Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was hard to tell whether the warehouse was actually bright or if it was his concussion speaking.

Either way, Duke wasn’t pleased.

They had been searching for these cultists all week, when he finally managed to find their base.

He had already requested backup when he decided that sleuthing around would be a good idea.

What could go wrong?

He wasn’t really expecting much out of these amateurs that worshiped this so-called Ghost King, so when they actually got the drop on him, Duke was a little annoyed. 

His head was pounding from where they hit him, his helmet only doing so much to soften the blow.

Using his powers wasn’t an option, not when he could barely think. He’d heard the lecture from Bruce a million times on how dangerous it could be to do that. Combined with the pain coursing through his body, there wasn't a guarantee what he would actually manage to do.

Besides, he’d seen enough movies and shows to know that overdoing it in his state could lead to worse.

Duke struggled to open his eyes, peering at the hooded figures surrounding him, chanting in a language that he did not want to try and understand.

Considering their increasing volume, Duke wasn’t sure how this was going to go.

If whatever thing they were trying to summon was real, which at this point in his life, Duke wouldn’t be surprised that it was, then he was probably really, really dead.

Man, that sucked.

Here’s to hoping he could at least negotiate until the others got here.

The room took a sudden chill, shivers wracking up Duke’s spine as he noticed his breath come out in little puffs. The flames of the candles surrounding him grew in size, nearly reaching the high ceilings. A thick mist flooded the warehouse, and every instinct Duke had told to him brace himself.

He watched intently as the mist took on a loose shape. It reminded him of Genie from Aladdin, only more… ghost-like?

The creature’s features morphed into wide green eyes, slitted like a cat, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

Duke swallowed thickly, trying not to show his fear. Although, if the thing had enhanced hearing, it could definitely tell the way his heart was rapidly pounding against his chest.

He had a sudden urge to vomit, but maybe that was the concussion.

“Who dares summon me?” the creature spoke. Its lips barely moved, but the sound reverberated through the entire warehouse, drumming against his skull.

The leader of the stupid cult takes a step forward and Duke can’t help but admire the bravery.

“Oh Great One,” he says. Green eyes snap toward him, narrowing in scrutiny. “We seek your aid.”

“ Oh? For what? ” the voice is teasing, like it truly doesn’t care. Hands and arms form out of the mist, and it leans his head in the crook of its elbow, playful but entirely deadly.

Suddenly, Duke feared for help to arrive.

Half of the cult looks ready to book it, but the leader straightens himself and looks the creature in the eye. “To rid this world of those who have forsaken you and—”

“ Allow me to stop you there. ” The mist moved closer to the ground, taking on a shape that was more human this time. A lean male body of average height, like a teenage boy’s, dressed in a black jumpsuit with white boots and gloves. Its hair was a shaggy mop of white reaching down to its shoulders. Its skin was pale, a smattering of freckles across the bridge of its nose. A forked tongue licked chapped lips, revealing a set of fangs. Green eyes, which eerily reminded Duke of Jason during a moment of Pit Rage, peered down at him.

It was hard to tell what it was thinking, but Duke had a feeling that every single bit of his soul was being read to filth. 

As the creature moved closer, ice formed beneath its feet, spreading further with every step.

Duke couldn’t do anything but hope for the best.

Suddenly, the Ghost King stopped in front of, turning around to face the cult. From where he laid behind him, the King’s posture was almost lazy, but also… protective?

“My King?” the leader asked, his voice quivering.

“ Let this be known. I am not Pariah Dark. I am Phantom. I do not care about those who forsake me. I refuse to let you harm others in my name. ” the creature – Phantom – turned back toward Duke. 

“B-but my king…” Whatever the leader was thinking, it made his face quickly contort into anger. The man quickly skimmed through the book in his hand and started chanting again loudly. His fellow cult members panicked, backing away slowly, but he continued.

Phantom crouched by Duke’s side, opening his mouth to say something, but quickly whipped it head toward the cult leader. It was clear that it knew exactly what was being said.

“ Wait, don’t– ” Phantom tried to warn but the leader smiled smugly and kept going, finishing with a flourish.

Suddenly, the ice on the floor started to bubble, along with the blood – wait, when had Duke bled — mingling together in a swirl that broke into two, hitting both Phantom and Duke right in their chests. 

Duke doubled over, clutching at his heart over his armor, feeling incredibly cold as something wrapped around it tightly.

Through blurry eyes, he spared a glance at Phantom, who didn’t seem to be faring any better, but recovered much faster.

On wobbly legs, it stood up, its form shifting back into the eldritch-like being it had been when it first appeared. 

Duke was pretty glad to be on the other side of its rage.

“ Do you have any idea what you just did? ” Phantom growled out, ice wrapping around the cult leader. The other’s scrambled to leave, and Phantom let them, zeroing in on the one in its clutches.

A loud bang sounded and near silent footsteps rushed toward them. 

Duke gave Batman a wry smile, feeling a bit like a little kid when his mentor immediately took off his cape and wrapped it around him. 

“B, I’m fine.” He muttered, despite being anything but. 

Bruce grunted, carefully inspecting where Duke’s helmet was cracked. 

Oh hey, so that’s where the blood was from. 

He looked back over to Phantom who was looking over the cult leader still. It snapped its fingers, a mass of shadows swirling around the leader and dragging him through somewhere. 

Phantom walked back over, seemingly having just realized their new company. 

“ Well this is awkward. ” Phantom shifted back into a human-like form and ran a hand roughly through its hair, looking the most tired Duke’s ever seen possible.

And yes, that included Tim on a bad day.

It crouched down, unflinching when Robin brandished his katana and held it against Phantom’s throat. Phantom merely sighed and suddenly a small part of its neck turned transparent, walking through the blade, and Duke realized that he became intangible.

Awesome.

Robin’s eyes widened behind his domino and he drew back his sword.

Beside Duke, Batman stiffened, hand going for his belt as Phantom came close, placing a gentle hand on Duke’s face.

Surprisingly he didn’t flinch at the feeling of icy fingers brushing against where he was bleeding from, and then the wound became so cold it was hot.

Yet, still, not painful.

When Phantom pulled its hand back, Duke’s face no longer hurt.

“Uh, thanks?” he said, not forgetting his manners.

“Its the least I can do since its my fault you got into this mess.”

“Doesn’t seem like you wanted to be involved either.”

Phantom sheepishly scratched at its neck, a green blush forming on its cheeks. “You’d be surprised how often this happens.”

Duke was about to reply, when he was cut off by Bruce, who’s usual growl was somehow deeper. “Who are you?”

“The names Phantom, King of the Infinite Realms.” it said, smiling wide. Duke could see its fangs more clearly now, and it wasn’t as unsettling as he thought it would be.

“And what are you?”

“Oh, uh, a ghost.”

“A… human ghost?”

Phantom snorted. “No, the ghost of a badger.” Duke found the joke funny, but to Bruce and Damian it fell flat and Phantom pouted. “Yes, a human ghost, and before you start the interrogation, you should know that some questions are extremely off-limits.”

“Such as?” Robin asked. Duke wanted to coo at how cute the preteen was trying to be menacing.

“For starters… asking how a ghost died in a big no-no. Like major .” Phantom shuddered. “Also, how long its been since they died. Most ghosts don’t really remember.”

“So… you used to be a human?” Duke asked, making sure he was getting his facts straight.

What? His head was still feeling a bit fuzzy.

Phantom nodded. “Yep, a normal teenage boy.”

Huh. 

Yeah. Okay.

Phantom’s expression abruptly became somber. “So, uh, about that spell the cult leader cast…”

“Yeah, that was pretty wild.I know it hit both of us, but I couldn’t tell what it actually did.”

“Yeah… so, um, from what I could tell, he meant to cast a ritual that would put me under his control, but his pronunciation kinda sucked, like so bad, and he fumbled a couple words, so he actually did something entirely different.”

“What did he do?” Duke was starting to get a little nervous. He struggled to get to his feet, Batman a sturdy figure at his side helping.

Phantom started floating, his legs shifting into a wispy tail. “He might have created a bond between you and I.”

“A bond?” All three vigilantes asked incredulously. 

“Yep.”

“What kind of bond?” Duke asked, apprehension clawing at his chest.

“Oh, you know, the wedded union kind.”

Duke choked. “I’m sorry, the what now ?”

“He, uh, forced you and I to get married.”

“Can this be reversed?” Batman asked, pulling Duke in close.

Something hard to describe flashed in Phantom’s expression. He gulped. “I’ll have to look into you, but I’m sure there’s something. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You got forced into this too.”

Phantom gave him a wry smile before his gaze went unfocused.

“Shi–er, shoot. I have to go.”

“We need to talk more about this.” Duke said, worried about Phantom just disappeared.

“Is tomorrow night okay? Say, 10pm?”

“That’s work, but how will you find—” A tug in Duke’s chest made him pause, answering his question. Right. The bond.

Without another word, Phantom was gone in a swirl of bright green, leaving the Gotham vigilantes alone in the warehouse.

Holy shit.

Duke was married.

To a ghost.

Chapter Text

Danny groaned, flopping back into his pillow, pulling his sheets over his head to block out the sun streaming from his window.

The pounding in his head was excruciating.

Honestly, you would think being dead would mean being exempt from such mortal grievances.

Well, half -dead.

But alas, here he was feeling as if someone was taking a mallet to his brain. 

Maybe that’s what he got for forgetting to do Lancer’s essay until he came back from being summoned. 

Which he still needed to print out in the library.

Shit.

Ancients damn it.

He stretched on his mattress, yawning as he waited for his alarm to finally ring.

Familiar beeping sounded in the room, and he was proud he managed to not flinch. 

Danny grabbed his phone, squinting at his screen while checking through his notifications. 

Unsurprisingly, there was not a single call or text from Jack and Maddie. He doubted they even realized he never went back home yesterday.

Not that the Fenton household was even home these days.

No.

Home was the apartment Jazz had bought on the edge of Amity Park, the farthest they could get from their parents without fully leaving town.

It had been tempting, to just disappear and see how long it would take for them to notice, but Jazz had been adamant about Danny finishing highschool when he was so close to being done, so they stayed. 

While Danny continued working toward his diploma, Jazz had been taking her college classes online, working part-time at multiple jobs to help keep them afloat.

Danny himself started working at Nasty Burger, making minimum wage but wracking up plenty of tips since people always felt guilty for his and Jazz’s situation.

He supposed being the kids of the town nutjobs came in handy, once in a while.

Danny ripped off his sheets, blinking rapidly to try and stay awake. He yawned again, jaw cracking from the force. 

Seemed to be a coffee kind of morning.

He zoomed to the kitchen, methodically starting to brew a pot in their janky but reliable coffee machine, then zoomed back to his room to grab his stuff for a shower. Jazz was still snoring away in her room, so he figured he could actually take his time.

He left the door open a crack, turning on the water to the hottest setting, steam quickly filling up the small space. He took off his sweatshirt, grimacing when he accidentally tugged on some of his scars. He’d yet to figure out a way of getting undressed without doing that. 

Danny stared at himself in the mirror, watching intently as his eyes flickered between blue and green. When familiar emotions started to stir in his gut, he wrenched them shut, swallowing thickly. He idly traced the Lichtenberg scars on his chest before tensing his hand and pulling it back down to clutch the counter.

He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

Over the years, his scars had gotten easier to look at, but long gone were the days he ever took his shirt off in front of someone.

Too many questions and terrible answers. 

Steam hitting his bare skin reminded him of the shower running, so he removed the rest of his clothes and stepped inside.

The water running over his body was grounding.

His ice powers and undeadness made him body temperature alarmingly cold, and heat rarely ever truly warmed him, but it was so mundane it brought comfort.

He ran through the motions, quickly cleaning himself before running off the water and drying himself off.

Danny had only managed to put on a pair of boxers when Jazz lightly knocked on the door.

“You done?” she asked.

He stepped down, steam cloaking him the same way mist tended to when he was summoned. “All yours.” he said, yawning again. Damn. The shower was supposed to wake him up. Jazz narrowed her eyes at his obvious exhaustion, but before he could get interrogated, he ducked into his room.

Phew.

Danny threw on a pair of sweatpants, his favorite NASA shirt, and a hoodie, desperately needing to be comfortable today.

Sure, a few of his teachers would probably give him a dirty look for his lazy attire, but being a Fenton in Amity Park meant growing up getting dirty looks.

Actually, it wasn’t just Amity. His parent’s reputation had crossed over to the surrounding towns as well. 

Thankfully it hadn’t reached a national or international level, like Batman. 

Unfortunately, Phantom was starting to.

Well, no, not Phantom, but the Ghost King.

It was why he kept getting summoned.

Some weirdo would stumble upon a story about this all powerful creature that could fix (read: destroy) the world and try to get on their good side.

Danny was fairly certain all of these stories were about Pariah Dark, but since he was no longer king and Danny was, it was Phantom getting sucked into dealing with them.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.  

The pounding in head was returning and his stomach growled.

Crap, did he have dinner last night?

Judging by how shit he was feeling, probably not.

He walked over to his desk, making sure his school bag was packed, and slung it over his shoulder.

He made his way back into the kitchen, breathing in the smell of sweet, sweet coffee.

He dropped his bag on the floor by the dining table and immediately went to pour himself a cup. It was hot and bitter and beautiful. 

Danny’s headache lessened and his mind started clearing up. His stomach started to growl more intensely and he opened the fridge, rummaging through its contents.

He pulled out the carton of eggs and package of bacon, ignoring the loaf of bread on the counter. Toast was something he’d have to work himself up to ever touching again.

He began frying up the breakfast, looking up at Jazz when walked in, hair wrapped in a towel. She took one look at the pan and threw a banana at him.

“You need to eat more nutrients.” she said, peeling her own.

Danny grumbled but relented, eating it as he tended to the stove. Jazz poured herself coffee, adding a concerning amount of sugar in it before chugging the cup and refilling it, drinking the second one much slower. He handed her their plates, grabbing a vial of ectoplasm 

He downed the green goo, finally feeling better, then discarding the bottle safely.

Danny joined Jazz at the table, shoveling down his breakfast. Jazz ate a much slower pace, raising a brow at him until her expression morphed into annoyed realization.

“You forgot to eat dinner last night again.”

Danny smiled sheepish around the bacon in his mouth. “Maybe.”

“Danny.”

“I got busy, you know, between Lancer’s essay and being summoned, again, for the third time this month.”

Jazz sighed, but didn’t push. “What did the losers even summon you for?”

“To force me to do their bidding by giving me a sacrifice and then accidentally marrying me to that sacrifice. While Jazz processed what he said, mouth agape, Danny shoveled the last bit of his breakfast and grabbed his bag. “Oh look at the time. Gotta blast.”

Jazz's frustrated cry of “Daniel James Fenton” was the last thing he heard as he booked it out the apartment and down the stairs, not risking waiting for the elevator.

Once he exited the building he slowed down, feeling slightly odd about not being out of breath. 

There were just some things about being a half-ghost that he would probably not be used to.

His phone vibrated in his pocket but he ignored it as he crossed the street. When it started to buzz incessantly he pulled it out, bombarded with messages in the group chat.

Group Chat: who you gonna call

[Jazz]: Daniel

[Jazz]: James

[Jazz]: Fenton

[Tucker]: damn the full name

[Sam]: what he do??

[Jazz]: What on earth did you mean by ‘you got accidentally married to your human sacrifice?

[Tucker]: da fuq??

[Sam]: Daniel

[Valerie]: only you ghost boy

[Danny]: well you see

[Danny]: it’s a kinda story

[Jazz]: I’m sure

[Danny]: This cult leader loser dude was tryna cast a spell to control be but messed up

[Danny]: and then kinda accidentally cast a spell that bonded me to my sacrifice

[Sam]: how

[Sam]: just how

[Danny]: but guys

[Danny]: guess what?

[Danny]: the sacrifice was the Signal

He could practically envision everyone's minds bluescreening.

[Tucker]: once again man

[Tucker]: only you

[Danny]: Hey!

[Jazz]: So what are you going to do?

[Danny]: I told them I’d pop by tonight to talk

[Valerie]: Research binge after school?

[Sam]: I’ll bring the snacks

[Tucker]: Please don’t

[Jazz]: *i’ll* bring the snacks

[Danny]: I was planning on asking CW

[Danny]: but I didn’t wanna risk being late to the meeting

That was the last message he sent before putting his phone away.

Finding out that time worked differently in the Infinite Realms had been weird. He often ended up being there for much longer than he intended, only Jazz summoning him back for dinner pulling him away from his duties.

There was a lot to get done before meeting the infamous Batclan.

Research, for one. Most of the information on ghosts was written in ghost speak, which was pretty close to Latin with some minor differences.

After his coronation as Ghost King, there had been a lot of pressure to learn how to speak, read, and write it fluently. Of course, Danny took the opportunity to teach his friends as well.

Not many books in the mortal world used it, and his court wasn’t a fan of him borrowing some from the Zone.

Which meant they would have to refer to some pretty outdated and misinformed journals.

Not great, but at least he could go to the Zone tomorrow and get some better details.

He wondered if word spread regarding Danny’s new relationship status. Probably not, if Vlad hadn’t already called for an interrogation.

Danny also figured that while they were working on this, he’d need to give the Bats an easier way of contacting him.

A communicator of some sort would be too suspicious, and he definitely couldn’t give them his number.

That wasn’t something ghosts had.

Danny groaned out loud, catching the attention of other students walking.

Thankfully they figured that he was just annoyed at being at school.

As the entrance to Casper High School came into sight, he pushed all thoughts of last night out his mind.

That would just have to wait for later.

Right now, Danny would just pretend to be a normal teenager…

Oh shit, his essay.

Chapter Text

The Cave was bustling with energy.

After the initial worry and fear of Duke getting caught and turned into a human sacrifice for some ghost god, the absurdity of the situation was borderline laughable.

At least, that’s what it seemed from the way that Steph couldn’t stop cracking up.

“Seriously. Accidental marriage, to a ghost, of all things.” she wheezed.

“I mean, it could be worse.”

“That’s what people say when things are already bad, Duke.”

Duke buried his face in his hands, groaning. He wasn’t going to dignify her with a response.

“Enough Spoiler, and names.” Bruce said, but Duke could the tiniest bit of a smile in the older man’s voice.

Traitor.

“Hey, at least you don’t have to worry about the whole secret identity thing.” Dick said cheerfully.

Damian immediately scoffed. “Tt,. As if this creature has proven it can be trusted, given his inability to show on time.”

“Ghost.” Duke corrected. The clock was seconds away from hitting eleven at night a full hour after when Phantom said he arrived. Everyone was starting to get antsy, wondering if the being would show at all. The tugging of the bond in Duke’s chest became insistent.

“Yeah, but what kind of ghost calls themself Phantom?”

“All ghosts have an alias. It is unsafe to know one’s real identity. After all, names do have power.” spoke a new voice. Everyone snapped toward the intruder, flinging batarangs and knives on instinct. Phantom sighed as they all went through him, glancing down at his translucent chest where they made impact with the wall he leaned against. 

Duke took the opportunity to actually look at Phantom. The ghost’s appearance was noticeably different last time. Gone was the strange jumpsuit he wore last time, but instead armor that was a dark gray. A pitch black cape was draped over his shoulders, the underside reminiscent of a galaxy, and Duke swore the stars were actually moving. Floating above Phantom’s head was a crown that burned with green fire.

One of Phantom’s hands turned more solid and he removed the weapons. “Do I get to keep them?” he joked, pouting when he was met with blank stares. “Geez, tough crowd.” The weapons were gently tossed on the closest table and Phantom floated down from his position, sitting down next to the pile. Duke squinted at where Phantom’s butt was actually touching the flat surface. The ghost caught his gaze and smirked. “Liking what you see?”

Duke sputtered. “N-no, I was just, I mean, how do you do that?”.

Smooth, Thomas.

“You mean, sit?” Phantom asked, still smirking. Duke wasn’t sure why it made him blush, but he wasn’t a fan. “Many ghosts can go intangible or invisible at will. Comes in handy sometimes.”

“So you really are a ghost?” Tim asked, pausing in fiddling with his communicator, probably sending messages to Babs from where she was upstairs. The computer genius refused to be surrounded by her beloved tech with a powerful magical entity nearby, and considering what happened last time, Duke wasn’t surprised. Although, he wouldn’t be amazed if she was still listening and watching somehow.

“Yep.” Phantom said, leaning against his arms and stretching his legs as they shifted into a tail. 

Duke felt smug as those who hadn't been in the warehouse the night before stared in shock. 

“Holy shit.” Dick said.

“It is not that impressive.” Damian said, rolling his eyes.

Phantom smirked and shrugged. “Your team seems to disagree.” He shifted his tail back into legs, swinging them idly. “Should we begin?”

“Certainly.” Bruce said. 

“Great. If you don’t mind, I got a few questions.” With no resistance from the Gothamites, Phantom cleared his throat and looked right into Duke’s eyes. The neon green gaze wasn’t nearly as unsettling as he expected. “So, Signal. How old are you?”

Duke blinked, not anticipating that question. He glanced at Bruce, who gave a short nod. Secret identities and all that. “Oh, I’m seventeen.”

Phantom’s eyes lit up, quite literally. “Same!”

New questions sprung in Duke’s mind and he resisted blurting any of them lest he ventured into the taboo territory. Instead he asked, “How come you were an hour late?”

Phantom tilted his head cutely . “What do you mean? I came right at ten.” Duke merely pointed to a wall with a clock on it. Phantom’s lips formed an ‘oh’ and he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. The motion brought attention to the fact his fingers were more so claws. “My deepest apologies. I forgot about time zones. Gotham is Eastern Standard, right? I’ll be sure to remember that next time.” 

Duke’s mind spun and he was sure the other bats were thinking the same thing he was. Wherever Phantom normally resided was possibly an hour behind. 

Interesting.

“Do you mind answering a few of our own questions?” Tim asked.

Phantom smiled widely, showcasing sharp teeth. “Go for it!”

“You’re really the king of ghosts?”

Phantom gestured to the crown above his head. “This thing isn’t just for show. Technically, my title is King of the Infinite Reals, but King of Ghosts is easier to explain.”

“What’s the difference?” Dick inquired, sitting on the arm of Bruce’s chair.

“The Infinite Realms is a parallel dimension to its counterpart, the Human Realm. The Human Realm cannot exist without it, but the Infinite Realms can exist on their own, although it would not be ideal.”

“How did you become the king?” Damian asked, hand still resting on his belt for a weapon.

“Trial by combat.” Multiple eyebrows raised at that admission. “Yeah, the former king, Pariah Dark, was a total tyrant and asshole. He was being kept imprisoned but escaped, and I ended up dueling him. Funny enough, I wasn't actually told that winning would result in me becoming king until afterwards, but here I am.”

“Well shit.”

Phantom snorted. “It’s why these cult losers keep summoning me. They think they’re summoning him instead.”

“And when they realize he’s no longer king…”

“Then they find out I have no interest in world domination or whatever, well… they don’t tend to always react well. Hence, the very sad attempt at trying to cast a control spell on me.”

“I’m sorry,” Duke said, suddenly feeling extremely pissed off. “Are you saying that our marriage bond was supposed to be a mind control spell?”

“I never said he was a competent cult leader.”

Are you fucking serious?

“So what do we do now?” Duke asked, and Phantom looked as helpless as he felt.

The ghost sighed, the cave becoming suddenly cooler. Duke shivered, and Phantom tensed, the coldness disappeared as fast as it came. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I am working alongside some members of my court to try and rectify this situation. Let’s just say that it's one-of-a-kind.”

Yeah, Duke would imagine not many people would try to marry themself or someone else to a merciless non-human. 

“Would the spell book he used be helpful to you at all?” Duke asked.

“Most definitely.”

Cass appeared out of nowhere, holding said book to hand over. Phantom, to his credit, didn’t flinch at her sudden presence and accepted it with a thanks. He flipped through it briefly, humming when he found the page the cult leader had bookmarked.

The room went deadly silent, horrified, when Phantom reached inside his chest with the book and it disappeared.

Well, that was a first.

“Dude, that's sick!” Steph exclaimed.

“Oh, thanks! Comes in handy.”

“I bet.”

Phantom smiled at her before becoming serious again. “I’ll take a look at this tonight with my court. In the meantime, while I have your attention, there is another matter I would like to bring up. The G.I.W., commonly known as the Guys In White or Ghost Investigation ward. They’re a government-affiliated and funded agency tasked with eliminating the Human Realm of any and all paranormal beings. Currently their jurisdiction only lies in the US, but I fear that once they succeed in capturing and proving the existence of ghosts and similar creatures, they will get authorization needed to take their efforts internationally. As you can imagine, that cannot be allowed to happen. It would be bad, to say the least.”

“Surely this cannot be legal. Would this not go against the pro-Meta acts?” Bruce asked. His fingers twitched on his lap. Duke was sure that he was trying not to immediately start researching into it.

Phantom shook his head. “Ghosts and other paranormal entities are not considered Meta. For starters, we’re dead. In fact, under the jurisdiction of President Luthor,” Fucking Lex. “the Anti-Ecto Act was created in order to allow the G.I.W. to do whatever they want.”

“How on Earth was this passed? Why does the JL know nothing of this?”

Phantom shrugged. “I’m not as adverse in human politics and legislation as I could be, but imagine the standard principles apply. It was done under the rug, assuming there would be no one to pay attention to its existence until it was too late. Given Luthor’s stance on non-humans as it is, it’s not entirely surprising.”

No, it really isn’t.

“The G.I.W. has been increasing their efforts in successfully capturing an ectoplasmic creature. I alone do not have the voice required to generate attention, but if the JL stands with me, I’d like to thing we would get it repealed.”

“I will need to talk with the rest of the League. Would you be willing to join me in that conversation?”

“Certainly.”

Phantom looked relieved, but still stressed. “Is there something more?” Bruce asked.

“I– yes. I noticed this last night and even more so now, but almost all of you have an ectoplasmic signature.”

“Ectoplasmic signature?” Tim asked far too curiously. Duke and Steph took a cautious step away from him.

“Right. Ectoplasm is the very essence of what makes up a ghost. There are methods of collecting it, although I wouldn’t call it ethical, but there are masses of it that simply exist in the world. The G.I.W. has some, along with some scientists that work with them. Ghosts, when they touch something, leave behind a residue of it, but in very miniscule quantities. An easier way of collecting it is to kill a ghost.”

“Aren’t ghosts already dead?”

“It’s complicated. But, as I was saying, some of you have traces of it on your souls?”

“How is that possible?”

“You must have either died and come back to life somehow or accidentally came across a pool of it. Ectoplasm is typically regenerative in its properties. It can be used to heal someone or even bring them back to life. It can even prolong a lifespan if used continuously. There’s two different strains of it. Normal ectoplasm which is what ghosts usually have, and toxic ectoplasm which is the normal stuff that's become mutated.”

“What does this ectoplasm even look like?” Dick asked.

Phantom reached back into his chest. When he pulled out, he was holding a small vial, filled with green goo.

Wait.

That kinda looked like–

“Lazarus Pit water.” Damian breathed out.

“Why do you know that name?” Phantom asked, shoving the vial back into his chest. His eyes flashed red and everyone tensed.

“I’ve come across it before.” Damian said plainly.

Phantom’s eyes narrowed, probably knowing there was more to it than what the youngest was willing to let on. Thankfully, he didn’t push. “The Lazarus Pits are a strain of toxic ectoplasm that exist in this world and unfortunately shouldn't. If any of you had been exposed to it, then that would explain the traces you still carry. Its toxicity is what causes violent behavior that it’s associated with. It’s also not nearly as effective as the pure stuff, which means that more is needed for it to work. The best thing to do is avoid it if possible. It’s not worth the hassle.” Well, too late for that. “Any more questions?”

“Just one.” Batman said, rising from his chair. The rest of them followed suit, straightening up. “How can we contact you?”

“Oh, right! Almost forgot.” Phantom reached into his chest for, this third time considerably less freaky. He pulled out a bracelet made of a dark black metal with glowing green inscriptions on it. He handed it to Duke, who hesitantly accepted it. “I figured that it would be best if I limited who gets to contact me. Frankly, I’ve gotten pretty tired of being summoned, not that I think any of you would abuse the ability. Figured that my husband should get dibs though.” Duke flushed and put the bracelet on. It was the first time Phantom referred to him with that title. “Just tap it three times while saying my name.”

“Like Beetlejuice?” Duke asked before he could stop himself.

“Or Rumpelstiltskin. Take your pick, but I wouldn’t try summoning them either.” Phantom said, winking. Duke couldn’t tell if that was a joke. “If that’s all, I really must take my leave. Pleasure meeting all of you, dearest in-laws.”

In a flash of green light, Phantom was gone.

For a moment, the cave was eerie silent before being broken by Stephanie.

“Can’t believe Jason missed all of that.”

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, it's a what now?”

“A dead spell.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Language, Daniel.”

Danny was the last one to arrive at Vlad’s stupid mansion early Saturday morning. In all honesty, he really hadn’t been in the mood to go to the fruit loop’s place, but the promise of seeing Ellie had him dragging himself out of bed anyways.

Said child was currently cuddled into his side, napping easily while the rest of them were busy working. He glanced down at her, running a gentle hand over her hair.

“Eh, she’s literally a mini-me and a former preteen. She knows worse.”

“That does not mean we should encourage it.” Danny rolled his eyes.

“Can we get back to the dead spell thing now?”

Vlad sighed, dropping his impending lecture. “It’s a spell that has ceased to be used for nearly millennia. Not very surprising, as the book is written in a dead language. Dead things do fall into your territory. Those things combined make it usable on paranormal creatures, including the Ghost King.”

“But what was it even meant to do?”

“It was formerly used in marriage rituals, to bind the souls of those whose blood was collected to a wedded union as witnessed by the gods.”

“But I didn’t have blood spilled, or ectoplasm.”

“Did you use your ice powers?” 

Shit. “Yes…”

“Daniel—”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

A ghost's powers derived from their ectoplasm. Any instance of it contains the finest amount. Considering Danny’s favorite intimidation tactic involved cosplaying as Elsa, just not as cool. 

Thinking back to two nights ago, there was an equal amount of it along with Signal’s blood. 

Danny groaned, hitting his head against the table repeatedly. Vlad used his hand to block him from continuing and Danny just pouted at the man.

He looked over to his friends who were all stifling their laughs.

“Not funny, guys.”

Jazz kindly patted his shoulder, but he saw her biting her lip to keep from smiling.

“Only you, Danny.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. So what do we do now? Is there a magic divorce spell?”

Vlad pinched the bridge. “Not in this book, no.”

“So we keep looking.”

“Bro,” Tucker piped up. “You’re implying there even is one. Wasn’t divorce like nonexistent in the olden days.”

Maybe? Maybe not? Danny wasn't completely sure. Science was his thing, not history. “One has to exist. There’s no way it doesn’t.”

Danny’s breath started to quicken. 

This had to be undone somehow. It wasn’t fair for a renowned hero such as Signal to be stuck with a subpar ghost like Phantom. Underneath the half-dead king was a teenage boy that had long since given up the pretense of being normal. It simply didn’t exist, when you spent you days staring at the undead, listening to all of their plights, being forced to fight them so they didn’t harm the innocent, and worse of all, shoddily avoid the people that wanted to tie you down and dissect every cell in your being.

Signal deserved better.

Someone who wasn’t Danny, and carried the burden of a life unimaginable.

No, the kind Gothamite, a true diamond in the rough, whose aura glowed like the sun on a winter day, deserved someone who could match that.

Danny’s ears rung, like a high pitch banshee wail that drowned his ability to think. 

Something kept jabbing his side and he groggily looked down to Ellie poking him.

“Daddy?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

Danny took deep breaths, plastering a fake smile for his clone-turned-daughter. “Perfectly fine.”

Eyes the same blue as his squinted. Tiny arms wrapped around his torso. He ran a gentle hand through her hair, taking a look at everyone’s pitiful expressions. He took an encouraging breath. “Actually, Ellie, I have some news?”

“What kinda news?”

“Well… I may have gotten married.” Ellie’s eyes flickered green, and he braced for a bad reaction. Ellie blinked a few times, moving to sit in his lap, facing him. Her arms were still around his waist.

“Are they old?” Out of all the questions for her to ask, Danny hadn’t expected that one. He let out a soft snort.

“Nope, my age.”

“Are they nice?”

“Very.”

“Do you love them?”

Danny sighed. “Well you see, Signal, he’s a superhero that got caught in a bad spell with me. I’ve only talked to him a couple of times. We’re trying to find out if we can reverse it.”

“Oh.”

Danny clapped his hands once, trying to light the mood. “Welp, guess we got some work to do. I’ll go pop into the Zone and see if anyone can help me.”

He removed himself from Ellie’s hold, heart panging at her little pout, but he pushed forward and transformed into Phantom.

Danny ignored the attempts of stopping him and opened a portal, disappearing into his kingdom.

He sighed deeply when the negative colored landscape came into view.

At the other side of his portal stood Clockwork, looking far too amused for Danny’s liking.

“Congratulations on your new union, my king. We looked forward to becoming acquainted with our new consort.”

“Very funny, Clockwork. I’m sure you know what I’m here for.”

Clockwork’s smile dropped. “Yes, my king. You wish to know how to undo the union. I’m afraid that this is not a situation that we have ever encountered before. Many of the couples that came to the Realms were unified by more modern means, and if they weren’t, they either simply stayed together or split without ever moving on.”

Danny tried not to scream.

His rage wasn’t Clockwork’s fault.

That didn’t mean Danny didn’t currently want to rip his hair out.

He took deep breaths to calm himself. Lashing out wouldn't fix anything. “Signal himself is expecting us to no longer be wedded. I can’t go to him and the other Bats with the news that we’re stuck.”

“I understand, my king. Your court is searching for an answer as we speak. Would you like to join them?”

Danny shook his head. “I’d rather not intrude. I will be in my chambers.”

“Very well.”

Danny left without another word. He took his time, walking instead of flying, taking in the sights of the realm he commanded.

Ancients, if someone told him years ago when he first half-died that this is what would become of him, he’d laugh in their faces. 

It was so ridiculously absurd.

Married. Him. To a hero.

Well, vigilante, but whatever.

Signal was one of Danny’s role models. A meta in Gotham, a place where it was rumored they weren’t allowed. It gave hope to Danny that Amity could be the same way to ghosts.

Of course, his hometown had early on become accepting of Phantom, but there were some moments far in between where he noticed all the people he grew up with, he saw a flicker of fear in their eyes when he displayed more power than usual. The sting was easy to ignore in the heat of battle, but afterwards, in the dead of night, when Danny was alone and awake because he didn’t need as much sleep these days, the thoughts were hard to put to rest.

Danny reached his room, going through the walls rather than opening the door. He was so out of it, nearly flopping onto his mattress before he registered the lump of neon green tangled in his sheets.

“Cujo?” His dog gave an answering bark, and Danny was soon tackled to the floor. Cujo licked his face, leaving sticky trails of ectoplasmic saliva. He wiped at it, used to the dead animal’s ways of affection. Danny gently held Cujo, moving the two of them to Danny’s bed. He mindlessly petted his dog. “Where ya been, boy?” He murmured, burying his face in cold fur.

Cujo woofed, and Danny smiled, feeling some of the dread from earlier marrying. “Buddy, you wouldn’t believe the stuff you’ve missed. I got married! Can you believe it?” He said.

He wondered if Signal liked pets. A guy as kind as him surely had to?

Cujo whined, and Danny realized Cujo was probably reading into Danny’s emotions. He plastered a fake smile.

It would be better to not leave Signal in the dark. His… husband… deserved to know what he was trapped in. 

How long was acceptable to wait?

Maybe he could brush it off for a day, or after the Justice League meeting?

Yeah that could work.

… Or maybe not , he thought, as Danny felt a familiar tugging in his chest, where the bond was.

Signal was calling for him

He bit back his groan, not at all ready for this. 

Although he was excited to see Signal again.

Idly, he wondered if this would be a casual conversation. It would suck if he walked into another kidnapping situation.

Danny placed Cujo back on the bed. “I’ll be back in a little bit, boy.”

He stood, stretching his limbs and cracking his neck. He called on his powers, and opened a portal. 

With a deep breath, Phantom stepped inside Gotham for a third time.

Chapter Text

Duke stared at the streets below him, watching citizens pass by going about their lives.

Most of morning patrols involved petty crimes, but on occasion there were some bigger things he had to handle.

Today was not one of those days, which left him prowling along a rooftop, deep in thought.

“Everything good, Signal?” Oracle asked, the crackle of his comm startling him.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Thinking about your husband?” she teased.

He flushed, stammering,. “W-what? No.”

Oracle only laughed. “You could always summon him.”

“Yeah, because B would be absolutely thrilled  about that.”

“How many times does he call on Supes?”

“Barely, and it's not the same. They’re good friends.”

“And you and Phantom are married. Besides, I'd be right here supervising,” True. “unless… the two of you need some privacy.”

“Oracle!” he exclaimed, burying his face in his hands, her giggles only egging him on. He really hoped no one else was listening in. 

Truth was, he had been thinking about the Ghost King rather often. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but he swore Phantom had been flirting with him the other night.

“Do you really want each interaction with him to be while the others are like two feet away?”

Okay, that was a valid point. “Fine… just don’t tell anyone.”

“My lips are sealed.”

Duke sighed, rolling his neck to crack it, before looking down at his wrist. The neon green of the bracelet was stark against the yellow of his uniform. Tim had immediately spent hours researching into the sigils, coming up dry before he was eventually forced to stop fixating on them. The metal itself was lightweight, bangle-like, comfortable to wear but sturdy enough. It was easy to hide underneath a long sleeve shirt or hoodie, since the thought of taking it off felt wrong. Everytime he considered it, he felt a little tug in his chest, reminded of the bond that brought the two of them together.

He took a deep breath, and tapped on the bracelet three times. “Phantom, Phantom, Phantom.”

A beat passed, and nothing happened. 

The disappointment Duke felt was jarring, but he should have known better. He ran a rough hand over his face, considering taking another loop around the city when the air shifted around him, a subtle scent of ozone in the air. 

His skin prickled and he whipped around as Phantom stepped out from a swirl of greens.
Idly, he thought it was a majestic sight, the way the portal seemed to cling to Phantom, wrapping around him like a vines before disappearing into nothing.

“You rang?” he asked, smiling wide enough to display the fangs that glinted despite the lack of Gotham sunlight. 

Duke’s breath catched for a second, and once he realized he was opening gawking at the way Phantom was dressed far differently than before – white shirt, black slacks, billowing cloak, and crown now a green circlet – and swallowed thickly. “Yeah, I did. Sorry, if you were busy.”

Phantom shrugged, running a hand through his hair, and it pulled attention to the thin fabric of his shirt that covered a toned abdomen underneath. “No need to apologize. Just happy I didn’t walk into another summoning.”

“Walk into those often?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“And here I thought I was special.”

Phantom’s eyes glinted, and Duke felt chills up his spine as a neon gaze wracked over his body. “I’d say you’re pretty special.” Duke gulped, mouth dry as he tried to figure out if he was actually being flirted with. Clearly, he spent too long making a decision because he watched Phantom freeze and visibly retreat in himself, features carefully blank. “S-sorry, that was forward of me. I shouldn’t have said that.”

The awkwardness formed quickly around them and Duke scrambled to try and fix it. “I’d say you’re more special.”

Okay, yeah, no. That was so lame.

But it seemed to work since Phantom’s cheeks tinted green, and he bit a plump bottom lip, and really, Duke should probably stop checking him out.

Phantom cleared his throat. "So, uh, if no stupid cult about, what can I help you with?”

“Oh, I, uh, was hoping we could talk?”

“Talk? Breaking up with me already?”

Duke’s stomach lurched, and he rushed to clarify. “No, no, I was hoping to get to know you better, since we’re, erm, husbands and all.” Phantom looked at him through white lashes, a tinge of regret laced through his features, and Duke wondered if the whole looking into reversing their situation wasn’t going as well as they hoped. Regardless, it wouldn’t do to make it worse. “Unless, you’d rather not–”

“You mean, like a date?”

“Sure!” Just.. a really weird date since Duke was still on the fence about the whole secret identity thing. “I mean, unless you’d rather not…?”

“No, that, um, sounds great. Are you sure now’s a good time, though? Looks like you’re on patrol and I thought Gotham was anti-meta?’

Dammit Bruce. “No, its not. It’s more of a safety thing. We don’t actually hate them, you know, since I’m meta.”

Phantom’s face lit up. “You are?”

“Yeah, I thought that was pretty common knowledge…” or perhaps its not for someone like the king of ghosts. Great going Duke.

“I’ve heard the rumors, but I’ve learned to take it with a grain of salt until I see it with my own eyes. Still, that’s really cool.”

Duke flushed, unsure how to deal with the compliment. His siblings seemed to had gotten used to his abilities pretty fast, and Duke met cooler, so he wasn’t used to comments about himself.

Oracle cooed in his comm, causing him to flinch. He almost forgot she was there.

A lethal mistake, really.

Phantom tensed at his reaction, and before another misunderstanding could ensue, Duke gestured to his helmet. “Oracle, she, uh, scared me.”

“Sorry for the interruption, lovebirds.” she said, and Duke and Phantom flushed. 

“Oracle!” he chided, but all she did was laugh.

“Phantom’s right though. You’re still on patrol and B’s gonna be down here any moment to check on you, and we both know how he feels about loitering.”

Duke sighed, but relented. “Right, so that date?”

“I know a place where we could get some privacy.” Phantom’s shyness was offset by Barbara’s catcalling and he refrained from swatting at his ear as if that would stop her.

Red flashed from the corner of his eye, and he stiffened, taking in the familiar brown jacket. 

Why was Jason here?

Duke turned towards Hood’s approaching figure, but was immediately dragged by Phantom to stand behind him, a thin green shield wrapping around the two of them. 

Faster than he could process, Hood reached the rooftop and held a gun to Phantom’s head.

“Who the fuck are you?” Jason growled.

Chapter Text

Danny surprisingly didn’t flinch when the cold barrel of a gun pressed against his forehead. If he wanted to, he could easily phase out, but then that would put Signal in the line of fire, and that wasn’t something he would risk.

Besides, it’s not like the bullets would kill him. 

The ectoplasm coursing through him would slowly eat away at the metal while it healed the wound, leaving Danny with a pounding headache.

“Who the fuck are you?” Red Hood growled, and really, Danny should answer, but all he could focus on was the green coursing through the anti-hero. He could practically taste the toxicity of the ectoplasm.

Hood’s comm crackled, and he heard Oracle’s voice talking to him. “Hood, put the gun down. Phantom’s an ally.”

“I call bull.” 

Ouch. “You would know this if you ever read the group chat.” Ooh, there’s a group chat. Cool.

Oracle’s blunt statement seemed to hit a cord, since Hood slowly lowered his weapon. “Give me the spark notes then.”

Danny could sense the teasing energy before Oracle even spoke. “Phantom here is Signal’s husband.”

Red hood sputtered. “I’m sorry, what the fuck?”

“Kidnapping gone wrong.” Danny supplied.

“Yet again, what the fuck?” Hood asked, and if he weren’t wearing a helmet, his incredulous expression would be easily visible. The older man seemingly double-taked. “Wait a minute, did I interrupt your fucking date?” Danny flushed and Signal gaped while Oracle cackled. “Does the old man even know about this?”

“Why are you even here, Hood?” Signal asked, changing the subject.

Red Hood faltered. “Felt something?”

Oh? “Like what?” Danny asked, knowing the answer.

“Apparently you.”

“Back it up, Hood, and explain. Now.” Oracle demanded.

“Phantom here’s been making me feel all types of weird since he got here.”

“Hey!” Danny said, indignantly, even though Red Hood was correct. “I didn’t realize I was being summoned straight into your haunt or else I would have asked for permission. I mean, not that I technically need it, but common courtesy and all that.”

“My what?”

“Your haunt.” Danny repeated, coming to a horrifying realization. “Do.. do you not know?”

“Know what?” Red Hood growled. 

Oh boy. Alright Danny, nice and gentle. “You are aware that you died right?” He had a feeling that Hood was wearing an incredulous expression again, but the man nodded nonetheless. “Great! I mean– not that dying is great, but that you know it happened–”

“Get to the point.”

“Right! So, uh, because you died, the place that you died became your haunt. Now, it's a bit tricky how haunts are divided up, especially when multiple people die in the same place. It tends to be by greatest or oldest claim. Since you died as Robin–”

The gun returned to Danny’s head. Red Hood clicked off the safety and Signal stiffened behind him. Red Hood’s voice was dark and menacing, only furthered by the use of his modulator. “Would you care to repeat that?”

Danny sighed, and put his hand over the barrel and crushed it. “This conversation would be so much smoother if you stopped threatening to shoot me every time I speak.” He let go and the barrel and bits of metal fell to the ground. There was a minor pounding in his head as he resisted the urge to partake in the ghostly ritual of engaging in fights. Clearly Hood was feeling the same urge to, but didn’t know about it in order to not give it. Or maybe he did want to give in. The corrupted ectoplasm running through the vigilante – anti-hero? – made his nose burn. Hood looked down at the remains of his weapon, and pulled out another gun with his empty hand. Danny narrowed his eyes. “ Put it away. ” he commanded, watching intently as Hood’s hand wavered and did as he said.

“Woah.” Signal spoke from behind. 

His core pulsed and the air around them dropped a few degrees.

“You know what?” Danny let his ectoplasm pool into his hand, taking on the form of a business card. He placed it in the pocket of Hood’s leather jacket. “Let me know when you’re ready to talk for real, yeah?” He spun around to face Signal, running a hand through his hair. “Same time tomorrow?” 

“Uh…”

Danny winced. “Unless you changed your mind…” 

Danny took Duke’s silence for an answer, wishing he could actually see more than just his mouth with his helmet.

A portal swirled around his feet, and he fell in, enjoying the sensation of freefalling.

When the green faded from his vision, he was back in his room at Jazz’s apartment.

He transformed back into his human form, stretching his limbs as he walked into the living room.

Jazz was sitting on the couch with her laptop, blanket over her legs, hair pulled into a messy bun, and tv softly playing a movie. She looked up when he entered, smiling softly. “Hey, I ordered pizza. It’ll be in like ten minutes.”

Danny groaned and flopped onto the couch and burrowing himself into his sister's side. Jazz immediately placed her laptop onto the coffee table and gently brushed her fingers through his hair, holding him close.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Danny groaned again and Jazz snorted. “Alright then.”

“Life is stupid.”

“Unfortunately yes, but this is normally where you say ‘good thing I’m not alive’ and go ghost.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Jazz sighed. “What happened, Danny?”

He lifted his face and looked into her eyes, jade green meeting bright blue. “I don’t know what I’m doing. Frostbite said there might not be a fix for this whole marriage spell thing and Signal asked me out on a date and I accidentally let it slip to Red Hood that I know he used to be Robin and he tried to shoot me–”

“— What? —”

“ and I broke his gun and now I think Signal doesn’t actually wanna date me anymore because he didn’t say anything and I don’t know what to doooo!” he wailed.

Jazz blew out a breath, strands of hair floating from the force, and  closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. When she opened them back up a second later, they flickered a shade of neon before going back to their normal hue. “How about you try talking to him?”

“Red Hood?”

“No, Danny. Signal.”

“But it’s hard!”

“Why? You literally talk in front of crowds of ghosts as king nearly every time you’re in the Zone. You only struggle to speak to someone when you — Oh my Ancients, you have a crush on Signal.”

“Jazz!” Danny plugged his ears at her squealing.

“Sorry, sorry! But isn’t that a good thing? Considering the whole marriage thing.”

“It’s not like it's mutual.”

“He literally asked you out.”

“Dates don’t mean much these days, Jazz.” 

She rolled her eyes. “He’ll come to see you’re a catch.” Danny opened his mouth to say something self-deprecating but cut himself off with an audible click at Jazz’s glare. “You just gotta talk to him, one-on-one.”

“Kinda hard to talk to him when there’s always someone else there.”

“Then find a way.”

“Like, how?”

“Weren’t you and Tucker working on fixing up that broken communicator?’ Danny thought back to the official Justice League communicator that Sam found during a family trip to Metropolis. It seemed the JL had a remote way of disconnecting it from their systems since they tried to broadcast a message that they had it but received no response. Afterwards, they took it upon themselves to dismantle and rebuild it to make it more ecto-compatible. The project had been put on the backburner, however, with everything that had been going on. It wouldn’t take much for Danny to actually reassemble it, and Tuck had already had his program files ready. He could probably ask Technus to track Signal’s frequency in order to make they had the right one 

It was probably ambitious, but if everything worked, then he’d basically be able to text Signal without any of the Bats spying on them.

The doorbell rang and Danny grabbed the cash from Jazz’s hand as he went to open it.

Ten minutes later they both had half a pizza each in their stomachs, feeling full and satisfied.

It was the most Danny had eaten in a while, but the greasy cheesiness felt right for his pitiful mood.

He downed the rest of his soda, his head lolling against the back of the sofa.

Danny had almost managed to fall asleep when something tugged at his chest.

Seriously? Already?

It wasn’t as strong as a ritual or the artifact he gave Signal, which meant one possibility.

Danny glanced at Jazz’s door. She left to go get ready for bed, and would be nonplussed to see him gone again, so long as she didn’t know why.

He stared at the ceiling, praying for some strength, and transformed.

If Red Hood put another gun to his face, Danny was breaking bones this time.

Chapter Text

The curtains were closed, leaving only a sliver of moonlight to peek through. 

He tidied up the couch, making sure everything looked a semblance of neat.

His weapons, aside from one holstered on him, was put away safely.

He considered changing out his suit, but he wasn’t 

Jason paced around his safe house, the feeling of guilt increasing as he fiddled with the card in his hand, thinking back to the events of a mere thirty minutes ago. 

Duke stared at the space that formerly occupied Phantom before pinning Jason with a glare that would probably be more effective without the helmet, but made Jason feel awful nonetheless.

"Seriously?" Duke asked, the hurt in his voice barely masked with by anger/

Babs crackled in both of their comms. "Honestly man, just pull out your phone and look at the group chat."

Jason begrudgingly obliged, cringing at the hundred-plus messages that were left unread by him. 

Okay, so maybe they had a point.

He quickly scrolled up to a couple of days ago and began skimming.

Duke was kidnapped? Oh shit.

Phantom's an eldritch god? Double shit.

Forced marriage ritual? Fucking hell.

Government sanctioned team that was tracking down ghosts because they were made illegal, and Jason and his family fell within the threshold. Yeah, someone was gonna die.

“Shit, man, I’m sorry.”

Duke sighed. “Just… forget it. I’m gonna wrap up patrol.”

Jason watched his brother’s receding figure with a pang in his chest.

The card was unassuming, just the standard of the business variety. 

Black and glossy, with neon green font saying, “Burn card while saying Phantom three times to summon”

It felt silly, but Jason listened, grabbing a lighter and placing the flame under a corner. As it caught on in fire, he changed the ghost’s name. 

For a second, nothing happened, the smell of smoke permeating his senses, and he wondered if he was then victim of a joke, but then the card burst into green flames entirely, causing Jason to take a startled step back. The smoke in the air was pulled together, swirling from gray to emerald, flashing brightly, and finally out stepped the ghost of the hour.

“This fast?” Phantom asked, voice eerily as it resounded off the walls in echoes.

“Sorry.”  Jason said sheepishly.

“You lot don’t waste time, huh?” Phantom’s green gaze, almost devoid of life, made Jason’s skin crawl. The ghost floated over, circling around him. “I suppose I can respect that.”

Jason swallowed thickly. “I wanted to apologize.”

Phantom raised a brow. “Really?”

“Sometimes… there’s this, uh, rage, and I can’t control it—”

“You mean from the toxic ectoplasm?”
“What?”

Phantom blew out breath. “Jesus, do none of you guys communicate?” Jason was mildly taken back by the language to fully register the dig. “Ectoplasm. The thing that ghosts are made of. Neon green. Slime-like. Very corrosive. You’ve obviously been influenced with it some point during or after your death.”

“And, you can just tell?”

“It’s written all over you. Even if I wasn’t a ghost, I could tell.”

Jason wasn’t a fan of that. He knew that it was obvious, that he didn’t come back right - that he shouldn’t have come back at all - but to have an utter stranger see it was something else. “How?”

Phantom’s eyes seemed to be staring into his soul. “It's written into your very being. If I looked just a bit deeper, I could find out everything there is to know about you, including your identity.”

”You haven’t already?”

Phantom shrugged. “I understand the need for secrets. Besides,” his lips curled into a wide grin, showcasing sharp teeth. “It’s far more fun to find out the good ol’ fashioned way.”

Jason swallowed thickly. So, you’re like the god of ghosts or something?”

”No, well, I mean— Technically, I am simply the king of the Infinite Realms.” Phantom’s tail shifted into legs, and he floated over to the couch, laying down. “It’s the place where all ecto-entities are spawned from, a counterpart to the human realm. The two co-exist, yada yada. The former king —“

”Forner?”

”— was a massive fruitloop, and I accidentally defeated him through trial by combat. And i only fought him because he was trying to drag my entire hometown into the Realms, which I was not about to let him do, but of course, no one told me that fighting him and winning would make me become king.”

Phantom huffed and Jason felt dizzy.

What the actual fuck did his family just get involved with?

“And the G.I.W.?” Jason asked.

The room seemed to crackle with static and Phantom’s expression turned stormy. “The Ghost Investigation Ward, or more affectionately called the Guys In White. Your team could probably fill you in all about them, but if you get on their radar, just know you’re screwed. You’re alive, which makes you liminal, due to how deep the corrupted ectoplasm runs in your veins. Their weapons are designed to hurt ghosts, but being alive does not make you immune. In fact, it would only give them cause to expand their research, which would be really, really bad.”

“Got it, anything else?”

Phantom bit his lip, wringing his hands together and floating off the couch. “Do you want me to purify the ectoplasm in you?”

Jason choked. “What?”

“It won’t hurt or anything, just feel weird. Kinda just like taking a painkiller for a headache and feeling fuzzy afterwards. “

“Is…” Jason licked his lips. “Are there any side affects?”

Phantom shook his head. “Nope.”

“I won;t feel any more rage?”

Phantom hesitated. Of course. It was too good to be true. “Rage, unfortunately, is a key emotion. Ghosts, we feel strongly, and in our culture, to fight is a way of introducing yourself or even bonding, It won’t go away entirely, but since you’re still alive, it won’t be as strong of an urge. Since I wasn’t a ghost when you died, I have no clue if you had been a ghost during your death. I mean, I could find out, and that would let me know if you had an obsession, which you could use to help control the rage.”

Obsession? Wait. Something else the ghost said. “You weren’t dead when I was dead? How old are you?”

No, how young was he?

Phantom’s eyes flitted nervously. “Right, so the toxic ectoplasm. Shall we?” The change of subject sparked the Pits, and Jason took a deep breath, nodding. “You should sit down for this.”

Jason planted himself on the couch. 

A crown and cape shimmered into existence on Phantom’s form, making him look like the very king he was.

The ghost stretched out his hands, holding them over Jason’s sternum. He jolted when they went inside his body.

He felt cold, like his blood was ice.

Phantom’s eyes glowed green, before black, taking on the look of nebulas.

Whatever happened next, Jason wasn’t sure, as his vision faded, and when he came to, he was throwing up into a plastic bag held open by Phantom. When had his helmet come off, and how had Phantom not triggered the bomb?

Well, there went his identity.

The heated rage that simmered below his skin at all times was gone, replaced by a vibrant warmth. 

Jason thought of the same things that always made him lash out, and while there was a small flicker of anger, it was nothing compared to before.

He breathed out deep, his body shaking.

“Thank you.” he croaked.

Phantom smiled brightly, ruffling Jason’s hair. “Don’t mention it.”

And with a green inferno, the king was gone.

Chapter Text

He swatted at the bedside table, throwing the digital clock onto the ground with a crash.

Why did he keep that thing again?

Oh, right. Because he absolutely sucked at charging his phone, evident by the red battery icon and 5% when he picked it up.

Danny reached around for his charger, plugging in his phone. 

It was only eight in the morning, but he could already hear noises in the distance.

He blinked up at the ceiling. 

Right, he was at the Fenton household, which meant that Jack and Maddie were working away on whatever contraption they were trying to build at the moment. 

Danny flopped out of bed, nearly getting tangled in the charging cord and fell to the floor with a thump.

He groaned into the hardwood, feeling a bit more dead than he tended to. 

There was a chance that he had overdone it yesterday, with the whole double summon and ectoplasm cleanse.

He propped himself to his feet and dragged himself to the bathroom, doing a very good imitation of a zombie.

A cold shower helped bring some energy back into him and soothed his core.

He threw on some clothes, cringing at the feel of cotton scraping against his skin.

Great. It was one of those days.

The kitchen was empty as expected.

There was still one more vial of ectoplasm stashed in the cupboard below the sink. Jack and Maddie would only have found it if they ever looked inside, which had yet to ever happened.

He put the whole vial in his mouth, chewing the glass before swallowing. Instantly, he felt more awake.

Danny pointedly avoided the toaster, phasing through the fridge door to peer at what they had. 

About a cup of expired milk remained in the gallon, broccoli that desperately needed to be trashed, and of course the good ol’ possessed sentient bread.

Danny quickly jerked his head back out when he heard footsteps, turning to see Jack coming out of the basement.

”Mornin’ Dann-o.”

“Morning… dad.”

”Any plans for today?”

Danny shrugged. “Gonna go to Tucker’s. He got a new video game and we’re gonna try to beat it in one go.” 

The lie easily slipped from his tongue but Jack didn’t notice. “Take some breaks, okay?”

”Sure.”

”Is Jazzy staying with one of her friends? Didn’t see her in her room last night.”

Danny almost walked straight into the counter. There was no way… Have they not noticed? Did that not realize, that she had left months ago? 

“Yeah,” he croaked, trying to move past the shock. “She’s had a sleepover with Sam and Val.”

”Well, as long as she gets all her homework done. It wouldn’t be good for her grades to take a hit before she graduates highschool.”

Ancients. Danny was ready to throw up.  

He quickly left the house after that, not even bothering to grab a bite to eat.

Stepping on the Foley property made some of the residual tension from dealing with his dad fall from his shoulders.

Danny knocked on the door, waiting patiently for someone to open it.

”Oh, good morning Danny.”

”Hey, Mrs. Foley. Tuck up yet?”

”He’s already tinkering on whatever you too are working on. Head on up, and I’ll bring up some snacks in a bit.”

Danny went inside, Mrs. Foley ruffling his hair as he walked past her.

The promise of food made his stomach rumble.

Tucker was typing rapidly on his laptop, the communicator propped on the pillow next to him.

Danny threw himself on the mattress.  “How’s it going?”

”Dude, this thing is so epic!”

Danny chuckled, grabbing the device. It was a little banged up, but still worked. He flipped it open, displaying a black screen. He fiddled with it, getting a feel for it. “Did Technus locate the frequency?”

On cue, the ghost appeared on the screen. “I did, sire, but it has not been deemed ‘secure’ to use.”

“Right now, it’s still missing the key ingredient to keep the Bats from locating us.”

Danny wished he had been able to help out more in the process, missing being to able to create things the way he used to, but between his king duties, fights, and school work, he barely had enough time to hang out with his friends these days, which meant all he could do was live vicariously through Tucker.

Heh, live.

“Right, well, let’s go ghost.” Danny muttered. The phrase was unnecessary, but the words still gave him a sense of bittersweet nostalgia.

When he transformed, it was in his original hazmat suit.

Danny held the communicator securely and let his ectoplasm pool into his hand.

It was an odd thing to describe, almost like he was sweating, but instead it was thick goop coming out.

The communicator glowed brightly as it slowly absorbed the ectoplasm. 

He waited as the screen flickered, showing his logo. 

He gave the device back over to Tucker. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Heck yeah!”

“What’s the status?”

“I’m afraid, little king, that much progress has not been made.”

Danny shifted on his throne, staring down Clockwork, who almost squirmed where he stood.

He sighed. “Should I then prepare to let the Bats know the worst?”

“That would be the best course of action. I am sorry.”

Danny waved the ancient off, hopping off his throne.

He took in the sights of the castle as he made his way to his room.

Danny phased through the door before leaning against it, sliding to the floor.

“Gahhhhh!” He groaned, hitting the back of his head softly on the door repeatedly.

He reached inside of himself and pulled out the communicator, tracing the bat shape gently. 

The ability to reach out to Signal lied on his fingertips, but Danny stayed afraid of the possibilities.

Technically, all he had to send was a simple greeting, but even trying to do that left his hands shaking.

Just send a fucking ‘hi’, Danny, he thought grumpily.

His fingers flew on the screen, and he pressed the send button before he could second guess it further.

The feel of his fist hitting the punching bag was therapeutic for about half a second.

The others steered clear after Duke returned from patrol yesterday in a sour mood and Babs was scolding Jason on the comms. 

Training was perhaps not the healthiest way for Duke to take out his aggression, but hey, he was a bat - let him be.

His comm chimed on the table,  but he ignored it. If there was an emergency, some else could handle it. After all, he had just returned from his shift.

The comm chimed again, and this time he realized that the sound of the notification was completely different.

Duke had designated tones for each person, all approved by Babs, that he changed frequently to avoid any protection risk of rogues recognizing them. 

The one that just came in was not one he had ever used.

Duke steadied the punching bag, taking in deep breaths, before walking over to the table.

For half a second, his blood froze at the simple ‘hi’ on his screen, but then another message came in.

[Unknown]: so about that date?

[Signal]: Phantom?

[Unknown]: Yep!

Duke sat down, feeling a little light headed. Shit, was this a security breach?

[Signal]: How is this possible? This line is untraceable

[Phantom]: Don’t worry, it is! I just have my ways

[Signal]:…

[Signal]: are you sure I shouldn’t be worried?

[Phantom]: positive 

[Phantom]: let’s just say that it’s a one time thing

[Signal]: You know that Oracle monitors all the comms, right?

[Signal]: what am I supposed to tell her when she finds out

[Phantom]: she won’t

[Phantom]: so about that date?

[Signal]: Phantom!

[Phantom]: look, if she finds out, which she won’t, I’ll talk to her myself

[Signal]: fine

[Phantom]: Great! So that date

Duke chuckled softly, feeling a little fond.

[Signal]: me showing up in uniform would be a little sad for a date, right?

[Phantom]: hey, i get it. Secret identities and all

[Signal]: any progress on the magical divorce?

Duke winced when he pressed send. There was probably a better way to have asked that

[Phantom]: not yet, sorry

[Signal]: then I guess keeping my civilian identity in front of you is pointless in the long run…

[Phantom]: are you saying what I think you’re saying I am 

[Signal]: I am

[Signal] are public places a bad idea with you being a ghost and all

[Signal]: Not that I’d mind being with you in public!

[Signal]: Just the whole ghosts a secret thing

Phantom didn’t respond for a minute, leaving Duke feeling apprehensive.

[Phantom]: we can be in public

[Signal]: are you sure? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable

[Phantom]: I’ll be fine

[Phantom]: I have an idea

[Signal]: if you say so

[Signal]: how’s tomorrow?

[Phantom]: tomorrow’s good

[Signal]: should I summon you, or?

[Phantom]: just gimme a time and place and I’ll be there

[Signal]: not an hour late this time, i hope?

[Phantom]: Okay you know what

[Phantom]: that’s fair

[Phantom]: but hey!

[Phantom]: not an hour late, I promise 

Duke smirked, sending Phantom the location of the cafe he usually liked to hang out at after school. It wouldn’t be busy in the evening since most people only went to grab something to-go.

Footsteps sounded at the cave entrance and Duke quickly said goodbye to Phantom, feeling equally nervous and excited about tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The absurd amount of time he spent checking his appearance over and over again in the mirror was mildly concerning.

Still, that didn’t stop him from doing it anyways. 

He had a right to be nervous, considering it was the first date he would be going on in a while, and with his magically bound husband nonetheless. 

Duke took one last look at himself, taking a deep breath, and left his room.

No one knew what he was about to do so he hoped that no one would catch him—-

“What are you smiling about?”

Duke startled, whipping around. “What?”

Jason was standing by the entrance of the manor library. Duke didn’t even know he was home. “You headed somewhere?”

Was it that obvious? Duke refrained from smoothing down his clothes again. It was a basic outfit. A form fitting yellow shirt and pair of slacks. Nothing too telling, right? “When did you get here?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re always holed up in your room at this time, doing whatever. Where are you going?”

Duke was not aware that his nightly routine was something the man paid attention to. “I, uh, have plans.”

”With who?”

“Why does it matter?” Defensiveness colored his tone and he tried to tamp it down. 

”Is it Phantom?”

What was happening right now? “Umm…”

Jason nodded as if in understanding. “Did you tell anyone else?”

“No.”

”Okay, I’ll cover for you.”

”What?” Duke squinted at Jason, seeing that there was something different about him. Not off, just different. Like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders. The colors of his aura seemed to dance around with rage instead of burning bright with unfiltered rage. “Why.”

Jason shifted against the wall, trying to play it off as nonchalant. “Phantom just helped me with something, is all.”

His curiosity was now piqued. He knew that Phantom gave Jason the card for them to talk, but he didn’t know that they met up again so quickly. ”Like what?”

”Nothing.” Jason sighed. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Duke didn’t believe it but he dropped the matter for now. If it was important enough, the entire family would find out eventually. “Thanks.”

Jason shrugged. “Call us even.”

Whatever that meant was left unknown as Jason straightened his posture and slinked off into the library.

Duke tried to brush that interaction, focusing on the excitement he felt over his upcoming date.

No one else was lurking around, which meant he was able to slip out of the manor without being stopped again. 

He hopped onto his bike – not the Signal one, but a normal one that he was only allowed to have after an annoying lecture from Bruce about riding safely – strapping on his helmet and zoomed off the property, nerves thrumming in his veins.

The city passed by him in a familiar blur. Duke kept his breathing steady as he drove, relying on muscle memory and instinct to get him to the coffee shop. It probably wasn’t the smartest or safest idea, but he was mentally occupied with trying not to pull over and throw up. 

How in the world was he actually this terrified for a date?

He pul into the empty parking lot, the place unsurprisingly empty as he expected. 

he spun his keys around his finger as he walked through the door. 

“Hey Duke!” Becca called from the counter where she was preparing a mobile order.

“Hey!”

“Your usual?” she asked, placing the order she completed on its designated counter. 

Was it rude to get something before Phantom showed up? Would Phantom even be able to have anything if he was dead? “Uh, yeah.” he finally decided.

Becca began making his usual iced mocha, which would hopefully be enough caffeine to last him the evening since he couldn’t nap after patrol earlier, while Duke paid and left a tip.

He looked around, taking in the decor despite having been at the place at least a hundred times by now.

Posters advertising their menu covered the walls. The furniture mostly consisted of typical coffee shop tables and some booths along one side  

After a few moments, Duke was handed his cup, and he took a sip, walking over to one of the booths, facing the door, tapping his fingers onto the flat surface as he waited.

Becca shot him a curious glance over the counter, before her eyes lit up with realization. She opened her mouth to tease him, but Duke shot her a glare and she refrained from saying something.

The door opened, making Duke sit up straight in his seat, but it was only the guy he placed the online order, giving him a weird look before leaving.

Duke tried not to visibly deflate, taking another sip of his drink. 

I have an idea , Phantom had said, and honestly, what did that even mean.

Was there some type of ability that he had? Would he merely change his appearance to look more alive? 

Duke had no clue.

He closed his eyes, sipping mindlessly at his drink and something tugged in his gut and his breath hitched. 

Phantom was near.

He stared at the door, apprehensive, watching out for short, teenage boys that glowed a vibrant green.

The next person to enter was almost that, aside from the fact he was very much still alive.

Blue eyes and bright smile looked Duke’s way, making him fidget. The boy went straight to the counter, ordering a hot drink with too many espresso shots to possibly be legal, but Becca barely batted an eye, possibly due to also dealing with sleep-deprived Bats on occasion, rattling off the price as the boy paid, leaving a hefty tip in the jar.

Duke expected the boy to either leave or sit at an empty table, but instead he plopped down right in front of him.

“Uh, hi?” Duke said, because he had manners.

The boy smiled widely, showcasing a slightly familiar chipped tooth. “Hi!”
“Can I help you?” Perhaps it came off a little rude, but his companion merely smirked.

“And here I thought you invited me on a date.”

His bedroom almost looked as if he had just dealt a ghost attack.

“Oh my Ancients, Danny! You look fine.”

Danny shot his sister a glare. “I need to look better than fine.”

Laughs sounded from the tablet Jazz was holding. “Geez, Danny. You’re already married to the guy.” Tucker joked. “No need to try so hard.”

Danny took a deep breath, the nerves thrumming in his veins like a battering ram to a door. A snarky remark that betrayed his true feelings coated the tip of his tongue, hard to bite back, but he persevered.

He tried not to let the weight of it hold him down, buttoning up his shirt and smoothing down his hair. “Thanks guys. So helpful.”

“Alright, enough out of you two.” Jazz said, ending the video call. She got up from the bed, standing in front of Danny. 

She took his face in her hands and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Danny tried not to flush, rolling his eyes. “What?”

Jazz merely smiled. “Nothing. Just proud of you.”

They basked in each other’s company for a brief moment before Jazz gave him another kiss and pulled away, sighing. “Alright. You know the rules.”

Danny fiddled with the cuff of his shirt. “Have my ringer on at all times, let you know if I put it on silent, definitely let you know if go into the Zone after or am staying out later than intended, and wake you up when I get back.”

“And?”

“And no overusing my powers.” he grumbled.

Jazz pinched his cheek. “Good! Now, shoo!”

Danny left with a mock salute, going ghost and opening a portal to Gotham.

The city had a certain kind of aura later in the day. 

Ominous, borderline creepy, but strong.

Actually it reminded him of Amity.

He landed on the same rooftop he had when Signal summoned him a couple of days ago.

Still a ghost, he flew over to where he was told to go, the location of his date seared into his mind.

It was a bit difficult to navigate through the Gotham smog, and the sounds of crime that made him itch to help, but Danny kept his focus.

The parking lot of the little cafe was empty, and for a moment Danny panicked, thinking he got the time wrong, but a quick look inside to see a grand total of two people inside reassured him.

He took one more deep breath, releasing his ghost form, and walked inside, taking care not to stare blatantly at the other customer who could only be Signal, with his aura that glowed like a star. Danny shot him a bright smile, hoping that it didn’t border on creepy, then ordered his drink.

“Hi, one large dark roast with four shots of espresso, please!” 

He watched the poor barista falter for half a second, a look of mild horror on her face, before she rang him up.

Danny threw a $20 in the tip – totally not stolen from Vlad’s wallet when he wasn’t looking – as a token of appreciation.

Caffeine didn’t actually work on him all that well, especially after he took the crown, so he needed larger amounts of it. It also helped that the looks he got when ordering said larger amounts was always hilarious.

Danny thanked the worker as she handed him his drink, and he took a bracing sip as he turned around, eyes lingering on the face of his evening’s companion.

Signal - and really, Danny was eager to find out his civilian name – looked surprised to see Danny sit right down in front of him, which was fair.

The hero was wearing a yellow shirt, perhaps a nod to his other self, but frankly it was adorable.

“Uh, hi?” he said. 

Danny smiled widely, feeling a touch too giddy. “Hi!”

“Can I help you?” The cautious edge in his voice made Danny smirk. 

“And here I thought you invited me on a date.”

His bluntness was probably a little too intense, but he watched realization flicker on the other boy’s face. “Phantom?”

“Got it in one?” He joked, flashing his eyes a familiar neon. “Although, you can call me Danny.”

“Danny?”

“Wow, this is gonna be weird if we both have the same name.” 

“What? No!” Signal shook his head. “Your name is Danny?”

“Yep!”

“And you’re just telling me?”

“Well, I figured it's pretty bad date etiquette otherwise? Can’t have you calling me Phantom the entire time.”

“What about the whole ‘names have power’ thing?”

Danny shrugged. “They do, and speaking of names…?”

Signal blinked. “Right, uh, Duke.” Duke stuck his hand out for Danny to shake, which he did, but not without letting out an amused snort at the sudden formality. Duke winced. “Sorry, habit.”

“Don’t worry, that was cute.”

Duke flushed, rubbing his neck. “So, uh, you look–”

“Different?”

“I was going to say nice, but yes, also different.”

Danny leaned over conspiratorially, sipping his drink. “You think I look nice?”

“Er, I mean–”

Danny smirked, winking. “Don’t worry, you look rather dashing too.”

Duke sighed. “Thanks.”

They stared at each other for a moment, a million question on the tips of their tongues. As Danny’s impatience grew, the air around them crackling subtly. “Ask what you want to ask.”

“What?”

“I see the question dancing around your eyes. Ask.”

“I-” Duke licked his lips, taking another sip of his drink. “I don’t know how to and I don’t want to offend you in any way.”

Danny smiled softly. “I trust that you won’t.”

Duke set down his cup, placing his hands on the table, and looked Danny straight in the eyes. “How do you look so… alive?”

Danny lips twitched. The scars that littered his body ached with the reminder of what happened and his closed his eyes for a brief second to aid against the sensations. “Because, I am.”

“What?”

“Well, technically.”

“But…”

“I’m dead?”

“Yes.”

“I am.”

Duke pinched the bridge of nose. “I’m so confused.” Danny held a fist to his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Maybe he should cut the guy some slack. “You’re both… dead and alive?”

“Correct.” He waved his hand lazily in the air, his coluring shifting from lively tan to ghostly gray. 

Duke gaped. “H-how?”

Danny felt his eyes burn and he blinked away the neon seeping through. “That borders on one of the don’ts I told you about.”
Duke winced. “Right, sorry.”

Danny’s hand returned to its usual appearance. “Don’t worry. Only natural to be curious.” He took another sip of his drink. “Though, I suppose, the least I could do, is clarify.” Danny sighed, sorting through the words in his head to explain. “I am both alive and dead. I am both Danny, and I am Phantom. There is no separation. But I am as I appear to you. An seventeen-year-old, half-living, half-dead boy king.”

Duke stared at the table and Danny gave him a chance to process. “Wow.”

Danny huffed a laugh. “Yeah.”

“Well, at least that makes the marriage a little less awkward?” 

Danny faltered and tried to cover his expression, but Duke saw it. “What?”

“About that….”

Chapter Text

“So what’s this meeting for again, Spooky?” Green Lantern asked, nearly placing his feet on the table before stopping himself. “Your emergency summons didn’t really give us all that much info.”

Duke had perhaps only been on the watchtower a handful of times. It was a nice place, a smidge overwhelming – because space –, and honestly, sometimes just not his vibe. That didn’t mean he ever turned down an invitation to go, even though he really didn’t need one.

This, however, was a special occasion.

He fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist, casting a glance at the others.

Batman's presence commanded all attention in the room. “A few nights ago, Signal had been captured by a group of cultists we had been looking into. These cultists used him as a sacrifice to summon a being called the Ghost King.”

“ Shit. ” Zatanna muttered.

Batman continued as if there was no interruption. “The cultists succeeded, but the Ghost King had not been interested in whatever they had planned. The leader had not taken that well, and instead changed plans and tried to cast a spell that would control the Ghost King, Phantom.”

Duke stepped forward, giving Batman a silent look to allow him to finish the story. After all, it was mildly embarrassing and would only be more so from his mentor’s mouth. Batman nodded, stepping back for Duke to take over. 

He cleared his throat, images of that night flashing in his mind. “Instead of hitting Phantom with a control spell, the leader accidentally, by butchering Ghost Speak to the point of gibberish, cast a marriage spell between Phantom and I.” Someone let out a startled laugh and Duke could feel Batman’s glare from behind. “To learn more about the whole situation, we arranged a meeting with him. The leaders had not been trying to summon Phantom, but instead the previous Ghost King, Pariah Dark.”

“There’s been more than one king?” The Flash asked.

“Correct, but it's better if people don’t know that, at least according to Phantom. We also found out something else, which is why we called for a meeting.”

Duke stepped back, letting Batman take the lead again. 

The dark knight pulled out files from seemingly nowhere, passing them around. Duke flipped through it, finding a detailed report of a second group. “The Ghost Investigation Ward, or the G.I.W. are a government affiliated agency. Their goal is to rid our world of paranormal beings, such as the Ghost King himself and others under his jurisdiction. To those wondering how the G.I.W. has managed to get away with this, under the presidency of Alexander Luthor, paranormal entities were decreed to not be meta, and thus forth, an act called the Anti-Ecto Acts. This allows the G.I.W. do whatever they desire, so long it is to eliminate the Paranormal. This issue was raised to us during a meeting we had with Phantom. As the Ghost King, he has raised his concern, and rightfully so. King Phantom has requested the Justice League’s assistance in getting this act repealed.”

“We are going to help, correct?” Martian Manhunter asked and Batman grunted in confirmation.

Duke’s stomach swooped and he looked across the room straight into neon green eyes, “And once again, I’d like to extend my gratitude for the assistance you are lending me. Thank you all so much.”

Heads whipped toward the back of the room, but Phantom merely smiled leaning against the wall.

Duke’s heart lurched, reminded of the later part of their date the night before.

“About that…” Danny said, his expression faltering. Duke felt his stomach drop, bracing himself. “My court managed to find a counterspell for our bond. I haven’t told anyone but you yet. I’ll admit, I’ve grown rather fond of you, of us, and would be honored to continue seeing where this relationship of ours goes, but no matter how…. scared… I was to bring this up to you, it would be wrong for me to hide such a thing.”

Duke took a second to process the words that Danny was saying. Finally, he settled on a response. “I understand.”

The relief and gratitude on Danny’s ensured Duke that he said the right thing. “Thank you. We don’t… we don’t have to go through it tonight. I don’t want to put the pressure on you.”

“How about,” Duke took a sip of his mocha, trying to get the words right. “How about tonight, we focus on just being two teenagers on a date, and tomorrow, we worry about ending the bond?”

Danny sighed, giving Duke a genuine smile. “Sounds perfect.”

“Welcome, King Phantom.” Batman greeted.

The ghost was dressed regally, his crown glowing in an ethereal light above his head, hands shoved into the pockets of a trenchcoat, the lining the same galaxy as the inside of the cape he wore that night in the warehouse.

“Just Phantom is fine.” he replied, giving a lazy wave, before stiffening his posture. “I have invited some members of my court to this meeting. They will be arriving shortly.” 

On cue, a green spiral swirled into existence next to Phantom, three figures popping out of the portal. 

One of the figures, dressed in a dark red and black suit with a sheer helmet, sauntered up to Signal and looked him up and down.

“Uh, hi?” Signal asked, confused.

Phantom face palmed, sighing hard enough for the room to drop a few degrees. “Red, that’s enough.”

‘Red’ continued for another second before nodding their head, seemingly satisfied with whatever they were looking for. “Yeah, alright.”

Phantom removed himself from the wall and stepped forward, pulling Red back behind him. “Sorry about her.” Red scoffed and punched Phantom lightly on his arm, making Phantom roll his eyes. “This is Red Huntress. She’s…”

The two of them shared a look, one that made something flicker in Duke’s gut, and Red Huntress continued her own introduction. “I work with Phantom to keep stray paranormal out of his haunt.”

“Your haunt?” The Flash asked.

“Page four.” Batman answered before Phantom could and Flash smiled sheepishly.

“Thank you.” Phantom said. “Along with her, I have invited —” Phantom turned around, pinning the larger being with a glare that rivaled one of Batman’s. “Plasmius. Why?”

In Plasmius’s arms was another smaller ghost who was also glaring at him, perhaps due to the tape that was covering her mouth. “No one was available to watch over her.”

Phantom took another deep breath, rubbing his face, and Duke felt a little bad for him. “We’ll discuss this later.” The king turned to properly face the League with a minor flourish. “And Plasmius, who is unfortunately my second-in-command.”

“And the little Ghost?” Green Arrow asked.

Phantom narrowed his eyes, the sclera and iris morphing into the same pitch black of his pupils, tiny little nebulas glowing eerily amongst the dark of it. “None of your concern.”

“Well, okay then.” 

Phantom sighed, clearing his throat. “Apologies. Shall we proceed?”

The rest of the meeting went rather smoothly, especially considering that the League was dealing with three – technically four – unknowns. 

Batman seemed to be the most at ease, and it was probably due to the fact that Phantom was passionate about what they were trying to accomplish, and the fact that he was willing to answer whatever eruptions arose, although occasionally with cautious wording.

Duke joined Nightwing and Red Hood to the kitchen, needing a coffee desperately to help with all the information swirling in his mind.

The three of them halted at the doorway when they spotted the little ghost sitting on a chair, swinging her short legs and sipping loudly from a… juice box? 

A very brightly colored juice box.

Nightwing easily slipped into the version of himself that made him so loved by children. “Well, hi there!”

The little ghost narrowed her eyes, the manner oddly familiar. “Are you my new stepdad?”

The three Bats choked on their spit, Nightwing recovering the fastest. “What?”

Before the little ghost could continue, Phantom phased through the wall, frantic, and scooped her up, resting her on his hip. “Wraith, what did I say?”

“I just wanted to know who my new stepdad was, daddy.”

Phantom flushed green, his eyes immediately searching Duke. “The yellow one, honey.”

Wraith’s eyes widened. “Oh, he’s pretty—”

Phantom floundered and abruptly clamped a hand over Wraith’s mouth. “Okay, that’s enough outta you. Plasmius!” He yelled.

The ghost appeared, looking a little annoyed at the summon. Phantom merely handed over Wraith, who seemed perfectly content. “Hi, papa!”

Plasmius squirmed under the weight of Phantom’s stare and in a neon green swirl, the two of them were gone.

Unasked questions filled the tension in the air, but Phantom ignored it. “Singal, may I talk to you in private?”

Duke blinked. “Uh, yeah. Follow me.”

He guided them to his rarely used private quarters in the Watchtower. Phantom’s expression was blank, but Duke could still feel the emotions radiating off of the half-ghost.

Duke gently brushed his hand against Phantom’s and received a small smile in return that made his heart almost skip a beat.

They reached Duke’s room, and he put in the code, not really caring much about hiding the passcode since it likely wouldn’t be able to keep Phantom out regardless. 

He shut the door softly behind them, feeling a little nervous. 

“So–” Duke started.

“—Wraith is my daughter.”

“... huh?”

Phantom groaned, burying his face in his hands. Duke could see the way he was glowing from embarrassment. “Wraith is my daughter, but like, technically, she’s my clone. The other half of her DNA is Plasmius. It’s… it’s a long story and I give him enough shit for it as it is. Nothing else beyond that, I swear. Well actually–” Phantom shook his head, cutting himself off. “Nevermind, that’s for another time.”

“My own biological father is a meta that I got most of my powers from.” Duke offered, the rare admission feeling odd on his tongue. 

Phantom stared at him open mouthed, long enough for Duke to blush, before smiling widely. “You know, that kinda explains a lot.”

Duke snorted. “What a pair we make, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.” Phantom laughed.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Duke cleared his throat. “So, uh, we should probably talk about the marriage thing?”

Phantom leaned backward against the door with a light thump, bracing one foot against the metal, hands shoved back in his pockets, white hair framing his face elegantly. 

He simultaneously looked a perfect combination of a Ghost King and a teenager chilling in his boyfriend’s room.

Which was precisely something that was happening in that moment.

Wow.

“Yes, yes we should.” Duke finally said when he realized how long he stayed silent for.

“Going through it,” Phantom licked his lips, eyes darting around. “Going through it, would you want it to be the end of us? I mean, I’m sure that the whole reason you even gave us a shot–”

“I’d like to see where this goes.” The finality in his tone shocked even Duke, but he spoke truly.

Phantom’s relief was palpable. He removed himself from the wall, taking Duke’s hands. “Then, shall we?”

“We shall.”

Dinner time was quickly approaching. 

It was two weeks after he was officially magically divorced from Phantom.

They decided to not mention it until the Anti-Ecto Acts were successfully repealed, which took as much time as Duke expected, along with a few addtional meetings which 

Telling his family was a bit nerve wracking, but thankfully no one questioned him, giving their support to the situation – although they had grown a little fond of Phantom after their meetings.

Duke dared to enter the kitchen, as Alfred was putting the finishing touches on their meal.

“Alfred?”

“Yes, Master Duke.”

“I, uh, erm…” Duke ran a hand over his head. 

Alfred looked up from what he was doing, expression quizzical. “Is something the matter?”

“I kinda invited someone to dinner?”

“I see. Is this someone a friend or something more?” In Duke’s silence, Alfred got his answer. “Something more. Very well, Master Duke.”

“Thanks, Alfred.”

Duke exited the kitchen, immediately stopped by an overly curious Stephanie. “Hold up, did I just hear that you’re dating again?”

“That… was nothing close to what I said.”

She stepped closer, narrowing her eyes at him. “You implied it.”

“And if I am?” he asked, trying to keep from smirking.

“All I’m saying is that this person has a lot to beat considering your ex is literally the King of Ghosts.”

“Thanks, Steph.”

“Also, I’m telling the others. Bye!”

She ran off before he could stop her and he shook his head fondly. 

Duke’s pocket vibrated and he pulled out his phone, reading the message with minor excitement.

He scanned the hall for any more nosy siblings. Once sure that the coast was clear, he made his way to the front door, trying to keep cool. 

Duke took a deep breath, smirking at the knock that sounded.

He opened it, immediately staring into icy blue eyes.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”