Chapter Text
A regal old man is caressing a jar that appears to be holding half a spleen. He seems both annoyed and wistful.
"Find your original, kill him and bring his corpse here." The Demon Head order, then mutters to himself. "He should be much more susceptible and agreeable to joining me when I revive him."
"Yes, my Lord." Danny says in monotone. He fluidly stands and darts out of the throne room. He doesn't bother stopping anywhere as he makes his way out of the base. He has no belongings nor family here. He was deemed a failure in the first week of his existence. He's not as smart or as skilled as his original. He can't solve "cases" with a simple look and prefers blades over a staff. He's more offensive in his fighting and uses different dodges. He is simply a different being, so he was trained to simply be a tool.
He doesn't think it's fair, but he won't say anything about it since he saw some real kid be beaten nearly to death for "back talk" on his second day of life. The downloaded knowledge they gave him made him know that he's considered less than the other assassins due to his clone status. The only way he would have been considered worthy of anything is if he was a perfect copy of Tim Drake. Which he's unsure how he COULD be a perfect copy, he doesn't have the same memories or motivations? He only has clear, real memories of the past month? His only motivation is to be good enough to be fed, clothed, and sheltered? Of course he wouldn't be the same as some guy with a whole life and freedom to choose behind him?
Hell, the only reason Danny has a name, a name he's never spoken aloud, is the foggy knowledge that sometimes comes to him. It's starkly different than the sharp clarity of the downloaded knowledge. It whispers of a different life. One with a softness he's never known in the LoA, but no less violent. He knows words that make no sense, but are triggered by random things, scents or even colours. He's positive he's supposed to have powers of some kind, he's unwilling to test that in the pit of vipers he was created in. It all makes his head hurt to think about, but he can't tell if there's more or less fear in those blurry memories or when he has to interact with anyone in the LoA.
He does know he doesn't want to be in either place. He's not whoever those memories belong to, but he doesn't want to be some nameless killer, a simple tool for others to use. But what choice does he have? He's not even truly stable. They didn't want to bother since he wasn't perfect. He's going to die soon.
That thought gives him the flash of a girl. He can't make out details, but her colouring is the same as his and the ghostly echo of her asking for help rings in his ears. He doesn't understand the feeling of bittersweet irony he's feeling, so he ignores it.
The first thing Danny does when he reaches civilization is steal an oversized hoody to disguise some of his obvious LoA armor. He keeps as hidden from everyone and everything as possible while he makes his way to Gotham. Where his template should be. The downloads gave him all the information he needs to get there and identify his target and anyone associated with him and their preferred fighting styles. It's not a lot in Danny's opinion, but his opinion wasn't asked.
The first of the "Bats" he comes across is Nightwing and Robin, Richard Grayson and Damian Al Ghul Wayne, having some sort of bonding hang out? Danny watches them a while, they seem comfortable around each other? Danny feels envious. He knows that Al Ghul Wayne escaped the LoA. The kid ran to his father and was as protected as one could get. Danny wants that. But he doubts that kind of shit is in the cards for him, so he just silently trails after them til they cross paths with a different Gotham vigilante. Spoiler or Stephanie Brown. She's very loud and purple, which makes him feel a touch of nostalgia he can't understand and irritated about those feeling, but she doesn't make him feel jealous like watching his target's "brothers" do. So he decides to follow her when they split up.
Watching her "patrol" is entertaining. The way she quips and shit talks crooks makes the foggy feelings feel elated. He decides he likes her. It's unfortunate she will probably only hate him, since he's here to kill her ex turned... brother-in-law? The download says she dated his template and is now dating Cassandra Caine, aka Black Bat, aka the One-Who-Sees-All, aka Tim Drake's older sister. That seems messy. Danny isn't touching it with a ten-foot pole. Though, the download says Drake is now dating Caine's ex? So maybe they both realized they were gay and their ex/partners did too and switched? Still seems awkward. If he had a sibling, he wouldn't want to switch partners with them. He wouldn't want his sibling's partner to know how he acts in bed, nor vise versa. But he supposes the vigilante/hero circles are small. He heard enough rumors on the way to Gotham to know most of the heroes have dated each other and/or villains.
Not that any of that really matters. He'll be dead long before he can even think about dating or sex. Because of the intense work out it was to even get to Gotham, he's already at the coughing up blood stage of his destabilization, which means its a miracle he hasn't been caught. He's not sure if the Demon Head even expects him to actually return. Danny really isn't doing so hot.
Huh? If the Demon Head never actually expects him to succeed, why should he continue this mission? He's dead anyways, so why not find the things the foggy memories said he enjoyed?
First! Rob someone that can probably afford it or just deserves to be robbed! He needs money to pay for things!
Danny eyes the criminals Spoiler left for the police to get. She just left and he could still follow her, but he really wants a burger. He's never had one, but the foggy memories say they're his favourite.
So as fast and quietly as he can, while making sure his hood is up, he climbs down and pilfers any cash the unconscious men have in their wallets. They had $85 between the 4 of them, which is more than enough for at least the first thing on his list. He'll rob more criminals if he needs more later.
It takes him no time at all to locate some kind of weird fast food restaurant called "Batburger". It amuses him that the employees don't blink at the League armor or swords that are now wildly visible in the florescent lighting. He picks the menu meal that matches the closest to his fuzzy memories and decides the memories are so fucking right. Burgers are fucking awesome.
What's less awesome is the fact Red Hood, aka Jason Todd, and Red Robin, aka Tim Drake, aka the guy he's supposed to kill walked in when he's halfway through his food and are now ordering. He tries REALLY hard to just ignore them, but Danny isn't exactly inconspicuous so he's spotted immediately by Todd, who points him out to Drake. They both start staring him down, clearly suspicious, but unwilling to start the fight inside since all Danny is doing is eating his food calmly. So Danny decides when he sets his food down to hack up a lung into a wad of napkins to flip them the bird. It isn't exactly the classiest move or something the LoA would approve of, but it amuses him. This is a mistake of course because Todd and Drake take that as an invitation to sit at his booth. Luckily he's sitting on the end of the bench and they back off when he pulls out a knife the moment they look like they're going to try to shove him deeper into the booth and box him in. They stare him down as they start eating their own food.
"Why?" Danny barely keeps the whine out of his voice. "I didn't even do anything."
"Sure you haven't," Todd does not sound like he believes him, "You know why we can't leave you be."
"Why not?" Danny tilts his head and holds up his hand full of blood covered napkins. "I'm dying anyways."
They seem to freeze at that admission. Danny sets the napkins down and munches on a fry before continuing.
"No point in stabilizing a failure." Danny shrugs, "And I came to the conclusion while watching Spoiler, I don't owe the LoA shit. I don't plan to finish my assigned mission. I plan to enjoy my last ....eh? 48? 72? hours. Depends on how long it takes my lungs to dissolve."
"You were watching Spoiler?" His template scowls.
"Yeah, her and Nightwing and Robin." Danny picks up his burger again, "Super jealous of the family vibes those two had, but Spoiler was funner to watch. A couple of her catches are paying for my dinner."
"Seriously?" Drake is disgruntled.
"Seriously what?" Danny frowns at him, "Not all of us can be nepobabies."
Todd snickers at his now very offended template before asking, "What mission were you assigned anyways?"
"To kill my original and bring his corpse back to the LoA." Danny informs them easily, "But seriously, why do that with my time when I could actually experience something before I die? I planned to eat my burger and find somewhere to crash. I wanted to hit up a museum or two. Try whatever ice cream is. Ya know, shit like that."
"Points for honesty, I guess." Drake mumbles into his Night-Wings.
"B will want to know you're here." Todd points at Danny with a fry. "He'll want us to take you to the cave."
"Do I have to?" There's a definite whine in his voice that time before he frantically grabs more napkins to cough into. The napkins are completely soaked through with his blood by the time he stops. He's pretty resigned and tired. "Oh... huh, I think the timeline is closer to 24 to 48 if my coughing keeps escalating at the rate it's going."
The vigilantes look disturbed, but Drake shakes it off. "There's a bed and medical attention in the deal if you come with us willingly."
"What about entertainment?" Danny says around his burger, trying to scarf what's left before his next fit, "Because I don't want to die with my only positive experiences being stalking your ex-girlfriend and eating a burger. That's just sad. Hey, do you think I can try pizza before I die? I heard a lot of people praising it on my way to Gotham, but couldn't exactly stop to try it."
"I'll hook you up with a tablet or laptop that you can watch movies on." Todd offers.
"Movies..movies..movies..OH that those moving picture thingies!" Danny grins. "Fuck yeah! Those seemed fun!"
"So it's settled. We'll take you to the Batcave, we keep you alive, you have a place to sleep, and you get to watch movies." Drake declares. He and his brother start scarfing down their food, while Danny has one more coughing fit before finishing his own fries and drink. They stiffen when Danny gets up before they're ready, but he literally only asks the employees for a bag for his bloody napkins and comes back. He doubts Drake wants so much of their blood just kicking around.
The vigilantes inform their associates of Danny and them heading to the cave as soon as they step out of the Batburger. Danny is made to hand over his swords to Drake and then rides on the back of Todd's bike, clearly not trusting him to not attempt to kill Drake. Which is valid, Danny wouldn't trust himself if the roles were reversed.
That being said, riding a motorcycle was a poor life choice. Danny felt like the vibrations were shaking him apart and he coughs blood down his front/Todd's back and barely didn't throw up. It was awful and everything hurts so much worse than when he climbed onto the bike. He feels like sobbing as he apologizes profusely when they finally stopped.
"Whoa, whoa, kid, breath." Todd climbs off his bike and yanks off his helmet, so he can be face to face with Danny. "Your blood isn't even top 10 of the worst things to soak my jacket, kid."
"Scared. Pain." A feminine voice says before a thin woman is suddenly in his space. She is the Black Bat and she's gently touches his face, ignoring Danny's flinch to wipe blood and sweat away. "Jason, the medbay is prepped, carry him. I doubt he can stand right now."
"I'll have you -pant- have you know spite can make you do -pant- do crazy shit," Danny groans in pain as Todd scoops him up. "I can walk."
"No." Caine scolds.
"Dude, she only gets like that if I'm sporting several injuries and am insanely sleep deprived. How much pain are you in?" Drake flounders.
"Does it matter?" Danny is very confused by their behavior. No one cared if he got hurt, much less "enemies", so why are they acting like they do?
"Kid, of course it matters." Todd frowns in concern. "Seriously, how much pain are you in?"
"I don't know? Definitely more than before?" Danny's current body has always hurt, but this pain is up there. "Pretty sure I'd happily curl up and died right now. Who knew motorcycle vibrations would hurt so much?"
"You're fully my clone, right?" Drake asks. Todd sets Danny down gently on a med bay cot. It's the nicest thing Danny has ever been on.
"Technically." Danny mumbles, "I didn't meet the Demon Head's expectations, so eh?"
"But you have my genetics?" Drake is very insistent.
"Yeah?"
"Good, it means I know what pain meds will work better on you." Drake says and starts grabbing things, "Though we will probably have to up the dosage since you have a spleen, or not? Since I kind of doubt they ever gave you medication."
"That was your spleen?" Danny nearly coughs up a lung when he laughs, "The Demon Head was holding a jar with, like half a spleen in it when he sent me off! It was so creepy!"
"Ew. I'm going to have to steal that back." Drake utter bitterly. "Creepy freak."
The downloaded loyalty doesn't like the topic of conversation, but Danny and his foggy memories don't give a fuck. Todd helps Danny out of his stolen hoody and League gear and into the softest pajamas he's ever felt. He feels a bit naked, but Caine piles blankets on him and Drake hooks him up with some good shit. Everything gets soft and fuzzy as all his pain fades to the background. He quickly realizes he doesn't stand a chance at staying awake.
"D't f'rgo' mo'ie" Danny slurs.
"We can watch movies when you wake up." Danny can't tell who's speaking anymore. "Go ahead and sleep. You're safe here."
" 'kay." Danny agrees and is out like a light.