Avoiding Past And Future

(85) Misplaced 18

november 7

As Frostbite explained, it appeared a day on the outside world was about a week inside the manor. It helped not just the boys to heal safely, but also help the family bond beyond the nightly surveillance of the Gotham streets. Of course that didn't stop them from still working on cases. One would be a fool to not take advantage of the extra time given to them to catch up on schoolwork and old cases that had been waiting for a rainy day to arrive.

Dick made sure Bruce got to work on updating the Batcomputer hardware before setting him up with the monumental task of finding what and where to update things in Mount Justice while also adding the reboot and diagnostic run of the entire Watchtower on top of it.

Karma for leaving them behind without a warning.

Bruce didn't mind, however. It gave him a chance to get a hold of the saved file from the unofficial emergency broadcast the kids had made. It would be a lie to say he wasn't proud to see his boys handle themselves so well even with everything that was going on. If somebody asked if he made it his Bat-phone background, he totally did.

Given the extreme nature of what Danny and Frostbite had finally shared, there were a handful of other more minor revelations made. As minor as Danny admitting to purposely eroding his soul to prevent the thing from being too strong should his inhibitor collar plan fail could be.

Dick had not taken kindly to that information, threatening Danny with a pillow as he still didn't dare actually hit his brother. Electric scars still marred his skin, barely fading as time went on. They were less prominent in his human form, but he hadn't yet dared to try turning back into Phantom. Not only since a lot of his wounds were body specific, but also not finding it in him to brave the extensive scars and just how badly they may have affected him. If simply moving around and attempting to get out of bed was still so painful, who knew just how much more intense the pain would be in his ghost form.

Zatanna had tried to help where she could, but her magic had no effect on Danny. Dick, on the other hand, was already well into his healing journey. Frostbite didn't want to make any assumptions, and Dick wasn't too keen to visit their favorite human doctor with this particular issue, but Alfred assured he was well ahead of schedule. Of course, that didn't stop the man from banning him from outright walking on it, even with his custom made snowy boot and icy cast.

Though she would never say it to their face, it would be a lie to say that seeing them all be a happy little family stung. Zatanna hated how it made her feel like a horrible friend. Danny got hurt trying to get her dad back to her, Dick gave up his secret identity, Bruce opened his home. And here she was, resentment festering like a mold because they gained what she lost.

She could see they were trying to include her in things, make her not feel left out. But that was exactly what hurt even more. Family dinners or movie nights she won't get to have with her own dad anymore. All because she made a choice that got everybody hurt in the process.

Naturally she felt responsible, guilt eating her up every time Danny winced or Dick tried to argue against using crutches. Every slowed movement Bruce made as his arm still healed from summoning Frostbite. The blame lay on her shoulders. No amount of trying to heal Dick's broken ankle or offering to help Bruce's arm heal would stop her from the guilt eating at her.

On one of the nights when Selina mentioned to go check on her cats, the young magi offered to come along. Sensing something was up, Selina didn't hesitate to agree.

Ignoring the mildly inquisitive looks from Bruce and Alfred, Selina helped Zatanna piece together an outfit that wouldn't get her noticed in the streets of Gotham. Taking the more lax route, and a borrowed undercover car from Bruce, they made it to her apartment in no time.