Chapter Text
Danny
It was Christmas Eve. That meant three things. One, tomorrow was Christmas Day. Two, it was Danny’s birthday; he was turning a whopping nine years old. And three, Danny would find out if he had a soulmate. Although, truthfully Danny knew Fenton LuckTM too well, and he rather doubted it that last bit.
He and Jazz had spent days upon days in both the city library and the school library doing research about soulmates, and what they found had not been comforting. There were several types of soulmates: romantic, platonic, or familial. Jazz and he both knew, deep down in their very souls, that they were not soulmates with either of their parents or with each other. Unlike other families that were not soulmates, Danny and Jazz still loved each other very much; they just knew that there was someone waiting out in the wild for them.
The classic signs of soulmates included the red string that appeared on the right ring finger, a tattoo-like mark that could appear anywhere on the body, not being able to see colors until they met each other, sharing scars, body swapping, and the rarest of all was not having a soulmate at all. The red string took up about fifty percent of all the statistics of soulmates and thus were the most common. The marks took up thirty-five percent of the statistics, while the color-blindness took up eleven percent. The remaining, body swapping and not having a soulmate each took up two percent of the population. Again, Danny knew with Fenton LuckTM he would likely end up in one of the rare categories, if he even had a soulmate.
But even so, he and Jazz and taken every precaution. Next to Danny’s bed, in Jazz’s pretty handwriting, they had written out a list of instructions. Gloves in case the string appeared. Patches for the marks, in case they were in a place that couldn’t be hidden by clothing. They didn’t have to worry about the colorblindness because Danny could very clearly see colors. The body swapping had them the most worried. Their instructions included to find Jazz across the hall (this was actually the first instruction on the list for the body swap) so she could help the person navigate the Fenton strangeness.
As the clock in Danny’s room crept nearer to midnight, Danny heaved a sigh. He could hear his parents downstairs still fighting about whether or not Santa was a ghost. He knew that there likely wouldn’t be any presents underneath the tree, for either his birthday or for Christmas, and he’d learned long ago that any presents or decorations were likely to be either repurposed or destroyed. If Jazz had gotten him any presents, she would hide them in her room until they were both awake. Just another tick on the rather long and depressing list on why he hated Christmas.
Danny felt his eyes grow heavy and knew that he wouldn’t be able to make it till midnight. He prayed silently to whatever gods he thought might be listening (not that he thought or believed in any) to be nice to him. For once in his short life. He didn’t know if he could handle yet another heartbreak.
Tim
Tim was following Batman and Robin. Again. With his camera. This Robin was different from the previous Robin. He was louder and rougher and swore like a sailor. Or like a true Gothamite. Ever since he saw the previous Robin do a quadruple backflip, one that could only be done by a certain circus performer, he was absolutely certain he knew who Batman and Robin were. His neighbors, Bruce Wayne and Richard “Dick” Grayson-Wayne. Which would make this new Robin, Jason Todd.
Tim wasn’t certain if the new Robin had been adopted yet or not. But it didn’t really matter. At least not to Tim. When it was all said and done, Tim would be going back to an empty house anyways. ‘Mother and Father are away. Again,’ he thought as he dropped from the rooftops to the grimy street. He slunk back into the empty Drake Manor just before the clock struck midnight.
He jolted as he realized that not only was it about to be Christmas, but also his birthday. And since he’s turning a whole nine years old, he’ll find out if he’s been granted a soul mate. In all truthfulness, Tim had never thought all that much about soulmates. Tim knew that his parents weren’t soulmates. Mother had always told him that soulmates were more trouble than they were worth. And Father had told him that they were a waste of money. Look at the Waynes. Everyone knew what happened to them. Poor Martha and Thomas. Gunned down with their poor son watching. And if Brucie had a soulmate…well, no one would want a playboy like THAT. Although Tim knew why Brucie had put on such an act. It was so that no one would suspect that Brucie Wayne was actually Batman. Tim supposed it was a pretty good cover.
Tim put his camera away in the carefully crafted nook under his bed, and then he ate a granola bar as a late-night snack before he crawled into bed. He realized that if he did have a soulmate, he needed to be prepared. He got back out of bed and flipped the light switch back on and padded over to his desk. He wrote out some instructions, just in case his soulmate type was a body swap. He left instructions on how to contact the housekeeper, Mrs. McIlvaine or Mrs. Mac for short, and how to unlock his phone. Tim squirmed a bit at that bit. He knew you weren’t supposed to leave that kind of information just laying around. But on the other hand, he wanted to be able to get in contact with his soulmate.
Tim heaved a sigh. The note would have to do, however much of a bad idea it was. Tim climbed back into bed and groaned. He’d hoped that the bed would have still been warm, but no, it had grown cold in the time it had taken him to write the instructions. He burrowed under the blankets and waited for his bed to warm up. He put his phone and the instructions on the nightstand next to his bed. He couldn’t wait until morning. Even though mornings rarely brought anything good.
Danny
When Danny woke up, he knew instantly that he wasn’t in his bedroom. For one, the house was completely silent. His house was never silent. For two, his bed was not that big or that comfortable. For three, his ceiling wasn’t covered in glow-in-the-dark stars. And lastly, his room was NOT THIS BIG. Danny gaped. A body swap. Oh hell. He didn’t think he could be that lucky. Or unlucky.
He rolled over and saw a phone on the nightstand. Underneath the phone was a piece of paper. Danny pulled out the paper and slowly read it. Thankfully, his soulmate had thought to give him instructions just like he had. The instructions also included how to unlock the phone. That was a thought he was to attend to later. At the moment, his soulmate’s bladder was now screaming at him. Danny hopped out of bed and shuffled over to the first door he saw. Nope. That was a closet. He pulled open the other door, which led to a very large bathroom.
Danny’s jaw dropped. This bathroom was as large as his entire bedroom back home in Amity Park. Danny decided that since he was in the bathroom, he wanted a shower. He figured his soulmate wouldn’t mind too much. He didn’t think he could be any more surprised but there on his left shoulder was a crown of…was that FIRE???..., some sort of greenish blob ghost looking figure, and the in the background, what looked like a cross between the Pacman Nebula and the Little Ghost Nebula.
Danny didn’t know what to think. He and Jazz hadn’t discussed the possibility of having two markers for soulmates. Danny thought back over the statistics that he and Jazz had painstakingly went over and realized that those with a double marker were exceedingly rare. Like less than 0.05 percent of the population had more than one marker. He let the warm water stream down his back and shoulders and used the fancy shampoo he found in the shower and hoped his soulmate was having a better time than he was. His stomach gave a grumble remind him that he hadn’t yet had breakfast.
At least he and his soulmate looked similar. They both had black hair and blue eyes. And similar body types. They were also both short kings and pale. Danny did wonder what kinds of things his soulmate liked, but he saw several photo albums, three skateboards, and a gaming console hooked up to the tv.
He opened the closet to root around for some clothes. Danny pulled on a t-shirt and some jeans. He didn’t know what his soulmate usually wore, and there weren’t any instructions regarding clothing on the paper. He hoped that there weren’t any expectations of how he should be dressed, especially on Christmas. His instructions did say, however, that he was to find Mrs. Mac downstairs. She was likely to be in the kitchen. He followed his nose and found an older woman making pancakes with powdered sugar. There was also some strawberries and ham to go with the pancakes.
Mrs. Mac was a frail, skinny elderly woman with thick gray hair pulled up in a sharp bun. She wore the classic maid’s uniform, but she has bright brown eyes and a kind smile. Danny liked her. He briefly wondered where his soulmate’s parents were since the note had told him to find the housekeeper, but that was a future Danny problem.
“Good morning, Tim, and happy birthday,” she said as she plated the pancakes. Danny sat down at the island and thanked the woman.
Well now he had a name. “Good morning, Mrs. Mac. My name is Danny. Tim and I switched places. I guess we happened to have the same birthday. I turned 9 today as well.”
Mrs. Mac startled at that but promptly wished Danny a happy birthday. The rest of the morning was spent in pleasant company. The housekeeper filled in the gaps, where she could, about what she knew of body swapping soulmates. Danny, for some, reason didn’t tell her about the marks on his shoulder. After the plates were cleared, Danny wandered back to Tim’s room and pulled out the phone. It was time to talk.
Tim
Tim jolted awake as an explosion rocked the house. He landed sharply and came into a crouch. Then, he used one of the swears he’d been hearing Jason/Robin using. Because this…this was NOT his bed. Not his room. And definitely not his house. That could only mean one thing. He’d body swapped with his soulmate. Tim felt strangely warm. He had a soulmate. He had a soulmate. He had a soulmate. The door to his room burst open, and Tim’s jaw dropped. He was looking at what could possibly be a doppelgänger for Barbara Gordon, or if his sources (aka his own pictures) were to be trusted, Batgirl.
But Tim knew it couldn’t possibly be Batgirl because she was younger and didn’t have nearly enough muscle mass. Plus, Tim somehow intrinsically knew he wasn’t in Gotham. He could feel it. For that matter, he could hear it. Even in Bristol, he could hear the distant sound of gunshots; it was almost like a lullaby. But now, even straining his ears, other than the explosion that woke him, there was…NOTHING. No car horns. No gun shots…nothing.
But even as he thought that, voices began filtering up to him and the redhead. They were arguing about Santa and whether or not he was a ghost. Tim groaned, and the girl blushed in embarrassment. She rushed to close Tim’s door.
“Danny, Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday,” she said softly, pulling him in for a hug.
Tim stiffened in her arms, unused to touch, which caused her to pull away. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Hi, I’m Tim. But good news is that today is my birthday as well. I’m guessing Danny is also 9 today?”
The girl mutely nodded and shook herself out of her stupor. “Hi Tim. I’m Jazz, Danny’s older sister,” she finally introduced herself. Jazz pulled out the notes that she and Danny had made and pointed out which ones were the most relevant to Tim right now. “The bathroom’s across the hall. My door is next to the bathroom. Come find me when you’re done, and I’ll make us both breakfast. You’re free to wear any of Danny’s clothes.”
With that, Jazz disappeared back to her room. Tim took a deep breath to attempt to process everything. He looked in Danny’s closet and pulled a space themed graphic t-shirt and some plain gray sweatpants. He found Danny’s clean underwear and socks and then walked to the bathroom. He shucked his dirty clothes and gasped when he looked in the mirror. There on the left side of his chest was his soulmate mark. A skateboard, a camera, like something he’d seen in a vintage store once with Mother (he’d begged her for it and later because she got tired of him asking for it, she bought it for him), and in the background was a dark red robin, but something was off about its wings. The wings were almost bat-shaped.
Tim was…shook. Not only had he body-swapped with his soulmate, but he had marks. That was almost unheard of. The marks themselves weren’t all that rare. The body-swapping, Tim knew, was rare. But it was the double marker. Tim didn’t know the exact percentage of the population, but he knew that he had just entered into statistical anomaly.
Tim turned the shower as hot as it could possibly go and stood under the water until it started to cool. He was mildly surprised when no one came knocking on the door demanding he come out. But he supposed that Jazz was giving him space to process, and the other voices hadn’t even noticed that their son? had swapped bodies with another child.
When he stepped out, he knocked on Jazz’s door. She was wearing light pink sweat pants and a gray sweatshirt. She led him downstairs and told him that she could make them waffles. Provided that her parents hadn’t repurposed the waffle maker again. Jazz whooped in joy as she discovered that the waffle maker was still intact. The breakfast wasn’t homemade like Mrs. Mac’s, but it was still a good breakfast.
Jazz didn’t ask, and Tim didn’t reveal the fact that there was a second mark. For some reason, he wanted to keep that a secret. He wanted that part of his soulmate to be just his. He was sure that either Danny would tell Jazz, or she would find out sooner or later. But for now, the dual markers was their secret. Tim couldn’t wait to talk to Danny. Danny’s phone rang, and Tim immediately recognized the Gotham area code and raced to answer it. Sure enough, it was Danny on the line. Jazz gave him a fond look while Tim locked himself inside Danny’s room. They had many, many things to talk about.