Unlike usual, the kitchen wasn't a noisy place that morning as Tim, Steph, Cass, and Damian sat in silence. It was evident they were worried about something or rather someone.

Ember hadn't come down for breakfast and the alarming aspect was that she hadn't had dinner the previous night either. Steph was contemplating whether to go to her room or not while the others were thinking about the reason for her sudden disappearance.

"I knew you all would end up shocking her with your antics," Damian remarked, breaking the awkward silence to address the situation they were keeping silent about, "I saw it coming all along."

"Oh come on, Dami, we did absolutely nothing." Steph protested, "I thought we were finally getting along..."

"Really, Brown? Because I can count off the reasons at my fingertips. You with your overly friendly behavior, Drake with his alarming caffeine high mood, and Cain... Cain with her general detachedness from everything. It's a wonder she didn't ask Richard to let her leave yet."

"I not talk to you anymore, baby brother," Cass folded her arms and turned away from Damian.

"Okay Damian, we get your point," Tim spoke up, "but whatever happened, we didn't do it on purpose. Maybe she needs to sleep in because, unlike some people, she doesn't have to spend her nights awake making sure a certain someone doesn't crash the Batmobile."

Damian's eyes narrowed in displeasure, "that was one time... Still doesn't explain why she's not here."

"Or maybe she just met a ghost," Jason's voice took them by surprise and they turned to see their temporarily banned brother show up in the kitchen, "good morning, little birds. How you doing without your favorite brother around?"

Jason didn't get the kind of applause or welcome he was expecting. Instead, he was met by a clamor as the people seated by the counter started questioning him.

"Hey you, what are you doing here?"

"Go back to your room. Did you forget you were not supposed to be here?"

"What do you mean she met a ghost?"

"Oh my God, no... Did you meet her?" For once, Tim struck up the right assumption despite his brain being stuck in a void without his daily caffeine dosage.

"Technically, yes."

Damian paused in alarm too, "Wait, what? Technically...?"

"Yes, I met her and I also found out why she didn't come down for dinner. She got fired from Gotham Daily," he told them, taking his seat by the counter and filling his plate with the delicious pancakes Alfred had just brought over. "She was feeling down so I cheered her up, that's all."

"Oh dear, she must be very upset then," Steph's brow furrowed in concern.

"Yes and I took care of that, you're welcome," Jay remarked with a smug grin. He was enjoying the drama unfolding in front of him.

"But you can't just show up and try to cheer her up. You are supposed to be dead!" Tim protested, his blue eyes wide in frustration.

"And that's what I still am," Jason chuckled, "she thinks I am a ghost."

"Brilliant... Just bloody brilliant, now she will get scared that the Manor is haunted and ask to leave nevertheless! Fantastic move, Jay, real brilliant of you..."

"Timothy, calm the fuck down. You screaming at the top of your lungs so early in the morning is worse than occasionally encountering a nice and friendly ghost," Jason shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the confusion that had spread throughout.

"You're going to ruin everything," It seemed as if Tim was seconds away from breaking down to tears, "you'll fuck up our plan if you haven't alrea... Oops."

"Plan? What plan?" Damian's ears perked up at the accidental slip of the tongue, "what are you up to, Drake?"

"Nothing," he grimaced, a very sheepish look giving his statement away. However, Damian could see that the others were probably in on it too as only he didn't know what plan he had referred to.

In all his experience, whenever his troublesome siblings had gotten together to make a plan, it ended up in chaos.

"Tell him, Cass, there's nothing," Tim asked, giving her his pretty please wide-eyed look.

"Liar," Cass replied, not feeling the urge to lie and Tim shot her a look as if he was hurt that she too would betray him in such a difficult situation.

But Tim was saved the issue of explaining to a very suspicious Damian what was going on as the sound of footsteps descending the stairs announced Ember's arrival.

"All of you, just pretend you can't see me and everything will be fine," Jay remarked, "trust me. She won't suspect a thing."

"She's not stupid," Damian remarked.

"Only time will tell, gremlin."

"This has to be the lamest thing we have ever done," Steph whispered to Cass who nodded in agreement.

"I thought Dick's backflip off the Batcopter in that garish Discowing suit was the lamest," Jason piped in and almost got hit by the empty pancake dish that Damian was about to throw at him.

"Shut up, no field talk," Tim hissed, "if we can't see you then you have to keep your mouth shut so that we can't hear you either. Better still, just disappear. Isn't that what ghosts are supposed to do best?"

Jason winked mischievously, holding his two fingers up to his forehead in a short salute, "Fine, I'm leaving."

But as he was about to leave, he took up the entire dish of pancakes and went inside the kitchen where Alfred was working so that he could use the back door to escape.

"Hey, where are you taking our breakfast?"

"Finders keepers. Besides, you can't see me, remember?"

Ember had entered the kitchen by then so neither of them said another word. Jason happily took away all the pancakes and they couldn't even go after him because it would seem ridiculous chasing after a so-called ghost that not many people could see.

"Good morning," Steph greeted the redhead, trying to stitch up the awkwardness that lingered in the air.

She dipped her head in a greeting, "Morning. I hope I didn't interrupt you guys."

"Of course not, come have a seat," Steph smiled, trying to be friendly to her but it was clear that Ember was in a slightly sour mood.

None of them brought up anything about her losing her job as they were not meant to know about that until she told them herself. But they could see she needed cheering up and even if the ghost version of Jason Todd had kept her company for some time earlier, that hadn't solved her problems altogether.

***