyed.
“I didn’t want to alarm the family if it was nothing. You know how Bruce gets,” Dick replies, raising his hands in defense.
Damian sighs and puts his hand back on the planchette, “We will talk about this later, Grayson.”
“Right,” Dick puts his hands back on the pointer then asks, “What do you want Danny?”
The pointer begins moving again just like before.
P-I-Z-Z-A
“Really, Grayson?” Damian takes his hands off of the planchette to cross his arms while Dick begins laughing uncontrollably, grabbing his stomach with both hands.
Damian stands and turns towards the door to leave when the planchette begins moving again.
“Uh, Damian?”
“What?” Damian whirls around in time to see the pointer finish it’s movement on the N.
“What did it say?” Damian asks, taking his seat across from Dick.
“Damian,” Dick swallows. “It said ‘Damian’”
Damian stares hard at the planchette and asks, “Is there something you would like to say to me, Danny?”
Nothing happens for a few heartbeats, then the planchette begins to shake violently before it zooms across the board.
M-I-S-S-Y-O-U
Damian shoots up and stalks to the door before turning around and opening his mouth. No words come out though, only a choked sob. Dick stands and the teenager darts out the door, soft sobs following him as he went.
Dick follows close behind, calling out to Damian as they race down the hall towards the youngest bat’s room. When they reach his door it’s slammed in Dick’s face.
“Come on, Baby Bat. Open the door.” Dick says as he knocks. He had never seen Damian this way. The only time he ever saw Damian so much as tear up was on one way too close of a call where Bruce almost died. That had been years ago now.
After knocking and calling for Damian for what seemed like an eternity, Dick takes a seat with his back to the door.
***
Dick had almost fallen asleep by the time the door opens. Dick looks up to find Damian standing there with red rimmed eyes. The teenager nods back towards his room and takes a step back, leaving Dick to scramble up and follow Damian.
Damian takes a seat on his slightly mussed covers and clears his throat, “I must apologize for my earlier behavior. I also believe I owe you an explanation.”
Dick sits down next to Damian on the bed. “You don’t have to do tha-”
“Yes, I do,” Damian cuts him off. He seems to steady himself before continuing, “I was born a twin.”
Dick gasps slightly and Damian gives him a moment to process this information.
“My twin’s name was Danyal, but I alone called him Danny. We did everything together, we were… inseparable. We were an unstoppable duo. Every mission we went on was done flawlessly. That is, until our last mission.” Damian’s light tone turns sorrowful. “The mission was simple enough. Take out a deserter and retrieve some files they had stolen. I was tasked with getting the files while Danyal had to take out the deserter.
“I had just retrieved the files when I heard Danny scream. I rushed into the room but there was no one there. No Danyal or deserter.” Damian looks away and takes a shaky breath. “I searched for days. By the time I returned to the League they thought us both dead or deserted. I told Mother about Danyal having gone missing and she helped me search, but it didn’t matter. Danyal had disappeared.”
Damian grows silent. It was clear that was the end of the story. They sit there in silence for a while, letting the story sink in. Dick couldn’t believe that Damian had a brother he hadn’t told anyone about. Before he can spiral down that rabbit hole though, something dawns on Dick.
“Wait, are you saying that the ghost that’s haunting the manor is…?”
“Yes. I believe the ghost, this ‘Danny’ is actually Danyal. My brother,” Damian gives a solemn nod.
“That’s… wow. That’s some heavy stuff.” Dick chews his lip, unsure what he’s supposed to do in this moment. So instead he puts his arm around Damian’s shoulders to comfort him. At first the teenager stiffens, then he relaxes into the touch and lets the arm stay.
After a few moments of companionable silence Damian clears his throat and stands, “I suppose we should go close out that session. It’s supposedly not good to leave a Ouija board open.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Dick stands and follows Damian back to his room and the board.
When they get there they find the door closed even though Dick knows he left it open. The two share a look before Dick grabs the doorknob and pushes open the door with much more force than should be necessary.
The door is ripped out of Dick’s hand and slams open, revealing utter chaos. A strong wind whips through the room, scattering papers from the now open desk drawers. Dresser drawers are open with some on the floor, clothes spilled halfway across the room. The sheets are ripped off the bed and flung over one of the four posts.
In the middle of the chaos, swirling over the Ouija board, is a toxic green portal. Sticking out of the portal is a head and arm of a white haired boy. At the bang of the door opening the boy’s head shoots up and his gaze locks on Damian.
“Damian!” The boy’s voice is staticy and distant. He looks eerily like Damian. Same dark complexion, same eye shape, same mouth. The only differences are the deep purple eye bags, white hair, and glowing noxious green eyes.
“Danyal?” Damian replies, shock apparent on his face.
The boy holds out his hand towards Damian. His face is strained.
Damian takes a shaky step forward, raising his hand towards the boy. Dick puts a hand on his shoulder, “Wait, we don’t even know what’s going on!”
Damian looks back at him and shakes the hand off of his shoulder, “He’s my brother. I don’t care.”
Damian quickly makes his way to the boy and grabs his outstretched hand. An unseen force seems to pull Damian towards the boy and their interlocked hands disappear into the portal. Dick rushes forward and grabs Damian’s other hand and pulls as hard as he can.
The boy pops out of the portal and it slams closed behind him, immediately the wind stops. The boy tumbles out on Damian who falls on Dick. Leaving Dick at the bottom of the pile.
A beat passes before Damian squirms, obviously trying to get up. The boy rolls off of them and Damian hops to his feet. He grabs the boy and picks him up, holding him at arm’s length.
Dick stands and watches the two intently. The similarities between the two are startling. The other teenager tears up as he is being held. Damian opens his mouth but instead of saying anything he wraps the boy in a hug so tight Dick is sure he can’t breath. Tears slip down both of their faces as they hold onto each other for dear life.
After a few minutes Damian says, “Welcome home, Danyal.”